Brainstorming 101

The class worked in groups while working out the steps for a task that they will eventually form a team and conduct for the semester. The task involved them brainstorming and coming up with all the steps needed to award falcon feathers to students by placing it on their locker.

After several minutes of brainstorming we stopped the groups and made suggestions. One of the tenets of brainstorming is that there is no "bad" idea. The scribe at each table was to write down any idea that was offered. This seemed to open the flood gates and gave the groups more freedom to think of additional ideas. After we stopped the groups after another 2 minutes we found that they had nearly doubled their steps and seemed had come up with some issues that they had not thought about before...

New Look for the blog...

Thought I'd play around with some new templates on blogger. There's a new design builder and it's kind of fun to see what Google is offering now on their site. Sure, there's a lot of other tweaks I can do, but I simply picked a new look and want some feedback...

Tell me what you think. Do you like it? Is it too dark. Does it make it better or worse? Any input at all is okay. Thanks in advance!

Class is Jellin'

Our Leadership class is starting to come into its own. Today we had three student groups conduct ice breakers with the rest of the class then everyone evaluated the activity. Meanwhile another group is preparing for Back to School Night this Thursday and they seem to be enjoying the process too. Additionally there are several other small groups breaking off and working on other mini projects. It's more than a three-ring circus and quite a bit of fun to be involved as I am. I am enjoying stepping back and observing how these emerging leaders are beginning to take control.

Later in the week we will begin to launch our student-led projects that are part of the school-wide leadership initiative. That's going to be a lot of fun too.

Schoolwide Leadership

Tomorrow we kick off our school-wide leadership initiative starting with our 8th grade class. Mr. Hein gave an overview to the Leadership class he and I co-teach and it seemed to begin to click with out class.

Tomorrow 8/19/2010 will be an exciting day because it begins the actual process for kids and that's what we're here for. We began this conversation almost two years ago and now it's becoming a reality. I am proud to be a part of this plan.

Leadership Day 2

Today's class went by quickly and fairly smoothly. Some of the kids are tuning out from time to time. I think this is fairly normal with a class like this. Tomorrow we'll mix things up so friends are grouped with people they may not know as well.

As we are planning out our days I'm starting to relax a little more. I tend to think of these students as operating on a higher cognitive level than they are probably capable of. I need to keep this in check. I need to remind myself that these are young people still and some of the deep reflection and connections that I want to think they should be making are not something they are ready for yet. And still they surprise me sometimes!

I don't intend to post each and every day's activities, but today was a lot more fun for the students and we are quickly becoming more comfortable with our students.

Leadership Class - Day 1

Well we made it through the first day of class AND school. So much planning has gone into our Leadership model for the school and we haven't had a lot of time (nil) to plan the actual class we are going to teach.

Sure we had an idea of what to do in our heads, but getting it on paper and "pouring concrete" for the entire semester hasn't really happened yet - at least not to my liking.

In a nutshell I can share that:

1. They (the students) were scared and shy. After all they are having a class with the principal and myself!
2. We were scared too.
3. They were "scared-er".
4. It takes a lot longer to actually get any task done with a full class than one visualizes.
5. Teaching young minds is easy and it's hard - not what I imagined from the outside.

We asked for first impressions today about the "student guide to leadership" that we've developed. When asked "what emotions did you feel", one student said it made him "proud to be a part of this." That statement was so honest and raw I wasn't prepared with a response, but it keeps resonating with me. I believe that PRIDE in what you are doing is vital to the success of a task and one can draw strength from it... I think I just learned something!

Leadership Class

Perhaps you're wondering what the subject is that I am teaching? We're calling the elective class "Leadership" and that's what it's all about. It is for 8th grade students - we have 27 signed up for the first day of school.

So what is Leadership and how can we teach it to 13 year old students? We've searched for material on the subject that is relevant to this age group, but don't see a lot of material for people this young. Once aspect of our school-wide model is based on Steven Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens, but there's so much more to it than that. The lack of material on the subject seems odd to me. We've spoken to many people - parents, administrators, staff, students and EVERYONE seems to really dig what we're trying to do. I don't mind that we're entering a new frontier; that's okay, we don't mind being pioneers!

Much of what we've planned thus far will involve the students being given leadership opportunities in a format where they can experiment, fail and strengthen their skills. Think of it like a sandbox where it's safe to try something and have it flop or come out smelling like roses. In both cases we learn what it means to be a leader and that's really at the heart of what we're trying to do.

Wish us luck as we begin to develop course content.

Teaching and Leadership Intro

So... I am co-teaching a class this year with our school Principal - Gary Hein. I intend to write some of my thoughts in this blog about this endevour, my entry into the REAL teaching world, and some thoughts about how our school is taking a new direction with our school-wide leadership culture.

It should be fun to discuss, ruminate and share ideas so jump in and make any comments you like. Seriously though I need lots of help with the teaching bit so please share your ideas on how to make a positive impression with middle school age kids and any insights you may have.