Google Certified Woo Hoo

 

So I just finished the Google Level 1 test.  It did take me the entire 3 hours.  So what does that mean?  I am not sure.  I know my way around the G Suite?  I am tech savvy?  I can navigate better than the rest of them?  I enjoy technology, but it will never replace face to face conversations.  I do have to say that Google Hangouts are awesome to use as you can plan and converse, but give me a book, a teacher and a pen and paper to create, think and work.  I think I can spend 3 hours reading a book.  Just saying.

Sorry, I haven’t blogged in a LONG while, but this one was worth a share.

 

 

#IMMOOC 4 Is Happening Monday, Feb. 26, 2018

Yes, I am a geek!  I admit it, but I love learning and if it is free, that is even better.  It will also get me back writing, which I have put off lately.

If you don’t know what IMMOOC is, check out George Couros’ blog here.  You will have a choice of 3 books.  Join in one or all three.  I am choosing Katie Martin’s book, Learner Centered Innovation.  It is new and hot off the Dave Burgess IMPress.  Sorry John and AJ, I have your book as well, Empower, but this old brain can take only so much! And George, I read your Innovator’s Mindset and it pushed my thinking, thank you!

Come on, do it!  It’s free, plus you get to network with like-minded peeps and build your PLN.  Hope to meet you all!

Vicki

(From George’s post here)

Starting February 26, each Monday night we will have a YouTube Live session at 9 PM EST (6 PM PST), that will be consistent every Monday night based on past user feedback.  The YouTube Live sessions are planned for the following dates (same time weekly, 6 PM PST):

Date

February 26

March 5

March 12

March 19

March 26

We will also have a Twitter chat weekly (#IMMOOC), led by Tara Martin. are on the following dates:

March 1, 2018	9pm EST
March 8, 2018	9pm EST
March 15, 2018	9pm EST
March 22, 2018	9pm EST
March 29, 2018	9pm EST
April 5, 2018	9pm EST

#SAVMP A Moral Purpose

I am part of the #SAVMP program this year.  SAVMP stands for School Administrators Virtual Mentoring Program.  Developed by George Couros, this gives veteran administrators and new administrators an opportunity to connect throughout the nation or the world in a virtual manner.  Platforms such as Twitter, Voxer, blogging and email are used, but the most important thing, is the connections and reflections shared by both mentor and mentee.

I have 28 years behind me as a public school educator, 17 years are sitting in an administrative seat.  I’ve seen lots of success, I’ve experienced lots of failures all to help my kids learn and grow.  It is rare to have a principal and educator be in the same school district for 28 years.  Some of the students I am seeing are now grandchildren of former students, since I am at the elementary level.  I am blessed when I get to see those students I helped cross the stage at graduation.  To say this is servant leadership, is an understatement, but for me, it is also a moral purpose.

Moral purpose is why I do what I do.  To see the turmoil in our world, to watch a frightning presidential election, and to see what is happening to some of our children due to adult neglect, it is now more than ever that I feel the school leader, especially the school principal, being the leader for our children. Through the 4th installment of #SAVMP, I hope I can help those I mentor, reflect on their importance of school leadership and how it can be the saving moral compass for our future, our kids.  I can’t wait for this journey!  Let it ride!!!

No Playground? Time for Creative Play!

Our school district is currently in the mist of a large renovation project.  This isn’t your normal, “Get new doors and sidewalks” type of project but a, “gut the entire school to the beam structures” kind of project.

There is a vision, a brilliant one, to consolidate our resources and place our elementary student population on one campus, our Middle School population on one campus and our High School population on yet another campus, making a total of 3 campuses.  And now construction started on the elementary school and boy is it being gutted!

As we moved classrooms and redistributed our student population so we can still conduct school, little did we know that our elementary playground would be dismantled due to gas and electric lines running under the playground and detouring them to the building!  Oh, the horrors for our UPK-2 kiddos!  No playground to play on!

Ah, but here is the best part.  Since there isn’t a playground, our kids are now forced to use their imagination!  Out come the kickballs, the bouncy balls, the footballs and hula-hoops.  Sidewalk chalk is used to draw on the pavement and group games are being incorporated.  But no playground equipment you say?  Yep, it has been a blessing in disguise!  Now, kids are being taught how to play creatively and purposefully. Maybe we should do away with the playground?  Oh no,  did I just write that????  Oh, what joy, wonder and imagination, our students  will encounter!  I love it!

(Looking down one of the wings in our school during renovations.  Looks like a warehouse.  Who would have thought!)

Are You a Hem, a Haw, a Sniff, or a Scurry?

These past few weeks have been a whirlwind in our neck of the woods.  To say change has come to our building and district is an understatement.  Sometimes, I have a hard time keeping up with it, but what we are doing is really going to be great for our kids and our future.

We are in a process of changing the configuration of our district to consolidate our elementary building to one building, move our middle school to another building, and have our high school as a one high school, not a combined Jr.-Sr High.  This has been the vision of our Board of Education and our superintendent, to consolidate our needs, work together in tandem as grade levels, to bring the best for our students of our district.

As we all know, with any type of change, it gets scary.  To make this vision happen, we had to be creative and adjust our buildings next year so we can get the project started.  With delays at the NYSED department, (are you surprised?) and finally getting our project approved, we had to change our configuration so that the building I serve will house all the PreK-2 student populations.

As we all know, lots of speculation and angst can occur during any type of change.  Usually, it is harder for the adults to process the change than it is our children.  They always seem to have no problem with it.  But, in moving forward with this project, it has always brought me back to Spencer Johnson’s great book, Who Moved My Cheese?

With the announcement of movements in our elementary buildings, a flurry of emotions came forward from the adults.  Although the staff knew that a change was occurring, they did not have the details because we were and are literally at the mercy of the State Education Department and a timeline.  What was announced was not predicted, and even may change with a construction timeline that may change too.

With that, some of my staff that I have worked with for over 12 years will be moved.  Some were fine with it because they knew they had jobs.  Some were a bit shocked, but overcame it because again, they knew they had jobs.  Some lined up to ask for transfers in open positions for change.  Some are fine to stay put.

Yet again, it brought me back to Who Moved My Cheese?  The book is a fable about Hem and Haw (terms for indecisiveness) who live in a maze and look for cheese.  They stumble on Cheese Station C along with another pair, Sniff and Scurry.  What happens is that Hem and Haw are satisfied with Cheese Station C and start to become arrogant in the process of finding cheese and stop and become complacent, thinking that the cheese in Cheese Station C will last forever.  In the end, Haw finds his way out of a situation, but Hem is complacent with his old ways of not changing to find new cheese.  (You can read a synopsis here.)

In the End:

Change happens, and for this change, it is happening for what is best for our kids.  In the book, the character, Haw, writes “The Handwriting on the Wall” of his thinking and “aha” moments.  Here they are:

Change Happens:  They Keep Moving The Cheese

Anticipate Change:  Get Ready For The Cheese To Move

Monitor Change:  Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old

Adapt To Change Quickly:  The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese

Change:  Move With The Cheese

Enjoy Change! :  Savor The Adventure And Enjoy The Tase Of New Cheese

Be Ready To Change Quickly And Enjoy It Again:  They Keep Moving The Cheese

So, which one are you?