Excitement, hope, and eagerness are just some of the adjectives of a new school year approaching. While I certainly experience many of these same emotions, this time of year usually brings me deep thought and reflection. Today is no different. For many years now we've been hearing about the need to innovate our practice. If you've been in education for any amount of time you've heard this. Our education system is dated and was created to support an economy that no longer exists.
Today I heard a great conceptual idea from Tony Wagner. He suggested that schools invest money in Research and Design. It's ok, I probably would have rolled my eyes at this several years ago as well. I get it, budgets are tight, the needs of the kids make it tough to think about reallocating funds to such an undertaking and much of the research is done without schools having to invest a penny (not really, but more on that in a minute). There's also the underlying feeling that such a position would be nothing more than an expedited way to filter central office initiatives down to the campus level. They're all very valid concerns. Any significant change doesn't come without a reason to be concerned and/or cautious. It's the gains I believe a school district would make that make this a valid undertaking. First of all, think of how much a school district spends on purchasing the work of the research that's already been done. Think of the speakers that are paid to come, the books that are bought to be read. The list could go on. What if a school was creating all of this (and more) on their own? Not only would it pay for itself, but it would also change the daily climate and eventually the culture. Work for us (and our students), by us and because of us. Work, research and design that's tailored to what we need in the here and now. Who knows, it just might lead to some great exposure for your district on top of all the other benefits. It might not take much. Simply having a "Director of Innovation" with the ability to connect and work with all professionals from across an entire school district looking for ways to innovate our practices. "What could replace a faculty meeting?" What impact is "X" having on our students?" "How do staff feel about..." You could devote days with teachers to travel to multiple campuses in search of great and innovative practices or creating networks of district-wide PLC's You could also utilize this structure to connect to your community in ways you haven't before. Connect with businesses, community governments, and others to showcase what your students are doing in school and see if it's truly meeting the real-world application threshold. You could also get great ideas on what it is these community partners are doing daily to further the authenticity of your curriculum. I am certain that the possibilities for this are far greater than anything I could illustrate in any single blog post. Each summer we ask our employees to invest some time in R&R and we're better off for it. The same would be true if we invested in some R&D.
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I hinted at this in my last post. I am not even sure that I fully understand what I want to convey with this post, so please accept my apologies for my "published" rough draft.
Every teacher I know works hard at their craft. They are trying to create new and exciting lessons for their students. We're all well aware that the days of writing a lesson and implement it for the next 10 (or maybe more) years are gone and with good reason. We've done a great job of making education more exciting, more engaging and much more about the learning than compliance. Why then do we feel like we're bumping up against the ceiling when it comes to innovating our practice? I will submit to you that if you want innovative lessons then it's time we innovate the lesson planning process. As I wrote in my last post "Do something innovative like plan WITH your students, not for your students." I think that this is a starting place for just about anyone and everyone. I am hesitant to outline too many other steps because I have always been a firm believer in the idea that what works for you may not work for me. The inverse would also be true. You are a professional. You know what your kids need, what works for them and what meets them where they're at. What I will say is that it's time to think long and hard about the conditions in which we lesson plan. Including kids in the planning process is just one idea. What if we stopped sitting around in groupings that are homogenous by subject area when we plan? Another idea, what if we put our teacher work days in the middle of the school year, so we could have entire days during the school year to make the adjustments we need to make to the ever-changing needs of our students? There could be an infinite list of ideas to try. The bottom line, changing what you do is hard if you never change how you do it. A memory crept back into my mind today, and it was one I hadn't thought about in quite awhile. Some of the events from this memory weren't even all that worthy of being remembered. In fact, it was a memory rooted in my own mediocre performance.
I was a 7th grade Texas History teacher at the time. We were in one of my favorite units, the Texas cattle drive days. I know it doesn't sound all that fun, but trust me, there is so much you can do with this content to bring it to life. So many of my lessons in this unit were great. We roped cows, went out and learned to live off the land and so much more. We spent more time outside the classroom than we did inside it. But it was a day inside the classroom during this unit that changed so much about how I would move forward as a teacher. At the end of this mediocre lesson one of my most challenging students came and talked to me about how much he had enjoyed class that day. I was shocked, this was middle of the road at best but yet there he was. It changed the course of the year we had together. So I asked him the question that wound up changing my teaching moving forward: "What worked for you today?" That was the moment that led me to think at the end of the day that it really isn't about how great I thought my teaching was, it was about whether or not it resonated with kids. Prior to that day I would spend a lot of time in isolation reflecting on my craft. I would talk to other adults but never the kids. When I started reflecting with kids on not just the learning, but the learning process I was transformed as was my teaching. I learned that some of things I thought were so great were really missing the mark. I learned that you don't have to teach the same lesson 4 class periods in a row. And I learned that there is both a transformative power and release from a burden when embrace the reality that your greatest resources sit right in front of you each and every day. So get out of reflecting alone, or in your small concentrated room of "adults know best" planning sessions. Do something innovative like plan WITH your students, not for your students. Don't just let kids give you feedback, encourage them to, including critical feedback. Above all, empower yourself with the realization that it's not about your teaching, it's about their learning. If you've been a reader for the last year then you are probably aware that I set out to accomplish two things in 2018; write a book and start my own 501(c)3 organization. The book is still a work in progress (I'm at 15,000 words) but One Less for One More is now a reality. Looking back on it, I won't say that I can't believe it; I was quite determined to do this. What I will say is that I can't believe how much being lifelong learner played in the process and will continue to moving forward.
You see, I don't have a business/organization-building background. I didn't study it in college, I've never started a business before and until about a year ago, I didn't know the first thing about being "entrepreneurial." In fact, most people would have said a year ago that I just "didn't have the skills." That's where they would be wrong. You see, I have the greatest skill someone in the 21st century can have, I can foster my own learning, growth, and development. I didn't just learn a lot about building an organization. Indeed, my organization at its current state is still small. I'm still learning about building it. What I learned, as follows, was about learning itself: 1. Passion May Be The Most Powerful Learning Tool I'm doing what I'm doing because I'm passionate about it. Please don't confuse this with like it, intrigued by it or even enjoy it. I'm passionate about it. That's one of the first things I learned; passionate people can do something they know nothing about just because of their passion. You can't ever underestimate the power of a person passionate about a cause. They'll learn whatever they need to in order to bring that cause to life. 2. I Didn't Need Anyone to Guide Me, Just Cheer Me On Nobody told me what to do, how to do it or when it was "due." In fact, it's never going to be due because it's always going to be growing, evolving and becoming better than it was before. I didn't need someone telling me the way they'd do it or asking me to choose from a few options on how to do it. I didn't even need someone to assign it to me. I was going to do it. What I needed was people that believed in me, people that could act as a sounding board for when I needed to talk things out. People that new that because of my passion, I was capable of doing it, even on the days when I didn't feel like I could. 3. There's No Wrong Way to Learn Something I didn't follow a learning process. There was no pedagogy of how to do this the right way. I did it the way it worked for me. I researched (without a card catalog I might add), I read, I talked to people and I took risks. Somedays I did each of those things each day, others, maybe one or two. I also didn't repeat a whole lot. I might have read or researched some of the same things a few times but the takeaways were different each time I did so. I also didn't make Monday a research day, Tuesday a reading day etc. I did what I need to when I needed to and how I needed to. I've learned a lot from this experience and I know much more is to come. Being a 1-man 501(c)3 is not the easiest job I've ever had. I work late nights and on the weekends, the Christmas Party is pretty lame and the view from my office looks a whole lot like a kids playroom. So why do I push on? Because I'm passionate, I've got some great cheerleaders and I'm conquering this mountain in way that I have full ownership of, not at the behest of someone else. It's a discussion that comes up all the time? What are we preparing kids for? What do they need to learn? We convene meetings of education boards at the local and state levels and have great debates over what should or should not be in a particular subjects curriculum. There's a whole lot more to school than curriculum though. For today's students, it's not just what you know, it's what you do with what you know. It's what you'll do that will make something better than the way you found it. It's about skills as much as it's about knowledge. So what skills seem to set people apart? 1. Bringing the best out of those around you One of the best skills you can have is being a "maximizer." It's not good enough anymore just to bring your own "A" game anymore. You have to be able to help those around you find theirs as well. Being able to inspire people can be the most helpful skill in life. You'll find that you don't always have every answer. You'll also find that the smartest person in the room is the room. The question is, what is your impact towards making those in the room find their best? 2. The ability to self-direct learning
The amount of information will continue to grow at an exponential rate. The rate of change in the world will only accelerate, it won't be stagnant. Change will be the new constant. With all those things in mind the ability to self-direct learning is critical. The days of waiting for people to tell you what's important and what's not are gone. Students in today's world must emerge with an ability to self-direct their learning and guide themselves to the answers for questions that they've generated. The key here is the questions they've generated. Do not misconstrue someone's ability to find the answer to a question you gave them as self-directed learning. It's only half the process. You have to be able to generate your own questions and curiosities. 3. Having your own definition of success Who's standards are you going to use? Success can be measured so many different ways. It could be a achieving a certain level of education, developing a certain skill or hobby, it could be wealth and it could just about anything else. The point is you have to know what success will look like for you. I know people who are wealthy. Some feel successful, some don't. The wealthy one's who feel successful and happy are that way because they followed their passion and created their own definition of success. Those who are wealthy and don't feel successful and happy are that way because they listened to someone else tell them that they could find their success by doing _______. The question "what would make you successful?" doesn't have a right or wrong answer unless you let someone else answer it for you. The greatest skill in teaching today is in providing opportunities for students to foster these skill alongside what they're being taught. If we're going to do what's best for kids we have to go beyond a world where kids just answer questions we pose to them. We have to bring out the best in each other and realize that our successes may or may not be the same. We have to empower, we can't just educate. I love professional learning days. 50% of you probably think that I'm crazy for that stance but that's about the amount that thinks that of me on a daily basis. Yes, it's a lot of work, planning etc. but I am always amazed at where the learning leads. Today was no different. I found myself in a session at the end of the day today discussing how we can embed study skills into our daily lessons. The takeaway for me was far greater than just study skills being embed into lessons.
The conversation two teachers and I found ourselves engaged in evolved over time. We talked about using the entire lesson cycle, how we don't have to start teaching a concept on grade-level from the word go. Then, the big "WOW!" moment of the day. Learning standards are where we are going, the ultimate objective of the learning and too often we approach them as if they were the point of origin for our teaching. The timing couldn't have been better for this reminder/realization for me. We talk so much about rigor, holding kids to high standards and using higher order thinking skills that we often times forget that Bloom's pyramid couldn't be built without a stable base. It's ok for us to scaffold. It's ok to start by teaching a concept below grade level. In fact, one of the best lessons I ever taught on note-taking (a study skill by the way) began with a hook and some modeling from me using "Green Eggs and Ham" as my model. Let go of the myth that learning standards are a point of origin. Let go of the myth that everything you do must be at or above grade level. Above all, remember that we have to meet kids where they're at and most of them don't come preprogrammed with all that they need. Learning standards aren't where you are, they're your destination. It's where you need to be at the end of the journey, not the gas that should already be in your car when you set out. Yep, it's a line from a Goo Goo Dolls song that exploded on to the pop-music scene in 1998. It's also a line that I fall back on when I talk to people about building relationships with kids, parents and other community members. You see, we all look the same when we put on a good suit, we all sound the same when we throw around our best education speak, and we all leave the same mark on someone in doing these things. What's that mark? The mark of the unspectacular. A forgettable moment lost amongst so many others in time. The beige of the color spectrum.
People don't remember us for our job titles, for our ability to blend in. They remember us for what makes us us. The things we're passionate about. Things that don't come across as calculated hype or cliche. This week I will have an opportunity that I am always grateful for, one that will allow me to let people into who I am. A teacher at my school (where I am new this year) has given me the opportunity to come and speak to her class. I've done this before. In fact, I approached her about doing it. She teaches a class called Human Growth and Development and one of their units just happens to be on families. To make a long story short I have a unique perspective on families. I was adopted as a child and I have also adopted a child of my own. Adoption is something very near and dear to my heart. I believe that all kids deserve a chance at a quality life. It's why I became an educator. I'm excited to speak to them because I am passionate about the subject, but I am also passionate about people getting to know me, getting to know what drives me, inspires me, makes me smile and makes me cry. I don't want to be just another guy with a button down collar that likes kids. I want kids, teachers, parents, community members and all the other stakeholders to know me. Beyond just getting to know me, my hope is that my own words will be someone else's inspiration, become their why, or be the thing they've been needing to hear. Something that lets them know they're not alone. Brad Meltzer said "Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind always." His point is spot on but let me say, you may not know anything about the battle that person is fighting, but you may just hold the right words to deliver them from their struggles just by sharing about what makes you, you. It's in this that we impact lives. We have a chance to do this as educators and I am hoping that my endeavors this week are just the beginning of many moments like that this year. I've come to realize lately that the people I enjoy working with the most are the one's that don't always share my same opinions, approaches or solutions. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we disagree. As long as we can do it respectfully, disagreement usually works out for the better in the long run. For me, this is particularly true for the people I supervise or do performance reviews with.
I know it's intimidating to most people to think about disagreeing with their supervisor. Honestly, experience tells me it's intimidating for most people to come to ask for a reference so I can't imagine how most people feel the first time they actually voice a difference of opinion, As intimidating as it may seem, experience also tells me it's essential in ensuring the process and performance continue to operate at a top-notch level. Yes, there's a small art-form to it but there's a lot to read on the subject about how to do it like this Harvard Business Journal Article. Henry Ford, maybe unintentionally illustrated my point better than anyone in history when he said "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." This quote is often used when citing innovative practices, and rightfully so, but it also illustrates a simple truth about those innovative practices: we can't innovate if we simply exist as "yes bobbleheads." We might just end up with a bunch of faster horses that have simply been genetically modified, and nobody likes GMO's; at least according to my favorite TV commercials. Go ahead, have some polite and courteous disagreement. We work well together when we truly understand where one another is coming from. We will never fully learn about each other by biting our tongues and withholding our own solutions. Learn how to contribute your thoughts and ideas. Together we'll learn how to approach complex situations and we'll never be afraid to address and correct the elephant in the room. Always being agreeable leads you down the path of least resistance, but that path doesn't ever bring you to the top of the mountain. There's been enough writing done on how change will always be a part of life and how we will need to embrace it or be conquered by it. Fair enough. In a world where the average time a company is in the S&P 500 ( a stock market measure) has shrunk from 33 years to less than 20 years, you can see that change effects, people, businesses and so much more at a pace not yet seen. Yes, those not adapting to change are often getting left behind.
But why? Why do we need to change? We get that the way we've always done it may not work anymore, but why? Honestly, I have never had a great answer for this until this week. Ironically, it's simplistic enough to write, a little bit of an oxymoron, but it sure seems to work. Credit for this idea has to go to Cordel Robinson. He is the Pastor of Leadership Development at the church my family attends and his message this past week really made me see the why behind why change is essential. "The key to growing old is living new." That's it. That's why. While Mr. Robinson was speaking to the spiritual side of things, the truth is, that's why we have to change in education, or any other industry. The key to growing old (which we'll define as becoming rooted and established as a school, district or industry) is to live new, Think about it. It's how we're designed as humans. From the time of our birth until the time of our death, our bodies spend our entire lives making us new again. You shed your entire top layer of your skin about once per month. Your body replenishes over 200 billion red blood cells per day. You shed your baby teeth for your permanent teeth. Your hair goes from... well, we won't go there. You get my point. It's our human design. We grow old by living new. Education has to do the same, we have to grow old by living new. That's why we have to continue to change, often times at a rate we're not comfortable with. While we might wish we could slow down sometimes, at least we're not responsible for rebuilding something 200 billion times a day. Before going on vacation, a long weekend getaway, or even just to a day-long meeting, many people will set their out of office auto-reply up on their email. Well, I'm thinking of doing this permanently. No, I'm not resigning my position or going completely off the grid (but we've all thought about doing that before), I'm thinking of doing some of my more "daily" functions that don't require strict confidentiality etc. outside of my office next school year. Specifically, I'd like to find a teacher or teachers that would allow me to come into their rooms as a shared space.
I've tried this before with using flex spaces and other types of areas but the disconnect between the pulse of the school and myself still feels the same. I want to go into classrooms, possibly even when their in the middle of something. I don't want to distract or take away from the learning, I just want to see what that days to my perception and understanding of the school environment. Will I feel or view things differently? Would it do anything for the way a teacher views an administrator? Hopefully, I will get some takers for this little experiment of mine. |
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January 2020
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