The Director's Cut: October 2015

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Be BOLD.....

Be BOLD!! That was the theme of this year's NEU National Convention in Dallas, Texas. I was privileged to have spent the last four days with educators from across the United States. We are all part of a "fraternity" as founder Damen Lopez refers to the No Excuses University network of schools. We are like-minded individuals connected through the NEU Network. What makes the network special or unique? The fact that we are all committed to doing whatever it takes to make EVERY one of our students successful in school AND in life. It isn't just about academics. It is about the whole child and there was no better keynote speaker to hit that home than Dr. Jeff Duncan-Andrade.

Our day two keynote speaker is one that I heard a year ago while attending a conference in Monterey. He has now brought me to tears twice. Dr. Jeff Duncan-Andrade from Oakland, CA spoke to us Friday morning. His presentation was nothing less than "REAL." The research is clear, and the single biggest protective factor against the toxic cycle many students experience is a caring adult. A few quotes from his keynote: "The master gardener never blames the seed for not growing. We need to change the conditions so our students can grow!" "You have to win the heart to win the head. Keep pouring love." "We might not change the world...but we can spark the mind that does." "The point of education is not to escape poverty, but to end it."

Dr. Andrade spoke about an encounter that Tupac Shakur had with Maya Angelou. An encounter that Tupac's mother states, "Changed his life." Ms. Angelou didn't even know who Tupac was at the time of the interaction. She responded to him as a young man that she considered just as valuable and important as if he was a son of her own. As educators we MUST be aware of where our students are coming from and what they are experiencing in their lives. We MUST each commit to being a caring adult in their lives. If you can commit to understanding, learning, adjusting, and being that caring adult, then you are exactly what we need at Fairfield High.

Here is a similar keynote of Dr. Andrade's from a TedTalk in 2011. You have to watch this to appreciate the message!!

Each year the NEU Network of schools has a Charity of the Year. This year's charity is Together We Rise. A non profit helping change the way thousands of kids experience foster care in the US. All NEU Network schools are going to join together to raise as much we can to support this great cause!!

https://www.togetherwerise.org/

Our ONE goal: To graduate every Fairfield High Student and to ensure that they leave FHS college and career ready!!!

Inspire, Engage, Excite, Lead, Foster, Create, Empower!!

Many more great things are in store for Fairfield High!

Continue to be innovative, creative, and a model of excellence!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Shared Leadership Continues

Back in September I blogged about the importance of Shared Leadership on our campus. I want to continue to talk about how leadership that is shared is what will make the biggest positive impact on our campus.

Last year Safe School Ambassadors began at FHS with around forty students trained and eight advisors trained to lead the Family Groups. We are now in year two and have been able to bring back ambassadors from last year and train another forty students this year. The process has been nothing short of remarkable.

Several students from SSA helped to put together a video that encapsulated what SSA means to them. Additionally, four student ambassadors came to our staff meeting last month and not only spoke to the staff but ran an activity that we all participated in. The message from the students was powerful and one that we cannot ignore. The voice of the student is paramount when we are designing lessons and instruction. Why? Because we need to know where are students are coming from, what their needs are, what their dislikes and interests are so that the delivery of the lesson is relevant.

The eighty Safe School Ambassadors are pivotal leaders on our campus. With the momentum they have after the two day training this past week we are sure to see a "pay it forward" effect on our campus. We must continue to entrust our youth with the strategies they can use to become empowered and ultimately be the change they want to see in the world.

Safe School Ambassadors and Advisors 2015-2016

Our ONE goal: To graduate every Fairfield High Student and to ensure that they leave FHS college and career ready!!!

Inspire, Engage, Excite, Lead, Foster, Create, Empower!!

Many more great things are in store for Fairfield High!

Continue to be innovative, creative, and a model of excellence!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK

Monday, October 12, 2015

The way I see my role as a leader....

As leaders we should not be looking to direct people's actions or to have others do it our way. We, like coaches, are given a unique responsibility to help bring out the talents of those that we lead. Very similar to a coach on the sidelines, we must be constantly assessing and reassessing for the next best move.

As leaders in education we need to see staff members' strengths and point those out and help to refine and polish those strengths. We need to identify the weaknesses, not to dwell on them, but to find ways to improve on those weaknesses; to compensate, to balance, to build capacity. We need to reinforce expectations that we see will get the team to a winning season.

What does a winning season look like? A winning season is an academic year where students are enlightened, find their way in the world, develop their own core strengths to move on from high school to the next chapter of their lives.

I will continue to encourage staff to take risks and to push the boundaries of what they thought was even possible. In turn they will feel empowered to do the same with their students. A cycle of mastery will ensue. The shared leadership we have on our staff is building the network of connectedness and trust that we need to solidify systems and processes that will survive beyond any one of us. Both staff and students need Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose to find the DRIVE or motivation needed to be successful. See Daniel Pink in his TED Talk from 2009.

I am looking forward to our November staff meeting where we will have our Tech Jam 2015. All staff will be able to see and experience first hand the many facets of GAFE, Google Apps for Education. Mini demos will take place led by your colleagues that are using GAFE and from our Ed Techs in FSUSD. Just one more way we are building capacity from within.

Our ONE goal: To graduate every Fairfield High Student and to ensure that they leave FHS college and career ready!!!

Inspire, Engage, Excite, Lead, Foster, Create, Empower!!

Many more great things are in store for Fairfield High!

Continue to be innovative, creative, and a model of excellence!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Beginnings of a #TechRevolution

There are many things said about what it means to deliver "21st Century Learning," or to create a school that is "Future Ready." However, we all know that talking about what is good for kids doesn't get us that far in making an impact. What does go far are our ACTIONS.

We started on a tech journey together last year at our very first staff meeting. Each staff member was presented with an iPad. The iPad was much more than just a device. It was a symbol to everyone of the commitment we were making to a #techrevolution at FHS. Since that day back in August 2014 the momentum in our #techrevolution has not slowed. We were assigned an Ed Tech specialist last year and his one on ones with teachers have increased and the support/guidance is ongoing throughout the year. Ten teachers attended the GAFE Summit in November 2014 at Rodriguez. Those teachers then shared at our Tech Slam and mini Edcamp later in the year. Over the summer 18 more teachers attend a GAFE Summit in July. We are preparing for the deployment of Chromebooks to every single 9th grader in just a few months. The admin team attended the CUE Rockstar Admin camp a week ago. And... we will be sending another cohort of teachers to the GAFE Summit coming up in November.

We are continuing to share ideas and encourage one another to try new things. Last week we started the #FHSTwitterChallenge. The thought process behind the challenge was to increase the number of staff members on Twitter, increase the activity of those already on Twitter, and ultimately show everyone why and how Twitter can be such a powerful tool in education.

For those of you that have not been in participating in our #FHSTwitterChallenge it is not too late to begin. Here is a snapshot of what has transpired in the first FOUR days of the SEVEN day challenge.