Take A Chance and Try Something New

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

Are You An Outlier?

Last year I read Outliers: the Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell and had the opportunity to share this book with administrators from my district during our summer retreat. An Outlier can be defined as an individual who not only have exceptional talent, but is provided and takes advantage of opportunities and resources to excel. This raised many questions about success and led to rich discussion about our personal life experiences. We talked about what success is and grappled with a number of questions: Who defines success? How is it achieved? What does it look like? Are you successful? Are you, or were you, an Outlier?

Image from Google Images
Image from Google Images

We are all products of many people who guided, directed, opened up doors, carved pathways, and challenged us to be better, but how often do we think about how we got to where we are today? It’s definitely something to think about, because nothing just happens by accident…As school districts across the country face cuts and other obstacles, we have to ask if we are we crippling the development of Outliers – Will we miss the chance to help nurture the next Bill Gates, Charles Drew, or Colin Powell? Following are some key points that were discussed with the group of administrators I was with. The italicized quotes are from the book and my points follow:

“In examining the lives of the remarkable among us- the skilled, the talented, and the driven-I will argue that there is something profoundly wrong with the way we make sense of success.” –p. 18

o Test scores are important but I would argue that a student is more than a test score.
o An “Excellent” rating on the state report card is commendable, yet success has to be viewed and defined from a much broader perspective.
o Thousands of teachers share stories of how they impacted a student’s life that includes, but is not limited to standardized test scores. Individual teachers tap into the talents of their students, they push them to stretch their learning and provide opportunities for them to excel. The relationship between the teacher and student creates the drive for the student to excel. Just think about the impact your favorite teacher had on you…

“A basketball player only has to be tall enough- and the same is true of intelligence. Intelligence has a threshold.”-p.80

o A threshold is a limit, yet our schools create opportunities through the performing and visual arts, clubs, service learning projects, and collaboration that aren’t always quantifiable.
o Many outliers perform at high levels through the “non-traditional” classes and extra-curricular activities. These areas cultivate creativity, collaboration, authentic learning opportunities, and constant and meaningful feedback. Just think your favorite coach, band, choir, or theatre teacher…
o What are your thoughts about this quote?
o What does it mean for our students and our schools?

“If intelligence matters only up to a point, then past that point, other things-things that have nothing to do with intelligence- must start to matter more.” –p.86

o What matters beyond intelligence is how we treat people, how we work with others, how we think, use the tools and resources to solve problems, and how we communicate. These are considered the “soft skills” of the 21st century.
o Share an example of how you or your school is developing “skills that have nothing to do with intelligence.”

“Practical intelligence is… procedural: it is about knowing why you know it or being able to explain it. It’s practical in nature: that is, it’s not knowledge for its own sake.” –p.101

o This should change how we assess what students know and are able to do.
o For example, implement project based learning, Understanding by Design, utilize collaborative web 2.0 tools, such as Google Docs, Wiggio, Diigo, etc. to develop and sustain opportunities for practical intelligence.
o Make learning relevant! Ask questions, listen to students, and let them decide how they want to be assessed.
o Check out Vision of 21st Century Learning.

“To build a better world we need to replace the patchwork of lucky breaks and arbitrary advantages that today determine success-the fortunate birthdates and the happy accidents of history-with a society that provides opportunities for all.”

o What does this say about the way we determine giftedness and course placement?
o What does this look like in 21st century schools?
o Does our current grading system promote or hinder success of Outliers?

I’m concerned about our educational system. I’m concerned that too many students and teachers face too many obstacles within our current system to reach their full potential. I’m concerned about where we are headed, but I’m also excited about the unknown. Transformation is occurring! “We can’t control our future, but we can contribute to our future.” Please share your responses to some of the questions I’ve proposed above or share how you or your school develops Outliers.

Be Great,

Dwight

My eTech Ohio Conference 2011 Reflections

I had the opportunity to attend the eTech Ohio Conference (#oetch11) on Monday, January 31, 2011. It’s a three day event, but with budget and time constraints, I was only able to attend one day. I am excited to attend each year, hoping to take away at least one new idea I can share with my staff. This year, I heard two presentations that were inspiring, encouraging, and practical. However, I will only reflect one the first one in this post.
The keynote presenter was Peter Sheahan and his message was Change Unleashed: From Acquisition to Application of Technology. Not only was his presentation style engaging, but he modeled the application of technology to increase learning. Peter’s comments are in the bold face italicized font and the bullet points represent my reflections:

www.flikr.com
www.flikr.com

“There is not an access problem, but a culture problem. We have to change the culture of technology use, not just focus on acquiring technology.”
• We strongly encourage teachers to try something new in the classroom. We sent over 45 teachers from across the district to KipCamp, which is a three-day intense social media training. Not only did we walk away with awareness of all the tools available, but enthusiasm to use them right away. As a result, several teachers in my building have integrated Prezi, Glogster, student choice, more alternative ways for students to demonstrate their learning, Wikispaces, etc.
• I have privately and publicly recognized teachers who have taken risks to try something new by nominating teachers for our monthly staff recognition, sending them a text message, and/or sharing their experience with other teachers.
“A survey was conducted in 2009 asked what people couldn’t live without. Food didn’t even make the list! The list was full of technology. In 2009, the results were the same: flat screens, iPods, cell phone, etc. This was the list for adults, not students.”
• Re-educating the adults of the school community (teachers, parents, and administrators) will help create a school culture of that embraces and maximizes the potential of technology integration. We now allow students to use mobile devices in between classes, during lunch, before school and after school. Teachers have the choice of allowing students to use them in their classes.
“We judge ourselves by our INTENT and we judge others by their “IMPACT.”
• I have made this mistake way too many times to count, so to hear it this way was like a punch in the face! To overcome this mistake, at our next staff meeting I plan to apologize for being judgmental and for being insensitive to the heavy load many are feeling due to a number of factors. Then, I will continue to recognize and celebrate the IMPACT that individual teachers have on our students by sharing their stories publicly at staff meetings, in a blog, and/or through Twitter. I will spend time, like during my No Office Day, to see for myself the impact and then praise the teachers in front of their students.
“How can you create a culture of technology use in your school?” Peter provided some excellent practical ideas that can be implemented right away:
• Provide weekly, monthly, regularly scheduled time for people to share stories about the vision in action.
• Use technology to remind teachers how effective the use of technology is in classroom in terms of engaging students.
• Unblock sites such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Glogster, Wikipedia, etc.
• Have “technology only” days in the classroom, which will encourage both students and teachers to use it for learning.
“The number one challenge we have to break is thinking that the educator has to control the room.”
• I think about a number of teachers in my building who have gained control by relinquishing control. By that, I mean they have controlled the outcome of the class, which is learning, but establishing clear expectations upfront, showing students how to learn, and then providing them many opportunities to do it. They also provide ongoing feedback, both formally and informally.
Change is difficult, but change is also necessary. If you not us, then who? If not now, then when? After all, we have a moral obligation to prepare our students for their future, not our present.

Be Great,

Dwight