Merry Christmas

Here's hoping everyone is able to spend time with family and/or friends and enjoy the holiday. As I listened to a sermon this morning, I am reminded that all life is precious and each person we meet is worthy of dignity and love. Let's extend that thought to action today and into the new year.

Merry Christmas.

Resolutions

Do you make New Year's resolutions? As I read through writers and bloggers discussing this annual event, I've found a way to make some of those tricky resolutions stick. It's called a 30-day trial. Although there are critics of this, it can be an effective method to get started on a new habit and on the way to kicking a bad one.

The idea is to attempt something for 30 days. Give your utmost attention and effort to whatever it is you choose to do and see what comes of it 30 days later. What that does is give you a predetermined deadline - you know that in 30 days if your resolution is not working, you can quit or try something different. And 30 days is enough time to get a new habit ingrained into your lifestyle.

It can be difficult to gather the momentum to make a new habit stick. The 30-day trial gives you an opportunity to try something and make changes if necessary. If you have had goals/resolutions that have not worked in the past, try this method. Write down the goal, try it for 30 days and see the success.

Holiday cheer

As the time nears, if it's not already here, for schools to take some time off for the holidays, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and excellent start to the new year. For those that travel, do so safely. Enjoy the season and take time to reflect on all the gifts that you have received this past year. Even in times of trial and tribulation, those of us in education are blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of children's success and growth.

As the new year nears, I look forward to the work that Guernsey-Sunrise schools are beginning. The staff has been working on a vision and the means to determine what that vision means when applied. The district will be asking for input from all stakeholders and making a concerted effort to gather that input and develop a plan to advance the education of our students. If you would like to see the progress, we have developed a wiki that lists the progress so far.

Have a great holiday season.

Technology use

How has technology made your life easier or better? I recently read an article about the use of technology in delivering packages. The driver was using a camera in the cab to see behind him so he could back up closer to surrounding objects. In this case, the increased technology would seem to have provided a safer method of driving. I'd like to hear some thoughts on how technology could be used to enhance education.

Ranking schools

A recent article on the National Association of Secondary School Principals website about ranking schools had an interesting thought embedded discretely within the text. The article itself was about how the ranking of schools by various publications was not something that was necessarily fair for all schools.

The argument was that magnet or charter schools that have an application process and do not take everyone that comes in their doors had an unfair advantage in the rankings since they could gear their acceptance to students with higher academic ability and background. Another index seemed to focus on larger schools that had the ability to offer Advanced Placement courses or International Baccalaureate courses.

Toward the end of the article, however, the executive director of NASSP mentioned something about developing "a national barometer" to rank schools on a national level. Now, I'm not sure about the national level, but at Guernsey-Sunrise, we are developing indicators to help us determine where we are at in relation to helping our students be successful.

It is easy to look at test scores from a one-time test and make a judgment as to whether a school is successful. But student success goes beyond one test on one particular day. I agree that test scores are a big component, but looking at multiple indicators provides a more well-rounded picture of the school and helps to determine a direction for school improvement. If you have some thoughts on what indicators the district might use, drop us a note or a comment.

Reading Aloud

I just got through reading an article in LeaderTalk about reading to our children. The blogger wrote about an auther, Jim Trelease, who has written books about the subject. One of the quotes from the article is below:

"As was reported back in 1985 by the United States Commission on Reading in its groundbreaking report, Becoming a Nation of Readers, 'The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.' The commission found conclusive evidence to support reading aloud not only in the home but also in the classroom: 'It is a practice that should continue throughout the grades.' "

I got to thinking about reading to all ages of children and wondering when we stop reading to our children. Parents of younger students are encouraged to read to their children quite often. I think my daughter is probably getting tired of me asking her if she is reading to her daughter every night. I wondered, however, how a parent might do that with older students.

I'm not sure that older students would enjoy having a parent read lengthy text to them, but I recall reading snippets of information to my daughter, which may be an avenue to start the process. (And I could be wrong on this point, as some older students may like to have that happen.) So, I encourage you to find something to read to a child today and everyday.

Backing up

Yes, it is December already. Now that my computer is back in working order, I can get after this again. That's the thing about technology - it is a wonderful tool - when it works.

I have been taught from an early age (technology-wise) to back up my data. I semi-faithfully do that for the most part. The thing about that is the backup is also technology. I was rather fearful this past weekend when I could not access any of my data on my computer, particularly since I have a paper due at the end of this week for a grad class.

Of course, the zip drive I had my backups stored on did not contain this particular paper, but I did have some data on it that I thought I might be able to use. For some reason, the drive would not open either on my computer or the desktop at home. That got me thinking. How many different backup devices do we truly need for our technology information? I have mine in three, but one was not backed up very recently.

That has me thinking about the possibility of using a fourth method and hoping that some strange coincidence doesn't take them all down at once.

Luckily, a re-install of the operating system brought my computer back to life with all data intact and the zip drive is working. Which reminds me, I have to go back up some data now.

Transparency

I was at a meeting recently when one of the members, Audrey Kleinsasser of the Wyoming School University Partnership, mentioned the work that the Partnership is doing in the area of Pre-school through college collaboration. Educators are working on helping students in the transition from high school to post-secondary institutions by looking at student work and having discussions about that work as it relates to success after high school.

One of the things that Dr. Kleinsasser mentioned about the work was something along the lines of the transparency that exists among the expectations of both groups due to the meetings. For some reason, that phrase struck me as an important part of developing the vision of Guernsey-Sunrise schools. The communication among all stakeholders in the educational process - students, parents, teachers, administrators, the board, and the community - needs to be transparent and open in order for the vision to move forward.

The district continues to try to create a system of open communication by posting questions and thoughts on the website as well as in this blog. There is a "wiki" where staff members are working on a student-centered vision and an ongoing discussion of holding a community meeting to gather input. As we continue to develop a vision, a definition of what that vision looks like in action, and the indicators that will help us measure our progress toward that vision, I hope everyone will provide some input that will move us closer to a vision of excellence.

21st century learning

Here's a link to an LA Times article about some of the free education podcasts that are available through iTunes U. Several universities are putting lectures on iTunes, allowing anyone in the world to access the information for free.

And, another sign that the 21st century is rapidly changing the world from the November 29, 2007 Early to Rise e-newsletter: "Ten years ago, there were no cellphones in India. This year, there are 80 million. According to an International Data Corp. survey, that number is set to hit 500 million by 2010."

Becoming great

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them become what they are capable of being. - Goethe

Once again, a bit of synchronicity pops up as I've seen this quote appear twice since I copied it from an email that a colleague sent during American Education Week. And a good quote it is. It certaily leads to a discussion of having high expectations for our students. Often, I believe we tend to stereotype people based on past actions or an experience we had with a member of a particular group. (I'll be writing on helping our students escape some of that in a later post.) When we do that, we may not be giving the other person a chance to show their true capabilities.

We also tend to see things through distorted lenses when we label or view a person or a group of persons in a generalized manner. What tends to happen is that those things that support our view get noticed and our perception is strengthened. We don't see the positive things that this person or group is doing and continue to see the negative.

By having high expectations and helping our students understand those expectations and that fact we are there to help them reach their full potential, we do help each person "become what they are capable of being." Let's all have positive expectations and see if we can't find the good that exists and build on that.

Grades

As I was cleaning out some email, I came across an article on grading. I thought it was interesting, particularly the statement in the third paragraph about not using zeroes as punishment but rather trying to determine mastery for each student.

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing everyone a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving today. I thought I would write a quick list of things I am thankful and suggest everyone do the same. If you recall a few posts ago, the thought of setting a goal, writing it down, and reviewing it daily. The same can be done for things for which we are grateful.

I am thankful for:
1. Being given a life that allows me to search for meaning;
2. My family;
3. Healthy choices;
4. All the people who have touched my life;
5. The many opportunities to grow;
6. The Packers;
7. Snow;
8. Laughter;
9. The Internet;
10. Bicycles and running shoes.

21st Century website

Check out this website on 21st Century skills. I haven't had a chance to dig deeply into it, but it was mentioned in Education Week and looked interesting with information, resources, and tools.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Stereotyping

I read an article in Education Week about the effect of perceived stereotyping has on student achievement. It was very interesting and also mentioned some studies that show what educators and parents can do to overcome such perceptions.

Basically, the studies gave different groups of students different messages before taking an assessment. What researchers found was that those students who received positive messages about the adaptability of intelligence did better than those that received a generic message (an anti-drug message, for instance.)

A quote from the article: "When students perceive their learning environment to convey a fixed view of intelligence, their achievement goes down." This tells me that teachers and parents can help students achieve at higher rates by stressing to students that learning can be improved and is not fixed at a certain point.

One thing I've heard from parents in the past is that, "I wasn't very good at math either," to underscore a child's achievement level. This is generally done from an understanding point of view, but does little to enhance the learning of the child. By focusing on working hard and acknowledging that learning takes time, we help our students remain engaged and don't allow stereotyping to limit growth.

Wikis

As technology becomes more prevalent in our everyday lives, I am intrigued by the tools available to educators. This blog is an example of something that really didn't exist a few years ago, at least not in the mainstream. Today, teachers and students work with weblogs to publish their work and to have not only fellow students review and critique their work, but writers from around the world as well.

The latest technology tool I've come across is the Wiki. Many of you may have heard of wikis like Wikapedia. A wiki is a collaborative website that allows editing by a group of people. In this case the wiki I've created is going to be used for a collaborative effort at determining what a vision of excellence looks like at Guernsey-Sunrise schools. I'm still figuring out all the nuances of the tool, so there will probably be changes made, but the general idea is to have a page that people can add to and edit at their leisure.




Check it out.

Speak Up

I've included a link to a website for Speak Up, a survey to determine attitudes toward education from around the country. The "secret word" is viking. this will allow anyone who wants to take the survey to do so. A short description of the project follows:

The Speak Up project collects and reports out annually on authentic, unfiltered feedback from K-12 students, teachers, parents and school leaders from every state on 21st century education and technology issues. Speak Up is conducted 100% via online surveys and every school and district in the United States and Canada is eligible to participate. The online surveys are open for participation until Dec 21st, 2007.

Here are just a few topics that will be addressed in Speak Up 2007:

• Creating schools of the future.


• Why students like gaming and the benefits to using them for school work.


• Engaging students in science.


• Helping students feel connected and valued at school.

I know that surveys can be a pain to take, but I thought I would make this available for those who might be interested.

Time

I had an interesting conversation this past week with a colleague about the passage of time. Have you ever heard someone say they were too old to do something or a project would take too long to complete? Remember that the time we think is too long is going to pass anyway, whether we decide to take up the task or not. The question then is, was the project or goal something we would truly like to achieve? If so, why not do it? Five years from now, we'll be five years older, whether we decided to attempt the long-term goal or not. Why not make an attempt? It comes down to setting our expectations high and shooting for the stars. One never knows where that will take him or her. As I've posted before, set your goal, write it down, review it daily and begin today to achieving that goal.

Expectations

I have been at the Wyoming School Boards Association annual workshop the past couple of days and was listening to the keynote speaker yesterday, Mossi White when she said something about high expectations and student success. Miss White said, "the biggest predictor of increases in student achievement is the belief of adults that a difference can be made." I did a little research to try to find the study and one in Michigan echoed, somewhat, that sentiment.

The Michigan study showed that parental expectations of learning was a large predictor of achievement success. I would be interested to find others that mention something similar, but what Mossi said made sense. If we - both teachers and parents and all adults for that matter - have high expectations for our students, those students are more likely to find education valuable. Although we may disagree on certain aspects of schooling as it exists today, I think we can all agree that education is valuable and we must continue to hold high expectations for student achievement. What do you believe?

Needs Hunter

I was listening to a talk-radio show a while back and heard a phrase that struck me as something to focus on during this holiday season. The show was talking about tithing and a caller questioned the host about how to know for whom to do that. The host said that each person should become a "Needs Hunter." It is an interesting concept and one that each one of us could pursue, particularly when it comes to our students. By asking, "what needs exist that I have the ability to meet?" we can begin to better see those we can use our talents to help fulfill.

It is my belief that many of us do not either appreciate the great talents that we have to offer or are not sure what or how to offer those talents to help others. The concept of a "Needs Hunter" can help us focus the question on finding a need and filling it. Often in education, we look for others to solve the complex issues that exist in schools. If we all determined that we will hunt for those needs that we can fill and then go about doing so, our community, as well as the world, would be a better place.

Being present

"Listening is such a simple act. It requires us to be present, and that takes practice, but we don't have to do anything else. We don't have to advise, or coach or sound wise. We just have to be willing to sit there and listen." --Margaret J. Wheatley, writer and management consultant.

The above quote came from SmartBrief, a daily e-newsletter from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD.) What struck me was not only the thought about "just listening," but the requirement to be present. Wheatley is totally correct in that being present takes practice - at least for most people - and can be downright difficult for many. Being present means we must look at the situation as it is and not through some preconceived perception that clouds what is currently happening.

I liken it to one of the stories I've heard about staying in the present moment. A car cuts you off on the interstate and immediately you become angry at the person. We are then asked if we would have the same reaction if we knew a loved one was being rushed to the hospital in an emergency. If we do not, we should realize that our perception and assumption about the other person's motives helped form our reaction.

I think the same holds true in education. Students believe they cannot do math, therefore the topic for the day becomes difficult, if not impossible. Adults see children who are disrespectful or not doing their work and form a perception that students, individually or collectively, are the problem. People have a certain belief about schools and they are prone to see those things that uphold that belief.

By staying in the present moment we do not cloud our perception of that moment by recalling past transgressions or problems. We are free to see the moment as it truly is and make decisions and grow from there.

Music and learning

Two interesting studies that show that music can help students learn better. I haven't had an opportunity to review either, but saw them in a recent newsletter. A Georgetown University study showed that music and language use the same type of memory, leading one to believe that music can help students learn language better. I know teachers do this in the primary grades, but it may show that music throughout one's lifetime of learning can be beneficial.

The other study, from the New York Academy of Sciences says that there is more increase in grey matter in those who play music often. The study also show that music can boost your immune system and improve memory, both of which aid in learning. Improved immune systems keep people from getting sick as often, which for children would keep them in school more. Of course, improved memory helps children learn their facts more easily and gives them a head start on learning more complex material.

American Education Week-Tue.

In honor of American Education Week, the Board of Trustees held a breakfast for all staff, both current and retired. It reminded me to take time to thank all the people who have been instrumental in my life in education; from those that took the time to teach me, in elementary and high school, through college and beyond, to those I've worked with over the years who have dedicated themselves to helping students achieve success.

American Education Week

This week is American Education Week, a week to honor our educators for their efforts. From the National Education Association's website:

NEA's 86th annual American Education Week (AEW) spotlights the importance of providing every child in America with a quality public education, and the need for everyone to do his or her part in making public schools great.

Great Public Schools: A Basic Right and Our Responsibility reflects the Association's calling upon America to provide students with quality public schools so that they can grow, prosper, and achieve in the 21st century.

I was reminded of a wonderful way to recognize our staff members when Daphne Malcolm emailed the staff to ask that they write a "drop" for at least one other staff person this week. (This comes from the book How Full is Your Bucket? - an excellent book on positive relationships.) If you get a chance, write a note or drop them an email. I'm sure they would appreciate hearing from you.

NCLB and growth

I read this on a blog that Dr. Mark Stock, currently a professor at the University of Wyoming wrote when he was a superintendent in Indiana. The post provides a great analogy for implementing a "growth" model for the No Child Left Behind law. It goes to the heart of educating our students to their potential.

I would at least like to see NCLB based on a growth model instead of the current proficiency model.

Here is an example using the track event of high jumping.

If you count the percentage of students who can high jump over 5 feet in your school you have used a proficiency model. In a proficiency model the bean counters don't care how many athletes already jump well over 6 feet or how many students are handicapped, injured or can't jump at all. We hold you accountable for the standard - which is 5 feet. (I would add that most states' department of education have only one "attempt" in which to try to qualify. So if a student had a bad day and slipped and fell and couldn't make 5 feet, they would be labeled as "basic or below basic," when at other times, they were jumping over 5 feet during the year.)

In a growth model you are looking at how many improved their jumping ability and how much. In this model accountability is based on individual improvement of each student as opposed to only a pre-set standard. If a student is jumping 3 feet and they improve to 4 feet they have made more normative progress than a 6 foot high jumper who is only jumping 5 foot now.

There are other side effects of NCLB but at least this would help make the model more "fair" in the minds of some.

I thought the analogy was a good one as we continue to look for ways to move all of our students toward their potential. I was in a discussion just yesterday about some of the obstacles schools face from state departments and legislatures not allowing the flexibility necessary to move beyond a proficiency model. However, the change we need is not impossible, and we must continue to work in that direction and find ways to work with the department of education to provide that flexibility.

Details

The last couple of days, I’ve been tracking the traffic on this blog and saw nothing but zeroes. I was a bit concerned since I had emailed the staff toward the end of last week to let them know that the blog had changed and to give me some thoughts on the new format as well as possible name changes.

Had they decided not to look at it? Was I not writing anything worthwhile? I thought after mentioning it that at least a couple of people would look at it. But Nothing! Zero! Zilch! Nada!

Then I had my wife and our secretary tell me that they went on to look and I finally figured it out – in the format change, the tracking code hadn’t changed over. Apparently I had overlooked the details. In this case, it was the details of the event that had changed my perception of reality. I was thinking that no one was reading, when in reality there were probably several. Finding the details in the complex or the mundane causes us to look more closely at all parts of a situation and determine appropriate action.

Yesterday I wrote about deciding on what you want, writing it down and reading it every day – more than once preferably. This relates to details in that the more specific a goal or thought is, the better chance of accomplishing that goal. For instance, a school or district may decide that it wants to improve reading scores. A great idea, right? Not so much, only because it is not specific enough. There is not a clear picture for people to visualize success. Now if the same school were to say that students were going to improve by 10 points on a reading assessment, then people know exactly what the goal is and can generate feedback on their progress.

This holds true for individuals as well. Students may determine that they want to get an A in a class or have a 4.0 GPA. Teachers may decide they want everyone in their class to score above an 85 on the end of year exam. Individuals may decide to start an exercise or diet program and say they want to lose 20 pounds by a certain date. All these provide a concrete goal toward which to strive, provide a benchmark on which to gather data, and allow feedback on progress. So remember, success lies in the details. Have you written down what you want yet?

Restricted Access

I do realize that by the time most of you read this, it will be well after it is posted, so the purpose is to show that information can be sent out in real time and I hope that you will begin to check this often when you have questions about situations when they occur.

The current status (10:30 am on Thursday, Nov. 8) is that Guernsey-Sunrise schools are restricting access to the building. All persons must enter through either the high school office doors or central office doors.

As issues in today's world demand, schools are increasingly taking steps to make sure that administrators and school personnel know for certain who is coming and going in their buildings. G-S will be implementing a new system of electronic access this winter that may change some practices in the building.

What do you want?

In his book Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill had a quote that I thought was applicable to finding success in any endeavor on which you embark. He wrote, "Decide what you want, write it on a card, carry the card with you , read it as often as possible every day, at least every morning when you get up and before you go to bed at night."

What does that have to do with education? I think it is the essence of both individual and organizational success in learning. First, decide what you want. That is sometimes easier said that done. It implies that we must first make a choice and commit to it. There are times when we try to focus on too many things and don't really "decide" on a plan of action.

Writing it down and reading it every day is important as well. A study, that I don't have at my fingertips at this moment, once showed that those that wrote down their goals were more successful than those that didn't. Continually reading those goals gets a person (or an organization for that matter) focusing on the desired outcome and therefore more likely to take actions that will achieve the results.

So, back to education and learning. By writing down what it is they want and reviewing it daily, students, parents, teachers, classes, schools, and districts begin the process toward achieving success.

Moving Forward

I read an article this morning in THE Journal, an on-line magazine, in which the author claims that education is nowhere close to where it needs to be in helping students achieve success and learn 21st century skills.

The author says there are two major barriers to technology providing a "catalyst for improvements in teaching and learning:" using technology in a narrow manner, and the belief that what we are currently doing technologically is wide and comprehensive. To address these obstacles, I believe we must continue to expand our use of technology, not only to learn new technology skills, but to improve the performance of our students.

Math gestures lead to success

You know how some people like to use their hands a lot when they talk? Check out this study that says that gesturing when solving or explaining math problems can actually lead to increased math performance. I guess as long as the gesture is appropriate, right?

Updates and teams

As you may have noticed, the look of the blog has changed. If you check it regularly, it may have changed several times in the last few days. I'm working with updating the site to make it more user-friendly and provide some more information, so it is technically a "work in progress."

On another note, the comment from the Ideation post was right on. That is one part of the strengths message - focusing around strengths and managing non-strengths. Thus, a team would be made up of a mix of talents, including some strong in Ideation, others with a Strategic strength to see the alternatives and efficiencies, possibly some Activators to make sure the team is taking action, and some Responsibility persons to hold the team to deadlines and action plans. By mixing strengths among the members, a team can be very strong and active.

Speaking of teams, congrats to the Viking football team for the 28-14 win over Cokeville Saturday. See Championship action this Saturday vs. Southeast at Torrington.

Ideation

"I have an idea."

Have you heard someone say that often? It could be that they have Ideation as one of their signature themes or strengths.

A person strong in Ideation is fascinated by ideas. Lots of ideas. All kinds of ideas. A thought to explain something complex or a connection between seemingly disparate concepts. Those with Ideation enjoy finding new perspectives on things and twisting and turning the familiar into new and exciting possibilities. For the Ideation person, ideas are energizing, and this person thrives on them.

One of the keys to working with a person with Ideation is to honor the ideas and provide opportunities to express them. Many times this person will think out loud, throwing out ideas right and left, seeing if one sticks. Understanding that ideas will flow from this person can help others see that the process of creating ideas is what gives this person energy. From the large number of ideas can come a truly remarkable thought that can take organizations in a whole new direction.

Input

I was recently asked to participate in a Quality Assurance Review in Buffalo to help determine if their high school should be accredited and provide suggestions on how to improve. As is often the case when I visit other districts and educational entities, I learned a lot.

One of the things I learned is the importance of stakeholder communication and working together to provide a positive educational experience for students. Embedded throughout the AdvancEd criteria for accreditation, stakeholder input was evident in several of the seven standards, including those in Vision and Purpose; Leadership; Stakeholder Communication and Relationships; and Continuous Improvement. In addition, active involvement of students in the learning process was a part of the Teaching and Learning standard.

While it is sometimes not always easy asking for input when one is certain of neither the volume nor tenor of the response, it is nonetheless important in order to get a more complete picture. Organizations must ask their customers and shareholders what they are thinking or feeling. Only by gathering input from all stakeholders can school districts get a good feel for the wants, needs and issues of a community.

Platte #2 recently put a survey on its website asking for input. We received a fair amount of input on a controversial topic and feel that conversations were started that will lead to improvement. As the district moves forward and plans for the future, I am asking for your input again. On the website is a much more detailed survey, but one that will help the board of trustees and the district determine a direction to continue getting better. If you do not have an Internet connection, we do have a paper survey available. We ask that you take the time to fill out this survey and thank you ahead of time for doing so. Working together, we can continue to reach for excellence while providing an outstanding education for our students.
(also appears in the October 31 Guernsey-Gazette)

The One Thing

A bit of serendipity from the last couple of weeks has me thinking about getting more focused. An on-line newsletter I get from a personal development entrepreneur discussed the movie City Slickers and one of the characters, Curly, played by Jack Palance. The scene from the movie has Billy Crystal’s character asking the grizzled cowboy to tell him the secret to his perceived grasp of life’s secrets. Curly would hold up one finger and say, “One thing.” Eventually Crystal’s character becomes exasperated and asks, “What is the one thing,” followed by Curly’s response along the lines of “You’ll have to figure that out.”

The serendipitous part comes from the fact that a book I’m reading for graduate class called Crucial Conversations had the same story. If find it interesting that this obscure reference came about twice in such a short time. All of which got me thinking about a book I read in the last year by Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know. Each of these references was talking about narrowing our focus to the fundamental element for achieving success. In Crucial Conversations the focus was on successful conversations and making sure relevant information was free flowing. Buckingham wrote of three scenarios – managing, leading, and personal success – and had a singular focus for each of the three. James Ray, in his on-line newsletter, wrote of success in life.

As I reflect on the strategic direction of our district – we are currently in the planning stages – I am reminded that a laser-like focus really does help individuals and organizations grow. As we develop our strategic plan, I will be reminded to ask the question, “What is the one thing?” that will drive success for the future. If the previous three authors are correct, we’ll certainly find out if we can answer that question.
(cross posted at http://www.leadertalk.org/)

About Our Strengths - Woo

Reading the September 4 edition of the Guernsey Gazette, I was intrigued by editor Vicki Hood’s column, Fishing in the Dark. In it, Vicki told a story of an email she received from her sister with five words under the signature. One of those words happened to be Woo, which Vicki proceeded to write about for several paragraphs, tongue in cheek. Wouldn’t you know, the five words were her sister’s strengths according to the StrengthsFinder survey. Thus, I have decided to begin our regular, hopefully weekly, look at individual strengths with Woo.

Woo can be considered to be the act of Winning Others Over. For me, it is a strength that is captivating, as those with Woo tend to interact with others easily and open conversations with complete strangers at the drop of a hat. Those with Woo are outgoing and friendly and know no strangers, only “friends they haven’t met yet.”

To develop this strength, it is important that a Woo person is in a position to interact with people every day. This person may be a point of contact for an organization or someone to help put others at ease in social interactions. Putting others at ease helps the individual to bring others on board and build networks. Understanding this strength in others allows us to see that networking and talking to a lot of people is just part of the strength of a Woo individual.

Changing the World

You may have read or watched the story of a 17 year old in New Jersey finding a way to change the new iPhone so that it was no longer tied strictly to the AT&T network. Tracy Weeks writes on the LeaderTalk blog that this could be an example of a student using 21st century skills and provides us with motivation to extend the learning that must occur for our students to be successful.

We have seen our country evolve, quickly I might add, from an industrial economy, through the information-based age, to what could be called the innovation age. Daniel Pink writes in his book A Whole New Mind, that creativity will be of utmost importance for success in the future. Psychologist Robert Sternberg states that analytic, practical, and creative skills will be required in this new economy.

Looking at the learning elements that the Partnership for 21st Century Skills sees as essential, one sees creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem-solving, and communication and collaboration. The iPhone change provides us with examples of all of those skills. (According to the student, this is legal based on his knowledge of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.)

For example, what was the motivation that compelled this student to try to change the iPhone? In his interview with MSNBC, the student says that the problem was that he couldn’t use the phone on his network. But, he also says that he wouldn’t have done it had it not been fun for him to do. The motivation came from a problem that was relevant to the student and was in an area of interest. This provided the focus to spend 500 hours on the project.

In addition, this student, from New Jersey, collaborated with others around the world to come up with a solution. Technology is allowing people from around the world work together to communicate, learn, and solve problems. As educators, we must find ways to help students not only learn these 21st century skills, but to demonstrate the learning as well.

The combination of merging strengths and interests with 21st century skills provides the intrinsic motivation for students to seek the knowledge needed to solve authentic problems as well as the skills to find the solutions. It should make for interesting times ahead.

Great Questions

I have had the wonderful opportunity to read many books and articles over the past several years. The book I am currently reading, “What the Bleep Do We Know?” is an interesting look at the similarities that exist between spirituality and quantum physics. One of the concepts I found most enlightening was the idea of asking great questions to help change the direction of our lives. The examples given were directed primarily toward individuals, but I thought about how that concept would easily extend to groups and organizations. So, I started our pre-service talking about reflecting on great questions, including asking lots of What? Why not? How?

Some of this is evident in Rick DuFour’s work with professional learning communities. What do we want our students to know? How will we know they’ve learned it? What will we do if they don’t learn it (or what will we do if they already know it?) But I also think that we can go deeper than that. Included among many important questions we must ask of ourselves as an organization are, What is our purpose? What is essential for our students (and staff) to be successful? And, for myself as I look at the 21st century skills framework, what great questions can I ask our staff, board, community, and most importantly, students, to develop the best educational system possible?

I look forward to the conversations that develop from these questions.

Back to School

It’s hard to believe that the new school year is just around the corner. As we look forward to another successful year, I would like to reflect on where we’ve been and some of the challenges that lay ahead for the district.

This past year, Guernsey-Sunrise schools began the process of becoming a strengths-based organization. The focus on strengths started in the fall, with the teachers taking a survey that provided them with their top 5 signature themes. These themes provide individuals with potential strengths – areas where a person can excel. The idea is to focus on strengths and manage non-strengths, which has been shown to lead to more productivity and better engagement at work.

Students in grades 5-12 have taken or will take a similar survey, which will enable Guernsey-Sunrise staff to better differentiate instruction. By varying the type of teaching, a variety of learning styles – seeing, hearing, hands-on - are addressed and ALL students learn better. Knowing strengths and interests helps students and staff establish better relationships, a key to school improvement.

Another way I believe strengths will help our district is in helping students achieve 21st century skills. As the world of technology creates a different world from the world I remember growing up in, our students will have to be prepared to adapt to an ever-changing business and career environment. Some of the skills necessary include working together, critical thinking, self-direct, technology literacy, the ability to gather, assess, and interpret information, and cultural competency.

Those that read Mr. Griffith’s article in the August 14 issue of the Guernsey-Gazette will see that he focuses on effort. By focusing on our strengths, those things that we individually do well, I believe we can amass the effort to provide a bright future of education at Guernsey-Sunrise schools. Everyone giving their best effort – students, staff, parents, and community – gives the district an advantage that few districts will find. As we seek input on a strategic plan that will carry us into the future, no matter what that future may bring, I look forward to seeing the excellent results that working together can bring. We want not only our students, but the district itself, to be prepared, in order to provide success for all.
(this article also runs in the August 14 edition of the Guernsey-Gazette)

Back on Track

For those of you checking back from time to time to see progress, I apologize for the long absence. I have a tendency to want to come up with the perfect post and that inhibits my writing. A lot of exciting things have been happening at Guernsey-Sunrise schools these past few months. In the next few posts I will discuss what has been a great year and look forward to an outstanding future.

21st Century skills

(This article appears in the February 13 edition of the Guernsey Gazette)
For those of you familiar with Guernsey-Sunrise schools in the area of technology, you know that the district has done a great job of providing its students and staff with up-to-date technology. Today I would like to focus not on the hardware and software, but on the skills that our students will need to succeed as they enter the workforce today and in the decades to come.

According to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, schools of today are not preparing our students well for the world in which they will live. A survey of business leaders said much the same thing and a Department of Commerce and Labor report stated that jobs in this century will require new ways of thinking. Our students will live and work in a world that is flattening at a rapidly accelerating pace. In his book, “The World is Flat,” Thomas Friedman writes of the many “flattening” influences that have occurred to bring us the world of today; the World-Wide web, off-shoring of labor, uploading and open-source software, and the proliferation of personal digital and virtual devices.

Technology is rapidly changing the way we interact in the world. According to an article by Willard Daggett, it took almost 35 years for the telephone, 26 years for television and 16 years for personal computers to achieve a 25 percent penetration rate in American homes. PDAs took three years. According to Bill Gates, technology capacity is doubling every nine months. We are seeing technological advances happening so quickly and it is our students who will have the most need to adjust to these changes. If we are to provide our students with the ability to compete, not only in Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain region, but also in the worldwide marketplace, we must provide them with the skills to do so.

Not only will students have to master the basic core academic subjects, but additional 21st century skills as well. These include 21st century content including global awareness, financial and civic literacy, and health awareness; higher level learning and thinking skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, innovation, and collaboration; and information and communications technology literacy, including the ability to use technology to learn and work.

At Guernsey-Sunrise schools, we are looking at ways to present and help students master the technological and other skills necessary to succeed in a global community. We must collaborate to create a common vision that includes these skills, assess where we, and then develop a plan to help students achieve these skills. We look forward to the challenge of creating an outstanding 21st century education for all students.

Using strengths to enhance learning

In a recent post on strengths, I was asked how discovering one’s strengths could help students learn better. That is a very good question and one that goes to the heart of what we’re trying to do at Guernsey-Sunrise schools. Our focus in this philosophy is to help all those we can discover their strengths and develop them to achieve excellence in what they do. Staff members that understand their own strengths will enhance their ability and skills to help students learn. By focusing on developing their strengths, teachers become even better at delivering instruction. An understanding of strengths also gives teachers another tool to get to know their students better and therefore, differentiate instruction. By differentiating instruction, teachers provide students with varying learning styles a way to better understand the material presented.

Eventually, many students will be surveyed in order to learn their strengths. This will help them not only have a better understanding of the things they do well, it will give them a positive approach to the differences among them. In addition, resources will be available to discover study tips and learning environments that best help each student learn.

Expanding on Strengths

The day after the Strengths in-service at Guernsey-Sunrise, a group of administrators gathered to learn more about using strengths to lead. Although the presentation was similar, I found that I gained a better understanding of strengths even though I have been involved and studying them for a few years. I find that I understand mine even better and I get new ideas on how to work with others to use their strengths to excel.

It is interesting to see the way people view different strengths. It always give me a fresh perspective to see the subtle differences in viewpoints that others have. I think we can learn a lot from listening to others and trying to see things through their eyes. When we are able to keep an open mind, I feel we learn a lot more. That certainly doesn't mean that we are continually changing our mind or values, but it does mean we are always willing to learn something new and let our ways of thinking evolve to a higher level.