To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the process of setting goals, our topic/question for the dinner table is: What is one goal you have for this school year? Please see link to Google Form to share your responses: Setting Goals (Week of 9/11/16) (This is an anonymous Google Form)
After going for a run Saturday morning, I ran into one of our neighbors who works in another school and we both reflected upon the abrupt adjustment that takes place when we transition from summer into school. Having said that I hope that everyone was able to find a ‘cool spot’ to rest and take a break this past weekend amidst this muggy weather. Our Friday afternoon and Saturday morning was filled with kids’ sports games and practices, and then I was treated by my mother to lunch in Harvard Square and the performance of Anna Deavere Smith's Notes From the Field: Doing Time in Education at the American Repertory Theater. We then enjoyed a low-key Sunday with Maggie's softball game Sunday afternoon before family dinner.
At our 8th grade parent night last Thursday, it was wonderful to see so many supportive families and to have a chance to connect at the outset of another school year. I believe that these evenings are incredibly important as they provide a great opportunity to share our mission, vision, and initiatives that we are working towards as a school community - it is so important to maintain our culture of transparency as we aim to bridge our work with families. I am looking forward to the upcoming 7th and 6th nights as well. This year we will be working closely as a staff, in conjunction with our Site Council, to work and really develop our newly revised school improvement plan. I am excited about the structure we have established and believe that the goals we have established are meaningful, in line with our mission, and long-lasting...
- To artfully design and implement curricula that amplifies student learning through innovative practices, authentic engagement, and skill acquisition
- To foster teaching practices and professional growth with clarity and purpose to improve student learning
- To enhance our climate and culture of student reflection, assessment, and feedback for optimal learning, engagement, and experiences
These goals are noble and lofty and I can understand the feelings and questions that sometimes come forth - where do we begin? Is this too much? Are they attainable? How do we measure progress? It can certainly feel overwhelming, but my hope is that the three posts below can help us (including me) to slow the questions down and frame our thoughts with these questions in mind...
- What is an ideal school?
- Are we open to new ideas and learning?
- How do we begin?
The Failing Grade for Tests
by Hayley Glatter, Emily Deruy, and Alia Wong in The Atlantic
This post is the final installment of a series that highlights the input and thoughts from 'prominent voices in education'. The question for the final installment is: How are schools held accountable? The responses are thought-provoking, but I wanted to particularly note US Education Secretary John King's words describing an ideal school (a question we should all ponder)...
The ideal school would be a place where students want to show up every day, parents are involved and confident their students are being well served, and the adults in the building enthusiastically embrace their responsibility to do whatever it might take to help students succeed.
How open are you to learning new ways of doing old things?
by Mike Figliulo
This brief post shares responses to this question and shares a few simple ways to be deliberate and active in one's learning. This resonates with me as we think about how we all - students, parents, teachers, community - view learning and establish a 'culture of growth'. Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey's work on 'Deliberately Developmental Organizations' opened my eyes and broadened my own lens as to how we can view our 'Blake organization' as a DDO (An Everyone Culture).
Learn something every day. Obviously an audience that reads a newsletter focused on new ideas is going to skew heavily to being learners. I encourage you to take your learning further by doing so in a deliberate way.
Not Waiting for Tomorrow
by George Couros (@gcouros)
Couros's post describes the impact that positive energy and actions can have on an individual and, in turn, a group. It is important that we keep this lens in mind, and as Couros says, to let our students experience this lens as well.
We need to make the positive so loud that the negative becomes almost impossible to hear. I ended the day telling students, you don’t have to wait until you’re out of school to change the world. Go lead today. Thank you to the one student that made a ripple effect of positivity in the room, that not only impacted me, but led the way for others.
Although I am incredibly biased about the Blake community, we have many things we still need to work on and I look forward to these challenges. As I shared with the 8th grade families last week, and will share with the 6th and 7th families at their respective nights, I can not promise perfection but can promise a commitment to grow, reflect, improve, and learn.
Each and every school day will bring tens of thousands of reasons to celebrate in schools across the country. - Bill Ivey
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Take care.
Nat