Teaching Values

I found a recent article in Education Week to be more than a little provocative, but provocative in a good way. It made me think a lot about teaching, values and ethics. I teach ethics to both Master's and Doctoral students and am fascinated by how each of us develops our own unique ethical code.

Too often schools choose not to talk about morals, beliefs and values because it smacks of trying to teach students our own values. Children grow up in families but they spend significant time in schools. These experiences in school help to shape their own development, and with it, their own identity.

I'm not a proponent of prescribing a set of values. But I do recognize that through our actions we model certain values and beliefs. The way we organize our classrooms, the way we build relationships, the way we respond it times of crisis all reveal our beliefs and values. Schools are not void of values. They're just not discussed.

The article suggests three things educators can do to embrace the role of developing ethical and civic identities in students.

• First, leverage the Common Core State Standards. Use their implementation as a time to work with your community to talk about how to become engaged in their schools and support the study of global issues.
• Second, evaluate your school climate to see if it provides an environment where students feel safe, and are supported and valued.
• Finally, when designing culminating projects base them in both academic and community-service based activities. They can help nurture values like civic responsibility.

I'm really interested in how others respond to this article and to the idea of explicitly helping students develop values and beliefs in our students.

Get Organized! Time Management Tools for School Leaders

Principals are always looking for useful strategies to deal with the many tasks they manage. One of the leading experts on time management for school leaders is Frank Buck, author of Get Organized! As a former school principal Frank's advice is anchored in a realistic view of the responsibilities of a principal. One of the strengths of the book is the practical ideas that he presents, ideas that can immediately be implemented to strengthen your time management skills.

Frank maintains a blog that provides the most recent ideas about time management strategies. You can also find Frank's tips on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest. His book is available from Eye on Education. 

Reducing the Risk, Increasing the Promise

I'm always looking for great ideas to share with teachers and principals. Last week I read Reducing the Risk, Increasing the Promise by Sherrel Bergmann and Judith Brough. I was touched by the stories they shared of students with such promise who were at risk of failing in school. The authors identify six essential social skills that contribute to student success---resilience, resourcefulness, responsibility, relationships, respect and the ability to read.

But the most important feature of this book is the useful set of strategies and tools to help students reduce risk and increase promise. Every chapter provides ideas that teachers and families can immediately use to help students develop each of the six essential skills.

Reducing the Risk, Increasing the Promise is the latest in a useful series of books by Bergmann and Brough. Others include Teach Me--I Dare You!, Lead Me--I Dare You! and Teach My Kid--I Dare You!  All are available from Eye on Education.

When Values Collide: Beliefs Shape Decision-Making

In several of my courses we talk about personal belief systems and how they shape the way we do our work and make decisions. The challenge is that in any school people often hold different beliefs, grounded in their own unique experiences. This leads to some pretty intense discussions about beliefs, about ethics, and about "right and wrong." I'm always looking for ways to extend the discussion and provide school leaders with tools they can use to think about the different beliefs present among their teachers, staff and community.

This week I saw an article on edutopia that was especially helpful in thinking about this issue. The article, Teacher Collaboration: When Belief Systems Collide, by Elena Aguilar, is built on Garmston & Costa's work in Cognitive Coaching where they discussed the ideologies that shape educators' decision-making. I want to share the article and hope you find it useful to think about your own personal "ideology" and how it shapes what you do and how you see the work, and motives, of others in your school and community.

As always, I'd welcome your thoughts about this topic.

Supporting Homeless Students

Schools have a legal, as well as an ethical, obligation to serve homeless students. While the McKinney-Vento Act, now a part of NCLB, identifies the requirements, it doesn't offer practical suggestions that teachers can use to work with homeless students and their families. I recently read an article from AMLE (Association for Middle Level Education) that suggests 10 things teachers can do to support homeless students. I found it incredibly useful and will be using it in many of my classes.

I'd enjoy hearing from you about how you, your school or district addresses the needs of homeless students and their families.

Power of Professional Learning Networks

Social media and other forms of technology provide powerful tools for people to take charge and manage their own learning. A Professional Learning Network (PLN) is the term used to describe a network of online colleagues and friends who support one another's learning. While a PLN can occur face-to-face increasingly they occur online and allow you to tap into the knowledge and expertise of people who hold a similar job but with whom you are not acquainted. They also allow you to access information and tools from professional organizations and experts in your area of interest. eSchoolNews recently included a story about the power of PLN's. It can help you consider how a PLN can support your continued learning.

Google offers a set of tools for creating a PLN (http://sites/google.com/site/buildingapln/). Another useful site is Once a Teacher (http://tinyurl.com/olousp). Some of my students create a Twitter account as a way to connect with professional friends and colleagues.

You can read more about how a PLN can support your learning and the learning of others in your school in my recent book, co-authored with Dr. J. Howard Johnston, The School Leader's Guide to Social Media available from Eye on Education.

I'd enjoy hearing from you about how you continue your own professional learning.

Students Who Challenge Us

This week ASCD has been sharing information about tools and strategies that both teachers and principals can use to work with students who challenge us. Two ASCD Smart Briefs examined the issue. Part I looked at the difficulties faced by students with "learning and behavior challenges." Part II provides resources for reaching students "struggling with far more than learning the three R's."  It's a really informative set of reports because it provides links to other resources and tools.

Here are the links to the two SmartBriefs.
     Part I - http://tinyurl.com/8vy4em5
     Part II - http://tinyurl.com/9xsdofs

ASCD's SmartBriefs are a really concise way to stay up-to-date on current educational issues. You can sign up here and will then receive a daily e-mail newsletter.