Endings and Beginnings

For several reasons, this is my last “From B106” memo.  For one thing, my office will soon have a number change and become F101F.  This palindrome has some intriguing possibilities, but of course, I will no longer be in the office, regardless of its number.

In fact, I’m not even sure if my new office has a number, and I am still trying to figure out exactly what my new duties will entail and whether or not a weekly memo will be part of the job description.  The unknown can certainly be a bit disconcerting.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that I experienced a similar feeling.  On August 19, 2012, I wrote my first email to you as a staff.  It was signed with my name followed by “the new guy in B106.”  This is screen shot of the first two paragraphs:

It’s hard to believe I wrote those words three years ago.  Time really does fly when you’re having fun.  It’s also hard to believe that I find myself in a similar situation now, wondering what will come and how to fit in and how to make a contribution.

I am confident that will sort itself out soon, but until then and as I said before, the unknown is disconcerting.  You may feel this as well as several new administrators will be added to our team.  While you and I are making transitions from the known to the unknown, I do want to stop for a moment and let you know just how much I have enjoyed working with you all.  You have taught me a great deal, and I have confidence that we are moving forward in the right direction as a school and as a district.

Thank you for all you have done for me.  Thank you for all you have done for my children who attended Hamilton Southeastern.  And thank you for all you have done and continue to do for all of our students.

A special thanks to Charlie, Kim, Tarek, Jim, Greg, Laura, Jagga, and Nancy for allowing me be part of an outstanding administrative team. And Matt, there are no words that can adequately express my gratitude to and admiration for you as an administrator, as a father, and as a person.  You provide the rock solid foundation and leadership that will continue to make Hamilton Southeastern High School a wonderful place for students and teachers.

Every ending is a new beginning.  As educators, we experience this regularly.  This year’s ending is a bit different for me, but I do look forward to continuing to work with you toward our common goals.

It’s a great day to be a Royal.

Phil

A few quotes on beginnings and endings:

• “If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop the story.”  --Orson Welles
•  “There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other.”  --J.K. Rowling
•  “Life’s a movie.  Write your own ending.  Keep believing; keep pretending.”  --Jim Henson
•  “The beginning is always today.”  --Mary Wollstonecraft

If you’re interested in a journey back in time, this is the link to the full memo I sent out in 2012.  Click here.

Extending Grace

I was talking to Jason Urban last week, and we were commiserating about the difficulty of May.  It is a month of testing, a month of stress, and a month of transitions for both students and staff.  Jason’s comment was this: “You think you might be ready, but I’m not sure you can ever fully prepare for May.”

Those are profound words of wisdom from the other side of Interstate 69.

You are likely feeling some of this stress as well.  You may feel stretched to the limit.  Some of your students are falling apart or checking out early.  You are thinking about how to end the year well, about summer schedules, about the stack of papers to grade, and about plans for next year.

I don’t have great answers to this vexing month, but I will offer two statements I repeat to myself to help get me through stressful times.  Stress is sometimes brought on by events, and stress is sometimes brought on by people.  I have a saying for each scenario.

They may or may not help, but it’s worth a try.  See what your day is like if you use these as a short mantra when times are tough and you are feeling overwhelmed by tasks and/or people.

I find myself repeating them often in May. 

Number One

We can do a lot, but we can’t do everything.  This statement is a good reminder and helps me put a bit of perspective back into my life.  Sometimes my goal is simply to make it through the day—or through the next hour or even through the next minute.  It is a way of extending myself a little grace.  I know I can’t solve every problem or make everyone happy, and that is okay.  I’ll keep plugging away in my own little corner of the word and do the best I can.

Number Two

This one comes from Anne McCaffery, the Irish writer, best known for the Dragonriders of Pern series.  A phrase she penned has stuck with me for years and helps me keep perspective when I am dealing with people I find difficult.  (Yes, I know you’re surprised to know that I sometimes have to deal with unpleasant situations.)

It is another profound statement, technically from our side of Interstate 69, but a few miles and an ocean to the east.

It is easy to jump to conclusions about motivations of others, especially when we have significant differences in perspective, philosophy, and/or world view.  McCaffery’s statement is a great reminder to me to listen carefully and respond thoughtfully when I’m in these situations.  Honestly, I don’t always succeed in following her advice, but at least I’m aware I should try.  And even that makes a difference.

So keep fighting the good fight, HSE—even through the difficult month of May.  Remember that all of us, students, teachers, and administrators are experiencing both the joy and the stress of this month.

Use these phrases if you get a chance, and see if you can extend grace to yourself and extend it to others. 

May your week be a good one.   (The bad pun doesn’t make it any less sincere.)

Phil

Bonus phase from Stuart Smalley on Saturday Night Live:

It’s hard to believe he went on to become the junior senator from Minnesota!

Self-Directed Learners

Deeper Learning is the process of preparing and empowering students to master essential academic content, think critically and solve complex problems, work collaboratively, and be self-directed learners.

—Martinez and McGrath

Spring break ended a mere three weeks ago, but seems longer ago somehow.  During that time, my alarm didn’t go off, but I tended to wake up early anyway.  That is fine with me because it allowed me the opportunity to brew some strong coffee and sit and read the paper cover-to-cover, something I almost never get to do.

Spring Break Breakfast with Amelie

While we were in Florida, my granddaughter, another early-riser, would sometimes join me for breakfast and provide commentary on a wide variety of topics—few of which were covered by the Miami Herald.  Once we had finished, she often pulled out her books (or iPad), and I would take the chance to dive into my reading as well.

I have lots of reasons to love spring break, but near the top of my list is having time read.  Earlier I wrote a bit about one of the books I read over spring break, Deeper Learning, by Monica Martinez and Dennis McGrath.  The authors made extensive visits to eight public schools that are “transforming education in the 21^st Century” and drew some conclusions about best practice in our current era.

Certainly, most of the schools the authors studied are different than Hamilton Southeastern, but they are all public schools, and I think we can learn from these eight schools blazing the trail for us.  In fact, the authors state that the majority of today’s schools don’t reflect the tremendous changes and new demands that characterize the society in which we live.  Schools can no longer be what Sir Ken Robinson calls a “knowledge delivery system.”  Instead, the authors contend, we should look to innovative schools who are preparing students from a full range of backgrounds to reach their full potential and become prepared to handle the demands of the twenty-first century.

Self-Directed Learners

A critical objective for students to become more responsible for their own education, something that teachers and principals at the eight Deeper Learning schools make possible through embracing six core strategies:

• Establish cohesive, collaborative learning communities that sharply differ from the top-down national norm;
• Empower and encourage students to become more self-directed, creative, and cooperative by getting them out of their chairs and more directly involved in their own education;
• Make curricula more engaging, memorable, and meaningful by integrating subjects and establishing relevance to real-world concerns;
• Reach outside classroom walls to extend the idea and purpose of learning beyond school, forming partnerships with businesses, organizations, research institutions, and colleges and universities;
• Inspire students by endeavoring to understand their talents and interests, customizing learning whenever possible to discover the motivational “hook” for each young person; and
• Incorporate technology purposefully to enhance, rather than simply automate, learning.

 This is, of course, exactly where we are heading as a school and a district.  You will find references in this book to inquiry-based learning, Understanding by Design, authentic learning, performance tasks, and more.  In short, this is a book about HSE21.

Our school is different and our journey is different than any of the eight schools included in this study, but I think you will find that much of what they do and the ways they approach education can be thoughtfully adapted to us in Fishers, Indiana.

It takes me a while to digest a book, but I’m excited by this one and think it might be a touchstone experience in my learning process.  If you are looking for a good summer read, I invite you to dive into Deeper Learning.

Phil

The Magic

“Before meeting you, I let PowerPoints and textbooks do my thinking for me.”

—HSHS student at the Top 25 Banquet, 2015

Last Sunday I attended the Hamilton Southeastern High School Top 25 Banquet.  The honored guests are a pretty incredible group of students.  Some would say they are our “best and brightest,” and that is a good descriptor.  I would argue, however, that they are also among our hardest working students. 

They seem to buy in to the Growth Mindset philosophy.  Certainly, they have some natural gifts, but this group of students has worked incredibly hard to develop their skills and knowledge, and they have taken full advantage of the multiple opportunities afforded them at HSHS.  At the banquet, Nancy introduces each student by telling a bit about their extra- and co-curricular activities and accomplishments.  The lists for these students are so lengthy, that I sometimes wondered how they found time to breathe—but that is a topic for a different missive.

When the students come forward to receive their award, each one brings with him or her a teacher to honor as well.  The teachers receive a plaque which is engraved with a short essay written to them by the student, which is then read. These essays are always fascinating.  Most of the students thank their teachers for the positive influence they have provided, some tell inside jokes, but many of the students make statements that are nothing short of profound.  I offer as evidence the quote that started this memo.  It came in the first student speech of the night.

Take a moment to read it again:  

This is the goal we have for all of our students:
To be independent thinkers.

I was so taken with this line that I jotted it down on my program, and that got me started.  I kept finding others as the evening progressed.  I ended with the following list.  Remember these are statements made by our Top 25 about teachers who have been significant in their lives:

• “You taught me more than just academics.”
• “You taught me that learning is a journey.”
• “You taught me skills that transcend content.”
• “You make me believe that I can overcome all obstacles.”
• “You have taught me how to be curious.”
• “Thank you for making me laugh—and laugh at myself.   Thank you for teaching me so much more than English.”
• “In your class, I was always learning joyfully.”
• “The lessons you have taught me in both English and in life will last well beyond high school.”
• “You balance self-learning and instruction.”

It is worth noting that for these students content is important, but what set the teacher apart is not content.  It is the intangibles—laughter, support, curiosity, and life skills.  These are things that transfer outside of the school building.

Check it for yourself.  Who is your most memorable and influential teacher?  My guess is that the teacher who first comes to mind had depth of knowledge and was passionate about the content.  More importantly, however, I would guess this teacher taught lessons that transferred in many ways beyond the classroom walls.  As we have often said at HSE, rock solid teaching is about more than content knowledge.

I’ll end with one of my favorite student lines from last Sunday: “Thanks for the magic.”  Make it happen this week, HSE.

Phil

Creativity Myths

Sir Ken Robinson has been on the forefront of school change initiatives.  He is a prolific writer, has numerous popular YouTube videos, and his TEDTalk has had over 32,000,000 views.  He argues that the current school model was developed 100s of years ago for the needs of a very different world than the one in which we live today.  He says that if your great, great grandparents visited us today, the only thing they might recognize in society is the typical classroom.

I love the clock, the Wizard of Oz painting, and the "Smart Board."

That is a bit of a stretch, but it might hit closer to home than we want.  His most recent publication is called Creative Schools.  At the risk of writing about a book I haven’t read, I want to share parts of shorter article on the same topic (and I’ll add his book to my summer reading list).

Robinson on creativity:

It’s sometimes said that creativity cannot be defined.  I think it can.  Here’s my definition: Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value.

In schools, creativity is essential for both students and teachers.  Robinson says there are obstacles that get in our way of bringing creativity into schools.  He calls them “myths.” These myths keep us from teaching and including creativity in all aspects of school: It is a myth that only a few special people are creative.  It is a myth that creativity is about the arts only.  It is a myth that creativity cannot be taught.  It is a myth that creativity is about uninhibited expression.

Sir Ken Robinson

Creativity is not about having wild ideas and letting imagination run wild.  Rather, says Robinson, creativity is about fresh thinking.  It involves refining, testing, focusing, and making critical judgments about the work in process.  In his words:

Creativity is not the opposite of discipline and control.  On the contrary, creativity in any field may involve deep factual knowledge and high levels of practical skill.  Cultivating creativity is one of the most interesting challenges for any teacher.  It involves understanding the real dynamics of creative work.

Read that again, and then consider that Robinson advocates incorporating the creative process from the very beginning of learning.  Students don’t need mastery before the creative work can begin.  In fact, focusing on skills and content in isolation may actually disengage the learner.

The real driver of creativity is the appetite for discovery and a passion for the work itself.  When students are motivated to learn, they naturally acquire the skills they need to get the work done.  Their mastery of them grows as their creative ambitions expand.

Does this sound familiar?  It should.  Robinson’s approach places creativity at the intersection of best practice engagement strategies.  Creativity is part and parcel of a rock solid UbD performance task.  Creativity is at the heart of inquiry learning.  Creativity is built into Genius Hour or any student-centered learning activity.  Creativity is essential in the design process.

In other words, creativity is another name for our HSE21 initiative.  And this, HSE, puts us firmly in the camp of Creative Schools about which Robinson writes.  Now that’s an original idea of incredible value.

I hope your week is full of joy, full of good work, and full of creativity.

Phil

Want more from Robinson?  Click this link to his TedTalk.

Unforgettable

Another prom has come and gone.  This year, it took place in the Egyptian Room at the Old National Centre.  I really enjoyed the location, especially since the room has raised seating along each side, so sponsors could sit and watch the kids from relative comfort.  And believe me, it is fascinating viewing.

After attending more proms than I care to count, I have come to a few conclusions about the dating rituals of high school students.  This is in no way, shape, or form a scientific study, but I have found that our prom-goers seem to fall into distinct categories. I’m sure there are others to add to this list.  If you have contributions, I would love to hear your thoughts.  My list:

• Rock On: Some students arrive early, go right to the front of the dance floor, and gyrate from beginning to end.  They jump, shout, sing along, and generally dance themselves into euphoria or exhaustion—or a combination of both.  These students are fearless, energetic, and often stay to the last note of the final song.
• Groupers: (Not gropers.  That is a different topic altogether.)  These are the kids that dance in packs.  These packs have an ebb and flow and are almost like living bodies themselves.  They form, alter shape, separate briefly, and reform again in a different location.  Think amoeba, and you’ll get the general idea. The movement seems to depend on the song being played and a few key dancers, the nucleus, to extend the metaphor.
• Roamers: Some couples are restless.  They start in one place, stay briefly, but move to another before long.  They are on and off the dance floor constantly, with no discernable reason for coming or going.  They dance for a while, get drinks, have seats, adjust their formal wear, and repeat the cycle.  A subset of this group seems to be the First-Daters.
• Lone Wolves: These are mostly male students who arrived with a group, but they are constantly on the move and tend to spend much of the time outside the pack.  They join the groupers occasionally, but more often than not, stay on the edges.  They spend time talking to adult sponsors or simply sit and watch the dance floor.
• I Only Have Eyes for You: These couples spend the entire night dancing together just outside the main pack.  They seem to be oblivious to other students or even that they are at the prom—with the exception of joining the “Cha Cha Slide.”  They stare longingly into each other’s eyes for much of the evening and provide an interesting contrast to the First-Daters.

This one gets everybody dancing....

The reason I’m writing about this topic is twofold.  First, I want to thank all of you who made the prom a successful and memorable night.  Secondly, I want to make a point about memories and instruction.  Yes, it’s true that I can take even an event like prom and apply it the classroom.  (Is it a gift, or is it a curse?  You be the judge.)

Prom, by its very nature, is unforgettable—hopefully in positive ways, but sometimes not.  It is an interesting thought that all of students, regardless of where they fall on the list above, will have attended the same prom, but they will have taken away very different kinds of experiences and memories. 

The same holds true in your classes.  All of your students attend your same class, but they take away very different kinds of memories and experiences.  We should recognize this truth, and we should be intentional to make sure students have positive memories and retain important content.  True, the experiences in your classroom are difficult to make as memorable as an evening in the Egyptian Room, but the task is not impossible. 

Students may or may not remember all the specific details and content of your course, but they can remember activities and content that is tied to emotion, is personally engaging, and/or involves high levels of learning.  In other words, best-practice instruction builds long term memories.

If you don’t believe me, do a little fact-checking.  First, think back to your own prom or other big social event in high school.  You probably have some memory of this event, either positive or negative.  Now think back to your high school classes.  What assignments and activities and content do you remember most clearly?  What emotions locked those memories in? 

Without even hearing the specifics of your experience, I believe I can rest my case because your own experience likely verifies my argument.  Keeping with the prom theme, I will now do a small victory dance!  

Photo from peanuts.com

I feel fairly confident that I am right because this is the way our minds work.  We remember those things that are special, different, significant, and involve personal commitment and emotion.

If you want your students to really remember the key content of your course, take advantage of brain research: design lessons and experiences that are unforgettable. 

Have a great week, HSE.  See if you can pull some students from the outer ring and out onto the dance floor of your class.  Rock on until the last note of the last song!

Phil

Fishing for Answers

On the Tuesday of spring break, my oldest daughter, her husband, one of my middle sons, and I awoke early, drove down the coastal highway, and took a charter boat out for a day of fishing on the Gulf.  As Captain Mike took us out of the channel and into the open sea, banks of clouds closed in, and we soon lost sight of the coastline in the fog.

The fog didn't stop us from fishing, and we trolled out many miles into the Gulf, stopping occasionally to drop lines and pull up fish.  My experience has been that fishing is always good, but catching is sometimes less so.  That Tuesday, however, both went well.

Proof that this is no mere fishing tale (tail?).

At one point, the captain told us we were out over ten miles.  Surrounded by the fog, I had no clue about our location.  We could have been 500 yards or 500 miles off shore, and I wouldn’t have known the difference.  Just before the winds began to blow away the fog, the mate asked us to point toward land.  We did so but had to laugh because all four of us pointed in different directions.  When the mate pointed in a fifth direction, we realized that none of us had been even close. 

So how did he know where shore was? 

Maybe he didn’t.  He could have been pointing any direction, but my guess is he was much closer to being on target than the rest of us.  Perhaps he looked at the GPS before asking the question, but more likely, he had experienced the fog often enough that he knew exactly what to expect and how to stay oriented.

Cuba, Key West, or Destinations Unknown

I tell you this story partly because I love being on the ocean and fishing with my kids—and I have pictures to verify my catch.  (My usual disclaimer still applies: All my stories are True (with a capital T), but I never let facts get in the way of the story.)  I also tell you this story because those of us in education sometimes have a similar situation.  We cruise along doing our thing, and if we aren't careful, we can become disoriented and wonder where we should go to find dry land.

I have no idea how, but my phone logged our route.

Just consider the fog that surrounds education in our nation and in the state of Indiana right now.  I hardly have time, space, or inclination to list the problems, issues, debates, laws, and polemics.

So how do we in education know where shore is? 

One answer is to make our best guess, point in a direction, and head that way.  In our situation over spring break, had we followed our pointing fingers, we could have ended up anywhere from Cuba, to Brownsville, to the Yucatan Peninsula.  These destinations have tremendous appeal but would, perhaps, be better if the trips were planned in advance.

Deeper Learning

Another option when lost in the educational fog is to use a GPS of sorts by consulting someone with experience.  This spring break, I did exactly that by reading a book that has been on my mind ever since.  Monica Martinez and Dennis McGrath wrote Deeper Learning: How Eight Innovative Public Schools are Transforming Education in the Twenty-First Century. 

Photo from Amazon

I found their book to be very readable, insightful, and incredibly helpful.   These authors verify that we are on course and heading in the right direction as a school and as a district.  They also provide possible solutions to problems we will encounter in the coming months and years as we continue our journey. 

From time to time, I want to share bits and pieces of what I've learned from this book.  As the subtitle suggests, innovative public school educators are on the same path as we are.  They are meeting the needs of their students and preparing them for lives in our ever-changing and often confusing world.  We can learn from their experiences and adapt some of their solutions to meet our specific needs.

We may still be in a bit of educational fog, but Deeper Learning is like a GPS that can provide guidance from experienced educators who are facing similar or even more difficult challenges.

The fog will lift, HSE.  The sun will shine.  We will keep reeling in kids, and we will dive into Deeper Learning in the coming months.

Have a great week.

Phil

One more photo, just because....  I call it "Beauty and the Beast."

Our granddaughter, Amelie, sitting beside our sand sculpture.