New School: A Principal's Mid-Year/New Year Reflection.

It's been just over 4 months since I've started as principal at Vancouver College.

In short, I've been finding my way. Some days have felt more comfortable than others. I have had purposeful moments with feelings of having taken "two steps forward". I have also had feelings of frustration - feeling as if I've taken no steps forward.

Some days I've felt that I'm "figuring it out" and other days, not so much.

But here's the thing- I love what I'm doing. And I'm grateful for the wonderful people that surround me.  I feel that I have the best job in the world!

So as I enter the second half of the school year, here's a little reflection and update on how things are going:

Relationship Building & Earning Trust
Like I've said before, relationships are at the heart of leadership and teaching. I would say that my first four months have been intensely focused on relationship building. Either directly or indirectly, whether in a meeting, in my office, at a retreat, at a game, in the hallways; talking with a parent, a student, a teacher or colleague - it's been about building relationships.
Ultimately this continues to be a process gaining trust. After all, trust is the currency of leadership.

I'm also keenly aware that, while the process of "relationship building" has been personally uplifting and incredibly supportive, it can also be taxing and impact those with whom I already have relationships. While not unique to me, I continue to be mindful of the professional/personal time commitment balancing act in my life.

Humbled by the gratitude, enthusiasm and work ethic
Being intensely focused on relationships has allowed me to see great professionals do great things in service of students. School life is a buzz with learning activities both inside and outside the classroom. I have felt myself humbled by the level of dedication that the faculty and staff have exhibited. I have been equally humbled by the level of gratitude students and parents express in response to this service.

The students at the school are a constant source of inspiration. Whether I'm in the Kindergarten class watching the boys play and learn (I have to admit, when I'm having a bad day, a short visit to K is the perfect remedy) or simply chatting with a senior student about their studies or their future plans - it is extremely inspiring to be around this group of students.

As an example, check out this student organized event where 1200 staff and students came together to support men's health by wearing fake mustaches
 


And the parents....in short, their support of students, staff and the school is equally inspiring and humbling.

A few new things
1. We've allocated contracted time for staff collaboration and created a rotation of staff meetings, department meetings, and learning team meetings. In an effort establish a collaborative and sharing culture, our staff meetings begin with a different learning team sharing an exciting practice or discovery. We have already heard from teachers share discoveries around "play based learning", fostering a growth mindset for students and formative assessments across the curriculum.

Not surprisingly, this new collaborative structure has not been perfect and we have had to make some early adjustments in response to some feedback from teachers. With time, I suspect we will continue to make more adjustments.

2. We are continuing to see more technology integration throughout the school. Early in the school year we asked teachers what types of technology they need to further empower student learning.  In response to their input, we will be increasing WiFi accessibility to students and will be seeing more students bring their own devices to school.

We have also ordered a few class sets Chromebooks and Android tablets for use throughout the middle and senior school. We are also seeing more requests personalized mobile technology - whether through various cloud based tools or hardware (e.g. more Google Apps, personalized fitness monitoring devices)

Of note, I am not a fan of a scripted "technology policy or strategy" per say. While there is a need to be strategic and forward thinking, when it comes to technology decisions, those decisions need to be derived from an appetite for technology from students and teachers.

As a school leader, I need to create the conditions for this appetite. For a variety of reasons, the appetite for technology is increasing and as a school we need to respond.

3. Advisory Groups. This is the first year of our cross grade advisory groups (Gr. 10-12). I am seeing great potential for these groups moving forward.

4. We have also started a gentle review of the schools education program. Our first step has been to ask teachers what they are passionate about and how that might leverage into new courses/assignments  they may want to teach or develop at the school. Some of the early feedback is exciting!

Exciting Near Future

Mapping our Pedagogy
We will be embarking on a process of campus renewal here at Vancouver College. However, rather than just building "more of the same", within the coming months we will be developing a "vision for learning" to help shape the design of the school. One of our first steps is to develop a "pedagogical map" of where our teachers see themselves now and where they want to go into the future in terms of their pedagogy. The "map" will chart teacher attitudes regarding all aspects of pedagogy - curriculum, assessment, and instruction- from "traditional to transformed". This will provide critical information for our design team and for our admin team as we support our teachers professional learning needs into the future. (There will be more news to come on this)

Continuous Improvement
We will also be developing/adopting some sort of continuous school improvement framework. I have been thinking a lot about this lately. I'm a firm believer that if everything is a priority than nothing is a priority.

Here's the thing- I've seen lots of nicely packaged (principal created) school growth plans that virtually no one in the school knows about (other than the admin team).

The challenge will be to empower and engage all the teachers in the process, to make the process relevant to their day to day teaching and learning needs, embed our values and to make it visible to parents and students. Interestingly enough, I've been looking into some cloud based tools to assist with this process. Again, more news to come.

Teaching Lab
As we enter the hiring season we are thinking about implementing a "teaching lab" element to our hiring process. I've always wondered why we don't ask teachers to teach a lesson as part of their interview process. This year we are thinking of giving this a shot. I'm sure we will learn a lot about this process moving forward.

The first 140 days have been exhilarating, exciting and humbling. The next 140 should be equally so, as I continue to figure it out.....

Learning Teams Launched

Each school year presents new and exciting opportunities for learning and growth - certainly for students - but equally important for faculty and staff. To that end, this year we have launched the Vancouver College Learning Teams.

This is an opportunity for the adults at the school to come together on a regular basis to “exercise their intelligence” in the service of the students.

Already, teams have come together to explore topics such as:

• Learning Empowered by Technology using specific apps (e.g. Notability, Google Apps, Board Maker) 
• Differentiated Instruction & Technology
• Technology & Science in the Kindergarten Classroom
• Faith Formation across the curriculum
• Problem Based Learning
• School Advisory Program 
• Assessment for Learning
• Olweus anti-bullying program
• Growth Mindset book study
• Teaching Games
• “Make to Learn”

In an effort to maximize the potential for these teams to have complete success we put in place a few parameters and "environmental" considerations, namely:

1. We created time in the day for teachers to meet. Every Wednesday afternoon is dedicated to teacher collaboration. These Learning Teams will operate during this time.

2. We asked staff to come up with Collaboration Commitments. These are the commitments team members make to each other before, during and after collaboration time.

3. We are asking teams to report out on their learning during full staff meetings - thus allowing for a cross pollination of ideas across the entire campus. This also shifts the focus of staff meetings from "information sharing" to a "learning and sharing"

4. We created a collaboration schedule that removed the Elementary School, Middle School, Senior School silos - thus allowing teachers from across the K-12 spectrum to join common teams. As a K-12 campus, it will be exceedingly important that we continue to overcome the tendency to silo and instead take full advantage of the  K-12 learning spectrum. 

5.Each teams will be provided resources, upon request, to deepen their learning experience.

Already, teachers are acting on their learning team initiatives. For example, some teachers are asking for increased student use of technology in classroom (from specific apps to increased access to devices). Other teachers are starting to incorporate Growth Mindset teaching in their classes and still others are reexamining their assessment and grading practices.

All of this is part of a continuing plan to make teaching and learning more engaging, enriching and empowered for our students and teachers.

My early sense is that these learning teams will be a great source of innovation and improvement for our learning community.

Still Figuring It Out.....

Email & Diminishing Returns

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of time...."

This is how I am starting to feel about email these days.  

While I see the need for email, I am starting to realized that for many of us, we need to stop and ask ourselves if the law of diminishing returns is alive and well.   I am becoming convinced that email  is reducing productivity for administrators and getting in the way of the transformative work in education

This following video clip is a great example of how not to use email:

Nonetheless, the practical side of me knows that we cannot totally eliminate email from our lives.   There are some legitimate and productive uses for it.

At an upcoming meeting of principals I will be leading a conversation regarding email etiquette (here is the link to the Slides).

The following is a listing of basic email etiquette points that will form the basis of our conversation:

Train your staff.
Make sure your staff is trained in e-mail/social media communications – don't assume they know what they're doing, and what is considered professional. Set up e-mail standards that everyone at the school should abide by.

Seek balance but respond in a timely fashion. 
Balance is important. There are times when you need to unplug. Instant responses are not necessary. Nonetheless, you should respond within a day or two

No diatribes.  Keep messages brief and to the point & Be clear in your subject line.
We live in a time of information abundance – you might even call it “data smog”. Some folks receive hundreds of e-mails a day. Nothing is more frustrating than wading through an e-mail message that is twice as long as necessary. Also, it is essential that your subject line gets to the point.

Only discuss public matters. Be careful with confidential information
When emailing or using social media I picture myself speaking to an auditorium full of parents. Extremely sensitive and confidential information should be dealt with privately – face to face or via the phone. Ask yourself if the topic being discussed is something you'd write on school letterhead or post on a bulletin board for all to see before clicking "send."

Don't "e-mail angry” or overuse exclamation points.  Use CAPITAL LETTERS sparingly.
E-mailing with bad news, expressing anger, reprimanding someone, disparaging other people in e-mails is inappropriate.  E-mail/social media correspondence can last forever. Also, USING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS LOOKS AS IF YOU'RE SHOUTING. Using all lowercase letters looks lazy. 

Don't clutter other peoples Inboxes.  Use the (BCC) blind copy and (CC) carbon copy appropriately.

Don't use BCC to keep others from seeing who you copied.  It can be unethical.  Instead you should you should directly CC anyone receiving a copy. You should use BCC, however, when sending to a large distribution list, so recipients won't have to see a huge list of names. Be cautious with your use of CC; overuse simply clutters in-boxes. Copy only people who are directly involved. Do not reply to an email if your CC’d. Only the person directly email should respond.


Beware of the "reply all."
Do not hit "reply all" unless every member on the e-mail chain needs to know. You want to make sure that you are not sending everyone on a list your answer—whether they needed to know or not.

Remember, your e-mail/digital communications are a reflection of you.

Also keep in mind that as professionals we must always maintain personal and professional boundaries when communicating digitally with staff and students. All staff should be familiar with personal and professional boundary standards.

Resource: http://www.inc.com 

Digital Literacy and Tech Integration Plan

Regular readers of this blog will know that our school is on a 21st Century Learning journey  that, among other things, calls for a re-visioning of our  school library, and the adoption of a BYOD approach to technology integration.

Related to this larger plan and thanks to the good work of our "tech-brarian" and many others, we now have a specific Digital Literacy Curriculum and Technology Integration plan for St. Patrick Regional. This year's achievements and future goals are listed below.

Special thanks thanks to our tech-brarian", Jill Belanger , for overseeing this plan and making much of it come to life!

Digital Literacy and Technology Integration

Achievements in 2012-13 & Goals for 2013-14

In the areas of digital literacy and technology integration, we have:

Developed a curriculum for Digital Literacy:

·         Created 3 broad standards or objectives for the 2013-14 school year (Note: The Ministry of Education for BC has created draft digital literacy standards .  Our school has chosen to focus on 3 of these standards - Research Fluency, Digital Citizenship , and Technology Operations)

o   Each of the 3 standards are broken down into more specific skills.  (One exciting example is the creation of a 21st Century Research Guide by our Social Studies Department - which will form the foundation of our Research Fluency Standard!)

o   Each of the skills identifies an expected entry and exit point: expected competency level in grade 8 and grade 12

·         Developed a plan for integrating digital literacy throughout the subject areas and the school in the 2013-14 school year:

o   Intro to Technology Operations Basics at St. Pat’s: All grade 8s in September

o   Integration of digital literacy skills development that are grade-level appropriate into English classes - co-taught and/or supported by the techbrarian

o   Digital Citizenship integrated into grade level workshops / retreats

o   Staff supported by the techbrarian to integrate digital literacy skills development into all subject areas

·         Formed a team of teachers and administrators to collaborate in the planning of a digital literacy curriculum

·         Provided Digital Literacy professional development for staff

o   Shared information about digital literacy and plans for integrating the curriculum as part of our Building Experts Sharing Day

Supported teachers and students:

·         Created a database of resources about digital literacy to share with teachers

·         Implemented a framework for Techbrarian support in class that can vary depending on the needs of the class:

o   Task-based: Students develop digital literacy skills specifically as it relates to the task at hand

o   Subject-based: Students develop digital literacy skills in general and related to the subject

·         Provided support to teachers with regard to technology integration, with regular meetings for those whose professional development focus was on technology integration

·         Created a virtual learning space for students: St. Pat's Media Resource Centre

·         Created a virtual learning/sharing space for teachers: Building Experts Professional Learning

Next year, we intend to:

Continue to develop the Digital Literacy Curriculum:

·         Collaborate with the Problem Based Learning Team as they develop a cross-curricular approach for the 2014-15 school year – assist in integrating Digital Literacy

·         Review the existing 3 digital literacy standards and associated specific skills that we have focused on this year and consider additions/revisions

·         Assess the existing opportunities available to students to learn about and practice digital literacy skills:

o   Identify gaps

o   Search for ways to further integrate digital literacy

o   Consider how to track the learning opportunities to ensure that all standards are being addressed

Continue to support teachers and students:

·         Develop an online/interactive version of the Research Guide to the MRC website and introduce school-wide as a resource for digital literacy

·         Review LMS options and consider how an LMS might support technology integration and digital literacy skills development among the students and staff

·         Develop and deliver workshops for students about digital citizenship

·         Continue to assist teachers in integrating technology and search for new ways to expand technology integration through teacher support

Gr. 12 Exit Interviews: Sharing Passion & Talent

A few weeks ago our Grade 12 students participated in our annual "exit interview" from St. Patrick Regional Secondary (special thanks to @maricelignacio for organizing this event)

This is a formal and structured time when every staff member (including non-teaching staff) is assigned a handful of Gr. 12 students to meet and listen to as they share their Graduation Transition Plan

The plan usually covers short and long term goals as well as future aspirations including post secondary schooling plans and/or possible career plans.  Students are also asked to reflect and consider such things as financial plans and healthy living plans (food, nutrition, exercise  etc.) as they move into adulthood.

A further reflection point for students is in the area of meta-cognition.  Students are asked to reflect on themselves as learners and to showcase examples of strengths and challenges.

Since we adopted this "exit interview" model, a few positives have emerged:

• Having students present to a audience in a formal setting has given more meaning to the interviews
• It has broadened the circle of insight regarding our students' successes, challenges and talents - which only makes our community better.
• Speaking for myself, it has created a meaningful opportunity to ask students about their high school experience and gather information that can make our school better.

This year, for the first time, one of the students in my group decided to use digital media to assist him with his interview.

He didn't have to.  He chose to.  Which fits nicely within our BYOD approach to technology.  For this student, the use of this technology was an appropriate amplifier of his message.

I have added his 4 minute video presentation below (with permission) - it is worth the watch


 

I am always really proud and amazed by the variety of talents and interests our students display.   The exit interview has been a wonderful vehicle for students and staff to gain inspirational insights regarding the passions and talents of our students.

Your Learning Sandbox or Ours?

Regular readers of this blog know that our school has embraced BYOD as an approach to integrating technology in our day to day teaching and learning.  We are learning lots of valuable lessons along the way.

Recently I have had many conversations with various people about creating a common "digital learning sandbox" for our teachers and students.

As it stands today we have some commonality  - for example a common file sharing system for staff and students, common school email for staff and students and other aspects of both Google Apps and Microsoft's 365.

But as of yet, we have not felt the need to deploy one mandated digital platform for all our students.

Instead we have allowed the "digital learning sand box" to grow organically and in a personalized manner.

For now students and teachers choose which platform is best for them.

Increasingly I can see some limitations to this.

As more and more teachers start asking students to demonstrate their learning in a digital space I worry that managing this information will be difficult for both teachers and students.

But......

What if every teacher gives every student the choice to choose a platform that works for them - starting in grade 8.  A student can maintain a digital space/portfolio that is relevant to them and is fully transferable once they graduate.

Recently a few teachers shared with me some student projects that had been completed.  Students were given the ability to choose a digital platform - many/most chose platforms that they had already established for personal use and made the crossover to "school use"  (eg. Facebook, Tumblr, Blogger or Wordpress, etc.).  It should be noted that some students made the perfect-ably acceptable choice to produce a "traditional" paper product.

As we continue to shine a necessary spotlight on the digital citizenship of our students (and staff) I can't help but think of how effective it is to have students freely choosing to broaden their vision of how digital spaces can be used.  By inviting teachers and peers into their these digital spaces as a means to document learning, can serve to broaden the vision and raise the bar on digital citizenship..  

Another benefit, as I see it, is that it can mitigate the "school life" vs. "real life" crisis that exists in so many schools today.

Of course there are many other legalities and specifics that need to be considered in this conversations.     And who knows, we may move toward inviting all students into one big school learning sandbox.   But in the meantime I am intrigued by how we are organically allowing students to learn and demonstrate that learning in their own digital sandbox.

Any thoughts or advice?  

Technology Embedded Pedagogy

I get a little frustrated when I  hear comments that continually relegate the use of technology in education as something supplemental to teaching learning.  I suppose videos like the one above don't help this situation - although the idea of "Learning empowered by technology" makes me feel better.

Nonetheless, I wonder when we will stop seeing "technology" as an "add on" to sound teaching pedagogy.

If we agree that we live in a technology and information rich time, then schools, as places of learning and teachers as agents of learning, need to shift their respective culture and mindset surrounding technology.

The "how" of teaching needs to be embedded, when required and necessary, with technology (it is appropriate and necessary to NOT use technology at times)

My twitter stream is full of #edtech tools and suggestions.  But without the necessary pedagogical immersion, we will continue to relegate technology to the equivalent of the annual field trip.

A few weeks ago I came across a tweet by Bill Ferriter @plugusin where wrote

Crappy #edtech choices= schools start by asking, "What do we want to BUY?" instead of, "What do we want kids to DO?"

Brilliant!  Starting with what students are "doing" with technology is rooted in pedagogy.

So how do we get to a place where technology is embedded within the pedagogical repertoire of teachers?

Here are some things that have worked and things that have failed for us:

What's worked

• Making the case for a technology embedded pedagogy, supporting teachers with time and resources to learn while at the same time respecting a teachers right to minimal intrusion when it comes professional learning.

What's NOT worked

• Making the case for a technology embedded class and prescribing how to do it and not providing the necessary supports for teachers to learn  

What's worked

• When teachers think about how technology can assist with specific teaching strategies such as: Identifying similarities and differences, Summarizing, note taking and creating, Homework and practice, Cooperative learning, Setting objectives and providing feedback, Generating and testing hypotheses, Cues, questions, and advance organizers.  

What's NOT worked

• Using technology only to present material lecture style 

Whats Worked

• Explaining and demonstrating the pedagogical rationale for technology with vivid examples of success.

What's NOT worked

• Showing specific tech tools without the explaining its purpose or rationale

What's Worked

• Being patient and not forcing it down peoples throats.

What's NOT Worked

• Buying the same technology for everyone at the same time

What's Worked

• Creating the conditions for a technology appetite among teachers and having teachers "knock down my door" with personalized technology requests.

What's NOT Worked

• Buying the same tool or gadget without the proper buy-in - only to have those gadgets either underutilized or not used at all.

What's Worked

• Giving teachers time and resources to learn among themselves for themselves.  Creating a climate of "expertise and experimentation" on staff.

What's NOT worked

• One day, one size fits all workshops

What's Worked

• Being OK when things go wrong

What's NOT worked

• Over reacting when things don't go right

As we continue to find ways to make learning more relevant and engaging for our students, I hope that we will move away for seeing technology as a mere tool or add on - but an embedded pedagogical reality.

BYOD: What We're Learning

Regular readers of this blog will know that our school has embraced BYOD approach to technology at school

Although we have had a soft launch to this policy for the previous two years, this year marks the first year of our full implementation.

Two months into the school year I thought it would be helpful to report out on some observations, challenges and successes.

The Numbers
We have seen an exponential growth of devices here at school.  To be clear, many of these devices were probably already here but our policy is now bringing those devices out, in public, where they can be successfully used by students.  We are currently peaking at 1200 devices on our WiFi network.  With a school population (staff and students) of 550, that averages to about 2 devices per person.

Sharing the Technology
A teacher's tech problem/issue doesn't have to stall the lesson.  With both teacher and students having access to devices, a technology dependent class has a less likelihood of stalling if the teacher's device crashes.  No more awkward "talk among yourselves" as the teachers scrambles.  We can now share devices.

Stability Required
With more users relying on our WiFi and wired network,  the need for a stable and consistent infrastructural has become more pronounced.  Minor interruptions to our WiFi network (our system has been very reliable)  today causes a loud chorus of "is the WiFi down?" from both staff and students.

Need to Support
Creating, supporting and sustaining a technology rich environment requires technical support.  Nothing is quite as frustrating and undermining than having a less than consistent hardware and software.  Nonetheless, from time to time stuff breaks down.  Because of the increasing reliance on our technology infrastructure (WiFi, desktops, projectors, etc) , the timely repair of these issues is critical. Over the years we have increased the time allocated to our I.T teacher to provide the necessary supports to enable a learning culture supported by technology.

Any outlet will do

Honesty & Integrity
Academic Integrity is a priority.  This has always been a priority for any school.  Cheating is an issue that needs to be dealt with when it arises.  In our experience, technology has not created more cheating but rather new realities and challenges.  We have had to do some teaching around integrity and create systems to mitigate the likelihood of cheating with personal devices.   The bigger issue around cheating revolves around the "why" of cheating.  Solve the "why" and solve the cheating.

Where's the outlet?
We are seeing more student devices plugged into outlets around the school.  Moving forward we probably need to adopt smart solutions to this.

From under the desk to the desk top
As student devices become more mainstream at school, it has brought on-line interactions more mainstream and to the attention of responsible adults.  The devices have gone from under the desk to the desk top.  This has allowed us to deal with issues of digital citizenship more frequently.

What is my role?
More and more teachers are realizing that they no longer have the sole responsibility of delivering content to students.  It is my observation that this reality has caused more and more teachers to reflect deeply on what their fundamental role is.  An interesting response to this reality (I don't think it is a coincidence) is that a large number of teachers are looking at Problem Based Learning as part of their professional learning plan.

QR Code in English

Apps that leverage personal devices
I am noticing that teachers are accessing and using more applications that cater to the effective use of personal devices.  I am happy to report that we are seeing more than just teachers using PowerPoint.   For example, we have seen a rise of QR codes throughout the school.

The need to unplug
We need to unplug.  As our use of technology at school evolves, we are becoming increasingly mindful of modelling the need to unplug at times.  Being present in relationship and being present in authentic community is a value we need to uphold and maintain.  This is essential to who we are as a Christian Catholic school community.

I'm sure we will learn much more as we continue to empower our teachers and students to use technology to enrich learning.

I am particularly interested in hearing from other schools that have adopted a BYOD approach to technology.  Any insights and ideas are always welcome!