Melodies without Lyrics

Update for Feb 29-Mar 4

Ideas are like melodies looking for lyrics.  

When we have ideas, we have a clear picture of it in our mind, even if it's just for the flash of a moment.  Trying to explain your idea to someone for the first time often leads the person with the idea to frustration and leads the person who is listening to the idea to confusion.  The melody is there, but no one knows what the song is about.

Paul McCartney has talked about getting the melody to "Yesterday".  He had a piano is his bedroom and one morning, he woke up with the melody in his head and started plugging away at the piano.  He knew he was onto something, but he had no lyrics.

Instead of singing "Yesterday", he just sang "Scrambled eggs, oh my baby how I love your legs..." since he hadn't landed on the lyrics yet.  However, McCartney shaped his idea and eventually found the lyrics to go with the melody.  Fast forward to today and "Yesterday" holds the Guinness World Record for being the most covered song at over 3,000 cover versions.

This story makes me think about how challenging it can be to develop an idea.  Many times we say no to ourselves before we share with others, but that's a whole other topic.  

Most times, we aren't committed enough to our idea and the first "No" becomes the end of the road.  We toss the idea aside instead of reworking it until we are able to help others see the same thing we do in our mind's eye.

Flushing out an idea is challenging, but the challenge is what it's really all about - The process.  That's where we do the most growth; where we have the fondest memories when we look back.  

Ideas are beautiful opportunities to discover what life is really about -- It's up to us to commit to the good ones.

Have a GREAT week!

-Herb


Articles Worth Reading

Instead http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2016/02/instead.html

The New Dream Jobs http://nyti.ms/1TAKneD

How to Teach the Standards Without Becoming Standardized http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/03/12/how-to-teach-the-standards-without-becoming-standardized/

8 Requisites of A Great Teacher http://bit.ly/1WR0dRM

Upcoming Dates

Mar 1 -- BIT Meeting, 8am at DCR

Mar 1 -- Connection Time w/ Herb -- Schedule is wide open! Stop by for a chat!  

Mar 1 -- Steering Committee Meeting, 3:45 at DCR

Mar 2 -- ADE Staff Meeting: Terri to give us the essentials before next week's concert.

Mar 7 -- ADE PTO Meeting, 7pm

Mar 7-11 -- OLSAT (Gifted), Grades 1 to 5 by recommendation
Mar 9 -- Special Ed Team Meeting, 12pm

Mar 9 -- Spring Concert, 7pm, Bradley HS

Mar 10 -- PD Series w/ Dr. Donna: "Discovery Approach", 3:45 at DCR

Mar 15 -- Professional Development Day -- No SCHOOL (Students)

Mar 18 -- Elementary Student Transfer Request Forms Due

Mar 18-24 -- Spring Break -- NO SCHOOL

Mar 25 -- Holiday -- NO SCHOOL

“Exercise the Option”

Update for Feb 22-26

It’s a given: The only thing constant is change.

I think about change often.  I think about how I need to respond to change.  I realized during year 5 of being an educator that each year will be different.  

I have also come to understand that it doesn’t get easier if you want to get better.

There is a gap between good and great.  

Good is comfortable.  Good is relying on your talents to get you by,

Getting to Great is hard work.  Great is knowing that talent alone won’t help you grow.  Great is knowing that being on autopilot, resistant and impulsive doesn’t work with change.

Great is knowing how to press pause, reflect and get your mind right, stepping up and owning the reality around you.  Great is knowing that it takes intentional practice and a growth mindset to get better.  That is how successful people respond to change.

When we aren’t flexible and responsive to change, our life and our work gets harder.  Think about it -- Change is hard.  Not changing is harder.  Life will eventually catch up, pass you by and win.  

We have the opportunity to invent tomorrow with our students.  That will take consistent reflection, consistent mental stamina, and consistent practice at getting better and growing.

As we’ve learned from R-Factor training and “Above the Line”:

"Change is inevitable.  Growth is optional. The smart thing to do is exercise the option."

The Performance Pathway: Leaders create the #culture that drives the #behavior that produces #results. pic.twitter.com/U3FhnMMLYE

— Focus 3 (@Focus3Culture) December 29, 2015

Articles Worth Reading --

STEAM + Project-Based Learning: Real Solutions From Driving Questions http://edut.to/1nlKCxu

Mattel Unveils ThingMaker, A $300 3D Printer That Lets Kids Make Their Own Toys http://tcrn.ch/214Ga5o via @techcrunch

Future-Focused Leadership http://esheninger.blogspot.com/2016/02/future-focused-leadership.html 


I love this thought --

A boat sinks when the water gets inside the boat. Otherwise it uses the water to float.
Keep the negative outside! pic.twitter.com/wowvVUzBRZ

— Dr. Mike Goddard (@drmike_goddard) February 20, 2016

Upcoming Dates --

Feb 23 -- KG Data Team mtg AM, 1st Grade Data Team mtg PM
Feb 24 -- 2nd Grade Data Team mtg AM, 3rd Grade Data Team mtg PM
Feb 25 -- 5th Grade Data Team mtg AM, 4th Grade Data Team mtg PM   
Feb 24 -- ADDC Staff Meeting, 3:40 at ADE

Feb 26 -- End of K-5 Grading Period *See emails from Joanne and updates on TAC about Progress Report Timeline.

Mar 1 -- BIT Meeting, 8am

Mar 1 -- Connection Time w/ Herb -- Schedule is wide open! Stop by for a chat!  I don't know what you're thinking if you don't share with me.

Mar 1 -- Steering Committee Meeting, 3:45 at DCR

Mar 2 -- ADE Staff Meeting

Mar 7 -- ADE PTO Meeting, 7pm

Mar 7-11 -- OLSAT (Gifted), Grades 1 to 5 by recommendation

Mar 9 -- Spring Concert, 7pm, Bradley HS

Mar 10 -- PD Series w/ Dr. Donna: "Discovery Approach", 3:45 at DCR

Mar 15 -- Professional Development Day -- No SCHOOL (Students)

Mar 18 -- Elementary Student Transfer Request Forms Due

Mar 18-24 -- Spring Break -- NO SCHOOL

Mar 25 -- Holiday -- NO SCHOOL

Fear of freedom

Update for Feb 16-19

When we've talked about change in the past couple of years, we've talked about the possibilities, our dreams, and how we might make the learning experience different for kids.

And then we reach a point when we become fearful.

Fearful of how that might change our role (I don't see myself in this), change what we do (What wrong with what we do now), or fearful because we just don't know what lies ahead (Just tell me what to do).

I actually believe this is a natural progression in any change process involving people.  We've come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.  It's a good time (Really, what time isn't?) to reflect on where we are personally with changes we are trying to implement ourselves.  What is it that I am fearful of the most?  What is holding me back?  

For many of us, we just don't want to fail.  Educators tend to go into an endless spiral of reflection and self-doubt when a lesson blows up in our face when we really know that it's all a part of the process of teaching and getting better.

We need to be reminded often that FAIL = First Attempt In Learning.  

And there are more layers to failure to consider.

As Seth Godin reminds us (p. 63), when we become fearful of failing, we automatically become fearful of freedom. We've longed for freedom from testing, high-stakes accountability, and other top-down initiatives. While we still have a ways to go, there are less restraints on us as learners and educators than in recent years.

Let's continue to reflect on the change process and how we are reacting and responding to it.  Let's strike while the iron's hot!  

Have a GREAT week!

-Herb

Godin, S. (2015). What to do when it's your turn (and it's always your turn).

Articles Worth Reading 

Gravitational Waves Detected, Confirming Einstein’s Theory http://nyti.ms/20qIaCA

--A great read about not giving up on an idea!  It is very well written!

Solving Interesting Problems http://pairadimes.davidtruss.com/solving-interesting-problems/ via @datruss

A Symphony's Big Challenge: Lift A Tough School Through Music http://n.pr/1nWDcRF 

APP Worth Checking Out!

"PlayGround"

I had so much fun with this app!  It's free at the App Store now (Pay attention to content, though...I haven't vetted it for school yet)

Upcoming Events --

Feb 16 -- SPIRIT NIGHT AT FLYERS PIZZA! (Roberts Rd. location) -- Mention ADE when ordering!

Feb 18 -- PD Series with Dr. Donna: "Academic Choice Across the Curriculum", 3:30pm

Feb 18 -- Admin Mtg (Herb)

Feb 19 -- R-Factor Training (Herb)

Feb 20 -- Family Fun Day, 9:00am -12:00pm

Feb 24 -- ADDC Staff Meeting, 3:40 at ADE

Feb 26 -- End of K-5 Grading Period

Mar 1 -- BIT Meeting, 8am

Mar 1 -- Team Connection Team w/ Herb -- Schedule is wide open! Stop by for a chat!

Mar 1 -- Steering Committee Meeting, 3:45 at DCR

Mar 2 -- ADE Staff Meeting

Mar 7 -- ADE PTO Meeting, 7pm

Mar 7-11 -- OLSAT (Gifted), Grades 1 to 5 by recommendation

Mar 9 -- Spring Concert, 7pm, Bradley HS

Mar 10 -- PD Series w/ Dr. Donna: "Discovery Approach", 3:45 at DCR

Mar 15 -- Professional Development Day -- No SCHOOL (Students)

Mar 18 -- Elementary Student Transfer Request Forms Due

Mar 18-24 -- Spring Break -- NO SCHOOL

Mar 25 -- Holiday -- NO SCHOOL

Teaching: Shoshin-Style

Update for Feb 8-11

Labeled for noncommercial reuse 

I went running Saturday without my running app, music, or device. I forgot to charge my old phone that I use just for running.

I was really bummed because I really enjoy listening to music as I run. I like knowing how far I've gone and what my current pace is. For a minute I wondered if I should run at all.

I ran anyway because it was just too beautiful outside. Sure it was 38 degrees, but a sunny day in February in Ohio is a rarity.

About a mile into my run I realized something that I probably knew deep down anyway, but became clear to me then. 

I realized that if you take away the music, if I take away the app, take away the device, and if I take away the little voice that keeps telling me how fast (or slow) I'm going, what I was left with is my determination and the path that lies before me. 

It made me think about where we are in education, how things are changing and how fast we are needing to change in order to keep up. 

Deep down we all know that constantly evolving as educators is something that needs to happen -- Education is always changing. It's just that this time, it's a little bit more profound because the changes that we see in the world are more profound. Technology is increasing the rate at which people can access knowledge and that is causing parts of our lives to be more simplified, more personalized, and a lot more on demand. And our kids don't know any different.

Some say we have to "let go" of a lot of things. That sounds scarier that it really is and it doesn't help us accept change easier. I think it helps to take a Shoshin approach - to look at what we do now with a beginner's eye. We need to form a different perspective on the work we do for kids. This enables us to see possibilities that we didn't see before. And if we strip away our current perspective about our work, we are left with the teacher in the learner.  

What we do best is help others learn. Learning is universal. It's in our DNA. Helping others learn is why we got into this profession. When we start at that point and build up, we can see the possibilities that we didn't know existed.

I've gone through many pairs of shoes, three different earbuds, 3 different devices, and two different apps as a runner. What hasn't changed for me is that in order to run, all it really takes is my commitment to putting one foot in front of the other. I take comfort in knowing that's all I will ever need in order to keep running.

Take solace that amidst change in education in knowing that helping others learn will always be the constant.

Have a GREAT week!

-Herb

Articles Worth Reading --

An Open Letter to Those Who Don’t Feel “Good Enough” http://www.marcandangel.com/2016/02/07/an-open-letter-to-those-who-dont-feel-good-enough/ via @marcandangel

"'I', 'We', and 'You'" by Seth Godin http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2016/02/i-we-and-you.html

The Future of Jobs by Dr. Marschhausen http://www.hilliardschools.org/the-future-of-jobs/


Upcoming Events

Feb 8-11 February Conference Week 

Feb 10 -- Conference Evening; Band/Orchestra Demos (10:30)

Feb 12 -- Parent/Teacher Conference Comp Day, NO SCHOOL

Feb 15 -- Presidents’ Day, NO SCHOOL
Feb 16 -- Teacher Steering Committee Meeting @ ADE
Feb 20 -- Family Fun Day, 10-3pm

Feb 23 -- K (AM) & 1st Grade (PM) ½ Day Data Team Meeting

Feb 24 -- 2nd Grade (AM) & 3rd Grade (PM) ½ Day Data Team Meeting

Feb 25 -- 4th Grade (AM) & 5th Grade (PM) ½ Day Data Team Meeting

Mar 7 -- ADE PTO Meeting, 7pm

Mar 7-11 -- OLSAT (Gifted), Grades 1 to 5 by recommendation

Mar 9 -- Spring Concert, 7pm, Bradley HS

Mar 15 -- Hillard U Day! 

Mar 18 -- Elementary Student Transfer Request Forms Due

Mar 18-24 -- Spring Break -- NO SCHOOL

Mar 25 -- Holiday -- NO SCHOOL