vernon back to school presentation
TRANSCRIPT
This is the YearFlexibility and Networks in a Changing World
September 18, 2017
CHRIS KENNEDYSuperintendent of Schools, West Vancouver School District
Presentation to the staff of School District 22 -Vernon
#sd22learns
#brightfutures
With thanks to Bill Selak: http://www.billselak.com/2012/thingsthatsuck
AWESOME OR NOT!?
The current state of students success in Vernon Schools?
The opportunities for students in schools?
The opportunities for staff professional growth?
Optimism Like No Other Time
• New Government
• Revised Curriculum
• Additional Staff
• Steady Finances
• Healthy Enrolment
The BC Difference
And in a Summer that saw THIS
We were busy HERE
Excellence or Equity?
Weakness of the relationshipbetweenachievement and familybackground (ESCS Index)
Studentachievementinreading,mathematicsandscience(PISA)
Weakequityand lowquality
Strong equityandhighquality
Strong equityand lowquality
Weak equityandhighquality
• Singapore
Weakness of the relationshipbetweenachievement and familybackground (ESCS Index)
OECD, 2016
Studentachievementinreading,mathematicsandscience(PISA)
Qualit
• HongKong
• China
2015
• Reduce the prescriptive nature of curriculum
• Allow for flexibility and choice for teachers and student
• Respect inherent logic in disciplines while supporting
interdisciplinary learning.
• Enable teachers to be creative and innovative in their
design of learning experiences
Guiding Principles
• Core competencies provide the foundation for the curriculum
• All core competencies are now posted
• Created on a continuum (not by grade level)
Curriculum – Core Competencies
Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting
How do I acquire and
then make sense of all
of the information
available
to me so I can make
choices that will benefit
me in the future?
Individual Challenge #2How do I find hope?
Once found, how do I
build and sustain the
enthusiasm, energy and
just plain will
to be continuously
adaptive?
Individual Challenge #3Where do I fit in this
world? What is
available to me? How
do I achieve a balance
between my needs and
all of the forces and
influences around me?
Individual Challenge #4How do I make all of
these decisions, and
take all of these
actions, in a way
that allows me to
maintain a sense of
who
I am? How do I take
pride in what I do?
Working in Two Worlds
Transforming involves patience and time.
What has changed?
RELIABLE INTERNET CONNECTIVITY
DEVICES FOR STAFF
BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE PLANS
PHONES
SOCIAL MEDIA
WI-FI
UNBLOCKING
FLEXIBILITY
ACCESS
ACROSS MANY OF OUR SCHOOLS
What could be
DO OLD THINGS
BETTER
“Students today depend too much upon ink. They don’t know how to use a pen knife to
sharpen a pencil. Pen and ink will never replace the pencil.”
National Association of Teachers, 1907
DO NEW THINGS
YOU COULDN’T DO AT ALL
“If I’d asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me ‘A faster horse.’” Henry Ford
5 obstaclesNo needNo moneyNo hurryNo desireNo trust
People prefer things that are easy to think about
Know what teachers want
Can I change?
Everyone benefits
The
goal
It’s not technology
What many want for their children is the benefits of digital learning
Relevant, connected, unlimited
HOW DO YOU KNOW YOUR DIGITAL SHIFTS ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR SCHOOL FOR LEARNERS?
?
Create a new norm for how teachers and
students learn
Can’t scale and sustainwithout technology
TOOLS matter, because tools impact the way you interact. You don’t need to use every tool, but every tool you use you must use well – Seth Godin
Access
Direction
Moving to one-to-one opportunities
What does this mean?
What about equity?
Technology can help overcome barriers of access and geography
Twitter BreakSelect a video that highlights the promise of learning. Post it to Twitter and tag it #sd22learns
MOBILE TECHNOLOGY CAN CHANGE LEARNING
GOOD WRITING STILL MATTERS
USING SOCIAL MEDIA NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT
NETWORKS ARE ESSENTIAL
THE REAL WORLD IS ADDICTIVE
Google has become our got-to place and tool.
Wordpress has taken over our websites.
Digital tools like FreshGrade and Techbookare growing in popularity
Coding and Robotics have gone from nowhere to everywhere
All of the digital shifts are part of ONE story
WHAT ARE THE DIGITAL TOOLS YOU ARE USING IN YOUR SCHOOL? WHICH ONES ARE YOU MODELING? WHAT IS THE STORY YOU ARE TELLING ABOUT THE MOVE TO DIGITAL?
?
ALL ABOUT CULTURE
“Culture Eats Strategyfor Breakfast”
Focus on a Few Things
INNOVATION IN ACTION
Letter grade free
assessment
Maker movement
iPads in elementary music class
Reggio Emilia inspired
programs
Bienalle arts projects across
schools
Passion projects
Heart rate monitors in
PE
What Does Support Look Like?CELEBRATE RISK TAKING
SHINE A LIGHT ON INNOVATION
Teachers
Schools
Districts
Governments
• Will make it easier for students...
• Will make it easier for teachers...
• Will make it easier for schools...
• Will make it easier for districts...
To be FLEXIBLE
Yeah, but . . .
? How do you scale the work
YOU DON’T
YOU CONNECT AND BUILD NETWORKSThink diffusion not replication
Learning, not technology, is the driver
Personalization
We need to narrow the framework
Digital literacy
Redesigned Curriculum
Addresses the changing face of education
Big ideas and enduring understandings
Personalized learning
Core competencies• Thinking
• Communicating
• Social/Personal
What we
ARE NOT doing
Same Things for everyone
TRENDS
OverpromiseUnder deliver
PERSONALIZED=INDIVIDUALIZEDX
Luke: I can’t believe it
Yoda: That is why you fail
He says the problem with teachers is
What’s a kid going to learnfrom someone who decided his best option in lifewas to become a teacher?
He reminds the other dinner guests that it’s truewhat they say about teachers:
Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.
. . .
I mean, you’re a teacher, Taylor.Be honest. What do you make?
This is . . .
OUR WORLD
OUR LIVES
OUR CHILDREN
OUR CURRICULUM
OUR CHALLENGE
OUR WORK
OUR ART
OUR JOY
You want to know what I make? I make kids wonder,
I make them question.
I make them criticize.I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write.I make them read, read, read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautifulover and over and over again until they will never misspelleither one of those words again.
. . .
and if someone ever tries to judge youby what you by what you make, you give them this.
. . .
Here, let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
Teachers make a goddamn difference! Now what about you?
Excerpts from poem:
What Teachers Makeby Taylor Mali
Leading in Learning
Where you can find me:
604-202-4379
@chrkennedy
cultureofyes.ca
westvancouverschools.ca