Submitted by Katie Cox
S.T.A.T. Teacher, Mays Chapel Elementary School

As a teacher in a lighthouse school, change is going to be a way of life.  The old tendency to cling to the past and what’s been done before are no longer an option for us, as the future is walking through our classroom doors every day.  The changes that we are working so hard to implement are all for the benefit of our students in order to prepare them for the future. 

As a lighthouse STAT teacher, I see my role as helping teachers to face these changes and to find new a creative ways to meet the needs of our students in a digitally enhanced learning environment. 

My number one goal as the staff of the new Mays Chapel Elementary school begins to come together is to get to know the teachers.  I want to begin to build relationships with the teachers as soon as possible, as well as to begin to establish myself as a credible and valuable resource for them as we embark on this exciting Lighthouse adventure. 

One of the first things that I want to do this summer is to offer an informal online hangout opportunity where teachers can log in and “Meet the STAT Teacher,” using a Blackboard Collaborate room.  This way I can introduce myself in more detail than I can with a mere hi or hello at the beginning of a meeting, and I can open myself up to give the teachers a chance to get to know me.  I then plan to be available for a while after my introduction in order to answer any questions that the teachers have about STAT, the Lighthouse initiative, or anything else that I can assist them with this summer as they start planning for the upcoming school year.  I want the teachers to know that I am available to support them, and I want them to feel comfortable coming to me for help. 

Who knows what possibilities a successful hangout like this could lead to?  Additional trainings, summer workshops for staff, online help sessions, maybe somewhere down the road even personalized online professional development; the sky is really the limit. 

Another idea that I have been working on since attending BCPS STAT teacher orientation is the concept of teacher staff development badges or stickers.  Just as students can earn digital badges on Edmodo for accomplishing various tasks, I thought that rewarding teachers who are embracing change and challenging themselves professionally could be both fun and motivating.

Instead of just awarding badges digitally though, I think we will instead look to print them as stickers and post signs outside of each classroom or office space so that teachers can display the badges that they earn.  The idea behind this is to not only encourage the teachers to branch out and try new things to earn new badges, but also allow the students to get involved in the process as well.  I feel that this process could create excitement and encourage the students to be excited about the new learning opportunities that they are experiencing in the classroom.  It will also be a visible way to celebrate out teachers’ successes as they move forward as a Lighthouse school. 

After an orientation session packed with information, I have tons of ideas rolling around in my head right now.  These are just a few to get me started.  All in all though, I think the process of implementing STAT in a lighthouse school all begins with the teachers.  By getting to know the teachers, finding out what their needs are, and being available to support them as they prepare for an unprecedented school year I think that I will not only help the teachers to embrace and utilize the STAT position, but that we will being to create a culture and school community dedicated to embracing a collective vision as a BCPS Lighthouse school.  

Submitted by Doug Elmendorf
Principal, Chase Elementary School

After spending a few weeks getting comfortable with their new devices, teachers began thinking about the best ways to facilitate student use of these devices when students receive them in the fall.  The following message was designed to encourage teachers to consider how they might use this new technology in truly transformative ways.

Teachers,

What does a creative culture look like?  Chloe and Cole, my 9-year old twins, are not only best friends; they are each other’s built-in playmate.  They have literally been together their entire lives, including sharing a crib in the NICU for the first 10 days of their lives.  As a result, they have worked together on some pretty outlandish projects without a whole lot of discussion.  They understand each other to the point that each of them knows what the other is thinking most of the time.  Because they know each other so well, they are able to avoid the typical stumbling blocks that we experience in moving forward with a creative project.  To me, it has been really cool to see some of the wonderfully innovative things they have done together.  I say, “to me” because while my wife certainly enjoys their camaraderie, she is very much a left-brained person who revels in things that are organized and orderly.  When the twins embark on one of these projects and invite us to see the result, I have to remind my wife as we are walking down the steps to the “performance area,” that the basement will likely look like someone picked it up and shook it.  Much to my wife’s chagrin, creativity can be messy! 

Our basement is oftentimes a big stinkin’ mess because Chloe and Cole are being creative.  The end product, though, sometimes borders on amazing (I know I am biased).  The last event was a baseball-themed musical that included various selections from the movie Frozen.  Let’s face it, you gotta be creative to put those two concepts together in a way that makes any sense.  The process of accomplishing this house-wide famous musical did not have a clear end in mind, nor did it have a reliable digitally accessible script, state-of-the art materials, or a robust evaluative measure.  It DID, however, produce tears in the eyes of the audience members and confirm that the end result is sometimes worth the messy process that we must navigate to get there.

The creative process is not only messy in the Elmendorf basement, but the studios of Pixar as well.  Ed Catmull’s 6th secret to a creative business is Why Things Will Always Go Wrong – Even at Pixar.  We all know that Toy Story 2 was incredibly successful.  What you may not know is that it almost never became a release in theatres.  The producer from the original film was working intently with his team on A Bug’s Life while a much smaller group was working on getting Toy Story 2 together for a straight-to-DVD release.  When Disney execs looked at some reels from Toy Story 2, they liked what they saw and said they wanted it released in theatres instead.  The problem was that Pixar didn’t feel that the film was of high enough quality for theatrical release and told Disney that it had to be re-done.  Disney said the release date could not be pushed back, so Pixar remade the entire movie in 9 months, instead of two years!  You may have seen recent commercials for a new movie called Good Dinosaur.  This movie met the same fate as Toy Story 2 – a total restart due to lack of desirable quality.  Catmull acknowledges the pain that is associated with this kind of mistake but claims that it is worth it in the end in order to maintain congruence with their core beliefs of “doing the right thing for the movies” (Catmull, 2014, p.73).  

In order to maintain a creative culture and stick to our core belief of Excellence in Learning for ALL, we are also likely to restart some things and endure some painful moments.  However, like was the case with Toy Story 2 and Good Dinosaur, in the end it will all be worth it when we do the right thing for the kids.