What Schools Could and Should Be

 This has been an uplifting week for me. When I retired in 2018, I never thought that I’d continue to be so invested in education and the many issues that impact our schools. But there is hope for change. If anything, this pandemic has shown us that we need to do things differently if we want to create the kind of schools so students will have the skills and the mindsets to lead in the future in a world that is rapidly changing. 

• It started on Saturday with George Couros’ weekly email which are always uplifting and inspirational. He included a poem, “The Choice is Yours” by Sarah Schwartz. It was a perfect poem that shared what school should be for our students. I shared it with the What School Could Be community.. 
• Then I read that our Hawai`i 2022 Teacher of the Year, Whitney Aragaki, was named one of four finalists for the National Teacher of the Year! What an honor for my Twitter friend! 
• I participated in a Twitter chat to kick off the "Most Likely to Succeed" 7th anniversary virtual screenings which will happen in the coming week. Frankly, I am not good at Twitter-chatting, but I enjoyed reading the questions about being "future ready" or what it takes to be "likely to succeed." Responses came from participants, not just in Hawaii, but in other places as well. 
• I was part of the What School Could Be community who had the privilege of listening in on a virtual conversation with Ian Kitajima. I have known Ian for a number of years and when we speak of quality partnerships with businesses and the community, Ian is the gold standard. Listen to the conversation here.
• I  am leading a book study on the What School Could Be community about Educating with Aloha. The conversations and discussions with educators leave me feeling so hopeful that we can make changes, one person at a time. The participants are honest and caring and truly know what schools should be. They are educators with aloha.

The story that had me most hopeful, though, was this one titled, "Here's How These Ka`u Kids are Learning Outside of the Classroom."  I remember visiting Ka`u back in 2006. It is at the southernmost tip of Hawai`i island, and we drove for miles and miles to get there to attend a community festival. At the time, we were told that when the sugar plantation closed operations in 1996, many workers struggled to find work, and those were tough times for the community with a high unemployment rate.  Today, through partnerships with many different organizations (read about it here), Ka`u is on the road to becoming a strong self-sustaining community, one which values and honors their history and cultural identity. The exciting part is that the school is at the hub of these changes. Students are learning important life as well as academic skills and are successful contributors to their community. They are the ones driving the changes with their self-sustaining gardens, their entrepreneurship, and their global connections.  Ka`u High & Pahala Elementary School  students are learning new skills and in the process, they are revitalizing their community. This is what schools could and should be.

Schools are a microcosm of society, and every student is different. Therefore, their strengths, interests, and needs are different. We should not be viewing the success of students or schools based on test scores or grade point averages or the number who take Advanced Placement courses. Many of our most successful people were admittedly poor students in school. Let's change that and engage and empower ALL students to find their passions and to be successful in finding their joy in life. 

Reflections

 I am in a happy place. Our son, Justin, and grandsons, Jace and Jayden, are visiting and we are having a great time. They are growing up quickly and before we know it, they'll be graduating from high school so I cherish this time when they still enjoy doing things with us. 

It's been two years since they came back to Hawaii, and I realize just how much I've missed the little things. Playing games like Yahtzee, Blokus, Golf (with cards), and Blackjack. Hearing them talk about their school, their teachers, and their friends. Laughing together. Going to the market. Going for walks with Iwak. Reading a book or poem and having a discussion. Playing golf or tennis. Our lives would have been different if they lived here, so in the short ten days while they are visiting, we cram our days with laughter, stories, jokes, food, and fun. 

I realize how out-of-touch I am with what our grandsons are interested in. They talk about NFTs, cryptocurrencies, creating a new NFT community, and discuss analytics. They saw an old PC tower in the room and opened it to see the different parts. They went out into the rain to take photos with their phones. Their perspectives are interesting and as someone who primarily takes photos of people and events, I am impressed. I am trying to convince them to document their photos and their growth as photographers via a blog. I have a few more days to help them get started. 

Jace took a photo of our bougainvillea plant from two different views.

Jayden captured the reflection of our frog sculpture and our orchid plant.

Jayden took this picture of the splashing water on the rocks in the front of our house.

I worry about them though.  What will their future look like? How will their school experiences help them to be more successful in the future? How will their out-of-school experiences fuel their long-term goals and aspirations? We are living in an unpredictable world that is constantly changing. COVID has disrupted our lives, but at the same time, it has brought opportunities for new ideas and new perspectives for solving new problems. It is my hope that our young people will be ready to tackle the challenges we will be facing in the future. 

The past two years have been difficult, but I believe that 2022 will be better for everyone. As we say goodbye to 2021, let us hope that 2022 will bring health and happiness to all. Happy  New Year, everyone! 

Holiday Nostalgia

As I sit here on this cold, wet day here in Hawaii - well, my iPhone says it’s 66 degrees so that’s a bit chilly for us - I am feeling a bit nostalgic for the days when our boys were little, and Christmas was such an exciting time of the year. Now our sons are adults, our grandsons are growing up in another state, and the excitement and anticipation of that special day has waned for me. 

This is also the time of year when we receive holiday cards or newsletters from those we may not have seen all year. Of course, with social media, we have been able to keep in touch with many of our friends and relatives, so the number of cards we receive are getting fewer as we get older. 

If you read my book “Leading with Aloha: From the Pineapple Fields to the Principal’s Office” you may remember that my husband, Randy, was in politics, first in the City Council and then in the State Senate. This morning, I was reminiscing about the years when our sons created the original Christmas cards that we sent out to his colleagues as well as our many supporters. So I decided to take a trip down Memory Lane and explain a bit about each card. 

  

Justin wrote this poem for our first Iwase original card and I decided to cross-stitch and frame it. I have too many holiday decorations especially since we don't put up a tree anymore, but I do display this cross-stich  every year.. One day, Justin will take it for his home, but I'm not ready to part with it yet.  

Those who live in Hawai`i know that sign-waving is a staple during election season. Jarand took this idea and created this original card with a Hawaiian Santa campaigning for Randy. It was a hit!

This was the outside of the card . . .

. . . and this was the inside.

Jordan was 6 years old when he did the artwork, and Justin was 16. We loved that Jordan thought of this all by himself, and the picture was so cute, don't you think?  At the time, using the computer to create something like this concrete/shape poem was a challenge, and we were impressed with what Justin came up with.  

Randy heard from other legislators about how much they loved this card! 

Jarand did not know how he could follow-up his Santa sign-waving card so I suggested he didn't have to do a drawing. After much prodding, this is what he came up with. It is definitely a different look from our previous years' cards.

Jordan was 8 years old when he drew this picture and wrote the poem for our annual card. By then, Justin and Jarand were in high school, and they were busy with other activities so Jordan willingly agreed to do the card by himself. 

When Justin drew the picture for this card, we were becoming a golfing family. It started with Randy getting hooked on the game, and eventually, all of us enjoyed golfing as a family. Today, Randy and I enjoy golfing in our retirement. P.S. Looks like Santa's got a pretty good swing!

Hmm . . . didn't we see this before?

Yes, the outside was the same, but the inside message was different!

Our last original Christmas card was sent out in 1998. The poem explains why we recycled an old design for the outside. 

* The poem was a collaboration between all of us. 

I am grateful that we kept these cards. They bring back fond memories of Justin, Jarand, and Jordan's creative ideas when they were younger. Sigh . . . they grow up too fast.  

“”We Need to Share Our Stories”

 I have been following George Couros for awhile now. At first, I read his blogs; now, I receive his blogs in my email twice a week and I enjoy his professional as well as personal stories. I had the opportunity to be part of his School Administrators Virtual Mentor Program and I wrote a blog post, Innovative Schools, after reading his first book, The Innovator's Mindset. Recently, George’s third book, Because of a Teacher was published, and it is so appropriate today because our educators have overcome obstacles to provide meaningful learning experiences for their students in the midst of a pandemic. 

There are three parts to this book with stories from different educators. The first part shares about an inspirational teacher, and the second part is about an influential administrator. In the third section, educators share what they would tell their first-year teacher self. As I read each excerpt, I kept thinking about what I would have written.

I think I would have shared about my kindergarten teacher, Miss Mizukami, because that was when I decided I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. Kindergarten was a magical experience for me - making new friends, playing in the house corner, building with blocks, painting on easels, and listening to stories after lunch while lying in our sleeping bags for naptime. I loved those stories so much that when I became a teacher, I read them to my students and to my sons when I became a mom. Books like Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Madeline, The Story about Ping, and Caps for Sale still bring back happy memories for me. I am sure I loved reading stories to my students because of these warm memories of being read to when I was in kindergarten.

The administrator who influenced me most was Mrs. Mow, who was my principal at Mililani Mauka Elementary School. It was a wonderful experience working with all of the staff there to open a brand new school, the first "high tech" school in Hawaii.  Learning from David Perkins from Harvard's Project Zero, looping with our students for two school years, having opportunities to meet as grade levels to create curriculum, assessment tasks, and discussing results, learning how to use different tech tools to enhance the teaching and learning experiences, and observing other teachers in their classrooms - these were practices that positively impacted me as a teacher and later as a school principal. Additionally, Mrs. Mow and I were often the first to arrive at school in the mornings, and we had many meaningful conversations about education, about bills being introduced in the Legislature, or discussions at Board of Education meetings. She was the person who suggested that I consider going into administration. Prior to that, I had not given it a thought. I am grateful for her confidence in me. 

Finally, what advice would I give to my first-year self? I started my teaching career way back in 1973; I was hired as a Head Start teacher working with disadvantaged preschoolers and their families. I spent much of the time during that summer before school began to turn a dirty, dusty classroom that had not been used in many years into a bright, inviting learning environment. On the first day of school, one of the boys started taking off the calendar numbers, and I stopped him, telling him not to touch. Shortly after, as I was consoling a little boy who was not happy at being left at school, I heard a scream and a girl crying. I ran over. "He bit me!" she said, and I saw a bite mark that was already starting to bruise. "I told her teacher said not to touch," the boy said solemnly, pointing to the calendar. Wow, and the day hadn't even started. I don't remember much after that, but we got through the rest of the day just fine. In those days, there were no phones in classrooms and no cell phones. So right after the bus picked up the students to take them home, my aide and I got into the car to go to the girl's home. Luckily, we had already been on a home visit to all our families so we had established a relationship with the mother. She was not upset even after seeing the bruise on her daughter's arm. "You'll be fine!" she said. Whew! Two important lessons I learned that day. First, be proactive when something negative happens. Make the phone call or catch the parent after school to let him/her know what happened. It's better coming from you than from their child. Second, my aide and I went back to school and looked at the classroom through the eyes of our students. We actually got down to their level and made sure that everything was safe and we would not have to tell our students not to touch something. In all my teacher preparation classes, I never learned how to set up a classroom. That first day was a lesson for me. 

In the last part of his book titled "We Need to Share Our Stories," George writes, "My hope for this book is that it will remind you why you do what you do. More than that, I hope it inspires you to share the stories of our profession that have made such a positive impact on the world." 

Our schools and our educators have been through many challenges, and not just during this pandemic. Yet, they persevere and do all they can to engage their students in meaningful learning experiences. Now, more than ever, we need to appreciate them for their resilience and their creativity. Let's hope that all educators will realize the positive impact they are having on their students. And let's support our educators by sharing our appreciations. We never know how that one kind word or note could make a difference for an educator. As George says, "Because of a teacher like you, the world is a better place."

Professional Learning (Not Professional Development)

I've been thinking recently about the best professional learning opportunities I had as an educator. I recall visiting other classrooms as a Head Start teacher and discovering Workjobs when I saw a shelf filled with learning activities made out of common items found around the house. We were visitors to the classroom and had so many questions for the teachers. This book transformed our classrooms as we created activities using no-cost or low-cost materials to meet the needs of our students. As a second grade teacher, I had the opportunity to attend a series of sessions throughout the year on math problem-solving. We met with same-grade teachers from other schools, discussed what we saw as challenges, and came up with lessons as well as an assessment task. At the next session, we shared our students' work and had rich discussions about math and problem-solving. It changed how I taught math focusing on understanding concepts through group work, discussing the reasonableness of an answer, and having students share their questions and strategies for solving the problem. As a vice principal, signing up for a series of sessions on Positive Behavior Supports had a huge impact on not just me, but on the entire faculty. Looking at data about what, where, when, and who allowed us to come up with a positive rather than punitive school-wide plan. As a principal, the most impactful professional learning opportunity for me was the Hawaii Innovative Leaders Network. 

So often, teachers and school leaders attend professional development sessions that may or may not be what we need at the time. Other times, we attend a conference where we hear great ideas, and we are excited to try them out in our classroom or school. However, if we don't implement the new idea right away or we encounter questions that we don't have answers to, all that we heard that day is soon forgotten.. As a principal, our Professional Development Day agenda was often filled with mandatory trainings with little time for professional learning. Just as more seat time does not equal more learning, sitting in PD sessions does not equate to better teaching.

That is why I was excited when Josh Reppun asked if I would assist with a year-long professional learning community titled Investing in Human Capital, a course he created with Robert Landau and Ann Mahi. This is the first year of implementation and ten public, charter, and private school vice principals are its first participants. Through virtual meetings, readings, book studies, conversations, and executive coaching to implement a school project, these vice principals will gain the skills which will help them to be the innovative leaders we need in our schools today. One of the expectations of the participants is that they share about their experiences via a public blog. That is where I come in. I am their blogging coach. 

I know that blogging is not easy for most of us, and yet, once we get used to it, sharing our thoughts via a blog is a very effective way of communicating with and learning from other educators or anyone who is invested in education. There are many benefits to writing on a public venue:

• It helps us to think critically about why we do what we do in the classroom or in our school system. So much of what we continue to do in school has been around since the Industrial Age, and we are now in the Age of Information, the Age of Technology, the Age of Innovation. Why do we continue to do the same thing over and over in a world that is changing rapidly and continues to change?
• Sharing our writing makes us realize that other educators have similar experiences, challenges, thoughts, and ideas. It can be empowering when we realize that schools and educators across the country are grappling with the same issues we are, especially during this pandemic. How are we addressing these issues? 
• We can learn with and from each other. In this changing world where social media has such an impact on us, our Personal Learning Network (PLN) can include people from all over the world. We all have something we can contribute to making our schools better for our children. Let's share our ideas about how to address the challenges we face in education. 
• If we don't tell our stories, someone else will, and they may be sharing negative and biased generalizations about our schools and education.  Good ideas don't come from one person making a lot of noise and getting all the attention. It's going to come from us, those in the schools, doing the work, and writing, discussing, and sharing ideas about education and what works. It is why we need to encourage more educators to write or to blog or to share their ideas via a podcast or video. All of us working together can overcome the often-negative perceptions of schools and our educational systems. 

The Investing in Human Capital participants recently published their first blog post, and I am impressed with their commitment to this process. Sharing their ideas publicly and reading/commenting on the other IHC school leaders' blogs will build community and enhance their learning experiences as they learn with and from each other. As they continue to build their capacity to share their thoughts publicly via their blog and to engage in conversations about what they wrote, they will gain confidence in themselves as writers.

Investing in Human Capital is an example of the kind of professional learning that I found impactful in my years as an educator. Professional learners are invested in what they are learning and are integral participants in the process. It is what our educators need more than ever today as they grapple with the challenges of  teaching in a post-pandemic world. Let's provide them with professional learning time. 

Here is a blog post I wrote back in 2012: Textbooks or Professional Development for Teachers?

Still Struggling and Learning

The Covid-19 pandemic changed our world forever. As a retired educator, I was very concerned about how this pandemic would affect our schools. I know that change is hard and takes time and commitment, but there was no time for a smooth transition. Suddenly, providing education via distance learning was the norm, and schools had to scramble to address the challenges. It was my concern for schools, students, educators, staff, and school communities that led me to write my second book, Educating with Aloha: Reflections from the Heart on Teaching and Learning. I wanted to challenge the status quo, to encourage anyone who is interested in education to reflect on whether we are preparing our students to become the problem-finders, problem-solvers, and the innovative and empathetic leaders we will need in our future.  I hoped this book could lead to honest and open discussions about how we can improve our schools. But as other authors have shared, launching a book during a pandemic is a challenge. 

Therefore, I was excited when I was asked to present at the Schools of the Future Conference. I was concerned, though, because I had not presented virtually before. I was more comfortable having a talk story session sharing my book through conversation rather than through a formal presentation. I realized though that this was an opportunity to grow, and if there's anything I've learned in my life, it's that we need to be open to new experiences. So I gratefully accepted the invitation.

I was a lot more concerned about my presentation than I would like to admit. I knew what my message would be: that educators need to write and share their stories. It took me awhile to work on my slides and a week before my presentation date, I practiced with my husband. He has always been my most honest critic, and as a non-educator, he sees things from a different lens. As usual, he asked the best questions, and I ended up changing the way I approached my presentation. 

I contacted the host who had been assigned to assist/support me during my presentation. I told him that having retired in 2018, I have not had much experience with Zoom other than attending meetings. We scheduled two sessions where I was able to get comfortable with him and to practice sharing my screen so I could share my slides. It worked just fine, and when I shared my presentation with my husband, he stated that it was much improved.

It's amazing how large conferences have adapted during this pandemic, and SOTF is no exception. The conference organizers communicated regularly via email and held a virtual meeting to share information for the presenters. If I had questions, I could email and I received a response immediately. I was able to view some of the presentations from the comfort of my home, and I appreciated that I had so many choices. The great thing about a virtual conference is that everything was recorded so if I couldn't attend a session at the time it was presented, I can watch it later since the videos will be available until January. 

I wish I could say that everything went smoothly with my session, but for some reason, I couldn't share my screen despite the fact that my host and I had practiced twice and I had used Zoom to share my presentation with my husband. Ordinarily, if something like this happened to me, whether in-person or virtually, I would have panicked, but luckily, the host for my session stepped in and volunteered to share the screen with the audience. Whew!

I will be viewing my presentation when it is uploaded to the SOTF website. This is also something new for me. In the past, I haven't had the opportunity to critique myself after a presentation. It's not something I'm comfortable with yet, but I know that watching it with a critical eye will help me in the future whether in-person or virtually. Hopefully, I'll have more opportunities. 

Should Students Create a Blog?

Our niece sent a copy of an essay that her daughter, S, a sophomore in high school, had written for an assignment at school. I was so impressed; I think it is wonderfully-written, so descriptive and filled with imagery.  I asked if I could share this essay in a blog, and they agreed, so here it is: "The Paint of the Past". 

I had questions for S which she answered willingly. She shared that the topic of her essay was to describe a time when she misunderstood a situation and understood its significance when she got older. She said that there was an opportunity for classmates and the teacher to give her feedback, but no one did. And she said she had not published anything on a public site, had never thought about starting a blog, but was open to the idea. 

When I first began blogging in 2012, it was because I had read "Blogging is the New Persuasive Essay"  I felt that students should be writing and sharing their ideas with their classmates, and  I saw that blogging could be a way for students to do real writing, to get feedback not just from their teacher or their classmates but from others on the internet. And I loved the idea that students would strive to do quality work if they knew their writing could be viewed publicly. 

Blogging with students did not take off the way I hoped. I had envisioned students writing and sharing their blogs and people from all over the world reading and responding. I had hoped that students could realize that their work matters. It would help our young people to recognize the power of writing to make connections with others, to be open to receiving critical feedback that can take their work to a higher level, and to share their opinions or ideas with others.  

Starting and maintaining a blog can be challenging for high school students with all the other academic requirements, extracurricular activities, and home or work responsibilities. Yet, I believe that today's students have the skills to create a way to showcase meaningful work, to share their accomplishments, and to reflect on their learnings. These authentic evidences can set them apart from others when it comes time to apply to colleges or seek employment. S is a writer, but her blog or virtual portfolio can include  work samples from other courses she takes and from  activities she participates in, both in and out of school. It could include photos and links to her various accomplishments as well as reflections about what she learned.

I remember when our elementary students learned how to create their own websites. They were so excited to personalize their site and to include links or photos of work that they were proud of. Many of them continued to add to their web page at home because they were so motivated. If we can get students to start a blog, a web page, or a virtual portfolio when they are in elementary school, they will be ahead-of-the-game when they start to think about their post-high school plans. Let's get them started!