Yesterday I delivered my presentation to my staff in an attempt to help them think differently about projects. I offered two HOW suggestions
1. Use the Common Core Appendices to work backwards in project development
2. Walk the hallways and think location of project first before planning
Speaking to your own school is tough. I always think it is the hardest audience to prepare for because they all know you. I think it is much easier speaking to strangers. I always reflect upon my presentations and share out. I think this one went pretty good. This time of year is tough for educators as students start to shut down, weather is up and down, and we are in the midst of final exhibitions and making sure we dot the i’s and cross the t’s.
My goal was to help educators think in a new perspective. Often time when we are stuck we cannot find the answers we keep searching for. We keep resorting to the same path of thinking that has always worked in the past. We sometimes have to go a different route. It does not mean that our original mode of thinking is wrong or invalid. I am not suggesting that we add one more thing to our plates that are already full. Rather, just taking a step back and looking at things differently. As I watched my high school art teacher do the other week when I visited her classroom sometime you need to take your art, step back, and rotate the work to gain new insight.
I suggested working backwards. I hope it works. I think it caused some gears to turn. I would love to share more and learn from others who are doing this type of thinking. The hardest part of HOW is that there is not a formula. The only way to discover HOW is to do it. It will never be perfect, but you won’t know how good an idea is unless we try. Teachers must be given time to think, learn, fail, and experiment. We must be given the same opportunities as our students. If classroom instruction is going to improve, then they have to feel comfortable stepping out of their comfort zone.
This is a great topic and I wish I had more time to dig deeper on this. I was brainstorming last night how I could easily make this whole topic a workshop. Perhaps that is my next goal to develop my first workshop. I have achieved the goal of making myself present a session and now maybe it is time to plan for something a bit larger in context.
My slides are above. They are not my best work as my Macbook Pro died and I am waiting for my new Macbook Pro to arrive. I had to resort to Google Presentation. But, they got the job done. If you have any questions please let me know.
And now it is back to finalized my keynote to the National Honor Society students coming up in a few weeks on leadership, service, scholarship, and character. My first keynote and the most stressful of all things I have done.