A New Beginning . . .

I thought I'd share a post I wrote for my blog about our $33.2 million construction project that just completed. On Monday, October 17, we had an event at our school to celebrate the completion of the project as well as the renaming of our school. Here's the blog post:

Back on June 13, 2013, I published the first post in this blog and titled it "The Beginning." 3 years, 4 months later, this will be the final post on this blog. Our project has officially ended with the dedication of the last two buildings as well as the renaming of our school.

This has been a journey, one that began with high hopes and certainly didn't disappoint. Our final buildings are fabulous! At our celebration on Monday, October 17, Major General Cavoli from the 25th Infantry Division, stated that they might be the nicest buildings on Schofield right now.

Throughout this project, I was a learner with minimal prior knowledge. I had lots to learn. Using the charrette process, we were able to share our ideas to design our buildings, and our ideas came to fruition during the construction process. There were change orders, delays in shipment, and weather delays, and the school had to endure the challenges of noise, dust, and barricades. As each new building reached completion, I marveled at the construction process and all the workers who make a project come to life. Believe me, I will never look at a construction project in quite the same way; I realize how magical it is to take materials and turn them into a building that can transform people's lives. In our case, these new buildings will transform our teaching and learning at DKIES.

Most importantly, though, I learned that in any job, collaboration is key to success. We couldn't have asked for a better team. They were patient with my endless questions and explained things in layman's terms so I could understand; that was helpful as I updated this blog. They knew that this was a big project, the first in our public school system that was funded 80% by DOD-OEA and 20% by the State, and we all wanted it to be a model for 21st century teaching and learning. I want to thank all those at S&M Sakamoto, Design Partners, Inc., Bowers & Kubota, the Department of Education, and US Army Garrison, Hawaii for being such great partners with us throughout this project.

When we broke ground on July 1, 2013, we were Hale Kula Elementary School. At the end of the project, we are Daniel K. Inouye Elementary School after the Board of Education approved a new name for our school. Now that the $33.2 million construction project is over and our new name is official, it is truly "a new beginning."

Links: Star Advertiser article
Hawaii News Now
KHON News 
KITV News
Department of Education News Release
Hawaii Army Weekly

My brother, Roy, my Mom, and my husband Randy were able to join us for the event. This was the first time my Mom had seen the project she'd been hearing about. I was glad she got to see our "new" school. She and my Dad encouraged me to become an educator, a decision I have never regretted. We are with Ken and Jessica Inouye in our beautiful new library.

U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono was at the groundbreaking on July 1, 2013, and she was also present for the completion of our project and the renaming of our school. 

We were honored to have Ken Inouye, the only son of Daniel K. Inouye, speak about his Dad and what he learned from him.

Superintendent Matayoshi, First Lady Ige, U.S. Senator Hirono, Ken Inouye, student MC Caroline Lefaoseu, and MG Cavoli joined me in untying the maile lei. 

We are so honored to have this display case that was donated to our school by the Daniel K. Inouye Institute. The case is filled with memorabilia that shares the legacy of Daniel K. Inouye so students now and in the future will be proud to attend the school that bears his name. 

All Schools Deserve to Be Upgraded

Tomorrow, we officially celebrate the completion of the final phase of our 3+ year project to upgrade our school as well as the renaming of our school to Daniel K. Inouye Elementary School. As I reflect on our journey as the first school in Hawaii to qualify for the DOD-OEA funding for schools on military bases across the country, I realize that we have a responsibility to share our journey,  to celebrate our success, and to hopefully make it possible to create a system that allows private-public partnerships to upgrade our schools in Hawaii.

After President Obama was first elected, military parents met with Secretary of Defense Gates to share their concerns over the poor condition of schools on base. A facilities assessment was undertaken on all schools located on military bases in the country, and after a rating scale based on "condition" and "capacity," our school was #9 on the list of 157 schools. That started a whirlwind process to apply for a a DOD-OEA grant to receive funding (80% of the project cost) to address areas of need in the assessment. (Slideshow)  Senator Daniel K. Inouye was instrumental in passage of a Congressional allocation of $250 million in what would be one of his last major measures passed as the Senate Appropriations Committee Chairperson. Through a charrette process involving a design team, Department of Education as well as school staff, and the military, we created 21st century buildings where students are able to collaborate and communicate with others not just within their classroom but globally as well and where critical thinking and creating are emphasized

On July 1, 2013, we held a groundbreaking ceremony, and a little more than three years later, our project is completed. Throughout the 3-phase process, I updated our community via a blog. We realized that many of our students and their families would not be at our school to follow our progress to upgrade our facilities. As each phase was completed, I would ask myself how we got so lucky to be able to rebuild and renovate our school.

As a school located on a military base, we were fortunate to be able to access federal funds to address concerns noted in the facilities assessment. 80% of the cost was provided by the DOD-OEA grant, and 20% was funded via a State Legislative appropriation to our Department. For $6.6 million in State funds, we now have an Administrative Building that is much larger than the old one that was built in 1959. Our 10-classroom building with flexible learning spaces are so much more conducive to learning than the portable classrooms we were using. .Our library is spacious and the available resources as well as the Makerspace will empower our students to explore, discover, create and share. Counselors and our School Mental Health Team from Tripler Army Medical Center have their own rooms for privacy (previously, they all shared a room), and now, we can meet as a faculty in a meeting room rather than in the cafeteria. And our covered play court? I pinch myself every time I go there. Our physical education teachers and our students will make great use of this facility, and we now have a place for our whole school to gather for assemblies and events.

But shouldn't all schools - not just schools on military bases - be able to re-invent and upgrade their school facilities? (Right now, Solomon Elementary and Mokapu Elementary are waiting to hear if they are receiving funding for their schools.)  So many of our schools need to be renovated or upgraded, and funding from the Legislature is limited. We need to think of other ways to upgrade our schools, many of which are already 50+ years old.

The Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs examined the issue of private-public partnerships to build 21st century schools for Hawaii's students and shared their ideas in "Systemic Approach to Building 21st Century Schools: Experiences in the Aloha State."  Although a bill was passed by the State Legislature and signed by the Governor, in 2011, we have not yet seen the impact on our schools. In fact, communities and legislators have to "fight" to get their share of funding to upgrade or to build new schools in growing communities, and the cost continues to increase each year.

When I became principal of our school in February 2003, I never dreamed that we would ever be allocated funds to upgrade our facilities. Now that our project is completed, I hope that our positive experience will start the discussion on how to provide this kind of opportunity for other schools that were built for a different generation of students. All students deserve it.

Our Administration Building was the Phase I. The building was completed in July 2014, one year after groundbreaking. 

The 10-classroom building was Phase II and was completed in time to start the 2015-2016 school year. This building won the Masons Institute Award for the Best Project of the Year. Here's a link to the presentation that was prepared by Design Partners, Inc.  

Phase III included the library media and student support center located in the front of the school. Notice the new school name on the front of the building.

The covered play court was also part of Phase III. Now we have a place for assemblies for the whole school. 

Continuously Learning in this Connected World

This is our last week for Quarter 1; I think the Department was wise to build in breaks after each quarter. I think we all are looking forward to Fall Break next week.

As I am in the twilight of my career, I think it's safe to say that I've still got so much more to learn as an educator and a school principal.I reflect on the early years when most of my learning came from books or professional magazines or from other educators or school leaders here in Hawaii. Today, I learn every day through my professional learning community on Twitter, Google+, or Facebook. It is amazing to me how accessible information is, and anytime there is a problem or concern that I want to learn more about, I can ask my own questions, explore, and discover information via social media. My perspective on how to be an effective school leader has been impacted as a result of my personal learning network.

Last Tuesday, we had a team from our school attend the Leadership Symposium (#HIDOELead). I don't go to many conferences or symposiums anymore, but this event confirmed our school's continued journey to prepare our students for their future.

George Couros was the keynote speaker for the Leadership Symposium, and when I read that he would be presenting, I immediately signed up a team to attend. I've been following George for years and was part of his #SAVMP project to virtually mentor new principals. I totally enjoyed his presentation at ISTE in Atlanta, and recently, I'd read and discussed The Innovator's Mindset with some of our staff. I marvel at George's ability to capture an audience, to change our mindsets about our own learning, and to make us laugh while occasionally making us teary. His presentations are entertaining, but they are also meaningful and we take away what is most applicable to us. I loved how George took a newbie Twitter user and within the breakout session, and with George's mentoring, her PLN had immediately expanded. Through the process, everyone in the room could follow along and expand their own network.

I've connected with and subscribe to innovative educators like Eric Sheninger, Peter DeWitt, John Spencer, and A.J. Juliani. Recently, I subscribed to Thomas C. Murray after reading his powerful blog, "One Nice Thing."  There are so many great educators out there trying new ideas and sharing them via social media. When I first started as an educator, we didn't have the opportunity to learn 24-7 in such an individualized way. I love being able to check out posts or tweets from other educators. It's impossible to read everything, but it is possible to click the link, scan the article or post, and decide if it's something I want to explore further.

I encourage our teachers and principal colleagues to be connected. I've shared at poster sessions about how we use technology to connect with our school community.  Now we need to continue to grow in this area and to convince our teachers that being connected is imperative in our ever-changing world.

With @gcouros, @hawaiiest, and @cputz808 at the Leadership Symposium.

Mentoring Might Not Be Enough

Last month, I blogged about hiring 14 teachers for this school year (Support for New Teachers), and I shared that we were committed to providing them with support so they can be successful. We feel confident that we chose the right people for our school and our students.

Well, within the first month, two teachers came to tell me that they would have to resign due to child care issues as well as feeling overwhelmed by the expectations at our school. I felt really bad, but as I always tell my staff, family comes first. So reluctantly, I accepted their resignations.

Relocating to Hawaii is not easy. Although we have so many positives - lovely weather most of the time, friendly people, year-round sports, beautiful beaches, different cultures with a variety of customs, holidays, and food - it is difficult to get by on a teacher's salary. Our new teachers are finding out that their take-home pay barely covers the rent, the cost of their vehicle, food, and other necessities. They are also finding that it's difficult to keep up with reading their emails, doing all the required beginning-of-year assignments, and learning the curricular expectations while trying to manage the individual students in their classrooms who have different strengths and challenges.

We are proud that we have systems in place and handbooks with information about school policies and procedures. We have a Faculty Handbook, a Crisis Management and Safety Guide, and grade level handbooks and matrices so new teachers can see the grade level expectations. We have a Positive Behavior Intervention Support handbook so anyone new to our school can understand our PBIS system. Grade level colleagues are willing to assist and support the new teachers as they make their transition to our school, and all teachers with less than 3 years of teaching experience (here or in another state) are provided a mentor teacher who has had or is undergoing extensive training so they can effectively support our newbies.

As I was discussing the concerns for our new teachers, my vice principal said something that totally made sense. "Think of Maslow's Hierarchy," she pointed out. "They're worried about basic needs - housing, child care, their paychecks. Those are basic needs, and they can't get to the top of the triangle if these basic needs are not met."

I think I hit my forehead as that made so much sense! It's not something we have total control over, but we can make things better for our new teachers. We can't do anything about their paycheck, or their rent, or child care (although we can try to help them make connections), but we can provide them with more support at our school.

So first, we will give our new teachers additional time by hiring substitutes so they can meet with their Instructional Coach, mentor teacher, or the tech team. We will let them decide who they would like to meet with or what they need more support with. They may need the time to review resources, plan their lessons, or visit other classrooms. The important thing is that they will determine what support would be most useful for them, and we will provide it.

Secondly, we will survey our new teachers to see if they would like us to give them a hard copy of important emails or the Staff Bulletin; right now, they're expected to get them electronically. If these are important, then we need to make sure they get a copy especially if they're struggling to find the time to read them. That way, they will be up-do-date on what's happening at the school or what deadlines are coming up.

Third, we have identified four mentor teachers who are committed to working with our new teachers. We appreciate that they are willing to take on this responsibility in addition to their other duties as classroom or resource teachers. They are trained or receiving induction and mentoring training from District staff, and are committed to helping our new teachers. As I read articles about what qualities mentor teachers possess, I know that we have the right mentors in place. We will set aside funds to provide time for our new teachers to meet as a professional learning community with their mentor teachers. New teachers need the opportunity to not only vent, but to learn together and to realize that they can provide great support for each other.

We continue to seek ways to meet the needs of every teacher at our school, but just as we differentiate for our students, our teachers also need targeted support to be successful. Studies show that providing support for new teachers can make a difference in whether they stay in the profession or leave. We believe that all of our teachers can make a positive difference for their students, and we do not want them to leave the profession.

Is Spelling Important?

I wrote this blog two years ago, but I think it's still an important issue that we don't discuss enough at the elementary level.

I loved spelling tests when I was in elementary school.  I was good at spelling and didn't even have to study to get good grades.  So when I began teaching elementary school, I followed the lead of those who had been teaching that grade level for many years as well as what I remembered from my days in elementary school.  We followed the spelling list in the Teacher's Manual for reading.  The kids wrote the words down on Monday, wrote it several times in their spelling book for homework that night, wrote a sentence with each word the next night, alphabetized the list on Wednesday, and studied for the test on Thursday night.  After the test on Friday, parents waited anxiously for the tests to be returned, and we had happy kids or sad kids, depending on how they did.  Sometimes, parents would say, "We studied all night long, and he knew how to spell the word last night.  I don't understand why he missed it."

I began to question the value of spelling tests.  I was concerned that students were scoring 100% on Friday, yet they were misspelling those same words when they wrote in their journal or responded to a question the following week.  When a parent shared that he'd promised to take his son to Toys 'R Us if he scored 100% on his test, I realized that I needed to rethink whether spelling tests were that important.

So I changed what I was doing.  On Monday, the students would take a pre-test, and if a student scored 90%-100%, he/she was exempt from taking the test on Friday.  They still did the homework, but these students didn't have to write the word several times in their spelling book.  At least I was differentiating, I thought, but really, those spelling tests still bothered me.  I also noticed that some students felt defeated; they were working so hard but still not getting the kind of scores they wanted. "Is spelling so important?" I asked myself.  It would have been so easy to abandon spelling altogether and take the heat when parents questioned why.  In the back of my mind, however,  I knew that to be an effective reader and writer, a person needs to be aware of spelling. Knowing patterns and rules does help to decode words and to make connections between letters and sounds which then lead to fluency in reading and writing.

Then I bought a book on teaching spelling, and my biggest "aha" was that spelling is developmental.  (I wish I still had that book because it changed my thinking about spelling.)  The book contained lists for each grade level, and teachers could determine a child's developmental stage by how they spelled the words.  I found it so interesting that how a child spelled a word could determine their developmental stage and influence what and how I taught those children. Recently, I found the "Monster Test" that I remember giving to my students a few years ago. It was a simple way to give students a short test and determine their approximate developmental level for spelling. As I recall, it was really quite accurate and helped me to understand what level students were at and how I could help them get to the next level.

After that, the way I taught spelling changed in my classroom.  We used manipulatives, looked at patterns, and played with words.  One of my favorite memories is when we were thinking of words with "_ar" as the final syllable. (I was teaching first grade at that time.)  I would give a clue, and students had to spell the word with their magnetic letters or write it on their whiteboard.  For example, I said, "This is something you can ride in,"  and students excitedly spelled out "car."  After spelling "far" and "star" and "war," I asked students if they had a riddle for a word that ended with _ar.  I called on Lauren, and she whispered a word in my ear.  "Okay," I said, all the while wondering what her riddle would be.  "This is a place where daddies go after a hard day at work," she proudly shared.  The students had no problem spelling out "bar!"and here I was, thinking of "bar of soap" or "gold bar."

It was those kinds of activities that made a difference for my students.  They began to look forward to the short spelling lessons and for homework, students made lists of words with the pattern we were learning.  Students were delighted when they contributed a word to the list that other students might not have thought of!  Students corrected spelling words in a paragraph or did other fun activities based on the pattern we were studying that week.  We also had a word wall, and students had their own personal Quick-Word Handbook. They didn't have to worry about spelling for their first writing draft but they knew that self-correcting their spelling was part of the writing process, and they had tools they could rely on if they needed help.

Oh, one more thing . . . we did take spelling tests, but now, they weren't taken every Friday.  Sometime during the week when I thought the students had internalized that spelling pattern, I assessed them, and I added in some bonus words for those who wanted a challenge. The students almost always spelled the words correctly, and if they made an error, they were able to self-correct their mistake. Most importantly, though, was that their subsequent writing assignments reflected that they had truly learned the spelling patterns of the words we had studied.

In this age of Spell-Check, is it important for students to learn to spell correctly?  Yes, I believe that spelling still has a place in the classroom.  Being an effective communicator and a quality producer means that the reader's understanding and enjoyment of a piece of writing is not hindered by poor spelling.  How we teach spelling, however, does not have to be mundane or boring.

"That's the way we've always done it"

For the past three school years, our recess fields have been limited due to our construction project. At the end of last school year, we began to seek input from students and staff about how we might restructure recess and our playgrounds. We were in the process of exploring Project-Based Learning, and we posed a question to our students about what they would like to see in a playground. Students from kindergarten up to fifth grade were excited to share ideas in their classroom or in the library, and our librarian (@Michelle_Colte) shared the process in a slide show called, "Planning Our Playground."

We also asked our staff for their input during a Wednesday meeting. We gave them the topic "Recess for Learning," asked the groups to brainstorm questions, select the ones they wanted to explore more, and then to share their learnings. Every staff member was engaged in their group, and the resulting slide show is evidence of the rich discussions that took place. Not surprisingly, the ideas were more practical and less "creative" than our students' ideas. What was impressive was that in the short time available, teams were able to explore and research their questions and provide links to resources.

After that session with our staff,  a committee of students presented their ideas to administration and counselors. These third graders were passionate and had clearly done their research in an effort to persuade us to consider their ideas. This slide show shares the students' ideas. In the end, they advocated for 4 main changes: a longer recess (they had research to back up their claim that students need more physical activity during the day); to be able to go to other places at recess (different playground areas, going to the library, the drama room, etc.); permission for all grade level students to use the playground equipment (older students felt the rules were too restrictive); and having a landscaped area and do-it-yourself space (rolling hills, gardens, sandboxes, a maze, etc.).Students were also concerned about the fact that teachers seemed to ban activities whenever there was a problem rather than seek student input about how to resolve the problem. "Students were playing rough at soccer so they ban soccer. Students fell down and got hurt during tag so they ban tag. There's  nothing for us to do at recess because teachers keep banning stuff." "So what do you propose?" we asked. "Maybe kids can discuss in class about the rules. Or make the kids who are playing rough find something else to do." The point here is that our students do have suggestions; not all of their ideas are acceptable - we made it clear that climbing trees would not be possible due to safety reasons - but we should give them a voice because recess is their break and they have great ideas.

"So what would teachers think of these ideas?" we asked the students. "Oh, they'll like our ideas," one student replied. "They will think it's important for students to get more exercise." "Will they like having longer recess duty?" I asked. One student thought they wouldn't mind, but another disagreed. "I've heard my teacher when she says, 'I have yard duty.' I don't think she would like it," she explained.  'Empathize' is the first step in the Design Thinking Process, we need to be able to empathize with those who have the problem before we can come up with solutions. Our students need to realize that when they give a suggestion, they need to look at it from all viewpoints, not just their own.

After that, our Leadership Team had an on-line discussion where more questions were asked and more suggestions were made. From there, administrators took all of this information into consideration and came up with a revised plan for recess for this school year. Students were given more choice in which field they wanted to play at, we scheduled a slightly longer recess on Wednesday, and we had mixed grade levels sharing the recess fields. Everything went well, right? Wrong!

The students were happy; they loved recess, and they only had 3 rules to remember: Be safe. Be respectful. Be responsible. The teachers' reactions were mixed, however. Some teachers were willing to give it a chance to work itself out, but others were not convinced the new way could work. They wanted to go back to the old way: "That's the way we've always done it," they said, "Why do we have to change?" After a couple of weeks, we convened a committee to discuss and make recommendations.

We are back to having badges for students to go on the playground equipment. The physical education teachers set out activities each day, and teachers are meeting their students and walking them back to class instead of having them walk back by themselves. I think of this as a next step in the Design Process. We went through the process, designed a prototype (recess for learning where students have more voice and choice), and tested it out. When concerns were raised especially about safety, we went back to the design process and made adjustments. We aren't finished yet; we still want to make recess more student-centric and less teacher-directed, but we need the activities and equipment to make that happen. The Parent Teacher Organization has offered to purchase additional activities for our students to use during recess, teachers are looking in their closets to see if they have resources they can share, and we will continue to tweak what we're doing when necessary.

Recess can be a time for learning; we will make it happen.

Recess on the back field . . .

 . . . . in the front of the school by O-building . . . 

. . . and on the court. 

When the playground refurbishment is completed, we'll have more options for our students.  

A Positive Start to a New School Year

This is a year of change for us. Our construction project is almost complete, we exceeded our enrollment projection which means additional funds for our school, our new staff members have acclimated well, and we made some changes to our schedule that we think will make a difference for our students.

This year, there are still areas with orange plastic screening to keep us out, but for the most part, most of the construction barriers have been removed. What a difference this has made! The past three years have been like walking through a maze to get from one area of campus to another, and the walkways were dark and narrower than usual.  When the bell rang, there wasn't enough room for students, parents, and toddlers in strollers. Now that those barriers have been removed, there is plenty of room on the walkways for everyone. Yeah! Happy staff, happy students, and happy parents!

It's nice to have covered walkways throughout the campus. Now students can stay dry when they're walking around campus even when it rains.

This school year, we are focusing our efforts on four initiatives. We will continue to address the six priority strategies for our Department, but our main focuses will be on the following:

• Implement project-based learning (PBL) with communication skills embedded. Literacy skills - reading, writing, speaking and listening - will be addressed throughout PBL, and the use of technology will be encouraged when appropriate. We started exploring PBL last school year, and this year, we will be building on what we learned. This year. teachers set their own goals related to PBL, and we will be placing them into Professional Learning Communities based on what they would like to explore and discover. There will be opportunities to articulate vertically with teachers in different grade levels and to bring back information to the respective grade levels.
• Continue to develop a writing continuum with sample writing pieces and criteria so students can self-assess and set their own goals. Last year, we struggled with the idea of a writing continuum that would be personalized for our school. Rather than abandon the idea, we will be collecting student samples of different kinds of writing and looking at the pieces more closely. We want teachers to critique these writing samples in their classrooms, eventually coming up with criteria for quality writing. We want students to be able to self-assess and to revise their own writing pieces. The writing continuum is a work-in-progress; it is a process that takes time and honest discussions amongst our teachers and our students.
• Students learn and apply math for understanding using “Stepping Stones” and other resources; embed problem-solving skills and strategies into math instruction. Our State has mandated the use of "Stepping Stones" as a resource to teach math. Because we did not have funds at the time, we put off purchasing licenses for this program until this school year. I just read an article, "A History Lesson: When Math Was Taboo," and I found it really interesting and applicable. Too often, we teach algorithms, and students don't understand what the algorithm means or why it works. We need to teach math for understanding.
• Implement Positive Behavior Intervention Support school-wide to ensure success for all students. Students need to feel safe in their learning environment. We have a strong PBIS system in place, but we continue to make it better. We know that building positive relationships with our students is essential, and having students reflect on their actions has been effective in reducing negative behaviors. We made PBIS a priority two years ago, and we believe that emphasis has resulted in pride and respect amongst our school community.

We anxiously await the completion of our covered play court; we will have options for activities before school, during the day, and after school. We have more recess areas and a different schedule that will give students choices for unstructured as well as structured opportunities. We plan to offer after-school or weekend enrichment activities, and when the library opens, our Makerspace will undoubtedly be a popular choice for students to express their innovation and creativity.

As the year unfolds, I will share insights, lessons learned, reflections, and challenges. After one week, I can say that the year has gotten off to a wonderful start!