2019, the year of Service

Welcome to 2019. 

As I write this, I am amazed at how quickly my past 21 years as an educator have gone. During this time, I have been fortunate to work alongside many amazing educators in service to students.

There are many rituals individuals carry out as we turn the calendar from one year to the next. From making resolutions for the new year, choosing to start eating better, or to begin beginning an exercise regimen, the list goes on... 

For me, the past few years have included participation in the #oneword movement. The short version of #oneword is through purposeful reflection, individuals arrive at one word that is selected to help guide them throughout the year to come.

As 2018 drew to a close, my one word for 2019 became very clear to me, and to be upfront, it came as a bit of a surprise that it had not come up sooner. My #oneword2019 is... Service.

• Service to family.
• Service to community.
• Service to my profession.
• Service to friends, new and old.
• Service to staff, past, present, and future.
• Service to students, those I’ve met, and those of future years.
• Service to colleagues, the ones I have, and the ones I will meet in years to come.

So, I invited you to join me as I embark on 2019, and as I embrace my #oneword2019

Service

Rest, Reflect, Recharge Refocus and Repeat.

As 2018 draws to a close I find myself thinking how the year seems to be flying by. It seems like only yesterday that I was in my office, sun shining outside, reviewing year end reports and taking stock of all that was accomplished during the past school year as our team set our sights on next steps on our quest to meet the needs of the students our community entrusts us with. As we worked to establish district, building, and individual goals, we looked forward with anticipation to the year to come.

Fast forward to now, the end of December, our school year now four months old. Following our winter break, we will return in January to the halfway point of our school year journey. A time for reviewing progress towards goals set. A time for celebrating goals accomplished and for refocusing where needed.

Now however is the time to take a much needed break, and to take time to reconnect with family and friends.

A time to:

• Rest 
• Reflect 
• Recharge 
• and Refocus 

As educators, we will naturally find ourselves reflecting on progress up to this point, as well as what is yet to be done. While doing this, remind yourself to focus on self-care during this break. Doing so will allow you to come back refreshed as well as refocused; ready to serve your students and colleagues well.

I know I am excited to step back, enjoy some dedicated time with the family I cherish, and to return reenergized in 2019. 

Rest, Reflect, Recharge Refocus and Repeat.

The Importance of Seeing Amazing Everyday...

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it..” - Ferris Bueller 

It’s not that often that those who know me well will hear me quoting fictional movie characters as a source of inspiration or for leadership focus, this however is one of those times.

As educators, we have the pleasure of serving students, staff, and communities at a time where a lot is happening all at once. It is because of this that it can be easy to become overwhelmed at times, easy to miss all of the great things happening in our schools. 

There are many demands facing schools today: Trauma informed practice, school safety, social emotional learning, state and federal accountability, funding challenges, how to incorporate new and ever evolving tech, fewer people choosing education as a profession just to name a few…

I share this list not to draw attention to how challenging the role of education is and can be, but rather to share that even with a list like this, educators and educational leaders are making sure some pretty amazing things are happening in our schools beyond this list. From new and innovative approaches to Instruction that focus on both growth and application of skills for ALL learners, to making connections with students through social emotional learning approaches that make kids feel both safe at school, and connected to their communities. Add in that more and more educators are finding ways to connect what is happening in their classrooms to their communities and the world through social media platforms that include cloud funding as a way to both share their stories and provide funding for innovation.

In my own district, I have made a point to not only get into our schools more often, but to slow down when I am there to see the many amazing things our students are doing throughout their day everyday thanks to the dedication and hard work of our staff. We rolled out new science resources K-5 this year, and I have used that as my initial pathway to see some pretty amazing things. So far this year, I have been able to see our K-5 scientists working alongside their teachers during hands on investigations in all of our elementary schools at every grade level. 

What started out as a way to ensure staff had what they needed, has turned into an ongoing discussion centered around renewed excitement for hands on experiences for for all students. In addition, I have been able to engage great conversations with 6-8 teachers related to classroom assessment practices, the integration of writing into content areas, and ongoing collaborations with 9-12 staff on the expansion of dual credit opportunities for students leading to both high school and post secondary credits. While this is by no means an all encompassing list of the many great things happening in our schools, it does provide a quick snapshot of what I have had the pleasure of participating in alongside awesome students and amazing educators the past few weeks… A few weeks, that are like all weeks in schools today, amazing!

So, I come back to the opening quote:

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it..” - Ferris Bueller

I encourage you to stop and look around your school(s) and to take a look at all of the amazing that is happening everyday, so you don’t miss it.

To Truly Educate and Lead Well Takes Time...

Collaboration, Purposeful Reflection, Transferable Skills, and our Students, It's About Time…

Go, Go, Go…. Access to new and expanded information continues to expand at rates that can be difficult to comprehend. According to the “Knowledge Doubling Curve” Buckminster Fuller; 1982, prior to 1900, human knowledge doubled at a rate of approximately every century. By the end of World War II (1945) it had decreased to every twenty five years. Analytical estimates today have it doubling every thirteen months, and by 2020, less than two years from now, doubling every 11-12 hours!

As educators, what does this mean for how we instruct? How do we manage all of new information and access to it? How do we make sense of it all? Can we make sense of it of it all?

We can, if we take time to reflect on the needs of our students today, and the ever changing world that they are part of. 

Never more has the need to take time to pause for purposeful reflection been more important. While the notion of slowing down to take time to reflect on the impact our instruction is having daily may seem to present a logistical struggle, it is increasingly vital as the rate of access to new information and knowledge continues increase at exponential rates. The need to reflect in a purposeful manner as an individual, and with colleagues is essential…. The question is how?

As Collaborative Content Area Teams

• Prioritizing time to have conversations and reflect around student learning with colleagues who teach the similar content is a great way to foster shared understandings around not only how students are performing academically, but to identify areas for focused growth, instructional modifications, and next steps in curricular updates.

As Collaborative Grade Level Teams

• Time to meet and reflect with colleagues who teach the same grade level, but not necessarily the similar content. This time allows for staff who may not routinely connect related to their content, to collaborate on items and areas of need that are common across all disciplines, i.e. common challenges and opportunities, as well as spurring opportunities for interdisciplinary ideas. 

As an Individual

• Ensuring that as an educator, we take time to not only look back at the learning that has occurred within our classrooms, and schools, but to look ahead to how me may need to adjust course for the future is key.  Knowing that not only are no two students needs the same, but the needs present from year-to-year will also never be the same, makes this vital.  

The world and the skills students need to develop to be successful in it will continue to change and evolve. Their reality is, and will continue to be one of change. The tools we are using in our schools today, will not be the same ones they will be using in their chosen professions tomorrow. Our focus needs to be on the development and application of transferable skills that they can use as they learn to perform in careers not yet imagined. When we look at technology tools, operating platforms, software, as well as other classroom resources, we need to be building a knowledge base that is device, and platform agnostic. One that we model to students that ensures a commitment and pursuit of lifelong learning. This exciting, and at times daunting task, can only be accomplished by prioritizing time to collaborate and reflect in purposeful ways around the impact the experiences students are having in our classrooms is helping to develop the transferable skills they will need to be solvers of problems not yet thought of with tools, and in ways we cannot even imagine.

Never have I been more excited to be an educator, however to educate and lead well, we need to take time to reflect and adjust course as needed. Our students, our educators, and our future both deserve, and demand it.

It’s about Time….

Empowering Educators, it's About Time...

How do we empower educators? How do we empower educators to have meaningful impacts with students and on learning? Give them time...

Time to:

• Try new approaches
• Build relationships
• Be responsive 
  
• Collaborate
• Innovative 
• Evaluate 
• Reflect
• Model 
• Learn
• Grow

Too often in education we are caught looking to the latest tool for answers. Be it a new app, device, set of resources, assessment tool, or even the latest buzzword, in education we love new...  Don’t get me wrong, as an educator I love investigating how the tools that are are available to us today, and believe me, there are many, can help us meet students needs in ways we never could before.

Opening session for the day

The ability to locate, use, implement and observe the impact of any number of educational tools available to educators today is nothing short of amazing. At no point in our history have so many options been available to so many educators, so easily, and at one time… and the number of these new tools is only going to continue to expand. With all of these new tools, one of the most amazing and impactful educational resources available to us today are the educators who use these tools, along with their ability to positively impact student outcomes when they have time to collaborate. This thought is supported by the research of John Hattie, who found that through collective teacher efficacy (CTE), the shared belief that through their collective [and collaborative] action, that educators can positively influence student outcomes. This includes those students who are disengaged and/or disadvantaged. With an effect size of 1.57, CTE is ranked as one of the top two factors for influencing student achievement (Hattie, 2016).

So, how do we harness this amazing power to impact the students we work with in purposeful and meaningful ways?

Time…

Our educators need time... Meaningful time... Purposeful time…

Time to complete the task of collaboratively planning for ways to meet students where they are at, and then to move them forward based on their unique and individual needs.

This past week I was able to plan a day of professional learning and work with some amazing educators while at the same time observing the

Staff gathering for the day

amazing power and impact of providing professional educators time to do just this. Time via a day of professional learning and collaboration inspired by EdCamps. This approach provided not only time, but choice, and personalization for the educators. As an educator who coordinates professional development activities for a district serving just over 3300 students, finding ways to make professional development responsive to staff needs within a campus of seven buildings is an exciting challenge. 

Unlike a traditional EdCamp (When sessions are proposed and scheduled the day of the event) our EdCamp “Style” event had a session board built ahead of the day by the educators scheduled to be in attendance. Very much like a traditional EdCamp, the sessions for the day were proposed, delivered, facilitated, and presented by those in attendance.

Also like a traditional EdCamp, staff self-selected the sessions they attended based on their own individual needs. This approach to professional learning for our K-12 staff saw educators from all grade levels learning alongside each other in session facilitated by their peers. The staff (Teachers, Paraprofessionals, and Administrators) shared ideas, discussed new and innovative approaches, reflected on student learning, identified next steps related to classroom learning, instructional planning, responsive instruction, and student collaboration. The educators present took time to identify ways to be more supportive, aware, and inclusive of individuals with varied backgrounds. They spent time to discuss student transitions, student mental health, and school safety… The list goes on and on and on. So much was included and covered by our staff in the day, that it still amazes me that it was only one day.

The fact of the matter is this… When we empower educators with time, time that is meaningful,  time that is purposeful, time that is intended for them to grow as professionals, time that is theirs, empowered educators will do amazing things every time!

Building Relationships, It's About Time, Sharing Time…

Building Relationships, It's About Time. Sharing Time…

What does it take to build a positive relationship? From my point of view, it’s about time, sharing time....

There is no substitute for how sharing time with others builds relationships. Sharing time, is the cornerstone of any positive relationship. Once established, there are few limits to what positive relationships can accomplish, personally and professionally. Even when we may not agree, if positive relationships have been established, we can work together for the benefit of all. Sharing of time

however is not be confused with the act of merely spending time with others. By definition these two approaches mean very different things. In my observation, sharing time is more... As the definition of sharing [time] (verb) states, sharing is: to divide, apportion, or receive equally, whereas spending [time] (verb) is: to pay out, disburse, or expend; dispose of. Apply this to the act of sharing time while building relationships, and it is no wonder how when we share time with others, the relationships we establish can improve us all, and lead to the accomplishment of many things. In comparison to this, the act of spending time, with someone could be viewed as an act that comes at the expense of something else, rather than an investment in each other.

In education today, much of our focus is on outcome, and it should be. This is however not to say we should only be focusing on one outcome at a time. We should, and need to be focusing on multiple outcomes, and at times, changing outcomes, and ones that pose major challenges to accomplish. Be it academic, social emotional needs, equity, mental health, overall wellness, sustainability of efforts, programmatic improvements, pedagogical best practices, innovation, and funding stability. There truly are no shortages when it comes to outcomes that need our attention. With so many areas of need to be focused upon, it is easy to become overwhelmed by it all. This is why positive relationships are so important.  Once established, our positive relationships, built on shared time, allow for the accomplishment of amazing things! Ask any teacher, or as an educator, ask yourself: “Is it easier to accomplish the instructional goals and objectives that are facing us at the start of the year, or is it more “manageable” once strong relationships have been built? Now reflect on the positive relationships we have, not just the ones with students, but the ones with parents, with colleagues, with educational leaders, with our communities. How did we establish them? Did we establish them by chance, by simply spending time with someone, or did we build them by sharing time with these individuals?

Positive relationships, when shared with others, allows us accomplish many things… Amazing things… Are we choosing to spend time with people, or are we taking the intentional steps to share our time with others? To build these powerful relationships with others, relationships that will lead to the change, to the growth, to the outcomes, and the overall success we are seeking for our students, ourselves, our schools, our community, and our world, takes time, shared time...

It’s about time… My #oneword2018

It’s about time… My #oneword2018

Time for what? Not time for more... Not time for less...

Just time…

This is why I have chosen TIME as my #oneword2018

As someone who grew up in a farming/education family (Dad was a WI dairy farmer, mom was a teacher) time was always a treasure. As I look back on my time as a husband, a father, and an educator,  time continues to be a treasure. I have been fortunate to have worked and collaborated with many educators. Several of whom I have admired greatly, some, not so much. Either way, I have been fortunate to have learned something from them all. One common theme I see repeating over and over as I look back on life, both personally and professionally, is that to truly be good at anything, it truly is about time…Time to learn, no matter what the role...

• Time to share 
• Time to purposely reflect 
• Time to laugh
• Time to cry
• Time to accept new challenges 
• Time to say goodbye 
• Time to admit when you’re wrong 
• Time to celebrate success 
• Time to say no
• Time to sit down with a colleague, with a friend
• Time to be present 
• Time to put family first
• Time to…

The list, just like time, goes on and on, and just like our world, it changes with time. For me, it’s time to focus on the future, rather than the past. It’s time to focus on family, my kids and my spouse. It’s time to prioritize focus within my profession, and time to trust and support those I collaborate with as they find their time to...

What is your #oneword2018 ?

And what will you find time for?