Technology...my new best friend

I blog.  I tweet.  I've grown.  As an educator who lacked the knowledge and confidence to embrace technology I can honestly say I have taken the opportunities provided in this class to expand my "technology" horizons.  I have always believed in the integration of technology into lessons, curriculum, and into the daily life of the classroom, but I lacked the personal tools to try.  Thanks to Jeff and his extreme patience I am forging a new path.

Here's one way I am utilizing what I have learned:
This past week my principal and I presented a new idea to teachers.  We wanted to create a day where students received information from any source other than the teacher.  Students were given an essential question or topic and told to find out as much as they could using three sources:  the textbook, fellow students, or the internet.  My district has a strict policy against open access on the internet.  Even as a adult on campus I have no access to the use of YouTube and many sites are blocked.  Students are told not to bring computers, ipads, or cellular phones to school.  But here's the exciting part about creating a day where teachers and students had to think outside the box - my principal allowed students to bring and use mobile devises on this unique learning day.  It's a small step, but it's a step.

Next steps:
My next goal is to present the reasons technology needs to be more available to students and teachers at VUSD to the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction.  I plan to gather research which supports the positive results that would happen if and when students are given access to the world outside their classroom.  I believe that then and only then are we truly providing universal access and social equity in learning to all students.  

Final Reflections

Being a culturally proficient leader in the 21^st century is going to require an innovative approach to leadership.  Leaders should not be measured by the color of their skin but by the integrity of their leadership.  The best leaders are those who understand the needs of people and seek ways to help them reach their highest potential.  As a leader I hope to serve students, teachers, parents, and colleagues through a lens of social justice.  Social justice is about leveling the playing field or giving the same rights and opportunity to all people.  In order for this to happen, all stakeholders must actively support the vision of the school.  Students deserve to learn from an equitable standpoint and culturally proficient leadership is one way of focusing the efforts of a school in a specific, unified way to achieve common goals.  I firmly believe that the practice of culturally-aware leadership will promote the mutual respect, responsibility and accountability that is needed not just in today’s schools but throughout our communities as well.  

Common Core Assessments are on the Horizon

Last weekend I presented at California Mathematics Council's annual conference in Palm Springs.  After my presentation I attended several conferences that focused on the 2014 adoption of the Common Core Standards.  For educational leaders who are not familiar with the Common Core Standards I highly recommend that they begin to educate themselves with what they are and how they will be assessed.  What I learned is that these new assessments are being modeled after the successful ways in which students in Singapore are being educated.  Starting in 2014 students will no longer be taking CST's.  Instead students will take performance exams designed to evaluate multiple mathematical (and language arts) measures.  No more fill-in-the-blank.  Students will actually be required to explain their thinking - something American students have not been expected to do on end-of-the year assessments. 

I feel that this type of assessment will alter the way students are currently being taught for the better.  Teachers must learn to prepare lessons which allow students to explore concepts through multiple modalities and hands-on activities.  Students will learn to apply their knowledge and begin to take ownership of their learning as they write about how they get an answer.  This change is causing panic among today's teachers as they face the unknown about assessments.  For the past 15 years many teachers have learned to teach to the test.  This only creates students who are unprepared to compete in a competitive world.  It is well known that the United States' students rank poorly against their counterparts from around the world.  It is time for America's future leaders to be able to compete in a global market.  As 21st century educators we must start preparing our students for this radical change now! 

Futuristic Assignment Continued: The Teacher's Lounge

1.  SWOT
 There are many strengths and weaknesses to encouraging teacher's to visit the teacher's lounge lounge.

Strengths:  A place for positive interactions.  A place where ideas are shared.  A place where teachers talk about how to help students.
Weaknesses:  A place for negative interactions.  A place where positive ideas are shot down.  A place where teacher talk negatively about students, their families, and the administration. 
Opportunity:  Teachers could and should use each other as resources.  The best professional development I have ever attended was when it was done by our own teachers.  Teachers from RMMS know about students at RMMS better than any top paid professional.  Schools need  to use their best resources - the teachers - by providing techniques that will best help the students they serve.
Threats:  There will always be "nay-sayers".  We must me cognizant of the opportunities to help the "new" teachers before the more seasoned teachers change or alter their belief that all students can learn and deserve the best education afforded them.   

2.  Options:
Could be:  The teacher's lounge could be a place of true epiphany - a place where sharing and communication really happens.  Unfortunately, it currently is a place I avoid because of the negative tones that continue to echo off the walls. 

Should be:  The teacher's lounge should be a place where teacher's gather before school, during prep periods, lunch time to encourage collaboration. 

3.  Monitor Trends/Radar: 
Trends and radar will rest in the opportunity to be a "fly on the wall" in the teacher's lounge.  I think it is most important to monitor what is currently happening, monitor how change starts to occur and to build upon the success.  I would love suggestions as to how to make this a great opportunity for all teachers (new and seasoned).  In addition, how do I bring in the need for office assistance and  administration to be part of this "teacher's lounge" phenomenon?    

Futuristic Project: The Teacher's Lounge

The teacher's lounge can be the most toxic place on campus!  My futurist plan is to create a place where teacher's gather to talk about student work, share teaching ideas, and support one another.  Here are my ideas/notes on how to implement this practice:

1. If you were to implement this practice, strategy, idea today, what specialized skills, resources, and dispositions would you need to obtain for yourself, your colleagues and staff?

Have a group meeting to discuss norms.  This would need to be approached from a positive point of view.  Create committees: decorating (i.e., colored paper, posters, pictures), norm/rules, make it a collaboration area with teacher library.  In the room would be computers, round tables to invite conversation, textbooks. 

2. What skills will your colleagues and those you supervise need in order to be successful in this scenario? Of those skills, which ones are currently being supported through resources such as professional development in your setting? Which ones are missing or minimal? What is currently being supported in your setting that would likely be obsolete in 2020? 

  

Teachers need to and should have positive conversations about students.  Teachers would need updated data on students to share with other teachers.  Collaboration could be between subject matter teachers, vertical grades, and teachers who share the same students.

3. In what ways are we unprepared, lacking in resources and staffing, or to what degree are our strategies and underlying values unable to respond effectively to the conditions this scenario represents?

Is the current environment:  toxic or healthy (articles by Anthony Muhammad)?  Create a "positive talk zone". 

4. What could we be doing now to leverage this trend to our advantage?

Model with people we currently work with.  Initiate positive talk conversations with colleagues and students. Let others begin to see and experience the benefits of the "new and improved" teacher's lounge. 

5. What would need to happen internally and in the external environment for preparing yourself and those you lead to navigate in this strategic vision? What changes should your organization begin to make? What should it start doing? What should it stop doing? 

Get team leaders on board.  Buy a can of paint (in a mood enhancing) shade.  Feng Shui the room.  Create inviting areas.  Create a school/teacher blog to highlight good outcomes shared information, teacher-presented Prezis.  Create a chart of data analysis results for the walls showing current AYP standings and what the goal is for the year.  Have a theme for the year (i.e: student ownership) and a place for teachers/admin to post results.  Have a parking lot board.  Have a conversation board. 

Culturally Proficient Leadership: Emerging thoughts

After completing the book Culturally Proficient Leadership and being part of our class discussion last Wednesday, I am most interested with how poverty and socioeconomic differences can become excuses for underachievement.  Many teachers still believe that these social class issues are the reason students are not performing.  I was inspired by Joel's closing remarks regarding finding the courage to stand up to the toxic voices that constantly want to place blame.  Those teacher needs to reexamine how best practices help students learn. 

When the conversation came up about how the VUSD district allows students to attend a school outside their neighborhood boundaries, I questioned why that is such a hot topic for me as an educator. Here are my thoughts:

 Last year my math team and I went to a 5th grade classroom to meet the incoming 6th graders.  When we told the students that we were from Rancho Minerva Middle School many of them said, "My mom said I'm not going there.  I'm going to Madison".  Senarios like this happen over and over again.  My concern is for the students who do come to RMMS.  How does this toxic message make them feel about their school?  People within the community hear this message and begin to feel the same way about RMMS and that the students who attend there are limited by their socioeconomic status.  I want to change the way our school and its students are viewed and I think the first step is requiring students to attend their neighborhood school instead of their school of choice.  This would create diverse populations among all Vista campuses and begin to change the way students and the community view their schools.  

Project Tomorrow

Issue:  Lack of open internet access at school sites for teachers and students.
Reason:  Firewalls imposed by the district

Teachers and students alike are finding that 21st century learning opportunities are not available to students within the VUSD due to firewalls being installed on all classroom, teacher, and administrative computers.  Instead of blocking access to information and "policing" what students and teachers can use to enhance the learning experience for students, schools should teach internet responsibility. 

From the website projecttomorrow.org pre-service teachers were surveyed regarding their level of expertise at bringing current technology to schools.  Pre-service teachers feel that the universities are preparing them to use technology in lesson development, but once placed in schools pre-service teachers are unable to use best practices because of district guidelines regarding the use of technology.