Random Thoughts - Personal and Educational

The weather is gorgeous today - it doesn't seem like winter weather, but hey, I'm not complaining! I'll be golfing later with my hubby, my sister, and a friend.  What a great way to spend a holiday!

On Friday, it was announced that my husband Randy was appointed by the Governor to be the next Public Utilities Commission Chairperson. Since being asked to take the position, Randy was torn between continuing a relaxing life of retirement or serving the people of Hawaii in this capacity. Service won out, and he is un-retiring from retirement.  There are some major issues coming before the commission, and the opportunity to have an impact on the decisions that will affect our State in the future won out.  Randy has hit the ground running and I know he will do his best for the people of Hawaii.

Of course, going back to work full-time will have its challenges especially the daily commute to Honolulu and back home. (I'm lucky; I travel in the other direction, and my trip is 10-15 minutes each way.) When Randy retired eight years ago, I bought him a membership to 24-Hour Fitness, and he's been going regularly since. On Saturday, when he went to the gym, we changed his membership so he can go to the any center including one near his new workplace.  At the same time, I signed up to join.  I was a member for a couple of years over a decade ago and quit when the work became all-consuming. Now I need to make time to workout and not make excuses.  It'll be hard at first, I'm sure, but I am committed.

On Saturday, our VEX IQ team had a competition at Island Pacific Academy, a private K-12 school in Kapolei. The Head of School, Gerald Teramae, took my husband and me on a personal tour of the school, and we were impressed!  IPA started ten years ago, and they are an International Baccalaureate school.  But that's not what impressed us . . . there are other Hawaii schools, including several public schools that are IB schools.  No, it is their personalization and their focus on the whole child that I loved most -- their Navigator music recording studio, the art work that was displayed literally everywhere, and a room for Robotics, CAD (computer-aided design), a makerspace, and much more for students to explore, discover, create, and share.  In one of the classes we passed by, I was intrigued by the set-up - a "throne" in the middle with desks and chairs lined up in two rows, facing each other.  It was a Humanities class set up for a Socratic discussion.  We chatted with the teacher (sorry, I forgot his name) who shared that the discussions in ninth grade are often "all over the place" but by the time students are seniors, the discussions and the questions are way beyond what we would expect from young people. One of the questions - Is it better to lead with fear or with love? That would be a great topic for any group of leaders (including principals) to discuss!

Our VEX IQ team at Island Pacific Academy (Henry, Brianna, Kenna, and Jamie). These kids love being in Robotics, and our goal is to involve more students from a younger age so they can experience the joy of collaborating to problem-solve and be successful in getting their robot to complete the required tasks. 

So how does this all relate to me as an educator and school leader? First, my husband's new job gives me an opportunity to learn more about the sustainability issues facing our island state.  We talk about the importance of being more self-sustainable, but we don't always walk the talk.  As an educator, I can make a difference by ensuring that our students have the opportunity to think and discuss issues like the high cost of electricity, what other energy sources could we be pursuing (solar? wind? wave? geothermal?), and what we can do to make a difference, not just in Hawaii, but in the world. We believe that our students need to think more deeply, and one way is to get them to ask the questions and to seek answers to their questions.  We know that when students are interested, they are more likely to be engaged. Let's engage them in topics that are relevant to them now and in the future.

As a school principal, I feel my greatest disappointment is in not providing students with rich experiences in the arts or STEM or foreign languages. The focus on academics and having programs to identify and work with struggling students is important so that is where our resources have been in the last few years. But students need a well-rounded education that includes art, music, drama, Robotics, languages, dance, etc. and it is up to us to figure out how to expose students to those experiences.  That will be my priority.

It's time to get to work!

What's Wrong with This Picture?

Yesterday was a Planning/Collaboration Day for our teachers, and our Tech Team asked if they could take charge of this professional development opportunity.  Being a wise person, I gladly stepped aside and gave them full responsibility for the morning session.

The morning "Media Mash Up - A PD Playground" was wonderful! Our staff loved learning from their colleagues, and the whole morning was upbeat. We had 22 different teachers sharing a tech tool or app they use with their students, or with their parents or their colleagues.  At Hale Kula, we use technology as a tool to collaborate, communicate, think critically, and create.  Teachers showed examples of student work and shared how they communicate with parents and the community through social media.

We had a gallery walk where the staff got to see which tech tool or app they might want to learn more about.

Then, staff had the opportunity to learn more about that particular tool or app in small-group, 

hands-on sessions.  

The buzz throughout the morning was audible.  Teachers were excited to learn something new, and the fact that they had a choice was important.  Many shared that they wished they could have attended more sessions. Collaboration between teachers was also mentioned as a positive outcome of this professional development opportunity.  Here are some of the comments from our teachers:

• I appreciated the opportunity given to so many of the faculty to share apps that they have used. Hands-on opportunities generally lend themselves to practical application.
• With the choices we had to attend for breakout sessions, we were able to learn more about something we were interested in. Lots of cool ideas out there to extend the students' learning.
• I appreciated that the facilitators actually went over step-by-step how to use the program. 
• I valued the ability to select what we were interested in learning. I also valued that the sessions were hands-on and allowed time to explore and create.
• We were offered choice in what we wanted to learn about.  This made it easy to pick a session that could be directly beneficial to my teaching, as opposed to having to learn about something I may not use or that I already use and know about.
• It was a good opportunity for our own Hale Kula teachers to share all of the great things happening in their classrooms! I think the presenters felt empowered and the attendees were inspired to try new tools with the students.  I really appreciated the positivity before starting the new semester!

We look forward to more opportunities to have teachers share how they are using technology in their classrooms.

The second part of our Planning/Collaboration Day dealt with the Smarter Balanced Assessments which our third, fourth, and fifth graders will be taking this semester.  We decided that it was important for all of our teachers to experience taking the SBA so we spent the afternoon as test-takers.  It was eye-opening for our teachers, and many had concerns about the format and the expectations for students. They questioned whether the SBA measures what is important in education.  Here are a few comments:

• There were so many factors that affected my performance on this test like reading comprehension, familiarity with the computer, keyboarding skills, etc. that I fail to see how this gives a true measure of a child's content knowledge in math.
• I can see why students are guessing.  It was difficult.
• Moving from one section of the test to the next is not intuitive; the test is text-heavy.  It seems never-ending - too bad they don't show a progress bar in the window.
• I have concerns over a computer-graded test as multiple solutions may not be counted due to the lack of thought on the computer's part.  Students may also lack the perseverance to follow through on some of these questions even if they have the skills necessary to solve.
• I think students may be thrown by the format of the test and all of the buttons.  Students may possibly fixate on the technical aspects rather than the academic purpose.
• Students will be limited in writing quality responses due to their lack of confidence in keyboarding skills.  
• The test needs to be scrutinized further because we want to set student up for moderate success, not doomed failure.

Essentially, we went from a very positive, upbeat atmosphere in the morning Media Mash-Up to a negative, frustrating atmosphere in the afternoon where teachers were not engaged in the activity. And they had 45 minutes to take the practice test; our students will have 90 minutes. If adults (including me) could not maintain focus for 45 minutes; will students be focused for twice that time? I don't think so.  My main concern as an administrator, however, is reflected in some of the responses to the question, "What preparation do you think students need to be successful on the test?"  Here are some of the responses:

• More test-prep
• Practicing the format of the test
• Using the computer enough to be comfortable in writing on scratch paper and transferring to the computer
• Lots of practice with the test tools
• Teach students to memorize math algorithms
• Start keyboarding lessons in kindergarten 

Whoa! What's wrong with this picture?  As we observed our teachers and their level of engagement and excitement at learning some new tech tools and apps, we know that our students need those kinds of opportunities as well. Students should be using technology to explore, to discover, to create, and to share. Spending valuable class time to practice so students can do better on a test should not be the purpose of school.

We should be preparing students for life, not preparing for a test. 

Becoming a Digital Leader

2014 was the year I committed to becoming a digital leader. I was inspired by Peter DeWitt and Eric Sheninger, respected principal educators as well as bloggers and digital leaders. I was especially touched that despite their large following and super-busy schedules, they took the time to respond to questions or comments I asked them. Here is a recap of my year as a digital leader.

• I continued to blog, and I am becoming more comfortable about sharing my thoughts with the public. Since I committed to blogging two years ago, I have become more confident about using this venue to reflect and to communicate about my thoughts and my experiences as a leader. 
• Our faculty meetings and professional development days were opportunities to flip the meetings by asking teachers to read and respond to an article or blog ahead-of-time.  We used these staff times to practice using different tools to collaborate and communicate with our colleagues. Teachers were leaders and learners, sharing their expertise with other staff, and I was an active learner and participant along with everyone.
• Google+ became our preferred method of sharing with our staff and having them share as well.  It was great to see our teachers posting articles or blogs they found interesting and starting a discussion via Google+. We also shared photos of successful classroom lessons or activities - it was so wonderful to see the learning that was going on in our classrooms! 
• I still have much to learn, but I am becoming more comfortable about using Google Drive and Google Docs with our staff.  In fact, I presented at my first GAFE Summit this past year on "Building Relationships Using GAFE." I know that GAFE is constantly upgrading and adding new features; I need to make time to learn how to more effectively use these tools to be more efficient and organized.
• I was a guest on several Hangouts (EdTech Mixed Plate and  Google Rocks! Hawaii Hangouts on Air) this past year to share our experiences integrating technology at our school. I also was part of a panel to discuss educational leadership and empowering schools. I was honored to be asked to participate and to share with others through this venue.
• I've had my Twitter account for a number of years, but this year, I realized the power of Twitter as a professional development tool.  My personal and professional networks are expanding and I now view Twitter as a great resource. I make time each day to check for tweets that I am interested in reading or that have relevance to me as a school leader. 
• Social media is an important means of communicating with our families. We have a Facebook page with regular updates and photos. We update our Twitter feed and include photos of what is going on in our classrooms. We have two blogs - Hale Kula Highlights is sent out weekly and informs parents of upcoming events and activities, and we have a blog to update our families about our construction project. Our parents share that they get a lot of information via social media. In fact, we hold our semi-annual School Community Meetings virtually through a Facebook event, and we now have more participation and input than ever before.
• This past year, I participated in edchathi and edcamphonolulu, and I was able to attend the International Society for Technology in Education Conference in Atlanta.  These events motivate me to continue my journey as a digital leader and provided me with valuable ideas and resources that I might use personally or with our staff and colleagues.
• A chance response to a blog resulted in a presentation to our complex area school teams by Eric Sheninger when he was here in Hawaii on vacation.  It was one of the best professional development sessions, I've attended, and  I look forward to a follow-up session this coming spring with our District principals.  
• Our six-year accreditation term is ending in 2015, and we are preparing for our visit in March 2015. Our entire WASC report was collaboratively created using Google Docs, and all of our evidences are in a Google Site. It is hard work, but this is truly a team effort and one that would not be possible if our school were not ready, technology-wise. 
• I decided to create a digital portfolio for my principal evaluation in a Google Site.  It was a challenge for me; I was often frustrated and I made lots of mistakes, but in the end, I was proud that I persevered and was able to share my evidences in this format. 

I am looking forward to 2015 to continue my journey as a digital leader. I will continue to share my thoughts and reflections via my blog.  I have a list of web sites or apps I want to explore, and I will continue to encourage teachers to try new ideas and to share their learnings with their colleagues and with me.  Finally, I want to motivate my colleagues to step out of their comfort zones and become digital leaders at their schools.  If I can learn, so can they.  If the problem is time, then as Eric Sheninger states in this blog, we need to stop making excuses and instead make time to do what is important.

2015, here I come!

#Peter DeWitt
#Eric Sheninger

My Hopes for Education in Hawaii - 2015

I just read a short EduWeek blog about Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's Edu-Predictions for 2015.   It got me thinking about what I would want to see happen in education in Hawaii in 2015.

First, as an early childhood education major, I strongly believe in making preschool accessible for all 4-year-olds in Hawaii.  Universal preschool is not a new idea; it's been around since the 1980s with The Berman Report and the 1990's with the Cayetano Task Force. It's taking far too long - over 25 years - for our State to make a commitment to ensure that ALL 4-year-olds have an opportunity to attend a quality pre-kindergarten program.  Until we make that commitment, we will have an opportunity gap that turns into an achievement gap between the haves and the have-nots.   Our children and their future are too important; we need to stop making excuses about the lack of funds to support universal preschool.

Second, with our Superintendent signing the Future Ready pledge, it is my hope that more support will be provided to schools to ensure that our teachers and students are able to personalize teaching and learning through the use of technology to collaborate, communicate, think critically, and create. Our school has been on a journey to create our own curriculum and to address the Common Core State Standards through interdisciplinary units and project-based or problem-based learning. I am hopeful that the State will allow us flexibility in implementation and will allow us to apply for funding through the Future Ready program to provide continued professional development for our teachers as well as to purchase devices for our students.   Recently, over 85 billion students worldwide participated in the second annual Hour of  Code. To prepare our students for their future, we need to introduce coding in every school in Hawaii and it should count as a math or science credit towards high school graduation. We would also like to pilot Bring Your Own Technology with some of our older students. In this day and age, students need to understand that their smartphones or mobile devices are computers that can be used for more than just texting, social media, or playing music or games.

Third, most of our schools were built for a different kind of educational system. Hale Kula, built in 1959, is really fortunate to have received funding from the Department of Defense and the State of Hawaii to transform our school where 21st century teaching and learning will be supported. This whole project has made me realize how important buildings are to a school. We need to invest in upgrading our schools; most of our schools in Hawaii were built for a different era with the factory model that was prevalent in education at that time. Our construction project has made me realize how our teachers were doing their best to give our students 21st century learning experiences without the proper infrastructure.  Educators are creative and do their best to make things work, but they shouldn't have to do so.  It is my hope that policymakers will truly make education a priority by being creative and figuring out a way to fund 21st century buildings at our schools. The Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs conducted a study in 2012 that outlines a long-term plan to address the need to transform outdated and aging schools.  Perhaps this plan should be re-examined and shared with all stakeholders.

Finally, I hope our Department will engage our schools in discussions about the Smarter Balanced Assessments. I've shared my thoughts in two earlier blogs so I won't repeat myself. I believe that we need to examine other ways of determining how students are doing in school, perhaps by having them keep an electronic portfolio of their best work from the time they enter our school system until they graduate. Part of the requirement for this portfolio is to have students reflect on why they chose those pieces and what they learned.  This is a powerful individualized process that holds students accountable and is highly personalized, and when the appropriate support is provided, even kindergarten students can self-reflect on what they want to keep as evidences of their learning and why. It is true that an electronic portfolio doesn't have the capacity to compare students through a common assessment, but I doubt that a test score is the best predictor of success in life.  We need to re-examine whether the amount of money we spend on testing could be better utilized to improve teaching and learning at our schools.

As a lifelong educator who remains passionate about improving education in Hawaii, I believe it takes the commitment of everyone to engage in a discussion to ensure that our children are prepared for their future through a quality public education system. Let's make that commitment together.

My Commitment to Our School

As I look back on my experiences at our school for the past 11+ years, I am amazed at my journey and my growth as a leader. I have the same passion and vision for leadership, but I have learned so much about what it takes to lead a school.  I am not the same person I was back when I was first hired. Indeed, I was a bit naive to think that the job would get easier the longer I stayed at our school!

Before becoming a principal, I had opportunities to hone my leadership philosophy as a teacher-leader and a coach, president, and tournament chairperson for different youth sports groups. My core beliefs about leadership have not changed much. I still believe that a leader earns respect; it is not given. I believe in teamwork; one person alone cannot accomplish what a team of people can. I believe that an idea worth trying can be better when the leader is open to discussion.  And I believe that a leader needs to make time to sometimes "get away" from the job and to re-energize.

Much has changed in education since I first became a principal. Technology has changed the way we teach and learn, not just for students, but for teachers and school leaders as well.  Brain research provides information on how students learn, and in this digital age, it is definitely through active learning and hands-on projects rather than paper/pencil worksheets. We know that teamwork and collaboration are integral; the strength of the group is greater than the individual, and everyone has something to contribute to the team. We know that not everyone learns in the same way, and it is important to present information in multiple ways to address the needs of the learners. (This is true for adults as well as children.)

Although I could be considered a seasoned principal, I continue to learn much from those around me. As I visit classrooms, I marvel at how comfortable our students are when collaborating on a document or presentation in Google Drive. I listen to their discussions and their ideas, and I am proud of how they listen to each other, respect other's ideas, and are willing to try different strategies to solve problems. I watch them in a Google Hangout, asking higher-level questions so confidently, and I know that instruction in the classroom focuses on critical thinking and not just regurgitating information. I look at student projects and listen to them share what they did and I admire their creativity in using different tools to share their learning. Our teachers have taught me as well. They attend classes, conferences, and workshops and come back, eager to share what they have learned. They willingly try new ideas and discuss how to apply what they learned with their colleagues. They take on challenges such as chairing Focus Groups for our accreditation, presenting at a conference, guiding students through a media or coding project, or coaching a team; all of these extra tasks require them to put in time, something that is in short supply for all educators.

Through my journey as a school leader, I have come to realize what kind of a leader I strive to be. A leader with a strong vision for what education can and should be.  A leader who knows that it takes a team to implement that vision. A leader who understands that our work is never done, that the road to excellence never ends. A leader who learns from experiences and strives to do better the next time. A leader who trusts the members of our team to do their best. A leader who uses the power of technology to communicate and to keep up-to-date personally and professionally.  A leader with the strength to advocate for our school, to ensure that our students and teachers benefit from decisions made by policy-makers.

As we approach the end of 2014 and enter a new year, I commit to continue to learn and improve so I can effectively lead our school to new heights.  Imua!

What are We Doing to Our Kids? Part II

Earlier, I published a blog that shared my concerns regarding the Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBA) titled "What are We Doing to Our Kids?". Since then, I've had the opportunity to delve deeper into the requirements to administer the SBA and I believe even more strongly that we are headed down the wrong path if we think that these assessments will measure whether our students will ultimately be successful in life.

My major concern is that these assessments are not the way students should be demonstrating their learning.  Young children learn by making sense of information, by asking questions, exploring and discovering their own answers by using available resources. They learn collaboratively by working with others and building on their strengths as well as addressing any challenges to their learning. Children learn by making mistakes, by trying their ideas and then working to make improvements. Expecting students as young as eight years old to sit for long periods of time to complete an extended assignment on a topic that may have little relevance and no real meaning for that child is a recipe for failure. Children are more than test scores.  Those test scores do not define who the child is, what they are good at, and why we value them as important members of our school and classroom community.

Another major concern for me is the amount of resources it will take to administer the Smarter Balanced Assessments. I question the amount of money being spent on developing, implementing, and scoring these assessments  I question the value to the school or the teacher when results for students will not be available until long after the year is over. I question the amount of time being spent on preparing for the test and on taking the test, time that could and should be spent on student-centered, active learning.  I worry that technology issues will impact the entire school when testing becomes the priority and all other computer activities come to a halt during Smarter Balanced Assessment administration. This is a real concern for our school where we use technology at all grade levels to collaborate, communicate, think critically, create, and connect with others globally.

Most concerning to me, though, is the negative impact on our students and the unnecessary stress we place on them. Is there a test for students who may be gifted in art or music? What about a student who has great interpersonal skills, who has advanced physical motor skills, or who may have creative out-of-the-box ideas but struggles with reading or writing? A test score does not define a student, and our responsibility as educators is to guide and support students and to expose them to many different activities so they can find what they are passionate about.

An article by Diane Ravitch, "The Myth of Chinese Super Schools" is a must-read for everyone. The article is based on Dr. Yong Zhao's book, Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon:  Why China Has the Best (and the Worst) Education System in the World.  Dr. Zhao dreams of a world where students are encouraged to be "confident, curious, and creative." As Diane Ravitch states in her article, "Until we break free of standardized testing, this ideal will remain out of reach."

It is time for us to speak up if we are concerned.

Students are learning to code using available computers and devices at the school.  These activities could be halted for several months while 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders take the Smarter Balanced Assessments on-line.

Activities like art, music, physical education, dance, and drama are as important to children's development as reading, writing, and math.  Yet schools are eliminating these programs and focusing primarily on language arts and math because they are measured on tests like the Smarter Balanced Assessments. 

@Diane Ravitch

What are We Doing to Our Kids?

For several years now, we've been waiting for  SBAC and PARCC to complete their assessments based on the Common Core State Standards. We heard that SBAC would be good for Hawaii, that we would see how our students compared to schools in other districts or states across the nation.  We would be comparing apples to apples, not apples to oranges. Because of our school's highly transient population with students who have attended different schools before enrolling at ours, I looked forward to having something other than NAEP to share with parents when they expressed concern that their child would be behind when they returned to the mainland.

Last year, our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teachers volunteered to pilot the SBAC. At that time, they shared that the assessment was difficult, that students did not have sufficient time to complete the performance task, and that it was challenging to navigate the assessment on the computer.  They were honest and provided feedback about their concerns. We hoped there would be changes because we knew that this year, student assessments would be graded and scores shared publicly.

Yesterday, our school assessment team had an opportunity to review the SBAC requirements as well as the practice tests and performance tasks. As I realized the amount of time that will be expended to prepare for the assessment, I became increasingly concerned. It isn't just preparing to take the SBAC that concerns me. It's the amount of testing time needed to ensure that our students can be successful; it's the labor required to ensure the fidelity of the devices so technology doesn't impede our students while they're taking the assessment; it's preparing each student's individual account to check off the appropriate accommodations for each student; it's the test items themselves and whether it is realistic to expect students as young as third grade to have the computer skills to successfully complete the assessment tasks.

Click on the SBAC practice test link and choose a grade and the performance task for math or English Language Arts.  I did, and it immediately raised concerns for me. I consider myself pretty competent in navigating between on-line documents, but expecting that of 8-year-olds is unrealistic. (In fact, I personally still prefer to have paper copies of the readings so I can compare them side-by-side.) Students can highlight or take notes on what they read, but they won't know what to take notes on if they don't know what the task is that they will be asked to complete. (That's a strategy we teach our students - read the question or know what is expected at the end so there is a purpose for reading.) When students finish one section, they cannot go back to it, even if they want to clarify their answer. (How many times do we, as adults, save our document so we can go back to revise it?) Asking students to sit for long periods of time is unrealistic, yet that is what is expected.  (As an adult taking the practice test, I had difficulty getting through the instructions, the articles, and the constructed responses.)

Our classroom teachers encourage higher level thinking skills, collaboration, and creativity; we allow multiple ways for students to share what they have learned including the use of technology or Web 2.0 tools.  SBAC expects only one way for students to show what they've learned - through writing - and this could be a challenge, especially for those who struggle with reading or writing.  My concern is that any high-stakes assessment will not favor the out-of-the-box thinker or the person who may learn in a different way.

The truth is that millions of dollars have already gone into the creation of these assessments and millions more will be paid by states or districts as implementation begins this school year. While I understand that communities deserve to know how their school measures up against others, I fear that a focus on high test scores could come at the expense of a well-rounded curriculum where the individuality of each student is nurtured and appreciated. Is this what we want for our kids?