Last week I was met with a question that left me pondering. Posed to me was this quiz, "Which research do you find to be the most useful to your teachers, Marzano or Jensen?" Yea, I know. It kinda stopped me in my tracks too. And I had to answer it in the presence of well-educated individuals.
Until a moment later in the week, I kept teetering between the two: Marzano for his instructional strategies or Jensen for brain-based learning? They were separated in my mind as if they were two schools of research and thought. But alas, they are not. In fact, they are two pieces of a puzzle that fit tightly together to create a safe, student-centered learning environment.
This past week, I attended the Marzano Institute on Student Engagement in Houston. While I can truly say it was a fantastic conference, it led me to an epiphany of instructional proportions. Marzano's Model of Attention and Engagement encompasses four questions for learners:
1) How do I feel?
2) Am I interested?
3) Is this important?
4) Can I do this?
Rooted within those four questions are the ideals and practices of Eric Jensen - the secret to keeping the students engaged through physical activity and brain stimulation. At the Institute I heard four presenters discuss the varying components within this research with a focus on building vocabulary. In each and every presentation, the expert quoted Jensen's research. Often multiple times.
As a principal I am thrilled to find two researchers who work can be so equivocally matched together like two pieces to a puzzle. It is far to often we chase the latest and greatest thing and it has nothing to do with our previous initiatives.
Not this time, folks, this is the real deal.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Our Own Little "Fed Ex" Day
In honor of President's Day, our students had a holiday yesterday leaving my staff to a professional development day. We had a fantastic morning working through some much needed discussions involving student achievement followed by a time devoted strictly to my teachers working in curriculum. Forgive me for bragging, but these are the hardest working staff members I've ever seen around. Truly they are.
The point of my post is what we did towards the end of our day. I've written a few times on the work of Dan Pink and have searched for ways to incorporate some of his ideals into my professional life whenever I could. I continued my research and found several principals who've written on the use of a FedEx day on their campus and decided it was time to take the plunge.
I saved the final hour and half as our FedEx time....also known as time for creativity and non-commissioned work. I gave the staff a few ideas that other teachers had and set them on their way. The only stipulation was that they had to share out their ideas via Twitter. What they came up with was outstanding! See for yourself...
Two ladies put their heads together and created large zeros to hang in each hallway to serve as a reminder for our students to remain silent while passing through. I loved how their project will impact the entire campus.
The same goes for one of my grade level teams. They have organized a chili cook-off to celebrate Texas Public Schools Week. And the best part? I get to be a judge. Yum!
Two special teachers collaborated and searched through our literacy library brainstorming for ideas.
Another entire grade level team developed math stations for their students and worked diligently to located the resources they needed to implement their ideas.
Lots of ladies hopped on the Internets and researched ideas on Pinterest. I even saw students products hanging in the hallways today!
There were teachers exploring sensory integration, music for the classroom and even creating the Rio Grande River.
Will this be something we dedicate time to in the future? Absolutely!
The point of my post is what we did towards the end of our day. I've written a few times on the work of Dan Pink and have searched for ways to incorporate some of his ideals into my professional life whenever I could. I continued my research and found several principals who've written on the use of a FedEx day on their campus and decided it was time to take the plunge.
I saved the final hour and half as our FedEx time....also known as time for creativity and non-commissioned work. I gave the staff a few ideas that other teachers had and set them on their way. The only stipulation was that they had to share out their ideas via Twitter. What they came up with was outstanding! See for yourself...
Two ladies put their heads together and created large zeros to hang in each hallway to serve as a reminder for our students to remain silent while passing through. I loved how their project will impact the entire campus.
The same goes for one of my grade level teams. They have organized a chili cook-off to celebrate Texas Public Schools Week. And the best part? I get to be a judge. Yum!
Two special teachers collaborated and searched through our literacy library brainstorming for ideas.
Another entire grade level team developed math stations for their students and worked diligently to located the resources they needed to implement their ideas.
Lots of ladies hopped on the Internets and researched ideas on Pinterest. I even saw students products hanging in the hallways today!
There were teachers exploring sensory integration, music for the classroom and even creating the Rio Grande River.
Will this be something we dedicate time to in the future? Absolutely!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
The Flip Side of a Home Visit
One of the many challenges we face at my campus is the ever growing population of low SES students. It is the toughest hurdle my ladies face on a daily basis and it's not going away anytime soon. During a discussion yesterday with my leadership team, the topic of home visits came up. I was reminded of a school where each teacher was required to conduct a home visit on each student prior to school starting in August. They were simple, yet powerful meetings where the student and parents met the teacher. Most took place on the doorstep, others on the couch. Regardless it set the stage for a positive relationship.
The leadership team didn't dive too far into the topic. At at time where I'm extra conscious about what I ask of them to do, I didn't press the subject. But deep down, I knew these are the types of things we're going to have to do. Doing the same things over and over again expecting different results isn't how we're going to make an impact in these families' lives.
The whole topic was left tugging on my heart. Then my doorbell rang.
When I opened it, to my surprise I saw my son's music teacher and day care director. They were conducting a home visit to personally invite him to join the children's choir. I didn't receive a flier in his folder announcing the new activity. It wasn't posted on Facebook. It was personal. It was at our home and it struck me in the heart.
This is what we must do for our students. I've always believed we cannot control what happens beyond the doors of our school, but I'm starting to change my thoughts on that. We can control how we engage the parents...how we make them feel about our school...how we approach their students. Just like the first phone call home from the school shouldn't be about a discipline problem, it should be an introductory call - a happy phone conversation. Our first visit to the home shouldn't be because of tardy or truancy issues, but because we want to be there to invite them to join us on a journey of learning.
Monday, February 13, 2012
SHARE-ing my Valentine
After a particularly challenging day I found a very powerful email waiting in my inbox. My school counselor had sent an email and Valentine's document to the staff that truly touched my heart. In her wisdom, she asked the staff to remember and relive the moments in which they decided to become a teacher. I must admit it stirred my heart as well. Why am I here? What is it that drives me?
It's easy - it's the kids.
I remember my journey to being a teacher. I had grown up volunteering in my church and working with young children. I lived - and I mean truly LIVED - for the week of Bible School each summer. When I was old enough, I began teaching. I taught on Sundays and every summer. I planned, I decorated, I crafted, I just plain loved teaching kids. In addition, I volunteered to give clarinet lessons to younger players at school. My band director looked at me one day and said the sentence that would change my life, "Kim, have your ever thought about being a teacher? You're a natural."
So I did what any normal person would do. I entered Baylor majoring in Business. Teaching school was not for me - or so I thought. I remember how excited I was walking into class that August morning. Within 10 minutes I knew I was not a Business major. Not. At. All. Over the next few weeks I struggled with my future. Just what was I going to do? It all came to me one Sunday morning while teaching a group of Kindergartners. I knew in my heart I was being called into the field of education. I was born to teach. I changed my major to Education and set out to change the world.
But the story doesn't end there. I loved teaching. Still do. My staff knows the days I'm yearning to get away from the piles of paperwork because I start wandering the building and hanging out with the kiddos. As a teacher, I enjoyed leading staff development and supporting new teachers. I enjoy learning and decided to return to school to obtain my Masters. There I truly began to grow as a teacher and try so many new things. I loved being a leader on my campus and impacting more than just my classroom. I felt the pull to impact education in a larger setting.
I entered the world of educational administration and vowed I would never lose touch with the classroom. Six years have flown by and I love what I do. Some days are tough. Others tougher, but I'm doing what I love and the students give me so much fulfillment.
So, that's why I'm here. For the kids. To make life and education better for them.
Thank you Ms. V for bringing me back to my reality and passion today. Much, much needed.
Siempre.
It's easy - it's the kids.
I remember my journey to being a teacher. I had grown up volunteering in my church and working with young children. I lived - and I mean truly LIVED - for the week of Bible School each summer. When I was old enough, I began teaching. I taught on Sundays and every summer. I planned, I decorated, I crafted, I just plain loved teaching kids. In addition, I volunteered to give clarinet lessons to younger players at school. My band director looked at me one day and said the sentence that would change my life, "Kim, have your ever thought about being a teacher? You're a natural."
So I did what any normal person would do. I entered Baylor majoring in Business. Teaching school was not for me - or so I thought. I remember how excited I was walking into class that August morning. Within 10 minutes I knew I was not a Business major. Not. At. All. Over the next few weeks I struggled with my future. Just what was I going to do? It all came to me one Sunday morning while teaching a group of Kindergartners. I knew in my heart I was being called into the field of education. I was born to teach. I changed my major to Education and set out to change the world.
But the story doesn't end there. I loved teaching. Still do. My staff knows the days I'm yearning to get away from the piles of paperwork because I start wandering the building and hanging out with the kiddos. As a teacher, I enjoyed leading staff development and supporting new teachers. I enjoy learning and decided to return to school to obtain my Masters. There I truly began to grow as a teacher and try so many new things. I loved being a leader on my campus and impacting more than just my classroom. I felt the pull to impact education in a larger setting.
I entered the world of educational administration and vowed I would never lose touch with the classroom. Six years have flown by and I love what I do. Some days are tough. Others tougher, but I'm doing what I love and the students give me so much fulfillment.
So, that's why I'm here. For the kids. To make life and education better for them.
Thank you Ms. V for bringing me back to my reality and passion today. Much, much needed.
Siempre.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
The Flip Manifesto from D Pink - My Thoughts
I have always enjoyed reading the thoughts of Dan Pink. He's quite ingenuitive, quizzical and incredibly thought provoking. Not too long ago, I ran across his latest publication, The Flip Manifesto 16 Counterinutitive Ideas About Motivation, Innovation and Leadership.
It was indeed a flip.
The first preponderance that hit me was his first point, Start Doubting Yourself. When faced with a problematic situation, instead of declaring "I can do it!", change your thinking to "Can we do it?" It allows the mind to immediately begin exploring options and solutions. By changing one, simple reaction an entire mindset is created. Will I be exploring this option with my leadership team, absolutely.
His fourth topic really, really intrigued me. Take as much vacation as you want, whenever you want it. I just knew Dan Pink was telling me to hop the first plane to the Bahamas! However, once I read through it, his main point is to ensure time for adequate relaxation and rejuvenation while ensuring all tasks are completed. These tasks just may be done by your colleagues, but what's more intriguing is that the culture of the organization must be at an inter-dependence level before this type of vacation policy will be successful. Will education ever get there? Most likely not, but it's fun to think about.
One of my favorites, do the reverse of whatever you're doing now. I'm a big fan of the Fisch Flip, flipped instruction and just about anything else that spins us 180 degrees. Change is tough, but change in inevitable and I enjoy the new motivation and excitement brought about by it. I've written on flipped instruction a few times before and even dove into flipped staff development a time of two.
Carve out time for non-commissioned work. The key to any true success is what you're doing in the wee hours of the morning or when you're not "on the clock." In his book, Drive, Dan Pink describes the use of FedEx Days as a motivator within several companies. FedEx days - or times - are when official work for the company is put aside and employees work on a topic/idea/project of choice. I so badly want to approach this concept within my campus, but finding practical ways to implement it is tough. In the end accountability wins out.
All in all, a very good read with a great deal of leadership value.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The Power of Pinterest
Pinterest is all the rage right now among my friends and many of the crafty/décor-related blogs I follow. If you don’t know Pinterest, it’s an online bulletin board for organizing and storing internet sites by photo. Of course, there’s the social network component as well….you follow people, people follow you, you can link it to Twitter and Facebook as well. My husband calls it fantasy football for women.
But recently I have seen a growing use of Pinterest among the education world. When I set up my Pinterest boards I was sure to include a generic board for Education thinking I’d probably pin “a few things”. However, it has become increasingly evident that I need to redo and reorganize how I was pinning my educational thoughts – because I had LOTS going on in that Education board. After doing some research and finding that several schools and technology departments have Pinterest boards as part of their online resources, I knew I had to restructure my own. I spent some time one evening organizing my boards into the following: Tech Tools, ELAR Instruction, Math Instruction, Word Walls, Education Blogs/Sites and Education. Then I searched around and found some great educationally related Pinterest users to follow and pass along to my staff.
All this organization and pinning is great, but here’s where the power of Pinterest really shines.
As I sat in a district-level RtI committee meeting last week, we were discussing the need for a PreK-2nd grade visual that adequately shows the developmental continuum of reading skills. Crazily enough I had one on my Pinterest. So, right there I pulled it up on my iPad and showed it to the committee.
As if that wasn’t enough, the following day I was in an RtI meeting on my campus with a teacher and we were discussing the need for fluency practice ideas. Yet again, I had a great fluency practice activity pinned on my ELAR board. I showed the teacher and she was eager to give it a try.
Twice I have been able to utilize Pinterest as an online, mobile resource that positively impacted the instruction on my campus. I’m hopeful and looking forward to more opportunities to use Pinterest as a staff development tool, online resource and source for parent education.
But recently I have seen a growing use of Pinterest among the education world. When I set up my Pinterest boards I was sure to include a generic board for Education thinking I’d probably pin “a few things”. However, it has become increasingly evident that I need to redo and reorganize how I was pinning my educational thoughts – because I had LOTS going on in that Education board. After doing some research and finding that several schools and technology departments have Pinterest boards as part of their online resources, I knew I had to restructure my own. I spent some time one evening organizing my boards into the following: Tech Tools, ELAR Instruction, Math Instruction, Word Walls, Education Blogs/Sites and Education. Then I searched around and found some great educationally related Pinterest users to follow and pass along to my staff.
All this organization and pinning is great, but here’s where the power of Pinterest really shines.
As I sat in a district-level RtI committee meeting last week, we were discussing the need for a PreK-2nd grade visual that adequately shows the developmental continuum of reading skills. Crazily enough I had one on my Pinterest. So, right there I pulled it up on my iPad and showed it to the committee.
As if that wasn’t enough, the following day I was in an RtI meeting on my campus with a teacher and we were discussing the need for fluency practice ideas. Yet again, I had a great fluency practice activity pinned on my ELAR board. I showed the teacher and she was eager to give it a try.
Twice I have been able to utilize Pinterest as an online, mobile resource that positively impacted the instruction on my campus. I’m hopeful and looking forward to more opportunities to use Pinterest as a staff development tool, online resource and source for parent education.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Twimpact
I stumbled upon a thought provoking blog titled Teaching Paperless. The title alone took me by surprise. There's a wealth of knowledge hanging around on there, but alas - that's not my focus for today.
A read through an article detailing the impact of her use of Twitter for the week, i.e. twimpact. So I was inspired to figure out what impact twitter had for me this week. There was a tweet I read a while back that put it plainly...I get more professional development out of twitter in day than I could get traditionally in a month. I couldn't agree more.
My previous week's Twimpact:
I sent 24 tweets
I read approx 400+ tweets
I follow 171 professionals - some teachers, some administrators, some education organizations
I currently have 120 followers - only 35 are my staff members
I stumbled upon two powerful tweetchats (#D5chat - Fri p.m. and #educhat - Tues p.m.)
Found an excellent Math TEKS Toolkit to share with my staff
Followed live updates of the SBOE meeting this week pertaining to TEKS realignment
Received udpated TEA and STAAR assessment information 2-3 days before my current district disseminated the information
Found an excellent activity I "favorited" to do with my staff at the next staff development day
Quite honestly, this was a slow week for me on twitter. I'm hoping to garner more information and professional development ideas the week ahead.
A read through an article detailing the impact of her use of Twitter for the week, i.e. twimpact. So I was inspired to figure out what impact twitter had for me this week. There was a tweet I read a while back that put it plainly...I get more professional development out of twitter in day than I could get traditionally in a month. I couldn't agree more.
My previous week's Twimpact:
I sent 24 tweets
I read approx 400+ tweets
I follow 171 professionals - some teachers, some administrators, some education organizations
I currently have 120 followers - only 35 are my staff members
I stumbled upon two powerful tweetchats (#D5chat - Fri p.m. and #educhat - Tues p.m.)
Found an excellent Math TEKS Toolkit to share with my staff
Followed live updates of the SBOE meeting this week pertaining to TEKS realignment
Received udpated TEA and STAAR assessment information 2-3 days before my current district disseminated the information
Found an excellent activity I "favorited" to do with my staff at the next staff development day
Quite honestly, this was a slow week for me on twitter. I'm hoping to garner more information and professional development ideas the week ahead.
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