Don't squelch the creativity #SAVMP

This morning as I was checking Zite and my Twitter feed, I came upon this tweet with the embedded video.

from 2CELLOSlive

The first thing that went through my head was the creativity and freedom these two cellists have to play the music they want to play.  The faces in the crowd are especially fun to watch as the song continues.  It made me think of the freedom these two have to follow their passion for playing the cello and AC/DC, not a combination that I would normally consider.
The second thing that went through my mind was how we as educators often put boundaries on our students.  We provide opportunities for our students to do projects and to write and to read, but do we ever allow them enough choice in their schooling?  My thought is that we need to provide more choice whenever possible.  Let's make student choice more of an option for our students.  Allow them to share their knowledge about a topic or their passion for something in new and creative ways.  I promise you that you will be surprised by what they can do.

Being a Student Driven Principal- Will this decision be in the best interest of our students? #SAVMP

I just love the title of this prompt!  Each and every day, I come to school with the attitude that our students should come first.  When changes are proposed, the question that always comes to mind is this- "Will this decision be in the best interest of our students?"  It may seem cliche (can't figure out how to put the accent on the "e"), but I believe in this question wholeheartedly.  Some recent examples are as follows-

Block classes for our students- This is a change for us in the last two years but we are seeing benefits, especially in Language Arts and Math.  We have also blocked Science and Social Studies, every other day, and our Science and Social Studies teachers wanted to try having half blocks every day to maintain consistency with our students.  We have run this adjustment for nearly a quarter and I will be surveying the students, staff, and parents for their thoughts as the third quarter comes to an end.  Student voice needs to be heard when we make any decisions.  After we hear from the students, staff, and parents, we will be able to determine if this change was in the best interest of our students.

Homework Club-  We started a Homework Club for any students wanting to attend from 4:15-5:15 every Tuesday and Thursday.  It is inexpensive for us to run ($20 an hour for staff who attend) and I am there every session as well.  The students absolutely love it and volunteer to come, although some students are "assigned" due to missing work.  The parents are huge proponents as well.  This is definitely in the best interest of our students.

Principal's Advisory Committee-  This year, I have a Principal's Advisory Committee made up of students.  Nearly all of our 525 students completed a form I developed and one of the questions was if the student was interested in serving on this committee.  49 students volunteered!  We had one meeting so far and I look forward to our next meeting the first week in March.  This is definitely in the best interest of the students because they can share their thoughts with me.

My hope, every day, is that the decisions I make are in the best interest of students.  That's what a Student Driven Principal is to me.  What do you think?

Differentiation...for staff? #SAVMP

Maybe I'm just a little bit weird when it comes to PD, but I cannot imagine having every staff member have the same PD.  The worst PD I had was sit and get that didn't allow for any conversations or questioning or movement.  My inability to stay focused for any extended period of time probably didn't help matters much.  It felt like I was just sitting there with Charlie Brown's teacher speaking at me, not to me.

The best PD I've had has been when I was able to choose what I wanted, or needed, to learn.  The SLATE conference and various EdCamps that I have had the fortune to attend allowed me to choose from a variety of offerings.  I was nearly always able to find something that sparked my interest.  If I started in a session that wasn't exactly what I was looking for, I let my feet do the talking and chose another session.

As principal, PD has become one of my most important duties.  I know that I am not the all knowing and all powerful Oz so I use the talents of those around me to develop PD opportunities for the staff.  We have run EdCamp style PD during an afternoon while the superintendent and I chaperoned the students while we had a celebration including a DJ and board games.  We have run TILT Tuesdays when staff can choose to learn from one another.  We have book chats and send staff to conferences whenever the need arises.  We must allow our teachers to guide their own learning, but there are also times when we must direct their PD.  But even when we direct their PD, we need to allow them some ability to have some choice in how they learn.

There are times where nearly everyone needs to receive the same PD, especially when it involves a school wide or district wide goal like Writer's or Reader's Workshop.  Even in these cases, however, we can differentiate how PD is delivered so that it meets the needs of the teachers.  As principals and district leaders, it is important to provide as much differentiated PD as we can.  And if we aren't the expert, there are plenty of teachers that we work with who are more than capable of leading the PD.  All you need to do is give them the opportunity.

Online portfolios #SAVMP

As I read through this prompt by George, I began to wonder about how I could develop my own portfolio.  I have a web page linked on our district's webpage (http://www.merton.k12.wi.us/faculty/PosickJ/) that has many things that I would consider a portfolio, but it's not as in depth or specific as I would like it to be.  Aside from this, I also have a blog (http://jayposick.blogspot.com/) that shares many of my thoughts about education, both with prompts from #SAVMP and some random thoughts that I wanted to share.

Now the real work begins.  I think that the one thing I need to do is find a way to put these two items together to create a portfolio.  I have played around with Google sites and think this may be the best way for me to create a portfolio that shares my learning and documents all that I am doing to lead our school.  What do you find to be the best way to document your learning and your thoughts about education?

Delegation, or should we call it teamwork?

When I first read the week 20 post by Amber, I was struck by the word "delegation".  I guess I never thought about providing teachers with leadership opportunities as delegating.  I consider it teamwork.  All of us should be working together- in our grade level, in our school, in our district- to do what is in the best interest of kids.

No one person can do everything well.  One person might be able to do everything, but it quite possibly could be done better by someone else on their team.  My responsibility is to find the appropriate role for every person on our team.  What does each member of our team bring to the table?  Do they have a passion for a content area?  Are they a natural at developing relationships?  Do they have a good grasp of the big picture?  Are they the one that everyone comes to when an issue arises?  Are they great at planning get togethers to help with the morale of the team?  Are they the voice of a grade level or content area?  If you really tried, I'm sure that you could find a role for each of the educators in your school.

I work with a strong team of teachers.  Each teacher has a role in our school and they do a great job in their role.  I don't call it delegating.  I call it teamwork.

Communication essentials #SAVMP

For this post, George has asked us to consider our methods of communicating with parents.  As he stated, we have many methods of communicating and each has its place and purpose.  At Merton, I use seven methods of communicating and will explain each below in no particular order.

Smore-  I use this webtool to create a weekly newsletter for the parents.  I include interesting news about our school, classrooms, and activities as well as pictures and reminders of upcoming events.  Once it is created, I email it out to all parents, post it on my website, and post it on Twitter.  Here is my most recent parent smore.

Twitter-  I use Twitter to send out pictures and reminders to students, staff, and parents.  Although our school Twitter account only has 119 followers, and I am one of them, I do have the school Twitter account (@mertonint) linked to our school's webpage and to my webpage.  You can see it here.

Emails-  I use emails to communicate with parents, especially after a parent has emailed me.  I have begun to use a rule I saw on Twitter from John B. Osgood (@josgood1), however, that states "A2: our email rule is if a parent sends you an email over five sentences a phone call is required. The call saves time #satchat"  If a parent has spent time putting together a lengthy email, a phone call or meeting is probably in order.  It will save time and avoid back and forth emails.

Website-  I use my website to post a variety of important information- daily announcements, weekly parent smore, school board presentations, and Thematic Wednesday assemblies, to name a few.  Here is the link to my website.

Phone calls-  I make phone calls nearly every time that I speak with a student, especially if I speak with them in my office.  Most of the time I have the student remain in the office with me for these conversations.

In person meetings-  I have in person meetings whenever I think it is best to handle a situation with all parties in the room.  Phone calls have their place, but meeting in person allows for body language and facial expressions to become a part of the conversation.  Face to face meetings are especially important for me when dealing with behavioral issues.

Parent forums-  I have used parent forums to discuss changes that will be implemented in our school or district.  Some topics we have discussed are netbooks (We are a 1:1 school with both netbooks and Chromebooks), project based learning, and a new schedule.

What methods of communicating with parents would you suggest I use?

Sunshine Award- Thanks to Matt Renwick (@ReadByExample)

Two weeks ago, I was nominated for a Sunshine Award by Matt Renwick (@ReadByExample).  I appreciate the acknowledgement and will do my best to live up to the shoutout.  I first met Matt, a fellow #WiAmigo, at a Principal's conference in Wisconsin. Matt, Curt Rees (@curtrees), Jessica Johnson (@PrincipalJ), and I presented on the use of Twitter, YouTube, Google apps, and blogging to a group of fellow administrators.  We had an hour to share our ideas and encouraged the attendees to move from spot to spot to learn what they wanted.  It was our attempt at offering a choice and a little bit like an EdCamp experience as we learned from one another.  I think it was well received.  Matt was in charge of sharing about blogging so it doesn't surprise me that he jumped at the chance to blog and offer his own Sunshine Award.  Here is a description of the Sunshine Award started by Ben Gilpin (@benjamingilpin).

The Sunshine award gives others an opportunity to learn more about me as a blogger and then, in turn, I will send sunshine the way of 11 other amazing bloggers for you to get to know.

Here are the rules Ben lists in his post.
Acknowledge the nominating blogger.
Share 11 random facts about yourself.
Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
List 11 bloggers.  They should be bloggers you believe deserve some recognition and a little blogging love!
Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. (You cannot mominate the blogger who nominated you.)

Here are my 11 random facts.
1.  I am married to an awesome woman (Jenifer, with one "n") who keeps me grounded when I get too big for my britches.
2.  Jen and I have a wonderful 13 year old daughter who keeps us on our toes with all of her dancing.
3.  My daughter attends the school where I am principal.  She's in 8th grade and lets me know if I'm doing a good job.
4.  When I was a teacher, I also coached high school and middle school sports.  I coached basketball, volleyball, track and field, soccer, cross country, and wrestling.
5.  I used to coach softball in Land O'Lakes, WI and got to coach against Yankee great Tony Kubek.
6.  I taught 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades during my teaching career.  I taught 7th grade Language Arts and Social Studies and 8th grade Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science.
7.  I love to fish and golf in order to relax.  Being in the outdoors is what matters and not whether I'm successful fishing or golfing.
8.  I believe I am addicted to technology and what it has to offer our students and staff.  I often need to be reminded to power down, especially by my wife and daughter.
9.  I was born in Connecticut and have lived in Indiana (Kokomo and Lafayette), Kentucky (Louisville), and Wisconsin (Waukesha, New Berlin, and Merton).
10.  I worked at an ice cream stand in Land O'Lakes for three summers to help put myself through college.
11.  I have run every day since August 30th of 1987 (Currently 9640 days in a row).

Here are my answers to the 11 questions Matt posed.
#1.  What songs/bands are on your favorite playlist right now?
I don't have any playlists, but I currently have Pink and Lynyrd Skynyrd on my favorite stations in iheartradio.
#2.  What book would you recommend that you own in multiple formats (print, digital, and/or audio)?
I don't have any books in multiple formats at this moment, but my favorite book is "Shifting the Monkey" by Todd Whitaker.
#3.  Apple or Microsoft?
Chromebook.  We are a GAFE school and I wouldn't trade my Chromebook for anything.
#4.  "If I could live in any country other than my own..."
I would live in Canada.  I have connected with many great educators in Canada and I love to fish!
#5.  "When I am not thinking about school, I am..."
thinking about how I can be a better husband and father.
#6.  Who is the most important person(s) in your life right now"
My wife Jenifer and daughter Lauren are the most important people in my life right now.
#7.  "If I could meet anyone..."
I would want to meet Coach Bob Knight.  He was in inspiration to me when I was a high school coach and I admired his ability to get the most out of his players and coaching staff.
#8.  "During the holidays..."
I got to inbox zero!  It helped that the district moved from Groupwise to Gmail so that I could start over.
#9.  What will be your 2014 new year's resolution?
I want to get to know the Merton students and staff and allow them to get to know me better, too.
#10.  "If I wasn't an educator, I would..."
probably not be as happy as I am today.  I love what I do for a living!
#11.  "On Fridays, I like wearing..."
jeans and school spirit wear.  The staff in Merton jokes that I will have a t-shirt made for just about any reason.

I have decided to put a twist on choosing 11 bloggers.  Each of the individuals listed below are teachers in Merton.  Some have started their own blogs and some have their students blogging.  My hope is that each of these great Merton teachers will take on the challenge of blogging so that everyone can learn more about them.
Julie Reuter (@jgbluedevil)
Heidi Jones (@MrsJones_Merton)
John Rheineck (@rheineckj)
Mary Shannon (@shannonm)
Mike Budisch (@headlearner)
Linda Kircher (@Livethelove)
Sarah Kasprowicz (@SarahKasprowicz)
Mary Iwanski (@maryiwanski)
Matt Pomeroy (@Physed_Pomeroy)
Katie Francoeur (@MsFrancoeur)
Sarah Luberda (@sluberda_physed)

Now here are my 11 questions.
#1.  What is your favorite thing to do with your family?
#2.  If you could be anyone other than yourself, who would that be?
#3.  What one thing are you most proud of?
#4.  If you could change one thing about education, what would it be and why?
#5.  When you have one hour to yourself, what do you like to do?
#6.  If you could visit any place in the world, where would you go and why?
#7.  If you won the lottery today, what would be the first thing you did?
#8.  If you could start your own school from scratch, what would be the three things you must have to make sure the students are successful?
#9.  What book(s) are you reading now and why?
#10.  How would you like your friends to describe you?
#11.  How many pairs of shoes do you own?

Got to run!