Flavor of the Month or Research & Development?
I heard discussion and saw an advertisement talking about education having our “Flavors of the Month.” In other words what’s the next initiative, program, product, or technology that will increase standardized test scores, student performance, student engagement, teacher effectiveness, learning, or whatever other metric we might be using (all of which are important). It’s interesting the advertisement using the “Flavor of the Month” analogy was for a professional development program. Interesting, huh?
Here’s my take. First of all, transformational change does not come from programs and initiatives. Those are things! It comes from having a process where action research is constantly occurring. It also is about having a collaborative culture where learning is always occurring. Garvin (2000) called this environment the learning organization. “A learning organization is an organization skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights” (Garvin, 2000, p. ii). Now, think about that definition. If you think about it you’ll understand when I say it is good to use a few “Flavors of the Month” every so often to try new learning techniques for effectiveness. I would not have known I like Pistachio Ice Cream had I not been tempted to try it on a Flavor of the… trial. What’s wrong with trying new things? We need to view it as Research and Development.
The problem within our schools is we then need to collaborate in a learning organization environment to truly know what worked and did not. We need to have knowledge sharing in conjunction with knowledge generation. Now I know I will get all the negative reactions that are associated with any time of professional development or professional learning communities – no money, no time, yada yada yada. A true learning organization is a culture not a thing.
Let me give you an example. Yesterday I wanted to try using a People Search. This is an activity where students receive a chart with eight questions and they have to collaborate with eight different students to answer each question. They both initial when they believe they have the correct answer. I tweaked this activity to do it electronically and invited another teacher in who uses this activity often with success to observe and critique afterward. We spent time reflecting afterward and it was incredible and worthwhile personal growth time spent. Did you notice this did not cost money, require board approval, or any of the other things we complain about or use as excuses.
This interaction was a true modeling of a learning organization. There was no fear of failure, and even if it had failed, my teacher guest is of the same culture as me. We are not afraid of risk. The process of a learning organization starts from a cognitive phase where new ideas are exposed and are digested by the people followed by a behavioral phase (trying something new) where these ideas are put to use and finally a process improvement phase (reflection). So don’t forget we must develop a culture of Research and Development, knowledge creation and sharing, and the learning organization.
Reference
Garvin, D. (2000). Learning in action: A guide to putting the learning organization to work. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.
Agriculture – Our Next Moon Shot
A few weeks ago there was an article that discussed the agriculture industry as not being a viable career choice for students. It seems to me that agriculture continues to be one of the least understood industries, with some of the most tremendous opportunities for our students. When starting the Agriculture Science program at Lebanon Community School Corporation eight years ago, I spoke of the fact that agriculture is more than Cows, Plows, and Sows. I now use the phrase that agriculture is our next “man on the moon” that Kennedy had. Think about it; as our population increases we will need food, clothing, shelter, sustainable fuel sources, cures for diseases, and the list goes on and on. Where will these come from? AGRICULTURE SCIENCE!
When people begin discussing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education and careers, I like to remind them that it really should be STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, AGRICULTURE, and Math. But don’t take my word for it, click here to take a look at the results of the 2011 Employment Summary Food, Agriculture, Life, and Natural Resources May Graduates – College of Agriculture, Purdue University.
As our next “moon shot” it is critical that we continue to support agriculture science as an important Career and Technical Education (CTE) component in our secondary schools. It is also critical that teachers, such as myself, take the integration of science very seriously into our curriculum. It is also critical that we continue to recruit the best students into agriculture to be the Neil Armstrong’s of the agricultural industry and take the giant leaps of solving world hunger, disease, fuel needs, and all other areas related to food, life, and natural resources.
SWELL Education
SMART Worldwide Effective Learning Lab
This week’s post is going to direct you to four posts I have done for SMART Technology’s EDCompass Blog. I serve as a guest blogger and have done a series of four posts describing my journey as a SMART Exemplary Educator. This journey has also involved the development of the SWELL (SMART Worldwide Effective Learning Lab) classroom. The four titles are listed here and linked to the EdCompass Blog. Check out these posts!
Could you Convince Your School to Put a SMARTBoard in Every Room?
A SWELL Place To Be: The Story of the SWELL Classroom
A Typical Day in the SWELL Classroom
Professional Development for Digital Learning is a TALL order
Also check out this video my class made about project based learning and the use of technology. To view the video click here.
Never Be Average!
Cord and I
This week I am going to let one of my student’s words be the focus of my post. A couple of weeks ago you will remember I blogged about our basketball team (to read the post again click here). Well this week I would like to use a paper Cord Barricklow, a member of that team, wrote as a class assignment for an “I Believe…” statement. It is so exciting to have a student who combines leadership traits, faith, integrity, and values into such a balanced package. We talk a lot about leadership and life lessons in my classes and let me tell you, Cord gets it. But here I’ll let you judge for yourself. You’ll see why I say I learn from my students every day! I have taken the liberty of putting some of Cord’s most profound statements (in my opinion) in bold and italics for emphasis. Please join me in celebrating this young man’s beliefs. We can all learn from Cord. Enjoy!
Never Be Average – by Cord Barricklow
I believe in the fight to excel above others. To fully commit yourself into whatever your dream is and be the best you can be. You can achieve anything you want to with hard work and dedication. Know that you are the best at what you do. Never be average.
In order to be the best, you have to believe in yourself and know that you are capable to be that star. You must have the Muhammed Ali confidence, Ali once said, “I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.” It can be seen as cockiness but it is much deeper than that. It is an attitude, a swag to what you do and what you love. When you put all of your blood sweat and tears into a single goal, you have the right to know you are the best.
You may not really like the training, it will get tough. Ali puts it into the best words. “Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” That’s what has to fuel your fire. Sure, it is a struggle to maintain the level of determination to keep grinding it out, but without struggle what’s it all worth. Nothing is given to you in this world, and when you push yourself, you will get what’s necessary to be a champion.
You may need some luck in your journey, but I believe that luck is hard work, cleverly disguised. With great skill and good luck, you can achieve anything. People are born for a greater purpose than to just survive. God put us on this world to thrive at the challenges we face, not just to turn away and survive them. And when you achieve that prize, that goal you have pushed for, you give him all the glory in your victory.
I work everyday at the things I push to succeed in. Whether it is rodeo, basketball, or school. If I don’t consistently work on my game, someone else might be getting better than me. I cannot be average, I must find the push within me to get to the top, and stay there.
And when you achieve the greatness that you worked so hard to obtain, you will know that you made it, that you are not average, that you’re a champion! This I believe!
Do You Edify?
Today, as is the case most days, one of my students has provided the teaching and I am obliged to do the learning. Garrett Breedlove (@Goob_22 on Twitter) tweeted me that the word of the day was “Edification.” You may recall that Garrett was the facilitator of learning for one of my blog posts last fall. To read that post (Attitude Is Like A Cold) again click here. Now I have to admit, I didn’t even know what “Edification” meant. So off to my Dictionary App I went, and guess what the definition was? “1. The act of edifying.” I hate it when that happens! So, I looked up “Edify.” That’s when the learning began. Here’s what it said: “To instruct or benefit.” Now, that’s good stuff!
Wouldn’t it be great if we were all edifying? That would mean we would be instructing or coaching and benefiting others all the time. What a great world it would be if we were all striving to “Edify.” I was then reminded of a conversation I had just yesterday with my good friend Kevin Eikenberry. I shared my frustrations with him about a leader of a meeting I was in the week before who had just not taken her own professional development serious enough and was, quite frankly, giving wrong information. I shared that I had gone back to his book Remarkable Leadership:Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at A Time and read the part where he talks about that as leaders we must always realize that the others in the room may not be at the same knowledge level or leadership ability as us. Kevin, in his normal wisdom, shared that we have to find a way to coach and provide that information to others in a way that benefits all. 
As a person who leads from the middle most of the time this makes so much sense. During our conversation it clicked that really I have to take the same approach in all my leadership roles that I take with my students. That being, to always facilitate learning from where the students are right now, and not where I want them to be. Really, I was approaching this leader wrong – Instead of instantly correcting, which is what I did (honestly, because I knew I was right & wanted to be seen as being right) I needed to “EDIFY.”
Next time I will take the lessons of Garrett and Kevin, and stop and think about how I can provide coaching, instruction, and benefit to others. In other words, provide “Edification.”
Next time you are in a situation like mine think about how you can “EDIFY.” It will make the world a better place. Thanks for the inspiration Garrett! Just goes to prove that Twitter is one of the greatest professional development tools ever.
Own Your Own Expectations
Me & The Seniors
Last night I had the tremendous honor of being named our Lebanon High School Mens Basketball Honorary Coach. This was huge for me because it was the players’ idea and Coach Albert Hendrix agreed. The players are are biggest reason for my being excited about this opportunity. I have all but two in class, and since I am a systems thinker those two are my students too, since they go to Lebanon. Our Tigers are now 16-2, and I have been to all the games but but two (I was out of state for both). I have blogged about my personal mission of using Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships to facilitate high student achievement. Today’s post really goes to the Relationship component. Because of basketball a bond between myself and these students has been forged that is unbelievable. But really all of this is not the theme of this post.
Last fall during a leadership workshop we were conducting for our students one player/student, Ray Solomon, made a comment that has forever changed me and shaped many of my discussions with this team. When asked by the workshop facilitator “What are major distractions to to your being successful?” Ray wrote down “Expectations.” I asked Ray about this because normally we think of high expectations being a key to attaining success. Here’s where the student set the teacher straight; Ray said, “But Mr. Ernest you don’t understand, in basketball everyone has their own idea of what the expectations of the basketball team should be. They want us to all be straight A students, go to the college they went to, win a state championship (even though many making that statement never coached a state championship team, were on one, or even a good basketball player), never get into trouble, and the list goes on and on. Every one of them also wants to tell us exactly what me need to do better, and many times the next piece of advice contradicts the one before. It’s just too much to handle.” This statement from Ray really struck me and caused me to think. I really believe most of this is not coming out of love for the student athletes but out of these people’s own selfish desires to attach themselves in some way to the team. Much of it becomes not providing expectations, but DISTRACTIONS.
Sign Made by Rob Dukes
Coach Hendrix and I have developed a great relationship as well (in fact he uses my room and SMARTboards for film practice) and we have discussed these distractions. Amazingly, he gets the same thing – many who think they can coach the team better. My thought – even if they can (pretty sure they can’t) they are not the coach, period. Let me assure you after being on the bench with Coach Hendrix last evening there are few better at adjusting to what is happening in the game than him. He is a tremendous game coach. I have always said one of the best things we could do would be to take down all the banners in the gym and not live in the past but live for the here and now. Right now is this teams time. It doesn’t matter what has happened in the past or who came before. What matters is the expectations this team has for themselves right now. It has to become personal.
Ray & I After My Coaching Debut!
My suggestion to Ray and all the other players is quite simply “Own your own expectations!” Don’t worry about everyone else’s expectations. I want them to quite simply make it personal. In fact, I personally tweeted that message to each player yesterday before the game and reinforced it in the locker room during the game. As Coach Hendrix said in his pregame, “you now have the opportunity to do something that very few get to do, it has to become personal, you have to want it more than anyone else, the stretch to a state championship begins right here, right now!” We won last night, by the way!
Last night it was such an incredible honor to be honorary coach for the game. I did everything that a coach would do – locker room pregame, on the floor for warm ups, sat on the bench with the players, halftime locker room adjustments, and post-game talks. What an experience! Words cannot describe the love I have for this team. Everyone of them is a great student, and more importantly, person. I will never forget the experience of the feeling of being asked to be the Honorary Coach. It means so much because it was this team – it was their own EXPECTATION of me. Guess what – I owned that expectation, too!
So for the readers of this post please remember that high expectations are important, but also remember as I tweeted: “No more DISTRACTIONS. Tonight it becomes personal. Don’t worry about everyone else’s expectations. Own your own Expectations!”
My Tweet to Ray - All the other players got one too!
Pillars of Student Engagement
Pillars of Teacher Effectiveness
Frustration
This past week I defended my research proposal (successfully I might add) as part of my Doctoral journey. At the end I was asked if I had any comments I would like to make about the journey. Well of course I did. For one of my comments I used the term “frustrated.” After saying that I quickly tried to correct, and said “I’m sorry, frustrated is not the correct term, I didn’t mean to sound so negative.” My doctoral committee chair quickly jumped in and said “Byron, it is o.k. to feel frustration – it’s part of the process.”
Let me tell you, as a card carrying “Positive/Possibility Thinker” it frustrated me to think I had been frustrated. So in reflecting I thought, “How can we turn frustration into a positive emotion?” Off to Dictionary.com I went. Here’s what the website had to say: Frustration – The condition that results when an action is thwarted by an external or internal force. The blocking or thwarting of an impulse, purpose, or action (who the heck uses the word thwarted anyway?). Also, it is ironic that one of John Maxwell’s Minute with Maxwell videos was on the work frustration this week as well. Click here to watch his video and hear his thoughts on “frustration”
So here’s what I learned: When I get frustrated I need to use the impulse to evaluate my purpose and create actions that will eliminate the frustration. Really, frustration is a gauge pointing us to the next action necessary to carry out our purpose. Frustration happens to you and it happens to me so let’s harness it’s effects for positive action.
Students Achieving Engagement
Back on December 9, 2011 my post was about action research we are doing at my school on student engagement. I wrote about the four themes that our students developed about what great teachers needed to do to keep them engaged in the learning process. To read the post click here. Here are the themes from the student responses as to how students are best engaged: 1. Students learn best from Passionate and Energetic teachers; 2. Students learn best from teachers that are Prepared and Creative; Students learn best when the material is Relevant to them; and 4. Students learn best when they best when they believe the teacher genuinely Cares about them.
This past week we took two student LAB times (time each day I spend with the same group of students) to discuss the students’ role in being engaged learners. The discussion revolved around the answers the students gave to the question: What can students do to improve engagement?
Here are the themes and every related comment made by the students:
Proper Sleep
Come to class well rested, Decent amount of sleep, Get more sleep, Get enough sleep, Get more sleep at home not in class, Get more sleep, Sleep more – go to bed earlier, Get enough sleep, Get a good night’s sleep, Go to bed earlier, Get enough sleep, Get enough sleep, Get more sleep, Proper rest, Get plenty of sleep, More Sleep, More Sleep, Get proper amounts of sleep, More sleep (not in class), Get more sleep, Get more sleep – try to have a specific time by which to go to bed, Get more sleep by putting away electronic devices, managing time better, going to bed earlier, and cutting off sugar and caffeine at an earlier time, Get Enough Sleep (at “home”), Get more sleep, Get enough sleep, Get more sleep at home, Get sleep, Reasonable bedtime
Eat Breakfast
Eat a nutritious breakfast, Eat breakfast, Breakfast in the morning, Eat Breakfast, Eat a good breakfast, Eat breakfast – set up night before, eat the right foods, and bring a healthy snack, Eat healthy, especially breakfast, Eat breakfast, Eat breakfast, Eat a good breakfast, Eat breakfast, Eat breakfast, Breakfast, Eat breakfast, Follow proper diet (nutrition/meals), Eat breakfast, Eat Breakfast, Eat correct meals, Eat breakfast, Eat breakfast
Positive Attitude and Motivation
Positive outlook, and motivation and guidance, Be a more positive student, Have a positive attitude, Self motivation, Be self-motivated to reach your future goals, More self-motivation, Positive outlook, Motivate yourself, Have a more positive attitude, Students need to work towards having a positive attitude every day they come to school, Positive attitude, Be positive – care about yourself – care about your classmates – care about your education – maintain a positive outlook, Get motivated, Positive Attitude, Have a positive attitude towards classmates, teachers, and schoolwork, More Positive Attitude (This one was brought up the most), Have a positive outlook each day, Self Motivation, Motivate others by encouraging them, Care about your grades, Care about grades, Keep Motivated, Change your attitude about school: don’t be a “Debbie owner” and cooperate, Students should be setting clear-cut, obtainable goals
Respect
Students need to care and respect others students and teachers, Meet teachers halfway/show respect, Be less disruptive, Don’t join in on bullying or picking on others, Don’t derail lectures during class – cooperate more, Have respect/Less drama, Students need to have an equal amount of respect for themselves and their peers, Respect, Respect Students and Teachers/Don’t judge others, Students can be more cooperative (not disruptive, kind, courteous, respectful), Be more respectful to both fellow classmates as well as teachers, Teamwork – help classmates if they need help, Be willing to help others, Get to know your classmates (it helps your comfort level in classes.)
Responsibility and Work Ethic
Do not procrastinate, Be responsible, Don’t procrastinate, Don’t procrastinate, Use time wisely and apply yourself when in class, Be responsible for my actions – do assignments- get excited to learn – take notes – put homework in agenda book, Don’t procrastinate-Use student handbook – use class time wisely when teachers give homework time – set a schedule while doing homework (ex: after I do 10 problems THEN I can check Facebook) – make a too do list to check off, Take advantage of time/don’t procrastinate, Be responsible for actually doing the work, Students need to be proactive in class and avoid procrastination, Take responsibility, Stop procrastinating – set priorities, Don’t procrastinate, Don’t Procrastinate, Take more responsibility, Don’t procrastinate, Be responsible – be on time to class – be prepared – don’t procrastinate, Don’t procrastinate, Don’t procrastinate, Don’t Procrastinate, Don’t procrastinate, Don’t Procrastinate, Don’t Procrastinate, Be responsible for yourself: take notes – do assignments – pay attention in class
Commitment
Take notes, Do your homework completely, Be engaged in class activities; don’t work on homework for other classes, Be prepared for class (complete homework/reading, be well rested), Take good notes, Take Notes, Stay Focused and take “active” notes, Come to school prepared- supplies, Actually do homework at home not during other classes, Apply yourself/do your homework, Take good notes, Take good notes in class, Study to be prepared for homework, tests, and class discussions, Do the homework, Do the homework, Do The Work, Bring the necessary supplies (book, pencil, paper,etc), Take good notes, Do your homework, Do your homework, Learn how to take notes, Self-preparation, Turn in all homework even if it is not completed – do all homework the night it is assigned and while it is fresh, Keep on top of my homework, Students can do homework/ come prepared for class, Make an effort – even if you don’t like it, suck it up and do it, Do Homework and use agendas to record assignments, Turning in homework – Studying for tests
Active Involvement
Ask questions in class and get help outside of class if necessary, Ask questions, Ask questions and participate in class and school activities, Asking questions – focus on listening and taking, notes, Ask questions, See more teachers and ask questions when needed-students should not be afraid to ask teachers questions – If they are shy or do not feel comfortable wait until after class or email their question to the teacher, Participate more in classroom activities, Ask questions, Ask for help, Apply Yourself More Often, Ask questions, Ask questions in class, Participate – ask questions – get help after school – take notes – don’t sleep in class, Be active participants in class (do homework/study, ask questions, focus, be prepared with supplies, use your class time wisely), Participate/ask questions in class, Pay attention – ask for help, Focus in Class, Students will be active participants in class by cooperating with teachers, avoiding procrastination and doing their work, asking questions, and taking notes, Students can participate in class/ ask questions, Pay attention in classes, Be more engaged in learning…ie. Pay attention – Ask Questions – Be here, Ask more questions in class, Apply yourself to each subject to the best of your ability, Ask questions and support classmates when they ask questions, Participate by volunteering on a regular basis, Ask questions whether it be in class or outside of class if that is more comfortable. Don’t be scared to say something silly, Ask good questions when not understanding, Ask Questions
To complete this exercise the students wrote down three areas on an index card that they personally were going to commit to for improved engagement. We as teachers are committing to: 1. Students learn best from Passionate and Energetic teachers; 2. Students learn best from teachers that are Prepared and Creative; Students learn best when the material is Relevant to them; and 4. Students learn best when they best when they believe the teacher genuinely Cares about them. The students are also taking ownership by having identified their own areas of commitment.
Byron's Babbles 
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