IMMOOC - Week 2 - Observe & Report

This is the second post in my continued participation in the Innovator’s Mindset Massive Open Online Course (IMMOOC).  My first, from last week, can be found here.

I’ll admit, I was overwhelmed by the amount of content generated by this Online Course last week. The word “Massive” is a fitting moniker. There were thousands of educators participating through Blog, Twitter and Facebook posts throughout the week. I was fortunate to be available to view the Live YouTube chat  featuring Jo Boaler & George Curous on September 25th while concurrently following an active Twitter feed around the global hashtag #IMMOOC & my own board’s hashtag #IMMOOCTVDSB. It was impossible to keep up with all of it. I did, however reflect on this sound bite from Joan Boaler as an important reminder.

This week, I continued to re-read the book, with an eye toward the following questions that were presented to our group:

• How can you create opportunities for innovation in your leadership? In your teaching? In your learning?
• If you were to start a school from scratch, what would it look like?
• Take one of the “Characteristics of the Innovator’s Mindset” (see below) and write an example of how you exemplify it in your own work.

I am going to start with the final prompt and answer it simply. I will then use the other two prompts to support that answer. The characteristic of the Innovator’s Mindset I want to look at is #5 - the ability to observe.

How can you create opportunities for innovation in your leadership? In your teaching? In your learning?

My new role as an Instructional Coach has taken me out of the conventional classroom setting. Although I am enjoying new opportunities, I miss the familiarity of a high energy Grade 5 classroom. I miss the daily opportunities to spark excitement, support calculated risk, foster meaningful inquiry and promote creativity. Last year, I was genuinely enriched by the progress my students and I made as we embraced a new approach to tackling curriculum.  Bolstered by Trevor MacKenzie’s wonderful book “Diving into Inquiry” and strengthened by numerous professional development opportunities, I had the confidence to take chances.

I want to apply this approach to my new position. However, I know this is going to be a challenge. I am still acclimatizing and building relationships. Intuitively, I recognize that both leaders and innovators need to begin as observers. That has been a challenge for me. I am so excited to get things rolling. Much like the experience George Couros details in Chapter 1, “I took on this position knowing it was a bit of a risk” and, for now I need to learn about the constants before I start to push for change. I guess, borrowing his analogy, I need to spend my time in ground school before “trying to build an plane in the air.”

If you were to start a school from scratch, what would it look like?

When I first read this question, I reflected on the two new schools that were built in my board over the past year. I was fortunate to be able to follow the progress on Twitter and I knew that all the hallmarks of a modern education institution (flexible seating, STEAM-EDU, Project Based Learning, GAFE, etc.) were being embraced by the administrative team that was chosen to open them. In fact, had I not been successful in my application to be an Instructional Coach, I would have applied to teach at Sir Arthur Currie Elementary last May.

As I reflected further, the monumental undertaking that must be involved in starting a school from scratch became overwhelming. I mean, it is easy to point out the flaws in any new undertaking - particularly one as important as a school. Shamefully, I admit that, as a member of a staff who experienced the challenges of a school’s expansion, I have willingly participated in the criticisms...

• “Why didn’t they do that?” 
• “Did they not know that a basketball court needs to be wider?” 
• “Couldn’t they have put more plugs along the back wall for the computers?”
• “Really, two new bathrooms for over 400 new students?”

Like the proverbial "Monday Morning Quarterback" or “Armchair General” it is easy to see the faults when given the benefit of 20/20 hindsight.  So, I guess I would do everything I could to ameliorate the complaints - with the recognition that mistakes will be made and overcome. I would begin by assembling the best possible team I could find. People with experience, foresight, passion, wisdom and smarts. I would draw from as many qualified sources as I could find to make the best possible decisions. Once again, I find myself recognizing the same truth I identified when responding to the first prompt.

Innovators need to be observers first.  

I’ll think about that this week - as I continue to try to build relationships through staff room conversations.

#IMMOOC - Week 1 - Innovation from Adversity

This autumn, I will be participating in the Innovator’s Mindset Massive Open Online Course, known by the odd sounding acronym IMMOOC.

This is the 3rd event to be centered around the George Couros book “The Innovator’s Mindset - Empower Learning, Unleash Talent and Lead a Culture of Creativity”. I read the book last year, but this is an opportunity for me to participate with over 1000 other educators in a series of YouTube live sessions and Twitter Chats. Additionally, we are encouraged to write weekly blog posts from prompts that are provided in the days leading up to each session.

This week, we were asked to read the Forward and the Introduction to the book. The questions posed were

a. Why is innovation in education so crucial today?

b. Talk about a time you dealt with adversity in education, and how you overcame it?

I enjoyed the read. I even took the time to watch the suggested videos from Kate Simonds TedX Talk I'm Seventeen and the delightful Be More Dog commercial.

a. Why is innovation in education so crucial today?

Innovation in education is so crucial today because, as Couros puts it, “To succeed, (students) will need to know how to think for themselves and adapt to constantly changing situations.” Katie Simonds raises the concern that traditional models of education can limit this skill. As she puts it, “we’re teaching them to stop thinking outside the box and to accept adequacy. We’re teaching them to conform to standards and to lose their creativity. But, before this happens, students don’t think of logistics or limitations, they’re fearless.”

I agree, we need fearless creators in our future. We need the kind of thinkers who do not shy away from challenges - young people who embrace change and can maximize the technology that will shape our world. To some extent, my motivation is self-serving. At 52, I am staring squarely down the fairway of the back nine in my adult life. People like 17 year old Kate are going to be the caretakers and wardens of this world - which is particularly important to me, as I move into my senior years. I need them to be adaptable, creative and passionate. I do not want them accepting adequacy and the status quo. Consequently, I need to do my part now to empower my students to be creative risk-takers who, like the cat in the “Be More Dog” video, recognize that “the world is amazing” and that they can contribute meaningfully to it.

b. Talk about a time you dealt with adversity in education, and how you overcame it?

In 1989, getting a mandatory math credit for my undergraduate degree seemed an insurmountable task. I took two half courses, one in calculus and the other in finite computation and probability. To my complete surprise, I got through the calculus course with a passing grade...barely. During the spring, as I plugged away at discrete and continuous distribution theory, I could feel it all slipping through my mind like sand through open fingers. The more I tried to make it stick, the more impossible it felt. I was unsuccessful. I bombed the mid-term and things only got more complex as I worked toward the final exam - which I left early. At the very least, I recognized quickly that my probability of passing was zero.

I talked with my professor a few days later. I let him know that I had not completed the exam and wanted to see if there was another course I could take that would satisfy the requirements of a half credit.

“Do it again in the fall”, were his words of advice. “I’ll be teaching it and I’ll be mindful of your presence. I will talk with you after each class and, if necessary, I can set you up with one of my teaching assistants to get support.”  

I did take it again and made excellent use of the resources provided to me. Additionally, because I knew the professor was mindful of my presence, I arrived at every class early and prepared.  Admittedly, I had missed a few classes during my first run and I was famously tardy. I passed the midterm with a nearly perfect score. Given that this was worth 40% of my final grade, I moved into the more challenging parts of the course with renewed confidence. I was less successful on the final exam, but I managed to secure a grade in the high 60’s.  

Reflecting on this experience and the first section of the book leads me to the following:

 

• I want to be the educator that makes kids persist and who is there to support them in their efforts.
• I want to be an educator that is constantly mindful of their presence and their goals, so that I can recognize when they are struggling.
• When it comes to creating a culture of innovation, I want to use the words that my professor used with me - “Do it again.”