Kids give it to you straight.

We are going through an Ideation process in our district with facilities. We have different focus groups; students, admin, board members, staff, and support staff. They ask a number of different questions starting with values, what's important to them in their high school, etc.

Fun to hear what they had to say when it came to "What life skills will you need when you graduate?" Besides the humorous (how to cook Ramen noodles and Mac and Cheese), they were very insightful and it is fun to hear your kids get it right. They mentioned accountability for all they do, a great work ethic, dedication, respect for others, determination, focus on the big picture, self-motivations, common sense, basic life skills, ability to adapt, desire, passion, faith in yourself, confidence, perseverance, organizational skills, and tech savvy skills.

Great, thoughtful answers by great kids. My question, "Do we provide opportunities for students to develop those skills in our school?"

What makes a teacher GREAT?

Here is a link that talks about that question. Takes less than a minute to read. Same stuff we have been talking about here at LHS. What if we had our students first day of class define what a great math teacher looks like? Or science teacher? Music? Phy-ed? That would be a great way to start a conversation with new students.

Change in Focus

Going to change the focus of my blog. Hard for me to keep up with an announcement type blog for the public. Going to start using my blog as a tool for our staff to follow trends in education, great articles or information that I come across. There a number of school administrators using their blogs and Twitter for professional learning for themselves and for their staff. It is truly amazing what is out there for information and how easily it may be passed on to those who could use it best. Continuous learning is a must education. Technology can make it more efficient for staff to keep on the trends in their specific teaching area or finding out about ideas that are out there that they may use in their classroom. I need to thank our Media Specialist for giving me the idea to change the focus of my blog. I want to be a technology leader in our school so this is a good way to start when I have a long way to go!