Put Your Mind To It!

We want our students to be the kind of leaders that are not afraid of things getting tough. We want them to be the ones that stay focused and execute their goals without being deterred. We want our students to believe, "you can do anything if you put your mind to it." It sounds cliche but at the end of the day, don't we want them to believe this? I mean, if they do believe it, then they are headed for a life of success right? But I think there is one problem with this notion in education. We never teach our students how to specifically, "put their mind to it."

How do you teach students to "put their mind to it?" It starts with setting the example. Putting your mind to it means having a positive outlook on all things. We need to teach young people that situations and events out of our control will happen consistently throughout their lives. But the outcome of those events is up to us and how we respond. Essentially, "putting our mind to it" is preparing ourselves to stay on track towards our mission regardless of the events that happen along the way. This mindset prepares us for challenges, mistakes, mishaps, accidents, and natural disasters. Because our minds are set on the end goal rather than the things that happen in between.

How is this taught in the classroom? This is taught through inquiry, feedback, and encouragement. We cannot have classrooms in which there is always one answer and the first person to raise their hand is the one who has it. We have to design our lessons to encourage students to ask questions, organize their thoughts, collaborate with others, and reflect on their performance. these tools help students develop skills that will enable them to "put their mind to it" because they will know how to overcome obstacles as they come. If our classes are "one answer" classes, then students will be tempted to stop their journey once they don't know the answer. Not our students. Our students will expect the challenges obstacles and immediately implement their strategies to get past them.

We inadvertently teach students not to "put their mind to it" all of the time. When we respond to something negatively, lose control of our emotions, complain, become lazy, or prepare a lackluster lesson, we are showing our students that we are "not putting our mind to it." Success comes from the ability to capitalize on mistakes and be unrelenting in our quest to accomplish our goals. We have to teach students that mindset on a daily basis. And we have to tell them that we are teaching them that. Because negative adults who think that things "happen" to them to put them in their current position are not the kind of adults that we want our students to emulate.

We need to start teaching our students to put their mind to it! Leading is Teaching.

Groundhog Day

Somewhere along the way, someone convinced American society that breadth is far more important than depth. That same person also convinced everyone that academics and enjoyment are two different things. In their minds, students should have their nose in the books, cramming for a big test, and praying that nothing weird happens to throw them off on the test day. This has come to be known as rigor. I would like to find that person, point my finger at them aggressively, and say, "shame on you."

There is nothing wrong with research, reading a crazy amount of books (one of my favorite past times), and studying all night for a test. But when this kind of activity arbitrarily takes the place of hands on, practical, experience based learning, there is something wrong. It is no wonder our drop out rates are high in both high school and college. Kids have at least 13 years of the same thing over and over. We are still functioning on an industrial education model and an agrarian calendar that says, all students learn the same, curriculum should be separated into subjects that don't intersect, and everyday should be broken up into periods that end and being with a bell. This model makes it extremely difficult to foster creativity, cross curricular work, hands on learning, and spontaneity.

Admittedly, as a principal and a teacher, I struggle to break from this model. Our whole education system is built upon it. But what we should be asking ourselves is, "how can I break up the monotony and avoid education groundhog day?" We can start by getting with other teachers and planning to do projects that involve more than just one area of content and one skill. We can have our students work together collaboratively (with a productive structure) to accomplish big goals. We can change our bell schedule every so often to allow for creative time, outdoor activities, field trips, and more. In other words we can make school feel more like life.

We all have an idea of college and high school that is strong in our minds. We base our perception of education on our experience. However, just because we learned a certain way and had to go through high school according to a certain pattern, doesn't mean it is what is right for our students today. In fact it means the opposite. If we teach like we have been taught, then we have failed. Because we teach in a new context, with new students, and a new reality of how the world functions.

Fun, spontaneity, creativity, outdoor activity, group work, and projects does not mean that the work is not rigorous. It simply means that the students are engaged and involved. Sure, this will not always be the case, but just like you and I, when we enjoy something, we are more likely to work harder for it. It is time for us to break free from Groundhog Day. Leading is Teaching.

Time to Reflect and Improve

We were raised in the drill and kill classroom. We were introduced to a topic, we heard a lecture, we read a textbook, we filled out a worksheet, and then we took a test. Guess what happened if we failed the test... We moved on to Unit 2. We have also been, in many ways, trained to teach this way. We have a pacing guide that leaves very little room for reflection, remediation, enrichment, creativity, or student feedback. We built our classrooms on a sequence that is actually counter intuitive to learning. Some students are able to keep up based on their particular skill set, while others are left in the dust. Even the students that keep up with the grueling unit march through the year, do not have a chance to learn on a deep level or express their learning in a way that involved creative intelligence.

It is extremely difficult to break this cycle. After all, everything we know of what school is supposed to be is set up like this. Schools were designed off of the industrial model of efficiency. In essence, we push students through the system, using the same exact method over time with the same goal for the "product." We treat our students as if they were the same inventory coming through our system each day. The problem is that our students are products of different home environments, different skill sets, and different interests. The same approach does not work on each student. Additionally, the factory style system of education leaves no room for students to actually learn on a deep level.

I am a strong believer in the fact that we are on to something big in education. We have an opportunity to revolutionize education. In fact, I believe we have to in order to survive and thrive. The world in which our students are entering simply does not fit into the box that the education system tries to create around learning. There are many reasons why I believe this and many methods by which I think it can happen but for the sake of brevity, lets talk about two. We can change education through Technology and Project Based Learning (and every form of it including Challenge Based Learning and Inquiry Based Learning).

Technology. I am not saying that technology will teach our classes for us or that it will solve all of our problems. But technology opens doors to information, creation, and collaboration that we could never have dreamed of when we were kids. If used by teachers correctly, we can reach students at their level using their talents and interests as the driving force behind the learning. We can teach students not to simply retain and repeat information but to be able to qualify and quantify research from around the world. Our students can be publishers, producers, and professionals, no matter what grade they are in. This kind of education will change lives.

Project Based Learning. Project Based Learning will need to be mastered by our teachers. Through detailed and articulated project design, teachers will offer our students opportunities to become problem solvers who won't shy away from challenges. Through project design we will teach our students to ask questions and ask others questions in their pursuit of finding truth. Students who for years have been failed by our industrial system, will be reawakened by the opportunity to final use the skill set they were born with. And for goodness sake, our students will have fun with us!

We have to make it our goal to implement this approach in the new school year. Many students will resist at first because they are not used to asking questions and being challenged. But as we all know, when they start to understand that true learning is happening, the rest will be history. Lets revolutionize our classrooms this year. Leading is Teaching.

Breaking Normal

There is one common element to the story of every great achievement, movement, or person. The common element is the struggle to "break normal" or overcome the status quo. It is never easy, but in the end, great accomplishments are well worth the struggle. This is true whether we are talking about the Civil Rights Movement, the American Revolution, the experience of Paul the Apostle, or the development of the West Coast Offense. No matter how big or small, great things happen because of those who are willing to push beyond what is normal.

One of the struggles in education are the initiatives to standardize education from the federal and state level. Whether it is Common Core or NCLB, there is a desire from many to find the magic bullet of what teaching is, and disperse that method across the board in order to come up with standardized data. It is true that this is the most efficient way to collect and read data in a timely matter but the problem is that this is not how teaching or learning actually works. It is a bit more complicated.

The pressure on schools to perform has led to many school leaders and teachers buying in to the notion that whatever teaching strategies and practices that come from the top down are the actual practices and strategies that best suit our students. This is what has become "normal." However, great schools are breaking normal.

I am not suggesting that schools ignore state assessments or don't stay current in their knowledge of expected performance outcomes at the state and federal level. What I am suggesting is that schools take the approach that, "We will not base everything we do on performing well on tests. We will base everything we do on preparing students for college and career, providing social and educational opportunities for them to thrive, teach in a way that is truly based on solid pedagogy, challenge students to work with others, think critically, and create meaningful projects. And as a result of this approach, we will excel on state assessments. Not because it is our main objective, but because our students are actually learning." This is what breaking normal is all about.

So my suggestion for communities, schools, and teachers to spend their time working on expanding opportunities for students, providing opportunities for teachers to engage in professional learning opportunities, and pushing the envelope to create the best schools they can. We need to break normal once in for all if we truly want our kids to thrive! Leading is Teaching.

From Engagement to Curiosity

Curiosity is a powerful thing. As human beings, we have an innate desire to understand the world around us. We all have different interests and world views, but curiosity is truly what drives our learning process. Whether it be through trial and error, research, experimentation, or through the lens of another person's experience, curiosity is essential to gain knowledge and understanding. Take a young child for example. As soon as they can speak, they begin to ask their parents and all adults a barrage of questions every time they get the opportunity. They are using questioning to learn about the world they are growing up in. This is the essence of learning.

Recently, a colleague of mine said something that has stuck in my mind. He pointed out that schools need to move from their attempt to engage students toward a mission to inspire curiosity amongst their students. That resonates with me strongly. Engagement is an important part of the classroom. After all, a teacher wants her students to listen and pay attention while in her classroom. But is that really enough? Is engagement what our ultimate goal should be? I think it is a good start but should not be our end goal. Our mission should be to inspire our students to have curious minds that will last a life time. How do we do that?

The most important factor in a successful classroom that is truly teaching to be inquisitive, lifelong learners is questioning. Not just simple questioning whether the teacher asks students to recall information. I am talking about deep and meaningful questions. Students should have a choice and an interest in the knowledge they seek, so it is up to the teachers and schools to facilitate that by creating projects that will feed this curiosity. In other words, students should be "engaged" in a project that challenges them, interests them, and does not necessarily always end in a clear cut answer. This kind of project design will help our students find that curiosity that they once had and that they probably still have outside of our schools.

It is time for us to step up and create classrooms like this. For far too long our schools have taken away the curiosity from the classroom. We need not look any farther than the scientific method for this approach. The scientific method, starts with a question and builds from there. Are our lessons full of student driven questions? If not, we are not truly inspiring curiosity.

When students leave my school, I want them to be problem solvers. I don't want them to shy away from a challenge or an obstacle that requires an inquisitive mind and hard work. If we continue to work together and design our classes to facilitate this kind of curiosity, I believe these goals will be met. Leading is Teaching.

Leave Room For Learning

Learning doesn't happen in a box. It comes in all shapes and size. I just returned from a trip to Greece and Italy with students this summer so I would like to use that as an example. We had an incredible time and the kids learned so many valuable things on the trip. Yes they learned about Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, Warfare, Politics, Architecture and more. But it was more about the little things that the students learned that will stick with them for the rest of their lives. For the first time, they experienced a different culture than there own on a large scale in another country. They recognized differences in language, customs, food, routines, pop culture and more. Most were away from their parents for the first time for that long and definitely most were that far away from the norms they are used in the United States. It was learning to the maximum and the students will never lose what they were able to gain on this trip. So how do we capture that in our schools and classrooms?

Exploration- I did not, nor did I want to hold my students hand as they traveled abroad.
 The first way we even come close to capturing that type of learning is to understand that learning happens in an incredible variety of ways. Students all learn differently and there is not one magic way for it to happen. But one common ingredient to learning is the exploration. We should design our teaching in a way that allows students to explore and discover things on their own. Learning requires engagement and the desire to find answers. If we create projects where students can make choices and discover truths by exploring, learning will be maximized.

Asking Questions- My students had to ask questions to learn and operate in a foreign country.
If your students are not asking significant questions then you are doing it wrong. Learning is all about driving questions. We want our students to struggle with things and be forced to accept the challenge of finding the truth. We want them to research. We want them to ask questions that lead to more questions. Everything great that mankind has ever accomplished has started with a question. We need to teach our students that those questions are the beginning of greatness and that if you work for it, you will find answers to them.

Find Meaning in Everything- The students had to communicate and read a map to get by.
My students read a paper map and talked to people in broken English, not because they wanted to but because they had to. We always have to articulate the meaning and reason behind our teaching. The classic "because I said so" approach does not instill a desire to learn in our young ones. Our projects should be designed to teach skills that will lead to our next project that teaches skills that lead to our next project and so on. We cannot design lessons where we say, "one day this will come in handy." We should make it come in handy now. If we don't, then it goes in one ear and out the other. Every instance of true learning starts with relevancy, usefulness, and meaning. If you don't have that, you don't have the desire to learn.

Friendship and Camaraderie- If they were traveling with Debbie Downer, they wouldn't want to go.
We should never forget that we are the leader, we set the pace, and we demand high expectations. But along with that we should never forget that we love these kids and we should enjoy our time with them. The great ones can provide structure and expectations while also having fun and bonding with the students. You are taking them on a journey. If you are grumpy, boring, or not excited, the journey will not be pleasant and you will lose many off the wagon on the way to your destination.

Traveling with students is blessing- I was tired but I had a blast!
We have a difficult job. But we have a great job! Never forget it! Leading is Teaching.

The Gift of Students

As I looked upon the graduates of 2014 two nights ago, I couldn't help but think to myself, "life as an educator is good." There are so many conflicting emotions at a graduation when you are on educator. You are shocked because you can't believe after all the work and dedication you put in, the year is suddenly over. You are sad because students who have been a huge part of your everyday life will now move on. You are excited because all of the mentoring and guidance you have given to your students will now be put to the test in the great big world outside your school. But the one thing that remains constant is the fact that there are few things more rewarding than the gift of students.

The school experience is not the same for all students. Some students struggle everyday to make it to school, turn in their work on time, and overcome the pressures of being a teenager. Some students are like machines in their ability to balance their school work with extra curricular activities and community involvement. Some students focus most of their attention in one area that they know they will pursue beyond their school years. Others are still figuring it out. But when they are on the graduation stage, the only thing that matters is that those students have finished and are successful. The fact that educators play a role in all of those students lives is a true gift.

We have poured hours into these students. We have been there for their good days and their bad days. We have seen them work through challenges. We have seen them compete at their highest level. We see them in the wake of a family member passing as often as we have seen them accepting a scholarship. Either way, we are there for them. Our job is so much more than the description reads. All of this is not to brag that educators are over worked and under paid. In fact I think our payment is one of the best forms of compensation that you could ask for. We do this because we love our students, we want to help them find success, and we feel there is a greater purpose for our efforts that far outweighs any difficulties we may face in our careers.

Students are a gift. Parents and guardians trust us with their children. In some cases, we are some of the only "family" that our students have. That is a gift. That is a gift that almost brings me to tears when I really reflect on it. Whatever our students go on to do, the influence that has been granted to us will have an impact. We are able to work with students in their formidable years and truly play a role in the person they become. We are responsible for guiding the future of not only our students but the world in which they enter. To me this is one of the greatest gifts you could ask for.

I will miss the class of 2014 deeply. But my excitement for the adventures to come in their lives trumps that easily. The chance to work with them for the past four years has been a gift to me. And that gift is truly inspiring. Leading is Teaching.