#edchat

Week 13 at New Albany High School!

Dwight Carter Curriculum and Instruction, Focus on Students, Leadership , , , , ,

Staff News
Congratulations to Concord Counselor, Brandy Smith, and her husband as they are expecting their first child!

Substitute teacher Shannon Book shared with me the following information to let me know how our students feel about our Math Department:

Dear Teacher“I was subbing for Mrs. Morlan’s AP Calc AB class this morning and as the students were working diligently on a small group assignment, they started an impromptu discussion about how our math department is “stacked” (their actual quote) with talent. I overheard one student say, “Unfortunately, I got an A- that year but I learned so much I can’t complain.” The students named all of the teachers they had up to this point and they had great things to say about each one. Many of these kids plan to become engineers and, although they pointed out many people drop out of engineering programs after the first year, they felt they would be well prepared.

The best part about this conversation was it wasn’t prompted by anyone. It was a very candid and reflective conversation the students had on their own about the quality of education they have received at New Albany. Priceless.”

Students As Learners
Chemistry teacher Mary Cook facilitated a uniqueTeaching Cycle lab for her students a few days ago. It included formative assessment strategies that guided her instruction and required students to not just acquire knowledge, but also apply it to unknown situations. She states,

“College Prep Chemistry students are starting our unit on gas behavior and these lab stations are the first activity where students explore relationships between different variables by taking observations at different stations. After students collect observations, they identify the variables and constants for each station and then develop a particle level explanation and visual diagrams that support their collected evidence. Students then present their explanations at the particle level during white boarding group discussion to come up with the best explanation and visual representation (particle level and graphical). They then apply these explanations to more real world scenarios.”

BettsSpanish teacher Lisa Betts designed a lesson to help students apply the language to real-world scenarios during class last week. Following is a description of the activity:

“My students were given the task of creating a skit with at least a doctor, nurse and patient. The patient had to seek help for at least two ailments; the doctor and nurse had to gather information from the patient about what was going on, what symptoms s/he has, what occurred, what injury they might have, how it happened, etc. An exam had to be given to ascertain a final diagnosis, and then the doctor had to give some sort of course of action to help the person feel better. It was a total riot!”

Art teacher Juliette Montague’s students havegrowth-ahead made significant progress in their drawing ability! She recently shared a few artworks as evidence of student growth for her Student Learning Objective. I applaud the students’ attention to detail and perseverance. Check out this brief video that captures where students started and where they are now!

Veteran's Day Thank You Cards
Intervention Specialist Taylor Pinnick used Veterans Day as an opportunity for her students to send a care package to her boyfriend’s unit in the Army National Guard, who are currently deployed. Students from the Special Education Department at New Albany, from elementary school to high school, as well as SLC F in the 2-5 building, wrote letters and created cards to send to the unit. Students collected over 100 cards to send, as well as some special treats to help with the heat!
Veterans-Day-Pinterest-Pictures
Humanities teachers Sara Hric and Rachel Braswell celebrated Veterans Day by asking students to interview a current soldier or veteran and capture their experience. This assignment corresponds with their reading of Homer’s Iliad and The Odyssey where they are discussing the experience of the soldier/veteran. Students will also participate in a Socratic Seminar to discuss their findings. I observed a few groups of students perform skits about scenes from The Odyssey and a major part of the skit summary was to explain the connection to the soldier as they highlighted Greek values.

2015-16 School Theme
2015-16 School Theme
Fall Sports Wrap Up by Athletic Director Kevin Reed

The New Albany Eagles completed another fantastic fall sports campaign with multiple awards, honors and team accomplishments. Coming off a 6th consecutive Ralph Young all sports award, all eyes were on the Eagles as New Albany athletics has become the envy of central Ohio athletic programs. Of the 11 fall sports New Albany offers, all but 1 finished with a winning record. 15 Eagle athletes were named to the First Team All OCC-Capital teams, 12 were named to the Second Team All OCC-Capital teams, 1 to the Third Team All OCC-Capital, 3 to the Special Mention All OCC-Capital and 11 were named Honorable Mention ALL OCC-Capital.
OCC Capital
The boys golf team wrapped up their 6th consecutive OCC title by completing an undefeated OCC season (28-0). The boys golfers also wrapped up a terrific season by finishing 3rd in the sectional tournament and 6th at the district tournament. Girls tennis head coach Marc Thomas was named OCC-Capital Coach of the Year and Junior singles player Alex Cash was Sectional champion and a state qualifier. Cash was also named to the All State Tennis Team and Player of the Year in the OCC-Capital Conference Senior Amit Greenshtein was named Player of the Year in the OCC-Capital Conference for boys soccer. Four Eagle athletes were named to All District teams:
Alex Cash- girls tennis
Maddy Largent – volleyball
MiCayla Nash – volleyball
Kiana Khorrami – girls soccer

The girls soccer team, under 1st year head coach Kelly Snead, had a great tournament run finishing as District Runner Up with a tough 2-1 loss to Upper Arlington in the district final.
Girls Soccer Team

Senior football player Alex Boffo was named an OCC football scholar athlete. Junior girls tennis player Taylor Selby was a sectional runner-up. Junior Christina Vitellas and Sophomore Makena Romagnano tennis players were sectional runners up in doubles while Junior Jessica Von Zastrow and Freshman Valentina DiLorenzo placed 3rd in the girls sectional doubles tournament.

Aside from the boys golf OCC title, the girls tennis team were OCC runners up. Football, girls soccer and boys cross country finished 3rdin the OCC-Capital. Field Hockey finished 4th in their league. Boys soccer, volleyball and girls cross country finished 5th in the OCC-Capital and the girls golf team finished 6th.

Despite the target on all Eagle athletic teams, New Albany ended the fall season 3rd in the Ralph Young all sports race with 45 points; 12 points behind leader Olentangy and 10 points behind Olentangy Orange. Congratulations to our fall sports coaches and athletes!

Upcoming EventsKiss Me, Kate Poster
Monday, November 16th- #CelebrateMonday; BOE Meeting 6:30 pm Mershad Auditorium
Tuesday, November 17th- #BowTieTuesday
Thursday, November 19th-Kiss Me, Kate 7:00 pm McCoy
Friday, November 20th- Kiss Me, Kate 7:00 pm McCoy
Saturday, November 21st- Kiss Me, Kate 7:00 pm McCoy
Sunday, November 22nd- Kiss Me, Kate 2:30 pm

Video Worth Watching
What Students Really Need to Hear

Be Great,

Dwight

My Letter To My New Staff #NAHSeaglespride

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

July 30, 2014
NA LogoDear NAHS Team Member,

We are in one of the most exciting times to be an educator. We are facing many challenges, yet we have some of the best opportunities to engage learners, the community, and each other to continue to shape what teaching and learning can look like at New Albany High School.

New Albany High School: Over 130 Staff and Faculty (Staffulty), 1300 students, 2600 parents, and 1 focus: To be Great. What does greatness mean? Greatness is neither a destination, nor a moment in time, but it is a journey towards a consistent pattern of behavior that results in constant progress and achievement. We often celebrate great moments in our lives, like anniversaries, graduations, birthdays, victories, and other milestones. Schools should look for moments to celebrate students and Staffulty as often as we can with intentionality and purpose in order to create an environment where all have a sense of belonging.

I hope this letter finds you in good health, relaxed, and rejuvenated for a great year at NAHS. I appreciate your enthusiastic reception in April, as it was very welcoming. I enjoyed the Peace Week Kickoff ceremony and the other activities you invited me to in the spring! I am looking forward to getting to know you and learn more about the rich traditions and history of NAHS.

Meeting with the Principal
As the start of school is quickly approaching, I invite each departmentconversations-matter to meet with me, including Administrative Assistants/Secretaries, and Cafeteria Staff and Custodians, to discuss successes, your hopes and dreams for our future, and what steps we can take together to make NAHS even better. If you are able to attend, these will be informal conversations so there is no need to bring anything. I understand some of you may be on vacation during these times so if you can’t make it, we can meet at another time. Your family and personal time comes first.

Below is a list of dates and times that I have set aside for us to meet:
Friday, August 8th: 9:00-10:00 AM; 10:15-11:15 AM
Monday, August 11th: 10:15-11:15 AM; 1:00-2:00 PM
Tuesday, August 12th: 9:00-10:00 AM; 10:15-11:15 AM; 1:00-2:00 PM
Wednesday, August 13th, 9:00-10:00 AM; 10:15-11:15 AM; 1:00-2:00 PM
Thursday, August 14th: 9:00-10:00 AM; 10:15-11:15 AM; 1:00-2:00 PM
Friday, August 15th: 9:00-10:00 AM

Department Chairs, please call or email Sherrie Kauffman to set up an appointment. Again, this is not mandatory or an expectation, but simply an invitation for us to talk. Please let Sherrie know the room number where you want to meet.

Staff and Faculty Family Picnic!
Please mark your calendars and make plans to attend the 2014-2015 Staffulty Picnic on Sunday, August 17th at Jefferson Community Park in Gahanna from 4:30-8:30 PM! The building administrators will fire up the grill and provide the burgers, hotdogs, and brats, as well as the beverages and paper products. You will receive a Google Doc for you to RSVP and let us know what side dish you will bring. You are encouraged to bring your spouse or significant other and children for a fun and festive time together as a NAHS Family! If you have any games, such as Corn Hole, Badminton, or Volleyball, please bring it.

New Years in August!
Traditionally the start of a new year is celebrated on December 31. Many people spend that time either celebrating, praying, reflecting, and resolving to do things differently in the future. But, why wait until December?

We are ringing in the 2014-2015 school year with a “Happy New Year” celebration the first thing in the morning on August 25! To help welcome our students, you are invited to join us outside along the front sidewalk leading to the E Lobby and at the at entrance doors at the bus loop to enthusiastically greet students as they enter the building! If you are interested in joining us, we’ll gather at 7:15 AM. Together, we can make it a very memorable start to a new school year!

School Theme
NAHS You MatterIn order to foster an even greater sense of community and build upon the traditions of NAHS such as high academic honors, athletic championships, quality performance and visual arts, House, House Games, Peace Week, and Senior Seminar, I would like to introduce the use of an annual theme. The purpose of a theme is to convey a message within a story. The theme will be our annual mission in that it will highlight our approach to teaching, learning, school culture, and the celebration of our success. The stories we create and tell this year will focus on creating community.

This year’s theme is “YOU Matter.” Together, we will create a sense of oneness and make every effort to show each individual student and Staffulty member how important they are to the overall success of NAHS. “YOU Matter” focuses on the whole person, including academic success, attendance, attitude, participation in athletics, the arts, and school sponsored activities. More information will be coming throughout the year. In the meantime, I encourage you to spend some quality time the first week of school establishing positive relationships with students. The following are a few examples of how to incorporate our theme this year:

● Create a class blog and post a topic on the board for students to write about as a bell ringer. Sample topics include, “What is one challenge you have overcome in the last week?,” “What have you done to make someone else’s day?,” “What is one way you can make a positive difference at NAHS this week?,” and “Who are two students you have met this week and what did you learn about them?”

● Place a blank name tag on students’ desk and ask them to write an adjective of how they feel that day. For example, “Hello, I am grateful!” Then take a few minutes and ask for a few volunteers to share their adjective.

● Random Act of Kindness Cards can be distributed throughout the first quarter as a way to tangibly let someone know they made a difference.

I have a special request. It would be a welcoming sight as our students, parents, and guests entered the building if they were greeted by a large bulletin board of pictures of our Staffulty. However, instead of the standard school picture, you are invited to drop off to Sherrie a 3X5 or 4X6 picture of you and your family, or you doing your favorite hobby, to be added to our Staffulty collage. For example, I may submit a family photo we took for my daughter’s first birthday. Be creative and let your personality shine!

New Staffulty and Changes
We have added a few new members to the team and we are excited to have them with us!

Assistant Principal-Kristy Venne (former Dean of Students)
Dean of Students-Todd Keenan
Director of Special Ed-Sheila Saunders
Mandarin Chinese- Sammie Si Zhao
Receptionist-Lynn Guthrie (former Instructional Aide)
School Counselor Secretary- Shannon Gominez
Spanish-Hannah Macko
Special Ed-Dawn Psurny
Special Ed- Eric Jablonka
Wellness- Dominique Alexander
Welcome Center Registrar- Robin Davison (former School Counselor Secretary)

Important Dates
August 11th -New Student Orientation – Monday, August 11th 9:00-11:00 AM
August 17th- Staffulty and Family Picnic-Sunday, August 17th 4:30-8:30 PM at Jefferson Community Park in Gahanna
August 18th- Schedule Pick up for Seniors and Juniors: 9:00-Noon and 1:00-4:00 PM
August 19th- Schedule Pick up for Sophomores and Freshmen: 8:00-Noon and 1:00-4:00 PM
August 20th- Opening Convocation/District In-Service-no students
August 21st- Professional Learning
August 22nd- Staff Work Day
August 25th- First Day of School

I look forward to serving as your Principal!

Be Great,

Dwight

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

Take A Chance and Try Something New

Dwight Carter Leadership , , , , , , ,

Two months ago I ventured to upstate New York to conquer the Indian and Hudson Rivers in the form of  white water rafting. To say it was an awesome experience is an understatement. The weather was simply horrible, but it added to the mystique of our adventure. I was invited to participate in a guys only weekend trip by Steve Bollar, upper elementary principal and motivational speaker (@StandTallSteve). This is an annual trip, but this was the first time I’ve ever gone. Footnote #1: if you don’t have a guys or ladies weekend with friends, you need to start!

Our adventure began on Friday with a five and half hour drive from Philadelphia, PA airport to North Creek, NY. The only guy I knew was Steve, so the road trip was one of the most important parts of our journey. We talked, laughed, reflected on life, and developed friendships along the way. Without this time, the overall experience would not have been as great as it was. Footnote #2: nearly every meaningful experience in life boils down to the relationships you have with others. Dr. James Comer said it this way, “No significant learning takes place without a significant relationship.”

Once we hit the water on Saturday, we spent several hours rafting during the 17 mile trek along the Hudson River. The backdrop was the Adirondack Mountains in 60 degree temperature and rain. Did I mention I can’t swim? Well, if not, now you know.

As I reflect on our trip, I realize I learned a great deal about leadership.  Following are lessons learned:

  1. To do something new, someone has to initiate change. Steve Bollar was the connector of this trip. He’s done this before and invited friends from New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and me from Ohio. Without Steve taking the initiative to set this up, the trip would not have occurred. Leaders take charge, research, and create new opportunities for others to grow.
  2. As a leader, influence matters. When Steve first asked me to attend, I thought of every excuse why I couldn’t attend: “I can’t swim,” “I have an administrative luncheon,” “I needed to be at school (even though the students were gone).” Steve listened to my excuses, but then followed up by sharing his past experiences of white water rafting. He also talked passionately about his friends that he wanted me to meet. By the time he was finished, I couldn’t say no! Leaders not only present the facts,  they also tell compelling stories to convey a particular message.
  3. Communication is essential. Since three of the six guys in the raft had never been white water rafting, communication was key. However, the part of communication I’m referring to is listening. We had to listen very closely to our guide who was not only highly qualified, but he was every effective. When sharing something new, leaders use clear, concise language , but the leader also listens to the followers in the organization.
  4. It’s much easier to go through rough waters with others.Tough times are inevitable, but going through them alone is not. “We” is much better than “me.” With technology, the “WE” in our lives is much greater than ever.
  5. Take a chance and learn something new. How can we as educators and leaders expect others to try new things if we don’t? Model what you expect and you’ll see more of it. I mention this because as I stated earlier, I can’t swim so to go white water rafting was a major stretch for me. At one point during the trip we came upon an extremely large boulder sticking out of the water. Our guide indicated that we could climb the boulder and jump off into the 20 feet deep river. I thought, “Yeah, right. I’m going to sit right here.” Well, as we got closer we all started looking at each other and one by one, I heard, “I’m in!” I had this internal conflict going on: “If you jump and die, your wife is going to kill you!” “But, I’m with a number of people that can swim, I’ve got on the right equipment, others have shown it’s safe, what’s the worst that could happen?” I thought. Well, the worst that could happen is that I could die! After much contemplation I finally said, “I’M IN!” I climbed the rock with the help of our guide, approached the edge, looked down, backed up, took three big steps, held my nose, and…. splash! I can still feel the warm, clean, and fresh water take me in and everything just stopped for a moment… I did it!

That was an aha moment for me. Why? I realized that as leaders if we provide the right training, modeling, resources, support, and safe environment for others to take risks, the possibilities of what we can accomplish together are endless.

Be Great,

Dwight

#Leadershipday11: Reading is Fundamental

Dwight Carter Leadership, Staff and Faculty , , , , ,

“Reading is Fundamental.” I’m sure we’ve all heard this statement and may have used it from time to time. Reading a good book can transport your mind to another place, open your mind to new ideas, broaden your perspective, and create opportunities for reflection. As I ponder #Leadershipday11, I want to address the question, “What should busy administrators be reading (or watching) that can help them be better technology leaders?”

My first recommendation is Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind.  It has everything to do with making a shift in the way we think about learning, leading, our the future state of the workforce. Pink challenges the status quo of many school districts in that he highlights ways in which the creative, outside-the-box thinkers are what is needed. The left brain dominant, analytical and logical workers are becoming obsolete.

So what does this mean for schools? Everything! The research is in and the covers have been removed: we have to create learning environments that prepare students for what’s required in the business world and in higher education in the second decade of the 21st Century and beyond. Before we think about how to integrate technology, Pink highlights why we need to change our approach to school leadership and teaching.

My second recommendation is an ebook created by Shelly Terrell, titled The 30 Goals Challenge. This is less of a traditional book  and more of an interactive guide to learning how to use technology as an educator. She also created a tribe by using a Twitter hashtag, #30goals for educators who are taking the challenge. This provides support, encouragement, accountability, and moments to celebrate. Taking the challenge allows one to fail safely because of the level of support and collaboration that exists in the tribe. Each goal stretches the user to do and learn something new. I encourage administrators to take the 30 Goals Challenge as a leader of leaders.

My final book recommendation is Communicating and Connecting with Social Media by William M. Ferriter, Jason T. Ramsden, and Eric C. Sheninger. This book is a quick read and provides surveys to use to gather feedback from students, teachers, and parents. It also provides a number of examples of educators who are modeling effective use of social media. There are guided questions, a list of additional resources, and action plans to follow. I highly recommend this book and have shared it with a couple of administrators in my district.

If you don’t have time to read, make time. You can’t afford not to…

Please add your book recommendations in the comments section and I look forward to learning together!

Be Great,
Dwight

67 Great Things about GLHS 2010-2011

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

Prior to the end of the school year, I sent my staff a Google Doc and asked them to share some highlights of the year. We have much to be proud of as we perservered through some tough times to create some great learning opportunities for our students. Following is a list of great things that represent what I call the 7 A’s of Gahanna Lincoln High School:
Idea in chalkboard with yellow chalk

Academics:
* 9% of our students averaged a 4.0 grade point average.

* 97% of our AP Psychology students passed the AP exam! The national average is 66%.

* 88% of our AP US History students passed the AP exam! The national average is 50%. Wow!

* 80.8% of our AP Calculas AB students passed the AP exam! The class average was 3.529.

* 87.5% of our AP Calculas BC students passed the AP exam! The class average was 3.938.

* 100% of our AP Literature and Composition students passed the AP exam! The class average was 4.056.

* Nearly 1000 students earned a Renaissance Card this year for Academics, Attendance, and Attitude.

* 55% or 294 of our seniors took 4 years of math.

* One of our Intervention Specialists that retired stated that she, “completed thirty-five years of working with special needs kids and learning lots along the way.”

* The 9th grade Global Studies teachers successfully introduced the Global Studies Symposium this year, where our freshman comprehensively applied knowledge and skills to understand the world today and demonstrated it with a project they designed and created. Pretty amazing!

* From one our English teachers: “This year more students than ever before reported ‘loving’ Romeo and Juliet and the English 9 research paper. I attribute this to the English 9 PLC collaborating and creating new ways to introduce the material in order to engage students.”

* From one of our Intervention Specialists: “The majority of students with LD, who are in Collaborative settings for U.S. History, passed the Social Studies section of the March OGT.”

* From our AP Environmental and Biology teacher: “Some of my students had a video they made for a PBL assignment on the creek attract the attention of Friends of Darby Creek, who want to use the video on their web site.”

* From one of our PE teachers: “Lifetime Fitness students made a video on YouTube: Did You Know Phys Ed? The news saw it and came out to do a story on us. Chipotle saw us on the news and had a fundraiser for us to get our Garden going. They brought burritos for all my students and spoke to us about how they use farm fresh ingredients. They also taught us how to make fresh guacamole and all my students received free gift cards!”

* ELL students made the AMAO’s for the year (another form of assessment criteria) and performed better on the OTELA than the state requirements.

* One of our Math teachers restructured her Integrated 1 classes to a class where students’ learn at their own pace. She and the students experienced many successes, and some challenges.

* Three debate seniors received Academic All-American from the National Forensic League.

* Our GATE teacher successfully started a new course team-teaching Science and English with one of our Science teachers. Two of the English units are paperless.

* The Gahanna Community School, our conversion school, presented its first Justin Vanguilder Memorial Scholarship of $1000.00. Justin was a GCS student that passed away from cancer last school year.

* Our 9th grade Integrated Science teachers formed a great integrated science PLC this year. Also, two students told one of the teachers at the end of the year that they used to hate science… but now it is their favorite class!

* Two teachers that worked in a collaborative Math classroom witnessed great success with an action research project regarding the math OGT. 84% passage in integrated math II, a largely collaborative setting, and 100% of sophomore IEP students passed.

* The Model United Nations Club had two freshmen girls win an Excellent award at the Northcoast Conference this past spring.

* From one of our English teachers: “the PLC in English really made a difference in academics and attitude with my freshmen. Final exam grades were great!”

* Our Senior Project students created amazing presentations on their wide ranging topics.

* From one of our US Government teachers: “Zero F’s!I did not accept failure and did not lower the academic level.”

* Our Science Academy students experienced a fourth successful Science Academy Symposium held in February with over $1000 in awards. Junior N.S. won 4th place in Ohio Junior Science and Humanities Symposium and qualified and attended National Symposium in April.

* Six Science Academy students won awards at Columbus Technical Council Awards Banquet in May. Houston Fortney was runner up to CTC Science Student of the Year. This is the third year in a row Gahanna has had either the winner or the runner up to that prestigious award.

* The Underwater Robotics team won the Great Lakes Regional ROV competition in April and qualified for the International MATE ROV Competition held in June in Houston, Texas at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab.

Attendance:
* 22% of our students earned perfect attendance.

* 88% of our staff members were nominated for a PRIDE Award, which is an award the recognizes individuals for exhibiting “personal responsibility in developing excellence.”

* 37% or 882 students were nominated for a PRIDE Award!

* WGLH-TV, our TV program, was first in the State and six students won top state awards for stories they produced.

* Gahanna art students had an exhibition at the Carnegie Gallery in the Columbus Metropolitan Library as well as an exhibition at the Gahanna Library.

* Senior D.C. won Broadcast Idol for the best high school Broadcast student in Central Ohio!

* Senior M. B. was runner-up at the Arnold Classic Film festival competing with high school students from across the nation for the documentary that he produced on Bill Withrow, a lifelong supporter and icon in Gahanna.

* Seniors M.B. and D.C. won a regional Emmy for their video journalism work.

* Senior B.G. and Junior R.J. were selected by audition into the OMEA all-state band!

* The bands lived up to this year’s motto, “the tradition continues” and presented outstanding performances on the field and in the auditorium, including earning unanimous superior ratings at state contest for all three bands.

* The Art Club along with student’s from Ms. Fairchild’s classes painted a mural for the Cafeteria. They courtyard received additional sculptures as well as the renovation of existing work and was mulched by Mr. Assman and Ms.Scott’s students.

* The Threatre department produced To Kill A Mockingbird in the fall and did a student matinee for the entire sophomore class. They also produced the Broadway classic, Thoroughly Modern Millie.

* Approximately 26% of GLHS students took part either back stage or on stage as part of the school theatrical productions this past school year.

* Speech and debate had a record 25 State qualifiers this season and four national qualifiers for speech and debate–have qualified 39 students over last 13 years!

* The full orchestra received a Superior rating at OMEA Adjudicated Events.

* Approximately 27% of GLHS students are involved in vocal or instrumental music!

* Performance Studio took part in Lincoln Elementary’s enrichment day and will be running a drama camp this coming Friday for a local girl scout troop. This group also performed for the senior citizens this past winter.

*Theatre students acted as mentors for the newly formed Middle School West Drama Club!

*The GLHS Orchestra visited High Point and Jefferson to perform, interact and have HS musicians teach grades 3-5 how to play the instruments.

* Our International Thespian Society sponsored the first ever high school theatre day for GLHS students.

* The Theatre for Young Audiences tour performed for over 3000 elementary students this past spring.

Activities:
* The Renaissance Action Team created an Ohio Coalition of Renaissance Schools and hosted a regional conference at GLHS with over 200 attendees.

* The “S” Club’s focus this year was Teen Dating Violence — they hosted Johanna Orozco (teen dating violence survivor from the Cleveland area) for a girls-only speaker session, and had a booth at the Health Fair to spread awareness. “S” Club will continue with the Teen Dating Violence awareness and prevention focus again next year.

*Student Council held fall homecoming here at the high school in October, and Prom at the OSU student Union. Both were the highly successful!

*The message of Peace week this year was Pause Before You Post, and was successfully communicated despite not being able to hold lunch on the lawn.

Athletics:
* Jake Blankenship was the Division 1 state champion in the pole vault. His 17’0” vault set a new state meet record and tied the all-time state of Ohio record. This was also a Jesse Owens stadium record, which includes collegiate athletes as well.

* Varsity Softball team finished as State Runner-up. This run included their 3rd District Championship in four years. He also placed first nationally and third in the World competition!

* Varsity Baseball Team won their 3rd District Championship in four years.

* Varsity Soccer Team was District Champions and Regional Runner-up.

* Boys Basketball was OCC Champions and District Champions

Acts of Service:
* The Renaissance Action Team collected and shipped 30 boxes of supplies to troops in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

* WGLH-TV, partnering with the Gahanna Rotary, raised $14,000.00 to send 80 WWII veterans to Washington DC on and Honor Flight this past April.

* During the Health fair WGLH-TV collected nearly 500 pledges from students who said “They will not Text and Drive”.

* WGLH-TV produced a 60 minute documentary on Un-sung Heroes here in Gahanna.

* “S” Club raised funds to provide a GRIN family (single mom with three children) with Thanksgiving dinner and over $300 in Christmas presents. The students had a terrific time delivering the gifts to the family and watching the children open them!

* The Multi-National Culture Club helped teach English to parents and volunteered at the International Festival at Vet’s Memorial for the second year in a row.

* The marching band honored our veterans and fallen soldiers in two Independence Day parades and three Memorial Day services, plus participating in the tribute to Gahanna Bill in downtown Columbus.

* Student Council collected over 700 pounds of food for the food bank with the Winter Dance homeroom competition.

* The January 2011 performance of Faure’s Requiem by the Chorale and Chamber Orchestra helped raise $2,696 (in ticket sales) for Gahanna Residents In Need (GRIN), more than doubling GRIN’s yearly budget to help our community!

I am thankful to work with such a dedicated group of educators that work tirelessly to do what is best for students. I look forward to next school year as we continue to grow together as a team!

Be Great,

Dwight