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This morning, I was frustrated. I was going through the work my students had submitted and making not of the things done without much effort and the things not done at all. My first frustration was at the lack of effort. Then I was frustrated because it was wasting my time. Then I became frustrated because I felt like I was totally not getting it. What had I not done or not communicated that created this situation?
I didn't like feeling this way. As soon as class started, I got a few of the class leaders together and asked them. They quickly got to the heart of the matter. I didn't do a good job of setting them up for success with scheduling. I left them hanging when it came to scheduling things. They were just grasping in the dark. I feel much better now. We are back on a good track. I missed something and it made things better by just asking. Over the last several years, I have had a number of changes to my job title and description. It has been interesting to say the least. For years (over a decade), I was the STEM coordinator at Coppell High School. This was largely a self appointed title. I created our engineering program and people continually came to me when they had STEM questions. Inside and outside of the district, I became the go-to person. So I gave myself that title. And it stuck. How cool,
Totally cool conversation today with my Cyber Security class. They are coming to a consensus on a grade for me to put in the grade book today. The students are picking one of the standards for the course to work toward. At the moment, they do not have fully completed work to support any particular standard, but they have been laying the ground work to support their eventual mastery (their words, not mine). The students are working right now to define the learning goal they are wanting graded, a rubric to evaluate the work, evidence from each student, and a proposed grade based on the evidence. At the moment, all I can say is WOW. This was on my mind today as I worked on my Digital Leading and Learning class today.
I can't tell you where I saw it. I can't even pinpoint how long ago I saw it. All I know is that it made an impression on me. If someone can point me to the source of this quote, I would appreciate giving proper credit. I saw this quote and it sums up so much that frustrates people who try to change the culture in an organization. "Trying to create a culture is like putting together a 10,000 piece puzzle of a 1-to-1 picture of a filed of grass... in a field of grass... at midnight... in a hurricane." Too often, I see leaders have a clear vision, and just expect everyone to get on board. They can't figure out why people get frustrated, get upset, fight back, and eventually quit. After all, they have a good, solid clear picture of the goal. How hard is to work toward a clearly defined goal? |
About me & this blogThis blog is for things related to my class, PL, coaching, or just teaching in general. You can follow me on Twitter @myakSTEM Archives
June 2021
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