Halloween Post - What is truly scary?

My Halloween Post - What is truly scary?

After having endured the positive and negatives of social media for years while doing what so many people attest is really great work at my school, I have come to the following conclusion - Facebook is scary.  No change that, Facebook gives a platform to people who are scary.  While so many great things can be accomplished via social media, Facebook and other platforms provide folks who have an agenda the opportunity to bully folks who truly don't deserve it.   Where else in your life, or in this universe, can you say whatever your want, free from repercussions or reprisals?  While I sometimes feel the desire to fire back at the haters, when you get into an argument with a fool, after a while it's hard to tell who is the fool.  So I guess I'll just drop back and punt, turn the other cheek, and take solace in the fact that karma always catches up these folks.  It's like you should never go to the grocery store when you are hungry.  You should never post when you are upset or angry.  Me?  Not angry, just frustrated.  And a little sad.

22 Page Views?

Come on now!  That last post on Real Writing was good.  It only got 22 page views today???  I guess that's what happens when you post like once a year and people stop reading your blog. Please feel free to share that post, as well as my blog address with folks who might be interested in trying to stop the "big stakes testing" runaway train from completely derailing any hope that public education might have in the years ahead.  Thanks for reading and spreading the word.

What is Real Writing?

When you think about why and how you write as a "grown up", do you ever have to respond to a question after you have read a story or an article in a magazine or a newspaper? (e.g., . "Write an essay analyzing how the author’s organization of the passage helps the reader to understand the tasks. Use information from the passage to support your response.")  This Text Dependent Analysis prompt, or TDA, comes directly from the South Carolina Department of Education website and is a sample of the type of question contained on the SC Ready writing assessment for 9 and 10 year olds in South Carolina.  There are a number of writing tasks that I take on as a "grown-up". Thankfully it's not responding to a prompt like that one.  How would you respond?  I know, right?

Unfortunately, most of my "grown-up" writing is centered around responding to someone's inquires via email.  While lacking opportunities to be creative, being an effective communicator in the genre of " email writing" is critical.  I don't tweet, but there a numerous examples in today's political world of what happens when folks that aren't necessarily the best writers in this genre open their mouths and open the floodgates.

I like to fancy myself a fairly effective "real writer" as well.  I write a weekly newsletter to my school community that has been very well received over the past four years by an audience of about 250 readers.  This blog has over 100,000 page views.  Hopefully some of the visits and revisits to my blog are related to the enjoyment folks get from reading my posts.

My point to this post (yes I am finally getting to it) is that writing should be about creative expression, not about formulaic responses to TDA's.  I want my students to love writing, to be excited about the possibility of sharing their thoughts and feeling with others in their lives.  I want them to be able to write mysteries, and poems, and love letters, and fables, and blog posts, and lyrics to songs, and anything else that shows who they are and who they hope to be.

Unfortunately, as long as there are TDA's, and whatever else the test makers come up with in the future to "judge" writing proficiency,  kids across this country will learn to hate writing.  And that my friends is a crying shame.   In the words of Gustave Flaubert, The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.  

I believe we are going down the wrong path.

 

So how do you judge a school's success?

So how do you judge a school's success? How good is your child's school?

Does anyone really believe a school's performance can be determined by how a subgroup of the total school population, sometimes as young as 8 years old (that's right - 8 years old) scores of a battery of tests that are entirely too long, while at the same time too narrow, written (devised is probably a better word - sounds a little more contrived) by educrats who have no idea what skills or knowledge our kids will need in the future?  In the words of Chris Berman, "C'mon man!"

Even the folks at ABC news get it. (I know, shocker!) In a post entitled Future skills: Report reveals tools school kids will need to thrive in jobs market of 2030, the authors outline what schools should be focused on as we prepare kids for this uncertain future.  You can check out the post at the following link:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-27/what-skills-will-the-future-generation-of-workers-need/8747610

As I read this and almost identical articles about what kids will need to succeed, I see so little correlation with our current curricula.  Why?  It's a classic "tail wagging the dog."  As long as we spend hours, change that, days, change that, weeks, change that, months in pursuit of putting up a good score on state mandated accountability tests, we will continue to do a tremendous disservice to our children.  The saddest part to me? So many folks in this business who I believe truly want to do what best for kids, have gone down the rabbit hole, like lemmings into the sea.  I think about the Lorax (note: The author's name deleted here to avoid controversy), who stood up, confronting the madness and said, "Who will speak for the trees?" Well, "Who will speak for the children?"

"C'mon man!"

Checking In...

Hi All,

I just wanted everyone to know that I am still alive, still trying to change the world, and still so crazy busy that I have not been able to carve out the time to post.  My apologies.  I'll be posting more often in the coming days, talking about technology and what's going on at Carolina Voyager Charter School.  

I'll also be using my blog as a personal therapy tool as we try to avoid going down that rabbit hole where so many schools have gone, chasing test scores and preparing kids for testing rather than life.  Yeah, our kids didn't do as well as they had done the year prior on the end all and be all state assessments and we find ourselves doing a lot of self-reflection.  I'll keep you "posted" on our progress.

Thanks for reading!

Marathon Kids Running Club at Carolina Voyager Charter School

When I envisioned starting a Marathon Kids Running Club at my school, I figured I might have 25 students sign up to run each week.  By the second week of our program, I had 113 runners (out of student body of 129 kids!).  Our Marathon Kids run 1 mile during their Monday PE class, 1 mile after school on Tuesdays, and 1 mile on Fridays.  In addition, we encourage our children to run and track their miles outside of school.  Our goal for this school year is for our kids to run 104. 8 miles, or the equivalent of four marathons.  Just recently we were awarded a substantial grant from Marathon Kids and Nike to cover the costs associated with the operation of our club.  A special thanks goes out to Nurrie Wilson for her support of our kids.

David Quick, reporter for the Charleston Post and Courier, published an article this week about our running club.  Check it out at the link below.


http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20160112/PC1211/160119843/tapping-the-marathon-goal-for-young-students

First Marathon Kids Running Club in South Carolina

     This fall, Carolina Voyager Charter School kicks off their own chapter of Marathon Kids, an exciting new running club.   Marathon Kids was born out of the belief that kids deserve to live happier, healthier lives. Kay Morris, a self-described “middle-aged, slow runner,” founded Marathon Kids in 1995 after being motivated by completing her first running log. She created a program based on the idea that this same simple concept could motivate kids, boost their physical activity and introduce them to the joy of running.  Marathon Kids has partnered with Nike to take this youth running program to the next level.  So far, Marathon Kids has transformed the lives of over two million children.  

     Marathon Kids at Voyager meets weekly after school on our campus.  All parents and family members are invited to join us each week for our run.  Over the course of the year, our Kindergarten, First, Second, and Third grade students will run the equivalent of two marathons (54.2 miles).  Their last mile will be a community celebration at a surprise site off campus.  For each mile they complete, students will earn charms to proudly display on their Marathon Kids necklaces.  Once finished their first marathon, they will receive specially designed Nike T-shirts and a certificate of completion.

     The Marathon Kids Club at Carolina Voyager is one of a number of wellness programs being offered at the school.  The goals of Voyager’s Wellness Committee are to provide educational activities to promote our student’s physical and mental well-being.  Other wellness activities at the school include planting, caring for, and harvesting food from our school garden, participating in cooking and nutrition activities with the Executive Chef Kevin of Indaco Restaurant Charleston, learning with Dr. Warr, our MUSC Adopt-A-Doc, learning about nutrition through our Wellness newsletter, and participating in two daily recess periods. All of these activities are building life-long habits that will ensure our children live happier and healthier lives.
     Carolina Voyager is excited to be the first Marathon Kids Running Club in the South.  We join hundreds of other clubs all across the nation, running for a healthier life.  Be on the lookout for our kids sporting their Marathon Kids shirts at one of the many road races that are such a part of our Charleston community.
     Anyone interested in learning more about the Marathon Kids program at Carolina Voyager may contact Dr. Harry Walker, School Leader, either by phone (843-203-3891) or by email (hwalker@carolinavoyager.org)  We welcome donations to support this great program for our children. 

            

A Positive View of School Choice

            The school choice and charter school movements have taken it on the nose in recent discussions related to reformation efforts in the Charleston County School District.  A great many conversations have been generated following the publication of the Post and Courier’s recent series on school choice.  While most of the attention has focused on the unintended consequences to some area schools, we need to balance the conversation and not lose sight of the positive impact that school choice has had across Charleston County.

            The need for greater diversity in the downtown schools is a common thread heard at each Charleston County Board of Trustees Meeting.   While everyone embraces the concept, little headway has been made to ensure that district schools reflect their surrounding neighborhoods.   While a principal in a traditional public school, I came to view public charter schools as somewhat an enemy of public education.  Today, as I begin my second year at the helm of a successful charter school, I have come to recognize that charters are not the problem, but rather an important part of the solution to fixing what is troubling the public schools.  Can they help address the issues facing downtown schools in CCSD?  We believe they can.  Our charter is successfully making inroads to help reknit the social fabric in this city we so proudly call home.

             Carolina Voyager Charter School, located downtown at 30 Race Street, is offering school choice to a diverse group of 130 children and their families, many of whom have had few choices in the past for their children’s education.  Located in the same downtown zip code as the district’s schools with the highest percentage of minority students, Voyager’s student body is one of only nine CCSD schools (out of a total of 84 schools) that come close to mirroring the demographics of the school district.  Our current student population is 48% White, 40% African American, and 6% Hispanic.  Over 40% of our children qualify for free or reduced lunches.  While our students come from all over Charleston County, nearly half reside in downtown or in North Charleston neighborhoods.  Our parents come from all walks of life; single parents struggling on public assistance, doctors and nurses, street sweepers and sanitation workers, law enforcement and firefighters, account executives, and restaurant and hospitality workers.  Our children are learning to participate and contribute effectively in an environment that reflects the society in which they will need to grow and prosper in their future lives.    

            In our first year of operation, significant growth in student achievement was recorded in both and reading and math.  The overwhelming majority of our students exceeded one year’s growth in their reading skills as measured by the Fountas and Pinnell Reading Benchmark Assessment.  Students reading on or above grade level in Kindergarten increased from 25% in the fall to 71% in the spring.  In First Grade, students meeting or exceeding expectations for reading increased from 16% to 74% over the course of the year.  The percentage of second graders reading on or above grade level increased from 64% to 85% from the fall to the spring.  In Math, Student Growth Percentile Scores on the STAR assessments exceeded expectations in all three grades.

            In addition to the pride we feel about our students’ achievements, we are proud of our diversity and our sense of community.  They provide me with daily reminders of the feelings of unity and togetherness that followed the tragedy at Mother Emmanuel.  Unraveling segregation in our schools is no simple task.  No one single approach will work.  There are islands of hope and promise right in the midst of our community.  Our charter school is one such place.  Readers can learn more about Carolina Voyager by visiting our website at http://www.carolinavoyagercharterschool.org/ or our Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/CarolinaVoyagerCharterSchool?ref=hl.  I also invite interested readers to call the school at (843) 203-3891 to arrange a tour.

Harry Walker, Ed.D

Founding School Leader

Carolina Voyager Charter School

Still reading? I'm still trying to change the world...

I stink at blogging.  Seriously stink.  So sorry.  I certainly don't deserve 52,300 page views. Nine months since my last post? 

Life continues to get in the way of sharing news with the world. We continue to change the world, one small corner of it at a time. Current project - changing the social fabric of Charleston, SC.  Can one school really alter the face of public education in a city school system that after years of good intentions, remains pretty much segregated and under performing?  Margaret Mead said it best - Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.  We are small, but we are thoughtful, and at times think we should be committed.  You can catch up on the latest happenings at our sweet little school in Charleston - Carolina Voyager Charter School at:

https://www.carolinavoyager.org

Thanks for reading and for the umpteenth time, I'll try to do a better job of posting.  Promise...  Yeah, right.

Got Code? Carolina Voyager in the News (Again)

Great news for anyone still reading my blog.  I am not dead.  Just dead tired from trying to change the world...

Opening this new charter school is more work than I could have ever imagined.  But, more importantly, the most important work I have never done.  Ah, the world of charters.  The stories I could tell, and I will, once I don't have  to play nicely with folks who say they stand for children and clearly do not.  But, I'm in the South and one of the first rules of Southern civility is to be nice even to people who are not nice to you or the charter movement.  I wish they followed the same rules. There's a book in here.  Just not now.

Now, it's about my amazing staff and students and the work we are all doing down here in South Carolina.  Here's the most recent piece from the Charlestown Post and Courier.  Check it out below:

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20141226/PC16/141229680

I won't promise again that I will post more often as I barely have time to come up for air (and Cabernet).

Public education is in trouble.  Charters so want to help. We are not the enemy...

Updated Contact Information

     A number of people have reached out requesting updated contact information.  I am now the Proud Principal of Carolina Voyager Charter School in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. You can reach me at hwalker@carolinavoyager.org or by phone at (843) 203-3891.  Please feel free to reach out to collaborate.

Carolina Voyager Charter School in the News

A big thank you goes out to Amanda Kerr, Education Reporter, for the article she penned in Charleston's Post and Courier newspaper.   The article, published yesterday, highlighted the blending learning program we are implementing with our kindergarten, first and second graders.  You can read the article at the following link:

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140902/PC16/140909991/1006/ 

This will be the first of many articles published highlighting the great work being done by our children, teacher and parents.  Stay tuned..... 

The Right Perspective in this Age of Over-Assessment

     Thanks to Jennifer, our Project Director, for sharing this link with me, which of course, allows me to share it with you.  

     In this culture where it seems some schools spend as much time testing as teaching, comes this breath of fresh air from a colleague in England.  All assessments, yes even those Holy Grail Assessments - PARCC and Smarter Balance (always reminds me of the fake butter) are only snapshots of a child, a small slice of what makes up that individual student.  My brother-in-law, a photographer, used to tell me you have to shoot a whole roll of film to get just one good picture that truly captures the subject.  Snapshots may be out of focus, shot at the wrong angle, or at the wrong time.  Snapshots may or may not reflect the image on the other side of the lens.  The same holds true when assessing children.     

Check out this letter from the principal of a school in England.  I got chills.  I know it will have the same effect on you or else you wouldn't be reading my blog.  Pass this along to other like-minded educators...

After receiving their standardized test results, students at the Barrowford Primary School in Lancashire, England received a letter from their principal Rachel Tomlinson. The letter, posted below, reminds students of all the things a standardized test doesn’t measure. The letter was inspired by fellow educator Kimberley Hurd, who penned a blog post last October…: 

http://twistedsifter.com/2014/07/principal-writes-to-students-about-standardized-tests/

Up and Running, Like 90 Miles an Hour!

     So much for my New Year's resolution to be a better, or at least more regular blogger.   My latest adventure into the charter school world has monopolized my world as of late.  Moving forward, I pledge to try to do a better job of documenting, through my blog, our school's journey in our first year.

     As an life-long educator, opening a Charter School is a dream come true, it's just that you never get to sleep in order to enjoy the dream.  Having spent all of my career in large public school systems, I have also had at my disposal an equally large network of support personnel to handle the A to Z of school operations.  Got an issue?   Pick up the phone and call one of the offices.  Pick up the phone now?  I reach my own voice mail.  In the past two weeks I've learned more about accounting, budgeting, finances, payroll, purchasing, custodial, infrastructure, compliance, ADA, benefits, human resources, and the list goes on and on.  I am a shining example of an old dog being able to learn new tricks.  While at the time I was not so thrilled to be learning all of these new things, as the School Leader, I have a much better handle on the big picture, all of those things that have to be in place so that when those little guys show up on the first day of school, nothing gets in the way of them having a stellar school experience.
     As building upgrades are being completed, infrastructure is being installed and classroom furniture, technology and materials are being delivered, I am now more focused on the teaching and learning aspects of what will make our school so special for our boys and girls.  The vision, so artfully developed and articulated by our Charter Committee, is becoming a reality right before my eyes.  Stay tuned for additional posts chronicling the experience of building a charter school from the ground up.  In about a month, the kids will be arriving at Carolina Voyager Charter School and we'll be ready for the adventure of a lifetime.

Where Do I Get My 411?

     In this day and age, I can’t believe I find myself posing this question.  Where do I get my information?  Online, of course!  Google it, right? 

     I can’t remember the last time I picked up a reference book to search for anything.  As I pack to move to South Carolina, I find myself donating dictionaries, thesauruses, atlases, reference books, and almanacs to the Salvation Army, doubtful that I will have any use for any of them, unless of course the Internet goes down.  In that case, the world would have to shut down anyway.  (Have you seen that South Park episode?)

    So why this post?  As I was walking through my school library today, I observed my Media Specialist teaching a lesson on using print resources materials, posing questions such as, “Which reference book would you look in to find the population of the United States?” Really?  Do you mean the population in 2011 (or even earlier when the book was published), or the real time population today?  If I had a question about population, it would be much more interesting like looking at demographic trends over time in cities, regions or counties in my state or country.  Can you enter these types of variables into your reference book and then resort the data?  Don’t get me wrong.  I love books.  I’m old.  But come on.  Why are we teaching kids to access static print resources when the world is at their fingertips?

    And therein lies the rub and one of the reasons I am looking to lead in a less static environment.   Parents are entrusting me to take care of their children's education when they are away from them.  They don't need their parent's education, most of which is, or soon will be, obsolete. The world is dynamic.  Too many of my colleagues and our schools are not.  

     I want to be able to live and work and explore in the here and now (and the future).  If something needs to change because it doesn’t make sense, I want to be able to do it, without focus groups, curriculum review committees, pilots, let’s wait until next year, and that’s not how we have always done it.  I wish I had made this big move earlier in my career.  But then again, maybe I would not have appreciated it as much as I do today?  

     Make a difference, especially if you are mired in one of the those thousands of bureaucracies across the country known as school systems.  Create change.  If not you, who? 

     In my mind I’m going to Carolina….

Carolina Voyager Charter School in the News

     The vision of Carolina Voyager Charter School is getting closer and closer to reality.  The word is spreading about the innovative and child-centered programs that will be offered to children on the Charleston peninsula.  This past weekend, I appeared on one of the local news shows in Charleston for an interview about our school.  You can check out the piece linked below:

http://www.abcnews4.com/category/192556/lowcountry-live 

     CVCS is going to be a exemplary program, one that is certain to draw a great deal of attention in the coming years.  Continue to follow this blog as I chronicle the process of operationalizing a vision into an actual school program.  My next post will present our curriculum framework, incorporating research-based practices in an innovative platform.  

Chasing Beautiful Questions

     In a recent address to Howard County Public School Principals, Dr Freeman Hrabowski, President of the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, spoke of the need to develop our student’s curiosity as one of our most important missions.  This same sentiment has been expressed in works by some of the biggest thinkers out there (Tony Wagner in Creating Innovators, Amanda Ripley in The Smartest Kids in the World, Yong Zhao in Catching Up or Leading the Way, and one of the smartest people I know, Stephanie Harvey in Strategies that Work).  Steph also says “Smart isn’t something you are. Smart is something you get.” 

     We need to ensure those kids who enter our school brimming with questions and curiosity, leave our school even more curious and asking even greater, or more beautiful questions.  Unfortunately, too many schools today are not set up to foster this kind of inquiry.  By the time kids leave school, we have retrained their naturally curious brains, requiring them to answer our questions much more frequently than they are encouraged to ask their own questions.  The future will require so much more of our current students.   Information is no longer king, as it can be accessed instantly as needed.  Curiosity is, and will continue to be the new currency.

     The motivation behind this post, besides the years of trying to change the system?  Well oddly enough, it was an article I read in the Southwest Airlines Spirit Magazine on one of my recent trips to Charleston.  The article entitled, Chasing Beautiful Questions was written by Warren Berger.  Mr. Berger also published a book entitled, A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas.   You can check out the Spirit article below.  Be curious.  Check it out.  Ask some beautiful questions.   Go ahead, you can do it.

http://www.spiritmag.com/features/article/chasing_beautiful_questions/