#whatifwecould

#edchat, branding, collaboration, connected educator, education, Genius Hour, innovation, Passion, schools, Twitter, Uncategorized

I cannot state how excited I am for the start of this school year. There is something magical in the air at Gator Run Elementary that is telling me that this will be the best school year ever. I rolled out my opening day Faculty Focus to my teachers on Monday morning. The energy that I receive from my staff on a regular basis is invigorating and this week that has multiplied.

My theme for this year and beyond is “What if We Could?”. In the past I have always asked “what if” questions to my staff to cause outside and inside the box thinking. I am always questioning past practices in education not just because I like to be a rebel (well, maybe a little), but because we should always question if what we are doing can be done in a better way. I liked asking “what if” questions but never really felt like all the changes that we need were being put into practice.

So this year I changed my message to “What if We Could?” because to me the addition of “We Could..” puts the emphasis on action. That we can make happen what we dream, what we wish, and what we hope. And that’s what we need to do in education. It’s time to stop wishing for change and to start making it happen right now. We don’t need to wait for anyone outside of our profession, outside of our schools, to make necessary changes. We need to be the ones to make the change. When you have ideas on how to innovate to help make kids’ lives better, than ask yourself and your colleagues, “What if We Could?”. Because you have the power to do so. We have this power. “What if We Could?” – We can! We must! We will!

So where do we start? How about with Day 1?

What if we could…build amazing relationships with our students?
- Know their names (and how to pronounce them!). Please read this amazing post by Jennifer Gonzalez, @cultofpedagogy – Gift of Pronunciation
- Present your best lesson on Day 1; worry about rules and procedures later. Make students want to come back for more!
- Make every child feel like your favorite.
- We have to change the world moment by moment – take advantage of this power and change each child’s life for the better.
What if we could…build amazing relationships with each other and learn from one another?
- Be kind to one another each and every day. Love your colleagues!
- Visit each other’s classrooms – the Pineapple Chart hack from the book, Hacking Education, is an amazing idea that should be implemented in all schools. Visit each others’ classrooms and open your own for your colleagues. We are not teaching in isolation anymore. I recommend having your school team read Hacking Education by the aforementioned Jennifer Gonzalez and Mark Barnes, @markbarnes19.
What if we could…continue to share the awesome with our families and the world?
- If we don’t share the amazing things happening in our schools, there is a chance that no one will.
- What if…each teacher Tweeted one thing from their classroom every day using a school hashtag and spent 5 minutes reading other posts? Thanks to George Couros, @gcouros, for this one.
What if we could…start with the standards, focus on learning, and not get caught up on ‘cute’?
- Love this quote from the Kids Deserve It book –“We can’t get caught up in how much fun something looks if learning doesn’t also take place.” Thanks to Todd Nesloney, @techninjatodd, and Adam Welcome, @awelcome, for an inspiring read!
- We need to move away from copying from the board and filling in the blanks. If the end result of your activity is that all students have the exact same product, you taught a recipe, not a lesson. If you want cute, have the students create the cute rather than purchasing it for them.
What if we could…ensure that each of our students is excited to come to school every day?
- Our goal must be to move from consumption to creation, with and without technology. A digital worksheet is still just a worksheet.
What if we could…provide our students the opportunity to discover their passions?
- Genius Hour and Makerspaces must be in all schools so that we can offer voice and choice to our students.
What if we could…lift up our profession?
- Promote the awesome – #trendthepositive and #CelebrateMonday. Kudos to my friend Sean Gaillard, @smgaillard, for creating and sharing these amazing hashtags.
What if we could…have every teacher identify areas where they wanted to grow and worked with an administrator or coach to improve?
- The message in all schools for students and adults must be – Feedback, Support and Growth
What if we could…get all of our students to Launch?
- Provide students with opportunities to Launch – to create something that they can share with the world? If you haven’t read Launch by AJ Juliani, @ajjuliani, and Jon Spencer, @spencerideas, go get it now and start reading!
- Our students are creating and performing every day outside of school. How are we leveraging that and allowing them those types of opportunities at school?
What if we could…be the school that changes what ‘school’ is?
- Repeat after me – “We can, we must, we will!”

Get Connected!

#edchat, branding, collaboration, connected educator, education, Genius Hour, schools, Twitter, Uncategorized

October is designated as Connected Educator Month and the hope is that we can get more educators engaged in social media to improve practice and deepen the ties with those that are already connected. I conducted a webinar for the elementary school administration in my school district to demonstrate the benefits of social media use in education. While I was happy that we had over 30 active participants, I don’t think that was enough, considering there are over 130 elementary schools in our district. The reason I think more Principals and Assistant Principals did not participate is that their view of social media is seen as an afterthought to our practice and something that isn’t worthwhile. We are at a time right now where public education and our schools are under attack. Our teachers and schools are bombarded with assessments and new standards that must be mastered and it can all be a little overwhelming. This is the perfect time to highlight the amazing things taking place in our classrooms and schools with social media.

I have heard from administrators that they don’t have time to use social media. More than one administrator has shared with me that I must personally have too much time on my hands to Tweet out the events of my school, to connect with other educators, and to blog about my experiences and thoughts. My feeling is that I will do anything to help make my students’ lives better. Connecting with educators throughout the world has helped me to do so. I have learned more in my year and a half as a Twitter participant than I have in my previous 14 years in education. The reason for this is because Twitter and social media have allowed me to hear about best practices on a regular basis. It has provided a platform for my teachers and I to connect with others who are passionate about student success and to read their self-reflective blogs. We have learned about innovative programs and ideas that we have brought back to our school. My connection with the teachers and staff that I work with has also deepened, as I am able to share my educational philosophy and beliefs through Twitter.

I want to implore all of you to take advantage of social media, as there are conversations and learning taking place all around you right now. Social media is a free tool that levels the playing field, as it reaches everyone. Instead of using the tired format of a monthly newsletter, try connecting on a daily basis with your school community as you share what’s happening in your school and classrooms via social media. The two major takeaways that I hope that my webinar participants and those reading this blog come away with are: social media heightens your professional development and it allows you to tell your school’s story.

Professional development on Twitter is 24/7. You can connect and learn whenever and wherever you are. Read blogs. Explore educational journals and magazines. Participate in Twitter chats. Twitter has allowed me to refine my vision and prioritize what I want for my students. If my staff and I had never connected with others via social media, Genius Hour would not be taking place at our school; we wouldn’t have teachers discussing student blogging and the maker movement; we might not be exploring flexible learning spaces throughout our building. I promise you that you will become better at what you do through your connections on Twitter.

“If you don’t tell your school’s story, who will?” Eric Sheninger writes about Digital Leadership in his book of the same title. He tells us to be the “Storyteller-in-Chief”. Alert everyone to the wonderful things happening in your school: the awesome teachers, the innovative programs that you present, the community events and activities that you hold. We need every educator right now to present and publicize all of the good that we are doing in public schools. This goes beyond me just recommending this to you. I truly believe that it is your responsibility to do so. Our chosen field of education needs your voice.

Get connected people! Your students, parents and community are waiting to hear from you.

What’s Your School’s Identity?

branding, collaboration, Genius Hour, innovation, Passion, principal

This week is pre-planning week in our school district. School starts next Monday and teachers are getting ready for their new group of students. During this week I like to lay out what my vision for this upcoming school year will be. There are a lot of changes in education in general and in our district particularly. An administrator needs to balance the line between providing the information that a faculty can handle with the important knowledge that they will need in order to navigate this year’s school terrain. In addition it is vital to inspire and motivate. Our opening Faculty Collaboration needed to blend all of the above in a concise amount of time that gave the teachers what they needed while also respecting their time in preparing for the first day of school.

My initial focus at today’s Collaboration was to talk about my concept of freedom and belief. I want my teachers to feel free to try new strategies and ideas. They should have the opportunity to attempt, reflect and determine how a lesson went. If I want more creating and making with our students, then I need to provide our teachers with opportunities to create and make learning experiences for their students without fear of consequence for “failing”. I also want my teachers to know that I believe in them. They should know that I respect their professionalism and that I also want to challenge them to become the best teacher that they can be.

My goal is for Gator Run Elementary to be considered a high-performing school. We have the components of this type of school. We just need to concentrate our efforts in the right direction. My definition of high-performing is a school that is a model for all others and one in which there are components that can and should be replicated at other schools. We can easily be a ‘fast food’ type of school: the quality is the same as all of the others; you know what to expect. I, however, would rather be a school similar to restaurants recommended by the Michelin Guide: those that have specific criteria for excellence but no definition on how to get there. I don’t want our school to be just like all of the others. We will stand out because we will go in directions other schools won’t in order to provide our students with the types of learning experiences that they remember forever.

In order to stand out you have to stand for something. We adopted a new motto for this year and beyond – “Imagination to Innovation: Follow Your Passion at Gator Run”. I love this statement because it encapsulates the components that we will provide for our students’ education. Last year was my first year at the school and I started the conversation of determining what we are known for; what are the qualities that define our school; what do our students and families think of when they think of our school? The essential question became “What is the Gator Run Experience?”. I believe that we have laid the groundwork for three essential tenets of our students’ experiences at our school: collaboration, passion and innovation.

We began to instill collaboration as a strategy throughout our school last year. I dislike desks in rows (actually I dislike desks overall, but that’s another conversation). Our students need time to work together to solve problems and to create solutions. There is a need to move away from teacher-centered discussions and toward student-centered and student-led discussions. My goal for this year is to further our efforts in creating collaborative opportunities.

Passion is a must for all educators. You really have to love what you are doing to be in this profession. The reason for this is that it’s really all about relationships. Show students that you care and they will work wonders with you. Our classrooms need to be filled with love, energy and excitement. We watched Dave Burgess’ GPS Challenge video today. Dave challenges teachers to identify 5 words that they would like students to use when they describe their class. He then tells teachers to use those words as goals. This ties in with our work last year in creating teacher report cards where students get a chance to provide feedback to their teachers (thanks to Todd Whitaker and Annette Breaux for this idea).

Each of our grade levels are going to take an innovative leap this year. In doing so, each grade level will have an identifying quality: 5th grade will all be 1:1 and work in a digital environment; 4th grade will feature student blogging and using Edmodo; 2nd and 3rd grade will be learning chess online; 1st grade is working toward an engineering theme; and Kindergarten will be gardening. In addition I hope that Genius Hour will be spread throughout our school and that many teachers will allow our students to research topics and concepts that they are passionate about. I hope that these types of experiences provide students opportunities to discover who they are and their place in the world.

One final piece that I feel will ensure that we obtain high-performing status is to have all facets of our school be at the highest level. I want to challenge myself and my staff to make our Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) top quality. We will begin the process this year of using our PLCs to ensure that our students are progressing through the thematic units that we have planned and mastering the needed standards. We need to put the necessary monitoring pieces in place so that we can determine what’s working, what isn’t and what we will do in each case.

What is your school’s identity? Are you working on answering the question of what your students’ experience is? What are the identifying qualities of your classrooms? Would your students and parents choose your school if they had a choice? These are all valid questions to ask and should inspire and challenge you to perform at the highest level.

We are putting the needed components into place at our school to be considered one of the top education destinations for elementary students. I am excited for this upcoming school year and for the learning experiences that our teachers are going to create for our students. I am equally thrilled that we have high expectations for ourselves and the necessary people in place in order to reach those lofty goals. The final questions that I always ask myself about our school’s attempt to be a leader is “Why not now? Why not us?”

Trying to Find Passion in a Sea of Standards

CCSS, Genius Hour, Passion

“Education is being strangled by the culture of standardized testing.” – Sir Ken Robinson

“I’ve been making a list of the things they don’t teach you at school. They don’t teach you how to love somebody. They don’t teach you how to be famous. They don’t teach you how to be rich or how to be poor. They don’t teach you how to walk away from someone you don’t love any longer. They don’t teach you how to know what’s going on in someone else’s mind. They don’t teach you what to say to someone who’s dying. They don’t teach you anything worth knowing.” – Neil Gaiman, in The Sandman

We are entering the next phase in education. Here in Florida, as in many states, a new set of standards is officially in place throughout all grades and a new assessment is on its way. The Common Core State Standards have fully arrived and will be implemented in all grade levels. Florida has modified the CCSS into the Florida Standards, but they are basically the same. I appreciate the possibilities of these standards and what creative, innovative teachers and schools can do with them. There is a definite freedom attached to these standards if they are put into place by the right people. Unfortunately too many educators are already fearful of how these new standards will be assessed. We don’t even know what the new assessment looks like; yet thoughtful, intelligent teachers are stressing about it in July! We have created a culture of standardized testing in education that seems impossible to get out of. Our entire mindsets have become programmed into believing that the only purpose of schools is to pass the end of the year assessment. How sad. Especially because these assessments could really prove beneficial if they were used in the proper way, which is to help guide and modify our instruction. The other part that is troubling is that these assessments only help raise standards in certain areas, at the expense of what education should truly be about – helping students learn how to think, learn how to learn, learn how to work with others, all in an effort to assist them in discovering their passion. The use of these assessments to evaluate students, teachers and schools has pushed aside many other areas of importance, which should be a major concern to all of us. While many students do well in the current set-up of school, there are a lot of others who drop out or finish school not knowing where they want to go with their lives.

I just finished reading Sir Ken Robinson’s book, The Element. This book takes a look into our definitions of intelligence and creativity, banishes the notion that any us are not intelligent or creative, and provides numerous examples of individuals who found their true calling, their passion, their element. Robinson illustrates that finding your element is really discovering yourself, your purpose for life. What would you like to do that would make you happy every day that you wake up? This may not necessarily be where you make the most money or achieve the most prestige, but finding your passion will allow you to be at peace with the world. I am extremely fortunate that I have found my element, and I’m not sure that it’s necessarily being a school principal. What I believe my element is is to to help make people’s lives better. Being a principal does allow me the opportunity to affect many lives on a daily basis. Creating the conditions of a positive school environment brings me great joy, knowing that I am influencing the school staff and hopefully getting them to enjoy coming to “work” each day.

What I am most passionate about though is our students and attempting to provide experiences for them that are rewarding and that will help each of them find out who they truly are. I believe that whatever standards we are teaching toward, we should view these as criteria for excellence and not specific guidelines that script our teaching. The standards should be utilized to ensure that our students are achieving at a high level, but should never provide the definition of how to get there. Let’s take a step back and appreciate that the concept of these new standards is for more freedom for teachers and schools to implement their own creativity into the learning process. Let’s use the standards as goals, but let’s not teach to a test anymore. Let’s create genuine learning experiences for our students that include choice, relevancy, opportunities for inquiry and collaboration, and a means for students to have their voices heard. This is not a time to be fearful, but a time of great promise. Let’s seize this moment as educators to instill our own passion into what we do. Find ways to include your own element into your teaching and, in doing so, I believe that you will awaken the passion in your students. Don’t bow down to standards. Transcend them and teach our students things worth knowing.