Daily Archives: July 17, 2007

We’re in the evening session of Personalization with Monte Selby and Tony Limoges. The great thing that these guys do is model personalization of instruction in the workshop. For example, Monte is asking the participants what they’re looking for in the next two days. He says to the participants, “we want this to be the conference you want it to be, not necessarily our conference”. I think this is a very powerful model for our own instruction with students. The evening progresses about brain development, differentiated instruction, and multiple intelligences. Teachers are into the learning because it’s about them, their learning and interests. Isn’t that the point? 🙂

I need to go off track for a few moments because I’m reacting to a lot of the learning in Tony and Monte’s session as a parent. When I think of my son who’s about to enter his tenth grade year, I wonder how much the teachers will come to know him. He’s kind of an outgoing kid, so I imagine they’ll get to know him and I think he participates in the classroom. But I wonder how much his LEARNING will connect to his own interests. I wonder how much choice he’ll have and I wonder if he even sees a connection between the content he’s learning in school and his own interests and affinities. I wonder if any of my teachers even think this is an important goal to have with kids or if they will read this and think, “cripe, I can barely get through my curriculum and she wants me to connect it to each kid’s interests?!” But then I wonder how much more content he would retain if they did connect it to his interests instead of progressing from one topic to the next without a lot of connectivity in between.

Most of all I realize how very much I would appreciate the teacher who came to know my son well, to know what a thoughtful kid he is and how much he loves to play the guitar and read (what he chooses, not the school assigned novels) and how much he knows about cars, what a motorhead he is and even more, if they could ignite a PASSION about learning in my son through a connection to his learning. And I want him to be curious and to love learning more than I care if he remembers the facts needed to pass a Regents exam.

This is how I hope teachers will personalize learning for my kid.

“Broadening the Scope of What Is Possible” is the theme of this years High Schools New Face, an ambitious endeavor put together by the Joint Management Team, a cooperative effort of four area BOCES. I’m at the opening session for the approximately 300 educators from 48 different high schools in the room. We are listening to Chancellor Robert M. Bennett. Chancellor Bennett speaks to the need for fully funded high quality pre-kindergarten education, the need to do better P-16, the status of the use of technology, the focus of the Contracts for Excellence, and high school reform.

Chancellor Bennett goes on to talk about the need for high schools to be personal. He talks about support services and the coordination of out of district services like family court and counseling with the efforts of our schools. “What policies do you think are currently in place at NYSED that prevent creativity and innovation?” He states that principals and school leaders deserve a tremendous amount of autonomy. (Applause)

I’ve had the privilege of hearing Robert M. Bennett speak several times over the course of my career and I can attest to the fact that his message is consistent with his efforts. He is a strong friend to our current efforts and when he challenges us it’s with a confidence that we are “equal to the task”.

Next we listen to Dr. Thomas Rogers, the Executive Director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents. He embraces the idea of our conference as he describes the varied career path that he has taken and the need to be able to learn throughout our lifetimes. If we don’t prepare more than our current 70% of students with a high school diploma there will be a disproportionate number of laborers competing for low wage jobs, driving down the wage for those positions. “The world is changing around us. . . and we have to keep protective of them.” Hands on learning, about each student’s own interests. An opportunity in high school to learn what you want to do, what your strengths and weaknesses are and what do do with your future. This is a young man who I would up with the rate of change to keep our position. As education is notoriously slow to change, we have to find a sense of urgency to change. We’re moving to outcome accountability. . . based on the results.” Dr. Rogers talks about a time in the 1990’s when there was increased money for public education but we didn’t see change and results. We have to make sure that this opportunity, given us by the current governor, results in change and improvement.

Dr. Rogers says that we’re stuck in four paradoxes. . . 1. what we’re teaching, the curriculum. A memorization and computation curriculum that does not test the higher order thinking skills that we need. Innovation, creativity, problem solving, the ability to work in groups–those are the skills that are going to have the wage premium in the future. Our tests should move to higher order thinking skills and application of ideas. “You can’t have ideas that are at the same time challenging for all kids and attainable for all kids”–the achievement gap is between where kids are now and where their potential lies. Those are the tests that we should be giving. 2. Teaching. you can’t simultaneously say that every teacher is highly effective at the same time that we know it takes experience to be highly qualified. Teaching must be viewed as a process, a progression through levels of skills. 3. Assessments and Accountability.Absolute standards are the only way to be sure that we don’t leave some students behind. Progress standards are the only fair way to assess this. A value added system more accurately shows growth but we also need summative tests at the end so that we aren’t congratulating schools for growth without reaching a summative standard. 4. Governance. Local control and uniformity of results. Education is becoming more and more centralized. . . we need to shape the centralization, what’s the right way to do it. Boards of Education have to govern with educational improvement as their goal, their focus. Moving departments that make sense together, like payroll and support services.

Both leaders, Chancellor Bennett and Dr. Rogers, ended with the support that we can meet this challenge, making every school exceptional for every child. I definitely felt a sense of urgency from both of them which I imagine is largely because of the same frustration I often feel when thinking about moving schools to change in ways that we know are necessary. But the change can occurif people, like the 300 educators in this room, pay attention, step out and make a difference, without remaining committed to the status quo. I worry as I look around the room that my teacher colleagues won’t feel that sense of urgency on a personal commitment level. As school leaders we can’t make it happen without them, or despite them. This is a BIG DEAL and it takes everyone in this room, plus some.

And here comes Monte Selby who does nothing if he doesn’t INSPIRE and ENERGIZE us to go get it done! He has me always looking at the possibilities, NOT the limitations. I honestly believe every word of every song that he sings–we do have it in our hands and our hearts to make a difference for every child, to make the future work, to be the architects who make it happen in a better way for our kids. In my opinion, anyone in the room who doesn’t believe in the power of education, the words that Monte sings, the ability to really do it–should think about something else to do with their lives. The educators I know are the brightest, most creative people who have all of the abilities to make a new way, they just need the desire ignited. Here’s hoping this conference does that for all of us.

How absolutely appropriate that our final speaker of the opening session is Darryl “DJ” Hall, a graduate of the Met High School, who speaks to us from his student perspective about the importance of personalizing instruction for each child. DJ says, “When students feel they own their schools, they become really hire in a heartbeat because of his work ethic and his knowledge of himself as a person and also as an employee. When I look at DJ, I see a problem solver, a team player, and a risk taker. How many employers are looking for exactly that person? And I’ve no idea what his grades are or how he’s scored on state tests.

I have so much more that I can do to improve our schools, we all do. Let’s take the risk.

I’m blogging all week from the High Schools New Face conference in Ellicottville, New York.

This morning we’re in the Leadership Strand with facilitators Bonnie Smith and Neil Rochelle. Bonnie and Neil are charged with the task of working with administrators and identified school leaders from Erie 1, Erie 2, Cattaraugus/Allegany, and Niagara Orleans BOCES. One of the primary goals for this strand is to help participants create a leadership vision so that participants feel empowered to return to their districts and carry out a plan for the future. In addition to the leadership cohort, leaders are involved in the other four strands also: Designing, Personalizing, Engaging, and Connecting.

Neil and Bonnie challenge the leadership cohort to answer questions which project the future, what will it be like in ten years? Who will be there? What will be important? How will it be different than it is today? What will be happening? What will we see more of, less of, and totally different? What will be happening? These questions are taken from the work of Giselle Martin Kniep and help leaders to define their work and their vision.

Leaders come from districts across Western New York, different schools and positions.  I wonder if leaders will answer the questions envisioning something very different from today or if they’ll see things remaining the same. For example, one participant answered the question “who will be there?” with “students, of course”. I was left thinking. . . if schools remain the same will it be a given that students will be there? I’m not so sure.