2013 Musings

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Amy's Reflections

Many bloggers have taken the time to reflect on their work of 2012 and set goals for themselves in the new year. I would love to be able to say that I will post more often this year, but that is not a realistic goal for me at this time. I would love to be able to say that I will post more responses to the interesting, thought-provoking blogs I do make time to read, but that is not something I am willing to commit to at this time either. With a full-time job, a full-time doctoral schedule (in which my writing will be gearing up in the coming months!) and with only 4 pounds left to reach my goal weight, I do not have a lot of free time and am unwilling to set goals that I know I will not work to achieve.2012-01-15 15.45.25

I do, however, want to acknowledge that blogging has been an interesting journey for me thus far. I do a lot of reflecting on my own, in my head, but blogging has forced me to put at least some of that 90-mile-an-hour thought process down into coherent thoughts to be shared with others. Even more important, I have taken the time to read more blogs, tweets, pins, and ideas from my PLN colleagues than I even knew existed a year ago. While I haven’t always shared my reflections on the topics, I have enjoyed reading the thoughts of others. The world of education has both expanded and shrunk this year for me. I have connected with educators near and far who are pushing their own professional learning and therefore mine, in ways I never dreamed possible. At the same time, I found many like-minded colleagues celebrating similar successes and struggles all across the world. Education is very similar for many people, which can be a good and a bad thing. Education is very slow to move forward with advances in many areas, technology being but one example.  However, in my personal job and in my connections with my PLN, I have reason to hope.

There are a lot of hard-working, dedicated, life-long learners out there who are working to make necessary changes to education. I have many colleagues who believe that all students can learn and have a right to a top-notch education. There are leaders serving in many different roles who take their work to serve teachers and students seriously. Knowing that, I am going to revise an idea I saw on Pinterest this week.  There was an idea floating around out there to start a happy jar- every day write down something good, positive, worth celebrating or remembering. At the end of 2013 you can open your jar and read and remember all of the happiness you experienced throughout the year.  This is a way to celebrate big and small moments and to see the positive in every day life.

I don’t plan to write something every day nor to put it in a jar. But I do plan to take time to see the positive in more situations. I plan to take time to reflect (via blog, twitter, Pinterest, or real life conversations!) about the good things I see happening in education. I think we all need to remember this. I don’t know of a single educator who gets up in the morning with the goal to hurt students or their colleagues. We are all in this together, and positively, together we can do more.

2012-02-22 16.57.24

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TEDxSan Diego Experience

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Amy's Reflections

I recently attended TEDxSanDiego and LOVED the experience! If you are not familiar with TED Talks, please do yourself a favor and visit their website (www.ted.com) or download the free app and watch some of the talks. TED Talks are all about “ideas worth spreading” and each speaker brings a unique voice to their message. The talks cover a wide range of topics and professions and showcase not only the talents and passions of the speakers, but also the great ideas surrounding each of us everyday.

The theme of San Diego’s TEDx was Cause and Affect. Affect, not effect. The spelling was intentional, as Jack Abbott explained during his introduction. “Let this experience be the cause that affects you to change the world.” I was hooked from those opening remarks!  The speakers were broken up into four sessions:

1. Cause/Belief

2. Cause/Action

3. Affect/ Awareness

4. Affect/ Possibility

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I have no intention of sharing everything I heard throughout the day. The day was broadcast live and is probably archived online by now. Instead, what I would like to do is share a few of the highlights for me. I am still digesting the whole day, but have had some reflections marinating since I left the conference. I hope my thoughts give you ideas to ponder yourself. Feel free to share!

Mathew Emerzian talked about his chronic anxiety and the advice from a therapist, who said, “It’s not about you. It’s about serving the world”. Imagine if we all realized this? What if we taught all children this concept? What kind of world could we create (or sustain) if everyone lived to serve others, to make the world better, to think less about themselves and more about others? At the same time, Mathew shared the importance of telling someone that they matter. I would love to end a meeting they way he ended his talk. He had a group (of unknowing volunteers!) stand up and say, “My name is ____ and I matter because___”. WOW. I think we all need reminders about why our work, our contributions, our strengths matter.

Dr. Edith Eger, an Holocaust survivor, shared amazing stories of personal strength and triumph. But these two lines resonated with me more than all others: “When you share your secret, you are no longer in the concentration camp in your mind,” and “You have a choice- pay attention to what you’ve lost or what you have”. Her words were incredible. The image conjured up by the phrase “concentration camp in your mind” is scary and powerful. And for someone who has experienced what she has, to be able to recognize what is most important- that which you have, and not what you have lost- is powerful.

Scot Chisholm said something that reminded me of the value of collaboration: “What do we want to accomplish together?”. Seven little words with a big impact.  We are so much stronger together than we are alone. This was the same message that Ken Blanchard shared in his phenomenal talk at the end of the day. “With the speed of change today, we can’t afford to learn alone.” Ken shared two elements of collaboration:

– essence: the heart-to-heart, value-to-value of the work

– form: the structures of the work (where and when will we work, whose name will appear first, etc.)

If you don’t start with the essence, your collaboration will not be successful. So often in education, we jump right into form, forgetting about the essence. How powerful would our collaboration (teamwork, PLC’s, etc.) be if we spent time truly discussing the essence of our work first?

While the music by Unknown Lyric was touching and energizing and passionate and creative, the words the guitarist spoke were even more amazing. “I want to inspire others to do and be greater than me.” Along the same lines, Ken Blanchard ended with this question, “What is your strategy to make a difference in the world?” It is my hope that as an educator, I inspire others to do great things. It is my belief that education is a great tool. The more we teach our children to think, wonder, question, reflect, and do good for others, the better our world will be.  How will you inspire others? What will you do to show someone that they matter? How will you make a difference starting today?2012-12-01 15.03.32

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Questions without easy answers

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Amy's Reflections

“Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.”  ~ W. Edward Deming

Is your system getting the results you want? Are all of your students achieving at high levels? Are all of your teachers using the best instructional strategies to engage all students in authentic learning opportunities at high levels? Do all of your leaders serve as collaborative, instructional leaders with a clear vision of the future for their school and your district?

Most of us cannot answer yes to all of the above questions. So what now? What will you do to get different results? How will you redesign your system so that the results you see are better aligned to your vision? What needs to change in order to create stronger leaders, teachers, students, thinkers, schools, and systems?

What questions do you need to ask in order to begin the process? Where will you begin?  What next?

 

 

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Reflective questions

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Amy's Reflections

I have recently spoken with a few colleagues about the importance of asking reflective questions. I used to think that part of my role as a coach and an administrator was to make sure to share as much information with teachers as possible, especially if it was information I thought was important. Over time, however, I have come to see the value in asking a reflective question to a leader or a group of leaders to spark a conversation amongst the group.

Rather than sit and deliver information, I think we all need to rethink our role as leaders in the learning process. No one can possibly have all the knowledge, and we know that two heads are better than one, and three are better than two. How can we help those we lead come to new understandings without giving them our opinions or thoughts? By asking reflective questions, providing time for collaborative discussions, and facilitating those discussions when necessary.

What questions are you asking to facilitate new learning?

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What I’m reading these days

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Amy's Reflections

Since I am doing a TON of reading for my three doctoral courses this, leaving little time to write new posts lately, I decided to share some quick thoughts on what I am reading.

– School Leadership that Works by Marzano, Waters and McNulty
Chapter 4- The 21 Responsibilities of a Leader- really resonated with me on this reading. If leaders were intentional about the 21 responsibilities listed here, especially when confronting change and new initiatives (as chapter 5 addresses), we would have even more successful schools with more leadership capacity at all levels.

My favorite line: “Deep changes require deep learning, and leaders must build teacher learning into the everyday fabric of school life.”

– The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander
What a fascinating read and a new way of thinking for me!  The book walks the reader through 12 practices recommended for reframing your thinking, seeing the positive, and getting the most out of your own life.

My favorite lines: “Draw a different frame around the same set of circumstances and new pathways come into view.”  “The practice of giving the A allows the teacher to line up with her students in their efforts to produce the outcome, rather than lining up with the standards against these students.”

– A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the World  by Daniel Pink

An interesting look at right versus left-brained thinking and why we need to use both sides of our brains to make life better.

My favorite line: “But America’s test-happy system also has several weaknesses that are only recently being acknowledged.”

– Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement by Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth & Christopher Lehman

We are discussing this as a book club within my department at work.  This is a great text that leads a team through the rethinking necessary to make significant transitions in order to successfully implement the Common Core State Standards.

My favorite line: “… ask whether your students are conversing in equally analytic, text-based ways.  You might consider how your school can recommit itself to teaching high-level comprehension skills through read-aloud and accountable talk.”

Have also read or started:

  • Who Moved My Cheese- Dr. Spencer Johnson
  • The APA Manual
  • Writing the Winning Thesis or Dissertation – Glatthorn and Joyner
  • Leaders of Learning- DuFour and Marzano

What are you reading and enjoying?  Discuss.  🙂

Posted in Doctoral Journey, Leadership, reflection | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Are you still learning?

Posted on September 2, 2012 by Amy's Reflections

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about professional development (PD).

  • How it is delivered
  • How it is received
  • Who participates
  • Who is a natural professional developer
  • Who is uncomfortable in the role
  • How it can occur through social media, personal conversations, professional readings, or through workshops

I often wonder why “life-long learning” is part of so many educators’ vision, mission, or belief statements, yet active participation in true learning through professional development doesn’t come easily or naturally to many of those same educators. Why do we think we are done learning when we enter our own classroom? How do administrators continue their learning once they become leaders? Do all educators believe that they have more to learn: from one another, from others, from within?
I LOVE learning through reading and discussion with colleagues. I LOVE planning,  facilitating, and participating in engaging PD. I LOVE participating in #Satchat and other twitter conversations with new colleagues from around the globe; I am challenged to think about new and different ideas as I hear what others are trying in their schools/districts. I have just begun my doctoral studies and am reading a lot of leadership and research books for my first month of classes.  I look forward to dialogue with my cohort throughout this three-year process.

I know that not all of my colleagues share my love of these things. What can we do, as leaders, to support on-going learning for all educators? How do we redefine our expectations so that adult learning is part of our conversations?

Just some of my thoughts at this time.  What are your thoughts on this topic?

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Intentional Leadership

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Amy's Reflections

“In order for a shared vision to impact the day-to-day work of people throughout an organization, its members must be able to understand how their work contributes to a larger purpose. So effective leaders constantly remind people of the significance of their work and how it is contributing to an important collective endeavor.” ~ DuFour and Marzano, Leaders of Learning

There have been many journals, articles, books, dissertations, blogs, and tweets written about what makes an effective leader. I know I have spent time reflecting on my own strengths as a leader and what I can do to grow and improve. However, regardless of the skills or attributes we deem as important for an effective leader, the question of whether or not we are actually effective depends on those we lead and the actions they take. This has led me to the concept of intentional leadership.

I think about times where, as a coach or a principal, I worked hard to help teachers see their own strengths and then help their colleagues see the value in trying on a new strategy or approach that they had found to be successful for their students. I wonder if my intent was as clear as it should have been. Did the teachers truly recognize what I wanted them to see in themselves? Did they know that I was trying to empower them to be leaders within their teams? Did the other teachers recognize that I was trying to build capacity within our site? To show that we had many experts on site? Was I leading with intention or was I trying to subtly manipulate them into coming to a new belief?

I often wonder if our leadership intentions are as clear to those we lead as we think they are. If you got all of the stakeholders from your site or district together and asked them what the organization’s most important work is, or what the organization’s leader values above all else, would you hear the same answer?

In Leaders of Learning DuFour and Marzano talk about “effective empowerment”, which they say “…does not mean encouraging people to go off and do whatever they want. It means creating the conditions that help people succeed”. When I think about that in terms of intentional leadership, I think it is critical that we are clear about our vision as well as the strengths of our colleagues so that we can empower each of them, individually and collectively, to use their strengths to help us reach our vision. If we are intentional in our leadership, people know what we believe their strengths to be and know what we think they can achieve. They also know that we hope they go above and beyond our expectations, think outside of the box and take unchartered courses to reach new outcomes. When we intentionally share how we think stakeholders, individually and collectively, can help our system reach our vision, we are empowering everyone to have ownership of the work. Too often we think people know what we think and believe without us every communicating the specifics.

One way in which I believe I can be more intentional is to share my journey as a learner. We often list being a life-long learner or being willing to admit you don’t know everything, as critical skills for teachers, coaches, and leaders. Yet people don’t always talk about what they are reading and learning, or how they are expanding their repertoire. Some people spend anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour on twitter every day, reading information from the members of a PLN, where one tweet often takes you to a new blog or journal you’ve never seen before; I do this. Some of us spend time going back to school for more formal learning experiences; I start this again next week! Some people write a blog or publish articles or write books; I’ve started this blog. Some participate in twitter chats around specific educational topics; I am now co-moderating the West Coast #Satchat every Saturday morning! Others attend edcamps, professional workshops, or conferences; I’ve done some of this recently. Many people engage in conversations with colleagues (personally or virtually) to push their thinking or learn something new; check! One of my favorite ideas is when people write blog posts that document what they’ve been reading lately. I love to get new links from the people already in my PLN, who I respect and admire. I haven’t done a post like this yet, but it’s on my to-do list. No matter the method, it is important that we are sharing our learning journey with those we lead. No one knows it all, and if the people we lead don’t know that we are still learning and reflecting, we aren’t modeling that which we hope to see throughout our system.

It is my goal to be a more intentional leader. How are you leading with intention? What would your colleagues say was more important to you? How would they know?

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Redefining Professional Development

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Amy's Reflections
The more I have the opportunity the attend professional development workshops outside of my district, the more I reflect on my evolving definition of meaningful professional development. I have always been fascinated by the facilitators of PD who don’t seem to take adult learning needs into account. You know the ones- the sage on the stage, who talks (or reads off a slide) for hours on end, with little regard for our need to stop and reflect or collaborate. There are still people in our field who need to plan more effective ways to engage adults in meaningful learning and reflection. But what is more troubling to me now is the lack of social media and web-based references in PD.

Lecture theatre Perth college of tafe royalty free stock photograph in gallery Interiors and exteriors is in public domain

 

When someone presents information for an hour, a few hours, a full day, or even longer, without ever acknowledging that there are other resources available, it makes me question their motive or purpose. Who can truly work in isolation these days? Who can claim to be the lone expert in any area of education? Shouldn’t we be encouraging each other to seek out and share additional resources that help our work? There are still many presenters, whether part of public or private organizations, who seem to approach professional development with the belief that they hold the important information and we, the audience, are lucky they are willing to tell us some of it.
     I have had two recent experiences (that shall remain unnamed!) that led me to leave the day more frustrated than exhilarated about my learning. In both cases, I sat through an entire full day of keynote speeches and breakout sessions around various topics of current interest to me and my district colleagues. Neither “conference” made a single reference to Twitter, though I tried to do a search for relevant hashtags and to follow the presenters, often without any luck. In no presentation were we given any references for web-based resources, whether it be blogs, professional organizations, other districts doing the work, etc. In some cases, I literally sat for an hour while someone read to me information that was on a power point presentation in front of me, that was taken directly off of a public website or a published book.
     This is neither an exaggeration nor a joke. These conferences actually cost my district money, with the intention that I gain new knowledge/insights/resources to bring back to support the work we are doing to enhance teaching and learning for all of our students. I know how to always find something positive in a situation, and I do admit that I picked up a few tidbits of useful information in each conference. However, when I look at these experiences as a facilitator of professional development it makes me realize that we need to redefine professional development in the modern age of education.
     Here are what I am now coming to realize are my non-negotiables for quality, effective professional development for adult learners:
  • Dynamic, engaging presentations of information in short, meaningful chunks
  • Time for participants to reflect and engage with one another about the content
  • References to social media and web-based resources
  • Acknowledgment that collectively we all know more than we know in isolation; tap into the participants’ knowledge/ background/ experiences (consider a pre-assessment of your audience)
  • Time for participants to plan/brainstorm/discuss ways to apply new learning to current work
  • Potential for follow-up with colleagues outside of the conference (Twitter back channels or hashtags, google docs, edmodo, etc.)
     The more I read about #edcamps, the more I want to both experience one and facilitate one within my own district. For those of you unfamiliar with edcamps, these are “unconferences” where people come together for free, where the participants are also the presenters. We are surrounded by smart, educated people with years of combined experience in the field. We need to tap into our own expertise and share the learning AND the leadership!
     It does not escape my notice that this reflection comes at the beginning of August- Connected Educator Month. As I realize the value in connecting, especially through twitter and my ever-expanding PLN (thank you all!), I want my colleagues to find value in connecting as well! We need to come together to share resources, ask questions, brainstorm solutions, and examine both successes and struggles. We need to realize that our professional development can and should take place every day, through a variety of networks and opportunities, and that the one-stop, lecture-style approach to presentations should be a way of our past, not our future.
      How are you redefining processional development for yourself, your school and your district? How are you engaging the unconnected? 
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Lesson Study

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Amy's Reflections

As we enter into a new school year, talking and planning about our work, I keep coming back to the idea of Lesson Study as a way to meet many of our professional needs.  As a coach and a principal, I found Lesson Studies to be some of the best days spent with my teachers, collaborating and learning side-by-side.  I was fortunate to have the budget to afford full day releases for grade level teams to come together in this way, and it was so powerful. For the purpose of ensuring a common language, below is a summary of how I structured Lesson Study (based off of the Japanese model).

A team of teachers would have a substitute take over their classes for a full day in order to complete a Lesson Study.  In the beginning, I would facilitate the work, though it was my goal for the coach and/or teachers to take on that role once they had experienced the process.  We would begin the day setting the expectation- there was always one instructional and/or curricular area that a grade level wanted more focused support in (small group instruction, engagement during Read Alouds, structured partner talk using academic language, etc.) and that would be established before coming to the meeting.  The facilitator would review the focus area and the current data of the class in which the lesson would be taught.  Reviewing the data, whether formal or informal, is a critical step in supporting teachers with the bridge between formative assessment and instruction, which is made out of sound planning.  Once the group had a sense of the students and the focus area, we would begin to plan a lesson.

The first part I always made clear to the team was that we were collaboratively planning a lesson for this particular class and we wouldn’t decide who would teach the lesson (and it could be one or more of us co-teaching!) until after it was fully planned. In my school we were using a common planning document to support lesson planning, so we all had a copy of that document as well as the curricular resources for the grade level and content.  This became a truly collaborative discussion as we went through each area of what we had defined, as a staff, were crucial elements to a strong lesson.  The discussions became richer when teams were comfortable enough for members to disagree with one another.  When teachers have to justify their thinking, whether it is about where to chunk a text for a shared reading or what type of sentence frame to create to support partner talk, they begin to see what elements of their repertoire have purpose and meaning for students and which elements are things they have always done just because.  In addition, it is so powerful for teachers to have to find their own voice and a common language to explain the work they do in isolation in their classrooms.  If a school has a specific professional development focus, this is a great way for the group to discuss that focus and what it looks like in a lesson plan.

Needless to say, the facilitator often has a tough job during the planning of the lesson.  He or she must keep the group focused on the task, aware of the time, and ensure that all participants have a voice.  At some point, you have to make sure everyone has a complete lesson recorded so that any one of them would feel comfortable teaching the lesson as planned.  Once the plan has been created, the facilitator helps the group determine who will be the actual teacher (or teachers) of the lesson.  Part of this discussion centers around the purpose- we developed a lesson as a team, we want to see it in action, observing the students, and then determine what worked well for students and what needs revising.  With new teams, or a school new to this process, I recommend that the principal or coach volunteer to teach the first round.  This gave me “street cred” with a staff who didn’t know me well yet, and took the pressure off of the teachers, who had never experienced any sort of peer observations.  Whenever possible, I encouraged the team to co-teach, with various members taking on parts of the lesson to share the load and have more ownership of the teaching.  

Next the entire group would go into the selected class to teach the lesson.  Anyone not delivering instruction was responsible for sitting as close to students as possible to record what they were saying and/or doing throughout the lesson.  We set clear expectations for the observers during this time, even ensuring that we were spread out around the room to record as much anecdotal notes about students as possible.

After teaching the lesson, the entire group returns to the planning room to debrief.  The facilitator ensures that the conversation is about the implementation of the group lesson plan, and not an evaluation of the teacher(s) who delivered the lesson.  Student work and quotes are critical to helping teachers analyze the effectiveness of the actual lesson as it related to student performance.  The facilitator must also make sure to bring the conversation back to the instructional focus of the school so that teachers can discuss what that focus looked like in action in the classroom.  The second part of the debrief involves the application phase.  The team members discuss what this particular class needs next, following up on this lesson.  They also discuss how they would adapt this particular lesson to meet the needs of their specific students.  This can lead to one of two things: They make a commitment to trying the lesson in their own room the next day or the entire team revises the lesson and goes directly into another room to teach it again (I would not recommend this for your first round of Lesson Study, but for future stages, when the planning phase can be done quicker with a more experienced team).          

The final, and truly significant, stage of Lesson Study, is to debrief the process of the work.  Teachers need time to reflect on the collaborative nature of planning, observing and debriefing a lesson as a group.  The hope is that the teachers find value in the process to improve their own instructional performance, their collaboration with their team, and ultimately their students’ performance.  What is most powerful is when the team becomes hungry for more collaboration time, when they ask for more time to conduct Lesson Studies on their own and when they begin to explore peer observations.  

As I look ahead to this new school year, and talk to my colleagues about the need for more in-depth, collaborative planning, I believe that Lesson Study is the best way to move our instructional conversations forward.

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Asking for permission

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Amy's Reflections

I have been grappling with the concept of asking for permission for awhile now. People often look to their leaders to ask for permission to do something. Some leaders have created a culture where people MUST ask for permission before doing something and people are fearful of not asking for permission ahead of time. As a new principal I was once given this advice, “Asking for forgiveness afterwards is easier than asking for permission before”.

I feel that I am at a cross roads with this issue. On the one hand, I want to empower the strong, smart, professionals within our system to feel confident in their choices without having to ask for permission to do what they feel is best for students. On the other hand, I know and understand the value in creating a cohesive system where there are commonalities and structures to ensure the system runs smoothly for all. Where is the balance? Once we have created, defined, articulated, and communicated a shared vision, should members of the system have total freedom within it? Common- common core, common assessments, common vision- are these really different ways to say we all have a commitment to ensuring that ALL of our students achieve high levels of greatness within our system? If we do all share a common vision, does it matter if we take different paths to reach the destination?

The more I think about this concept, the more I hear people asking for permission in a variety of ways.  There seem to be degrees:

  • Formal requests- someone waits to have approval/ permission from a superior before moving forward with a task
  • Informal requests/ check in’s- someone wants to run an idea by their superior/ colleague before moving forward, which is less about permission and more about hesitancy, insecurity, or collaboration
  • FYI- information shared before, during or after an action just to make sure everyone is aware and in the loop

I think relationships plan a critical role.  I asked my brother about this concept within his work, something completely outside of and different from education. He shared with me that he doesn’t feel like he has to ask his boss for permission to do anything, because his boss expects him to a) complete his work competently and efficiently and b) communicate directly if there are questions or concerns. What I also heard from my brother was a lot about trust and confidence. He and his boss have developed a relationship with clear, open communication that allows them to trust one another and their day-to-day decisions. His boss knows that he is competent in his role and my brother feels confident in his abilities; he also knows where to go if he needs support.

When I hear teachers ask for permission to do something- whether it is about curriculum, assessment, instruction, collaboration, research, or communication- I wonder about their relationships with their supervisors as well as their colleagues. I also wonder about their confidence in themselves as the instructional leaders of their classrooms. Teachers often hang onto the pendulum of education for dear life, as it swings from one side to the other.  Teachers who work in schools and districts that are part of Program Improvement (a CA system that rates schools based on accountability measures) have gone through a variety of structural changes that often play out in the form of mandates with little room for freedom. They have been told to read directly from their Teacher’s Editions and later have been told they may not open the TE during the day- to teach without it and create their own curriculum. With all of these mixed messages it is no wonder that teachers feel they need to ask for permission to try something new, or to explore a new way of helping their students access content.

The challenge to us all is to help open the lines of communication so that collaboration can support sound instructional discussions instead of people waiting for someone to tell them what to do or waiting to get permission to do what they know is best for students. I would like to hear fewer people asking the question, “Can I do this?” to one supervisor, and more people asking their colleagues, “How can we do this?,” “How can our students do this?,” and “What else can we do together?”

*May 2016: As I reread this blog post, I am struck by how often the issue of permission still comes up in my day-to-day work. It is also worrisome to think that when we have a culture of people needing permission for everything, we do not have a culture of innovation or risk-taking. We are creating systems where our adults are not accessing the skills needed in the 21st Century, which means our students are often not exposed to those same skills. Whose permission do YOU need to make a change? How are you building self-efficacy in the educators and students with whom you work?

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