Submitted by Amy Hirsch
Professional Development Specialist, Discovery Education

Editor's Note: As part of BCPS's partnership with Discovery Education, professional development specialists from Discovery work in Lighthouse Schools several days each month to plan, co-teach, and coach teachers to create learner-centered environments and integrate digital content to enhance instruction. Amy is assigned to work with staff at Fort Garrison and Mays Chapel Elementary Schools. 

When I first started to learn about BCPS Lighthouse Schools and attend the Lighthouse meetings, I really had no idea what to expect from the teachers and administration. Within ten minutes of meeting the staff of the Lighthouse Schools I’d be working with I was blown away. Each and every single one was excited for the change and transition in front of them. However, this isn’t what really stood out to me. It was the fact that when I talked to the teachers, principals, STAT teachers, counselors, resource teachers, everyone, they always brought it back to the students. This is, in my opinion, what makes a Lighthouse School. 

This enthusiasm and love for students has been infused into the teachers’ transition into the new era of teaching. Now why didn’t I just write one-to-one? Well sure, the technology is a big part of this transition, but by now we all know it is a tool that is part of the transformation. However, without the pedagogy and change in the way we teach, will a true change occur? This is the exact transformation I am witnessing in the lighthouse schools. The teachers way of viewing and building their lessons has gone from the "teacher talks for 45 minutes" into a student-centered world in which the teacher has become the facilitator of rich, deep, and relevant classroom discussions. Leading students to come up with answers on their own through collaboration, small group lessons centered on their individual needs, and independent research in which the student is driving their own learning. What does that mean for the students? Engagement, drive to learn, ownership over their work, confidence, encouragement, enhancement in their overall learning…I could go on and on.

Just yesterday, one of the teachers I've been working with since the end of last school year asked me to help her create three choices for her students to use for an assessment. We created three options that the students could pick from: Wixie, BoardBuilder and the tried and true, paper and pencil. What was the end result of giving students these options? The students were able to pick the option in which they felt the most confident in and could clearly express their knowledge and guess what, each child met standard and had a complete understanding of the objective.

I was working with another teacher on a culminating task he was creating for his students that would take place in November. When we started to discuss the month’s plan, he mentioned that he would be creating a rubric for the students to use as a guide when creating their projects. I asked him why he was creating the rubric and he looked at me like I was crazy. Then I asked it again, “Why are YOU the one who is creating rubric?” This is when the light went on behind his eyes and there it was, the transformation. His reply the second time, “I should have the students help me to create the rubric! This way they will have a better understanding of what the expectations are as well as what they need to do for each category in order to achieve the highest point value.” Bingo!

Transformation doesn’t happen overnight, and at times, it can feel like it’s going at a snail’s pace but these teachers, they are doing it right and at a shockingly fast pace! It is only October! I can only imagine what the future has in store. These students have a bright future in front of them, and as always, the Lighthouse Schools are there helping to light the way. 

Submitted by Maralee Clark
Principal, New Northwest Area ES (under construction)
This post originally appeared in TLC with Team Clark

Our Groundbreaking Ceremony is tomorrow! It will be a fabulous opportunity to thank everyone who contributed along the way to make sure our community has a PreKindergarten through Grade 5 elementary school to relieve the overcrowding in the northwest area of Baltimore County. Since our new community school building is designed with student-centered learning environments supporting our 1:1 personalized digital learning initiative, I had the opportunity to visit a school district in North Carolina that successfully navigated their way through digital transformation. Mooresville Graded School District’s Summer Connection was inspiring for me on so many levels. Sheer joy radiated from every MGSD staff member as I walked in the door, participated in learning sessions and chatted with their teachers. The MGSD administrators and teachers are role models for their district’s slogan “Every Child Every Day!” that is emblazoned on staff shirts proudly worn on a regular basis. Their wisdom and willingness to share their digital conversion journey has helped me to focus on what really matters – building relationships with students. Fostering innovation by setting the tone for student choice and student voice will create the cultural shift naturally. 

Mooresville’s website is www.mgsd.k12.nc.us. Use your twitter account to check out #mgsd14 and @MGSDschools.

Submitted by Terry Guth
Kindergarten Teacher, Rodgers Forge Elementary

Rodgers Forge faculty members enjoyed the perfect event to celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of a new Lighthouse School year!  Our Assistant Principal, Michele Rowland, had created a Lighthouse work of art at one of the local Painting events that have recently become so popular.  When our principal, Missy Fanshaw, saw this she immediately came up with a wonderful plan for team building and an evening of fun. Arrangements were made to meet immediately following the Lighthouse Professional Development Day on August 11th.  Each teacher followed the step by step directions of the artist in charge in order to create their own Lighthouse masterpiece. A great time was truly had by all. The paintings will be displayed in the school hallways so that students, parents, staff, and visitors can enjoy them. This will surely be a busy and exciting year for our faculty as we "forge" ahead with our Lighthouse School journey.  The paintings will remind each of us of the very special evening that we shared as TEAM RFES.  We are all in this together!

Submitted by Katie Schmidt
5th Grade Teacher, Rodgers Forge Elementary 

With the excitement of being a Lighthouse School continuing to run high, staff members from Rodgers Forge Elementary recently participated in a fun-filled painting event, organized by our new Assistant Principal, Michele Rowland.  Each staff member was presented with a blank canvas, and the group was guided step-by-step through the process of painting a lighthouse by an incredibly talented (and very patient) artist.  Boy did we have a number of Pablo (and Pablette?) Picassos in this group!  Many teachers are choosing to display this prized work of art in their classrooms at school for all to enjoy.  RFES is certainly ready to kick this year off and shine their light to guide other schools along on this exciting journey.

Submitted by Missy Fanshaw
Principal, Rodgers Forge Elementary

June is always a very busy of time of year, as we close out the current school year and prepare for the new year that awaits us.  During the month of June grade levels met to discuss grouping decisions for the upcoming year, conversations were clearly focused on organizing students in an environment where they would be grouped with other students that would promote their own learning and thinking.  Teachers discussed what break-out groups would look like in classrooms and who their independent and dependent workers were.  These considerations and discussions are most important as we are transitioning more to a “student-centered” environment.  We are shifting to create an environment that facilitates students using the technology available to them to inquire and research their own interests. Moving into the 2014-2015 school year we will continue with our commitment to heterogeneous homerooms allowing for flexible student groups.  Last year was our first year with this model, where teachers taught all subjects during the day (the exception is math in the intermediate grades).  Teachers are excited about moving into year 2, learning and expanding on multiple small group opportunities for their students.

I have worked hard this year to create an environment for my teachers where they are free to fail and take risks.  (A big reason they were willing to take on the Lighthouse challenge.) As I met with each teacher for their “End of the Year” evaluation conference, teachers shared how they are excited, scared, yet ready for the challenge that awaits them in 2014-2015 because of this “risk-free” environment.  Morale continues to be one of my top priorities for my staff.  They reflected on the time and freedom they had for collaboration during the school year to tackle the challenges (especially with English/LA curriculum).  I will continue to give teachers this time for collaboration in the upcoming school year; however more attention will be given to differentiated professional development for my staff, as they are all ending the school year in very different places, in regards to technology and creating a more “student-centered” learning environment.

During the Lighthouse meetings our staff engaged in professional development and conversations surrounding the continued need for blended learning opportunities, with more attention to “what” the learning environment for our students will look like.  Over the summer months we will look at furniture choices that may promote more of an environment for student collaboration.

I had a lot of “take-aways” from both the ISTE convention and the Lighthouse meetings and look forward to meeting with my TLC over the month of July to plan out PD for our teachers and our parents.  We have an obligation to share with our parents the role the device will play in their child’s education and how it will allow students an educational program in which they are learning in part through on-line delivery of content and instruction, but where they control time, pace, and their learning path. Technology will be used to enhance and support what students need to know and will be able to accomplish in a “student-centered” learning environment. 

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.