Alphabet Soup

As a child, I used to love the cold days of the fall when we would come inside, after playing, to a bowl of Alphabet Soup.  At that time, it was fun to sort through the letters and create words and sentences, some good and, when my mother wasn’t looking, some bad.  Nonetheless, it was fun!

Now, as an educator, the term “Alphabet Soup” takes on a whole new meaning.  No longer do I see myself as the creator, but rather I feel like I am swimming in the soup.  PGO, SGO, AMO, AYP, ScIP, SIP, CAP, PARCC, I&RS, SST, SSCT, NST, PGP, PDP, OASYS, and the list literally goes on and on!!!  Through all of this, I wonder what we are doing to the world of education.  With such terms, some referring to the exact same initiative, are we isolating teachers, parents, students?  Are we really focusing on teaching and learning, or forcing our teachers to sort through the soup?

In writing this, I do realize that nemonic devices are a tool to help us remember.  However, when so many are coming our way and so many carry huge weight behind them, my point is not truly the swimming letters, but rather the sheer number of initiatives attached.

In the article from Forbes, “Seven Mistakes Leaders Make in Setting Goals” by Ron Ashkenas, (http://www.forbes.com/sites/ronashkenas/2012/07/09/seven-mistakes-leaders-make-in-setting-goals/), Ron writes about goals setting and #6 is as follows:

1. Setting too many goals: By assigning an overabundance of objectives you allow subordinates to pick and choose the goals that they either want to do or find easiest to do — but not necessarily the ones that are most important.

While Ron is talking about business, the connection to the sheer number of initiatives in education can be made.

So, what do we do?  As a leader, I am trying to do whatever possible to preserve the time and focus for great teaching and incredible learning.  I do not want teachers to worry about these acronyms, nor do I want them to feel silly if they are not aware of the latest and greatest series of letters.  Instead, I want them to focus on teaching and I will demystify the initiatives.

Thus, I end with this statement…  Leave the soup to me and make magic happen in the classroom!

Here goes…

So, here goes.  This is my first blog post!!  To be honest, I have certainly participated in blog before.  However, this is the first time I have started my own blog.  I am not quite sure if this will stick or if this will “withstand the test of time”, yet I have been so inspired by my recent attendance at #edscape, that I needed to take a few “first steps”.

On Saturday morning at 7:00am, I thought about not attending the Edscape Conference.  I thought about my two awesome children, who I never seem to have enough time with.  I thought about the many observations and reports that would be left undone.  I thought about the boxes throughout my house that are waiting to be unpacked.  There were so many reasons to just not go.  Yet, as I struggle to find my footing in my professional life, I realized that in not going, I would a) let down my colleagues who were probably already on their way, and b) remain in the proverbial silo.  Fifteen minutes after my internal fight began, I decided to get going not knowing what the day would hold.

Needless to say, there are not enough words to describe how glad I am that I made the decision to attend this conference.  Edscape was beyond my expectations and certainly the inspiration I needed.  Keynoter George Couros was amazing!  His words reminded me that being connected is not about being a techie genius…instead, being connected is what we all aspire to be.  After all, we are all human.  Connect.Engage.Inspire.

The rest of the day unfolded with learning from many great presenters as well as networking with my own colleagues.   As I thought about all that I was missing at home, I realized that this day was the best Professional Development that I have had since I attended a National Convention.  (I still really missed my children!!!)  However, it was not just the great presentations.  Beyond that, it was the connections that I made to incredible educators…twitter being the catalyst.  

I end my first post by saying two final statements…

Thank you:  Thank you to George and Eric Sheninger for creating such an opportunity.  Thank you to my quickly developing PLN.  Thank you to my husband and children for letting mom go!  Thank you to the awesome educators I work with each and every day who inspire me to continue learning.  

Promises:  I promise to connect with others.  I promise to take everything one step at a time.  I promise to share my excitement with others.

So…that’s it.  I did it.  First Blog Post done! 🙂