transformative change in education - CUE.org

CUE Conference Recap » Legislative Advocacy » The Attention Span Myth » Member Profiles

ON

TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE IN EDUCATION

Summer 2016 » Vol. 38 » No. 2

Independent Study Professional Development Courses

Increase Your Pay Your Schedule, Your Time Teach it Tomorrow Reach your GOAL with our courses ce.fresno.edu/cpd

• Graduate-level credit

• WASC Accredited

• Competitive tuition fees

Save up to $30 ($ 10 per course) using coupon code A11605CPD

Empowering leaders. Transforming lives.

Empowering leaders. Transforming lives.Avenue, Fresno, CA 93702 Fresno Pacific University Continuing Education, 1717 S. Chestnut

CONTENTS DEPARTMENTS UpFront: Managing Change in an Ever-Changing World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Ray Chavez Bits and Bytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

COLUMNS OnCUE Editor

Lisa Kopochinski [email protected]

Design

Kesler Communications [email protected]

Contributing Writers

Dr. Darryl Adams, Barbara Barreda, Sara Boucher, Dave Burgess, John Cradler, Pam Hernandez, Mike McCormick, Rick Rubino, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel

Mike Lawrence, CEO

[email protected] CUE, 877 Ygnacio Valley Road, Suite 200 Walnut Creek, CA 94596 Phone 925.478.3460 Fax 925.934.6799 [email protected]

Legislative Advocacy: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Initiatives Connecting Parents to Schools. John Cradler Learning Network Focus Managing Change: An Interesting Concept. . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Barbara Barreda

FEATURES National CUE 2016 Conference Recap. . . . . . . . . . . 12 Closing the Homework Gap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Education Heroes Honored at the CUE 2016 National Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2015-2016 CUE Board of Directors

CUE16 Through the Eyes of Two First-Timers . . . . . 18

Ray Chavez, President [email protected]

Kyle Brumbaugh, Member-at-Large [email protected]

Andrew Schwab, Vice President/Treasurer [email protected]

Who Leads Change? Who Owns Change?. . . . . . . . 20 Mike McCormick

Tim Green, Member [email protected]

David Malone, Member Jason Borgen, Secretary [email protected] [email protected] Lainie Rowell, Member Suzanne Mitchell [email protected] Assistant Treasurer Roger Wagner, Member [email protected] [email protected]

Advertising

Paid advertising accepted in accordance with editorial policy. For ad deadlines or additional information, please contact CUE, 877 Ygnacio Valley Road, Suite 200, Walnut Creek, CA 94596, 925.478.3460 cue.org/advertising/oncue OnCUE journal (ISSN 0739-9553) is published and bulk-mailed four times during the academic year by CUE, and is one of the benefits of membership. Membership for CUE is $40/year, U.S. regular rate, $30/year, U.S. student rate, and $20/year retired rate. Corporate memberships are available. Entire contents Copyright 2016 by CUE unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved. To reprint articles that are copyrighted by the author, you must contact the author for permission. All other items may be reprinted for educational use, but not for sale, with the provision that proper credit is given to OnCUE and to the author, if any. CUE inspires innovative learners by fostering community, personalizing learning, infusing technology, developing leadership, and advocating educational opportunities for all.

Managing Change in School Culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Rick Rubino Change Is the Only Constant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Sara Boucher The Attention Span Myth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Dave Burgess PD to Personalize Disruptive Change. . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Pam Hernandez Managing Change to Change Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Dr. Darryl Adams Spotlight on Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Meet Laurie York, Ed Campos, and Vanitha Chandrasekhar

CUE INFORMATION & FORMS CUE Rock Star. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Membership Application Form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 CUE Professional Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Calendar of Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 CUE 2016 Fall Conference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back Cover cue.org • Summer 2016 OnCUE

|3

Wow students with 3x brighter colors from Epson Projectors.* Contact your Epson rep today: D’Arce Buescher

Alex Corfar

Phone: 707-364-8664 Email: [email protected] Region: Northern and Central California

Phone: 657-221-0961 Email: [email protected] Region: Southern California

• Interactive Projectors • Document Cameras • Classroom Projectors • Speakers, Mounts & Lamps

*Compared to leading 1-chip DLP business and education projectors based on NPD data, July 2011 through June 2012. Color brightness (color light output) measured in accordance with IDMS 15.4. Color brightness will vary depending on usage conditions. EPSON is a registered trademark and EPSON Exceed You Vision is a registered logomark of Seiko Epson Corporation. Copyright 2016 Epson America, Inc.

407-848 EPSON CUE Ad Update Jan 2016.indd 1

1/5/16 10:38 AM

UpFront Ray Chavez

MANAGING CHANGE IN AN EVER-CHANGING WORLD A recent article published in eSchool News entitled “5 Leadership Requirements Essential for Change” caused me to ponder my role as a leader and “change agent.” The article (cue.tc/1Uz4c7U) by Peter West, director of eLearning at Saint Stephen's College in Australia, describes leadership as one of the fundamental components in supporting effective change in the classroom. The author further defines five components of effective leadership that every organization could rate themselves on a scale of 1 (Poor) to 5 (Excellent) to determine their effectiveness in leading change. These components are summarized below: Commitment from leadership: The leaders of the organization (Superintendents, Principals, CEOs) are committed to the change and demonstrate it in their actions. Long-term commitment: Understanding that change takes time and occurs over years not months. Sustained focus: Efforts need to be consistent, not changing, while maintaining the same message. Professional development: Must be ongoing, well-planned and appropriate to changing classroom practice. eLearning: A focus on the how, why, and when of incorporating technology in the classroom to enhance teaching and learning. An organization with everything in place, ready to support change in the classroom, would score 5 in each of these areas. A perfectly symmetrical diagram reflects an ideal organization on the right track to support effective change. (See Diagram below.) LEADERSHIP PROFILE - THE IDEAL Commitment from leadership 5 5 5 5 eLearning

5

Long term commitment

5

Professional development

Sustained focus

The diagram reflects an organization poised to bring about effective change. Where does your organization rate? More importantly, how do we as leaders adopt and manage the change needed to transform our classrooms?

As a director of educational technology, I can attest to the importance of each of the components described. Over the years I witnessed firsthand schools and districts that have developed a plan for the effective integration of technology into their instructional programs. These plans would not have been successful without the commitment from the leadership and professional development and sustained focus. These, combined with the financial resources to provide ongoing technical support, have helped many schools become the 21st-century learning environments needed for our students. Each day we, as educators, are challenged to provide the support necessary for change in our schools. How we react to change ourselves can be an indicator of how well we can support change in our classrooms. I firmly believe we better manage change when we embrace it for ourselves. First we must recognize that change is inevitable. We as individuals are changing every day and our world is changing dramatically. The nature of teaching and learning is also changing. We must recognize our students are different and are coming to school expecting to learn in new ways. Second we must develop a new vision for learning that is not bound by time or physical space. The digital tools available to us 24/7 provide new learning opportunities for students and adults alike. Lastly we must be open to adopting the tools and practices that will help us grow individually and collectively. There is a call for a new paradigm for teaching and learning that is personalized, innovative, and ubiquitous. Our success will depend on how well we embrace these changes as individuals and collectively as organizations. The theme of this issue is “Managing Change.” Inside this issue, you will find numerous articles devoted to this topic that we hope will be helpful. Please enjoy this edition of OnCUE. Ray Chavez is the President of CUE. He has been a teacher, instructional specialist, and administrator in public education the past 25 years. He is currently the director of Instructional Technology Outreach division at the Los Angeles County Office of Education. He can be reached at [email protected].

cue.org • Summer 2016 OnCUE

|5

Bits and Bytes

MEET THE 2016 CUE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Congratulations to Kim Harrison, Diane Main and Andrew Schwab, newly elected/re-elected members of CUE's Board of Directors! The 2016 CUE Board of Directors election began on March 19 and concluded on April 21. Congratulations to these three board members who will begin their terms on July 1!

Kim Harrison Affiliate Nominated: Capitol CUE (CapCUE) Director of Technology Washington Unified School District Sacramento, CA

Diane Main Affiliate Nominated: Silicon Valley CUE (SVCUE) Director of Learning, Innovation and Design, The Harker School Campbell, CA Andrew Schwab Incumbent Chief Technology Officer, Union School District San Jose, CA

The Federal Communications Commission recently modernized and reformed its Lifeline program to help low-income consumers afford access to the Internet. FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel was one of three of the five FCC Commissioners to recently vote “yes” on the expansion. This was considered a major breakthrough and was strongly supported by CUE. (cue.org/allnews) Since 1985, Lifeline has helped make telephone service affordable for low-income Americans. Today, consumers need Internet access for full and meaningful participation in society.

6 |

Summer 2016 OnCUE • cue.org

PLEASE SUPPORT THE ADVERTISERS THAT HAVE MADE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE FOR ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES, PLEASE CONTACT: MIKE HOLLEY AT (916) 378-5014 OR EMAIL [email protected]

FCC MODERNIZES LIFELINE PROGRAM Yet 43 percent of nation’s poorest households say they can’t afford modern broadband service. To help close this digital divide, the Order adopted by the Commission refocuses Lifeline support on broadband, which will enable low-income Americans to share in the 21st-century opportunities that access to the Internet provides. At the same time, new rules build on recent reforms in the program to combat waste fraud and abuse and increase program efficiency. And for the first time, Lifeline will support stand-alone broadband service as well as bundled voice and data service packages. New service standards will ensure that supported services meet modern needs.

Educators are Rock Stars.

Give them the training they deserve!

MAKE-IT AND TAKE-IT PD FOR TEACHERS

Change the way you teach!

HANDS-ON LEARNING FOR ADMINS

Every school has a story to tell. Let yours be a Hero’s Journey.

For more details visit CUE.org/PL #CUEROCKSTAR

DISTRICT-SPECIFIC TRAINING IN ROCK STAR STYLE

CUE.ORG/BlackLabel Affordable, high-quality PD.

@CUEROCKSTAR

Legislative Advocacy John Cradler

INITIATIVES CONNECTING PARENTS TO SCHOOLS An Increasing Need for Connecting Schools to Homes: Over the past five years there has been a significant increase in importance and necessity for all students to have access to a computer along with the importance of having parents understand and support student work at home. This is largely due to the state adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) combined with the requirement that all students must access and use state-of-the-art computers connected to the high-speed Internet to take the CCSS aligned performance assessments. Additionally, the Local Control Accountability Planning (LCAP) requires parent involvement with the focus on building the capacity of parents to support and assist their students with CCSS aligned homework assignments. This has caused education policy makers and legislators at the State and Federal level to pay more attention to the needs of students and parents in both rural and urban communities who are underserved with limited or no access to computers and the Internet in the home. Addressing the Increasing Demand for Internet Connectivity: Over the past 15 years there have been significant efforts to connect underserved communities and schools with much success due largely to initiatives such as eRate, Tech Corps, Net Day, K-12HSN, and many other actions taken at the national, state, county and district levels. However, because of the rapidly increasing demand for Internet access and expanded use of existing infrastructure, there is still a need to address connectivity needs of many schools and homes throughout California. This is especially the case for the many underserved areas in both rural and urban areas of the country. Rural or sparsely populated areas lack infrastructure, including cable Internet. In more populated areas, older housing developments and apartment buildings were not built with plans for modernizing telecommunications infrastructure. Recent surveys indicate that more than 20% of all California households remain offline and in this Digital Age are being left behind at an accelerating pace. Among families who have home Internet access, half (52%) say their access is too slow, one-quarter (26%) say too many people share the same computer, and one-fifth (20%) say their Internet has been cut off in the last year due to lack of payment. Go to cue.tc/1WtP900 for details.

8 |


Several initiatives launched to address the ongoing need for network access — especially to underserved homes and schools — are summarized as follows: California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF): A non-profit corporation established pursuant to requirements from the California Public Utilities Commission for the purpose of 1) Providing leadership statewide to close the “Digital Divide” by accelerating the deployment and adoption of broadband to unserved and underserved communities and populations, and; 2) Ensuring that California is a global leader in the availability and use of broadband technology. These will be accomplished by making investments in programs and projects to improve access, affordability, applications, accessibility and assistance to broadband as well as advocating for Federal and State policies and legislation relevant to Internet access. The President of CETF is Sunne McPeak, this year’s CUE Legislative Advocacy Award recipient. Internet for All: CETF is creator of the Internet for All Now campaign, and supports policy decisions and cross-sector collaborations that promote affordable broadband and digital literacy for low-income Americans. CETF has filed comments at the FCC to extend the federal Lifeline Program to include broadband. Net Neutrality: On November 10, 2014, President Obama called on the FCC to take up the strongest possible rules to protect net neutrality — the principle that says Internet service providers (ISPs) should treat all Internet traffic equally. On February 26, 2015, the FCC voted in favor of a strong net neutrality rule to keep the Internet open and free. CETF initiated a campaign joined by CUE and many others urging the FCC to support Net Neutrality. Lifeline Internet: On January 31, 2012 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved Lifeline Internet, a major expansion of the popular government’s free cell phone program. CETF is advocating that the upcoming FCC expansion of Lifeline: 1) Establish an affordable high-speed Internet service plan for all low-income households offered by and through all broadband providers in the $10/month range; 2) Capitalize an independent fund to support community-based organizations, schools and libraries to assist in enrolling eligible low-income

households and participate in true public-private partnerships; and 3) Appoint an oversight advisory body to ensure transparency and accountability with a broad base of stakeholders and community leaders knowledgeable about broadband adoption. FCC Support: During the Obama administration, the FCC has adopted rules on net neutrality, begun to modernize E-rate for schools and libraries and approved affordable broadband programs offered by Comcast and AT&T. Under Chairman Tom Wheeler — building upon the foundation established by Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and embracing the imperative to close the “homework gap” highlighted by Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel — the FCC is moving to approve an affordable Internet subscription offer for low-income households, which will transform a Reagan administration discounted telephone service program called Lifeline. (From Internet for all now, by Sunne McPeak, cue.tc/1T9RexV.)

(Please visit cue.tc/1qeQzxzj to view Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel at CUE 2016).

School2Home (S2H): School2Home is a program designed to help close the achievement gap and the digital divide by integrating the use of technology into teaching and learning at lowperforming middle schools and homes throughout California. It is the only initiative in California with a major focus on extensive parent engagement, coupled to use of educational technology, to turn around low-performing schools. A key component of School2Home is increasing family engagement through the use of Internetenabled computing devices linking the home with school staff and enabling technology-supported instruction. Over the past five years, School2Home has developed and refined, based on external evaluation, a model that is documenting increased parent and student engagement in schools and improved academic outcomes. A major component of School2Home is professional development for teachers and training for parents. This includes using educational applications, understanding computer adaptive assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards, and educating parents on ways to support student homework. Students who have received necessary technical training often provide technical support at their schools. School2Home is now implemented in 17 underserved rural and urban schools across the state.

A major finding relevant to the School2Home project was that California parents with a broadband connection at home are very likely to go online to help their children with homework and obtain information from the school website about their children’s academic progress, according to a recent statewide survey conducted by the Field Poll on behalf of the CETF. The poll found that parents who have a broadband connection other than a Smartphone at home were highly likely to go online at home to help their children learn (84%) and to obtain information about their children’s homework and grades from the school website (75%). School2Home is sponsored by the CETF and The Children’s Partnership. Visit school2home.org. California Initiatives: A recently approved Adult Education Block Grant provides $500 million to support flexible Adult Education programs which may include training for parents on how to access and utilize the Internet. The funding is for programs “primarily designed to develop knowledge and skills to assist elementary and secondary school children to succeed academically in school.” The emerging California school accountability system known as the “accountability dashboard” will include among its eight priorities support for parent engagement in their children’s education. As described in prior OnCUE articles, the Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAP) can include funding to adopt or adapt School2Home as part of the School Plan for utilizing the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) dollars. Several School2Home sites are using LCFF to fund professional development and technical support.. State Legislation (AB 2680) related to parent student learning and engagement was just introduced by Assemblymember Susan Bonilla, a past recipient of the CUE Legislative Advocacy Award. This bill would fund locally developed plans submitted by school districts and county offices of education that offer potentially effective strategies for training parents and families of children birth to age 18 to become actively engaged in the education of their children. State Legislation (AB 1758) by Assemblymember Mark Stone, introduced February 2016, sets a goal of 90% of all households online by 2023 and authorizes funding to assist low-income households get online so that our most disadvantaged residents can be included in the Digital Economy. This bill is now referred to as the Internet for All Act of 2016. John Cradler is a legislative policy consultant with CUE and works with the CUE board, staff and Legislative Advocacy Committee to advise on policy, legislation and other public initiatives to support CUE’s mission and vision. He can be reached at [email protected].

cue.org • Spring 2016 OnCUE

|9

Black background, full color

www.idesignsol.com Your education source for software, technology and support services in North America.

Call 1-877-730-4770 today for a free quote on these STEM products: White background, full color

Black background, grayscale

White background, grayscale

We Accept School Purchase Orders and Credit Cards!

Membership Application

SORRY, NO PURCHASE ORDERS ACCEPTED I AM USING THIS FORM TO …

BENEFITS • Discounted registration fees on CUE conference and other state and local CUE activities. • Annual subscription to OnCUE, published four times a year. • Recognition programs and LeRoy Finkel Fellowship. • Voting privileges. • Continuing Education Credit for attending CUE conference.

• Membership in one Affiliate and/or any number of Learning Networks. • Proactive legislative advocacy. • CUE Up! email newsletter for advance notice and up-to-date information. • Group Membership discounts. Please call the CUE office for information. • Discounted ISTE conference registration. • Online member benefits, visit www.cue.org/memberbenefits.

❏ Become a Member ❏ Renew Membership ❏ Make corrections/updates All future communications from CUE, including notices of meetings, ballots, and minutes of meetings, via email to the following email address: EMAIL ADDRESS (required) *I understand that I have the right to receive future communications from CUE by paper or in nonelectronic form, and that I may withdraw my consent at any time by (1) sending an email with “opt out” in the subject line to [email protected] or (2) sending a letter to CUE, Inc, 877 Ygnacio Valley Rd, Suite 200, Walnut Creek, CA 94596; Attention: Membership indicating that I have withdrawn my consent to receive future communication from CUE by email.

Name

AFFILIATE AND LEARNING NETWORK OPTIONS CUE supports many regional Affiliates and Learning Networks. As a CUE member, you not only gain access to a network of forward-thinking educators in your area, but are free to join an affiliate, and any number of our Learning Networks. To add more than one affiliate, there is an additional $10 fee.

AFFILIATES

Address r Home r Work City State Home Phone

Zip

Work Phone

For more information on affiliates visit www.cue.org/affiliates

❏ Beach Cities CUE Los Angeles S. Bay Area

❏ Kern CUE Kern County

❏ Cahuilla CUE Coachella Valley

❏ Monterey Bay CUE Santa Cruz and San Benito counties

❏ Capitol CUE Alpine, Amador, Colusa, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba counties

❏ North Bay CUE Marin, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties

❏ Central California CUE San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Mariposa, Merced, Tuolumne, and Calaveras counties ❏ Central Valley CUE Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Madera counties ❏ CUE Los Angeles Los Angeles County ❏ CUE Nevada State of Nevada ❏ CUE San Francisco San Francisco County and parts of San Mateo County

❏ North State CUE Butte, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Plumas, Mendocino, Modoc, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties ❏ Orange County CUE Orange County ❏ San Diego CUE San Diego County ❏ San Gabriel Valley CUE San Gabriel Valley ❏ San Luis Obispo CUE San Luis Obispo County ❏ Santa Barbara CUE Santa Barbara County

❏ East Bay CUE Alameda and Contra Costa counties

❏ Silicon Valley CUE San Mateo and Santa Clara counties

❏ Gold Coast CUE Ventura County

❏ None

❏ Inland Area CUE San Bernardino and Riverside counties except Coachella Valley

❏ Administrators Network

❏ Library Media Educators Network A support group for learning resoºurce professionals.

❏ eLearning Network Supporting online teaching and learning.

❏ Technology Leaders Network

Support and collaboration for Higher Education technology-using professionals.

❏ Independent Schools Network

Private, parochial, K-12, and higher education organizations.

Job Title Twitter account

❏ Please do not inform me of third party discount opportunities ❏ Please send me the print edition of OnCUE school type:

position:

❏ Public ❏ Private/Independent

❏ Teacher ❏ Admin ❏ Classified ❏ TOSA/Tech Coordinator ❏ Parent ❏ Retired ❏ Librarian ❏ Student ❏ Higher Ed. Faculty ❏ IT Professional ❏ Executive or Director ❏ Other: ______________

organization:

❏ Elementary School ❏ Middle School ❏ High School ❏ Community College ❏ University ❏ District/COE ❏ Business Sector ❏ Nonprofit ❏ Government ❏ Other: ______________

how did you hear about cue?

❏ School/Co-worker ❏ CUE Affiliate Event ❏ CUE Conference Publication

❏ OnCUE Journal ❏ Other Educational Conference

❏ Advertisement ❏ CUE Website ❏ Other: ______________

annual dues payment

❏ US $40 – U.S. & Canada Regular Membership ❏ US $30 – U.S. & Canada Student Membership — (Attach class schedule to verify full-time status; 6 semester or 9 quarter unit minimum.) ❏ US $20 – Retired ❏ US $110 – 3 year Multi-year membership

❏ US $65 – International ❏ US $75 – 2 year Multi-year membership ❏ Group Membership $________

& learning network selection ❏ FREE – one Affiliate and any number of Learning Networks (choose at left) ❏ US $10 each additional Affiliate

LEARNING NETWORKS

❏ Higher Education Network

School Site

affiliate

For more information visit www.cue.org/networks

Support for technology-using school administrators.

School District (spell out complete name)/Organization

School, district and county coordinators’ support

❏ Video in the Classroom Network Supporting multimedia educational experiences in our classrooms.

payment (sorry, no purchase orders accepted.)

❏ A CHECK, PAYABLE TO CUE, IS ENCLOSED CHARGE MY: ❏ ❏ VISA ❏ ❏ MasterCard ❏❏ Automatically renew my CUE Membership Account Number Exp. Date Signature (required for credit card orders) PAY/MAIL TO: CUE, 877 Ygnacio Valley Road, Suite 200; Walnut Creek, CA 94596 OR FAX TO: (925) 934-6799

For more information, please email CUE at [email protected].

1

2

3

CUE 2016 NATIONAL CONFERENCE The 2016 National CUE Conference held in Palm Springs from March 17-19 was a resounding success with nearly 7,000 educators in attendance. 5

Sunne McPeak, President and CEO of California Emerging Technology Fund with CUE Board President Ray Chavez. 11 There was barely an empty seat in the house for any of the conference keynotes. 10

6

10

7

8

11

15

LeRoy’s Big Idea finalists presented wonderful and tech-savvy ideas. Brad Montague, creator of the popular web series, Kid President, was the Kickoff Keynote speaker. 17 The CUE Air Corps: Shark Racing! The innovative CUE STEAMpunk Team showcases their Flying Shark Races. 15 16

12 |


4

1

CUE attendees are captivated during one of the numerous sessions held during the

three-day conference.

2

CUE Live! Broadcasting from CUE's National Conference with

this interview featuring Adina Sullivan with our Spotlight Speaker Lisa Highfill.

3

CETPA

Executive Director Andrea Bennett, CUE CEO Mike Lawrence and Jason Spencer, CDE during the Partnering with CETPA Event.

4

Entrepreneur and inventor Hadi Partovi, co-founder of

the education non-profit Code.org was Friday's General Session and Keynote Speaker.

Here’s a peek at some of the events over the three-day conference!

RECAP 9

12

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson shared a message of optimism. 6 Allen Cameron welcomed CUE16 attendees with a screening of "Underwater Dreams" followed by a panel discussion. 7 FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel talked about the homework gap in her presentation. 8 Closing Session and Keynote Speaker Pearl Arredondo had the audience captivated as she discussed her own upbringing and tireless efforts as an advocate for public education. 9 Just a few of the many attendees at this year's CUE National Conference. Attendance this year hit near 7,000! 5

13

16

14

A student explains her project at the Student-Powered Showcase. 13 Attendees received a fun CUE viewfinder this year. 14 Spotlight Speaker Joy Valenza addressed attendees. 12

17


| 13

Feature Jessica Rosenworcel, FCC Commissioner cue 2016 6 speaker

NATIONAL CONFERENCE PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA

MARCH 17-19

CLOSING THE HOMEWORK GAP FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel stopped by the CUE 2016 National Conference to address the nearly 7,000 attendees. Below is the transcript of her remarks: Thank you for having me join you today here at CUE16. Thank you because it is an honor to be a part of the largest and oldest gathering devoted to education technology. It is also a privilege to share the stage with luminaries like Hadi Partovi, the founder of Code.org, and Tom Torlakson, the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Plus, it is a treat to get out of Washington — and it is a definite bonus to be in beautiful Palm Springs. I want to start today by asking you to imagine that you are no longer in Palm Springs. I want to take you somewhere else where the sun is hot, the soil is warm, and the roads are dusty. I want to take you to McAllen, Texas. McAllen is one of the southernmost cities in the United States. It lies in the storied Rio Grande Valley, right on the river itself. In the last century, McAllen was a community devoted to agriculture. Its fields produced cotton, alfalfa, grapes, and figs. In later years, the economy grew with oil exploration. Still later, it became a foreign trade zone, with cross-border commercial traffic making it one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country.

on the front lines of a new digital divide. This divide did not exist when I was growing up. All I needed for homework was a pencil, a paper, and my brother leaving me alone. But gone are the days. Today, as many as seven in ten teachers assign homework that requires access to broadband. But data from where I work — the Federal Communications Commission — show that as many as one in three households do not subscribe to broadband service, due to lack of affordability and lack of interest. Think about those numbers. Where they overlap is what I call the Homework Gap — and according to the Pew Research Center the Homework Gap is real. Five million households out of the 29 million with school-aged children nationwide fall into this gap. That means if you are a student in a household without broadband today, just getting homework done is hard. Applying for a scholarship is challenging. While low-income families are adopting smartphones with Internet access at high rates, let me submit to you that a phone is just not how you want to research and type a paper, apply for jobs, or further your education.

But like in so many other places, this transition to a new economy has been uneven. Jobs are harder to come by. Health care is a challenge and diabetes has hit the community hard. So not every household or every neighborhood has found opportunity in what is new — nor advantage in what comes next. This is painfully clear when you look at the students in this community.

A recent study by the Pew Research Center found that more than half of teachers in low-income communities say that their students’ lack of access to online resources at home presents a major challenge to integrating technology into their teaching. So not only are students who lack access at home struggling to keep up, their lack of access is holding our education system back. It means too many young people will go through school without developing the skills that give them a fair chance in the digital age.

Take Isabella and Tony Ruiz. Isabella is 11 and her brother Tony is 12. Every weeknight they stand on a crumbling patch of sidewalk across from the elementary school near their home. They take up residence here as night falls in order to pick up the wireless signal they need to do their homework. Over the cracked screen of their family smartphone they download math materials and review research for class.

That’s a problem because the data show very clearly that half of all jobs now require some level of digital skills. By the end of the decade, that number will be 77 percent. School-aged kids without broadband access at home are not only unable to complete their homework, they enter the job market with a serious handicap. And that loss is more than individual. It’s a loss to our collective human capital and shared economic future that we need to address.

Credit to Isabella and Tony for their tenacity. Their mother is out of work and their father brings in what income he can from washing dishes. Her family has cut back on everything. So these students, like so many others in their community, cobble together whatever connectivity they can for schoolwork. They may not know it, but standing on that cracked sidewalk in the South Texas heat, they are

We need to address it in McAllen, Texas, where Isabella and Tony and so many other students have to stake out space on the sidewalk just to do their schoolwork. But we can’t stop there.

14 |


We need to address it in Detroit, Michigan, where seven in ten students have no way to get online at home — where students forgo

eating lunch in order to borrow laptops and rush through their nightly homework at school — the one place they have Internet access. We need to address it in Charlotte, North Carolina, where one in five students has no broadband access at home and where teachers are wrestling with a curriculum that effectively punishes students without online resources. We need to address it in Cutler Bay, Florida, where night after night parents line up for their children to get time online at the library. The wait times are rough, but the need is real — because there are high schools in the county that use digital history textbooks and elementary schools that use a math program that requires Internet access. We need to address it in Citronelle, Alabama, where, after school, students pile into the local fast-food restaurant. They head there because it is one of the few places in town with Wi-Fi. So students without broadband at home hunker down in the booths to do their homework. They research and write their papers with fizzy drinks and a side of fries. Across the country the math might be different, but the Homework Gap stories are the same. There was a time when broadband access was a luxury. No more. And nowhere is that more clear than in education. This is a problem we need to address. We need to address it because these are the skills every student needs for the new economy. And we need to address it because with digitizing education comes a wave of new opportunities for learning — opportunities every student should know, no matter who they are, or where they live. So what can we do? Like any challenging school problem, there is no one single solution or quick fix. It is going to take a lot of cooperative effort and a bunch of creative ideas. Here are mine. First, though many of you know the FCC for its E-Rate program that helps connect schools and libraries, we also have a program that helps connect homes. It’s called Lifeline. It got its start more than three decades ago — in 1985. You remember 1985. It was when most communications involved a cord and President Reagan was in the White House. Today, the Lifeline program supports access in 13 million low-income households across the country, including right here in California. But it needs a reboot. We need to modernize it. With your help we can make it happen — because the FCC is poised to vote on updating this program later this month. When we do, we need to make sure that the program is updated to support broadband — and allow participants to choose between applying support to either voice or broadband service. This simple change

would both update the program and help bring more broadband to low-income households with school-aged children. But if we care about narrowing the Homework Gap, we can’t stop there. Our Lifeline modernization must make sure that the devices used for Lifeline services are able to access Wi-Fi signals and that those devices can even be turned into Wi-Fi hotspots. Moreover, as we update Lifeline, we should make sure that we are doing everything that we can to make eligible families with school-aged children aware of the program. It’s important for parents to know about the tools available to help their kids complete their homework and give them a fair shot at success. Second, we need more Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is an essential onramp to Internet connectivity. More than half of us online have relied on public Wi-Fi. But for many low-income households it is their only means of getting online. So our spectrum policy should make it possible to have more Wi-Fi in more places — which will provide more ways for more students to get their schoolwork done. We have opportunities coming up to do just that — in guard bands in the 600 MHz band, in the upper portion of the 5 GHz band, and in millimeter wave spectrum. We need to seize them.

Wi-fi is an essential onramp for internet connectivity. Third, we need to keep tabs on innovative broadband access programs all across the country and — no shame, educators — copy them. In New York City, for instance, the public library has a pilot program that lends out wireless hotspots. Last I checked, they had been loaned out thousands of times. Think about what that hotspot can mean for a student who needs online access to complete schoolwork. It’s the difference. Similar programs are cropping up in cities and towns as diverse as Kansas City, Missouri, and Cherryfield, Maine. Now for a moment, back to Palm Springs. Or more accurately, the broader Coachella Valley. So many people know this corner of California for a fabled music festival. But in fact, it’s a community built on agriculture. More than half of the students are not fluent in English — they come from Spanish-speaking homes and their parents are migrant farm workers. But when the school superintendent came up with a program to give every child — every child — a tablet for use at school and home, he found he had a problem. Students sat by his office every day as late as six p.m. with devices in hand, because it was one of the only places they had to get a reliable signal to do basic homework. continued on page 16 cue.org • Summer 2016 OnCUE

| 15

continued from page 15 His students were falling into the Homework Gap. But the school came up with an innovative way to get them out. They installed Wi-Fi routers on district school buses. After all, in this rural area, students often ride buses an hour to get to school — and an hour to get home at night. With Wi-Fi on board, they can make this ride-time connected-time for homework. Even better, the school system parks buses next to some of the most remote trailer parks in the district, leaving the routers on so students least likely to have broadband at home have yet another way to connect. This is creative — and it is right down the road. Even better, connected school buses are hitting the road in Huntsville, Alabama, Marengo, Indiana, and many more places in between.

So here is where I get optimistic. We have given this problem — the Homework Gap — a name. We are getting innovative and we are coming up with solutions. We are recognizing that there are communities caught in the transition from the analog era to the digital age and as we navigate this change in our civic and commercial life, we are taking steps to help every student have a fair shot in the 21st century. But my optimism has another source — this problem is finally getting the attention it deserves. Last month, Isabella and Tony from McAllen, Texas, were the subject of a front page story on the Homework Gap in The New York Times. Last week, President Obama shared their story with millions of followers on his Facebook and Twitter accounts.

This attention comes not a moment too soon. Because this is about the future. The future of our economy, our country, and our success is built on digital and diverse workforce. We all know science, technology, engineering, and math are the fastest growing fields in the new economy. We also know the diversity of our STEM workforce does not mirror the diversity of our population. It’s time to fix this and make our kids — all of our kids — not just digital consumers, but digital creators. And there are a lot of things we can do to make this happen. But a small step, and one we can take right now — is to make it possible for all students to do their homework. Because the Homework Gap is the cruelest part of our new digital divide — but it is within our power to bridge it.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

Training partners and PL services for:

Let us produce a PL event for your district or CUE Affiliate

A CUE PL event at your site means no travel expense for your staff!

See all our offerings here!

CUE.org/PL Danielle Forst [email protected] 925.954.4491 @CUELearns

16 |


1:1 Deployment & Pedgogies Serving Teachers, TOSAs, Admins Testimonials I have had our teachers tell me that CUE Rock Star Black Label changed their teaching forever. – Kelly Martin, Instructional Technology and Curriculum Coordinator CUE Rockstar Camp not only changed my life, it has connected me to a family of like-minded educators where collaboration and development continues… – Michael McCormick, Superintendent Val Verde Unified School District CUE PL events are considered to be seminal moments in our District’s journey toward the full implementation of 21st Century teaching and learning. – Rick Rubino, Superintendent Gridley Unified School District

CUE Award Winners

EDUCATION HEROES HONORED AT THE CUE16 NATIONAL CONFERENCE CUE honored 16 outstanding Ed Tech professionals during its National Conference in Palm Springs. These individuals were recognized for infusing curriculum with technology, for leading through innovation, and for continually finding creative ways to help students succeed. PLATINUM DISK

TILL: TECHNOLOGY IN LEARNING LEADERSHIP* Platinum disks are CUE’s highest award, awarded in recognition of career-long contributions. This year’s recipients included: • Burt Lo, Director II, Digital Curriculum, Stanislaus County Office of Education • Vivian Goldschmidt, Project Specialist, Orange County Department of Education

• Gay Krause, Executive Director, Krause Center for Innovation LEGISLATOR OF THE YEAR/LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY AWARDS • Sunne McPeak, President and CEO, California Emerging Technology Fund* • Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Congressman for the 41st District of California, House of Representatives OUTSTANDING EMERGING TEACHER* • Andrea Kamradt, Teacher, San Andreas High School, SBCUSD OUTSTANDING TEACHER*

GOLD DISK • Robert Craven, Senior Director, Technology at Tustin Unified School District. • Lisa DeLapo, Assistant Director of Technology, Lafayette School District

• Margaret Agbowo-Onyewuenyi, Career Technical Education (CTE) Instructor, Berkeley Technology Academy, Berkeley Unified SITE LEADER OF THE YEAR • Amy Fadeji, Principal, Penngrove Elementary School, Petaluma City School District ISTE’S MAKING IT HAPPEN

• Genevieve Kahlweiss, Third Grade Teacher, Digital Coach, Saint Columban School, Diocese of Orange

• Tim Landeck, Director of Technology Services, Pajaro Valley Unified School District

• Donna Levy, Principal, Clark County School District, Las Vegas, Nevada

• Christine Olmstead, Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services, Orange County Department of Education

• Matt Miller, National CUE Conference Volunteer Chair, Grace Miller Elementary, Bonita Unified

CUE thanks these educational heroes and their nominators for inspiring us with their innovations, their creativity and their integration of technology into curriculum and the educational process. Detailed award descriptions and history can be found at www.cue.org/awards.

• Sharon Sutton, Consultant, 21st Century Learning

Those winners marked with an * have been submitted for consideration to the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) for similar awards. ISTE will announce its winners at its annual conference in Denver, CO on June 26-29, 2016. ISTE will also honor both of CUE’s Making IT Happen recipients at the event. cue.org • Spring 2016 OnCUE

| 17

CUE16 THROUGH THE EYES OF TWO FIRST-TIMERS: LINDSEY BLASS AND STEPHEN KESEL What is your job title and responsibilities? LINDSEY BLASS: I am a district math and technology integration coach for Campbell Union School District. I support teachers with the effective integration of technology into math instruction. STEPHEN KESEL: I am an educational technology program administrator for San Francisco Unified School District. The Ed Tech department works with schools, teachers and district departments to integrate technology into content learning. It is our mission to reach every child, every grade, every classroom in our 120-plus schools within the next three years. Why did you choose to attend the CUE Conference this year? LB: While I have been a CUE member for years, this is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to travel to the national conference. I’ve attended and presented at other local CUE events, and heard from my ed tech colleagues that the National CUE Conference was not to be missed. I applied for both a poster and panel presentation and—to my happy surprise—was accepted for both and was on my way to the National CUE Conference! SK: I chose to attend the National CUE Conference because colleagues who have attended before describe it as “amazing” and “the mother-ship of educational technology conferences.” I have to say, it exceeded my expectations. As a first time attendee, what was your first impression of the conference upon arriving? LB: I instantly recognized many faces and voices from the multiple ed tech Voxer and Twitter communities I participate in. I knew I had found my tribe at the National CUE Conference. There was excitement and buzz around where dinner would be, what sessions people would attend the following day, and how awesome it is when your “friends in your pocket” become your friends in real life.

18 |


SK: As we pulled up, the first thing I saw was literally a throng of people converging on the Convention Center and a fleet of buses shuttling attendees from and to the six different conference venues. “Wow! This is huge, I said to myself. Upon entering the lobby, I saw way more people than the SFO terminal I had gone through the night before. I was impressed by how professionally the registration was run and how quickly attendees moved through—from the easy-scan self-check-in to the swag station right beyond it. Which speakers or presenters did you find especially informative and why? LB: At any CUE event, I always check out Jon Corippo’s session. He never fails to inspire. At his Rock Star PD session he had me ready to change my job title from “coach” to “concierge” and shared many brilliant ideas on how we can revolutionize PD such as “speed geeking” (running multiple concurrent sessions). Even though I am not an administrator, I went to check out Amy Fadeji’s session since I quite often direct principals towards her #LeadWild chat. Her session did not disappoint, as she described the processes she has found effective through humor, stories and, at times, dance! As a math teacher, I knew I needed to attend Andrew Stadel’s session on Desmos. The pleasant surprise I encountered was that he had teamed up with a science teacher, J.R. GinexOrinion, and they presented cross-curricular ideas on using Desmos in both math and science. Both presenters were incredibly knowledgeable and their dynamic personalities make them a must see! SK: Most conferences for educators are set up to give classroom teachers something they can try on Monday. But as an administrator, I find that there are often few “big picture” options about how to bring about sustainable change to a

whole system and—to be honest—many of them are boring! Yes, CUE did have tons of selections that could be applied right away in a classroom. And it also had way more for administrators than I could possibly take advantage of. I especially enjoyed hearing Coachella Valley USD’s story of bringing tech integration to all its students, in a setting where many of its students have lots of challenges. While I was enjoying those sessions, my colleagues kept hopping from Leslie Fisher session to Leslie Fisher session. And some of the best sessions were saved until Saturday. Two of my colleagues couldn't stop talking about Bill Selak’s “Choose Your Own Adventure: Creating Interactive Google Forms.” My colleagues said they thought they knew about the capabilities of forms... until they attended Bill's session. What was the main benefit you derived from attending? LB: While the keynotes inspired me and the speakers informed me more than I could have ever expected, I would say the main benefit of the conference was the connections I made. I was able to join forces with some amazing, forward-thinking educators, and through these connections I know that my learning will continue beyond the conference. SK: I got a clearer sense of how to help an entire school district move towards deeper, sustainable technology integration. It was really helpful to learn from districts that are a couple steps ahead of us. What was the best part of the conference? LB: I truly enjoyed hosting a poster session at the conference. The structure of a poster session is that you are set up in the ballroom foyer with a 50-inch LCD screen where you share your topic. My presentation was on “Expanding Your Professional Learning Network (PLN),” so as attendees visited my table, I was able to help get them started with Twitter, Voxer, and Google Plus communities. SK: The best part of the conference for me was threefold: 1) “big picture” ideas on how to bring deep, sustainable change to a district; 2) incredible chances to network with colleagues from across the country and with other organizations and; 3) the protected space to process and apply what we learned. At one point, we were so “full” that we played hooky from a couple of sessions, just so we could strategize on how to apply all we had learned to the schools and programs we were going back to—including a meeting we had coming up Monday morning at 9:00.

What are the three top things you cannot live without at the conference? LB: CUE Karaoke is my #1 by far. From passionate renditions of “Don’t Stop Believing” to the CEO gracing us with a fabulous rendition of “Wild Thing” (laryngitis and all!), this is a social event like no other. #2 was taking a “break” at the Uncon space. Any time I found myself wandering, I would peek into the Uncon space. Here I was able to chat project-based learning, engage in a live #CUE16 Twitter chat, and even play some Mario Kart while making new friends! And #3 was the coffee! Be warned, you need to be strategic when it comes to having enough caffeine to keep up with the pace of the conference. SK: 1) Innovative ideas and solutions—often for products and contexts I thought I knew well; 2) the opportunity to network with partner school districts and organizations, and; 3) a rare opportunity to learn, be nurtured, and be refreshed, so that I could go back to my day-to-day world energized and able to be more effective. Would you recommend other educators attend the CUE Conference next year? LB: I would absolutely encourage educators to attend the conference. In past years, my district only sent the manager of technology to the conference. This year, they sent our Tech TOSA team of three, along with 10 of our classroom teacher leaders for technology. We kept a shared notes Doc and are continuing to collaborate on how we will bring the tools, strategies and visionary thinking we were exposed to at CUE back to our district. I recommend that you not only go to the National CUE Conference, but that you convince your district to send a team. #bettertogether SK: Wholeheartedly, yes! The whole event was motivating, exciting, and empowering. I returned home enthusiastic about putting so much I had learned into practice right away. On a lighter note, what was the best lunch spot you discovered? LB: I was a huge fan of the outdoor buffet at the Renaissance. The location was great since most of the sessions were in that vicinity. Taking a little midday break with a view of the pool and yummy food and dessert helped me relax and recharge for the afternoon sessions. SK: We usually did the “grab-and-go” lunches at the Hilton, so we could get to the next session. The food was tasty and there quite a few options. First of all, any place where you can eat outside in March in be warm is fantastic (and that describes any restaurant in Palm Springs). But our favorite was Lulu's. It's just a short walk from the convention center. cue.org • Summer 2016 OnCUE

| 19

Feature Mike McCormick

WHO LEADS CHANGE? WHO OWNS CHANGE? January 4, 2016 was a momentous occasion for the Val Verde Unified School District. All 850 district teachers arrived at one of our high schools on a day without students to participate in a full day of professional learning and capacity building. Intrigued? Don’t be amazed just yet. Large-scale professional development days occur in many districts across the nation on an annual basis. Here’s what makes Val Verde USD unique: this professional learning day was completely planned, organized, and delivered by teachers, for teachers.

Infrast Commun Empow

The concept of teachers reclaiming their profession and taking control of professional development is a purposeful process that began in Val Verde about seven years ago. Here’s the framework that I now use to describe the transformation process that started with professional development and eventually became the centerpiece of our general district approach for effecting change. The heart of the concept is “leading change.” More precisely — “who leads the change?”

other teachers by providing demonstration lessons using the teacher’s own students. The instructional coaches also offer support to their fellow teachers by observing them trying out new techniques and offering guidance through reflective questioning. Clearly, a trusting relationship is built over time using cognitive coaching strategies and the process is completely divorced from any evaluation process.

Imagine three gears meshing. Let’s label the first gear “infrastructure,” the second “community,” and the third “empowerment.” Each of these gears contributes in some fashion to an output that represents leading and managing change in an educational environment.

In this role, instructional coaches are serving as second change facilitators (SCF) as described in research conducted by Hall and Hord (2015). Here, the SCF is paired with the site principal to initiate/fortify an instructional strategy or provide training on new curriculum and assessments. Because the instructional coach is acting as the SCF, they must rely on “soft” leadership skills to carry out the implementation. Research has demonstrated that the combination of the leader (principal) and the non-leader (second change facilitator, or instructional coach) is extremely powerful in advancing new initiatives (Hall and Hord, 2015).

Infrastructure The infrastructure gear represents the collection of formal and informal organizational structures that provide the foundational environment for shared change leadership. At present, all 23 district schools make use of minimum day Wednesdays for teacher collaboration time and professional development. Instructional coaches (teachers on full release from the classroom) are also deployed at all 23 school sites. Instructional coaches lead teams of teachers in professional development initiatives. More importantly, they engage with

Infrastructure Community Empowerment

20 |


Another valuable Val Verde infrastructure component is the Professional Learning Leaders Educational Action Strategy Emissaries (or PLLEASE) committee. PLLEASE is made up primarily of volunteer teachers with a sprinkling of administrators. PLLEASE’s sole mission is to determine, design, develop, and deliver quality professional learning that is deemed by teachers to be relevant and necessary. It was the PLLEASE committee that was instrumental in the January 4, 2016 professional learning day I mentioned above.

Infrastructure Community Empowerment

tructure nity werment Community

The function of the community gear boils down to encouraging lateral relationships, promoting “best practices,” and promoting the concept of the instructional coaches and principals being the Lead Learners alongside (not over) teachers. The concept of Lead Learners can be found in research highlighted by Fullan (2007). Building a community of learners requires reinforcing a culture that is founded on the principle of Motivate, not Mandate. Here, administrators are constantly seeking opportunities to encourage and promote (not mandate) “pockets of innovation.” Promoting successes trumps catching mistakes. Currently, positive reinforcement is provided very efficiently through mechanisms such as walk throughs by administrators simply taking a quick picture of the teacher/student action and tweeting it out on the school or district Twitter account. Twitter provides an excellent forum to capture brilliant moments and share them with a community of learners. Leading through mandates and using the evaluation process to demand the use of instructional shifts is leading with the wrong driver (Fullan, 2007). Empowerment The empowerment gear represents the concept of shared ownership of change. One of the best practices that cabinetlevel administration engages in is visiting all 850 classrooms districtwide on an annual basis. This activity provides an opportunity for cabinet members to see all teachers in action and witness their creative brilliance. During these unannounced visits cabinet members, the president of the teacher’s association, and the president of the classified association have the opportunity to witness best teaching practices and encourage teachers to share their work. Likewise, new discoveries can be captured and memorialized for the purpose of scaling districtwide. Scaling of ideas supports the concept of shared empowerment. Teachers are continuously sharing best practices in a technology

rich environment where applications such as email, text messages, Twitter, Facebook, Google Docs/ Drive, etc. provide rapid and wide-range broadcast communication. Most of the best ideas we have scaled across the district have come from our own teachers!

To summarize, Val Verde USD realizes that effective change cannot occur if based on mandates from above. A shift has resulted where change leadership is shared and change ownership is pervasive. “Motivation” replaces “mandate” as the operational watchword for making things happen. Another positive outcome of collaborative change design is that the resultant change initiatives tend to be more “win-win” as opposed to “zero sum gain” in nature. There are rarely losers — mainly winners. A change framework has evolved that can be explained as the interaction of three components — infrastructure, community, and empowerment. The framework is continuously evolving. Technology plays a key role by providing both efficient, effective communication for sharing and scaling information, ideas, successes, challenges, etc. and the means for institution of instructional and other support systems. Who leads the change? Who owns the change? In both cases — we all do! References: Fullan, M. (2007). The new meaning of educational change. New York: Teachers College Press. Hall, G. E., & Hord, S. M. (2015). Implementing change: patterns, principles, and potholes. (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Michael R. McCormick is proud to serve as the Superintendent for the Val Verde Unified School District. Most recently, he served for six years as the Assistant Superintendent for Education Services. He has been an administrator for 18 years and an educator for 24 years. McCormick was named Administrator of the Year by the Riverside County Office of Education in 2012 and by the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) in 2015. Under his leadership, VVUSD has been recognized by Education Trust West as “tops among California districts Closing the Achievement Gap,” named College Board AP District of the Year in 2012 and was featured in the National Center on Educational Outcomes publication Moving Your Numbers.


| 21

Feature Rick Rubino, Superintendent, Gridley USD

MANAGING CHANGE IN SCHOOL CULTURE In 1915, the famed educator John Dewey wrote a book entitled Schools of Tomorrow in which he groused about the conventional public schools of his day. Dewey believed that education needed to adopt new instructional approaches which emphasized freedom and individuality in response to the changing world he saw emerging. He also contended that failure to do so would be detrimental to our young people. In one of his most widely-quoted commentaries, Dewey predicted that “If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.” Writing this a century ago, Dewey never could have imagined the digital world and expanded learning networks that are available to our students today. Nevertheless, he did know that, as the age of compulsory education in schools was dawning, darker forces were designing how and what our children were learning. He knew that the wealthy industrialists of the time such as Carnegie, Rockefeller, Morgan, and Vanderbilt had demanded an educational system which produced students who would become obedient, compliant, and productive workers. Dewey knew it was not their intention to produce critical thinkers and creative learners but, instead, to turn out young adults who would be well-suited as laborers on their assembly lines and factory floors. Sadly, in many classrooms across the country today this educational system, required by the industrialists of the early 20th century, still persists. In many classrooms nationwide, students, seated in rows of desks, “sit and get” passively while teachers, often unwittingly, fill “empty vessels” with memorized content. It is for this reason and more that we now have a moral imperative which cries out for educational systems change which more accurately aligns learning with the 21st-century skills that our students will need for jobs that, in some cases, have not yet been invented. In the Gridley Unified School District we’re making the case for a change toward 21st-century teaching and learning which emphasizes the development of the “Four C’s”—with Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking—in our students. As Dr. Tony Wagner, esteemed author of Most Likely to Succeed, Creating Innovators and The Global Achievement Gap, states, “Well the world no longer cares about what you know. What the world cares about, what the competitive advantage is, is what you can do with what you know.” Dr. Wagner’s words inform us that, to prepare students for the 21st century, we must embrace substantive changes to

22 |


the aforementioned status quo in public education. In order to navigate such changes it’s critical that districts understand how to manage this change in their school organizations and cultures. To that end I offer, for your consideration, the following six principles that are leading our work in the Gridley Unified School District: MAKE THE CASE FOR CHANGE: These days, school districts have access to a wealth of information to review, including data on student achievement, English Learner growth and the closing of achievement gaps, student attendance, graduations rates, and much more. If, after your data review, you determine that your results are exactly where you want them to be, simply do nothing. Nonetheless, I predict that in 99.9 percent of the schools and school districts can still be found a plethora of areas where student improvement is needed. Remembering Albert Einstein’s famous definition of insanity as “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” reminds us of the inevitability of systems change. On a positive note, in California, the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) has provided school districts with opportunities for the sharing of these critical data and the inclusion of stakeholders in the process of addressing new ways of operating as an organization. COLLABORATE AROUND THE CHANGE: Necessary change will never be fully accomplished from the top down. In a school district, central office administrators, site level leaders, teachers, classified staff, students, and parents must all be engaged in the need for change and the change process. The more opportunity and encouragement these constituents are given to review data and provide input, the more they will feel a part of the change and the more school-community engagement in the change effort will take place. Research shows pretty clearly that a greater sense of ownership is more likely to lead to a more successful change implementation within any organization. Additionally, in our district we’ve

C

H

A

created Professional Learning Community (PLC) Leadership Teams at each school site and provided an annual paid stipend for its members. Trained by Rich Smith, formerly of Sanger USD, our PLC Leadership Teams have learned how to analyze data with their grade level and department colleagues which then communicates their instructional adjustments back to the site PLC Leadership Team in a continuous cycle. In this way, the strategies for change can be coordinated at the site level and in some cases consolidated into an articulated effort. PROVIDE THE NECESSARY TRAINING: As our district has moved in the direction of 21st-century teaching and learning the one thing we’ve heard the most from our staff is “We need more training.” Whether it’s the implementation of Common Core Standards, the Integration of Technology into Instruction, Strategies, Structures and Scaffolds for English Learners and Students with Disabilities or the strengthening of Professional Learning Communities, teachers and administrators in our district have told us, “We want to do these things well, but we need more training.” This is why we have invested in Common Core training from Doug Reeves’ Leadership and Learning Center, and the English Learner Group from Fresno, and have sent a substantial number of teachers and administrators to CUE conferences and CUE Rock Star Camps. Additionally, Gridley has the distinction of being only the second district in the State of California to hold its own CUE Rock Star Black Label in October 2015. THE PRINCIPAL LEADS THE CULTURE OF CHANGE: From as far back as 2002 Michael Fullan of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto has been saying that when principals lead the culture of change at their sites, in collaboration with teachers, it guarantees deeper and longer-lasting reforms. Those of us who have been in education for some time recognize the changing role of the principal in public education. This role has changed from principal as “plant manager” who supervised facilities,

N

G

E

supplies, safety, and discipline, to one of Site Instructional Leader. Principals must now be conversant in all facets of learning, including being able to not only lead staff through instructional initiates, but to also model and coach teachers in effective classroom instructional practices. THE DISTRICT LEADERSHIP TEAM EMBRACES THE PRACTICES OF SYSTEMS LEADERSHIP: In many school districts the district central administration and principals still spend their time focusing on “administrivia.” While there are certainly many important school district logistics to be discussed, the focus of the district leadership team should be spent on more crucial practices such as continuous data review, the implementation of effective instructional practices, the establishment of a district-wide, coherent instructional program, and the fulfillment of district mission and goals using a Professional Learning Community design. START WITH WHAT YOU WANT STUDENTS TO BE ABLE TO LEARN AND DO: A true Systems Leadership approach must always begin with what we want students to be able to learn and do in the classroom at every level and grade. Whether it’s a second grade ELA lesson or a high school AP Calculus class, we should always be able to define what specific outcomes we’re expecting from our students. Once we’ve identified these outcomes, we can then determine what specific supports teachers need to achieve those outcomes with their students. By moving through the school system from the bottom up, principals can then determine what they must do to assist teachers in achieving these desired student outcomes. It then becomes the role of the District Office to find meaningful ways to support the principals and the specific actions and services that have been determined at each site. The Gridley Unified School District is proud to be one of 15 districts across the State of California to be selected to participate in the Association of California School Administrators continued on page 31 cue.org • Summer 2016 OnCUE

| 23

Feature Sara Boucher

CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT I used to be one of those teachers who detested change and wanted everything to stay the same. My very first year I imagined staying in my same school forever, the same district, and I thought I would be teaching second grade forever. After a few years in the classroom, I can gladly say that change has been the best thing for me and also for my students. Without change these last few years, I would still be teaching second grade and not feel as satisfied with myself as a teacher. Managing change doesn’t always come easily. It is overwhelming to experience any type of change. I’ve learned over a few short years that there are a lot of ways to manage change in teaching without the overwhelming part. I have been teaching at the school for the last four years and have seen quite a bit of change in our school and district over the last few years. When I first started teaching, my school was in an area of high socioeconomic status; we were a nine-month school; we had many veteran teachers; we had the same principal since the school opened; and my district didn’t have enough open positions to fill the needs of the incoming teachers. Since that time we have done a 360-degree turn. Our school has changed into an area of middle socioeconomic status; we are now a year-round school; the majority of our teachers are new; we have a new principal; and we don’t have enough incoming teachers to fill the open positions in our district.

as many parents signing up for PTA or attending our events so we had to find a way to get parents into our school and our community. We have since set up events that parents can attend before, during, and after school to accommodate their work schedules. Every month, our counselor has a skate night which kids can attend, our principal has set up a “Principal’s Tea” with parents once a month, our teachers stay later for parents when needed, and PTA also sets up school dinner nights at local restaurants. We are making changes for our community and though it is slow, it is working. At a district level, we are doing our best to help out more than 1,000 incoming new teachers. New teachers are required to complete 45 hours of classes that are offered throughout the year. We have seen that teachers really enjoy different models when it comes to learning. Our district now offers traditional classes at night or on the weekends; teachers can attend our New Teacher Symposiums that are half-day mini conferences; and new teachers can also attend our Education Meet Ups (EMUs) that are after-school roundtable discussions where teachers have freedom to pick and choose what they want to learn.

Over the last two years there have been a lot of houses, apartments, and condos built in our area, which has changed the culture of our school as well as our size. We quickly went up to more than 1,000 students and had a high transit rate. While this wasn’t unusual for Las Vegas to have so much change so quickly, this was unusual for our school.

Teachers are also assigned a mentor at their school or close to their school someone who is there to help them through any questions or concerns they may have throughout the school year. Mentors must go through two courses to understand how to best help their mentee both in and out the classroom. Mentors check up on the mentees to ensure they have fulfilled their requirements, let them know of events going on, and shadow their mentee or model a lesson.

We saw a shift in the families that we were getting in. Many families would stay for a few months or come at the end of the year. They weren’t interested in attending events at our school, which was unusual for us. We had a history of having a solid foundation of families that stayed from kindergarten until fifth grade, stay-at-home parents who could help with any and all school events, and parents who regularly attended the PTA meetings.

Along with all of these amazing professional developments and mentors, we have also set up Social Meet Ups (SMUs) where new teachers can get to know other new teachers in the district. Some of the SMUs we have had include a production of Rent at a local high school, hiking beautiful Red Rock Canyon, and enjoying a film screening of a movie. We want to ensure that our new teachers are not only taken care of when it comes to learning, but also their own well-being.

When our school culture started to change, we had to change the way that we approached our community. We didn’t have

Through these changes in our district, we are seeing that our new teachers are excited to attend these professional

24 |


developments, are utilizing their mentors for guidance, and are finding their own PLN (Professional Learning Network) through the SMUs. We have been working hard to ensure that our new teachers feel the love and want to stay in teaching here in Las Vegas. The last big change that I have gone through was changing from a classroom teacher to a specialist teacher. I was offered a job as a technology specialist where I would see all of our students in a six-day rotation. Going from 20 kids to more than 1,000 was a big jump and it also meant that I had to tackle a new curriculum. I had all the curriculum I needed when I was teaching second grade, but when I took this job, I felt like I was out of the loop. I had no idea what I was going to teach, how I was going to pace it, and I didn’t have a budget to start with. I started looking for other educators on Twitter, found an awesome Voxer group, read blogs all summer, and attended a CUE Rock Star Camp where I found other teachers doing amazing things in their own technology classes. They taught me the ways of coding, robotics, digital citizenship, computer science, and so much more. Since I didn’t have a budget, I had to get creative; so I started a fundraiser and held after-school clubs to raise money for my class. It wasn’t easy the first few months but my students and I made do with the little amount of technology we had while having a blast learning. Without the support of my students and PLN, I may have not been able to go through such a big change. Luckily, I had an entire support system on- and offline who were able to help me start up my class and make it amazing. Working with my PLN has also given me the chance to present at the STEAMpunk Playground at the CUE National Conference this year. Without all of the struggles and the changes, I wouldn’t have such a great opportunity to showcase some pretty amazing technology.

Change doesn’t come easy for anyone but you can manage it by working through it and finding a solution. At our school and district we are trying our best to be a positive change in the community. That is what our kids deserve. We have great students and amazing teachers, wonderful teachers, and killer administrators who really do care about education. Anyone can be upset by change, but it is inevitable. The best thing to do is keep a positive attitude and even take part in the change. Sara Boucher is a 4th year teacher who is a K-5 technology specialist in Las Vegas, NV. Currently she is cultivating the next crop of super-geeks in her technology class. Sara also organized the first Edcamp Vegas and enjoys presenting for her district and at out-ofstate conferences.


| 25

Feature Dave Burgess

CUE 2016 Fall Conference Keynote Speaker

THE ATTENTION SPAN MYTH “These kids today have ZERO attention span.” “Students can’t focus on a task for more than a few seconds.” “How can I teach complex content to kids who have the attention span of a flea?” You’ve probably heard these kinds of comments from educators over the last few years as they try to convince you that today’s students are just “wired differently.” I think it’s hogwash. I think it is a gigantic, albeit persistent, myth. Here’s the truth: That same student with the short attention span will go home and game for eight straight hours! They’ll barely be willing to set down their controller long enough to use the restroom. Food? Maybe after they level up. I’ve seen my son intensely focus while gaming for hours at a time, all the while socially interacting with friends and working collaboratively to overcome challenges while under pressure. Short attention span? I don’t think so. Our students don’t have an attention span problem. Many classes have an engagement problem. The Teach Like a Pirate philosophy always entails discovering what engages students even (especially!) outside of school and then asking “What is it about gaming that draws students in?” “What principles are embedded into popular games to keep people playing more and more in an almost addictive fashion?” The gambling industry analyzes these exact questions for far less noble purposes. We are trying to get kids hooked on learning, collaborating, overcoming obstacles, and developing resiliency in the face of daunting challenges. If the gaming industry has insights into how to do this… we should listen! It’s a multi-billion dollar industry and even though they make games to play… they aren’t playing. Trust me… they study this stuff! Taking these game mechanics and seamlessly embedding them into how we run our classes and deliver our curriculum is called gamification and it is transforming education around the world. We are proud to have released the ultimate guide to show educators exactly how to incorporate these powerful ideas into their classrooms. It was written by gamification and game-based learning guru, Michael Matera (@mrmatera),

26 |


from Wisconsin. It is the third book in the Teach Like a Pirate series and it’s called, eXPlore Like a PIRATE: Gamification and Game-Inspired Course Design to Engage, Enrich, and Elevate Your Learners. It’s jam-packed with practical strategies that you can immediately implement in your classroom…literally tomorrow! Dave Burgess is a teacher from San Diego, California and a professional magician specializing in stand-up comedy magic. He was a 2001 and 2012 Golden Apple winner in the Grossmont Union High School District and the 2007–2008 Teacher of the Year at West Hills High School. He has been voted a faculty standout for 17 consecutive years in categories such as Most Entertaining, Most Energetic, and Most Dramatic. He specializes in teaching hard-to-reach, hard-to-motivate students with techniques that incorporate showmanship and creativity. Dave will also be the Opening Keynote at CUE 2016 Fall Conference on Friday, October 28. Dave is the co-author of P is for PIRATE: Inspirational ABC’s for Educators and the New York Times best-selling author of Teach Like a PIRATE, which has sparked an educational revolution all over the world. Visit www.daveburgessconsulting.com.

Feature Barbara Barreda

LEARNING NETWORK FOCUS MANAGING CHANGE: AN INTERESTING CONCEPT

“Managing change” is an interesting concept. A number of sources, including the Wallace Foundation, tell us that as little as two decades ago the principal’s role was primarily managerial. That role has shifted dramatically with a new emphasis on student achievement and the idea of principal as learning leader. While there are managerial elements to our work as administrators, traditional “management” may not be the best or most effective use of our time. As a site-based administrator my own style has evolved over the years and has been influenced by the circumstances of the school communities in which I served. It is easy, especially in the beginning, to be overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the work we are asked to do, and just managing all that work might be the best we could do on any given day. Over time we begin to develop different perspectives on our work and, as we become more reflective, we are better able to prioritize our work and develop a mindset that will focus on growth. We all know that change is inevitable, but it is also a critical element in the process of school improvement. To focus on change as growth starts with the recognition that school is not about being administrators, teachers, or students; it is about being learners. When we start from this stance it evens the playing field and sends the message we will find the answers together. As the lead learner what is our role in the change process? There are four practices that I believe we must balance and cultivate to encourage and support change. We need to be MODELS, MENTORS, ADVOCATES, AND COACHES, and we need to move seamlessly back and forth among these roles during the day. MODEL by definition means to show, demonstrate, and be an example. As administrators, how do we model learning? Sharing our journey, our successes, and our failures when we try something new is essential to creating a culture of growth and learning. We need to learn to curate information, ideas, and new pedagogies so we can share them with others, and we need to be transparent in our learning. When we see ourselves as the lead learner; it drives everything we do from how we deal with the next new thing to how we use our budget and how we use our time. MENTOR is often defined as a counselor, guide, guru, or advisor. Mentors work with the willing, the curious, those who want to know more. As a mentor we don’t have all the answers but we do know how to work things through, and we use our learning and networking to help create a learning network for our staff. The most critical part of being a mentor is that we do not simply hand off responsibility to the

innovators on staff or the technology teacher, but rather we remain actively part of the process. As an ADVOCATE we are a believer, a supporter, an activist, and a backer. To make new things possible, our staff needs us to celebrate their efforts. Having built a common vision we advocate for whatever is needed within our institutional structures to make that vision a reality. As an advocate we do more than give the staff permission to be innovators. We actively run interference, clear away stumbling blocks, and make change possible. The final role of COACH requires some balance. Many of us have professional coaches or teachers on special assignment who serve our school sites, but as administrators we, too, need to know when to take on a coaching role with our staff. A coach by definition is a trainer, tutor, or instructor, and as a principal that means we need to give the teachers the opportunity to be learners. A coach often teaches by demonstrating and working side by side with those they coach, and a good coach also knows when people need to do things for themselves. This brings us full circle and reminds us that school is about being learners. As a community of learners, change takes on a new meaning. Change is what we do. It is a journey of discovery we embark on together. Barbara Barreda has been involved in education for 24 years, first serving as classroom teacher and for the last 15 years as a sitebased administrator in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. She believes that a good administrator needs to lead by example and take seriously the role of “lead learner.” She currently serves on the Board of Orange County CUE (OCCUE) and is co-chair of the Administrator’s Learning Network for CUE.


| 27

Feature Pam Hernandez

PD TO PERSONALIZE DISRUPTIVE CHANGE I used to be one of those teachers who detested change and wanted everything to stay the same. My very first year I imagined staying in my same school forever, the same district, and I thought I would be teaching second grade forever. Boring staff meetings begone! We can redefine learning, not just for our students, but for the educators who are leading the learning by personalizing professional development and by capitalizing on the passion educators bring to the profession. Districts across the United States are embracing a more diversified approach to professional learning, and moving away from the one-size-fits-all manner. There is a growing understanding of the need to diversify staff development to meet the needs of the beginning as well as the experienced educator, the tech novice to the tech guru, and for those who excel at lesson design and those who are still honing those skills. Districts across the country are increasingly embracing the internal expertise of staff with an understanding that employees within the organizations are often better able to tailor professional learning to align with the needs and culture of the district, site or department. Yes, districts are beginning to place greater value on the high level of embedded organizational knowledge, resulting in an environment where capitalizing on the ability to train internally fosters a greater sense of appreciation of staff expertise, building confidence among staff for their personal skill sets as well as creating loyalty to employers who clearly communicate through these actions that they value their staff’s professional knowledge. Combining these embedded organizational strengths with outside resources to enhance professional learning opportunities has been an important step in the process of supporting personalized professional growth and validating educators who have different strengths and interests as well as different areas of expertise and experience. The education profession is also starting to grow in its understanding that the responsibility for providing and accessing professional learning opportunities no longer rests solely in the offices of the curriculum and instruction department or the district office. Disruptive technologies and professional pedagogical approaches have created an inherent shift as to who owns the learning. Social media, online and blending learning models have created a

28 |


dramatic shift in how, when and where we learn. Smart phones and tablets as well as anytime, anywhere Internet access have created on demand professional learning and collaboration opportunities. Standing in a long line at Starbucks? Check out your Twitter feed. Waiting in line at the grocery store? Check out the latest on the Pinterest boards you follow. Waiting in line at a fast food restaurant or at a ball game? Check out your professional Facebook feed. Sharing a carpool to and from work? Create a mobile learning collaborative to enhance your professional growth. Have some downtime and are looking for something to do? Participate in an edchat or listen to a podcast. Not only are these resources available 24/7, the opportunity to share them with a professional learning network is only a tap or click away. While these opportunities are quickly and easily available, there continues to be work to be done to make use of them systemic within the profession. The Personalized Professional Learning Gear of the Future Ready Framework is being led by the Alliance for Excellence in Education and the U.S.

Department of Education. It offers assessment, guidance and tools to assist districts in setting direction on how to create a culture of shared ownership and responsibility for professional growth using 21st-century skill sets. The Office of Educational Technology within the US Department of Education has provided a free and robust online toolkit to guide educators in taking organizations through the process from assessing readiness to providing a personalized approach to professional learning and through the evaluation phase. While these tools are valuable in guiding and setting long-term vision as well as creating an organizational action plan, there is still a need to support leaders in growing their foundational base of knowledge on why we should be embracing this personalized approach to learning. How do we create a culture in which it can thrive? How do districts let go of full control over the professional development process and still demonstrate accountability to that process? There is a hunger for an understanding of what tools exist to support such a model and how to use them.

Districts across the country are increasingly embracing the internal expertise of staff ... In order to create the most effective education teams in our schools, leaders, the ones who set vision and direction, the ones who are responsible for the allocation of resources, need to work in partnership with our boots-on-the-ground professionals. To ensure that district and site articulated initiatives continue to be supported as well as the personal growth direction of our employees, professionals at all levels in an organization must understand the tools available today that allow professionals to connect, build relationships, learn from and support one another. So how do we do this? Let’s take a look at the tools and forums that have grown organically into powerful platforms for the 21st Century educator. EdCamps are popping up all over the country. Educators who previously wouldn’t dream of giving up a Saturday, are spending untold hours organizing and attending these “organic, participant driven professional learning experiences created by educators for educators.” Twitter edchats and Twitter feeds are available 24/7.

Educational professionals are, as a group, no longer willing to sit compliantly in redundant or irrelevant staff development meetings and complain quietly to one another in the staff lounge about their time being wasted. There is a vested interest in changing the professional educational learning culture that was once marred by staff feeling that their time was being wasted. Education professionals are starting to take control of their own learning.

Edchats and hashtags by subject matter, grade level, professional area of expertise or passion, pedagogical approach, professional position, state and country delineation or book being read are available both at preset times or as convenient to the user. Periscope allows educators to share and experience live events virtually with other professionals. Pinterest is full of boards that support classroom design, tips of the trade, technology tools, classroom interventions and supports, just to name a few. Facebook, in addition to being a platform to connecting with continued on page 34 cue.org • Summer 2016 OnCUE

| 29

Feature Dr. Darryl Adams

MANAGING CHANGE TO CHANGE CULTURE “Change is Inevitable. Change is constant. Change is everywhere. Manage change or it will manage you.” I believe that the three main components of managing change in an organization, business or institution are trust, relationship building and effective communication. TRUST: Without some level of trust, constituents, team members, customers, teachers and staff will not believe you or believe in you! RELATIONSHIP BUILDING: Just as important is the need to cultivate positive relationships. As you establish trust, you build positive relationships and you build positive relationships by getting to know people and letting them get to know you. EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION: People will trust you and be willing to build a relationship with you only if you are willing to make them feel important, look them in the eye and speak plain truths in a personable engaging way.

establish and maintain trust; remember you are being watched so handle your business honestly and ethically.

If you are trustworthy, authentic, and if you are also willing to share your strengths and your weaknesses, you lay the foundation for managing the change in culture needed in your school, organization or business.

Building relationships is another key component of effectively managing change. Team members, customers and constituents want to trust you but they also want to know you. Do not be afraid to share parts of your life that are applicable to who you are and what you stand for.

Establishing Trust Establishing trust is essential in managing cultural change. People will support you and trust you if they are congruent with and they can identify with what you stand for and with what you value. One way to establish trust is to always be open, honest and ethical. As a role model for your organization, people will watch you and analyze your every move and decision. People will also watch what you allow and if it is not in line with your values, you will begin to lose trust. Members in the organization will also scrutinize how you make decisions and who is included in the decision-making process. Just as there is no “I” in Team, there is no Leader without Followers and no change without Trust! Leaders who manage change effectively should not work in isolation, but in concert with their team and with constituents, board members, upper management, union leadership etc. These interactions help to

30 |


Cultivating Positive Relationships

Until I shared my upbringing of being born and raised in a poor section of Memphis, Tennessee, most of the people in my school community thought I was from a privileged background. But after sharing stories of trial and tribulation and how those experiences shaped my life, we all realized we had much more in common than not. I was also open and honest about failures and disappointments in my life and how they helped me become a better person and leader. As I opened up, team members opened up and we all began to build empathy toward each other and a camaraderie that steels us against apathy and negativity. Effective and Personable Communication Effectively communicating the vision, mission and goals to a school community, business or organization helps to promote a change in culture. When I came to my district, I quickly

realized that a change in culture was necessary. I sought to find the one common denominator that we all would look at and say that needs to be changed. I began to speak about the one data point that raised concern and I knew it would also raise concern in our school community. And that data point was this: approximately 30 percent of our graduating students went on to college but only 16.5 percent graduated from college. By using this information, I was able to show the community that something needed to change in our culture and in our expectations. I spoke about how that statistic was unacceptable, especially since I had students coming back to me and complaining about being placed in remedial English and math classes in their freshman year in college. It was quite clear to me and to everyone that something needed to change academically and culturally. Effectively communicating the need to transform our entire system of educating, our way of thinking, and our expectations led to a change in culture that has seen our graduation rate go from the mid 60 percent level to the 80-plus percent level. Our college-going rate has increased to 50 percent and our college graduation rate has also increased. Our culture now and our primary reason to exist is known to everyone, and that culture expects “All students will graduate prepared for College, Career and Citizenship!” This change in culture is shared by the entire school community as a whole. In conclusion, managing change to change culture is possible if one can establish trust while building positive and productive

relationships and communicating in a personable and engaging way. The more these principles can permeate throughout your school, organization, or institution the more successful you will be in serving those who rely on your products or your service. Dr. Darryl S. Adams has spent 28 years as an educator/ administrator with the goal of preparing students for College, Career and Citizenship! He has served as a Music Teacher/ Band Director, Assistant Principal, High School Principal, Assistant Superintendent, and Superintendent. Dr. Adams was selected by the White House and the US Department of Education as one of the Top 100 Innovative Superintendents in America and was praised by President Obama for the district’s 1-to-1 iPad initiative and the district’s innovative Wifion-Wheels program ensuring equity and access to technology and the Internet. Under Dr. Adams’ leadership, voters in the Coachella Valley Unified School District approved Measure X, a 21st Century Teaching and Learning educational technology initiative that has placed an iPad in the hands of every student from pre-school through high school. Dr. Adams was also most recently named by the Center for Digital Education as one of the Top 30 Technologists, Transformers & Trailblazers. Dr. Darryl Adams’ mission is to ensure that all students are provided with a holistic, rigorous and relevant curriculum that includes technology tools and broadband internet services in order to have access and equity to 21st Century learning opportunities 24 hours a day.

continued from page 23 System Leadership Collaborative. This systems leadership training brings together school and district leaders from all 15 districts to work collaboratively with Michael Fullan and Mary Jean Gallagher from Ontario, Canada, Jay Westover of InnovateEd, and Lyle Wells of the Flippen Group to focus on research-based frameworks and proven leadership practices for building capacity of district systems. The goal of this two-year training program is to foster the implementation of effective practices that positively affect both the classroom and student achievement while defining a strategic focus, establishing organizational structures and developing high performing school cultures. While in Gridley we recognize that we still have a long way to go, we’re encouraged every day that we are on a defined path to continuous improvement. Rick Rubino is serving in his fourth year as the Superintendent of the Gridley Unified School District, only the second district in California to create its own CUE Rock Star Camp Black Label. Previously, Rubino served for eight years as the Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources for the Martinez USD and as Director of Certificated Personnel for the Mt. Diablo USD for three years. He also served as a principal for a combined 13 years in both the San Leandro USD and Fremont USD. He was a classroom teacher for 11 years and considers himself, first and foremost, a life-long learner.


| 31

SPOTLIGHT ON MEMBERS OnCUE chats with CUE members Laurie York, Ed Campos, and Vanitha Chandrasekhar What is your title? LAURIE: I am the current president of the newly-formed North State CUE affiliate as well as a fourth grade teacher for Gridley Unified School District. VANITHA: My title is Educational Technology Coordinator for Long Beach Unified School District and I am in the Office of Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development. I work closely with the staff to develop curriculum, as well as professional development in integrating technology into the content areas. I liaise closely with our IT department to ensure that the infrastructure and support systems work seamlessly to meet the emerging technology needs for teaching and learning. As opportunities arise, I seek and write grants to support instructional technology and also teach educational technology courses in the School of Education at UC Irvine, and in the UCLA Extension program. ED: I’m a high school math and technology teacher for an independent study high school in Visalia, California. I teach several integrated bath courses, a Bootstrap course (coding videogames using Algebra), and a video production class. I also offer tech support and coaching for my staff when I can. Oh, and I reset Google passwords. Why did you choose to become an educator? LAURIE: I made the decision to become a teacher when I was in elementary school. I have always had a propensity towards sharing knowledge. Being a catalyst to help others see their passions and potential makes my heart feel full! Working with children (even when I myself was one) has always been a part of my personality. VANITHA: Initially I had never thought of getting into education, but when I started to volunteer in my son’s school I found joy and excitement in working with children and seeing growth in their learning. This convinced me to get my credential and I have found it to be the most rewarding experience ever and continue to find ways to enhance my skills to support teachers and students. ED: I became an educator because I love to help and empower young people through education, especially when it comes to math and technology. These skills have opened so

32 |


many doors for me. I love learning and being around learners. Helping young people navigate through life easier through the gift of education and mentoring is the best reward and worth more than gold. What is the biggest challenge facing California schools today and how can it be overcome? LAURIE: The world is constantly changing and, as educators, we need to adapt our teaching to be of most benefit to future generations. I believe that a growth mindset is of utmost importance. We have to focus on what is best for our students; not what is easiest for us or simply “what we’ve always done.” Traditions are great, but sometimes attitudes and plans need to be removed in order to make way for what’s most needed now. VANITHA: One of the biggest challenges in California is the expanse as well as the diversity of our student populations from urban to rural and widespread school districts. Equity of technology infrastructure, support systems and resources is one of the biggest challenges. We have come a long way in trying to bridge the gap, but we still have quite a ways to go before we ensure that each and every child in the state has access to updated digital tools and resources. We need legislation and associated funding that will provide equitable access for all students in California. Along with this is a need for extensive professional development and technical support in our schools. ED: I think the biggest challenge California schools are facing is the lack of vision and leadership that comes from ongoing quality professional development from the district level on down to the classroom. Too many administrators and teachers are ill prepared to lead their schools and communities in the right direction and fearful of what they don’t know so they stick to what they do know. We can overcome it by getting connected to the energy, passion and innovation of networks like CUE and the Edu Twittersphere. These networks can turn ed leaders into the #PDSnob that they deserve to be. Once plugged in, your only choice is to lead and take risks because of how much safer you feel with that strong, supportive network behind you.

Left to right: Laurie York, Vanitha Chandrasekhar, and Ed Campos institutions and higher ed schools. Higher ed is where our future teachers are gaining knowledge on meeting the needs of our growing digital native students. CUE needs to encourage more higher ed folks to be a part of the organization, present and work closely with K-12 educators.

When did you join CUE and why? LAURIE: I became a CUE member during the fall of 2014. Discovering CUE was a miracle! I found my forward-thinking, tech-savvy tribe! Within one year, I attended a fall, National and Rock Star conference, presented at a Black Label event, and spearheaded the formation of North State CUE! It has been a thrill! VANITHA: I joined CUE 20 years ago. My school had just received a technology grant and wanting to learn best practices, I joined the organization; possibly the best decision I have made. The very first conference I attended helped me appreciate everything this organization has to offer. The opportunities have only grown with year-round professional development, legislative advocacy and affiliate support. CUE continues to expand and flourish and I look forward to being an active member of the organization for a long time. ED: I joined CUE after I went to ISTE 2012 in San Diego and had my mind blown by sessions from Jon Corippo, Alice Keeler and Nicole Dalesio. That weekend, I was introduced to the CUE culture and I was digging every last bit of it. I've attended every CUE National Conference and numerous CUE Rock Star camps since, and I've even presented at a few. Where does CUE need to grow? LAURIE: Being from the North State, the first area of growth I noticed is the one I am attempting to create: rural collaboration. CUE is an amazing organization that exemplifies partnership, personalized learning and futuredriven technology. It is these effective practices that need to be promoted in all areas of California. VANITHA: I do believe that CUE has grown a lot in terms of widening their offerings, but one area I would like to see growth in is in promoting collaboration between K-12 educational

ED: I love how the CUE fever spreads among teachers and would love to see that fire spread as wildly among administrators and district level positions. However, I see the recent CUE Rock Star admin camps as starting to address that. I'm excited about where those camps are headed. Maybe CUE could grow in expanding the diversity of lunch options at Rock Star events. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Panera... but I wouldn't be opposed to a taco truck either. I like tacos. What do you like to do in your spare time? LAURIE: I enjoy tending to my garden, exploring nature, finding new coffeehouses (well-made cappuccinos are very important), and watching various documentaries. VANITHA: I love to spend time with my family, travel, read and knit. ED: I enjoy spending time with family, reading, hiking or playing golf. One of my favorite things to do is tailgate at the Rose Bowl for UCLA football games. I also love travelling to a new country every summer through a non-profit teacher travel program (geeo.org) that I'm a part of. What is your favorite hashtag? LAURIE: Can I have two? I sincerely believe that my PLN would not be the same without the folks of #caedchat and #cuerockstar! VANITHA: #CUE, #beachcitiescue and #proudtobelbusd ED: My favorite hashtag is one that my students gave me, #StraightOuttaCampos, because I like to think teach with a similar street energy, expression, and passion that NWA rapped with. It's my favorite hashtag because my students love it. Our class is raw, real and expressive. They have a blast with it and some even rep #StraightOuttaCampos logos in their binders sleeves. When my students walk #StraighOuttaCampos classroom, I hope they leave with more energy than they entered with and keeps them coming back. cue.org • Summer 2016 OnCUE

| 33

continued from page 29 friends, has become a virtual professional treasure trove for sharing resources and having interactive conversations with other professionals. LinkedIn provides a great forum for virtual networking. Voxer allows for a combination of the many strengths of the multiple social media platforms to occur in one setting. With this application, educators connect by personal professional interests in groups that allow for synchronous and asynchronous sharing of resources and discussions. They have the ability to participate in text and audio chats, the sharing of linked resources, pictures and video, starring and liking Voxes along the way. The Voxer Edcamp model as led by Sarah Thomas and her team over the winter break in 2015 connected educators across the country on a variety of professional learning topics in a format that combined the strengths of several social media tools. This EdCamp highlighted the hunger for personalized professional development among educators across the country as 506 participants from across the United States and Australia participated in this week long 24/7 professional learning event during the week of Christmas. Also worth taking a look at for high quality personalized PD are educational podcasts, and if you want to get really cutting edge, check out the educational conversations on Blab. Creating a culture where true personalized learning thrives takes intentionality. It takes buy-in from key stakeholders and a long-term plan. The first year is about creating the culture in which this learning will thrive. It is about letting go of control, guiding all staff through the process of creating personal professional learning goals, and exploring the tools available to support this growth. Accountability is created by incorporating the professional growth goals into the observation and evaluation conversations and documentation. During the second year of implementation, or when the organization’s culture is ready for next steps, establish how district and site leadership will model and share their personal professional learning goals and demonstrate accountability. Engage all staff in establishing personal professional learning goals for the year, allow for face to face conversations to share professional passions and support and collaborative articulation around the tools can be used to support these goals, as well as what other more traditional professional learning opportunities the district may support.

Educational professionals are, as a group, no longer willing to sit compliantly in redundant or irrelevant staff development meetings and complain quietly to one another in the staff lounge about their time being wasted.

Creating a culture of innovation that embraces a disruptive approach to professional development will allow for classified, certificated, and administrative staff to learn from each other, share their professional passions and areas of expertise, and embrace collaboration that impacts the level of expertise in the organization. Begin by establishing the cultural expectation that 21st-century tools will be used to support professional growth. Teach staff members at all levels of the organizations what platforms are available and how to use them. Engage in an organization-wide system of goal setting, reviewing, and evaluation. Finally, enjoy the process of a becoming and being at the leading edge of professional growth.

Pam Gildersleeve-Hernandez is the Superintendent of the San Antonio Union School District in southern Monterey County. Passionate about preparing students for the 21st-century workforce, Pam believes our number one investment is in our people. This happens by providing both certificated and classified staff with the knowledge and tools to guide our students.

34 |


2016 CALENDAR For more information: cue.org/events

June 26 - 29, 2016 ISTE 2016 Conference Denver, CO conference.iste.org/2016/

July 21-22 CUE Super Symposium Skywalker Ranch at Big Rock cue.org/supersymposium

October 28 - 29, 2016

CUE 2016 Fall Conference Napa Valley, CA fallcue.org

YOU’RE A for transforming learning, teaching and leading with technology. Join 20,000+ educators and education leaders at the world’s most innovative meeting of ed tech minds. Registration is now open for ISTE 2016 in Denver, Colorado, June 26-29.

REGISTER NOW 1,000 SESSIONS

#ISTE2016 isteconference.org 500 COMPANIES

4 DAYS

ENDLESS LEARNING

June 13-15 Sequoia High School, Redwood City, CA June 14-16 Chico Country Day Charter, Chico, CA

Leading Manufacturer of Battery Powered Portable PA Systems Contact Us Today for a Free Demo.

June 15-17 Leyden, Franklin Park, IL June 15-17 Mammoth Middle School, Mammoth Lakes, CA June 21-23 Rancho Minerva Middle, Vista, CA July 12-14 Seabury Hall, Makawao, HI July 12-14 Rio Vista Middle School, Oxnard, CA August 2-4 Boston Area, MA In partnership with MassCUE August 2-4 Del Norte County Office of Education, Crescent City, CA

MADE IN THE USA

SIX YEAR WARRANTY

800.262.4671

anchoraudio.com


| 35

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID K/P CORPORATION 94578

CUE, Inc. | 877 Ygnacio Valley Road, Suite 200 | Walnut Creek, CA 94596 phone 925.478.3460 | fax 925.934.6799 | email [email protected] | website www.cue.org | twitter @cueinc

OCTOBER 28-29

Registration now open. Space is limited so register early.

American Canyon High School, Napa Valley, CA

www.fallcue.org

#fallcue