Stop it, no really STOP IT!

This year Kate and I are taking on a new year's resolution that involves stopping something.  Often time’s resolutions involve starting a new activity or recommitting to an old one.  We have taken a different approach, we are embarking on a no spend Saturday once a month.  Kate read this somewhere and we decided to give it a try.  I will say that after three hours on Saturday morning I was shocked at how many times I had to catch myself from spending money.  Whether it was the morning doughnut run, washing the car, or getting a cup of coffee while dropping one of the kids off at an activity, I found myself questioning the purchase and refusing to spend.  It worked, at least for the one Saturday this month.  

The reason I bring this up is because I immediately thought about our classrooms and schools.  What else can we stop doing this year?  Maybe it is to stop assigning homework that is not as meaningful as you would like.  Better yet, what if you would stop assigning homework all together?  How would that look?  What if we stopped giving detentions or F’s?  Maybe it is refusing to assess the same way you always have.  Or what if you refuse teach a unit the way you have every other year?   What if I limit the time I spend on email or social media?  I think there is great power in thinking this way.  We question our practice instead of just doing the same thing we have always done.  So, when you think of this in terms of technology integration, you can also consider my question this way.  What will you not use these devices for?  If we go back to the premise that the intent is transformation not integration, remember that they are not here to simply make things easier or paperless.  What practice can they help you stop in your classroom? Therefore, what meaningful task will replace the stopped practice?    

To this end, there will be opportunities to push and challenge your thinking through staff development.  Below I have listed our professional development dates and tentative plans.  We are excited to help you get inspired and moving for the remainder of the school year!  

January 23^rd – Wednesday AM meeting to begin Mission Possible 2.0

February 6^th – Digital Learning Day: Mission Possible

February 7^th – 9^th and 10^th grade teachers working with Jonathan Wylie, GWAEA

February 15^th – Staff Development: Teach for Learner Differences and MP

February 16^th – Ed Camp Iowa @ BHS – Sign up now if you have not! 

March 6^th – Mission Possible

It's a Great Day to be a Bulldog!

Matt