Tag Archives: edcuational reform

Respecting the Foundation

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cc licensed flickr photo shared by iwona_kellie

Tonight I had the opportunity to co-present with Lesley Cameron, a teacher at my school (if you are on Twitter, follow her) about “Connecting and Sharing“.  Earlier in the year, I, with many others, was inspired by the following video:

When I watched it tonight, I sat back and thought about how we are now achieving so many of the things that were shown in this video, and how in one short year, our practice has paralleled many of the changes in society.  I felt like a proud dad.  I am so proud of our teachers, students, and community.  We have all grown so much together.

Although this growth has been amazing, I think back to some words of wisdom our superintendent imparted to us last week at our administrator retreat.  Paraphrasing, he said the following:

I really believe in innovation and moving forward but we need to ensure that we really respect the gifts and talents that our staff already impart to us everyday.  It is essential that we respect many of our past practices that will continue to ensure the success of our students.

Those words have stuck in my mind since I have heard them.  Our teachers this year have been very successful being innovative, taking, risks, and trying some amazing things.  They have this opportunity because they are already gifted and talented in creating strong relationships with community.

Organizations do not grow without a solid foundation.  Although I am happy to see our learning community continue to implement innovative practices into the classroom, I am more committed to recognizing the strong base that our teachers have already created that allows us to do so.

Through talk of change and growth, as school administrators, we must all remember (this especially includes myself) to recognize the gifts our staff already have. Before we can truly ascend to great heights, we must first respect the foundation.

Fear

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cc licensed flickr photo shared by carlaarena

I had the opportunity to sit in on a session with Will Richardson and a fantastic group of educators from south of the border.  There was a question that he asked the group that really stuck out with me:

“What’s one fear you’re going to have to overcome to lead your school forward?”

As I thought about the “traditional” list of fears that have popped up as we progress, they were not driving me at all.   I sat back and thought about what “fear” drives me.  Here they are:

  1. Fear of students learning “compliance” instead of just “learning”.
  2. Fear of students asking why they have no grade on their report card because they don’t know how they are doing.
  3. Fear a student asks “why are there no awards” because I have not taken the time to show them I value them every chance I get.
  4. Fear that we teach our students that rewards should drive their learning, not their passion.
  5. Fear that we prepare our students to be good at school, instead of being good at life.
  6. Fear of the world changing around our schools, while we stay the same.
  7. Fear that students will NOT ask powerful questions.
  8. Fear that students will not see themselves as artists.
  9. Fear that students will not have  the opportunity to create and collaborate.
  10. Fear that we are not giving students opportunities to lead within our school.
  11. Fear that we do not focus on the importance of connections and relationships.
  12. Fear that our students and staff are not having fun.

Those are some of the fears that drive me.  I am blessed that I have the opportunity to work with a community that puts my mind to rest :)

What fear drives you?