DO SOMETHING

Do Something - David West

http://youtu.be/b_RjndG0IX8

I was at a workshop this week and was approached by someone who had read one of my blog post. She shared the song "Do Something" by Matthew West. She stated that this song was spiritual, but it made her think about me. 

I played the song and it spoke to my heart and made me even more hungry to DO SOMETHING about the current state of education and the complacent cloud that is keeping the sun from shining on the best profession in the world, EDUCATION!  

I mean think about where you would be without the knowledge and thought provoking process that education created for you. Would you be able to turn on or work the device you are reading this post from?  Would you even be able to read the words that are on the screen? Would you be able to then take them and comprehend the message? Ultimately, would you be able to take the message and DO SOMETHING afterwards?

As a people we tend to pass the buck and refuse to actually stand up for a cause that's bigger than us.  That is why this song struck a chord with me. If I am not the one to make the difference then who is?  How many students have to struggle with learning and end up being a statistic before we stand up and DO SOMETHING?  

Thought provoking ideas such as these have forced me to begin to use the phrase and live my life by a NO BOX THINKING ideology!  This means that the current system and ideas that exist as best practices may or may not be working and we must begin to think as if there is NO BOX in order to properly engage and instruct the 21st century learner. I prefer this term over "Outside the box" due to the nature of pressure being applied and one jumping right back in the box of conformity,consistency and sadly complacency!  It's our duty as educators to inspire, engage, and excite students through relationships first, and then allow the rigor to build from there. 

My wish is for us to leave this post with a passion and fire to go make an immediate impact on someone's life!  

If you reach ONE, then your life is worth living! 

-Climmie Coutee 

Are you the ONE that I have reached?  If so then DO SOMETHING and be a GAME-CHANGER!

Right Now

Van Halen - Right Now

http://soundcloud.com/numiz/van-halen-right-now

After listening to this song I stopped wearing a watch because the time is always

I'm in a zone baby. I'm a blogger now versus having a blog.I’m also a chat moderator versus a chat participator. Major difference is I allowed myself to tap into my Zone of Optimal Performance. 

 

It's a mindset and mentality that you are the driver and no longer just a passenger of life.  You are the creator of your own destiny and not just a part of someone else’s destiny.  

 

I am sharing this with you due to just having the week of a lifetime and producing at an alarming rate. It has just occurred to me that I will never be the same due to the volume of production that has come from this ZONE. I feel as though my trek from the bottom to the top has been sped up during this week and I don't plan on slowing down!

 

I have now discovered what it takes to truly be successful and it doesn't take anything but sheer belief, heart and determination. I'm hungry and want to become one of the best to ever facilitate the learning process. Therefore the idea of NO BOX THINKING has taken me from participating in chats to planning and facilitating a chat that trended USA/WORLDWIDE during the inaugural chat Sunday, February 16,2014 at 7:00 PM CST!  

 

This wouldn't have been a possibility if I had not tapped into my ZOP and allowed my mind to be stretch to levels it had never stretched to before.

 

I cranked out 3 blog post, generated buzz for a chat Thursday that trended above the #TeamEast NBA all-star team on Sunday!  That was all about the ability to not fear failure but embrace it and allow it to drive you further into your ZOP!  

 

I felt like a basketball player who couldn't miss a shot in a game where he put up career numbers, a baseball player who hit for the cycle or threw the perfect game, a quarterback who completed all of his passes!  I was on it, however, for an entire week and am still in the zone this day and producing some of the best work that I've ever produced!  I'm gearing up to lead another chat this weekend. In addition, I'm in the beginning stages of talks about a radio show that will ultimately improve the future of education and provide the insight that will help teachers engage & inspire the 21st century learner!

 

I want what's inside of you versus what you can give me. I tapped into my inner me and maximized what I had inside. This has positioned me at a place that I can truly take advantage of my talents & knowledge to help others all across the world. During a chat you are connected with people from all over the WORLD. We can share ideas & beliefs with the click of a button. Therefore I found a medium to speak to the world about my ideology and now about my ZOP!  This is something that can help you in any walk of life and make you more productive at any given task. In any and everything that we do it is essential that we produce at the highest possible level in order to maximize our learning, and ultimately earning, potential.

 

I want to be successful and harness this feeling for as long as possible. The need to stay in the zone is heightened for me due to the desire to infect the world with this NO BOX THINKING. It's a way to engage & stretch your mind and take it places that it's never been before. It allows you to begin to ask the question of WHY NOT ME?  Many people in life begin to get a case of WHY ME? When life begins to get difficult or tough they get down in the dumps and begin to complain and ask why they are going through the situation. However, when one embraces NO BOX THINKING once they get to a difficult spot and tough decision they are excited and ask WHY NOT ME?  

This ZONE can apply to any walk of life and especially to the field of education! 

The zone of optimal instruction occurs when a teacher uses innovation to engage students with rigorous lessons that are embedded with NO BOX THINKING strategies. In order to get optimal performance from the students thought process, educators must force the students to ask questions that will guide their learning. A student should begin the year yearning for knowledge and by the end of the year be the owner of grade level specific content and look forward to expanding their knowledge the next school year! 

For more information about NO BOX THINKING, follow @nbtchat and @Jonathankegler on twitter!  The NO BOX THINKING chats are Sunday nights 7:00 p.m. CST! See you there!

FIRED UP FRIDAY

We didn't start the FIRE; We are just perfecting it!

 

Billy Joel - We Didn't Start The Fire by Billy Joel

 

http://soundcloud.com/billyjoel/billy-joel-we-didnt-start-the

 

Fired Up Friday started off only as a dream of a win at all cost; An upstart principal who wanted to find the ultimate currency of his faculty, staff and students. You see this whole FUF plan was only something that he causally threw out to at one of his 7:00 a.m. (LEMON SQUEEZE MEETINGS) to his leadership team of 6 ladies (Assistant Principal, 2 Curriculum Specialist, Reading Specialist, ESL Coordinator, and Instructional Technologist) and they all thought he was thinking too far OUTSIDE OF THE BOX!  He quickly responded with we are going to stop thinking OUTSIDE THE BOX and start living by the creed that has morphed into a catch phrase for the ages NO BOX THINKING. He used this term because he said in order to reach a new generation we are going to have to be the research and think as if there is NO BOX!  If we continue to think as though there is a box then we will get the same results and if things don't go as planned we will hop right back in the box! 

 

Therefore the NO BOX THINKING began to govern and be the measuring stick to everything done at BQJ! It has also grown into a Twitter Chat #nbtchat that will kick off this Sunday at 7:00 p.m. CST. You can join, but have to leave your box behind! 

 

To show them how committed he was to this new BOLD/BRASH statement he upped the ante of this new scheme and told them that FUF would start four days later Friday December 7,2013!  This date was two Fridays before they got out for Christmas break. They all looked around the room like, is he serious?  He stated that instead of shutting down for Christmas break two weeks early they would actually engage all faculty, staff and students with a modified schedule! Next the idea was rolled out to the staff. They thought that this leadership team had truly gone too far. We want to do our favorite Christmas time lessons, videos and parties!!!!  This is not the time for such a dramatic change in schedule. Be realistic…they all whined.

 

This plea fell on deaf ears and he asked them what time is it? To which they all replied the TIME IS NOW! The whole elective schedule had to be modified to fit in two PE sessions for every 3-5 student per week and this was no small feat trying to juggle the schedule of 350 students. The schedule was nowhere near perfect and the whole idea of giving 3rd-5th grade teachers conference starting at 7:45was seeming like a novel idea. The whole FUF was only a day away and the NO BOX THINKING principal was chomping at the bit to prove everyone wrong and show them that this new way of thinking was the only way to go. 

 

As the principal met with his leadership team of 6 for one final meeting before they went home before the big day, they shared with him that the staff was feeling very concerned with loosing sooooo much instruction time on Friday. You see they were used to giving tests all day Friday to rest, I mean assess the students’ learning for the week. He simply replied they will get past it once they see the success. The leadership team of 6 then replied we just really want you to rethink this idea (get back in the box), you don't really have all the kinks worked out (dude get back in the box), they have all coined your Fired up Friday with F'd Up Friday (we are joining them and you are going to fail alone on this one). The principal simply smiled and said this will work, all you have to do is TRUST THE PROCESS!  We have to stay 20 STEPS ahead!

 

We have had FUF every Friday since then and today was the culmination of this NO BOX THINKING! We had the turning point on the day of LOVE 2/14/14 when we actually began to see it paying huge dividends and many of the last naysayers fell in LOVE with FUF! We had a special visit from some local businesses leaders who wanted to see this NO BOX leadership in action. We took them by to see ONE of our Project Based Learning (PBL) groups who are working on broadcasting a student lead television show. Next we had the last few of the opposing teachers actually come aboard and say that this was the BEST thing we had ever done! Finally the day culminated with a reluctant student answering all of the questions in his small group, assisting others with their work and being the leader of his small group of 5!  The teacher then asked him what had gotten into him? To which he replied it feels like my head is on FIRE! I am just so pumped up about learning after today's FUF that I want to be the best student I can be!!  The teachers ran to get the principal and share this GAMECHANGING moment!  

 

The principal is so excited to see the NO BOX THINKING becoming a way of life for all of TEAM BQJ!  He feels like Billy Joel in that he didn't light the fire but HE WAS PERFECTING IT!

 

Fired up Friday will be the turning point that takes us from meeting the standard to being the standard. This is the ultimate innovation tool that will galvanize the faculty, staff and students of BQJ! This is the ultimate sign of NO BOX THINKING due to the components of engagement mixed with innovation which are endless:

 

1. Campus wide block party

2. 3rd - 5th grade breakfast with the principal 

3. Teacher Pre-Game Speech

4. Sunday morning service with ET the Hip Hop Preacher

5.  Message from the students

6.  Targeted Small Group Instruction & Intervention

7. Project Based Learning

 

You name it we have or will try it!!!!

 

The 21st century version of FUF and the theme song of the NO BOX THINKING movement:

 

Adele vs. Ohio Players - Rolling In The Fire (Wick-it Remix) by Wick-it the Instigator

 

http://soundcloud.com/wick-it/adele-vs-ohio-players-rolling

 

A Change Gone Come

As those who aspire to be future leaders and owners, it is imperative that we have a mentality of get it done no matter what the obstacle that we have to overcome. Along the journey to the top one will face every problem or deterrent possible to keep you from reaching your goal. However, it is of upmost importance that you seize the day! Get your foot in position and then KICK THE DOOR DOWN!

No box thinking is an innovative way to reach a moveable target that has yet to be hit. When in the business of educating 21st century Learners that the research has yet to solve one must use imagination and innovation. Waiting around on the research will further widen the gap of achievement that presently exists between students and student groups!

A change gone come

When will the change come and the culture of success live on?

You have several different problems and deficits that success seems as though it's Mission Impossible part FOREVER! 

So that's when you begin to read up on the latest research based solution and come back to present it to staff to find out it's already been done! That means that what was once old and outdated has now been polished and shined up to be the solution to the NOW of education. Therefore with your tail tucked between your legs you run back to the RESEARCH to see which BEST practice is next! 

However, after shoveling through countless hours of who shot JR, the only thing one can find is HOW TO BEAT STAAR (or insert your STATE test title)! This is not the permanent solution to the 21st century learner so you are forced to go outside the box with interventions for this kid and that kid to find out the 10% rule cannot be hid! So now look what you did, hopped right back in the box like a little kid who was running from the monster and hid. 

What if I told you that all it took was a little innovation & inspiration to solve the 21st century learner needs engagement. That's where the NO BOX THINKING originated from, to set out to reach a generation that has faded into mediocrity by this medication we call education!

Now one may ask what does this NO BOX THINKING cost? My answer would be countless more students being sacrificed due to the inside or outside the box thinking. It takes a special person to operate in NO BOX THINKING, one who has taken that deepest fear 12 rounds and came out victorious!

You see as stated by: Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

When one thinks about outside the box thinking they ultimately go back into the box when pressure it applied! Thus the creation of NO BOX THINKING. We have to think of ways to educate the students who don't respond to outside the box thinking!

So are you ready to challenge the status quo and educate like no one has done before. Close your eyes and sing it with Mr. Sam Cooke CHANGE GONE COME!!!!!!! 

NO BOX THINKING is more than a movement, it's a way of life and it's so unique that it doesn't call the qualified it QUALIFIES THE CALLED! 

The next few blog entries will shed more light on the journey to NO BOX THINKING. Giving a description of innovative personnel practices, strategic interventions, state of the art professional development and many more ways that will ensure you are blazing the trail and being the research. 

Change Gonna Come (Sam Cooke) by jlhits

http://soundcloud.com/jlhits/change-gonna-come-sam-cooke

 

Hold On I'm Coming

Hold on I'm coming

It's a mighty awesome view from the bottom of this education landscape and this morning I was listening to Sam and Dave's Hold On I'm Coming. 

This brightened my day and gave the movement that I'm leading a rallying cry or theme song. So to the top flight leaders I will say HOLD ON I'M COMING!!!!  

Just taking a step back to look at the programs and processes in place it is a humbling experience. Currently in place we have: early morning intervention, push-in support to classroom, elective based intervention (for reading, math, and science), Blue Ribbon Blitz (a built in intervention), PowerHour after school intervention and Fired Up Friday. 

During these interventions each student is taught and provided targeted instruction that is meant to increase their overall achievement. 

To take you back to the beginning and the need for these programs, I would have to mention that it was common place to have 4th & 5th graders performing on a kindergarten level in all academic areas.  Our changing populations, lack of parental support, and large increase of English language learners necessitate this intense intervention. Therefore, the leadership team decided that enough was enough and we needed to meet the needs of our students at every level. 

We have to serve our students in a way that is enriching but above all else INNOVATIVE.  This need is magnified due to our ever changing student population that are considered 21st century Learners who yearn to be allowed the freedom of exploration/creation of their own learning. 

With this being said I felt the overwhelming responsibility to become a facilitator versus a traditional manager. The 21st century employees have the same wishes and desires of students. They want the autonomy to create and have ownership of their teaching style. The "because I said so" leaders are of a dying bread because the 24/7 availability of the internet has grown an individual's ability to network & gain resources that are the latest, greatest practices. 

It was once said that research based practices were the tried and true methodology for educational institutions, but with the ever changing world if we wait around on the learning to be research tested and don't take a leap of faith will the research be relevant by the time we receive the knowledge?????

http://soundcloud.com/phat-tony-1/hold-on-i-am-comin-phat-tony