#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!”

We Don’t Need to Know Right Now

#edchat, collaboration, connected educator, education, ISTE, Passion, schools, Twitter

Full disclaimer to this post – I read the articles mentioned and took the attached picture using my cell phone. You will see why I pointed this out as you read.

ISTE 2016 was an amazing experience, from the learning and connections, to the food and culture of Denver itself. There are so many great moments that stand out for me, but one in particular has been on my mind for the past few days. This revelation took place at Red Rocks, the historic concert venue carved into the Colorado mountains. My fellow travelers and I decided that we would add to our ISTE adventure by taking in a concert at this site. Lucky for us that Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals were in town and played one of the most amazing concert sets that I have ever seen live. The music, venue and the ominous skies with lightning flashing in the distance all came together to create a truly special evening. But it was something that Rachel King, one of my teachers, noticed that really hit home for me. She pointed out during the concert that fewer than 10 people at a time had their cellphones out. We really couldn’t believe it as we have all been to shows where almost the entire crowd was taking video and pictures throughout. What a shame that we would be shocked by this. But there we were taking in this amazing music set, surrounded by beautiful nature, and encircled by a crowd that was simply interested in enjoying the moment as it happened, not worried about recording it to be viewed at a later date. Nor was this crowd concerned with answering texts or checking their social media pages.

A few days later as we were waiting at the Denver airport for our flight home, I read a post that was sent to me that aligned even more with this thought. The post contained photos from a series entitled “Removed”, by photographer Eric Pickersgill. Pickersgill’s photos show real life with cell phones taken out of the pictures. He is attempting to highlight our dangerous addiction to our phones and to being constantly connected. You can see more of his photos and the philosophy behind them at his site – Removed.

This gets me to wondering about this insatiable need that we have developed where we need to know right now. We need to have answers immediately. We need to answer that text right away. We need to scroll through our social media feeds on such a regular basis that we often miss out on the connections and conversations of those that are present with us. My fear is that as we become more connected to each other online, we are further pushing ourselves away from each other in person. A recent post by CNN states that Americans devote more than 10 hours a day to screen time, and growing. Scary stuff indeed. I just watched a TED Talk by Pico Iyer entitled, The art of stillness. Pico has been a traveler for most of his life and has been to some amazing places. But he states in his Talk that he can gain more from just sitting still because doing so allows him to appreciate where he has been and gets him to wrap his head around the impact that his visits have on his life.

My biggest takeaways from ISTE were the connections that I made in person with the educators I had already met via Twitter. So I believe that we can utilize social media and screen time in a positive way, especially if we use it to enhance our lives and build additional relationships. However, we need to move away from this sense of urgency with immediately connecting. We have to remind ourselves that the answers don’t have to be learned right away. I believe that we can. We live in an amazing time – the world is right there at our fingertips. Take advantage of that. Connect with those who you might not have met if it were not for social media. But then put your phone down. Take time to be in the moment. Be present to those in the same space as you. And most important of all, please remember that you don’t need to know right now.

Everybody Needs a Nonni

#edchat, #SoFLEdChat, education, Passion, schools, Twitter

Back in November I presented a TedX Talk entitled “Our Schools Should Teach Kids How to Fail”. This was an amazing experience all the way around, from developing the concept and going through various re-writes with an amazing teacher of mine, Lynn Mitchel; to rehearsing my Talk numerous times in front of my sons (who both could have gone on stage that night and delivered); to the connections with the staff at the host location, West Broward High School, especially the organizer, Horace Buddoo; to meeting the students who were part of the production crew at the school; to the feedback that I received that night.

The best part of the event was that my wife and my parents were in the audience. Getting to present in front of them was such a source of pride for me. I really rely on my family for energy and support as I push forward with changing the way we view education. I have received a lot of feedback from family, friends, and strangers this past week. My favorite response came from my Great-Aunt Helen, who is the matriarch of my mom’s side of my family. I have so much love and respect for her so hearing from her meant a great deal to me.

Aunt Helen showing her pride in me really made me feel a connection to someone who wasn’t there the night of the Talk, someone who will never see my accomplishments, but someone who continues to drive me and motivate me. That person is Nonni, my grandmother who passed away over seven years ago. Nonni and I had a special bond. She always used to say that we were connected by our souls. Whenever I think about her, I remember how she used to look me in the eyes and tell me that I was going to do great things. She said it so much that I started to believe it and continue to do so to this day. Nonni never got to see me become a principal, as she passed away about six months before I was promoted. But I know that I am living up to her ideal and that I am constantly trying to do more and be more because of her belief in me. I also realize that I’m not done yet, that there is so much more left to accomplish. Nonni’s faith keeps me pushing myself.

So this brings me to the title of this blog post, Everybody Needs a Nonni. My wife, Susie, and I were talking about Nonni’s belief in me and it led to an amazing conversation about someone having so much confidence in you that it completely drives you. Susie then made the profound statement in the title of this post. It is so true. Everyone truly does need a Nonni. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a grandmother who expresses pride in you, but someone in your life who fully believes in your capabilities. Nonni’s faith in me was so overwhelming that I don’t think that I had a choice but to become the person that she believed I would be.

So I wonder, do you have a Nonni? Do you have a person whose belief in you is so strong that it compels you to think beyond your current state? Or are you that person for others? Is there someone in your life that you have expressed total confidence in, someone who needs that support? If not, can you think of someone who you can do that for? I think about those who don’t have that type of person in their life and wonder what that type of belief could do for them. How many of our students need that one voice to be on their side. Can you do that for at least one person who needs it? Can you be for a child or a colleague what my Nonni was for me? The opportunity is out there. Go take it!

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.