Opportunity Ahead: Future Ready Professional Learning

Albert Einstein once said insanity is, "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." The past few years have brought many changes. Students today are saturated with digital tools, the Common Core State Standards require all students to communicate, collaborate and do research using technology and all students are required to test online. These changes require a fresh new approach to professional learning. Daniel Pink's book Drive explores what motives us. Pink uses decades of scientific research to explain we are motivated by our natural human desire to be self-directed, make progress and get better at what we do, and be apart of something greater. These principles must be considered in desiging Future Ready Professional Learning. Professional Learning today must leverage technology to create ongoing, high-quality, job-embedded, opportunities that meet the needs of the learner. I believe many teachers have what Carol Deck defines as a Growth Mindset. These teachers have, "a passion for sticking to it, even when it's not going well." Teachers with this mindset believe their "true potential is unknown" and "impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion, toil and training." Jason Atkinson (@jasonjusd), Ina Arbuckle 2nd grade teacher is one teacher with a growth mindset. This week I saw him present his students' work with Sparki the Robot at our Technology Leadership Network. His students have been using Sparki to write code to change geometric shapes, words and messages. Jason's students will participate in the CUE student showcase coming up this spring. Jason wasn't always a "techy" teacher. In a short time Jason has transformed himself into a light tower of energy inspiring every teacher, staff and student he meets.

Teachers need to be empowered to take learning into their own hands, learn at their own pace and focus on areas of their interest. Project RED is a study that survey nearly 1000 schools to determine if properly implemented educational technology can substantially improve student achievement. The study is a call to action to transform schools based on second-order change. Second order change is not easy change. "The change mechanism is broad scale and addresses all student populations," Project RED. I am looking forward to working with the teachers and staff of Jurupa Unified to design Professional Learning that is Future Ready.

Get Connected

I have to admit, when I took the #YourEdustory challenge I imagined I would try to blog once a month. The challenge was actually to blog once a week, but for someone who's never blogged I thought once a month would be a great accomplishment. Yet, here I am. My second weekend into the challenge and I'm blogging! The credit this week goes to @Catlin_Tucker. This weekend as I watched the NFL divisional playoffs, I did what I always do when I watch TV: I multi-tasked. I have a tough time sitting, even while watching amazing edge-of-your seat playoff game that will go down as the wildest of all time. As I watched the games, I read Catlin Tucker's new book, "Creatively Teach The Common Core Literacy Standards with Technology". Catlin used the description of a college and career ready student to make the argument that every student, "must be given countless opportunities to engage with different types of technology over the course of their kindergarten-12th grade education." For many teachers, making a shift to integrating technology into the classroom is a scary proposition. Catlin suggests 5 tips for getting started. The 5th tip is where I found my inspiration for this blog: Get Connected. Getting connected with others who have similar goals and aspirations inspires us to take risks, see a clear vision, and provide support as we continue to move forward toward accomplishing the goals we have set for our students. In the spirit of getting connected I wanted to take a moment to thank some of the individuals I have connected with throughout my educational journey.

Pat Monaco: I'll begin with my first mentor Pat Monaco, Jurupa Valley High School (JVHS) science teacher.  I met Pat in my second year of teaching. Pat not only taught me everything I know about teaching science, he is responsible for my decision to pursue a Masters in Educational Leadership. When I needed a letter of recommendation to apply for a Master's program. Pat refused to write one for anything other than for one that lead to a MS in Ed.

Pat gave me this card, "How To Empower A Person" - adapted from Stephen Glenn. I've reflected on this card numerous times since he passed it on.

Ilsa Garza Gonzales: As Principal of Jurupa Valley High School, Ilsa saw something I honestly didn't even see in myself: a leader. Ilsa gave me an opportunity to write the WASC report for JVHS and then gave me my first administrative position as Assistant Principal of JVHS. While for most, the first year of administration can be a nightmare, mine was a complete joy. Ilsa provided a clear vision and direction for where our school needed to go and gave me the tools and opportunities to spread my wings. To this day she is still my sounding board and encourager.

Ilsa connected me with John Maxwell at a conference at the Riverside Convention Center. I've since read over a dozen of his books. 

Paula Ford: As Assistant Superientendent of Business Services, Paula gave me an opportunity to lead our district into the 21st Century. In a short two and half years we've been challenged to upgrade infrastructure at every site in the district, build a data center, build a digital platform to support California Standards,  implement standards based report cards, and deploy 5000 chromebooks in the first phase of a 1:1 initiative. Through each challenge Paula has been by my side, sharing her experiences and providing me with the necessary resources.

Dennis Large and Mike Lawrence: You graciously agreed to be our keynote speakers for our first two #JUSDtechfest events. These events were enormous under takings. We were in need of inspiration to not only kick off our events but provide inspiration and a mindset going forward to create learning environments that mirror our students daily lives and the reality of their futures. Your keynotes hit a home run!

Vince Butler, Hamilton McDermott, Shane_Pinnell, Steve Thornton, Matt Penner, Jose Romero, David Thurston, Sue Gott, Mac Patel, Jon Lewis, Joseph Williams, Aaron Barnett, Beverly Beemer and all the amazing K20 educational technology leaders in the Inland Area Technology Group: I have an enormous respect and dependance on your many years of experience in this field. I look forward to learning and collaborating with each of you at our upcoming regional meetings.

Tim Goree, Jay Greenlinger and Colby Clark:  Fellow California Educational Technology Professional Association colleagues. I am continuously inspired and enjoy seeing what is going on in your districts. Thanks for sharing.

Dr. Lisa Gonzalez: My Leading Edge Admin Instructor. I'm grateful for your leadership during the #LeadingEdgeCert and continue to be inspired by your leadership.

Matt Harris, ED.D.: A international Ed. Tech leader. I'm constantly learning by your tweets, blogs and videos. You provide a unique perspective that is valued and appreciated.

Amy Noyes, Veronica Gonzalez, Jose Ramirez, James Heckman, Krystal Freeman, Matt Hahn, Angela Alaniz, Buzz Reagan, Nancy Rivera, Daniel Whitman, Joel Foster, Andrew Ayala, Michael Dumire, Jonathan Mendoza, Gus Hernandez, Christopher Harlander, Sonya San Juan and Sabu Thrower: the World's Greatest Education Information Technology Department. Every day you give your very best for Our Students. Our district would not be where we are today without each and everyone of you. You inspire and encourage me more than I could ever express. Thank you!

Cue Admin Rock Star Camp

Today was the final day of the Cue Admin Rock Star Camp. The Hero's camp provided new, hands-on skills for administrators who desire to create positive, disruptive, process of change in their organizations. The theme of the camp was a Hero's Journey based on Joseph Campbell's book: The Hero with a 1000 faces. On the final day we were given the opportunity to reflect on the new skills we've learned to take back to our district. The camp has truly made an impact on me and given me some new skills as we move forward in creating learning environments that reflect our students' daily lives and the reality of their futures: The Road to 1:1 Learning.

The final session I attended was, "Lead Change. Learn. BLOG"  presented by World-Class Mindset Leader and Co-Founder of @#CAEDCHAT Jo-Ann Fox. This session gave me several reasons to blog as an educational leader including: creating a positive digital footprint, communicating with digital tools, connecting with like minded educators, sharing my learning, and inspiring others. The Yoda meme below was encouraging.

The challenge was given to join #YourEdustory: a network of educators who make a commitment to blog once a week. Being someone who has never written a blog this seems like a daunting challenge.

So here it is, my first blog dedicated to my new community #YourEdustory.

What motivates me in my position? 

What motivates me in my position? Our students, Our schools, Our future. This is the slogan of the Jurupa Unified School District and I love it. Thinking about Our Students and their future motivates me to be the best I can be. This Monday, 18,991 students will walk through the doors of our schools to begin 2nd semester. Every day is an opportunity to make an impact on their lives and change their futures. Recently our district made the decision to provide an internet connected device to every student. The desired outcomes for the 1:1 initiative include: increased student engagement and productivity through personalized learning and equal access to technology, extend and expand learning beyond the school day – anytime, anywhere learning, provide authentic and relevant learning experiences, increase student achievement and academic rigor, increase 21st century skill development in collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving, digital literacy, global awareness, and finally students are creators and producers of their own content, not simply consumers of content. In today's global market place Our Students need the right tools to produce authentic work. Here's a short video about the 1:1 initiative here in at JUSD.

Some our motivated by money. Others by advancing their careers? How about you? What motives you in your position?