The Dream: Leadership for School Change HTH 212
The classroom learning environment and experience extends and revolves around projects aimed at engaging each student with the content.
Doing projects, Building models, Presenting, and performing are activities that my friends and colleagues found most meaningful to their lives. Someone gave them the chance to "mess around" or experiment with a keyboard, guitar, or photography lab. The experience inspired them to take their interests to the next level and became a deep part of who they became as adults.
Students are given time to work and "mess around" and "Play" with the content and material they are working with in each class until they can effectively demonstrate their full understanding. Practice, experimentation and questioning are highly encouraged and time is spent expanding upon student’s quandaries.
Teachers would work together within teams and help with frequent productions of exhibitions, concerts, performances open to the public that demonstrate the student’s hard work, knowledge and growth.
Teachers should be able to work/progress/learn from their own teaching experiences. Professional Development would be designed around the teacher’s interests and passions in order to further develop our expert staff
Ideally, the school should be a place that not only draws the community together, but also works to improve the lives of everyone involved.
The Focus of my Dream School
My Dream School has a primary focus on Music/Performing Arts
Hands on Lab Classes would include
Instrumental Music Ensembles including
The classes would be geared towards making the knowledge meaningful and valuable to the real world.
Class might include
Each student would be assigned an Expert/Master Teacher/Advisor for the year that oversees his/her individual progress towards collective goals on their selected interests.
Most of all, teachers are happy to work with other adults, parents and teachers "FOR" the benefit of each student and school community. After talking with numerous colleagues, friends and students about their "DREAM" schools, I noticed several underlying trends beginning to come forward.
Transparency: Teachers want to be in the loop with other teachers and understand what they are doing in other classes. Teachers want the learning to flow across class disciplines and connect to student’s lives and the outside community.
Meaning: Teachers want "their" work turn into meaningful work for the students. Teachers want students to be proud of their work, learning and development. Every interaction, lesson, and experience should be meaningful for students.
Relevance: Content, Lessons, and Projects will be designed around student’s interests and passions. Frequent public student work exhibitions, open houses, performances will communicate student learning to the surrounding community.
The Reality…
The reality of this of course is that I just spent 3 hours last night at the Education Center to show the school board how much music means to the students of San Diego Unified School District. We packed the auditorium wearing “save music” stickers and signs as many students, parents and teachers publicly addressed the board. We desperately fight to save what little we have left and to protect the programs we have worked so hard to breath life into. However at my site an even harsher reality looms.
For the past five years, our school has done everything possible to keep an alternating A/B Block Schedule. The school district is proposing to eliminate funding for transportation for students in the VEEP and Choice programs. 200 of our students would be affected by this cut and it would reduce our enrollment from approximately 875 to 675. This reduction in student population will force our site to return to a more traditional 6 or 7 period day and would also eliminate 6-7 teaching positions.
Although this looks very grim and it can be easy to succumb to the negativity circulating the teacher’s lounge there are several “bright spots” in which I am choosing to focus the majority of my energy and effort.
Elective Teaching Team and Motivated Teachers
There are several members of our staff who I have worked with throughout the year on school wide projects. These teachers are highly motivated, creative, and work very well as a team. I find myself sharing my learning from HTH GSE with these teachers on a weekly if not daily basis. They will be the initial “core” of my team to help steer the school towards my vision.
Technology
Our school has received many benefits from the i21 program and we have received laptop carts, smart boards, Promethean boards, projectors and document cameras. The students are very skilled and motivated when working with this technology. Our computer lab may be the next place that we take the music classes. There are many great programs to help teach the basics of music theory as well as learning to play any instrument. I would like to implement this into my existing music program for all grade levels.
Schedule as a benefit to students and teachers (mindset)
I see the current schedule as inequitable to PE and Elective teachers. Core teachers see their students everyday for 90 minutes. We see our students every other day for 90 minutes. Although many parents and teachers like the 90 benefits of the 90-minute periods I think that the elective and PE classes need to be shorter and everyday.
Switching to a 6 or 7 period day will also require more elective choices to be offered to students. Students may even be able to take 2-3 electives of their choice over the year instead of 1. Seeing an elective teacher everyday will reinforce consistent routines and procedures in ensemble classes and allow students to build solid fundamentals and skills.
This could also “shake up” our current elective design and bring more core teachers into the “elective world”. I am excited to see what topics and classes might be offered based on our teachers “Real” interests and passions.
Principal and Administration Support
The principal and administration have been very supportive of the music and elective programs for the past 5 years. They are happy to help us in anyway possible. The principal has been very eager to hear about Project Based Learning and we frequently discuss readings, theories, schedules and school reform. I feel that a focused and planned vision will inspire the school to move forward one step at a time.
The Changes/Proposals…
Voluntary/Interested teachers will take on an Advisory “elective” course.
We call our advisory period an Advisory but it is really nothing more than a “reading/holding” period for all of our students. Currently teachers are not required to “teach” anything during this period but several teachers are using the period to help their students improve on a subject area and enjoy seeing the students pursue their true interests. The “Drama” advisory class is entirely student project based. Students can choose to work on a drama project or participate in quiet reading. Students also bring excerpts of plays to the teacher’s attention and she helps share them with the entire class. It is a very positive collaborative environment for the 35 students involved. I propose that teachers use this period to share a passion of theirs with this class. This would not be required “extra prep” for the teachers but an opportunity for the teachers to share one of their “valued interests” and really get to know and understand this group of students instead of treating them like cattle in a pen passing time.
Work with teachers to create more collaboration and transparency.
This will require a change in mindset for the entire staff. Teachers have become very isolated and private about what happens within the walls of their classrooms due to the long blocks of time they each spend with students. The team design we choose will incorporate groups of teachers that communicate and work together with a common goal or thread between them. I want to work with teachers to create “flexible learning periods in which students could move to another class during the school if they needed more support or if they needed a challenge. This idea comes from what I currently do with advanced 6th and 7th grade students. I ask their teachers if they are able to come to the advanced 7th or 8th grade group for 20-30 minutes a day and work with more advanced students. If the students keep up good repiore and grades with all of their teachers, I then invite them to perform with the advanced groups for the concerts. This motivates students to work very hard in all of their classes in order to be selected for the advanced concert performance. I feel that I know the most about “these” students and their work because of the positive communication between all of the adults involved and the students. If we could build a design around this concept I think teachers would see more beautiful and diligent work and students would become more proud of their growth and involvement in the music programs.
Allow elective classes to be grouped according to ability level and experience.
Instrumental music ensembles need to be grouped by ability level. Having a wide range of beginning to advanced students is not equitable for the students in these courses. Advanced students deserve to be challenged and beginning students need support. Music is a language that transcends age. This will allow programs to be built based upon the levels of each student, not their age or grade. I also see this collaboration to have the potential to positively affect our entire campus in terms of how different grade level students interact with one another.
The Step(s)
Action: Allow elective classes to be grouped according to ability level and experience.
I began planting the seeds towards grouping elective classes based on experience and not by grade level the first year I taught at Pershing. I vote for a six period day schedule every year that we make the decision as a staff. Recently, after speaking again with my elective team of teachers about this idea, we concluded that grouping students by experience levels in all of our classes would be a positive change. Our small group has been talking to the principal, administration and other teachers to gain support for these ideas.
Success: The principal has said several times that I will be able to have a mixed ensemble of 7th and 8th grade students for band and orchestra next year. I may be able to have two ensembles combined, one beginning and one advanced but as long as it’s a new step forward I will be happy.
Action(s): Voluntary/Interested teachers will take on an Advisory “elective” course.
(AND)
Working with teachers to create more collaboration and transparency.
This second semester I began teaching content to my reading advisory class. It was clear that many of the students read for hours and felt like their time at school could be better spent. I have started the “practice project” with this group and have shared insight from Kathleen Cushman’s “Fires in the Mind” and Daniel Pink’s “Drive” which looks extensively on where motivation comes from and how to develop mastery. The end goal is that these students will eventually present and teach my band and orchestra ensembles about deliberate practice and what they can stand to gain from understanding “how to get really Good at something…” I also plan on documenting and sharing the progress of the practice project with the entire school via the morning student voice broadcast. I hope that this initial experience will begin to open up new ideas, creativeness, communication, collaboration and transparency between all teachers and members of our staff.
Success: Filming and Recording The Practice Project begins next week. Both digital literacy teachers and all of the students involved are very excited.
Timeline:
Week 1: Department meeting, discuss the reality of our schedule limitations next year and decide what would be best for all elective students regarding grouping by ability or grade level, Discuss what other electives we can offer with our existing staff. Write group proposal of ideas for administration.
Week 2: Meet with Principals about our ideas.
Week 3: Speak at our all school staff meeting about our grouping ideas and gain feedback and questions from teachers. Discuss future electives and survey our staff for teachers who may be interested in teaching an elective during their advisory class.
Week 4: Host a group meeting for all teachers who are interested in teaching an elective during advisory and discuss ideas, questions and potential problems.
Week 5: Meet with principal and follow up on our progress as a group of motivated teachers.
BACK TO HOME
Doing projects, Building models, Presenting, and performing are activities that my friends and colleagues found most meaningful to their lives. Someone gave them the chance to "mess around" or experiment with a keyboard, guitar, or photography lab. The experience inspired them to take their interests to the next level and became a deep part of who they became as adults.
Students are given time to work and "mess around" and "Play" with the content and material they are working with in each class until they can effectively demonstrate their full understanding. Practice, experimentation and questioning are highly encouraged and time is spent expanding upon student’s quandaries.
Teachers would work together within teams and help with frequent productions of exhibitions, concerts, performances open to the public that demonstrate the student’s hard work, knowledge and growth.
Teachers should be able to work/progress/learn from their own teaching experiences. Professional Development would be designed around the teacher’s interests and passions in order to further develop our expert staff
Ideally, the school should be a place that not only draws the community together, but also works to improve the lives of everyone involved.
The Focus of my Dream School
My Dream School has a primary focus on Music/Performing Arts
Hands on Lab Classes would include
- Keyboarding/Electronic Music theory
- Music Composition
- Sound Design/Engineering
- Recording/Mixing/Mastering/Production
Instrumental Music Ensembles including
- Concert Band
- Orchestra
- Jazz band
- Contemporary Guitar Ensemble
- Ukulele Choir
- Show Choir
- Chorus
The classes would be geared towards making the knowledge meaningful and valuable to the real world.
Class might include
- Home Economics and Craft Building (how to build merchandise)
- Instrumental Wood and Metal Shop (instrument building maintenance and design)
- Website Engineering and Design (marketing your music/self as musician)
- Photography/Photo-shop (marketing/advertising)
- Visual Art/Painting/Drawing (artwork/design for web/merchandise/business)
Each student would be assigned an Expert/Master Teacher/Advisor for the year that oversees his/her individual progress towards collective goals on their selected interests.
- Diverse (from a wide range of economic, racial and social backgrounds)
- Focused
- Driven
- Proud to call this "Their" School.
- Physical layout of each classroom
- Routine but flexible schedule of classes
- Students, Parents and Teachers meet, discuss, and follow through on student progress and individual growth.
- Student work will be graded by traditional means however "progress and growth" will also contribute to final grades.
- Experts
- Dynamic
- Passionate
- Motivated
- Dedicated to teaching
Most of all, teachers are happy to work with other adults, parents and teachers "FOR" the benefit of each student and school community. After talking with numerous colleagues, friends and students about their "DREAM" schools, I noticed several underlying trends beginning to come forward.
Transparency: Teachers want to be in the loop with other teachers and understand what they are doing in other classes. Teachers want the learning to flow across class disciplines and connect to student’s lives and the outside community.
Meaning: Teachers want "their" work turn into meaningful work for the students. Teachers want students to be proud of their work, learning and development. Every interaction, lesson, and experience should be meaningful for students.
Relevance: Content, Lessons, and Projects will be designed around student’s interests and passions. Frequent public student work exhibitions, open houses, performances will communicate student learning to the surrounding community.
The Reality…
The reality of this of course is that I just spent 3 hours last night at the Education Center to show the school board how much music means to the students of San Diego Unified School District. We packed the auditorium wearing “save music” stickers and signs as many students, parents and teachers publicly addressed the board. We desperately fight to save what little we have left and to protect the programs we have worked so hard to breath life into. However at my site an even harsher reality looms.
For the past five years, our school has done everything possible to keep an alternating A/B Block Schedule. The school district is proposing to eliminate funding for transportation for students in the VEEP and Choice programs. 200 of our students would be affected by this cut and it would reduce our enrollment from approximately 875 to 675. This reduction in student population will force our site to return to a more traditional 6 or 7 period day and would also eliminate 6-7 teaching positions.
Although this looks very grim and it can be easy to succumb to the negativity circulating the teacher’s lounge there are several “bright spots” in which I am choosing to focus the majority of my energy and effort.
Elective Teaching Team and Motivated Teachers
There are several members of our staff who I have worked with throughout the year on school wide projects. These teachers are highly motivated, creative, and work very well as a team. I find myself sharing my learning from HTH GSE with these teachers on a weekly if not daily basis. They will be the initial “core” of my team to help steer the school towards my vision.
Technology
Our school has received many benefits from the i21 program and we have received laptop carts, smart boards, Promethean boards, projectors and document cameras. The students are very skilled and motivated when working with this technology. Our computer lab may be the next place that we take the music classes. There are many great programs to help teach the basics of music theory as well as learning to play any instrument. I would like to implement this into my existing music program for all grade levels.
Schedule as a benefit to students and teachers (mindset)
I see the current schedule as inequitable to PE and Elective teachers. Core teachers see their students everyday for 90 minutes. We see our students every other day for 90 minutes. Although many parents and teachers like the 90 benefits of the 90-minute periods I think that the elective and PE classes need to be shorter and everyday.
Switching to a 6 or 7 period day will also require more elective choices to be offered to students. Students may even be able to take 2-3 electives of their choice over the year instead of 1. Seeing an elective teacher everyday will reinforce consistent routines and procedures in ensemble classes and allow students to build solid fundamentals and skills.
This could also “shake up” our current elective design and bring more core teachers into the “elective world”. I am excited to see what topics and classes might be offered based on our teachers “Real” interests and passions.
Principal and Administration Support
The principal and administration have been very supportive of the music and elective programs for the past 5 years. They are happy to help us in anyway possible. The principal has been very eager to hear about Project Based Learning and we frequently discuss readings, theories, schedules and school reform. I feel that a focused and planned vision will inspire the school to move forward one step at a time.
The Changes/Proposals…
Voluntary/Interested teachers will take on an Advisory “elective” course.
We call our advisory period an Advisory but it is really nothing more than a “reading/holding” period for all of our students. Currently teachers are not required to “teach” anything during this period but several teachers are using the period to help their students improve on a subject area and enjoy seeing the students pursue their true interests. The “Drama” advisory class is entirely student project based. Students can choose to work on a drama project or participate in quiet reading. Students also bring excerpts of plays to the teacher’s attention and she helps share them with the entire class. It is a very positive collaborative environment for the 35 students involved. I propose that teachers use this period to share a passion of theirs with this class. This would not be required “extra prep” for the teachers but an opportunity for the teachers to share one of their “valued interests” and really get to know and understand this group of students instead of treating them like cattle in a pen passing time.
Work with teachers to create more collaboration and transparency.
This will require a change in mindset for the entire staff. Teachers have become very isolated and private about what happens within the walls of their classrooms due to the long blocks of time they each spend with students. The team design we choose will incorporate groups of teachers that communicate and work together with a common goal or thread between them. I want to work with teachers to create “flexible learning periods in which students could move to another class during the school if they needed more support or if they needed a challenge. This idea comes from what I currently do with advanced 6th and 7th grade students. I ask their teachers if they are able to come to the advanced 7th or 8th grade group for 20-30 minutes a day and work with more advanced students. If the students keep up good repiore and grades with all of their teachers, I then invite them to perform with the advanced groups for the concerts. This motivates students to work very hard in all of their classes in order to be selected for the advanced concert performance. I feel that I know the most about “these” students and their work because of the positive communication between all of the adults involved and the students. If we could build a design around this concept I think teachers would see more beautiful and diligent work and students would become more proud of their growth and involvement in the music programs.
Allow elective classes to be grouped according to ability level and experience.
Instrumental music ensembles need to be grouped by ability level. Having a wide range of beginning to advanced students is not equitable for the students in these courses. Advanced students deserve to be challenged and beginning students need support. Music is a language that transcends age. This will allow programs to be built based upon the levels of each student, not their age or grade. I also see this collaboration to have the potential to positively affect our entire campus in terms of how different grade level students interact with one another.
The Step(s)
Action: Allow elective classes to be grouped according to ability level and experience.
I began planting the seeds towards grouping elective classes based on experience and not by grade level the first year I taught at Pershing. I vote for a six period day schedule every year that we make the decision as a staff. Recently, after speaking again with my elective team of teachers about this idea, we concluded that grouping students by experience levels in all of our classes would be a positive change. Our small group has been talking to the principal, administration and other teachers to gain support for these ideas.
Success: The principal has said several times that I will be able to have a mixed ensemble of 7th and 8th grade students for band and orchestra next year. I may be able to have two ensembles combined, one beginning and one advanced but as long as it’s a new step forward I will be happy.
Action(s): Voluntary/Interested teachers will take on an Advisory “elective” course.
(AND)
Working with teachers to create more collaboration and transparency.
This second semester I began teaching content to my reading advisory class. It was clear that many of the students read for hours and felt like their time at school could be better spent. I have started the “practice project” with this group and have shared insight from Kathleen Cushman’s “Fires in the Mind” and Daniel Pink’s “Drive” which looks extensively on where motivation comes from and how to develop mastery. The end goal is that these students will eventually present and teach my band and orchestra ensembles about deliberate practice and what they can stand to gain from understanding “how to get really Good at something…” I also plan on documenting and sharing the progress of the practice project with the entire school via the morning student voice broadcast. I hope that this initial experience will begin to open up new ideas, creativeness, communication, collaboration and transparency between all teachers and members of our staff.
Success: Filming and Recording The Practice Project begins next week. Both digital literacy teachers and all of the students involved are very excited.
Timeline:
Week 1: Department meeting, discuss the reality of our schedule limitations next year and decide what would be best for all elective students regarding grouping by ability or grade level, Discuss what other electives we can offer with our existing staff. Write group proposal of ideas for administration.
Week 2: Meet with Principals about our ideas.
Week 3: Speak at our all school staff meeting about our grouping ideas and gain feedback and questions from teachers. Discuss future electives and survey our staff for teachers who may be interested in teaching an elective during their advisory class.
Week 4: Host a group meeting for all teachers who are interested in teaching an elective during advisory and discuss ideas, questions and potential problems.
Week 5: Meet with principal and follow up on our progress as a group of motivated teachers.
BACK TO HOME