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Today was the first day of school, but I can’t get this Summer’s learning out of my mind. I have been focused on one day in particular - August 1, 2019 (RABBIT, RABBIT my Canadian friends). On this day, I worked with a small group of innovators from my district to talk about a new vision for school. Our group has been brainstorming, researching, reflecting, and discussing our thoughts on what school could be. We have crafted a draft for an Instructional Vision that is unlike anything I have seen in public schools. On this Summer Day, as happens most days when I get the opportunity to work with them, it was the young people that are part of our School ReDesign Team that owned the day. We met that morning with design teams from across NYC. We discussed many topics, but when asked to share why our team is doing the work of rethinking school, a rising High School senior from our team dropped some knowledge everyone needed to hear. “We ask ourselves the question, ‘If coming to school was voluntary, would you show up?’ And you know what, honestly, I probably wouldn’t. I would only come to school part time. I don’t know why I’m learning most of what I am learning in school. Did you know that this past year, I finally figured out that the comma goes before the but in a compound sentence? If my writing had been considered over all these years I’ve been in school, you think someone would have caught that before now, like in Elementary school! What we do in school isn’t working. We need to do it differently.” A parent from another district asked, “Well, what would you do instead of school?” “I would do this [pointing around the room]. Real work that has meaning. Looking at real data about our schools and talking about how to make them better. And thinking creatively about what classes and schools can be like. Just because it’s always been done 'that way' doesn’t mean we have to keep doing it 'that way'. Why can’t I be part of the discussion about CEP Goals (yes, friends, he really said that). I get inspired by this kind of work. I want to be a teacher and change school.”  :::Me whispering to him::: “You’re hired!”
He joined a panel of students from grades 6 to 12 to deepen this discussion, and boy did they. Here are a few more nuggets of knowledge from students in our schools:
Today was the first day of school, and I couldn’t stop thinking about my Summer student ReDesign Team members and their message - We Can Lead Our Learning. This profession gives all participants - teachers, students, school leaders, para-educators, parents - a chance for a fresh start every year. I miss that newness, that energized (and sometimes anxious) feeling that comes with new students and a new school year. I visited many of the schools in my district today. I needed to get some of that Day 1 hype, even if it was only from the sidelines. In my visits today, I saw students excited and scared for their first day - some couldn’t wait to leave Mom and run to greet their friends while others cried and wouldn’t let go. I saw older students with bright smiles having brighter discussions sharing their vision for what school could be. And our students have grand visions. Are we listening to what they have to say?
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 Are we as educators going to be humble enough to create spaces to allow young people to teach us what we need to do? - Chris Emdin, 2017 SXSWEdu Keynote, 31:32 I have had some mental rumblings going on in my head for a few months. I had a really great conversation one night with Bruce Dixon, Missy Emler, and Bob Feuer. We were sharing stories of young people for whom the education system does not work. They either choose not to play the School Game, or they are not equipped to play the School Game. We all know and have seen or participated in some version of the School Game in our lives. Sit quietly, face forward, parrot the answers that the teacher wants to hear, write the answers to homework that were already written in the chapter being studied, ask questions about whether the material will appear on the test at the end of the unit or at the end of the year. Prepare, typically in a cram session, and then as soon as the test ends, release it all into the æther. Move into the next round of the same game, earn typically Bs, maybe a C and an A here and there to balance things out. Tough to Love Kids are Tough to Love Some students, as mentioned in the post Gradual Graduation, do not play the Game. Another former student of mine also fit this bill. AJ was focused when he wanted to be. Most of his other teachers saw him as a “problem student”. And I understand why they labeled him like that, he was a tough to love kid. AJ was often wandering the classroom or hallways. He was tough to get focused on work he didn’t find interesting. He had a lot to say, a LOT. I found that taking time to let him speak until he had nothing left to say usually got him to a place where he could work. AJ would actively participate in science labs that were inquiry-based and had no set answer, only data and analysis. He was even more intense in work that was challenge based. Running low on patience, but not wanting him wandering out of the room, I asked him to make a bridge of Popsicle sticks to go from my desk to a lab bench that would support the weight of a remote control truck to cross it. I knew I had tons of glue, Popsicle sticks, and an R/C truck, so I was good. I just hoped it worked. AJ was golden for a long time. He spent time researching in other classes and would bring me his research on the different types of bridges. He began building his bridge using lots of materials very quickly. My lack of planning a solid task for him led to its eventual demise, but the positive experience in letting him lead a bit of learning kept us trying again. In another surprise visit to my classroom, AJ expressed his frustration with his ELA class. I let his teachers know he was with me, and then I asked him what he was supposed to be doing in class. He shared that it was “some stupid $&#^@% writing task.” He let me know in no uncertain terms he was sick of writing and would not complete the task in my room or otherwise. I gave him a laptop, helped him make a Gmail account and introduced him to Google Drive. I asked him to write a story about whatever he wanted and asked him to share it with me for feedback. He exclaimed, “I’ve always wanted to write my memoirs! I got you, Glover.” Memoirs? Bro, you’re in 7th grade. Whatever, he was writing. I let him be. He wrote more in 3 weeks of hanging in my room than he had in 6 months in his classroom. But without someone to wait through his cursing (how he expressed himself, not any kind of verbal attack on anyone personally), and his frustrations, I worried about his future. He just needed someone to not take offense to his communication style. He would learn better ways to present himself, but not until someone first listened to him so they could teach him. No one listened. By the time he was 18, school no longer cared about how to reach him. He didn’t play the game. He dropped out.  The Canary in the Coalmine
I received a call one evening from another former student, Josh (fake name), who is now in college. Josh has been sharing his college experience with me as he worked through his first semester. He was a good student; he attended a good high school. By all accounts and measures, he is college ready. Josh and I had been talking about what a research question might look like for one of his classes. He is a curious kid, but posing a question of his own to dig into was a tough process for him. A few weeks later, I was resting on the couch, watching Netflix and getting ready to hit the sack a bit early. My day and brain were pretty much done. Then my phone began to receive text after text after text. I grabbed my phone to figure what the emergency might be, and it was Josh, in line to see his instructor and turn in his research question. He was 30 seconds away and he had nothing! I reminded him of the questions we discussed before, but at this point, the kid needs to get it together. But he wasn’t taught to ask questions for research. He wasn’t taught to inquire. He was taught to listen. To read and review. To regurgitate. And he did that well. Now he needed help to question and express his own curiosity. I realized Josh and I needed a deeper conversation to tackle this problem. He fine tuned his research question, and we talked about how to ask better questions in the future. He shared a well-researched paper last week. He’ll be okay. AJ and my Gradual Graduator were the canaries in the coalmine. They are easy to see. They don’t play the game. They have no interest in the game. They lost the game. But does anyone else wonder about the other students, like Josh, that are still in this system, playing the game, and potentially not learning much of anything? Unable to think for themselves? Unable to access their own, inherently human, curiosity? How many other students enter college, supposedly ready, but are found lacking? Are we holding ourselves accountable? Do we even know what we want our students to be when they graduate? Or are we just betting that the good test takers will be okay? I'm answering these questions for myself and in my role as an educator. Are you? And when you think about these questions, don't blame the young people, friends. We create the conditions for learning for all students. We need to believe they are all capable, competent learners. We need to provide opportunities for all learners to access knowledge. And only we can decide it's time to stop using compliance and rules and games to limit opportunities for our young learners. 
At the ripe age of 43 (which might also be my waist size at this point), I decided it was time to put myself to the test and run a race. After some "prodding" by my friend and colleague in my school district, I registered for the Abbott Dash to the Finish 5K Race.
Friendly Fire Peer Pressure
I have been going to the gym regularly in an effort to improve myself mentally more than physically. And I have been feeling a difference. It keeps me going back. Having a partner in my office, Elvis, that pushed me to keep going has been a big influence, also.
Only in my 40s did I begin running at anything close to regularity in my life. I was inspired by the push for improved wellness by Principal Sarah. I have grown to love the days I choose to run through the park rather than using elliptical machines in the gym. The park is beautiful; the run is relaxing and refreshing. What's really great about my exercising for better mental health experience is the new ways of connecting with the people around me. I learn about the importance of stretching. I talk about the improving state of mind. When you are doing something new, surround yourself with people who are smarter than you are at that task. You will be happy you did.
"... it's amazing what you can pick up if you hang out with bright people."
Ebon Upton, creator of Rasdpberry Pi from article "Making magazines", page 98, The MagPi, issue 75, Nov 2018
My Only Competition
I ran the race. I never expected to win. My pace has consistently been about 12-12.5 minutes per mile. Pair that with old knees and ankles, and there is no competition to be considered when thinking about my place at the finish line.
As I began the run at the start line, I started off fast. I remembered wise words from Sarah about saving some energy for the uphill climb in Central Park, but I was pumped to be off and running. I had my best friends tunes playing in my ears (see SoundCloud below). I pushed past the moment I always get at the start of a run where it feels like I can't keep up with my breath. I stabilized my breathing and my pace, and I was good. At moments where I thought I couldn't keep running, I had other runners, folx on the side of the race cheering, some dank-ass break beats, and my desire to best my own time all working in unison to keep me from stopping to walk. I finished this race with my best personal time and mile pace. Unexpectedly, I ran an 11:37 mile. Yeah, slow for some, but it was my fastest time since I started running (off and on) about a 6 months ago. It was significantly faster than my time in the Run for the Wild at the Bronx Zoo about 8 years ago. And no walking. I was damn proud of myself.
All of this has me thinking about competitions in the classroom this morning. They can be fun, but we need to help young people think more about how they can improve themselves, learning to compete against their own "pace" of work - whatever the task might be.
Alfie Kohn writes frequently about the importance of intrinsic motivation and the research that shows that extrinsic rewards are ineffective at best, and at worst they are detrimental to progress and learning. Dr. J. Stuart Ablon writes about this effect when working with young people to improve behaviors in his book Changeable. How can we create conditions for learning that inspire students to want to better themselves and value their learning experience, not a reward (i.e. grade) they might earn at the end? I would love to hear examples of how you have helped create conditions to inspire intrinsic motivation for learning. How have you set the stage for students to want to learn more? About two weeks ago, I met with a work group from my community to talk about hiring and developing the best people to work in a learning environment where the learners have significant agency. I got a chance to describe, for the first time publicly, my ideal school schedule and my vision for a "learning studio". We used these ideas as a frame for the conversation about hiring to support agency. It was really scary opening my ideas up to this level of scrutiny. I had no way of knowing how it would be received and whether this would push our thinking forward on hiring and development practices. The conversation generated so many great ideas and important questions to consider. The first big takeaway is that TRUST must be granted to everyone in the community for the vision to be realized. Young people can, and should, be trusted with guiding their own learning, knowing what tools they want to use to demonstrate their learning, determining when they want to go to gym, or to read, what they want to read, who they want to work with, how they share their learning with others... The list can go on and on. But that same TRUST must be extended to adults in the building who deserve the same opportunity to determine their won path for learning and growth, what tools they will use to demonstrate learning, when they need a break or a prep period, what they want to read, who they work with, how they share their learning...  Hiring the Right People We expanded our conversation to other important questions:
As we discussed teacher hiring, we connected to the powerful work happening in Reggio Emilia schools where educators are more like researchers. The educators observe and discuss learning with students to see how they acquired new learnings, what their learning process was like, and what conditions they might present to reinforce learning or help students engage in a new learning path. The educators are essentially learners of learners. This reframing of "teacher" -- which we also discussed should include families, community partners, and the students themselves -- then opened a discussion among our group about how to develop teachers into researchers. How do we help educators learn to listen for those magic moments when a student presents a line of inquiry or a really great question, and then know enough to get out of their way and observe their learning? How do we help develop educators that, like therapists, know how to ask questions to pull deeper connections from students, to know how to listen and pull information from the student, rather than checking work and tasks against an answer to a questions that has already been determined in advance?  What About Students? And then there was this gem: Is there a profile of a successful student and family for this school setting? What about for families where this setting will not work? Huh. There are families where a setting like this might not work. There are still families that value test scores as a means of access. There are families that might value traditional or specialized learning settings for a variety of reasons. It is important to remember that not every community is necessarily right for every family, even though I would like to open the doors of the school to everyone who will commit to living the Vision. Another question that I am still grappling with is this: How do students from this learning community transition to a high school that is likely quite different? Are there suitable high schools to partner with as feeder schools? The learning that students would take with them from this middle school would prepare them for making smart choices about their high school. It would be less about the school performance indicators, and more about opportunity and access. Students and families would be armed with knowledge about what learning path they want to pursue, where they might reach their highest potential considering what they've learned about themselves, and how to ask questions to get answers you are looking for, answers that matter. I don't want to prepare kids for a school, I want to prepare them for success in any school, to choose the best school for them. Not necessarily what everyone else might call the "best" high school. And really, what is the profile of a successful student in this setting? That's a deeper conversation I am planning for a future meeting with this team. Have you thought about what a successful student profile would be for your school? Your classroom? What does a graduate look, sound, and feel like from your school or class?  Last week, I shared an experience I had in Boston at a workshop called "Lessons for the Maker Movement from Reggio Emilia". One of the Provocations at the end of that post has been coming back up in conversation repeatedly this week. Maybe because it is the last one on the list. Maybe because it makes an interesting statement that seems to push against our understanding of assessment. I thank everyone who has engaged with me in conversations about this statement: Assessment is the teacher's problem, not the kids'. I shared some of my thoughts about this statement with School Leaders and colleagues in my district and with learning partners online. I'd like to share one of my thought-vomits on the above statement. This is taken from an online thread I contributed to in Change.School. ... If we can see ourselves (we educators, that is) as researchers in the way that Reggio Emilia educators see themselves as researchers, then our task becomes to learn about the learners and the processes by which they are building knowledge. We can hypothesize about an experience that might build new knowledge based on our observations which can guide next learning steps (or lesson plans).  Assessing My Bread-Making For the past few weekends, I have been baking bread. Last week was my best loaf. Each week, I change something about the original recipe I used to improve the loaf. And I assess by eating it. I am assessed by sharing it with friends who taste and share what they liked (or didn't) about my bread. Today, as I washed the dough from my fingers and utensils, I wondered how this type of assessment fits into the statements I made above. I am my own teacher. I am learning and assessing in direct response to something I created. I modify the next week, and try again based on the results ad notes from the previous week. Then I eat and share more bread. It is important for learners to be able to assess themselves during the process of learning something new. In tuning into the point of it being the "teacher's problem", I realized that inauthentic assessment is the teacher's problem. Assessment for the point of identifying what standards are met, what skills are gained, what box can be checked for proof to whatever governing body that needs evidence of working at a level that is deemed ready for a next level or grade, that's the responsibility of the educator. Learning to assess yourself and your creations as good enough to share with others int he world, that should be part of the learning experience of the student. The science teacher in me says that my adjustment of the bread recipe to coax more gas creation by the yeast would allow me to check off boxes about metabolism of living things, fermentation, and single-celled organisms from the Eukaryotic Kingdom of life we call Fungi. I can check off math standards around measurement (Imperial, not metric) and combining fractions. There are non-biological science content standards about heat transfer, specifically convective heat from air circulating in an oven and conductive heat as it moves to the center of a baking loaf, that I have explored. Oh, and I am writing to an audience in a particular style and format. This type of assessment is the teacher's responsibility. But the creation and assessment of some dope-ass garlic toast? That's all learner assessment, friends. I'm happy to assess that kind of progress every weekend! What kind of personal experiences do you have that you assess? I bet if you really look around yourself, you'll find you assess more than you think you do. "Where schools get in trouble is by not knowing what they believe, not articulating what they believe, and not standing by what they believe." -Gary Stager Many years ago, I was given a chance to teach a mixed-age group of high school students in an after-school program. My official title was Lead S.T.E.M. Instructor. With my strong background in Biological Sciences coupled with my desire to build real relationships with the young people I serve, I knew this after-school gig was gonna be a breeze. I just needed to do what I do, and I would be fine. I made some great relationships with those young people. One is still my buddy, an aspiring baker who is returning to school again to learn about accounting. What I didn't really expect was to be the Coach of a High School Robotics Team. I knew bacteria, DNA, genetics, not 'bots, coding, and circuits. Being the kinda learner that I am, I got online and started my research. I found out about Arduino boards and coding, which became the foundation of my day-to-day learning experiences with them to prep for the Robotics Competition. But the more I dug into the work, the more I began to read about the Maker movement, which was still very new at the time. As I dove into the Maker life, I began to learn more about the ideals behind this movement, central being access to tools and experts with agency to determine your learning and design path. Whoa. This shit was deep. And it changed me. It changed how I thought about my students. It changed how I thought about my role as an educator. I began learning with and from the young people I served rather than trying to always teach to and at them. I believe young people can lead their learning path. I believe I can learn from and with them.  One of the authors that helped me remodel myself, helped me to rethink my practice and embrace iteration and change and risk-taking was Gary Stager. His book, Invent to Learn, with Sylvia Libow Martinez, came to my attention as I researched and learned about Seymour Papert, the father of Constructionism. This book was a turning point for me. It grounded me and helped me think through my changing perceptions and perspectives. When I saw that he was leading a workshop in Boston titled, "Lessons for the Maker Movement from Reggio Emilia", I jumped at the chance to learn from and with him. I was happy to find like-minded colleagues with whom I had connected online around our shared belief in learner agency and changing school - from online video chats and written discussions to face-to-face connecting. We all started the morning learning about Reggio Emilia. It doesn't take too much imagination to realize that the approach of Reggio Emilia, meant for 0-6 year olds, can be applied to much older children. Perhaps adults, too? Reggio Emilia believes that children are competent. Teachers should be researchers, trying to learn about each child's learning progress, and thinking about how new ways approaching the world might help a child learn something new. The environment is filled with authentic and deliberate materials. Children explore authentic problems. And there is documentation of their learning, lots of it, and it tells a story about the learner. Gary also connected the Reggio Emilia approach to the Maker movement and computing. I spent the day learning with a teacher team from an independent school in Connecticut. My friends from Mass were at neighboring tables. We explored a variety of materials and resources for making any number of things we could imagine. I made a pig mask, originally meant to be a dog, but the pig came to life as I built it, so that's what it was. The materials made my decision for me. A good prompt is worth a 1000 words. And we got one of the best prompts I've heard, "Make a bird. Singing and dancing is appreciated." I want to be clear about this folx, we had explored materials for 45 minutes. We were given Hummingbird Duo kits to build our bird 'bots - none of us had used these kits before. We were given 2 hours to build and a small set of instructions for the 'Bot kits. And we were given feathers. Lots of feathers. Each team of 4-5 educators made some pretty spectacular birds. Not all birds worked, but all had a plan to share and next steps to make it even better. We helped each other, we laughed with each other, and we were inspired by each other. This is what learning can look like. I believe all students should have opportunities to learn and make and explore their inherent curiosity. (Check out the slideshow at the end of this post to see our bird creations) And Reggio is also very connected to my thinking about Modern Learning practices and Learner Agency. I'm going to share some of Gary's quotes, big ideas, and learning highlights below as provocations. • "I'm a fan of education being non-coercive." - Gary Stager • Imagine that the Museum of Modern Art called and asked you to provide artifacts for an exhibit about your school and the learning that happens there. What would you be able to provide? What story would these artifacts tell? • "Knowledge is a consequence of experience." - Jean Piaget • Making "real" things isn't always about solving adult problems. That puppet made from a cardboard is also REAL. • Don't correct the child from the outside. Create the conditions to correct themselves from the inside. • Assessment is the teacher's problem, not the kids'. What do you think about any of those ideas above? What comes to your mind as you consider these ideas? When you think about learning, what do you believe?  I love getting out into the community and finding new things to do and new connections for young people. There are so many resources available to support learning, and to support good fun. New Community Resource and a Bit of Science This was a pretty low-key week. It ended pretty spectacularly for me, though. I had an end of Friday meeting scheduled with our District community partner, the BioBus. I have used them in my time as a science teacher, and have been happy to help support their strong connection to our school district. To build upon this partnership, my BioBuddy colleague asked me to meet with her at the Lower East Side Ecology Center and learn about their space. The BioBus and LES Eco Center have partnered together for some time. I walked through my district to get to the Eco Center so I could see what it was like to travel there by foot. Walking over the foot bridge, I was met by a nice little park space with paved courts and lawns. There were a variety of landscaped areas and others a bit overgrown. The park space extended right to the East River beneath the Williamsburg bridge. At the water's edge is a large, red brick building where the Eco Center is housed. I entered the Center and found myself surrounded by various aquaria and other habitats. My excitement level grew when I noticed a BioBus microscope set up in a corner of the room. My science-y brain went into overdrive, and perhaps sensing I was already not in planning mode, the educator from the Center decided it was a good time to tour the space. I found myself revisiting knowledge I had acquired in my days of working with NYC's biggest little zoo, the Staten Island Zoo. I was observing aquatic animals living in aquaponic habitats. I learned about an invasive species of crab and got to see a spider crab up close. I learned about the oyster toadfish, glass shrimp, and other natural NYC denizens. A New Ecological Issue In our conversations around the Eco Center, I learned that once ceramic tiles are fired and glazed, they can not be reused. I had no idea that this was a problem. When tiles are pulled from homes, unless they are used in mosaic tiling or other art installations, they are typically unusable and end up in landfills. The Eco Center serves as a site for the Billion Oyster Project in NYC. They have oyster baskets hanging in the East River where they grow oysters for the BO Project. These baskets end up as habitats for other organisms. We pulled one basket up, and I was able to observe the growing oysters, as well as some baby oyster toadfish, a few invasive crabs, and some glass shrimp. But the ceramic tiles caught my eye. I asked how they were being used, and we brought one in to the microscope. The surface was covered with a variety of organisms. Bryozoans created a network of cells on the surface of the ceramic tile. Once these organisms died, their exoskeletons remain on the tiles and serve as substrate for other organisms to colonize the tile. It was an interesting way to use a resource that otherwise might end up in a landfill. Microscopic Fun Perhaps the most fun was exploring the structures of living things we found from the oyster basket. There were hydroids, one of which had caught a Daphnia in its tentacles. WE zoomed in on the eye of a Daphnia and were able to see its golf-ball like structure. There were nematodes and flatworms, and copepods, oh my! (see pictures below) The visit wasn't all about microbiological good times. After seeing all that I had seen that afternoon, we panned time to bring science teachers from across my district down to the Eco Center to have these same experiences and to help them plan the same for students across all of our schools. How do you use community resources as a space for inquiry and curiosity? Side Note: I finished the painting from last week. It is no masterpiece, by any means, but I was pretty damn proud of myself for finishing something that looked vaguely like the photo that inspired it. I'm excited to try again. See the reference picture and painting below, if interested.
This past week, I was inspired by two pieces that caught my eye. The first was an article on Medium.con by Rafranz Davis describing why she chooses to Tweet about something she cares about (#BTSArmy) and not always about education and EdTech. It is important to remember that educators are more than a brand or a single line of expertise. We have interests and passions in other areas, and we should be able to explore those interests and passions.
I also found myself perusing books on Amazon by Seth Godin. I already read Linchpin, and I was thinking about getting another to read. I was caught by the sub-title of Godin's Poke the Box - When was the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time? When was the last time I did something for the first time? I decided it was too long, and it was time to start learning something new for fun. Some of these forays into learning over the past few weeks have been based in my own interests and passions, others are things I thought I might be interested in, but just never took time to meddle with. Unfinished 'Bots and Builds I have a bad habit of starting really cool projects to build, and then working on "contractor time" to complete them. I have been building a Raspberry Pi photo booth for about a year (as written about HERE, HERE, and HERE). More recently, though, I was inspired by one of my favorite 'bot builders, Simone Giertz. I wanted to build a ridiculous robot. I asked my colleague, toni, "If you could have a robot to do any stupid or ridiculous task for you, what would you want it to do?" "I want it to unroll toilet paper for me while I'm in the bathroom." YASSSS! That was exactly the kind of ridiculousness I was looking for! Of course as soon as I heard this idea, ideas for a robot came flooding into my mind. And so began the conversation, planning, sketching, and prototyping of the Pussy Cat Toilet Paper Pusher.
While this is unfinished, it gets me thinking and reading about things I normally might not venture into learning. I wasn't super interested in creating a feline form, but the Ridiculous Challenge hooked me.
Tuning In My Inner Artist I have an apartment full of random supplies for making a variety of things in life, from sewing to robot building to painting. I decided it was time I tried my hand at being a painter. I selected a picture from the Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam. I got most of the background in place, and my next step (probably tonight) is to get the flowers on the canvas. (Picture of actual flower below, not my painted version.)
First, I no longer want my walls as bare they are. I want pieces on the walls of my apartment that represent my ridiculous tastes and interests, and then I want them spread through the apartment along the ROYGBIV color spectrum on the walls.
Beyond this, I have been thinking about the process for my first efforts into the painting world. I am going to try again to paint this same picture, hoping, of course, to improve upon my first attempt. I will add pictures of each attempt to paint this flower after each is finished. Baker Maker I spent this weekend diving into the world of baking. I am trying to cook more for myself so I can stop eating all the processed foods that are shoved into our faces at the grocery stores. So with flour, water, some oil and a lot of time, I took a chance and tried to bake my first loaf of bread. I love the connections between cooking and science. And baking takes the cake in science connections (see what I did there). Watching the dough bubble away with the fermentation of sugars by my yeasty friends made me really happy. My kitchen smelled great. I used some whole wheat flour in my flour blend, and the bread came out a little dense, but it came out, friends. Warm, with a crunchy crust, chewy interior. I'm pretty damn proud of that loaf.
Circling Back Balance in your personal life is important. Sometimes educators forget that they are more than their classroom selves. I did for a long time. Exploring new ideas can help you get unstuck from yourself when you're in a rut. It can help you learn something new about the world and about yourself you might not have known was there. I enjoyed doing these new things for the first time. I am going to enjoy circling back to the Pussy Cat Toilet Paper Pusher. I hope toni can deal with my delayed completion time as I play with other new skills and ideas. And thanks to Rafranz and her passion for the Bangtan Boys, I enjoy listening to BTS now. I'm not necessarily BTS ARMY material, but more than a few of their songs have a thumbs up in my playlist. I'm always happy when they come up in a random shuffle of music. When is the last time you did something for the first time?
When I first started teaching, I was given advice like, "Don't smile before November," and "Don't let them into your personal life," and other lines that are essentially shared to ensure that you keep your emotional distance from the young people we serve. Sad thing is, I followed this advice for a few years before I figured out that for best learning conditions you need bring your authentic self to the work.
I saw this Tweet today...
I have learned not to turn myself down. And, friends, I'm pretty effing loud. So is my music. I have been able to make some real, genuine connections with young people. It changed me as a teacher, helped me grow as leader, and made me a better person. I miss working directly with young people. My new role in my district has me most often working with school staff and district instructional leads. On some occasions, I am blessed with moments to work directly with students. One little guy in particular used to light up my darkest weeks. I first met Doc when I served as a substitute Principal for a week last year. He was in 3rd grade, and he was quite the handful. Doc had difficulty working through angry emotions, and he often reacted loudly and quickly when he could not maintain his calm. The first day I met him, Doc had lost his temper and run out of class. When I found him, he was 10 feet up a chain link fence in the back of the school yard. He came down, calmed down, and we worked through what he needed that day. And I met him every day after with a smile, a willingness to listen, and bit of my humor. We became closely connected over the week I spent at his building, and I continued to check in on him throughout the rest of the year. We became pen pals, delivering short letters through his school's mailboxes. When I went to visit, I was greeted with a huge smile (most of the time), and it always replenished my spirit. Wednesday this week was the First Day of School for students in New York City. I was bouncing on the way to work so excited to see my pen pal after a long Summer, kinda hoping that he would have already written me a letter. I reached out to his Principal to advise that I was coming by for general check-in on Day 1 and to say hello to Doc. "I'm sorry, Bryan. I just got notice yesterday that he is transferring to a school in the Bronx." Devastated. I knew it might be the best thing for him as he was having trouble adjusting to life in the school in my district. But it didn't stop me from feeling a seriously depressed moment. That really caught me by surprise. The downside to authentic connections with young people we serve is a profound sense of loss when they are no longer connected to us. It hurts. This also means it was a strong connection and a relationship that mattered. I wouldn't give that up for anything. Relationships do matter folx. They matter from Day 1. Doc and I learned a lot from each other. It is important to remember how much we can matter to someone. Doc was growing, changing, and improving over the last year as I mentored him. I am proud of the progress he made and sad that I won't be directly working with him anymore. I am confident, though, that he will take some of that connection and learning with him to his new home and school and keep growing. In my search for a silver lining, I also realized that I have time for a new mentee. I'm pretty excited to see who might need a smile, an adult willing to listen, and a little bit of humor. Do you bring your authentic self to classroom? Graduating High School
When thinking back on high school, many people reflect fondly on their youthful adventures. I did not like high school. I would skip 30 out of 45 days in a 9 week semester. I did not like my classes. They bored me to tears. I had no connection to any adult at the school. I felt disconnected from many friends. I even had teachers and students calling me by a nickname, “Larry”. My name is not Larry. Or Lawrence. Or anything close to Larry. These things were funny to me. Not to the school. I was the perfect case study for a kid ready to drop out. As I neared the end of my penultimate year of High School, I realized that as much as I hated being there, my best bet was not to fail classes and be forced to repeat them. My best bet was not to drop out. I was going to claw my way back to passing grades and graduate early. I felt a need to leave that space so intensely, it drove me to fix all the mess I had made for myself. I took night classes. My evening History class was taught by the same teacher who I tortured with my ridiculousness and disdain during regular school hours in my Sophomore year of studies. Wasn’t much help for me there, and I guess I deserved as much. I was kind of a prick to him. I took extra classes while I was there. I went to Summer School, taking a course I needed to make up, and since I was there also taking my senior year second half of English Language Arts. This course, thankfully, was staffed by the amazing Ms. Magnolia Allen who taught me to love reading again. I got my credits earned. 44 was the magic number. I got it done! I did it early. My High School was okay with my graduating early. I left the school in January of my Senior year, and never looked back. I took full time work with a medical supply company and waited to get my cap and gown for graduation. My family still wanted me to walk across the stage. I personally could not have cared less. In May of that year, I received the delivery of my cap and gown. They were maroon. Maroon?!? Our school colors were blue and grey. I went back to find out what was going on. I met with my Guidance Counselor who informed me that our school colors were, in fact, blue and grey with a touch of maroon. The maroon cap and gown was worn by students who were on the honor roll and had higher than a 4.0 GPA. The GPA upper limit, another magical number, that many students soar past in their efforts to achieve as highly as possible in preparation for applying to colleges. I breached the limit. Who would have known? Certainly not me. I had no conversations about future possibilities. That’s okay though. I had a good job and was already moved out and on my own. School didn’t work for me. I could play the game, and I played it well enough to graduate with honors and hardly showing up my Junior year. This is one of the driving reasons I made my way, in the very roundabout, indirect fashion that most of my life’s moves are made, into a career as an educator. Summer School Graduation This week, I attended the Summer School Graduation Ceremony as a representative from my District. I have grown to love graduation ceremonies. They were always emotional moments when I took part in 8th grade graduation at my former middle school site where I taught Science for most of my career. While I didn’t have an active role in this ceremony, I do love to see the brightness in the faces of young people as they walk across the stage. Two days before June graduation, one of my former students and mentee was told by his High School that they discovered a missing half credit from a failed semester of a course from 2 years prior and a missing half credit of Physical Education. He would not meet the magic number of 44 credits. He had to take Summer courses. He had already been to prom and taken care of all his senior dues. Because of this last minute discovery, he would not be allowed to walk across the stage with his friends to say goodbye to his school, his teachers, and begin the next journey in his life. Needless to say, he was upset. He felt betrayed by the system. I felt hurt and angry for him. School didn’t work for him. He didn’t play the school game well, and he paid the price for his ungamliness. (Yep, still making up new words.) Throughout his time in High School, we met up for various days of learning together. For two years, we attended the World Maker Faire. This young man got a crew of his friends together in their Senior year of High School to meet with me on weekends to learn about robotics and physical computing. These hangouts moved to discussions of fund-raising so we could buy parts to build new things. Then the fundraising became a business idea and these young men began designing a business of their own. About a month later, I learn he has found a sound studio and recorded two songs with friends, and they were really good! No one seemed concerned as to whether or not he had actually LEARNED anything. It was all about the number. No exception made for this exceptional young man. I took my seat on the stage and began to peruse the Summer Graduation Program. I was overjoyed to see that he had pushed through his anger and was listed as a Summer Graduate. I volunteered to be the District representative at this event just in case I might be able to see him walk across the stage. His name listed in the program had already given me a prideful moment, but I hoped I would still see him walk. He did not come to his graduation ceremony. I’m certain he is still angry with the system that let him down. I am happy and proud that he pushed through this set back and completed High School. I know he is a passionate learner and can/will do great things. He has big dreams. But this graduation debacle deflated him. I Have Questions Why have we turned graduation, a rite of passage to college and adulthood, into a checkbox system of arbitrary numbers that really don’t carry much meaning? Why don’t we care more about the passions of the young people we serve, and help these young people to realize their dreams as they see them? Why are there so many other young people like my former student, many without mentors, being disserved by a system that is supposed to be inspiring them to do great things? Why aren’t we rethinking school to make it a place where all students want to attend and actively seek to learn more? If attendance was optional, would your students show up? Would your teachers? We can do better. Why aren’t we?  I was inspired by a colleague in Illinois, Mark Heintz, who spent a year writing about his learning and teaching process for an entire year. I'm going to try and do this myself. I hope those that join me on this journey will learn something from this journey. This week, I spent the entire week in professional learning. New York City has given education leaders an amazing opportunity to learn together this summer about Equity. I have already taken part in Mentoring for Equity, Beyond Diversity, and in many equity-based conversations with my critical conversational friend, toni. I knew I had more to learn, and I was excited to take part in the learning this week. Day 1 - Solving Disproportionality My expectations were being fully met on Day 1 as I learned from Dr. Ivory Toldson about disproportionality. I already had seen important data about disproportionality in New York City schools when I dug into the Calculus of Race article. I learned a lot by examining schools' data in the Civil Rights Data Collection about Schools and Districts. I had never seen this data source before, and excitedly examined a variety of schools from across New York City and in my District. There are definitely stories being told in this data, and some of these stories are not pretty. I am pretty intentional about defining words in education that we often take for granted. When Dr. Toldson asked us, "What is the achievement gap," we had time to talk through what we thought was a best answer. When he then asked, "Shouldn't we first ask ourselves, 'What is achievement?'," I was really happy. I love to tackle ideas like this with colleagues. You learn so much about your own beliefs and the beliefs of others when you start to challenge yourself to really define what you think you know and often take for granted. I spent a little time thinking about my "Why" in this work. Why am I working to dismantle inequity and oppression? What drives me to get out of bed, even in the deepest of Winter, on the most unfortunate mornings, to push through these days and still come in to work and do my best to lead education and schools to provide the best learning conditions for all students? What gets you to work every day when it's -2 Celsius, sidewalks packed with dirty snow and unseeable ice, and you spill your coffee down your shirt before you have even left the house? What drives you to want to do the work?  Day 2 - Implicit Bias I have been in short workshops about implicit bias before. I was pretty sure I knew what it was. I'm certainly sure that I have moments where I lay bare my implicit biases. I am lucky to have a mindset where I try to catch myself in those moments and question my motives and beliefs that drove a decision or comment that way. I am also very lucky to have critical friends at work and at home (thanks, Dwight for always being there to help me think through these moments). Early in the day, we were asked to "center ourselves in the moment". Yeah, I was being asked to meditate and be present in a moment. I do not like these types of mindfulness exercises. I think they are hokey, hippie crap. I played along. It was hard to close my eyes to concentrate on my breath because they were rolling so much in my head, but I did my best. After lunch, we were asked to "be in the moment" again. I decided to give it a shot this time. I was feeling kinda full from the sandwiches, so worst case I was going to get a 5 minute nap. We went into the moment, and were then asked something different than before. We were asked to picture the face of someone we loved, unconditionally. Faces began to flow across my mind. We told them four things, "May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be safe, may you be at ease." Then, we were asked to picture ourselves as 6 year old children. I immediately pictured myself from an old school photo. Then we were to tell our younger selves, "May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be safe, may you be at ease." I lifted myself and hugged myself, and told myself that it was okay being who you were inside even though no one else knew. I still love you even though no one else knows who you really are inside. You'll hide yourself, fearful, for years, worried about being found out as gay, but you will be okay. And I started getting deeply connected to shit inside me that hadn't been explored, ever. My closed eyes began to water, and I had to stop myself. My eyes shot open. I had to take a second to myself to get back to the room and stop thinking about that young boy I used to be. Damn, son, I have a lot of work to do with me. I also have a deeper connection to my Why now. But there's a lot of work to do. Scary, deep, intentional, thoughtful, emotional, but scary f%cking work to do. Day 3 - Culturally Responsive Education Today I entered the room a little scared about what I might dig into. But Dr. Gholdnecsar Muhammad was a great presenter, and the work today centered around being intentional with this work in planning and engaging students in the classroom. Plus, Dr. Muhammad was such a fabulous presenter. I really appreciated her words and her humor. One activity that really stood out to me was sitting with my partner, the wonderful Beverly, and asking her, "Who are you?" over and over. Each time she was challenged to come up with a different answer. Then she did the same for me. It really gets you thinking about who you are and who you are bringing to this work. My big takeaway today was really rethinking the planning of learning activities and conditions. Most teachers already consider things like Skills (how to write to a specific audience) and Intellect (the formula for finding the area of a rectangle). We need to begin including Identity and Criticality in the work. Identity speaks to the student being able to see themselves in the work. Each student brings a unique perspective and set of experiences, and that should be intentionally part of the learning process. You can not disconnect your humanity and emotion from learning. Criticality speaks to questions that allow students to think about dismantling power imbalance, oppression, and inequity through their learning process. It adds an important layer and meaningful depth to the work we are doing with young people. I'm really excited to explore my own ideas about learning conditions and how I can be mindful to include these lenses in the planning process. Day 4 - Coaching Adults with am Equity Lens Dr. Darnisa Amante from the Disruptive Equity Education Project - deep - let us know right from the beginning of the day that the work would be intense, there would be tears, and it would feel like going to therapy. The dismantling of inequity and oppression begins with dismantling yourself. Dr. Amante was an intense and hilarious speaker of truth. I can not express enough how impactful her day was for my learning and growing process. As we were told, things got intense and emotional on Day 4. I'm not sharing my emotions in this post, they are for me to continue to look at and analyze and learn from. But I did learn that as much as I thought I knew, I am no where near learned enough. As my friend Hazel Mason said, "The hard part of the equity journey is the more you know the less you know." I learned that as woke-ish as I thought I was, I really had no idea the pain that people of color experience regularly in our society. I don't need to see myself or make a personal connection to everyone, people are just fine being exactly who they are without me being a part of them. I want to learn to see others more clearly as themselves. I want to help young people feel more love and kindness in their lives for being exactly who they are and who they want to be. Bringing All This Home I am lucky enough to have folks to share my lack of knowledge with and to learn more from as I go through this journey. I have much inner work to do. I'm not making myself any promises about when that will get done, but I am promising to make an effort to do it. I have already changed. I know I will grow more the more I learn and participate. I am moved. I am ready. Are you ready? Let's get to work, friends! I focus much of my attention and time to innovating learning environments and practices. Even in the oddest situations, I try to find something to learn. Yesterday, I was able to learn a new technique for giving someone critical feedback, and it still has me giggling to myself today. I was walking with my team to a special event to hear from our new Chancellor. We chose to walk through the Lower East Side as a little mini-adventure. I love walks like this, down new streets, seeing things I haven't seen before. And walking down Orchard Street was pretty cool. There were stores I had never seen, interesting restaurants and bars, galleries with 3D pictures. A feast for the eyes. Who would have known it would lead to a feast for our ears. As we walked down the street, there was a shoeless man, late 20s/early 30s, sitting on the sidewalk near a small piece of luggage with his phone plugged into a LinkNYC public station charging up the battery. As we approached him, he began to look me over and says, "Nice tie and tie clip, man." Wow. The day was hot and muggy, but a random compliment is always appreciated. So I shared my gratitude with him, "Thank you so much. I appreciate that." And we continued walking. Apparently he wasn't finished. I left too soon. Yelling down the block to me, "Yo! You need to lay off the gluten, bro."
As my team and I continued our journey, we laughed and laughed. It was super funny. We realized during our ensuing discussion that this guy had dome something really innovative that we might learn from. He reinvented the traditional Compliment Sandwich. In the newly learned Open-Face Compliment Sandwich, you start with a quick compliment to begin the conversation. But don't let that distract you from getting to the "meat" of the discussion. Quickly ignore any thanks and gratitude, and just state the necessary Critical Feedback. "I love what you've done with your hair. Stop chewing with your mouth open." "Your smile really brightens the room. Your hair makes me want to cry." "I'm so glad to see you on such a beautiful day. Children are frightened of you." I'm not yet sure if this will work professionally, but it could make some difficult conversations with friends go much more quickly. And with fewer friends after the conversations end, there will be less of a need for difficult conversations overall. Win-Win, right? It was an interesting exercise in finding the learning moment in a situation like this. And we found one, albeit sarcastic, but we found one. And I am still laughing today. That makes the Open-Face Compliment Sandwich a winner in my book. Side Note: I got home and was preparing dinner. A vegan wrap. His words rang in my skull about gluten. I ate it as vegan bowl with rice. Critical Feedback received. Thank you again, shoeless sidewalk sage. As I work to rethink what school can and should be, I know how important it is to listen to all stakeholders connected to our schools. I have been talking with school leaders, community leaders, teachers and teacher leaders, and parents. This weekend, I sought out the primary stakeholder in schools - the students. I asked for a students to volunteer to be part of an advisory panel to speak with me about their experience in Middle School and to answer some questions to help advise me on how we can improve Middle School for students in the near future. They were willing and had some thoughtful insights to share with me about their school life. Their candor was refreshing and still has me thinking about their ideas. "We need more clubs and sports." A problem with many smaller school settings is that often there are not enough resources to allow for diverse academics, arts and electives, as well as sports, to allow students to more fully participate in the school community. We need to rethink resources, both in school and from the community, to provide opportunity for a well-rounded education. "We should have more control over our schedule so we can pursue our own interests." I have been speaking out for enabling more agency for learners for some time. I believe, and have seen time and again, learners can lead their learning path. We have to let go of so much control and TRUST them. "Why don't we have classes that give us financial skills and habits for life like saving money, doing taxes, how to read contracts." There are so many "habits for life" that we need to be more intentional about exploring with our learners. We are not in this alone. How do we leverage the life experience of our families and community to help support this work? "Why are there classes that move slower than others?" "Why can't we learn the same things, but in different ways. Not slower. Everyone learns the same thing. Just understand that we all learn these things differently." YAASSSSSSS, young people! #Dropthemic "There needs to be more counseling about mental health, drugs and alcohol, and sex." Our young people want real conversations and the chance to ask real questions about real issues affecting them right now. We can't wait to do this. They want real information, not glossed over content and trepidation in their teachers. This has been part of student commentary that I have been hearing for a long time. "Listen to student suggestions for lesson and learning ideas." Again, we are back to the fact that students WANT the freedom to guide their learning. They are also asking to be considered important enough (and they are!) to be part of the conversation in planning their learning experience. This is only a small part of the 4 pages of notes I have from our discussion. There were many ideas shared, new ways of thinking about the learning environment itself, and deeper conversations about the role young people want to play in determining their learning path. Again, I find myself in awe of students when they are given the freedom to express themselves. Again, I find that young people are asking us to get out of the way and let them do meaningful work. They WANT to do it. It's on US to create the environment that trusts and respects the learner enough to bring these ideas to life. I'm working it, and there is still so much more to do. How will you help? I was worried on Day 2 that I might not be that into Python coding. I just wasn't able to engage myself in the work of practicing the code. My frown has been turned upside down. All that I was missing was my Raspberry Pi! After a few missed days of learning, I reinvested in the process and decided to spend some extended time on the project to see if I could get into the learning flow. I spent almost 2 hours hooking back into my Pi, reading through some of my older screenshots, and then continuing the Instructables Class on Raspberry Pi (see my previous post for the link). I learned a lot of new code. I learned about connecting the Python Shell to the Linux Shell in the Raspberry Pi so that I can code in Python and affect the overall system. I pushed the "Conversation" code to interact in Linux, and I launched a video stored on the Pi from the Python Shell. I was feeling excited again. Now I'm pumped! I was feeling energized and wanted to do more. I was asking myself questions to learn more about the code structures, and I used my resources to find the answers to most of my questions. I still don't know what stopped me from accessing the pygame.mixer to play sounds, but that is a task for another day. I was able to access the Pi Camera through the Python Shell and take a few pictures. I even coded for increased brightness. It wasn't always a perfect code, but I learned a lot from practicing. I'm already thinking of ways to use this setup once it is done. Of course I will create a photo booth as the class shows, but I also am thinking about a portable document scanner to document learning from around my district. I also learned about dealing with my frustration and boredom. Finding new ways to engage int he work helped me. I think I might have also been helped if I were learning this with someone. (If anyone want to join me on this journey, feel free to reach out.) I have also been very aware of mental downtime (AKA Distraction/Off-task) and how it helps processing of new information, as well as providing some needed breathing room to alleviate frustration. Do we do this enough for students? Is there something that can change about a classroom's culture to account for the need for mental downtime and percolation time?  I spent time today introducing myself to the programming language Python. After only about 30 minutes of reading and trying a few lines of code, I'm definitely still unsure of my python-ability, but it seems pretty intuitive. Bear in mind, years ago I did use the Arduino microcontroller for a variety of projects in an after-school physical computing class. I feel like this experience has made the reading of Python code much easier for me in this early stage of learning. My plan today was to bring my Raspberry Pi gear to the Saturday school where I was serving as a substitute Site Director for the day, and try to find 30 minutes to continue the Instructables Raspberry Pi Class that leads to my project goal of the Photo Booth (see Blog Post Day 1). As is par for the course when I try to function without enough coffee, I completely forgot to pack my Pi. I had my personal laptop with me, and I logged into the course to see if I could continue the learning process sans-Pi. It really only required the use of the Python Programming language, so I went to work finding the software for download. I also wondered if I might find more engaging tutorials outside of the Instructables Class. Through my search, I learned about the history of Python (began in 1985) and that it was actually named after Monty Python, not the snake. I also learned a bit more about myself as a learner. Tutorials that are step-by-step guides on teaching Python through learning basic code do not engage me. I learned how to get basic things to pop up like, "Hello, World!" and how to code for a basic conversation with formatted answers in response to inputs from a user. I also learned how to write a basic mathematical formula calculating interest. But it was SOOOOOO boring to me. I'd like to say I know myself as a learner, and I like to learn by doing. Let me jump into the mix. The more abstract the task, the less I like it. To cook something new, I will read a little, and then try the recipe. When I was a teacher, I wanted to put stuff into practice. I wasn't afraid of trying new things, and learning from the experience with my students. We
With Python, I need to do more than recreate code with inputs and outputs. I know, technically, that is "doing" something with code. I'm sure that works for some folks, but it was frustrating me because I was boring myself. As I'm writing this, though, I'm wondering if I would have been as bored if I weren't in a room alone trying this out. Would the experience have been different if I were learning socially? I am going to try and find more interactive, physical computing projects, or maybe I will breeze through the Instructables Class Python Intro Lesson and jump into the next one which involves coding for physical computing. I feel like I need to see more than just a few lines on a computer screen. I want to build something. I'd love to hear about your process.
I said I would try again, so I"m going for it! I met with a group of Assistant Principals from around my school District this week. We discussed our beliefs around learning, what it means, and what conditions are best for learning for our students and ourselves. This prompted me to bring up again the 30 Days of Learning Challenge with them. 30 Days of Learning Challenge Basic Challenge Rules: Thinking about the discussion we had about conditions for learning, make one simple change in your school community or classroom that will bring your closer to living your beliefs. Try this new condition for 30 days. Document your journey in whatever way works best for you. Share with colleagues during and after the 30 days for feedback and reflection. Step Up Challenge: Expand your learning journey by stepping up the challenge intensity. Document your journey through a blog or other online posting to share your learning journey for feedback and reflection with a global audience. Actively seek feedback from new readers, leaders, and learners. Step Out Challenge: Forget about school and education. Learn something new you have always been curious about an interested in learning. It could be a new cooking style, an instrument, a mindful moment, creating, coding... anything, really. Practice this new skill for at least 30 mins a day for 30 days. Document your journey for feedback and reflection. And so I begin again, with some new colleagues, on a learning journey. The last 30 Day Challenge for me, I attempted to improve both my questioning technique for coaching (Basic+Step Up) as well as trying to learn American Sign Language (Step Out). Scroll through my previous posts to see how that went. It was definitely a fun experience. For this 30 Days of Learning, I'm only going to focus on a Step Out Challenge. I am going to spend at least 30 mins a day for 30 days learning with a Raspberry Pi. I have a project that was started and never finished, and I have been wanting to learn more about these boards for a long time. For Day 1, I am reflecting on the progress I already made with my Raspberry Pi photo booth project and planning next steps. I already did a lot of coding in this one, so for today, I recap what I have already accomplished in my Photo Booth project. I haven't decided if that is going to be the only focus of my work during the next 30 days. I have been reading MagPi magazine and getting lots of new ideas to try. I am also reading Lifelong Kindergarten by Mitchel Resnick, and I want to dig into Scratch programming. Hopefully finding a way to connect Scratch and Pi together. I also have a Raspberry Pi Zero to try out. I am excited about what I can create and what I'm going to learn. Looking forward to Day 2 tomorrow. If you have ideas or projects to challenge a novice maker like me to build, please share with me. And be sure to give me feedback on the work I do as I progress over the next 30 days. I have been trying a lot lately to put myself into a place of learning something new outside of what we would consider a traditional learning environment. I have been pushing my learning and reflection on a professional goal of improving my questioning. I am a solution guy. I like digging through my brain, finding answers and things to try out to see if they can be answers. But that is not the best way to coach. Coaching through questioning is a goal and one I continue to work on. I also tried to learn something completely new - American Sign Language. I wanted to see how far I could get in 30 days, and I think I did pretty well. I tried to share my learning in a new way using videos to try and engage people in either learning with me, correcting my sign skills, or both. I did get a friend into the conversation, but I have let ASL fall to the side as I began digging more deeply into my work of transforming school. Check out one of my video blog posts HERE. My full-ish journey is documented in #30DaysofLearning blog posts that only made it to day 24. Yeah, yeah, I know, "Boo! Boo! You couldn't make it 30 days?!?" I'll try again soon. I just started a new position, and I'm a bit taxed on time lately. Yeah, yeah, I know, "Boo - No Excuses!" Anyhoo... Last night during a coaching session in Change.School, I was speaking with leaders from the US, Canada, and New Zealand while being mentally prodded by the hosts, Bruce Dixon and Will Richardson. I have been engaging with national and international school leaders for more than 10 months now. We talk about ideas for rethinking public education so that we are engaging students in our respective districts in a learning environment that is relevant to our modern world and preparing them for our uncertain future. (A special thanks to Robert Schuetz for prompting this post.) All of our conversations are pretty thought-provoking, but last night I began to talk about my own Learning Story a bit more. Will has been adding an interesting hashtag to some news articles that are shared online - #newcurriculum - and I can't stop thinking about some of these ideas. One new topics that has me perplexed and constantly reading is Cryptocurrency. What a freaking tough concept for me to grasp. I like to think myself a pretty smart guy, but the establishment of a completely virtual currency that has seen unprecedented growth in value while using a style of programming called blockchain to ensure it is secure is pressing the limits of my brain power. I'm trying to get it. Apparently you can mine coins. Apparently people can steal your computer's processor to mine for them. I read articles about it often on Medium for whom I can thank for nearly all my knowledge about cryptocurrency. I can't thank their writers enough for the knowledge I have gained, and it still isn't enough for me to feel comfortable talking about it, but I am learning. Still very, VERY confused, but learning. And this is the learning story I am using today to make a few points:
We need to be talking about this stuff, friends. We need to be talking about this stuff with our students, helping them to lead their own learning in a meaningful way. There are still big questions to be asked about how to make this a reality in our current system, but if we never start talking about it and asking questions, things are not going to change. The world, however, will continue to change without us taking part in it. I'm not interested in becoming obsolete. I don't want that for the young people I serve. I'm ready to talk about it. The work of change continues...  All the data in the world can support your reasons why, but it is up to you to give it context and a story. It is up to you to make connections with people so they are not spectators of your work, but they instead want to be involved in the process with you. I joined a Facebook Live conversation this week with two of my leadership coaches, and a viewer asked a question of me: "Do you feel like your message has been simplified despite the complexity of the work?" At first I began to stumble over the question, but then I stopped, slowed my always hyper-active brain, and I shared that complex work often requires simple steps to get things going and to make meaning and messaging clear. This moment resonated with me as I worked with district leaders around modern learning practices and common language. Luckily, I can rely on my colleagues to challenge ideas when the reasons why are unclear. I listened to the concern about lack of clarity, and then I reset and started again. Simple, direct, jargon-free messages are easier to get behind. There is typically no different understanding of meaning when you follow the K.I.S.S. Rule. Our conversation continued to build. We all shared a common vision about the importance of the learning being directed and riven by the learner, whether that learner is a student, a teacher, or a leader. We also know that these moments are happening in some innovative classrooms around our district. I hope to bring these pockets of innovation into the light so we can see and learn from them, and build toward a district of innovative practices, not just single classrooms or school buildings. More collaborative work is planned for the weeks ahead as we develop our district's Vision for Learning. Good work is happening, and I'm happy to share our learning process as we work to create our vision. Playing catch up again. I'd like to blame the business of life on my lack of writing, but I was just not making time. So I'm dong a double post catch up series again. I think once I reach the end of 30 days, I will continue the writing and reflection process, but I don't think it will b daily. Such is life. Now, onto days 23 and 24... Thursday and Friday were driven by thoughts and questions around beliefs and values that I and my district colleagues hold to be true. We had conference on Thursday and shared our focus areas for the remainder of the school year. One area of focus in our district is to ensure that all of our school communities represent the diversity of our neighborhood communities. To support us in this work, my district is partnering with Paul Forbes and the Expanded Success Initiative. Paul gave a stirring presentation during our conference that still resonates with me. It helped us start some difficult conversations among leaders in our district. It reminded me of the importance of the support I still give to #MyCrew in East Harlem. "The system, as it is, is giving us exactly what it was designed to give us. We don't need to fix the system. We need to rebuild it from the ground up." Now I am asking myself important questions about my work to change school:
I'm thinking about all of these questions. I know the more I reflect and dig into myself and the work I do, the more intentional I am about equity for all students, the better the outcomes will be for the young people, the families, and the community I serve.  Day 22 was a day that started and ended with big smiles. In the morning, I made my way back to the school building where I had served as acting Principal for a week. I wasn't there for a meeting. I wasn't going to observe teachers. I only wanted to see the young people that took up so much of my time. I have a special place in my heart for the tough cookies. Yes, they take a large portion of a day, but they are still developing their brains and learning to cope with the curve balls life throws their way. Inside of them are human beings that want a connection as much as anyone else. As regular readers know, I am still connected with many former students that were the toughest of the bunch. On this day, one young man completed my day. I found out his teacher was absent. To avoid any incidents int he classroom, Doc was placed in a Kindergarten classroom. As I stood on the side of the room sharing with his teachers why I was visiting, I watched Doc walking from K-kid to K-kid pointing to their art, asking them how they created such great pictures, complimenting their work, and pushing them to make it better. He did this with calm kindness, and the younger students were eating it up. I was so proud. As he recognized me, his face lit up, he ran across the room with a big smile to shake my hand and say hello. I told him how proud and happy he made me that day. I explained how important it was for him to be serving as a mentor for younger students. And then I told him what an amazing person he was and that the K-kids needed his help, so get back in work with them and make their day better. I called his father to share the story. I introduced myself, "Hi, Mr. Doc. My name is Bryan Glover, and I am part of the Superintendent's Team in District 1. I was working at our son's school today, and I need to share a story with you." When I finished telling the story, dad let out a sigh of relief. He said he didn't get phone calls like this about his son. I asked dad to please give his son a hug and huge pat on the back for being an amazing human being. I could hear the smile and feel the warmth of his pride through the phone. Our brains are tuned into the negative, the bad, the things that bring us down. It's a survival mechanism to recognize and remember things that stress us so we can avoid that stress in the future. I am always asking myself to find the happy moments to focus my attention and memory. Those moments matter, and they are so often overwritten by the bad. Sometimes, other people need you to help them find their happy moments. Every time, it is great to share a moment of pride and joy, especially with a parent of a child who typically puts our brains memory systems into survival mode. How can we try to be more mindful of these moments so they embed as memories over the tough moments that stress our days? How can we see students that struggle to cope with life as students with value and skills to share? As learners and contributors to our classrooms and lives? How can we be sure to take more time to talk to parents about the moments when their child showed kindness, a proud moment, resilience in the face of a challenge? Doc and his dad have brightened my week. I have memories that give me a smile upon reflection that I am using during tougher moments in the day. I like this feeling. I want more of these lightening, brightening moments.  |
Disclaimer: The views expressed in my blog are my own views and do not represent those of my employer or any other entity.
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