Innovation

Say Hello with Your New Summer Collaboration Tool

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Each spring, campus leaders live in two worlds.  They are dually focused on all the annual testing amid the quickly approaching end of the semester and also building out the plans for the coming school year.  It’s terribly hectic while amazingly exciting.  And as schools head toward summer, I want to share a tool that I believe can help your team manage the next few months while avoiding the loss of momentum.

The most common questions from non-educators as June approaches are either (a) Do you have to work in the summer and/or (b) What do you do in the summer, just hang out? My polite reply is that summer is the off-season and that, similar to professional athletes, summer is spent both recovering from and preparing for the upcoming school year. Hiring of course is critical, yet planning is also paramount. Toss in the well-earned need for team members to simply vacation, and you can begin to see what can happen.  Finding time to gather and plan is tough. Yet I think there is a tool for you to consider.

Voxer has been described as a sort of walkie-talkie for teams of almost any size. While that is fair, I think it holds even more power in the hands of a user. Unlike most walkie-talkie experiences, the users aren’t tied to be next to each other or close to a receiver/repeater. You can be anywhere with access to data.

Now I understand that you may be thinking that it’s unnecessary since your people on campus are – well – they’re down the hall.  You can already text them, and, you know where to find them, right?

Group Planning

However, I recommend trying to use Voxer this summer so that, as you begin to scatter, you can still actively plan together. Yes, shared docs on a Google Drive can be products of this work, yet I think some of the best learning and ideas come from hearing each other’s voices and having time to process. You can add pictures, videos, comments, and more within the Voxer group. So as one person is on the beach, another cycling across Vancouver, and another hanging in their office, you can all stay connected.  Below is an image I found that offers some basic Voxer101 information.

Voxer 101

Full transparency, I have tried this before with mixed results.  The people that jumped in and tried to leverage the tool found some success.  With others, it was a mixed bag.  And that’s alright.  I know that if I didn’t make use of this then we would have hoped we were individually working on plans, and we would have spent time reading texts or emails or even sharing Google Docs.  All of that is in isolation, right?  My point is that there was no synthesis, no energy, and no excitement as an idea began to crystallize. How would we genuinely know we were sharing the best ideas and making them better? It would be a static experience right as we were seeking something dynamic.

I hope you’ll consider giving it a go.  The added touch of voice matters.

What kind of tools are you using to ensure your off-season is highly productive?  What other resources have you tried for collaboration?

“This Might Not Work…”

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I was listening to a podcast with Seth Godin as the guest and the discussion covered many topics, eventually landing around the ideas of “saying no” and “learning how to fail.” Seth goes on to share that as a teenager he started to employ the phrase “This Might Not Work” as he was introducing a new idea or strategy for action. And what emerged for me was inspiring.

In this time of accountability and school ratings (accompanied by the lack of patience), I think we can agree that mistakes have too often been stigmatized. Consequently, we shy away from trying something new or taking that bold step forward.

I learned that the power of the phrase – This Might Not Work – lies in how it sets expectations. Consider the two approaches below.

The former sets the responsibility at the feet of the person that originated the idea with the operational assumption that it will work. The latter makes clear that this may very well fail, and that we only move forward if the team wants to do it. One places the pressure, and possible joy, on a single person while the other permits the joy to be shared regardless of whether it works. Thus the fear of failure is minimized (if not removed). This is important if we want to be a part of creating anything original.

Think about it – we’ve all hatched an idea or shared in the development of a plan that we “never thought would actually work.” Or maybe the response was something along the lines of, “this might be just crazy enough to work.” Those memories usually include smiles and a nostalgic look back on the entire process. That’s the joy I am referencing.

I know that I’m going to try this out in my next planning meeting and I hope you’ll do the same. Let me know how it goes.

Thirty Seconds That Woke Me Up

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I saw this commercial the other day and it stuck with me. Thirty seconds long and yet I had to share it with others. It seemed that, in that moment, Western Governors University had summarized what a personalized education plan could/should look like. Check it out here: The University of You

Years ago I attended a PLC institute and got to hear Rick DuFour talk about public schools and this new model for how educators would come together to make student learning more powerful. Specifically, I remember him saying that what needed to be learned was static (constant) and that the amount of time needed to demonstrate the learning is what was dynamic (the variable). The idea of removing the mandate that a kiddo had to demonstrate mastery of the content taught in this classroom, at this school, in this town, by this date, resonated and made complete sense. That was nearly 20 years ago and I don’t think we’ve made nearly enough progress.

Even as we come out of the March 2020 – August 2021 virtual vs Face-to-Face school experience, far too many public schools are, in my opinion, stuck. Foregoing the opportunity to do something different, something unknown, something better for kids, we slid back into what we already knew. “Now isn’t the time to try something else because we have lost so much” is the refrain I kept hearing.

I’m not saying we blew it as we can always get better. Heck, it may have been the right decision. Yet I do believe that the next leap in public education is figuring out how to really personalize learning for a kid. And honestly, today, at this moment, it feels like too much to tackle. Sure, I’ve got early ideas of what some of the key elements might include; and certainly thoughts on what should NOT be part of it (required seat time, one-shot-assessment, etc). But how to make it all “fit”? I don’t know. Yet we’ve got to do something.

I have spent the last 12 years leading a large comprehensive high school, and I think that’s the level that is most in need of growth. I have to believe that we can gather enough intellectual and political will to change some pieces so as to improve the overall experience. I mean, we sorta have to, right? Can we at least agree that we are in a moment of urgency? Now it’s going to take lots of people smarter & wiser than me to rally together on this, at the most local level, and I’m ready to join that conversation. We’ve got to take action so that they can begin to view their 8:30-4:00, five-day-a-week, “job” as something with potential rather than another thing to endure. I know that my students are watching and they’re growing tired of waiting.

Now I know almost nothing about WGU yet they seem to have a clear vision of what & for whom they exist. And their plan signals a boldness that isn’t exclusive to them. Maybe it’ll work. Most likely they’ll learn and have to adapt and adjust. But you know what, they’re trying. And I know that, personally, for me right now, I’ve got to commit to furthering my own learning in this area. I can be better. We have to be better.

You Never Know Where That First Step Will Lead

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There is a great story that Sir Ken Robinson shared during his famous 2006 TED Talk regarding how schools kill creativity.  In the video he tells us of two anecdotes involving a little girl and a little boy.  And the gist of the story is that both of them separately take chances with whatever they are working on – they Give it a Go!  They aren’t afraid to be wrong when they are young and they’ll take a chance.  (Here is a link to that particular section of his TED Talk Sir Ken Robinson Link )

Inspired by his commitment to creativity, I have tried to model what it is like to take a chance as a leader.  The last three years we have begun each year focused on the idea that LEARN is a verb.  We began this by focusing on the muscles and pushing our teachers to commit to the experience of learning.  We asked them to choose anything they wanted to learn about – it didn’t matter if it was connected to education at all.  Rather we wanted them to simply be a learner again.  I wrote about how I did this with my leadership team in a previous blog My Attempt at #GeniusHour with Adults.  In any case I was now trying it with 185 teachers and 30 support staff.

“Learning is experience.  Everything else is just information.” – Albert Einstein

Our second year we focused on the brain and what you did with your learning.  Having engaged as a learner again, we wanted them to exercise their creativity in how they demonstrated that new knowledge. The idea was that simply learning something is no longer enough.  The next step, the innovative step, is to create something new from your learning.  And, perhaps, the biggest step is/was to then share it with others.

“Learning is creation not consumption.” – Dave Meier

Finally, this fall we pushed with the heart.  Fortunate to have Dr Brene Brown and her team spend two days with our faculty/staff was an amazing opportunity to really push us forward.  In retrospect, I believe this was definitely an act involving vulnerability as I knew some people would be thrilled and others dismissive.  I processed this experience through a blog post a few months ago We are Where We are Until we Move (and sometimes that’s okay)  I have seen the impact in pockets around campus, almost like seeds planted.  Time and patience is what’s needed for this to flourish and saturate the campus.  Our kids can only benefit so I’m in it for the long haul.

“We are born makers.  We move what we are learning from our heads to our hearts through our hands.” – Dr. Brene Brown

I share all of this as I reflect on what we continue to do.  Truthfully, when I embarked on this work with others, I didn’t know where it would lead.  I certainly couldn’t have predicted that nearly 200 faculty/staff would share their personal learning with others, making themselves vulnerable in new ways that I doubt they anticipated.  I would not have placed any bet in Vegas that Brene Brown would select us as a pilot school for her Daring Greatly Educator Workshop.  And had I known about the stumbles along the way, the eye rolls that I saw, and the comments that I heard, then I doubt I would have embarked.

I heard Brian Apsinall say on a podcast the other day that “it’s okay to be where you are.  It’s not okay to stay there.”  So I guess I moved.  I gave it a go.  And I hope you will also.

 

Quick Tip for How a Google Form Can Frame February for Your Faculty

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In Dare to Lead by Brene Brown, she shares a story of a leader within the US Army that has spoken about the challenges her soldiers face at different times during their tour of duty.  While I am not equating risking your life to defend our country with teaching each day, I do believe that both are at their best when members of either community understand their interdependence on one another.  The story concludes with the idea that often when we are struggling the most, and morale may be low, the real culprit may be that we are lonely.

If you think about it, February can seem to isolate us as we are stuck inside with our students, or stuck inside with Netflix.  The human connection that is so inherent in our daily work can feel strained or frayed or simply absent.  So how do we defeat loneliness when we are on campus with, sometimes, 3000 other people.

Mad Cool Award QuestionsThis year I have established the Mad Cool Awards.  Focused on recognizing innovative work that is happening on campus, adults have the chance to recognize really cool stuff that is happening on their campus.  Realizing that innovation is simply taking something that already exists and making it better, I ask them to complete a Google Form that asks just a few simple questions.  And I consistently include the link to this form at the beginning of meetings and as an extra piece every so often within an email.

The next step is to use Autocrat as an Add-On to Google Forms.  Essentially this allows you to mail merge the responses from the form in to a Google Doc.  However, as I learned, there must be a template that you have in place for Autocrat to use.

Here is a video that I used for how to create your own custom template within Google Doc Click Here.  Once the template is created then you will have it available each time you run your awards.  Now you can use Autocrat to generate the docs using the template.  I found this video very helpful Using Autocrat with Google Forms.

Mad Cool Lightbulb

Though the Google Form remains live at all times, I run the Mad Cool Awards once a month.  After generating the Mad Cool Certificates, I do give a quick glance over to ensure the spelling is good and the grammar works within the template.  This takes some time however I don’t want either the nominee or nominator to see an unintended error.  Once that is all set, then I print and prepare to deliver the awards.  Now you can do this a few ways.  Presenting at a faculty meeting is likely most common though I have shied away from that.  Instead I take one or two other leaders with me to the innovators classroom and interrupt with great news.  I tell the kids about what a Mad Cool Award is and that we are here to give one to their teacher.  I read the wonderful words to the recipient and each time applause has broken out at the end.  We then take a picture and spread the word through all of our social media channels and communication tools.

I don’t think this necessary solves the doldrums that seem to come every year around this time.  However I do believe that it reminds others of the power we have each day to change lives.  And not just the lives of children.  It’s a form of connection that helps us feel a little less lonely, maybe a little more connected.  And feeling connected to others is 100% Mad Cool Stuff!

George was right! The Birth of Cardinal Hour

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IMG_1530For twenty years we have had a single lunch for our 3000 plus students. It’s one hour long and they can eat anywhere on campus. As visitors enter the building during lunch they are often taken by surprise as the students walk, talk, play guitar, study for quizzes and just hang out with their buddies. Many walk with a bag of chips in their hand as they socialize with new friends. At the same time in classrooms on each floor there are tutorials happening, clubs meeting, and teachers simply connecting with kids. The single lunch period absolutely provides the structures needed for students to be supported in all sorts of ways. Additionally, it has also built a culture where the students completely feel like their school belongs to them. They are trusted, they have agency, and they value it. And for nearly 20 years we kept it just like that.  Check out this 2 minute student-created video about our one lunch Click here for video

However this year we decided to bring a new element. You see, we were pioneers in this movement years ago. But other schools caught on, and, frankly, they were passing us in terms of maximizing the time for kids. So this summer we began to learn, again, how a single lunch period could work for kids. This time our goal was not to invent – rather to innovate.  And thus Cardinal Hour was born.

Invention-or-innovation

What we began to understand was that most of our students understood what was being provided to them and took advantage. However our freshman, the most vulnerable, had not yet developed both the agency and organization needed to make the one lunch work for them. Also, we had a moment of clarity whereby we realized that so much more was happening during this hour then just lunch.

Cardinal Hour is the midday activities that occur from 12:20-1:20 each day. The first half is Red Block and the second half is White Block. A beeping bell denotes the midpoint where a meeting may be ending while a new opportunity is beginning.  A student may go to the Problem Solvers Club for Red Block, hear the bell, and then head to Geometry for a scheduled tutorial.  Or maybe they eat first, and then the slight beeps tell them that White Block is beginning, and thus they need to hustle to the Feminist Club meeting.  The rebranding of our midday activities – which include lunch – allowed us to bring structure for students and teachers while also highlighting the fact that so much happens during this Hour.FullSizeRender 2My learning from this is two-fold. First I learned that subtle structures within a larger piece can bring strong advantages for kids and adults. Second I learned that even your most successful and “tried & true” school routines need to consistently be re-examined so that as you learn more, they can be improved. We should never slow down when it comes to learning about how powerful our school can be for kids.

What’s the next aspect of your school that could use some innovation?

 

 

My First ISTE Conference and It Hurt My Brain

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In high school I loved to write fiction. In college I continued but it was harder. I realized that it was work – that for it to be quality it took lots of time, effort, reflection, and perseverance. It’s not easy to commit to all of that so I stopped. Yet as I reflect on my learning from #ISTE2017, and especially the opening night keynote from Jad Abumrad, the creator of the Radiolab Podcast (Check it out here) , I realize that when I gave up on the process, I cut myself off from many other opportunities.  And I realized that my desire for it to be better wasn’t a detriment.  Rather it was the challenge I needed; the push that each of us need when we try something new, as we strive to find our voice.  

More than 20 years since college, I now find my desire to identify and develop my voice stronger.  Whether it is with this blog or my latest LEARN project where I started a podcast focused on seniors at my high school, I more fully understand that I need to stick with the process of continuing to work.  It’s not great yet and I’m okay with that.  


Additionally, during the same keynote, Jad shared with us a great piece by Ira Glass where he speaks about the Taste Gap.  I’ve included a link to the 2 minute video here: The Taste Gap.  This spoke to me in a powerful way in that it reminded me of the fact that the work must continue.  And that being aware that it’s not good enough yet is important as that is what will keep you working. Imagine that – the very idea that may seemingly stop us from continuing to create is instead exactly what we need to persevere.  The idea that we think it’s not good is the fuel we need for the journey.  Personally, I t was not uncommon for me to reach the point of it not being what I wanted it to be, and the conclusion I reliably drew was that it just couldn’t be any more that that.  Yet ISTE & Jad showed me there was more value to be had by simply “fighting through it.” 

So as I recover from the end of the school year and refresh through my learning at my initial ISTE conference, I find my brain throbbing like the overworked muscle it is.  Thinking and working at another level leave me both exhausted and motivated.  I am excited about engaging again in my own learning through both blogging & podcasting.  Neither is where I want them yet; I get that.  Yet ISTE helped me understand the power in the process & that you must keep plugging along.


What are you struggling with right now in terms of your creativity?  Where does your Taste Gap currently reside?

My Attempt at #GeniusHour with Adults

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I have been a secondary principal for half of my education career – 12 out of 24 years.  Starting this fall, I will have been in the main chair more than I was anywhere else.  And so as I enter this off-season and reflect on the past school year, I can honestly say that I pushed myself in a new way.  You see, I was starting to get a bit stale.  Yes, I still was intensely challenged, and the commitment to my campus, its students, faculty, staff, and community, had not wavered.  I simply wasn’t sure what was missing.  And thus, I spent this past school year trying to figure out what I was trying to figure out.

1

Twelve months ago I entered the summer focused on the idea of becoming a learner again.  I juiced up my iPad, downloaded some great books, and read a lot.  The focus of what I consumed relied upon Twitter, and thus I resuscitated my twitter handle and committed to jump back into the learning.  I was excited.  I ate up articles, retweeted prolifically, and tried to spark wonderful conversation.  My followers grew slowly and my notifications were few.  I didn’t feel like I was gaining traction.  And so when the start of the new year came, it was easy to “get busy with school.”

In October I attended the What Great Educators Do Differently Conference in Chicago with two friends.  I was inspired and my learning engine was reignited.  This idea of discovery and sharing and pushing myself was exactly what I needed.  And as the conference closed, I kept hearing people mention #GeniusHour.  I didn’t know what it was, and, honestly, I was afraid to ask.  I nodded my head and figured it was something I could research later.

A few weeks later, I revisited my notes from the conference, and came across the term – #GeniusHour – again.  I decided to google it.  And as I perused the first website, and then the second, and then the third, I became energized again.  My thoughts raced from, “sure this can work in ES or MS, but what could it look like in the content-obsessed world of high school.”  And then the light bulb went off.

I spent the next two weeks constructing a #GeniusHour presentation for my administrative team.  I then presented to the 12 of them the idea of #GeniusHour followed by the challenge that would come their way.  I told them that we were each going to embark on this work and purely learn.  Topics could be related to school or education, or they could be something more personal.

GeniusHour Final

The room was silent.

A few members of my team had smiles as they knew what they were going to do.  Others had clarifying questions – perfectly acceptable.  And others basically kept their heads down.

I told them that they didn’t have to seek my approval.  That I was happy to support or be available as they wished.  I was specific enough to keep repeating the 4 caveats yet vague enough to make some restless.  And I was okay with that.

That was in late November.  In May and early June we took turns presenting our #GeniusHour projects.  What emerged has exceeded my expectations.  The topics ranged from learning a new language, to a DIY project; others focused on starting a blog while another was writing a novel with his son.  Two projects centered on relationships with one focused on just adults and the other on adults and students.  Finally, one teammate shared her journey from an inactive lifestyle to completing the Texas Ironman Triathlon.

And as we debriefed each presentation the common challenges of being a learner surfaced.  The uncomfortable feeling of starting something you weren’t certain you would understand or be good at.  The idea of learning taking longer or shorter than expected.  The focus on the outcome as opposed to the minutiae.  They had all reengaged as learners.  They also spoke about what it could look like in the classroom and how they might better support both teachers and students.

Prepared to be wrong

This #GeniusHour work that we embarked on will lead much of what we do in August with our entire team.  It wasn’t perfect – two members of my team chose not to participate.  And I had to come to terms with that as being okay.  They may not have felt safe or merely weren’t ready to reenter that space.  The remaining ten that did will share their learning with smaller groups on campus.  We will support our teachers in becoming a learner again.  Maybe their topic will center on an idea for their classroom or maybe it will be more personal.  Frankly, I don’t think the topic matters at all.  It’s the process that will count more.  It’s the experience that will stick with them as they move through the school year.

I didn’t know how it would go with my team, and I don’t know how it will go trying to scale it up with 185 teachers.  However I was certain that we needed a fresh challenge to jump start our work, and I’m counting on that same energy to launch our faculty forward as well.  If we don’t try then we’ll never know.

In my best case outcome, I see teachers embracing this challenge.  And I see them more able to empathize with the challenges of learning.  Each teacher will see that different learning styles exist, and that timelines and modes of sharing can enhance and empower the content they hold so dear.  Additionally, their students will no longer see themselves as the only ones taking a risk.  It’s increasing humanity on campus.  Genuine vulnerability in an intimate way.  Maybe it will help a student persevere a bit more, give it a go one more time.  We will see.

How have you recently engaged as a learner? How could you facilitate a #GeniusHour with the people that work alongside you?