So this past week we held our faculty and staff Festival of Learning, which is our annual culminating event showcasing and highlighting the work, learning, and passion that we have all given to our Professional Learning Communities initiative throughout the school year…and it was awesome! I was a part of an incredible group of educators presenting work and learning around our commitment to social justice, but I also managed to get around and listen to over a dozen or so other inspiring group presentations, and truthfully, I was left speechless by what I saw. 

All of the groups presented their collaborative learning in their specific chosen format, and the positive impact that their work will have on student learning moving forward is going to be staggering and transformational. This year our general theme was under the umbrella of “Agency”, and giving our faculty and staff their own agency to choose areas of passion and interest around that particular theme made all of the difference, as it allowed for deep ownership and purposeful self direction from all involved.

It reminded me so much of our Lower School Inspiration Projects, a structure where each student gets to present their passions and inspirations on four occasions during the school year. With that structure we intentionally turn the learning over to the kids, and what they come up with and present to the community always leaves our heads spinning in awe. Well, the Festival of Learning last week had a very similar feel to those student showcases, as it really did turn into an Inspiration Project opportunity for adults, and just like with the kids, everyone left last week’s event inspired and proud to be a part of such a rich and committed learning community. 

I often speak about how the best professional development that schools can structure, suggest and support lies right at their fingertips within their own community. Faculty and staff teaching each other and learning from one another can be profound, empowering, and an inexpensive way to move a school forward in immeasurable ways. It takes strategic planning and structuring for sure, and a time and calendaring commitment, but wow is it ever worth it. I certainly see how sending educators off to great PD workshops and conferences and school visits can be super beneficial, and bringing in consultants can be transformative as well, but let’s not ever forget about what is lying right under our own noses…each other! 

Leveraging our internal learning community is always a great idea and the right approach, and it is something that schools should prioritize each and every year in my opinion. From what I just witnessed last week here with our faculty and staff, it was absolutely the right decision to allocate numerous faculty meeting times to this endeavor, and from what I saw everyone left the event feeling inspired, excited, and well, all the better for it. You see, everyone wins if we take the time to learn from each other, inspire each other and share our individual and collective expertise…especially our students! Thank you to all the groups who gave so much to this initiative, and please know that each presentation really did have a deep impact…so good! Have a great week ahead and hang on for the final sprint to the end everyone, and remember to be great for our students and good to each other. 

Quote of the Week…

There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about 

-Margaret J. Wheatley

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A Lesson in Friendship

So this week is my 300th blog post, which is a bit staggering for me to think about honestly. I broke that number down the other day and realized that this number represents an average of 25 posts a school year for the past 14 years straight. I am left feeling super grateful that I have had the opportunity to share my thoughts on education from an international school perspective across 6 countries (heading to a 7th) and 4 continents, and after reflecting on this journey it is clear to me that the decision to hit send on my first ever blog post all those years ago was the best professional decision that I have ever made. I had fun recently reflecting on this journey and it’s no surprise that well over 200 of my posts have revolved around the themes of school culture and relationship building, which makes sense since these are the foundation of all good things in school in my opinion. 

I wanted to reiterate something that I shared 6 years ago, when I hit send on my 200th post, which for me is a message that still very much rings true. I shared back then that since I began blogging in August of 2010, I have changed and grown and learned so much. I always enjoy looking back at my older posts and reflecting on the things that I want to dig deeper into, and seeing clearly that in some cases my thoughts around a certain issue have evolved and even in some cases, changed.

If I’m being truthful though, these posts were, and still are, a selfish way of staying current with the ever changing educational landscape, and when I began as new (green and overwhelmed) Assistant Principal in Shanghai, I felt like I had so much to learn, and so much to prove. It was scary at first, and I remember being so nervous when I hit send on my first blog post to faculty, scared that people were going to disagree with me, or push back on how I viewed a particular topic in education. You see, putting yourself out there can be scary for sure, but here’s the thing, you’re not growing if you’re not opening yourself up to critical feedback, or sharing your thoughts about your philosophy, your approach, your expertise, and your practice.

It took me a long time to open myself up in this way, and to become vulnerable and exposed on a weekly basis, but you know what, as an educator it’s the only way forward. We all have so much to share, and so much to say, and it’s not okay to keep it all to ourselves. We can only get better as a profession if we share with one another, ask questions, continually learn, try to push the envelope, celebrate what’s working, and work hard to fix what’s not. The best part of my week is not the time spent thinking deeply about my topic, or the writing on Sunday mornings, it’s the responses and comments and feedback that I receive after I hit send. What I send out is nothing compared to what I get back. The counter arguments, disagreements, related articles and videos, and saw sharpening feedback that always leaves me learning, and questioning, and seeing a topic from all sorts of different perspectives. 

Sharing my thoughts over the years has made me a better leader and a better person, and it’s given me the courage to admit that there is so much in education that I still need to learn, and to get better at. Without a doubt, blogging has been an incredible leadership journey for me over the past 14 years…truly.

Anyway, 300 posts are a lot of posts, and more than anything I just want to say thank you to Brittany Betts and the team at The International Educator (TIE Online), and specifically TIE Blog for providing a platform for me, and for all of us to learn from one another across this international school world…what a gift! I also want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read, comment, share or provide feedback to me over the years…you have made me better in so many ways. I am grateful, thank you. Okay, time to start thinking about post number 301 so enjoy the week ahead and remember to be great for our students and good to each other. 

Quotes of the Week…

Vulnerability is the birthplace of connection and the path to the feeling of worthiness. If it doesn’t feel vulnerable, the sharing is probably not constructive – Brene Brown

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TED Talk –

The Habit That Can Improve Your Career

So I just finished reading a book that I have been dying to get my hands on, and honestly, it was better than I had hoped for. It connected so magically to our lives as educators, and to the opportunity that we have every single day to be astonished, mesmerized, and left in an authentic state of wonder and awe by the beauty, growth and learning of our students. The book is simply titled, Awe, by Dacher Keltner, who first inspired me when delivering a keynote presentation at the 2020 AAIE conference in New York City. I have been regularly following his work at the Greater Good Science Center in Berkeley since then, and so much of what he researches and shares directly relates to our personal and professional lives as we strive to be our best selves for our kids and for each other. Anyway, if you are interested in learning more about this elusive and curious emotion, and how you can purposely bring a little more AWE into your own lives, then get reading…it’s an inspiring read that will profoundly connect you to the world around you, as well as to the people and students in your lives.

I remember a moment of awe that happened to me not that long ago, which left me wide-eyed, emotional, and super, super grateful. I had stopped by an early childhood classroom one afternoon and decided to sit down to watch. The kids were all seated on the rug and counting out loud the number of days that we had been in school so far this year, and of course it was super cute. As part of the lesson they were also learning how to draw the numbers on small square pieces of blue paper, and one lucky child was asked to put their own number drawing up on the display calendar for the class to see. Well, this little one was struggling a bit to form the numbers with her pencil so one of the teachers brought her to the table where I was sitting to practice…she was very excited, and so was I.

The child tried a couple of times to write out the number 24 but it simply came out as squiggly little lines, so the teacher held the child’s hand and helped her write it down. After a few of these practices together, the teacher then let the child trace the numbers individually several times on her own until she felt confident enough to try again without any help. The whole time I was watching, I was amazed by the sheer determination and tremendous effort on the part of the child to learn, and I was inspired by the teacher’s encouragement and willingness to let the child struggle without coming to her rescue. Every few seconds the child would stop and look up at me and smile, giving me a look of “I got this” before putting her head back down and getting on with the learning at hand. Finally, after many tries and lots of struggle, the child took a brand new piece of paper and drew a beautiful number 24 on the little blue square, and then joyfully ran to hang it up on the chart for all the world to see…I sat there in awe of this child’s perseverance, beauty and inherent desire to learn.

I was a little overwhelmed in that moment honestly, which is what the emotion of awe does to us, not just by the natural beauty of a young child so authentically learning, but also by how fortunate I am to be an educator. To be able to witness moments like that in my life is such a tremendous gift, and as I eventually composed myself I felt my heart swelling up with joy knowing that magical, awe-inspiring moments like these are available to me behind each and every classroom door, each and every day of the year. Keltner defines “awe” as “the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world”, and if you think about it, as educators we are exposed to these moments and feelings  all the time…how lucky are we? Okay, pick up this book right away and let it inspire you to seek out those moments of awe more intentionally…we all need a little bit more awe in our lives. Have a wonderful week ahead and remember to be great for our students and good to each other. 

Quote of the Week…

The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper – W.B. Yeats

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Awe – Keltner

10 Things That Made Us Smile

So over the past couple of weeks I have been dealing with, working through, and supporting people with some really difficult issues, both personally and professionally, and the heaviness of these recent issues inevitably started to send my mood into a downward spiral. Finally, late last week this downward mood change forced me to stop, slow down, and reflect on how important it is to focus, intentionally, on life’s small and beautiful moments, which for me is an important exercise in ensuring my day to day happiness. You see, we all have bad days now and then, and we all have tough weeks and difficult stretches at one time or another, and if we’re not careful then this collection of difficult experiences can creep into how we view our lives, our jobs, how we treat and respond to other people, and how we see the world. It’s so easy to let the negative moments frame your days, and it can happen gradually, without you even knowing that your energy for yourself and for others has changed.These difficult recent weeks also happened to coincide with the anniversary of the passing of a very good friend of mine, but interestingly enough that didn’t add to my days in a negative way, it was actually what inspired me to get through these weeks in the right frame of mind.

        This very good friend of mine was amazing at framing and re-framing any experience in a way that teased out the good, and he was a master at turning any negative experience into a positive or an opportunity. He used to say that there is always a best part to a bad day, and it’s just a matter of focusing on that particular piece when things get tough. He used to call this practice, “mining for gold”, and it became a daily habit in his life. It’s funny how easy it is to get caught up in the day to day stresses of our lives, and how easy it is to go days and days without slowing down and embracing life’s small and beautiful moments that are invisibly, and not so invisibly, bombarding us at every turn. It’s hard to find the time and the strength to reframe negative experiences into positive ones, and it’s hard to train your mind to be present and open enough to allow these special moments to change your day for the better….here’s a good example of how one small moment absolutely reframed an emotionally trying day, and how the best part of a bad day won out for me in the end.

        One day not that long ago I was hit with three issues that kind of threw me for a loop…one was a very difficult issue with a student’s health and safety, one was a tough conversation with a friend and colleague of mine, and the final one revolved around some residual feelings that resurfaced regarding a personal incident that had caught me off guard. Anyway, I came home that day feeling down and in a pretty negative space. I decided that the best thing to do was to head back to the gym to try and run it all off. It was just as I was leaving home when this small and magical moment reframed my outlook on life and snapped me back into focusing on what’s truly important. As I was walking out the door my beautiful son, Max, unexpectedly decided to come with me to play basketball, which is unusual for him, and the second we stepped out onto the driveway he grabbed me and gave me a great big hug! Now, that may not seem like much, but for an 18 year old who is at the age where Dad embarrasses him with any sign of public affection, this was huge! All my negative thoughts and foolish distractions melted away during that connection, and with Max’s help, I found my smile again.

         Small and beautiful moments are all around us every second of every day, and if we can purposely focus on these and seek them out then a bad day won’t seem nearly as bad. Look around you as you begin this week and notice the things that can help reframe a negative experience and put it into perspective. We’re all going to feel stress in our jobs, and we’re all going to have those days, but by focusing on the best part of a bad day, or when you purposely start mining for gold, you’ll find that there is beauty all around us in our lives if we only embrace the opportunity to let it in. With that in mind, I can honestly look back at my difficult recent weeks and see that they really weren’t that bad after all…there were difficult moments for sure, but way more incredible ones that I just hadn’t given the attention that they absolutely deserved. That “gold” is just sitting there waiting to be discovered…go get it! Have a wonderful week everyone and remember to be great for our students and good to each other.

Quote of the Week….

Enjoy the little things in life because one day you`ll look back and realize they were the big things – Kurt Vonnegut

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A Personal Ad

So a couple of weeks ago I wrote a post titled, “What’s In a Name?”, where I suggested that schools might want to think about reimagining traditional course and subject names, and that post got me thinking really deeply about the how and why behind the naming and labeling of lots of things all across organizations. For example, the other day I had a super supportive friend and colleague of mine ask me how I was doing because he knew that I had just come out of a school day loaded full of what he called, “hard conversations”. 

After I said thank you and started to head for home it struck me that on its face the label that we use to identify this kind of courageous human interaction really does have a negative connotation, and after thinking critically about it over the past week or so I’d like to advocate for a change from calling these interactions “hard conversations”, to a more positive and compassionate labeling where we call these conversations, “opportunity talks”. 

In my opinion, a simple name change like this would re-frame a person’s mindset, approach and inevitable visualization of what’s to come from one of nervousness, defensiveness, and fear (on both sides of the table) to one of openness, understanding, and compassion. In my experience, just about every hard conversation that I have ever had with anyone, and I’ve had many, has deep down at the core been about recognizing an opportunity. An opportunity that we have for growth, or clarity, or repair, which ultimately is a very positive and beautiful chance for a particular person to do better, and to be better…and what could be a greater opportunity than that?

It took me a long time to change my approach and mindset regarding these difficult discussions, and if I’m being honest, I used to shy away from them until they became absolutely necessary. I was never one for conflict growing up, and like most people, addressing difficult issues was something that I didn’t look forward to for many, many years because well, they are hard! Over the years however, I have started to embrace these opportunity talks as I am now acutely aware of the fact that good leadership and good schools are connected tightly to what people in the organization are willing to address. Now I actually find myself much more comfortable with these types of conversations because I know that an organizational culture depends on them, and I have learned throughout the years that they are an integral part of building solid and trusting relationships…and as we know, relationships are the foundation of all human organizations, especially school environments.  

I’m not saying that these conversations aren’t difficult, they certainly are, and they require practice, practice, practice and a developed skill set to manage them well, that’s for sure. So to begin that work as schools let’s start with a simple change of name so both parties enter into the conversation with a focus on the opportunity that lies ahead, and a focus on what ultimately matters, which is doing and being better for our kids and for our community. 

Anyway, If nothing else, this name change would reframe our mindsets around these interactions, and shift how a day full of “hard conversations” doesn’t necessarily have to be seen as a bad day at all like my friend assumed and suggested, in fact, it can actually turn out to be a very good day or even a great day. You see, a day full of “opportunity talks” is a day full of growth, relationship building, deeper understanding, stronger connections, and a day full of strengthening our culture as a school…that’s a great day indeed! Have a fantastic week ahead everyone and remember to be great for our students and good to each other. 


Quote of the Week…
At work, at home, and across the backyard fence, difficult conversations are attempted or avoided everyday – Douglas Stone

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So after a brief departure from running our school-wide professional learning communities (PLC’s) with faculty and staff due to Covid, we are back this year with more exciting and engaging opportunities for all. We have structured our PLC format this year around the umbrella theme of AGENCY, and the research and deep inquiry projects that are underway across the school are definitely inspiring. It’s so important to have educators not only learning and growing together, but having some voice and choice in their professional development experiences as well, and I’m looking forward to our next session in a couple of weeks. I also cannot wait for the end of the year learning showcase where we get to benefit collectively from everyone’s hard work and passions, and reflect on how these groups have helped to enhance agency across all aspects of our school.
 
Our return to these PLC’s have got me thinking about how this particular learning structure could be adopted, adapted and applied to our students, and rolled out as a form of “student learning communities”, or SLC’s. I posted a version of this idea several years ago and I think it’s time to revisit and reshare, as I believe it deserves some significant thought for all schools who are thinking about ways for kids to take more ownership of their educational experience. 
 
All good schools that I know of are always trying to find creative ways to engage students in their learning experiences, and looking to implement structures which allow kids to drive their own learning and personal growth forward. These schools have also purposefully structured time for teachers and teacher teams to analyze and discuss individual student data, and to use this data as a foundation for a more personalized and differentiated approach to goal setting and curriculum design. But why not set up a situation where students get a chance to go through the same powerful process? 

I think it’s time to set up a structure that allows all students to collaborate together, every so often, to talk about their learning with their peers, to analyze their own feedback and assessment data, to talk about their strengths and weaknesses, to learn from each other, and to provide important feedback to their teacher or teachers about how they best learn. Once a cycle or once every week or two, students would get into their student learning community group (grade specific or subject specific, or ultimately, passion specific that isn’t tied to grade level bands or subject areas) and collaboratively reflect on their day to day experience of school. They would listen to each other talk about their successes, they would learn from each other, they would teach each other, they would talk about some struggles that they might be having, they would set goals and hold each other accountable, and when the trust has been developed, they could share their own assessment data and feedback from teachers to see how and where they might be able to improve. 
 
 
 
All of this would be documented and shared with the teacher as feedback for them, which would help the educator in the room to better plan a differentiated lesson, to better understand if a student needs some extension or some intervention, to get a much richer idea of what each individual student truly needs, and to receive feedback on their teaching too…a personalized insight from the people who we often forget to include in these conversations, the kids. Of course, during this SLC the teacher or teachers would walk around to each group and engage in the collaborative conversations, getting immediate feedback on how each lesson or unit is going, and checking for conceptual understanding. 

It shouldn’t be only focused on academics by the way, it would be a wonderful portal into each student’s social and emotional well being, both inside and outside of school. The students could be directed and encouraged to talk about relationships, their home life if they’re comfortable, their sense of belonging within the community, issues that they need support with, and how they feel about themselves as people and learners. These SLC’s would provide incredible insight into each student’s individual experience, and would help individual students, teachers and schools to dig deep into the personal perspective and feedback from the kids, giving weight and action to student voice and student agency across the school.

Anyway, PLC’s as we all know have been incredibly powerful in moving schools forward, so why not bring students into the mix? It seems so simple, doesn’t it? SLC’s might just be the perfect extension of the PLC model, and a way to get the most important voices into the conversation. It’s a structure that would absolutely bring kids into the learning conversation, and provide a mechanism for students to truly have a voice in their educational experience. Have a wonderful week everyone and remember to be great for our students and good to each other.

Quote of the Week…
Half the curriculum walks into the room when the students do – 
Darnell Fine

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