My Incredible Friend, Rose

I couldn't think of a better way to end this horrific news week than to have lunch with Rose Williams. She was a daughter, and granddaughter. She is a sister, wife, and proud grandmother, but she is also a Holocaust survivor who has spoken to our 8th grade students the past few  years. She recently celebrated her 89th birthday and as a gift this year we created a scrapbook of thank you letters from our students.

She was moved to tears as she browsed through the letters that explained the lasting impact her story had on so many of our students. This tiny, but strong, woman witnessed the worst kind of evil at Auschwitz and at the hands of Josef Mengele, but her message to our students is one of forgiveness and love.   Most of this week I've been at a loss for words and just profoundly sad to see the divisions in our country. The hateful rhetoric carelessly tossed about by citizens and some former elected officials is just staggering. I feel like we could all learn from Rose, this brave woman who not only survived the most hateful period the world has seen, but has actually chosen forgiveness. She is the example our children so desperately need to steer away from hate and revenge. She told our students that a lifetime of hate is too much to bear and we are seeing right now in our country what happens when the burden of hate overtakes some. Bringing her message to my students is one of the greatest gifts I can give them.  

 As an educator, mother, human being, I will strive to continue to spread Rose's message to the young lives I encounter. I am so blessed to know this amazing woman and I wish we all had a Rose in our lives. Our world needs her voice more than ever.

Taking the scenic route

Summer is the season of road trips, and this summer I've managed to take several short, 2 hour or less, trips with my girls.  Now, when I drive, I just want to get to my destination as soon as possible: gas up before I leave, no bathroom breaks, no drink stops - just hit the road. My method is unlike the method of one of my sisters who likes to take the "scenic route".  I admit, there are some times when I enjoy the scenic route as well, it's just not my preference.

Several years ago I began a journey to revamp the technology offerings at my campus.  This was NOT like my no-nonsense road trips.  There were NUMEROUS stops in the journey, but I'm happy to report that journey was successful!

Trying to change my district's traditional route was a bit tricky!

 What DID happen when that particular journey was over, was that I discovered another journey needed to be taken.  This one required me to slow WAY down. When the new technology arrived on my campus, I quickly came to the realization that I had some very eager passengers joining me on this ride.  I even had some who would take over the driving and navigation - those teachers who were eager to play with the tools; they would discover, on their own, new ways to use those tools in the classroom; they were eager to teach others what they had learned. These co-navigators were my LIFE-SAVERS, my MOTIVATION to not give-up.  They were crucial to my sanity and I am forever grateful for them.  The other realization was I had some people who were not at all prepared for this new journey and some who wanted no part of it.  Honestly, this wasn't a huge shock to me.  I knew I would need to do a lot of encouraging to help some people along.  What was surprising to me was how impatient I was with this process.  It's taken me awhile to realize I'm not the patient person I always believed I was.  It's taken several more years to actually admit it. I'm a slow learner.

you want me to do WHAT during Summer?

All of last year, training was put in place to help staff members become familiar with their devices and learn about some new tools that would support and enhance their instruction. And although, I did see a little growth with some teachers, it was a small number.  This was not going fast enough for me - I had to re-think my route!  I decided to do something crazy and asked teachers to join me in a series of Summer Challenges to help beef up some tech skills and learn about some new tools that would hopefully have a lasting impact on their teaching.  I was hoping the less stressful time of Summer would take the pressure off of learning something new.  When I introduced this idea to my ever-patient principal, he agreed and cautioned me to not be disappointed with the participation rate.  Now, let me just say I work with a phenomenal group of teachers who have taught me how to be a better teacher, leader, and person in general.  But, even the most enthusiastic teacher or even my co-navigators could not be faulted for sighing heavy sighs when hearing about this summer learning opportunity.  Some were just a little better at hiding their reluctance/skepticism.

Each week during June/July a new guided challenge was posted in Google Classroom to learn or discover a new tech tool that would help in some area of teaching: Google Classroom, Google APPS, Assessment, Communication, etc.  The following week after the challenge was posted I asked my colleagues to join me in a Twitter chat (#hgmschat) to discuss the challenge, what they learned, and how they planned to use it for and with their students.  The "chats" were everything I hoped they would be - ENGAGING, MOTIVATING, and ENTHUSIASTIC!  One thing they were not? Packed with my colleagues.

I soldiered on with those who did continue with each weekly challenge, and each week my gratitude for their insights, ideas, and enthusiasm deepened.   Near the end of our 5-6th week, I made a FANTASTIC discovery. I had some "sneaky" learners!!  I saw that some colleagues who hadn't officially joined in the challenges took some of the posted topics and engaged with them in their own way.  What a fabulous step! It made me look at things a bit differently.  Their learning doesn't have to look one way/my way (shouldn't be a revelation, but again, I'm a slow learner!). This has changed my entire approach to helping my colleagues this year.  I've decided that this slower paced journey will actually be better. I think/hope I will always have some enthusiastic learners and helping just a few of them at a time has immense benefits.  It allows me to really focus on their needs and they in turn can help others learn the skills we learned together.  It's a longer approach, but one with more lasting benefits (I hope!). I believe this small group that took the Summer Challenge journey with me, will help "spread the news" about the benefits of the tech tools we discussed.  They can now become positive spokespersons for using the tools and may encourage  some new passengers to join our journey.  They also become another resource teachers can seek out when they are ready to learn a new tool. My principal always talks about building our in-house capacity and I think these challenges did that for our campus.

My sister always tells me taking the scenic route oftentimes leads you to discover unexpected pleasures.   The past eight weeks proved her point. I discovered new strengths in some of my colleagues and I'm hopeful those strengths will benefit even more of our colleagues.  I also discovered that as long as I know I'm still moving toward my ultimate destination,  I can deal with a slower pace.  My journey continues!

**all  images courtesy of pixabay.com