What If?

"Promise to yourself to live your life as a revolution and not just a process of evolution."

Anthony J. D'Angelo

There is always a great deal of debate around educational reform issues.  The rationale behind a lot of what we do in education is decades and even centuries old.  We continue to settle for evolving when much of what we do goes against what we believe.


For example:

• We believe learning can occur anytime/anywhere yet we have bells that tell us when the learning starts/stops.  
• We know that students develop at different rates yet we put all students on a 13 year track (K-12).
• We judge student/teacher/principal/school success on the ability to answer multiple choice questions yet we know it does not tell the whole story.
• We force unsuccessful students to repeat the same grade/course in largely the same way and expect different results.

We know that many of our students are entering the workforce without the requisite skills yet we still teach in many places to a standardized test.  In "Stop Stealing Dreams" Seth Godin writes that there are only two tools available to the educator.  The easy one is fear.  Fear is easy to awake, easy to maintain, but ultimately toxic.  The other tool is passion.


I have said before that "Nobody is Passionate about Bubbling in Answer Sheets".  What would happen if we began to operate from a place of passion instead of fear?  Imagine what school and ultimately the world could look like then...

What Are You Doing For Others?

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?' 

Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Many of Dr. King's quotes resonate with me.  I often use them in speeches, presentations, and meetings.  This particular quote defines a large aspect of what we should be doing as educational leaders.    

Many leadership articles will encourage you to find a mentor.  I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for my friend and mentor.  I am encouraging you in this post is to become a mentor.  

One of my guiding leadership principles is the belief in leading, mentoring and developing aspiring leaders.  As a building principal, I always recruited and worked with people that were aspiring leaders.  Not all of these people wanted to run their own schools.  Many became teacher leaders or went into curriculum development, technology integration, etc.  This belief in mentoring allowed me to build capacity in the organization, distribute leadership, and develop talented leaders.

It doesn't matter how much experience you have in the field.  Someone out there has less! You will never know everything there is to know about leadership but you do have a lot to share with aspiring leaders.  We have all made great decisions and terrible mistakes that people can learn from.  Why not share that knowledge while providing a valuable service to the individual and the organization?

Here are some mentoring keys that I have used with aspiring leaders:

1. Set aside time to talk to your mentee.  I often did this in 20-30 minute blocks.
2. Provide your mentee with a leadership project.  I often would tie a school need to something the individual was passionate about.
3. Talk out loud about decisions, events, meetings, etc.  This provides a good sounding board for you but also allows the individual to hear your thinking.
4. Transparency is key.  Aspiring leaders need to see all sides of the profession. They need to know that:  
• Not every decision is a good one.  
• Not every project ends in success.  
• Not every parent is in love with your program

 

I believe that everything comes down to leadership.  Everything great is about leadership and everything bad is about leadership.  It is our responsibility to mentor the aspiring leaders that will lead future schools and future students.  This is just one response to Dr. King's question "What are you doing for others?"  

Priorities, Passion, and a Podcast

"A Great Leader's Courage To Fulfill His Vision 

Comes From Passion, Not Position." 

- John Maxwell

I recently had the privilege of recording a podcast for ASCD on "Examining the Blueprint for Reauthorizing the Elementary Secondary Education Act".  You can read more about it by clicking on the following link.

http://blog.wholechildeducation.org/2010/04/02/upcoming-podcast-reauthorizing-esea/

The podcast airs on April 8th but I thought I'd post a preview of some of the topics that will be discussed.

1. Priorities: The proposed blueprint provide a greater emphasis on administrator accountability.  As an administrator I believe in accountability at all levels.  I've always been open to the idea of a 360 degree evaluation by all stakeholders.  I currently have a boss that conducts my evaluation but my students and our community are the ones that truly count on me.  I believe that all parties should have a voice so why not have a voice in my evaluation.  

2. Passion:  Standards need to be the floor that we walk on and not the bar that we are trying to clear. Schools should be places of passion and not test preparation centers.  We know that all kids are different and yet we try to measure them with the same instrument.  That makes as much sense to me as using a fork to eat soup because it does a good job with other food.  Passion, pride, and performance are the ingredients that have made us a successful school.  We take pride in the things that we are most passionate about.   Embed the essential learning opportunities/standards with a passion-based learning approach.  Engagement will soar along with the minimum standard test scores.

These are just two of the topics that we talked about in the ASCD podcast.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on the proposed changes and their impact on the work that we do.  B

Where Are You Going?

Follow what you are genuinely passionate about and let that guide you to your destination. 

- Diane Sawyer

"Where are you going?" is a question that I often ask people in my daily role as a school principal.  The answers I get vary depending on the person and their interpretation of that very question.  Most people often tell me their destination without much hesitation.  Students tell me that they are going to the cafeteria, bathroom, classroom, etc.  Staff members tell me that they are going home, to a training, or back to their classroom.

Today a student asked me that same question.  My answer was that I'm not sure where I'm going but I'll definitely know when I get there.  The polite student just kept going and is probably still wondering what in the world I was talking about.

I do believe that by following your passions you will end up right where you were supposed to be.  I know for me it is currently in a place that very few thought was ever possible.

I'm very passionate about dispelling myths and proving people wrong in regards to the student achievement of  high poverty students.  I believe strongly that the amount of money in my pocket and the color of my skin have never determined how much I could learn or what I could do in this life.  I'm really not sure where I'm going but I plan of following my passion wherever it leads me.  The journey for me has always been far more exciting than the destination.

What are you passionate about and where is it leading you?

Service Learning and Saving the World

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, 
committed people can change the world.  

Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

"Which part of your school are you most excited about?" This is a question that I get all of the time.  The answer is often surprising because it isn't directly related to the Interactive Whiteboards, Mobile Computer Labs, Wireless Slates, etc. that our school is known for.  The answer is always related to our service learning projects. 

Service Learning is a powerful teaching and learning strategy that integrates instruction with meaningful community service activities.  Our version of service learning incorporates the tools/technology that students love with the service activities that they are passionate about.  

Some of our service learning projects occur right in our own backyard.  Our third graders are currently working on a courtyard garden project that will not only beautify our landscape but also provide food for the local food bank.  The students are engaged in various concepts from the parts of a plant to determining area and perimeter.  These concepts take on a greater meaning when it is taken off of a worksheet and shown in a real landscape.

Other projects span the globe like our recent "Pennies for Peace" campaign.  Fourth grade students are required to learn about natural disasters.  This type of required learning typically occurs in isolation.  This year our students have been engaged in a wide variety of activities from researching the impact storms have on the economy to student-created digital stories focused on preparedness.   The students have also reached out to various countries that have been devastated by recent earthquakes.  This student-led campaign brought in over $1,500.00 for earthquake victims in under four weeks.

Service learning makes the curriculum and essential skills relevant.  The projects are rigorous and the level of learning is much higher than had it occurred in a traditional sense.  Students work together to solve real problems, develop a level of expertise in their area of study, and share their newfound knowledge with classmates, teachers, community members, and the world (via our SchoolTube channel).  

One of the keys to engaging today's learner is to tap into their passion.  Service learning is a way to teach citizenship, academics, and the important belief that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. B