Questioning the System....

I'm being brave and just asking some really tough questions in my mind. I'm sorry if I offend anyone. I've been listening to too many books & podcasts lately!

Are we teaching pre-service teachers about leadership?

How do we continue to move teacher leadership forward, where they're continuously teaching themselves leadership skills by the books they read, by the dialog they have, and apply it to their roles as teacher leaders at the building level?

How do we build the bench for teacher leaders that will eventually crush/overcome the current narrow-minded thinking of the role of teacher vs. learner in a culture others accuse has stagnated?

How do we find the money in a failing rural economy, to reward the top 5% of teacher leaders we have now with monthly time and pay during their normal work day?

How do we build school calendars that will help us prosper in a new thinking economy?

In my opinion, the keys to unlock the possibilities are held captive by the system.

FAQ's & Inspiring Teams...

Today I had a question from one of my team members about getting registered for a conference. It took me by surprise knowing about our team attitude these days. So between this and sharing a good question that others might also find as useful information, I try to answer to both.

Q: Several of the tech team want to go to MACE and need to get registered, but don't know what to do when it comes to the payment part. Can you tell us what we have done in the past and what they should do for this year?

A: In the past, I have coordinated these events so everything is easy for people to go and enjoy the conference. I don't do this because I'm trying to keep others from going. If several of the tech team want to go to MACE, you would think that they would want to discuss in large group instead, and start what could lead to a good to great discussion about what's inspiring about presenting or attending and who else in our buildings might benefit from attending and also be worthy? I am disappointed in this team because I have not heard any of these conversations going on.

If we are to be a leadership team, I need to know who wants to be on it. Is it volunteer right now? Kind of yes. Will it always be? Who knows. We are doing everything in our power to help create these learner-driven, student-centered classrooms. We can only do what we are happy at. If an awesome opportunity came up for any one of us, we would encourage strength in the talents of one another to help her/him fly the coop. It seems to me that we have lost the capacity of working in a collaborative manner....in the midst of diversity. Why?

Stephen Covey says it is because we have lost trust and without trust you can't fix anything until you fix the trust. It is my belief people don't understand how to work in teams and it's especially hard to work in a high energy team where much diversity is found, like ours. When did we become dissatisfied?

What I know is how we felt during those Kal-Tech days. We were inspired and learning and having conversations working on the work together. That was the year 2006. A few things happened to the organizational structure of our district that year. I'm only listing the two most important mile stones in my own life. Mary Frazier and Bill left after 20 some years. I'm sorry I don't know the exact amount. Natural organizational changes like this happen and we learn and grow from our experience only to continue with our passionate work in education.

Now again, we need to set sail in another direction focused on the development of teachers to build lessons with higher level student inquiry. We have to create our maps. Peter Senge in his new book "Dance of Change" says "Without better maps it is extremely unlikely that organizational change efforts will sustain themselves." If you've listened to Peter Senge, you know he pours his heart and soul into his work and he believes the framework provided by the 20+ years of research that went into the making of his book, Dance of Change, will provide a starting point, enabling those of us who care deeply about building new types of organizations .... to lead in creating better maps and healthier organizations. I want to be on the map building team.

And then there's Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers". Wow. It starts off intriguingly great.

May we always ... lead with our best self.

Karla

Settling down to lay out the plan...

Wow. I was shocked to see the last time I posted was June 8. I knew it had been awhile but that is way too long. I struggle with the question, why don't I do a better job of blogging more often or every day? I'm positive it has something to do with my insecurity of making a mistake.

When there is no failure, there can be by definition, no success. Without risk, there is no failure. Without failure there is no success.

What we don't admit is the systemic culture of Learning (1.0), teaches our children at a very early age, to make no mistakes because getting the wrong answer is bad. Failure is not looked upon as a learning experience. Each year, we hardened them off a bit more and if we're not careful we may have a community full of kids bored who no longer want to take risks for fear of failure.

Laying out the plan? This year marks our State tech plan as renewable! The due date to the state is May, 2009.

As you start to think about all the artifacts of data required to inspire us as we revise our road map and start to frame what 21st Century living looks like, the skills required to live there, we need to remember to ask tough questions.... maybe even harder for us is to create tough answers.

What we all need to agree on, in my humble opinion, is the fact that this work is hard, grueling at times, and requires the use of the dirty words "time" and "accountability".... for not just working on the work, but also to reflect, assess, and act. It certainly takes accountability to another level.

Tools of the Trade.....

Only when we can think seriously, read profoundly, dig in the research, look out globally, and have hard conversations, will we thrive and produce in a purposeful professional learning community. PLC's at their best?? How is your's stacking up?

A Few Things.......

I've missed a wonderful event that happened today in my neighborhood! I told my teachers jokingly I was jealous of them all. [smile] I've missed connecting all evening with some great people from out of town and I did't catch all your tweets! Twitter has been neglected since Holiday weekend. I think I should have invited myself better to the celebration. lol

Darn it Kevin! it just wasn't meant to happen by the master gardener!. :-) It was a very good day for me here. Even more, I heard great things from my teachers who spent the first day of the iConnect/iLearn conference with you and their fellow thinkers.

I am so excited for the four who will benefit. Still sadder... that 60 of them did not write back.

Funny, if I were going to say a few things as food for thought based on my day?.... I might say:

• I'm doing everything possible to hold your inadequacies in my hands and ease the pain and take care of you like I always have.
  

• I see great modeling of support systems that exists in the microscopic nitches of our community. The question becomes ... How can we begin to stitch the supports back together?

Curious ... what percent of YOUR citizenship is negative, how much is positive? Can we look around and assess with minds wide open?

p.s. Kevin, you have done well at branding!

Letter to myself......

We're all over the place it seems these days. All of the girls were present at last nights tech meeting, and I'm taking this moment to thank them for they are not recognized enough for what they do for me and this district. This connection keeps us challenged in many ways and as we collaborate and dialog and rant, it is because it is not so much people that disempower us but the bigger cloud we know as politics which come in many forms. Disguised at times because we don't even recognize it. The rest of my post started out as an email and then turned blog. Many works go unpublished and that is probably a good thing. I struggle as a writer. But...maybe it will spark some good .... if not just for me.

p.s. The project site has not been cleaned up yet or had the personal touches done to it from the team yet so don't be too critical. [smile]

I would like to request some time for the teachers that "come out of the woodwork" on this project and get up in front of their colleagues to share their "design" of how this Web2.0 application connects / ties to their curriculum. I would like to request a half-day professional day for this team, who we could call the GoogleEarth project team for now, so they can spend 3.5 hours of their professional day to work on the framework for next years student projects.

Wish I could change the terminology on all of this. Back in the Kal-Tech days we talked about how we could affect change not just within the boundaries of today's schools, but also by pushing and stretching those boundaries to fall outside the classroom walls.

If each teacher we have touched through laptop focus group has not experienced moments when they were inspired to create something new and unique for each learner they facilitated, I would be gravely disappointed. But....have they sustained that inspiration as a "life long" learner?

This is the question behind the question. QBQ. This is what each individual has to ask of ourselves. My goodness, isn't it the "credence" of School 1.0? to be a life-long learner? hmmmm, makes me wonder what mental models some people see. What picture can we draw of this?

This program is about drawing different pictures. It's about creating new mental models for what you love to do. Make a difference in the life of a child. oops..... That came out so easy. Why didn't I just write Make a difference in the life of children? Maybe it hasn't ever been addressed in the plural form of the word. Maybe that's why it is so hard to collaborate and share at higher levels than what is being maintained in our schools.

How clean are our pipes? Are they clogged? Are we suffering from corroded arteries? Think about it.

Building a Center of Excellence...

This was in my Inbox this morning from eseminars@enterpriseannounce.com - one of the many diverse newsletters I have raiding my Inbox. It was titled Build a Center of Excellence. (see original version posted below)

Okay..so I storied right there. It was titled BPM to BPI: Build a Center of Excellence, but instantly in my mind I substituted and imagined "What If?" The message just seemed so easy to "mashup", to make it fit with what we're trying to accomplish in the new vision of how schools can create global citizens who possess integrity, compassion, creativity, and are fluent in financial literacy, communication and collaboration skills; are critical thinkers, decision makers and problem-solvers....are young adults who learn to respect intellectual and personal property rights of others because they have been engaged in dialog around ethics, diversity, entrepreneurship, and innovation in a global society while the moment is teachable. It seesms a difficult task knowing the obstacles in our communities.

What IF we substituted the word "Schools" for "companies" in this advertisement for professional development? Actually, I'd rather refer to schools as organizations but I feel the status quo may not allow that thinking.

What essential conditions make way for creating a common vision and strategic action plans that will propel us to orchestrate the following? There is much to study and learn from the works of Stephen Covey, Peter Senge, and Tom Peters about organizational behavior.

-----------------My Version
Educational Professional,

Schools looking to evolve their "curriculum" and "skill-set" from a single-process solution to a more strategic, intelligence-driven function have much to gain in the way of an all-encompassing, end-to-end view of its processes and functions.

To achieve such a holistic process, however, schools must utilize all its resources in what should become known as a Center of Excellence and consider not just the technology but also who is driving the strategy behind it. Where are you on the continuum of learning and leading in a global economy?

In this eSeminar..

----------------Original Version
Technology Professional,

Companies looking to evolve their business process management from a single-process solution to a more strategic, intelligence-driven function have much to gain in the way of an all-encompassing, end-to-end view of its processes and functions.

To achieve such a holistic process, however, companies must utilize all its resources in what has become known as a Center of Excellence and consider not just the technology but also who is driving the strategy behind it.

In this eSeminar..

Our panel of experts discuss the factors-both technological and human-that comprise a Center of Excellence, the possible pitfalls to avoid, and what benefits such a body of knowledge can offer.

Sponsored by Metastorm
------------------

What essential conditions need to be in place that will make way for creating a common vision and strategic action plan that will propel us to orchestrate CHANGE?

How are YOU mashing it all up?

Team Work...

As I reflect on the many conversations I've had this past year, I come back to reflect on a very simple book we studied as a team, Price Pritchett's book called TeamWork. It's an easy, quick read, only 65 pages long, but it's packed full of real examples of how successful teams accomplish their goals. His table of contents seems like a good road map.

• Push for High Quality Communication.
• Bring Talent to the Team.
• Play Your Position.
• Turn Diversity to the Team's Advantage.
• Back Up Others Who Need Help.
• Practice.
• Be Prepared to Sacrifice for the Team.
• Help New Teammates Make Entry.
• Play Down Yourself and Build Up Others.
• Spend Time With Your Teammates.
• Help Drive Discipline Into the Group.
• Make Sure You Make a Difference.
• Give Attention to Group Process.
• Help Create a Climate of Trust.
• Strengthen the Leader Through Good Followership.
• Be a Good Sport.

I am also reminded of this quote from "The Power of Full Engagement"

We can derive as much value from studying and understanding our failures as we can from celebrating and reinforcing our successes.

And Peter Senge who writes about a harmonization of our thinking and moving into action that can be a foundation.

It's this coming together to think together because we know only then can we act together.

I leave you with this question from Henry Jenkins work at MIT, he asks:

What has to change with our academic institutions in order for them to capitalize on the strengths that the current cultural changes/opportunities are creating?

A Time of Reflection......

This post is a mash-up of more thoughts than should go in one post. I'm inspired right now by the books The Speed of Trust, The Power of Full Engagement, Bernajean Porter's work, my social networks, and the work of our district LTT.

The start of a New Year causes me to reflect not only on my own personal and professional growth, but also on the growth of our organization. Over the next month or so, we should all focus on reflection.

Last night's teacher laptop class was an example that we do not, on a regular basis, initiate good conversation as a whole. However, our staff development model has used the power of video and Tanya's opening movie last night accomplished the task of empowering voice. No longer is it acceptable to be ignorant. It was a good night, but we continue to have non-participants whom we can not reach. Sad.

Reflecting... As usual, I have more questions than answers. What do we, the "LTT", stand for? What is lacking in the area of 21C skills, thinking, and knowledge among those we teach and work with? How do we "bridge that gap"?

Are we Innovating? Inspiring? Assessing???

Are we teaching the skills that teachers need in the new media landscape? Do we agree on those skills? Are we remembering, among all the distraction technology brings, the power of the Socratic method?

I started the school year with an email full of questions that we have not formally addressed. Aimee brought them back to us a couple of months later with her own thoughtful answers. I challenge each of us to do the same.

My team works very hard and our district is blessed. I am nothing without my players.