#BWLS2020

If you are a parent of a Big Walnut student, you may have heard about our BWLS 2020 vision.  In short, our goal as a district is to transform education by providing each child a personalized education.  We want to get away from the idea of school being a place where teachers are simply providers of information to a model in which they are assisting each student in reaching his or her maximum potential.

One of the questions I have heard is, "Wow, that sounds great, but why are we waiting until 2020 to do this?" That is a great question and here is my answer.  We are not waiting, but that is our deadline.  Many of the things I see happening in our classrooms at BWI have shown me this shift is happening.  We are not there yet, and it will take some time.  Time to get more technology, time to provide our teachers with more resources and training, and time to completely transition to this shift.  This model is not built entirely on technology. Technology in the classroom has been a great tool, but is simply that, a tool.  It will not replace the teacher. Your child will not be sitting in front of a Chromebook for seven hours each day.  That is not my definition of personalization.

This goal fits well with our district's mission of inspiring and guiding each student to his or her maximum potential.  We also feel it aligns with BWI's mantra of making sure kids are learning AND having fun.

The video below was created by Jen Wilson, our Coordinator of Instruction and Innovation.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Ryan McLane

Principal

BWI     

There's A Disconnect

If you have read my blog before, you know I am a proponent of the proper use of social media by schools and teachers.  I have tweeted recently that according to the PEW Research Center, 75% of parents use social media.  To me, this is a pretty good reason to at least explore the possibility of using social media to connect and communicate with your parents.  As a school leader, when is the last time you have had 75% of your parents in any one place?

Just yesterday, I came across another statistic.  According to a survey conducted by the Harris Poll for the University of Phoenix, 87% of teachers have not incorporated social media into their classrooms.  That is an incredible disconnect, and quite frankly, a missed opportunity.

Our school, Big Walnut Intermediate, located in Sunbury Ohio, has embraced the use of social media with the support of our central office staff and school board.  We have seen amazing results in the past two years because of it.  Great things were happening in our schools, but I am not certain that message was getting home to our families.  Through the use of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, that message is now being delivered, and our parents are appreciative.  In has made it down to the classroom level, as we now have teachers doing their own video newsletters, class blogs, and Instagram pages.  These are tools that not only inform our families about what is happening in their child's educations, but also serves as a hook to get the kids excited about coming to school the next day.

Again, the statistics are pretty mind boggling, and at least warrant a conversation about using social media. 

Not Getting Rid of the Teachers' Lounge

Ohio's Governor, and Republican Presidential candidate John Kasich was recently quoted as saying the following, "If I were not president, but if I were King of America, I would abolish all teacher's lounges, where they sit together and worry 'woe is us.'" Now his spokesperson quickly dismissed the statement as simply a metaphor, and was shocked educators took it literally.

Now in full disclosure, I was not an English teacher, so I cannot say with 100% certainty that the statement would actually be classified as a metaphor, perhaps grandstanding would be a better description, but I digress. 

I walked into our Teachers' Lounge this afternoon and saw the following posters made by our students.  Our students, 5th and 6th graders at Big Walnut Intermediate, made inspirational posters for our teachers.  Where better to hang them than in the Teachers' Lounge?

Perhaps they heard Governor Kasich's comments and decided to help him to inspire our teachers. Our kids know who he is as our school has been the recipient of the Governor's award for excellence in STEM education in Ohio for three consecutive years.  They certainly must feel a bond (If I had a spokesperson, they would be proclaiming my use of satire right now).

I will not get rid of our Teachers' Lounge literally or metaphorically for the following reasons:

• Our staff talks about how to help kids in that room. 
• Our staff gets to know each other as people in that room which leads them to working harder for each other because they CARE about each other. 
• Our teachers share great ideas in that room. 
• The next great "thing" may very well come from that room. 

John Kasich may become POTUS, or VP, or maybe just remain Ohio governor.  However here is what he did with his statement. He further motivated a group of positive educators to be even MORE positive. 

I agree that no one likes to hear anyone play the "woe is me card."  However, what is even more annoying is when some politicians play the "teachers are the bad guy" card.  I do not think John Kasich is a bad guy, but I KNOW my teachers are not as well.

Teach Like A PIRATE DAY 3, In The Books

In Teach Like A PIRATE, the author, Dave Burgess, asks what would happen if the kids were not forced to show up to a teacher's class?  On Teach Like A PIRATE Day, we put that question to the test.

This morning, we allowed 514 5th and 6th grade students to go wherever they wanted for an entire day.  That is always a scary thought, and this is the third year I have been a part of such an experiment, and the results have been consistently amazing.

• Our attendance rate was near perfect (98.3%)
• Our discipline referrals were almost non-existent (had two today, both were from recess).
• Our kids ran TO the next class because they were so excited
• Our kids are excited about learning in the last week of school
• It is exhausting

Kids will run to your class if you give them a reason to.  They will do this in September, November, March, and even May.  Kids will be so engaged in their learning they will not have time to think about doing things they should not be doing.  If you are struggling with classroom management, consider the activities of your lesson rather than adding more restrictive rules.

When I first put this idea out to my staff three years ago, I really had two purposes.  One, I wanted the teachers to see that kids could be excited about their classes.  Secondly, and more importantly, I wanted the teachers to create these experiences on an ongoing basis.  My hope was, we could make school exciting more often, not just on one designated day.

I have changed districts since that first TLAP Day in Utica, and we have already accomplished these two goals at Big Walnut Intermediate.  I see phenomenal, engaging, Teach Like A PIRATE activities going on all throughout the school year, not just one out of 180.  However, this is not the end of TLAP Day.  It continues to become bigger and better each and every year.  Once again, we had educators from around the state travel to Sunbury, Ohio to witness this educational/social experiment and I am not going to lie, I take great satisfaction in knowing we are influencing schools around the state and even around the country.  School does not have to be a miserable, oppressive place.

Three years ago, we were the only school in the world to try TLAP Day.  Today, we Skyped with a school in Missouri who was doing their very own TLAP Day.  The idea is spreading, which means our kids are benefitting.

Today our kids had a videoconference with employees at Google, created their own art, participated in science experiments, learned about Chinese culture, used critical thinking skills in solving problems, flew to the moon, faced the Shark Tank, built their own roller coaster, went on multiple scavenger hunts, and made their own bouncy balls.  They should sleep well tonight.

This has been such a successful endeavor because our teachers are on board.  They put in their own time and their own money in creating these experiences.  Without their hard work and dedication, this would never happen, and I cannot thank them enough.  We also have a great community who is supportive of some of the crazy things we do.  You have no idea how nice that is.

Check out our hashtag on Twitter for photos of the day.  #tlapday3

156 kids in Mystery Skype

Teach Like A PIRATE Day, 3 Weeks Away

Our Teach Like A PIRATE Day will take place on Monday, May 18, 2015.  This will be the 3rd one I have been a part of.  I have to be honest, this one has the potential to be the best one yet.  The main reason for this is because of the enthusiasm of our students and our staff.

When we did the first TLAP Day back in 2013, no one really knew what it was.  I did not let the kids know about it until a few days before it happened.  Last year we began to hype it well in advance, and now, new students enter our school asking about it.  The secret is out.

Our community has embraced this day and local businesses are beginning to put their money behind it.  While we are far from going corporate, local businesses are offering a helping hand.  Our art teacher spoke to the manager at the local Wendy's fast food restaurant to ask if they would donate salad containers for an art project.  Once our teacher explained TLAP Day and how kids run TO the next class, the manager could not say yes fast enough.  The question to my art teacher was "How many do you need?"

I have worked in schools in which it seemed like the community did not support the schools.  When I reflect back, I ask myself, "Did the schools give the community a real reason to want to support them?"  

I hate to make blanket statements.  I cannot say that if you do this in your school that suddenly the community will have your back.  This community supported the schools long before I came to Big Walnut, but TLAP day gives them one more visible reason why they should.

Teach Like A PIRATE Day 3, A Month Away

Two years ago, we put the essential question in Dave Burgess' Teach Like A PIRATE to the test:  if kids didn't have to be there, would you be teaching to an empty room? On May 22, 2013, we gave 270 7th and 8th graders more freedom than they had ever had in their educational lives.  We let them go wherever they wanted for an entire school day.  Teach Like A PIRATE Day was born.

Since then, it has grown and spread.  I have changed districts and brought it with me, other brave educators have tried it and have experienced similar success.  If you create extraordinary experiences for your students you will see extraordinary results.

So for the next month, my blog posts will be dedicated to sharing the process.  I have been contacted by so many educators who wanted to do this in their schools, but just have so many questions.  I have emailed, Skyped, and talked to several people on the phone to help them through the process.  It has been great to connect with so many people and to see this phenomenon spread.

Hopefully these posts will guide you to do this yourself.  At the very least, it may be entertaining reading to see what a crazy school in Ohio is going to do on May 18th.

Why We Are Here

I recently read an opinion piece in Education Week about a Teach For America teacher hanging it up after six years.  I'm not taking a shot at TFA, because quite honestly, that piece could have been written by anyone regardless of their training.  That piece could have been written by me at some point in my career.  

Teaching is hard, and we often hear that it is a thankless job, and sometimes it is.  Sometimes in life, regardless of our profession, we will feel unappreciated, undervalued, and begin to question ourselves and our own abilities.  However, sometimes, that is not the case.  Sometimes parents send notes of thanks, provide food for our staff during conferences and Teacher Appreciation Week, give gifts around the holidays, and even make cookies with your school's name on them.

Before I left my building on Friday, there were two teachers still there celebrating, legitimately joyous over the fact that two students had reached levels of success in their classrooms that was unprecedented for them.  For me, as a principal, you do not know how powerful and meaningful that is.  More importantly, these moments are exactly why we are here.  As teachers, you are changing lives every day, for the better or for the worse.  We have no idea what some of these kids are going through in their lives, and if you think, "Oh kids are not experiencing that in our school" you are wrong.  As teachers, we have to remember that is why we got into this profession in the first place.

This week, you will do many things in which no one will thank you.  However there will likely be a time when someone does.  Don't forget to remember those things as well.