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:

1. I didn't use a pre-designed cryptocurrency curriculum to learn about Bitcoin and its brethren.  I used the writers of Medium to learn from.  I may be hitting up some videos soon, because I need to learn in a different way to figure this stuff out.  BTW - if you get IT, please share IT with me.  
2. Our current curricular resources are not giving students the opportunity to explore knowledge relevant to them or their lives.  Cryptocurrency, big data and analytics, internet security, modern agriculture, urban agriculture, green technologies, and hundreds of other relevant-to-our-modern-existence topics are mostly ignored by curriculum writers.  As a hypothetical example Will and I discussed last night, we give 100% of students in a class a course in Geometry, of which maybe 2-3% might use in their lives, and the remaining 97% will likely forget.  I mean, seriously, it's not even connected to something relevant like 3D Printing.  When's the last time most of us used Geometry you learned in High School without just using a computer to compute answers for you?

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:  

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:

• What pivotal moments in my life have driven me to do this work? 
• What am I doing to promote equity for all students?  Can I do more?
• What biases are still present within me that affect the work I am doing?  Can I name them so I can fight them?

​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.

I talk a lot about reflection and the importance of looking inward at your learning and your journey through life.  Take time to take stock of where you've been, where you are, and where you're going.

That being said, I realized that I have a need for some deep reflection about my path.  I realized this because I have been stricken lately with something that affects many teachers and leaders.  It affected me when I was a waiter and bartender.  

I have been having nightmares that wake me up in the middle of the night where I am struggling to teach well in an over-sized classroom.  But my nightmares have evolved as my own knowledge about my practice has evolved.  In my nightmare, I am struggling with how I am teaching.  I was asking myself, "Why did you plan a lesson that has you talking by lecture for 15 minutes?!?  How are you going to fix this, on the fly, with 34 kids in your room, to be more student-centered?"  And then struggling because I couldn't come up with any ideas.

I thought I was done with work-related nightmares.  I guess I was wrong.

They have me thinking about my learning path and asking questions of myself.  My district is about to embark on a change journey to incorporate Modern Learning in our community, from the District Team down to every classroom.  My role is evolving.  Things are changing.  I embrace change.  But it is obviously creating some anxiety in me.

Change brings with it fear.  So what am I afraid of that is the catalyst for the anxiety that creates the work-related nightmares?  I feel like once I can name it, it will not be as scary, and I can hopefully rest easier.

• Am I afraid of not doing a good job with launching our Modern Learning change process?
• Am I afraid of running out of time to do it well?
• Will I have enough time for my other responsibilities?
• What if no one buys into the reasons why?
• Who are my allies/my tribe?  Do I have allies?

I am betting a lot of myself on this work.  Change isn't easy.  I'm okay with that.  I have been wanting this for a long time.  Who would have thought that the guy who has been preaching change for so long would have to confront fears about the change process?  I didn't.  But I know they are there.  I am naming the fears.  I am working to confront the fears.  I am reminding myself of how exciting this process is (there's that crazy inner-dialog issue with me again) and how important it is that the work continues...

Do you have fears you are fighting?  How are you pushing through?  

Monday was a busy day.  I was reminded of varied learning styles as I interacted with very different people throughout a series of meetings with topics ranging from strategic planning, checking in, modern learning, and social-emotional learning.

With all of these interactions, I could hear my internal conversation reminding me, "Listen more.  Talk less.  Ask better questions.  Wait time is okay."  It's becoming internalized.  Hopefully, soon, it will reach automaticity so I'm not noticing me talking to myself in my head.  That's a little crazy, right?  

My district is about to launch into our change process in a move to Modern Learning practices in our schools.  We are starting with deep conversations about learning and success in our district, defining what that looks like and sounds like for our community.  

I am finding myself energized by the change work we are engaging in as a team.  And I am reminding myself that, while I am prepared for and am embracing the change process, this often brings up feelings of fear and loss for all those involved - teachers, students, families, leaders, staff, community members.  

I need my inner dialog (yeah, I guess I am sounding a bit cray-cray) to remind me of this aspect of change, and that using questioning moves to get to the root of our fears together will be a needed skill in the months and years to come.  

Before I write about this week's Name That Tune in American Sign Language Game, I want to write a little about Day 19.  I spent some time at work on Saturday checking in with my District's Saturday school and stopping in at a Parent Engagement event at another school.  I spent some time at the event with my FABULOUS co-worker, toni.

She doesn't really know this yet, but she is fast becoming my questioning coach in my learning journey.  She has an amazing talent at framing even the most awful things in brilliant ways, usually through questioning moves.  It really blows my mind how talented she is in this arena.  

I have been trudging through Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for a while now.  Man this is a tough read for me.  But it is one of Dwight's favorite books, and I am going to finish it, no matter how long and painful the process is.  As always, when I was feeling frustrated with the read, toni maneuvers me to a better place with questioning:

Now, suddenly, I'm seeing this book in a new light.  What songs would be sung?  Which topics would make for a good comedic tune to engage the audience?

I appreciate you, toni.  You rock my world.  If you want to read some of her words, check out her blog, Gold Tokens.

Now, on to Day 20's Name That Tune in ASL, week 3.  This week's tune is dedicated to toni and a conversation we had this weekend while musing over the families that joined us for our weekend event.  I hope to hear more from people about this one.  

And take a minute to appreciate someone today.  Someone that helps you to be a better version of yourself.  Someone that makes you smile and laugh.  Someone that helps you shift perspective and see things differently.


As always, if you can't get to YouTube, you can see this week's video on Vimeo by clicking HERE.

I'm behind in my postings, so I'm going to post twice today.  This post will catch up on Thursday and Friday.  The following post will be my weekend update.  I think I have a good song to sign, so be sure to check out the next post once you've finished this one!

Day 17 was a Snow Day and a slow day.  I spent the day cold, fighting the desire to ignore the things that needed to be done while constantly staring out windows to see how much snow is falling and how the wind is whipping up the trees.  Schools were closed, so the day was spent mostly playing catch up on work that was backed up.

Friday was a much more active day.  It was COLD, but we were energized.  My team is reading Creating Cultures of Thinking by Ron Ritchhart together.  I am really enjoying sharing ideas about what we are reading.  We had a really intense conversation, and we were only talking about the first 2 chapters!

My biggest question that I want to share came out of our conversation about common language.  As a team, we are talking through what we mean when we use specific terms.  Our first piece of language that we tackled was the word "Learning".  On Friday, we turned our attention to the word "Success".  What does that mean to us?  How are we defining success in District 1?  And my question that will start to frame my conversations a bit moving forward was:

This is going to be an important conversation for our school leaders and teachers to have with their community.  And I believe that students and their families should be included in this conversation.  When families share their expectations that students should be, I imagine their answers will not include things like:

• "They should sound like an A/B/C."
• "They should look like a 95%."
• "They should be able to raise their hand to speak."
• "They should be able to sit in rows and take a 3 day examination that is the entire basis for their progress to the next level."

​
I would expect what most parents will likely expect:

• They should be appropriately literate and numerate.
• They should be problem solvers working to improve the lives of themselves, their families, and their community.
• They should be curious and creative.
• They should know when to ask for help, and when to offer it.
• They should be comfortable taking the lead and following a strong leader.
• They should be able to work with others in meaningful ways.
• They should be citizens (talk about a word that could use some common language!).

What do you think a graduate should look like?  

When I started this 30 day writing journey, it was meant to focus in on 2 specific areas:

1. Give fewer answers.  Ask more and better questions.
2. Practice American Sign Language and find new ways to share that learning.

I have been trying, and will continue to try my ASL Name That Tune Game.  Next round this weekend!

I seemed to have lost touch a bit with asking questions.  That became apparent yesterday during a meeting with a school leaders.  We were discussing how to build capacity in teachers to begin managing their own inquiry team.  It was mentioned by one leader that she did not want to add more paperwork to the already heavy load of work teachers do on a daily basis.

I launched into problem solving mode.  I knew that school had used Google Forms for other meetings.  I thought, with a little time and a personal refresher in Google Drive Apps, I could design a Form that took meeting minutes, which would upload to a Sheet, then specific parts of the Sheet data - Next Steps - Pluses/Deltas - could then be dropped into a Doc Template to serve as the next meeting agenda which would then be auto emailed to all participants.

Yeah, Son!  

"But, Bryan, then we're doing the work we are asking the team to take control of and manage for themselves."

Right.  This is what I have been fighting in myself for so long.  I don't need to have the answer to a question or task that wasn't asked of me.  Instead, I need to learn how the teachers will best manage the meeting.  I may even disagree with their ideas, but it is their meeting, and as long I there is accountability for minutes and managing their time, who am I to say my idea is the best?  Maybe theirs will work better?  Maybe mine would have?  We won't know until they have a chance to own their processes and make their own sense and solutions.

How quickly I forgot to ask questions.  One break for Winter Recess, and I'm back into the habit of answer quickly and efficiently.  This has been a part of my modus operandi for so long.  It is going to be a real challenge for me to overcome this aspect within my mental processes.  I am up for the challenge.  Dare I say at this time of year, I am resolved to change this?

Reflection is helping me to grow, and writing here is becoming a useful tool as a part of my reflections.  Now it's time to review the previous 15 days, read all about how I was learning to ask more questions, and then try harder tomorrow.

Best wishes to all who are putting in that work to better themselves.  Keep pushing, even if you slip.  Reflect, learn, move forward.

Back to the grind today.  After a week of sleeping in, it was rough trying to drag @55 out of bed.  There really was not enough coffee to get me going.  

Through all of the mental haze, I managed to get a pretty productive day accomplished.  I spent some time with a school leader whose company I really enjoy.  The more we talk, the more alike in mindset I think we are.  Perhaps to be one of the first in my tribe of school leaders that embrace Modern Learning because she truly believes it is the right thing to do.

That is my big take-away today.  People make this work worthwhile.  Having a network of like-minded folks that believe in the best in all young people is very energizing.  Once I made it to the office, one my international buddies invited my District team to her District to observe Modern Learning practices in various states of implementation.  

I'm so happy working in an environment that is embracing change as part of growth.  My new Superintendent and our District Team live in this excited state most days with me.  Thankful to be back in the game today.  The work continues...