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“Information technology was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, information technology was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of conventionalities, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the bound of hope, information technology was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing earlier us, we were all going straight to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the flow was and so far similar the nowadays period, that some of its noisiest regime insisted on its existence received, for good or for evil, in the acme caste of comparison simply.” -


Paragraph 1 from Chapter ane of A Tale of Two Cities past Charles Dickens

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, and yous are finding your new rhythm with digital educational activity and the personal balance, space, and health. Let’s exist honest, it’due south been a long couple of weeks for everyone. We are all tired, stressed, and uncertain about the future. As I was reflecting about the uncertainty we face, I was reminded of the lines in a higher place from a Tale of Ii Cities, which reminded me that at times like these, it is good to recollect that at that place take always been trying times like these. And then what do nosotros do? The best advice I tin can give is that we need to keep moving forward.

During difficult times it can be helpful to have a focus…...a clearly divers purpose around helping others that allows u.s.a. to put our energy and talents towards. A clearly defined purpose helps usa focus downstream on the people who are depending on the states instead of  looking upstream at what is coming our way.

This is my encouragement to each fellow member of the Paul Duke STEM Customs: Look to those in our school community we can help. How practise we do that?

Equally a faculty and staff, I feel like our purpose during these Digital Learning Days (DLD) is clear.  We all need to do just two things on a consistent and abiding footing. What two things you enquire? These two things:

1. Outset, we need to help our students make academic progress and not regress.
     Essentially, all external accountability is gone, except for AP classes. For almost of our classes and students, the goal is NOT about keeping up with other schools or exam scores or grades. Our goal is moving our students forrad. I estimate that around 25% of our students have true barriers to digital learning, and we have to go along this in mind while we piece of work toward our goal of moving ALL OUR students forwards.
2. Second, we need to accept care of our students and each other.
     Our students did not ask for this, and we have to figure out how to ensure this does not injure our students and their grades long-term.

I am so proud of what our schoolhouse did last week! I am and then proud of how each of member of our community stepped up and worked tirelessly to help our students go off the ground with DLD.  Getting through this crisis, for both teachers and students, is going to require resilience, compassion, innovation, man connexion, and learning together like never before. It’due south likewise going to require a generous and understanding mindset from anybody. If nosotros focus on students’ growth and progress and taking care of each other, we will look dorsum on this time equally one of our greatest both individually and collectively.

Do not focus on keeping up with others. Focus on go on moving forward!

Jonathon

Happy Monday!

Spring Forward! As a manner to salve energy during World State of war I, Germany, England, and nearly every other land that fought in World War I adopted Daylight Savings Time. The United States followed suit: On March 9, 1918, Congress enacted its first daylight saving law—and it was a two-fer: In addition to saving daylight, the Standard Fourth dimension Human action defined time zones in the U.S. In those days, coal ability was king, so people really did save energy
(and thus contribute to the war effort) by changing their clocks. Through common sense innovation, a solution was created and lives on today.

Bound Forward is a strong symbol of innovation and optimism. Every year, nosotros requite upwardly an 60 minutes of slumber for a daily benefit: more than afternoon daylight. Yet, innovation is non always easy. In fact, it rarely is as like shooting fish in a barrel every bit we hoped. When nosotros jump into new situations and innovations, we enter into something known as the Dunning-Kruger Result (Run into figure below). This journeying of innovation, adoption, learning, and growth leads u.s.a. through the ups and downs where nosotros grow in our wisdom and confidence. However, it is non easy to journeying from Mt. Stupid to sustainability.

Recall nigh any student or instructor and projection-based learning. For this case, the Dunning-Kruger effect indicates how the individual’s knowledge of that pedagogy will evolve over fourth dimension, and at that place is the reality that the school, classroom, and instruction itself evolves over fourth dimension. Hence, early in that development it is really difficult to have realistic expectations of what PBL might mean for a instructor. Information technology is easy early to underestimate what PBL really is, which of course adds to the peak of Mt. Stupid.

Our journey…..your journey with PBL and interdisciplinary instructional models is no different, and our journeys are following the Dunning-Kruger model, which is no surprise. However, despite what thousands of psychologists know, the journey of wisdom acquisition is not always fun and challenges the states as professionals as we grapple with the realities of what innovative teaching and learning can be. As we continue to “STEMIfy” our instructional practices, I knew near of us had little experience with Stem pedagogies, such as trouble-based, project-based, instance written report-based, and enquiry learning, merely I hired good teachers that could grow into smashing STEMmy teachers. As nosotros shut out this school year and gear up for next year, I am committed to continue to support the development of our teachers implementation of problem-based and projection-based learning because I know that deep learning takes time. Sometimes, it takes an actress two hours of daylight to assistance u.s. alter our means, so I promise that Leap Forrard can remind usa that enlightenment and sustainability are right on the other side of the valley of despair.

March on!
Jonathon

Three Months to become! Where has the time gone? It is amazing how fast the years and months go while the days seem so slow.  Time really does fly when you are having fun!

This year has been an amazing sophomore year for our school, merely non without its fair share of challenges.  Even so, with every challenge and obstacle, our faculty, staff, and students seem to rise to the occasion. Nosotros have seen growth in virtually every course and content area this yr.  In the terminal 2 weeks, our students accept performed well in Vex robotics, FBLA, DECA, Mock trial, and in opportunities to serve the community such every bit Stalk Night, the Career Expo, and in the Petty Libraries projection.  It is fantastic to run across our school maturing and then quickly and so well.

Every bit we move forrard, I am hopeful and excited about the work ahead. We are TRAILBLAZERS, and our school continues to press and stretch the possibilities for our students.  The bang-up education we volition do this week will have an touch on on our students. Every minute of engaging instruction and feedback that we provide helps our students. I am proud of our electric current piece of work, peculiarly the engaging and powerful work in your classrooms. Also, I am proud of the instructor leadership that has helped determine the direction we are heading as a schoolhouse. Henry Ford in one case said that “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”  I am so proud of the obstacles that we take overcome as we piece of work toward the goals we have for our students, and nosotros will continue to bonfire new trails in the months ahead.

Every 24-hour interval, we have the choice to focus on our obstacles or goals. I encourage each of you to set a powerful goal this week regarding an obstacle yous face and attentively focus on the goal instead of the obstacle. Recollect - A Trailblazer is a person who makes, does, or discovers something new and makes it acceptable or popular. What will yous brand, exercise, or find this week, month, or twelvemonth?

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend full of exactly what yous wanted to exist doing.  I was able to spend the weekend working, resting, and connecting with those most dear to me, which was pretty awesome.  On last Monday morning, I went to the dentist for the first time in about three years. (Turns out opening a new school is not a valid dental excuse according to my dentist.)  Tin yous imagine what the dentist and hygienist had to say? One time we got past the coffee stains, we were able to have a meaningful chat, and estimate what??? They had lots of feedback for me regarding my teeth, gums, and overall oral wellness. Can you believe that? They had feedback on MY TEETH!!! The nerve of some professionals who accept had years of training. How dare they tell me about my teeth? I have been brushing my teeth since before my dentist was even built-in!

Take you e'er felt that way? I know I accept and did this forenoon. My dentist had feedback that I knew was coming, but still, I did not want to hear. Why? Is it because I do not intendance or trust her? Was I not set up? I mean I made the appointment.  No, my frustration around her feedback was that it hurt my feelings, and it painfully reminded me that I could indeed be better in my oral care. (I am being honest here, so stop mocking me Bob!) Feedback has a way of doing simply that, whether from a dentist or supervisor or friend.  All the same, when we pace dorsum, take the feedback, and human activity on it, we are closer to being our best self. I hope you will take the opportunity to engage in the #ObserveMe opportunities, provide constructive to your students, and reflect on the feedback that your ambassador gives you. Feedback makes the states all better partly because it allows us to (look for it) Learn Together.

Cheers for innovating and leading!

Jonathon

Happy Monday,

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  When I left teaching at the college level in 2007, I was excited about working in a high school, and 12 years later on, nix has changed. However, I still bask the launch of a new semester, and the closure that comes eighteen weeks afterwards.  I honey to sentinel students learn and teachers teach, which is similar poetry coming alive. In a high school, every solar day brings a new set of challenges and opportunities. Some of which yous have foreseen and others which come right out of left field. Oftentimes, change is a constant in our globe, but virtually of the time, these changes fail to deliver on the promise that they offered.  Since so many things in didactics seem to never change or seem too hard to change, such as students waiting until the last minute to utilise themselves, we lose heart and hope.

Friday was a 24-hour interval in which I was reminded that alter is difficult, and sometimes, yes sometimes, it fails to yield quick results.  Last Thursday and Fri were ii days that my heart and hope took a beating because despite several pieces of positive data over the last few weeks, nosotros were reminded that opening a school is hard piece of work. In spite of how we feel about the Awards, the Performance Based Awards are an amazing opportunity for teachers at all schools and for teachers at Paul Duke Stem.  I left mail-secondary instruction because the impact that M-12 educational activity offers is so much greater, and the opportunities to touch on students are so much larger. The truth is that the true promise of Thousand-12 instruction lies in the power and effectiveness of its teachers, and I am thrilled to be in a school district that is willing to advantage K-12 teachers and pilot innovative ideas such as digital learning and STEM for all students.

The Roman god Janus had ii sets of eyes—one pair focusing on what lay behind, the other on what lay alee. As we develop and implement our vision of excellence equally an innovative Stem school, nosotros, too, volition need to focus on both what has worked in the past and the innovative opportunities our school offers. Therefore, as we close out this semester, I wanted you all to know how excited I am about our futurity. I am truly excited to see how our students practise on their finals. I am excited about our first graduating class and graduation. I am excited about our third consecutive recruiting class of more 310 students from Summerour and Pinckneyville, and I am excited to back up the astonishing teachers here.

Hither’southward to an heady stop of the semester!

Jonathon

“To rid yourself of old patterns, focus all your energy not on struggling with the old, but on edifice the new.”

- “
Style of the Peaceful Warrior: A Volume that Changes Lives” by Dan Milleman

So, I feel like CyberMonday should exist a national holiday! Sadly, it is not, and we are all getting back into the flow over again instead of debating whether or non we demand that really cool gadget from Amazon. On the vivid side, I hope yous had an amazing Thanksgiving Break, and you were able to brand progress towards your life goals. Afterwards binge watching football and Jack Ryan, I experience whole!

Speaking of whole, nosotros simply have iii whole weeks left in the semester.  The next three weeks are going to fly by, and they are going to be bang-up! I promise you lot never lose sight of how of import teachers, parents, and family members are to our students. We all brand a huge difference in the lives of our students, and that is a worthy goal! Over the break, I read a blog that tackled the idea of a worthy goal and how we may choose to pursue it (See the weblog in blue below).

The uncomfortable combination of endeavour and acceptance

We accept the opportunity to expend the maximum effort on behalf of a worthy goal. And nosotros also have the choice to mindfully take whatever happens side by side. Acceptance is a choice in the service of our happiness and the ability to try over again tomorrow.

When we detach our emotional state from the results of our effort, nosotros maximize the chances that our effort will be focused and effective. We’re not trying to control the effect, merely putting our best endeavor into creating the conditions that lead to the desired result.

The opportunity is:

• to get all in, and
• to be okay with what happens after that.

The next 3 weeks offer u.s.a. the opportunity to practice only that….become all in and be okay with the results. Do not be afraid to go all in or requite your max to our students considering yous worry what might non happen. Give it all y'all got and accept what happens next -- you might be surprised.

Thank you for trailblazing with usa!

Jonathon

Last Mon was a killer Mon for me.  I woke upwards with a severe pain in my pes (plantar fasciitis), and my car cleaved downwardly on the way to work (alternator).  I could have walked to work from where my car broke down, but my foot hurt and then bad I could non walk. Once I got to work, everything seemed off and felt wrong.  Our admin meeting started belatedly, and I was rushing to go everything together. Thankfully, ILT meeting was okay, and simply ane instructor noticed that I brought the wrong handout with me.   Alas, the unabridged day was just frustrating, expensive, and exhausting. I ended up leaving work after ILT at 3 PM, which I never do, to go and go my automobile that was towed to the repair shop we use.  Since I was leaving work early, I decided to phone call and run across if my doc could do annihilation for the pain in my foot. I ended up existence able to collect my car, burn through our emergency fund, bargain with some other stuff, AND become a cortisone shot for my pes because I left work “early on” for me.

The next day, I woke up feeling so much ameliorate, and I had a keen Tuesday.  My foot was better, my attitude was meliorate, and I was in a completely better mental and emotional infinite.  This reminded me of ii things: 1. Mondays happen to all of us, and ii. Sometimes the best thing to exercise is to retreat and regroup.  My Mon feel left me reeling, and I could have tried to double-downwards on my ”work” problems and power through. Even so, I concluded upwards taking time to take care of my personal issues and get myself back on track.  The investment into myself was well worth it, and information technology reminded me that we all have to take care of ourselves in guild to exist our best selves and assist others.

My experience reminded me of the pre-flight safety spiel that is standard on every flight nigh putting your oxygen mask on commencement in the event of cabin pressure dropping. Merely have you lot always wondered why flying attendants are so careful to hammer this information into our brain (
https://www.youtube.com/sentry?v=kUfF2MTnqAw&feature=youtu.exist

)?

Information technology is because you are not able to help anyone if yous die either literally or figuratively. Therefore, I hope you observe some time this calendar week to take care of yourself and invest into yourself considering I am thankful for our entire your community.

Congratulations on a great get-go half of the semester!  As we movement forward into the 2nd half, I am excited about what the rest of this semester holds.  My excitement is not born from perfection or a lack of adversity. My excitement is BECAUSE of the adversity, the challenges, and the difficulty.  As Albert Einstein said, “Out of clutter notice simplicity. From discord notice harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

Today’s learning experiences are tomorrow’south leadership opportunities.  Our school was non created to merely exercise school the same manner every bit schools all over Gwinnett or the state do schoolhouse.  We were created to make STEM accessible to all students and provide a unlike experience for our students, which means nosotros are more than slap-up test scores. Being different is in the Deoxyribonucleic acid of a Trailblazer.  We see different as better, but

different is not better unless different does better.  Now is the time for us to continue to do better for ourselves and our community. So, what does doing better mean?

Doing Improve means:

• It is time to assistance our students connect with the relevancy in their learning.
• It is time to reteach AKS for students that need it in club to do improve.
• It is time to connect students’ learning with service projects.
• Information technology is time to accept your club or team engage with Gwinnett’s Great Days of Service or raise money for United Mode.
• It is time to continue to focus on literacy, problem solving, and technology.
• It is time to build new partnerships and recruit more than students.

Different is only ameliorate if dissimilar does better, and so let’s practice better together!

One of my favorite quotes is too one that is a fleck unnerving. It is a quote from Jim Collins in his book “Good to Groovy: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't” and information technology appears below.

“Proficient is the enemy of bang-up. And that is one of the cardinal reasons why we have and then little that becomes slap-up. We don't have keen schools, principally because nosotros have good schools. We don't take great authorities, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because information technology is just and so like shooting fish in a barrel to settle for a skillful life.” -
Jim Collins, Adept to Not bad: Why Some Companies Make the Spring... and Others Don't

The quote states plainly that we fail to reach greatness because we are satisfied with skillful enough or fine or okay.  This satisfaction with “good” is non evil or wrong, but it is an open credence of mediocrity. Personally, I am okay with some mediocrity in my life, and most people actually are besides.  I am okay with good or mediocre weather, commute times, paper clips, and copy paper quality. In the case of each of these items, it is acceptable to me to trade excellence or perfection for a normal quality experience because of the other decisions or constraints in my life.  Nevertheless, I am not okay with our students’ learning feel only being good. I wait our educational activity and learning to be total of greatness that includes meaningful, engaging, and relevant learning experiences. Experiences that transform the educatee experience and prepare our students for an innovative and creative future. This pursuit of greatness is why we engage in digital and project based learning, and it is the reason that Paul Duke STEM was created. It is why we embrace a vision of excellence at Paul Duke STEM, and it is why nosotros are working constantly to improve our instructional practices. Most of all, this dissatisfaction with good plenty is makes me proud to be primary of our school and inspires me to exist my all-time for the faculty at staff at Paul Duke STEM. Give thanks y'all for making the spring to greatness and refusing to accept mediocrity.

For this week's Blog, I am going to mail service a blog from Robert Glazer's Fri Forward.  In his blog on July 25th, Robert Glazer captured a collection of thoughts so near and dear to my centre that I thought I was reading my own mind. In addition, I could not say it this well, then I offer his post below as an encouraging reminder at the beginning of this school year. Bask! I know I did.

https://www.fridayfwd.com/moon-shot/

In his acclaimed volumeBuilt to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, Jim Collins coined the term BHAG, which stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goal.

In studying companies with a remarkable, decades-long runway record of success and high-functioning, Collins establish that each had a consistent presence of a BHAG. In each of these organizations, their BHAG served equally a North Star for employees and changed the very nature of their concern.

Collins wrote:

“A BHAG engages people – it reaches out and grabs them in the gut.  It is tangible, energizing, highly focused.  People “go information technology” right away; it takes piddling or no caption.”

From a historical perspective, 1 of the greatest examples of a BHAG is President John F. Kennedy’s declaration in 1962 that the United states of america would put a human being on the surface of the moon earlier the cease of the decade. At the fourth dimension, this goal seemed unfathomable to well-nigh.

This calendar week marked the l^th ceremony of that BHAG coming to fruition: the spaceflight Apollo 11 landing humans on the Moon on July twenty, 1969 and allowing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to be the outset humans to step human foot on some other planetary trunk. The third astronaut, Michael Collins, remained in the command module to ensure their safety.

The media coverage commemorating this incredible event has provided insight into the extensive planning, financial commitment, vision and teamwork that was required to make this extraordinary achievement possible. Information technology’s likewise shed light on iii of import takeaways that any organization can learn from.

1.Where There Is A Will, There Is A Manner





One fact that I’yard personally astounded by is that the processing power of an iPhone has 100,000 timesmore than processing power than the reckoner onboard the Apollo eleven. To put this in context, this means that an iPhone today could handle 120 million moon missions at one time. And so, clearly, it’s not always about having the best technology, or the correct tools or the smartest people; it’s nigh having the private and commonage will.

ii. Specific & Measurable Goals

BHAGs are a combination of boldness and specificity. Had Kennedy said that the U.S. should “enhance its space capabilities,” by the end of the decade, it is very unlikely that humans would take landed on the moon. Similar to the “painted film” exercise I wrote about in a recent Friday Forward and our own Vivid Vision creation experience at Acceleration Partners, the more than inspiring and time-sensitive something is, the more probable others will rally together toward achieving it.

3. Dream
Team





To attain those first lunar footsteps, anybody needed to understand that they were office of 1 team with one goal, regardless of their expertise or success in the market.

For example, the hundreds of private vendors who were awarded the contracts to handle primal elements of the Apollo 11 technology were competitorsoutsideof the programme. Still,withinthe program, they were part of ane squad. This was a remarkable example of industry competitors coming together to create an all-star team for a bigger purpose.

What was also apparent from the Apollo 11 anniversary media coverage is that experts from all over the world– from mathematicians, engineers, scientists, mechanics, technicians, pilots and thousands of others who worked tirelessly behind the scenes– all set up aside their egos in pursuit of that common goal.

As nosotros celebrate the anniversary of ane of the greatest BHAGs in history, information technology’s worth taking a few minutes to recall well-nigh our own personal and professional ambitions and what we could accomplish with the correct mindset, a clear endpoint and true team endeavour. The Apollo eleven program proves that, when nosotros don’t allow ourselves or our teams to put personal or team-centered needs in a higher place the needs of the organisation as a whole, we tin can attain amazing feats.