NASSP Ignite 13 - Final Reflections

What a conference!  Motivational and informative, this was the best National Conference I have attended to date!  Some thoughts from Day 3.

• Sitting and listening does not equal thinking.  Students must interact with content - 'do something' with it - to develop critical thinking.  I learned this first hand throughout the conference as I tweeted my thoughts.  Much more thought to summarize a speaker's remarks in 140 characters or less than just writing them down on note paper.
• Teacher talk does not develop student literacy.  Structuring classroom procedures to engage students with writing to start class and to end class are key steps in improving literacy.  Students should write 5-7 minutes at the beginning of the period and write at the end of the period to answer the essential question for the day.
• The foundation for everything in a school is it's culture.  That culture is built on student-student, adult-student, and adult-adult relationships.  It is impossible to motivate another individual (with methods other than fear) without a positive relationships.
• This statement hit me especially hard - "Anyone can teach some students.  It takes a special person to reach all students."  How can I become that special person?
• Teachers need feedback just like students do.  If I think it's unacceptable for teachers to not provide feedback then it is unacceptable for teachers to not receive feedback.  I've got a lot of improving to do in this area.
• How often do we answer the questions we pose during a lesson to avoid uncomfortable silence?  Students need wait time to process and think.  When we quickly answer the question we pose they are able to get by without thinking.
• I'm more convinced than ever that grades should not be considered a motivator.  While I agree that our top students may be motivated by the grades, they should be more motivated by learning.  Our lower students are typically de-motivated by grades because they don't see themselves as successful.  Grades should be used as communication, not compensation!  How do we change the culture of our students and parents to make this shift?
• Teacher improvement comes best through reflective practice.  How can we structure our observation system to regularly provide time and methods for teachers to reflect?

As I reflect on the full conference, three key concepts stand out.  I had heard them before, but never quite like I heard them this week.  Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships.  While I think all three are important, placing them in this order is misleading.  It is very difficult to promote rigor without first building relationships.  Could we view it in a different order?  Relationships, Relevance, Rigor.  What would happen if we started saying the 'new three Rs' in that order?  Aren't the first two  prerequisites for the last one?  Would this provide a shift in our mindset when planning instruction?  When planning curriculum?  When developing any component of a school building?

Not to go on a political rant, but I think if the 'powers that be' would begin looking at things this way it may change some thinking.  I mentioned a couple of posts ago that we are in danger of reducing each of our students into a set of data points.  Our students are humans.  They have emotions, hurts, fears, insecurities, dreams, desires, and a need to be loved.  What if our legislators and media began citing Relationships, Relevance, and Rigor in that order?  Would that change the focus on high-stakes testing?  Would testing matter if we were making sure that every student has a positive relationship with a caring adult, sees relevance in what they do at school, and then is placed in a rigorous academic environment?  I'm not sure we would have to worry about test scores - they would take care of themselves.

Back to what I can control.  As I fly home tomorrow, one question will dominate my mind - What will I do differently as a result of NASSP-Ignite '13?  I bet it will start with relationships!