What's More Important...Computers or Skills?

I can honestly say these past two years have been an incredible learning curve for me. I had an opportunity to change jobs, not once but twice, and took both of them! The first was a lateral move from one school to another in the same division. The building itself was the same exact floorplan of my former school. They even underwent renovations at the same time. The layout was where the similarities ended. Each school had its own distinguishable heartbeat. The students, staff, parents and community members made both buildings amazing in their own unique ways.

Just when I felt as if I had my bearings about me in my new environment, opportunity once again arose. Timing however, was lousy. The position had posted at the end of August, and I was excited about starting the school year where I was. We were scheduled to get Chromebooks for every student, and were anxious to see how this would change how teaching and learning would take place. Regardless, the position was an advancement that was too good to turn down. Needless to say, I got the job!

For the third time in my career, I was starting a new position in a leadership role after the school year had already started. While it seemed really inconvenient at first, I ended up being really glad things happened the way they did. I got to see a school full of students and teachers experience 1:1 learning for the very first time. A week and a half later, I was in a completely different school system working with students and teachers who have known 1:1 learning for over a decade. 

Looking back on the experience, I learned something pretty valuable. Just because you have given every student in your building or division a laptop, tablet, or Chromebook; it doesn't mean you have done anything innovative. How that tool is applied to the instructional process determines innovation. We live in an age during which the majority of our students in the US have access to some form of mobile technology in their daily life. Kids are walking into school expecting to have access to technology to complete their schoolwork, record assignments, and work on projects. Collaborating and sharing online are second nature to them. 

Things like presenting, organizing, problem solving, and working with others, however, are not necessarily second nature. I've seen plenty of people who know their way around a computer who don't have any of the other "21st Century" skills I mentioned above. 

This is a time of year during which many of us in education turn towards the planning process for the upcoming school year. Some of us may be tasked with preparing for a 1:1 initiative. My advice to you? Make sure your teachers and staff are comfortable with teaching 21st Century Skills, or those skills needed to be successful in the modern learning process. If they aren't, you are just going to end up with a lot of kids who know their way around a computer. We have plenty of those already. 

Getting Ready For A Safety Audit, and Blogging About It!

The nice thing about preparing for a safety audit within a few months of starting a new job is that I get to learn my new building inside and out in record time. The audit performed by our school division is pretty comprehensive: over 130 pages of checklists and requests for artifacts. Ratings range from "fully implemented" to "not implemented". I actually spent a good chunk of my winter break pouring over these checklists to make sure I had all my ducks in a row for a successful safety audit.

Here are some things I learned in the process:  

Review your previous audit, even if it was from a few years ago, and criteria have changed.

• What were commendations and recommendations made by the audit team?
• Are there any recommendations that weren't acted upon? Why weren't they? 

Have a variety of different people perform a "pre-audit" of your building.

• People who don't visit your school on a daily basis are a great resource because they will look at the safety of your building from a completely different perspective. 
• Ask staff members to tour parts of the building they wouldn't normally go. You will be surprised with what they will notice!
• Talk with your parents and students. Get their thoughts on how safe they perceive their school to be. 
• Police and Fire Personnel – Many secondary schools have police contacts, but not everyone takes the time to include the local fire captain. Reach out to them. Invite them to tour your building and give them an open invitation to your safety committee meetings. These individuals can be especially helpful in making sure drill procedures and routines in place are appropriate for the situation. 

Keep your safety related artifacts in one location.

• Each section of the audit in our division has a page that tell us which artifacts the team will be reviewing.  Much of the time I’ve spent preparing for this involved gathering these artifacts. They include copies of facilities manuals, MSDS information, maps, protocols, and handbooks. Thankfully, most of these are available in an electronic format, and the school system allows us to share the artifacts electronically. I took these artifacts and loaded them to a Google site I created. This way, auditors only have to go to one location to look at our artifacts. 

Many school divisions perform safety audits of their facilities every two or three years. Safety protocols and procedures can be effectively reviewed on off years by maintaining an active committee tasked with making sure components of the protocol remain relevant. Keeping those components in a format that is easily revised (like Google Docs) is helpful when corrections/additions need to be made. 

New Day, New building, New Perspective

For the first time in 16 years, I travelled to a different school system to go to work this week. To say it was surreal would be an understatement.

Day one was a whirlwind of new names, faces, procedures, routines, and expectations. I really put my "Lifelong Learner" persona to the test! There were meetings, introductions, trainings, and lunch duty...yes, lunch duty!  I'm so glad I took the time to get my office set up during the weekend. I'm also grateful for the staff members who took the time to make sure I felt at home!

What a Welcome!!! :-)

On day two, things calmed down a little...well, about as calm as a middle school gets. I got to visit classes on an absolutely amazing day. It was peer observation day. Like the school I just left, my new school also provides students with a 1:1 learning environment. Teachers who had something really cool to share with their peers placed a green card outside their door. I had an opportunity to visit some of these "green card" classrooms in the afternoon, and it was AMAZING! I saw collaboration, creativity, problem-solving, and infusion of technology at its finest.

On day three, before teachers and students came in, I had time to sit in m office for a minute and assess my surroundings. With my new office, I got half of my wish. I got a window! After nearly ten yeas of working in an office without a window, I finally have one. I'll admit I was a little disappointed that the window didn't have an outside view. However, it does gives me a GREAT view of the 8th grade hallway. What it also allows me to see is the reflection of a beautiful golden sunrise streaming in from the HUGE windows in the main stairway. It allows me to see the teachers arriving every morning, and I can say hi to the kids who walk by my office throughout the day.

While I haven't gotten everything I wanted yet (an outside view, for example), I have gained a new perspective on things, which is exactly what I was hoping for in this endeavor. Is this new journey going to be easy? No way! Is it going to be worth it? It already is.

My First "No Office" Day

In my "Personal Professional Goals" post, I mentioned one of my goals this year was to maintain weekly "no office" days. What I mean by this is that I try to spend the entire workday outside my office. Yesterday, I tried my first. Overall, I would consider it to be a success!

from www.connectedprincipals.com

Was it easy? No.

Was it worth it? Definitely!

Here are some things that made this experience completely worth it:

• I got into 22 classrooms! It was AWESOME! The kids were like, "Dr. Stacy, I saw you in tons of my classes today!" I also got a lot of "thank-yous" from the teachers. I had some tell me they  never had anyone come in to visit their class that early. 
• I got some GREAT data to share! As I visited each class, I filled out a brief walkthrough observation form. It allowed me to indicate whether or not I saw an agenda or objectives, and state that agenda. It also allowed me to check off the types of instruction I saw: whole class or small group. In addition, I looked for things like use of questioning strategies, type of learning activity taking place, and the learning environment. At the end of the day, I made a copy of each form, and put them in the teachers' mailboxes. I plan on sharing an overview of my observations with the grade level during our next PLC meeting. 
• All sorts of fabulousness was observed! Since I am new to the grade level I'm working with; and since we have a LOT of new electives teachers in our building (5 to be exact), I visited my grade level and the electives teachers who are new to the building. I got to see some great instructional techniques in action. I saw a great example of student folders in Google Drive being managed, excellent use of Class Dojo, and some really creative problem solving in our STEM class. I'm going to ask these teachers to share their strategies with their PLC during "Teacher showcase" time in the coming weeks. 

While there is LOADS more to share, I like to keep these posts fairly short. We are, after all, busy people!

Here are some things that made this "No Office Day" more manageable:

• I come to work early. I get to work about an hour before I need to be there. I use that time to answer emails, organize my plan for the day, and work on any "desk projects" (data gathering and analysis, scheduling, project research). 
• I have a plan on how I want to spend the day. Do I want to see a specific grade level or subject area? Am I looking for a particular skill? Do I need to see how certain students are doing? These are all things I have ironed out before I begin my day. 
• I carry my laptop. Just because I'm not in my office doesn't mean I have to be completely cut off. I use it for taking notes, looking up something online, and yes, checking email. 

Did I spend the entire day out of my office? Pretty much. I did have to go to my office to handle a student discipline issue, and I also had to call a parent. Once I finished those tasks, I was quick to leave and continue visiting classes. 

Can I do this every week? I'm going to try. I can see where I will make plans for a "no office" day only to have them thwarted by a issue beyond my control. However, I can also see this practice being something that will put me an a position to be more proactive rather than reactive when situations arise; and when I can be proactive, I feel more productive. 

Stressed About Your Packed Calendar? Try Changing Its Colors!

A couple of weeks ago, I was looking at my Google Calendar, and feeling pretty stressed over the whole thing. Even though the school year hadn't begun, my personal and shared calendars were getting pretty packed with events. As I sat and stared at the calendar, I began to wonder what exactly was making me feel so agitated. It really wasn't any more jam packed than it had been in the past, but it was definitely irritating me.

Then I realized it wasn't the events that were stressing me out, it was actually the colors of the calendar that were stressful to me. Here is a snapshot of my calendar and shared calendars from this past week:

The colors used to represent everyone were hard on the eyes, and the colors didn't exactly scream serenity either. Because I really disliked my own color, I did some research on how to change it. You can find the directions for changing colors on the calendar by clicking here. 

I found a color I liked, but the color still didn't help enhance the scene. I then took a page right out of my art classes from middle school. I Googled hexadecimal color wheel images to determine colors which would compliment one another. After playing around a bit, I came up with a grouping of colors that was more pleasing to the eye:

These colors remind me of the flowers I have on my back deck in the fall; of calm, cool afternoons sitting outside with a good book. Perhaps when winter comes, I'll choose a different color palette. 

Could I have spent my time doing something else? Probably. However, I don't feel as stressed out when I look at my calendar anymore, and that makes a big difference in my perception of the day ahead. When I have a positive outlook on things, I'm more productive! A change in color can make all the difference in the world! 

Brushing Up On Some SAMR

image from ipadforschools.org

Every year, our school division requires teachers to attend a technology-driven staff development day a couple of weeks before teacher work week begins. With all of our middle school students getting Chromebooks, much of the workshop was centered around ensuring students received the best possible blended learning experience.

Teachers were shown how to navigate curriculum based websites, how to enter information into the new electronic gradebook, and were also given a mini lesson on the SAMR model.


As an FYI, Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything has some GREAT SAMR resources for teachers who are just getting their feet wet in SAMR land!

SAMR is an acronym for the following:

• Substitution,
• Augmentation,
• Modification, and
• Redefinition

Basically the premise is that the use of technology in education can be categorized into one of the above four methods. Let's take for example, the act of note taking.

In substitution, the technology is simply taking the place of a more traditional method - like using a word processor instead of a typewriter, or a piece of lined paper.
Through augmentation, the technology is basically a slight improvement on the traditional tool. For example, spell check and formatting tools make the process of note taking easier.  
The modification stage is where the real fun begins. The traditional notes become interactive. Students use the Internet to enrich their notes. Hyperlinks to interesting sites or video may be added. Images are added to the page. Students can utilize Google docs for sharing and peer editing.
Redefinition - The notebook turns into a blog that is published and shared with not only their classmates, but experts in the field. Questions and comments can be posted, leading to a deeper thought process. Students have an audience beyond their classroom.

As I observe classes this year, I would like to give some feedback based on the SAMR model. I want to ask teachers how they would rate their lesson. Would the lesson be more of an S, or more of an R?

I chose the topic of SAMR note taking because there is a debate in our school system right now. Even though students are going to be given Chromebooks, teachers want to be able to continue using paper notebooks because students retain more if they can cut and paste something into a notebook. Even as an administrator, I have found the best way to get my point across is by modeling my expectations. As I think about what this could look like, the idea of an "Interactive PLC Agenda" comes to mind. The agenda with videos, links, and pictures posted on our PLC site teachers can comment on and share. It's worth a shot. I'll let you know how it goes!

Increasing Teacher Comfort With Google Drive

Since every middle school student in the division that employs me is getting a Chromebook next year, I am doing my absolute best job to embrace everything that is Chrome; especially since there is currently no plan to give Chromebooks to the adults who work directly with these middle school students.

Thankfully, anything that can be done on a Chromebook can be done on a computer with the Chrome browser installed. I can still completely understand why teachers would like to have their own Chromebook on hand, though. It's all about increasing the comfort level. While our school system has done a fairly good job of providing opportunities for teachers to learn how to use Google Drive, (through workshops and online modules) it's really up to administrators to make sure they have plenty of opportunities to practice. Of course, we all know that the best way to practice any newly acquired skill is being able to apply that skill to real-life situations.

Here are some things people in our building have put in place which basically ensure teachers get to use Google Drive on a regular basis.

Lab Schedules - We have an amazing technology integrator who visits us a couple of days a week to share with teachers all that is cool and fabulous with technology. He worked with our library staff to create a Google Spreadsheet teachers could access to sign up for computer lab time. The revision history makes sure someone doesn't go in and erase someone's time and puts their own name in their place.

PLC Meetings - PLC Agendas are drafted in Google Docs. The link to the agenda is shared 24 hours before the meeting, and teachers are able to add items to the agenda. On the day of the meeting, one person types notes directly into the agenda creating instant minutes. The minutes are then stored on a Google site created just for the grade level so teachers don't have to go searching through their email if they were unable to make a meeting. The site also stores other important bits of information like meeting schedules, bus duty rosters, and links to state and division resources. In addition, I used tinyurl.com to create a shortened link that is easy for teachers to remember.

The School Calendar - Our office staff are responsible for keeping the calendar up to date. Now they put all events on a School-Use Google Calendar that is share with all staff members. I have gone a step beyond to place that very same calendar on the home page of the PLC site I mentioned above for easy reference.

Lesson Plans - I teach a class every other day for a small group of students who are in danger of failing the grade level. My plans for the class are stored as a Google spreadsheet that teachers can access to see what I'm doing. I've given editing rights so they can also list any missing or make-up work Some teachers in my building have started using Google docs to store their own lesson plans. One teacher recently commented to me that it is actually easier to store plans on Google Drive because she can simply share the plans with other members of her PLC.

I could go on and on with examples, but the purpose of sharing these is to get your own mind thinking about things you can do in your own building if you end up in a similar circumstance. It is my ultimate hope that teachers will be able to take the skills they learned and use them to assist their students when they get their Chromebooks next fall!

Best PLC Meeting Ever!

Image From - www.bn.com

I am a firm believer that the Professional Learning Community (PLC) model is one of the best tools we canpublications provide strategies that are easy to implement and can produce results quickly.
utilize to support teaching and learning for our students, and for one another. This purpose of this post is not to describe what a PLC is, or how to establish one in your building. If you want to start using PLCs with fidelity start by reading up on the Dufour's work on the subject. Their

The purpose of this post will hopefully paint a picture of why PLCs can ROCK!

Our grade level PLC meets every other week to discuss student performance, upcoming events, and discuss any issues among the grade level or the building. A couple of days before, our admin team meets to draw up a broad agenda, and I send it out to the grade level so that they know what to expect. I send it out as a Google doc so that they can add items if they need to. The really nice thing about using a Google doc is that the agenda transforms into the meeting minutes when our note taker types notes under each agenda item. I also have all agendas stored under a single shared folder.

On this past agenda, I added a line titled academics, and put this underneath:

• Language Arts
• Math
• Science
• Social Studies

I asked teachers to share with one another what was going on within their content area. The results were pure magic! The language arts teachers shared that they were working on the concept of comparing and contrasting. While they were discussing their strategies, the math teachers jumped in and said they easily integrate the vocabulary and strategies when they talk about graphing. Social studies and science teachers began to ask questions about reading strategies and non-fiction passages, and wanted to learn how they could help. I was soooo proud of my teachers! The teachers left feeling energized and ready to work. I really thought it was one of our best meetings so far. 

I've said before that I am new to this building this year, and the first thing I did was implement PLC procedures and protocols. I've also made the commitment to never miss a meeting unless I'm out of the building. Though these norms are revisited often, we still get off track from time to time, but bringing the team back to task gets easier; and when they are on task, there is nothing they can't accomplish! 

Three iPad Apps I Use Everyday

I can't believe it's been three years since the school system I work in gave every administrator an iPad. It was an eye-opening experience. We were required to attend a professional development session during which our instructional technology staff walked us through setting up our devices. I remember one person celebrating when she realized her iPad still worked after she spilled coffee on it. I also remember one person in tears when she dropped her iPad in the parking lot (the screen cracked, by the way) as we were leaving the session.

My iPad and I have had a GREAT working relationship. When I first got it, I tried to do everything on it. As time went on, though, I figured out what tasks were appropriate for iPads and what tasks should be left to the computer. I'm pretty fortunate to have a laptop with a docking station in my office. So as the title indicates, I want to share the three iPad apps I use every day.

#1 - Observation 360 
Our school system requires us to enter all teacher observations in a program called Observation 360. It's part of the PD360 family. While one is able to use Observation 360 on any computer, I really do find it less imposing if I sit in the back of the room typing away on my iPad. What I really like about Observation 360 is that I can sit in a classroom, perform an observation, and send a copy of it to the teacher as soon as I finish. In most cases, I try to send the observation to the teacher before I leave their classroom. In addition, I also send them a calendar invite for their follow-up conference at the same time!

#2 - Notability
I have tried several note-taking apps, and keep going back to Notability. I find it very versatile and easy to navigate. If I'm in a PLC meeting or PD session, I can open a note page and just start typing away. If during that session I see something I want to take a picture of, I can take a pitcure with my iPad camera and upload it to that note. I can then use my stylus to write notes on that picture. I can even embed hyperlinks to cool websites shared during that session. Later, I can share my notes with my colleagues with the click of a button!

#3 - Twitter
I'm quickly beginning to realize why people become addicted to Twitter. If I have a second during the day, I'll take a quick glance at my feed. I will say that I've been a lot more methodical about setting up my Twitter account than I have my Facebook account. Facebook is for fun. Its where I stay connected with my out-of-state fans and post funny cat pictures. Twitter is for work. I follow all my favorites including @RickWormelli, @SirKenRobinson, @RichardBranson, and @ArneDuncan. I also follow CNN, the Huffington Post and ASCD just to name a few. It's amazing the ideas that can be generated from reading 120 characters of text.

I know there are other apps I use on a daily basis, but the ones I mentioned above are the ones that get opened for one reason or another every day. I would love to know what you may use to help support your own professional growth and development if you care to comment.

When Students Get Chromebooks

This fall, every middle school student in the school system I work for is going to receive a Chromebook. As a middle school administrator, I've been spending a fair amount of time researching Chromebooks in education, and even created a Pinterest board dedicated to the subject to share with colleagues. In my research, two major themes related to Chromebooks in education have surfaced:

• Implementing a Chromebook program within a school or school division
• Ideas on how to teach with Chromebooks

Ironically, there are very few sites dedicated to getting started with Chromebooks once they end up in the hands of the students. I am a firm believer that well-developed and implemented procedures and routines are one of the key components to a successfully run class. Effective teachers have procedures for practically everything: For handing out and collecting work, for whole-class and small group instruction, for keeping notebooks organized, for transitions...I could go on, but if you've been in a classroom, you probably get the idea. When students get these Chromebooks, they are going to potentially become their backpacks, lockers, textbooks, notebooks and libraries all rolled into one. 

 Picture From - http://www.eveningsun.com/

The interesting thing about the Chromebook versus the laptop is that all student work is stored in the cloud using Google Drive. I can still imagine students losing their homework, classwork or projects within their Google Drive if they haven't been properly instructed on setting up folders for each class, with homework, classwork, and project subfolders set up within the class folders. I can also imagine them getting off task while surfing the web if teachers aren't frequently checking in on students. It's my belief that there will need to be an established set of schoolwide procedures and routines in order for teachers and students to be successful with the Chromebooks. That being said, there will still be a group of students who will require some extra supervision. 

The teachers who are going shine brightest through this initiative are the ones who  realize there will be a need to rethink their teaching practices right down to the very procedures and routines they may have been using for many years. This is going to be a MAJOR culture shift. As school leaders, we can facilitate this process by doing the following: 

• "Walking the Talk" - We need to make these apps part of our everyday lives if we are expecting our teachers and students to do the same,
• Conversing with teachers regarding their apprehensions over an initiative so large,
• Providing short professional development mini-lessons to ease these apprehensions during faculty and PLC meetings; and enrichment sessions after school for those teachers who want to take the program a step further, 
• Asking teachers for their assistance in developing some general school-wide procedures and routines to help them get started,
• And carve out time during the instructional day for students to successfully set up their Chromebooks
• I understand I may get some pushback here, but taking some time at the beginning of the year to get everyone on the right page to begin with will make things go a lot more smoothly later on. 

While I anticipate some people getting frustrated and discouraged along the way, I also anticipate some wonderful success stories as well. Lending a sympathetic ear to those who become frustrated will be necessary. However, It will be equally important to celebrate successes, to provide opportunities for teachers and students to share what they have learned, and to keep student success at the forefront of everything we are doing. 

A Different Way to Think of Remediation

I'm all for thinking outside the box.

I'm lucky to be one of three assistant principals in my building of 1400 students. We each oversee a grade level (I have 6th grade this year) and we are each responsible for specific departments. This year I am responsible for the science, math, and SpEd departments.

Our school system gives us algebra readiness funds to assist in providing our students with remediation in math. It's not a lot of money, so we need to spend it wisely. We want to make sure we are getting the biggest bang for the buck so we are trying a different approach to remediation this year. A lot of what we are doing goes along with the Dufour's thoughts on remediation, which include providing students with additional time for intensive instruction.

As we are planning to launch our intensive math remediation program in the second semester, we are currently in the planning process. We are developing remediation sessions according to concept instead of providing "extra help" sessions like we did in the past. This prompts teachers to look at the specific areas of remediation their students need, and also allows students from different grade levels to participate in the same remediation session. In addition, we are looking at web based programs like Buzzmath to provide additional targeted practice for our students.

Here's where the time is coming from:

• Saturdays - Yes, Saturdays. Each Saturday session will be dedicated to a specific concept. Students will also be given a snack break, given lab time, and possibly even have time to play games. Part of any remediation program should include opportunities for students to learn to LOVE the subject they are struggling with. Topics will be revisited as we get closer to assessment season. 
• After school - Right now, we are considering having computer labs open twice a week after school. These labs would be monitored by math teachers. Students can come in, work on the computer, and get small group or one-on-one help. 
• During school - We actually have an advisory period dedicated to enrichment and remediation. This is an ideal opportunity for those students who may have transportation issues. These will need to be mini-lessons which will hopefully act as a "turbo shot" of math information. 

I'm excited about our plan, especially about the opportunity for students to learn to love something they were once struggling with. I may seem overly optimistic, but when working with children, one has to shoot for the stars! 

All The Stuff!!!

Being an educator never gets any easier.

This year, our school system is implementing the following:

• Using Edmodo and Google Drive
• Blended Learning
• Utilizing SMART Goals to measure student growth

In addition, we as a building are implementing:

• Word Generation Vocabulary
• Effective Schoolwide Discipline Lessons
• A new online office referral system

I as a building administrator at least had the months of July and August to wrap my head around all this. The teacers had workweek...

So how do I guide them through all this so that they don't get but so overwhelmed?

Try as hard as I can to keep one step ahead of them!

How???

• Do Your Research - Though you may not have any more experience on an initative than your teachers, they are still going to look to you as the expert. Thankfully, the Internet makes this much easier than it used to be. I spent some serious time this summer researching forms of blended learning, attending SMART goal workshops, and participating in Edmodo webinars. It's really paid off!
• Plan Ahead - How are you going to present all ths stuff to your teachers? Not all at once, that's for sure...at least if you want them to be able to process it properly and be successful with it. Calendars, outlines, and agendas can be your best friends...especially when you are dealing with deadlines, reports, and people holding you accountable .
• Model What You Expect - Make sure you can "walk the talk". Has your leadeship style caught up with the 21st Century? What are your colleagues doing to model their expectations? What do your teachers need to see more of? Have you asked them?
• Celebrate Accomplishments - Your teachers are working hard to make all these things happen. If you see something really cool happening in their classroom as a result, recognize them! Remember the post about the gold stars? It doesn't have to cost anything, but it does have to be sincere.  

None of these things are easy or time-saving; but they are things you need to do in order to help your teachers keep up with all the stuff you are expecting them to do. Remember, anything worth doing is worth doing right.

Flipping Out Isn't Always a Bad Thing...Really!!!

Ahhh June...

A time for flipping out in public education. Flipping out over assessments, flipping out over end of year evals, and flipping out over what seem to be the dumbest things! We are flipping out over things we will all be laughing about in a couple of weeks.

Interestingly enough, there are some trends in education that are going to be worth flipping out over: the "Flipped Classroom" and "Flipped Blooms Taxonomy". Just how these two concepts will actually fit into K-12 education are still to be determined.

The school system I work in is really starting to push the concept of blended learning. One way that blended learning is encouraged is through the use of Edmodo (edmodo.com). If you haven't seen Edmodo, it would remind you of Facebook, though the atmosphere is controlled by the teacher. Students and teachers are able to post and respond to questions, collaborate with one another, respond to polls, and submit assignments. It's a good, safe introduction to blended learning and allows teachers the opportunity to introduce Flipped Classroom concepts and methods.

As far as "Flipping Blooms" goes, the most important thing to remember is to start with providing students with a hands-on opportunity to apply concepts, and then allow them to build upon their experiences from there. The hands-on experience is the so-called "hook" to engage them. Once you have them interested, they are more likely to listen to the nuts and bolts of the concept, and better understand it as a whole.

So, you see...flipping out really isn't all that bad a thing after all. It's actually part of an exciting time in the world of education!

What About Reading?

As the building I work in is entering "testing mode" this week, I begin to consider all the reasons why our students may not be successful. I've been thinking a lot about higher education these past few weeks because I've had the opportunity to experience higher education, and have started looking at the disconnects that may prohibit students at any level from learning.

This is also the time of year when it is crunch time for classroom observations. Because "stuff happens", I still have 2 more teachers to observe next week and a bunch of observations to finish before I begin to review formative and summative evaluations. Since reviewing observations and writing evaluations will encompass the majority of my weekend, my thought process has shifted to something a little more pragmatic. From what I've observed recently, a student's ability to read and comprehend makes all the difference in the world when it comes to being academically successful.

That being said, there are still too many kids out there who do not possess a love, or even an interest in reading. My mom once told me that no one can take away your educaton. That was one of the most profound things she ever said to me. My education combined with my ambition has everything to do with the fact that I have a roof over my head and a fairly comfortable lifestyle. I have to credit my education with my love of reading, because these degrees have involved a LOT of reading.

21st century learners need to be good readers. There was a time when it seemed that reading and writing appeared to be things of the past. Why would you need to read and write when you could communicate by talking on the phone, or learn everything by watching a video. I wonder if they ever saw the Internet coming? How can you navigate the Internet, use Facebook and Twitter without being able to read? Yet, many students don't have a comprehension level high enough to process the critical thinking and problem solving skills that are now required.

To me, the answer to this issue has to do with getting kids to be interested in reading by proving to them its relevance. There is a lot of competition out there right now, and its going to be a harder sell. But it's a sale we are going to have to make if our children stand a chance in this century.

Standardized Tests Are Changing..Are We?

Come this June, high schools all over the state I work in (Virginia) will be graduating 2nd batch of students who have gone through their entire educational career in the age of standardized testing. Now, with the help of online testing, a new shift has begun to take place. The tests are no longer designed to see how well our students are able to answer questions. Now, students are having to use skills which include critical thinking, problem solving, and drawing from past experiences to solve complex equations on these tests. To top it all off, student growth is about to play a huge role in the evaluation process for all educators.

This shift brings up a couple of questions for me. First: how are we preparing teachers to shift their methods to help ensure our students are equipped with the skills and knowledge to think and work at this higher level. Second: are the kids who have regular access to technology at an advantage over those who are not? I know that when I talk with my own teachers, they are frustrated because they feel they are not providing their students with the necessary technology to facilitate the mastering of these skills. I'm concerned because they may be right. How can they? Our four computer labs have been booked since winter break solely for benchmarks, simulations, pilot studies, and assessments.

These are not questions that can be answered in a few paragraphs; but it is food for thought. Things are about to change significantly in education; and I'm afriad a lot of mistakes are going to be made before a solid model exists which allows students from all backgrounds to achieve their highest potential.