3 2nd Place Sucks, But...

So, I'll be the first to admit it.  I've had a pretty sucky year this past school year.  That's part of the reason my blog was quiet for so long.  While I am not writing this for a dose of Internet pity, I am writing it to offer a reason why I've been in such deep contemplation and what the result of that thinking is so far.

It started around this time last year after I was inspired by ISTE13 and all that I had learned.  I realised that I needed to get out there, be involved, and do some more learning, so I set a goal to apply to a doctoral program.  But, I didn't just reach for the stars, I jettisoned myself out into educational outerspace to boldly go where I've never gone before!  I decided to apply to only free doctoral programs which paid for me to study there with a student stipend.  (In case you didn't know, there's about 7 in all of the United States and they are some of the most HIGHLY COMPETITIVE schools in the nation.  What was I thinking?!)

I worked tirelessly to get amazing scores on my GRE (I kicked butt on the Verbal and sank like a stone in Math. Ugh!).  When the scores didn't go in my favor I worked harder on my Personal Statement and response to application questions in order to wow the reviewers right past my mediocre math scores.  Sadly, it didn't work and I was denied at all the schools where I applied.  While sad, I was proud for putting myself out there and reaching higher than I thought I could.  I was a role-model for my kids and that certainly counted.  What made me sad, as I wallowed in my "second place" finish, was that I didn't know WHY I didn't get in.  A little feedback would have gone a long way.  However, I was not deterred and pushed forward to find another goal to achieve.

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2 What Makes a 21st Century Leader?

I asked and you delivered! About a week ago I worked on a project with my Headmistress to help her create a presentation for an upcoming IB conference.  She was asked to speak to the Heads Council on leadership and she wanted to know how the IB Learner Profile fit with leadership in the 21st Century.  So, who better to ask than the Twitterverse to find out if the qualities of the profile really reflected the components of successful leadership in the 21st century?

The results are fascinating! First, I want to thank everyone from my PLN who answered the survey and retweeted it so that we could get a more extensive picture of what leadership in the 21st century looks like around the world.  While we could always get more answers, we did get a fair amount and we were able to make some interesting conclusions.

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3 Standardized Testing: One Small Change?

Today was a pretty yucky day at my school: Standardized Test Day. Here in Chile there are standardized tests that all fourth and eighth grade students must take called the SIMCE.  These tests are like the ones in the USA where the information is used to rank the performance of the schools around the country.  Along with the SIMCE in grade 4 today, our students also took the ISA tests in grades 3 and 5.  These tests help us compare our students with comparable International schools around the world.  In general, it was a pretty test-y day.

As the coordinator organising the administration of the tests, it occurred to me that not one of the students taking the tests really have any idea why they are taking them.  Yes, they know that they are important and that parents and schools put a lot of emphasis on the results, but I really don't think the students ever make the connection that it is THEIR results that we are looking at.  From a student perspective the whole process is so far removed that it is impossible for them to really gain any meaning from the results.  Why? Because we won't know the results of either of the tests until February or March of 2012.  At least 6 months from now.

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0 Inquiry is Alive, and Without Rules!

I had to take a break.  It was all too amazing and I needed time to process the event and give it space to breathe inside my head.  I've taken a week to process and now all I want to do is celebrate and shout from every roof top around the world!

Yes! We finished our PYP grade 5 exhibition for this year! (To see the whole affair documented from start to finish check out our blog here) As many of you know, I am a strong advocate for the PYP and I believe that the exhibition is one of the best aspects of the program.  At the end of their 7 years of study in elementary school the students are encouraged to lead and inquire on their own in groups.  It is an inspiring and amazing process that has been documented beautifully by @whatedsaid in her post here about her (just completed!) exhibition this year.  I've been fortunate enough to be a part of 11 exhibitions in three different schools over the years and all have been astounding.

I am celebrating many things with this exhibition.  Of course the usual litany of student educational milestones such as:

• Working on social skills through collaborative team work
• Identifying and writing a line of inquiry to focus their investigations
• Discussing, posing and refining key questions to guide research skills with primary and secondary sources
• Embracing the joy of learning, overcoming struggles with cooperation and reflecting on successes of oneself and a group

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2 Developing Passion Based Teachers: Midwifing?

I've been reflecting a lot lately on leadership, change and passion based teaching as is evident in the various blog posts over the last month.  Precisely, I'm in the midst of reflecting on what I can do to be a better leader for the teachers that I help; where can I let go and where can I lead.  Luckily, every once in a while, something comes along that gives you that little push that you need to get up and get going on a new path.  Thanks to @ktenkely and her latest blog post I received that passion-filled push that I was requiring!

On her post she placed the video that I also posted above.  While the message of creativity and passion are resoundingly clear, it was the part at the 12:00 mark that peaked my interest.  I encourage you to watch the entire video on this amazing school called High Tech High, but would ask that you pay particular attention to the final few minutes.

Here's a list of the points/quotes that I'm interested in with respect to leading my teachers toward becoming passion filled educators:

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23 #RSCON3... Above and Beyond!

I'm still buzzing from all of the amazing information and discussions that I had over the weekend at the #RSCON3 conference this past weekend!  While there were many, many sessions that I wanted to attend, I was only able to get to about 5 or 6 but they were really valuable learning moments for me as an educator.  While I did gather a ton of links and new tools (see my ongoing google doc), the conference was about more than just sharing resources; for me it was about INSPIRATION.

Three important messages came out of the this conference for me and I feel compelled to share them here:

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