My 3 Biggies

I recently accepted the position as Creativity and Innovation Strategist for the Canton City School District (CCSD). My role is to work with teachers and administrators as they integrate creative and innovative ideas to engage students and improve student achievement. While many of these ideas will involve technology, changing teaching and learning is more personal than just adding a layer of technology on top of the normal course of business.

I spent most of my first week listening and observing. This is a necessary first step for any leader and it was invaluable to me as I formulated my top three ideas for implementation. While my brain is usually flowing with ideas, it was important to me that I start with a small number of ideas that would impact the most number of people, provide the best return for investment across the entire district, and cause the least amount of undue stress (because face it, change stresses people).

Google Apps for Education

Collaboration and communication are the building blocks of any transformation and no other tool allows for such seamless collaboration and communication as Google Apps for Education (GAFE). Shared documents are just one way for administrators, teachers, and students to collaborate. Tools like Google Chat and Google Hangout expand the walls of the classroom and allow for learning to take a less prescriptive and more fluid, natural path. Additional apps, like Sites and Blogger allow students to create and share with authentic audiences, which is essential for learning in a global society. I saw first hand how GAFE transformed teaching and learning at #LHS1to1 from @LeydenTechy, @LeydenASCI, and @JasonMMarkey and want to see these same results in CCSD.

Twitter

When CCSD hired me, I fully intended to bring my whole twitter network with me. As you can imagine, I was surprised to find out Twitter, aka my “always on” lifeline to professional learning and growth, was blocked by the district filter. So, I am advocating that we immediately unblock Twitter and provide all instructional personnel with training on how to use Twitter for professional networking and real time information sharing (yes, I’ll be using @s_bearden Twitter 201 information from #ISTE13 as a launching point). We live in an age where it should no longer be acceptable to be an isolated teacher in a closed door classroom. Our teachers need each other to help spawn and build on ideas; Twitter is the perfect way to do this.

Teach Like A Pirate

Yes, that's me enjoying my pirate moment.

CCSD recognizes that we need to change the way we are teaching so that we can reach all students on a personal level so they can achieve their maximum potential. While my first two ideas are focused on technology tools, my third is around passion. My first week has been filled with discussions on assessment, data, and progress monitoring. While these are certainly important tools for measuring student growth in an era of accountability, they are no substitute for passionate teaching. We need to teach and lead with reckless passion and therefore I am advocating that the district leadership team read Dave Burgess’ (@burgessdave) Teach Like a Pirate (TLAP) and start to exhibit traits of pirates as we work with administrators and teachers. Pirating should start to spread through the ranks to principals to teachers and culminate in a district-wide #TLAP day in the spring.

These three ideas are my shot over the bow of the CCSD ship. Pirates have lots of tools, strategies and creativity around being the best, but these three tools will have the biggest initial impact. With the other mutineers that I have met this week, I suspect that CCSD will be the new Black Pearl in education - no one will be able to catch us!