Models Schools Day 2



Model Schools day two started off pretty well considering we did not get as much sleep as we planned….However we rolled into the convention center on time!!

We started off with college and career ready with Bill Daggett.  I was challenged as a teacher to try and make sure that anything that I do in class really draws the student into a cycle of thinking for themselves, instead of just me giving them the answer they need right away.  Trying to get the kids ready for the business world, where they will need to do their own thinking first.

Next up was a session lead by an Associate Principal from Brockton High in Massachusetts.  She was really excellent!  My school is an awesome school, and we have been very successful.  So seeing how a high school can maintain their momentum over the course of a decade was excellent and encouraging!

Gamefication of math was right before lunch, it was also fun to see.  Games have such a stranglehold on our kids (and me) why can’t we bring some of the fun and excitement of that atmosphere into the classroom.  This is like the 4th or 5th session I have been to over the last couple of weeks about games in education, and I feel like this has some amazing potential if it is harnessed correctly 🙂

More Ray McNulty after lunch and this session was about Extraordinary play to win!  Who doesn’t want to do that??  Discussion about moving to an active classroom, a culture of collaboration, to become a classroom that works like a business.  Seek authentic input from the students, adjust what I do, try again, and seek more input from the kids.  A continuous cycle – as long I can create a healthy system of feedback, I can truly step into the kids world and truly help them grow as students!

Last session was not really for me, more for the district administration – a lot of time about budgeting.  But there were some nuggets for me in there.  Try doing more with less.  I need to look at the data coming out of my room, look at works, what doesn’t, what is taking all of my time, is it worth it, are there results, what are they…..so more food for thought.

We closed the night with some photo ops in our capital, Washington, D.C.  What an absolutely amazing city!  We had the best time and seeing these things for real!  WOW1  How can you not be amazed and in awe!  I was especially excited to see the Vietnam Memorial.  My school, Edmond Memorial, took its name after six of our grads were killed in Vietnam.  We were able to find four of the names tonight and one of my colleagues is going back tomorrow to find the rest.  It was very powerful to see these monuments to our history.

We ended the night on the last train to Kings Street, then promptly headed to our hotel in the wrong direction…oops!  Man its late, and if you want a little entertainment, check my twitter feed for the two tweets from last night…Haselwoodmath