Connecting with our School Community

Developing connections to my school community has had a great impact on my effectiveness as an educator.  When you are connected to those around you you are able to develop the relationships that help you identify the needs and wants of the community, potential problems, those willing to help, and the excellence around you.

In my own school community I have tried to connect with my school community in a variety of ways. The first way is through the use of social media.  The use of Twitter and Facebook allows me to share what is going on in our school in a quick way. It doesn't take much time to snap a pic with my phone and then share it on Facebook and Twitter.  Sharing what is going on in our school allows our parents and community to see all of the great things our students and teachers are doing on a daily basis. Parents appreciate seeing what is going on in the school and I have had a lot of positive feedback on the sharing we have done so far this year.

The second way that I share with my school community is through the use of Newsletters.  Each month I send home a paper copy of our school newsletter.  We include a calendar of the month's upcoming events, news about what has been going on in the school, and important announcements. This newsletter is something that our previous principals did and I have continued it as another way to connect.  I have also started using SMORE to publish a weekly digital newsletter.  For this newsletter I share pics, stories about the week, and any upcoming announcements.  I share this newsletter using the Remind app, and on Facebook and Twitter.  I am anxious to see how this weekly newsletter is received over time.

Another way that I connect is by being visible.  I try to be visible every morning by greeting students as they enter the building.  I speak to as many of the students as I can and say good morning.  I also have a daily goal of saying good morning to all of the school employees as we start our day.  I am not always able to see everyone, but I try.  I think it is important to be accessible to everyone, to let them know you are glad they are here and you are ready to help if they need it.

Being connected is an important thing for all educators.  In my school community the way that I have tried to build those connections is through information sharing and building relationships. Once relationships have been established then we can see the many benefits of being connected.   

“So easy to forget all of the positive things when you have a bad day.”

As I have written about in the past I love Twitter.  Like any type of social media Twitter can be both good and bad.  I have read things on Twitter that have inspired me to do more and learn more about a variety of topics.  However, I have also seen the negative aspect of Twitter.  From vulgarity to profanity to cyber bullying, Twitter, like all social media, has a downside.  

Recently I read something on Twitter that reminded me why I like Twitter so much.  I had had a pretty bad day and was feeling pretty down.  I had heard that our school had received some bad news from the state department of education, my basketball team had lost a game we should have won, and to top it off I got a ding in my car when I ran into a light pole. It wasn’t a good day.  As I was waiting for my coffee to brew the next morning, after not sleeping too well the night before, I checked out some tweets on my phone.  One of the tweets I came across really caught my attention, “so easy to forget all of the positive things when you have a bad day.”   

Isn’t that the truth?  When things aren’t going well or we have a bad day it is easy to focus on all of the negative things going on.  When we are having one of those days it is important to remember all of the positive things we have going on in our lives.  For me I know that God has blessed me with so many wonderful things in my life that I should be thankful for, and I can’t let a bad day make me forget them.  I have a beautiful and caring wife that I love very much and thank God  every day for bringing her into my life.  I have two terrific step-children that I love and that amaze me every day with their talents and wonderful personalities.  I have the best extended family a person could ever ask for filled with parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins that are great.  I work in a great community and at a great school.  I get to teach some great students with wonderful colleagues.  I get to coach a great group of girls, with coaches that I respect and are great friends.  There are so many positive things going on in my life that I need to not let myself forget these things just because I had one bad day.   

Tips For Dealing With Difficult Parents

Anyone who has been in education or coaching for very long has had to deal with a difficult parent.  When it comes to dealing with their own child many parents will lose perspective.  I have had many conversations over the years with parents of students when they tell me that there is no way that their child would lie, cheat, or pick on someone else.  As a basketball coach I have had to listen to upset parents tell me that their child should be playing more or shooting more.   It can be difficult telling a parent that their child has made a mistake or isn’t performing as well as the parent thinks they are, However parents need to hear these stories so that they can help their child grow and learn.  

In those instances where I have had to deal with a difficult parent I have found the following things to be very important:

1. Listen – Most parents that have a complaint feel like they are protecting and standing up for their child.  It is important to honor that commitment to their child and listen to what they have to say.  By simply listening to their complaint we are giving them a chance to vent, and in many instances an opportunity to calm down as well
2. Be Honest – It can be very uncomfortable being challenged by a parent.  That uncomfortable feeling can sometimes lead us to telling them what they want to hear so we can get the conversation over.  Parents need to hear the truth about their child, both good and bad.  The truth should be delivered in a tactful way that focuses on both negative and positive.  However, the parents need to hear the truth about the struggles their child might be having.
3. Be Polite – When a difficult parent begins to attack you for something they perceive you have done to hurt their child it can be very tempting to lose your cool and say something you shouldn’t.  In these situations it is important to remember that you are the professional and leader, and that losing your cool isn’t going to help the situation. Being polite to the parent and using good manners will help you honor the parents concerns and keep an already difficult situation from getting worse.
4. Be Kind – By showing kindness to a difficult parent you are showing them that you care about them and their child.  It can be hard to treat someone well when they are attacking you.  However by showing kindness we can show the parent that we aren’t the bad guy they may perceive us to be.

There are many different keys to dealing with difficult parents.  These four tips aren’t the only ideas on how to deal with a difficult parent. However, I have found these four to be very helpful to me over the years.  We don’t have to compromise what we believe in, or kowtow to their wishes if they think we are wrong.  We do need to handle every situation as a professional and a leader by being honest, polite, kind, and listening to their concerns.  

How I am using Google Drawings in Class

In a previous post I mentioned the Ditch That Textbook professional development training I attended. The training was outstanding and I left with several great ideas that I have since tried implementing in the classroom.  One of the ideas I have tried to use in the last couple of weeks is to use Google Drawings with students.  

In geography this past week we began studying Ancient Rome.  As part of our study of Ancient Rome I had the students use Google Drawings to create an Ancient Rome Fact Sheet.  I provided the students with a link to a website that had many great facts about Ancient Rome.  The students were then to take the information from the website and create a fact sheet about Ancient Rome to share with the class.  The students were to use words, summaries, bullets, diagrams, maps, charts, graphs, drawings, and any other visual way to show what they learned about Ancient Rome.

The students enjoyed presenting what they learned about Ancient Rome in this way. In essence we were creating a poster, but using Google Drawings to do it. Some of the best posters saw students not only using pictures, but incorporating links, various colors and text boxes, and captions for their images.

In the future I plan to keep using Google Drawings as a way for students to visually share what they know and to create various projects.  There were many ideas great ideas shared during the Ditch That Textbook professional development, and using Google Drawings with students was one of the best.    

Biome Research Project

Last week in our science class we began our study of the six major biomes in the world.  In the past I have had students work with each other to study one of the biomes in a small group.  Each group would research different aspects of their biome and then the group would work together to create a poster to share what they learned about their biome.  This year since we are a 1:1 school with each student having their own Chromebook I wanted to try to take this assignment to the next level in terms of technology and collaboration.

Each group was still responsible for finding the same information for their project as in the past:

• The name of their biome
• A labeled map showing the location of their biome
• Any landforms in their biome
• A description of the climate in their biome
• At least ten animals that live in their biome
• At least ten plants that live in their biome

However, instead of having the groups create a poster using poster board I decided to have them create a Screencast of their group presenting a Google Presentation that they had created.  Each group decided how to divide up the work of doing the research and then they shared a Google Slide presentation and each student created their own slides within the presentation.  Once they were finished with the presentation they went to a quiet place in the school and recorded their screencast using the Screencastify extension.   Once the students turned in their screencasts I shared them with the rest of the class so we could view each group's screencast video.

The students really enjoyed this project and came up with some creative ways to share what they learned about their biome.  I could see us doing this again in the future with other projects.  I also plan to have students demonstrate their understanding of a topic, such as how to work a math problem, by creating a screencast and sharing it with me.  

What Makes Good Professional Development

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a professional development session by Matt Miller, a High School Spanish teacher from West Central Indiana.  Matt is the author of the Ditch That Textbook blog and is obviously a great teacher.  The tips that he shared on how teachers can use digital tools in the classroom were both practical and helpful to teachers looking to integrate technology in the classroom. I would highly recommend reading Matt’s blog Ditch That Textbook and following him on Twitter, @jmattmiller.  

In the days following the Professional Development with Matt I have spent a lot of time sharing the things I learned with my fellow teachers.  In addition I have spent a great deal of time thinking about what makes a good professional development session and have come up with these three keys to strong teacher professional development.  

Relevant - The Professional Development must be relevant to those attending the session.  I have attended several Professional Development sessions on topics that were not relevant to what I was doing in my classroom.  During those sessions I was disengaged and took very little of value with me back to the classroom.  One of the things that made Matt’s session so worthwhile was that the tips he shared were things I could take back to my classroom and use right away.

Challenging - I feel that good Professional Development should challenge us to do more in our classrooms.  Teachers should be always be  looking for ways to better reach students.  Professional Development that challenges us to do more and get out of our comfort zone to better reach our students, will help us grow as teachers.

Inspiring - When I have left an outstanding Professional Development session I always feel inspired to be a better teacher.  There are times I get stuck in the mess of the day to day grind of teaching and school.  Inspiring Professional Development leaves me wanting to learn more, be a better teacher, and get back to the classroom and use what I have learned to help my students learn and grow.  

I know that not all Professional Development will be great and worthwhile.  However, I have found that the longer I teach the more picky I am about what Professional Development sessions I choose to attend.  I find myself searching for those opportunities that I find relevant, that will challenge my thinking as an educator, and will leave me inspired to be a better teacher for my students.  

Drive by Daniel Pink

I recently finished reading Drive by Daniel Pink, a book that really challenged my thinking about motivation and the learning that goes on in my classroom.  There is a great deal of information and research that Pink lays out in the book that really got me thinking.  The book revolves around the idea that we need to upgrade how we think about what motivates workers and students. This upgrade has three essential elements: Autonomy - the desire to direct our own lives; Mastery - the urge to make progress and get better at something; and Purpose - the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves.

After reading the book and learning about these three elements I began to rethink how I am doing things in my classroom.  Are the students I teach really engaged and motivated to learn, or are they just doing the tasks I put in front of them because I ask them to?  I think the answer is the latter and that has caused me to begin to think of ways I can get my students more engaged and motivated to learn.

The first step I feel needs to revolve around the element of autonomy.  Very rarely do I allow for choice in my classroom, and when I do it is usually from the standpoint of allowing students to choose how they will present what they know.  Students in my class have very little freedom to choose what they will learn about and how they will learn it.  Giving my students more freedom to decide some of what they will learn is going to be the first task I tackle in trying to improve student motivation.