Tag Archives: Simon Sinek

3 Ideas To Inspire Change

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#51 - Into The Fire

The talk of change in education is actually the one constant.  There is no doubt that education could and should get better, yet the reality is that when we state this about the system we work in, we can either be a part of the problem or solution.  Starting with what we do ourselves is the first step in improving schools.

Yet if we are to help move others, it is tough when work feels like “work”.  If your goal is to simply get a paycheque, and not changing will still get you to that goal and you are in no threat of losing your job, why change?  Many initiatives are thrown at us in education, yet there is no deeper reasoning “why” this is happening and people believe that simply waiting things out will mean that if you don’t change, you will eventually become relevant again.

In my last few years, I have really tried to help people bring an emotional connection to the work that they are doing so that it is moving from a job to “their passion”.  I do my best to help people feel invigorated in their work as leaders have created that same feeling for myself.  I am nowhere near successful as I would like to be, but everyday I continue to grow and learn.  I work quite a bit but it rarely feels like a job; I love what I do.  The work that I do is something that I want to do, not something I feel like I have to do, or even worse, feel like that it is something that is being done to me.

Focusing on helping people move forward as an administrator, I have done a lot to study “change” and what helps to move people.  Here are some of the things that I have tried to focus on in my work.

1. Strengths Based Leadership - It is really to find a person’s deficiencies, but it is imperative that you find their strengths and build upon them.  For example, let’s say I wanted to encourage blogging with staff.  It would be very easy to say something similar to:

“We need to start using technology in similar ways to what the rest of the world is doing.  It is important for our students that we start blogging.”

Or…I could say something like this:

“I was watching you with your students today and was so impressed in the work that you did in the lesson and how engaged the students were.  I wish other people in our school , along with the rest of the world, could see the work that you are doing because it would really help improve their own practice.  Would you be open to sitting down with me and writing a blog post to share what you did today?  I think so many people would benefit from what you have to offer.”

Interestingly enough, the end result is the same, but the focus on getting there is much different.  Showing people they are valued will go a lot further than simply pointing out their weaknesses.

2. Helping to define the “why” - I would honestly say that the Simon Sinek’s talk on how great leaders inspire action has been one of the most influential videos that I have ever watched and I refer to it often.  When any initiatives are implemented in schools, the first question I had as a teacher is “why do we have to do this?”.  If you are unable to articulate why you are doing what you are doing, is it worth doing?

If you want people to be inspired to move forward, creating a connection on why this will be better for students is imperative.

“…our behavior is affected by our assumptions or our perceived truths. We make decisions based on what we think we know.” Simon Sinek

3.  Autonomy and Purpose - Another hugely influential Ted Talk on my career was Dan Pink’s talk on motivation.  He talks a great deal in his books on the notion of autonomy in our work place:

“Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve more and live richer lives.”

Often though his focus on “purpose” is often ignored.  Purpose is hugely important in moving people forward.  In my own work, I want to know that I am doing something bigger than myself and I am contributing to a greater good.  As leader, it is imperative that we help people understand their roles in making our vision come alive, not by them fitting into a space, but that their skills are what will take our organization to the next level.  I have talked before regarding the notion of “school teacher” versus “classroom teacher”, and I believe when we act as if these are all of our kids, schools will be a much better place, and educators will focus a lot more on improving what they do.

“One cannot lead a life that is truly excellent without feeling that one belongs to something greater and more permanent than oneself.”   Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Change for the sake of change is not a good idea, nor will it be sustainable.  We have to be able to help people build upon what they already do great, understand the “why” of change, and help them become a part of something bigger.  We also have to be comfortable with them moving from their point A to their point B, not expecting everyone to be at the same point at the same time.  Continuous learning and growth is what we should expect and embody.

Teacher Learn, Teacher Do

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cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by epSos.de

As I have been working with our “Learning Leader” group and implementing a blended PLC model, I have been watching and connecting with educators who have been doing things in a slightly different way in their classroom.  To be honest, as the PD is being offered to participants over this 2011-2012 school year, I have been adapting and changing the model based on their needs.  I am trying to understand the people I am working with and adapt our program to their needs.  To plan any learning for an entire year shows how quickly we forget that people are our number one focus, not curriculum.

In our second session, I simply showed a couple of apps and shared this Dean Shareski video and had participants tweet and share thoughts, while I engaged with them online.  The conversation did not blow me away, but it was a start for something that was totally new to most people.  Trying to make the course participatory and have participants tap into the learning of people in the room, as well as the world, I was happy to see how they started to engage with one another and see how easy the connections were.

As this was something I had done with adults, I was happy to see one of the teachers in the program started to implement this same practice into his own Social Studies classroom.  I was proud to see that Cam actually implemented this because of what we were doing in our own program.  When I asked what he was doing, he responded with the following:

 

It was awesome to see Cam using and creating a Twitter hashtag for his classroom.  Not only can they learn from one another and tap into the wisdom of the crowd, they also can start to develop and understand the importance of a positive digital footprint.  There are so many benefits of this type of networked learning for our students.

As we look at what we want from our classrooms, I realize more and more that we need to model in our own professional development what we want our classrooms to look like.  We cannot just lecture about how classrooms should look different, do the same thing with educators, and then look at our classrooms and wonder why nothing has changed.  Explaining our why is still important, but educators do not only need to hear about different practices, they need to experience it themselves as learners.

We have to continue to look at models of professional development and our rhetoric between the ever-evolving classroom.  If our PD looks the same, why would our classrooms be any different?

Still starting with the “why”

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cc licensed ( BY SD ) flickr photo shared by wadem

“Directions are instructions given to explain how. Direction is a vision offered to explain why.” Simon Sinek

As I am seeing a growing demand for schools to learn how to use social media tools in classrooms with students, staff, and parents, I have continuously tried to focus on this Simon Sinek video (which I have mentioned several times in this blog).  In the Ted Talk, Sinek continuously says the same phrase over and over again:

“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

Although this can be taken as a very “business-driven” phrase, there is definitely a connection to the work we are doing within our schools and especially with our students, staff, and stakeholders.  I have this huge belief that people want to be inspired and want purpose in their lives, they don’t want to just “show up” and do the work.

With that being said, I have seen the importance of defining the “why” in my own experience.  Often I have been asked to work with staff to either give a talk and/or to follow up by doing a workshop on how to help educators get connected.  Sometimes though, I have been asked to simply do the workshop portion.  Although doing the latter is much more time efficient for that day, in the long run if we do not clearly articulate “why” we are doing what we are doing, the “what” and the “how” are lost.

Recently, I had the opportunity to work with a school staff giving a presentation on some of the trends happening in our world and how we can leverage technology in a way to connect with our students, school community, and the rest of the world.  After the presentation, we were meant to do a workshop on Google Apps, but questions came up about Twitter and how they would use that tool to connect and learn with so many great educators around the world.  The questions were inspired and teachers were excited about moving forward and learning something new.  As I left to head off to my next meeting, the entire staff was still there working on what I had tried to teach them.  It was inspiring for me to see and I was reluctant to leave.

I am not certain if the discussion I had with them that day will stick with them, but I do know that taking that hour before and sharing with them “why” we are trying to move forward will definitely increase the percentage of success.  As educators (and as people in general), we are always stressed about the amount of time we have in a day, but as I have been told often, “sometimes we have to go slow, to go fast”.  Taking that time to discuss the why was important and needed.  It is also a lesson that I can learn greatly from as I continue my own work.

I have embedded the Sinek video below…if you have not seen it, it is definitely worth the 19 minutes it takes to watch it.

 

A Question of Time?

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cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by katerha

A common theme that we hear in education (along with other fields) is the idea that there is no time to do things.  Definitely education has had many ideas that have come and gone, so many are discriminating with what they are going to dedicate themselves to.  Time really isn’t the factor here though; it is priority.

As someone who really believes in the importance of staying healthy and the benefits of exercise, I have always tried to dedicate myself to spending some time at the gym every day.  Several years ago, as I came to a new job, time seemed to be in short supply and often I would skip workouts saying that there was simply not enough time in the day to go.  Then I was asked to teach spin class at our local gym.  I have been doing this for five years now, and I have never missed a workout since.  The rest of my life is a lot busier than what it used to be, but once I realized that people were depending on me to be there and exercise along with them, it became a high priority.

I think about this common theme of time in education a lot and I was talking with one of my colleagues who said, “If you think about the idea of time, tell me once that you can remember when report cards did not go out on time?  It is done every year because we know that this is something that we must do as educators as it is mandated.  The work always gets done because we know this is a priority.”

Now the idea of this post is not to put the onus on all educators to just make more time to improve their practice.  I really believe that there are other things as people we need to put in the forefront that have nothing to do with education (family first) and there are only so many hours in the day.  The responsibility should be first put upon our leaders in education to show why any new initiatives need to be a priority.  Not only do they to show the why but they also have to make it clear what our priorities are.  If it is important enough, there will be a balance of pressure and support within our schools to ensure that things get done.  Not only do we have to be clear what is a priority, but it is important that we discuss what can be taken off the plate.  Not everything can be at the top of the list.

So how do administrators make it clear what the priorities are?  How do we ensure that they are not only communicated, but they are also continuously supported within schools?  My other question is what happens when a staff, or individuals do not agree with the priorities?

If it is important enough, we will always make time. How do we know that the work we dedicate our time to is of greatest importance?

The “Why” of Writing

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My dad was born in a small town in Greece that was by the sea. Although I have had the chance to go back and visit a few times and it is absolutely amazing, he grew up in a much different time.  As Greece was in the middle of a civil war, my dad joined the Greek governmental army at a young age.  This was something that affected him in several ways, including the loss of his brother George (my namesake) and the loss of the opportunity to go to school.  My dad’s education went no further than grade two as he was needed to serve his country.

At a young age, my dad who spoke no English, packed his bags and was sponsored to move and start a life in a very cold climate in Canada.  Packing what he had, getting on a boat with many others from his country and town, he left his family behind and did everything he could to find a better life in a new country.  Starting as a dishwasher, my dad eventually met my mom, and together, they eventually owned and operated their own restaurant.  From my father, I learned the importance of hard work and discipline to create the environment that you want for yourself.

Although my dad never had the opportunity to go past grade two, he always emphasized the importance of school to myself and my siblings.  He never wanted us to go through the same things that he did and he truly believed that with an education, life would and could be better.  This is something that has driven me as an educator as I know the belief my mom and dad had in education to create a better life, and as an institution, I believe that schools are something that can create better lives for our students.

As my brother and I used social media more often in both our personal and professional lives, my dad (who is now 81), signed up for different accounts.  Currently he has his own email and Facebook account.  The amazing thing about this is not that he has these accounts, but that he never formally learned to read or write english.  What was amazing was that it never stopped him from trying and creating.

Recently when I was appointed to a new position in our school division, I was so happy to see an email from my dad:

Now obviously my dad does not write perfectly, and to many, this may be hard to breakdown.  But for myself, I can understand the majority of this email and the effort that my dad made to write he loves me and that he wants to celebrate (salad Brade) was pretty powerful.  To see someone who has little formal education in reading or writing (in Greek let alone English), it is amazing to see him use technology to communicate to his son his excitement.  This means the world to me.

What my dad has shown me is that literacy can improve tremendously not necessarily because you write, but more importantly why you write.  He understands to connect with his son(s), using the tools technology affords us can be very powerful.  It is not that we never got to talk on the phone, but he just wanted to put in the effort to connect in another way.  Often many are bothered when so many young people are constantly texting (although a lot of research shows that it improves literacy) yet it is the connection that many yearn for, not the technology.  This is not true in 100% of cases, but it is often.  Even looking at my own literacy, I have written more because of the audience that I know reads this blog; it is a great way to share and connect your ideas with others.  If there was no connection, would I write as often, if ever?  Probably not.

If we really want to improve the literacy of our students, we need to look just as much (if not more) at the purpose, at why they are writing, as to simply the strategies and process.  I have seen the evidence within my own family, that the why of writing means more than anything.

For you or me?

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Recently I received a message about someone who is doing an internship for Microsoft this summer, but previously did his work at Google.  When I asked how he was doing, the answer I received was, “He is okay with it.  He doesn’t like working at Microsoft as much because of the ‘corporate’ atmosphere and doesn’t appreciate sitting in a cubicle all day.”

Here is what Google says about their own company:

Google is not a conventional company, and we don’t intend to become one. True, we share attributes with the world’s most successful organizations – a focus on innovation and smart business practices comes to mind – but even as we continue to grow, we’re committed to retaining a small-company feel. At Google, we know that every employee has something important to say, and that every employee is integral to our success.

Looking at pictures of everyday life at Google, you see that their business model is different from our traditional mindset, but would anyone argue that it isn’t successful?  They have a clear vision of what they want to do, and their employees are continuously innovating and doing some amazing things.

This is not to say that Microsoft isn’t successful either.  I honestly do not know much about their work culture, but from the brief comments that I have heard from someone working there and comparing the two companies, I would assume that it is a little more in the traditional model.  I do however know that based on what I do know about the two companies, I know which one I would prefer to work for (although many would argue they are both evil in their pursuit of world domination; a topic I really do not have the knowledge to get into).

But if both models work, why would we change our schools from the traditional model (Microsoft) to the more comfortable, yet still innovative (Google) model?  There is often this feeling that “work” has become a dirty word to many of our students, but it also seems that to many work is not something that makes you happy.  Why can’t you have both?  Why can’t we do amazing and innovative things, that are hard work, and enjoy it?  Sounds like flow to me.  When people are engaged and enjoy what they are doing, doesn’t the work and their own sense of value and purpose increase?  This doesn’t only make what we do better, but it makes why we do it more important.

So here’s the real shift in mindset and leadership that we need to see in our schools; we need to work to in an environment where our students do things not because we want them to do it, but because they want to do it.  Reading Kelly Alford’s post on Identity Day, one of her quotes really stuck out to me:

Our Identity Day took place on June third. It was the only assignment all year that was turned in on time by every single student. The students walked into the room excited to share what they had created.

The kids did the work, met (and probably exceeded) the expectations, and enjoyed it.  If you read the entire post from Kelly, you will see how much she enjoyed it as well.

Yes, in all jobs we have to do things that we do not want to do, but that it where the importance of relationships come in.  I am the type of person that will always do my job, whether I like my boss or not, but it is much more rewarding when I do like them.  Our students will do those things as well for their teachers when they know they are cared for and are trusted.

As often as possible though, we need to set those high expectations for our students, help them find what they love, and give them the guidance to do amazing things.  We have a lot of work to do in our schools, and the reality of budgets says that it will take time to change the learning spaces in our schools that are better suited to more enjoyable and better work.  The vision though is that everyday we need to take another step to create better schools for our kids.  They deserve it.

The Importance of “School Teachers”

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Tunnel people 3

From: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chromak/1419541249/

As a school year is winding down, I have been reflecting back while also thinking about moving forward next year.  The idea of “School teacher vs. Classroom teacher” keeps coming up in my head, as we continuously strive for organizational success.

My belief is that a “classroom teacher” is one that is focused solely on their position and subject matter, and the rest of the school is something that is just “happening” around them.  A “school teacher” is one that is focused on the success of the school as a whole.  They know that every child within the school is the responsibility of all staff, not just the ones that teach them directly.  What they do within their classroom one year, will directly affect what happens to that child later on in school, and in reality, can impact them for life.  School teachers are the ones that see kids outside of their classroom and deal with them in good times and bad.  They never see a student doing something wrong and simply march them down to the principal’s office.  They see, even in mistakes, that an opportunity to talk with a child is an opportunity to build a relationship.

 

Peter Senge discusses what happens when people are focused solely on their own job as opposed to the work of the organization:

“When people in organizations focus only on their position, they have little sense of responsibility for the results produced when all positions interact. Moreover, when results are disappointing, it can be very difficult to know why. All you can do is assume that “someone screwed up.” Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline

With all of the discussion about progress in education, and making a difference, it is when educators align within schools and systems to do great things together which will create real growth.  It is when a school is full of “school teachers”, that we will truly see a huge impact and shift in the learning of our students.  We have to move away from the “pockets of excellence” in individual classrooms, and work towards a shared vision in schools.  Teachers absolutely need autonomy in their instruction, but autonomy can still align with the goals of a school.  Programs like “Google Days” allow this same autonomy to the staff, yet always seem to tie to the shared vision of the organization.

It is sad to see that there are so many strong initiatives happening in schools that kids only get for a year and may never see again.  In school, we have to work together, share best practices, align our vision, give opportunities to our teachers to do great things, and make great schools, not just great classrooms.  The “pockets” are not enough.

 

What Shapes Your Learning?

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In the last year, I have had several “A-Ha” moments when reading different articles, or seeing videos on not only education, but just on human characteristics.  This learning has really impacted my thinking on school and how we can best serve students. To me, it all started to come together when I saw this graphic from my friend, Royan Lee:

When I think about these “4 C’s”, I also believe there are two other essential ones that are needed in school; challenge and community.  Here are some of the influence that have really helped shape my thinking, and hopefully the links I share can be a resource for others.

  1. Collaboration – Sugata Mitra, a “Professor of Educational Technology at the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University”, shared his unbelievable research on students having access to computers and the ability to teach themselves.  What I found to be the most encouraging point in his Ted Talk, was when he discusses how the students benefited from working with each others, sharing one computer.  Although many schools have 1-1 initiatives (which I can believe will be greatly successful when guided by a vision), it is essential that we continue to build opportunities for our students to learn together. Collaboration is a skill that we know is needed for our future, but we need to find better ways to promote this within our schools. (Also see Howard Rheingold’s video on Collaboration)
  2. Creativity – One of the most watched Ted Talks ever, Ken Robinson discusses how he believes current educational practices kill creativity.  Ken Robinson’s work and his book, “The Element“, have helped to shape my thinking that learning should be built around individual passion, and not focused solely on the curriculum. (See: Identity Day)
  3. Communication – I am not sure if any video has shaped my thinking as an administrator as much as Simon Sinek’s video on “How Great Leader’s Inspire Action“.  This is not only a video that is essential for leaders, but is also important for all that we do as people.  Sinek focuses on how we should always start with “why” when we move forward, as this is essential to our ideas becoming successful.  Simply, if we understand “why” we do what we do first, trust is built, which is the key to communication.  Agendas are no longer hidden, and then we can move forward with the “how” and the “what” of our plans.
  4. Critical Thinking - Although many will say Dan Pink should not be credited as an educational resource, his research on people (which students are fortunately), helps to shape our thinking on what motivates students and the importance of this on creativity.  His books, “A Whole New Mind” and “Drive” are definite must reads for educators (Alfie Kohn is however the best source on motivation in education), while this Ted Talk is definitely worth watching.  Although Dan Pink talks more on motivation, than he does critical thinking, it is definitely applicable as some of the motivational ways we have taught (rewards, stickers, charts) are not conducive to deeper learning.
  5. Challenge – I really enjoyed reading about “Flow” theory and believe that students that are challenged to the point where learning is difficult, but not attainable are more engaged in their learning.  Mihály Csíkszentmihályi gives a fascinating Ted Talk on his theory that will have you wondering how best you can differentiate learning for your students so that they can achieve “flow”.  (This could definitely fall under the category of creativity as well.)
  6. Community (This could also be filed under another ‘C’; Caring) - I have always believed in the importance of community and that we all take care of each other.  Schools are more likely to ensure our learners are successful when we work together to benefit them.  When I think of who I have learned from the most, I can not think of anyone better than those that I have connected with in my time in schools.  I have an unbelievable staff, fantastic parent community, an amazing central office and school division, as well as a caring personal learning network of educators and administrators who are committed to going the extra mile to improve our school environments for our students.  Without a caring community, the other points in this post would be moot. (I also believe that all communities need to give everyone opportunities to become leaders.  A great book that will get you thinking is Stephen Covey’s, “The Leader in Me“)

Hopefully I have not only shown you what has shaped my thinking, but have provided some resources that are beneficial to the growth of you as an educator.  What are your big ideas for education?  What has shaped your thinking?  I would love to see what you have to share.

(Below are some other resources that I would also highly recommend)

Videos that really made me think:

Here are some blogs that will really get you thinking and challenged your thoughts about education (there are so many that I could add to this list but I will start with these):

My Google Reader bundles:

Vision For Our School Website

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As we get closer to school, I have been thinking more about our new Buddypress/WordPress MU (Multi User) site and how it can really take our students further in their own learning.  Essentially, this site will be a place where students can interact with each other, staff, and parents.  This is a totally new venture for us so I wrote a post entitled “The Why” that would help clarify why we are doing it in the first place.  Here were the initial reasons:

  1. Collaboration
  2. Social Relevance
  3. Digital Citizenship and Identity
  4. Critical Thinking Skills
  5. Leadership for All
  6. Opportunity for Creativity

(For more on each one of these categories, please read this post)

Collaborating with Shannon McClintock Miller from Van Meter school in Iowa, we have started to talk about how we can collaborate together on this project so that we can learn from each other, while also being a conduit between students from two different countries that can share their learning.  There is a lot of work to be done in this area, but through our conversations, here are some of the ideas that we discussed.

As I am visioning having one central site that hosts all of our blogs, school information, and school community (kind of like facebook with blogs), we still want to make this as minimalist a site as possible so that it is easy to gain and access the information that is needed.  I also believe that it is important that we ensure that we are moving our school sites from 1.0 to 2.0 so that parents have a voice, as discussed in my Evolution of a Blog post and video.

Listed are some of the things that will be on this site:

  • School Information
  • Blogs for school
  • Blogs for staff
  • Blogfolios for students
  • Connect with outside students (collaboration between Van Meter and Forest Green School to ensure a safe environment where parents feel comfortable)

Here are some of the advantages of doing this:

  1. Parents will be able to find all blogs and school information on one site.  I think it is important that they are not going back and forth between a school website and a school blog.
  2. RSS Feed capabilities that let parents know when information is updated as opposed to a stagnant site where they have to keep checking.  The information comes to them as opposed to them coming to the site.
  3. This is an opportunity for giving parents a voice on what is going on in the school.  Although comments are moderated, this is another avenue for communication for parents.  It is important that when you are building these sites that you try to get parent feedback on what they would like to see on it as well.  The connection is greatly valued at our school.
  4. This is a long term project.  This is not expected to be done in one year but something that the students and staff will continue for years to come.  The blogfolios that students will have will be theirs from year to year and since we are using the same software, we should be able to build capacity amongst the entire school community.

It is important that we also look at how we look at our Acceptable Use Policy for the school.  As described by Sylvia Martinez, it is important that we share more than just our rules, but we share our vision in our technology integration plan.

Obviously I have been thinking a lot about this but there is still a lot of planning and collaboration to be done with staff and our school community on what best fits for our school.  I have also been collecting articles that will help us move forward with our technology plan for the next school year by collecting these links:

Forest Green Technology Plan Links on Diigo

I would love your thoughts on anything ranging from blogfolios for students, acceptable use agreements, school websites, or anything that I have discussed in this post.  Also, if you have any questions, I would love to hear them as well since that will help us prepare for our school vision in this field.

This is a plan with gigantic potential and expectations, but through the collaboration of many, we are looking forward to see where this goes.

You Should Read… (July 21, 2010)

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cc licensed flickr photo by schani

Here are some articles that I really enjoyed reading (and watching) this week.  Thanks to my PLN for sharing such great articles:

  1. Creative people have a great deal of physical energy, but they’re also often quiet and at rest.
  2. Creative people tend to be smart yet naive at the same time.
  3. Creative people combine playfulness and discipline, or responsibility and irresponsibility.

  • I Am A Teacher | Avenue4Learning – Michelle Baldwin’s blog is becoming one of my favourites to read as she is passionate in her writing and has some amazing ideas.  This is a definite blog you should add to your reader and Michelle is a great conversationalist in her comment section.  If you ever have a question or comment on one of her posts, she always comes back with something insightful that will really make you think and learn along with her. Here are some highlights from this post by a very passionate educator:
    • How do we as educators change the public view of what we do in the classroom?
      1. Contact the media more often. Invite them to my classroom (again). Share, through multiple methods, what it is we’re doing.
      2. Bring parents into the classroom more. The parents in my school are already welcome in my classroom, although not many of them take our offer to visit. I want them to share their expertise in my classroom more often. Side note- I actually have really great and appreciative parents in my school, and for that, I am extremely grateful.
      3. Bring more attention to other teachers and students who are doing great things. Not every teacher has a powerful network where he/she can share successes. I have a great learning network of people who love to share ideas, collaborate, and celebrate with each other.

      • My action plan is not that complicated:

  • I am a teacher. By choice. Not because I was incapable of doing anything else, but because I couldn’t imagine doing anything else that would make me as happy as teaching does.

  • Re:Focus: I Hate You: A Tale About Advertising -Simon Sinek wrote this great article about the advertising industry but it could definitely be about our focus at schools as well.  There are many things that companies can learn from schools, and vice-versa.  It is always important how we use business messages though since we are in the business of children and learning.
    • The reason we hate advertising is because the ad industry has no idea who its customer is

    • Steve Jobs recently shared his thoughts about how the entire music industry failed to innovate something like iTunes. His answer was as profound as it was simple (fancy that). The music industry, he expounds, thought their customer was Tower Records or Virgin MegaStore…but it never was.  Those were their distribution channels. The actual customer is the person who consumes the music. And it is the end user, not the intermediaries, whom Apple focuses on in all they do.

    • Producing a product for the consumers who are the ones actually consuming the product makes more business sense, too.

  • Least Restrictive Environment – Practical Theory – Chris Lehmann wrote this short but important article on giving our students the best opportunities in the classroom to create an environment that helps them feel comfortable in their learning.  As bringing Ipods into our classrooms this year came with many questions, it is articles like this by proven leaders that show me that we are on the right path:
    • I was thinking about the Special Education concept of Least Restrictive Environment and the idea that many of the concepts of special education, such as an Individualized Educational Plan, are concepts we should want for every student.

    • …there are some kids who struggle – despite many opportunities to figure how to manage it – to use technology in a classroom without it serving as a distraction…But banning their use or locking up every laptop would hamstring so much of what we do, and it would not be, for the overwhelming majority of students, the least restrictive environment in which they could – and do – learn.
    • Let’s take a tip from Special Education and in the coming school year, try to make sure our schools are the least restrictive environments for learning they can be.

  • On Education – A Popular Principal, Wounded by Good Intentions - It is articles like this that scare me about the impact standardized testing has on our schools.
    • It’s hard to find anyone here who believes that Joyce Irvine should have been removed as principal of Wheeler Elementary School.

    • Ms. Irvine wasn’t removed by anyone who had seen her work (often 80-hour weeks) at a school where 37 of 39 fifth graders were either refugees or special-ed children and where, much to Mr. Mudasigana’s delight, his daughter Evangeline learned to play the violin.

    • Ms. Irvine was removed because the Burlington School District wanted to qualify for up to $3 million in federal stimulus money for its dozen schools.

    • under the Obama administration rules, for a district to qualify, schools with very low test scores, like Wheeler, must do one of the following: close down; be replaced by a charter (Vermont does not have charters); remove the principal and half the staff; or remove the principal and transform the school.

    • even she understood her removal was the least disruptive option.
      “Joyce Irvine versus millions,” Ms. Irvine said. “You can buy a lot of help for children with that money.”

    • Under No Child rules, a student arriving one day before the state math test must take it. Burlington is a major resettlement area, and one recent September, 28 new students — from Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan — arrived at Wheeler and took the math test in October.

  • This is part of the “you should watch” portion of the post. To end off, here is a school division that is really pushing technology integration and sees teachers and students as learners.  Is this something we want our schools to look like?  If it is, how do we get there?