Hurry TEACHERS, before the end of the school year, just ask your students.

About a year ago, I wrote 2 blog posts about the system I used as a classroom teacher to gather some very important feedback and data from my students. 

The Quest for BETTER

http://goo.gl/D7owwa

Just Ask the Students

http://goo.gl/ooEA57

I gained valuable insights through this solicited and honest feedback from my students including their perception (REALITY) of their experiences in my classroom.  Both the positive and negative comments provided an opportunity for me to grow as an educator.  It was not a complicated formula.  I felt good about the positive comments providing me encouragement to find more ways to allow students to learn in that particular way. Similarly, the negative comments made me take note and take action.  My goal was to find ways to address what all students liked least.  After all, these are the students who are often bored or not connected with school.  These are the students who we need to reach and provide the best possible learning experience. What kind of educational, learning, and memorable experiences are we creating for our students?

(@burgessdave and @burgess_shelley)

How do you gather feedback about your students' experiences in your classroom each year?  Just ask your students.  Here are 2 easy ways:

1) Use paper or a Google Form and have students respond to the following:

1.    What did you like LEAST about this class?  Be specific.

2.    What did you like BEST about this class?  Be specific.

Analyze patterns and frequency of what the students liked best and least about your class.  What can you do differently?  Reach out to other educators for input.  Start somewhere and act on the “least” list because your students are telling you something.

2) Have students write down 5 words or have them enter into a Google Form to describe how they felt during their time in your class.  Input the words into a word cloud.  What do you see?  Is that what you expected?  What words stand out?  What words would you want students to use to describe your class?  Write down those words and devise a plan to make it happen. (credit @MrMatera via @burgessdave)

Encourage your school, grade level, department, and curriculum area colleagues to do the same, then share and compare your results.  How transparent do you want to be?  Maybe you could blog about your results.  Be proud of the positives and plan to address the negatives.

What are you afraid of?  Even our worst critics are trying to tell us something.  Are we going to ignore our critics and our most important customers (STUDENTS) or are we going to take to heart and act on what our students have to say?  It is all part of our journey to become better educators.  Don’t wait!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day to 2 Awesome Teachers- My Dad and Mom!

Educators are often asked the question; so, "Why did you become a teacher?" Last year during teacher appreciation week, I wrote a blog post recognizing the primary reason why I became a teacher; Mr. Dale Vaughan, my high school history teacher and football coach. (Teacher Appreciation Week.  Have you thanked your favorite teacher(s)? If not, here is a good reason to consider doing so.)  The other most important aspect of why I became a teacher were my Dad and Mom and the opportunities they provided to learn so much through our family travels.  Because it is teacher appreciation day, I want to recognize two amazing teachers in my life; my Dad and Mom.  

(That's me enjoying a bath at a campground.)

Since I can remember, my family took an annual summer vacation.  We never flew to our destination and never stayed in a hotel.  Our vacations consisted of driving to our destinations, pulling a camping trailer, and staying at campgrounds.  This was a very economical way to provide travel opportunities for our family of 6 (and later 7), but nonetheless, a financial sacrifice of my Dad and Mom to save enough money to make each trip a reality.

Every year, we would plan our summer destination, then begin looking at maps and discussing potential routes, destinations, and places to see.  As you can see on the following map, by the time I graduated from high school, I visited 32 states, Canada, and Mexico.

Our travels took us through almost all geographic areas of the United States including mountains, deserts, forests, great lakes, and plains.  I sat in the back seat of the the 1973 Chevy Impala station wagon looking at a map; always wanting to know where we were in relation to the map and in comparison to what I saw out the window of the car.  We traveled across the Rocky, Appalachian, and Sierra Nevada Mountains, to the beaches of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, across the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri Rivers, and to numerous national parks such as Yosemite and Grand Canyon.  Our travels always included other historical learning opportunities, including the site of the Boston Massacre, Washington D.C., Gettysburg Battlefields, Statue of Liberty, a tour of the U.S.S. Enterprise aircraft carrier, and crossing the Golden Gate and Mackinac suspension bridges.

After that brief summary and looking at some of the photos from our travels, you will probably understand where my love for the social studies started.  After high school, becoming a social study teacher was my goal because I wanted to share my passion for history and geography with my students.

Looking back on my travels with my family, these “vacations” were mostly learning experiences and it was my Dad and Mom who instilled in me a love for the social studies.  I will be forever grateful for the financial sacrifices and effort my Dad and Mom made to provide these memorable experiences to me and our family.  They sincerely believed in the following:

Swing and a Miss (Embracing Failure and Striving for Better)

During a recent #gfedchat session, the group was recapping the Google Summit in Grand Forks.  When asked about what they learned or a take away, much of the conversation focused on embracing failure.

 

After pondering the topic of failure for the past week or so, I thought about failure in terms of baseball batting averages. Batting average is defined by the number of hits divided by the number of at bats. Now I don't pretend to be extremely knowledgeable about baseball, but the opening day of the baseball season has allowed me an opportunity to make some connections of "failure" between an educational environment and batting averages.  

Since spring training opened, players have logged serious hours and days practicing and playing spring training games to perfect all aspects of their game, but let’s just look at the batting aspect of the game. Think about this scenario; it's opening day and the first player in the batting order steps up to the plate.  Here's the wind-up and the pitch, the batter swings and misses, the umpire calls out "strike one." So, the batter is a failure because he didn't achieve his objective of making contact with the ball and getting a hit, right?  No, not a failure at all, because we all know he has 2 more strikes (failures) before he is out (yet another potetial failure). But not so fast, the batter will get another 3-4 at bats in a particular game to attempt to get a hit and not fail.  Then, when the batter eventually gets a hit or hits a home run, all is forgotten because he has not "failed." Think about it, a season batting average of .300 or more in the major leagues is considered to be excellent. Ty Cobb's career batting average of .366 is the record. His success rate over the course of his career was .366 while his failure rate was .634.  I'm not sure if anyone considers MLB Baseball Hall of Fame player Ty Cobb a failure because his success rate was below 50%.  

So why do we do that to students?  Fifty percent on a worksheet, paper, quiz, test, project most likely goes down as "F" in the teacher's grade book. Now don't misinterpret my point here. I am not advocating for lowering standards for students and accepting a low grade or effort, but rather, shouldn't we view a "low or failing" grade as a starting point or a first attempt in learning?

Keep in mind, that baseball player who swung and missed on the first pitch isn't done for his at bat, game, season, or career. He will be afforded numerous opportunities to strive for success, while having some failures along the way, and will continue to learn how to improve after each one.

Shouldn't students be afforded the same opportunities to redo papers and projects and retake tests? Shouldn't learning over the course of a school year be the goal of education rather than a grade in the gradebook reflecting a "snapshot in time?" Consider the following slide from Rick Wormelli:

What messages are you sending to your students? What kind of classroom cluture have you established in regards to taking risks and learning from failure? The classroom culture you establish will differentiate between students failing and being a failure. 

How are you, as a teacher, modeling taking risks, learning from failure, and striving to be better? How does your school/district administrator model and openly encourage students and teachers to take risks and learn from failure in a never-ending quest to be our very best? Afteralll, "Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes." John Dewey

The term "fail" and "failure" often have such negative conotations, so what do you do in your classroom to model taking risks, embrace failure as a starting point, and strive for excellence? I would love to hear some stories from your classroom or school.

Living the Grand Forks Public Schools Technology Vision

We have a monthly technology department meeting with technicians, curriculum technology partners, et al. to discuss initiatives, organize projects, and address current issues.  I usually have an agenda with several items to discuss as a group.  Every once and while, I like to mix it up a bit.  As often as possible, I provide reminders of how our work as individuals and as a collective group is related to our most important priority; STUDENTS (and in our case, students learning with technology).  Here is an example of one of my reminders (Appreciating and Working with Awesome People).  Last Friday, I started our meeting off by handing out a ½ sheet of paper with our technology vision:

Grand Forks Public Schools Technology Vision

The Grand Forks Public Schools believe technology is an integral component of learning and is necessary to learn effectively, live productively and participate globally in an increasingly digital world. Technology resources transform learning by allowing learners to create, publish, collaborate and communicate with others in a global environment. Technology helps learners gather and analyze information, solve problems and develop higher-level thinking skills through authentic real-world experiences.

On the lower part of the paper, I listed 3 blank lines and asked each member of the technology department to answer the following question:

Over the past week or so, how have you contributed (directly or indirectly) to the vision?

There was a slight pause, then everyone got to work.  After each member of the technology department wrote their list of 3 or more, I asked each person to share their list with the group.  Here are several of the items from our collective list that were shared at our meeting:

• helped film, assemble and act in videos for a “pride in others” pep rally
• worked one on one at the team level with teacher to implement Google Classroom, Flipquiz, XC Collaboration, Today’s Meet, and Kahoot
• helped plan, film and create an iMovie for our YORS student group to submit to Safe Kids for distracted pedestrian safety
• presented to 6th grade students on evaluating credible resources on the web
• facilitated Skype session with a marine biologist from the Bahamas for informational writing
• started a “tech club” that meets once a month
• started a “Makey Makey” club that meets during the lunch hour to create, collaborate, critically think and present a final project
• create books to share in iBook Store for school to read
• worked in a 6th grade classroom to install Google Read and Write
• met with a project based learning group to help with planning the final portion of their project and authentic learning piece
• completed and dispersed information for NDATL registration and conference
• planned for the Google Summit
• fixed, documented and repaired netbooks
• facilitating a book study
• working with students to integrate Google Read & Write tools with writing activites
• writing a grant for a maker space area
• worked on netbooks
• planning with teachers on how to use Read & Write tools
• met with the Scholastic trainer
• revisioning special education transition form and meeting agenda for more effective special education meetings and integration with TINET
• digitizing the Smarter Balanced accommodations form for better data storage by school
• helped student log into ACT ASPIRE
• showed Smartboard 14 XC Collaboration and Goegebra to math teachers
• helped a student create an animated drawing to go with a college application
• reloaded netbooks for teacher to continue her foreign language project
• ensured ACT Aspire was organized and working for students
• completed an online counselor appraisal form
• preparing new forms for Area Learning Center
• imported winter 2015 MAP results to ViewPoint
• worked with high school secretaries to generate E-Transcripts for students
• prepared iPads to be loaded
• created student Google accounts
• facilitated timely repairs of netbooks
• facilitated a response to an ongoing printer problem
• completed multiple Technology Help Requests on time
• assisted Child Nutrition with future technology purchases
• helped multiple teachers with Technology Help Requests at multiple schools
• updated iPads and installed needed apps
• helped out with printer issues
• repaired netbooks to keep student working
• worked to keep the network running for everyone
• worked with active directory creating student accounts
• prompt when responding to Technology Help Requests so teachers would have the tools they need to educate
• worked on being more efficient so my tools and skill set is maximized
• trained some staff yesterday on multicast that will better help them communicate their digital message
• convinced PTO to purchase sets of iPads
• worked in a 5th grade classroom on Google Presentation
• met with a grade-level team to plan for a research project
• helped a teacher set up Google Classroom and created the first lesson
• worked with our counselor on a presentation for an all school assembly
• participated in Monday night #gfedchat on Twitter on assessment
• facilitated a 5th grade colonial America project with iPads
• celebrated the 100th day of school with kindergarten students using KidPix to create a collage of 100 stamps
• worked with a tech and teacher to figure out how to get her Android to integrate with iPhoto
• helped a teacher set up blogs to share student work
• worked with 5th grade students to create a green screen projects of their biographies
• planned projects with teachers and students to create and publish their writing to share globally
• worked with kindergarten students to show their understanding of teen numbers using iPads
• helped students publish their informative writing digitally
• met with a principal to discuss the purchase of iPads and how I will provide professional development to support teacher learning
• guided student with publishing future jobs project in kindergarten
• posted projects and assisted in creating projects for a Google Site
• helped facilitate Google Hangout for teachers during the elementary literacy

What an impressive list!  I am so proud of the work our technology department staff does on a daily basis, yet so often goes unnoticed.  It is often challenging for people to “brag” about what they have done for students when most feel it is just part of their job and nothing extraordinary. But, this activity provided a couple of opportunities: 1) to gain an appreciation of what others within the department do and 2) for each person to get a well-deserved “pat on the back” for their contributions to our #1 priority; our students.  The positive vibe in the room was amazing as others listened and applauded each person’s dedication to students demonstrated in so many different ways.  This is a tough time of the year for everyone, so taking some time to appreciate our individual and collective work was time well spent.  It was also great for our activity to get a nod of approval later that evening via Twitter by a member of our awesome crew:

I am inspired by and appreciate everyone in our technology department.  As I take another look at the list above, it is a wonderful reminder of the great opportunities happening for students each and every day.

Do You Remember Me?

It is a question all educators are asked by former students; “Do you remember me?” I’ve been an educator for over 20 years.  I can remember most faces, but the names of many of my former students are falling out of my head at a rapid pace.  Here is my excuse, 10 years as a classroom teacher with about 100 students per year, followed by 4 years as a middle school associate principal with about 500 students per year, followed by 5 years as a high school associate principal trying to learn as many names of the 1100 students as possible and now in my 3rd year out of the school building as the district technology director for 7200 students. The number of former students, time, and my age are 3 factors not working in my favor, but I always do my best.

Whether we remember our former students’ names or not does not matter, because our students remember us, no matter how much time has past. So, it happened last Sunday in church.  At the conclusion of the service, I was approached by a man who looked somewhat familiar, but recalling his name just wasn’t going to happen.  He said, “Hi Mr. Schleicher, do you remember me?”  I said, “Hello, sorry, but it’s been awhile, you are going to have to help me out with your name.” He told me his name and the memories of this student came back quickly.  We’ve all had this student in our class or school; nice enough, but motivation to do well academically was low, assignment completion and grades both low, and his ability to disrupt class was often high.  As a middle school educator, I didn’t always know the rest of the story regarding students graduating, going to college, finding a job, etc.  Nonetheless, this student was eager to share; “I’m doing well now, head cook at a restaurant in town, coming to church every Sunday, I have my life together now.”  I took this to mean that he went through some tough times to get to where he is today.  I told him that it was great to see him, glad he was doing well, and was proud of him for working hard to get to his current position as a head cook.  We shook hands, looked each other in the eye, smiled, and he left.  My wife turned to me and commented; “did you see how happy he was to seek you out and share that he was doing well.”  It was another reminder of the lasting impact we have on our students.

Later in the day, as I reflected back on our brief conversation, several thoughts began to scroll through my head:

1. Our Handshake: As an associate principal, I facilitated a school-wide “rule of the week” from Ron Clark’s book, The Essential 55.  Rule #33 was on the importance of a handshake and that is exactly what he did.  Have even some of these “rules” stuck with my former students?  In this case, yes!

2. A Smile and Positive Attitude: I thought about George Couros’s recent blog post titled “A Simple Smile.” As an educator, I always tried to have a positive persona which meant smiling and greeting students (even if on the inside I may have been frustrated, stressed, etc.).  I sincerely believe in the following quote from George Couros; “A smile can make someone’s day, can be infectious, and have a tremendous impact on school culture.”  I am hoping my positive attitude was recognized and felt by my former students.

3. Believing In and Not Giving Up on Students: Knowing how happy he was to share his positive story with me, while at the same time remembering that this student was challenging at times, I reflected back on how I handled challenging student situations.  Keep in mind, I was a middle and high school associate principal for 9 years.  Some teachers expected the associate principal to strike fear in students and administer severe punishment in order to correct behavior.  My goal was to listen to the student first, maintain a positive rapport with the student, seek to educate vs. punish, all while still holding the student accountable.  After a “chat” in my office and possible disciplinary consequence, I always told students that I would never hold a grudge and would continue to believe in them.  This meant, I would greet the student in the hallway with a smile.  I thought about Todd Nesloney’s recent blog post on “Why I Will Never Quit.” and the following quote; “I'm here.  I'm present.  And I'm going to stand tall, stand proud, and stand bravely for those kids who need me to.  For those kids who have no one else willing to fight for them.”

Regardless of your position in education, the following should be our mantra every day:

I feel fortunate to have had many awesome conversations and encounters with former students and the one last Sunday was no exception.  Thinking about the students in our classrooms and schools today, how do you want those students to remember you years from now?