Leveraging Learning

I'll be honest, my summer was icky. Without going into the specifics, I can safely say this was the worst summer of my life. I wish I were exaggerating, but I am not. Typically, I read fiction all summer, but this year I never connected with any of the books I tried. I turned instead to professional reading and I read quite a lot. Books, blogs, articles - all of these helped my inner nerdy teacher to heal and feel productive. As I read, I kept a list of the basics of what I had learned on the back of an old receipt. It served as a bookmark and a way to record my thinking and learning - haphazard, perhaps, but effective. As I read and jotted, I was able to reflect and synthesize. Here are some of the things I learned: Don't be isolated. As teachers, we like to close our door and do our thing. When things go wrong in life, we like to close the door and be alone. This is the wrong approach. I spent some time with colleagues this summer - at a TEDx event, showing up at summer...

Like many others in America, I had a Wimbledon breakfast. I will be honest and say that I only did this for my kids. I am not much of a tennis fan and for most of this morning's match between Serena Williams and Garbine Muguruza, I was reading the paper and listening with half an ear. As a mom of two boys, I watch a great deal of sports. As a non-sporty person, I find most of the games boring. This morning, I started paying attention only when the match was over. For me, that was when the drama started. Garbine Muguruza played well - my kids said so and she must have to make it to the final round. But as you know, she did not "win." Tennis is a more civilized sport than some of the others I have watched with my kids. Often in a final game of a season, a team wins and celebrates and a team loses and mourns. Today was different. The game ended and everyone waited. A ceremony began. Garbine Muguruza was given an award for second place. Everyone stood up and clapped. ...

Today was an awesome day. In spite of the gross and muggy weather, teachers and students worked hard to make things happen at summer school. Walking around, I bore witness to meaningful lessons and productive interactions. It was great. After school, I was fortunate to go to my pool. Swimming after summer school is such a treat. I can cool off and reflect on the day as I count my laps of play pool soccer with my kids. Following today's swim, I made the decision to sit in the shade with some teacher friends of mine. While we have never worked together in a school, we share a great deal in common. Some of my group are retired. Some work in public schools and others independent. Even so, our similarities far outweigh any differences that may exist. All of us are committed to helping students learn and improve our craft. In some ways, it is the best PD around - not just because of the Vitamin D or the water - but because of the discussion. It centers on positive change and humor....

I have spent the last two weeks dwelling in lofty ideas. I attended a TEDx event, read educational books and blogs, had lively conversations about ideas with teacher friends and debriefed with my own children about their academic year. It was great! Relaxing, engaging and really fun. Tomorrow, I have to go to work. Not the "lofty idea" type of work, either. The "all day, it is really hot, helping kids be successful and supporting other teachers" type of work that is Summer Spark. This is my second year running Summer Spark. I learned a great deal and had a wonderful time last summer.  Reflecting on last summer's successes and challenges has been a fun endeavor which was heavily peppered with lofty ideas. Lofty ideas typically inspire change, and so some of the things we did last summer needed to be altered or removed and replaced with something new. This, of course, meant work - evaluating last year, synthesizing new ideas, adapting them to meet our nee...

I had a biology teacher in high school named Ms. Zak. She was tall, strict and austere. I remember being a little afraid of her. If she disapproved of what you said, she would say, "Oh, really?" in a way the conveyed disbelief not only in the answer, but in the thinking behind it. She knew how to keep a class in line, but she also knew her stuff. I learned a lot from Ms. Zak, most of which I still remember (although, I never was able to locate the heart in the crayfish dissection. "Maybe it didn't have one," I said to Ms. Zak. "Oh, really?," she replied.) Ms. Zak had a large sign on her wall above the chalkboard that said ADP. And she would often remind us that ADP applied not only in nature, but in her classroom. Adapt. Migrate. Perish. She would point it out in nature all the time. If a student was unprepared for class, she would point to the sign and say, "You must adapt to our guidelines, migrate out of this class or you shall perish....

The last two months of school have been grueling. There were assessments to be finished, activities to be planned, trips to be taken, graduations to be rehearsed and meetings to be attended. On top of that, there were unexpected crises to be managed - like when the bus driver got lost on the way home from our trip or when the computer we needed for that one project crashed. Another factor in all the mayhem were all the good-byes. Watching all my students graduate or leave is always hard. This year, I had to add our Head of School (who is also a very dear friend) to the list of "graduates." Both of my children graduated this year and are transitioning to new schools, which means saying good by to all of the teachers, bus drivers, administrators and secretaries we love. All of the excitement and change happened in the blink of an eye. It seems like just last week we were returning from Spring Break and now, all of a sudden, it is over. How does that happen? These last two...

"We forward this generation triumphantly" Bob Marley wrote many of my favorite songs. At the top of the list is Redemption Song . I learned to love it on a hilarious vacation I spent with my family a few summers ago. There was a fellow staying a few houses away from ours who exuberantly embraced all the beach had to offer - paddle boarding, kite flying and wooing women. After each day's endeavor, he sat on the porch and played the bongos while singing. Hence his nickname, Bongo Boy. Bongo Boy wasn't a particularly skilled kite flier or paddle boarder, nor was he a great musician. In fact, he mumbled his way through  Redemption Song without really knowing the words. Still, his enthusiasm was impressive and his zest for living unparalleled. He fell off the paddle board often and most of the women said no. He didn't even know the words to the song he loved so much, but he sang it anyway. Even so, I think Bongo Boy moved forward his generation triumphantly. ...