If site and district administrators (and educational consultants) truly want to make an impact on teaching and learning in the classroom, they need to get out of the “seats” and play.
A formal observation is not play.
A 5-10 minute instructional walk thru is not play.
A strategy shared in a staff meeting is not play.
How are you getting on the field and playing the game with the teachers you’re leading? If you’re a teacher, how would you like to see your instructional leaders play the game with you?
When Sandy invited me into her kindergarten classroom to co-teach an iPad lesson, I thought it’d be a fun opportunity to not only visit a friend, but to engage with some littles.
Let me just start by saying, I could never teach kindergarten. Kinder teachers have such a unique job – they are not only teaching academic standards, but they’re teaching how to do school, how to be a friend, how to eat a meal without adult help, and so many other essential life skills. All while cutting out circles, singing songs to gather student attention, and blowing noses of sick students.
I was exhausted and I only helped out for an hour!
Life Lessons
What stood out to me the most from this morning, though, was how Sandy was teaching students about consent. When we talk about teaching consent, most people equate it to sexual consent and they bristle at the idea of it being taught in school.
But consent is so much more than that. A Harvard University newsletter article by Grace Tatter defined consent as “the notion that we should respect one another’s boundaries, in order to be safe, preserve dignity, and build healthy relationships.”
Sandy modeling how to take a good photo of a friend.
Today, the classroom lesson was focused on taking good photos with the iPad. The life lesson, however, was about consent. Sure, students learned how to get in closer to the subject, and how to take a non-blurry photo. But more importantly, they learned to ask permission before taking the photo.
Sandy: What do we say before we take a photo? Class: May I please take your photo?
Sandy: And what if the person says no? Is that okay? Class: Yes, it’s okay to say “No thank you.”
As the students practiced their iPad photo taking skills, I watched them practice using consent language. Not only were they asking for permission to take the photo, but they were asking if the photo was acceptable. These are huge life skills, and they’re starting at age five.
When I said my goodbyes to the class, Sandy once again modeled consent.
Sandy: Miss Laura, is it okay if I hug you goodbye? Me: Yes it is.
What a powerful lesson these students are learning. Social-emotional learning takes on many forms, and for Sandy’s class, it’s just a natural part of their kindergarten day.
You’re a rock star Sandy!
This post is also posted on my Cagefree Thinking website. Sign up to receive email notifications when I post an entry, or follow me via WordPress!
I’m still amazed that it’s been 50 years since man landed on the moon. I love watching old footage of Apollo 11’s mission, and reading about the innovations that have come as a result of that mission.
Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about the role women played, not only this mission, but in a lot of NASA’s successes. And yet, I never saw women in any of the official NASA photos, nor were they featured in documentaries.
Today, there is a growing movement to increase the amount of girls interested in STEM. Most of the movements center around how to get girls to feel more connected to science, math, engineering, etc. If you look on Twitter, there are hashtags created to highlight empowering girls in STEM. In those hashtags, conversations seem to revolve around things like:
They just need more exposure to women role models.
Or …
They need more LEGO and Barbie figurines that promote STEM as cool.
Or …
We need to make sure girls develop the skills needed to succeed in that environment.
What’s not mentioned?
The role of men in keeping women out of these fields. If we truly believe women have a seat at the table, how can we encourage men to offer the seat instead of requiring women to break down a hundred extra barriers to try to get access?
The problem with the hashtag movement is that it comes from a deficit viewpoint… if only girls just did this, or had this, then they’d be better. What it fails to tackle is the systemic oppression that downplays women in these fields.
Things like:
On this week’s Here & Now, Ed and Nathan used the work of Sarah Milov (@allofmilov ) for the segment “America’s Complex History With Tobacco, From ‘The Marlboro Man’ To E-Cigarettes.” However, neither Sarah’s name nor book were mentioned. We regret the omission. 1/3
So how do we inspire boys to share the STEM playground with the girls? What are you doing in your classroom, your school, to create an empowering STEM environment for both girls and boys so that they can support and elevate each other one day as STEM professionals?
Every time I see this group, I learn something new. Last night’s takeaway came from Casey Cotton, Chief Technology Officer for Madison Avenue Securities and Asset Marketing Systems, who shared the importance of IT leadership moving away from no and developing a “what if” approach.
It’s not just IT that could benefit from this approach. So could education. IT is often known as the Department of “No” but I think education says no just as much, if not more than, IT. If educational leaders stopped saying, “it can’t be done” and instead entertained the “what if we could…” approach, imagine what we could become 😏.
According to the World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs2018 report, by 2022, no less than 54% of all employees will require significant re- and upskilling. To deal with the lack of skills of current employers, companies have three options:
Retrain current staff
Automate more tasks to reduce staff needed
Hire new staff that already has the required skills
The report goes on to state that the likelihood of hiring new permanent staff with relevant skills is high, since nearly a quarter of companies surveyed are unlikely to attempt a retraining of existing employees.
This upskilling is not just for those in industry. Educators also need upskilling. If education is to prepare students for college and career, then educators will need to be informed as to what those careers look like, and what skills are needed to thrive in them. They’ll then need to develop the skills themselves so as to model, and teach, those skills to students. Skills like emotional intelligence; leadership and social influence; and persuasion and negotiation will become critical skills for educators as they become critical skills for industry careers.
How are educators getting these skills? Are schools and districts investing in professional development that goes beyond curriculum and content knowledge?
Or, like industry, will there be a push to hire new teachers that already have these skills?
Regardless of the methodology, schools cannot continue to afford to ignore the importance of preparing students and staff for the 2022 skills outlook.
On July 31st, I lost my best friend. She died, unexpectedly, of a blood clot after battling breast cancer and undergoing reconstructive surgery.
Christine and me at the SDCOE Equity Symposium
Christine’s been my best friend since I moved to San Diego in 2000. Before her, friendships for me were fleeting. They came, they went, and that was life. But Christine… she was a different story.
I could fill this blog with stories about our friendship. Stories about us learning hip hop dancing – okay, failing to learn hip hop dancing. Although we could do the sprinkler and the lawn mower better than anyone… just ask our 8th grade students!
Or about the time we hauled the new kayak into the middle of her cul-de-sac and pretended to row the open ocean, all the time yelling, “Are we there yet?” for a yearbook video.
There are stories from our 14 hour bus trip to Reno that we thought was going to be on a train.
And stories about our attempt to start our own greeting card company.
Like I said, so many stories!
A couple years into our friendship, we were talking about growing old and Christine mentioned all the trouble we’d get into at the nursing home. I remember saying to her, “I won’t know you when I’m 80.” I’ll never forget the look on her face. In total seriousness, she said to me, “That’s the meanest thing you could ever say to me. Of course we’ll know each other. We’re besties.”
That day, she changed my perspective on not only friendship, but on life.
A few years later, we sat beside her mom Jean’s bed as her mom’s fight with cancer was coming to an end … we had been chatting light-heartedly while Jean slept when Christine’s brother Eric noticed that Jean had quietly passed away. I remember us talking about how she was able to finally let go because she knew we were all going to be okay.
Even though Christine may not be around when I’m 80 to perform all those old folk home antics, I have to believe that, like Jean, Christine knew everyone she loved was going to be okay because she made everyone better by knowing her.
They say the body is 70% water, but for Christine Fax-Huckaby, it was all heart. She was a passionate educator; a passionate animal advocate; a passionate fighter for equity; and a passionate wife, friend, and colleague. For 23 years, Christine touched the lives of students and staff as a public school teacher and mentor in both Lemon Grove and Sweetwater.
Christine was always a cheerleader for me.
She believed in the ability of each student to achieve his/her inner greatness, and never let them settle for less. She had just as much love for animals. Whether they were hers or not, Christine loved every fur baby she ever saw. She was constantly rescuing dogs and cats, finding them their fur-ever home. Although truth be told, a lot of times that home ended up being her own!
I’m sad without her in my physical life. Sad without her laughter, her jokes, and her unconditional love.
Winnie the Pooh said it best: If ever there is a tomorrow when we’re not together there is something you must always remember… You are braver than you believe. Stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is even if we are apart I’ll always be with you.
Laura K Spencer, Ed.D. 