So, stay tuned for some blogging from New York next week, and possibly even a combined post with Kathy Moore!
@TCRWP
Father, husband, Director of Innovation and Technology, former Elementary Principal, NSBA '20 To Watch,' CUE Rockstar Faculty, Runner, #SAVMP mentor
Friday, February 14, 2014
TCRWP Writers Workshop #savmp
So, stay tuned for some blogging from New York next week, and possibly even a combined post with Kathy Moore!
@TCRWP
Sunday, February 9, 2014
GHO (Google Hangout) - Why It's Changing the Game and Should For You Too #savmp #teamkid #teamnorthbay
If you haven't heard of Google Hangout or if you haven't participated in one, it's changing the game and should be for you too! So much of our Professional Development is delivered in such an archaic way......
- Take a full day off from work (or half day)
- drive somewhere
- sign-in
- sit at long tables
- hopefully there's wi-fi (on some occasions there isn't, or it's suuuuuper slow)
- spend a portion of the morning watching a Power Point and reading the slides on paper that they passed out
So much of PD is just lecture, isn't that what we're trying to change in education? Aren't we trying to promote collaboration, creativity and communication?
Now......here's where GHO comes in. (First need to give a shout-out to @coach_sv who is the ultimate GHO promoter and I'll often get a Tweet like this.....
"Adam, GHO in 15 min w/some educators from ____ to talk about _____, you in?" #yesplease
GHO is......
- free
- anytime/anywhere
- you can plan for it, or do them at a moments notice
- mobile/portable
- fun
- can last 15 minutes or 60
- easy to figure out, no software downloads or 'permissions' needed
- can be one on one, or staff to staff! About sixteen of my teachers (@jseroadrunners) had a GHO with another school about an hour away. (@pennpanthers) Thirty minutes of talking about Twitter, podcasting and other #eduawesome classroom tricks, would never have happened without GHO!
GHO is not....
- a lecture
- sit and get
- costly
Also....
- Download the Hangouts app for iPhone, it's a must!
@mrsfadeji getting warmed up in GHO with me!
@kfostertweet throwing down some knowledge with #teamnorthbay
@ecsaibel always inspiring and has something #eduawesome to add
@PeterMDeWitt - Yes, that's Peter DeWitt and I've had a GHO with him, thanks to #savmp for the hook-up!
#teamkid @jseroadrunners #enoughsaid
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Power of Sharing #savmp #googlematters
It's been five years since I've been in the classroom and my last year teaching I had just set up Google Apps accounts for my 4th graders. Very quickly the power of Google Docs was evident and my students were 'sharing' everything they created, on a daily basis.
As an Assistant Principal at Live Oak Elementary we introduced Google Apps as well and the power of 'sharing' again was evident very quickly. Without any bit of exaggeration, it changed teachers and how they managed their classrooms overnight. Students would also collaborate together on a document/project and work together simultaneously, editing and improving as they went.
Very quickly I started telling kids to 'share' their work with me and I would comment or chat with them while they worked in class. To see the excitement (and have teachers tell me after school) when I would open a shared document and the kids would say..."Mr. Welcome is on my document!!!!!" I'm hard pressed to find a higher level of student engagement than this!
I also recently received an email from a teacher at Live Oak Elementary who thanked me for introducing Google Apps to them. "I'm still struck at the profound level of amazing change that Google Docs has brought to our school!" #enoughsaid
Having visitors/guests visit my school is very important I feel. You can sometimes be in a fishbowl and an outside perspective is great. Sergio Villegas recently came to JSE for a visit and his Tweet below reminded me of the power Google Apps has to change a school/teacher/student/Principal!
The screenshot below is of JT's (5th grader) writing entitled "Shelldon the Robot's Adventure!" JT shares a lot of his work with me and it's yet another reminder the power of 'sharing' can have on students, teachers, parents and the Principal.
Friday, January 31, 2014
So You Want to Be a Principal #savmp
My day yesterday......
400am
- Alarm goes off
- Coffee
- Check Twitter feed(s)
- Check email
- Check Feedly feed
- Tweet Jens to confirm demo today
- Email teacher to confirm software has been downloaded for Jens demo http://gofrontrow.com/en
- Emailing with Sergio trying to plan #edcampmartinez
500am
- Get dressed/breakfast
615am
- Leave for work/school
- Stop at Safeway to pick-up supplies for donation basket - Crab Feed
- It's raining at school so I Tweet and Remind 101 that we'll be having indoor recess before school
- Computer/LCD set-up for MCT vision screening with Kindergarten students
- Check with my custodian about any leaks in classrooms
- Emails, office work, Tweeting, etc
730am
- GHO with #teamnorthbay
745am
- Students start to arrive
750am
- Teacher finds me in front of school, BIG leak in her classroom, like a BIG leak
815am
- 500 kids are at school, morning drop off complete!
830am
- FrontRow Juno demo with Jens
- Vision screening - Problems with the laptop and DVD not playing, have to go and trouble shoot.
- Back to classroom with Jens, setting up the Juno!
- Reading 500 report cards so they can go home next Thursday with kids (this has been ongoing for last three days)
900-1135am
- Check on vision screening
- Jens is still setting up Juno demo
- I've answered about 15 emails, Tweeted 15 times, checked documents in Google Drive, updated our Flickr page.....all from my iPhone!
- Recess duty at two different times, primary and secondary.
- Checked with kitchen staff on breakfast and 4th/5th grade behavior (been having problems lately)
- Checked-in with gardeners on project in front of school
- My wife called to give me update on our kids (I have two, almost three and just turned one)
- Met with a family who wants to transfer to John Swett (15 minutes)
1135-1250pm
- Lunch duty - I rotate between outside recess and inside lunch in the cafeteria
- Send a few emails/Tweets while I'm outside
- Drop by our after school care (Woodbridge) to check on a few Kindergarten students
- Get called to front office to deal with a 'situation' - 35 minutes
100pm
- Vision screening is done
- Drop in my office (only third time all day I've been in my office)
- Answer few emails
- Record a podcast of our 'Students of the Month'
- Sign some paperwork for Office Manager
145 - 215pm
- I work with some 5th graders three days a week in the afternoon
215pm
- Debrief with teacher on observation earlier in the week
230pm
- Check-in with two students who have NOT been bringing their homework in
235pm
- Bell rings - I have crosswalk duty in front of school to help with traffic flow
300-500pm
- Common Core meeting at district office
- Talk with Student Services Director about SBAC planning
- Answering emails during meeting
520pm
- Pick-up pizza for dinner
535pm
- Walk in the door, SO excited to see my family!
Note -
There was probably about 35 other things I did yesterday that I just can't remember, this is a snapshot!
As you were!
400am
- Alarm goes off
- Coffee
- Check Twitter feed(s)
- Check email
- Check Feedly feed
- Tweet Jens to confirm demo today
- Email teacher to confirm software has been downloaded for Jens demo http://gofrontrow.com/en
- Emailing with Sergio trying to plan #edcampmartinez
500am
- Get dressed/breakfast
615am
- Leave for work/school
- Stop at Safeway to pick-up supplies for donation basket - Crab Feed
- It's raining at school so I Tweet and Remind 101 that we'll be having indoor recess before school
- Computer/LCD set-up for MCT vision screening with Kindergarten students
- Check with my custodian about any leaks in classrooms
- Emails, office work, Tweeting, etc
730am
- GHO with #teamnorthbay
745am
- Students start to arrive
750am
- Teacher finds me in front of school, BIG leak in her classroom, like a BIG leak
815am
- 500 kids are at school, morning drop off complete!
830am
- FrontRow Juno demo with Jens
- Vision screening - Problems with the laptop and DVD not playing, have to go and trouble shoot.
- Back to classroom with Jens, setting up the Juno!
- Reading 500 report cards so they can go home next Thursday with kids (this has been ongoing for last three days)
900-1135am
- Check on vision screening
- Jens is still setting up Juno demo
- I've answered about 15 emails, Tweeted 15 times, checked documents in Google Drive, updated our Flickr page.....all from my iPhone!
- Recess duty at two different times, primary and secondary.
- Checked with kitchen staff on breakfast and 4th/5th grade behavior (been having problems lately)
- Checked-in with gardeners on project in front of school
- My wife called to give me update on our kids (I have two, almost three and just turned one)
- Met with a family who wants to transfer to John Swett (15 minutes)
1135-1250pm
- Lunch duty - I rotate between outside recess and inside lunch in the cafeteria
- Send a few emails/Tweets while I'm outside
- Drop by our after school care (Woodbridge) to check on a few Kindergarten students
- Get called to front office to deal with a 'situation' - 35 minutes
100pm
- Vision screening is done
- Drop in my office (only third time all day I've been in my office)
- Answer few emails
- Record a podcast of our 'Students of the Month'
- Sign some paperwork for Office Manager
145 - 215pm
- I work with some 5th graders three days a week in the afternoon
215pm
- Debrief with teacher on observation earlier in the week
230pm
- Check-in with two students who have NOT been bringing their homework in
235pm
- Bell rings - I have crosswalk duty in front of school to help with traffic flow
300-500pm
- Common Core meeting at district office
- Talk with Student Services Director about SBAC planning
- Answering emails during meeting
520pm
- Pick-up pizza for dinner
535pm
- Walk in the door, SO excited to see my family!
Note -
There was probably about 35 other things I did yesterday that I just can't remember, this is a snapshot!
As you were!
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
What Is Team Kid #savmp
The question has come up more recently in the past couple of months, what is #teamkid? It started with a Tweet from a parent at John Swett and we've had quite a few visitors over the past few weeks and #teamkid has been discussed quite extensively.
(Great blog post from @ucdjoe about #teamkid from his recent visit, and a post from @jkloczko about her recent visit as well! Great outsider looking in aspect of #teamkid )
#teamkid Stemmed from a brainchild the summer before I took over John Swett as Principal. Attending the ACSA UCLA Principal Academy we talked a lot about building culture, do this before anything at your school, or you won't be able to do anything at all.
While at UCLA I started thinking about my childhood watching the SF Giants and Roger Craig who was the longtime manager during the Will Clark and Jeffrey Leonard days. Roger had a saying during his time with the Giants that really motivated the players/fans and I can remember having a t-shirt that had the saying as well!
"Humm-baby" was ALL over Candlestick and Roger encouraged this so people rallied around the team. Posters, banners, license plate frames, t-shirts and it could be heard throughout games from the crowd and Roger himself. Humm-baby was very influential for me during my week at UCLA thinking about a slogan for John Swett, #teamkid was about to born.
The summer I took over John Swett the Olympics were in full swing and Nike had a great add campaign called, 'Find Your Greatness.' I really felt this was a great slogan for kids, encourage/push them to Find Their Greatness in the classroom, on the field, at home and in their life!
Getting together with staff that first summer we did lots of team building, watched some educational videos and talked about 'our' slogan for the year. I had previously emailed all staff the video above and told them to think about a slogan that would help push our thinking for the year. We watched the video again and 'Finding Greatness' was born.
Throughout that day, I kept throwing out 'Team Kid' in different ways.
- "I'm part of Team Kid!"
- "This is the John Swett teaching contingent of Team Kid!"
- "My dad was a teacher for 35+ years and he would talk about kids and being positive role models, much like Team Kid!
So, we decided as a staff to throw Team Kid on, after Finding Greatness, this would be our motto for the year and moving forward.
Team Kid is now our school hashtag.....
Our rocking Kindergarten team has even made custom shirts with the saying!
For the 13-14 school year our motto is 'Make It Happen on Team Kid!' (The new banner just arrived and will be going in the cafeteria very soon!)
We hope this gives you a snapshot of John Swett Elementary and Team Kid. Yes, Team Kid is everywhere on campus, on our website, on Twitter, our Superintendent even uses it, it's contagious!
#teamkid
(Great blog post from @ucdjoe about #teamkid from his recent visit, and a post from @jkloczko about her recent visit as well! Great outsider looking in aspect of #teamkid )
#teamkid Stemmed from a brainchild the summer before I took over John Swett as Principal. Attending the ACSA UCLA Principal Academy we talked a lot about building culture, do this before anything at your school, or you won't be able to do anything at all.
While at UCLA I started thinking about my childhood watching the SF Giants and Roger Craig who was the longtime manager during the Will Clark and Jeffrey Leonard days. Roger had a saying during his time with the Giants that really motivated the players/fans and I can remember having a t-shirt that had the saying as well!
"Humm-baby" was ALL over Candlestick and Roger encouraged this so people rallied around the team. Posters, banners, license plate frames, t-shirts and it could be heard throughout games from the crowd and Roger himself. Humm-baby was very influential for me during my week at UCLA thinking about a slogan for John Swett, #teamkid was about to born.
The summer I took over John Swett the Olympics were in full swing and Nike had a great add campaign called, 'Find Your Greatness.' I really felt this was a great slogan for kids, encourage/push them to Find Their Greatness in the classroom, on the field, at home and in their life!
Getting together with staff that first summer we did lots of team building, watched some educational videos and talked about 'our' slogan for the year. I had previously emailed all staff the video above and told them to think about a slogan that would help push our thinking for the year. We watched the video again and 'Finding Greatness' was born.
Throughout that day, I kept throwing out 'Team Kid' in different ways.
- "I'm part of Team Kid!"
- "This is the John Swett teaching contingent of Team Kid!"
- "My dad was a teacher for 35+ years and he would talk about kids and being positive role models, much like Team Kid!
So, we decided as a staff to throw Team Kid on, after Finding Greatness, this would be our motto for the year and moving forward.
Team Kid is now our school hashtag.....
Our rocking Kindergarten team has even made custom shirts with the saying!
For the 13-14 school year our motto is 'Make It Happen on Team Kid!' (The new banner just arrived and will be going in the cafeteria very soon!)
We hope this gives you a snapshot of John Swett Elementary and Team Kid. Yes, Team Kid is everywhere on campus, on our website, on Twitter, our Superintendent even uses it, it's contagious!
#teamkid
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Connection/Inspiration Central #wiredprincipal This Week #savmp
So much of life is about connecting with others and being inspired by what you see/hear/do/experience. I can remember my first time being outside of the US, my entire thought process on life changed in an instant. Hearing different languages, meeting new people, food, culture, customs.....it all completely blew the lid off what I was used to and felt was normal!
Twitter has been the 'blew the lid off' of educational connections for me in the past two years. Meeting/connecting with educators across the country has opened my mind and school in amazing ways.
Here's an example from this past week alone......
- This past week (four days with the holiday) we tweeted 57 times from our school account @jseroadrunners check out our teachers for all their sharing as well!
- @jkloczko and @ucdjoe came to John Swett for a visit this past Wednesday. We had GREAT conversation while visiting classrooms and are humbled by both their blog posts about their visit! (see below)
Jennifer's blog post
Joe blog post
- @Karkenkam who is a Principal in Utah Tweeted me a few weeks ago about getting his staff on Twitter, he'd heard about John Swett through @ecsaibel We finally hooked up on the phone this week and talked for about an hour. Twitter, blogging, being wired/inspired/brave when people around you are NOT. Great to connect with someone across state lines!
- Recorded a This Week With Sully, listen here!
- @edwebnet hosts some really great Webinars (I presented one on @audioBoo earlier in the year!) and @NMHS_Principal hosted one this week about school culture, branding and tech in schools that I hopped in on for a while. So great to see educators from around the US/World getting together to learn.
- @svcue announced their session offerings for the upcoming CUE event March 8th. Check them out and sign-up! My #edufabulous 5th grade team @MrsRocheJSE + @CKolb01 + @JenniferDeWeerd will be presenting on what a 1:1 laptop environment looks like #forreal in 5th grade.
I'll be co-presenting with @CAshleywilliams on using voice/podcasting in education with @AudiobooAmerica
And I'll also be presenting a 105 minute hands-on session for Administrators - "How to Run Your School From Your iPhone!"
Sign-up here!
- @MsKyWilliams one of my #edurocking 1st grade teachers and myself hosted a #twitterparty for another elementary school in our district! @ljebullpups We signed up over ten teachers to Twitter and helped them get connected!
There you go, this week with Mr. Welcome!
Check out our Flickr page.....
Next blog post will be talking about this article in Venture Beat, education needs to have more of a business mentality, in my opinion! #standby #teamkid
Twitter has been the 'blew the lid off' of educational connections for me in the past two years. Meeting/connecting with educators across the country has opened my mind and school in amazing ways.
Here's an example from this past week alone......
- This past week (four days with the holiday) we tweeted 57 times from our school account @jseroadrunners check out our teachers for all their sharing as well!
- @jkloczko and @ucdjoe came to John Swett for a visit this past Wednesday. We had GREAT conversation while visiting classrooms and are humbled by both their blog posts about their visit! (see below)
Jennifer's blog post
Joe blog post
- @Karkenkam who is a Principal in Utah Tweeted me a few weeks ago about getting his staff on Twitter, he'd heard about John Swett through @ecsaibel We finally hooked up on the phone this week and talked for about an hour. Twitter, blogging, being wired/inspired/brave when people around you are NOT. Great to connect with someone across state lines!
- Recorded a This Week With Sully, listen here!
- @edwebnet hosts some really great Webinars (I presented one on @audioBoo earlier in the year!) and @NMHS_Principal hosted one this week about school culture, branding and tech in schools that I hopped in on for a while. So great to see educators from around the US/World getting together to learn.
- @svcue announced their session offerings for the upcoming CUE event March 8th. Check them out and sign-up! My #edufabulous 5th grade team @MrsRocheJSE + @CKolb01 + @JenniferDeWeerd will be presenting on what a 1:1 laptop environment looks like #forreal in 5th grade.
I'll be co-presenting with @CAshleywilliams on using voice/podcasting in education with @AudiobooAmerica
And I'll also be presenting a 105 minute hands-on session for Administrators - "How to Run Your School From Your iPhone!"
Sign-up here!
- @MsKyWilliams one of my #edurocking 1st grade teachers and myself hosted a #twitterparty for another elementary school in our district! @ljebullpups We signed up over ten teachers to Twitter and helped them get connected!
There you go, this week with Mr. Welcome!
Check out our Flickr page.....
Next blog post will be talking about this article in Venture Beat, education needs to have more of a business mentality, in my opinion! #standby #teamkid
Monday, January 20, 2014
Being Well Rounded #savmp
Growing up my father was an elementary school teacher and spending lots of time in his classrooms over the years really helped to shape my thinking and educational ideology. My dad was always a very innovative and caring teacher who worked in some very challenging school environments where the majority of students did not have a stable home life. I always saw my dad balance the need to have an academically rigorous classroom, and also play kickball with his class on Friday afternoons to enjoy the sunshine and have some extra recess! (Read this article about the school day in Finland!)
During my classroom teaching years I strived for the same balance, to have a well rounded approach to education and my classes. I can remember countless students who were always so overjoyed to get their first report card from me. All the positive comments and grades they had never before received. It always surprised me to hear this, what were the previous teachers doing? Holding them back by not giving them the grades they deserved. After that first report card 'those' students began to work SO much harder for me! Why? They knew I cared about them and there was more to my classroom than worksheets and homework....we were balanced and well rounded!
Being well rounded now is even more important for me as an Elementary School Principal. Of course academic rigor in the classroom is extremely important on so many levels, but so is having conversations with kids during lunch. Knowing each and every students name in the school! Being 'all-time' pitcher during recess for 2nd grade kickball games. Tweeting all the great things I see on a daily basis to share with the community/world! Not being punitive with discipline, so many times a face to face conversation with a student and the promise of NOT calling home this time is all that needs to happen. Being a kid is hard, especially in 2014 and being on Team Kid makes it that much more important to have empathy and lots of patience/understanding!
During my classroom teaching years I strived for the same balance, to have a well rounded approach to education and my classes. I can remember countless students who were always so overjoyed to get their first report card from me. All the positive comments and grades they had never before received. It always surprised me to hear this, what were the previous teachers doing? Holding them back by not giving them the grades they deserved. After that first report card 'those' students began to work SO much harder for me! Why? They knew I cared about them and there was more to my classroom than worksheets and homework....we were balanced and well rounded!
Being well rounded now is even more important for me as an Elementary School Principal. Of course academic rigor in the classroom is extremely important on so many levels, but so is having conversations with kids during lunch. Knowing each and every students name in the school! Being 'all-time' pitcher during recess for 2nd grade kickball games. Tweeting all the great things I see on a daily basis to share with the community/world! Not being punitive with discipline, so many times a face to face conversation with a student and the promise of NOT calling home this time is all that needs to happen. Being a kid is hard, especially in 2014 and being on Team Kid makes it that much more important to have empathy and lots of patience/understanding!
Becoming a parent has undoubtedly made me a more well rounded educator on so many different levels. When my wife and I started looking at preschools for our daughter, she first asked me what I would be looking for when visiting schools! I of course wanted a well rounded environment that balanced play and some level of conversation around academics.
I have been reading a lot the past two years about Finland and their education system. Pasi Sahlberg has written a great book about the educational approach in Finland and I highly recommend you check it out! I've also been reading a great blog by an American (Tim Walker) who is now living and teaching in Finland which you should really check out. The differences (and Finnish balance) in our education systems is staggering and his writing really has me analyzing ours and looking for opportunities to change!
How are you ensuring your classroom/school/district is well rounded and balanced?
I have been reading a lot the past two years about Finland and their education system. Pasi Sahlberg has written a great book about the educational approach in Finland and I highly recommend you check it out! I've also been reading a great blog by an American (Tim Walker) who is now living and teaching in Finland which you should really check out. The differences (and Finnish balance) in our education systems is staggering and his writing really has me analyzing ours and looking for opportunities to change!
How are you ensuring your classroom/school/district is well rounded and balanced?
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