This Year's Version of Mr. Geoghegan Shadowing A Student
Last year, when I went to the NASSP Conference (National Association of Secondary School Principals), there were these principals from all over the country, who I could say I sort of knew through Twitter. I followed them and they followed me. There were a few specifically from Ohio, who were handing out postcards talking about #ShadowAStudent Day.
As the website shadowastudent.org says, in their section "In a Nutshell": The Shadow a Student Challenge is a fun, illuminating, and supportive journey where school leaders come together to empathize with their students and take new kinds of action at their school. Educators and researchers have long known that shadowing can lead to powerful observations and insights to drive change. The Shadow a Student Challenge provides methods to help school leaders achieve Deeper Learning for all students.
I again worked with the faculty to decide which grade and team I would shadow, and it turned into an 8th Grade Comets encore day for this year as well with Nick on Thursday, February 16.
With the teachers knowing what to expect from having me in their classes, they gave me the homework the night before. I had a school event I had to go to, so I did not get a chance to start my homework until later, and worked late into the evening.
The teachers told me the students had multiple days in class to work on their projects, but I should be able to get them done. I thought I did pretty well on my projects, but did not have a chance to study for my math test. (More on this later in the post.)
As I did last year, I met my student, Nick, at his home to head to the bus stop. My same reflection as last year was that a household with students is a busy morning for all. Nick and his sister were ready to go, though, but they informed me that we didn't head out to the stop until 7:02 AM.
We made our way to the bus stop, and Karen, the bus driver greeted us with a great smile. Some might think that this was because she was seeing the Principal as a Student getting on the bus, but what I learned from the students is that she is always so friendly with them.
We talk all the time about how "Relationships Matter" and how they should be "First and Foremost" established in the classroom, and here it was lived out by the first person our students see in the morning. She is setting such a great stage for their learning. Excellent job, Karen.
Our two Assistant Principals, Ms. Rae and Mr. Thomas, were at their normal spot greeting students as we got off the bus. Again, giving that welcome to students is so important; I can't thank Karen enough for being that person for everyone on Bus 13.
My trip to Homeroom with Nick led us first to head to the Music wing to have him put his cello case in the classroom for later. Our music students put in so much time, effort, and handle so much responsibility to make sure they are prepared for their class. It is impressive.
At Homeroom, the first major difference between this year and last was evident, as students grabbed their Chromebook for the day. I have spoken about this in countless other posts, but it is such an awesome tool for learning and is teaching all of our students digital responsibility, which they all need to learn in this day and age.
During Homeroom, a few of my #PositiveSignThursday boys made a sign for me, which I just thought was "Awesome" as well.
A common theme, which happened in Homeroom and every single period after, was how our teachers greet our students at the door of each class. Again, #RelationshipsFirst are happening multiple times a day and through multiple means.
Ms. Kubek's ELA class got our day rolling first block. She started the period by walking around and talking one-on-one with each student. She was checking homework but she was also checking in with them for the day.
The project presentations by the students, and myself, were established on student's choice and student voice came through loud and clear. Students could show what they learned from the story and how they wanted to personally display it. This voice and choice in showing learning will not be the only time I will say this as I move through the school day.
While I made my presentation, I enjoyed myself, but I tried to think as an 8th grade student, and even though I have zero problems standing in front of people talking, presenting, and being the center of attention, I could see how this could be tough for some of our students. But Ms. Kubek was there with encouragement and positive affirmations to each student.
Our next class was right next door, ELA2 with Ms. Evans. To begin the class, Ms. Evans stressed to her students how important it was for them to speak clearly and emphasize the ideas in the presentation more than the information on their Google Slides.
After each presentation, students wrote evaluations of their peers. These evaluations discussed specifics of what students did well and maybe what they didn't do so well. They were honest and true. Such a great activity for all students to give as well as receive this feedback, and the ability to take it and reflect upon it.
Third block was Nick's first Unified Art class of the day with STEM. As was evident in the first two periods, the students had the ability of taking advantage of the 1:1 initiative as students again used their Chromebook to do the warm-up Ms. Mayeski had set up for them in Google Classroom.
I was very impressed with how the students were engaged in a real-world discussion of fossil fuel use. Ms. Mayeski had the class reading an article and then entering their answers through a Google Form. Students wanted to participate and show what they learned and express their own knowledge on this scientific subject. Many of the students in this class were female, and even though there is the thought that females could be wary of going into the STEM fields, this was not evident in this class. All students were openly participating and free to give their own personal opinions on renewable resources and how we can support our Earth better.
Next was lunch, and for me, I was starving. Thank goodness, we had first lunch. The conversations of the students were just comical. They enjoyed my being there, but they did not let it take away from their time to be with their friends. One student asked me if I had filed my taxes? I delighted in this "free" time with Nick and his friends, and as my colleague and fellow Shadower Case High School Principal Brian McCann commented on his day, "It might be long for Lunch duty for the adults, but it is the right amount for our kids to get in line, purchase their food, and get a chance to eat it."
Post lunch, Block Four was Math with Ms. Anderson and Ms. McMahon. I did not study the night before and our lunch conversation when I brought it up turned away from "shop talk" to more general non-math conversations, excluding taxes. I was a little nervous to see how I might do on this test. Fortunately though, Ms. Anderson had the opinion and better teaching strategy of reviewing with a Kahoot with the whole class prior to the test. When I taught, I was of the opinion that students should have "studied on their time before 'test day.'" Again, I was so thankful for Ms. Anderson and Ms. McMahon's lesson design.
By the end of the Kahoot review, I felt confident and ready to show what I knew. So smart on their part. Isn't that what we are supposed to do as teachers? Let our students show what they know; not document their deficiencies. Such an awesome utilization of the Chromebooks as well with the Kahoot program.
Nick and my next class was Social Studies with Mr. Jesman. Again, Mr. Jesman met and greeted all students at the door. Mr. Jesman then reviewed the Learning Target and agenda for the period. This was something we worked on as a faculty a couple of years ago through our book study of Leaders of Their Own Learning. We want our students to know what is expected of them; to present to them the Learning Target in the form of an "I Can" statement, which students and teacher can check in on during the period. This was something that each teacher did throughout the day, but Mr. Jesman got everyone started with this as they then went to work on making a map. Students worked at their own pace and had the opportunity to seek support and help from not only Mr. Jesman but their peers as well.
Our final class of the day was Orchestra. Nick and I made our way to his locker to grab his gear to go home and then head to the Music wing, where we had started our day. Ms. Thornton had grabbed me an extra cello to play along with Nick. Let me just say what a humbling experience it is to try to play an instrument. I was nervous about the math test, but nothing compares in trying to play a stringed instrument (or any instrument, for that matter) cold.
My biggest take-away from the day was from this class. It wasn't just the students' tenacity to get better, but was more how they showed a "growth mindset" in their learning. These music students showed in their mistakes how willing they were to learn from them; sometimes laugh at them; reflect on them; and then try again. This is the perseverance we need all of our students to display with every academic learning situation. We can see it sometimes in sports, music, and other activities; we need to engender this same thinking in math, science, reading, writing, speaking, listening, and all the other subjects and skills we are trying to teach in school.
It was such an excellent day. I loved all of it -- the sloppy snowy walk to the stop, the shocked looks on the bus, the frenetic nature of the day, and all the great learning experiences I got to be a part of were tremendous. So much fun.
Nick, of course, had to stay after for lessons, but we shared a handshake and had a quick word on how much fun it had been for him as well. Thank you, Nick; you were awesome throughout, especially with my incessant selfies.
Ms. Rae and Mr. Thomas are going to #ShadowAStudent in grades 7 and 6 in the next few weeks. I will post their reflections and will ReTweet their experiences as they have theirs as well.
And by the way, I got a 95% on the Math Test. Woohoo.
Check out my Storify of the Tweets from my day:
