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Kara Heinrich was Vice Principal at La Seda Elementary School when she told this story. She is no longer with the district.
Through this work with Ball, I see the district turning into a professional learning community, knowing that the knowledge and best practices are within our own people, and within our own thoughts and actions. We’re now bringing that forth by opening the doors of classrooms. People are de-privatizing their practice. To see all this sharing going on, along with the facilitation that is encouraging people to share has been very meaningful.
One specific thing I’m seeing happen as a result of this work with Ball is that relationships are starting to form amongst the administrators. Even though we’re a unified school district, the elementary division and the secondary division pretty much keep to themselves. Ball has brought us together, and we’ve formed relationships with each other. For example, the elementary vice principals have gotten together now on our own with the secondary vice principals just to have lunch or to meet and talk. We’ve never had these relationships before and we’ve rarely shared between divisions. The elementary VPs would sit on one side of the table and the secondary on the other side of the table. Now we intermingle, and I feel I have a connection with people.
I think what prevented this from happening earlier was the lack of vehicle for collaboration. Even though we collaborated in bits and pieces, it wasn’t consistent. Ball has provided the same type of consistent vehicle for us to meet around the common goal of the strategic plan. I know these kinds of relationships are going to happen with the teachers because I’m already seeing the same sparks occur. Before, they kept everything to themselves, and now they’re asking for us to, “Come on in and watch this lesson.”
To see how Ball has facilitated this process without forcing their opinions or telling us how we should do it, but instead bringing us to our own conclusions has helped me as an administrator. Whenever I’ve met with Ball, I’ve been very conscious about watching how things are done because the process sparked something inside me. The experience was so different from what I’m used to, and I liked it because I felt like I was a participant. I felt like I was part of the whole decision-making process, and I wanted other people to feel that same way. So, I’m using some of the facilitation practices we’ve learned in my work with individuals and groups to help them come to their own conclusions, to solve their own problems, and to come up with best practices that work for our students.
Just recently, we had a team leadership meeting in which we talked about the future of La Seda, and how to move forward. We were speaking specifically about how to tie in Response to Intervention (RTI) at our school for students who are at risk. The principal and I knew what kind of direction we wanted to go in, but we needed to hear where everyone else wanted to go. We were able to use facilitation practices that we’d seen at meetings with Ball that allow people to bring up their own thoughts without feeling that they’re on the spot. Some really good things came out of the meeting about what people would like to see for the children – things that we never would have thought of.
My greatest surprise in working with the Ball Partnership has been the tremendous support they’ve given us. Their support has touched everything in the district, which is so meaningful, especially now that we’re going through tough times. Ball has helped us to be more cohesive as things get a little hairy with the budget. I think they’ve brought this out through their questions, and through laying out the brutal facts in a kind way for everyone to see. They keep telling us, “Hey, you still need to maintain that focus on moving forward. Even though you’re going through these tough times, you’re going to make it, and you’re going to be better for it.” It’s almost like having a personal therapist. Ball has been a coach, a cheerleader, and a counselor.
I feel like I’ve been blessed to be a part of this work with Ball. The people of Ball have been so genuine and great, and I’ve learned so much. I would just like to say thank you.
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Debi Klotz is principal at Rincon Intermediate School.
This school year (2008-09), Rincon had the opportunity to create its own strategic plan based on the district’s new strategic plan. We also designed ways to implement the plan at Rincon. Part of the purpose of this process was to lay the groundwork and foundation for other schools to follow. It was the resources and support from the Ball Partnership that enabled us to engage in this process. Our work with Ball also made it possible for us to think outside the box and start coming up with some new ideas.
We started by putting together a core committee made up of myself, parents, teachers, students, and classified staff. The people who made up this team were selected from different programs, and included parents who were already involved at the school. This core team developed a mission statement, objectives, and four tactics that will guide the future direction of the school.
After we developed these things, other teachers, classified staff, parents, and students got to volunteer to be on a tactic team. They investigated and developed ideas of what each tactic might look like for us at Rincon. So far, we’ve come up with plans to start implementing some of the tactics for next school year. We realize that it’s a flexible model, so it will be changing as we go. But we’ve come up with some really creative and innovative ways to help kids learn and enhance their literacy.
Our first tactic has to do with building the school community. We’re going to be exploring the way our school is physically structured. One of the things that is really difficult to do is find the main office because it’s right in the middle of the school and all the buildings look exactly the same. No one can tell you where the front of the school is because everyone comes in through the back. One of the ideas was to jazz up the front of the school a little more so people would know that’s the front. Then maybe we could paint some roadrunner footprints (the roadrunner is our school mascot) that lead people to the office – a “follow me to the office” kind of thing. Like when you go to a hospital and they tell you to follow the blue line or the yellow line.
Our second tactic deals with “school to high school” and “school to college/career.” We have the Career Pathways program at the high schools, and there’s a seventh and eighth grade component that gets the students to begin identifying career paths. We want the students to do a career interest inventory so they can get more in tune with their career paths and start talking about them more. We want them to see the connection from intermediate school to high school to college, keeping their college/career interests in mind.
The third tactic is about public relations for the school. That group talked a lot about changing the logo of our school. We won’t be doing that next year, but we will be enhancing our technology and communications. Our website is not very good, so I’m having some previous Rincon students who are currently in high school do some technology work over the summer. One of them has become quite a webmaster, so he’s going to design a new webpage for us next year. We’re also going to start doing more things for parents online. So for those parents who need computer access, we’ve put some computers in the parent center.
The last tactic is about curriculum, and one of the big curriculum changes we’re going to start next year is more heterogeneous grouping for the students. We want to start mixing the kids and putting them into more established teams. The teachers attended training on differentiation and heterogeneous groupings because some of them aren’t used to mixed groups.
As part of this fourth tactic, we also want to do more inquiry and project-based education. For example, say in a history class students are studying Lewis and Clark. Instead of the teacher just talking about the expedition, the students would be engaged in different projects about Lewis and Clark at varying depths depending on their abilities. Right now we have the RAIS program – Rincon Academy of International Studies. It’s part of our GATE program. The students do a personal project of their choice at the end. We had one student do a “fashion of the decades” project. She took aspects from the 20s through the 80s and incorporated them into her own kind of look. Usually only the GATE students have the opportunity to experience these kinds of projects. We want all the students to have this opportunity because it’s good for all kids. With these changes, we won’t have just regular classrooms, we’ll have engaged classrooms.
The feedback I’ve gotten from the people involved in this process has been very high. When each of the tactic teams presented their ideas, the parents on the core team all came back to hear the ideas and say “yay” or “nay” or question them. That part was very powerful. It was nice to see that their work was taken seriously.
The process for me was great. So many people, so many ideas. I loved it. For me, it was like “fair shared management.” I’m the manager and I realize that I’m ultimately responsible, but when everybody sees that their ideas are extremely valuable and are actually implemented, it helps create a culture-sharing school. It’s a win-win situation, and there’s a lot more buy-in for the plan.
I’ve also changed how I work with my staff. For example, we have late starts on Tuesday mornings and usually something is planned for the staff on those days. I took all those things off the table and said we were going to work on strategic planning. The district had given us a deadline, and we were going to meet it. A lot of people said, “No, we can’t deal with that. We can’t do it,” but they did. The staff would go out and do research and then report their findings. I don’t remember the staff ever doing that before. They would do that for their own classrooms, of course, but not for school wide initiatives or programs. So that was a big change. Plus, I wasn’t in a group even though I visited each group every week. The downside was I wasn’t involved in a group, the upside side was I wasn’t involved in a group. So it’s not a plan I came up with – which is huge. But to me, it’s a very positive thing. I’m really proud about the work we’re starting to do right now here at Rincon. And I believe that, as a result, the way we meet in the future will change as well.
It’s been nice to have the Ball Partnership as critical thinking friends. Someone that you can think out loud with and really let your mind go. So many times with the day-to-day business, we get so tied up with what’s happening at that moment, we don’t have time to sit back and reflect. I think that’s one of the things I’ve probably done more of recently than at any other time – to think and reflect on my work, and actually discover things that I would do differently. Normally, I would not have taken the time to think about things, and just kept repeating those things that may or may not have been as useful to do. So for me, going through this work with Ball, I keep getting reminded to stop and think and reflect on what I’m doing and who it effects and if it’s positive, and if it’s getting the results that I want.
Word cloud created at wordle.net.
Laureen Kuwaye was a seventh grade teacher at Giano Intermediate School when she told this story. She is currently a science and math teacher at Giano.
For me, my really big epiphany came during the Network Days when I saw how much importance my colleagues put on literacy. This importance may not be reflected on a daily basis, but we all are on the same page with getting kids to be readers.
I didn’t go into the Network Days with any expectations. Instead, I went in with what little I know as a classroom teacher. I know what I know, and I’m open to those things that I don’t know. I was open to hearing other people’s perspectives, because a lot of times, you go into these meetings thinking, “This is the one cure-all.” And it’s never the one cure-all. But then when you hear the different perspectives from others, it hits you. You say, “Oh, I hadn’t thought of that,” or “I wasn’t thinking that way.” The norm in our groups at the Network Days is always to be open to different perspectives. That was a really big eye opener in that we truly believe in this as teachers.
The time away from the classroom to talk to our other colleagues and have those professional conversations is priceless. I think that’s the most powerful and effective communication that we could ever have as teachers. Being allowed to think out of the box, to challenge point, to be able to say, “What about this,” or “What about that?”
I’m also on the restructuring committee for the district. We’ve had to consider how we do this work better with less. The new school year coming up poses a big transition for us, however, it leads us back to the core of teaching – without all the technology, with just a pencil and paper. We have to find our love and passion for teaching again, and then learn to roll with the punches and the budget crisis, having fewer resources, but still maximizing the time with the students – motivating both them and ourselves.
There were no preconceived notions with the restructuring because we were going back to scratch. There was nothing we could fall back on. We only knew what we knew, so the principals came with their knowledge, and the classified came with their knowledge, and the certificated people with theirs. We were put in a room all together, and we said to each other, “Oh, I get to see your point and yours. I didn’t realize it’s not as cut and dry.” Then we thought, “How can these three groups work well together for the betterment of the students?” Sometimes we said, “Oh my gosh, I jumped the gun. I went too quickly and assumed too much.” Ball made us take a step back and reflect.
A lot of times, as teachers we go, go, go, and we don’t have time to reflect. That can do more harm to the students than just taking five minutes to reflect. You have to know your students and realize, “From where we are, I need to stop and redo this so that it will be better later.” I look at this restructuring of the district in the same way. We’re getting to the point where we’re saying, “Okay, this is where we are, we need to back up – which will take time – but when we go forward, we’ll be so much more empowered as teachers and eventually our students will be empowered.” It brings it all back down to passion for teaching, and I think we have a lot of that.
I’ve also noticed that my teaching and interaction with students has changed as a result of this process. I sometimes forget that we may be the one adult that ends up reaching that kid. I hope that no kids get past me that I don’t have some kind of influence on their lives. Ball reminds us that there’s a gift in every kid – there’s a diamond in the rough. Sometimes we forget this, especially with the ones that challenge us the most – and they’re the ones that need us the most. We have this saying in the restructuring, “There’s a fire and then there’s a gift.” I don’t want to focus on the fire. I want to look at each student and think, “This is you.” It’s the core of teaching.
Word cloud created at wordle.net.
Elena Luna was a math, science, and English teacher and part-time administrator at Giano Intermediate School; she is now a teacher and director of several programs at Santana Alternative Education Center.
Let me first begin by thanking the Ball Foundation for giving me an opportunity to network and travel to Chicago. My first experience was to step out and get involved in the Strategic Planning committee dealing with parent involvement. I met some amazing people from the district that I had never met, which led me to working with Principal, Patricia Cuesta. I met her, we hit it off, and that brought me to teach at Giano Intermediate. Moving to Giano Intermediate opened up the opportunity not only to teach a couple of single subjects, but to do student discipline, administrative duties, and participate in many committees.
Prior to coming to Giano, I was teaching at Northam Elementary. I have been in elementary nine years. One year at the intermediate level and one year at the High school level. Some of the districts I have taught at are: Glendale, Los Angeles, Pomona, and Rowland.
Traveling to Chicago with the Ball Foundation to participate in a weekend workshop on parent involvement gave me the opportunity to network some more and to meet a lot of authors and amazing people who have written books on the subjects that we have been dealing with. It made me realize that no matter where we are in the world, we’re dealing with the same issues: parent involvement, teacher training, and student issues. These were the exact same three issues that the strategic planning committee has been dealing with. It was wonderful to see that connection.
Moreover, the networking with the Ball Foundation has enriched my learning both professionally and personally. As a teacher, if I have a question, I know who to call and say, “I’m dealing with this,” and that person will say, “Try this or try that.” On a personal level, I’m networking a lot and getting more involved in the district, which I never would have done otherwise.
Since this interview, I have been hired by Santana Alternative Education, known as Santana High School. I am the Director of the ACCEPT Program and Coordinator of the Infant Center. This program is geared toward helping pregnant teen moms and dads acquire their high school credits to graduate from high school and move on to college. During their busy day, we take care of their infants, while they accomplish their goal. We also provide our teens moms and dads with outside services, such as WIC, Counseling, educational guidance, and community services.
Finally, I continue working with the Ball Foundation because it gives me opportunities to continue growing personally and professionally. The entire experience has been networking, collaborating, enriching teachers and my students– it’s an ongoing learning process.
Word cloud created at wordle.net.
Elizabeth Rios is a kindergarten teacher at Northam Elementary School.
The Network Days opened my eyes to how these partnerships between teachers can come together. I also see how they’re going to benefit my students because I find myself thinking, “Oh, if I could just do some of these ideas with my kids.”
One particular kindergarten teacher told me that she has parents come in thirty minutes before school starts so she can teach a whole lesson to both the parents and their kids. I thought, “This is so neat. I want to do something like that,” especially because I’m interested in family literacy.
I also talked to a junior high teacher from Giano who was interested in assessing his students’ reading ability but didn’t have any tools for it. So, he and I decided that we would get together so I could teach him some of the assessments I’ve been learning in my Master’s program. Then I met a few high school teachers who told me that some of their students have a lot of needs and a lot of tough stuff going on at home. And I thought, “So do my kids.” One of the high school teachers then talked about how every morning he has his students tell him about one good thing and one bad thing that have happened to them. Again, I thought, “I could do that with my kids. I could sit and say, ‘Good morning. How was your day?’” Meeting all these people from other grade levels and schools has made me realize that I have a lot more in common than I would have thought. I don’t think any of us would have met or talked if we hadn’t been involved in the Ball Foundation.
I’ve never experienced this kind of collaboration at this level. We do grade level and cross-grade level collaboration at my school, which has been really good, but we’ve never collaborated like this. There’s a huge difference. To me, this is a more professional and higher level of collaboration. We used to have workshops where we would get together, but we weren’t collaborating. We weren’t talking professionally about research or about what we were doing. It was more like we were being talked to as students, not learners – at least, not the kind of learner that I want to see in my classroom who actually takes care of his learning. In this higher form of collaboration, the conversation is different. We’re bringing in our ideas and our interests, and the conversation is more open and free-flowing. It’s more like, “What do you want to do? Where do you want to go with this? How do you want this to come about?” We’re being asked to make judgments and professional decisions based on research and good practices and readings.
I’ve seen my practice change as a result of this collaboration. I now look more to what’s research-based, to professional readings, and to what other people are doing. If I have a question, I have an open discussion with people, getting their ideas and feedback. Plus, it’s opened up our classrooms to having other people come in. You feel a real comfort level knowing that someone who’s coming is coming in to support you. The Network Days especially make you feel a real and genuine support of what you’re trying to do as a teacher.
I also think, “Wow, there are so many ideas to try.” It opens your eyes to other things that you didn’t even think about. Or you look back and wonder, “Maybe I’ve been a good teacher, but have I been a great teacher? Am I doing the best things for my students?” I’m really excited about this process, and I think I’m very lucky. I feel like I ended up in the right place at the right time and made the right choices the whole way. I’m excited again about teaching. You can get kind of resigned in your teaching, but then I think you can get excited again every time you learn something new, every time you get to meet other people and discuss things. Your work doesn’t feel like a job then. Instead, it becomes like a calling to do something at a higher level.
Word cloud created at wordle.net.
