Our Hawaiian Garden

I've shared about our Hope Garden as an example of project-based learning which engages students, integrates different content areas, and embeds technology through researching, sharing, and blogging.  I haven't shared as much about our fourth grade Hawaiian garden which is a venue for teaching our students about our unique history.

The Hawaiian garden started about three years ago, the vision of Lars Hanson, one of our fourth grade teachers.  For those who are unaware, a study of our State history is a fourth grade standard, and Mr. Hanson wanted to share the important interrelationship between the land and its people.  As an island state, it is particularly important that we share information about our endemic plants because they are vital to an understanding of our cultural history.

Last year during Make a Difference Day, volunteers from DPW, US Army Garrison-Hawaii and Weston Solutions worked with our teachers to fix up the garden.  They divided the garden into three parts:  one part has endemic/native plants which came to Hawaii by natural means (wind, water, and wings); a second part is planted with what the Polynesians brought with them when they made Hawaii their home; and the third section contains introduced plants brought by immigrants.

Students learn about the myths and legends surrounding the plants.  They learn about how the ancient Hawaiians, the Polynesians, and the immigrants used the different parts of the plant and how they cultivated plants for specific purposes.  Students research to find out information about native plants and animals and share their knowledge with others.  

Two weeks ago, the sugar cane plants were
taller than the building with tassels gracefully
crowning the top of the plant.  Mr. Hanson
and fourth grade students get together to work
on the garden every week after school, and 
when I went past one day last week,
the sugar cane had been cut down.  All the
students will get to have a piece of sugar
cane; they will be surprised to taste it and to
realize that the sugar they put in their food comes
from this plant!

The culmination of their fourth grade study of Hawaii is a visit to the lo`i or taro patch where students assist in the harvesting of the taro which is then used to make poi, a staple of a Hawaiian meal.  Students love turning the squishy mud with their feet (sort of like hoeing to prepare for planting) and washing themselves off afterwards in the cool underground spring (punawai) on the premises!

The plants are bought in pots and when they are ready, they are planted in the ground or Mr. Hanson goes to the mountains to gather plants. They have planted several different kinds of taro; I didn't realize there were so many different varieties of taro!

Math Literacy

Our focus this year is on math problem-solving which is one of the Mathematical Standards of Practice in the Common Core.  I have always enjoyed math and teaching math, and I want our students and teachers to find beauty in solving challenging problems and seeing math all around us.

As I reflected on how we are struggling with the problem-solving process, I think I realize why we may be having difficulty.

When we teach reading, we introduce skills and students apply those skills as they read - reading to learn something new, reading for pleasure, reading to answer questions, reading to understand.  When students can apply their acquired reading skills to select books of their own, when they know how to find information about a topic they're interested in, when they can discuss a book or a story with others, or when they can persevere to make sense of a difficult passage or article, we are confident that they have the skills to be a literate learner.

Yet we do not provide opportunities for students to apply math skills to real-world problems which are all around them.  We teach skills in isolation, and after students have practiced that skill and seem to understand the process, we move on to the next mathematical concept.  We may assign word problems that may or may not be realistic or meaningful to students. We may play math games or read books about math or sing songs, but we don't give students the opportunity to apply the math skills in a meaningful way so students can make sense of why this is important to know and be able to do.

Rather than make up problems involving percentages or decimal points, why not have students look at newspaper ads to determine which store has the best value on a laptop or a Wii?  Can we have students plan a meal and then determine what they will need to purchase at the market and how much that might cost?  How about walking around the school and taking photos of different patterns they find and putting together a slide show?  Or bring in menus from a restaurant and have students figure out what they could buy with a certain amount of money.

Our fifth grade has an organic Hope Garden which is hands-on and project-based.  Students learn science and social studies concepts; they research so they can post a comment to a question on their Hope Garden blog; they decide what they want to plant and why; and they do math.  Lots of math.  Students measure the plots and determine the perimeter and area of each plot as well as the whole garden.  They do experiments and measure the growth of different plants.  They predict how many ears of corn they will harvest and share their strategy.  They weigh their harvest, decide on how to package what they've grown, and keep track of their expenditures and profits.  All these different activities help students realize that literacy -- reading, writing, AND math -- can be part of their everyday lives.  This relevance is what makes the Hope Garden so popular with our fifth graders.

It isn't necessary to have an extensive project to teach math using the world around us.  College and professional sports provide wonderful opportunities to present challenging problems.  The score of the football game was 35-24.  What different ways could the teams have scored their points?  The Sochi Winter Olympics is coming up.  Which country do you think will win the most medals?  Why? Then keep track daily to see if any of the students will be right.  There's a construction project going on at our school. How do the workers use math skills in their work?  These are just a few examples of how we can engage students so they love math and see the relevance of math in their daily lives.  We need students to persevere in solve challenging problems and to recognize that math is an important part of their daily lives.

#SAVMP

New Year's Day 2014

Last night, we had our traditional ozoni or mochi soup, something our family looks forward to every New Year's Eve. Today, we'll be going to Mom's to celebrate the start of 2014. New Year's Day was always a special holiday for us, and it has its roots in Shogatsu which our ancestors celebrated in Japan before immigrating to Hawaii.

When we were little, we always did extra housecleaning before January 1.  To this day, I feel guilty if we don't clean the house - including the windows and screens -- prior to New Year's day. I remember playing with firecrackers with our older neighbors in Whitmore Village. It was a ritual to scare away the evil spirits, and we looked forward to the day when we graduated from sparklers to firecrackers.  We used a mosquito punk to light the fuse and had to throw it before it exploded.  I  didn't care for this activity, especially after I held on to one too long and it blew up in my hand. I suffered a minor burn and learned a valuable lesson which probably impacted my attitude today towards fireworks. On New Year's morning, we got up, took a bath to start off the year, then had Mom's delicious mochi soup. I remember going to our grandparents' house to celebrate New Year's Day.  We always wore something new, usually a dress we received as a Christmas present the week before.

Time passed, and some of these family traditions changed as grandparents passed away, children got married and had kids of their own, or relatives moved.  I'm not sure when we went from mochi soup in the morning to ozoni on the Eve.  Fireworks require a permit now as we are more health-conscious and worry about the air quality and noise pollution, and we no longer buy them to "scare away bad luck" before the start of the New Year. As the younger generation start their own traditions with their own families, I wonder if our traditions, based on Japanese culture, will eventually fade away.

Like family traditions which began as part of our culture but changed over time, traditions at schools based on "culture" may be difficult to understand.  We've been told that as a new leader, we should go in with our eyes and ears open so we can learn what the culture of the place is.  We risk alienating those who may be offended if we come in as a new leader without understanding why things are done as they are.  However, by moving forward respectfully with honest discussions, change is not just possible; it is necessary.  Every school, under new leadership, has the potential to become better.

February 2014 will mark the start of my twelfth year as principal of Hale Kula Elementary School.  There have been many changes in the time I have been here, in part due to the increased expectations for schools to prepare students for a rapidly-changing world, and this is where knowledge of the culture of a place is most important.  Is it a culture where the school community works together to address challenges?  How do we communicate and work together to ensure the best teaching and learning environment for our students and teachers? Is there a climate where new ideas are embraced, shared, and discussed? What is the decision-making process at the school? Where do we leverage our resources so they have the greatest positive impact on our students?

Every school culture is a reflection of its community.  At Hale Kula, our culture is a blend of our unique island culture and the transient nature of our military community.  We believe that our school is an `ohana, a family, and that we treat each other with respect.  This is especially important because most of our students are an ocean away from the support of their extended family.  We believe in providing our students with an education that will prepare them to be successful now and in the future while also embedding an appreciation for the unique history and culture of our state.  And finally, we want our students to understand the importance of taking care of our natural resources because their actions today affect our world tomorrow. Our students are global citizens, and their education at Hale Kula needs to prepare them for a rapidly-changing world.

Just as influences beyond our control have impacted our family's New Year's traditions, the ways of doing things at a school may change due to changing times and/or changing leadership.  A strong positive school culture can determine whether the changes will be successfully implemented or not.  As we move towards major changes in how we determine teacher and principal effectiveness and the impact on achievement, it is my hope that our school's strong culture of collaboration will translate to success for our students and teachers.

#SAVMP

Hour of Code op-ed piece - December 25, 2013

This was published in today's Star-Advertiser.  I wanted to share the importance of coding, and the success of  'The Hour of Code" event at our school.  I want to thank Dara Young from the Department of Education's Communication Office for reviewing and adding to the op-ed piece before sending it in.  I am grateful to +Michelle Carlson Colte for her enthusiasm in sharing coding with our students.  Some of these students have really taken off and are creating games and greeting cards.  Basically, they're teaching themselves to code, and my hope is that next year, every student in Hawaii will be participating in "The Hour of Code!"

'Hour of Code' a timely wake-up call for schools

By Jan Iwase

Educating a new generation of our workforce means providing the tools and skills necessary for students to succeed globally in the future. No one can deny the impact technology has had on our lives in recent years, but one of the most overlooked topics in education today is computer programming, or "coding." In fact, recent statistics show that computing jobs will make up 50 percent of all math and science jobs, but fewer than 3 percent of all college students major in computer science.

By 2020, it is estimated there will be 1.4 million computer science jobs and only 400,000 qualified college graduates to fill those positions, according to Code.org. Most U.S. students do not take a computer course prior to graduation from high school, while schools in China, Australia and other countries are beginning to introduce coding as part of the curriculum in their schools.

More needs to be done to introduce computer programming to American students at the elementary level. That is the premise behind an oath of commitment by Hale Kula's teachers to integrate coding into our curriculum. It is a pledge that earned the school a $10,000 grant from Code.org to increase its technology resources and introduce students to coding while they're still in their formative years.

It behooves us as educators to provide our students with this knowledge and know-how wherever their paths may take them. The dearth of a population skilled in coding even caught the attention of President Barack Obama, who recently told schoolchildren, "Don't just buy a new video game. Make one."

Earlier this month, Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui, schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi and 20 other lawmakers, education leaders and military partners joined our students in celebrating "The Hour of Code," a global event that introduced coding in schools to more than 15.6 million students around the world.

Observing our students code was eye-opening. Coding challenges students to problem-solve and think critically as they complete activities that gradually become more complex. Students communicated and collaborated with their peers, accessed tutorials when they needed more information, started over when they hit a roadblock, demonstrated perseverance and celebrated when they earned a trophy. Many parents shared that their child got home and immediately went on the website to continue their coding activities. One student completed all the levels in one day and went on to other coding sites to build on his newfound skills and knowledge.

Those who are in a position to influence education policy often visit schools and observe students as they share what they are learning in class. This time, however, rather than have our students demonstrate coding for our guests, we had students teach our leaders so they could experience the process of coding. Our students were great mentors, encouraging and guiding adults to learn by doing, making mistakes, asking questions and trying again. In fact, when one of our guests was frustrated, she asked her mentor to "just tell me what to do next." The student replied, "No, try again. Failure is part of learning." She got it and celebrated her success.

And that was just at our school. Imagine how many people were introduced to coding during "The Hour of Code" during Computer Science Education Week in early December. A recent article quoted this: "In a single week, students at schools across the U.S. wrote 500,000,000 lines of code as part of Computer Science Education Week, organizers said. By contrast, it took Google almost seven years to recruit student developers to write just 50 million lines for its Summer of Code program. Microsoft Windows runs on an estimated 50 million lines of code."

Technology is integrated into the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), a new set of clear learning expectations aligned to college and careers. Coding allows students to learn key CCSS skills, such as to think critically, problem-solve, collaborate, communicate and create; these are essential 21st century attributes our students need as they move forward to write — or code — their own future.

On this rainy, dreary day . . .

Well, maybe winter is finally descending on us here in Hawaii.  It's December 1, and it's been raining steadily since early this morning with occasional claps of thunder and bolts of lightning.  Not a good day for our normal Sunday golf.  I guess that means there's no excuse for not updating my blog :-)

It's hard to believe, but the first semester for SY 2013-2014 is almost over.  Three more weeks, and it will be winter break.  This is the time of the year when we complete our Financial Plan for salaried employees for the following school year.  This coming year, due to a decline in our enrollment and the elimination of Junior Kindergarten by the State, we are losing a substantial amount of funding.  This means that we need to decrease the number of teaching positions for next school year, a very difficult task which will mean breaking up grade level teams that may be working well together.

Throughout this first semester, much of my time during the school day (and during non-school hours) has been spent on completing the required tasks for the Educator Effectiveness System, the new evaluation system for teachers.  We also have a new Principal Evaluation System, a new template for our Academic Plan, and a new Strive-HI system for evaluating schools.  Additionally, we are preparing teachers and students for a new assessment tool based on the Common Core State Standards.  So many new initiatives at once!

The other week, one of my principal mentees through #SAVMP shared that when the new principal evaluation tool was shared with them, he was initially anxious and had feelings of inadequacy.  After that first reaction, and after pondering the new system, however, he realized that this was a new beginning, an opportunity to grow as a leader.  I admire his positive attitude!

As for me, I must say that I have been pleased with the attitude of our teachers throughout the EES process.  The conversations about the lesson and teacher reflections about the observation have been positive and collaborative with teachers pointing out areas of strength and areas for growth.  Teachers are working together to develop their Student Learning Objectives and to discuss progress during their respective Data Team meetings.  Non-classroom teachers are focusing on a Working Portfolio which shares what they are focusing on to support teachers as they work with their students.  All of these collectively will improve teaching and learning, although I still question whether everything needed to be rolled out at once.  (FYI, this is a "practice" year as we learn the processes.)

As I reflect on all we've accomplished in these past few months, I am amazed.  The teachers have risen to the challenge and are invested in the EES process to improve teaching to positively impact their students' learning. Additionally, we have committed to implementing the use of technology and Web 2.0 tools so teachers and students can collaborate, communicate, think critically, and create.  We started a Google+ private community where teachers share, ask questions, and discuss education or teaching issues, and students in all grade levels are researching and using Web 2.0 tools to share their learning.

Moving forward, we need to keep our focus on what is important for our students. Teaching and learning must be relevant and challenging so that students have the tools and the desire to create their own future.  I believe that despite the sometimes-rough start, we are on-track to make a difference for our students and their teachers.

Random Thoughts and Reflections

My husband and I just came back from a short vacation to visit my son and his family on the mainland. Although we had a wonderful time, it can be challenging to not fall behind on everything we are asked to do as principals.  This is why I made sure to check my email throughout the day because I really dislike seeing my mailbox filled with unread messages.

So here are some random thoughts and reflections, some of which are a result of my recent vacation.

a)  Our grandson, a first grader, transferred to a charter school this year.  It's a STEAM school focusing on the arts in addition to science, technology, engineering, and math.  In our conversation with the principal, I learned that their charter schools face the same funding challenges as our charter schools in Hawaii.  In order to be competitive, charter schools need to have very supportive, generous parents or it may be difficult to provide the same level of services and the range of programs as state or district-funded schools.

b)  There is a video making its way on social media which shows a high school student testifying against what is happening in education in Tennessee.  This student is critical of the Common Core State Standards and teacher evaluation systems.  Kudos to this student for his thoughtful testimony about what he sees as one-size-fits-all education compromising creative and inspirational teaching.

c)  Last week when I was out-of-town, I assigned two teachers to run our faculty meeting.  From what I understand, they did a fabulous job!  Too often, I am so focused on making maximum use of the allocated time that even the icebreaker activities I plan are "work" and not "fun."  Why can't they be both?  At last week's meeting, our staff participated in a team-building activity, they brought refreshments, and teachers learned to use Google+ to post favorite recipes and share comments.  We now have our own private school community where we can share photos, invite others to events, and post videos, links, or favorites.  What a wonderful way to build relationships and share with those we may not have time to talk with during the busy school day!  (Mahalo, +Michelle Colte, +Jerry Bevacqua, and +Lynele Basug!)

d)  Blogging is hard.  Making time to blog regularly can be a challenge especially when we are so busy with all the requirements of our profession.. I agreed to blog regularly when I signed up to be an #SAVMP mentor, but I am guilty of  occasionally having blogger's block or not knowing what to share.  A mentee pondered how she can keep up with her blog without it being an add-on.  I wish I knew how to respond to her because I'm trying to find that balance myself.

e)  I participated as a guest on two Google hangouts recently. Our school will be participating in a global "Hour of Coding" event during the month of December, and I want to learn to code, too!  Technology has enabled me to do things I never thought I would; I am constantly being challenged to get out of my comfort zone and learn/try something new. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Until next time . . . aloha!

This is such a sharp contrast to Hawaii, but this photo is evidence of the beauty and wonder of nature all around us.   

My husband and son are fans of American Restoration on The History Channel so we googled their location and took a tour of their facility.  

Inspirational and Committed Teachers

I had the pleasure of attending yesterday's Hawaii State Teacher of the Year ceremony, and I was impressed with the honorees!  There were seven nominees, one from each district.  Hale Kula teacher, Teresa Cramer, was the Central District nominee, and she is truly deserving of this honor.

These teachers have taught between 5 and 12 years at their schools.  They are still relatively young educators, but their passion, commitment, and leadership are already evident in the way they have positively impacted their students and the school community.  Sustainable gardens, AVID, science fairs and science projects, relevancy and project-based learning, partnering with the community, a hula halau -- these are some examples of how these teachers have engaged their students and inspired them to strive high.

Recently, Yong Zhao was in Hawaii for a Schools of the Future conference, and an interview with him was printed in the local newspaper.  He speaks out against the standardization of schools and advocates for schools "to capitalize on a technological era that allows students to deeply explore subjects they care about and share their ideas with the world."  That is what Mrs. Cramer does at Hale Kula and what the other District Teachers of the Year are doing at their schools.  I find it somewhat ironic that while there appears to be a move towards standardization with implementation of the Common Core State Standards, adopting a common curriculum for language arts, and assessments which will compare our students with others around our country, our District Teachers of the Year are focusing on the process of learning rather than just content and skills.

As a school leader, I believe that one of my most important responsibilities is to support innovation in education.  We need to keep the spark alive in teachers because they are the ones who will ignite the spark in their students.  Our teachers are encouraged to think out-of-the-box as they address the unique needs of our students and our school community.  Many of our successful initiatives at Hale Kula such as co-teaching classrooms, project-based learning, blended learning, and service clubs were initially proposed by teachers based on the needs of our students. Innovation is valued, and new leaders emerge when their successes are recognized and validated.

 Congratulations to the State and District Teachers of the Year!

Matthew Lawrence from Waikiki Elementary is the Hawaii State Teacher of the Year for 2014.  He is at the far left.  The District Teachers of the Year are shown with  Superintendent Matayoshi and Governor Abercrombie. 

#SAVMP