Year One: Reflection

I am approaching the end of year one in my new position, reflecting on all the learning I've been able to see and do in this new role.

Sixth Grade Information Literacy: 
I learned how to design and teach a new sixth grade class on strategic searching, laptop care, reliable sources, source citation, malware, scams, fake news and digital distractions. The year ended with a PSA project in which students taught rising 5th graders what they should know about these topics before sixth grade. (Gif from a film below.)



Classroom Visits:

Faculty were gracious enough to invite me in to observe, learn and sometimes take part in class.

Freshman learn about ancient journeys

Seniors discuss novels English class

Juniors in math

Fourth graders practice typing and coding

Fifth graders design presentations in French

Middle School TEAM Design students build automatas

Lower School students sail homemade boats with coded insignias

Sophomores put Frankenstein on trial -- and I get to be on the jury!

Making:

Thanks to our Innovation Space teacher, I learned to felt! 

Travel:

I learned from and with educators at events in Anaheim (PoCC), Atlanta (NAIS), Seattle (Lakeside Downtown School) and Boston (Learning and the Brain).

 

My Office:

I learned to use my office whiteboard to make connections to webs of ideas.

Local and Online Learning:
I learned with Viewpoint teams at events such as CUE LA (Westside Neighborhood School), the Design and Maker Class Colloquium (Windward School), Common Sense Media's SEL Toolkit (Mirman) and online program from MITx called Leading Innovation: XQ Edition.

Coding:
I learned to use Microbit, Code.org and Bloxels to create challenges for lower and middle school students.












Volunteering:
I learned about the good work our high school students do at the SOVA food bank.

 

STEM and Girls:

I learned from women in the fields of medicine, engineering and computer programming through a guest speakers series hosted by our STEM and Girls club.

What am I proud of?
Building trust with teachers in Kinder through 12
Taking part in a Critical Friends cohort at the school
Holding the school's first EdCamp and peer-to-peer learning days
Making progress toward improving the technical support experience for users
Problem solving schedule, personnel and technical challenges
Running presentations for prospective and current parents, faculty, staff and trustees
Leading a session on "Gender and Superheros" on Diversity and Inclusivity Day 
Building a team of tech, design and maker teachers across campus
Making changes to the computer science curriculum for 6th through 9th grade

What continues to be a challenge?
Learning the names of all 300 employees
Synthesizing (and communicating) the innovative direction of the school
Navigating change in four different divisions
Making time to think outside the box and connect with divergent ideas