The Principal's Office - Grosse Pointe North High School Principal Tim Bearden

Common App Leads to Uncommon Results

2012-01-17T05:25:00.000-08:00

Each fall top students across the nation wait anxiously for results of their college admission applications during the early decision cycle in the fall. Historically, the bulk of our top students received acceptances during this period. While many of our students did receive acceptances to their first choice schools this year, many other students received deferral letters. The deferrals are not denials - they delay the decision on the application until the early spring. This has caused some understandable consternation among some of our highest performing students and their parents, so we set out to learn more about this process.

The higher than usual number of deferrals first came to our attention with students who applied for early decision to the University of Michigan. Traditionally, North sends anywhere from two to three dozen graduates a year to Michigan - one of the top schools in the country. This year we had many acceptances, but far more than the normal number of deferrals. We had students with grade point averages over 4.0, ACT scores of 30 and above, and comprehensive leadership and service backgrounds who were deferred by Michigan. For the first time in my 24 years as a teacher and administrator, I contacted an admissions office.

We were told by Michigan that the reason for the deferrals is that Michigan has received an incredibly high number of early decision applications now that it is one of the schools across the country that accepts the "common app". The "common app" is a common application that students can fill out one time and use for multiple universities. The convenience of this process vs. filling out elaborate apps for each university has led to higher numbers of applications. Michigan received 20,000 applications for early decision, and expects another 20,000 throughout the regular admissions cycle. 40,000 applicants for approx. 6000 undergraduate spots - very competitive. As a result of the high number of apps, Michigan has been very conservative in their early admissions cycle.

In speaking with other schools across the state and nation, this circumstance is not unique to North or Michigan. Every school has seen the impact of more universities using the common app. The New York Times recently published an article detailing the national story of a more heterogeneous early admission class, and decreased numbers of early admission decisions for students at top high schools : http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/education/early-admission-applications-rise-as-do-rejections.html.

We anticipate that most of our students in this dilemma will receive acceptance letters in the spring after 7th semester grades are in, but in the meantime, some of them are considering other options. I expressed to the University of Michigan our concern that at a time when the state is struggling economically, the flagship university of our state is risking losing some of the best and brightest students in Michigan to other universities, including out of state universities. Several of our top students are now considering leaving Michigan for schools that accepted them during the early admission process.

The competitive nature of the early decision period only serves to highlight the importance of students taking the most rigorous courses we have to offer, and the importance of a commitment to excellence in those courses. It is also a reminder that as our world becomes smaller, more and more international students have access to resources that put them in competition with our students. As much as people want to compare our results with our sister school of Grosse Pointe South or other schools in Michigan, the truth is that our students are in global competition. Both our school and our students must recognize that fact and continue to raise the standards for excellence that have always separated North from other schools. For more on this story see Bridge Magazine's recent article at

http://bridgemi.com/2012/01/common-app-hits-star-student-with-uncommon-adversity/#.TxWABZj5GYc

EPIC Instruction

2012-01-06T12:23:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of this school year we had an inservice for staff designed to look at different ways to deliver instruction built around a theme that instruction for today's generation of students has to be "EPIC". EPIC is an acronym coined by Tim Elmore for instruction that is Experiential, Participatory, Image Rich and Connected. EPIC instruction certainly looks different than traditional lecture delivery, and it feels different for students and teachers alike. Our approach of evolving to a project based model of instruction is built on the platform of EPIC instructional delivery.

Well-known New York educator Pedro Noguera has often said, "I can spend all day teaching my dog Spanish - that doesn't mean that at the end of the day he can speak it". For years education has been built on the instructional delivery model of teachers lecturing, students taking notes, and subsequently "regurgitating" the information. One need go no further than personal experience to evaluate whether that model led to long term retention...in my case I can say unequivocally that I no longer remember much of what I "learned" during my college experience (and no, it's not because of the number of years that have passed...).

More recent research is clear that retention and "learning" is based largely on experience. Few of us learn by having someone tell us information. EPIC instruction is based on the premise that students must experience and participate in the learning and the delivery of learning, and that the role of the teacher must transform into one of "guide on the side" vs. "sage on the stage".

This article details that transformation through the lens of experiences of a college physics instructor. As I visit the classrooms of our building, I can say with a high degree of certainty that EPIC instruction works, it's more engaging, and develops a deeper understanding of material.

Physicists Seek To Lose The Lecture As Teaching Tool
by Emily Hanford

January 1, 2012

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text size A A A January 1, 2012 from APM The lecture is one of the oldest forms of education there is.

"Before printing someone would read the books to everybody who would copy them down," says Joe Redish, a physics professor at the University of Maryland.

But lecturing has never been an effective teaching technique and now that information is everywhere, some say it's a waste of time. Indeed, physicists have the data to prove it.

When Eric Mazur began teaching physics at Harvard, he started out teaching the same way he had been taught.

"I sort of projected my own experience, my own vision of learning and teaching — which is what my instructors had done to me. So I lectured," he says.

He loved to lecture. Mazur's students apparently loved it, too. They gave him great evaluations and his classes were full.

"For a long while, I thought I was doing a really, really good job," he says.

But then in 1990, he came across articles written by David Hestenes, a physicist at Arizona State. Hestenes got the idea for the series when a colleague came to him with a problem. The students in his introductory physics courses were not doing well: Semester after semester, the class average never got above about 40 percent.

"I noted that the reason for that was that his examination questions were mostly qualitative, requiring understanding of the concepts rather than just calculational, using formulas, which is what most of the instructors did," Hestenes says.

Hestenes had a suspicion students were just memorizing the formulas and never really getting the concepts. So he and a colleague developed a test to look at students' conceptual understanding of physics. It's a test Maryland's Redish has given his students many times.

Here's a question from the test: "Two balls are the same size but one weighs twice as much as the other. The balls are dropped from the top of a two-story building at the same instant of time. The time it takes the ball to reach the ground will be..."

The possible answers include about half as long for the heavier ball, about half as long for the lighter ball, or the same time for both. This is a fundamental concept but even some people who've taken physics get this question wrong.

To get to the answer, Redish went to the second floor of the physics building. A group of his students was on the sidewalk below. When he reached the top, he dropped two balls from the roof.

The two balls reached the ground at the same time. Sir Isaac Newton was the first person who figured out why. He came up with a law of motion to explain how two balls of different weights, dropped from the same height, hit the ground simultaneously.

While most physics students can recite Newton's second law of motion, Harvard's Mazur says, the conceptual test developed by Hestenes showed that after an entire semester they understood only about 14 percent more about the fundamental concepts of physics. When Mazur read the results, he shook his head in disbelief. The test covered such basic material.

"I gave it to my students only to discover that they didn't do much better," he says.

The test has now been given to tens of thousands of students around the world and the results are virtually the same everywhere. The traditional lecture-based physics course produces little or no change in most students' fundamental understanding of how the physical world works.

"The classes only seem to be really working for about 10 percent of the students," Arizona State's Hestenes says. "And I maintain, I think all the evidence indicates, that these 10 percent are the students that would learn it even without the instructor. They essentially learn it on their own."

He says that listening to someone talk is not an effective way to learn any subject.

"Students have to be active in developing their knowledge," he says. "They can't passively assimilate it."

This is something many people have known intuitively for a long time — the physicists just came up with the hard data. Their work, along with research by cognitive scientists, provides a compelling case against lecturing. But with budgets shrinking and enrollments booming, large classes aren't going away. You don't have to lecture in a lecture hall though.

Mazur's physics class is now different. Rather than lecturing, he makes his students do most of the talking.

At a recent class, the students — nearly 100 of them — are in small groups discussing a question. Three possible answers to the question are projected on a screen. Before the students start talking with one another, they use a mobile device to vote for their answer. Only 29 percent got it right. After talking for a few minutes, Mazur tells them to answer the question again.

This time, 62 percent of the students get the question right. Next, Mazur leads a discussion about the reasoning behind the answer. The process then begins again with a new question. This is a method Mazur calls "peer Instruction." He now teaches all of his classes this way.

"What we found over now close to 20 years of using this approach is that the learning gains at the end of the semester nearly triple," he says.

One value of this approach is that it can be done with hundreds of students. You don't need small classes to get students active and engaged. Mazur says the key is to get them to do the assigned reading — what he calls the "information-gathering" part of education — before they come to class.

"In class, we work on trying to make sense of the information," Mazur says. "Because if you stop to think about it, that second part is actually the hardest part. And the information transfer, especially now that we live in an information age, is the easiest part."

Mazur's approach is one of many developed in response to evidence that traditional lectures don't work. Among the advocates of these approaches there's an increasing sense of urgency about how to help more students do better.

"We need to educate a population to compete in this global marketplace," says Brian Lukoff, an education researcher at Harvard. "We can't do that by just sort of picking out 10 percent and saying, 'Oh you guys are going to be the successful ones,' and you know we need a much larger swath of that population to be able to think critically and problem-solve."

But ask anyone involved with efforts to lose the lecture and they'll tell you they encounter resistance. Sometimes the stiffest opposition comes from the students.

"Revamping my entire education, you know, philosophy for this one class was a bit daunting," says Ryan Duncan, a sophomore in Mazur's class.

But he adapted and says he learned more in Mazur's class than he did in his other physics course at Harvard.

Maryland's Redish says when he lays out the case against lecturing, colleagues often nod their heads, but insist their lectures work just fine. Redish tells them — lecturing isn't enough anymore.

"With modern technology, if all there is is lectures, we don't need faculty to do it," Redish says. "Get 'em to do it once, put it on the Web, and fire the faculty."

Some faculty are threatened by this, but Mazur says they don't have to be. Instead, they need to realize that their role has changed.

"It used to be just be the 'sage on the stage,' the source of knowledge and information," he says. "We now know that it's not good enough to have a source of information."

Mazur sees himself now as the "guide on the side" – a kind of coach, working to help students understand all the knowledge and information that they have at their fingertips. Mazur says this new role is a more important one.

American Radioworks is the documentary series from American Public Media. You can find more of their reporting on this issue at "Don't Lecture Me."

College Ready?

2011-12-29T06:57:00.000-08:00

In a recent post, I examined the issue of college readiness, and Michigan's reliance on that standard as a lens to view student achievement in Michigan on a K-12 basis. Schools in Macomb County, in conjunction with the Macomb Intermediate School District, recently did an examination of college readiness standards, and reliance on that measure. The results are very interesting, and cast serious doubt on Michigan's reliance on college readiness as a standard. The conclusion that college readiness is a complex standard that requires multiple data points is one that is eminently sensible. Pasted below is Macomb's analysis:

College and Career Readiness
Another Viewpoint
May 23, 2011

In recent weeks, the Michigan Department of Education has been referencing three statements related to the current state of education and student college readiness in Michigan. The statements, which have been repeated by the Governor and media, are misleading and lack the breadth to form the basis of a valid discussion of student readiness for college and careers. The first statement is “Only 16% of the graduates from the Class of 2010 from Michigan High Schools are college and career ready.” Secondly, “238 schools in the state have zero percent of the students who are proficient in college and career readiness benchmarks.” And finally, “Between 61%- 70% college freshman in Michigan need remedial classes.”

The purpose of this document is to support the goal of making certain every student in the state is prepared for post-secondary achievement. However, we have researched the above statements and find all of them misrepresent the college readiness of students in Michigan. Further, these figures do not present a fair and accurate report to parents about their students’ ability to succeed beyond high school.

First, the term ‘college and career readiness’, according to the American College Test (ACT), is based on a limited study from 2005 that is outlined in Appendix A. Based on this study, the ACT ‘college and career benchmarks’ represent ACT scores that reflect students who score as well or better on a particular benchmark. When individuals incorrectly state only 16% (according to the ACT publication entitled, The Condition of College and Career Readiness, Class of 2010 the percentage for Michigan is actually 19%) of the 2010 graduates in Michigan are college and career ready, they are referring to the percentage of students who took the ACT (120,930 students tested in Michigan in 2010) and scored at or above the four benchmark scores as determined by ACT.

(http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/cccr10/pdf/ConditionofCollegeandCareerReadiness2010.pdf)

Michigan is only one of six states in the nation that requires all students to take the ACT during their junior year. Illinois tested 145,520 students in 2010 resulting in 23% of their students reaching proficiency in all four subtests of the ACT. Of the six states that test 100% of their students on the ACT, Michigan (at 19%) is higher than Kentucky, Wyoming, and Tennessee. All juniors in Michigan have been required to take the ACT since 2008. Previous to that, in 2006 (72,751 students) and 2007 (78,135 students) the percentage of students meeting or exceeding all four ACT ‘college and career readiness’ benchmarks, was 25% and 26%. Those percentages would exceed the national average in 2010. In examining the national data provided by ACT, and comparing the highest ACT results from the Class of 2011 in Macomb County, with a proportionally similar group of students in Massachusetts (of which 41% met all four College and Career Benchmarks – the highest in the nation), 60% of the Macomb students reach a proficient level for meeting or exceeding all four benchmarks. Furthermore, 61% of Macomb County high school students five years beyond graduation have completed an associate or four year degree.

Dr. Ernie Bauer, Director of Research Evaluation and Assessment Programs from Oakland Schools states, “[t]o announce that only [16%] of Michigan students are ‘college-ready’ is misleading [and incorrect] – unless one begins by explaining that if Michigan students’ ACT scores were just like those of other U.S. students, the percentage deemed to be ‘college-ready’ could be at a level such that 20% would meet or exceed one of the benchmarks, but 80% would not meet that level since one of the four Benchmarks is at the 80th percentile rank nationally.”

College and Career readiness’ has been prevalent in educational research for years, and is one of the major issues at the national level. The College Board has published numerous articles on ‘college and career readiness’ indicators. One of those articles states, “Comprehensive assessment should involve the use of multiple measures, and data should be collected from multiple sources. Indices based on only one metric are convenient and easily understood [or misunderstood], yet thousands of students with poor admission test scores or poor grades succeed at college each year. Likewise, thousands of students with high test scores or grades fail to complete their first year, are placed on academic probation or do not succeed at college based on other outcomes” (Mattern, Shaw and Kobrin, 2010; Milewski, Kobrin and Camara, 2002, p. 147).

The second statement related to the 238 schools in the state where students did not reach one of the ACT ‘college and career readiness’ benchmarks again misrepresents the state of education in Michigan. An analysis of these schools is included in the chart found in Appendix B. The majority of the schools on this list are drop-out recovery programs or alternative high schools with small populations. 18% are charters and only 900 students (less than 1%) from our state are enrolled in comprehensive High Schools. Therefore, continuing to reference the 238 number paints all Michigan High Schools with a negative broad brush and is misleading to say the least.

And finally, the figure that between 61% - 70% of the students entering college needing remedial classes is inaccurate. According to a report in May, 2009 from the Michigan Office of the Auditor General, 22% of the students at community colleges in Michigan enroll in at least one developmental (remedial) education course. This rate is better than the situation across the nation, as the report also states nationwide 42% of community college freshmen are enrolled in remedial classes.

(http://www.audgen.michigan.gov/comprpt/docs/r032065107.pdf)

The final conclusion of this document is not to oppose the goal of making certain every student in the state is prepared for post-secondary achievement. The purpose is to dispute these numbers as unreliable in describing students and their college readiness. Continuing to use these figures as the only indicators of readiness for college or careers does not represent our students, local school districts, colleges, universities, parents and communities in this state. Leaders must be responsible in reporting this type of information otherwise they may jeopardize our communities and the economic recover of the state. The information presented is, rather, meant to frame the discussion about educational reform using multiple indicators and not draw inaccurate conclusions. Therefore, extreme caution should be used in referring to the figures of 16%; 238 schools and a 61%-70% remediation rate to describe the students in Michigan. If we want to know how well we are preparing our children for college, Michigan should track student success in college four and five years after High School graduation.

We would also suggest starting with individual student data and analyze multiple assessments to determine the best course of instruction for each student. We need to make certain the data we are analyzing are a reflection of all of the qualities that deem a student to be ready for the next test, the next grade, and post-secondary education.

“College readiness metrics can inform educational policy and even inform educational decisions, yet we must recognize the limitations of projections and predictions, especially as they could result in unintended negative consequences for students and schools.” (Wiley, A., Wyatt, J., Camara, W.J. The Development of a Multidimensional College Readiness Index, The College Board, 2010, p. 14). We all agree on the ultimate goal of making sure each student is successful – let’s make sure we are using multiple data points from a comprehensive assessment system to determine a students’ readiness. The last thing we want to do is tell a student, “they aren’t college ready” based on one index.

What We Do / Happy Holidays

2011-12-21T11:48:00.000-08:00

Each year at North on the day before the holiday break we host a luncheon for the previous year's graduates who are home from college. Before and after the lunch they get to wander the building with the kind of freedom they didn't have as students, see their former teachers, and re-connect with friends and faculty. It is truly one of the best days of the year, as we get to see the fruits of our labor in the successes of these great representatives of our high school and community.

Our entire administrative team was standing in the hall together today during passing time, and we reflected on the growth that takes place in the four years of high school. Asst. Principal Tom Beach remarked how amazing the transformation is. Our students come as freshmen, some wide-eyed and naive, some surly and cynical, and some every stop between those two extremes. When they come back as alumni, they are mature, positive, excited about their futures, and thankful for their experiences here. It's a great reminder that what we do every day matters.

Happy holidays to our entire North family - we wish health and happiness for all.

To Test Or Not To Test...

2011-12-06T06:55:00.000-08:00

In a recent post, I discussed Michigan's decision to raise cut scores on state standardized tests to equate to the ACT college readiness standards. In general, I have never argued against raising the bar for achievement in any area, when the bar represents a standard I would want my own children or self to be able to achieve. In this case though, after some reflection and exploration, I'm not so sure.

College readiness sounds like a good standard. The ACT defines college readiness as "the acquisition of the knowledge and skills a student needs to enroll and succeed in credit-bearing first-year courses at a post secondary institution (such as a two- or four-year college, trade school, or technical school) without the need for remediation" (ACT, 2011,1). The ACT determined that in 2011, only 25% of high school graduates met the college readiness standards in all four areas - English, reading, mathematics and science.

The ACT results regarding college readiness, are shockingly low if taken as real. According to their data, only one in four high school graduates is truly ready for all aspects of academic life in college. I started thinking about whether that could be true, and realized that the number of subjective factors influencing college readiness made it unlikely if not impossible for such a conclusion to be drawn with any reliability. Among the many factors:

* Rigor of the college course

* Competency of the professor (s)

* Maturity of the student

* Non academic factors such as mental health and stability

* Curriculum of the college course

* Physical Health

* Desire of college professors to "weed out" lower performing students

* Attitudes and behaviors such as time management or study skills

* Contextual knowledge such as how to apply to colleges and adjusting to campus life

* Whether students live on campus or off

There are dozens of factors that contribute to a student's success (or lack thereof) in college. Beyond that, it is interesting to me that we accept college and university standards as ours without accountability on their parts. Colleges and universities, and their professors, are not held to the same kind of public accountability standards that public schools are. In fact, it benefits colleges and universities to require students to take remedial level courses before advancing, because then those students are paying additional tuition fees.

North is undertaking a study of our recent graduates and tracking their progress in colleges and universities to evaluate the reality of college readiness standards. We're planning a survey of recent graduates, their progress in college, the extent to which any took remedial college courses, and looking at a variety of factors that could contribute to their potential success or failure. Most importantly, we urge all of our students and parents to evaluate needs individually with the assistance of teachers, counselors and administrators to identify areas to strengthen in college preparation.

Finally, if you want to really know what our kids are up against, and whether these tests assess problem-solving skills and knowledge that is truly relevant to their future success in college and workplace, take one of the tests and see for yourself. You may be surprised - see this article link for the account of a school board member in another state who did just that.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/when-an-adult-took-standardized-tests-forced-on-kids/2011/12/05/gIQApTDuUO_blog.html

Let's Fight It Together - Joe's Story - Cyber-Bullying

2011-11-17T09:54:00.000-08:00

Cyber bullying is a real issue that impacts young people in today's social media environment. Almost every conflict that arises between students at North either began online or through texts, or is prolonged electronically. Yesterday I went with members of the North staff to a Cyberbullying workshop and saw this video. It is a poignant look at the kind of daily issues with which our students are faced.

The week after Thanksgiving we will be holding class assemblies to discuss a variety of issues with our students, and this is one of our topics. I urge parents to discuss cyber bullying, online etiquette, and online safety with their sons / daughters and to closely monitor their social network profiles and activities. The benefits and potential of social networking are limitless, but the potential pitfalls and inherent dangers are real concerns.

Changing "Cut Scores" Means a Change in State Expectations

2011-11-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

At North or expectations for student achievement have never been about achieving proficiency on state standardized tests. We believe that our students can, and should, surpass the state proficiency standards. Michigan has made the decision to change the "cut scores" on its state standardized tests, effectively raising the bar in terms of what is considered "passing".

Imagine for instance, that you are a student in a course and the teacher tells you at the beginning of the year that 60% is a passing score. You, as a student, have higher expectations for yourself, and determine that 80% is your minimum. Nevertheless, midway through the term, the teacher changes his mind and tells you that in order for you to be ready for the next course in the sequence, you need to score at least an 85 and that is his new passing score. Your 80, which was previously higher than necessary to pass, is no longer passing. That example is analogous to what Michigan has done - the state has changed what is considered proficient (or passing) on the MEAP and MME tests. The state has determined (rightly in my opinion), that we need to hold students at all levels to the standard of college readiness, and has scaled scores all the way down to 3rd grade in terms of what score means a student is on track to be college ready when they graduate from high school.

The immediate result of this change in cut scores will be schools reporting achievement results that are significantly lower than in past years. This change will be more dramatic at the elementary and middle school levels where the cut scores have been historically much lower than at the high school level. Nevertheless, high schools will also see a reduction.

At the high school level, the most dramatic differences will be in math and science. On average, if we applied the new cut scores to last year's tests, we would have between 25 and 34% fewer students demonstrating proficiency in math, science and social studies.

State proficiency test scores are intended to give schools, students and parents an indicator as to where a student is at a given point in time. We use this data to find focus areas for improvement, and to ensure all of our students are ready for college. North has led the district, and been a leader in the state and in the country in innovative programming for struggling learners. Our challenge is growing, and we are determined to meet the new expectations and exceed them as we have done in the past.

The result of these changes is that some Grosse Pointe students who exceeded the previous proficiency standards, will be found deficient under the new cut scores. At North, we believe in raising the bar, and know that our students and teachers will rise to meet new challenges. While we will see initial dips in proficiency percentages, we share the state's belief that setting high standards yields results, and we will continue to work to ensure all students are college ready.

If you have questions about the state's new cut scores, or about state standardized testing, please don't hesitate to contact me, or any member of our administrative team.

Flipping the Classroom

2011-10-19T11:47:00.000-07:00

Recently there has been a lot of discussion in the world of education regarding the concept of "Flipping the Classroom". Essentially, the idea is that instead of students practicing that which they've learned as part of a homework assignment, they do the practice in class under the tutelage of the teacher, and use time outside of the classroom to investigate concepts either through video, text or web based resources. This idea is analogous to the coach of an athletic team who has his players study the playbook on their own time, but uses practice to actually perfect their work. While I'm not sold on the concept as a wholesale change from the way we use class time now, there are certainly some possibilities for this approach.

The Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org) is dedicated to providing a free education to anyone, anywhere in the world. The website offers thousands of videos on a wide variety of topics - especially mathematics - that can be used as the presentation of new material, or as reinforcement of lessons introduced in the classroom. In some schools which have adopted the "Flipped Classroom" teachers from the school are creating videos and podcasts to deliver instruction, and using class time to practice what was presented.

Students and parents will experience some lessons where teachers experiment with this approach, and we would love to hear feedback. In the meantime, visit the Khan Academy site for resources to augment instruction here at North. For more on the Khan Academy approach view this clip.

21st Century Skills Culture at High Tech High

2011-09-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

Often I hear adults bemoaning the fact that kids text more than they talk. Many adults believe that students' digital communications have resulted in them being less effective in interacting face to face. While that may be true, and to a certain degree I agree that face to face interaction is a real skill that we must teach, it is also apparent to me that the advent of social media and various technologies has not only not hurt our students' ability to interact - these technologies have enhanced that ability.

Our students are more thoroughly connected, and more broadly connected to a variety of people, than ever before in our world's history. Almost every student is a content creator - volumes of content is published every day on Facebook and various social media sites. Kids are writers on Facebook and blogs, filmmakers on You Tube, critics on all these sites, composers on Garage Band and iNudge, graphic designers on Glogster, moderators in various groups, and content creators in any number of wonderful ways. They interact with one another in both surface, superficial ways and deep, meaningful ways. Adults who do not see the relevance and importance of social media and available technologies run the risk of losing valuable relationship opportunities and credibility.

Every generation of adults has pined for the "good old days" when things were the way they remembered as a kid - sometimes with good reason, and other times through rose colored glasses. A critical lesson we need to learn from history is that change will occur - we can't slow the sands of the hourglass nor the evolution of human ingenuity. As educators, the greatest "fail" with today's students is to resist the technologies that are the lifeblood of our young people. By embracing those technologies, we not only gain their potential benefits, we build credibility, empathy and engagement opportunities with our students.

For a look at a "school of the future" to see that embracing technology, creativity, and project based learning is a way to not only cultivate confident, competent, creative problem solvers, but also a way to build strong relationships, see the video of California's High Tech High:

Projects, PLCs and the Finns

2011-09-19T08:13:00.000-07:00

Each year at North we pick some focus areas around which we build staff development and professional development activities. These areas are those which we think will have direct impact on student achievement and building culture. For the 2011-2012 school year we are focusing intently on classroom instruction strategies and techniques, and as a result have rebuilt our Professional Learning Community model as well as adopted a strong focus on project based learning as a building initiative.

We have a weekly late start that allows staff to meet with colleagues on issues related to student achievement. In the past teachers were assigned based on which courses they taught, and met with teachers who taught the same courses or courses in the same sequence. Our building leadership team of teachers and administrators felt that model was getting stale, and not providing the impact on instruction that we want out of the time commitment.

This year we built a new model of PLCs that has staff members joining professional learning communities focused on a variety of areas related to instruction and building culture. For example, we have some staff members exploring 21st century learning strategies, others in a collaborative group to share Smart board tips, another group doing a book study of Doug Lemov's Teach Like a Champion, and a variety of other groups. Teachers will be part of these small learning communities for nine weeks, and then rotate to a new group. In addition, every fourth PLC will continue to be department and course related. At the end of each nine week cycle, the group will report out "TED" talk style on their work with the intent being that the entire teaching staff benefit from each small group's work. We have come up with the term REAL (Responsible for Education, Achievement and Leadership) for our new approach. Now we are running REAL PLCs.

In addition to the change to our PLC approach, we are promoting an instructional shift towards project based learning as a fundamental approach. Research is strong that engaging, project oriented approaches lead to deeper understanding of content. Beyond the achievement impact, this approach cultivates creative solution funders. As we prepare students for the rapidly evolving 21st century, the skill to creatively approach and solve problems is at a higher premium than ever before. Each week we are recognizing a "Project of the Week", and staff are sharing ideas about how to use project learning. While many teachers used projects in the past, we are now turning towards a focus on building instruction around this approach.

The country which has led the way recently in student achievement is Finland. In the below pasted article, blogger Patrick Bassett examines the Finnish model. Among his conclusions are that project based learning and effective professional learning communities are two of the strengths of the Finnish model. We're confident that these approaches will help keep North at the top of the achievement spectrum, and give our students the best possible preparation for the world in which they will live.

The Finnish Model
Patrick F. Bassett
Fall 2008

NAIS President Patrick F. Bassett
Editor’s Note: A shorter version of this article was published by Education Week.

In Finland, there are virtually no private schools. Why not? Because the public schools in Finland function like independent schools in the U.S., and the results are very good.

Finland has been in the news of late, especially since the publication of the most recent PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) testing results revealed that students in Finland outperformed those of all other OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development) countries. How did they do it? An article in The Economist1 — reporting on an analysis of the Finland system by McKinsey, an international consulting firm — offers some insights.

Here are the factors, according to McKinsey, that were not in play for Finland’s success:

It’s not high pay for teachers, since Finnish teachers are not paid particularly well, and the countries that do pay their teachers the most (Spain, Switzerland, and Germany) do not perform as well.
It’s not more years of schooling, since compulsory school education starts at grade 1 (age 7) and ends in grade 9 (age 16), after which virtually all (95 percent) of Finland’s students voluntarily attend either upper secondary academic school (headed for university) or upper secondary vocational school (headed for the workplace or to further higher education in polytechnic institutes).
It’s not small class sizes, since Finnish classes are often 30 students with only one teacher (and few specialists, and the teachers are expected to teach all skills and subjects).
Just after the McKinsey report was issued, I happened to be in Helsinki, attending the Microsoft School of the Future International Summit, and two fortuitous events occurred that allowed me to learn firsthand how the Finns educate their kids. First, I was so jet-lagged the morning I arrived that I followed a group with badges that looked like mine (from a distance), boarded their bus, and ended up, not at my conference, but at a Finnish school for a half-day’s observations. Second, after I took a taxi to rejoin the Microsoft School group, I wandered into a presentation by an official of the Finnish government who laid out the specifics for what drove the nation’s educational success. What I learned from both the accidental school visit and the official presentation were the other factors not in play for Finnish success:

It’s not a longer school day or longer school year, since school runs from 8:00 am to noon or 2:00 pm, depending on the age of students, and the school year is no longer than in the U.S.
It’s not nationally centralized control (like that of the French) but rather national curriculum standards with local implementation. (A Finnish third-grade teacher told us that, of the 25 periods per week of classes, about five are dictated subjects/skills from the national standards; in the rest, she improvises.)
It’s not accreditation. There is none in Finland. The federal ministry, with some periodic sampling testing to assure quality control, trusts the local authorities to meet the national standards.
It’s definitely not high-stakes testing, since most of the testing that occurs is formative, not summative. As noted, the government does do periodic sample testing of students to make certain the students, their schools, and the system continue to perform highly (and intervenes aggressively if a school falls behind), but the government refuses to publish the test results for the press or public, eschewing the mania of League Tables in Great Britain and school rankings in the U.S. based on test scores.
So what exactly is it that makes the Finns so successful in educating kids? Very simply, as the McKinsey Report points out, three factors: “get the best teachers; get the best out of teachers; and step in when pupils start to lag behind.” Examining each of these imperatives dramatizes the Finland success story.

Get the Best Teachers
As we’ve known in the U.S. education industry for a long time, the single most important factor for student and school success is high-quality faculty. While the U.S. public system identifies “high-quality” as “highly-qualified,” meaning “certified” (i.e., having an education degree or having taken a battery of education courses), independent schools in the U.S. have long rejected that definition in favor of hiring “high-quality” teachers, meaning those who have a degree in the subject they love and teach (i.e., math and physics majors, not education majors, teaching math and physics). Part of the rationale for the independent school path for hiring liberal arts graduates from competitive and selective universities (also, incidentally, the strategy of Teach for America, which attracts the top echelon of graduates from America’s most selective universities to teach in public schools) is that education programs generally have the lowest status in universities and attract the weakest students.

“The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers”
The Economist article quotes a South Korean official who notes that, “The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers” and cites studies in Tennessee and Texas that have shown that, if you take pupils of average ability and give them to teachers deemed in the top fifth of the profession, those students end up in the top 10 percent of student performers. Conversely, if you give them to teachers from the bottom fifth, they end up at the bottom. Also, the article cites The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce report (Tough Choices or Tough Times), which observes that American public schools typically recruit teachers from the bottom third of college graduates.

I learned from the Finnish Ministry that “getting the best teachers” means that all teachers must have master’s degrees and that only 10 percent, the cream of the crop of undergraduates, are accepted into the teacher training program. The ministry deliberately restricts access to the program, believing that restrictions increase attraction (a strategy also employed by Teach for America, which routinely attracts five or more candidates for every position). In Finland, it’s not the money but the status and prestige of teaching that attracts the best and brightest into the profession. Ditto for Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, where teachers are also revered (and, I might add, in U.S. independent schools, where faculty status, power, and influence are high and unionization virtually nonexistent).

Takeaway #1: To improve educational outcomes in U.S. schools, we need to develop a winning strategy for attracting talent. In cultures like ours that don’t give high status to teaching, more money may have to do (until we successfully elevate the profession’s status). Interestingly, we have an opportunity to front-load higher starting salaries as our more highly paid veteran boomer teachers are about to retire. Alternatively, we can also recruit teachers on the campuses of our 250 or so highly selective colleges and universities for the undergraduate academic and leadership elite who “want to give back” or make a difference in the social structure of the nation.

Get the Best Out of Teachers
A second arena in which American education falls short, in both public and private segments of the industry, is in “professionalizing the profession.” While there is much talk and some progress in creating “professional learning communities” (PLCs) for teachers, and there is some promise in creating digital communities, we fall far short as a country of what our competitors in the world marketplace are committed to. In Finland, groups of teachers visit each other’s classrooms and plan lessons together, in a system called “lesson studies” that include “rounds” just like the medical profession. Teachers also get an afternoon off per week for professional development (including for school substitutes).

Takeaway #2: American schools are way too under invested in annual professional training and could benefit immensely from creating true PLCs focused on peer learning, peer observations, and collaborative lesson-planning. In fact, a huge improvement in professionalizing the profession would occur if teacher evaluations were linked to engagement in PLCs and demonstrations of what is learned (which the Irish are moving towards doing with ePortfolios, as I learned at the Microsoft School of the Future International Summit).

Step in When Pupils Start to Lag Behind
A factor contributing to the success of the Finnish system is the use of early and powerful intervention when a student begins to fall behind. Frequent diagnostic testing (“formative testing”) at early stages reveals students who need extra help, and the Finns provide it intensively (with one special-needs teacher for every seven special-needs students in some schools). The McKinsey report points out that, in Finland, about a third of students receive remediation.

Interestingly, education spending in Finland is also weighted toward the middle school years: Finland spends about the same as its OECD counterparts in the lower primary grades (grades 1–5), a lot less (much bigger classes) in the upper secondary years (grades 10–12), but a lot more in the middle years (grades 6–9) because this is the time when kids begin to fail and drop out. How sensible is the Finn model to increase resources at that point to prevent kids from the disaster of failing at school? In Finland, there are no dead-end streets down the education highway.

Takeaway #3: It turns out that all kids can learn, given good teachers, early and intensive intervention, and a supportive school and peer culture. U.S. schools need to move from a medical model (learning disabilities) to a diversity model (learning differences), and re-orient themselves to identify, value, and use a student’s strengths as “workarounds” and palliatives to weaknesses.

Other Factors
Finland is a small, homogeneous country of five million, with a common value of high regard for education. Literacy and fluency are a national priority, contributing to good results in literacy examinations. Children see adults reading all the time, since Finns on average check out 18 books from the library per year. (It’s minus 40 degrees for long spells in the winter, so indoor activities like reading are popular.) The Finns, by policy, are committed to fluency in foreign language, as there are two national languages, Finnish and Swedish, taught throughout school. Just about everyone I met also spoke English, in part because Finnish TV uses no dubbing — only subtitles, so children hear English all the time.

Children feel safe and supported in Finnish schools: the environment is colorful and filled with light, the children have a single teacher in multi-age learning groups “where differences are taken for granted,” and no grading is used in assessments.

Few textbooks are used, the Finns preferring project- and problem-based approaches integrated with learning in the larger community, and tempered with lots of practical education elements and daily chores at the school. ICT (Information and Communication Technology) is integrated at all levels, including media literacy. The Finns are naturalists and the ecosystem important to them, so field trips focus on nature and produce a country of environmentalists.

Play is important, too. There is universal support for high-quality preschools, which most students attend, but whose emphasis is play, not early prep. Once in the compulsory school system (grades 1–9), kids go outside for 30-minute recess for unstructured play every day, including all winter long. After school, students walk to nearby recreation centers for more sports and play.

Aside from the reindeer jerky with lingonberries as an appetizer for most meals and the group “clothing optional” saunas in the hotel, what was there not to love in Finland? My most striking takeaway from the Microsoft School of the Future International Summit was how so many countries have adopted a huge commitment to re-engineering schools and developing the skills for the 21st century. The British are rebuilding or renovating all their schools over the next 15 years. The Singaporeans are emphasizing creativity and imagination. The Abu Dhabians are talking about leadership training for young women. The Irish are driving down the high-tech highway at full speed. And the U.S.? Tinkering with the No Child Left Behind Act, clinging to standardized testing, and complaining about the difficulties that diversity presents. Meanwhile, the Finns have got their act totally together.

Happy New Year

2011-09-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

For those of us in education, and for our young people, the real Happy New Year is the start of a new school session!

Welcome back to North, and to the 2011-2012 school year. It has been an exciting week at North with the return of students, the introduction to our new freshmen - the Class of 2015 - and our evening parent orientation meetings.

North begins 2011-2012 with a new Mission Statement. Our mission is "Excellent instruction, every class, every day". Every staff meeting, every teacher professional development experience, every professional learning community meeting is focused on the same thing - providing every student an excellent experience every day. In the words of Bill and Ted (for those of you old enough to get the reference), our goal is to "Be Excellent".

North is coming off an outstanding year with achievement standards and gains that will be a challenge to match, but with our philosophy solidly grounded in putting kids first, everyone here is committed to making our already outstanding school an even better place for the young people we serve.

Our staff began the year with an emphasis on project learning, and you will see our initiative to make this approach an integrated, embedded part of instruction in virtually every class. Our teachers are committed to cultivating creative problem-solving skills in their classrooms.

North High School is all about kids - we pride ourselves on the relationships we build, and the results those relationships garner both in student achievement and in real connections to our students. For our returners, welcome back, and for those new to North, welcome.

Happy New Year Norsemen!!!

North Earns an "A", More Achievement Successes

2011-07-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

The 2011 State of Michigan MME (Michigan Merit Exam) scores are back with good news for Grosse Pointe North. On the heels of moving up 250 spots on the national Top School Rankings to the top 3% in the nation, North saw improvement gains in every tested area of the MME except social studies which stayed constant with 89% students proficient.

North was up 4% in reading, 3% in writing and science, and 2% in math. In addition, the achievement gap between low performing sub-groups and our highest performing groups has narrowed considerably. In the three years since North implemented our High Schools 2.0 and freshman academic team models, the achievement gap has narrowed by 21 percentage points in math, and 11 percentage points in English Language Arts (ELA).

The really good news is that gains in narrowing the achievement gap have not come at the expense of our top performing student groups. In our five year achievement analysis from 2007 through 2011, achievement at the top end has remained constant or grown in ELA and math despite reduced state funding and staffing, and despite the fact that the number of socioeconomically disadvantaged students in the testing population has tripled in that time. North is maintaining a high level of performance with all students, while seeing our lowest performing students steadily improve.

Finally, once again, the state has given North High School an "A" on our state report card, validating the hard work by students and staff. It's a great time to be a Norseman!

Generation iY?

2011-06-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

At the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) state conference this week, state principals were treated to a keynote address by author Dr. Tim Elmore, who wrote Generation iY: Our Last Chance to Save Their Future. In his talk, Dr. Elmore identified students born after 1990 as part of the "iY" generation, who, in his words, are all about "i". He presented some great context for comparisons between this generation and previous generations in the U.S. What I found most interesting was the fact that his list of strategies fits very well with the emphasis we have placed at North High School on experiential learning.

Dr. Elmore suggested the acronym EPIC for instruction that works for the iY generation:

E = Experiential. Generation iY learners don't only learn through experiences, they require this form of learning to be engaged.

P = Participatory. Generation iY learners have grown up in an environment of participation in everything - even television shows such as American Idol, which are hugely popular with this generation, emphasize their participation.

I = Image rich. Today's students are inundated by images, and are accustomed to an environment that lives the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words.

C = Connected. Connected to each other, to their teacher, to cohorts across the world, and to the greatest tool for gathering information ever invented - the internet.

EPIC could be an acronym to describe the process of project based or authentic learning. Heading into the 2011-2012 school year, we will increase our emphasis on classroom learning environments that are project based, and instruction that is EPIC....

Congratulations Class of 2011

2011-06-23T04:41:00.000-07:00

The Class of 2011 walked across the stage at North's commencement exercises on Thursday, June 16th, and headed into the world armed with all the tools they acquired in the Grosse Pointe Public Schools System, and with their enthusiasm and idealism for making the world a better place. I've been asked by many (ok...3, but I'm sure they spoke for many...) people for the transcript of my commencement address, which is pasted below. It's not the same without the excited faces of our graduates in front of it, or the pageantry of the event, but the message is heartfelt to a fine group of young people. The last names have been reduced to first initials for the purpose of this publication. Best wishes to the Class of 2011 and happy summer to all.

Good Evening Parents, Esteemed Faculty, Administration, Members of the Board of Education, and most importantly – members of the Graduating Class of 2011

As those of you who know me, or may have been subjected to one of my speeches before, may know, I’m not big on ordinary. In fact, it is very possible that I may well be the only high school principal in the nation this year to use his commencement address to quote Sister Souljah, author of Midnight – A Gangster Love Story, who wrote, “If you go outside, you can find a thousand stones on the ground. They are lying around everywhere. You can just pick any one of them up anytime and put it right into your pocket, or throw it back on the ground…it has no value so who cares. But when a stone is a precious jewel, it is surrounded and protected. You’ll have to work very hard to earn it, and even harder to keep it for yourself.” That quote cuts two ways – we have to work hard to earn things that are precious to us. The ordinary is easy to achieve – it’s the extraordinary that presents challenges. Conversely, if we want to be coveted for our extraordinary qualities, we must surround and protect ourselves in the way precious jewels are protected. We can’t allow ourselves to be used and thrown away. Graduates – you have been surrounded and protected by your families, your teachers and administrators, and this community. As you head into a world outside this protective umbrella, we will all still be here for you, but you will become the gatekeepers of your own special gifts. In doing so, I challenge you to BE EXTRAORDINARY.

So I set out to write a speech about being extraordinary - because that really is what life should be about right? – I finished it and I think it was pretty good, but I wasn’t sure it was what anyone would call “extraordinary”. In it I quoted Sister Souljah, and I went on to use lots of anecdotes to give it a personal touch that was tailored to just this class. I mean, that’s pretty good right? But not extraordinary…

Extraordinary things happen every day in otherwise ordinary times and places. I mean in my first draft I wrote about how in order to be extraordinary, one has to take risks, and I thought of Mike W. asking me to ask his girlfriend to prom over the P.A., and me doing it. Pretty risky, and pretty extraordinary…

I wrote about how we have to have fun in life, and how turning the mundane into something memorable and fun is important. I thought about telling how Andrew P. and Steve D. made a valiant, if failed and misguided effort to sneak into each class photo for the yearbook and were successful in getting in the freshman and sophomore photo until some heads up juniors foiled their plot. I wrote about how later in the year Andrew P. and Andrew V. turned what could have been a mundane four hour bus trip to Chicago with the band and orchestra into four hours of frivolity and school appropriate fun, and then asked me to give a shout out to my fellow Bus 2 riders in the commencement speech (consider yourselves ..uh…”shouted out” to by the way…) – those things were examples of one of the most extraordinary things people can do – make life’s journey a little more fun for everyone. Pretty good for the speech right? But not really an extraordinary speech…

Then I thought about mentioning all the extraordinary things - big and small – I remembered about this class like Jadon C’s smile and the kind words he has for everyone, Micaela L’s feisty and competitive spirit, Stephen Morrison turning down MIT – for Harvard, Evan Lock’s leprechaun impersonation, Will R’s leadership and musicianship in the drumline, Sean K’s dedication to working with our special needs students, Katie M’s vocal talents, Natasha E’s journalistic talents, and EJ W’s classic GQ sense of style…all extraordinary people with extraordinary qualities. I could talk about all of that, but would you listen – is it extraordinary to just talk about extraordinary people and talk about the greatness that I know is in each of you?

I want to give you an extraordinary message because you are an extraordinary group of young people, so I put aside that first message and started thinking about how to make it better. For example, I thought about releasing balloons (Balloons released from behind the stage) with every senior’s name on one to signify you getting your wings and flying – but I thought that might be a little cheesy…

(Mrs. Davison starts playing Freebird on the piano) I looked on You Tube and found a video of two extraordinary high school graduates doing a phenomenally funny and poignant speech accompanied by music, and thought about asking Mrs. Davison to play Freebird on the piano while I quoted “If I leave here tomorrow would you still remember me? For I must be travelin’ on now – there’s too many places I’ve got to see. If I stayed here with you things just wouldn’t be the same” as the message for each of you (those are the lyrics to Freebird for those of you born after 1980) to give to explain your need to pursue the goals and dreams you have in mind for your bright futures.- - then I thought – “no – not original enough”… (Davison shrugs – hands up in air)

I thought about doing as I’ve done in the past and asking some special seniors like David L. (David stands up with charts / signs to hold up) to come up here with me and hold up some funny signs or do a Top Ten List with me…but then I thought – “been there – done that”…

Finally I decided that you’re all way too bright to be taken in by gimmicks like those. You remember when you were little and your Dad told you that he didn’t want a present for Father’s Day, and he would rather have your homemade card? This is my homemade card - What I need to tell you comes from the heart. In my years of experience as a father, husband, teacher, coach and administrator I’ve decided the one thing that is most extraordinary and that allows a person to shine like a precious jewel amongst a sea of rocks is caring. Care enough about yourself to take a chance on making your dreams reality. Care about those you love so much you put their needs before yours. Care about your friends, co-workers, fellow students and everyone you know to reach out when they’re suffering and let them know they can count on you. Care enough to take a stand in the face of injustice. Believe that through caring, compassion and commitment you can make a difference in the world that will last long beyond your lifespan. That’s truly extraordinary.

In Nickleback’s song “If Today Was Your Last Day”, the band sings “My best friend gave me the best advice. He said each day is a gift and not a given right. Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind, and try to take the path less traveled.” Class of 2011 – heed that advice –care about each day as if it were a special gift, and use that gift to do extraordinary things. There is greatness in each of you, and I’m proud to have been your principal. Congratulations, and best wishes.

21st Century Education - Really???

2011-06-09T05:23:00.000-07:00

North teacher Andrew Taylor recently sent me a link to a blog post at http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com/ that was an actual final exam from a paperless social studies classroom. The concept is intriguing, and I think that after looking at the exam most people will have two reactions: one - this is a great authentic assessment - very true to the work historians might have to do, and the methodologies they would employ, and two - can anyone really do all of this in two hours and fifteen minutes?!?

View the exam post at http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com/2011/06/exam-day-demonstrating-understanding.html.

As I perused the page, elsewhere under favorite posts I found a great post speculating what things in education will be obsolete by 2020. While the technology world evolves this rapidly, I'm not sure I believe education will (it never has...), but one could make an argument that at least some of these changes will happen, and perhaps should. Take a look, and please feel free to comment on those changes you expect to happen, or others not included on this list:

21 Things That Will Become Obsolete in Education by 2020

Last night I read and posted the clip on '21 Things That Became Obsolete in the Last Decade'. Well, just for kicks, I put together my own list of '21 Things That Will Become Obsolete in Education by 2020'.

1. Desks
The 21st century does not fit neatly into rows. Neither should your students. Allow the network-based concepts of flow, collaboration, and dynamism help you rearrange your room for authentic 21st century learning.

2. Language Labs
Foreign language acquisition is only a smartphone away. Get rid of those clunky desktops and monitors and do something fun with that room.

3. Computers
Ok, so this is a trick answer. More precisely this one should read: 'Our concept of what a computer is'. Because computing is going mobile and over the next decade we're going to see the full fury of individualized computing via handhelds come to the fore. Can't wait.

4. Homework
The 21st century is a 24/7 environment. And the next decade is going to see the traditional temporal boundaries between home and school disappear. And despite whatever Secretary Duncan might say, we don't need kids to 'go to school' more; we need them to 'learn' more. And this will be done 24/7 and on the move (see #3).

5. The Role of Standardized Tests in College Admissions
The AP Exam is on its last legs. The SAT isn't far behind. Over the next ten years, we will see Digital Portfolios replace test scores as the #1 factor in college admissions.

6. Differentiated Instruction as the Sign of a Distinguished Teacher
The 21st century is customizable. In ten years, the teacher who hasn't yet figured out how to use tech to personalize learning will be the teacher out of a job. Differentiation won't make you 'distinguished'; it'll just be a natural part of your work.

7. Fear of Wikipedia
Wikipedia is the greatest democratizing force in the world right now. If you are afraid of letting your students peruse it, it's time you get over yourself.

8. Paperbacks
Books were nice. In ten years' time, all reading will be via digital means. And yes, I know, you like the 'feel' of paper. Well, in ten years' time you'll hardly tell the difference as 'paper' itself becomes digitized.

9. Attendance Offices
Bio scans. 'Nuff said.

10. Lockers.
A coat-check, maybe.

11. IT Departments
Ok, so this is another trick answer. More subtly put: IT Departments as we currently know them. Cloud computing and a decade's worth of increased wifi and satellite access will make some of the traditional roles of IT -- software, security, and connectivity -- a thing of the past. What will IT professionals do with all their free time? Innovate. Look to tech departments to instigate real change in the function of schools over the next twenty years.

12. Centralized Institutions
School buildings are going to become 'homebases' of learning, not the institutions where all learning happens. Buildings will get smaller and greener, student and teacher schedules will change to allow less people on campus at any one time, and more teachers and students will be going out into their communities to engage in experiential learning.

13. Organization of Educational Services by Grade
Education over the next ten years will become more individualized, leaving the bulk of grade-based learning in the past. Students will form peer groups by interest and these interest groups will petition for specialized learning. The structure of K-12 will be fundamentally altered.

14. Education School Classes that Fail to Integrate Social Technology
This is actually one that could occur over the next five years. Education Schools have to realize that if they are to remain relevant, they are going to have to demand that 21st century tech integration be modelled by the very professors who are supposed to be preparing our teachers.

15. Paid/Outsourced Professional Development
No one knows your school as well as you. With the power of a PLN in their backpockets, teachers will rise up to replace peripatetic professional development gurus as the source of schoolwide prof dev programs. This is already happening.

16. Current Curricular Norms
There is no reason why every student needs to take however many credits in the same course of study as every other student. The root of curricular change will be the shift in middle schools to a role as foundational content providers and high schools as places for specialized learning.

17. Parent-Teacher Conference Night
Ongoing parent-teacher relations in virtual reality will make parent-teacher conference nights seem quaint. Over the next ten years, parents and teachers will become closer than ever as a result of virtual communication opportunities. And parents will drive schools to become ever more tech integrated.

18. Typical Cafeteria Food
Nutrition information + handhelds + cost comparison = the end of $3.00 bowls of microwaved mac and cheese. At least, I so hope so.

19. Outsourced Graphic Design and Webmastering
You need a website/brochure/promo/etc.? Well, for goodness sake just let your kids do it. By the end of the decade -- in the best of schools -- they will be.

20. High School Algebra I
Within the decade, it will either become the norm to teach this course in middle school or we'll have finally woken up to the fact that there's no reason to give algebra weight over statistics and IT in high school for non-math majors (and they will have all taken it in middle school anyway).

21. Paper
In ten years' time, schools will decrease their paper consumption by no less than 90%. And the printing industry and the copier industry and the paper industry itself will either adjust or perish.
Posted by Shelly Blake-Plock at 9:45 AM

North Points of Pride

2011-06-03T06:16:00.000-07:00

Each year we compile a "Points of Pride" list that includes a look at some of the achievements and milestones in the various departments at North. My apologies to any person or group who has been omitted as I'm sure there are other significant accomplishments not included. Nevertheless, it is clear that North is a special place with a lot of great things happening.

Grosse Pointe North Points of Pride 2010-2011

Building
• North made AYP and earned an “A” on the Michigan Department of Education report card
• In 2011 North was ranked 912th in the nation (top 3%) and 7th in the state in the Top Schools Rankings based on AP / IB testing.
• Student Association won the Award of Excellence from the Michigan Association of Student Councils MASC.
• Student Association sponsored a blood drive that saved 113 lives, and adopt a family that brought a holiday meal and gifts to 76 local families in need.

Business Education
• Business Education Department entered an articulation agreement with Macomb Community College allowing students to receive college credit for successful completion on our Information Processing/Digital Technology Course.

• Business Education is pursuing the possibility of becoming CTE Certified beginning in the 2012-2013 school year.

• Membership in DECA significantly increased for GPN and was recognized with a 100% participation plaque for 2010-2011 School Year.

• The DECA District Competition was held in January 2011 at Chippewa Valley High School where 28 GPN students competed and all qualified for the State Competition March 18-20, 2011.

• The DECA State Conference took place in March 2011 at the Amway Grand Plaza in Grand Rapids, Michigan 28 students from GPN competed.

• Seven students qualified and participated at the DECA International Conference held in Orlando, Florida in April/May 2011. Receiving recognition for their Leadership and Management abilities.

We are looking forward to another successful DECA school year in 2011-2012 with many returning members.

Counseling Center
• North counselors completed their second year in their flexible schedule program that allows them to meet personally and individually with the parents of every junior to discuss college plans
• The North Counseling department successfully transitioned to using Docufide for the submission of electronic transcripts for all college applications. North counselors also presented the “how to” of this process at the “Urban Counselors’ Workshop” held at Wayne State University.
• Groups running throughout year: Grief, 2 girls’ groups
• Two counselors working with Freshman and Sophomore Assist classes on a weekly basis.

English Department
Vallhalla staff for their 2010 publication:
• National Scholastic Press Association – First Ranking
• Michigan Interscholastic Press Association – Gold Medal
• Columbia Scholastic Press Association – Silver Medal
• American Scholastic Press Association – First Place Ranking

• The North Pointe student newspaper was one of two publications to earn a Silver Crown award from Columbia University, the highest honor given to any Michigan high school in 2010.

• Eighteen students earned recognition from the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association for individual work.

• Individual awards were presented for National Scholastic Press Association Spring Write-Off Competition

• 90% of students testing earned a three or higher on the AP English Language and Composition Exam

• 88% of students testing earned a three or higher on the AP English Literature and Composition Exam

Math
• Four students were finalists in Part I of the Michigan Mathematics Prize Competition given throughout Michigan. They scored among the top 1000 students from over 14,000 participants invited to take part II of the exam in December 2010.

Social Studies
• The Quiz Bowl Team won the MAC League and qualified for nationals, completing its 8th consecutive undefeated regular season.
• Department members organized the Grosse Pointe North High School participation in the AIDS WALK DETROIT , and including the last several years, raised over $67,000; the largest contribution in the tri-county area!
• 18 students traveled to Washington D.C. for one week to participate in the Close-Up Program with their teacher/chaperone.
• 22 Economics students placed in the top 20% on the National Financial Capability Challenge!
• A Social Studies teacher received the Fulbright-Hayes Group Project scholarship and studied in Russia for four weeks.
• A Social Studies teacher participated as a Social Studies Olympiad judge.
• Social Studies is actively involved in clubs: Diversity Club, Student Association, and Ufology Club. There are five teacher advisors.
• Every Social Studies homeroom class adopted a family in the Adopt-a-Family Program.
• 100s of students attended field trips including Anthropology “digs” and zoo trips, American Legal Systems court proceedings observations, and visits to the DIA, the Ford Rouge Plant, and the Holocaust Memorial.
• Hundreds of students participated in Challenge Day, a nationally recognized program (organized by the Diversity Club, along with their sponsors)

Band and Orchestra
• At the Dixie Classic National Adjudicators invitational in Chicago, North Band and Orchestra received a Full Orchestra “Superior” rating, the Concert Band received an “Excellent” rating, and the Symphony Band received a “Superior” rating.

• The Woodwind section from our Symphony Band received the “Most Outstanding Woodwind Section Award” and one student received an “Outstanding Soloist Award”.

• A near record number of students participated in 64 events in the District MSBOA and Ensemble Festival. At this festival:

o Many students received 1st and 2nd division medals
o 23 events received a superior division award at state level
o 11 events received an excellent award
o 2 students selected to participate in the Michigan Youth Arts Festival

• The Instrumental, Vocal and Drama programs performed for over 3,000 people in the musical Curtains.

• The North Jazz Band performed at “Music on the Plaza, and recorded their 6th disc.

• They also traveled to Cedar Point to participate in a National Music-in-the-Parks Festival bringing home a superior rating.

Science Department
• Group of students took the Chemistry Olympiad Exam at the University of Michigan Dearborn
• Science Olympiad Team competed at the Local Science Olympiad competition earning a 1st place in three Academic Pentathalon and a 4th place in the Chemistry Lab
• Eleven students from the Radio Astronomy Team spent 4 days in Green Bank, WV at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
• Senior students conducted research projects at Wayne State University Medical School over the summer studying traumatic brain injury and researching alterations in the brain
• First Annual Physical Cardboard Boat Regatta held with approximately 250 students and fifty boats were involved. Students spent one month working on research, development, decoration and completion of their boats that had to float two student rowers across the school pool.
• Worked to make GPN a certified State of Michigan “Green School”
• Recycled over 5,000 lbs of paper
• Students in Applied Medical Research experienced rotations in every major unit of hospitals: Beaumont Grosse Pointe, St. John Main Campus, and the Surgical Institute of Michigan. Students observed hip and knee replacements, brain surgery, labor and delivery, heart catheter procedures and emergency department’s cases.
• The second annual Sweet Tooth Symposium served as a highlight of the year.
• One science teacher was awarded the American Physiology Society Fellowship. This is a paid summer research position. She was one of only 17 in the nation awarded this fellowship.

Art Department

Art Center Awards presented to students for:
• Product Design – Excellence
• Photography – Excellence
• Illustration – Excellence

Rainy Day Art Awards
• Painting – Best Use of Product
• Ink – Best Use of Product
• Pencil – Best Use of Product

Art Honor Award
• Metal – Excel lance

Senior Juried Art Awards were presented in the following categories:
• Michigan State Senator Bert Johnson Photography Portfolio Award
• Honorable Judge Ted Metry Award for Portfolio and Animated Story
• Council Member Arthur Bryant Excellence Award
• Council Member Kevin Ketels Excellence in Photography Award
• Council Member Rodd McConaghy Award for Excellence
• Lorenz Award for Excellence

Grosse Pointe Art Center Awards presented by Amy DeBrunner, GPAC Director
• Excellence in Illustrative Drawing
• Excellence in Graphic Design
• Excellence in Drawing
• Excellence in Metal Design
• Excellence in Painting

Ahee Jewelers
• Recognition of Excellence

Scholastic Awards for 9th, 10th & 11th grades
• 3 Gold Keys
• 5 Silver Keys
• 7 Certificates

Scholastic Awards for Seniors
• 3 Gold Key Art Portfolios
• 3 Silver Medal National Scholastic Winners

Other awards presented to seniors:
• 3 Gold Keys
• 5 Silver Keys
• 8 Certificates

Athletics
• North athletic teams compete almost exclusively in the top two divisions of the 36 team Macomb Area Conference despite enrollment that puts us in the lower half of the league.
• Numerous teams won conference and state tournament level titles, and numerous athletes competed in the state finals in sports such as tennis, wrestling, cross-country and track.
• At least 8 seniors from North athletic teams have signed letters of intent to play intercollegiate athletics.

Schools of the Future

2011-05-31T07:04:00.000-07:00

In coming weeks at commencement exercises across the nation, speakers will make the point that commencement means the beginning of something rather than the end. In keeping with that idea, while we are at the end of another school year, schools are embarking on plans for the future. There is much discussion in the education world today about "Schools of the Future" and what form(s) they might take. Through the years, public education has changed very little in some respects, and dramatically in others. As the world and our technologies change more rapidly than any time in the world's history, I thought this article abstract was an interesting look at the possible paths the schools of tomorrow might take:

What Will Schools of the Future Look Like?

In this thoughtful Education Week article, Richard Elmore and Elizabeth City of the Harvard Graduate School of Education ask us to think ahead 10-15 years and guess the proportion of student learning that will take place in schools (versus elsewhere). “The availability of relatively cheap technologies offering direct access to knowledge of all types creates opportunities for students to experience a dramatic increase in the choice of what they learn, with whom they choose to learn, and how they choose to learn,” say Elmore and City. Right now, most schools have resisted the digital revolution, sequestering computers to special labs, using laptops as digital typewriters and presentation producers, and treating social networking as a subversive activity. Will that change in the years ahead? Here are three possible scenarios for 2025:

• Fighting for survival – Schools look much the way they do today, but expand the use of laptops, interactive whiteboards, digital lessons, digital grading, and new ways to communicate with parents and schedule meetings, while teachers continue to control access to content and learning. “In this instance,” say Elmore and City, “schools will increasingly become custodial institutions, isolated from the lives of their students and the learning environment beyond their walls.”

• Controlled engagement – Schools define learning goals and map out the best pathways, then use technology to open portals for students to learn from a wider world. For example, a school in Alabama participates in a two-way bilingual cooperative with a school in Shanghai, with teachers using video technology and shared materials to alternate between English and Mandarin lessons. “Teachers are less gatekeepers of knowledge and more knowledge brokers,” say Elmore and City. “School leaders become less managers of instruction, and more entrepreneurs connecting their organizations to the broader learning environment. Schools become less places where students go to learn from adults, and more places where adults and students get together to enter a broader learning environment.”

• Open access to learning – There are broad standards for content (like the Common Core) and general guidance on how students and parents can get access to learning, speculate Elmore and City, but schools “are on their own, competing with other types of service providers and learning modalities for the interest and loyalty of students and their parents. A family might combine services from two or three different organizations into a learning plan for its children – tutoring for ‘basic’ academic content, active learning and access to the digital environment at an experiential learning center, and physical and kinesthetic development from sports and recreation center.” Students might take as long as sixth months in one learning environment – a language program or a biology expedition – accumulating digital learning portfolios of their learning that would be used to apply to colleges. All this would be funded by per-student grants adjusted to family income, language status, and disabilities.

“Schools, as we presently know them, would gradually cease to exist and be replaced by social networks organized around the learning goals of students and their families,” say Elmore and City.

Which of these scenarios makes the most sense? The authors suggest that we find our way toward the answer by:

• Talking with students and educators about what school could and should look like;
• Visiting schools that are breaking the mold;
• Using new school construction and renovation projects as opportunities to think differently about what configuration will maximize student learning.
“Beyond Schools” by Richard Elmore and Elizabeth City in Education Week, May 18, 2011 (Vol. 30, #31, p. 24-26) http://www.edweek.org

North in Top 3 % !!!

2011-05-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

The Top Schools rankings were released this weekend in the Washington Post. The rankings were done by Jay Matthews who began this ranking system for Newsweek. The rankings are based on a ratio of AP or IB tests taken to graduates from a school.

In this year's ranking, North is ranked as 912th in the nation, up over 250 spots from last year. That ranking puts North in the top 3% of schools in the nation!! 1910 schools are ranked, with the requirement of a ratio of greater than 1.0 of tests taken to graduates.

In Michigan, North is the 7th highest ranked high school in the state out of hundreds of schools. Based on research done last year by board member Brendan Walsh, we believe North and South are the only two Michigan schools which have been ranked in the Top Schools rankings each year since their inception.

We have wonderful staff and students, doing wonderful things. You can see the entire list at:

http://apps.washingtonpost.com/highschoolchallenge/schools/2011/list/national/

More on Testing

2011-05-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

The following is an excellent article about the position California's governor has taken on standardized testing in the state. It presents a different side to this controversial issue - one with which I largely agree...

California Governor Puts the Testing Juggernaut On Ice
By Anthony Cody on May 18, 2011

California Governor Jerry Brown has taken a big step towards reducing the testing mania in the nation's most populous state. Up until his administration we have been on an accelerated path towards the comprehensive data-driven system that test publishers and corporate reformers have convinced leaders is needed to improve schools. But in the May budget outline from Brown's office, he makes it clear he is putting on the brakes.

From the Thoughts on Public Education blog comes this:

Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing to suspend funding for CALPADS, the state student longitudinal data system, and to stop further planning for CALTIDES, the teacher data base that was to be joined at the hip with CALPADS.

What is even more encouraging is the explanation Brown offers, which shows a great deal of understanding of these issues. The document states:

A number of problems have been identified with California's state testing, data collection and accountability regime. Testing takes huge amounts of time from classroom instruction. Data collection requirements are cumbersome and do not provide timely - and therefore usable - information back to schools. Teachers are forced to cub their own creativity and engagement with students as they focus on teaching to the test. State and federal administrators continue to centralize teaching authority far from the classroom.
The (Brown) Administration proposes to deal with these issues by carefully reforming testing and accountability requirements to achieve genuine accountability and maximum local autonomy. It will engage teachers, scholars, school administrators and parents to develop proposals to
(1) reduce the amount of time devoted to state testing in schools;
(2) eliminate data collections that do not provide useful information to school administrators, teachers and parents; and
(3) restore power to school administrators, teachers and parents.
The goal is to improve the learning environment in every classroom, thereby encouraging the demanding pursuit of excellence. The May Revision proposes to suspend funding for CALPADS in 2011-12 pending this continued review of data collection requirements.
Praise be!

Jerry Brown is unusual among our nation's governors. He got a bit more involved than most in on-the-ground school reform while he was serving as mayor of Oakland. He learned the hard way how schools are a reflection of deeper social issues. In a statement he wrote to respond to Arne Duncan's Race to the Top a year and a half ago, while he was California's Attorney General, he said:

You assume we know how to "turn around all the struggling low performing schools," when the real answers may lie outside of school. As Oakland mayor, I directly confronted conditions that hindered education, and that were deeply rooted in the social and economic conditions of the community or were embedded in the particular attitudes and situations of the parents. There is insufficient recognition in the draft regulations that inside and outside of school strategies must be interactive and merged.
Even more revealing was what he wrote about federally-driven education "reform":

The basic assumption of your draft regulations appears to be that top down, Washington driven standardization is best. This is a "one size fit all" approach that ignores the vast diversity of our federal system and the creativity inherent in local communities. What we have at stake are the impressionable minds of the children of America. You are not collecting data or devising standards for operating machines or establishing a credit score. You are funding teaching interventions or changes to the learning environment that promise to make public education better, i.e. greater mastery of what it takes to become an effective citizen and a productive member of society. In the draft you have circulated, I sense a pervasive technocratic bias and an uncritical faith in the power of social science.

We all know that Secretary Duncan did not heed Jerry Brown's thoughtful advice, and still has not. But Brown's proposed budget takes on the testing machine from the top, and that is a very hopeful sign.

The Winds of Change and Financial Crisis

2011-05-18T14:59:00.000-07:00

The more things change, the more they stay the same...or so the cliche goes.

We are embroiled in a time of change in Grosse Pointe and in education in Michigan. In Grosse Pointe the district is facing the prospect of a new superintendent for the first time since the 20th century (sounds like a really long time ago that way doesn't it...). Dr. Suzanne Klein is retiring, and the district is in the process of searching for her replacement. Meanwhile, Dr. Susan Allan, long time Asst. Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction retired last year and was replaced by Monique Beels who is completing her first year here. The district is in a strategic planning process to determine its direction and vision for the next decade. All of this is taking place in the midst of one of the greatest funding crises in Michigan history.

It seems that as long as I can remember, school funding has been a crisis in Michigan. In the old days, districts attempted funding millages, and asked their communities to pay more taxes to support their schools. In the 70s and 80s these millages were frequently failing, causing schools to make drastic cuts. Proposal A was enacted to eliminate this funding cycle which often resulted in affluent areas being able to increase funding and prosper, while poorer communities suffered. Proposal A was intended to level the playing field. It worked - sort of...

Today we're faced with a funding cut that is the largest in the state's history. The state funds school districts on a per pupil basis. Based on the governor's budget proposal, Grosse Pointe's share of this cut will be between $5 and $7 million depending on decisions by the legislature and the cost of pension and health care investments. Proposal A must have failed right? The lottery money must not be there, correct? Maybe the rapidly dropping property values in the state are causing the deficit?....

The truth is that Michigan has enough money in the state aid fund to provide every school district in the state a $260 per pupil INCREASE !!!

Why then are we facing a deficit?

The governor, and various legislative proposals, are asking for millions of dollars to be diverted from the state aid fund and given to colleges and universities. These are the same colleges and universities which have the ability and right to increase tuition to cover costs. Instead, for the first time in our state's history, the governor and state legislature plan to remove money from the k-12 state aid fund in order to give money to colleges and universities in Michigan. Whether you agree or disagree with this philosophy, it represents a major shift in the way this state has done business, and creates yet another funding crisis for schools in Michigan.

The governor's answer to this crisis is that schools and all public employees should start paying 20% of their health care, and contributing to their pension plans. His argument is that private sector employees already do similar things. No doubt that is true. However, historically education has been able to attract quality candidates to the profession for pay that is much lower on average than their private sector counterparts with similar education might demand because the security of the benefit packages has been attractive. It is a valid question to ask whether we will be able to attract quality educators in the future to jobs with relatively low pay, and diminished benefits. As it is now a large percentage of new teachers (some estimate as high as 50%) will leave education within their first five years.

Michigan has options:

* Grosse Pointe Public Schools negotiated employee contracts that flex based on state funding. This model preserves the financial adaptability necessary in times of fluctuating funding.

* Instead of requiring employee contributions to health care that weaken buying power in a tough economy, we could follow the lead of other states and consider consolidating health care bargaining to gain greater buying power and provide the same benefits for our employees at reduced costs to districts.

*We can return the state aid fund to k-12 school districts where it belongs.

*The state can partner with districts and work towards mutually beneficial solutions rather than work at odds with our public schools. We need to be in this together.

As I've said before, this is not a political blog, and these are not "party" recommendations. Education has traditionally been an area where everyone has worked to establish bi-partisan support of the most important industry in our state. Our most important investment is the education of our young people. The only way this, or any, state can secure its future is through an educated populace with creative, solution-finding skills.

If there has ever been a time when change might actually "change" something, this is it. We need everyone to be actively engaged in the discussion of the future of public education in Michigan and in the nation. We need to all make our voices heard by contacting our legislators, school board members, school administrators, and anyone else who will listen with the message that schools and children are our most important resources. They must be protected above all else.

Borrowing from the Independent World

2011-04-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

Wow...two posts in one day - after nearly a month without one! After writing my earlier post, I was going through my Google Reader looking for a blog post I'd read elsewhere when I came across an article written by Patrick Bassett, President of the National Association of Independent Schools. Independent schools are non-public, private and tuition funded, yet I've found recently that there are many parallels between their fight to sustain and market themselves and the plight of many public school systems in America - on top to that, Bassett is an engaging and thoughtful blogger.

His recent post, which is pasted below, is very relevant to my earlier post today, and to the battle education faces in America. Some of it is probably controversial from a public school standpoint, but it is thought-provoking:

By: Patrick. F. Bassett
Published: March 1, 2011
Updated: March 25, 2011

NAIS President Patrick F. Bassett

In the opening scene of The Social Network, the character of the young Harvard undergrad Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook) has an exchange with his girlfriend that is so exasperating to her, she breaks off the relationship on the spot, telling him, “…you’re going to go through life thinking that girls don’t like you because you’re a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that won’t be true. It’ll be because you’re an (expletive deleted).” A colleague of mine observed the Zuckerberg character’s affect was so obtuse and emotionally oblivious that it could be characterized as “on the Asperger’s spectrum.”

When I saw the film, I wondered whether or not the next Mark Zuckerberg is applying to one of our independent schools. An admissions officer had sent me an application essay from a very smart (2200 SSATs) but slightly different eighth grade student. In response to the typical high school admissions essay question, “Imagine where you’ll be and what you’ll be doing in thirty years,” the student wrote a raucously funny and clever response, indicating he anticipated being married to a world class chef, who was mute, and he and his wife would by living near her restaurant in NYC, and be happy, “having very few expectations of one another.” I’m hoping one of our schools does admit this kid: He may be a handful, but if its tact and social awareness, and “social networking” he needs (EQ to balance his outsized IQ), then where better than one of our schools to get it?

So, I believe I can say with some degree of confidence that what makes independent schools great is our success in educating the whole child/student to navigate all waters of life, not just intellectual/academic ones. But since the theme of the 2011 Annual Conference was “Advancing our Public Purpose,” I wondered out loud at the conference, “Is being a ‘great school’ public purpose enough?”

Given the generally deplorable state of public education in the US (whether considered in its own right or evaluated in contrast to that of high-performing public education systems, such as that in Finland, where there are no private schools to speak of, because there is no need for them), shouldn’t there be a larger commitment by independent schools to the common good of effective public schools?

I read recently an interesting article in the Harvard Business Review, “The Big Idea: Creating Shared Value: How To Reinvent Capitalism — And Unleash a Wave of Innovation and Growth” (Jan.–Feb. 2011) by Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer, whose main themes were… Often when I read such materials from outside the realm of education, I transpose the subject and a few phrases to see what it might sound like if we applied the thinking to independent schools. What if the article had read like this? “Creating Shared Value: How to Reinvent Schools — And Unleash A Wave of Innovation and Growth.” If it had, the themes might have been…

The capitalist system is under siege. Business is now seen as the problem — as prospering at the cost of the local community, favoring short-term profit over long-term stability and growth, unconcerned with the well-being of employees, the environment, customers, suppliers, or the economic distress of the community.

*********

The education system is under siege. Schools are now seen as the problem — as dithering at a cost to the local community, favoring the interest of adults over those of children.

*********
Companies must take the lead in bringing business and society back together, going beyond the corporate social responsibility mindset via the model of shared value, beyond philanthropy and even sustainability to creating value as the core principle of the economic model.

*********
Schools must take the lead in bringing education and society back together, going beyond the social responsibility/service learning mindset via the model of shared value, beyond philanthropy and even sustainability to creating value as the core principle of the educational model.

*********

Re-conceiving the connection between society and corporate performance is already happening in forward-thinking companies: Google, IBM, GE, Intel, Nestle, Johnson & Johnson.

********
Re-conceiving the connection between public purpose and private schools is already happening in the most forward-looking independent schools, where we find laboratories of experimentation; outreach programming to serve the educationally underserved; centers of civic engagement; partnerships with public schools.

********
Businesses acting as businesses, not as charities, could be the most powerful force for solving society's challenges.

*********
Private schools acting with public agency, not for themselves alone, could be a powerful force for solving society's challenges.

If my imaginary version of the HBR article had been a HGE Newsletter (Harvard Graduate School of Education) article instead, it might have cited for inspiration and grounding some important thinkers on the topic:

"We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." ("Letter from a Birmingham Jail," April 16, 1963, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.).
"America has a long heritage of educational diversity, of public schools working alongside our independent schools, and this tradition has done much to contribute to our nation's greatness." (President Ronald Reagan, speaking at our last NAIS Annual Conference in Washington, DC, 2/28/1985).
"We must migrate from 'silos of separation to communities of collaboration'." (Margaret Dowling, director of the Department of Education’s Office of Non-Public Education, speaking at the NAIS Annual Conference in National Harbor, MD, 2/24/2011).

And I would add, "For America to prosper, public schools must once again be good, and private schools must be great."

So, dear reader, what do you think? Is having a great school that educates well future leaders “public purpose enough?”

Planting Acorns...

2011-04-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

A man I admire, Mark Scharenbroich, uses the analogy of planting acorns to describe the role teachers and parents have in the lives of young people. With care and nurturing, the acorn will grow into a sturdy oak that will outlive the planter by several lifetimes, and be a lasting testament to the care invested in its growth. In today's world of immediate gratification, the frustrating problem for some is that we may not see the payoff on the investment in the futures of our young people for many years. A sturdy, healthy oak takes decades to develop.

I'm constantly reminded that while we work every day on student achievement, instruction and delivery, and measurable outcomes for students, some of the most important outcomes will not be measurable, and not evident, for many, many years. As I have advanced in my career (some would say advanced in years...), it has become more and more apparent that the role educators play in shaping people is far more important than the role we play in teaching grammar and mathematics.

For years education has struggled to attract the best and the brightest to our profession. The pay is relatively low compared to jobs that require commensurate training. The status of educators in American society is probably at an all time low as American education is attacked from every angle. Nevertheless, somehow, we are still able to count among our professional educators people who care about more than comma splices and quadratic equations. Every day our teachers are invested in the whole child - their successes are our successes, their failures our failures.

Education and education funding is a hot topic in Michigan. This is not a political blog, yet I urge anyone reading to recognize the critical juncture we have reached in Michigan. With the loss of industrial and manufacturing jobs, educating young people to be creative solution finders with the capacity to think their way to a living has never been more critical.

I question whether the problem lies in the schools, or in our approach to them. Are teachers valued appropriately? Are schools valued to the degree we value businesses and infrastructure? The unquestionable truth is that the future of our state and nation depends on how many acorns are cultivated into strong long-lasting oaks in schools and homes. Now is a time for all to be invested in the education of our youth as the critical issue before us.

Ask Elizabeth

2011-03-31T07:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the female students at North had the unique opportunity of a brush with celebrity as actress Elizabeth Berkley visited North and held an assembly for all of our girls. Ms. Berkley first came to North two years ago as part of her Ask Elizabeth project - a non-profit program she began to help young women deal with issues facing them as they learn to deal with themselves and others. A small representative group of North students participated then, and Elizabeth has since published the book Ask Elizabeth which includes sections that reference stories from our students.

In the Ask Elizabeth sessions, Elizabeth asks girls to write questions that are of concern to them, and then she and the other girls work together to provide support and look for answers. One of the greatest supports to come out of the sessions is that the young women involved realize that they are not alone in their problems, and many other girls (including ones they may admire) are dealing with the same issues. This comfort helps open relationships between the girls involved, and create a healthier understanding of the insecurities that are part of growing up.

In our assembly, Elizabeth led a session of almost 700 girls as they discussed a wide array of issues facing young women today. Corporate sponsor Macy's provided each girl a copy of the book Ask Elizabeth, and provided each girl in attendance with a $10 gift card to Macy's. It was a wonderful opportunity for our girls.

Throughout the year, we continue to work not only on academic issues necessary to prepare our students for the world beyond high school, but to deal with affective issues as well. Through our Challenge Day program, our diversity club, women's group WILLOW, boys' group The Brotherhood, Free Your Mind Week, and a variety of other groups and activities, we have stressed tolerance, understanding, empathy and compassion. The Ask Elizabeth session was a perfect fit for our efforts - to teach young people that we are all more alike than we are different, and that often the first step to resolving and facing our insecurities and fears is realizing that we are not alone in them. We thank Elizabeth Berkley for making North High School one of only ten schools nationwide on her tour, Macy's for their generosity, and the program for providing another vehicle for getting important messages to our students.

Tests, Test and More Tests...

2011-03-04T05:48:00.000-08:00

March roared in like a Lion for our juniors this week with three full days of state mandated testing. On Tuesday our juniors took the full ACT Plus Writing test, the ACT Work Keys (a work readiness assessment) on Tuesday, and on Wednesday a battery of state supplemental tests designed to cover benchmarks not covered by the ACT. Federal law mandates that schools test 95% of all juniors, as well as 95% of of any identified sub-group populations of thirty or more. While these tests will provide some important information to our students and our school, the trend towards more and more testing in public schools in America is disturbing.

In a recent Educational Leadership magazine article entitled What Students Really Need to Learn, author Lynne Munson wrote of the highest performing nations in the world, "There appears to be little agreement among these nations about what has become the United States' most recent education obsession - standards and testing. Some high performing nations have standards, some do not. Some test at the state level, some at the national level. Some of these tests are tied to important outcomes, but some are not." Clearly the point is that the development of comprehensive standards and frequent standardized testing does not necessarily lead to consistent student achievement. There are other factors.

I was once at a national level conference when the keynote speaker, Bill Daggett, said "Some states, like Michigan, never met a standard they didn't like...". Michigan has developed some incredibly broad standards at all grade levels. Now Michigan has joined 46 other states in adopting the Common Core, a national initiative for uniform standards. The, perhaps unintended, consequence of these acts is that local school districts scramble to be sure that students are exposed to all of these standards. The end result is a curriculum that is sometimes "a mile wide and an inch deep". Some of what our teachers have passion for and expertise in is occasionally lost in the rush to cover standards, and for what? It doesn't seem that this push for national standards is guaranteed to result in achievement gains for American students.

So what's the answer? One of the most successful nations in recent years in international testing achievement has been Finland. Finland has essentially no standardized testing. What they have done in Finland is recognize that the greatest predictor of student achievement is not standards or tests, it's good teachers. They have developed a national program for teacher education that weeds out candidates early, and turns out the very best candidates as nationally certified teachers who are compensated on a scale comparable to doctors and lawyers. These teachers teach with intelligence, creativity and innovation. The result is high performing students taught by master teachers. Imagine if the United States invested as much in teacher education and preparation as we do in testing. Standardized testing costs billions of dollars in our nation, and is generally poorly devised.

In Michigan, schools are judged and now rated "top to bottom" based on annual performance of students. Each year high schools are ranked based on the performance of their junior class. If the numbers go down, it is assumed the school did an ineffective job. If the numbers go up the school is lauded - regardless of the differences of individual classes. One junior class may look entirely different than another. The information we get gives one snapshot in time, and is valuable to a point - it certainly is not the only, or even best measure. If we had longitudinal data - data that followed the growth of a class of students, that would be more effective in judging the performance of schools. Unfortunately, that is not the design of the Michigan model.

Regardless of the standards for measuring achievement, there is no substitute for good teaching. Research shows there is a dramatic long term impact made by a student's grade level teacher. A good teacher can have a positive achievement impact years down the road, and some students never recover achievement wise from a year with an ineffective teacher. If we really want to make a difference in American education, the answer is in turning out and cultivating the most talented educators in the profession, and investing in their success.

New and Improved Dress Code

2011-02-16T11:59:00.001-08:00

At the suggestion of some teachers, students and support staff, we established a committee at North to review our dress code. A group of teachers and administrators met to establish guidelines which were then shared with the entire staff for review. After incorporating comments and suggestions from everyone, we then shared the code with our Student Association. We made slight adjustments after sharing with students, and the new and (hopefully) improved code is as follows:

North High School Dress Code

Grosse Pointe North High School’s dress code is intended to promote an atmosphere of learning, and respect for self and others.

North’s Dress Code Requires:

1. Clean and School Appropriate Clothing
2. No visible undergarments
3. Skirts and shorts must be at least fingertip length (with arms extended straight downward at sides, shorts and skirts must reach the end of the thumb or beyond).
4. Pajamas and slippers are prohibited.
5. Bare feet are prohibited.
6. Tank tops are prohibited.
7. For girls, shoulder straps must be at least two fingers wide.
8. No low cut tops or excessive visible cleavage.
9. Clothing must be free of advertising for, or reference to, alcohol or tobacco products, and must not have drug references, depict weapons, or violence, or display inappropriate language.
10. No hats or head coverings.

The dress code is in effect on school premises, in a school-related vehicle, at school sponsored activities and trips, and at all times during the school day.

Exceptions may be made for special events (such as Homecoming week, spirit days etc.), but only with the permission of the principal or designee.

Consequences

1st Offense - Warning, requirement to change or cover-up.

2nd Offense - Detention, requirement to change / cover up.

3rd offense – In School Suspension, requirement to change / cover-up, requirement to check in with the office before school every day for two weeks to ensure appropriate attire.

Subsequent Offenses could result in separation and/or suspension.

Challenge Day

2011-02-09T09:57:00.000-08:00

For the fourth consecutive year, North High School hosted an event called Challenge Day on Monday and Tuesday of this week. This experience, involving over two hundred students each year, and a number of staff, community members and administrators, is one of the best things we do at North. Over half of our student body has had the opportunity to attend Challenge Day sometime during their school career.

I sent the following note to our staff today:

Hi Everyone,

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in making Challenge Day a real ongoing success story at North High School. This year was my fourth consecutive experience with the program, and it never ceases to amaze me how powerful it is when we can get “below the water line” and allow one another to see that we are more alike than we are different.

I particularly want to recognize and thank North teachers Sheila Moll, Dan Gilleran, Pat Gast, Barb Skelly, Bridget Cooley, Lisa Steiner and Devin Palmer for their involvement in planning this year’s event. Sheila Moll has been the driving force behind Challenge Day since we started the program at North, and deserves a special recognition for her efforts.

For those of you who have never been a part of this experience, I urge you to participate in the future. It will forever change not just the way you view kids, but the way you view yourself and your role in the lives of the students with whom we interact each day.

Even if you did not participate, you can make a difference by emphasizing these Challenge Day philosophies:

1. We are more alike than we are different.
2. Look below the “water line” – get to know people on a human level to understand them, their motivations, hopes, fears, and the reasons for the way they act and live the way they do.
3. Be the Change – Model the change you want to see in the world – live it, be it and act it.

A few years ago, we adopted “Be the Change” as our building mission. It can apply to everything we do. If we don’t like something, we have the power to change it. If we want our young people to have the skills, confidence and desire to make a positive impact on the world, as educators we have the awesome power and responsibility to make that change happen.

I love this staff and our kids. Together we can Be the Change we want to see in the world. Challenge Day is a much more meaningful event for all if we work together to keep the meaning and feelings of that experience alive through our actions and words.

If you would like to learn more about Challenge Day and this extraordinary experience, visit http://www.challengeday.org

If you would like to participate in the future, or would be willing to help support Challenge Day financially, please contact me at tim.bearden@gpschools.org.

Be the Change!!

Adults - Immigrants To the Digital World?

2011-02-01T10:04:00.000-08:00

It's often said that adults are immigrants to the world of technology, but kids are natives. Inherent then in that relationship is some mutual fear. I wonder how many of you never learned to program the vcr before it became defunct, or how many of us don't know how to program our TIVO or use our remote or computer properly? Bet your kids could show you...

Educational Leadership magazine has a group of high school students called their "Screenagers" who provide technology feedback from a student's perspective. In the February, 2011 edition, some of these kids address the issue of the technology-challenged adult:

" I'd much rather explain some technology thing to a teacher than sit there and watch them try to figure it out for themselves. Just admit you don't get it. We all know you don't know. Because if you knew, it would be up already. Just don't be afraid to ask for help."

"There's a lot of pressure for teachers to use technology, but no one teaches them how. What drives me nuts is when we're going to watch a YouTube video, 10 minutes later the teacher still hasn't figured out how to start it. It's kind of cute, but it's a waste of time."

- Educational Leadership, Feb. 2011, vol.68 no.5, p. 45

So often, adults shy away from technology because of a fear of appearing inadequate. Often students can be a great resource, but more important is taking time to learn how a tool works before using it. We provide teachers constant professional development in the use of technology tools that are available to them. We are also happy to provide that training to parents and other adults. Periodically we offer sessions in accessing student grades and attendance, and we've sponsored sessions on cyber-bullying and internet safety. If any parent has a need for assistance with technology, please don't hesitate to contact us here at school and we will make training available on a one to one or group basis.

We are committed to our teachers using technology as a tool, but not at the expense of good instruction. If a tool takes longer to use than the task could be completed without it, we shouldn't be using it. With a new influx of technology coming into our building courtesy of the Grosse Pointe Foundation grant, even more teachers and students will have the opportunity to access new and better tools. We will provide our teachers training, but like all tools, technology can sometimes be difficult. Our students can be great resources.

While adults may be immigrants to the world of technology, we're in "immersion school" as we have no choice other than to learn how to use and access the available tools. As natives in the world of technology, it will be interesting to see what today's kids create as adults, and how fast those creations evolve and adapt. We have to embrace technology as both a tool and a way of life in the 21st century. After all, if you have to ask your child to show you how to shut down the computer, chances are technology immigration officers may be asking to see your technology immigrant green card...

Law School and Exams...

2011-01-24T06:49:00.000-08:00

Every year during exam week I think of law school. In a misguided career pursuit I attended law school for a year after college. While I learned a lot, met a lot of great people and had mostly good experiences, I have always thought the system of education was ridiculous. As first year law students we all had the same courses. There were no elective options, and most surprisingly, no graded assignments. With the exception of my legal writing and research course, grades in every course were determined solely by performance on an end of year exam. We spent the entire year reading, researching, arguing, discussing, but our entire grade for a course came down to one day in the spring. That's pressure...

Our exams at North may not carry as much pressure as the exams in law school, but exam week can be very stressful for a lot of students. Exam grades count for 20% of a student's semester grade. The semester grade is the only grade that shows on a transcript, and semester grades are the ones that count in determining a student's grade point average (g.p.a.). 20% can be a fairly significant number - enough to cause stress in many students.

Some recommendations for helping students deal with stress brought on by exam week:

* Sleep!! - Frequently students cram late at night and arrive sleep deprived which adds to an inability to handle stress, and negatively impacts their ability to perform on exams themselves. Research shows that 20 minute naps before and/or after studying can have a significant positive impact.

* Exercise - Physical exertion is a great stress reducer, and helps to clear the mind.

* Eat Healthy - Frequently students load up on junk food, caffeine and sugar while studying, which can have the effect of making them sluggish later, and impact their ability to think clearly.

* Eat Regularly - Skipping meals can cause irritability, lead to poor nutritional decisions later, and add to stress.

* Study over time - Instead of last minute cramming, short mini sessions leading up to a final study session can reinforce understanding, and minimize stress.

* Create a good study environment - A quiet space that is free of clutter and distractions is most conducive to productive studying.

Almost all of our teachers provide detailed study guides, and many post those guides on their websites. We encourage parents to visit teacher websites, know their child's exam schedule, and assist in promoting the stress reduction principles listed above. A student who has kept up with work throughout the semester, and plans and studies in an organized fashion will do very well.

If you are concerned about signs of stress, or your son or daughter's exam preparation, please don't hesitate to contact counselors, teachers and administrators.

Conferences

2011-01-03T11:46:00.001-08:00

Many parents are surprised when their students come to North or South high schools to discover that the Grosse Pointe Public Schools do not offer parent teacher conferences at the high school level.

Conferences at the high schools were abandoned many, many years ago, and with the advent of new technologies for parent communication, there has not been significant demand in past years. This year we have had quite a bit of discussion about reinstituting a parent teacher conference program at the high school to allow for face to face, or possibly even Skype, contacts between parents and teachers.

If you have an opinion on this topic, please take the survey poll posted on this blog site, and feel free to leave a comment to this post, or email me at tim.bearden@gpschools.org.

American Ingenuity and the Role of Education

2010-12-14T11:59:00.000-08:00

A recent email I received bemoaned the loss of industrialization in America, and the evolution to new technologies. It is clear to me that the answer to America's continued viability as an economic and world power lies in our educational systems, and their ability (or lack thereof) to turn out a nation of problem solvers that can continue America's prominence as an exporter of ideas.

The trap that Americans are so fond of – rose-lensed nostalgia for the good old days - fails to acknowledge real truths of progress. After all, our country was founded and has operated with “change” as the cornerstone of our nation. Forefathers wanted change, which led to them being here in the first place, and the desire to change individual lives and our nation’s past for the better has been the impetus for all which led to our country’s economic and cultural prosperity. The question posed is whether anyone can demonstrate that a deindustrialized America will be economically viable. A better question might be how anyone could believe that an America focused on industrialization rather than ideas could continue to provide the quality of living Americans have come to expect and aspire to – and the answer to that question is simply that it could not, and the responsibility for our future falls on schools.

The notion that other countries are at economic war with us may or may not be true. What is certainly true is that other countries have copied the American economic model, even under the umbrella of nationally espoused anti-capitalist philosophy. The problem for them is that they are years behind in copying a model that is no longer viable. The truth is that while China may now be the most industrialized nation in the world, that has not translated into a stable economic future even for them. The World Economic Forum publishes a Global Competitiveness Report each year, and for many years the United States has topped that report. Last year the U.S. dropped to # 2, and this year is 4th. Conspicuously absent from the Top Ten, and ranked well down the list, is China, despite being the world’s #1 manufacturer of goods. How can that be? It’s pretty simple – the U.S continues to be the world’s #1 exporter of ideas.

The U.S. so far outdistances the rest of the world in the sale of intellectual property (as evidenced by sales of licenses and royalty fees), that other countries are barely a part of that discussion. The World Economic Forum cites the U.S. strength in ideas , “The United States is home to highly sophisticated and innovative companies operating in very efficient factor markets. The country is also endowed with an excellent university system that collaborates strongly with the business sector in R&D. Combined with the scale opportunities afforded by the sheer size of its domestic economy—the largest in the world by far—these qualities continue to make the United States very competitive. “ (WE 2010). In fact, the nations which have moved up the list (Switzerland is this year’s #1), have done so not so much on the strength of their industrialization, but on the strength of their ingenuity and idea export in a global digital economy. China leads the world in the manufacture and export of toys, but the U.S. leads the world in the creation and sale of valuable intellectual property. I’ll take the ingenuity of my Mac over the engineering of my daughter’s Zhu Zhu pets (furry, mechanical hamsters for those without young children at home...).

The answer for America’s future economic viability as a global competitor lies not in holding on to an industrial model of economics, but in cultivating a future generation of problem solvers. This isn’t to say that there isn’t value in manufacturing “things”, and that holding on to manufacturing footholds isn’t important, but what is more important in our flattening world is the ability to create. In education we are preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist. The answer for our future economic viability is creating a generation of young people who will strengthen the United States’ position as the birthplace of valuable ideas. After all, in industrialization, it was not the cars themselves that represented America’s foundation as a country, it was the ingenuity of their design and manufacture. This is the critical distinction that arguments regarding industrialization miss. Should we manufacture things – sure. Should they be the same things we’ve always manufactured? Almost certainly not.

Current education reforms ironically mirror image today’s economic trends. American education leaders are chasing a Chinese / Asian model that even those countries no longer use. While America now requires divulging test scores of competing school districts and states, the Chinese government expressly forbids this practice. They studied American schools (and continue to), and realize that the reason America has created a nation with ingenuity as its greatest strength is that schools have not limited the growth of that ingenuity - in fact they have encouraged it. Ironically, today’s education reforms in America are moving actively away from exactly what the rest of the world is beginning to embrace. That, more than the loss of industrialization, endangers our country’s standing.

The answer lies where it always has – America’s greatest strength throughout history has been its ingenuity, creativity. Did I love my old LPs? Yes, but I wouldn’t trade them today for my ipod. I still hold on to them out of nostalgia, but that nostalgia is based not on the thing, but the memories the thing triggers. The good old days really harken back to memories that we hold dear. Rarely is it really the technology or usefulness of the tool we miss, but the memories we associate with it. If the tool was really more useful in the “old days”, it would still be around. I miss having a newspaper delivered, and despite being a little bit of a tech geek, I still buy a print newspaper every day at the gas station because while I can read it online, I enjoy holding it in my hands. The truth is, the paper is more current and better online – I just like my habits. That’s true of most of us, but those things change over time. The only constant really is change. To change the future for the right kind of America requires a fundamental commitment to our education system as the foundation for creation of a nation of problem solvers that carries and builds our country’s legacy as the most innovative society to walk this planet to date.

Because creating a generation of problem solvers is infinitely complex, it hinges on education. In my opinion, America must:

1. Require schools to emphasize inquiry and problem solving delivery models.
2. Develop a system that promotes higher education for all – the greatest issue facing our country is not accessibility to health care (although that’s obviously important), but rather accessibility to education.
3. Develop a model that requires more significant training and development of talented people as educators, and weeds out unqualified or incapable candidates.

The guys that design the cars, design the buildings, and design manufacturing systems, have always been in great demand, perhaps more so than those who built them. Today that is more true than ever. In today’s world, the demand for the former is growing exponentially faster than the demand for the latter, and adapting to that need is our greatest challenge. Education is the answer.

Catching Up or Leading the Way

2010-11-23T06:03:00.000-08:00

There is a perception prevalent in the media and in American society that American public schools lag behind the rest of the world, and are in a race to catch up. In fact, the federal government has sponsored "Race to the Top" legislation that our own state embraced with some sweeping changes to the ways public schools in Michigan operate. What many don't realize is that outside of the U.S. our education system is viewed by many as the model system for turning out the kind of creative problem solvers that today's digital age requires.

Dr. Yong Zhao of Michigan State University has written a book titled Catching Up or Leading the Way, in which he makes the argument that the U.S. is leading the world in producing the kind of high school graduate that will lead this millennium. He deconstructs arguments that because the U.S. is behind other nations in some standardized academic assessments that our educational system is failing, and refutes them by pointing out that the U.S. is still the world leader in terms of economic prosperity and the export of knowledge. He quantifies that our country is the leader in knowledge exports by demonstrating that the U.S. leads the world by a huge margin in the export of license fees and royalty fees which come from the sale of intellectual property. While China leads the world in the production of toys, the U.S. leads the world in the sale of ideas, and Dr. Zhao proposes that ideas are the economy of the digital age. Further he points out that while all U.S. students take the standardized tests, many nations select the students who will move forward academically at a young age and these comparisons are therefore not "apple to apple" looks at educational systems.

Ironically, as our country rides the wave of standardized testing, other nations are moving away from this trend and towards educational systems that embrace the whole child and develop strengths wherever they are found. In other words, while we strive to be more like other nations, they are striving to be more like us. Dr. Zhao uses the analogy of the Olympics as an argument against the kind of content specialization necessary to succeed on standardized tests and for a diversified education that allows individuals to develop their strengths. He points out what a dismal competition the Olympics would be if we forced everyone to compete in only one or two sports . It is the diversity of options that play to a variety of strengths that makes the games exciting and an event that we all want to see. Similarly, it would be a mistake for educators to narrow our focus at the expense of eliminating programs in arts, technology and athletics that allow students to develop well-rounded educations and develop in areas of aptitude.

At Grosse Pointe North we have continued to focus on cultivating a student body of problem solvers. Our goal is to deliver the content necessary for a knowledge base that when applied creatively and logically will deliver solutions to problems and needs that we haven't yet even identified. Our focus on inquiry and project based learning is about developing problem solving graduates who will "lead the way" in our digital, global economy. Historically, America has prided itself on being a nation that is independent, self-sufficient, and a leader on all fronts. To continue to lead the way, and be the nation that others aspire to be, our educational system must continue to set the standard for whole student instruction that molds leaders of tomorrow. We don't need a nation of test-takers, we need a nation of creative problem solvers.

You want something. Go get it. Period.

2010-11-01T09:53:00.000-07:00

This is a great clip from the movie Pursuit of Happiness starring Will Smith. As we near the end of the first quarter, it's a great reminder to our kids that they have the responsibility and the ability to achieve whatever they desire. This is not just an actor in a movie, but a father talking to his son. Send it to your kids, post it on their Facebooks, use it as a reminder that we all have ownership of our dreams and their pursuit!

North Focus Areas

2010-10-27T01:33:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of this school year we identified three areas that would be our focus for the 2010-2011 school year: Classroom Instruction, Parent Partnerships, and Building Management. Classroom instruction has been our primary focus area, and clearly is the critical component in any school building, but in order for teachers to make the kind of impact in the classroom that we know they can it is important that we cultivate parent partnerships and have a smoothly run building. In each area, we have devoted resources and efforts, including:

1. Classroom Instruction -

Classroom Visits - As an administrative team we have always made formal and informal classroom visits, but this year we decided to take a more systematic approach. We made a commitment that each classroom in the building would be visited at least once a week by an administrator. In a building with more than 80 teachers, that is a significant commitment. In a format organized by assistant principal Carmen Kennedy, each building administrator makes a minimum of 21 classroom visits a week in addition to our formal observation schedule. To date administrators have documented more than 700 classroom visits already this school year. These visits allow us to share with staff the great things that happen across our building, and provide a vehicle for these best practices to be implemented by other staff. The visits keep us current with what curriculum is being implemented, allow us a glimpse into the daily lives of students in the classroom, and provide opportunities for recognition of excellent instruction and areas for improvement.
Data Books - Assistant Principal Tom Beach put together a comprehensive notebook of data that reflects the student achievement at North High School. We have used this book in our building leadership team meetings, and provided information to teachers about the students they have in class. Teachers are given information about the strengths and weaknesses of their students so they can pinpoint instruction. Assistant Principal Matt Outlaw put together a spreadsheet of students who have not reached proficiency on state testing, and listed the interventions that have been implemented and those that might still be available.
Best Practice Sharing - At staff meetings, via email, and at leadership team meetings, we are sharing the best practices we observe in classrooms.
Teacher Rounds - We have created a framework for all of our teachers to "make rounds" and observe other teachers in action. We have many wonderful teachers, but classroom teachers rarely get the opportunity to observe one another. At our staff inservice on Nov. 2nd, we will give all teachers the framework to observe one another, and a comprehensive plan that includes a rotation schedule for all teachers to do classroom visits and share their observations with one another.

2. Parent Partnerships -

We have made an effort to reach out to parents in ways beyond our typical practices. We have made automated phone calls about school events, developed lists for personal phone calls and personal invitations to select parents of students who are struggling or need intervention, offered team dinner for parents of students who are in our freshman and sophomore academic assistance programs, encouraged teachers to develop projects that include a role for parents, required all teachers to maintain electronic grade books that are available to parents 24/7, and encouraged all teachers to maintain their blog, website or Blackboard site for parent access.

3. Building Management

Tardy Policy - To ensure all students get the maximum use of our instructional time, we have tweaked our tardy policies to give classroom teachers more autonomy to deal with classroom tardy issues.
Security - We have added security cameras, and night time security to make our already very safe building even safer for staff and students.
Visibility - Our systematic approach to classroom visits has also led to even greater administrator visibility in the hallways and classrooms of our building, which leads to better student behavior.
In School Suspension - We have adjusted our in school suspension program as an alternative to suspending students out of school, and the resulting changes have allowed our hall monitors more time in the building's hallways.
Hall Monitors - Our hall monitors have been assigned specific routes and areas to ensure coverage.

We will continue to work throughout the year on improving in our three focus areas, and to offer the absolute best possible programs for our parents and students. We are exceptionally proud of the education we offer at North High School, and welcome your thoughts on these and other areas as we constantly strive to make our great school even better.

Spirit and Cereal

2010-10-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

It's Homecoming Week around North High School, and the theme is cereal...really.

North has a very unique Homecoming Week, and while many things have changed over the years in the world of education, fortunately some of the traditions like Homecoming at North H.S. have remained. For administrators Homecoming weeks can sometimes be a little trying. The routines are different, students act differently, and sometimes our kids forget that they are in school despite it all being school related. Nevertheless, even after all these years I still appreciate that Homecoming week is a week when some of even our most apathetic , listless students show some life.

At North, each class has a color - freshmen are gold, sophomores green, juniors black, and seniors white - and the entire class wears a class shirt designed by a student in the appropriate color on their designated day. We have the usual class competitions: banners, floats, spirit at the pep rally, charity fundraisers and so on. The difference between North and some other schools is that virtually every student participates. It's a great reminder that if we find the right trigger there's some enthusiasm in all of us.

When we have our pep rally on Friday, all approx. 1400 students in the school will attend, and 90% plus will all actually be interested and care about what happens. When we have our dance Saturday night, we will expect a crowd of around 1200 students in a school of 1400. Despite claims to the contrary, our kids still care about school - maybe just not always about the classroom...

What does all this have to do with education and cereal? Well, the float themes are based on cereals. We have lucky charms and frosted flakes and all of the various slogans and characters associated with different cereals. The creativity our kids have already shown in creating their banners demonstrates some real abilities. Kids have come together and identified artists to draw, writers to write slogans, future interior designers to place everything, future leaders to organize, and everything comes together without a lot of adult aid (or interference depending on your perspective...). The implications for the classroom are significant. Find the right project, the right trigger, and the kids will do the rest. They'll create, organize and learn. Sounds simple right?

The art of teaching is finding the right approach to stimulate student interest. Homecoming is a reminder that all of our students are creative and enthusiastic about something - even if it's cereal. It's our job as educators to stimulate the kind of creativity and enthusiasm that a Friday Homecoming pep rally does.

As Tony the Tiger would say, "That would be Grrrrrreat!".

Nice Bike...Drive It

2010-09-26T18:18:00.000-07:00

This term I'm teaching a class at Madonna University on current theories in teaching and learning. The theme of this week's class is motivation, and what role motivation has in learning. In preparing, it struck me how often the theme of motivation is central to discussions I have with students, parents and staff alike. There are as many motivation theories as there are theorists, but two books I've read recently really put some things in perspective for me.

A few years ago, North had well known motivational speaker Mark Scharenbroich do a presentation for our students. I've had the pleasure of knowing Mark for many years, and have often asked him to speak to students and/or staff. For several years, he has used a theme that I really believe most of us can identify with.

Mark tells of coincidentally being in Milwaukee for the 100th anniversary of Harley Davidson motorcycles. Hundreds and thousands of Harley owners were in town with their bikes. Now Harley owners think of their bikes as part of their family. They are closely connected to these machines, and they are part of each owner's identity. Mark observed that to make someone's weekend required only two words - "Nice Bike". Sounds simple, and it is. Unfortunately, many of us fail to realize that to teach and to connect with another person requires that we understand what is important to them and reach out to acknowledge others. "Nice Bike" is now the title of Mark's new book. In his words, " 'Nice Bike' is a gold star on your paper in elementary school....'Nice Bike' is going out of your way to let people know they matter. " Mark summarizes his "Nice Bike" philosophy in three powerful actions: Acknowledge, Honor and Connect.

Based on my many years of experience as an educator, coach and parent, I really believed that Mark Scharenbroich was right on the money when I heard him speak and read his book. In fact, one of my mentors often says "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care"...in other words, until you give someone a "Nice Bike" you haven't connected enough to teach them anything. I really believed this concept...then I I read the hot new book Drive by Daniel Pink, and found much of what I believed to be true about motivation challenged.

Pink challenges traditional "carrot and stick" methods of motivation, and focuses on his three elements of motivation - autonomy, mastery and purpose. As I read, I found myself questioning whether what I thought I knew about motivation could have been entirely wrong. As the book developed though, what became clear is that Pink hits on what should be painfully obvious. As the world has changed, and continues to change, what motivates people will also change. We think and learn differently now than we did twenty years ago. It makes sense that we should be motivated in different ways.

Ultimately (and I recommend you read both books!) I was able to reconcile the themes of the two books. While what motivates us changes, and will continue to evolve, what hasn't changed is the need for human connection. In fact, that need has grown exponentially with the advent of social media. We're connected to more people in more places than ever before. Where schools, and in some cases individual educators, have sometimes failed to progress is in understanding what it is that our young people value.

To illustrate this point, last week I was standing outside the cafeteria and observed a young lady reading a graphic novel. I asked her what she was reading, and she reluctantly held the book high. I recognized the title and said "Those are cool. Have you read 'The Helm'?". She hadn't, and I told her about having read it this summer to get an idea what graphic novels are all about - it's a great, funny story. We talked for a few more minutes, and she thanked me for not calling her novel a "comic book" as others had. A few days later she stopped me in the hall and held up The Helm. "Mr. Bearden, this is so cool. Thanks for recommending it. I think it's cool that you read this."

What started as an attempt by me to give a kind of "Nice bike" to a student I didn't know ended up with me being on the receiving end of a "Nice bike". I'm now motivated to read more of these graphic novels because I know there are a growing number of kids who like them, it's a growing genre of literature, and because that connection made me feel good. I acknowledged our student's interest in something that was important, and she acknowledged me noticing. Both of these connections were motivating.

Daniel Pink is brilliant, and I loved the book Drive - in fact I think it's a very important book. That being said, I know that one thing will never change - real, honest, personal connections that involve us honoring, connecting and acknowledging others not only open the doors of relationships, but they are inspiring and motivating. For parents, educators and coaches, that's what it's all about...Nice bike Mark Scharenbroich, Nice bike.

Back to School

2010-09-21T05:07:00.000-07:00

Well, the leaves are changing, Friday nights are for football, and no one is wearing white any more - summer is officially over and school is back in session.

The school year is off to a great start, and students and staff have been really enthusiastic this fall. It's been one of the best starts to a school year I can remember. We're happy to welcome parents back for Back to School Night on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 6:00 in the Performing Arts Center. At 6:00, all parents will have the opportunity to meet with me and our administrative team in the P.A.C., followed by an opportunity to follow each student's schedule through the day and meet teachers and learn about the expectations and goals each course has for the year.

Because Grosse Pointe does not have parent / teacher conferences at the high school level, this is the only opportunity during the year for parents to find all of the teachers, counselors and administrators together at the same time. We welcome the opportunity to meet with each of you. Additionally, because we don't have conferences, it is particularly important that each parent know how to access grades and attendance online. To ensure that everyone is able to do this, we will offer a tutorial session on using Pinnacle and Parent Connect all night in the library. Drop in during a tutorial period on your child's schedule, or before or after the schedule begins if you would like assistance with this critically important way to track each student's progress.

We were excited to welcome all North students back, and equally excited to have their families here Wednesday. See you at 6:00 on the 22nd!

School Measurement

2010-09-02T03:32:00.000-07:00

Board Treasurer Brendan Walsh recently published an interesting analysis of Michigan and the nation's reliance on standardized test scores for school measurement, and the ways that kind of data can be manipulated. Of particular interest is the analysis of changing socioeconomic demographics, and the impact those changes have on student performance not just in Grosse Pointe but across the country.

Go to http://grossepointetoday.com/print/1285 for the article.

Perspective

2010-08-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

As we prepare to begin a new school year, I was reminded this past weekend of the importance in maintaining a perspective on what is really important in education, and in working with young people.

My 9 year old daughter played on the west side of the state this weekend in her first travel soccer tournament. This was a major event for her, and the first time she had participated in a sporting event of this magnitude - traveling across the state, staying in a hotel, and competing against girls she didn't know, from places of which she's never heard. The evening before the tournament, we overheard a conversation between my daughter and her younger sister. Her younger sister asked her, with all of the 7 year old innocence in the world, if she was more excited about going to the tournament to win, or swimming in the hotel pool with her friends. My little soccer player responded, "It's not about winning - it's about having fun". We couldn't have been more proud...

As we begin this new year, there will be literally hundreds of classes and sporting events each semester. We sometimes have a tendency to forget that learning, competing, and performing are all supposed to be fun. At North this year we will have an emphasis on project based learning. We truly believe that learning should be fun, competing and performing should be fun, and school in general should be fun. As the school year progresses, I want students and parents alike to communicate with our staff and administrative team about the experiences you are having. Our goal is to truly make the learning experience the best one possible for each individual.

School might not be as fun as swimming in a hotel pool with your friends, but 21st century focused, project based learning that engages every student can be a close second (o.k. - maybe not second, but we can still make it a great experience!!)...

North Achievement Data - Top 4% in the Country!!!

2010-08-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

Grosse Pointe North Academic Achievement Data – 2010

In recent years student achievement data on standardized tests has been the focus of greater attention than ever before. The focus on achievement gaps has been a primary area of emphasis for educators. As these discussions and analyses have developed, numerous ways of ranking and assessing the performance of schools have evolved. The methodology and practice of ranking schools changes so frequently as to make it difficult for everyone, including educators, to follow. By virtually any measure, Grosse Pointe North High School is performing extremely well, but like all schools has room for improvement. The following information will assist in understanding and evaluating the various school ranking methods, as well as chart North’s continuing school improvement efforts.

1. AYP – Adequate Yearly Progress – AYP is a measure that came out of the federal government’s No Child Left Behind Act. It requires schools to make certain standards, and established a scale that would require all schools to have 100% of students meeting these standards by the year 2014. Essentially, the requirements are that 95% or more of all students must take the state approved standardized tests, all students must meet prescribed achievement standards, and if schools have what the law calls sub-groups (minority students, special education students, socioeconomically disadvantaged students) then 95% of the students in each sub-group of 30 or more must take state standardized tests and the sub-group must meet the achievement standards independent of the whole school meeting them. For example, if 95% of a school’s population takes relevant tests, the school meets graduation requirements, the whole school meets achievement standards, but the school has a sub-group of 30 minority students and two or more of them do not take the achievement tests that year, the entire school fails to make AYP. North has made AYP for each of the past two years with sub-groups.

2. State Report Card Grades – For several years, the State of Michigan has assigned report card grades to schools based on their test scores, achievement gains, graduation rate, and school self-assessment. These grades take into account student achievement scores in reading and math. North has earned an “A” ( highest score possible) for each of the past two years on the state report card.

3. Top to Bottom Rankings – The Michigan Department of Education has begun ranking all schools in Michigan from top to bottom. The first ranking came out in June, and was recently updated. This ranking is based on achievement on Michigan authorized standardized tests, and also on achievement change. This is a new ranking. The formula appears to rely heavily on achievement change over time. On the first rankings in June, 2010, North ranked in the 90th percentile of all schools in Michigan. Curiously, less than two months later, North’s ranking is in the 65th percentile. Apparently the most recent ranking reflects that North did not see positive growth in student achievement scores last year, despite having done so the previous year. This does not mean that North is a “D” school – in fact, the state gave North a grade of “A” – it is a reflection on achievement growth. North remains well above the state average in every tested area, including ACT scores.

4. Newsweek Rankings – Each year, Newsweek magazine publishes a list of its top high schools in the United States. This list represents the top 6% of all schools in the country and is based on the number of students taking and passing Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests. In 2010, North ranked 1187, which was 12th best in the state of Michigan among all high schools, and in the top 4% in the entire country!!

Based on this year’s achievement data, North’s primary focus for the 2010-2011 school year is in the areas of literacy and math. These two areas impact every other academic area. In addition, we will continue our focus on closing the achievement gap between our most struggling learners and our high achievers by providing support programs such as North’s unique Freshman Academic Success Team and Sophomore Academic Team. The staff and administration at North remains committed to the best possible educational experience for all of our students, and is strongly committed to positive academic achievement change.

If you have questions regarding any or all of this data, feel free to contact North Principal Tim Bearden at 313.432.3204.

Lessons from Camp

2010-08-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

My son just returned from four days at a camp called Author Quest, run by renowned thriller author Johnathan Rand. It was, as he put it, "the best thing I've ever done in my life". We were apprehensive, as most parents would be, to send our young son away to camp in the woods for four days with people we didn't really know. Nevertheless, it could not have been a better experience. From this opportunity, both he and his parents learned some valuable lessons that I think are applicable to schools.

When we dropped our son off, and when we picked him up, one of the things that struck me was the "openness" of the other campers and the counselors. These kids were remarkably willing to put themselves "out there" in ways that are uncommon in many classrooms today. Certainly a level of trust is involved, and one of the campers in attendance filmed a segment for the camp's website in which he said he loved being around other kids who were just like him. He didn't mean kids who were the same age, height, ethnicity or religion - I think he meant kids who were creative, intellectually curious, willing to take risks, and excited to learn.

In the development of American schools, there has long been an argument on the pros and cons of "tracking" or segregating by ability. Most current achievement gap research suggests that such segregation is detrimental to overall success of schools, and for the most part, my personal experiences verify that belief. High performing students may perform exceptionally well in segregated, tracked classrooms, but low performing students need model students and positive peer examples to be successful. I have read research that indicates high performing students can also benefit by being in classrooms with students of lesser ability if the classes are well structured. Peer mentoring and tutoring allows high performing students the opportunity to reinforce that which they know by assisting in the learning process of others. The adage that one doesn't really know something until he or she has taught it certainly has some truth.

Which brings us back to my son's fellow camper who loved being where the kids were "like him"...

The clear lesson I took from this camper's comments, my son's experiences, and my observations was that the trait that was shared by the kids at Author Quest that made them immediately drawn to one another is that they were all enthusiastic and intellectually curious. So often today, educators face the challenge of apathy. Students are apathetic, and sometimes parents are equally so. The art of teaching in today's Twitterized world is really engagement as much as instruction. Teachers face greater and greater challenges in engaging students than ever before, and unless students are engaged, they will not be active learners. We have to cultivate classroom experiences that somehow make all the students feel that their peers are "like them" in their enthusiasm for learning.

Our focus has to continue to be inquiry and project based learning that taps into student interests to engage them in a learning process that tweaks their intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm to learn. Author Quest was a great reminder that when kids are engaged in something, there can be some amazing moments both for the learners and the instructors.

Finally, one of the things that I noticed when picking up my son was the parent support for these kids. All of the parents appeared, at least outwardly, genuinely invested in their child's work and experiences. There is no doubt that parental guidance and support played a part in cultivating the spirit of these young writers, as it plays a part in the success or failure of each student in our school.

Our two main areas of focus this school year at North are to cultivate parent involvement in our school and our students' learning process, and to emphasize inquiry and project based learning that engages our students' natural intellectual curiosity. Hopefully, at the end of the year, we will have some students say they loved their experience at North because they like being around other kids (and teachers) with the same interest in learning.

Wallwisher

2010-07-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

I've created a webpage on Wallwisher - a free message board site. It's a great tool for teachers as well as a cool social networking tool. This particular site is designed for our North family and readers of this blog to update everyone on summer adventures. This site is an open one for all to see, and posts are moderated, so your post will need to be approved before visible for all.

Go to http://wallwisher.com/wall/NorthSummer to post your summer adventures, and enjoy Wallwisher by creating your own wall!

Technology - For Us or To Us?

2010-07-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

At the recent Campus Tech conference in Boston, keynote speaker Sherry Turkle from MIT discussed not only what technology does for us, but what it has done to us. As a proponent of moving quickly in adding available technology to teachers' toolboxes, her thoughts gave me pause to consider some of the unintended negative consequences of our ever increasing reliance on technologies to teach and communicate.

A few years ago, our district provided administrators with Blackberry phones. I have often viewed this as both a blessing and a curse. During the school year, I average almost 100 received emails a day, and now all of those emails come directly to me via my Blackberry. While not compulsive about a "clean desk", I don't like clutter either, and I definitely do not like hundreds of emails cluttering my inbox. As a result, I frequently clear emails from remote locations via my Blackberry, as do my colleagues. The end result is that in addition to some increased efficiency, I have inadvertently trained those who email me to expect a rapid response. That is, after all, today's digital age. If it takes me more than a couple of hours to respond to certain emails I will get "what's wrong" emails, or even worse, re-sent emails as senders assume the original was lost somewhere in cyber space. As one of my colleagues says, we teach people how to treat us, and I've taught people to expect rapid response to most emails.

As Dr. Turkle pointed out, one of the negative consequences of our increasingly quick communication is the sacrifice of thoughtful responses and exchanges. I can think of numerous instances where I have responded in haste to an email, only to later regret some or all of the response. Without immediate access to email, and means to respond, I would likely have given more thoughtful and measured responses. Another byproduct of rapid communication is that questions that cannot be answered quickly are ignored. I am sometimes guilty of this, and have been frustrated by being on both sides of this issue. I have sent complex email questions only to hear the proverbial crickets in response.

Dr. Turkle's point was that while we make our technologies, they often shape us. She pointed to research that concluded that while teens (and adults) who multi-task often view themselves as more efficient for having done so, studies demonstrate an exponential loss of productivity during multi-tasking. Teens are more and more often eschewing face to face communication for digital communication. In fact, emailing is already too tedious for most teens. Our students communicate most often via social media such as Facebook and Twitter, or via text messages. These communications are faster and even more brief than email, and have the added benefit of the capacity to reach multitudes in an instant.

As we rush to explore new technologies, and implement the use of social media and other communication platforms in the classroom, Dr. Turkle's address was a good reminder that we need to also examine what those advents do to the personal relationships that are critical to education. Further, student writing is certainly impacted by reliance on communication that requires short-hand and "blurb" style structure. It is now incumbent upon educators to fight to teach and retain some formal, thoughtful forms of expression.

While the exciting world of technology brings to us many wonders, it's a good reminder that with each adoption of new hardware, software or web application we need to think carefully about not only what that technology will do for us, but what it could potentially do to us, and plan accordingly.

Commencement 2010 - Reality...

2010-06-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

Now that long forgotten lunches and gym clothes have been purged from the lockers, the last exams have been scored and posted, the last graduate has crossed the stage and the dust has settled, there is time to reflect on another successful school year. The Class of 2010 has completed their matriculation through the hallowed halls of Grosse Pointe North, and are sure to venture forth into great successes and adventures. For those of you without the good fortune to attend our commencement exercises, it was a beautiful night. My address to the Class of 2010 is captioned below. This class has been responsible for many great moments in our school's history, and certainly has left its mark. Best wishes to all of this year's graduates.

Commencement Class of 2010

Good Evening Parents, Staff, Community, Members of the Board of Education, Dr. Klein, and most importantly, the Grosse Pointe North Graduating Class of 2010. I know what you’re thinking right now – yeah the musical performances were good, the speakers were articulate and moving, but Yes – now is my time - My time to finally.... get to hear Mr. Bearden speak. If we’d have let our graduates bring their phones in, Twitter and Facebook would be buzzing with the news – gtg, brb our Principal is finally speaking. He’ll be awesome LOL (For the social network shorthand challenged, That’s Got to Go, Be Right Back, our Principal is awesome – Laughing Out Loud....).
Commencement is about you, but I was taught that public speaking is about establishing trust with the audience, so in the spirit of establishing trust, I’ve used this platform to confess some secrets in the past. Once I unveiled my closet appreciation for both country and rap music. Once I confessed my secret lifelong desire to be a movie director. Last year I shared advice from my 6th grade gym teacher (ask me about that later), and tonight I have another embarrassing confession – I watch reality television. I watch American Idol, The Bachelor, Celebrity Apprentice, the occasional Dancing with the Stars and used to follow Survivor. Hope you don’t think less of me…In fact, this isn’t even a new thing – for those of you in my generation and older, you’ll remember early reality television shows I used to watch like Candid Camera, the Dating Game, the Newlywed Game, the Gong Show, and the $1.98 Beauty Show. All of them mind numbingly dumb, but strangely addictive.
A lot of people criticize these shows as not being reality at all because they are often scripted or fake. I don’t view that as detracting from the shows – in fact I think that’s what makes them real. The “real world” isn’t that at all – it’s nutty. Some people are fake all the time, some are real. Some situations are deceiving; sometimes you have to trust your gut instinct. As you’ve already learned in high school, a lot of times people (even your friends) turn out to be something different than you thought they were. Over and over the adage that truth is stranger than fiction will prove true in your lives. Your reality will shift and morph in ways you can’t yet imagine. On this day, we hope that the tools we’ve given you, and the lessons you’ve learned here at North will help you navigate the “Real” world.
If I were casting the Class of 2010 as a reality show, there would be a lot of great options. I’d call my show “Be the Change” using the mission our school adopted several years ago, and we’d track members of the Class of 2010 as they head into the world to make their mark and work to effect the change they would like to be in the world. First we need a host someone with a big personality who can think on his feet – I’ll go with Louie Michael. We need talent - I’d cast Tim Lupo and Justin Wrubel as singing minstrels who sing through every episode making the world better through song. I’d cast Dean Butts, Adam Evanski, Mark Haas, Mark Palazzolo and Kyle Moore as the Bachelors just because they’re all the kind of good guys you’d want your daughter to bring home. I’d cast AJ Brooks, Brandon Williams, Sara Bigham and Rahmed Gulley as Survivors because they’ve come a long way in four years here, been through a lot, and I want to see what they do in the world. I’d cast Bryan Brown and Ariel Braker as my version of successful Hoop Dreams and every week, like a crazy Groundhog Day movie, I’d have Bryan hit a half court buzzer beater to beat South again and again. I’d cast Nick Howard as a Trump type in an Apprentice show because you’ve got to have some wild hair somewhere and no one rocks an afro like Nick. The Class of 2010 has made us proud at North, and the Class of 2010 Be The Change show will be a reality show that will make us proud for years to come.
In closing, three pieces of advice for you that I’ve garnered from my years of living, loving, losing and winning, and watching the occasional television reality show – the video equivalent of junk food:
1. On Reality shows, people who go by one name – Puck, Omarosa, the Situation – are almost inevitably jerks. This is a good rule for real life. Elvis pulled it off, but he had to wear sequined jumpsuits to do it which Coach Sumbera tells me is not a good look for most people. Use the names your parents gave you, and represent them well.
2. I’m not entirely sure why, but there are usually three judges – one nice one, one hyper-critical one, and one middle of the road judge. This break-down will be pretty much followed in the population you encounter in real life, and as on the shows, often the most critical judges will know the least but incessantly blow their own horns to make you believe they know the most. Take the criticism constructively and the praise humbly and you’ll do well.
3. Sometimes the nicest and hardest working people don’t win. This one is a tough one to swallow because we’re taught that if we work hard we can achieve anything. It seems unfair, but it’s not. The reward for working hard and being nice is internal. You will feel great about yourself. Also, frequently the “nice guy” runner-up gets a spin-off show that’s better than the main one – this is also true in real life. As the song says, “Sometimes God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers”. Working hard and being nice gets rewarded one way or another.
In On the Road, Jack Kerouac wrote “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.” LIVE – be present in your lives. Hold on to the people you love, and be open to everything – make your reality what you want it to be. It’s your reality show in the “real world”, and you can write the script.
Class of 2010 – your accomplishments have already changed North forever. The list of achievements, honors and awards for the members of this class is staggering. Thanks for your amazing representation of North High School. I’m confident that this class is ready to burn across the sky lighting the world with your dreams, desires and abilities. Finally, in a play on a popular reality show catch phrase, maybe someday you’ll even hear the words that will thrill every parent who wants to turn your bedroom into that home office or Jacuzzi room they’ve always wanted – Class of 2010….you’re hired. Congratulations and best wishes.

Where Next and How Do We Get There?

2010-06-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

For the past two years, Grosse Pointe North High School has adopted the slogan and mission "Be the Change". This adopted slogan lifted from a Gandhi quote has taken on many different meanings in our building.

Three years ago we hosted our first Challenge Day event. Challenge Day is an activity that teaches students to look beyond the surface and realize that we all share similar issues, dreams, and are ultimately more alike than we are different. Our building has embraced this philosophy as a way to foster a positive atmosphere. Over the past three years approximately 600 North students and dozens of staff members have attended this life-changing event. As an outgrowth, we have had numerous "Be the Change" activities, a "Be the Change" tutorial classroom, and a variety of activities designed to bring students and staff closer.

Beyond the philosophies we've adopted from the Challenge Day experiences, "Be the Change" has taken on other meanings. We've created and implemented a plan called High Schools 2.0 designed to change the way we deliver instruction. We've opened our school's access to social networking sites, digital media, online delivery systems, and encouraged teachers and students to embrace technology. The integration of hardware and software tools in our classrooms has included Smart Boards in virtually every classroom, document cameras, clicker response systems, various content specific technologies, and many other innovations. We've instituted systematic support systems for struggling learners, including the building's Freshman Academic SuccessTeam, and Sophomore Academic Team. We've successfully "changed" the way we deliver and support instruction in meaningful ways.

The question of what's next dovetails nicely with the graduation of our class 0f 2010. After all, this is the question faced by every graduating senior each year. The answer is really pretty simple - it's not what destination is next so much as it is what journey is next. Change in the way we view each other as people, change in the way we view each other as learners and educators, and change in our learning environment cannot be represented as a destination. We've never "made it". The journey is the thing.

Next on our journey I envision that we will develop even more digitally and connected students and educators. We will expand our use of digital media, social networks and online delivery systems. Most importantly, we will adapt to more project based learning so that students are in situations that teach them how to think and problem solve. In today's fluid, organic world of change there is still a need for specific content knowledge, but that need is couched in a necessity that we all have a knowledge base from which to problem solve. Our task as educators is to create a generation of creative thinkers who, when faced with the new and ever-changing issues that will arise, will be able to create solutions.

Beyond, yet connected to, the ability to problem solve comes a necessity to understand and relate to people and societies across the globe. Our ever expanding digital connectivity, and corresponding flattening globe, makes it more critical than ever that we all relate to and understand one another as people. We have to embrace and understand different cultures, and the responsibility on schools to expand to partnerships with classrooms across our country and the world will grow exponentially as a result.

The next stop is never a stop - it's part of the journey. "Be the Change" isn't just a slogan or a mission or vision on a laminated poster - it's a way of life. Those who don't embrace change in the future will be run over by it. Our task as educators is to help shape a new generation of change agents. A generation with the ability, force and desire to make change happen and enjoy the journey along the way.

Social Networking

2010-05-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

Former North teacher Mike Spears is now the district's technology curriculum specialist. In response to the growing use of social network sites, and the impact those sites can have on young people and schools, Mike has written the following as an informational piece for parents:

Social Networking and Your Child

Social Networking, using sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and many others, has become a regular part of teens’ lives. It is also becoming popular and more accessible amongst younger children as well. When used responsibly and cautiously, these tools can be very positive. Many businesses and educational institutions use social networking to communicate with their communities and target audiences. Professionals use Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to make and solidify business and academic connections. While we know that teens use these resources on a regular basis, younger children are beginning to explore and use these sites as well. Social networking sites can be used as tools to harass and bully others, meet strangers who could easily be predators and express oneself in a way that may not occur in a real-life situation. Parents should be aware of their children’s on-line activities and monitor them closely. One social networking site that has recently exploded in popularity is Formspring. (www.formspring.me/) Users go to Formspring and allow anyone to ask them anything, and respond to those questions. In a strange turn of events, it has become an on-line forum in which students are being bullied and harassed. Users must create an account but questions can be asked anonymously. Like Facebook, one must be 13 years of age to sign up for Formspring. However, the only verification of age is a checkbox affirming the user to be 13 or older. Anyone under 13 can check that box if they care to. Parents should take the time to learn more about these sites and how their children may use them.

Teens and even college students on Facebook have come across issues of potential employers or university admissions departments checking backgrounds. There have been many instances of someone being denied a job or college entrance based on the personal information posted by that person on social networking sites. This information is often used for harassment and bullying as well. Many teens use these sites to meet people and it is common for real-life relationships to develop from social networking. Some teens post inappropriate comments or pictures of themselves on social networking sites, which can easily invite predators or police. Facebook usage amongst children younger than 13 is increasing rapidly.
Used properly, social networking websites can be valuable tools for learning and networking. Used inappropriately, they can be dangerous and have many unforeseen consequences. Most are blocked to students on GPPSS computers and when they are used, it is with due vigilance. Parents can use built-in features of web browsers or free software like K9 Web Protection (http://www1.k9webprotection.com/) to block and monitor websites that they want to block or limit. Filtering and blocking websites can’t prevent a child from accessing a site that he or she is determined to use. Students with smartphones, laptops, etc. can easily access these sites from anywhere outside of school and the home computer. Please have a conversation about the dangers and consequences of inappropriate use of social networking and cyber-bullying with your children.

Some of the more popular social networking sites, in addition to those already mentioned, include the following:

· 43 Things: Users set goals to achieve and are linked by commonality of goals
· BlackPlanet: caters to African Americans, one of the oldest social networks on the Internet.
· Broadcaster: video social networking.
· Classmates: generally avoided by teens, but will charge users for usage.
· eSPIN and eCRUSH: These sites match users randomly and anonymously, although anonymity often fades away fast.
· Flixter: Increasingly popular-mixes social networking with movie reviews
· Foursquare: used to let others know your specific geographic location
· Friendster: Keep in touch with friends and meet new people
· Hi5: “Social entertainment for the youth market worldwide”
· Meetup: Social network aimed at organizing in-person meetings of people with a specific common interest, e.g. hobbyists, etc.
· Tagged: specifically designed for users to meet new friends.
· Xanga: Social networking via blogging. Very popular amongst teens
Here are some articles worth reading if you have concerns about your child’s internet activities. Please be warned the some of the articles contain strong language as examples of misuse of social networking, cyber-bullying and harassment.
· Is FormSpring.me Another Platform for Cyber Bullying?: http://tinyurl.com/cyberbullyFS
· Teens Abuse, Find Comfort in Anonymity on Formspring.me: http://tinyurl.com/cyberbullyFS2
· What Every Parent Should Know About Formspring: The New Cyberscourge for Teens: http://tinyurl.com/cyberbullyFS3
· The 5 Facebook Dangers-Perils That Have Nothing to Do with Internet Predators: http://tinyurl.com/cyberbullyFB1
· National Crime Prevention Council on cyberbullying: http://www.ncpc.org/cyberbullying

Brains, Learning Styles and the Battle of the Sexes

2010-05-19T10:05:00.000-07:00

One of the critical focus points for any educator is addressing different learning styles. The adage "Many a truth is told in jest" is illustrated in this humorous video highlighting differences between the way men and women think. One of the realities of teaching is that all students learn and process differently, and to effectively reach a broad audience an instructor must have a diverse "toolbox" of teaching strategies.

With the advent of technological advances in the classroom, more tools are available than ever before. Each teacher has video, audio, graphics, and the entire worldwide web at his / her fingertips at a moment's notice. Smart boards allow students to manipulate in a hands on way, and software and hardware innovations allow students to create multimedia presentations and projects that are of professional quality. Our teachers plan and prepare to find a variety of instructional strategies that address each learning style.

While the differences between individual students or different genders or ages may not be as distinct and clearly drawn as the speaker in this video suggests, they are real. Students and parents should look for and expect that teachers are providing a variety of instructional practices. Often when a student is not engaged in a classroom, behavior and performance suffer. An appropriate area for parents to pursue with their children and their children's teachers is what works for the individual student. Some children learn best by seeing, some by doing, some by hearing, and most by a combination of all of these things.

Today's students are used to a variety of fast paced video and audio stimuli. They tend to be multi-taskers who have short attention spans. This clearly works in contradiction to traditional forms of instruction that involve lecturing and notetaking. Teachers have a difficult balancing act as they often must be both entertainers and instructors in their classrooms. Part of the teacher / parent partnership is feedback about which learning styles work best for the student, and open exchanges regarding instructional strategies that are tried at school and could be employed at home. As parents, don't be afraid to contact teachers for ideas as to how to help students at home, and for instructional strategies you can use.

Teaching has never been more challenging than it is today, but by contrast teachers have never had more tools at their disposal. Critical to the proper use of these tools is an understanding by all involved in a child's education that different approaches are critical to reaching different learners. It also helps if we all understand the "nothing box"...

Transcripts

2010-05-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents of Seniors and Seniors:

The State of Michigan is mandating that colleges and high schools use the Docufide on-line program for transferring transcripts between colleges and high schools. Grosse Pointe North will start using the Docufide program to transfer seniors’ final transcripts to colleges in June, once final grades have been recorded. In order to transfer your senior’s transcripts, the student must be registered with Docufide. (If the student is under 18 years of age, the parent must register him or her) Registration is quick and easy and can be accessed at Grosse Pointe North’s home page by clicking on either parents or students and then transcript request. Visit our district website at www.gpschools.org for a link to register. Once a student is registered he/she must then request a transfer of transcripts to the college he/she will attend in the fall. REGISTRATION WITH DOCUFIDE IS NECESSARY FOR THE TRANSFER OF TRANSCRIPTS. Please feel free to contact your child’s counselor if you have questions.

Goals and the Quest for the Elusive 100%

2010-05-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

In a recent correspondence, I used the line "goals are dreams with deadlines" which I often used with athletic teams when I was coaching. Some dreams appropriately may have no deadlines, and in fact those dreams can be sustaining and offer an escape from occasional harsh realities. However, imposing deadlines creates a sense of urgency that can lead to accomplishment.

When I was in college, I had a favorite history professor, Dr. Rubenstein. He taught American history and I ended up earning a minor in history almost solely because I enjoyed being in his courses. After I had filled my schedule with enough Rubenstein, I realized I was only a class or two short of a minor and completed it. Dr. Rubenstein was a notoriously tough grader, and was fond of wearing black on test day...you know the type. He once told our class that he had only given a couple of 100% scores on his entirely essay tests during his career. My goal was to get one of those 100's before I graduated. In my last course with him, on my final test, I received a 99, and he wrote "Tim, I was going to give you 100 as a graduation present, but you spelled my name incorrectly. Happy 99!". He was right - for some reason, I had spelled his name incorrectly. Nevertheless, the pursuit of a 100 had resulted in a great learning experience for me.

In our federal education act No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the law sets a goal that 100% of students will be proficient in reading and math by the year 2014. This is a goal that most would say is a wild dream, but the imposition of a deadline makes it a goal. Like most lofty goals, I'm not sure if it's attainable, but it's a standard worth pursuing.

This year North High School instituted our 100 Club in a quest to help 100% of our juniors reach proficiency. Teachers and administrators adopted small groups of students and worked with them towards this goal. Our building has instituted a wide variety of measures to narrow the achievement gaps that exist between our highest and lowest performing students. We have increased the rigor of student programs by encouraging all students to "level up" and choose more difficult and challenging coursework than they otherwise might have. We have filled gaps by offering support classes to students who are challenging themselves with difficult course work. Our teachers are collecting data from common assessments, and analyzing students and teacher performance in every course on every benchmark. We believe in the goal of truly leaving no child behind.

Like Dr. Rubenstein's elusive 100, I'm not sure if NCLB's 100 goal will ever be recognized. Nevertheless there is much to be learned in the pursuit of lofty goals. In fact, one of the great lessons learned from my 99 in the U.S. History survey course was that spelling always counts. Sometimes the lessons that stick are the unintended consequences of requiring excellence.

It's All Perspective

2010-04-21T05:43:00.001-07:00

I always admire and am impressed by people who can maintain a positive attitude and put a positive spin on things even in the face of adverse circumstances. There is much of this quality on display daily at North High School.

These times of economic uncertainty have created a lot of stress and strain for our students, staff and community. Many families in our community have dealt with lost jobs, and changes in their financial circumstances. Some of our teachers face layoffs as the district struggles to make tough economic decisions in the face of reduced funding from the state. Our teachers and administrators are working without a contract in a tough climate to be negotiating wages and benefits. Despite all of this, each day I encounter students and teachers who have tremendous attitudes, and exhibit real grace under pressure.

Our teachers at North have a "kids first" approach, and our students have managed to maintain some youthful idealism that the world sorely needs. This week at North is Respect Awareness Week, and teachers and students have worked side by side to put together a program of activities, videos, announcements and recognitions that emphasize and honor respect for self and others. Teachers were given tickets to give out to students demonstrating respectful attitudes in the hall, that those students can enter into a raffle for prizes. All week I've seen great attitudes from staff and students alike.

It's kind of cliche to say that adversity reveals character, but like most cliches, there is a lot of truth there. In tough times and in good, we have a great school community with caring teachers, administrators and parents, and committed, idealistic, high-achieving students. Thanks to everyone who's part of making North a great place to be.

Data, Data, Data

2010-04-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

In education, much is made of terms like "data based decision making". In theory, we are making curricular and instructional choices based on data. Following that model, our curricular and instructional choices are only as good as the data itself. For the past several years, the high schools have been working diligently at creating models that will produce good data, but it has been a difficult and arduous task.

To find information that will be valuable in informing decisions regarding instruction, we have followed a series of steps.

Four years ago, teachers curriculum mapped every course we offer. A curriculum map is a detailed blueprint of the path a course takes chronologically and based on identified essential outcomes. From those curriculum maps, teachers worked to build common assessments. In our current model, the only required common assessments are the semester and final exams. We have required that these exams be 100% common across the district. In this way, no matter who a student has as a teacher for a particular course, he/she will take the same semester and final exams as every other student taking the course.

The 2009-2010 school year is the first time that across the district 100% of high school courses have had 100% common assessments. Students at North take the same exams as students at South who are in the same courses. In some cases, the exams have been common for years, and in other courses, this is the first year of a 100% common assessment program.

Our buildings are organized into what we call PLCs (Professional Learning Communities), which are small groups of teachers who teach the same courses, or the same courses within a vertical curricular path. Our PLCs are in the process of gathering data, collecting it, and then determining how the data can be used to inform instruction.

In some cases, the data is used to evaluate the assessment itself. For example, if a high percentage of students at both schools are answering the same question incorrectly, the question is analyzed and re-evaluated. Often times the exams are "tweaked" to eliminate faulty questions. In other cases, numerous wrong answers in a specific tested area might lead to changes in instructional emphasis. The data allows for teachers to have professional conversations about methods they use. In an instance where one teacher gets particularly good results in a certain tested area, he or she might be called upon to share methodology used in instruction, thus benefiting all of our teachers and students.

Other sources of data include standardized tests from the state, and also various nationally standardized tests that our students take. In each case, teachers get reports that assist them in determining what areas need emphasis, guide them towards professional discussions on instruction and curriculum, and provide feedback on the success of instructional efforts.

It seems common sense that data collection and analysis would be the basis for instructional decision making, and historically it has been - for individual teachers. In recent years, we have made a concentrated effort to cull from the considerable talents of our staff by making data analysis and instructional conversations that result more collaborative.

As state curriculum has become more prescribed, for schools the path to improvement has shifted from curriculum analysis to analysis of instructional methodology. Data can provide a basis for analysis of our instructional practices, a blueprint for areas of emphasis, and open the door to collaborative, collegial discussions.

Sound Familiar?

2010-03-24T06:38:00.000-07:00

When he first appeared on the national scene, Elvis Presley's gyrations were considered so risque that for his appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, cameras only showed him from the waist up. Now he, and his movies and performances, would be viewed as "G" rated and suitable for all ages. The lens by which we view change in the world certainly evolves over time. Technology may be the best example. Fear and resistance to change result in some common themes over the years. South teacher, Nick Provenzano, sent me these quotes. Amazing how the times and technology change, but the lines sound eerily familiar...

“Students today depend too much on hand-held calculators.” (Anonymous, 1985)

“Ballpoint pens will be the ruin of education in our country. Students use these devices and then throw them away. The American virtues of thrift and frugality are being discarded. Business and banks will never allow such expensive luxuries.” (Federal Teacher, 1950)

“Students today depend upon these expensive fountain pens. They can no longer write with a straight pen and nib, (not to mention sharpen their own quills). We parents must not allow them to wallow in such luxury to the detriment of learning how to cope in the real business world, which is not so extravagant.” (PTA Gazette, 1941)

“Students today depend upon store bought ink. They don’t know how to make their own. When they run out of ink they will be unable to write words or ciphers until their next trip to the settlement. This is a sad commentary on modern education.” (The Rural American Teacher, 1929)

“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)

“Students today depend upon paper too much. They don’t know how to write on slate without chalk dust all over themselves. They can’t clean a slate properly. What will they do when they run out of paper?” (Principal’s Association, 1815)

“Students today can’t prepare bark to calculate their problems. They depend upon their slates, which are more expensive. What will they do when their slate is dropped and it breaks? They will be unable to write!” (Teachers Conference, 1703)

Great To Be a Norseman

2010-03-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes great moments come even in defeat. Our girls basketball team lost in the state quarterfinals Tuesday night, but it wasn't the way they lost that I will remember, it was they way they competed, and the support of the students, staff and community in attendance.

After a rough first half, the girls were down almost thirty points at halftime. There seemed no chance of making it a competitive game, let alone winning. Following halftime, no one left - every North fan in attendance stayed in support. Our student section began chants in support of our team, and the girls got a great ovation to start the second half. With inspired play, the girls began to chip away at a seemingly insurmountable lead.

With a furious 4th quarter rally, our girls were within 3 points with a minute to go. It really was a remarkable scene, but what made me most proud was the way our entire student section, staff section, and parent and community supporters pulled together. Despite not being able to complete the comeback with a win, there was definitely victory in the effort.

After the game I congratulated Coach Gary Bennett on a remarkable year. He told me then, as he has many times, "It's not winning or losing that matters to me. It's effort, and I'm really proud of them." Lots of people say things like that, but Gary Bennett means it.

I'm always proud of our school, our students and our staff, but Tuesday night was a little extra special. In my twenty-three years in education I have had the pleasure of working in four different school districts, and all were great, but none had the kind of family atmosphere that we have at North high School.

Congratulations to our lady Norsemen, but most of all congratulations to our students, staff and community for your support of all of our teams, groups and school. It's great to be a Norseman.

Google It

2010-03-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

When I was growing up, one of my parents' favorite responses to questions was "look it up". I learned a lot about problem solving, finding answers, and a lot of answers to questions by using the dictionary and encyclopedias. Today "look it up" has been replaced by "Google it"...

This link has great tips for how to effectively use Google to find answers to a wide variety of questions, and how to use Google for a wide variety of tasks. Keep clicking the play button to advance the screen, and learn how to go beyond just "looking it up"...

http://prezi.com/mohshuoe-qcf/google-search-tricks

When Elephants Retire

2010-03-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

At North we have adopted "Be the Change" as our mission and motto. Founded in our experiences with over 600 students in the Challenge Day program over the past three years, we are committed to the concept of being the change we want to see in the world. Much of the focus of Challenge Day is impressing upon everyone that we are all more alike than we are different, and when we see past superficial differences there is an opportunity to develop special relationships and understandings. This video is a great example of that kind of openness at a basic, natural level.

The Value of Nothing...

2010-02-08T09:27:00.000-08:00

In a recent Men's Health magazine article, Mike Zimmerman writes " There are no successful cynics. Think about it: Real success, any way society measures it - money, fame, happiness, family - cannot be achieved in the presence of cynicism." (March 2010, p.94). In a time when bad news is at a premium, and it is more difficult than ever to keep a positive outlook, cynicism is a prevailing outlook. Zimmerman is right though, rarely does one ascend to greatness without a fair amount of idealism and a minimal amount of cynicism.

Oscar Wilde wrote, "A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing." That thought could be applied to many things I've read recently regarding education. At the local level, the state level, and the national level, funding of education is a concern. Everyone knows the cost (or can figure it out) of paying our educators their salaries and benefits, however ascertaining their value is a murkier proposition. I see newspaper articles, blog posts, television news stories, and any other number of public forums that involve discussions of the "cost" of education. Those stories recently have most commonly focused on what educators cost school districts and governments in terms of salaries, benefits and retirement. Rarely have they focused on the value of these educators.

I encourage everyone to think of the value of a good teacher, a good administrator, a good school secretary, a good school custodian, a good classroom assistant or school security personnel - these are the people who hold our future in their hands as they work with young people. In fact, they are invaluable...

At North we are fortunate to have an exceptional staff. They are caring, committed and extraordinarily knowledgeable and talented. It's hard for anyone to be cynical around people like that - even teenagers. If we want to cultivate great leaders of tomorrow, who will be creative problem solvers, we can't be cynics. We have to be optimists and idealists even when things are tough. We have to focus on value rather than cost. When something is valuable enough, we must find a way to afford it.

That New Car Smell...

2010-02-01T06:01:00.001-08:00

I recently purchased a new car, and like all things new it came with an opportunity. An opportunity to keep it clean this time - inside and out, an opportunity to actually keep a scheduled maintenance log, an opportunity to keep the kids from eating in my car this time - in short an opportunity to do car ownership right. Similarly, each new school year, and each new semester gives students and staff an opportunity for a clean slate.

Today marks the first day of second semester, and much is at stake. In some cases college admission or even high school graduations hang in the balance over the next five months. Many of our students start today with a renewed commitment to their school work. It's important that educators and parents partner to keep these efforts to achieve academic success alive so that all of our students put themselves in the best position possible to meet goals they have set.

This morning we had a brief staff gathering in which we stressed the importance of communication. In today's world, with grades and attendance posted online, teacher websites that include assignments and updates, and 24/7 email availability, there is no excuse for anyone involved in a young person's education not to know current information regarding progress. Please know that our teachers, counselors and administrators welcome parent and student communication, and truly want partnerships that work towards a common goal of student achievement. Let us know how we can help.

Hopefully in June this semester will still have that new car smell, and not the odor of a half eaten chicken nugget stuffed between the seats for five months...

The Biggest Losers...

2010-01-21T06:29:00.000-08:00

Because of my almost pathological dislike of commercials, and the power afforded by a good remote, I spend much of the little bit I watch television flipping through channels catching snippets of various shows. The other night my kids and I were watching one of their programs, and during the commercial I flipped to the show "The Biggest Loser". Having seen little bits of the show before we were all familiar, but this time became interested and watched for probably twenty minutes. In fact when I tried to turn away from it, all my kids yelled for me to switch back. I asked "why", and my youngest said "Because they're all trying so hard".

It's compelling to watch people try hard, especially when they've overcome odds. The Olympics are coming up, and America's favorite stories are of the underdogs who have overcome great odds to succeed. We love the underdog, even when they've created their own hole (maybe especially then...).

I talked with my kids about the show, and my youngest asked how the contestants became so obese. I told her that some of them probably got into some unhealthy eating habits, didn't exercise, or maybe had health conditions or other problems that led to their overeating. She said "I bet they hated gym. I love gym, but the fat kids hate it."

I asked her why she thought some kids hated gym, and she replied, "Because they aren't good at it." One of my other kids chimed in, "That's why I hate math." Out of the mouths of babes...

It's human nature that we spend more time doing things that we are good at than at things that are difficult. In schools, part of our challenge is to help students overcome their anxiety over working outside comfort zones. Too often we accommodate a student who is unwilling or incapable of working outside a comfortable area.

I have had parents of straight "A" students come to me to tell me that their child is receiving a "B" or "C" in physical education and that grade is ruining their g.p.a. The request is often to remove a student from P.E., waive the requirement, or look for a personal curriculum that will avoid the class. There is public and even educational sympathy for this position. However, the athletically, musically, or artistically gifted student who struggles in math is told to "suck it up" because math is such an important life skill. Schools fail when we fail to educate the "whole" student. Valuing education in one area over another is dangerous.

Renaissance education focused on physical education, and education in the arts as being as important (sometimes more so) as education in reading and mathematics. As states and our nation consider educational reform, or slash school budgets in response to growing financial concern, I worry about the loss of courses in the visual and performing arts, and in physical education.

The biggest losers in some of the budget cuts on the horizon for schools stand to be students who do not get the same kind of "whole" student education our schools have emphasized over time. The responsibility is on educators, parents, school boards and legislators to see to it that we not only turn out a generation of creative problem solvers, but a generation who is healthy in mind, body and spirit.

Quotable...

2010-01-19T09:30:00.000-08:00

As a teacher I put "quotes of the week" up on my board each week (or at least when I remembered to...). As a coach I used to give players a note with a quote that was specific to them or our team for inspirational purposes. I often include quotes in staff newsletters, and notes to parents and students, and have books of well-known quotations in my office. Over the years, I have often relied on some of these words to get through tough times, or to help others through tough times.

My wife and I were shopping recently when she came across this Mark Twain quote engraved on a piece of polished wood, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” What a great thought!

It occurred to me that there are certain quotes I always rely on or come back to, and that led me to ponder whether we can define someone's personality or personal philosophy by that which they quote. Here is a collection of my favorites over the years, along with context. Please refrain from psychoanalysis based on my choices:

* "Every year Babe Ruth led the league in home runs, he also led the league in strikeouts." - My friend Chris "Rooster" Daly. Used often to encourage someone to "keep swinging"...

* "It'll feel better when it stops hurting." - My grandfather, James C. Bearden, to help lighten things for someone with a minor scrape or pain (not recommended for serious injury...).

* "Wherever you go, there you are." - Buckaroo Banzai from the movie "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai". Great for signing yearbooks when you really have nothing meaningful to say...

* " What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson - on a plaque my parents gave me that rests on my desk.

* "Fair is not always equal." - Legendary basketball coach John Wooden. Particularly useful if you have kids...

* "All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the powers of adding a second, third and perhaps a fourth step in a continuous line. Many a man has taken the first step. With every additional step you enhance immensely the value of your first." - Ralph Waldo Emerson. A good explanation of the importance of continuing to move forward. I've used it in every personal portfolio I've ever put together.

* "Doh!" - Homer Simpson. No explanation necessary...

* "Good is the enemy of great." - Jim Collins, author of the book Good to Great. A reminder to avoid complacency.

* "We're always modeling whether we realize it or not." - South Principal Al Diver. An especially good reminder for parents and educators.

* "We teach people how to treat us." - another Al Diver quote. A good reminder that others take their cues for how to treat us based on teh way we act and react to things they say and do.

* "Winning is a habit" - Vince Lombardi

* "Be wary of contempt before investigation." - Harry Gossett. Particularly good when you encounter people who never like an idea that is not their own...

* "Nothing more dangerous than an idea when it's the only one you have." - Harry Gossett - fits well with the previous quote...

* "Do or do not. There is no try." - Yoda

* "That dog'll hunt." - My friend Bob Kinder, used to describe any good golf shot, or any good attempt at virtually anything...

* "We must be the change we wish to see."- Ghandi

There are many, many more, but you get the idea. Feel free to add your favorites as comments!

Sometimes You Just Gotta Go to Recess...

2010-01-14T05:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I asked my kids how their school days went. One of them said "It was great - we had double recess!"

My first reaction was a typical principal's thought regarding lost instruction time. I said "Wow... that's cool. Why did you get double recess?".

"My teacher said everyone was stressed out, including her, and we all needed to blow off a little steam, whatever that means."

Smart teacher. Smart teacher with her finger on the pulse of her class. Sometimes we all need a little extra recess.

Lately it seems like all the news both in and out of education is bad. We're seeing a lot of stressed out kids, teachers, administrators and parents. Yesterday our counseling office was full of kids with a wide variety of affective issues. In my twenty plus years in education, I don't think I've ever seen a time when kids felt more uncertainty in their worlds. As adults, both for the kids and ourselves, it's important to take time for a little extra recess now and then.

Remember to take time for yourselves, your kids and everyone's collective sanity. Sometimes taking fifteen minutes to "blow off a little steam" can result in hours of increased productivity. Next time your day is getting you down, find a couple of co-workers or family members to go outside and play a little tag... just might turn things around for you...

There's Greatness Within...

2009-12-17T06:14:00.000-08:00

"I saw an angel in the marble and I carved until I set him free." - Michaelangelo

So much of teaching and learning is uncovering greatness within. Sometimes it's hard for adults to look at a young person and believe that under that hoodie, behind those noise canceling earphones, underneath that surly mood, or disguised by immaturity, greatness lurks. It does though...there is greatness in all of us. In our building's Challenge Day activities, facilitators challenge students to look below the "waterline", or surface, and discover that there is more to each of us. In doing so, as Michaelangelo did, we may uncover greatness.

A recent news story that has made the rounds on the internet and television gave an account of a small diner, where in the holiday spirit and in an unsolciited, random act off kindness, a patron decided to pay the tab for another patron. In turn, that patron paid for others, and the "paying it forward" continued all day. It's this kind of kindness and goodwill that the holidays often bring out in people, and that our best educators employ daily. Education is ,after all, the ultimate "pay it forward" occupation. The lessons of today lead to the innovations and creations of tomorrrow.

The holiday season is the perfect time to look a little deeper, be a little more accepting, and search more passionately for the "angel in the marble". The holiday tradition of gift-giving also reveals one of life's most precious secrets - the greatest and most staisfying joy comes from giving.

Happy Holidays!

The Three W's...Writing, Writing, Writing...

2009-12-11T05:14:00.000-08:00

"I heard from my teachers that 'practice makes perfect', but then they told me that no one is perfect, so I stopped practicing..." - Jeff Foxworthy, comedian

Just before Thanksgiving break, North administered a practice ACT writing test to all juniors. The test was scored by teachers of our English and social studies departments, and copies of each student's writing, and their scores on the ACT writing rubric were sent home to parents of each student, given to the student's English teacher, and copied to 100 Club mentors. The ACT rubric is a 6 point scale, and each paper is read by two scorers. Their combined score is the student's ACT writing score. In looking for combined scores of 8 or above (two scores of "4" or higher by each reader), we realized we still have a ways to go to make sure our juniors are prepared as writers. The absolute best strategy for improving writing is practice. Practice writing, even without feedback, improves the thought process important to producing good work.

North English teacher and North Pointe advisor, Andrew Taylor, provided me this "tip sheet" from Roy Peter Clark at http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=78&aid=173999&view=print for teachers to use in improving student writing. Most, if not all, of these strategies can also be employed by parents who want to support their son or daughter's evolution as a writer:

The best writing teachers:
Encourage students to write every day. Students should spend some time writing in class, where the teacher can see them write or not write.

Do not mark up and grade every assignment. Grading papers is thankless drudgery for teachers; trying to interpret those marks is punishment for students. The good writing teacher develops a rich variety of ways of assessing student work.

Write, on occasion, with and for the students. A writing teacher cannot just talk about writing. The teacher needs to be in the game, demonstrating how writers solve problems.

Teach writing as a process. By now an old idea, but still undervalued by teachers who tell students what to write about and then correct all the students' mistakes.

Confer with student writers throughout the process. The teacher should spend some class time on being a resource to the student writers, an inquisitive editor who asks good questions and listens.

Connect reading and writing. The idea is not just to read literature for content and theme, but to come to understand the strategies professional authors use and pass them on to students.

Get students to talk, talk, talk about reading and writing. Writing workshops require moments of concentrated silence, but it's not all "shut up and sit down." Teachers must inspire classroom conversation about how reading and writing make sense.

Offer appropriate praise and encouragement -- as well as correction. Teachers, especially journalism teachers, seem much better at communicating what is wrong with a text than what is right, what needs work rather than an appreciative understanding of what works.

Give opportunities for revision. Good teachers attend to the three big parts of the process: prevision or rehearsal; vision or early drafting; and revision.

Never use writing as a form of punishment. Remember what happened in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to the evil pink nightmare, headmistress Dolores Umbridge, who concocted the most wicked form of writing punishment -- letters carved in blood on the backs of their hands.
Teach skills, like spelling and grammar, within the context of writing. Teachers may be required to teach skills through specific lessons and drills. Fair enough, but at least use real writing to test whether students have mastered the elements of English.

Believe that all students, not just the "stars" can improve their writing. Writing coach Jack Hart argues persuasively that we teach reading as a democratic social skill, something that every person should learn; but we continue to frame writing as if it were a fine art.

We must all work in partnership to prepare our students as writers. With the onset of the digital age, more and more communication takes place in writing over the internet. Social networking pages for social interaction and the workplace, distance learning, working from home or remote locations - all require people to communicate effectively in writing. If you would like more information about assisting your son or daughter be a more effective writer, please feel free to contact his/her English teacher at North, or me directly. Write, write, and write some more, and don't worry if you aren't confident in your own writing and editing, after all - "Most editors are failed writers - but so are most writers. " ~T.S. Eliot

Piano stairs - TheFunTheory.com - Rolighetsteorin.se

2009-11-30T08:03:00.001-08:00

In our desire to manage our schools, our homes and communities, and in our seriousness about student achievement, college and "future", we sometimes forget that it's important to have fun along the way.

The "piano stairs" video is a good example of how adding an element of fun can make something that is otherwise not appealing seem very attractive. Often that is the job of a teacher - creating an environment where students learn without realizing they are learning because what they're doing is fun.

For young children, one of the educational theories is learning through play. Through activities and manipulating objects in hands on ways, kids learn basic laws of physics, geometry, and even social skills. Unfortunately, as we get older there becomes an emphasis on "sit and get" learning - an expectation that students can learn by sitting, taking notes, and then regurgitating the important concepts on an assessment.

Effective learning comes when a student is engrossed in content. What better way to make that happen, than incorporating a little fun into the day. At North we've put an emphasis on project based learning that gets students involved in activities that are rich with learning opportunities. Ask your child's teacher what projects will be completed during the course of the year.

Dollars and Sense...

2009-11-22T18:13:00.000-08:00

This year's budget process will see all schools in the state facing unprecedented cuts. With the recent actions of Michigan's legislature and government, the Grosse Pointe school system will be hit particularly hard. Over the past several weeks, members of our district's Budget Council have been meeting to determine how to manage our budget with a reduction of approximately 6.6 million dollars for next year.

Primary in our focus has been trying to be creative to ensure that we can continue to offer the many quality programs that we currently run. The high schools have a unique situation because of our seven period school day that includes tutorial periods. These tutorial periods are very costly to the district with little return because students are not earning credit during these periods, yet staff are assigned to each tutorial. Over the past several years, high school administrators have consistently advocated for a change to the structure of our school day to make better use of all of our resources.

During this budgeting process, it has become apparent that if we stay within our current scheduling framework, we will have to cut seventy or more sections out of our schedule to meet budgetary targets. Similarly, a change to a six period day would result in a cut of more than seventy sections out of our schedule. A cut of this magnitude will likely mean the end of support classes, many elective classes, entire elective programs, and high class sizes. This does not have to happen...

A move to a trimester schedule with three twelve week terms could allow us to actually add 70 sections while saving approximately $700,000 per high school. This schedule was unanimously recommended to our board by a large committee of teachers, administrators and parents two years ago. Farmington, Birmingham and Clarkston school districts all use this schedule to name a few high achieving school districts in our area. All high school administrators, our Superintendent, and our Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, support this change in our school day.

The trimester schedule makes sense. It has many advantages beyond money savings, but in this day and age of cuts, the monetary savings cannot be ignored. It is time to change and move away from our costly seven period day with a schedule that maximizes both our dollars and our educational opportunities. We will discuss this schedule with our board Monday night at a workshop at 7:00 p.m. at North. Come join the discussion if you would like to learn more about this opportunity to turn the negative of budget cuts into a gain of opportunities for our students!

Why Do We Test

2009-10-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

“Most teachers in America use their classroom assessments either to assign grades or to motivate students to study harder,” says Popham. “This deprives them of one of the most powerful, research-proven tools for improving student learning – using insights from classroom assessments to reteach, help struggling students, and gain insights that improve teaching.”

-J. Popham

Too often we lose sight of the best reason to test - gauging the level of mastery for the purpose of determining what should be re-taught (or "better" taught), and what students know that can be built on for subsequent instruction.

Testing is an area where educators can learn lessons from the athletic world. For coaches, each game is a test. Following each game, coaches go back to practice and try to teach their players to correct mistakes made in games. They re-teach, examine their practice plans for new methods of teaching the same concepts, contact other coaches for ideas about how to teach certain concepts - in short they use the assessment as a learning tool. Some teams learn more than others - our own woeful National Football League franchise, the Detroit Lions, has a lot of material for "re-teaching". Yesterday I listened to our new head coach, Jim Schwartz, talk about the re-teaching they did during a bye week. He and his coaching staff watched film of other teams, watched film of his own team, and spent the week trying to use lessons learned from others and themselves to correct mistakes.

The concept of re-teaching is critical. Each Monday our school has a late start so teachers can meet in small teams of teachers to communicate and share ideas. We call these teams "Professional Learning Communities" or PLCs. One of the best reasons for the institution of PLCs is for teachers to work with each other examining data - looking at each other's "game film" - and exploring new ways to better teach concepts. District wide our high schools have developed common final assessments so that we can access the best our entire district has to offer. Teachers across the district can meet to compare their students' performances on assessments and share ideas for preparing students.

Using assessment data to identify areas to re-teach, or better teach, is the most relevant and significant reason to test. I once heard well-known educator Pedro Noguera say "I can teach my dog Spanish - that doesn't mean he'll be able to speak it." It's what our students learn that is important - not what we teach. If they aren't learning we need to adjust our instructional methods, and student assessments provide a blueprint for that work.

Problem Solving or "Mom Where are My Socks?"

2009-10-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

How many times a day do your children yell through the house that they can't find something, only for you to walk into the maelstrom of chaos and madness we call the "teenager's bedroom" and find it right where it actually belongs? The last place any child looks is the most obvious, rightful place for an object. Perhaps this has been true throughout time, but I'm convinced the conveniences of the modern world have exacerbated the problem.

A critical function of today's classroom has to be problem solving. The world we live in changes so rapidly that people who can't adjust and adapt will be left dumbfounded as the world passes. The conveniences of the modern world have spoiled us into being incapable of solving even the simplest of problems. When our computers (the power and speed of which we couldn't have even imagined a few years ago) don't respond immediately, we're on the phone with the help desk for an answer. The changing environment in which we live has changed the focus of schools. Rote memorization has far less relevance in schools than teaching students to solve problems. We have moved more and more to skill based assessments in determining whether students have mastered the skills and the ability to apply those skills.

In a typical literature class, students will learn about authors, discuss texts, analyze those texts and have discussions regarding character and themes. Traditionally the exam might have included matching terms with definitions, answering short answer and multiple choice questions about events and literary devices from the piece, and reciting or regurgitating pearls of wisdom from teacher lectures. There is still room for some of that, however the outcome assessment, typically a semester or final exam, is now more likely to be a skill based assessment. On such a test, a student might be given a piece of literature with which he/she is unfamiliar, and asked to apply all the skills mastered during the course to analyze and answer questions based on this new, never before seen, piece. The goal is cultivating the skill to apply lessons learned to new situations.

Ask your child's teachers what kind of critical thinking and/or problem solving activities and assessments are being employed in the classroom. They should be able to point to specific examples in their lessons and assessments. We're determined to have graduates who can find their own socks, and who will never be stranded on an escalator...

Swine Flu

2009-10-20T05:45:00.000-07:00

As news spreads across the area of numerous cases of H1N1 virus, we continue to get many questions from parents about the vaccine and its potential availability in schools. As of now, Wayne County has not shared any plans to offer the vaccine in the Grosse Pointe Schools, but has a limited roll-out of the vaccine in some Detroit schools. We will keep everyone posted. Our website www.gpschools.org has a lot of information for parents, and below is a letter sent home to all parents regarding a case of swine flu at North. Since this letter, we have become aware of several other students throughout the area who have contracted the virus. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 313.432.3204.

Dear Parents:

As part of the district’s continued effort to keep you up to date on the H1N1 flu, the following information is being provided to keep you informed, not to cause alarm. We have learned that a student at Grosse Pointe North High School has a confirmed case of the H1N1 flu. The student is home recovering and will return to school soon.

The H1N1 flu has received a lot of attention in the media and, therefore, we felt that it was important to tell you about this first confirmed case (this flu season) in the district. However, since health officials are unable to predict how widespread it will become, we will not be sending home a letter each time we receive notice of a confirmed case.

At this point, the mid-west and more specifically southeastern Michigan has not had any widespread outbreaks of H1N1. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is not recommending school closure in the event of a single case or even mild outbreaks of the H1N1 flu. School closures will only be considered if a large number of students or staff members are absent. District administration will inform parents in the event of a school closure by our automated phone fan-out system and posting on the district website. If a school or schools need to be closed for any reason, the Health Department suggest students not gather at another location, but rather stay home to avoid continued spread of flu outside of school.

There are many actions we can take to minimize the number of students who become ill this school year and we are asking for your help to do this.

v Remind your children how to reduce the risk of getting and spreading flu viruses by:
· Washing hands often. Wash with soap and hot water for at least 20 seconds.
· Use hand sanitizer. Gels and rubs with at least 60% alcohol are effective.
· Coughing or sneezing into their sleeve or elbow

v If your child is sick, keep him/her home for at least 24 hours after being free of fever, without fever reducing medication.

v Please continue to notify the school when your child will be absent. If you are keeping your child home due to flu or flu-like symptoms, please share that information with the school when reporting the absence.

The district will continue to make decisions based on the recommendations of city, county, and state public health organizations as well as the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and will keep you updated with new information as it becomes available.
Sincerely,
Tim Bearden C. Suzanne Klein
Principal Superintendent

The Pennant Race for Schools

2009-09-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

Baseball pennant races are among the most exciting events in sports, and with our beloved Detroit Tigers in the midst of a down to wire chase for a playoff spot, there is a real sense of urgency here about the baseball season. Every pitch, every play, every at bat now takes on monumental importance as the team struggles to maintain their lead in the division race and make post season play. This sense of urgency has led to heightened performances for some, and disappointments for others. Mistakes at this point in the season are magnified, and every play dissected ad nausea by analysts. Our schools are in a "pennant race" every day. Never in our country's history has our future depended so much on an educated work force of the future.

There is a tendency in baseball to discount things that happen early in the season. An error in April doesn't count as much as an error in September. This same trap exists for schools. Mistakes that students make as freshmen don't seem as significant as ones they make in the senior year. It's important that we work to overcome that apathy towards early shortcomings, and create a sense of urgency for our students. In baseball and in schools, the error early in the "season" counts as much as the one late, it just may not get the same attention.

Parents, please help us stress the urgency of schoolwork, particularly with our younger students. When we meet with the freshmen on their first day, we emphasize to them that high school is the first time that the grades they receive will actually have a significant impact on their future. These grades will determine, in part, what post high school opportunities are available. Often times this catches both students and parents bu surprise, and there is a tendency to brush off the freshman year in terms of importance. Too often I see seniors who are choosing their schedule based on a desire to improve their g.p.a. because of deficiencies from their underclassman years, rather than choosing courses that will prepare them for what's ahead.

The need to be educated to survive and prosper has never been more urgent. Help us stress this urgency with all of our students, especially our young ones, and....Go Tigers!

The 100 Club - No Child Left Behind - For Real

2009-09-21T05:22:00.000-07:00

In the year 2014 (frighteningly close...) 100% of students in the United States will be proficient on their state standardized school achievement test. Skeptical? That's the goal of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act. In fact, it's not just a goal, but an expectation that comes with negative consequences if not met. One would be hard-pressed to find an educator anywhere who thinks this goal is achievable, yet it's admirable. We can debate its realism, or decide to attack the problem in the spirit of really leaving no child behind - we've decided to attack the problem.

Over the summer, while reviewing our state test scores, I started seriously thinking about the possibility of 100% of our students achieving mastery of our state standards. As a teacher, I taught for ten years in a school of fewer than 400 students. Because we knew all of our students well, and had the opportunity to spend a lot off individual time with them in relatively small classes, it was significantly easier to see major improvements in achievement. It occurred to me that making our school "smaller" might be an answer.

Research and experience show that making real connections between student and teacher is one of the critical pieces in achievement. In small schools this is a much simpler proposition. With more than 1400 students in our building, and 350 plus juniors who will take the MME, we have to take active measures to make our school seem smaller. We want to include every educator in the building in school improvement, and reach every student. From this concept the idea of the 100 Club was born.

On a very small scale, working with students one on one, achievement gains happen more rapidly. I thought that if we could figure out a way to have teachers responsible for a small group - say five or six students, we could cultivate such a one on one type atmosphere. Working with our administrative team, and our building leadership team, we came up with a plan. We have approximately eighty professional staff in our building, and 360 juniors. If every educator is responsible for five students, that is a plan that will include every student in the junior class.

On the first day for staff, we discussed our ideas, and laid out a plan. We posted lists of all the juniors in the building, and asked our teachers to volunteer to work with five students by putting their own name next to the students' names on the list. On the lists we indicated whether students had passed their 8th grade MEAP, and whether they were in support classes. We also included the students' lunch hours. We wanted staff people to choose students they knew, who have the same lunch hour as they do to find additional meeting time, and to pick students with whom they thought they could have success. We're looking to establish personal connections.

The role of the mentor teacher or coach in the 100 Club is to meet regularly with his/her five students and monitor their progress. The coach will act as a liaison with other teachers, help find additional help in areas where the student struggles, provide MME and ACT resources and practice tests, provide encouragement and keep contact with parents. The teacher is taking some of the responsibility for the MME success of his or her "team" of students.

Some teachers will set aside time during late start Mondays, some during lunches, before or after school, during tutorials, or at other agreed upon times. We will ask every student and parent to sign a letter of commitment to mastering the state standards. Every student who attends all meetings with his/her mentor will receive rewards, and have their name entered in drawings for prizes. In March, they will all take the MME, and we will see if it's possible to have 100% of our students meet the standards the MME tests.

We've provided all of our teachers resource materials, and will be updating a "manual" for them throughout the year. We have established a social network group online for our teachers to use to exchange ideas for working with their students. We will meet with all of our juniors during their class meeting this week and roll out the plan for them. We will establish incentives and short term goals for juniors throughout the year. Our teachers and administrators are teaming with our students to work together towards a goal of 100% of our students achieving mastery on the MME.

As the old adage goes, "Shoot for the moon, and if you miss you still end up among the stars...". We're shooting for the moon with the 100 Club - a partnership of students, parents and staff. Watch for more updates, and contact us with questions or comments about this program.

Making the Grade

2009-09-09T07:41:00.000-07:00

Several years ago the state of Michigan began giving letter grades to schools as part of the Education Yes! initiative. State school improvement efforts have converged with NCLB requirements, and now all states give their schools some kind of performance review that includes AYP status. While this is certainly an imperfect system, it does give schools some standard for improvement. This year, we're proud to announce that Grosse Pointe North High School received an "A" on the state report card.

All schools in the Grosse Pointe district received letter grades of "A's". North's scores are far above state averages, as is true district wide, but that is not the only measure of success. In addition, for high schools the graduation / dropout rate is counted, achievement change (improvement from year to year) is counted, and the AYP status considers performance of what the law calls "sub-groups" - minority students, socioeconomically disadvantaged students, and special education students.

North's focus last year was on closing the achievement gap between our lowest and highest achieving students, and the school's improvements in that area led to North making AYP and receiving a letter grade of "A". For this year, we have even bigger and bolder plans to bolster achievement gains. Look soon for posts regarding North's "100 Club", a new program for all juniors.

For now, we've made the grade and it's an "A", confirming what we all know - North High School is an exemplary school!

Lost Generation

2009-09-01T05:19:00.001-07:00

This is a very creative and thoughtful reflection by a young person. Be sure to watch all the way through for the great twist on a theme.

Our young people represent our greatest hope for preserving and improving our great country and the world. This is a great reminder about the power of hope.

Web 2.0 - Social Media Revolution

2009-08-31T17:41:00.001-07:00

One of the primary goals Grosse Pointe schools have adopted in our High Schools 2.0 plan is taking instructional advantage of the tools available in Web 2.0. In its simplest terms, Web 2.0 applications represent a new age in internet connectivity - interactive communication.

Web 2.0 applications allow for expanded connectivity, and have made the world effectively a smaller place. Our students live in this digital world, and the concept of social networking has many potential uses in education. This short video piece illustrates the extent to which social networking is revolutionizing communication. Take a look!

What We Don't Know Might Hurt Us...

2009-08-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

Despite a cloudy, unseasonably cool, unseasonably gray and dreary Michigan Saturday, my family and I joined friends on boats in the bay in front of Selfridge Air Force base to watch their semi-annual air show. We were wowed by the World War II fighter plane acrobatics, the eerie Stealth Bomber, and a variety of sky writers and sky divers. We were most impressed with the power and precision of the Air Force's elite Thunderbirds show - six F-16s flying in precision formations and performing amazing aerial stunts at high speed.

As we watched, it struck me how interesting and amazing it is that there are these kind of parallel universes of knowledge and experience in existence. My son asked me a number of questions about the planes - air speed, size, weaponry - an entire litany of perfectly appropriate questions - none of which I could answer. In the military, and probably in many different worlds, what we don't know could literally hurt us.

This morning as I returned to work, and we continued preparing for next week's registration, and the subsequent start of school for freshmen on Sept. 8th, it's more apparent than ever to me that we can't possibly adequately prepare our students for the world they will inherit as adults. Many of their future careers don't even yet exist, and others are beyond the conceptual grasp of most of us. What we can do, is prepare them to be creative problem solvers.

I didn't know the answers to most of my son's questions Saturday, but I do now, because I have the capability to find information. We went to websites, asked people who knew the answers, and found out about a world that is largely foreign to me. The most important and valuable skill we can provide our students is to give them the tools to gather information and solve problems. The necessity for project based learning that requires skill application is greater than ever.

We're excited about the start of school, and the opportunity and responsibility we have to prepare our students for whatever comes next. The more they know, the safer and more capable they'll be.

By the way, the F-16 can fly at speeds of Mach 2 - just over 1300 miles per hour - and has a range of over 2400 miles...just in case someone asks you...

School Calendar

2009-08-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

We finally have a master calendar for the district, important dates of which may be found at this link: http://gpschools.schoolwires.net/176710719835220/site/default.asp

We will post the calendar on the website soon.

Welcome Back!!

2009-08-06T11:55:00.001-07:00

The below pasted letter will be sent to all homes as part of the fall Northern Connections newsletter:

NORTHERN CONNECTIONS

September, 2009

A message from the Principal, Tim Bearden

Dear North Parents:

On behalf of the Grosse Pointe North Staff, welcome to the 2009-2010 school year. Specifically, it is a pleasure to greet the incoming freshman class (2013) as well as our returning sophomores and juniors. Last, but assuredly not least, we look forward to working with the senior class as they are poised to make their mark and lead in a positive way. There isn’t a doubt in my mind they will do everything possible to leave their own legacy of exceptional academic achievement, coupled with a high level of student participation and enthusiasm.

This edition of the Northern Lights will reach your home prior to the start of school, so please allow me to share several important topics that will receive special attention this year. North has embarked on several projects which will combine to change in part the way the school looks as well as operates. Among them:

North High School focused on two specific goal areas last year in regards to state testing: math and closing the achievement gap between testing groups that are identified by the federal and state government. I’m happy to report great success in both areas, as we achieved significant gains in narrowing the gap between our various groups, with our overall average still well above the state average. North again is one of the top schools in the area and the state in regards to test scores. In math, we continued to see impressive overall gains as well as achievement gap gains, as our re-sequencing has started to pay off, and the hard work of our talented staff and students was rewarded with excellent scores.

North High School was again named one of Newsweek Magazine’s Top 1000 high schools based on the number of students who have participated in Advanced Placement testing. With more than 40,000 eligible high schools, this puts North in the top 2% of high schools in the nation!!

As part of our “Grosse Pointe High Schools 2.0” initiatives, new courses have been added to our curriculum. Of note this year is the theory of Learning course that is being offered at both high schools. Students are encouraged to take this course as a bridge between their various Honors and Advanced Placement courses. We are very excited about this offering, which focuses on the philosophy of learning and knowing, and will cover a wide range of thinking on the human condition.
This summer asbestos abatement was completed in a number of areas in the building. New windows have been installed in “B” building, and the old window canopies and building “halo” have been replaced with new stucco and brick work. We have new ceilings, lighting and floors in “B” building, and new lockers for the first floor of “B” building. This summer has been exceptionally busy in terms of the facilities, and we are excited for the aesthetic and functional improvements as enter the new school year.

For the 2009-2010 school year, North students will no longer be required to wear their identification badges. They will be required to carry them on their person, and produce them on request, but not to wear them on lanyards. With the safety improvements to the building, specifically, a main entrance point that all visitors must use, the need for student I.D. badges has been eliminated. Students, staff and parent representatives who were surveyed and consulted were all part of this decision.
Visit my blog at http://northprincipal.blogspot.com for information about North, our programs, and to access various surveys. There is a current survey for parents regarding a proposed wi-fi area on campus. Also from the blog site, sign up to follow North on Twitter and get up to the minute updates on happenings at North and in the district. It’s free, and you can get immediate access to your email account and/or cell phone to important information regarding the school, school closings, safety information and other announcements. You can sign up to follow North on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GPNHS.

Look soon for online technology courses that we hope to offer for parents, and for more information about new initiatives such as North’s new 100 Club for student achievement.

With many changes on the horizon, the one constant is that North H.S. will continue to provide the best possible academic and extracurricular offerings to our students. We are excited and enthused about the 2009-2010 school year, and look forward to seeing you soon at North.

Sincerely,

Tim Bearden
Principal

Summer Reading / Web 2.0

2009-08-04T06:19:00.000-07:00

Many of our AP courses, and some of our other courses at North, require summer projects and/or summer reading. This is always a concern for students as we prepare to return to school. Each year, we will get a number of drop requests from students who didn't complete their summer reading or project and feel unprepared for the start of the school year. In most cases, we do not accommodate those requests. I am happy to report that I have been actively involved in completing my summer reading and project, and short of winning the Mega Millions, will not be asking for a change in my assignment for the fall..

As we have worked to implement web 2.0 applications in our building, and incorporate them into our instructional delivery models, it has become apparent that many of even our most technologically literate staff are not aware of the tools available to them. At my pleading and request, North media specialist Karen Villegas created an online course for staff that is somewhat similar to our digital seminar course for students. After participating in this course myself, with several North teachers, I am convinced that it should be mandatory for all students, staff and parents.

It is astonishing how many tools are available, and what capacity these tools have. I was consistently impressed not only with what Karen put together, but with the knowledge and creativity of my fellow online classmates. One of the great things about today's technology is also the most challenging- it advances and changes rapidly. One of the consequences of this though, is that to be a user one has to be a lifelong learner. The more I know, the more I realize I don't know!!

My online reading inspired me to do some more summer reading, as I've caught up on several educational journals that I didn't have time for in the school year. The slower pace of summer has also allowed me time to do some recreational reading. Contrary to the idea that technology leads people away from reading, I found this summer that my involvement in an online technology course led me to read more, not less!

In the near future, we hope to offer online technology courses for parents and community members. Stay tuned for more information, and catch up on that summer reading!!

Wi-Fi Poll

2009-07-28T06:06:00.001-07:00

The opening of the 2009-2010 school year will bring with it many improvements in the physical and technological layout of North High School. Most of our academic classrooms will be equipped with SMART boards - interactive display boards with remarkable capabilities, and many enhancements to the aesthetics and functionality of the building will be in place.

As we look to the future, one of the options we would like to explore for North High School is open wi-fi for students and staff. More and more often public places are providing wi-fi. Many libraries, stores, malls, airports and restaurants have open wi-fi for patrons. Open wi-fi would provide free wireless internet accessibility for student and staff laptops. This would allow us to greatly decrease the demand on computer labs, and open student access to internet research and applications. We are considering a couple of options to pursue.

One option would be a student lounge area with open wi-fi access. This would be an easily monitored space that would be primarily available only before and after school and during lunches. Another option is building wide wi-fi, that would allow internet access anywhere on the grounds.

If you have an opinion on wi-fi access for students, please weigh in by responding to the poll on the right side of this page, or comment via the blog or by email to me at tim.bearden@gpschools.org.

The Gap (not the place that sells khakis...)

2009-07-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

Probably the most thrown around phrase in educational circles today is "achievement gap". In simplest terms, this phrase refers to the disparity between achievement of the most successful students, and the lesser success of students who struggle the most. In the world of No Child Left Behind (NCLB - see other posts for more detail), achievement gap really refers to gaps between white students with no socioeconomic difficulties, and any other group. For the purposes of NCLB, these other groups are referred to as "sub-groups".

The achievement gap in the united States is staggering. For example, nationally African-American and Hispanic 17 year olds read and perform math at approximately the same level as the average middle class white 13 year old. There are many factors - disparities between schools and school districts, family structures, inherent racism in some systems, test bias - the list goes on and on. One of the successes of NCLB is that it has forced schools and states to address this very real problem.

Narrowing the achievement gap has been one of our primary focuses at North High School over the past two school years. It was our primary focus this year. The recent state MME scores reflect that we are making progress. We narrowed the gap between our African-American and white students in virtually every area, including the following results:
Reading – Gap - nine point gain
Writing – Gap - a five pt. gain
ELA – Gap – an eleven point gain
Soc. Studies – Gap went from 18 % points to 20% points – 2% point loss, but still highest performing area for the African-American sub-group
Science – No change – gap stayed after an eleven point gain the previous year – we maintained that large gain
Math – Gap - a 6 pt. gain

As we head into the 2009-2010 school year, eliminating an achievement gap will continue to be a primary goal.

Oh the Places We Will Go...

2009-07-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I've enjoyed most about this blog is that it has led to me meeting a variety of interesting people in education from all over the country and the world. At the bottom of the page there is a "Clustr Map" that counts visits to the page, as well as identifies from where those visits originate. It has been fascinating for me to see first hand how this digital medium can make the world smaller, as people from all over have somehow happened upon my ramblings here.

Ultimately, this is a great benefit to this form of communication, and a strong reason to encourage our students to explore content creation on the web with reasonable limits and precautions. The opportunity to gain perspectives from other young people across the globe is kind of a "pen pal" on steroids.

When I was an elementary age student, one of my teachers established a written correspondence plan with a teacher and her students in Mexico. Each student in our class got a single pen pal, and we communicated and learned about each others' country and life. By way of the Internet, today's students can establish contacts with multiple people across the globe in seconds, and maintain those relationships. Through this practice, there is a real opportunity for people to learn more about each other. Through that understanding, today's young people have a real opportunity to build a better, more understanding world community for the future.

Like most exciting opportunities, digital communication comes with responsibilities, and it is incumbent upon parents and educators to impress upon our students guidelines and safety procedures to ensure the development of appropriate web relationships. With the right guidelines in place, we can't even imagine "the places they will go...".

NCLB, AYP, MME, ACT....Alphabet Soup...

2009-07-07T05:32:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's a product of our digital world that we've taken to communicating in acronyms, abbreviations, and shorthand slang. In education today, we've even managed to turn some of these abbreviations into verbs - it's not uncommon to hear a Michigan educator say "we're MEAPing today"...

A few years ago, the federal government enacted the No Child Left Behind act (NCLB). The philosophy behind this law is admirable, and to a degree it has worked. NCLB has forced schools to focus on the achievement gap between highest and lowest performing students, and it has forced the reporting of scores for all students, as well as attempted to force the testing of all students. In years past, some districts would report very high test scores, but were only testing a relatively small % of students. NCLB requires schools to test 95% of all students, or not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

NCLB allows each state some flexibility in determining its tests, and various other categories of reporting. When the law was passed, lawmakers saw the need to narrow the achievement gaps that exist in this country between various groups of students. Nationally, some minority students, special education students, and economically disadvantaged students score significantly lower than others. NCLB attempts to change this long standing gap by putting pressure on schools to close these gaps or face various consequences.

In Michigan, the state has created what is called the Michigan Merit Exam (MME) for high school juniors. The exam is made up of the nationally recognized ACT test, The Work Keys readiness for work assessment, and various supplemental test pieces created by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE). Michigan then determined that for the purpose of NCLB reporting, any population in the testing group of what NCLB calls sub-groups (essentially any student who is a member of a minority group, a special education student, or economically disadvantaged) with more than thirty students must meet the same performance standards as the testing population as a whole. Michigan rather arbitrarily chose 30 as the number. It is not a percentage, but a flat number.

Statistically, and every other way, this makes no sense. Large high schools are at a distinct disadvantage in this system. For example, a high school with only 300 students might have 80-90 students in the testing group. It is unlikely that such a school would have thirty or more students in a sub-group. However, high schools of more than 1000 students would have 250 or more students in a testing group, making the likelihood of a sub-group significantly greater. Very large high schools will inevitably have sub-groups. Other states chose various other methods of determining sub-groups, including using percentages of students rather than flat numbers, or choosing much higher sub-group #'s.

Why does this matter? NCLB requires schools to report their performance. Schools and school districts are identified as either making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), or not. To make Adequate Yearly Progress in Michigan, a school must meet the following requirements:

* 95% of all students in the junior class must take all sections of the MME.
* 95% of all students in a sub-group of 30 or more must take all sections of the MME. (For example - say 95% of the total student body takes all sections of the test, but there is a sub-group of 30 special education students, and more than one of them does not take all sections of the MME, fewer than 95% of the sub-group was tested, and the entire school fails to make AYP.)
* The school must have a graduation rate of 80% or higher. The definition of graduation rate is now that a student must graduate in four years or fewer after beginning high school.
* All students, and all sub-groups must meet performance standards in English Language Arts (ELA) and math that have been set by the government. The target number changed every two years for the first few cycles, and beginning with the year 2010 will change every year. Through this year, for a Michigan high school to make AYP, 55% of all students and all sub-group students must meet math standards, and 61% of all students and all sub-group students must meet ELA standards. In the year 2013-14, 100% of all students and all sub-group students must pass state standardized tests in ELA and math, or schools will not make AYP!!

Schools must meet each of these standards, and if they meet them all, they make AYP. If they fail to meet any one of these conditions, they do not make AYP. For example, a school might have 98% of all students tested, all students in every sub-group passing the state tests, have a 100% graduation rate, but if one student in a sub-group of 30 takes every portion of the MME except for one, the entire school fails to make AYP because 95% of the sub-group did not take 100% of the test.

That's the 411 on NCLB, AYP and MME. @TEOTD, AIMB, NCLB forces us to ALTG. FMI go to www.ed.gov/ncl or www.michigan.gov/mde to see FAQs...

If you don't know (dk) what any of the previous lines mean, ask a teenager or GOOGLE them...CU

Still in School...

2009-06-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my youngest child asked how come I still have to go to school...even with no students, much is happening over the summer months.

At North we have a wide variety of summer construction projects, including: asbestos abatement, window replacement, locker replacement, facade work, and ceiling and lighting replacement. Some have asked how we are able to afford these projects at a time of budget cuts. The district has what is called a sinking fund, approved by voters, that is money to be used for specific purposes that are primarily "bricks and mortar". In other words, this fund pays for ongoing repairs and replacements that are necessary maintenance to the district's buildings. Visitors to North will see that the majority of "B" building is under construction.

In addition to construction, we have interviewed and hired a new teacher of Chinese - Alethea Gurabhardi comes to us from Farmington Harrison High School, and will take over the Chinese program at North, South and Parcells. She formerly lived in Taiwan, but is a native English speaker with a wealth of experience. We're very excited about her addition to our staff.

The summer months give principals an opportunity to review achievement data, further develop implementation plans for school improvement, and prepare staff development activities for the fall. We are working on a very tight timeline for the installation of technology including SMART boards, projectors, sound systems, and a variety of hardware and software pieces. There will be a necessary training schedule associated with this work that has to be planned.

If you have questions regarding grades, schedules, enrollment / registration, or anything related to North, we are here in the office all summer to assist! As I told my youngest in response to her question - school's never out for the principals...

Things Every Graduate Should Know...

2009-06-11T18:31:00.000-07:00

The Grosse Pointe North Graduation went very well tonight despite the inclement weather that forced us inside. We have much to be proud of with the Class of 2009. Below is my commencement address for tonight's ceremony, entitled Ten Things Every Graduate Should Know. Congratulations Class of 2009!

Good Evening Parents and Families, Colleagues, Members of the Board of Education, and, most importantly, Graduates,

I know that when you thought about this night, and its importance in your life, this step on your road to freedom – breaking the chains of high school, this celebration of transition from one phase of your life to another, it’s unlikely that any of you thought, “I can’t wait for Mr. Bearden’s speech. That’s going to be awesome!” Graduation speeches are often not that memorable because they are full of clichés and tired quotes. In fact, in Florida last week, a student named Jem Lugo at Springstead High School had her graduation speech censored because it was too original. That’s right – not enough clichés!

Her speech originally started, "Nobody in speeches ever tells you what you actually need to know in life. They stand up here and gush about these lofty, inspirational concepts that are supposed to make you feel all warm and gooey inside” … Now I don’t know what her speech was going to include that her principal found offensive, but I like her concept. Let’s talk about ten things that you really need to know – Kind of like Letterman’s Top Ten List. To help me out, I would like to ask Josh Franklin and Sean Ireland to come on up to the stage.

1. Everything counts – In life you can’t drop a course and re-take it because you don’t like your grade. Everything counts. There are no “re-dos”. Those spring break pictures you posted on Facebook– they can come back to haunt you.
2. You will make mistakes – you’ll screw up. You won’t be judged by the mistakes as much as by how you react to them. If you trip over the steps on the way up to get your diploma, laugh at yourself, and handle it with grace.
3. There is no such thing as normal any more. In New York City a guy who calls himself the Naked Cowboy parades around Times Square wearing a pair of white jockey shorts and cowboy boots and in New York that’s accepted – in Detroit we buy dead octopi and throw them from the crowd on to ice at hockey games, and everyone cheers when Al Sobotka picks them up and waves them over his head …and that’s accepted here.
4. Common sense is not so common…people who instinctively or through their upbringing do or say the appropriate things most of the time are rare. “Git R Done” is not an appropriate thing to yell out at formal events.
5. Manners will get you noticed – what used to be expected is now rare. If you want to make an impression, say “please and thank you”, open doors for people and generally be polite. You will be remembered for what should be just general decency.
6. If you’re not having fun, you’re doing something wrong. Find what you love to do, and you can figure out a way to make a living at it.
7. Some guy or girl will break your heart. When they do, remember the advice of my 6th grade gym teacher Mr. Richards. Prior to our first middle school dance, he called all the boys over and said – “Listen – if you walk across the room and ask some girl to dance and she says ‘no’, just smile and say “that’s o.k. – you don’t look so good close up…” You’ll bounce back
8. Your Body Will Change – Almost 70% of American adults are overweight, and about 35% of males over 40 and about 10% of women over 40 suffer from pattern baldness. Do the math – if you look around you and there are ten people in your row, remember that at your 25 year class reunion, seven will be overweight and five of them will be losing their hair. Some will get the double whammy. The good news though, is that some of you will get better looking with age – I mean, look at me…
9. Your parents will get a lot smarter - “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.” —Mark Twain
10. Change is Inevitable – Today’s iPod will be tomorrow’s 8 track player. Most importantly, YOU can be the Change you want to see in the world.

I asked Sean and Josh to help tonight because they deserve to be recognized for who they are. They became leaders in our Be the Change movement. They reached out to others, went outside their comfort zones and challenged people to drop their assumptions, stereotypes and preconceived notions, and take the time to really learn about others. When I’m talking with friends my age, we frequently say we wish we could go back to high school knowing what we know now. If I went back to being 17 or 18, I’d have a lot more hair, but mostly I would want to be more like Josh and Sean. Confident in self, giving, committed to a better world. If you’re like me and want people to be more like Josh and Sean, stand up and give them a round of applause for helping today and for really Being the Change.

Finally, Class of 2009, you inspire me. The depth of talent, creativity and compassion seated before me tonight is astonishing. We’re all proud of you, and your accomplishments, but more than that I’m inspired by you. I’m inspired by Jamie Ding who published a scientific paper about things I cannot even pronounce, I’m inspired by watching Allison Liddane play defense, I’m inspired by hearing Ryan Mann play the saxophone, I’m inspired by watching Olivia Stander control a soccer ball like it’s on a string, I’m inspired by the paintings of Brian Muss and the photographs of Christie Caputo, I’m inspired by Samantha Matthew’s leadership, Aaron Lechner’s spirit, Andrew Charnesky’s financial wizardry, Jenny Rusch’s speed in the pool and the way our senior boys basketball players demonstrated that strength is in team and not the individuals that make it up…I’m inspired by Josh Franklin and Sean Ireland who have already started changing the world. I’m inspired by Jem Lugo, a kid I’ve never met from Florida who wanted to make a difference by doing things a little differently. I’m motivated and inspired by this amazing collection of young people – so many incredible stories and accomplishments that I apologize I don’t have the time to recognize more.

In 2034 at your 25 class reunion, when 70% of you are overweight, half are bald, and some of you are both, I hope you look back on your time here and reflect that it prepared you to change the world. I hope in between your hopelessly exaggerated stories about how cool and funny you were in high school, you share tales of how you love what you do, how smart your parents are, and how you’ve made your mark on the world. Thanks for all you’ve done for North, congratulations, now go out there and Be the Change!!

Twittering...

2009-06-02T12:37:00.000-07:00

I've resisted long enough, and have now officially become a "Twit"...no comments please from those of you who might believe it was official a long time ago...

Twitter is a social networking site that gives "up to the minute" information about what people are doing, and what organizations are up to in messages of 160 characters or fewer. Messages can be sent by text to phones, to email, or both. I've resisted because having real time information about what Ashton Kutcher ate for breakfast has not been high on my list of critical information. However, having experimented a little, the value to organizations like schools is clear. Parents, students, and anyone who chooses to follow a school Twitter page, can get immediate information about events and issues.

For example, in the event of a school closing due to inclement weather, I can post a "tweet", and anyone who is a follower of North's page will get instantaneous email or text message updates. If there is a crisis event at school, or a high profile situation or event, we can get out information immediately. Hopefully Twitter can become another method for opening communication between school and community.

On the menu bar to the right of this post is information regarding how to become a follower of North's Twitter page. If you have never used Twitter, this will give you insight into a social networking site used by many teens, and a growing number of people in the world, as well as provide you up to the minute information about important events involving North High School.

If you have questions or comments about Twitter, please feel free to contact me, or post them here or on the Twitter page. Tweet, Tweet....

Achievement Gap

2009-05-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

With the institution of our Grosse Pointe High Schools 2.0 initiative, we have made some real strides towards closing the achievement gaps that exist between our highest and lowest achieving students. The research in a recent article (abstracted below) supports the initiatives we have put in place, and also provides parents with a kind of road map as to what school practices can have a negative impact on children. Your comments are welcome:

How the Achievement Gap Widens – and How to Close It

In this Kappan article, author/consultant Kim Marshall begins with a list of ways that an evil superintendent could expand the differences with which five-year-olds enter school so there would be an enormous achievement gap by high-school graduation:a. Tell principals and teachers that differences in students’ classroom performance reflect their innate intelligence, which can’t be changed by even the most effective teaching.b. Mandate tracking, with lower groups getting a slower-paced, basic-skills, test-prep curriculum.c. Assign the most effective teachers to high-achieving classes and rookies to the most challenged students.d. Curtail professional development in classroom management.e. Have teachers keep the criteria for getting good grades secret.f. Tell teachers it’s okay to prepare lessons the night before, in isolation from colleagues.g. Blame parents when students read below grade level and lack the “core knowledge” to understand the curriculum. h. Discourage schools from investing time in hands-on learning experiences, extracurricular activities, and field trips.i. Tell teachers to call only on students who raise their hands, build on correct responses, and maintain a brisk classroom pace.j. Forbid principals from making unannounced classroom visits, require them to base teacher evaluations on lengthy write-ups of a single lesson, and discourage them from critically evaluating all but the most egregiously incompetent teachers.k. Require that all classwork and tests be given final A, B, C, D, or F grades with little explanatory feedback.l. Require teachers to give demanding homework assignments that require the assistance of well-educated parents.m. Encourage the belief that what parents do with their children at home is none of the school’s business.n. Require teachers to follow a rigidly paced curriculum and forbid them from working beyond the contractual school day.o. Maximize the length of summer vacations.What’s the point of this depressing fantasy? The point is that many of these practices are all-too common in U.S. schools and each of them harms the learning of disadvantaged and low-achieving students. This is why, as Paul Tough wrote in a 2006 New York Times Magazine article, “The evidence is now overwhelming that if you take an average low-income child and put him into an average American public school, he will almost certainly come out poorly educated.” [See Marshall Memo 162 for a summary of this article.]Reading over the list, it’s also striking that half of these practices actually benefit advantaged and high-achieving students (for example, having the most effective teachers, a more rigorous curriculum, and greater opportunities for class participation) and the rest are neutral or considerably less harmful for advantaged than for disadvantaged students. “Thus,” says Marshall, “schools that use these practices drive the achievement of these two groups apart, widening the gap every day.” What would be the effect of doing the opposite of each of these 15 gap-widening practices? In a school that consistently implemented the flip-side, ask yourself if all students benefit equally – or would some gain more than others:a. Students are constantly told that students aren’t just born smart, they can get smart through effective effort.b. Students are grouped heterogeneously and instruction is differentiated while maintaining high expectations for all.c. Teachers with a demonstrated track record of being the most effective are assigned to the most challenging students and grade levels.d. Teachers are well trained in classroom management and schoolwide discipline is positive and strong.e. Learning expectations and the criteria for proficiency are made clear to students and parents.f. Teacher teams collaboratively map out curriculum units and agree on final assessments.g. Reading levels are accelerated using “just right” materials, and gaps in students’ core knowledge are systematically filled.h. Teaching caters to different learning styles, teachers maximize active student involvement, and all students are involved in enriching extracurricular activities.i. Teachers constantly check for understanding during classes and use the feedback to fine-tune instruction and reach all students.j. Principals make frequent unannounced classroom visits, give teachers prompt face-to-face feedback, refuse to tolerate mediocre or low-quality teaching, and work with teacher teams and instructional coaches to maximize adult and student learning.k. Students take interim assessments every 5-9 weeks and teacher teams analyze the data and help students with what they don’t understand.l. Teachers assign homework that students can do independently based on in-class learning and resources available to all.m. Parents are continuously informed of ways they can support their children’s learning at home and in school.n. Struggling students get prompt one-on-one or small-group help targeted to their needs.o. Academically needy students have expanded learning time during and after school hours, go to summer school, and have the materials and incentives needed to maximize learning outside of school.Marshall argues that each of these practices benefits disadvantaged and low-performing students the most. “Advantaged students would benefit too, but not as dramatically,” he says, “which would cause the achievement gap to gradually close.” The article includes a graph of student achievement in the Brazosport, Texas schools showing this kind of gap-closing impact from effective classroom and school practices.Implementing these 15 initiatives is a daunting challenge, concedes Marshall. Where should a school begin? He asks us to consider the “moment of truth” in a hypothetical classroom. A teacher finishes a well-taught curriculum unit, gives an assessment, records the grades, and tallies students on a 4-3-2-1 scale, where 3 is proficient and 1 is failure:4 - ••••3 - •••••••••2 - ••••••••1 - ••••Only 52% of students are proficient or above, but what usually happens next? Although we know what should happen, the reality is that few teachers feel they have the “luxury” to slow down and work with the 48% of students who didn’t fully master the material and those who outright failed. There’s pressure to cover the rest of the curriculum, and teachers may fear backlash from the parents of higher-achieving students and doubt their ability to change the bell-shaped curve.“These are powerful reasons,” says Marshall. “But let’s be blunt: Every time a teacher moves on with this many students below mastery, the achievement gap widens.” The students at levels 1 and 2 are probably those who entered with learning disadvantages (in fact, the teacher probably could have predicted their performance before instruction even began). “If the teacher moves on, these students will begin the next unit that much more confused, that much more discouraged, and that much more likely to think they’re stupid, adopt a negative attitude, and act out in class,” says Marshall. “And so it goes.” Clearly, teachers need to be empowered by the principal to stop when they see results like this, meet with grade-level colleagues, compare notes and figure out what went wrong, and reteach the material in a different way, while providing enrichment for already-proficient students. This is what highly effective districts like Brazosport have done. The key ingredients are:- Clarity around what students should learn;- On-the-spot assessments to catch as many learning glitches as possible during instruction;- Common interim assessments every 5-9 weeks;- Immediate analysis of the results by teacher teams and administrators;- Effective use of the insights gained to improve teaching and help struggling students.British researcher Dylan Wiliam sums it up well: “Agile teaching, responsive to student learning minute by minute, day by day, month by month.” Marshall closes by agreeing with Richard Rothstein’s argument (2004) that schools can’t close the achievement gap on their own. “America needs a full-court press,” says Marshall, “with the president, the federal government, state officials, mayors, university professors, doctors, dentists, business leaders, consultants, community groups, religious groups, and advocates working together to alleviate poverty, crime, unemployment, discrimination, health and housing problems, lead-paint poisoning, and other factors that result in some children starting school with such serious handicaps. But as we wait for this mobilization, schools can do a great deal right now. Schools can undertake all 15 of the interventions listed above without waiting for poverty and crime and racism to be erased. The most basic change – constantly checking to see if students are learning and following up when they aren’t – can be implemented in any school tomorrow. If we focus on that key classroom dynamic – the moment of truth where the gap either widens or narrows – we can make a huge difference in the outcomes we care about the most.”
“A How-To Plan for Widening the Gap” by Kim Marshall in Phi Delta Kappan, May 2009 (Vol. 90, #9, p. 650-655), http://www.marshallmemo.com/about.php

Disney, Baseball and Seniors

2009-05-20T11:32:00.000-07:00

"Imagineers" - that's what Disney calls its engineers. Somehow, "imagineering" sounds like so much more fun than "engineering". It's another example of how attitude makes all the difference. Walt Disney and the Disney empire have long been experts in making people feel good. A few weeks ago, I had the wonderful opportunity of accompanying our exceptional band and orchestra on their trip to Disney World. We visited most of the parks, and even though I have been many times before, I was again taken by the sheer magnitude of the creations. While we were there, one of our students said, "You know what's really cool Mr. Bearden? People get paid to work here." That is cool...

As our seniors prepare to graduate, I wonder what is in store for them. We repeatedly hear (and tell them) that many of them will work in careers that aren't currently in existence. I just spoke with our seniors this week to go over end of year materials, dates and expectations. One of the things I tell our seniors every year is that it is really important to know what you are passionate about doing, and then use school to figure out a way to make a living at it. I'm guessing that some of those Disney imagineers loved going to Disney as kids, became fascinated with the experience, and then used their natural, creative and technical aptitudes to contribute to its majesty. It is "really cool" that people can make their living as adults doing what made them feel most alive as kids.

My son is currently playing Little League baseball. He's at a stage that I remember well, when every boy believes there is really a chance that he can play in the Major Leagues. Unfortunately, most of us don't have that skill. What can happen though, is that people with a passion for baseball can find other careers connected to the game - broadcasting, marketing, ticket sales, stadium design...the list is endless. Too often we forget to tell our kids that being creative and finding ways to have fun in what they do is an awfully rewarding way to live life.

As our seniors prepare for graduation, I hope that you will join me in encouraging them to find that place where their passion meets their skill set. That's where true happiness and lifetime fulfillment lies.

P.S. If Dave Dombrowski is reading this, I still think there's an outside chance I could play for the Tigers...

Swine Flu Information

2009-05-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

As is the case in most school districts across the country this week, we are keeping a close eye on developments in the spread of the so-named "Swine Flu" virus. With a probable case causing Brownell Middle School to close this week, we are meeting to discuss ways to continue student learning in the event we are forced to close temporarily. Because so many of our teachers have online learning platforms, available podcasts, and functioning websites, we may be able to continue instruction despite disruptions that could occur. Please monitor the building website for updates.

Below is an excerpted letter from Dr. Suzanne Klein, superintendent of schools:

May 1, 2009

To our school community:

Swine Influenza, formally known as H1N1, is a respiratory disease caused by the type A influenza virus. It is spread the same way as the seasonal flu, primarily person-to-person by those infected coughing or sneezing on others. People may also become infected by touching a surface with flu viruses on it and then touching their own mouth or nose, though this is less likely. Our facility staff has been briefed on which cleaning products to use and where to concentrate their efforts. Special attention is being given to high touch environmental surfaces such as desks, sink fixtures, light fixtures, phones, and hand rails.

State and county officials have emphasized that the most important thing our community can do is to practice good hygiene:
- wash your hands frequently
- use hand sanitizer
- sneeze or cough into your elbow or a tissue
- have you or your child stay home if flu-like symptoms start until at least 24 hours after the fever
- seek a medical evaluation if you feel ill

A list of resources and updates is posted on the district website www.gpschools.org under the News tab. Be sure to click on the title of the headline for quick links to local, county and state information.

No cases have been reported in the Grosse Pointe Public School System. If a case is discovered, we will determine what response is needed, i.e., whether we need to close a school or schools. Then the district will notify parents through our automated phone fan-out system, letters/postings in school newsletters, and the e-newsletter feature of our website which you can sign up for under the Parents tab.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call 313/432-3010.

Sincerely,

Dr. C. Suzanne Klein
Superintendent of Schools

Lots of Sharks in the Sea - Especially at Budget Time...

2009-03-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

This picture was part of a series I received via email a few weeks ago. Pretty amazing, and pretty scary. Sometimes when we're most focused on the big picture, we don't notice the sharks circling. I'm not sure how things turned out for this kayaker, but I'm guessing that if he decided to paddle, he did so with a different focus than he had before he noticed the shark.

In education, as in the ocean, the sharks are always there - we just don't always see them. However, just as is true in the ocean, when they make themselves known, they get our full attention.

It's budget time for us in Grosse Pointe, as it is for many districts. Like most people in Michigan, times are tough financially in school districts. We have to make some very tough decisions that require us to take our eye off the coastline we're attempting to reach and focus on what issues are lurking below the surface.

Over the past month or so, our district budget committee, which includes both high school principals, has worked diligently to craft a budget that will allow us to hold on to these critical programs and the people who are responsible for their success. In every case, we have tried to factor how a budgetary decision impacts our student body. District wide enrollment declines, paralleling the decline in our state, have reduced the funding we will receive. Our district will be laying off a frightening number of teachers and district employees.

A primary focus during the past couple of years has been closing the achievement gap. At North, we have a significant population of high achieving students, among the nation's best. We also have a group of students who struggle. Some of these students enter our school district having come from other districts, and begin far behind the students who have been here since elementary school. Some students have a variety of obstacles that have impeded their learning throughout their formative years. Others have disabilities or impairments that require them to learn differently or at a different pace than other students. Whatever the situation, it's our mission to provide every student what is needed to be successful. Reduced funding challenges that mission. Many of our most effective programs come with a cost. Additional teachers, classroom assistants or parapros provide the support to bridge gaps that exist for struggling learners. In other cases they provide the extra something that makes our highest achieveing programs special.

In the past couple of years, we have "restyled" our high schools to address the digital age in which our students live, and to focus on our achievement gap. This has resulted in new programs and technologies for all students, and in very effective supports for our struggling learners. Reductions in funding jeopardize our ability to impact as many students as possible with technologies, materials and supports necessary to succeed. The budget cut "shark" is lurking...

In coming weeks, I urge you to follow the budget process, and have your voice heard. At last night's board meeting, an initial presentation was made. The board is considering many options, as is our district budget team of administrators. For all involved, the primary concern is our greatest resource - people. We can't be paralyzed by fear of this "shark", and we can't let it take us off our course. Our mission in the budgeting process is to protect as many of our programs and people as possible in order to give our students the absolute best educational environment we can.

Please share your thoughts and ideas about what priorities you would like to see protected. Visit the district website at www.gpschools.org to review the presentation made to the board by our central office staff, and feel free to contact me or any member of our team for information or clarification. We'll do all we can to protect our building and district from the murky waters of the budgeting process...

Whistles, No Bells...

2009-03-19T05:22:00.000-07:00

There are an awful lot of great things that happen at North High School during the school day "between the bells", and an equally impressive number of achievements that are related to our academic endeavors but occur in clubs or academic competitions. This winter, though, we had a remarkable winter sports season that bears mention. The athletic program at North is a significant part of student life here, and what makes our school the great place it is. Since North's opening year in 1968, it has been known for its successful, comprehensive athletic program. This winter has been remarkable even for North.

Few things bring a community together more than athletic events. North has a great following of parents, students and community members at games. Approximately two thirds of our students participate on an athletic team at North, making athletics integral to our school community. During this winter sports season North had a long list of successes:

* Girls basketball followed its 2008 state championship season with a 21 and 4 year that ended this week with a loss in the state quarterfinals after conference, district and regional championships.
*The boys basketball team had one of the best years in North history, going 19 and 1 in the regular season, winning conference and district championships, and finishing the year 22 and 2 with a loss in the regional finals.
*The girls ice hockey team made it to the state's "Frozen Four", losing in the state semifinal game.
*The boys ice hockey team won a regional championship and also made it tot he state's "Frozen Four" before losing in the state semifinals.
* Two North wrestlers advanced to the State finals, and one finished as state runner-up, losing only in the state finals championship match.
*Several North swimmers advanced to the state finals in swimming and diving.

Over the past thirteen week days, North teams competed in a state tournament event on eleven of them. There were a lot of opportunities for our fans to see our student-athletes compete in tournament competition.

During these past three weeks, it has been especially gratifying to see the support of our community and the way athletics brings together young and old. Many parents of former students still come out and support North teams long after their own children have graduated.

Thanks to all who have supported North's athletic teams this winter. We look forward to an equally exciting spring season. Congratulations to all of our coaches and student-athletes, and to our phenomenal athletic director, Carmen Kennedy and her assistant Laura Huff for the great work they do with the athletic program. This success doesn't happen by accident.

Go Norsemen!

The Element

2009-03-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

"The Element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion." - Ken Robinson

Thanks to the generosity of my wonderful aunt and uncle, my wife and I were treated to a trip to Hawaii over the February break. We had many great experiences, including a traditional Hawaiian luau. At the urging of a couple of my cousins the hula dancers dragged me on stage to participate in their hula. I was not a willing participant, and suffice to say that hula dancing is not where my "natural talent meets my personal passion", but despite my reluctance, it was a lot of fun. Despite not always seeking them out, inevitably I find that experiences outside of my comfort zone are the most rewarding and memorable. Such is the blueprint for preparing today's young people to be tomorrow's leaders.

This past weekend at the well known Celebration of Teaching and learning conference, I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Ken Robinson, author of the book The Element, speak on the premise of passion meeting talent. Impressed with him, and interested in the concept, I purchased the book, and have been fascinated by how, like most great ideas, it is brilliant in its simplicity. Most of all, it is completely appropriate to our mission as educators.

One of the things that struck me most both in his talk and in the book was the concept that we learn through our experiences in school and in life to inhibit some of our natural interests. For example, Robinson makes the point that if one were to ask a group of 1st graders how many were creative and loved to make art, they would all put their hands up. Ask the same question to college students, he suggests, and only a few will respond in the affirmative. Historically, schools and our culture have conspired to discount creativity and emphasize knowledge as an outcome. Unfortunately, that formula is no longer one that will produce the kind of adult who will be successful in today's world.

The nature of today's world is that it is ever-changing. Such an environment not only rewards creativity, it demands it. Our high school graduates need to be problem solvers who not only can imagine solutions, but imagine the problems! Knowledge continues to be critical, but the art of success in our flattened world is in creative application of knowledge.

I am blessed with four wonderful children. Having the background and the interest, I have often coached their youth athletic teams. One of the things I am struck by is how willing young children are to try new things. As we get older, the fear of looking foolish, or the embarrassment of being laughed at, will temper our willingness to expand our horizons. It is incumbent on schools to create an educational atmosphere that "stretches" the boundaries of student investigations and problem solving.

At North, our teachers are working to provide such an environment. We have designed new classes, and new instructional methodologies designed to teach students creative, fluid problem solving. Students should expect more than being lectured to in class on a daily basis, and regurgitating their notes on an assessment. Project based learning and problem solving as a means to an end educationally are the approaches that will prepare our students for tomorrow's world.

Robinson says, "We need to create environments - in our schools, in our workplaces, and in our public offices - where every person is inspired to grow creatively." I couldn't agree more. North's theme for this year has been "Be the change" - inspiring and rewarding creativity, and cultivating that talent is a necessary change for today's schools.

Did You Know?

2009-03-02T09:15:00.001-08:00

Versions of this presentation have made the rounds for a couple of years now, constantly being updated. While some of the information is misleading, and some is controversail due to the way it is collected, the general concept is fascinating.

In the U.S. we sometimes take a myopic world view. Digital connectivity has significantly changed the way the world operates. The implications for education are obvious. To prepare our students for today and tomorrow's world, we must adapt and alter our methodologies and approaches. Today's high school graduate has to be a problem solver with an adaptability to fluid, changing systems.

Grosse Pointe's High Schools 2.0 concept aims to address the needs of our future leaders. For more information on this concept, review archived blogs posts on High Schools 2.0.

So...What Are You Doing Next Year and Other Horrible Questions for Seniors...

2009-02-27T05:33:00.000-08:00

It's a rite of spring at every high school. Sometime around April, our wonderfully mature seniors, who we depend on for leadership and example, become afflicted with that most incurable of school borne diseases - senioritis.

For some of our seniors, senioritis kicked in sometime in early September, but for most, symptoms first start appearing around the time of spring break. For a senior in high school, the whirlwind of activities that are part of closing this chapter of their lives can become overwhelming. They itch alternatively with an overwhelming desire to be done with school and move on, and with a nagging, sometimes subconscious, desire to remain a kid and reconnect emotionally with their grade school memories. This contradiction of emotions leads to a kind of teenage menopause evidenced by a confliction of malaise and euphoria that often leads to erratic and inexplicable choices and behaviors.

As a teacher, I loved teaching seniors. We just have to be willing to embrace their temporary insanity as they near the end of their school careers. While sometimes frustrating, the changes that occur as our almost graduates realize the cocoon of high school is falling away can lead to some glorious "wing spreading". One of the most difficult things for a high school senior to grasp is the realization that everything that happens after high school ultimately becomes their choice. This responsibility that they have all yearned for, sometimes becomes overwhelming when it arrives.

Each year I speak with our senior classes, and one of the things I tell them is that they will get tired of answering the questions, "So...what are you doing next year?", or "Do you know what you want to study?, "What will you major in?"...... An important thing for our seniors to understand is that it's o.k. not to know at age 17 or 18 what they are going to do for the rest of their lives. One of the best things about college, and learning in general, is exploring and deciding what it is that is really of interest.

I tell our students, and my own children, that whatever it is that they love and are truly passionate about pursuing, they can find a way to make a living in that field. For example, I use the story told us by a member of the Detroit Tigers organization who spoke with our marketing classes a few years ago. He recounted his dream of being a professional baseball player, and the difficulty for him when he realized that his abilities didn't match his aspirations in that regard. Instead of settling for something he was less passionate about, he went to work for the Tigers as a bat boy, and literally worked his way through almost every job in the organization before becoming the vice president of marketing. Baseball was his passion, and he found a way to spend his life involved in the sport.

We can help our seniors deal with their "senioritis" affliction by letting them know that the entire world is available to them. Now more than ever, the world is a "flat" place where technology allows for global connectivity. We often point out to student that many of the jobs that they may pursue ten years from now have not yet even been invented.

Over the years I've found that one of the best ways to calm senioritis sypmtoms is by addressing the issue of what lies ahead in a way that reassures our young people that we don't expect them to have all the answers yet. If that doesn't work, try locking them in the house until June...

Superstars

2009-02-23T17:02:00.000-08:00

Well known education writer and speaker Todd Whitaker calls the best teachers in each building "Superstars". The superstar teacher is the teacher that goes above and beyond in commitment and preparation, but beyond that has "it". The "it" for teachers is a special gift for connecting with others and more than conveying knowledge, inspiring others to pursue it.

We're fortunate at North High School to have a lot of superstars. There are some truly special people in this building, and I have the privilege of seeing them work every day. While I know what they do, it's especially gratifying when others do. North High School is proud to acknowledge the recognition of two of our true superstars: social studies department chair Ms. Terri Steimer, and science department co-chair, Mrs. Ardis Herrold.

Ms. Steimer has been recognized by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) as the Michigan Outstanding U.S. History Teacher of the Year. Ms. Steimer is a respected and beloved member of the North High School staff. She teaches students at both ends of the educational spectrum as a teacher of Advanced Placement U.S. History, and as a teacher of one of our collaborative U.S. History courses, a class co-taught with another teacher that includes mainstreamed special education students. Ms Steimer has "it" with students of all levels.

Mrs. Ardis Herrold was named the Michigan Science Teachers Association State Science Teacher of the Year for this school year. Mrs. Herrold is co-chairperson of the North science department, is active as an officer in the National Earth Science Teachers Association, and runs one of the few school planetariums in existence. She is an exceptional teacher whose preparation and commitment is unparalleled.

I don't know how many schools can lay claim to two teachers in their building who have been recognized as state teachers of the year, but I'm willing to bet that the number is very small. What makes North High School particularly special is that while Ms. Steimer and Mrs. Herrold are deserving and surely superstars, they are also representing a staff full of superstars, many of whom are equally deserving of external recognition for what they do in the classroom.

There is no greater responsibility for a school administrator than the hiring process. Finding superstars is the goal each time we have an opening, and fortunately we have staff members who provide a daily example of excellence. The teachers in a school district have a remarkable responsibility. We're fortunate in Grosse Pointe to have a lot of superstars, and they are invaluable. Teachers like Terri Steimer and Ardis Herrold set a high standard and a great example for all of our staff to follow. Even if they don't wear a giant block "S" around the building, our students and their fellow teachers can attest to their superstardom.

Celebration

2009-02-11T09:52:00.000-08:00

Times are tough right now for a lot of people. The economic woes of our state and our country, coupled with our seemingly endless, grey skied Michigan winter have led to a general sense of woe for a lot of people in the area. Given that, it's all the more important to take time to celebrate the things we do have to be proud of, happy about, and those things that give hope for a brighter future. At North High School, we have a lot of things to celebrate!

Just in recent months, North students and staff have compiled an unusually long list of accolades. Among them:

North teacher Terri Steimer was named the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) U.S. History teacher for the State of Michigan.
North science teacher Ardis Herrold was named the Michigan Science Teacher of the Year by the State Association of Science Teachers.
The North Quiz Bowl team completed their 8th consecutive undefeated season, successfully defending their conference championship by defeating crosstown rival Grosse Pointe South.
The North Science Olympiad Team finished 2nd out of 20 teams at their first competition after returning to club status this year for the first time in years.
Five North students finished in the 95th percentile or above in the state German competition.
The North choir program received several first division ratings at the solo and ensemble festival, including sending several students to the state's honor choir.
The North band and orchestra program, one of the best in the nation, sent a record number of students to state solo and ensemble festival, and brought home a record number of medals.
The North boys basketball team is off to a 13-1 start, and the defending state champion girls are 11-3, finally healthy, and look poised for a run at back to back titles.
North's DECA marketing team had 38 out of 39 members qualify for the DECA national competition.
In the National Financial Literacy Challenge, North had 34 students receive award recognition, including one student finishing in the top 1% in the nation!
The entire building was given a glowing report by our accreditation visit team to again receive NCA accreditation.
The art department sent dozens of students' work to the Scholastics art competition, earning a near record number of awards, including two portfolio Gold Key awards.

These are just some of the many amazing accomplishments of our phenomenal students and staff. Apologies to anyone who was ommitted, and thanks to all who contribute to making North High School a silver lining during a cloudy time!

The Super Bowl and Urgency

2009-02-02T11:15:00.000-08:00

The grandest stage in all of sports - the Super Bowl...what an event. This year's game was among the most entertaining I can remember. The anticipatory build-up, the pageantry, the performances, and the game itself actually exceeded expectations. The competitive nature of the game was incredible. It was played with amazing urgency on both sides. I started thinking this morning about how educators can create that sense of urgency in the classroom. In today's times of economic depression, has there ever been more urgency attached to the education of our youth? It is critical that schools cultivate a sense of urgency for parents, students and staff.

One of the words I hear often when a student is struggling, or sometimes in the greater context of a generation is "apathy". Without consulting my handy dictionary of antonyms, I think I could argue that apathy is almost the opposite of urgency. Given that jobs are scarce, education is critical, and the cost of higher education is astronomical, why isn't there a greater sense of urgency attached to education at the grass roots level?

The government has tried to manufacture urgency for schools through the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act, which sets incremental goals for student achievement. Schools can be penalized in the court of public opinion, or even more relevantly to them on a daily basis, can be sanctioned in operational and financial ways for not meeting NCLB goals. Still, that sense of urgency, while creating some movement among educators, hasn't seemed to find its way to students and parents at all levels.

I've often said that if Grosse Pointe North's varsity physics team were to take on Grosse Pointe South's varsity physics team on a Friday night in front of a sold out crowd, there would be a greater sense of urgency on the part of students and teachers. Public performance brings with it the opportunity for glorious accolades, as well as the potential agony and ignominy of defeat. Because athletic events occur on a public stage, the assessment of performance is obvious and public. That's why we get people clamoring at board meetings or through petition campaigns for the occasional removal of a coach, yet that rarely happens in the case of a mediocre teacher.

In Washington D.C., the new superintendent has offered to pay money to students for good grades. She is also creating merit pay programs for staff. If you produce results, either as student or teacher, you get paid for them. I'm not sure if that will work, but I know it creates a sense of urgency. Sometimes parents tell me of the consequences that they've devised if their children don't make improvements in school. That creates short term urgency, but I'm not convinced that in the long run it has an impact. Long term motivation is more effective when based on what benefits a person as opposed to what negative consequences might be imposed for failure.

What are the solutions? I offer these ideas as ways to create urgency for students and parents:

Rewards for achievement - We have built more rewards into North's school programs than ever before. We have re-instituted honor roll, have added a luncheon for our 4.0 students, have instituted the Be the Change wristband program for students with positive behaviors, have a "Be the Change" class reward program that this semester is taking a high achieving class to a Detroit Red Wings game this week, and are working to recognize consistently the achievements of our students. Rewards work! Parents - create incentive programs for your children. Students - reward yourself for high achievement.
Competition - Put students and teachers in situations where they compete with others. They will rise to the occasion. Some shy away from competition - but the world is a competitive place. Learning how to compete successfully is a skill. Our students compete in a wide variety of academic and athletic competitions. This is healthy urgency.
Motivate with the Positive - Years ago I attended a clinic on positive motivation during which the presenter discussed phrasing in the positive. He cited a basketball study that tracked free throws. There were three stations set up in a gym. At one station, the clinician advised shooters "Don't miss" prior to every shot, at another station shooters were told nothing, and at the final station, shooters were told "Make this shot" in a positive tone. After hundreds of shots were taken, the station with a positive message had almost double the success of the station where shooters were told "don't miss". The subconscious mind only hears "miss"...putting things in a positive way creates pleasant urgency. "You better not miss any assignments" can be phrased "It's important that you do all of your work. I expect you to do all assignments and hand them in". "Don't fail that test tomorrow" can be phrased "I know you'll be prepared for that test tomorrow. Work hard and get an 'A' I can't wait to congratulate you on it".
Short Term Goals - Sometimes it's hard for anyone, let alone adolescents, to focus on long term goals like college. A great strategy is to meet with your son or daughter on a Sunday, or as a teacher on Monday morning, and plan a couple of short term goals for the week. "Just for this week, let's get every assignment done and turned in on time". Offer a reward for completion of the short term goal. Once the short term goals are being accomplished regularly, long term goals can become part of the plan.

Never in our country's recent history has preparing our young people with the tools to problem solve been more important than it is now. Educators, parents and students have to all work with a sense of commitment befitting the importance of what we do inside our school walls. Whether playing in the game, creating commercials for it, or singing in the halftime show, no one wins on the grandest stage without preparing urgently.