This fall, I have had the distinct privilege of doing two things I have not done before. First, I was invited to testify at the Senate Education Listening Tour when it stopped in Bremerton, WA. I was the principal representative there to talk about education funding. I spoke in front of about 400 people, mostly educators, but also some parents, community members, and business owners. We have made the job of teaching, and of running schools and governments, very complicated. I'm not one to buy into conspiracy theories. I know first hand that the vast majority of people who work in schools and public service are really good, intelligent, caring, hard-working people. That being said, we have made things so complicated that it is very difficult to do the work that we all love the most: helping others.

In that vein of helping others, I also had the privilege of serving as a Spanish teacher at my school for about 6 weeks. I have been a certified teacher for 23 years. I have taught middle and high school math and English, I have taught graduate level research and statistics, and I still teach classes for future principals. I am the person who has the privilege of teaching teachers and other staff in my district. But I am NOT a certified Spanish teacher. I took 3 years of Spanish in high school and 2 years of Spanish in college, but I am NOT fluent. That being said, after over a year of not being able to find a qualified Spanish teacher, I decided to put myself out there to help.

I am already a busy woman with a more-than-full-time job. I am the principal of a high school, three alternative schools, and I am the district assessment director. I am a single mom of two teenagers. I am frequently an invited speaker at regional conferences, and am part of several statewide teaching and learning projects. To find the time, about 20 hours a week, to prepare for, teach, and evaluate 2 Spanish classes, well let's just say it came out of my hide.

I know what I did was not good enough. I loved the opportunity to brush up on my Spanish with the students, but it was very challenging. It was challenging to teach something outside my area of expertise. It was a challenge to find the time and energy to be peppy and enthusiastic every day. And it was a challenge to teach kids who had been without a teacher for over a year.

That being said, I helped all kids learn. There were a few who thanked me, but as I sit here and write this, my heart hurts for what has become a recurring theme in public service. There is a significant portion of our society that feels it is acceptable to criticize others, brutally at times, with seemingly no willingness to consider things from another's perspective. If someone doesn't "like" their teacher, or if their teacher is "learning" or, in my case, extremely overwhelmed and exhausted, then it's ok to call that person a bitch.

Yes. Yesterday at conferences, a parent called me a bitch. And she made it clear she was quoting her son.

In truth, I have a strong personality, and I can't really argue with this assessment of me. I have very high expectations for myself, my staff, and students, and my school. I am there for the sole purpose of educating all who cross my path, and for opening as many doors for people as I can. So yes, I can be a bitch at times, but it's for a good cause. But it was what she said next that brought me to tears, and those tears have not stopped flowing.

"Everyone knows that the only people who become principals are the people who can't teach."

I have been a teacher since I was 6. I used to play school in the summers, making up math worksheets for the neighborhood kids. I have taught middle school, high school, and college. I have made it my career, and it is my passion, to learn more and more each year about the art of teaching, and how to help the teachers I know and love become better at their work.

I love the work of being a high school principal. I feel like I am saving lives every day, and I love knowing that I am making a difference for kids and adults every day. But society, this is a wake-up call. If you keep brutally criticizing and abusing public servants, the right kind of people will give up, and all that will be left are the wrong kind. Think twice before you decide you have the need and the right to be "honest". You just might not have enough information to hold on to your opinion, and you just might do more harm than good. 

Service

Yesterday, I spent much of the day helping with a Habitat for Humanity project. I have been familiar with the organization for quite some time, but it's the first time I've been able to help with a project myself.

I love the foundational ideas of Habitat for Humanity, particularly the idea of "sweat equity". On this crisp, beautiful, sunny day, about 15 of us spent our time cutting, nailing, caulking, painting, hanging doors, spreading dirt and gravel, and all of us were there to help a young man build his first home. He should get the keys on December 8. 

It's so hard for me to understand how helping people find a place to live has become so difficult. Even in talking with the staff, they haven't done many houses in the county because dealing with septic is much more complex that building where there is sewer. Thankfully, this particular project is a "county" project, and this, the 2nd of three homes, is nearly finished.

So many of our school children lack a safe, consistent place to call home. The number of homeless youth and families is startling, and there just doesn't seem to be a way to fix this. It was precisely because of this rise in youth homelessness that I was so excited to help the Habitat project.

I remember learning as a child about "basic needs" that everyone needs and deserves. There are three of them: food, shelter, and clothing. I would really like to see us do something to address the housing problem in Jefferson County. It's heartbreaking to think of how many people are struggling just to find a safe place to sleep, night after night after night.

Motherhood

This morning I was privileged to attend a beautiful ceremony in honor of Miss Lindsey Mustread. Lindsey left our physical world last July, but she is still so very present in our school and community.

By all rights, Lindsey should be a spunky, active 6th grader, attending dances, learning about water quality, and sharing what she is thankful for. Instead, I stood with her family as her school friends dedicated a beautiful, native evergreen tree in her honor.

The ceremony was well attended. The day was breathtaking both in its beauty and its still cold. As we stood huddled together listening to people share memories of Lindsey, calling her a spitfire, laughing about her "perfect eye-rolling", and generally missing her, I was deeply touched with the love and friendship that was present, sending the message, "Lindsey's life mattered".

I had the honor of standing near Lindsey's mom. Brandy is so amazingly strong. I couldn't keep the tears from spilling from my eyes, and yet Brandy walked stoically up to the dedication, accepted the loving hugs of many of Lindsey's classmates, and helped others with their sadness and grief at the loss of Lindsey.

While I was reflecting on Brandy's role as the mom in this story, I began thinking of a novel I'm reading right now, Firefly Lane. A central theme of the story is motherhood, the complex, ambiguous, shifting role, the absent mother, that "at home" mother, the childless mother who chose a career over kids.

In the book, and in real life, events we didn't choose have such a profound affect on being a mom.

The terrible truth of grief is that there is no resolution. It does not end, and it is rarely predictable. People around us grow weary of our pain, and their busy lives require them to focus their energy on their families, understandably so. Somehow, we find a way to learn how to move forward in a world that is so unfamiliar it does not even seem real. We hope it is not real.

The truth about motherhood is that it never stops. It doesn't stop if a child is lost. It doesn't stop when a child becomes an adult. It doesn't stop when a child becomes angry, mean, even hateful. It doesn't stop when the mother can no longer care for her children.

Motherhood simply is.

I joke frequently that "I will never be mother of the year", yet I know that for my two kids, that's exactly who I am. I'm far from perfect, often tired and irritable, so much so that I can't even muster the energy to pretend to be cheerful. I never planned on doing this job alone, and yet that is the path I am on. And it's the most important, honorable, privileged path of my life.

Watching Brandy love her sons and her daughter this morning, I am reminded what is really important. I am so thankful for motherhood, for my mom's example, and my grandmothers' example, and for the opportunity to do my very best raising my children.

We have today. Let's make it the very best day it can be.

Reflection on my Work

This morning, I am fortunate enough to be at UW Tacoma with about 40 other school employees from around the state. Teachers, principals, district office staff, we are together in a room discussing teaching and learning. It's a beautiful day -- cold, clear -- and there is something about being on a university campus that is enlightening and inspiring.

I personally love this work--talking about teaching and learning--and that in and of itself warms my heart and spirit. The process for our work today, however, is amazing.

Our day began with an overview of UW CEL's work, beliefs, and mission. We then were asked to engage in an "Open Space" process wherein we each, as participants, introduced ourselves and shared one topic/question that is on our minds. That topic was written on a piece of paper and placed on a schedule board which then became our agenda.

For the rest of the day, from 10:00 - 2:00, we have the opportunity to self-select four topics for discussion as well as our role as a learner. The Open Space principles are:

• Whoever comes are the right people
• Whenever it starts is the right time
• Whatever happens is the only thing that could have
• When it's over, it's over

We also followed the Law of Two Feet: If at any time during our time together you find yourself in any situation where you are neither learning nor contributing, use your two feet, go someplace else.

The topics I am discussing, and listening to today, include:

• Feedback
• Coaching
• Student growth goals
• Support for principals and teachers beyond initial training

Color me inspired!

Civility, Discourse, and Kindness

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit a classroom where the teacher shared her professional goals with the class. She feels compelled to teach them about Civil Discourse -- to be active, responsible, and polite speakers and listeners -- before they leave high school.

I have been thinking about and observing that ever since.

We have learned how to be confrontational, at times downright defiant, in our communication. We become easily defensive, and we tend to personalize opinions of others rather than discussing them. People with whom we disagree, we don't like. And, often times that isn't enough: we then need to ensure we disrespect them and encourage others to dislike them too.

Why can't we just agree we are not going to like everyone and move on?

I have some specific examples that have been weighing on my mind.

As we were preparing for a Veterans' Day Assembly, I noticed several students with their hats and hoods on. Most students, when asked, quickly removed their hats and put them away. One, with a hood, did this instead. As he was removing his hood, he quickly replaced it with a stocking hat. When I asked him to take off his hat, saying "We don't allow hats in the auditorium", his response to me was, "Did you hear what you just said?" I looked at him again and said, "We don't allow people to wear hats in the auditorium". He said, "That's better", and took off his hat, which had been hiding his headphones. I asked him to remove his headphones as well. The boy talked during much of the assembly. After it was over, he and two of his friends attempted to skip off campus. I redirected them, but they found another way.

I'm still quite surprised that he didn't understand the importance of being respectful, especially during an assembly honoring our Veterans.

It's exhausting.

Earlier in the day, I walked into a classroom and a student looked up at me and shook his head. When I sat next to him to ask what was up, he denied shaking his head. It's quite possible he did not realize he had done it. It's become acceptable, even honorable, to disrespect people in positions of authority.

Why?

For these two kids, I am confident they don't like me because I address their misbehavior. I can live with being disliked. It is frustrating to be disrespected, particularly because it happens on a daily basis.

As I have reflected on these interactions through the lens of civility, discourse, and kindness, I truly want to talk to each of them to try to understand the answer to the question, Why do they feel it's acceptable to be defiant and disrespectful?

But then again, it shouldn't surprise me.

On the news, on Facebook, in conversation, people have no problem disrespecting our public leaders. It's not enough to disagree with their political views, their decisions, their party, people blatantly and openly disrespect our leaders.

Every day.

If a republican is in a position of leadership, the vocal democrats will openly disrespect him, and vice versa.

We don't take time to learn about candidates. We dehumanize them, often strictly on party lines. It is rare that we engage in open, civil dialogue to listen and understand, even if we disagree.

Especially if we disagree.

For me, I will work on how I confront defiance and disrespect. I will understand that for many of the children today, it's all they know, because that is what we, our society, is teaching them. But more than that, I will work to engage in civil discourse, be an active listener, and help plant the seeds of compassion and democratic values so that the fabric of our society can start to mend.

Customer Service and Kindness

I had an interesting experience on Sunday afternoon. I believe it fits in well with the K for Kindness message I'm trying to send.

My son is eligible for an upgrade on his cell phone. We happened to be in Silverdale, so we decided to stop in the cell phone provider in person to take care of this purchase. We walked into the store, one we've been in many times, and they have again changed how customers check in and are served. A friendly employee greeted us, asked for my cell phone number, and the reason for our visit. We were then told to feel free to browse.

All the items were tucked away in alcoves around the store, and other customers were busy playing with them or being sold on all the features. Very few seats were available, nor was there any place to stand that wasn't in the way. After about 15 minutes, I started to look around the store. The colors were bright, over-stimulating, and the energy of the employees matched. I listened to one customer trying to get options regarding her family's monthly plan, while the salesperson tried to persuade her to give up the "unlimited data" option because "you aren't really using it anyway". I heard another salesperson try to up-sell a phone. "We're completely out of stock of the iPhone 6, but we have the iPhone 6+ ready to deliver today".

For me, I waited quietly. I have been recovering from a bad cold/flu bug, and Sunday was the first day in a long time I wasn't scheduled to be somewhere. Let me paint the picture. I was wearing my glasses, no make-up, hair pushed back with a headband, and I was dressed for a day off. I'm certain I was not exuding the epitome of "professional", despite the fact that I am, indeed, a professional woman.

When the over-stimulated sales agent finally got to our name, he came right over, asked what we were there for, and then announced, "I can't really help you because you have a little bit of a past-due balance on your account." He then proceeded to lecture me about the fact that sometimes credit cards expire and I could just go online and take care of it. Oh, and did I want to go ahead and order that iPhone 6 (or better yet, walk out the door with a 6+) from him?

No.

I am quite confident that if I had been dressed in my suit and heels, hair styled perfectly, with the right touch of make up, he would not have talked to me in such a way. I am certain other customers heard our exchange -- after all, I was listening to other customers' conversations while I waited -- and since when it is appropriate for a sales person, on the floor of the store, to talk at length with a customer about "a bit of a past-due balance".

Especially after I told him I did not want to discuss that with him, and that I would take care of it right away.

I am proud of myself. I was not unkind, though I was very annoyed. I now have cell phone, home phone, and internet service with this company. They receive a good chunk of my money each month, and on the few times a year I actually go to see them in person, I expect to be treated well.

Quite disappointing.

But what is the real lesson here? In reality, I could easily change cell phone companies, but is one any different from another? We are such a society of incentives, that we seem to have forgotten about civility. What happened to treating people with polite kindness simply because it's the right thing to do? The problem is that one bad experience starts a ripple effect, and as much as I hate to admit it, it created a damper of my attitude for the rest of the day.

It makes me truly appreciate the people who know how to slow down, smile, and be excellent to each other, even if the customer's wishes can't be met right in that moment.

Resiliency

A few years ago, I gave a series of presentations on resiliency. I called it "The ROCK". The ASB/Leadership teacher at our high school asked me to provide some 5-10 minute opening remarks for a group of leadership students who would be spending the day at our school. I had come to realize that 5-10 minutes of air time with kids is a true gift, and I wanted to say something meaningful, something beyond "Welcome to our school! You are all amazing kids and your leadership is truly making a difference in your schools". So, I asked myself, what did I have to say, in 5-10 minutes, that could impact these kids?

That year had been a tough one. Our community experienced a series of losses that left us all emotionally fragile, and many quite traumatized. We saw deaths of students, parents, family members, serious car accidents, all in a 6-month period. We were on edge, afraid even to ask, "What next?", or "Is it over yet?"

A few years before this, we had the Rachel's Challenge staff visit our school a few times. Rachel Scott's message of kindness left a deep impact on my heart. I can make a long list of the times I have been unkind, intentionally and unintentionally, and I knew I wanted KINDNESS to be part of the message.

As I thought about my year, I knew that a lot of people, through their trauma, were seeing the world through the "worst case scenario" perspective. Despite all the tough times, there truly was a lot to celebrate. Sometimes, focusing on the positive during the worst of times is the only thing that helps us through. I knew I wanted OPTIMISM to be part of my message.

My own two children were perhaps the greatest source of inspiration. They were particularly hurt; you see, they had lost their father six months earlier in one of these tragedies. As I struggled to help them process their grief and find reasons to live and be happy again. Teaching them RESILIENCY would be critical.

Then, of course, I had to look at myself. My world had been shaken off its foundation. I, myself, was not feeling very happy or stable. I found myself angry, defensive, frustrated, and unhappy. It was easy to point fingers and play the blame game with others, but I realized, if I really wanted to be happy and healthy again, I needed to work on myself first, and I needed to work hard to understand others' perspective and feelings. In short, I needed to embrace CURIOSITY in order to foster that understanding.

As I looked at those words, I realized quickly that if I rearranged them, they would spell ROCK: Resiliency. Optimism. Curiosity. Kindness. This became the quick speech to the leadership students and it evolved into a 1-2 hour presentation.

Now, looking back over the past four years of our family's recovery, I can see that these keystones have served as my "North Star", my guiding light, my foundation, to help me settle when times have been tough. Having recently been asked to speak again on resiliency, I thought it would be helpful to return to the start of this journey and reflect back on the highs and lows of our healing process. Over the next weeks, I hope to write more about these experiences as I refine the message I want to share with the group.

IGNITE! NASSP 2013 Convention

As Day 1 of the NASSP 2013 convention in Washington, DC comes to a close, my mind is swirling with ideas and questions.

How can we move from our current status quo of student work to begin to integrate "crowd-sourcing"?

Technology: so many possibilities, so little time. I love the idea of "student intelligence". And it's not what you think...

Arne Duncan; hearing the executive director for the US Department of Education was a mixed bag; some of it was clearly "party line" stuff, but the Q&A afterwards was insightful and thought provoking.

And of course, there is the whole dynamic of being in DC on this, the eve of the "sequestration" train wreck.

Crowd-sourcing is an incredible concept. I had not hear that phrase prior to today. Read up on it -- it's a skill set for the 21st century and beyond. How do we help our kids develop the skills to "harness the crowd"? And, the key? It's not just the crowd in our physical proximity. It's the "crowd" around the world.

Student intelligence. When we hear that, we think about "how smart are our kids?", but in this case, it means, "How smart are WE about our kids?" I am fascinated by the idea of data mining and creating a data system that allows us to know our kids better on 50, 60, 70 different data points. NOT JUST ACHIEVEMENT!!

And Arne Duncan -- we were able to spend an hour with him, and he has some interesting ideas. I don't have any problem being called on the carpet, but I detest the phrase "drop out factories" to refer to struggling high schools. But, the idea that we need to help ALL kids be college AND career ready, well, I can wrap my heart around that.

My morning was spent on a tour of the city, visiting the beautiful monuments. I am struck with the signifant differences between today and my last visit in 1998. Now, it is rare to see people on the streets. Government buildings and monuments have strict policies and tight security. This post 9-11 world in which we live is different.

Can't wait to see what the next two days bring. The conference has only just begun!!
 

 Sitting in the high school library this afternoon, we are enjoying discussing the strengths and challenges of our school. I'm quite impressed with the positive energy and creative thinking that is taking place.

Our students enjoy two half-days/early release, which in turn provides our staff much needed time for collaboration and professional development. For the high school staff, our focus is on our accreditation visitation which will happen in May 2013 this year. As we work through analyzing our data, we are coming up with a variety of exciting options to consider for our kids. How can we increase the opportunity for students to earn "dual credit" in high school, meaning high school and college credit at the same time? How can we encourage our "natural student leaders" to use all their influence for good leadership, rather than... something else? :)

Meanwhile, at the middle school, the staff is exploring how better to meet kids where they are, particularly kids whose behaviors are interfering with learning. In many cases, students with emotional/behavioral disabilities are experiencing challenges at school, and the "normal" bag of tricks is often ineffective. The staff is in the process of researching different disabilities that impact some of our students and trying to learn more about what we can do.

All in all, an inspirational day!
 

Middle School Science

Recently, as I was visiting classrooms at Chimacum Middle School, I observed some 6th grade students making doInks. I know that Mr. G has his students using a variety of technology to learn science, but I had not heard of a doInk. It appears to be a short video animation, and the kids were explaining/demonstrating Newton's first, second, and third laws of motion. I am absolutely certain we did not learn about Newton's laws of motion in my 6th grade science class. In fact, I don't remember doing much science in 6th grade.

Several of the kids posted their doInks to their class blogs. I encourage you to check them  out. You can even post comments and ask questions. You might just be able to learn something as well!

http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=4771

Thoughts for the End of Winter

I sent this email out to staff and have modified it only slightly here. I'm actually thinking about using this blog to post my Friday Reflections rather than email. Hmmm, maybe all those Web 2.0 presentations I've been attending are finally starting to sink in!

As we approach the day, the end of the second trimester, I am reminded of the importance of several things:

Communication
Being optimistic and curious
Remembering to have some fun

This year again has been challenging in so many ways, but we really do have many successes to share. Just this morning, I was reflecting on the projects and programs our staff, classrooms, buildings, and district are involved in, and it truly is worth noting them. Here are just a few that come to mind on a blustery, winter day when we are all ready for spring:

• Student Led Conferences, advisory, and portfolios
• Senior Projects, with excellent support from our staff and community
• Several National Board Certified Teachers, with more submitting portfolios and applying for the next ound
• *Deep investment into the TPEP process (as scary as it is, we all know more than most teachers/administrators in other districts)
• Excellent participation and success in our extra curricular programs, such as music, sports, science olympiad, Destination Imagination, Majhan Awards, Interact Club...

As we approach the start of third trimester, with Student Led Conferences around the corner, I have just a few reminders:

• Please make every effort to help your students complete their portfolios and to schedule conferences with all your advisory kids.
• If you have a student struggling to complete a portfolio, CHS advisors please let Gary Coyan know, and CMS advisors, please let Shiobhan Fitzpatrick know
• Use advisory time to call parents and schedule/confirm the conferences (I usually have the kids do this)
• Be positive about the experience. Be clear when you communicate about the purpose.

A few thoughts on communication. Remember when we talked about, "If you're out of the loop, you don't know you are out of the loop"? That goes for administrators too. I have had more than one person lately share with me that they do not feel I am being effective. I really appreciate that information, yet I need to ask for more clarity. If there is something you feel I should be doing, please talk to me about it. I would be more than happy to discuss how I set my priorities each day. If you have a question about something I am doing, have done, or am not doing, please ask. I would love the opportunity to talk with you about this. The reality is, I am keenly aware of the tasks I am not able to complete during my work day and am trying to be as wise as I can about putting "first things first", but it does mean than some things are not being completed, and I recognize that those issues are often important to many people. Please just remember that I care greatly about each of you, about our school, students, and community. I would appreciate your optimism and curiosity during these challenging times.

Finally, as I shared with the Middle School on Wednesday, when asked, "How can we keep our heads above water?", here is my suggestion. I used the Principals' Conference as an example. My first priority was to make sure I was in attendance at the two key note addresses. At a national conference, we have the opportunity to hear big names, and this year it was Sir Ken Robinson and Dr. Douglas Reeves. Next, I wanted to be sure to gather information on the Common Core Standards and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Project, so I attended two sessions on these. The next thing I did was consider how I spend my time and how I enjoy spending my time, so I found two sessions on technology as tools and one on cyberbullying and digital citizenship. Finally, I looked for sessions that would be motivational and inspirational in nature and attended two sessions like that.

This pattern really works in life. First, figure out what are the one or two most important things. Make sure they get done. Then, attend to the next set of important things, and make sure they get done. Third, figure out what you are already doing and doing well, and focus some time on doing that even better. Finally, make sure to do something FUN that makes you feel great.

You, your health, your family, these are the most important things. Remember all the things you love and are doing well at your job, and please, always know you are appreciated.

Have a GREAT Friday, and make it a good day,

Whitney

Digital Citizenship

Lately it seems like a lot of my time as a principal is spent dealing with people trying to prohibit technology. In fact, I recently used the word "prohibition" to refer to how some people want me to approach personal electronic devices.

At a recent "copy room" impromptu conversation with a teacher, who demanded I enforce the "No Cell Phone Policy" school wide, and then proceeded to tell me she would be bringing this up at the faculty meeting, I found myself perplexed.

I think it would be ridiculous for me, as the principal, to require all staff to use technology as an instructional too. Imagine the memo: "Attention all staff: As of today, you will be required to allow students to use their cell phones as learning tools in your classroom. That is all."

Can you imagine what would happen?

Why, then, do so many teachers want us to do the opposite and BAN all cell phones from all classrooms?

Why do people want technology prohibition? Have we learned nothing from history?

The fact is, the computing power in the cell phones most kids are carrying is phenomenal. And it's free.

I am growing weary of the technology police.

Instead, why not embrace it, or at lease allow those of us who want to use these tools to embrace it?

Why not teach the importance of digital citizenship?

Why not recognize that students are engaged with their technology because it's just part of who they are and how they communicate?

Why not be curious about all "the hype"?

Inspired!

I am sitting in Bellevue trying to absorb all the knowledge, skill and inspiration from the past two days at the Association of Washington School Principals' Conference. A few highlights:

*Teacher Evaluation: Sunday's sessions focused on teacher evaluation. In a three-part series, we learned about legal guidelines of evaluation, new standards and criteria, and my favorite, from a favorite presenter Heather Knight, Coaching to support teaching.

*Professional Learning Communities: Bob Eaker and Janel Keating spent 4 hours Monday morning as our keynote presenters. What a gift! I have attended the Solution Tree Institute on PLCs before, and I completed the SPU Superintendent's program with Janel. I am always so excited after hearing information from them. Key points:

Four Questions to Guide the Work of Professional Learning Communities:

• What do we expect students to learn?[Focus on essential outcomes, power standards, learning targets, pacing.] Question to consider: What would this standard look like in student work if the standard was met?
• How will we know if the kids learn it?
• How do we respond when students experience difficulty in learning?
• How do we respond when students do learn?

Other Key Highlights:

• This work needs to be done kid by kid, skill by skill (not just looking at school level data)
• Find a way to have multi-dimensional feedback loops. How do teams share information with building leadership and district leadership? How does the district leadership facilitate the process?
• Be specific about defining the role of teacher leader and providing opportunrities for training and skill development
• Different teams will be at different levels of implementation and success; we need differentiated leadership and instruction for our teams just like we do for our students
• Make sure teachers understand the larger theoretical framework for PLCs and that we develop common language/understanding around our work; for example, does Formative Assessment mean the same thing to all people?
• Limit initiatives; celebrate the fact that we're doing the SAME WORK year after year, to a deeper level
• Use this filter for our actions, behaviors, and decisions: "Would this be good enough for our own children?"

Spent the afternoon learning about the Lincoln Center, a School-within-a-School at Tacoma's Lincoln High School.

And, my day ended with Marilyn McGuire: Gaining Power and Strength: Strategies for Navigating Through and Out of Difficult Terrain

Highlights

• Stop "Shoulding" on ourselves and others
• Allow ourselves to "Recalibrate" and do over when things didn't go the way we would like
• When things go better than expected, stop and think about what made that possible. Replicate those actions and decisions!
• Where is your loyalty: to a person or a purpose?
• Always come back to intention
• Avoid "Blargeting": Blaming and Targeting
• Be intentional with language: "I'm unclear" vs. "I'm confused"
• "We judge ourselves by intent; we judge others by behavior. Turn that around."
• Produce a "Success Memo" at least annually
• Find a new "F" word on the job: FUN!

My brain is full and happy!

Are the math standards too high?

I just got off the phone with a reporter from a local newspaper. He's preparing an article about No Child Left Behind and the fact that the schools in our district did not make AYP in the area of mathematics.

He asked me this question: "Is the bar too high for math?"

Emphatically no, I replied.

Why do I believe that? As I have watched my own kids come up through elementary school, I observed the heavy, heavy emphasis (dare I say bias?) placed on literacy. The school work kids were bringing home was reading and writing. Homework? Reading and writing. Enrichment? Reading and writing.

I have a degree in English, so believe me, I value literacy. I just can't help but wonder, though, what would happen if we placed the same emphasis on math as we do on literacy, what would happen to our math scores?

I drove by a lot of schools this summer. Wanna know the most common reader board message? "Have a safe summer. READ!"

What if we were broadcasting messages about math?

What if we made it easy to practice math on a daily basis?

I truly believe math achievement is a function of time. We need to spend more time practicing math!

The Weekend

We've somehow managed to make it to the weekend -- three weeks of school are under our belt. We sent 100 kids to camp for a week, our HS Band is performing in it's first field show of the year (UPDATE: They placed 3rd), and we had film director Tom Shadyac at our school on Friday to show his new movie, "I AM". It's amazing how many cool things are happening.

But partially because of all those cool things, I find my weekends more often than not devoted to recovery. I just awoke from a nap on the couch. I put on exercise clothes this morning, and am still wearing them in hopes I'll find the motivation to work out -- I need it for many reasons.

I can't help but wonder why I work so hard during the week but find it terribly difficult to be motivated to do anything on the weekend. Totally exhausted. There has to be more balance to life than this.

What do others do to keep that balance between work, home, and health? I'm going to get on the exercise wagon now...

My Daughter

I started this blog, "Other People's Children" because my greatest fear is that I am better raising other people's kids than my own. It's a little bit tongue-in-cheek, but it's also a constant reminder that I need to have meaningful experiences with my kids on a regular basis. This year -- 2010 -- has been filled with just such adventures.

I will add photos later as time is limited, but did want to share about a couple of things we have done this summer.

Girl Fest: My daughter and I spent the day in Seattle on August 28, 2010, with hundreds of vendors and presenters, music, fire department and police officials... you get the idea. My daughter was chosen to go on stage to play a game with Radio Disney officials, we learned how to make our own safe face paint for Halloween, met the Sea Gals and Miss Seafair, listened to some amazing local and national musicians, and of course SHOPPING! We both came home with lots of fun treasures.http://girlscoutsww.org/girlfest

Camping: My kids and I spent a week at the Sequim/Port Angeles KOA. We had a great time. Molly attended the Girl Scout Day Camp in Port Angeles and Jack and I hung out and relaxed. We studied rocks, played mini golf, rode bikes, and hiked a little. One day we took a long walk on the beach at Dungeness Spit looking for wildlife in support of his Tracking Merit Badge. I think that would make an excellent digital story....

Vacation: The three of us also went to Nice, California for a week. We recently joined World Mark and this was our first vacation with that organization. We met wonderful people while hanging at the pool -- Molly has a couple of pen pals now, and we met a great family from the Tacoma area. Turns out we have a mutual friend, too :)

I hope my kids will have good memories of our time this summer. Hard to believe it's almost over -- back to school in about a week!

Math in K-12 Schools

Seems everyone these days is talking about math, and for good reason. Our students are performing well below standard as the norm.

"Teach to the test" I hear quite a bit. Causes shivers to run up and down the spines of most teachers. I wonder, though, if we've ever stopped to think about that phrase.

Why SHOULDN'T we teach to the test? Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about exclusively teaching to a test, but if we believe that the test is based on the standards, and the standards guide our curriculum planning, and our curriculum planning forms our instruction, and student performance on formative AND summative assessment also guides our instruction... I ask again--albeit in a different way--why shouldn't the test also guide our curriculum planning and instruction?

I have often shared with people that I do not believe that the textbook used makes a difference in the achievement of kids in mathematics. I believe that students can experience success with any tool. My perspective on that is changing a bit. We embarked on the "integrated math" plan about 6 years ago with the belief that it would be easier to supplement skill work into a problem solving program then the other way around. This has turned out not to be true -- since our teachers are expected to teach 5 of 6 periods a day, when would they have the time to develop a comprehensive supplemental instructional program???

At a recent board meeting, the superintendent mentioned we may need to fast track a new textbook adoption for high school math.... I quickly asked, "Can we have that done before September 7th?" The board meeting was August 25th. But then I started thinking... why do we need expensive textbooks? Is anyone out there teaching high school math, particularly Algebra, Geometry, and Algebra II, without textbooks?

I want to be careful, though, that we don't then default to becoming "Ditto" from the movie "Teachers", or mistakenly think we can plug kids into computers without the benefit of any direct instruction or support from a teacher with whom they have a solid relationship -- I think we need an exciting, interactive, paperless, textbook-less (is that a word??) alternative.

A final note on math: I truly believe it's a function of time. Drive by any school in the summer, and what does the readerboard say? "Have fun, be safe, and READ!" Very good advice... but why are we not encouraging kids to work on math? Why, in teacher prep classes, do we always take "Reading in the Content Areas" but no "Teaching and Learning Math in the Content Areas"?

Enough of my soapbox.....

Gearing Up for School

I wonder if I will ever feel completely ready for a new school year. It seems that each year, I know more about how to plan for the year, and yet because of that, there is always more to do. I'm beyond excited about the upcoming school year, and yet I feel totally buried (literally) sitting here at my desk.

I also got to thinking that non-principals might not think about the same things that I do this time of year. So, here's a little humor (at least attempted): the Top 10 things on my mind with 7 work days before the first day of school:

10: Technology: how do we get enough access for teachers and students to use it to its full potential?

9: And speaking of technology, I want to explore more Digital Story Telling -- my own, the staff, the students... What about parents?

8: Graduation requirements: The State of Washington truly believes in keeping us on our toes -- it seems like the requirements are different for every class -- a major challenge in tracking, communicating....

7: Scheduling: Math MSP scores were just released this week. I've been waiting for these for weeks, and now I need to get to the business of organizing information and placing students

6: New Staff Orientation: and I mean this broadly! How do we welcome new staff to our building, bring them on board with previous programs, and help them start to build positive relationships with staff, students, community....

5: Professional Development: So much to do, so little time: the aforementioned Digital Story Telling, Navigation 101, Success at the Core, Strength Finder 2.0.... I could go on, but I won't :)

4: Hiring! Yikes -- still have one open position. Really hoping to have that filled (interviewed today --looks promising). So important to put in time up front to hire the best staff.

3: Student Leadership: where to put all our advisories, where the ASB officers should be housed, how to foster more student voice in our schools.....

2: Encouraging a stronger collaborative energy, with a committed focus on student learning in everything we do.

1: And the number one thing on my mind this time of year.... OUR STUDENTS! In particular, one new 6th grader who gets to have his mom as his principal. Love you Jack!

My first digital story

Just finished a two-day workshop with Dr. Helen Barrett on Digital Storytelling. What an amazing experience! Learned all kinds of technical skills, how to record and upload audio, how to blend voice over and music tracks, and most importantly, how to use Microsoft Windows Movie Maker.

So here it is -- my first attempt -- available for viewing at the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0aqp3aNOGg

Looking forward to your feedback

oops!

I THOUGHT about writing yesterday.... If I had, here is what I would have written.

Today as I was going through books and moving into my new room, I came across a book I purchased some time ago, 365 Tao by Deng Ming-Dao. Over the last year, I have pondered whether I believe in fate at all. Are coincidences truly just chance, or is there something about our interconnected spirits that brings events to fruition and just the right time? Regardless, the fact that I picked up this book today was timely and appropriate if nothing else.

I read the introduction, well, OK, I skimmed the introduction, then moved on to read the first meditation. And it said this:

Beginning

This is the moment of embarking.
All auspicious signs are in place.


Now, as I said, I am not sure I'm looking for signs at this point in my life, but a new beginning it is, and I love the idea of it being an auspicious beginning, a point of embarking. For there really is no where to look, but forward.