Big Picture Reflection Ch.1: QUESTION: How would you define the differences between “learning” and “knowledge”? Based on what I now consider to be a better understanding of the differences between these two words, I see knowledge as the information that we get from learning or what we get as a result of learning. Learning is what we do with the knowledge, how we use it, and how we communicate the knowledge to others. The chapter states, “They say knowledge is power. We say the use of knowledge is power”. To me then, this is saying that learning is the real power! QUESTION: What is your reaction to Dewey’s statement that “education is not preparation for life; education is life itself”? This is a great statement that really makes me think about what education really is. Normally, when I think of education, I think of a process of learning information to prepare for something, and once your education is complete, you stop the education and start doing what you were preparing to do. For many of us, we may think of all the years we spent in school as being our education, and starting our career as when we stop our education, and start earning a living! In reality, whether we believe we are lifelong learners or not, I believe Dewey’s statement is reminding us that our education never actually stops. When we go to work, we are constantly learning about new ways to improve our productivity and progress in our careers. At home we are learning how to live independently, with a family, and with our community. This informal education that we get at work and at home, may result in as much or more learning than we did during our formal years of education, and is something that we continue to do throughout our lives to best adapt to all the challenges and changes we face everyday! Big Picture Reflection Ch. 2: QUESTION: If our society committed itself to the idea that we care about kinds more than we care about schools, what would we need to change? If we were able to make this commitment as a society, as this chapter states, we would need to start by rebuilding the entire education system around who kids are and where they are coming from. Once the education system has been re-organized around this, schools should re-prioritize what is important by being focused on what is best for individual student identity and success. It is clear that one size fits all education is not working anymore. As stated on page 22, “students need to feel that school is a safe place...” by developing school structures that “...must be sensitive to the tremendous physical, emotional, and intellectual upheaval brought on by adolescence alone.” The chapter also states that rules and consequences must be clear, strengths are celebrated, and where they have the ability to have, “...control of themselves and their successes.” I completely agree with these ideas, but I currently have no idea how to make these changes happen to the scale and speed in which it clearly needs to happen. QUESTION: Why do you think kids drop out of school? If you have known a high school dropout, what was his or her experience after leaving school? What do you think needs to change in the way schools and society deal with dropouts? In my current position as a school principal for a charter school that serves at risk high school boys, I deal with boys every day that have dropped out of school, often more than once, and are sometimes only attending school now because they are required to under the terms of their probation. Most of my students who have dropped out tell me it was because they had experienced so much trauma in their family life, that they ended up turning to drugs and/or gangs to self medicate or find acceptance and belonging. They also say over and over that they felt from a very young age that schools saw them as “troublemakers” and treated them as much, almost like they had already been written off for success and were simply a burden to deal with. Many of my students also said they never felt they were on the “path to college” and were told over and over that if they did not go to college, their life would never amount to anything. Schools and society need to deal with dropouts by catching them well before they even consider dropping out and address the root issues that lead to this eventual outcome. We must acknowledge to students that college is fantastic, but not for everyone, and if they want to pursue a vocational track, that does not make them any less of a person or student! We also need to eliminate our “one size fits all” educational program, and focus on the individual student. Only then will we be able to identify why a student is perceived as a troublemaker, identify the problems that cause the behaviors to happen, and develop an educational program that is best suited for them to be successful! Big Picture Reflection Ch.3: QUESTION: What would a school that was “a little more human” look like to you? This chapter is full of ideas on how to make a school “a little more human”. The key is establishing and maintaining a positive school culture that is both student-centered and promotes fun and happiness, and a place where students feel safe and people are treated with respect. A school can and should be fun and happy even when staff and students are working hard. It is also important that there is a shared philosophy so that all staff are working on the common goal of meeting the needs of the students. Students must also feel they have a voice in all important decisions of the school by participating in a democratic environment. Students need this to feel a sense of control over their own lives. I would also love to add advisory systems to my school that is “a little more human”. This system not only supports clear consistent communication, it provides a student with a “school family” that so many need for support. Finally, it is also clear, that all this is much easier to achieve with a small school! I feel very lucky to be a part of a small school and agree that it does take the focus off organizational control, and places more focus on the success of all students!!! QUESTION: Think of a story you know about the various “communities” in your life: your school, your neighborhood, your workplace, or even your family. What does that story reveal about the communities culture and values? This story makes me think of a previous student we had at my school we will call Danny. Like most of my students, Danny came from a troubled home, was in a gang, used drugs, and did not think getting a high school diploma was important or achievable for him. After a few months in our program, he was clean, felt safe, and achieving success at school for the first time in his life. He had an opportunity to go home after finishing his program, but decided he wanted to stay to earn his diploma! We worked with his county (LA county) and were able to convince them that it was in his best interest to stay, they agreed, and decided to pay to have him stay until he finished his diploma. Danny did finish his diploma, and graduated on the honor roll. Danny decided he wanted to join the Marines and we worked with him to complete his enrollment and speak to a recruiter. We were horrified to find out that because of his previous offences and gang affiliation, the military was not willing to accept him. Danny did not have a family to go home to and was now too old to move in with a foster family. Danny was very discouraged, and had nowhere to go and began to think he had no choice than to return to LA and return to the streets. We were determined to not let this happen. As Danny was now 18 and a high school graduate, we hired him as a maintenance worker on site and provided him with staff housing here on site. After a couple years, Danny reached the highest level of maintenance worker, and decided to work at our water treatment plant. Danny is now married, has two children, and is a licensed water treatment manager and still lives and works in this area. I am confident that this story shows that the community and culture of our school and program is one that values what is best for each student so much that we are able to provide a successful outcome for our students no matter what the obstacle. Danny’s situation was very challenging and took hundreds of hours over several years to achieve, but I don’t know any staff who would not do the same thing again, and I am very proud to be a part of it. Stories like this keep me excited about my job even after 11 years with the same school. Big Picture Reflection Ch.4: QUESTION: Tell me about a time when you were in school and your learning matched your interests. How was that experience different from times when your learning didn’t match what you were interested in. This question makes me think of all the different research papers I had to do when I was in college. I was majoring in geography, a subject I am interested in, but often we were assigned topics to research based on what the professor wanted, not on what our specific interests are in. For one research project, I was assigned the Pacific Garbage Patch. The Pacific Garbage Patch is a huge island of floating garbage in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, composed primarily of plastics that end up in the ocean from all over the world. I have always been very interested in recycling, and how we manage all the millions of tons of garbage we produce every day, so I was very interested in this topic. Because of this intertest, I ended up doing way more than was required for this assignment, and was very enthusiastic about sharing this information with my class. I was so inspired by this, that I continued to learn more about the Pacific Garbage Patch and eventually became the advisor of the Environment Club at the high school where I was teaching. I made the Pacific Garbage Patch a focus of the Environment Club and used what I learned to teach others about the Patch and what they can do to help. When I was assigned research topics that I had no interest in, I always did what I had to do in order to pass the assignment, but I was not driven to do any extra and no longer remember what they were about. This is a great example of why personalized learning is such a powerful tool for our students. I hope to learn how I can implement a process at my school for personalized learning for all students. QUESTION: What do we have to unlearn about traditional schooling so that we can educate one student at a time? There are many things that we would need to unlearn about our current educational procedures to be able to properly educate one student at a time. This change would need to be part of a multi-step process, starting with how we plan. As it says on pg. 75, “schools need to start with the student, not the subjects or classes.” By knowing each students talents and interests, and with family support, learning experiences will motivate the student to want to learn more. This means no more “uniform curriculum”. Curriculum would need to be designed for each student based on their individual knowledge and goals for the future. This will help each student develop as an individual. I see this as a great goal, but one that will require educators to “unlearn” much of what we currently use to create an educational environment for our students. As the chapter states, this would also be much easier in a small school, so that teachers can have the time to understand the needs of each student, and plan educational goals accordingly. Big Picture Reflection Ch.5: QUESTION: Imagine you’ve found out that a kid you know is really interested in astronomy (or cooking, or video games, or fashion, or baseball, or music, or police work, or whatever). How would you help them to go into depth into this area? What might they learn by exploring the interest more deeply? This question makes me think of a student we have right now that is struggling with major mental health issues. He has an IEP, and spends a great deal of time with me daily due to behavioral/emotional issues that are related to his disability. We have an Individualized Intervention Program set up for him with specific supportive adults that he can ask to speak to that are from the school and program side. During the hours of time that I have spent talking to this young man, he has expressed a great interest in gardening, and told me that he loves to grow and eat vegetables. I encouraged him to join our gardening club here at school so he can help create and maintain our student garden. Working in the garden proved to be very therapeutic for him and he was a positive influence in the club. He is now able to use the garden as a safe place when he is frustrated or needs to take a break to avoid becoming escalated. In addition to being in the club, this student has also decided to do his PBL project for science on a gardening related topic. He is still working with our science teacher to figure out the details for the project, but I am confident this will help him to explore the interest more deeply and will allow his key interest to drive his academic learning. QUESTION: Did you save any of the papers you wrote for school? Why or Why not? I was one of those kids who saved my papers and projects. My parents are both teachers, and taught me at an early age the value of an education, and that I should always do my best on each and every assignment, and that the work I was doing was important. I recognise that this is extremely different than how many students were raised to view their school work, but because of this, I was very proud of the hard work that I did, and felt that I did not want to just throw it away after I got it back. I actually kept a great deal of the work that I was proud of in a “portfolio binder” that I would save as a reference in case I had another assignment on a like topic. I was also very interested in many different subjects in school, so I did not want to throw it away. Big Picture Reflection Ch.6: QUESTION: Why do so many students describe their educational experiences as boring? I believe many students describe their educational experiences as boring for many of the reasons described in this book. Students are not motivated to learn when real connections are not made to their lives or their interests. They also know when a teacher does not really care about them, and are just in the classroom “going through the motions”. As this book makes very clear, most of our educational system is still very traditional, and based on “what has always been done”, not current research based best practices. Much of this system continues to use traditional textbooks to guide classroom instruction and students who take notes based on lectures, and are tested on what they can memorize. I believe that students will continue to feel that school is boring until we, as a nation, recognise that our current educational system is not the best way to guide the learning of our children, and is not preparing them to be lifelong learners! QUESTION: What would it take for you to want to be a mentor to a high school student two days a week at your workplace? As an administrator at a high school for at risk youth, it would not take much, in fact I think this is a fantastic idea! A big part of what we do here at ROP is leading by example, and modeling appropriate relationships. I connect with students everyday in my role as principal and special education teacher, but often do not get the time to develop the genuine relationship that is made by being a mentor. I do love to help others, and if I can make an even bigger positive impact on the life of one of my students, just by putting in a few extra hours every week, I feel this would be well worth my time. I agree that this is much easier for me as I already work at a high school, but it is also that much more of a reason that I should do it. I feel privileged to be able to work at a place where I feel I can make a real difference.
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7/09/19: I REALLY enjoyed this first class as I am very excited to learn more about how we can challenge the current educational system, that is out of date and not effective for many learners. I really have a deep connection to this idea as I have been horrified over the years to see vocational classes, art classes, band, etc. disappeared from our schools. Our first reading (A Diploma Worth Having) really hits home to me because my students often think that if they are not on a college track, they will never have a good life, and that thinking must change! During a class partner discussion, the spouse of one of our classmates was not supported by their parents when they decided to become a blue collar worker in a skilled profession, instead of pursuing a college degree. This makes me think of my students and the message that they have always heard that it’s either college or nothing. I also like the challenge we have in class of learning “on the edge of being uncomfortable”, as this is what pushes us to learn new things and reminds us what many of our students feel every day. I often feel that society has known for many years that our current form of education found in public schools is not preparing our students for the challenges they will face in today's workforce, but for whatever reason, the system remains widely unchanged. I feel hopeful that this class, and hopefully this masters program, will give us the tools and motivation to make these changes happen!!!
7/11/19: Tonight was another night for pushing boundaries for me! As a high school administrator, I don't do may activities like the one we did where we had to partner up and see how fast we could say one, two, three, etc., so it seemed very foreign to me, but as I got into it, I got more comfortable, and actually enjoyed it. I also think that it would be a good ice-breaker for new classes even at my school! Also, our activity on Design Thinking, it was a very "abstract thinking project" and required me to think in a way that I am not used to, pushing me to a boundary for what I am comfortable with. The article on The Traditional High School activity that required us to use Kami felt like a big challenge to me because I had never used Kami and I was never able to figure out the program well enough to complete the assigned work in the time allotted. Even though I know this should not be a big deal, it made me feel stressed and frustrated. Our talks and video's at the end of class lifted my spirits again. I am most concerned about being able to balance the demands of this class with my demands at school. I really want to make this masters program work, but don't want to burn myself out or end up having a stroke like my dad did when he was just a little older than what I am now. Reflection 7/18/19: Rollercoaster!!! That's how I would describe class tonight, but not in a bad way. Just a ton of stuff to absorb and many subjects motivating me, challenging me, and pushing me to that fringe!!! The APA rules are very challenging for me as they are new and very complex, and had me a bit frustrated at times, But I do understand the need for them. It is so important for educational institutions to communicate and collaborate, and the work must be done in a uniform way to most effectively promote this to happen. I do find it ironic that we are reading a book that is about teaching/thinking outside the box, and we are also working on papers that have to fit perfectly in the box. Just part of our dynamic industry I guess. This integration project is a great way to demonstrate our understanding that life does not exist in “subject areas” as skills are all used together in life to accomplish our goals, but did sound very overwhelming to me when we first dove into it, but now that I have my group and we have made a plan, I feel much better. The diversity of knowledge, experience, and viewpoints that our classmates have continues to amaze me, and I think is very valuable for us to see and collaborate with as educators. Action Plan for Russell DeWalt, CURR 341. Action Steps Person Responsible Resources Key People Timeline Connection to Real World Learning/21st Century Skills etc. 1.Order 9 “Big Picture” books Principal (me) Registrar, district office staff by 8/02/19
2. Assign chapter readings to school staff to use as discussion/training points for collaborative development meetings. Principal ALL school staff Set of new Big Picture books by 8/10/19
3. I plan to work on building a school culture that is focused on meeting the needs of each individual student, and the development of an Individual Educational Plan for each student that takes into account their individual needs, abilities, learning styles, interests, and goals! Principal ALL school staff This will take a positive mindset from all staff, that will need to include school and ROP program staff. START: immediately! Completion: This will need to be an ongoing process, but can be measured by using staff/student surveys, the completion of IEP’s for all students, and a shift from universal instruction.
4. Authentic Assessment: To complement our current project based learning, I plan to focus our school assessment practices toward using authentic assessment. Principal ALL school staff Students: Student Voice and Choice! As stated above, This will also take a positive mindset from all staff, that will need to include school and ROP program staff. Start: 9/2/19 Full Implementation: 3/23/20
5. CTE: My goal is to change our traditional Core academic classes into classes that teach both core academic standards and CTE standards. I will do this because I believe this will better serve my students as lifelong learners!!! Principal ALL school staff EDCOE staff Students: Student Voice and Choice! As stated above, This will also take a positive mindset from all staff, that will need to include school and ROP program staff. Start: 7/1/20 Full implementation by: 7/01/22
Overall Class Reflection for CURR 341: This class has truly inspired me to take a completely new approach to how I lead my school. I REALLY believe in the “core values” of this class, which to me are the ideas learned in the Big Picture book and the importance of CTE. I think Andrew is very brave to speak so openly about all the issues with our current educational system, especially in the setting of a teachers college, and I am very glad that he chose to share his strong belief of what kind of things are possible using the Big Picture Ideas. I plan to re-read the book with my staff, and use it as a launching point for discussions, trainings, and action plans for years to come. I was also so glad to see that Andrew is not just focused on the importance of 21st century skills, but also on the value and importance of Career and Technical Education. As many of the students at my school are not the traditional “college bound” student demographic, I fully support the idea that the “college track” and the “vocational track” do not need to be a choice, but can be done together, and can actually be done better by being integrated, as that is what our students will face in the real world. I honestly did not think that I would learn anything so major in this class (my first masters class) that it would change the way I plan to lead my school, but it did. And I am very happy that it did, because I think the new direction I plan to take with my students will better serve them in life. |