There aren't many things that make me laugh out loud, but this video definitely hit my funny bone. Then like most things that make me laugh, it began to make me think. Just as animals eat their food in so many different ways, kids learn in so many different ways. In the weeks surrounding standardized testing throughout the country, I'm saddened that we have kids learning in a standardized way and showcasing their learning in a standardized way. All of us know that our kids learn in different ways, but we aren't pushing back hard enough to say what we are being asked to do to kids doesn't work, doesn't make sense, and doesn't lay the foundation to the next generation of schools that can be transformative for all students.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
The Logic of Running
I ran a lot this week, more than normal for me. I felt like I needed to do something for the runners, fans, and families that experienced the week long tragedy in Boston. I knew that there was a running community, but it truly is felt in times like these. I'm a fairly solitary runner. It is my think time, my chance to notice the little things. On race days, there is something different about running. There is an energy, a buzz, and sense that we are all doing something greater than we expected just days, weeks, or a few years ago. I'm proud to call myself a runner. I hope that my pain as a runner this week in some way relieved the pain for someone suffering in Boston. I know that there will be a moment in a training run or a big race when the wind of the running community will be at my back also.
(There is something silly also about running, especially marathons. Watch the video for what I mean.)
(There is something silly also about running, especially marathons. Watch the video for what I mean.)
Thursday, April 18, 2013
With Liberty and Justice for All
One of the toughest moments of my career in public service happened on a normal night in a normal town in a place where I felt very comfortable. I picked up the phone and on the other end of the line was the school security chief letting me know that there had been a shooting at City Hall. Officials had gathered for a council meeting, and a member of the community entered the meeting and began taking lives. It was now my job to walk around the school to let each of our teachers know about the incident and to ensure their safety. The tragedy happened on parent-teacher conferences, so not only were teachers present, but community members were in the building. In an age of instant communication, there were only a few moments to get a clear, coherent story to those that I served. As the evening progressed, details of the death of members of the community emerged.
These moments can happen in any community in the country, a reality that we continue to learn. The ideas that comes with building a sustainable community, surrounding the environment, schools, business, government, public health, and religion provide me hope, a hope that if a community begins a phase of renewal that liberates its citizens that it can be different. Communities can be a place where the best parts of humanity are celebrated, but this requires a shift for communities.
People move into communities to take from that community. They come to take what the schools have to offer. They come to use the parks and the green spaces. They join the community to take from the public services that are available. They take from the joy of cheap housing. They take advantage of the businesses and restaurants in the town. They take.
Adam Grant, professor of organizational learning at Wharton, in his book, Give and Take, outlines the shift in growth and happiness that comes from being an individual, organization or community that moves from a mindset of taking to a mindset of giving. Research continues to show us that long-term happiness comes from having the opportunity to give on a regular basis.
What could this mean for communities around the country? What would it look like to have a giving mindset? Is it possible that giving is the common thread for the elements of a sustainable community?
As a country, we are fantastic at giving in a crisis. There are stories that emerge following a crisis that show the natural giving tendencies that we have. From giving blood to providing shelter, water, and food to generous donations of time, talents, and treasures, we are naturally a people of giving. Unfortunately, this trait fights everyday with the taking mentality and consumerism of communities.
How can we make this shift? I propose that we start with identifying the invisible people and invisible problems in our community. I believe that many of these tragedies in the country that involve taking of lives could be eliminated by giving voice to those people and issues that remain invisible.
The concept of sustainability provides us a framework for beginning this process. Sustainability ask us to look at issues of justice surrounding three areas, social justice, economic justice, and environmental justice. In every community, there are people that are treated poorly, for some this is about race, for some this is class, and in others, it is about disability. Give attention to these issues. Don't allow these issues to fester.
Sustainability also asks us to look at the economic justice issues in our community. Poverty impacts us. No one is immune from the negative impacts of poverty. Whether you are thinking about your block, your neighborhood, your city or more, poverty is creeping into your daily life. Ignoring issues of economic justice will only magnify the problem and allow the economic impact of bringing change in these areas to grow geometrically. Give of yourself in this area. Don't allow anyone to be an invisible person in your community.
Finally, sustainability asks us to work through issues of environmental justice. The impact that each of us has on our planet is interconnected. We live in an ecosystem, and we each have a responsibility to serve our planet in a way that allows our children and those generations after us to give, serve, and live in the happiness of a sustainable community.
We are not immune from tragedy. The evenings of emotional distress surrounding the shootings at City Hall may happen again, but we should all be looking to minimize the opportunity for tragedies both big and small. Don't allow for invisible people and issues. Allow a lens of sustainability to grow, so that social, economic, and environmental justice issues are a part of your mission. Make the shift from the natural state of taking from a community to a new mindset that puts giving to your community in the forefront. Now is the time. Give for your growth, Give for our growth. Give for the growth of our community.
These moments can happen in any community in the country, a reality that we continue to learn. The ideas that comes with building a sustainable community, surrounding the environment, schools, business, government, public health, and religion provide me hope, a hope that if a community begins a phase of renewal that liberates its citizens that it can be different. Communities can be a place where the best parts of humanity are celebrated, but this requires a shift for communities.
People move into communities to take from that community. They come to take what the schools have to offer. They come to use the parks and the green spaces. They join the community to take from the public services that are available. They take from the joy of cheap housing. They take advantage of the businesses and restaurants in the town. They take.
Adam Grant, professor of organizational learning at Wharton, in his book, Give and Take, outlines the shift in growth and happiness that comes from being an individual, organization or community that moves from a mindset of taking to a mindset of giving. Research continues to show us that long-term happiness comes from having the opportunity to give on a regular basis.
What could this mean for communities around the country? What would it look like to have a giving mindset? Is it possible that giving is the common thread for the elements of a sustainable community?
As a country, we are fantastic at giving in a crisis. There are stories that emerge following a crisis that show the natural giving tendencies that we have. From giving blood to providing shelter, water, and food to generous donations of time, talents, and treasures, we are naturally a people of giving. Unfortunately, this trait fights everyday with the taking mentality and consumerism of communities.
How can we make this shift? I propose that we start with identifying the invisible people and invisible problems in our community. I believe that many of these tragedies in the country that involve taking of lives could be eliminated by giving voice to those people and issues that remain invisible.
The concept of sustainability provides us a framework for beginning this process. Sustainability ask us to look at issues of justice surrounding three areas, social justice, economic justice, and environmental justice. In every community, there are people that are treated poorly, for some this is about race, for some this is class, and in others, it is about disability. Give attention to these issues. Don't allow these issues to fester.
Sustainability also asks us to look at the economic justice issues in our community. Poverty impacts us. No one is immune from the negative impacts of poverty. Whether you are thinking about your block, your neighborhood, your city or more, poverty is creeping into your daily life. Ignoring issues of economic justice will only magnify the problem and allow the economic impact of bringing change in these areas to grow geometrically. Give of yourself in this area. Don't allow anyone to be an invisible person in your community.
Finally, sustainability asks us to work through issues of environmental justice. The impact that each of us has on our planet is interconnected. We live in an ecosystem, and we each have a responsibility to serve our planet in a way that allows our children and those generations after us to give, serve, and live in the happiness of a sustainable community.
We are not immune from tragedy. The evenings of emotional distress surrounding the shootings at City Hall may happen again, but we should all be looking to minimize the opportunity for tragedies both big and small. Don't allow for invisible people and issues. Allow a lens of sustainability to grow, so that social, economic, and environmental justice issues are a part of your mission. Make the shift from the natural state of taking from a community to a new mindset that puts giving to your community in the forefront. Now is the time. Give for your growth, Give for our growth. Give for the growth of our community.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Five for Friday- Double Edition
Sorry about the delay for those of you that look to the Five for Friday for fresh ideas and links. Here is a double dose. Enjoy your weekend.
Online Math Resources
http://www.carinsurancecalculatoronline.com/math-resources/
The land of the free apps...and the home of the confused? - Guest Post
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/02/the-land-of-free-appsand-home-of.html
5 Free Tools for Providing Remote Tech Help
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/03/5-free-tools-for-providing-remote-tech.html
How to Learn New Tech
http://plpnetwork.com/2013/02/25/learn-tech/
Common Core App by Grade Level
http://edudemic.com/2013/03/free-common-core-app-organizes-standards-by-grade-level/
Sustainability by Design- TED Talks
http://www.ted.com/playlists/28/sustainability_by_design.html
Why Kids Should be Blogging
http://smartblogs.com/education/2013/03/19/my-kids-a-cause-and-our-classroom-blog/
Nice iPad Resources
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2013/03/21/nice-ipad-resources/
Professional Development in 140 Characters or Less
https://www.edsurge.com/n/2013-03-20-professional-development-in-140-characters-or-less
Where Technology and Pedagogy Meet | EdSurge News
https://www.edsurge.com/n/2013-03-20-where-technology-and-pedagogy-meet
25 Twitter Tips For Students, Parents, And Teachers
http://edudemic.com/2013/03/25-twitter-tips-for-students-parents-and-teachers/
In Short Supply- Volume 1
I'm finding chunks of my writing that don't fit into the flow of the current pieces that I'm writing, but I don't want them to be reabsorbed into my writing DNA, so they are being cut and pasted into a set of blog posts entitled In Short Supply.
Schools are also looking at some trends and emerging opportunities that seem ripe for providing their students a connection between college and career readiness and maximizing engagement. The first is the Makerspace. The second is Design Thinking, and the final one is thinning the classroom walls. Each of these ideas brings kids closer to their learning to a place of elemental understanding of why the learning is taking place. Deep context and an understanding of why the learning matters breed engagement.
Stop Talking about Education; Start Doing Something
Today’s world moves quickly, and it can be overwhelming to think about learning five years from now. Because of this, it is easy for schools to get caught in the trap of working one hour, one day or one week ahead instead of having a vision for the next five years. The schools in this community have made incredible strides over the past few years increasing the number of kids earning high school credit while still at the middle school, providing students opportunities to build presentation literacy skills with adult audiences, growing the passion of students to advocate for causes in their community and beyond, and supporting the work of teachers to build physically and emotionally healthy kids.
Over the next five years, I hope that the schools in this community continue to build a more personalized learning environment that provides opportunities for kids to dig deeply into areas of learning in which they are passionate. I also hope that they are better able to target specific areas of growth for individual students and support them as they grow more successful in these areas. In addition to these elements of personalization, opportunities should be developed for students to make and create in excellent learning spaces. More and more adults are taking their hobbies, ideas, and interests and creating small businesses; building this same entrepreneurial spirit in the children of our community is essential.
Schools, communities, and those interested in education are starting to see that the best practices in education are shifting to a more integrated, project-based, experiential learning model, but this doesn’t mean that there aren’t external pressure to mold schools into thinly veiled testing factories that are schools in name only. Our community has incredible trust in its schools to not bow to these external pressures and maintain best practices. The vision of the best schools in the country surrounds implementing high-level project-based learning that melds together subjects, providing a learning environment that mirrors excellent work places, and offering students an opportunity to be experts and contributors to society, and we should expect the same excellence for the next five years and beyond.
The TED talk below continues to frame some of these ideas.
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