Chief Learner's Thoughts
Connecting the dots between what students want, enjoy and need.
Archive for Core 6
February 11, 2009 at 2:00 pm · Filed under 21st Century Skills, Core 6, Leadership, Technology, Toolbox for learning
Last week at the State of the School, I communicated how St. Raphael is leading the way in Catholic Education in the 21st Century. This leadership came through the hard work of everyone at the school. If you missed the meeting please watch the presentation on our website.
The changes that we have made in the last few years are what propelled us to the front. As educators we researched and implemented new teaching methods, purchased new teaching and learning tools, and have worked to include the 21st Century skills by embedding them in the core subjects. Throughout this process we have expanded our focus on the spiritual development of our students.
At the middle school level we have added laptops. One goal for this addition was to improve the students writing abilities. Now the students are able to spend more time editing and improving their writing skills and less time simply recopying their rough draft. This has resulted in an increase in the understanding of and application of the English language. The laptops also allow our students to communicate their learning through a variety of methods. These skills are required in the 21st Century.
We recently added a document camera in each classroom. These cameras allow an image to be enlarged onto a screen. The image can be either 2-D or 3-D or a live demonstration. We are already seeing results in the form of improved understanding because all the students can see and hear the instructions, the students are able to display their work for class critiquing, and classroom management is improved because the students can stay in their desks to see the demonstration instead of huddling around the teacher.
Our most recent focus has been to expand on teaching the 21st Century skills to the students. We realize that it will take many hours of planning to incorporate these skills into all lessons. This work is exciting for us as we see the value in our continued improvement.
I am excited that our leadership is being recognized. In April I will be presenting at the National Catholic Education Association Convention in Anaheim. My presentation will focus on how the leadership in Catholic schools can transform schools to successfully educate students for the 21st Century.
It is an exciting time to be at St. Raphael’s Catholic School and I am proud of the work my staff has done to bring about these important changes.
November 5, 2008 at 2:42 pm · Filed under 21st Century Skills, Core 6, Technology, Toolbox for learning
The teachers cheered this morning when I completed the hookup of our fifth document camera. Why the cheer, why the sparkle in the teachers’ eyes, and why were the students equally excited? Well, let me tell you….
A document camera is a tool that allows the teacher to project an image on to a screen. The image can be from a worksheet, a book, a science specimen— anything either two- or three-dimensional. Instead of gathering all the students around the teacher to see a demonstration, the teacher can project the demonstration up on the screen so students can see it while sitting in their desks.
The addition of these tools was made possible through generous donations to “purchase something the teachers otherwise would not have” and a special rebate. The donations allowed us to purchase four document cameras, two LCD projectors, and five AV carts to support the new tools. We now have document cameras for teachers to share on each level of the school, except the basement.
The teachers are excited because this tool is very flexible. They no longer need to make a black line master and make a transparency on the copier. They simply slide the paper under the camera and it is projected up onto the screen. The teachers wasted no time in using the new tool. As the youngest students prepared to vote in the school election, their teachers projected the ballot up onto the screen. This allowed the students to easily become familiar with the format and how to indicate their presidential choice.
There are many different uses for this tool and having it available all day, each day, makes it a productive addition to a classroom. Mrs. Schulz utilized a document camera that a vendor lent us for a few weeks. Once it was gone, she realized how often she was using it and the flexibility it allowed. She was able to quickly and easily show something that added to the discussion or lesson. She really misses the daily use and is waiting patiently for her turn because the third-floor camera is currently in Mrs. Scholl’s room.
If you want to see this tool in action, I encourage you to come to the November 13 PHT meeting. Three different teachers will present how the document camera is used in their classroom and how it benefits the students.
September 5, 2008 at 1:10 pm · Filed under 21st Century Skills, Core 6, Leadership, Technology
The new school year began this week. This start was quiet as everyone fell into the routine that has been established over the last few years. While that sounds wonderful it is a little too uneventful for me. Each of the last three years brought changes and the challenges that went with them. It is this type of challenge that makes coming to school each morning exciting. This quiet start has made me realize that even though nothing big or new is on the horizon, we still have a very important challenge to face this school year.
Our most important goal is to prepare our students for their future. This includes what I call the Core Six; developing strong communication skills, learning to embrace challenges, becoming problem solvers, becoming collaborators, becoming critical thinkers, and embracing diverse ideas and people. To help the students gain these skills we as educators need to look at how our classrooms are structured, how information is presented, how we engage students and how we ask the students to demonstrate their learning.
We know that our school and classrooms should look different than they did in the past. In the 21st Century we have many more tools available for teaching and learning and additionally we need to approach students differently. Our students want to learn through real world experiences, work as collaborators and they see technology as a foundation for life, not a tool like we adults do.
This is no easy task for educators to embrace. However it can be done and the staff at St. Raphael’s Catholic School has embraced these changes over the past three years. To continue on this journey the staff will need ongoing training and support for implementing these tools and methods. School leadership has to support teachers as they try new ideas and embrace challenges. Parents need to desire an educational program that is different than their memories of elementary and middle school.
This is what I see as my challenge for the new school year: Helping the staff and students work together in new and innovative ways that will help the students gain the skills required for success in the 21st Century. I know this is no easy challenge but it does get me excited to come to school each morning.
July 8, 2008 at 11:00 am · Filed under 21st Century Skills, Core 6, Technology, Toolbox for learning
From June 29 until July 3 I was with more than 17,000 attendees at the NECC in San Antonio. This national conference is an exciting place to learn about teaching and learning in the 21st century.
As I sat through various workshops in addition to the keynote speakers I met people from all over the world who are equally excited about engaging students in the learning process. We all agree the success of students learning is keeping them engaged in the learning process. The tools available now for teachers make it easier for them to engage all students through their various learning styles.
A part of the conference includes students sharing examples of their work. These young participants were from both the United States and Mexico and were as young as nine. They confidently explained their newly acquired knowledge and the skills they used to obtain the knowledge. Many of the projects included collaboration with students in a different community or even another country. These students were proud of what they learned and I am confident they will remember what they learned long into the future because of their level of engagement. They did not learn it just for the test.
On Tuesday morning the keynote speakers were Jim Carleton and Mali Bickley from Canada. These two teachers worked together to have their students connect and collaborate with students in Africa. The Canadian students became so engaged in their learning and along the way they realized the African students had so little as compared to them. These realizations made the students want to reach out and help the African students by raising money to send to Africa to help the school. These students were so excited to help others and you could feel the pride these young Canadian students felt as they spoke about their experience.
Being a part of this conference reinforces to me that our students want to contribute to our world in a positive way at a young age. As educators we need to provide them ways in which to do so. We need to create learning opportunities that connect the content we need them to learn to meaningful ways to reach out to the world. In doing this our students will amaze us in their learning but more importantly to their passion for life.
March 4, 2008 at 7:33 am · Filed under Core 6, Technology, Toolbox for learning
This past weekend I spent time with people who are from the Greatest Generation and I listened to them complain that nothing is made in the Great United States of America anymore. They went on to say that maybe our country is not so great anymore. This made me reflect on a few things.
- First, is the number of products made in the USA a benchmark for defining great?
- Second, if it is not products what defines great?
These are two very tough questions and I firmly believe there are many answers.
As an educational leader these comments and questions make me reflect on my work. I need to be aware of the world our current students will be working in eight or more years and the skills they will need.
- Should they be prepared to “make products” or to “develop products”?
- What will these “products” look like?
- Will they be concrete items such as cars, appliances, medical equipment or will they be abstract products that will help speed communication, transform medical evaluations, or help meet the basic needs of people throughout the world?
The potential answers to these questions should be influencing what is happening in the schools.
Former Maine Governor Angus King introduced the idea of a 1:1 laptop initiative state wide in Maine. Here is his reason, ” For more than 100 years, Maine has always been in the bottom third of states- in prosperity, income, education, and opportunity for our kids. In my 30 years of working on Maine economic issues, no idea has had as much potential for leapfrogging the other states and putting Maine in a position of national leadership as this one- giving our students portable, Internet-ready computers as a basic tool for learning.”
This governor was analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of his state. The greatest economic strengths of Maine are the forests and waters, yielding wood products, water power, fisheries, and ocean commerce. Currently, the largest industry is paper manufacturing. However, since the 1980s manufacturing employment has dropped. Maine’s greatest current economic weakness is its limited access to the national transportation network that links major production and manufacturing centers with large metropolitan markets. By facing these realities, the governor took a bold stance and made a change in how things are being done in Maine so the future can look differently. This governor knew that by educating the students of Maine in a different way with different tools it would open up new paths for employment. This type of courageous leadership should be applauded.
How would our schools look if all educational leaders had courageous conversation about how to educate the students? I have attended many workshops that have told me to have these conversations:
- Will the current way of doing things maintain the quality education of your school?
- If you continue to do the same thing will your children be prepared for their future or for the current work force?
When I look at what we are doing at St. Raphael’s I know we have started having those courageous conversations and we are changing how we are doing things. The staff is dedicated on helping our students grow in their skills so they will be prepared for the future. To accomplish this we are using technology to help deliver instruction, to help students learn and demonstrate their learning. We are asking the students to work in partnerships, to look for more than one answer, and to reach out to the world beyond their classroom. We are excited that the students are embracing this challenge.
It is through this hard work and making changes that the United States of America will continue to be great. I am excited each day to be a part of an educational environment that is willing to tackle the unknown future and help prepare our students for it.
October 16, 2007 at 11:39 am · Filed under Core 6
One focus of the education at St. Raphael’s School is instruction in academic and religious subjects. In these areas we can measure progress, analyze student strengths and weaknesses and structure instruction to help each individual student. While this type of work is not as simple as it may look in my short description it is easy to “document” or “demonstrate results”.
A second and equally important part of what we do at St. Raphael is to develop the whole person. The impact we make on this type of eduction is not easy to measure. It would be great is there was a test on spirituality, character, dedication, commitment, empathy, and critical thinking skills. While we cannot supply hard data we can demonstrate our impact on the students. Here are a few examples:
This past summer the teens of the parish were given an opportunity to express their gratitude for their faith formation. These students did a fantastic job of communicating what a positive impact St. Raphael’s School had on them.
Each year we hear from various high schools how well prepared our graduates are for handling the work load of high school while standing out in the classroom as positive members of the learning community.
Our students show compassion to each other daily. We see the students supporting each other in difficult tasks, lifting the spirits of a classmate that is having a bad day, and praying for each other and their teachers so all may have a good day.
Today we received a call from a gentleman whose yard we raked last year at the first Rake-a-thon. This man was so excited to have us come back and feels that this is one of the best things our students do for the community. He was impressed by how excited the students were to help him, how positive and polite the students were, and how they represented Jesus’ lesson of giving of oneself to others with grace.
When we hear these comments we know that we are having a positive impact on the students and this makes us excited to come to work each day.
September 20, 2007 at 7:57 am · Filed under Core 6, Toolbox for learning
As the leader of St. Raphael’s Catholic School, I am dedicated to help my staff deliver an education of the highest quality. This requires all of us to make changes that will improve our educational program. We need to prepare our students to learn and work with people throughout the world. This type of education can be done through planning and the use of tools that were not readily available a few years ago.
Over the last two years we have made integrating technology into teaching and learning a priority. This change has allowed us to provide the students with the opportunity to gain the necessary skills they will need as adults. When I see the students at school I see the impact these changes have made on the development of the whole person. These differences are often small or subtle. This is fine as we are working on the foundation for the students and it is the combination of these changes that will have a long term impact. I understand that it might be more difficult for parents to see the value of this change since they are not at school each day. Even educators sometimes have a hard time explaining what they know and see daily in their work.
Recently, I was reading an article titled 8 More Reasons for Technology in Education by Arthur Virtue. He is enrolled in a masters program in instructional technology and I was intrigued by his comments. I have included an excerpt for you to read. The entire article is found here .
One member of our group, the executive assistant, asks the question “Why is technology so important in education?” After years in this grad class, we all scoffed at this question but actually failed in our attempts to give clearly defined answers. I think about this and decide to make a list for quick reference. If you are familiar with the term educational technology (using technology to enhance the teaching process), you will find little new ground here, but here goes:
- Using technology involves the student in the learning process. Students using technology become active participants in the learning process instead of passive listeners.
- Using technology eliminates most discipline problems. When the student is involved in the work, there is little time for trouble.
- Using technology allows students to take ownership of the project. When the student is empowered to find his/her own answers, the learning process becomes much more interesting.
- Using technology transforms the teacher from authority expert to facilitator. The teacher becomes more of a participant than authority expert when the students use technology to find answers online.
- Using technology is familiar to today’s students. Technology use is part of the normal learning process for students; it is in their “comfort zone” and teachers often learn new technology programs along with students.
- Using technology reduces the workload on the teacher. Technology as a tool enhances, and replaces, text, paper and pencil because students can use technology for both reference and presentation.
- Using technology allows for a smooth transition from school to work and school to college . Technology is used everywhere – in math, science, engineering, transportation, manufacturing, and every business application you can think of. From sales transactions and inventory control, to e-commerce, the uses for technology are limitless.
- Using technology allows for the free exchange of information. The widespread use of compatible word processing and graphic software programs allow information to be exchanged easier than ever before.
In the next few months keep these items in mind as you talk to your children about what they do at school each day. As you listen to their responses you may become more aware of the impact these changes have made on your child and the foundation we are building.
August 16, 2007 at 10:50 am · Filed under Core 6, Generation X, Marketing, Uncategorized
Now that it is mid August it is exciting to think about the new school year. While making plans for the year I continued to think about my experience in Atlanta. That experience impacted many discussions I have had and expanding my summer research.
I am so happy to be a part of a school that is changing how we deliver instruction to meet the needs of our students. We know that each new group of kindergarten students brings with them new experiences and skills. Our goal of capitalizing on this knowledge is a wonderful challenge for us.
As parents and teachers begin settling into a new school year, as principal, I start planning for the 2008-09 school year. One of the first focus areas for me is attracting new students to kindergarten. I realized the other day that the parents of these potential kindergarten students have different ideas of what they want for their children than parents of kindergarten students a few years ago. As I explore the wants and desires of parents who are considered a part of the Generation X, I realize we are offering what they desire. We are offering a program that fits with their desire for their children; to develop strong communication skills, embrace challenge, be able to solve problems, be able to collaborate, be critical thinkers, and to embrace diverse ideas and people. We are doing all of this in a faith filled school that has high academic standards. Impressive for such a small school so now it is time to acknowledge and celebrate what we are doing.
