Why+Are+We+Here?

=// **WHY ARE WE HERE?** // = = = //1. For you to have a better understanding of who I am.
 * GOAL:**

2. For us to have an idea of what we want to do this year with our kids.//

__//Today is an EXPERIMENT!!!!//__
I didn't know how to do some of the things I wanted to do before I prepared this during the week. One of the items I am using today, I taught myself last night. I want to try and model in everything that I do my philosophy (when I interact with you, with kids, when I present etc.). I want there to be symmetry between my actions and words --- Parker Palmer calls that integrity (there is also a LOT of vulnerability tied up in here!!!)

__//** CONTEXT **//__

 * Yours
 * Theirs
 * Mine
 * Ours
 * Remaining Hopeful and Encouraging in the Face of Adversity - Bruce Biersto
 * it is our DUTY, it is indulgent not to be
 * Why choose otherwise? We spend TOO much time together not to try!
 * What prevents us?
 * Scott Peck - The Road Less Travelled
 * From Struggle comes ....
 * Learning
 * Growth
 * Fulfillment
 * Meaning
 * Significance

"Our belief that we can make a difference in the lives of students has a bigger impact on their achievement than race or socio-economic status." Mike McKay

 in the Lives of our Students???
__**First, we need to take a picture of WSS**__!!!!
 * SIP binder
 * try google docs

media type="youtube" key="dGCJ46vyR9o" height="344" width="425"

__**// Where Am I Coming From? //**__
 * no expert
 * just a fellow journeyman on this amazing road of life

1. Relationships //“When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change. So I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country. But it too seemed immovable. As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt I settled for changing only family, those closest to me. But alas, they would have none of it. And now as I lay on my deathbed, I suddenly realise : If I had only changed myself first. Then, by example I would have changed my family. From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country And who knows, I may even have changed the world.“ Epitaph of an Anglican bishop in Westminster Abbey in 1100 A.D.//
 * Self
 * Parker Palmer The Courage to Teach - p.2,10,17 vulnerability
 * Resilience - not the absence of illness, it is the presence of the ability to with stand disease
 * good health
 * clear purpose
 * supportive relationships
 * professional competence
 * celebration of succes
 * public acknowledgement
 * Staff
 * The health of a school is inversely proportional to the number of non-discussables. Roland Barth
 * It is never WHAT you say but HOW you say it. (Trevor Connor ad nauseum to his kids)
 * I derive my energy from being connected to people and the biggest challenge that I realise I am going to face this year is to feel connected to all of you amidst all the busyness. It is my priority.

NOVEMBER STAFF MEETING

"Show me a school where instructional leaders constantly examine the school’s culture and work to transform it into one hospitable to sustained human learning, and I’ll show you students who do just fine on those standardized tests. "
 * Roland Barth [|"Culture Builder "]

> To see the world more like Ostrom is to see that people are creative, that it is possible to get together and work things out. "It is ordinary persons and citizens," she says, "who craft and sustain the workability of the institutions of everyday life."
 * [|Ideas That Make the World a Better Place]
 * What are some of our "non-discussables"


 * Laura Link "Values Exercise"
 * Brainstorm Around "Things that we need to work on Feedback"


 * Students
 * //"I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in students' education."// //**Unknown teacher**//
 * High expectations AND caring relationship
 * I don't care how much you know until I know how much you care
 * [|Teddy's Story]
 * WSS stories??? Deanna
 * They are all someone's child

2. Curricu lum
 * What are we teaching?
 * District Mantra
 * Big Ideas
 * Don't need to complete everything
 * knowledge vs. skills


 * How are we teaching it?
 * How does teaching look different now vs. 30 years ago in most classrooms?
 * google doc
 * What should it look like?
 * What can it look like?

Engagement (buzz word) In wanting to explore this question, I did some searching of my own and I was amazed at the number of people that are willing to speak out on this topic. Much of what I saw was ironically NOT engaging but there were some presentations that left me motivated to get back into the classroom.

media type="youtube" key="_A-ZVCjfWf8" height="348" width="431"

= Need to rethink how we are engaging students  = = =
 * What do we want for our students?
 * What do we want our schools to look like?

=//SHIFT HAPPENS// =
 * If you have not seen this, it will certainly make you look at the future with different glasses:

media type="youtube" key="pMcfrLYDm2U" height="355" width="425"

=//**MORE THAN __50%__**// **__of U.S.__** 21 yr olds have created content on the web = =WOW!!!!=
 * How many of you have participated in Web 2.0? [|Travelblog]


 * Sooooooooo .........what can we do to prepare students for their future.
 * If we keep doing what we have always done, ..........
 * there are conversations going on out there so we need to invite our students to become part of this larger dialogue!


 * [|Mark Prensky]
 * How can [|digital immigrants] teach [|digital natives]???
 * How do digitally illiterate adults work with digitally fluent students?

We don't have to know // EVERYTHING // but we need to be // WILLING TO RISK // if we want to learn // SOMETHING //.

= //WE NEED A PLAN// =
 * whatever we do needs to be pedagogically sound AND fiscally responsible

__//**(1) Curriculum and Instruction**//__

 * work with those teachers that are already exploring innovative teaching (we have many leaders in the district)
 * [|Will Richardson] engages your thinking around how we structure learning in the classroom.


 * provide in-service and technological support for those that are interested to move beyond information recall
 * The changing face of information by [|Michael Wesch]


 * model sound practice at every opportunity (superintendent meetings, staff meetings, NID's, etc.) in order to foster conversation
 * example at [|Arapahoe High School]: blog of Carl Fisch (creator of //Shift Happens//)


 * challenge students, teachers and families with provocative questions about their future and the shape of learning in that future
 * [|David Warlick] will stretch your thinking in terms of what is important to the students of today and what they need for tomorrow.


 * continue to support those initiatives that people are passionate about (1-1 laptop, DL program (hybrid model), cyberschool, ...)


 * there is NO one answer so there is a tension between pursuing worthy causes and focusing one's energy
 * one area I am pushing is for our DL and classroom teachers to explore ways of capturing what they are doing in class so that students can then access this information synchronously or asynchronously (ie. [|Elluminate Session])


 * listen to those at the ground level (students and teachers)


 * use technology tools to assess and evaluate whether we are doing what we want to be doing (data warehouse)


 * invite our district to participate in the larger dialogue in the online community
 * SD 42 conversation : This is an awesome place to start!!!

=Philosophy of Leadership=


 * I attempt to implicitly share with you my philosophy in everything interaction that I have (in some ways you all might know my philosophy better than I do as sometimes we are blind to our own actions and motives)


 * //He that thinketh he leadeth, and hath no one following him, is only taking a walk.// John Maxwell

As a leader, I believe in:
 * shared leadership (I believe in team - Together Everyone Achieves More)


 * modeling the actions and character that we want from those around us
 * I believe in building capacity amongst those with whom we have influence.
 * I am student centered, so I need to focus my influence with teachers and support staff as they are our front line people
 * We can say whatever we want but it is our actions that show people what we believe is important.


 * continuous learning


 * creating a risk taking environment (especially in the classroom as vulnerability is a key component to learning)
 * What are we doing with teachers to help them take risks in this new digital frontier? [|Student Reaching the World]
 * If things are successful, we all celebrate. If they are not, we reflect and learn.


 * What you risk reveals what you value. **[|Jeanette Winterson]**

[|There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.]
 * [|John F. Kennedy] (1917 - 1963)**