Data Dives & Protocol Police

Yeah, yeah…I get it…you’re tired, perhaps slightly overwhelmed, maybe even staring at a list of activities to be graded during your prep period tomorrow, or maybe you’re even conjuring up the final details on your end-of-year celebration(s) with students. While ALL of those things are important, so is taking time to sit down with your colleagues (all of them in a Critical Friends Group setting, or even some of them before/after school or over lunch) to dive into some data for the sake of identifying growth areas your students have made this year and/or areas YOU have grown in your curriculum design and implementation. SO, I want you to consider a few data sources you might explore based off of your learning focus or what you’re hoping to get out of the “data dive”:

• Want to take a closer look at what your students currently know & are able to do regarding a particular set of standards? Get your critical friends together and bring some student work samples to the table (with student names removed) and engage in a Learning from Student Work protocol
• Want to make sense of some student feedback (that you took notes on or recorded during a student focus group)?! Why not find 40min. And try the ATLAS: Looking at Data protocol on for size!? 
• Not quite sure how “quality” your PBL/PrBL units actually were at the end of the year?! Why not bring a Project Briefcase from echo or a Project Planning Form to your group of critical friends and have them take a look at your work in alignment with the indicators of a quality project using NTN’s Project Quality Checklist! 
• Trying to make sense of some good ole’ numerical data (test scores? Attendance ratings? College acceptance data? Etc?) How about using the Compass Points Visible Thinking Routine to determine what you’re excited and worried about, what questions the data raises and next steps/implications for looking at the data!

Who knows…you might even uncover a piece of learning and growth during your data dive that makes that time of working in your class space a LITTLE more valuable! :) 

Peace, love, and structured conversations!

Sarah

Are You My Mother?

I think it’s safe to say that it’s no coincidence that Teacher Appreciation Week falls within the same calendar timeframe as Mother’s Day. As such, here’s a shoutout to the educator characteristics I see in all of you which mirror that of effective parenting:

• We never give up on our kids – Even if they’re still grappling with the SAME need to know/research question 2 weeks from when we did a workshop…we don’t give up on them!  We have hope for them when others may not.
• Sometimes, we’re harsh on our kids... But only because we love them -  We really just want them to grow and be good individuals. So if we’re strict about meeting deadlines, holding others accountable for their actions, or upholding team or class agreements, we know it’s from a place of love in our hearts. We just need to make sure our kiddos know that too!
• We are a guiding light for these li’l guys/gals – We don’t need to spew information at them, or spoon feed them information, but the phrase I most commonly hear from all of you is, “I model that (insert skill, piece of knowledge, or attribute here).” They see what we do (both good and bad) and we’re constantly reminding ourselves to be the source of positive, influential light for our kids.
• We’re inspirational  - Not only are we a source of inspiration and encouragement for our students to follow their dreams, but we stand by them every step of the way to guide their learning and boost their confidence as those dreams become reality. 
• We’re a lot more than just someone who teaches – We’re a guide, a friend, an enemy, an “extended" family member…
• We’ll celebrate when our kids rise beyond ourselves – We know, as educators, we’re not really going to become financially rich and famous, but our most proud moments are when our students rise above our own expectations, show off a piece of knowledge or a skill we hadn’t known about, and fulfill their dreams even after they’re out of our care. And why are we so proud?! Because, let’s be honest….we helped make them into who they are!
• We always put ourselves second – That’s right… just like your mom who ate the burnt hamburger from the grill so you could have the better burger…. We always put our student’s first. They are our priority. Always.
• We make sure to always do the best we can, admit when we’re not, learn to do better and follow through….
• We let our kids know when they do a good job…
• We “baby proof” our classes and schools well early on so we don’t have to say “No” all the time when they want to get into things they shouldn’t….
• We try to see things from our kid’s point of view. We ask their opinion whenever it’s possible or appropriate….

Obviously I could keep going, but Owen’s waking up from his nap, the rain is stopping (I hope), and we’re gonna go plant a garden (or play “how many times can we try to keep dirt out of our mouths”…we’ll see how this goes…)

Know that from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate all that you do and all that you are for our students across this country (and in Australia).  ;) I hope your week of “Teacher Appreciations” will carry you through these last few weeks of the school year and smile at your kiddos when you get to your classroom tomorrow, just like an effective caregiver smiles at their kids at the fresh start of every new day!

Peace, love, and Happy Mother’s Day!

Sarah

Practice Makes Perfect

As I sit here typing this weekly blog, you should probably know that my quads and biceps feel like they were just squeezed in a vice grip for far too long. From 8am – 4pm today, I was competing at my first CrossFit Competition of the year, and good grief was it a post-partum wake-up call!!! My teammate and I signed up in January…knew the general skills we’d be demonstrating today, and decided to compete in the Rx (I.e. Prescribed) division (as opposed to doing the scaled workouts). Little did I know that the transition back to work and travel from maternity leave would totally skew any “regular” fitness routine I once knew.  I haven’t been to the gym in 2 weeks but proceeded to complete four beastly workouts today. I’ll keep this brief… I cried, friends. Workout #2, it was only 3 movements of the barbell to see how heavy you could lift and I couldn’t even get 95# to my shoulders. I’ve done these moves PLENTY of times before…even in the last month. And today… nothing. I cried. And as the next tear welled up in my eye, I kept thinking two things:

1. “THERE’S NO CRYING IN CROSSFIT!”
2. “WHY DIDN’T YOU PRACTICE THIS & WORK ON YOUR FORM MORE BEFORE THE COMPETITION!?” 

Luckily, my teammate (in front of me) and my coach (behind me) were shouting louder than the voices in my own head reminding me of the cues that would contribute to a successful lift. And each time I heard a cue, I knew exactly what they were talking about & what it should look like…I just couldn’t quite perform under the pressure (that I’d basically created for myself) and thus, failed my lift. I. Was. Crushed. It took me to a whole different mental place for the other 2 workouts in the afternoon. I did try to focus on my strengths (Pull-ups, deadlifts, running…) and my other gym-mates were completely supportive! At the end of the day, I’m proud of my teammate and I for competing at the level we did, for not giving up even when we knew we were hurting (physically and mentally), for setting new goals for ourselves AND creating an action plan to meet those goals with the support of our coaches. 

We often look at our content standards and find ways to support students in practicing those skills until they have reached mastery in knowledge & thinking. But what about your other learning outcomes: Written communication? Oral communication? Agency? Collaboration? Think about it… in the length of a 3-4 week project, what causes your students the most unnecessary anxiety/stress/TEARS!? 

• “Teacher, my teammates keep shooting down my ideas!”
• “I don’t even know what to write my paper about or how to get started!”
• “I don’t know what to research because I don’t know what I need to know!"
• “Does EVERYONE in the group need to say something in our presentation?”

Sound familiar?! When is the last time you created a practice opportunity (I.e. A scaffolding activity) for your students around THESE learning outcomes!? How many times do you encourage student practice of these outcomes by designing workshops to teach those skills?! And do you give a chance for them to practice it before the competition day? To really apply their skills and abilities to write, think, own their own learning, and work with others to create new ideas?!? If not…you’re supporting their ability to “pull a Sarah.” SO STOP DOING THAT! Or they’ll feel like they’ve been held in a vice grip too, and it’s not a great feeling!!! 

Think about your project & the performance assessment students are working on. What skills are required for a "1st place finish" at the end of this project? Now, open up your proposed agendas for this week. ….. I’ll wait……… Besides content, How many scaffolding activities do you have prepared for the other learning outcomes you’re asking of your students on “competition day”?  If you answered “hardly any”… Then please, use your prep. Time today or tomorrow to create that learning for your students. AND be sure to formatively assess it as an added practice for them to apply their learning!  Why am I still rambling…you may have work to do, and I need to go find my foam roller…. 

Peace, love, and Kleenex,

Sarah

Team “Goal Diggers”… Onward!

Kiss the cook... and the chef...

Yes, there IS a difference between a cook and a chef! My twin sister, Molly, is a chef. Sure, she has a culinary degree which makes it official, but watching her move gracefully around the kitchen vs my fumbling through recipes is the real validation! Molly loves to create, hates following guidelines, recipes, and measuring (at least that’s how it seems to me when I watch her). She can’t stand a whole bunch of structure. Give her the general idea and let her create and experiment to her heart’s content and she’ll whip up something awesome…specifically with pastries. She didn’t start there though. She began as a cook. Originally, she enjoyed the structure and guidelines given by a recipe, measuring and following a prescription. When she started her culinary adventure, just having  a general idea without details stressed her OUT!!! But for people  with Molly’s skills today (10 years into her culinary career), having too many details and too much structure would drive her nuts! 

The point is that the best implementation method is the one that works best for you right NOW! Guidelines will always be present, it’s just how you go about following those guidelines that’s the kicker. If you’ve moved to a current phase in your life of PBL design and implementation without using “all the templates” because you’ve already used them to “cook” and now you’re a “chef” in the PBL world… then great!!!! Buf it you’re still uncertain in some areas of design or implementation and need guidance, or perhaps you’re just currently tired of thinking or you feel like you’ve exhausted all your creative juices at the moment, then know that there are templates available to provide structure for you too! (For my NTN friends, check out the modules and quick guides in Echo or ask me to help you find a good recipe!) Just because the end of the year is upon us doesn’t mean it’s okay for us to serve a sub-par meal to our students. 

So are you currently a chef or a cook? (Are you a chef of project ideation but a cook of project scaffolding?) Still not sure? And if you do know, what do you do next with so many resources and information available to you?

Peace, love, and messy kitchens,

Sarah

(I'll catch up to her culinary skills one of these days...)

Stick to your plan

Well hello again, friends!!!  After an incredible 3 months of maternity leave and now a month and a half under my belt of readjusting to my "new" working world, I must say… I've missed you! :) Based on conversations I've had with many teachers, Directors, instructional coaches and my own colleagues, though, it doesn't seem like any of you have slowed down in that time with your reinvention of education. So…. Thanks for making my job ten times easier…seriously…thank you! :) 

That said, I know with 3/4 of the year and Spring Break  behind you, we're all looking at our last few project planning toolkits, standards to uncover with our students and project calendar designs waiting in the wings. (Deep breath… you got this!) Actually, a few weeks ago, I wrapped up the last workout of five workouts in the CrossFit Open (…a worldwide CrossFit competition which I have NO SHOT of making any farther than my own gym, but I compete anyway and enjoy thinking I could go to Regionals or the CrossFit Games someday…) The workout consisted of 84 total reps of 65lb. Thrusters and burpees. I went into the workout with a game plan of how I was going to get through the rep scheme, but somewhere around the 54th rep. I was debating whether to wave the white flag OR pass out first and THEN wave the white flag. And as if from out of nowhere, my coach stood in front of me and said, "Stick to your plan. You're over halfway there." OHHHH I HATE IT WHEN HE'S RIGHT!!! But I was so glad for that reminder as I felt my weakest during that workout and was about to abandon my plan for a long gulp of water with a short break or even worse… throw in the towel out of mental exhaustion.

So just as Justin (my coach) did for me, I "stand" in front of you tonight…. With only a month or month and a half left to go, amidst the busy schedule of state testing upon you, and possibly mental and academic exhaustion creeping in…to say, "Stick to your plan. You're over halfway there." You have a plan. You know you do. You started the year with a curriculum map and you've held to it (mostly) with adjustments throughout based on student need or other new happenings in world news that seemed more relevant to bring into your classroom, so why would you stray from it now!?! 

So you have state tests happening this week… great! That doesn't mean your student's minds don't want or NEED to be challenged. STICK TO YOUR PLAN. So you don’t like the scenario you designed earlier in the year for your final, upcoming project but the cluster of standards is still relevant. STICK TO YOUR PLAN. There HAS to be another real world connection out there to those standards..don't revert to the "I'll just use worksheets to teach these standards for the next 3 weeks" avenue when you KNOW your students are capable of higher order thinking skills beyond memorization and fill-in-the-blanks! So your team teacher is clearly at their wits end with trying to understand how your content standards overlap and you want to say, "ya know… Let's just do smaller, separate projects for each of our content areas to end the year." Hey now!!!! STICK TO YOUR PLAN!  You've both committed to bringing real-world content area integrations to your students ALL YEAR… Not "all year until you're tired."   You get the idea…..

So before the bell rings tomorrow morning, remind yourself of your plan (review your curriculum map, project planning toolkit, team teaching contract, etc.), take your big gulp of water, and finish those reps! You'll be so proud of yourself that you did… and if you're anything like me, you'll enjoy that sweat angel on the gym floor just a little bit more because you did too! :)

Peace, love, and overuse of ellipsis,

Sarah

We. Are. Fam-i-ly!!!

The holidays are filled with time spent with friends and family. Hopefully, as you enter back into the work week, you’re able to carry-over the positive thinking from your time with loved ones (and leave the crazy moments that caused you stress behind)! Since we live in such an acronym crazed society, I did a lot of thinking about “FAMILY” over the last two weeks and the ways that the groups of people we’re most connected to, TRULY embrace what family is all about… looking out for, caring for, and doing what’s in the best interest of others. Sure, some of these groups of people are blood-related family, but there are others that we consider family also… like groups we share hobbies/interests with (CrossFit, book clubs, ski groups, etc.), those in our line of work (don’t your colleagues, students, others in NTN, feel like a family too you?!?!), those we might be connected to through other networks and/or social media outlets (video gamers,  financial awareness groups, weight loss groups, etc.) .  Aren’t the groups of people you’re most closely connected to considered family for those reasons?! Do they not keep your best interest in mind?! SURE THEY DO!!!

F.A.M.I.LY. = Forget About Me, I Love You!

For those groups you see as family (and your own family, of course), I hope that’s for the reason that they are willing to forget about their own wants/needs to help support and serve you first. Do all families demonstrate this characteristic? No. But I sure wish they would! Let’s think about your classroom for a minute. If you REALLY want your students connecting to one another and to you in a way that generates deep conversations and builds positive relationships, then shouldn’t your classroom culture foster one of putting other’s needs ahead of your own? Forget About Me, I Love You.

This is more than just a culture of being connected to one another on a level of “well, I know everyone’s name,” but a culture of engaging in the work and interests of one another, seeking out interactions together in an effort to learn & solve problems together, taking the idea of a team-teacher or student to manage a complex task… Forget About Me (and what I might want or feel is the right way to do something in the moment), I Love You (and want to build upon your thinking and interests).

As educators, we long for our students to look out for one another. To treat each other with respect, for who we are as people, for our ideas, and for the work we do. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen on its own! Are you modeling what it looks/sounds like to be a genuine family member in your classroom and your school? Do you put others before yourself? How do your colleagues know that (what does it look or sound like to them)? How do your students see/hear you doing that? What area(s) of your life with your school family can you get better at putting their wants/needs first? Forget About Me, I Love You.

Peace, love, and family time!

Sarah

Hello, World!

(In my best sports announcer voice.... ) Weighing in at 8lbs 14oz at a length of 21 inches with a 3:32pm arrival on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, it's OOOOOOOWWWWEEEEN MATTHEW!!!!

That's right...our li'l man, Owen Matthew Leiker, has FINALLY arrived! And after 2 nights now at home, Jared & I are proud to say that we're now members of the "Sleep Deprivation Club." :)  Seriously though, it's been just as awesome, humbling, emotional, and celebratory as so many of you have told me it would be! The craziest part to me right now is that I just look at that sweet little face and find myself wondering what his personality will be like. What's he going to be passionate about as he goes through the stages of life? How will he see himself as a contribution to society? How will society seem him as a contributor? (I guess these are all the wonders of parenting, eh?) 

As I went to the hospital to be induced for labor, I had so many messages of encouragement from friends and family saying good luck and things like "you're so strong and mentally together" that I just laughed to myself and thought "Ya'll are NUTS! I'm a hot mess right now of uncertainty just trying to do the best I can for what I knowingly 'signed up for' 9 months ago!" Or how about day 2 at the hospital post-delivery when I got a text message from my twin sister (after she & my parents came to visit) that read, "Mom is stunned at how well you're up & moving already. I reminded her you're in great shape & you feel no pain." Ummm.... PRETTY sure that was pain I felt during labor & glad you think I'm in good shape,but I always feel like I can do better. #growthmindset  

The exact same question I was pondering about Owen, I'm now pondering about myself... how DOES society really see me? How do I "show up" to the world... professionally & personally?  I strive to be an easy-going, optimistic problem solver. If I'm not actually showing up that way in personal and professional life, I'm hopeful I've surrounded myself with all of you and other family and friends that would tell me! Clearly I'm showing up as a workout fanatic and maybe even a source of strength with tough-skin. (Not upset at all if that's how others see me, but I hope they see more to me than that too! If not, I want to change my (inter)actions with others and myself so that I show up as the "whole-package" of optimism, problem solving, strength and 'toughness'.)

So.... how do YOU show up to others? No, really... when you enter a conversation or social gathering or work meeting, what do those around you anticipate as your contribution to the moment? Do you show up as the person who can relieve an awkward moment but still be serious as needed? Perhaps you're the "rally cap" guy/gal who others know will encourage ideas of all kinds? Or, do others perceive you as the person to sit at the table as nothing but a nay-sayer?  Maybe you're the "yeah, but..." person or someone who only talks about you & never curious about others??? Pay attention out there, friends... others certainly are! I learned that hard and fast the last few days and I only want the world to see YOU as you want to be seen to the WORLD. 

Peace, love, and 1st all-nighter since college! 

Sarah