Staff and Faculty

Flipping, Follow Up, Modeling, and Reflection

Dwight Carter Curriculum and Instruction, Leadership, Staff and Faculty, Technology Integration , ,

Flipped-ClassroomAt Gahanna Lincoln High School, several teachers have implemented the Flipped Classroom model. They and Assistant Principal, Aaron Winner (@aaronwinner), shared their Flipped experiences at our January staff meeting and the response was very positive. Their presentation was well-organized, engaging, and reflective of their learning.

Whenever I get a chance, I ask staff about how things are going, especially during informal conversations. I’ve recently asked about professional development needs and a number of times I heard a similar response, “We love all the presentations at staff meetings, but there is no follow up. We get excited about what we see and hear, but we aren’t given any time to try it or to came back later to talk about it.” I appreciate their feedback because they expressed a desire to learn, so I need to provide the conditions for that to take place. This caused me to peruse my notes from the book, 10-Minute In-Service, by Todd Whitaker (@ToddWhitaker) and Annette Breaux (@AnnetteBreaux). I knew I had to do something to address the concerns of a lack of time and a lack of follow up.

Follow-UpMy Dean of Curriculum, Tia Holliman (@Ms._Holliman) and I discussed this in great detail as our March staff meeting approached because I wanted to do more than just talk about the Flipped Classroom as an effective instructional strategy, I wanted to model it. I noticed there is a significant amount time that I or others talk at our staff during our meetings as opposed to us interacting, engaging each other in meaningful conversation, or participating in learning experiences that would excite them to teach the next day. Todd Whitaker and Annette Breaux put it this way, “Teachers should leave faculty meetings more excited about teaching tomorrow than they were today.”

As Tia and I planned the March staff meeting, my goals were to model my expectations for posting learning targets, model the flipped strategy, and model how to bring closure to a lesson with some type of formative assessment. I sent the following details to my staff a day or two before our March staff meeting:

Please take 6 minutes some time before the meeting on March 4th to watch the TEDTalk: 3 Rules to Spark Learning, and be prepared to discuss some of the following questions:
 
*How do you encourage students to ask questions in class?
*“Student questions are the seed to real learning.” What are the implications of this statement?
*How is “the messy process of trial and error” a part of the learning process in your class?
*How do you incorporate reflection in your class?
*Teachers are the “cultivators of curiosity and inquiry.” What are the implications of this statement?
 
You will have the opportunity to select as a group, 1 or 2 questions you want to discuss. Thanks in advance for being prepared.
 
I also shared the TEDTalk with my staff in my weekly Friday Focus blog, but they are not required watch the videos I share or the articles I include. However, as we continue to change instructional practices to transition to the New Learning Standards, it was important for us to discuss this TEDTalk since the presenter shares ways that will help us with this transition.

As the activity began, the following learning target was displayed on the screen:

I can identify two ways I spark student learning in my classroom.

We briefly discussed our target, I explained the directions, and they organized themselves into interdepartmental groups of 8-10 people. I displayed the questions on the screen that are mentioned above and the rich conversations began.

As I walked around the room, I was excited about what I heard. I was also impressed by those who were able to focus on what they could do as opposed to succumbing to discussing barriers to learning (perceived or real). After about 12 minutes, I distributed a 3×5 notecard and gave them two minutes to answer the following question:

What are two ways you spark learning in the classroom?

I collected the notecards and had the responses compiled into a word document, which I then shared with staff via Google Docs within a couple of days. They now have a list of over 100 different ways to spark learning in the classroom. It was a quick 15 minute in-service about effective instructional strategies that can be easily implemented on a regular basis.

Be Great,


Dwight

images:
follow up: http://www.vapartners.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Follow-Up.png
flipped classroom: http://podcast.teachercast.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Flipped-Classroom.jpg

Reflections From A Student Teacher: Edcamp Columbus

Dwight Carter Curriculum and Instruction, Staff and Faculty , , , , ,

At Gahanna Lincoln High School, we have a number of student-teachers every quarter. I take this as a compliment to the quality teachers we have and the desire for colleges to have their student-teachers learn from great practitioners. I’ve been every impressed by one young man from The Ohio State University named, Johnathan Duff (@mrduffedu), because of the way he engages students in the classroom and for his eagerness to learn. He attended Edcamp Columbus, so I’ve asked him to share his experience with us:

edcamp columbus.png2

On Saturday March 1, 2014, the second annual EdCamp Columbus was held at Gahanna Lincoln High School’s Clark Hall. As a student teacher working in Clark Hall, I could not pass up the opportunity to engage other educators and to further my professional development in the very building I have been working in since August.

EdCamp Columbus comes out of the EdCamp movement that was started in Philadelphia in 2010. EdCamps are opportunities for educators to come together, share ideas and discuss what matters to them, and become drivers of their own professional development. EdCamp labels itself as an “unconference.” Rather that having a pre-determined schedule with session identified well in advance, the sessions held at each conference are determined by the attendees the day of the event. Have a topic you want to present or to discuss with fellow educators? Find an open slot on the day’s schedule (a.k.a. The Big Board) and write it in. Other attendees will see your proposal and those who are interested can attend. It is as simple as that.

A focus of my student teaching and my work as a Masters of Education student at the Ohio State University has been on making connections between my students’ service, their learning, and their understanding of civic engagement. I teach 5 sections of Government and work with all Seniors who have to complete a service component called the Service Activity Project. From a young age, service has always been very important to me. My focus on service learning has allowed me to align a personal passion, the reality of my classroom, and the research I am doing for Ohio State. Coming in to EdCamp Columbus, it was my hope that there would be a session related to service learning or civic engagement. As the time before the first session dwindled, openings remained on the Big Board and there were no sessions on service or civics. Seeing this as an opportunity, I decided to embrace the spirit of the “unconference” and proposed a session entitled “Connecting learning and service towards critical civic engagement.”

I was very happy to find out that I was not alone in my interest on these topics. The session was attended by a range of individuals – elementary teachers, high school teachers, government teachers, science teachers, and even a district’s technology specialist. Gahanna Jefferson Public Schools were well represented with GLHS science teacher, Jason Hardin, and Jefferson Elementary teacher, Ashley Sands, both attending and actively participating.

What is great about EdCamp is that sessions can be more of a discussion than a presentation. To borrow educational terminology, EdCamp is “attendee-centered” rather than “presenter-centered.” I kicked off the session by introducing myself and why I proposed the session – I am a pre-service teacher who is passionate about service and works with students who are doing service. I am interested in ways to connect students’ classroom learning with their service with the aim of getting them to think more critically about their role and engagement in society. Towards this end, I designed a service project in which students spent a Saturday conducting home repairs for an area senior. While successful, I am interested in other ways to improve my practice of connecting learning to service and civic engagement. Other session attendees shared their background and interest in the topics before we turned to the issues at hand.

Throughout the session, discussion flourished. As a group, we discussed the service requirements that exist in our schools and examples of service learning that we have participated in. Vibrant discussion was held around civic education and how it needs to start at a young age and extend beyond just the social studies classroom. The concept of the “common good” is not something that is limited to the study of the social world and thus work towards it should not be limited to social studies.

An item that became a major focus of the session was student choice. Rather than the focus and design of the service being determined by the teacher, attendees agreed that students should be involved throughout the process. Asking students “What do you care about? What do you want to work on?” will empower them and make their service and the learning that accompanies it all the more meaningful. The role of the teacher then becomes to guide and scaffold them through the process. Teachers also play the important part of helping students reflect on their service. Teachers should guide students to reflect before, during, and after their service. This can be done through discussion, writing assignments, and the strategic use of technology. It is important that the reflection that is done is critical and challenges the students to reflect on their lives and the nature of society and its institutions.

As the session was attended by a diverse group of educators, the topic of cross curricular collaboration was heavily discussed. Just as civic engagement can incorporate multiple content areas, so too can service and it need not be compartmentalized – government, science, and english teachers (just to name a few) can all collaborate. Ideas such as having students research the need and causes of the need of service, working with students to write grant proposals, using various mediums to document and tell the story of service all provide opportunities for skills from various content areas to be incorporated into service to others.

EdCamp sessions were blocked out in 50 minute time slots. By the end of our 50 minutes, the discussion was in full swing and participants were not ready to wrap up. It was decided that to continue our conversation, we would move our discussion online by creating a shared Google Doc. Herein lies the great value of EdCamp – not only do we get to come together with like minded educators to share ideas, but the conversation does not have to stop there. Bring a group of passionate educators together and the learning community they develop will extend beyond the Saturday they spent together in Clark Hall.

I applaud Johnathan for not only taking the time to attend his first Edcamp, but for having the courage to lead a session. This is an excellent example of what the Edcamp experience is all about!

Be Great,

Dwight

Among Experts

Dwight Carter Curriculum and Instruction, Leadership, Staff and Faculty , , ,

Professional-Learning-NetworkI attended the Ohio ASCD Conference on Tuesday, January 16th and heard former State Superintendent, Stan Heffner, deliver a compelling keynote presentation. He shared the three main correlates of successful schools: instructional leadership, a positive school climate and culture, and frequent monitoring. An example he gave of effective instructional leadership is when teachers share best practices. He said,

“The best professional development in the world is when teachers can collaborate and share ideas.”

I couldn’t agree more. For example, still to this day, the best professional development I ever experienced was being a facilitator for our school’s Critical Friends Group, which was a group of teachers who were given four periods a month to research curriculum, instruction, and assessment strategies, review lesson plans, and reflect on our daily work. It was energizing, relevant, and job-embedded professional learning. I’ve been able to recapture this through the use of social media, but it’s still not quite the same.

One of my goals as a building principal is to use our staff meetings as learning opportunities because it’s one of the few times we are all together at the same time. Admittedly, I have not been as successful with this as I want to be. However, the other day at our staff meeting, the teachers were engaged in meaningful conversations about their best lesson from first semester. Assistant Principal, Tim Gagliardo (@TimGagliardo1), did an outstanding job facilitating this activity. He used story, imagery, and video to introduce the activity. He shared a powerful scene from Dead Poet’s Society to set the stage.

Following the video and introduction, we divided the staff into groups of 8 and asked the following questions:

What was your best lesson/unit from first semester?
What did you enjoy most about it?
What did the students enjoy most about it?
What did the students learn and why?

Once the groups were created, a scribe was assigned per group, and questions posted, the room was energized by the examples being shared, questions asked, laughter, and positive reinforcement. Some examples shared by the scribes are:

Geometry teacher, Tyler Winner, uses Lesson Summary Sheets to increase students’ meta-cognition skills. These were created because numerous students and parents were unaware of their poor grades 2nd quarter. This Summary Sheet has increased attendance to the Pass Room as students can earn 1% on assessments if they get teacher help outside of class. This is helping students develop good study habits and helping the teacher to keep students more accountable.

A.P. Literature, Chris Wagner, helped students put their egos aside and avoid just looking at their essay grade by having students rank all the essays in class. Essays were listed by ID numbers instead of names to keep anonymity and help students to be more critical. Students were very engaged and paid attention to their peer feedback!

English teacher, Becky Rice, designed a lesson devoted to helping students find independent reading material in Honors English 10, which has led to a Google Doc the class uses to share book recommendations and a blog about favorite reads!

One teacher has implemented “Listening Quizzes” to help students pay attention better in class and not just regurgitate what’s in the book or notes, but participate in class discussions more.

Chinese teacher, Mike Kralovic, does a lesson on bargaining. The classroom is set up with little shops and the students are taught how to bargain for the items they want. This exposes them to the language and culture.  While they are doing this they call it “Barguing.”

During the Industrial Revolution unit, American History teachers had students look at an invention and figure out why that invention was needed, how it was inspired, and where will it be in the future.

Choir teacher, Jeremy Lahman, uses SoundCloud to record student performances and then posts it on Twitter. The students can assess themselves and this increases engagement because they have a large authentic audience.

There were many more examples shared and it was exciting to take some time to celebrate what is going on in classrooms every day at Gahanna Lincoln High School.

Be Great,



Dwight

Guest Post by English Teacher, Matt McGregor: The Best Meetings Ever

Dwight Carter Focus on Students, Leadership, Staff and Faculty , , , , ,

At Gahanna Lincoln High School, we’ve been moving towards becoming a Professional Learning Community and not just doing “PLCs”. It’s been a challenging process in that time is the obvious obstacle. However, a group of teachers has modeled exactly what we want to make happen systemically. I’ve asked English teacher and National Guard Veteran, Matt McGregor, to share his insight on why PLCs are effective for our English 9 teachers.

I believe people working together can solve problems, problems that would be insurmountable to individuals working alone. I have witnessed this phenomenon firsthand in wildly different careers in my life, from the battlefields of Iraq to public education. This idea, in education, is often expressed as Professional Learning Communities (PLC). I define PLCs simply as teachers working collaboratively in order to improve student learning. As with most ideas, one can find studies that support the idea of PLCs and studies that claim the opposite, but in my experience, PLCs are an extremely effective strategy for increasing student achievement.

I have been in the Ohio Army National Guard since 1998. The Army runs meetings very well. We had a meeting agenda and template for every meeting I attended. Entire Army manuals have been written to help in planning and running meetings. When I joined a PLC at our school in 2010, the group consisted of some of the most caring, talented teachers I’ve ever met. However, they did not have experience in how to run a successful meeting. These meetings were ineffective and didn’t accomplish much. I was in the midst of getting my Masters in Educational Leadership and was reading Creating Dynamic Schools Through Mentoring, Coaching, and Collaboration, by Judy Carr. Carr had an example agenda that was similar to some of the Army templates I’d used. I adapted it and created an agenda on a PowerPoint for our next PLC.

PLC1I showed up early for that next meeting, set up, and asked to run the meeting, and they humored me. We began by creating a goal for the PLC and then discussed ground rules for all of the meetings. After the ground rules were in place, we assigned roles and responsibilities, decided on when the first common assessment would take place and what it should focus on, and planned for the next meeting. At first this structure was uncomfortable for the group, but we agreed. This was all accomplished on time, and we were walking out the door at 50 minutes. One of my colleagues, who has taught at GLHS for eight years, informed me after the meeting that it was the most productive meeting she’d ever attended.
PLC2

Teachers were enthusiastic for the next meeting. This organization wasn’t anything I had invented; I simply implemented proven practices I’d learned.

We learned as a group that first year, not just about our teaching styles but about ourselves asPLC3 well. We had disagreements but always came to a consensus. As a group, we created four common assessments based on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) from scratch. We collected and analyzed data from those assessments and then compared our data side-by-side with PowerPoint and a projector. Through the data, we discovered the strategies and curriculum that were most effective and replicated them, and as a result, our teaching changed. We were able to eliminate redundancy and focus on what students were and were not learning. We specifically and purposely addressed these issues. We also learned to trust each other.

I’ve found there is one question to ask in order to see how much a PLC is truly accomplishing: “What do you do for the students who have already learned the material?” As teachers, we all know it is very easy to focus on the students who aren’t achieving acceptable results. It is another beast entirely to design curriculum for students who already know the material and want to be challenged, and are sitting beside students who don’t. We don’t pretend to have all the answers, and that last question is an issue we will be addressing ad infinitum. But we are and will continue to address it. We have an amazing group of very smart teachers who truly care about students. We can accomplish anything.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead

I couldn’t agree more.

Be Great,

Dwight

Connecting With New Teachers

Dwight Carter Leadership, School Climate, Staff and Faculty , , , , ,

connecting-with-othersA couple of years ago, a second year teacher stopped by my office after school and asked if we could talk. The look on her face had me concerned so, of course, I welcomed her to have a seat. I thought she was going to share her concerns about student behavior or wanted help to solve a problem. Man, was I was wrong. What she said to me made a lasting impression…

As soon as she started to talk, tears started to flow from her eyes and she apologetically said, “I accepted a position in another district.” I shallowed hard because I was completely shocked. I felt blindsided, and immediately started to ask myself where we went wrong, where I went wrong as the principal. She said she needed a change, that she didn’t always feel supported or heard. Her comments were difficult to hear, but I appreciated her honesty. It was at the point that I vowed to myself to do everything within my control to prevent this from happening again under my watch as building principal.

One of our goals at Gahanna Lincoln High School is for every student, teacher, and parent to have a sense of belonging. It’s a lofty goal and we take it seriously. Losing that young, promising, and passionate teacher showed me that I, we, needed to do a better job of connecting with our new teachers. We hired 17 new teachers this school year; some with zero years of experience and a few with 4-6 years of experience. Nevertheless, I decided to meet with them once a month in an informal setting to simply give us an opportunity to connect, share, reflect, learn from each other.

It’s key to keep these meetings informal. There is no agenda, the teachers don’t have to prepare anything, and they aren’t assigned anything to do. We just talk. We first met in our Library Media Center in September, but decided together to meet at Panera, which is on our campus, for the rest of the year.It’s been amazing to hear their stories, their reflective thoughts about their craft, their suggestions on how we can get better, and to see how they support each other.

Admittedly, not all of them come each month and I’m fine with that. It’s simply an invitation to attend, not a mandate. I have asked a few questions to guide our discussion, but most of the time we go where the conversation takes us. Some of the questions asked are as follows:

*What has been the most successful thing you’ve done so far?
*How are you taking care of yourself physically?
*What do you do for fun?
*Have we lived up to what we promised you?
*What’s one thing we can do differently?
*What are you planning to change second semester?

Once I ask a question, I simply sit and listen. It’s great to hear their responses and how they build on each other’s comments. Before we concluded our most recent meeting, I asked, “Are these meetings helpful?” Following are some of their responses:

*“I think they are fun. I look forward to them each month.”
*”It’s good to see and talk with people outside your department. It’s good to learn from others.”
*”You make us feel like we are important to you.”
*”It’s good to hear what the other new teachers are thinking.”

I appreciate their time, their honestly, and their commitment to the GLHS Family! I can only imagine how much better we will be as we progress through the second half of this school year. If you have any ideas of how you connect with new teachers or suggestions to make this process better, please feel free to comment.

Be Great,

Dwight

Photo credit: http://www.erelationshipcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/connecting-with-others.jpg

Talk About It

Dwight Carter Focus on Students, Leadership, School Climate, Staff and Faculty

compassion
This is my 20th year as an educator and I’ve had the privilege to serve in the Gahanna Jefferson Public School district during this entire time. I’ve grown very close to many staff and faculty, students, parents, and community members over these years, which is easy to do when you spend so much time in the same place. I care deeply about our students. I always have and always will.

I have seen many changes in young people over time (which is something all adults say as we get older and wiser) and I am in awe by the opportunities they have these days and what they can accomplish. I am also in awe by how cruel they can be at times. I am a strong advocate for technology, mobile devices, and using digital tools to learn, share, and communicate. What am I not an advocate for is cruelty towards others.

As I was watching my daughter, Gabrielle, play with her toys on the floor yesterday evening, I read an article about a 12 year old girl who committed suicide because she was relentless tormented by her classmates who posted cruel and anonymous things about her on a number of social media sites. It has become so easy to post anonymously, which is nothing more than a cowardly way to communicate. There is no courage, accountability, or a sense of responsibility with anonymous posts or comments. I encourage you to read the article and use it as a guide to begin a conversation with your son or daughter.

One of our goals is to create a safe, positive school climate where there is a sense of belonging. However, what can undermine this sense of security is talk about itcruelty towards others. This is not a society problem, a school problem, a parent problem, or a problem with “those kids.” It’s our problem because we are society; however, we can do our part to solve it in our community. After you read it, take one small action by talking with your son or daughter about their digital lives. Ask them to show you their social media sites (Instagram, Twitter, ask.fm, Vine, Facebook, Kick, YouTube channel, etc.). Talk to them about their experiences and ask for ways they can be a part of the solution.

October is Anti-Bullying Month and for the last three years, we’ve launched a Pause Before You Post Campaign to remind us all to think before we post anything on social media, email, or text message. It’s been successful and I would like to do more. October is also when we begin our Community University Workshops for parents. I am considering a Digital Citizenship workshop that will focus on ways we can encourage our students (and ourselves) to be good citizens in the virtual world. Our digital footprint can open doors or close doors based on how we represent ourselves through our posts. Google is the new business card. I will let you know the date and time of the Community University workshop.

Be Great,

Dwight

Staff Expectations

Dwight Carter Leadership, School Climate, Staff and Faculty , , ,

20130720-011613.jpgI’ve taken the last couple of weeks off to spend some quality time at home, recharge my battery, catch up on some reading, and reflect on last school year. As the new school year approaches, I recently reviewed what my staff expects of me in order to prepare myself to meet their expectations.

One of my teachers named, Shawn Johnston (@shawnjohn3399), recently recommended I read Tony Dungy’s book, The Mentor Leader. It’s a great read and there is a common theme woven throughout the book: leadership is about others, not about the leader. What my staff expects of me can be summarized by this theme. The principals I admire most not only know this, but their actions demonstrate this. With that said, following are the top 5 characteristics my staff expects of me:

Be Visible- I often over-promise and under-deliver in this area. It’s not intentional, but every year I fall short of my own expectations when it comes to being visible. Well, I guess it is intentional since I don’t schedule it on a daily basis. I haven’t followed through with my “No Office Day” the last couple of years! Todd Wittaker recently posted on Twitter that administrators should do the “Daily Five: visit five classrooms for five minutes every day.” This is very doable and I’ve already shared this with my administrative team. Also, this year will be different because of the new Ohio Teacher Evaluation System. OTES requires walkthroughs so this will force me and my administration team to not only be visible in classrooms, but to provide meaningful and timely feedback. They also want to see me (us) in the hallways in between classes and at extracurricular activities. Visibility=I care.

Presence– Being physically present is important, but being mentally and emotionally present are essential to my staff. One of our core beliefs at GLHS is positive relationships. Therefore, as I’ve become a “connected educator” it’s expected of me, and rightfully so, to “be there” for my staff- all of them! Be plugged into the moment, embrace each interaction, and make it a priority to make whomever I am talking with feel valued, respected, and honored. Sometimes busyness gets in the way but I realized I view busyness as a badge of honor, when it’s really a sign of being unorganized.

Consistently Follow Through– What I take from this is to establish clear procedures with the staff and stick to them. Additionally, they want students and staff to be held accountable so we can be our very best. A lack of consistency leads to frustration, or the inability to solve a problem. The less frustrated we are, the better we will be for our students and school community.

Support– They want and need to know I and my administrative team have their backs when they try new things, when faced with discipline issues, when they make mistakes, and during tough times. Support looks differently to many people, but the more visible, consistent, and clear I am, the more supported they will feel.

Clear Communication– This includes not only verbal communication, but my ability to actively listen. One of my veteran teachers and good friend reminds me to listen to what they have to say, answer their questions, and show understanding. They will understand if I disagree and will appreciate me simply listening. I reminded the Class of 2013 at the commencement ceremony to “listen to understand not to respond.” I have to practice what I preach.

I’m excited to get the 2013-2014 school year started! It’s an opportunity for a fresh start, it’s a chance to set a positive tone, to review our core values, and to positively change lives and impact futures!

Be Great,

Dwight

Never Underestimate the Significance of Relationships

Dwight Carter Leadership, School Climate, Staff and Faculty

www.jostens/renaissance
www.jostens/renaissance
The final day of the Jostens Renaissance National Conference was Saturday, July 13th and “The Freedom Writer,” Erin Gruwell’s, closing presentation was on point! She shared her amazing story about how she worked with 150 challenging students to completely transform their lives. It was apparent that she really got to know her students, connected with them on a highly emotional level, and created a collaborative, safe learning environment for them to succeed.

Her story was a reminder that mentoring relationships are messy. It’s hard work and there are many obstacles to overcome. However, if the goal is to significantly impact the life of another person, then it’s worth it.

She used the art of writing to tear down walls and open doors for students. Her story reminded me of a Challenge Day activity called, Cross The Line. This activity helps participants find common ground and it provides a visual of how connected we truly are by shared experiences. Our Athletic Director at Gahanna Lincoln High School, Justin Sanford, was instrumental in bringing Challenge Day to GLHS. We held a Challenge Day for three years and it did wonders for enhancing a positive school climate. Students, parents, staff, and community members still talk about how Challenge Day transformed their lives.

Listening to Erin’s story and watching brief clips from the movie, “Freedom Writers,” reminded me of Todd Wittaker’s phrase, “It’s people, not programs,” or Dr. James Comer famous line, “No significant learning takes place without a significant relationship.” We all have an “Erin Gruwell” experience with students. We are reminded of these stories when we refer to the file of the letters from former students we receive. If you don’t keep a file of these letters or cards, then I strongly encourage you to start today! We all have that one success story that brings tears to our eyes when we think about how we’ve made a difference to someone.

I recently ran into a former athlete I coached, who is now 27 years old and doing extremely well. He pulled me aside to talk. He said,

“You may not remember this, but when I was a freshmen (he was a starter on the Varsity football team as a freshmen), you walked up to me and told me I should run track because it would humble me. You said I hadn’t experienced loss yet, but running track would help me grow as a person and understand humility. I never forgot that and I thank you for caring enough to tell me.”

He was an extremely gifted athlete, he was charismatic, and he was a natural leader. I also noticed how we interacted with some of the students in the hallways or on the field and was a bit concerned. I wasn’t his specific position coach, but we had a close enough relationship where I thought he would be receptive. Thirteen years later, I guess it worked!

As I think about the quickly approaching school year, my goal is to reestablish positive relationships with members of my staff. I’ve allowed “programs” or other excuses to get in the way of relationships. More candidly, relationships have not been a priority and it has cost me.

As educators, stealing a phrase Seth Godin used in the book, Linchpin, “We have a platform to share our art.” Our “art” is making a difference in the lives of others. As we quickly approach the start of another school year, let’s remember to use our platform (classroom, school building, cafeteria, front desk, attendance office, or guidance office) to establish significant relationships with others, set high expectations, and make a difference, more specifically, a positive difference, in someone’s life.

“It’s people, not programs.”

Stealing the 2014 Jostens Renaissance National Conference theme, let’s find “joy in the journey” of being educators!

Be Great,



Dwight

Creativity: Day 1 Reflections from the Jostens Renaissance National Conference

Dwight Carter Curriculum and Instruction, Focus on Students, Leadership, School Climate, Staff and Faculty

JRNCI’ve attended the Jostens Renaissance National Conference many times and each year I walk away feeling inspired and enthused about my purpose as an educator. While some of the faces in the leadership team are new this year, the foundational principles are still very much alive: relationships, collaboration, sharing ideas, learning, engagement, and fun.

As always, the keynote presenters, featured presenters, and breakout sessions leave the attendees excited to implement something new in their classrooms, schools, or school community. What’s unique about this conference is that about 30% of the attendees are students! Students who attend are either formal or informal leaders at their schools. They are just as engaged as all the educators and bring a certain level of energy that is contagious.

As I reflect on day 1, the word that comes to mind is CREATIVITY. Presenter, Kevin Honeycutt (@kevenhoneycutt), is an expert on meaningful learning and he shared several tidbits of information that piqued my interest. His presentation was creatively engaging and he stressed how we can harness the power of technology and relationships to make learning more meaningful for ourselves and for our students:

• “Administrators have to create a culture that appreciates teachers who try new things.” We are all creative and simply need the freedom to put a creative idea into action, reflect on the results, and try again. It’s easy to criticize what’s new and it takes courage to embrace, empower, and enthusiastically share what risk takers are doing. Protect the risk-takers from the naysayers by publicly recognizing, rewarding, and reinforcing this behavior. The result: more risk-taking behavior by teachers!

• “Emotion+Learning=Forever Learning.” I think about the most favorite teachers at GLHS and who comes to mind are the ones who make learning meaningful by making emotional connections with the content through song, performance, meaningful projects,by creating a supportive and collaboration classroom environment, and setting high expectations. The students respond by being loyal, working hard for the teacher, and removing any walls that would prevent learning from occurring. As a result, students stay after school for hours and on weekends working together to solve problems, complete quality projects, or to perfect a performance. It’s amazing to see!

• “We have to teach kids how to love to learn.” We are all creative in our own way and the more we foster creativity in our classrooms and schools, the more we will inevitably help students to learn how to love learning like they used to in their primary years. This is the type of culture we ought to strive to create!

The keynote presenter, Erik Wahl (@erikwahl), moved the crowd! His story not only resonated with many in the audience, but it was one of triumph. He demonstrated how we can unleash our own creativity and the creativity of our students by learning how to “UNTHINK”. Following are a few nuggets I gleamed from his presentation:

• “If we take ourselves too seriously, we block ourselves from performing under pressure.” The ability to perform under pressure not only sparks creative problem solving, but it opens up more opportunities for personal growth and opportunities to help others. I have a tendency to take myself way too seriously at times and it’s during these times that I am less creative, less effective, and become almost paralyzed with insecurity. I look to my Savior, my wife, my administrative team, and my PLN during these times to help me let go and just do. Eric reminded me of this today as shared passionate, creative stories that fed the audience.

• “We are capable of so much more than what we have been preconditioned to do.” Mandates, accountability, and standardization squelch creativity. One would be hard-pressed to find an educator who doesn’t believe this statement. However, we have to break through these mandated, or often times, self-made barriers to be remarkable at our craft. This resonated with me becuase it’s one of the reasons I continue to participate in the Jostens Renaissance National Conference and connect with others via social media.

I am still processing all of the events of day 1 and have not settled on specific ways to fully tap into the creativity of our students and staff at Gahanna Lincoln High School. We do, however, have pockets where creative lesson design and learning experiences for students and staff abound, but I want more of it; for the sake of our students and our school community. So, what are you going to do to unleash the creativity in your classroom or school?

Be Great,

Dwight

Characteristics Students Want in Teachers

Dwight Carter Focus on Students, Staff and Faculty

I’ve been following the hashtag, #stuvoice, on Twitter for awhile and have been inspired by the tweets, links, and questions about providing a platform for students to share their thoughts about school. We have some very dynamic student leaders at Gahanna Lincoln High School and after reviewing some of the #stuvoice tweets, it dawned on me that It’s been several months since I’ve taken the time to talk with a group of students. So, I set up a meeting with members of my school’s Student Council a couple of weeks ago. We had a great conversation and I was enlightened by their insight!

I went into the conversation with two questions and ended up asking a third question based on their responses. Before I go on, I have to say how impressed I was with their candor, enthusiasm, and maturity! The three questions I asked them are as follows:

* What are the characteristics of a great teacher?
* What does learning look like at Gahanna Lincoln High School?
* What is missing in your school experience?

I will only focus on the first question in this post and will share the answers from the other two questions in a later post. Since it’s the hiring season and we are looking for the very best candidates, I wanted to know, from the student perspective, what characteristics make a great teacher. As an administrative team, we have a list of characteristics we look for, but it’s important to know what the students think.

Question: “What are the characteristics of a great teacher?”

Answers:
* Passionate and Enthusiastic about teaching
* Knowledgeable
* Cares about students
* Flexible
* Understanding
* Willing to work 1 on 1 with students
* Organized
* Shows one’s personality
* Personable/Approachable
* Willingness to connect with students beyond the classroom
* Optimistic
* Devoted
* Creative with school work and working with students
* Engaging
* Able to reflect and grow
* Involved with aspects of school outside of teaching
* Treats everyone equally
* Clear expectations
* Direct communication
* Respectable

As I previously stated, I appreciate their candor. They were really thoughtful with their answers, they added to each other’s responses, and were pretty much in agreement about these characteristics. The bottom line is they want teachers who take the time to get to know them, who will help them learn, and who care about them as people. I plan to share this list with my Administrative Team and Department Chairpersons so that we are better equipped to bring in the best candidates to be a part of Team GLHS!

Be Great,



Dwight