Why Can't I Be More Creative?

I'll be honest. I have no confidence in my creativity. I don't know why, but somewhere in my past, I must have been told that I was not creative. So now, I have a difficult time being in a room with others and having an assignment to "create" something. I get that uncomfortable feeling and find myself watching and trying to hide the fact that I'm not participating or following instructions.

This is somewhat disconcerting to me because I think I was pretty good at getting my students to think creatively when I was a classroom teacher. I remember some of the fun activities we did, the many creative ideas my students came up with, and their confidence when sharing something original - an idea or a product. As a mom, I was determined that my sons would feel comfortable about thinking out-of-the-box, and I challenged them to make up their own games or to find creative uses for ordinary items.  I made it a point to not buy coloring books but to have lots of paper, crayons, pens, etc. around so they would draw what they wanted to and not have to "stay in the lines." My intentions were tested when my oldest went to kindergarten. The teacher shared that he had done well on the pre-test but he could use help with his fine motor coordination. She then showed me all the other students' coloring of a bird and then showed me my son's. He had used an assortment of crayons and it wasn't neat like the others. When I asked my son about it later, he proudly stated, "Everybody else used only one color. Mine was a rainbow bird; I used lots of colors!"  As the year went by, I noticed that my son began to conform to what was expected. Did school kill his creativity?

What does it mean to be creative in school? What does that look like, and how do we get students to a place where thinking of and sharing creative ideas is the norm and not the exception?

So often in school, we structure our day so there is minimal time for students to explore, discover, and create on their own or with peers who have similar interests. The adult in the classroom tells students what to do, how to do it, and how much time they have to complete it. Activities such as writing or art which are opportunities to share our creative ideas are often structured as well, and we give students samples to follow or everyone is given the same assignment and is expected to complete it the same way.  How do we move away from giving students the structure or the expectation to providing them with opportunities to think and act creatively?  After much thought, here are my suggestions:

• We need to know our students, especially their interests and their strengths.  Give them time to explore so they can discover what they enjoy doing or what they're good at.  Doing so can instill in them a confidence that they can contribute to their classroom community.
• Expose our students to great works of art, music, and literature from different cultures. They need to hear and see examples of the classics and to create their own ideas about why these have survived the test of time. 
• Allow students to share their opinions and to understand that everyone is entitled to their own likes and dislikes based on their own personal experiences.  Everyone's voice must be respected.
• Provide a structure for students where they brainstorm and think of as many ideas as they can. From this open-ended divergent thinking activity, students choose one to focus on. For example, ask students to list as many uses as they can for a paper bag or a pencil or an envelope.  Then students choose one unique idea, sketch out their process,  and then create and share it. We may be surprised with the creative ideas that emerge from this simple activity.
• Model and share examples of creativity. "Johnny came up with a different way to solve that math problem.  Johnny, can you explain your thought process with the class?" or "Listen for descriptive words or phrases while I read the story aloud.  Raise your hand when you hear something that catches your ear." Then stop periodically and call on students to share what they heard and what picture those words painted in their minds. Provide students with examples so they can understand what creative thinking is.  The more we do this as teachers, the more natural it becomes.
• Teach students different tools - both low-tech and high-tech - so they have a choice in how they want to create and share their learnings.  Choice is a powerful motivator, and we might be pleasantly surprised at the final products. I was amazed with what some of our fifth graders created and shared when they could choose their own topic based on the theme of the quarter. Some students used tools that they discovered and learned on their own; clearly, the teacher had created a learning culture in her classroom where students were confident and self-directed learners. 
• Finally, TIME is such an important factor if we want our students to be creative.  Every student is different; some will jump right in while others need time to reflect and think before coming up with an idea. We need to recognize these differences and make sure our schedule includes time for personalized learning.  

So back to me and my lack of confidence when asked to create something.  I realize that I may never overcome my discomfort when producing an art project.  However, I can be creative in other ways, most importantly, as a school leader. How we address the needs of our school community to ensure success takes commitment and creativity. I am committed, and I will continue to explore creative ways to ensure that every student and every staff member has the tools they need to be successful. 

During the Cardboard Challenge, students were able to create what they wanted using old cardboard boxes and other materials. This is such a fun activity for our students as well as for our military partners who guide the students through their projects.

Students were able to create games and have other students try them out. It wasn't unusual to hear students critique their own product and share how they would improve it.  This is something we want students to do - to self-assess so they can continue to improve.

"Myths & Lies" about Education

During the school year, my personalized professional development consists mainly of reading blogs that are posted on Twitter, Google+, or Facebook primarily because they're shorter and with all the expectations of a school administrator, finding the time to complete a book can be a challenge.  Now that it's summer, though, I thought I'd read a book that was recommended by someone I follow on Twitter.  It's called, 50 Myths & Lies that Threaten America's Public Schools. (Click on the link to read an interview with the authors.)

As someone who tries to keep up with the trends in public education, I found the book to be validating as well as somewhat discouraging because there are so many misconceptions about public education and the answers provided by conservative think tanks, policy makers, or large publishing companies are not what will make a difference for our students.

My major takeaway from the book is this: our public education system is not broken.  There are lots of great things happening in our public schools, but if we don't solve America's inequity problems, we will always have a large group of students who will struggle with learning.  It's not their fault.

It's not enough, though, to wring our hands and justify that there will always be students who fall through the cracks or who are born into situations where struggling in school is a very realistic possibility. The question then is, "What can we do about it?"  The authors of 50 Myths & Lies offer some solutions in the interview: mixed housing areas so all low-income people are not in the same area; higher taxes on the wealthy and some corporations to fund teachers, police officers, firefighters, the military, and other service positions; dual language schools; and more money in education budgets to fund quality early childhood education programs or after-school or summer enrichment and tutoring programs.  These are great ideas for policy makers to consider, but I don't hold out much hope that action will be taken anytime soon.

Those of us who are in the schools do our best with what we're given. I can think of lots of ways to spend the money if we had more funding for schools, but the reality is that we shouldn't count on getting more. When the Governor and the Legislature are obligated to balance the budget, it is assumed that the extras will be cut out of the Department's request especially during lean years. So what are schools supposed to do?

That's the big question schools are grappling with, and I know that like every other school, we're not waiting. Schools don't wait; we act because we know that our school communities trust that we will do the best for our students. So despite the fact that funding is inadequate to address the needs of our individual schools, we find funding through grants or partnerships to ensure that our students continue to grow as learners.  Or teachers volunteer their services because they know it will help their kids.

A book like 50 Myths & Lies that Threaten America's Public Schools does not seem to have the same impact as the movie, Waiting for Superman.  John Q. Public loves to bash our public schools but they offer no viable solutions on how to "fix" our problems.  Educators in public schools take the heat from the public without fighting back and continue to do our best for our students and our school communities. But maybe it is time for us to be more vocal - not necessarily to fight back against the "myths and lies" --  but to share the positive things going on in public schools today.  Public schools deserve to be supported!

Note:
Follow the Hawaii Department of Education on Facebook. You'll be amazed at all the GREAT things happening in our Hawaii public schools! https://www.facebook.com/HIDepartmentofEducation

A Confession

I've blogged about my concerns with the Smarter Balanced Assessments earlier in a blog titled, "What's Wrong with this Picture?" so I won't repeat my concerns.  Our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders took the assessments beginning in April and ending sometime in May when the last students submitted their results.  It was a challenge for many, especially those students who aren't at grade level yet.

We started getting results in mid-May, a few at a time.  Our scores are not looking great.  We were prepared for lower scores than previous statewide assessment results; after all, this is a new test, and our students are not used to that format.

Before the school year ended, I was having a conversation with a teacher I really respect. She co-taught in an inclusion classroom and many of her students struggled academically.  Several of them had special needs or English was not their primary language. However, no one would know that when they observed in this classroom and saw the students collaborating on projects, sharing presentations, asking questions of each other to clarify what was shared, or working in groups to solve a complex math problem. "They have come a long way since the beginning of the year," this teacher shared, "but they still struggle with academic language.  They need that opportunity to discuss with their peers first. Then they can communicate their ideas but writing will still be a challenge for them."

So knowing that the SBAC results may not reflect our students' true potential, why do I keep checking several times a day to see if any more results are posted and if our percentage of students with a score of 3 or 4 has gone up? I wish I could care less, but hard as I try, I find myself looking at the scores and feeling somewhat disappointed.

After all, I know that the public uses test scores to judge our schools.  We see headlines in the paper comparing schools by test scores, and we see magazines use the State Strive-Hi results to give our public schools a letter grade.  There are winners and losers when the media opts to grade schools on a bell curve.  My heart tells me not to worry about test scores, but my head wonders if there's more we can do to help our students be more successful on these kinds of assessments.

As the principal of our school, I was conflicted.  As I reflected on this quandary, I remembered a fable titled, "The Animal School" written by George Reavis back in the 1940's.  This fable reminded me that our job as educators is to see the possibilities in every child and to help every student achieve to their fullest potential.  That is what is important, and that is why I have been an educator for over four decades.

Will I continue to check the SBAC results every day? Probably, but I will look at the results as just one piece of data and definitely not the most important one for our students.

Another School Year Comes to a Close

In three days, SY2014-2015 will come to an end.  I was browsing through the yearbook that the Parent Teacher Organization put together and reminisced about everything that had taken place this past year.

Our Western Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation process was our biggest challenge this year. Every member of our staff was involved in the process, and the whole school community rallied around to ensure that the visit reflected our self-study report.  The Visiting Committee validated our report as well as the areas of strength and areas for improvement. We are still awaiting news from WASC about our accreditation term; we will let you know when we receive that report.

As I thumbed through the pages of the yearbook with photos of the different activities, I felt proud that our students were community contributors.  Our students loved participating in activities like the Turkey Trot, Jingle Bell Run, and Jump Rope for Heart.  We contributed generously to the Hawaii Foodbank, the Wounded Warrior Project, the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, and the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. Our second graders also participated in their annual beach clean-up as a culmination of their social studies unit about renewable and non-renewable resources. We will continue to encourage our students to participate in these kinds of projects so they realize that they can make a difference in this world. After all, we may live on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but our students are global citizens.  What we do now impacts their world in the future.

Our taught curriculum focused on the Common Core State Standards and embedded critical thinking, problem-solving, and project-based learning. But school is more than just academics.  As I browsed through the yearbook, I saw evidences of other meaningful learning experiences such as the school-wide Cardboard Challenge, grade level gardens, learning about Hawaiian history and culture, intramural activities, and service clubs such as Student Council, Greeters Club, and Junior Police Officers.  A well-rounded school experience includes art, music, drama, and physical education as well as the academics, and we are pleased that Hale Kula offers these opportunities for our students.

Of course, a review of the year would not be complete without mentioning our construction project. We started off the school year in the beautiful and spacious new administration building, and as the year ends, we are beginning to move into the new classroom building; next year, about 200 students will be in the new classrooms, and all students will be able to use the tech lab. Construction will continue for at least one more school year when the library media/student center and the covered play court should be ready for occupancy.  We are so grateful to all those who made this project possible! Our students now and in the future will be the beneficiaries of their foresight in allocating the funding necessary to upgrade our facilities.

The ending of the school year is bittersweet.  While most of us look forward to summer break, working in a military-impacted school means that about a third of our students and their families will be leaving our school. I wish I could see all of our students as they progress from kindergarten through fifth grade and transition to middle school and high school, but that rarely happens in a military-impacted school. It is my hope that these students will remember their time in Hawaii and at Hale Kula with warm memories and that they will spread "aloha" wherever they go. Fortunately, through social media, we can keep in touch with those who have left Hale Kula.

As this school year ends, I'd like to thank everyone for making 2014-2015 a memorable year at Hale Kula Elementary School!

Students ran to music at the annual Jingle Bell Run and brought in donations for the Wounded Warrior Project.  The Student Council representatives researched different charitable organizations and voted to donate any funds raised to the Wounded Warrior Project. 

Our JPOs worked with the military police once a month to remind drivers to drive safely.  

Our partners, the HHBN 25th ID, assisted with various projects throughout the year. We really appreciate their partnership with our school, and they enjoy being with the students and helping out.  Here, they are helping with the Cardboard Challenge activities. 

Disconnected Leadership - Something to Think About

I look forward to reading Peter DeWitt's blogs in EdWeek.  I find myself agreeing with him most of the time about issues like school climate, accountability, testing, and leadership. One of his recent blogs was about Disconnected Leadership.  Peter conducted a survey and suggested that there are 3 areas that are at the heart of the disconnect between teachers and school leaders:  faculty meetings and classroom observations which in turn affect school climate.

This blog made me reflect on how I lead at our school.  I wondered whether our teachers felt the same way as many of the teachers in the survey.  I think our teachers would agree that we do try to communicate as much information as possible via emails or our staff bulletin rather than through faculty meetings. Many of our teachers know of my aversion to sitting in meetings where we "sit and get" and where the agendas are composed of compliance issues and mandates.  This is primarily why I do my best not to do that to our staff.  However, Peter suggests that another reason why teachers may be disengaged in faculty meetings is because they have not been asked for their suggestions and have not helped to co-construct the agenda.

Peter also mentioned that classroom observations are a problem, especially when teachers are at the receiving end of feedback and the observation does not create new learning opportunities for them.  A major component of our State's evaluation system is a teacher observation using the Danielson framework. I personally do not believe that 30% of a teacher's evaluation should be based on one observation, and I've shared my viewpoints previously in an earlier blog. I enjoy going into classrooms to talk with kids and see what kind of learning is taking place, but I prefer less formal observations that give me information about what goes on in the classroom on a daily basis and not just once a year during a required observation.

Finally, Peter shares that school climate is impacted negatively when relationships between leaders and their staff are strained, and he suggests that we start by changing the way we do faculty meetings and classroom observations/evaluations.  I agree.  I believe that how we conduct faculty meetings, professional development sessions, or observation feedback with our teachers should mirror what we want to see in the classrooms where the outcome would be excited learners following their passions and trying new ideas, collaborating with their peers, and self-reflecting to improve.  The first step is being open to ideas from our staff to determine faculty meeting agendas or professional development sessions.  The second step is to work with teachers to build their capacity to lead these sessions with their peers.

After all, education is about the learner and the learning.  This is true not only for students but for teachers and school leaders as well.

"Grading the Public Schools"

It's that time of the year when Honolulu Magazine publishes their annual "Grading the Public Schools" article.  As the proud principal of our school, I always buy the issue but I dread what I will read.  You see, our school is never at the top of the list, and even if I know how the magazine rates schools, it is difficult to explain why we receive the grade we are given.

Last year was especially hard; it was the first year for a different rating system Strive-HI, and it is a challenge to try to explain how our score was calculated.  Last year, we were rated a D+, and even if the State said we were in "Continuous Improvement," the general public sees that grade and reacts to it. I had family members ask if I was disappointed with the grade (of course I was!) or parents asking what we were going to do to improve. This year, the magazine rated us a "C."  Our Strive-HI scores went up from 178 points to 228, but that's still a far cry from the maximum 400 points. 228 points places us #85 amongst 172 elementary schools in our state, smack dab in the middle.

The truth is that every school does the best they can with the cards they are dealt.  I guarantee that every school looks at their students and designs programs that best address the needs of their students. We have a transient military population with students coming in and leaving at all times of the school year.  We know that most of these students will be with us for maybe two or three years before leaving for another state or country.  Our vision is to "empower learners to explore, discover, create, and share," and that means access to learning using a variety of tools, including technology.  I am amazed when I see students so confidently using different tech tools to collaborate on projects or to share what they have learned.  Our teachers use project-based learning to engage their students in understanding concepts through interdisciplinary units, and we offer students opportunities to experience coding, design studio, Robotics, drama, intramural sports, gardening, and media club. This year, many of our teachers have integrated art into their teaching, and the students are responding with incredible projects.

Last year, I complimented a fellow principal on her students' success at the `Olelo Youth XChange media competition, and she wryly responded, "You mean our D- school?" We laughed when I told her, "Well, we got a D+," to which she replied, "Gee, those "A" schools must be really outstanding!" We both realized that as long as we focus on engaging our learners and providing them with unique experiences, we are preparing them to be successful despite the grade in the magazine.

We may not ever achieve the highest scores or grades on Strive-HI, but I am proud of all the opportunities we offer our students.  I am confident that they will leave our school better-prepared to make their mark in the world. Here are just a few of the activities our students experience at our school.

Fourth graders were able to make an ipu from scratch and learned to play this musical instrument.

Students from preschool through fifth grade learn to garden.  This is a fourth grade Hawaiian garden with native as well as introduced plants.  

Our Robotics team has had much success despite having to form a new team every year.  This is a tribute to the students and their coaches who put in a lot of extra hours to prepare for the competitions.

We have the support of our military partners for school-wide events like The Cardboard Challenge.  The students and soldiers have so much fun creating!

Finally, we are proud of our Media Club for creating and producing outstanding videos. Check out our HKES Kids Vimeo Channel for some of the projects our students have created.

"Choose Kind"

When I went into administration, I found myself reading more professional literature, and recently, I have my Personal Learning Network to provide me with blogs, articles, research, and suggestions about leadership, educational policy, and teaching and learning.  I found myself needing a balance, though, and my just-before-bedtime routine included reading books by Baldacci, Connelly, Child, and other favorite authors.

Recently, my grandson asked his dad for a boxed set of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series for his birthday.  His special day isn't until the end of May, but Grandma and Grandpa quickly went on Amazon and purchased the set for him. "Why wait?" we thought. "If he wants to read it now, we should get it for him now." Since so many of our students (especially boys) seem to love the Wimpy Kid series, I decided I should read the book. It took me a few days to get through it, but I can see its appeal for young boys.  It's easy to read, has cartoon-like illustrations, the number of words on a page aren't overwhelming, and the main character is pretty believable and amusing.

I realized that since my boys are grown and I am no longer in the classroom and my grandsons don't live here in Hawaii :-( , I really haven't kept up with too many of the recent books that have been published. So I resolved to visit our library more often to borrow some of those books that are popular with our students.

Two of the books I recently finished had a similar theme.  Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper and Wonder by R.J. Palacio made me feel so many different emotions - anger, sadness, joy.  Both of the main characters have challenges that they must overcome to be accepted by their peers.  In Out of My Mind, Melody has cerebral palsy and though she cannot speak, she has a curious mind and an amazing memory. Auggie, the main character in Wonder, has facial deformities but he is a bright, funny child who just wants to be accepted.  Both stories made me laugh sometimes, but it also made me upset to feel the cruelty of students towards  Melody and Auggie.

Our librarian shared that Wonder had been voted the winner of this year's Nene Award by the children on Hawaii, and she insisted that I read it. I'm so glad I did. There are lessons in this book about acceptance, overcoming adversity, resiliency, and kindness.  Yes, kindness.  Mr. Browne, Auggie's English teacher, shared one precept a month, and the precept for the first month of school was by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer:  "When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind."

Choose kind. Random acts of kindness.  Treating one another kindly.  I believe this is the mantra we need to live by.  We should all choose kind, and the world would definitely be a better place.