A Challenge that Sparked a Revolution

We don’t remember days, we remember moments in our lives.  –Unknown

I remember the moment that Ronald Reagan was shot…I was in my high school English class. I remember the Challenger falling out of the sky….I was eating lunch in the GAG at Wayne State College. I remember the Columbine High School killings…I was in my classroom at West Point Jr-Sr High School. I remember the moment I knew that a high school assembly made a difference that could reshape lives.

Rachel’s Challenge (www.rachelschallenge.org) is an assembly that challenges people to live lives based on kindness and compassion. Never once did the message say, “Don’t bully” or “Don’t stand by and let others become victims.” Rather, this unique approach teaches students to be kind and caring. This isn’t the first time that students have heard that message, but it is the first time that this message was “real” for students.

Bullying is wrong……always wrong. Schools have created and implemented many programs to stop bullying. Simply bringing in programs, however,  that tell students what not to do hasn’t been the answer. Rachel’s Challenge takes the unique approach of telling the students what to do…..live a life based on character, integrity, and compassion; and the school community will become a safer and kinder place to learn and to grow.

Rachel’s Challenge issued 5 Challenges to the students.

Dream Big.

Look for the best in others.

Choose Positive Influences.

Speak with Kindness.

Start a Chain Reaction.

Not only did this program issue 5 Challenges to the students and the community, it provided a curriculum and examples of how to best sustain the Rachel Challenge movement. Best of all, the students accepted the challenges, and they have vowed to change the culture of their school. They believed. They spent 60 minutes in an auditorium listening to the legacy that Rachel Joy Scott has given to millions around the world, and they decided to change their lives as a result. They decided to start a revolution of kindness.

The students won’t remember that Rachel’s Challenge visited their school on October 17^th, but they will remember the moment that Rachel Scott’s message touched their lives.

In the Blink of an Eye

I blinked. As I walked across the busy University of Nebraska-Omaha’s campus, I reached for my daughter’s hand to guide her safely to our new adventure. I blinked…instead of the bouncing and giggly toddler, I laughed with Katie, my English teacher daughter, as we got ready to present a breakout session on technology at the Nebraska School Counseling Association’s annual conference. Time has moved at warp speed the last two decades, and all of the toddler adventures that Katie and I shared have now moved onto professional opportunities for both of us.

In over twenty five years of education, we have moved from the ditto machine to ipads. Truthfully, technology has moved faster than a blink of an eye. It is vital that educators stay in pace with the advances of technology. Katie and I presented on twenty-three different technology programs and apps that can enhance a school’s comprehensive school counseling program. Whether it is a website to help with productivity or an app to help children with storytelling, it is important that school counselors learn the best ways to reach students, their families, and communities. New and ever-changing methods of technology are ways to do just that.

 

Katie and I showed the power of professional development that comes from Twitter and Pinterest. Haiku Deck and Prezi offer new ways of presenting information and telling stories. Evernote and LiveBinders collect information for school counselors in efficient and time-saving ways. Stichit and Bitly show us new ways to share websites and their url addresses with an audience. The power of new technology empowers all school counselors!

Attached is the google document that will enhance educational programs! Start small and try one new idea! Before you blink, you will be communicating and working in more productive ways!

http://bit.ly/QiO2dj

Nebraska's Pathways to Prosperity Symposium...the beginning

The Nebraska’s Pathways to Prosperity Symposium held September 5^th    in Lincoln, NE, offered a unique and vital opportunity for the world of education and the world of business to join together and talk about the future of Nebraska’s work force.

The Pathways to Prosperity Project conducted by Harvard Graduate School of Education (February 2011) brings to light the need for career training at many educational levels. It has always been the focus of education to prepare students for meaningful careers. Yet a one-size fits-all approach works for many but not all.

Adopting a college readiness program is an important and vital element in Nebraska’s educational settings. The misconception for many, however, is the definition of college.

As school counselors, we strive to prepare each student for education beyond high school. It is imperative that we do so. Preparing every student to be ready to pursue something beyond high school is not only wise, it is a necessity. P2P report sites the Center on Education as projecting that by 2018, nearly two-thirds of some 47 million job openings will require that workers have at least some post-secondary education. The key to this is what counselors already know and already teach….that education beyond high school can take on many forms.

Most think of education beyond high school as an associate or bachelor’s degree. Although those are viable options for many; the 2 and 4-year degrees are not the only options. Many need to realize that apprenticeships, on-the-job training, military training, and training certificates are viable, profitable, and necessary post-secondary options.

The technically skilled employees not only are important to the future of the Nebraska workforce, they also are leading wage earners. Twenty-seven percent of employees with training certificates and 31% of employees with associate degrees earn more than the average bachelor degree employee.

In order to prepare this skilled work force, a partnership needs to be forged. The business community needs to become teachers. Current educators and administrators are trained in educating not in the current business practices. If a partnership could be forged where educators could see the real world applications of their subject matter in businesses, the lessons they bring to students can have real-life connections. Professional development not only should be on great teaching practices, it could also involve educators seeing what they are preparing their students for.

In order to prepare this skilled work force, schools need to reinvent education for many. The traditional classroom needs to be remodeled. Too often, seniors struggle to fill their class schedule. Why not lower the school walls and let these students receive certification in job skills; why not let more job-shadowing or internship opportunities; why not let students pursue classes in a post-secondary setting. Transforming the classroom so it is more relevant for students makes sense for the students and for the future of Nebraska. School counselors are ready to lead this shift.

The Nebraska Career Ready Practices coupled with the ASCA standards, partnerships between academia and the business community, and a transformation of traditional education are all great starting points. Where these points intersect will be the true turning point for Nebraska students.

Jump In! Leadership Day 2012

Leadership Day 2012 issued a challenge......blog about effective school technology leadership: successes, challenges, reflections, needs, wants, resources, etc. Although I am not a school administrator nor do I face their challenges, I still consider myself a school leader. Through the school counseling office, I lead teams, facilitate groups and create interventions to empower students, teachers, and families. I also lead the Nebraska School Counseling Association.
Last weekend at the Nebraska School Counseling Leadership Development Workshop, I addressed the committee chairs and the board members on the power of technology and how it could move our organization forward. Telling them that Twitter was a great way to grow professionally, they wanted to know more.....they were intrigued. Then, the conversation turned to blogging, Pinterest, QR codes, and Facebook.
Today, I asked my building principal and my superintendent if they used Twitter. They both had accounts, but neither felt they had much to say on Twitter. They were just learning about the power of PLN. We discussed the possibilities of training staff on the limitless opportunities of jumping into a whole new world of professional development.
Leadership Day challenges me to jump in! With only three blog entries, it is time to jump......I need to step up and show how powerful the world of technology is for school counseling and for my district.
So making this blog public, setting up introductory sessions on social media and creating a PLN, and sparking a technology buzz is exciting yet a little frightening. Hopefully because I agreed to jump in, a ripple effect will create big waves for other professionals who will embracing the promises of technology! 

24 Hour Rule

   I wanted to scream. I wanted to inform him how stupid, how idiotic, how irrational he was being. I wanted to tell him how it should be done and how much chaos and pain he had caused. I wanted to fix the situation, but I didn't scream, inform, tell, or fix....I applied the 24 hour rule.
   A few years ago, I started waiting 24 hours in emotionally charged situations before I responded. It has saved me from sending off fiery emails, picking up the phone, or rushing into an office. Sometimes I still write the emails, but I never send them....I wait 24 hours. Usually, those emails, phone calls, or office visits never occur. Once the emotions calm down, I find a better, calmer way to handle the situation.
   Teaching the 24 hour rule to students is important. Learning to control emotions so rational thoughts can dictate actions is a tough thing for adults to do. If a student can learn to wait 24 hours, it will serve him/her well throughout life. Getting the students to blog or to vent to someone safe is a much healthier alternative than burning bridges by screaming, informing, telling, or fixing.

New Promises

Promises are meaningful. Promises are contracts; they set expectations. When I began my work in education, I knew that I was making a promise to my students. The promise was to give them the very best education. "The Educational Promise of Social Media" in the Herff Jones Achievement Series (September 2011) was brought to my attention by @NMHS_Principal. The promise here is the same....social media is a vehicle to give all students the very best education.

To some social media promises to bring problems. If school districts and their teachers embrace social media, the promises are trouble. Missouri is so sure of this that they began enforcing a state law that governs teacher-student communication in cyberspace. Districts in Illinois and Connecticut have policies which bar contact between teachers and students through email and social networking sites.

To others social media promises to bring a new way to connect to today's connected learners. Connected educators have learned new ways of instructing with social media. They are helping students connect with industry experts via twitter. Students are using Skype to connect with well-known authors and are posting videos to their own YouTube Channels.

I wonder if there were policies similar to this when the telephone made its debut. Did districts write policies which limited the way teachers and students could communicate? Once again the medium becomes the culprit and not the user.

Some people will misuse technology. I guess that is the promise, but to limit the technology is not the answer. If a student cheats using his smart phone, it is not a smart phone issue--it is a cheating issue. The smart phone is no more guilty than the cheat sheet was to students in the 1970's.

It is always easy to point a finger at the method used when something goes awry, but the issue is never the method, it is always the person using the method. A speeding car which causes an accident is not the culprit...the driver is. An empty box of Twinkies is not the cause of a stomach ache....the person's choice to eat the whole box is. A Facebook personal message which causes heartache is not the instigator.....the author of the message is.

If schools are to teach Digital Citizenship, we need to teach responsible use of social media, and one of the best ways to do that is to use social media responsibly in the classroom. Social media is a way to communicate, highlight achievements, and provide valuable learning opportunities for students, teachers, staff, and parents. It is a medium that can be a great vehicle for educational opportunities.

Being innovative and teaching to the students' level has always been expected of our best teachers. Educators are professionals and should be expected to act professionally. Why would we expect them to act any other way whether they are discussing an assignment with a student in the hallway between classes, emailing a student, or using social media? Why must a policy be instituted because a misuse might occur? Misuses happen with everything; but once again, the misuse is a matter of the person making an inappropriate choice. It is not a matter of the medium that the person used. Social Media has so many promises and possibilities.  Educators are expected to handle themselves and their classrooms in professional ways....that expectation does not change with social media. Social Media is evolving not evaporating. It is time that we encourage educational professionals to do their jobs with all of the tools that are available. Social Media promises to evolve and expand faster than schools can create policies; yet, the fast-paced evolution of social media offers valuable opportunities and new promises for educational benefits.

Just enough to be dangerous!

I have always claimed that I know just enough to be "dangerous" with a lot of things! I don't have a lot of fear when it comes to technology so I dive into any new gadget and into any new app. The problem with this is that I know a little about a lot of things, but I am not an expert at hardly anything techy!
That is my goal....to become really good at some apps, programs, devices that will enhance school counseling. By accomplishing this lofty goal, everything positive for students will be impacted. I hope to share this new expertise with other Nebraska School Counselors at the NSCA Academy in October so I had better hurry!
After attending the ASCA Conference in Minneapolis, I came home with numerous ideas on how to improve my school counseling program. I met great new friends.....Michelle Kelley @mkelley723 and her husband, Principal Dan Kelley @dpk933. They are great examples of highly qualified educators from Rhode Island. I learned a lot of little things at the Web 2.0 and Technology Smackdown presented by Russell Sabella, Andrea Burston, Erin Mason, Danielle Schultz, and Julia Taylor. I became quite dangerous with all of the things that I learned....now I need to turn that into expertise!