In search of a timid trapeze artist

Good luck with that, there aren't any.

If you hesitate when leaping from rope to another, you're not going to last very long.

And this is at the heart of what makes innovation work in organizations, why industries die, and how painful it is to try to maintain the status quo while also participating in a revolution.

Gather up as much speed as you can, find a path and let go. You can't get to the next rope if you're still holding on to this one.

the ability to collaborate globally, to share transparently, to value all cultures and skills, to search rapidly and effectively, to choose tools wisely, and to do a lot more than read and comprehend, but to be constantly able to adapt knowledge to changing environments and situations. It also includes the ability to work anywhere (like an airport, as I am doing now), from many devices, with every kind of person, through every kind of interface. And it means thinking deeply, in transformative ways.

Ira Socal's description of what learning needs to be about today, in my opinion, is what we ALL need to working towards!

20 Things Students Want To Know About Education - Lisa Nielsen

NBC learned quickly during its Education Nation series what many of us in schools already know and that is if we really want to get to the heart of an issue then we should get input from our students.  Why don't we do this more often?

Below is the list of comments by students from the segment about school that Lisa shared on her blog:

1. I have to critically think in college, but your tests don't teach me that.
2. We learn in different ways at different rates.
3. I can't learn from you if you are not willing to connect with me.
4. Teaching by the book is not teaching. It's just talking.
5. Caring about each student is more important than teaching the class.
6. Every young person has a dream. Your job is to help bring us closer to our dreams.
7. We need more than teachers. We need life coaches.
8. The community should become more involved in schools.
9. Even if you don't want to be a teacher, you can offer a student an apprenticeship.
10. Us youth love all the new technologies that come out. When you acknowledge this and use technology in your teaching it makes learning much more interesting.
11. You should be trained not just in teaching but also in counseling.
12. Tell me something good that I'm doing so that I can keep growing in that.
13. When you can feel like a family member it helps so much.
14. We appreciate when you connect with us in our worlds such as the teacher who provided us with extra help using Xbox and Skype
15. Our teachers have too many students to enable them to connect with us in they way we need them to.
16. Bring the electives that we are actually interested in back to school. Things like drama, art, cooking, music.
17. Education leaders, teachers, funders, and policy makers need to start listening to student voice in all areas including teacher evaluations.
18. You need to use tools in the classroom that we use in the real world like Facebook, email, and other tools we use to connect and communicate.
19. You need to love a student before you can teach a student.
20. We do tests to make teachers look good and the school look good, but we know they don't help us to learn what's important to us.

Patrick Larkin shared these 20 statements on his blog and they ring so true. We need to commit to listening to our students! They know as much of what goes on in school and needs to change as Bill Gates or Fran Tarkenton!

Our Response has to Change!

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Dave Meister

I think the most troubling part of what I am talking about is the discussion on reform.  We as educators know that no two students, families, schools or communities are the same.  A standardized approach to educating our children is not going to work.  Continually testing such a narrow part of what is important in our curriculum is not going to make our system stronger.  We know that poverty is a huge factor in why some students do not meet expectations across this country.  We also know that the majority of teachers in this country are dedicated professionals that care about students and their growth.  People working in American classrooms know that the current charter school movement, merit pay schemes, and the dissolution of teachers unions are not going to make our schools magically produce results that put us on top of the international NAEP results.  The folks who are in control of the edreform movement do not care what we say because we are gaining no traction by telling the world they are wrong and we are right!  We have to be willing to talk about solutions to the problems that do exist.  We have to talk about our successes and frame them in the context of how our students are learning and growing.  We have to show how what we do in all areas of education (outside of math and reading) will allow our students to become competent citizens and participants in our diverse economy.  The next time John Stewart asks a prominent education advocate what our plan is to make sure our students have the best education we can offer, the answer has to be something other than the other side is wrong.

Ok, I am quoting myself here, but I feel this so strongly and many folks probably did not read this far down into my post. Folks, our focus has to be on students and learning!

My 5% plan

I have a 5% plan too. But my plan is to try something different. It is to take 5% of US public schools, spread across every congressional district, and eliminate age-based grades, subject-area divisions, expectations about "highly qualified [subject area]" teachers, absolute rules on days and hours of attendance, artificial divisions such as Special Education, Gifted and Talented, and Advanced Placement, and, of course, all "high-stakes" tests except for the NAEP.

In place of all that I want 1:1 wireless access. I want school buildings open many hours of the day (if not 24), with public libraries, computers, classrooms, and gymnasia in the evening. I want teachers committed to personal professional development, and teachers with time to gather and learn from each other. I want universally designed instruction and universally designed furniture and universally designed technology. I want continuous use of the community and the world in the classrooms.

One that is based on student passion and project oriented. Teachers as guides or co-learners. I keep hearing what we are doing works well for roughly 30% of our student population. I think any thing that we do will work well for those students. We need to change for the others.

I begin to think that we as (in my case, aspiring) leaders need to understand that all of the children, parents and teachers we come into contact with have individual needs - perhaps unmet needs that we must dissect in order to understand. Not all children come out of the box ready to move forward. Not all parents are perfect and certainly not all teachers can handle every situation. AND knowing that sometimes we need to adapt, improvise and overcome what is thrown at us on a daily, if not hourly basis is a must. Because "switchin it up" has to be one highlighted bullet on our resumes - it is on mine...how about yours?

@mountain teacher hits a very strong note here! We have to realize that even though we all might be talking about the same issue, we more often than not have a perspective on that issue that is not shared by those we speak with. Adaptation is the key. Taking in information, looking at the issue from all points of view and realizing the differing needs of our constituents is a must. Easy stuff the leadership thing...Not! Nice post Adam!

I think Bill Gates is right. We do have to have excellent teachers and we need to bring more talent into the classroom as many great teachers are leaving for various reasons. I can't help but think that maybe Mr. Gates should ask the man in the mirror to follow his own call. I think the understanding he could gain by spending some time in the classroom, seeing the day to day from an adult perspective (not the image from his youth), might better help him to help us make our system better. What do you think? I have couple openings for next year..........