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Bright Spots in

Bright Spots in 'Bama

Personalized Learning  |  Blended Learning  |  School Districts  |  Innovative Leadership

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One of the greatest things about being at Ed Elements is that I get to talk to inspiring leaders and teachers and see how they are transforming their classrooms. In some cases, I get to watch the transformation unfold through our work together. In others, I walk into a school or district and get to see all the amazing work they have done already.

Last week I took a trip to Alabama and over the course of a few days had some terrific conversations with leadership teams about what they had accomplished and what they still wanted to do. In addition to these discussions, I also had the chance to visit not one, but two, school districts where they were showcasing the work of their schools. And I was inspired.

Piedmont City Schools is a 3 school district led by Superintendent Matt Akin. Under Matt’s leadership, there is wireless internet access throughout the city. As one teacher said, “Before we did this, kids would come sit on the lawn of the school to get internet. It wasn’t fair so he changed it.” Matt also moved the district to 1:1, encouraging teachers to incorporate technology to change the way they teach. “Now I can’t imagine teaching without it!” another teacher commented. Alongside over 100 other people who came to tour the district, I saw classes where students were using technology to do everything from map the phases of the moon to compete against each other in a math game. I watched kids build robots and others collaborate on writing. And the amazing thing? For Piedmont this is the tip of the iceberg. They are excited about, and planning to do, even more to leverage technology, design new models, and drive student agency and excitement.

Talladega County Schools also got me fired up. I walked into their Teaching and Learning Showcase and could not believe the energy. First graders stepped up to me, looked me in the eye, shook my hand and explained how they used technology to learn about tornado safety, each giving me a “tip” to remember (get out of your car, go to a basement etc). A middle schooler gave me a piece of paper he had “contaminated” with a powder and then checked my hands for a zombie disease. When he diagnosed me with the disease he told me how they learned about how diseases spread and that by washing our hands more we could curb contagious illnesses. He and a classmate used an iPad to show me how it all worked. High schoolers shared multi media presentations with me and one group shared the bounty of a garden they had developed after studying the soil and vegetables to determine which vegetables would grow best and produce the best yield for their economic investment. They showed me graphs, research and handed me recipes. All of the student work was completed using project-based learning methodologies alongside technology as a lever and a tool. Like Piedmont, the Superintendent in Talladega, Dr. Suzanne Lacey, is both proud of everything her teachers, leaders and students have accomplished, and also committed to continuous improvement and doing even more. When I mentioned her to someone at the Alabama DOE he replied, "Now she is an amazing educator. What we need is more people like her."

All across the country there are so many things to celebrate happening in our schools, and yet so much of the coverage in the news is about the failures, rather than the successes. I am keeping my eyes open for bright spots, and finding them all over the place. My hope is that one day for every negative piece of press there are magnitudes more positive pieces - to me this will signal both that there are even more good things happening, and that we are all better poised to identify them. Have some bright spots to share? Let us know on Twitter @edelements.

 

 

Copyright image Howard Ignatiues

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About Amy Jenkins - Guest Author

Amy Jenkins was the chief operating officer of Education Elements.

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