Teachers of the Future

Let me start by saying this was not my original idea for this blog post. But after being a part of the planning committee for edcampmetrodc and watching the Connected Educators Google Hangout, I decided that I needed to write a post about being connected and the power of twitter. I have learned from more amazing educators through twitter than through any conference or professional development opportunity. To me, twitter is the single most important tool that I’ve found in terms of keeping me inspired, creative, and staying on top of things (as best as one can, at least). Twitter allows me to stay connected and expand my connections constantly.

We have talked, many times, about how we can be more connected in the Teachers of the Future program. We have discussed google hangouts and twitter chats, but nothing has really taken off. As we come close to the end of the school year, I feel a little saddened by the fact that I feel I’m going to lose touch with what you awesome educators are doing. I really, really enjoyed all of the videos that we put together at the beginning of the year – they gave me a real personalized sense of who everyone was and a glimpse into passions and interests. I have also really enjoyed everyone’s blog posts… But I just feel like we could be doing so much more!

So I guess this brings me back to the importance of twitter. Just reflecting on edcampmetrodc, when putting together a summary of the day, the first thing I took to was twitter. Twitter is a powerful backchannel at conferences, to share and keep track of ideas and resources from sessions. Additionally, when searching through what people had tweeted for the day, I was able to learned about what went on in the sessions that I could not attend (since multiple ones were going on simultaneously). The twitter feed from the day was also a way for me to keep connected with people that I met, for me to learn more about what they are currently doing, and to keep up to date with their projects in the future. I think one of the reasons we didn’t start using twitter to keep connected early on was because some people didn’t really use twitter or didn’t feel that comfortable with it. I’ll be honest (and I know I’m being a bit extreme here), but I almost think that being on twitter should be a requirement in this program. I don’t think that a weekly twitter chat is necessary, or even the best way to get things started. In fact, that could be overwhelming to most twitter newbies. When I started using twitter, I just lurked at first. After a couple months of that, I just began retweeting. It really took me several months to feel comfortable sending out my own tweets. I’m on the shy side, and putting myself out there like that was just scary at first. But once I started to really see the power of twitter and what an amazing community I could become a part of, the excitement of it all way overpowered any fears, and now I don’t know what I would do without my twitter buddies. So I’d like to propose the following: let’s just start by creating a hashtag – #NAISToF (capitalization doesn’t matter). Those of us using twitter already can get things started by tweeting to that hashtag (or adding the hashtag to a RT). If our goal could just be for each of us to contribute 5 things to that hashtag, that would give us a great place to start. I’ll be responsible for sharing that out with the group for now so that even people who don’t yet have a twitter account can follow. I really hope that this post sparks some conversation.

Please feel free to disagree with any (or all) of what I’ve written. My hope in all of this is that we stay connected and learning from one another, well beyond this year!

PS – For those of you new to twitter, who would like a place to start, you can also just take a glimpse through my daily reads list.

I would recommend following these #edchat Super Stars

PPS – If you have a daily reads list, please share in the comments!

The very first Earth day took place on April 22, 1970. As all proud Wisconsin residents know, Earth Day was founded by very our own U.S. Senator, Gaylord Nelson who conceived of Earth Day as a national teach-in on the environment. I teach at a school whose mission is to inspire young people to environmental stewardship. Here, every day is, in theory, Earth Day because we intentionally weave environmental stewardship into our courses and into almost everything we do. This is true not just of our science courses, but of my Spanish classes, our English and History classes, our College and Careers curriculum, our Physical Education equivalent, the food we serve, how we use our facilities, and our extracurricular activities. This year, for Earth Day, we are celebrating sustainable living with the themes of “Living Lightly” and “Taking a Closer Look.” The focus is simple things that everyone can do to celebrate nature and to reduce his or her impact on the planet. Staff and students are all putting their individual talents and interests to use by leading workshops on a variety of activities: Bees and Butterflies, Green Cooking, Container Gardening, Ethnobotany, Gifts from Recycled Materials, Birding, Homemade Laundry Detergent and Dryer Balls, Nature Photography, Campsite Assessment Surveys, and Natural Materials Dream Catchers. Earth Day participants will wear old clothing or clothing made from recycled or repurposed materials. (I am going to wear my organic cotton, fair wage, sweatshop-free Chico Mendes T-shirt and some hand-me-down jeans that are older than my high school-aged students.) We will end the day with a drum ceremony and cultural presentation by local youth and adult Native American performers. We are all very excited about our celebration of Earth Day 2013. What did you do this Earth Day at your school? What do you do daily in your classroom or at your schools to promote environmental sustainability? As educators, local individuals, and global citizens, what can we all do to help save our fragile planet?

On Sunday, March 24, the headmaster of our school, Elizabeth Duffy, held a unique event on campus for an even more unique purpose. Lawrenceville is engaging in work on its strategic plan, and as part of that initiative, Ms. Duffy has been focused on broadening the mission of the Lawrenceville School. Particularly, she along with a number of our trustees, teachers, and students are interested in the question: What is the public purpose of private education?

The event centered around this question and in an effort to bring in different perspectives on the issue, the headmaster invited current and former students, teachers, staff, and members of the local Lawrence Township community. Our goals was to brainstorm ideas and develop practical steps we can take to define the possibilities for Lawrenceville’s future.

The format of the event: a charette. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the concept, a charette is a timed, collaborative effort to engage in solving or brainstorming solutions to a design problem. In this case, the problem was to define and imagine in what ways Lawrenceville can use its resources to engage students in leadership and learning that have an impact beyond the gates of the school.

One activity was to break up into small groups around different categories. The category my group chose was social entrepreneurship and our task was to imagine we were planning an issue of The Lawrentian magazine 20 years into the future. The Lawrentian is a magazine put out quarterly that highlights events and stories about the life of the school as well as alumni stories. As our working group was focused around social entrepreneurship, so would our magazine be. On our team we had two students, two faculty members, and a parent.

Collaboratively we came up with the idea of a new type of course whereby students, instead of learning traditional disciplinary knowledge, would become workers in a microfinance company run fully by the students. Students would enroll in the course for two years. The first year they would work as an apprentice to a 2nd year student and learn the skills and responsibilities of a particular job within the company. The second year, they would be “experts” at their job and teach the incoming first year students.

The goal of the endeavor would be to provide students real-life situations for collaboration, experimentation, risk-taking, reflection, and learning, while also giving them opportunities to engage in partnerships with communities outside our gates and develop pride in helping others to help themselves.

I’m sincerely pleased that Lawrenceville is making the move to re-think the values our curriculum and programs imply so that we can orient ourselves toward positively impacting the broader communities in which we’re embedded. Yesterday’s charette was a start and hopefully one that has planted new seeds which will continue to grow in the years to come, given they are nurtured and have the space to grow.

I have been interested in the role schools play in fostering community for a long time. A while back I read a book, now a favorite, by Peter Block, titled: “Community”. In it, he argues that in order for a community to succeed, each person within it must feel a sense of belonging. This sense of belonging, in order to be authentic, should come from the actions we take to be stewards of our communities. Until we capitalize on the diversity of talent, spirit, and thought among us, and until we learn to value outwardly, through acts of appreciation and sincere recognition the commitments and contributions each of us makes to enrich our communities, we cannot ensure that everyone feels that deep sense of belonging characteristic of true communities.

I like to think that one day our schools, public and private alike, will be places that not only teach our students the skills they need to survive in whatever century, whatever job market, whatever society they find themselves, but also give them the opportunity to work not only at the mind, but also at the heart. Someone asked me recently: What do you dislike most about the education system? Although there are many aspects of the system that I appreciate, the answer to her question came quickly and easily: that we’re so focused on achievement, success, and outcomes that we’ve forgotten what it might look like to live into environments that foster compassion, self-reliance, trust, and community. Yesterday’s charette was a refreshing reminder that change can happen when we decide to make it.

There are always those snippets that stick in my mind at the end of a conference presentation or in this case, en EdCamp session. Listening to Don Buckley describe design thinking, I latched onto the term he used “agile mindset.” What people really need in the 21st century is an ability to update, shift gears, change course. His example was the continual stream of updates we get for our computers, but I see it as much more than that. We need to be willing to learn, always, everywhere.

On Spring Break this week, I asked a friend to suggest a book I could read where I could kind of get lost in the story. I wanted to think but not too much. Bill suggested Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. It did not disappoint. For those who may want to read it, I will avoid any spoilers here. I raced through it in a few days, which is no small feat with small children around.

The book is about an old mystery with many people looking for the keys to unlock it. One important character, Corvina, is convinced that a traditional approach is necessary. He is not interested in hearing new ideas. He is classic example of a fixed mindset. Another character, Mr. Penumbra is willing to try new methods to tackle the challenge. To me, he represents more of a growth mindset, where he is ready to incorporate new ideas. The main character, Clay, is the one who represents the agile mindset. He is willing to try new things and reconsider old ideas, combining new technology with old technology. He is able to see things others cannot because he looks at the situation from every angle.

I have been a big advocate of the growth mindset since reading Carol Dweck. Now, I am adding the agile mindset to what I want for myself and my students. Growth and agility combined are what we need for the 21st century to be able to solve the challenges we face. We cannot throw out old ideas simply because they are old. Solutions can come from anywhere. Inspiration can be triggered by an infinite number of things, if we are open to receiving it. We need to shift our thinking enough to be able to recognize those opportunities. Laser focus can be very useful, but so can a willingness to shift our attention. Sometimes the best ideas come when we are not locked into a solution mindset.

Even with this post, I am hoping people will challenge my ideas, add their thoughts and move the conversation forward.

I am fascinated by the legal misadventures. Even though this NAIS session was at 8am on a Friday morning (the worst time slot), I was determined to fight the Philadelphia morning traffic and be at this session bright and early. I’m a firm believer that skeletons are placed in closets; someone is responsible. Curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to hear real stories. Why would a head of school (HOS) willingly talk about Skeletons in the Closet?

I was not disappointed. Kevin Plummer started this presentation telling a very specific tale. He was a candidate for HOS position in 2007.  On his way to the interview, he was met at the airport by a board member. He was told that there was something he needed to know before he proceeded to the interview and that the board member would understand if Kevin decided not to continue with the interview. By this time, Kevin had every person in the room at the end of their seat.

Kevin listened to a tale of scandal, and decided to continue with the interview. He was indeed offered the position. He told of long hours debating if he should take this position with all the accompanying stress of if he should walk away.  Kevin took the position with the idea that it was an incredible opportunity to immediately exercise positive leadership. This school was fertile ground for new conversation, with new leadership.

I took pages of notes at this session. However, this is not the place to share the details of a painful scandal. What is important are the lessons. Tamsen Leachman from Fisher & Phillips was very clear in stating that this example was one of many. The frequency of school scandals like the one at Penn State is alarming. Once one person comes forward, others will join them. If you do find a skeleton, what to do, how to react is extremely important.

Kevin offered his perspective on rumors: “My gut, my experience tells me no child is going to make up a story on purpose, it is unbelievable rare for this to happen.” Any incident brought up by a child begs for your immediate attention. As soon as you notice that kids have formed a space around a teacher or coach, the rhythm changes. All schools have a rhythm; people in the school know that rhythm and can sense when that rhythm has been disturbed.

All schools should have a “speed chart” of what to do. Call your school lawyer first, then your board president. Call in the first few minutes, not hours and certainly not days. Having a game plan is critical, assemble your team now, and know the drill. If you’re not confident in your crisis management plan, the clock is ticking, get on it now. It’s not a question of if something will happen but when.

NAIS 2013 “Think Big, Think Great”, what a wonderful theme. I love when a national conference adopts a theme that we are using with our students.

Everyday teachers ask their students to “think great”. In the 21C where information is literally at our fingertips 24/7, it is more important than ever to “think great”.  Information regurgitation is so last century (insert smile here). It is (has been for several years) time to change our practice and invite new pedagogies. The speakers at NAIS reflected this theme over and over.

Rarely am I so inspired by a speaker that I purchase their book on the spot, however this was the case with Jim Collins. In the audience, on my smart phone, I went to Amazon and bought the Kindle edition of his latest book. I simply didn’t want to wait a minute.

“Good is the enemy of great”, “Greatness, is turns out is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline” and “great vision without great people is irrelevant” are just a few of the great quotes from Collins’ book Good to Great. I haven’t finished the book but I suspect I’ll never be finished, as it will serve as a source of inspiration for years to come. Thank you NAIS for choosing this inspirational speaker! Jim Collins set the tone for thinking Great.

I must confess to looking forward to the release of the conference program well in advance of the event. It’s fun to see  the hot topics and who will be presenting. This year I am delighted to see so many names from my school, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, among the list of presenters.

Presenting at NAIS is a wonderful experience. I presented along with Liz Davis,Belmont Hill School (MA), Anthony McGrann, Epiphany School (WA) and Shannon Montague, Bryn Mawr School (MD).The title of our session was Revolutionize your Professional Development.

As the four of us live in four different states all of our planning used online collaborative tools. We used Google documents to share ideas over the months leading to our presentation. Google Hangout was an invaluable tool is allowing us to meet face to face to discuss and fine tune our presentation. Our presentation was stored on the cloud in Dropbox where we could all have easy access to this large file.

When you present at a national conference, you challenge yourself to be your best. At this conference we knew we weren’t just presenting to peers (Anthony is a second grade teacher, Liz, Shannon and I are work in educational tech at our schools), we were presenting to a wide range of individuals, including quite a few heads of school. It was intimidating and exhilarating at the same time. I often think of my students and how often we ask them to do the same thing. We were modeling the behavior we want to see in our students. This week, I will reflect with co-presenters in an attempt to articulate what went well and where we could have been better. Next week, I’ll reflect with my students and give them an opportunity to offer feedback.

We are educators and we are learners. We will take this experience and turn it into a lesson. It’s what we do best. I encourage all of you to push yourself, submit a proposal, meet the challenge of presenting. I’m certain you have something to share. It is a valuable experience for all.