Excursions in Education

Making Learning Relevant

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 04:43:00 +0000

As educators we hear it all the time, “when will I ever use this?”

I take this as my biggest challenge! I will prove to you that it is useful OR I’ll admit you won’t likely need it much.

Earlier today, my sister sent me an unexpected link. It appeared to be about a tv show. I don’t watch much tv… But boy does my sister know me well!!

Check it out: https://theholdernessfamily.com/the-math-of-the-amazing-race/?fbclid=IwAR0KMTUJ-XWq0js_6m4-Aj_vG3IeM3c23vrorpvqUuc3zU-JPvIlPwdFSIs

It’s really all about math, my love! I read it and loved it immediately!!! Then I texted it to a family I supported this week because it applies and builds a connection to learning (while proving math is used in life!)

My challenge to you, educators: look for connections and relevance everywhere. Create a file folder for great resources and pull them out at the appropriate time!

The Power of Stories—Podcasting with Students Coming

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 01:12:00 +0000

I’m in class again tonight and I can feel the neurons firing in my brain!

We are talking about the power of storytelling to share perspectives and to resonate with us. Stories linger. Stories impact. Stories are memorable and easy to share. A well crafted story teaches so much—- content, life lessons, interpersonal skills, shared cultures, and so much more!

I’m struck by the major reduction in storytelling in some areas (fables in early childhood) and yet the rise in others (business, leadership).

All this reminds me, I have an amazing third grade student I’m working with who loves to read with expression! We’ve talked about starting a podcast experience for a group of upper elementary kids in central Anne Arundel County! We are actively preparing this and are recruiting for 12-18 students! This experience will support:

- reading comprehension

- reading fluency

- grammar (punctuation, speaker cues)

- listening and speaking skills

- perspectives

- character development

- podcasting

- sound effects, stage design, and costumes

We are exploring a live performance and a real, multi-episode podcast!!

Let us know if you are interested in learning more or joining us!

Complete math thinking: the four spheres of influence

Tue, 08 Mar 2022 04:38:00 +0000

Sometimes a simple idea can have profound impact, even just through a minor shift in thinking. That’s how I felt about this article.

As a passionate math teacher, I’ve always felt I need to draw connections between content and application to help students find value in learning the math or to help it make sense.

This concept of 4 spheres of thinking takes it to a next level and I like it!

https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-make-math-concepts-feel-relevant-students

“ While there are many pedagogical approaches that help increase engagement in the learning in the classroom, students—and teachers—find it increasingly difficult to make math class feel relevant to their lives.

This disconnect to the content often leads to disconnect in the classroom. Enter the four spheres of relevance: self, community, culture, and the “real” world.”

Great way to think about drawing even more connections between learning and life!

Silos

Fri, 04 Mar 2022 00:25:00 +0000

I love taking classes. So much so, I am currently on sabbatical writing my dissertation at one school and decided to enroll in a second masters program. Tonight’s class was fabulous. Engaged and rigorous discussions.

I’m still learning the campus and really just know the few buildings I’ve had classes in…. Walking back to my Jeep tonight I noticed the Math and Engineering building. This excites me as I love math!

But -a moment later I was struck: if colleges still teach and organize in silos, there’s a trickle down effect in Prek-12 education. It’s what teachers know. They repeat it in their instruction. Kids continue learning in silos.

Education in silos isn’t great. At times, moments od isolated use for content focus is needed. But when we remove the silos and focus on big picture, real world problems/situations knowledge is more sticky, curiosity is engaged, learners are empowered.

#rethinksilos

Removing Rotten Apples

Mon, 28 Feb 2022 20:27:00 +0000

It’s time to talk about a tough topic in education and principaling. Removing rotten apples. AKA the principal’s responsibility ensure poor teachers do not stay in the classroom or profession.

One of the hardest parts of being a principal is dealing with ineffective, poorly behaved teachers. The paperwork, the politics, the emotional impact. Ugh.

And, honestly few principals are trained for it and most were decent, compliant educators before becoming a principal. It’s HARD to sit across the table from a misbehaving or poorly performing employee. And there are rules, laws, and consequences to holding employees accountable. Not to mention the toll it takes on you since your heart is likely designed to help people.

But it’s needed. In fact it’s unethical to NOT take action. One rotten spoils the group. You’ve seen it with fruit, but it’s true with humans too. One person who is negative, mean, spiteful, unethical, corrupt, unwilling to work with certain kids, or simply unable to teach effectively etc does so much damage to children, teammates, schools, communities of teachers, novice teachers, and the profession.

Principals, do the hard work. Protect your students, your school, our profession. Be ethical. Be fair. Provide support, clear expectations, and opportunities to grow and change. But don’t allow poison to take root in your school. Even in a teacher shortage.

Finding Your Life's Calling, Your Purpose and LOVING It!

Sun, 27 Feb 2022 05:29:00 +0000

A few years back, I engaged in a professional development at school and one of my amazing Global Studies teachers led us through an excerise where we identifyed our passion, our mission, and our purpose and I loved the visual and process. I googled some images to refresh myself on the specifics of it and found a few variations of it (see below).

I feel like I'm finally living this now. I've found my purpose--- it inclues what I LOVE (education), what I'm good at (Gallip Strengths Finders assessment top 5, below), and what the world needs (education reform; supporting students, teachers, principals, schools, districts, and creating innovation in education). And... well, it feels so good to live in your passion and purpose. AKA Zone of Genius.

To be fair, I've always worked in my field of passion, my calling: education. I've had so many wonderful and unique roles, experiences and opportunities in the past two decades and I'd suggest some of those were me operating in my Zone of Excellence. This is a step beyond. I'm in my Zone of Genius. My brain is on fire, I'm juggling so many things and I love them all. It fills my bucket and keeps breeding more and more ideas, connections, and fullfillment.

The great news is that one of my strengths and passions is helping others find their Zone of Genius and connecting them to resources, opporutnies, and experiences that help them grow into their Zone of Genius (or Excellence, or Competence).

This brings me to my Gallup Strengths Finders Survey results. For years, I've taken assessments and I've gotten results that were a literal mixed bag... a little bit of this, some of that, a little more of these and not those. Like the Myers Briggs. But I always felt my results would be different on a different day and I know I changed over time-- I felt being a princpal changed some of my MO and how I saw and interacted the the world. For example, I always said I went from wanting/liking/aiming to living in a black and white world, to living in shades of grey because of being a princpal (doling out discipline is not as clear cut as it may seem on the outside as various points of view definitley have merit to consider and understand). I also became way more extroverted (though still likly an introvert at heart).

Back to Gallup. Take a look at my results:

So, I took this assessment back in 2019. I didn't expect much. I got the top five list and the summary, and then comprehensive report and I was stunned. THAT IS ME. It makes sense. Those are certainly things I do! I have always collected THINGS--- articles, books, (dogs?!). I like to be busy/productive, I like to focue on making me better, I am strategic yet innovative, I like to connect with others and connect others to others, and I love ideas... big ideas, little ideas, novel ideas and new ideas. This is me.

With all this in mind, this year I've had time to think and learn, to mentor and grow, to try new things, and to live in my strengths without distraction. It has been soooooo cool. And, so incredibily fulfilling. And I found my ZONE OF GENIUS. I am tapping into what I am good at every single day.

I say all this to say, if you haven't found your zone of genius, if you feel like you are spinning your wheels in a different zone, if you are longing to live in your calling area, your passion that fulfills your purpose and your mission--- THE WORLD NEEDS YOU. It's time to take the big leap. It's time of reflect and determine your zone of genius and to take aciton to live there.

AND--- I'm launching a 5-series, in person workshop in late March to help IGNITE your idea/passion and LAUNCH it! Stay tuned for more info! Email or message me if you want to be on the list to know about it when details are announced this week.

PS Remember, I apolize for typos, brain works fast, fingers type fast, but not always fast enough!

Life’s Journey: full circle, making laps?

Wed, 23 Feb 2022 13:24:00 +0000

It’s funny how our life’s journey sometimes brings us full circle, and every taking laps around some waypoints.

On Monday, I headed over to Sunset Elementary to visit with my friend, mentor. Pulling in presented an unexpected wave of feelings. You see, after my family moved to Maryland in the 1980s we lived right there for a few years while my parents learned the area. I went to Sunset Elementary for 1st and 2nd grade. I walked over, climbed the big hill and walked past the playground into school every day!

Fast forward a bit… 2008… Sunset was home of of first assistant principalship!!! Now that was pretty special! There were even a few teachers still there!

Walking in this week flooded me with so many memories. So many memories!

‘Fixing Schools’ quote

Tue, 22 Feb 2022 05:39:00 +0000

“Effective schools are not perpetual motion machines. You cannot simply get them set up, put them in motion, and watch them go. They require continual leadership to keep going. You can fix schools all you want. If their districts are dysfunctional, they won’t stay fixed.”

Karin Chenoweth in Districts That Succeed: Breaking the Correlation Between Race,

Poverty, and Achievement (Harvard Education Press, 2021)

My New Sunday Wellness Routine

Mon, 21 Feb 2022 04:02:00 +0000

Balance.

I am working to be a more balanced person. I used to be ALL work. My work was just never done. But being all work didn't mean it all got done. To be more balanced, I bought a paddleboard and snowshoes, I started new hobbies like hydroponics and brewing kombuca, and I turned a space bedroom into a craft room. These have been helpful!

Now, this week, I've given myself a new checklist for Sundays to ensure that I take a break, enjoy a slower pace, and that I fill my bucket.

My Sunday list now includes:

Read for fun
Play with pups
Be outside for part of the day
Rest and take a nap if I want to
Go through all my photos from the week and mark favorites, send some to my digital frame and some to my family
Connect with friends
Make something (craft, meal, treat)
Plan week (got a new planner I LOVE). I now spend at least 30-60 mins looking at the week as a whole and each day to know precisely what's coming and be prepared for it.

What's your strategy for balance and wellness? What fills your bucket, refuels you, and helps you be ready for the week ahead yet gives you time to decompress and be human?

Welcome back!!!

Sun, 20 Feb 2022 05:59:00 +0000

And then there comes a day way more than a decade later when you are having so many EXCURSIONS IN EDUCATION that you have to revive the blog you started forever ago!

WELCOME BACK!

I can't wait to update where I am at these days, all the journies and connections happening on my excursion right now and to track it all through this blog. My aim is to blog nearly daily. To create an archive of everything happening around me and to process it for me and share it with you!

So where am I... well I am a princpal on sabbatical this year. During my sabbatical, I am:

A doctoral candidate at NCU aiming to finish this year!
Seeking a second masters at UMBC in Public Policy
A fellow with the Maryland General Assembly supporing the Blueprint for Maryland's Future and its Accountabilty and Implementation Board
A contractor to MSDE through Insight Education supporting 6 assistant principals in the Maryland's Promising Princpal's Academy.
A business owner of A to Z Education Consulting, LLC developing a company that networks top notch education thinkers in all areas to provide top-notch programs and services that model the way forward for education reform and propell education refrom to a national topic that shows the promise, mandates progress, celebrates everyone along the way

An education entreprenuer learning the ins and outs of business
A tech geek trying to keep up with all the processes, tools, resources and new stuff!
A course creator, a program created

An author--- I've drafted my first book!!!!!
An adjunct professor at McDaniel College and admin intern supervisor
A member of the Leading Lady Collective with AliceAnne Loftus
and I'm becoming a much more balanced person--- a good daughter, sister, and aunt; the leader of the pack of 4 lab rescues, an engaged neighbor (go little library!) and someone who prioritizes my health and wellness who has hobbies and is constantly learning new things!

Kombucha is brewing
Hydroponic garden is ready to start again
Paddleboard is waiting for warmer weather and I'm trying to organize a snow tubing trip!
Tomorrow... we learn to crochet....
My craft room is soooooo cool!!!! I make shirts, wood burn, vinyl projects and more!

So... just a few things going on. It's all so very energizing. This is my space for raw reflection (sorry for the typos!! -- where is that darn spellcheck button on blogger?!). My fingers can't keep up with my brain these days... and there are just so many sticky notes and lists.

This blog will chronical all of these areas. It will also serve as a place where I process my education passions and observations and dreams.

Thought this won't be limited to any content, it will focus mostly on education and also education policy, and some of my main focuses are:

Mentoring and Coaching school leaders (dissertation topic)Early childhood education
Innovative instructional transformation
Education reform
Teacher wellness, supporting our profession.... saving our profession
Math instruction
Ensuring targeted instructional approaches for each student
Empowering students to take action, to advocate for themselves and the world around them

It's been a fabulous year. The spring promises to be a wild and amazing ride! I hope you'll subsrcibe and engage! Share the journey with me, send me your ideas, provide your thoughts and counter thoughts, share resources.

Overcoming boredom in education

Sat, 12 Jul 2014 21:54:00 +0000

Engagement is a hot topic in education these days. While sometimes hard to quantify and oftentimes lacking consensus in definition, engagement is important to monitor and improve. Today I started reading The Principal: Three Keys to Maximizing Impact by Michael Fullan and right there in the opening chapter he describes how both students and educators are bored in school. Unfortunately, I agree with him.

The stats he offers are sad, disheartening....

"Two thirds of initially happy kindergartners become alienated from schooling by the time they reach grade 9. (Jenkins, 2013) Teacher satisfaction has declined 24 percent since 2008, when 62 percent reported feeling "very satisfied;" within five years only 38 percent were saying that (Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 2013). Meanwhile and not unrelated, 75 percent of principals feel that their job has become too complex, half of all principals feel under great stress "several days a week," and the percentage who say they are satisfied with their work has dropped from 68 to 59 since 2008."

But it makes me wonder.... how do we address these, how do we change the stats for the better?

For today, I'm thinking about our students. Personally, I've always believed that classrooms need to be active, engaging, fun places where students are anything but passive. I love hands on projects, making students wonder, hooking them with a challenge or tapping into their interest areas.

Recently some new strategies have been on my mind that help address this too...things like The Maker Movement, Genius Hour, Project Based Learning, and Inquiry Based Learning.

What changes do you see that would help hook out students, engage them and make love coming to school to learn?

Defeat stops learning

Sun, 09 Feb 2014 02:25:00 +0000

For hours today, I tried. I really, really tried. I just don't think my brain works the way my professor wants students in our class to think. I'm supposed to interpret and apply the organizational theory metaphor of brain to schools. Apparently I am far too literal to make this work! I enjoyed the articles I had to read, but I don't really get how they apply to this metaphor. And worse than that, I've already taken a stab to two similar organizational theory metaphors and tried to apply them to schools...but I didn't do a very good job.

In a perfect world, I'd be able to look back at the feedback I received on my previous two, similar papers and be able to create a new response that is closer to meeting my professor's expectations. But this world is far from perfect. And my frustration with post graduate school continues.

I'm not sure I've ever felt so defeated in my learning career. Now I see just how much defeat can interfere with learning. Maybe it's beyond interfering. I feel like I've hit a total road block with this class and this paper. I've found so many other things to do today even though I set the time aside for this paper. However, every time I try to write... I realize just how unsure I am about the topic, so I type and then delete sentences.

Beyond my personal frustration, I wonder how many students in K-12 classrooms experience this type of defeat and how they cope with it? Is this level of frustration a reason why some students detach from the learning experience, stop trying, and simply just don't care?

Once we recognize the impact of defeat on the learning process I think it's really important to think about how we as educators can ensure that students don't experience this level of defeat and frustration. My suggestions:

Teach clearly-- know the points you are making and make them explicit
Monitor students' understanding through the use of formative assessments, check-ins and tasks that require the student to restate/paraphrase the main ideas so misconceptions can be fixed early in the learning process
Understand that students learn in different ways and at different rates. Be prepared to explain the concept in a variety of ways to meet that learner where he/she is.
Provide helpful, targeted, useful feedback early and consistently
Encourage! Find something positive to use to motivate the learner.

I'm sure I'll get through this. All things said and done, maybe I'll even appreciate this experience in the long run as it is making me be much more reflective about the learning process from the perspective of a learner. I just wish someone would tell professors in secondary settings some of the lessons I'm learning.

When being in school sucks the life out of you....

Sun, 05 Jan 2014 15:41:00 +0000

Typically, I love being in school. I love learning, I love reading and I love thinking about things from a new perspective. But today I'm not feeling it. I'm sad to admit that my doctoral program has sucked the life out of me over this winter break. The shame of it is that I'm not even officially in class yet. The even bigger shame of it is that these two classes are the reason why I selected this degree and they are very interesting to me. I should LOVE being in these classes. My 'spring' classes start on Friday. But, just to be prepared for our first class we had to:

Read 3 books as well as (large) parts of other books
Read lots of articles
Write three papers (2 have to be precisely 6 pages and written to the exact specifications inside the professors head that aren't clear on paper but she's given us three pages of 'suggestions to 'help' us understand what she wants; and one that is a 5 page summary)
Watch a 2 hour movie, plus a clip of another movie.

We received all of this information maybe the week before Christmas. Then we started the mad dash of ordering books and planning how to accomplish all of this while also trying to enjoy the holiday and do other household projects. Enter the HUGE calendar and an awesome friend to support me through this. I've been plugging away at it, but I don't feel like I've made a tremendously amount of progress. The big set back was the revision to the paper description that came AFTER I'd written my first draft of the paper. :-( So last night as I was reading and reading and reading, I must admit, I started to get really bitter about all this and found myself feeling like this just isn't worth it. And then I realized that this is a very sad statement about education. It's not alright for being in school to suck the life out of any student.

I believe strongly that every student, no matter the age -- prek-doctoral studies-- deserves:

A relationship with their teacher/professor...at least the person knows their name and shows that they care about your learning
A reasonable work load
Meaningful tasks that are engaging, memorable and assist in learning important concepts
Meaningful feedback to confirm and expand learning

By providing these things, not only are students more excited about learning they actually learn more. At this point, I'm reading to complete the to-do list, but I don't have the luxury of really thinking about the material.

I will keep plugging through and I'm sure I'll get it all done by Friday. I hope that my impression of the professor and the course changes upon officially beginning the class because I really want to learn this content and enjoy it.

Either way, I think it's important for all teachers to consider these notions on behalf of all students. Let's resolve to do everything possible to keep learning as a meaningful, enjoyable process!

Reflecting and planning/dreaming

Tue, 31 Dec 2013 01:42:00 +0000

With one day left in 2013, I am finding myself deep in thought both reflecting on the past year and thinking about how to make the new year even better. I'm not a fan of New Years Resolutions, but I do value reflection, planning and dreaming.

So, 2013 flew by but was amazing. My school year in numbers:
4th year as Principal at SSES
Member of 1 new district level committee (social media)
4 amazing teachers hired to join our team at school
Attended 4 professional conferences (responsive classroom, ASCD x 2, NAESP)
Accumulated over 1400 tweets on school account
1 school blog started with many entries (SouthShoreAACPS.edublogs.org)
6 doctoral classes, 18 credits accomplished (1year down!)
4 entries posted to my personal blog (excursionsineducation.blogger.com)
Co-launched 1 new twitter chat (#mdeschat, Thursdays at 9pm)
Read too many professional books to count (a few favorites: The Smartest Kids in the World, Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind, Professional Conversations, David and Goliath- ok, just started but 1/2 way done)

I'm sure there's a lot more details and successes from the year to include.... and i will as i continue to reflect on the year, but for now this is a start.

One of the most impactful for me has been starting the doctoral program at with an emphasis on educational leadership and policy. 6 classes and 18 credits later... I'm definitely surviving (I think). Being a student is making me think about education with a fresh perspective. It makes me grumpy at times because it reminds me that we are doing education all wrong! My goal is to channel that grumpiness into positive change as we move into the new year (especially with regard to how we think about assessment, inquiry, student ownership of learning, and mastery).

So, as I think about what I was to accomplish in 2014 professionally, educationally and with regards to school.... Here are my early ideas:

-Spend as much time as possible with students, get into classrooms and be better connected to learning.
- Continue expanding our embrace of innovation by joining global projects, inspiring kids to dream big by tackling real world problems, and encouraging risk-taking by colleagues
- Challenge status que and 'the way we've always done things in education,' both at my school and at a bigger level.
-Embracing blogging as a professional tool to allow me to think through my ideas a more and to elicit conversation from colleagues near and far. (ie more than 4 posts next year!).

I'd love your advice and input about how to make these things happen consistently in 2014.

Democracy and Truth

Sun, 22 Sep 2013 03:23:00 +0000

This will be a short entry. I am wrestling with big topics, topics that don't have easy answers. Somehow I suspect that this torment is the desired result of my professors and others I've been conversing with about these topics.

The topics I'm wresting with are Democracy and Truth. Both arose from my doctoral class this weekend. It was the first week of my two new classes, Comparative Group Analysis (Stats 2) and Issues in Education. As with most math classes, no controversy in the stats class....but the Issues class got me thinking. Our theme for this weekend was Democracy in Schools. Originally, I was good with it and came up with several applications that model democracy for students at my school allowing them to truly experience democracy and learn at a you age about the benefits of being an involved citizen...but them it got deeper and less 'easy' to process and resolve.

Some of the questions running through my head are:
- When history writes our story, who gets to be remembered as 'right'?
- If everyone interprets the world through their own experience, traditions, beliefs, etc ...how can one 'true' version of history ever be documented?
- How can one know they are being told the truth about events, history, etc...?
- Is our democracy truly representing all?
- Is democracy open to all citizens in our country?
- How do/can schools prepare children to inherent and better our country, society, and world?

These are HUGE issues in our country and in our world. But they are not easy and they may not have answers. At this point, I'm settling with the resolution that there's benefit in at least wrestling with the issues. Avoiding them would be the true harm.

Why educators need to be students too

Sun, 28 Jul 2013 03:33:00 +0000

Being in a doctoral program is teaching me so much. But it's not just the content of the classes that I'm learning. I'm propelled into deep reflection about teaching and learning during each class weekend. After this weekend's marathon session of classes, I am reminded that it is vastly important for teachers to be students themselves frequently. I need to make a strong distinction here: I am not advocating that educators be life long learners (although I do believe that this is also an essential requirement for educators); rather, educators need to be enrolled in someone else's class as a student and be in the role of the learner frequently during their career. Here's why:

As a professional educator also engaged in the role of a student, you:

* Develop empathy for your students -- you remember what it's like to learn something brand new, what it's like to feel clueless, you do everything you can to try to sit and listen with perfect behavior for 7 hours straight, remember what teamwork/collaboration feels like, recall how much you strive for a great grade but often times feel like its out of your reach (yes, tough day in my stats class!!)

* Insight deep reflection on practice -- is a traditional grading system fair, is it good enough to cover the content or do students need to learn it, how do visuals/technology/collaboration enhance learning, how do formative assessments inform instruction, how do you measure learning, what makes content memorable and meaningful

* Remain current, fresh and alive in your practice by 1) seeing the strategies another teacher employs, 2) feeling the impact of those strategies as a student and 3) importantly, taking the time to reflect on both to adjust and improve your practices

Specifically, as a student again since January, there have been several huge areas that have become of major interest to me because of my experience as a learner. They are:
* the need for physical movement
* the importance of collaboration
* the difference that true feedback makes on understanding, learning and development
* the value of formative assessment and student input/feedback regarding instruction
* assessment and grading practices and policies (including the supreme benefit of re-do policies)

With these thoughts, and more importantly, experiences fresh on my mind, I plan to actively advocate for what's best and what's right for students with regard to these topics when we return to school in the fall.

Brain fog resulting from working in silos

Tue, 23 Jul 2013 04:35:00 +0000

It's not often that I have an experience that reminds me distinctly of high school, but around midnight tonight I did. Throughout the day today I did several things all related to my growth as a professional and as a learner, including:

Worked on a paper for my educational planning class
Completed a module for an online class about the CCSS Math standards
Read two chapters in Essential Questions by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe
Investigated the NBCT renewal process and started planning my journey
Read and tried to comprehend chapter 7 of my stats class

As I was finishing the chapter in stats and muddling through the practice problems, I realized that 1) it was beyond my brain's optimal work time and 2) all of the concepts and thoughts were swirling randomly in a fog of unrelated learning. In that moment, I remembered high school...working on Algebra 2 problems followed immediately by some AP European history mixed with a little chemistry and lets not forget a novel study of the Grapes of Wrath. No connections or relationships, just a series of tasks that had to be done before school the next day.

Unlike yesterday, where I blogged about experiences coming together, today there is no overlap. No commonality, and no break through of thought. And, no application or way for me to use all this new knowledge. Learning skills in isolation doesn't work too well for me. And, it certainly doesn't work very well for our students. But yet, it is still common place in schools from elementary school to doctoral programs.

Education reform can't come quick enough for me! I dream of the day where content is truly embedded in real-world, inquiry based problems and experiences, where content is carefully and meaningfully selected and organized to maximize the understanding and depth of learning for students.

Unfortunately, my world will continue to remain in these silos for the next year. Perhaps my task needs to be to find the common, intersecting points between each of these long-lasting expenses I've gotten myself into. One thing is for sure: a lot of reflection on the learning process awaits me.

Energized by excellent summer of Professional Development

Mon, 22 Jul 2013 03:58:00 +0000

With just about one year since I last posted here, I'll skip all the reasons why and jump right into the content of my post. As always, I'll aim to post much more frequently and to actually develop a habit of blogging.

With the summer about 1/2 way done, my brain is shifting to the task of preparing for the fall. For me, the biggest, most important task I need to prepare for is teachers' first week back, ... well actually teachers' first day back. This is the day that I get to collaborate with my colleagues, establish our tone and purpose for the year and set the course for an excellent year. While I've not yet come up with my theme for the year, many topics are swirling around in my head ranging form innovation, invention, excellence to global connections, deep learning and many more. Eventually I'll find just the right theme to embed all of these ideas into one and it will all fall in place.

Along those lines, I'm finally at the place where all the wonderful PD opportunities I've experienced this summer are all starting to gel in my brain and shape my thinking for the coming year. Here's a quick summary of the highlights of my summer PD experiences so far:

Pasi Sahlberg, author of Finnish Lessons, visited George Washington University right after school let out for summer and really made me think. My biggest take away: the success of the Finnish Education system is due in large part to the country's firm commitment to education and a culture that truly values education. He also stressed the importance of having kids invent.
ASCD's Conference on Teaching Excellence held at the National Harbor Convention Center in Maryland. Where I had the opportunity to:

Join Grant Wiggins for an extended session about his book Essential Questions. Perfect timing for this book to debut as my school just started working with this and we need guidance!
Delve into the Habits of Mind resources and ways of thinking

NAESP's Annual Conference held at the Baltimore Convention Center here in Maryland. My key takeaways from this experience were:

Crayola's session about creativity in leadership (creating a new species from Model Magic was incredible!-- Go Team, Bunkie!) [Note to self, this experience made higher level thinking skills tangible]
Eric Jensen's KeyNote session was an inspiring reminder about the impacts of poverty, chronic stress, and the need for strong early education, vocabulary development and caring teachers who hold students accountable while believing that brains can change.

Numerous summer reads including,

Elements of Assessment by Douglas Reeves
Classroom Habitudes by Angela Maiers

"We must be the learners and leaders we wish our students to be." pg. 13

Essential Questions by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (just started officially today)

This is the abbreviated list of excellent content that has been streaming through my head since mid-June. I am so excited to finally have it all start to come together. I'm in the beginning stages of planning the three 1/2 day sessions I'll have with my teachers to kick-off an incredible year and I'm so excited about it!

To top it off, tonight I finally sat still long enough to learn Evernote. I fell in love with it in minutes and don't know why I didn't start using it instantly when I downloaded it last year!

I love the speed of summer since it allows time to digest and process information!

Reframing the 1st day of school

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 01:50:00 +0000

My sister and her family live in Germany. Everything happens 6 hours earlier there.

So, this morning, I woke up ready for the first day of school. But, to be honest, that certain special level of excitement was missing. I didn't necessarily notice its absence, until.... I checked my email before I got out of bed and saw my nieces and nephews posing for their annual first day of school photos and I remembered just how excited our students are for the first day.

I thought about this all day long as I greeted each student to our school this year and visited classrooms to start the year off of a great note.

The important part of setting aside all of the preparation, worry, and work of launching a new school year is remembering that our students, no matter how young, start today wondering how their year is going to go. They may wonder:

Will my teacher like me?
Will my teacher help me make friends?
Will my teacher pick on me?
Will my teacher see how hard I try?

It really is all about them!

Happy 1st day!

Quick afterthought... Saw a tweet by Joshua Starr, Superintendent of MCPS, asking if our students really forget the rules and need to spend the first day reviewing them every year.... Good question... Definitely something to think about. Maybe some of this is setting the tone, establishing boundaries, but how necessary is it?

Amazing speech from IB Conference in Cancun

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 20:24:00 +0000

In July I had the extremely awesome opportunity of attending the IB Americas conference in Cancun. I have so many links, connections and take-a-ways to revisit and post,....eventually. But the most inspiring, touching moment of the conference for me was a speech by a young woman who has accomplished much, while also overcoming much. IB posted the video yesterday! Reminds me that ESOL learners need to be supported, encouraged and held accountable...success takes hard work, but is within reach.

Connected Educator Book Study

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 02:19:00 +0000

Connected Educator Month is an amazing concept and, although I'm only connecting to a few opportunities, I've already found it to be full of excellent resources that are re-inspiring me to learn, grow and share. This evening, the book study of "The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age," began with a webinar. I'm excited to read this book and discuss it with all these folks from around the world. And... yet another opportunity to better learn a site I don't know too well... Ning.

The resources for this book study are: Book and Ning. Meets online on Wednesday nights at 9pm and is archived if you can't be online.

Connecting students with the world

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 02:18:00 +0000

And so the back to school season officially kicks off for me! All this time off this summer was needed and wonderful. I'm refreshed and ready for the school year--- mentally at least! Now it's time for the practical stuff.... welcome back letters, tweaking class assignments, planning PD sessions, meeting with staff members, making sure our building is ready, construction meetings, schedules, lots of county meetings, etc...

In the midst of all these details, I don't want to lose sight of the great resources and my renewed enthusiam for incorporating both technology and global awareness activities into the core of what we do. As a PYP candidate school, global awareness is a pillar of our thinking. So, resources will be necessary. I recently stumbled upon three highly recommended sites that I don't want to forget about. Haven't explored them yet, but hope to soon....

          http://www.flatclassroomproject.org/

          http://www.globalreadaloud.com/

          http://www.epals.com/

Finally, another great, thought provoking resource I viewed last night was the Margaret Heffernan: Dare to disagree Ted Talk. Not only do we need to surround ourselves with people who will challenge our thinking, sometimes we need to be that person who challenges the accepted thinking of others. Not always the most comfortable role to be in, but it's necessary for growth!

QR code references, Admin Saturday chat and more

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 16:00:00 +0000

With only two weeks until teachers return, I am building a fun, informative, meaningful, hands-on, active PD session in my head. It will send teachers into our community in small teams with several purposes:

1) See, experience and better understand the divsity of the community we serve.
2) Use new technologies in meaningful ways to explore, locate resources and get ideas for how to use these same technologies with students (iPads, cameras/flip cameras, online tools...maybe Google Earth...)
3) Inspire thinking about local field trip possibilities, hopefully leading to students taking action to contribute to our community.

One technology tool I'm thinking of incorporating is QR codes... While I've used them before, I've not created my own or incorporated them into PD. My morning Twitter round-up lead me to several great resources...

A new Twitter conversation for me to follow...although not likely in real time because it is SO early on Saturday mornings. #satchat Today's archive had lots of great links... One I'll need to link to once I find it again is a great list for new ( and experienced) principals of summer to-do list.

Two comprehensive QR resources:

Great resource of picture books to address bullying: http://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2012/08/04/wonder-ful-picture-books/

I can't wait to really pull this PD session together!

Several of these links came from new connections I made through the #geniushour chat the other night...most notablely from JoyKirr on Twitter. The power of being a Connected Educator is amazing. Thanks to all for sharing so many great resources and ideas.

Where have 5 years gone?

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 02:42:00 +0000

Realizing that I needed a blog just for my own personal use, to document and store all the great links, articles, thinking, and resources I'm finding, I returned to Excursions, which I started back in 2007. It's hard for me to remember back to that time! Clues on this site help me piece it all together....

So since then, I returned to school-based positions in an administration realm. Initially, I served as an Assistant Principal for two years, and now, I've completed two years as a Principal. My interests in education remain diverse. This summer has been full of rich professional development experiences, great professional books, and plenty to make me think about the future of education. Currently, the most pressing topics in my educational world are:

Inquiry based teaching
IB/PYP programme
Instructional technology
Arts integration
Staff development
Math (of course)
and many more....

My favorite books to read this summer:

Black Ants and Buddhists
Best Practice
Instructional Rounds
...and... Many MAT test prep books...

Several more books remain on my summer reading list...I don't think I'll get to the, all, but they will carry over to the fall reading list.

Hence the return to this blog. I need a place to document the ideas, resources and connections. So ...more to come soon. Although, I fully realize this is a dangerous time of year to start anything....I'll try my best!

Lots of interesting stories about technology in education

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 11:58:00 +0000

I have not fallen off the face of the Earth just yet--- I fell behind in reading and posting to the blog! I've been keeping up with pertinent news, by opening more and more tabs across my browser's window. Finally today I'm going through the articles and finding some pretty interesting stuff....

For instance-- for those in my local area-- I did not see this in the local news papers, but I did catch it on ASCD's SmartBrief (2/3 of the way down Successful Charter School...)-- KIPP's Harbor Academy in Annapolis will shut down next year. Not because they haven't been successful, but because they can't find space. This considering that Annapolis Middle School is half empty, but won't share space with the successful KIPP program.... very interesting. Honestly, I'm sad to see one of the 2 county charter schools close. It's definitely very, very difficult to be a charter school in AA County and in Maryland. With hopes of one day opening a school of some type, it's sad to see a successful model close its doors.

As for the rest of these links.... I'm closing out the browser windows and linking to articles that catch my attention!

Cool article about a technology camp in New Orleans. My favorite quote: "Our district puts the money and the technology into students' hands," Charles said. "That's what this camp is all about."

Another cool quote from an interesting article about SMART boards and Promethean boards (seems the term SMART dominates even when referring to other company's products!): "It is this integration of technology into classrooms that is "really changing the classroom culture and helping us to become better educators," Cleveland Stewart, superintendent of the Gateway School District, told a group of district board members and elected officials last Friday." Check that out again--- technology integration is changing classroom culture and making teachers better. It's SO true. Even better--- those words came from a Superintendent! A little further down, another good quote, "Much of what we have incorporated into the classrooms is nothing new to many of our students. They already use much of what we're now just bringing into the classroom," Ms. Teaters said."

Educators aren't the only ones trying to tap into our students' technology tendencies.... Doctors are now using technology to reach / teach kids also!
"Physicians and nurses at Cook Children's Medical Center are urging youngsters to try a shoot-'em-up computer game called Re-Mission that teaches them about their disease and pushes them to keep up with treatments.
Re-Mission is just one example of an emerging spate of so-called "serious games" that blend technology, entertainment and education to reach the so-called Xbox generation."

The article discusses other potential uses for these 'serious' video games, including awareness games related to healthy living and childhood obesity.
Another fascinating article about San Diego rolling out a 1-to-1 initiative using custom laptops running Linux.
It starts with a great goal: "Always-On is split into three phases, and SDUSD is in the middle of the first phase, which began in March. The project's goal is to give students access to laptop computers with software tools and resources to help prepare them to learn, live, and work in the 21st century."

Here's how it's working now: Phase I of the pilot, which began in March, used $300,000 to fund machines in nine elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. Each teacher has his or her own set of laptops; some have the same students all day long, and others rotate students, so the students who go to that specific teacher's classroom have access to the laptops."

Now if this article summary doesn't grab you, I'm not sure what will!
East Chicago, Michigan City, Switzerland County, and Tell City share more than a common Hoosier heritage: They--along with more than 70 other Indiana high schools--are using inexpensive computers and open-source software to reinvigorate teachers, engage learners, and ensure that Indiana's students are prepared for the world of tomorrow.
Great quote about kids today: "When asked if the Linux operating system and open-source software had hampered his productivity in any way, one student said, "It's mostly the same--the web is the same, the word processor is better than what I have used before, and Moodle is great. I have a Windows computer at home, and my friend has a Mac. I use Nintendos, Xboxes, and PlayStations, and I also use my cell phone, my sister's cell, and my friend's. They are all just a little different, but it is no big deal. It's just nice having access to computers in my classrooms." It's clear that today's students are routinely involved with multiple operating systems and software as a regular part of their lives.
The results?? It's working!
"I have never seen this degree of collaboration and excitement among teachers in all my years as a superintendent. The students are excited, too. It works," says John Williams, superintendent of the Rush County Schools.

"These are not computer labs. The technology is in my classroom. Every student has access [to a computer] every period of the day. The computers are available on demand," says Carla Beard, English department chair at Connersville High School. "Not only do we use a variety of software packages, we also have full access to the internet and all of its resources. inACCESS is making a positive difference in learning. Students are engaged and feel more comfortable with rigorous research on more complex topics. This is what they are used to and how they have learned to work."

I think that just about sums it up! If only we could get all schools and students to that point. Access to technology is critical. It's exciting to see progress in that direction and to read positive reports about successful programs!