MLK Day - What is Your Dream?

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and one of the most famous speeches ever known, "I Have A Dream", an attempt to identify Dreams for Education. What is your Dream as related to Education? What will it take to make it happen? Are you working within a system that encourages change?

"I Have A Dream.....

• That People stop others when they begin to talk negative about education while not knowing facts
• That People are aware they are always selling Newell-Fonda with every interaction both in person and online
• That People are proud to be part of something special and their actions support this
• That teachers, students, and patrons feel they are treated with respect and fairly when they come to our school
• That all staff treat each student as our best customer
• That people feel they can approach all administrators with constructive dialogue in an effort to make the system better
• That change is embraced as the norm rather than another thing we have to do
• That students embrace and excel with the tools we provide
• That people embrace being an active participant of “The Great Conversation” as referenced by Jamie Vollmer in his book Schools Cannot Do It Alone
• That Iowa can impact teaching and learning
• That our students can connect with learners from all over the United States
• That business and industry connect with schools to move change"

These are a few of my "dreams" for our system that I feel are important as we move forward.

Our entire staff, certified and non-certified, are reading the book by Jamie Vollmer as referenced above and I am hearing some promising comments from our dialogue. Change will occur and our employees are empowered to initiate the change.

I would encourage all to push on your system and stretch your staff. Iowa has a lot of talent working in its schools and they need to be given the opportunity to share outside of their four walls.

Be sure and check out the visions shared on our new DE Director's blog where he asks 3 questions to Iowa educators. It appears change will be supported from the top, this is a great time to be in education!

Don't Take It For Granted: Teaching in a 1:1

To all staff working in a 1:1, and specifically the Newell-Fonda high school staff, currently wrapping up their second year of 1:1, and to our 5-8 staff who will be added to the 1:1 next Fall. When you operate in a 1:1 it is easy to take for granted what we have our hands on, which is the ability to do things differently for kids. To engage and challenge them in learning. Having the students take control of that learning, and leveraging technology to differentiate learning to fit the needs of each student.

Below is video from Russ Goerend, a 6th grade teacher from Waukee Middle School. You may need to watch the video more than once, because his son is pretty cute. He also has been a person I follow on Twitter, and from my interactions with him, both in person and through Twitter, he gets it. I don't want to put words into Russ' mouth, but in my mind, Russ understands that the 1:1 environment is not about the machine, but rather about changing teaching and learning. I got permission from Russ to share his video here, but I encourage you to check out his blog and comment on his ideas.

Make the most out of working in a 1:1 environment. Will it take work? absolutely, but if done correctly, it could be some of the most meaningful work for both teacher and student. Thanks to Russ for sharing his ideas, the guy deserves to teach in 1:1! So while Russ continues to wonder what it would be like to teach in a 1:1 school, those in a school need to take advantage of it every day. As you progress on the journey, make it about teaching and learning, not about the computer!