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Archive for December, 2022

My “Top 3” List for 2022

Posted in Change, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 28, 2022| 2 Comments »

It is lucky 13 for the annual year-end post at the Culture of Yes.  For those new to this tradition, it is part Siskel & Ebert, and part Family Christmas Letter. Thanks for continuing along on this journey with me – now for well over 400 posts and over 350,000 words.  Hopefully, whether inside or outside the education system, you are enjoying some relaxed holiday time.

To get caught up, here are the previous years Top 3 lists:  2021 (here) 2020 (here) 2019 (here) 2018 (here) 2017 (here) 2016 (here) 2015 (here) 2014 (here) 2013 (here) 2012 (here), 2011 (here) and 2010 (here).

Now, on with this year’s results:

Top 3 “Culture of Yes” Blog Posts which have generated the most traffic this year:

  1.  New Nicknames Will Make Schools Cool Again
  2.  NFTs and Schools – Could There be a Connection?
  3.  26 Years, 26 Teachers, 26 Lessons

Once again my April 1st post was my most read post of the year.  I am glad to know so many people come to this site for my comedy.  I wrote a lot about COVID lessons this year and how the system was emerging different, and also looking at which parts of the system were snapping back to a pre-COVID state.   What a difference a few months makes about NFTs – they were all the rage in the spring, but the crypto world has seen a real downturn in recent months.  I saw this week that a number of celebrities have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in value for their Bored Apes purchases.  Nice to see my 26 Years post get so many clicks, as it was one of my favourite ones to write.  I had it in draft for over a year as I knew I wanted to write something about some of my education influences but just wasn’t sure what – and then the post came together at the end of the school year.  And what was my least read new post this year?  It was Metrics, Badges and Prizes – Motivation Lessons from Fitness.

<em>Irwin Park Snapchatting Sharks were one of the new nicknames introduced on April 1st!</em>

Irwin Park Snapchatting Sharks

Top 3 Shifts in BC Education in 2022:

  1. Mandatory Indigenous-focused course in grades 10-12
  2. Shifts in secondary reporting
  3.  The reallocation of time

We saw the biggest shift in BC curriculum in recent years with all students in grades 10-12 now being required to take an Indigenous-focussed course.  There are always implementation challenges when something in changed or added to the school system machine, but this change has really exceeded expectations.  I have been so impressed with how well educators and students have embraced this.   In our district we are seeing students in grade 10 and 11 this year take their Language Arts (English) credit through the Indigenous focus.  Students and teachers are being exposed to literature and thinking they have not worked with in the past.  Full credit to the teachers who are taking this on and finding ways to connection to local Indigenous experts.  I have written before about secondary reporting, as it has shifted in recent years.  For many, the most obvious change will be seen beginning in the fall of 2023, when the grade 8 and 9 report card adopts proficiency scales and performance indicators – a shift schools have been preparing for over the last couple of years.  And finally, time continues to be something, particularly in high school that is being looked at post-COVID.  Almost all high schools have adopted some flexible learning time where students have control over what and where they learn.  The era of being completely blocked in for all your time all week is over in most jurisdictions.  Now come the refining of this so it is meaningful for all learners.   Another topic that was big in 2022 and will be big in 2023.  

Top 3 Education Topics We Should Talk More about in 2023:

  1. New technologies
  2. The science of reading
  3.  Hybrid learning models

I wrote a post this year Technology is Not Done and I really think many in education have taken their eyes off of the potential transformative nature of upcoming technologies in the last couple of years.  From gamification, to virtual reality to AI and so many other digital topics, there is so much that is now and will be soon impacting our schools.  Yes, we have laptops in the hands of most students, and we can navigate Zoom, that is not enough.  The science of reading is really symbolic of a larger issue I see, which is applying what we know to our practices around core skills.  The literacy and numeracy thrusts of earlier this century should not be lost.  And then, hybrid learning.  We have all this experience of hybrid learning from COVID, so now what?  

Top 3 Individuals Influencing the work in our district (that have never been mentioned in a year-end list before):

  1. Dr. Hayley Watson
  2. Ian Chisholm
  3.  Erin Crawford and Amber Pascual

Dr. Watson, and her Open Parachute Program, is an example of one of the new ways that teachers are students are engaging with mental health curriculum.   Ian Chisholm is from the Roy Group and has been working with all of our administrators this past year as we build our leadership skills. And Erin and Amber are not new to West Vancouver, but unique in Canada.  Their work in our district with physical literacy is some of the finest in Canada.  Their work with all our staff has made a huge impact on student learning.  

Dr. Watson speaking to West Van staff on Opening Day

Top 3 buzzwords / phrases in education I am ready to retire:

  1. learning loss
  2. unpack
  3. kiddos

OK, I know this is a bit of a silly one, but this category has appeared several times over the last 12 years.  It is fun to see words and phrases that made it in previous years.  I didn’t take the easy COVID ones like pivot or new normal.  I will try to use the three in a sentence – At our staff meeting next week, we are going to unpack the learning loss that our kiddos have experienced during COVID. Oh, and if we could do this with rigor and fidelity while working with our elbow partners that would be even better. 

Top 3 Education Topics from 2022 that need long-term fixes:

  1. Staff shortages
  2. Mental Health and Well Being (Student, Staff and Parents)
  3.  Connections to post secondary

These are not West Vancouver or British Columbia issues, they are global issues.  There are staff shortages everywhere, and they seem destined to get worse.  Some jurisdictions are considering what the future might be like without staff that are fully credentialed.  One positive coming out of COVID was the increased attention to well being and mental health.  It actually related to the first topic, as one of the keys to dealing with staff shortages is finding ways to support the well being of staff.  And finally, the time does seem right to make better connections between K-12 and post-secondary.  There has been a decline in post secondary admissions in recent years, and the timing seems right to rethink how we connect the two systems.  

Top 3 Issues that I see in US media that I am keeping an eye on (and worried about):

  1. Book bans
  2. Limits on classroom discussions
  3.  ‘Parents Rights’ push

I know there are some, largely isolated for now, examples of these topics in Canada, but we see them regularly in our news feeds with the constant volume of US media.  The book banners are back, taking on many of the classics again.  There are many lists that circulate, including this one from CBS News of the 50 most banned books in the United States.  Also in the news a lot is discussion over what topics teachers can and can’t talk about.  Here is an article from earlier this year indicating 1/4 of all teachers were in positions where they were being asked to limit discussions on certain topics.  Finally, the parents rights push is one that gives parents greater control over what their children are taught.  It is actually related to the other two issues, as all three are coming out of a conservative legislators in the United States.  I am always hesitant to write about what is happening in the US, as I find some people are already believing we are in the same position.  We have very different systems, but it is regularly on our televisions and in our social media feeds so it is worth following.

Top 3 podcasts I listen to every episode:

  1.  No Stupid Questions
  2.  People I Mostly Admire
  3.  The Reinvention Project with Jim Rome

I have become a major podcast listener in recent years.   I am into some very regular routines with them – and save certain ones for certain days when I am running or driving.  The first two are both part of the Freakonomics family tree of podcasts.  No Stupid Questions is a really easy listen and I like that People I Mostly Admire has on guests I don’t typically know, and Steve Levitt asks often difficult questions.  I have listened to Jim Rome’s sports talk show for more than two decades.  His Reinvention Podcast is geared to men of my age looking to take on new challenges.   Other regular podcasts for me include Hidden Brain, Freakonomics Radio, This American Life and Re: Thinking with Adam Grant.

Top 3 artists for me according to Spotify this year:

  1.  Paul Simon
  2.  The Beatles
  3.  James Taylor

My musical tastes are very predictable.  If Paul Simon ever is not the top of the list, that will be the story.  I am proof that the music you listen to growing up with your parents can become the soundtrack for your life.

Top 3 movies I saw this year:

  1.  Top Gun:  Maverick
  2.  Black Panther:  Wakanda Forever
  3.  Glass Onion:  A Knives Out Mystery

Three sequels on my list this year – and a very eclectic mix of films.  I haven’t seen the first Top Gun movie (probably one of the few people to grow up in the 80s to miss it) and didn’t have high expectations for this one.  But I loved it.  Good story and great action – one of my favourite action movies ever.  And Black Panther was also a surprise for me.  Another great action movie with a great story.  I have slowly become a Marvel fan.  And Glass Onion is the last new movie I watched this year.  Less of a surprise since I really liked the first Knives Out Movie, but a rare film that everyone in our family enjoyed.

Top 3 concerts I saw this year:

  1.  The Chicks at The Gorge
  2.  The Eagles at Rogers Arena
  3. Shawn Mendes at Rogers Arena

I was back to seeing concerts this year.  Not as many as pre-COVID but it was great to see live music.  It was my first time to the Gorge and we went as a family to see The Chicks.  After Paul Simon, it is the artist I have seen more than any other – great concert in an amazing venue.  It was my first time seeing the Eagles, and thanks to my colleague and fellow-concert goer Sean Nosek for giving me the push to get us to go.  And Shawn Mendes is not someone I have on my playlist but a great performer is a great performer and he put on an amazing show.  It was sad to hear just shortly after his show in Vancouver he stopped his tour for health reasons.  

Top daily 3 streaks I still have going:

  1. 10,000 Steps
  2. Running 5 km a day
  3. Photo posting to Instagram

Friends know I love my streaks.  And at times, they probably can border on the unhealthy.  The three that I have going that I am consumed with every day are my steps, running and photo streak.  The best (and worst) of these ones is that they are every single day.  At the end of this year, I will have gone 9 straight years of taking at least 10,000 steps each day (according to FitBit). My running streak is a little shorter.  I just passed 700 days of running at least 5 km outdoors each day.  I usually get this done around 5 AM, but some weird circumstances this past year had me staying up until midnight to do the next day’s run and other similar and quite ridiculous plans.  And while I am not much for social media anymore, I have just past 2,550 days (7 years) of posting a photo to Instagram.  I am so glad I started this.  It is such a great way to track our kids growing up.  It started when our oldest was part-way through grade 8 and she is now at the midpoint of third year university.   

Final Thoughts

The Culture of Yes had a bit of a Renaissance during the pandemic.  I had a readership that was reminiscent of 2011 or 2012.  While the numbers slid this year, my passion for this space remains strong.  When someone tells me about a post I wrote a decade ago and how it influenced their thinking it brings great joy.  

Blogs are this wonderful mix of permanence, and impermanence.  It is easy to share you thinking with the world, but also easy to revise and improve it.  

I think as we continue to wrestle with the future of education and the lessons of COVID, we need more voices both formal and informal to fuel discussions.  It is less important if you agree with what I think, than if you take the time to reflect on the topic and add to the discussion.

To all my friends and colleagues in West Vancouver and beyond still reading  hopefully you are having a good break.  

All the best for a great 2023.

My Home Squad!

My work squad!

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The Myth of Mandatory

Posted in Change, tagged on December 13, 2022| 4 Comments »

I know, mandatory is a funny word to dislike so strongly.

I see way too many emails from adults to young people with the word mandatory.  I should actually start by describing the 3 levels of mandatory I am talking about:

Level 1 – mandatory

Level 2- MANDATORY

Level 3 – MANDATORY

You may be familiar with this strategy of using different combinations of capitalization, italics, bold, and sometimes underline to convey the degree of mandatory-ness.

So, I do get it.  The writer of the email wants to ensure that the young person completes the thing or attends the thing that is the subject of the message.  But mandatory is about absolutes, and we should use them sparingly.

And do we really mean mandatory?  If you have COVID is the deadline still mandatory?  If your parent is sick in the hospital is it still mandatory?  If it is your grandmother’s 100th birthday, is it mandatory?  Because if we use mandatory, it is mandatory, isn’t it?

You see I have spent many years in the adult world, and there are a lot of things in my life which are important and I should prioritize, but very few things in my life that are really mandatory.

For many,  young people should be allowed to make choices, as long as they choose what we want them to choose.

Now if you are coaching a team, or rehearsing a play or preparing for an exam, you want the young people to attend your thing.  You want them to prioritize your thing over other things.

But, as I often see, everything is mandatory, how is that fair?  We say we want young people to do lots of activities, and have lots of experiences but we penalize them when they don’t always prioritize what we want them to prioritize.

Now, as kids get older and can specialize more, there will absolutely be consequences if something is not a priority.  If you are the lead in the musical but only prioritize half the rehearsals you will probably be replaced.  And if you only prioritize half the study sessions for the AP Exam, you should not be surprised if you score a 2.

I coach in a high level club basketball program where teenagers choose to participate and much of their fees are covered by sponsors.  As student get older they need to prioritize this if they want to participate.  There are lots of options for them to participate with basketball so asking them to prioritize is fair.

I think we can get to a similar place without the M word.  We should have real conversations with young people about priorities.  We should talk about trade-offs, and be open to allowing young people to not always prioritize our thing.

So if you see yourself using mandatory in your email to young people – stop it.  Find another way to convey importance but allow young people choice, agency and ownership.

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If I Could Turn Back TIme

Posted in Change, tagged , , on December 6, 2022| 8 Comments »

This week I attended an interesting session on ethical decision making. The session by former Surrey School Superintendent Mike McKay picked up on the work of Rushworth Kidder and his focus on mapping ethical dilemmas.  Kidder’s work was heavily referenced in the early 2000’s, and is still very relevant today.

For me, one of the impacts of these sessions where you wrestle with case studies that have a right vs. right approach is that you think back on decisions you have made that you might make differently now.  We all have them. Sure you made the right decision, but was there more than one right decision you could have made?   Decisions are products of the time, the values of the school we were in, the standards of the district, the level of experience we had, and a general view of the world. 

I have written before about Stuff I Was Wrong About, but this is different.  This is not about hunches I had that proved not to go the way I thought they would, these are decisions I made that I would now process through my current ethical framework and likely come up with a different decision.  

Kidder wrote about:

5 core values:  compassion, fairness, honesty, responsibility and respect

4 ethical lenses:  Justice/Mercy, Short or Long Term, Individual/Community and Truth or Loyalty

3 decision making principles: Greatest Good/Greatest Number (ends-based), Precedent (rules based) and Do Unto Others

Here are three I have, as a teacher, a coach and an administrator, that I still think about today – and as Cher says, “If I Could Turn Back Time”

As a Teacher –  A couple stand out around assessment and evaluation.  First, I would post marks on the wall.  They were not with names, but students numbers, but everyone still likely knew who was who.  And this did nothing for those who were struggling, if anything it probably discouraged them. I was thinking this would help improve responsibility.  Similarly, I remember failing students with 45% in a course without taking the extra time to see if I could support them to get to a passing grade.  I wanted to have standards, but did so at the expense of compassion.  I thought this was being fair at the time.  I would definitely think different now through both situations.

As a Coach –  Early on in my coaching career, I would cut teams down to a number that would allow me to maximize playing the best players.  And then, I would still be unbalanced in how I allocated playing time, even at younger high school levels.  If I went back, I would take more kids on teams, and play the less skilled players more – even if it meant losing a few more games along the way.  I often say, “Winning is fun,” but when you travel an hour for an exhibition game early in the season – everyone should play.

As an Administrator – I think about a couple of these the most.  Almost all schools I worked in used grad (or the threat of taking away grad) as a way to help maintain behaviour of grade 12 students.  As in “if you do X you won’t be allowed to attend grad.”  And I get it, still.  Grade 12s can be a pain in the last few months of their graduation year, with credits earned, future plans secured and a need to celebrate their accomplishments.  That said, I really regret taking away grad from students.  Grad is one of those life events that deserves to be celebrated.  You look back at grad photos decades later, you tell the stories of your grad to your children and grandchildren.  And, kids do dumb things and there should be ways to deal with the behaviour that allows students to make amends.

In a post I wrote in 2016 on parenting (I Used to Blame Parents) I wrote, “All of my black and white views from my early 20’s are really now very grey.”  As I think through these right vs. right dilemmas, and a series of other scenarios I worked through with colleagues, as I know more and have seen more, I am far less absolute in my thinking.

I am sure we all have some decisions we wish we could go back and see through different eyes.  I am continually reminded of a piece of advice I got from a former principal colleague, he said when challenged by a frustrated teacher, and asked how many chances he was going to give, he said “always one more.”

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