Tag Archives: Support

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Touching and Impressive Story – Technology strengthens Humanity!

“Continuous effort–not strength or intelligence–is the key to unlocking our potential.”
– Winston Churchill

The major findings - distilling from millions of studies on what works.

The major findings – distilling from millions of studies on what works.


It’s all about our students. We say this, we write this, we educators truly mean this! An example of how and why we all do what we do in education is captured in the video shared in this blog post. At Caruso Middle School in the Communications Media Arts (CMA) exploratory class, teacher Julie Witczak engages, inspires, and empowers students each and every day!

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In the video below, “Brothers” “…is a story told by an 8th grader about his 6th grade brother and the bond they have.” I asked Julie to share with me the background from class about this awesome video project:

From Julie: “It actually started when we watched the movie “Front of the Class”. I carried this piece over from Skills 4 Life because it is an inspiring movie about a man who has Tourettes Syndrome and it took him 25 interviews to get a teaching job. At the end of the movie, we talked about abilities and I noticed that Jake didn’t say much at all. I approached him after and said “How come you didn’t share?” He said sometimes it is hard to share because it can be emotional. I said well you have a great story to share, maybe you should make a video so you can share your thoughts. The assignment was for 8th graders to create a video that tells a story they want to share with the world. They could really do anything and Jake decided to share his story. The cool part is that three other kids were involved with it and needed no credit at all or to be featured in the video. I was super impressed with them as most 8th graders enjoy their “stage time”.

This is why we do what we do!

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Community support, engagement, outreach – in the news

“We cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening our own.”
– Ben Sweetland

When it takes a village, our village supports published in the Deerfield Review on 9/24/2014

In District 109, we are so fortunate to have individual community members and organizations that strongly support our schools. This school year, the community connection has been stronger than ever. Here are a few examples:

Parent Organizations: On September 16, digital media expert Dr. Devorah Heitner led a parent education program “Raising Digital Natives in a 1:1 World.” (The program will run again on September 30 at Caruso at 7:00pm.) The program was funded by all of the parent organizations that serve our schools: Deerfield Parent Network, Deerfield Education Foundation, and the six District 109 Parent Teacher Organizations.

Response to Surveys: The District relies on honest, thoughtful input from community members to make decisions. This year, we are asking for a great deal of input from staff, students, parents – and all have responded! At the start of the year, we conducted a staff culture survey; results show that, overall, District 109 is a great place to work! We currently are conducting a baseline survey on the impact of technology on teaching and learning; we will survey parents, staff and students again in the spring to measure our growth as we fully implement our 1:1 transformative environment. In a few weeks, we will conduct a thorough climate survey of parents, staff, students and community members. In addition, we launched Let’s Talk! for anyone, anytime, to share ideas, thoughts, complaints, compliments, or questions. The District’s promise for all of the time stakeholders are giving is transparency and response. We will share what we learn, and we will act on what we hear.

Volunteers: We actively seek community involvement to help make decisions about facilities, curriculum, and organization. Last year, the 140-member Superintendent’s Task Force for Middle Level Education laid out recommendations for changes. The Social Emotional Group recommendations are implemented in part through Rachel’s Challenge, a new social-emotional program launching this fall; the STEM and Exploratory groups’ work is evident in the state-of-the-art STEM, communication media arts, and science laboratories. The District is currently seeking community members to share their expertise with students by joining the District 109 Volunteer Pool. Teachers will call on volunteers to join in teaching their students. Community members can sign up at http://tinyurl.com/109volunteer.

Activism: Many District 109 residents take time to educate themselves about the legislation that impacts schools and students. Current legislation that has passed the Illinois Senate (Senate Bill 16, or SB16) will move to the Illinois House in November. If passed, SB16 will have a tremendous impact on the financial status of our District. Our schools would lose more than 50% of the state funding we currently receive, or $1.3 million a year. We know that many community members already have educated themselves about SB16 and have contacted their legislators to express their opinion.

In District 109, we believe that the public school should be the hub of the community. While in other communities may have different priorities, here in Deerfield, we see proof, every day, that education and the children in our schools are the focus.
Engage, Inspire, Empower

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Innovation through Change – Superintendent’s Back To School Welcome to Staff

“One of the great ironies in life is that you must be acquainted with reality while not allowing your dream to be shattered.”
– John C. Maxwell, Put Your Dream to the Test

Today is Back to School Day for teachers, support staff, administrators, and adult employees of the DPS109 family. Today we kicked off our official start to the new school year with a gathering at Shepard Middle School. I’m sharing the presentation I used to start the day and to kick off our Engage, Inspire, Empower mission and vision as we begin the District’s 168th year in the business of education. Our public schools are populated with amazing students, staff, and community. We have so much about which to be proud and we have so much for which we are grateful! This year’s theme is INNOVATION and with this innovation we have much change. While our Big 5 remain constant, how we implement these Big 5 umbrella areas differs from year’s past.

I is incumbent upon us to educate for the future world our students will lead and live – not for our past. I’m embedding the presentation I used and I encourage, questions, comments, etc. I am a very lucky superintendent of schools and I am proud to share the work of our teachers and staff with the world.

Please contact me and or use the comments feature here if you have any questions or comments about the presentation or any information contained in the slides!

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Back to School Message and Video

“One of the keys to success lies in knowing and believing in yourself. When you are confident and trust in who you are, you can perform to the best of your ability.”
– Pete Carroll, Win Forever: Live, Work, and Play Like a Champion

We are gearing up for our Back To School kick offs next week! With staff institute days, in-services, and training, to the first days of school for our 3000 students in grades PK-8, we are ready to Engage, Inspire, and Empower for another learning-packed school year. With so much anticipation of the changes taking place, we like to take the time to reflect on our mission, vision, values, and experiences which are all tied together in support of and for learning and growth.

Click here for the Back To School Mini-Cast

On August 14th teachers and staff from Districts 109, 112, and 113 gathered for a day of professional development to prepare as we all move to 1:1 transformative learning environments for all students, grades K-12. Please see this video for a look into how our teachers are getting ready for the new way of providing public education:

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Digital Leadership Day – August 15th

“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.”
– Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society

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A blogger I follow, http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/, annually calls for digital leaders to share thoughts, reflections, ideas, concerns about digital leadership and trans-formative/innovative education. From his post about Digital Leadership Day:

“Over the past 7 years, we’ve had nearly 500 Leadership Day posts. That’s awesome because, to paraphrase what I said seven years ago, many of our school leaders (principals, superintendents, central office administrators) need help when it comes to digital technologies. A lot of help, to be honest. As I’ve noted again and again on this blog, most school administrators are still struggling with what it means to prepare students for the digital, global world in which we now live; how to recognize, evaluate, and facilitate effective technology usage by students and teachers; what appropriate technology support structures (e.g., budget, staffing, infrastructure, training) look like or how to implement them; how to utilize modern technologies to facilitate communication with internal and external stakeholders; the ways in which learning technologies can improve student learning outcomes; how to utilize technology systems to make their organizations more efficient and effective; and so on…”


I am proud to participate in this national digital leadership blogging day! On Twitter, if you would like to read other posts from folks around the world, please visit Twitter and use the the official hashtag #leadershipday14

The purpose of this blogging challenge/call to action is part of the overall call to action for educators and educational leaders around the country and world to support the future of our country, world and lives of our students.

I’m posting as I participate in a three District joint Technology Camp day of workshops with leaders from my district, the neighboring district as well as the high school district to which we matriculate our chilren. As a proud public school administrator I support connected educators. I support connected education, and I support leading in a culture of connectivity.

In this post I am responding to some prompts from Scott McLeod the blog author:

Do administrators have to be technology-savvy themselves in order to be effective technology leaders in their organizations?

This is a great question! I think it helps greatly if the administrator is technology literate – savvy helps but it is not required. Though if the administrator truly understands the functionality of connectivity he/she is more likely to learn with the other teachers and leaders in the organization. If the administrator is not aware, he/she may thwart the efforts of innovative teachers. For example, a friend of mine is a teacher and he received great push-back from his principal when he wanted to use Twitter in support of his instruction. Two years later, under a new administration, this same teacher taught a summer school math class completely online – and via Twitter! So I can only imagine how much growth and opportunity this teacher and his students would have had if his earlier administrator was technology savvy/literate – or supportive of a connected culture. Clear this teacher is a digital leader; clearly this teacher is inspiring his students and empowering them to connect with the world of mathematics (his subject area) through their world of communication (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Google Apps for Education, etc.).

What are some tangible, concrete, realistic steps that administrators can take to move their school organizations forward?

Administrators should reach out to their own professional associations as well as local in-person groups of administrators to move their local organization forward. For example, the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA) and the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) both support, promote, model, and encourage digital literacy. Visit their websites, both have modern up to date interfaces with Twitter feeds and blog feeds from other leaders around the country and the world. Administrators can join Twitter and attend an “ed chat” and view how other leaders are interacting with the world digitally.

It also helps to find a friend or colleague who is technologically savvy who can support their individual growth and progress. Administrators should also be sure to read professional journals and stay current with practitioner published blogs and publisher books so they can stay up to date and current with what forward thinking organizations do. Start a blog, for examples visit: http://www.aasaconnect.com/List-Of-Blogs

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1:1 Transformative Learning Environments

“Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.”
– Buddha

This is another in a series of how we are supporting teachers this year in the anticipation of transformative public education in DPS109! I have posted in the past about 1:1 Transformative Learning Environments. I also recently posted an article from the local newspaper highlighting our plans and engaged parent 1:1 celebration nights.

The tools described here, Hapara and Edmodo, are management tools. Hapara is for teachers in the classroom; and Edmodo is a home/school connector. It’s a secure, “Facebook”-like environment where teachers and students and parents can communicate directly and securely. This year in DPS109, Edmodo will be used by all teachers for homework and home/school communications. The name(s) of the people leading these services is/are provided – feel free to contact them with any questions or comments about the tools.

The content/subscription descriptions come directly from the company websites; and/or are heavily influencing the descriptions listed – website links to the source are listed in each section and sub-section.

Many of these web based subscriptions will allow for 24/7 – school/home access! The possibilities are endless for our learning as we truly become a COMMUNITY of learners.

(Marcie Faust) Hapara:

Hapara is an innovative solution to managing Google Apps for Education using a teacher-friendly educational platform. Hapara will be used by 6th-8th grade classroom teachers to help manage the workflow from multiple classes of students. Hapara will provide middle school classroom teachers with two important features: a teacher dashboard and an add-on called remote control. In the teacher dashboard view, Hapara includes all of the Google Apps (docs, sheets, slides, blogger, Gmail, picasa, and class calendars) and presents the information organized by class. The remote control access allows teachers to monitor student activity to keep students on task while they are on their devices. Hapara also has the ability for teachers to push out assignments and URLs to their students. Through the use of Hapara, all of the students’ activity with Google Apps will be completely transparent to ensure productivity and safety for our students.

http://hapara.com/

(Maria Galanis) Edmodo:

Edmodo is a Learning Management System (LMS) that takes the ideas of a social network, and refines them to make it a perfect communication and learning tool for your classroom. Students and teachers can reach out to one another and connect by using this platform. A teacher can assign work, share content, and even grade work on Edmodo. Students can get help from the teacher, and from other students in the class as well. Parents can have their own access to the Edmodo class to maintain a communication channel that helps keep everyone updated on classroom activities. Teachers can use Edmodo to connect with other teachers for sharing ideas and content. Edmodo also has apps to use with your class including ones for snapshots of CCSS aligned formative assessments, managing behavior using a badging system, and more.

There’s an online PD learning opportunity hosted by Edmodo called EdmodoCon on August 6th where teachers from all over share and showcase the ways they’re using Edmodo in the classroom: https://edmodocon.com/2014/

https://www.edmodo.com/

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Supporting Teachers – New Year – New Changes – New Growth – New Support

“I am an athlete. I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying.”
– Unknown

This year we prepare for a myriad of changes. This year we prepare for the best year ever! This year we are asking our teachers to do A LOT – new curriculum maps, new instructional practices, transformation with the 1:1 learning environment initiative, new middle school exploratories, implementation of STEM/Communication Media Arts, new science programming … to name a few!

The next series of blog posts I share will include descriptions of services, subscriptions, tools, programs, aids, SUPPORTS for learning that we are putting into place intentionally and deliberately to support teachers and students. Thanks to Dr. Jeff Zoul, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, as well as members of the DPS109 Leadership team, as well as iCoaches and teacher leaders, we have a PLAN to help teachers SUCCEED as they Engage, Inspire & Empower!

These tools are being shared in no particular order – the point/aim/goal is to share, celebrate, communicate, and publicize the many leaders and the many tools that will enable others to act – challenge the process, inspire a shared vision – and support improved teaching and learning! While company information and logos are shared it is not our intention to use this as “advertising” – we are simply sharing with whom we are partnering to support our mission. The name(s) of the people leading these services is/are provided – feel free to contact them with any questions or comments about the tools.

In some of the blog posts I will post multiple tools since some of the companies with whom we partner are sharing multiple tools. Many of these web based subscriptions will allow for 24/7 – school/home access! The possibilities are endless for our learning as we truly become a COMMUNITY of learners.

The content/subscription descriptions come directly from or heavily influence the descriptions listed – website links to the source are listed in each section and sub-section.

(John Filippi) Discovery Social Studies Tech Book (Grades 6-8):

Discovery Education Social Studies Techbook is a comprehensive digital program that replaces traditional textbooks. Built around the 5E model of instruction (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate), Techbook is a non-linear curriculum pathway that promotes inquiry-based learning, enhances critical thinking, and improves student achievement. With exclusive video from Discovery Channel, content from more than 100 educational publishers, digital investigations, a dynamic reference library, and the ground-breaking Interactive glossary and Atlas, Techbook is an intuitive all-in-one program that can also be used to supplement current resources. Core Interactive Text (included leveled reading, text-to-speech, not taking, and highlighting capability) ensures that Techbook will meet the needs of a wide range of learners and learning styles.

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/what-we-offer/techbook-digital-textbooks/middle-school-social-studies/index.cfm

(Brian Bullis and Dave Sherman) Discovery Science Tech Book (Grades 1-8):

Discovery Education Science Techbook is a comprehensive digital program that replaces traditional textbooks. Built around the 5E model of instruction (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate), Techbook is a non-linear curriculum pathway that promotes inquiry-based learning, enhances critical thinking, and improves student achievement. With exclusive video from Discovery Channel, content from more than 100 educational publishers, digital simulations, hands on labs, STEM resources, and an Interactive Glossary, Techbook is an intuitive all-in-one program that can also be used to supplement current resources. Core Interactive Text (included leveled reading, text-to-speech, not taking, and highlighting capability) ensures that Techbook will meet the needs of a wide range of learners and learning styles.

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/what-we-offer/techbook-digital-textbooks/k-8-science/index.cfm

(Lucy Melchert and Angela Mirretti) Discovery Streaming Plus (PK-8):

Enhancing classrooms with rich multi-media that has proven to increase student achievement, Discovery Education Streaming PLUS provides teachers and students access to a library of more than 160,000 standards-aligned digital resources that address multiple learning styles, support the Common Core State Standards, and inspire students to explore their world. Streaming PLUS enhances curriculum across all grade levels and content areas and engages today’s students in learning through instructional videos, skill builders, games, audio files, images, writing prompts, encyclopedia articles, and more.

http://www.discoveryeducation.com//what-we-offer/streaming-plus-digital-media/index.cfm

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Instructional Leadership from an Instructional Coach

One of the talented and amazing DPS109 iCoaches, Sue Ferdon, recently released a short, daily blog: Tech Tips and Tricks.

While Sue’s purpose is to support the growth and development of the teachers at her beloved South Park, I’m so proud of her leadership and her work that I want to share her tips with anyone and everyone who is preparing for the beginning of the school year.

Sue’s daily blog posts are intended to support an eager, excited, and justifiably nervous faculty in the transformation from “regular instruction” to 1:1 learning environments with modern instructional practices.

Please read her tips, please share them with others, and please join me in thanking Sue (and all of the iCoaches and principals) for beginning our awesome school year with “chunks” of expertise in support of our motto: Engage, Inspire, Empower!

If you also have tips and tricks, and links – please share in the comments!!

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“Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul” – Niccolo Machiavelli

We started our planning in the Superintendent’s Task Force for Middle Level Education with the missive to DREAM BIG! Part of that dreaming (with the 140 member community engagement task force) led to the revolutionary changes to this years middle school exploratory programming! We are constructing STEM and Communication Media Arts labs in learning spaces previously used for computer applications and family/consumer sciences. We are changing what we do for our students. We are changing how we do what we do for our students. We lead each of these changes with professional development/training, and cost/appropriations in concert with current and former planning from the school district.

DPS109 is under new management and leadership and we continue to aim to stir the collective souls of all stakeholders. Thanks to our visionary and courageous Board of Education we are able to engage, inspire, and empower our internal and external stakeholders!

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Throughout the summer we have been involved in numerous projects designed to improve the learning conditions, safety, atmosphere, and security of our seven facilities (District Center and the six schools). In this post, I am sharing some photos of work in progress across the district, some inside, some outside, some finished, some under construction! These photos complement our overall mission and my message that we are supporting these massive changes with strategies, tactics, budget, and plans to support and equip our teachers so that they can better engage and inspire learning so that we all – as a learning community – GROW.

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Each and every project this summer, from restrooms to roofs to air quality enhancement to parking lots to state-of-the art learning labs have one thing in common: SUPPORT of our mission: Engage, Inspire, Empower. Our aims 24/7, 100% of the time, are to support learning and teaching and growth for all in our learning community. A comparison I will draw to all of this labor and construction is one that we consider in the selection and development of staff. Part of the work we do around staff selection involves a heavy reliance on research, training, practice, support, and fidelity to the structures of the selection process. Our principals, assistant principals, and other administrative leaders place a premium in terms of value of time and effort in the processes surrounding selection of staff.

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All of this labor around the district is also part of a system of research, training, practice, support, and fidelity to the structures of the construction process. Our Buildings & Grounds department, contractors, workers, and everyone involved in the projects place a premium in terms of value of time and effort in the processes surrounding the construction of learning environments reflective of our mission, vision, values, and goals. I’ve written a number of articles about leadership and change. Much of the construction work depicted here and in other posts also relates to our leadership and changes.

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With the new labs and facilities, we are taking the opportunity to support and equip our teachers and staff with the latest, greatest, and learning-focused teaching and learning spaces. This year with the 1:1 Transformative Learning Environment and planned deployment of thousands of devices in the works, our infrastructure has been equipped since last year and continuing this summer so that we can support the implementation and integration of technology in to the regular instructional programming. With the release of numerous research studies around the globe about what works, we are supporting and equipping our educators with the knowledge and training in support of their experimentation and exploration of what works in learning.

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With a reliance on data and assessment, we have more explicit awareness of our students’ learning needs, learning successes, and learning challenges. We believe all children can learn and we believe that all teachers can create learning environments that best support HIGH expectations and personalized learning. With our construction, professional development, and curriculum resource support, we are literally putting our money where our mouth is in terms of allocating resources and materials in support of our teachers and students and community.

We live and work in a community where the average, typical student arrives at school in the 60-7th percentile as reported by national comparisons to other students around the USA who take the MAP – Measures of Academic Progress assessments in reading and math.

With our unique challenges, we face a dream scenario many would say around the world. Our average class size is below 24, our low income percentages are below 2, we have no excuses based upon the current world of comparisons of public school student achievement and public school success. We have dream schools with dream students and dream teachers and a dream community.

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My dream is that we actualize this greatness in terms of updated instructional practices that lead to higher achievement and social -emotional metrics for each and every one of our students. We have an integrated and extensive professional development model, thanks to the shared leadership of our teams and of our assistant superintendent for teaching & learning Jeff Zoul. We have opportunities that support each and every initiative and plan under our sun.

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As we come closer to the opening of school, as we prepare for our second year with our Big 5, with massive construction, maintenance, security, and change, I have to pinch myself as this is truly a DREAM scenario! We have acquired digital resources for all students and teachers grades K-8 in support of the Common Core State Standards. We have put into place supplemental curricular resources in social studies and science. We have been training our staff on differentiated instruction, literacy support and development, and digital implementation strategies.

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What are you doing this summer to prepare for the start of school?

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How do you feel about the opportunities we have in store for this upcoming school year?

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Leadership and Changes

“One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it.”
– Sidney Howard

Last year in our District was all about CHANGE – new leadership, new philosophies, new relationships, new plans, new mandates, new opportunities, new growth! We found each other and together in collaboration we embarked on a new journey to Engage, Inspire, and Empower each and every student, staff member and the community as a whole in support of the District’s mission and vision.

The major findings - distilling from millions of studies on what works.

The major findings – distilling from millions of studies on what works.

This year is all about SUPPORT – supportive new leadership, support of the new philosophies, supportive new relationships, support for the BIG 5, support for new opportunities and support for new growth!

As we prepare for the 2014-2015 school year, starting next month, we reflect on the beginnings from last year as well as the impact of our work and of our plans. In addition, we acknowledge that the research findings about what works in education and what impacts student learning are ground breaking and revolutionary.

This year we are focusing on A LOT … science, technology, engineering, mathematics, social emotional learning, fine arts, literacy, enrichment, RtI (Response To Intervention), special education, facilities management, 1:1, energy, sustained professional development, fiscal management … just to highlight.

Change and the concepts of the change process are present in a lot of leadership research and literature. Change and the process of leading change is part of Leadership … one of the many sources of inspirational leadership for me personally and professionally can be found in Washington, D.C.

From the many inspirational and powerful monuments, to the many tributes and quotes from those who made sacrifices so that we could be free today, I am inspired and energized by the messages and the lessons. My aim is to apply and implement changes on behalf of students, staff, and community!

Caption at Lincoln Memorial

One such personal hero of mine is our nation’s 16 president, Abraham Lincoln. At the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. there is a statement (shown to the left in the image) about how Lincoln saved the union. Lincoln used leadership and implemented major changes in the country that still resonate today and that still guide all of us in modern society.

The changes that we implement in our public schools might not be as dramatic as the changes to our society that Lincoln and his contemporaries put forth, but some core messages still ring true in our local public schools. Like Lincoln, whose leadership impacted and caused ALL people in our nation to be free and treated with dignity (though there are still elements of unfairness and racism against which he fought and we must continue to fight), our changes are in support of ALL learners who deserve to have high expectations and rigorous and relevant learning experiences.

While some might consider it too bold and a bit much to compare Lincoln’s greatness to the humble day-to-day work in our nation’s public schools …  I would beg the question about fundamental rights and honor, dignity, and respect that our nation’s children deserve today. From Lincoln we learn much about decision making, valuing human rights, and of course, CHANGE and the change process. From Lincoln we learn how to have the courage to fight the right fights on behalf of what is right!
The Washington Monument from the WW II MemorialAnother symbol from D.C. that resonates with me and relates to CHANGE and the processes and challenges that we public educators face each day can be found in the Washington Monument, (depicted at the right from the view of the World War Two memorial).

Like Lincoln, George Washington, father of our nation, was part of leadership and change of a magnitude never seen before, and often emulated and imitated around the world. Washington presided over our nation’s founding as well as the unprecedented declarations of liberty, freedom, governance and rights not seen in the world in his time.

Perhaps the revolutionary changes we need and we see in education today are as powerful and innovative of the great leadership and risk and CHANGE from Washington and his contemporaries. While we in public education are not necessarily founding new nations or “dissolving the political bands which have connected us with another” (reference from the Declaration of Independence), we are at a revolutionary and innovative time in our world and in our implementation of education.

The changes we are implementing this year in DPS109 are revolutionary! The changes we are implementing on behalf of children – so that we may Engage, Inspire, and Empower – are necessary and proper and it is incumbent upon us all to support the student, staff, and community learning as we CHANGE and make changes to how we practice the craft of leadership and education!

I welcome your thoughts, reflections, challenges, and comments in general!