Already Hitting our Stride

Mr. Sanchez, one of the STEAM coaches & me!

It's hard to believe that the 2018 - 2019 school year started four weeks ago already. I recently heard a quote, "The days are long, but the years are short". And I find this to be truer and truer as as each school year comes to a close and another one opens. At Burroughs we have started the school year off strong. There's an excitement and a sense of positivity in the air that I haven't experienced in a few years.

When our All-Girls STEAM Club kicked off in January we didn't really know what we were doing. It took a while to reach our stride. This year we are starting right away. Our two faculty sponsors, Ms. Prystaloski and Mr. Sanchez have already got over 70 girls signed up. Honestly it is more than we planned for but we are working on a plan. I do not intend to turn away any girl who wants to be part of the group. We are changing the name to the All-Girls Robotics Club, it embodies what they are doing better and we are excited for the change!

This year we will have competition teams. The girls will compete in the Lego First Challenge in November. I am hoping that the exposure to building the robots, coding them, and participating in a competition will boost the confidence of the girls and allow them to shine in ways that are new.

Additionally, our professional development for teachers has kicked off strong this year. This week we are introducing Rocket Notebooks to the staff, if you don't know what these are, Google them, you will want one too!

Still Dreaming...

I am finishing my 13th year as an educator. Ask me where the time went and I can't tell you. I still vividly remember my very first day. At age 24, I was three weeks in to a move from Michigan to Yuma, Arizona and was teaching 7th grade English. All of my student teaching was done in 1st grade and Kindergarten. I was young and had big dreams for changing the world one student at a time. I was so utterly unprepared for the world I was entering.

In my three years in Arizona, my first three years as a full-time teacher, my world got so much bigger. I met new people from all over the country. I established norms in my classroom. I worked hard to stay ahead of the kiddos, never an easy task. Many of my students were from Mexico and South America or first generation Americans and struggled with the American education system. The school had a gang problem. At the end of that first day of my first year I called my mom and asked her to come get me (spoiler alert - she did not!). I was overwhelmed at the job ahead of me. College hadn't prepared me to teach students who were facing challenges that I had never faced, let alone in seventh grade.

If you ask anyone in education, most could tell you a similar story. The plight of the educator has been national news for a while now but it is not new. Teachers are underpaid, overworked, exhausted. It's true, but it's not the only truth. The other truth is that we love our careers, we are fulfilled by them. We could not do it, day in and day out otherwise. We are committed to changing the world, leaving it better than we found it.

This past school year has been challenging. It's fresh so it feels more so than other years. At this time last year I was invigorated by the idea of bringing STEAM to Burroughs and creating a Makerspace. My biggest concern was raising enough money to buy the paint to make our green screen wall. I am proud of what we have accomplished this year. The Makerspace gets used often by our teachers. They bring their classes into the space to use the green screen or spread out and make projects. We are learning as we go how to do more, how to do better.

And one of the biggest accomplishments of the year was not mine. I am so proud of Ms. Prystaloski and Mr. V. Sanchez for the work they have done in creating our All Girls STEAM Club. I have helped with logistics and been a sounding board but the daily work has been all them and the girls who are coming in at 6:45 in the morning or staying for an hour after school to learn about robotics and how to code them. As with anything, the program is evolving into something more defined for next year. We have plans to compete in a competition. We are going to fundraise so that we can provide the students with everything that they need.

When I think about the past 13 years, I am so grateful that I didn't give up that first day. I kept dreaming and it has turned into something wonderful. Right now my biggest concerns are more than paint but they are also just as bright and exciting. How do we keep going, how do we use our momentum for the next year?

I cannot wait to get started in August. But for now, we'll wear our new STEAM shirts this year and celebrate what we've done -- students and teachers together. Education is all about teamwork. It's all about learning new things. And after 13 years I'm so glad that every day still brings new experiences, new challenges and new chances to change the world.

Teaching Teachers

One of my jobs as an instructional coach is to plan and implement professional development. This is no easy task. I don't mind speaking in front of groups and there are lots of topics I find interesting enough to research and present. It's the buy-in factor. I think the most important part of my job is to get teachers to want to be part of my sessions, to want to learn about the idea that I am presenting on. Teachers are a tough bunch. I know, I have been one for a while now. I am just as judgmental about district meetings and professional developments that I sit through as a participant. I have been part of the group that talks in the back because it is so boring I would otherwise be asleep. I know, not my best side. 

About 5 years ago I was asked to participate in a cadre of teachers that would get together and plan the professional development for our school site. This was a win-win for me, I got to get out of my participant chair and also got to have input on what we focused on as a school site. This model has worked well for us. Our teachers are more invested, there is more input on what is focused on, and this cadre played a large role in JBMS being named a 2017 Gold Ribbon School. 

As I moved from teacher to teacher leader to instructional coach, I have taken on more of the day to day responsibilities of instruction at the school site. It has been eye opening and at times challenging. Early in January, fresh from the 3 week holiday break, I faced one of these challenges. I am part of 3 person team that oversees instruction. My math/science counterpart went on maternity leave a bit earlier than expected. The assistant principal who oversees instruction, and who is also my rock at school, went on bereavement leave. This left me. With three Tuesday professional developments (PD) in a row. The cadre of teachers stepped up and helped where I needed it but I knew it fell to me to get the job done. So I did the best thing I knew how to do - I baked. I spent an entire day baking cupcakes, big ones, small ones, and making frosting. I had planned a hands-on, Design Thinking professional development and I wasn't going to fail. 

The day went smoothly. More so than I thought it could. At the end I not only had fun, I learned a lot. I learned that everyone likes hands-on activates, not just kids. I learned that candy and cupcakes make learning more fun, and I learned that I have grown so much in my 18 months out of the classroom. 

The PD was based on the story of the Gingerbread Man having survived the holidays without getting eaten. He now has a bucket list of things he wants to do and needs an vehicle to do it. The parameters were simple:

• The vehicle must be able to travel on land, air, and water
• The vehicle must have a power source
• The vehicle must have a navigation system. 

The teachers were put into random groups as they came into the room, they were given all kinds of candy, cookies, and cupcakes and set loose. This is where it got interesting for me. I had anticipated that each group would take 1 cupcake and put wheels on it, make a seat and that would be that. What I didn't see coming was the scope of vehicles that were designed. This afternoon showed me that listening and putting ideas together from multiple people of different backgrounds can result in amazing things. I was truly blown away by the designs and the thought that the staff put into their designs. 

At the end of the activity, each group did a 30 second presentation, recorded on their iPads and submitted it to the student leadership at our school site. The students watched the videos, made a video of their own to showcase the winning group that was announced the next week, we also gave out $5 Starbucks cards to the winning teachers.

This past week I went in to a science class to pick up a student that I needed to speak with and the students were working in groups with pipe cleaners, fabric, tape and lots of fun things. I asked what they were working on and it turns out they were creating an all terrain vehicle with a power source and navigation system. This is why I left the classroom. Not because I wanted to stop teaching. I wanted to reach more students and by teaching teachers, I can do that. 

 

Report from the Field

Teachers practicing with the green screen

I love teaching, which is why it was such a hard decision for me to leave the classroom to become an instructional coach. The 2 years before I made the move I had become involved with the instructional cadre at my school site; we got together regularly and planned professional development for our colleagues. I really enjoyed being part of this group, taking what I knew, adding it to what others knew and sharing it with the everyone. 

For any teachers, administrators, coaches out there, this is a fantastic model that has shown real results at our school site. Our staff collaborates more, is willing to take more risks, and is more invested in the professional development sessions. 

Teachers during a PD session in the Makerspace

When I started on the journey to create the Makerspace this past spring I wasn't sure what would happen. I could name 5 teachers who would want to use it, think it was a good idea, and bring their classes in. I wasn't sure about the other 70 teachers. As with any professional development I lead, it's about the buy in. So we showed it to the teachers. We had them make their own green screen videos. We had them participate in a design thinking lesson. We let them simmer with the idea. I didn't go around asking teachers to sign up, asking them what lessons they could do in the Makerspace. I let them talk to each other. Recently when an 8th grade history teacher asked me about using the green screen, I sent her to a 7th grade history teacher who had done it recently to see the results. 

And so she bought in. Instead of assigning a research paper, as she had done the last few years, as a culminating activity for Lewis and Clark, she took a leap. For a week she let her students plan, research, and record their learning.  Here is a portion of the e-mail she sent me at the end of the week:

"We used the cloth and feathers for costumes for Lewis, Clark and Sacajawea, and some heavy card stock for prompter cards for actors.  Little mushroom stools were really helpful in getting kids in place for the green screen shooting.  We had a lot of fun making our creations. I may miss you, so I was wondering if you would mind sending someone to fetch the key.  If not we will connect I am sure. This was a really neat opportunity and the kids had a blast.  We all learned a LOT!"

Not only did she buy in, her students bought in. They got to learn, play, and create. This is what education should be about. This is what education is about.

Conference Musings

People are never one thing. Tonight as. I write this from my hotel room at the California League of Schools Technology with a Purpose 2018 conference I am many things. I am exhausted after yesterday’s flight was delayed four times and I got to my hotel room at 2am only to be up at 7am. I am inspired after spending the day learning, listening, doing, and being with fellow educators. I am also reflective.

It’s been a while since I last blogged. I can explain to you that it is because life happens. There is work, salary point classes, holidays, but the reality is I need to do better. Don’t think for a minute that my silence on this blog speaks to inaction. In the last few months my team and I have created an All Girls STEAM Club that has so many members they meet four days a week to accommodate them. We have started a VEX Robotics Club open to anyone who can get to school early. Our robotics elective has taken off and the robots come to life every day. Our Makerspace is being used to create, to engineer, to be creative. We have done more this school year than I dreamed possible.

Below is a video from our last Coffee with the Principal meeting for parents. We brought the girls from the All Girls STEAM Club in to be introduced. These girls are the future and I intend to stand back and get out of their way!

The Gap is Real

There's a lot going on in the world. Somedays it seems like it's too much for a person to handle. Politics, storms, fires, droughts, gun violence, sickness, the list goes on. Well get ready, because I am about to drop another one on you.

Gender gaps in education.

This blog started as a way to show the world the work that my colleagues and I are engaged in. We want to encourage our students to open their eyes to the possibilities of the future, specifically in regard to opportunities in STEM careers. You are probably thinking, okay, that's your job, get on that. Unfortunately, this is one of those things that is easier said than done.

The statistics are alarming. A couple of recent studies have given us real numbers that I can't seem to get out of my head, ask the people I have been talking to lately at parties, dinners, and church - I can quote them with certainty.

• 6-year-olds hold stereotypes that boys are better at robots and programming. 
• 11.1% of physicists and astronomers are women. 
• 15% of engineers are women. 
• 0.4% of teen girls plan to major in computer science. 
• Read that one again, 0.4% of girls plan to major in computer science.

Number of teen girls who plan to major in computer science

The deck is already stacked against educators like myself who want to turn the tide. The biases are real and innate in humans from the beginning. Boys are blue, girls are pink. Boys play video games, girls play Barbie. I did. I loved my Barbies, stuffed animals, playing school and restaurant. If a girl wants to be a ballerina, that's her choice and I will support that. Ballerinas are strong, talented performers who work incredibly hard to refine their craft. But never tell a girl that a ballerina is her only choice. Because that is what has happened. We have taught our girls that they don't have what it takes to become engineers, astronauts, astro-physicists, or inventors. I don't know that it was done on purpose, I hope not, but it was done.

All the statistics, studies, and people telling you something cannot make up for seeing something in real life. Last May, a representative from www.robots.education came to my school to demonstrate their product. I stood excitedly in the back of the room as a class of half girls and half boys watched the demonstration. When the time came for the kids to volunteer to try their hand at coding the robot, the boys' hands shot up. One actually fell out of his seat, he was waving his hand so hard. The girls sat quietly. Not one of their hands went up. My heart hit the floor. I don't need the studies and statistics. I have seen it with my own eyes.

I grew up with parents who didn't put me in a box. I started taking golf lessons at age 4, I spent hours playing "war" with my dad and sister in the forest by our house, I sang in choirs, my dad bought us our first computer when DOS was a thing so we could play games and learn how to use the newest technology. I danced at daddy-daughter dances, headed up committees at our church. I had a little bit of everything. They sent me to college to pursue my dream of being an teacher. Not a day has gone by that I haven't felt their unending support for my future.

I have never felt that I couldn't do something that I wanted. So it's difficult for me to reconcile that there are so many girls out there who feel held back, not good enough, and not worthy of pursuing their dreams, whatever they may be.

This is my mission. I am starting with the 891 girls currently enrolled at John Burroughs Middle School. Every 7th grader is taking a robotics elective this year. Our 8th graders are going to be introduced to Lego Mindstorm robotics, and our 6th graders will start with basic coding.

In addition, I have recently applied for a large Google grant to bring much needed funds support a Girls Steam Team that we are rolling out in October. This will be a group of girls who will meet before school twice a week to learn how to code, use 3-D printers, and so much more. Keep in mind I am not doing this all by myself. We have an amazing group of educators who are standing up, hearing the call to give the girls an opportunity to decide for themselves what their future holds. In the coming weeks, I will be asking colleagues and students to guest blog their experiences. It's not my voice that matters, it's the collective and the collective will turn the tide.

Robot Mania

I am so excited to share the progress we are making in our efforts to bring STEAM to John Burroughs Middle School.

The first month of school has been busy but hasn't stopped us from moving forward. This week I was able to spend some time in one of our Computer Programming classes and see first hand the work they are doing with our new robots from www.robots.education.

The students were engaged, collaborating, and excited about the work they are doing in class.

I can't wait to go back and see the progress they are making as the semester continues. Ms. Carrillo is doing a great job leading the way at JB!