Edu Change & Student Advocacy

     We read and hear a lot about the importance of relationships in the field of education. It’s mentioned in numerous writings, trainings, meetings and programs. Most educators agree that it is important. I would argue that it, in the end, is the most important. Indeed, learning cannot be maximized or optimized without great relationships. Secondly, students will only have a potentially transformational experience if they connect with and truly enjoy working with their teachers. (Photos Courtesy of Minarets High School and Buchanan High School)      Here are some practical tips of how to approach enhancing one’s relationships with any and all students: 1) Accessibility - make yourself available. Personally, I was giving out my cell phone number since that technology emerged. I figured if my students wanted to contact me, they should be able to. They usually don’t need to. But when they did, it was almost always easy communication for me and imp...

     I recently had an epiphany. Ok, it’s a reminder, if you will, of what is truly missing in education. If we really want our schools, and ultimately the learning experiences for all students, to be transformational, we have some basic, yet very foundational things that have to be addressed.      And these foundational things have nothing to do with technology, standards, assessments, or other things that we are heavily engaged in and working on feverishly.      I was reminded of what needs to be done, for example, as I see many schools and classrooms integrating technology. I realize that unless we address pedagogy, but more importantly teacher mindset, technology won’t change or enhance much of anything. And again, I could say this for the rest of aforementioned items as well.      So, what are these basic, yet foundational items related to mindset that will help us truly transform our classrooms for all students? Here ...