Thrivapy: Live, Learn, Have Fun

A colleague of mine was recently reflecting on his personal vision of education.  In his reflection on what he hoped students could do after taking his class (American History), he said that he hoped students could “Tell the story.”  As he explained his thought, it became clear that the vision of education he was describing was less about a '”history story” and more about the ability of students to share with others their experiences.  “Story telling”, as he explained, “has been and continues to be an essential method for human beings to pass on knowledge.”  I agree with this statement.  As a matter of fact, I believe that the act of sharing information is how we create knowledge. As for the story telling, what will our students say?  What is their story?  Every story has its cast of characters.  As educators, we are all cast members in our students’ stories.  What role do you think you play?  Hero?  Villain?  Supporting cast? Are your students stories dramas?  Comedies?  Traged

I was reading a recent blog post, The Paradox of Our Success by Marc Frankel , in which independent schools are challenged to find “a whole new way of explaining our product; one that isn't so connected with a high-cost method of production.” Mr. Frankel is referring to the increasingly less sustainable strategy of marketing independent schools “on the basis of rich student-to-teacher ratios, at least as compared with parochial and public schools.”  In addition, Mr. Frankel points out that this ratio “is the primary rationale used to justify a tuition price point around 2X higher than parochial alternatives.” There is no doubt that the relatively small student:teacher ratios have been an attractive draw for many families.  I also agree that with the existing economic realities, the NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) is wise in advising “schools to drop the low ratio language in favor of stressing that every child will be known and that no one will fall through the

As an educational leader, I believe that one of my most important responsibilities is to support teachers with their plans for professional growth.  In that role, I have found that plans are easy to develop.  What is more difficult is the follow up on those plans.  It is the follow up that I have found among the most satisfying aspects of being an educational leader. Why is the follow up sometimes difficult and how do I approach this challenge with teachers? For me, the key is to try to link the plans with an agreed upon set of goals and objectives .  The goals and objectives are important because plans without goals and objectives  are simply a wish list. The differences between goals and objectives can be hard to determine, but it is important to do so in order to help teachers make a determined commitment to putting their plans into action. Plans are important, but only in terms of being a positive first step in professional development.  Remember to connect those plans to

Recently, I began reading The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America  by Louis Menand.  Though I am only a few pages into the book, I ran across this passage on page 38: "...the test of a belief is not immutability.  Our reasons for needing reasons are always changing." I have been leading a discussion recently with a group of teachers.  The goal of this on-going discussion is to eventually articulate what great teaching looks like in our division.  Basically, we are developing a profile of great teaching as it appears in our community. This discussion has begun with two sessions concerning our beliefs about teaching and learning.  Most of the input has been quite personal.  In addition, the beliefs shared by the teachers have been quite diverse.  All in all, I am quite happy with this beginning. Reflecting back on the passage above, what impact (if any) does such a statement have on your beliefs about teaching and learning?

Over the past two weeks, I have led a discussion with a group of teachers with the goal of discovering what great teaching looks like in their division.  So far, we are forming our meetings around statements of beliefs about teaching and learning.  As a backdrop to these discussions, I asked the teachers to keep in mind how they connect their content to the development of 21st century skills:  communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. In one recent exchange, a teacher made the statement that if we are looking to describe what great teaching looks like or is manifested in their classes, where do these 21st century skills fit in with the aspects of teaching that do not necessarily primarily concern content.  I asked this teacher to elaborate on this comment and he shared that great teaching, in his opinion, is found more in the “intangibles” of being a teacher.  For example, advising students with difficult character issues, being present in the hallway or at the

Yesterday, my school held a professional development day.  Now, the day was filled with expert presenters talking about important topics such as how to implement certain strategies for students with certain learnign challenges ranging from ADHD to Gifted and Talented. The speakers were very good and the information was most useful, but as I was listening to these guests, I began to reflect on professional development.  Once teh day was over, I went to my office llibrary and gatered the following thoughts on professional development. “The essence of successful instruction and good schools comes from the thoughts and actions of the professionals in the school” (Glickman, Gordon, & Ross-Gordon, p. 370). “Virtually any experience that enlarges a teacher’s knowledge, appreciation, skills, and understanding of his or her work falls under the domain of professional development” (Glickman, et al, p. 370-371). Highly competent teachers find avenues for growth outside of the normal in-s

In the previous two parts of this series , I examine vision and beliefs statements.  For this third and final part, I explore mission and philosophy.  I do so  because both mission and philosophy are deeply affected by the alignment of vision and beliefs.  I also discuss mission and philosophy together because I see them as equals based on perspective.  In other words, I view a school’s mission statement as its institutional statement of philosophy articulated by action oriented language.  On the other hand, educational philosophies are generally personal statements made by individual educators that describe their guiding principles concerning the nature of teaching and learning.  It is with these assumptions in place that I offer the following for your reflection. Mission Statements As I stated above, I view a school’s mission statement as its statement of philosophy articulated by action oriented language.  Mission statements are written to answer the question, “What is our schoo

In part one of this series, I descried the concept of aligning your vision and beliefs statements.  In addition, there was a vision reflection exercise and a list of potential “vision killers.” Today, I will describe in more detail the nature of beliefs statements and offer a few suggestions as to how to go about refining your own beliefs. Beliefs Beliefs are important to your school when they are embedded school wide and act as conditions upon which actions should be taken.  In other words, the school should act as if the beliefs were true .  For example, if you (or your school) believes that not all students learn the same way (students learn differently), then you (or the school) should act as if that is true .  To put it another way, a beliefs statement is only as valuable as you (or the school) “walks the talk.” Suggested criteria for beliefs statements When examining your beliefs about education, keep these items in mind: Your beliefs should align with your vision and mis

This post is part one of a three part series on vision, beliefs, and mission statements.  In part one, I will describe the connection between vision and beliefs.  Part two is a more detailed explanation of a beliefs statement and how to begin putting yours together.  The final part, part three, will examine mission statements and bring all three elements together. In my previous post, You have to know where you want to go or else you’ll never get there , I offered a simple guide for refining and articulating your vision statement.  This statement is a description of your school’s preferred future.  Well written visions statements are also aligned with your school’s beliefs and mission.  Remember, resources tend to follow visions, so positive/inspiring language is always a good idea. Aligning vision with beliefs is generally performed in one of two directions.  Either the vision statement came emerge from your beliefs or your beliefs can flow out of your vision.  Whichever is more com

One of the more powerful exercises educational leaders can engage their communities in is developing a shared vision.  A focused approach to  articulating the vision for your school provides each constituent group the chance to voice not only areas of agreement, but also allows leaders to identify seemingly different opinions.  The agreed upon components can help define the all-important shared vision.  Leaders can capitalize on areas of apparent disconnect by aligning action plans to address these disconnections to the strategic goals for the school as a whole.  In the end, there is great potential to discover unknown resources from within the faculty and parent communities while establishing an atmosphere of partnership and collaboration. As potentially powerful such an initiative may be, it will not have nearly the impact if leaders do not have a clear personal vision for their schools.  As leaders gain experience, their visions may change, therefore reflecting on your own person

  image found at http://ronaldwbrownassociatesllc.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/ When talking about the leadership orientations of educational leaders, discussion often centers around supporting faculty, developing programs, and implementing policies and procedures.  Trying to understand how leaders think and the impact of that thinking sheds light on the potential effectiveness of that leader.  I have written in other posts about the multi-frame leadership orientations described by Bolman and Deal ( 2003), specifically the structural frame , the human resource frame , and the symbolic frame .  The remaining frame is the one that educational leaders have been least likely to admit using.  Although less frequently espoused, there may be a connection between effective leadership and the use of this final frame, especially in independent school settings.  This final frame is the political frame, which has roots in the power and political organizational theory. The Power and Politics Organiz

I have been interested in the integration of technology in schools and in the leadership of schools for some time.  However, within the last two years my engagement with technology as an integral part of my leadership/administrative role and my teaching role has grown exponentially.  There are many factors involved in this growth.  Some of these factors are purely associated with the exciting possibilities presented by the available hardware and software.  Other factors involve my growing interests in social networking as a component of professional development.  Still another factor has been the passionate promotion of exploring digital resources that many friends and colleagues have convinced me to try out. One of these colleagues is my current Director of Technology Integration who writes the blog, 6 AM Thoughts .  He and I often discuss technology integration and share our lessons involving technology in school.  Recently, though, he commented that he felt as if he had, “passed t

With the coming of the new year, many of us (myself included) have made a “recommitment” to living a healthier lifestyle.  This includes physical exercise, diet adjustments, etc.  I have recently begun my own “recommitment”, and find one common denominator among all aspects of this adjustment. It hurts. When I change my diet, my stomach hurts as it gets used to being a little less full.  When I exercise, my muscles hurt from exertion and my lungs hurt from heavier breathing. So, as I was laying down last night trying to recover from my workout, I thought: If my class is supposed to be an exercise in learning, what “pain” should I feel as the teacher?  What “pain” should my students feel during and after a lesson? Should there be any “pain” at all? If not, then what can we do as educators to provide any necessary “intellectual anesthetics?” As a doctor (albeit a doctor of philosophy, not medicine), I am interested in an answer to these questions. Oh, if you have any tips on how

In 2009, my school became a Google school when we decided to transfer many of our electronic resources to the Google services available to schools.  One of the resources made available as part of our Google tools is Google Sites.  Recently, I began a project using Google Sites in my 7th grade history classes.  While the project continues, my observations of the class are reinforcing my pre-project assumptions that I would notice fully engaged learners who are taking a larger responsibility for their learning.  I am also witnessing much more collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking taking place. Here is a description of the project: Phase 1: Set-up I created a Google Site with the title of this trimester’s theme– The Birth and Expansion of the United States . I only allowed access to the site to people I chose to invite during the construction of the project.  Once the site is finished, it will be made available to anyone to access. This site was shared with the students

Stimulating conversation is often a springboard for innovative ideas and reflective practice.  After opening a Twitter account a couple of months ago, I am compelled to address my growing appreciation for the hashtag chat feature.  For those who are unfamiliar with hashtags, they are simply a means to unite Tweets concerning a particular topic.  For a more detailed explanation, I found The Ultimate Guide to Twitter Hashtags a good resource. Some of my favorite aspects of hashtag chats include: The conversation does not necessarily need to end. You can search for the hashtag at any time and engage in a conversation. These chats are often a good way to find other people whom you may be interested in following. For educators and educational leaders, I have started the #edleaders hashtag.  One of my goals this year is to structure more formal #edleaders chat sessions (which will be announced via Twitter @DrTroyRoddy and posted in the margin of The Art of Education ).  For those who

Balancing the benefits of affording students the ability to take part in guiding class discussions with maintaining the direction and pace of the course can be a difficult issue for teachers.  In my conversations, I have come across a wide spectrum of comfort zones.  Some teachers are very eager to allow students almost complete control of class discussions (thus, a great deal of influence on content).  Others are much more comfortable being almost solely in charge of directing the events of the day. I have often said that teachers should work from a position of comfort and strength as they explore ways to address new ideas and address challenges.  While the debate over how much influence students and teachers have in what goes on in class, I offer a simple suggestion: “No matter what level of influence you are comfortable allowing your students, you are still responsible for setting the course in your class.” As the teacher (and by default the leader of the class), you are respons