Innovation Across the Nation (Part 2 - Professional Reflection)

"A key ingredient in innovation is the ability to challenge authority and break rules."

- Vivek Wadhwa

Over the past 6 days, I have been fortunate enough to travel to California to attend the Google for Education Certified Innovator Academy at the Googleplex in Mountain View. This has been a life-changing experience, and to fully do it justice, I need to split the experience into two parts. This is my professional reflection and you'll find my personal reflection here.

While all of the sightseeing and memory making was incredible, the real reason I was in California was to attend the aforementioned Google for Education Certified Innovation Academy. To get you up to speed, I applied for the Innovator program in January. The process involved designing an ideal classroom, proposing a problem and innovative solution, a video, and other tasks (you can read more about the process in this NVDaily article.) After being accepted into the Academy with 33 other extraordinary people (who you can meet on this episode of the EduRoadTrip,) we began connecting and soon enough, the time was here. Our flights landed, hotels checked into, Ubers ordered, we were ready to come together and innovate. 

In a word: WOW. It was an incredible learning experience. I recorded a rambling reflection the day after the Academy which I think so shows how much I have rolling around in my head. We learned about moonshot thinking, mindfulness, happiness, qualities of an effective team and management, how to motivate others without overwhelming them, and a whole laundry list of other topics. The speakers were inspiring and motivating. It was an invigorating breath of fresh air with every new person who took the podium.

Team Black Eyed P.E.A.C.E.

Part of the expectations as Innovators is to design and implement an Innovation Project. This Project focuses on a meaningful problem in education and how we plan to solve it in a meaningful way. A large amount of time was dedicated to working on our Innovation Projects. My initial vision for my Innovation Project was an expansion of the Home-School Connection Nights to aid families in helping their children with math. Right now, the HSCNs are working on a varied basis. I really believe in the power of a family partnership and think that can make the difference in education. After discussing with my team, The Black Eyed P.E.A.C.E., and coach Jay Atwood I had an epiphany.

Perhaps my greatest passion in education is student empowerment. We discussed if the two could be combined and loved the idea. Within the next month, I plan to prototype this in my own classroom. The students will teach their parents (a twist on the Student-Led Conferences from the fall) and I will act as a facilitator. I'll be getting a Theta or Swivl to record these experiences to share them with other interested parties. I also want to implement some sort of gamification and more fun into these evenings.

UPDATE: My project has changed to Breakout EDU Digital, which you can read more about here. I did implement a prototype of my initial plan, which you can check out via KidsDiscover.  

All the Innovators

I am really excited to see how it goes. As the Academy showed me, there may be a need for iterations (minor course corrections) and pivots (large changes.) It's sometimes hard to let go of our ideas because they are so near and dear to us, but change needs to occur to maximize impact. Part of the Academy included opening up our idea for feedback from everyone, and now I have even more to consider as I continue developing my prototype. There is even a possibility that the project may be scrapped and revamped entirely as I grow and expand my horizons.

Beyond the Academy, EdCampSV also got the wheels turning in my mind. This was one conference where I am not walking away with a ton of instructional ideas, but with more ideas and lessons to ponder. In the “Things That Suck” session, we had some great debates about homework, testing, professional development, and mayonaise. I was able to defend my position on each, while also respecting the thoughts of others. These kinds of conversations are what push education further ahead and we need to be having them more.

This trip also helped me to think critically about my own self, especially in my interactions with other teachers. I am incredibly energetic and talk a mile a minute, especially when it comes to discussing technology integration. I often get frustrated when others don’t seem to innately understand seemingly easy tasks or are resistant to learning something new. However, traveling halfway across the country put it in perspective. The roads here in San Franscico are very overwhelming to me. Even riding in a car caused me anxiety. Now I can see what others may be feeling when I am getting super excited about technology integration. Just like I was out of my element, so are they. I need to remember this when helping others and help them overcome it, just like I did with embracing the traffic.

This resonates with what one of the speakers said about fear. We can resist fear and get hurt , let it run our lives, or we can “dance with it.” Change is coming and it needs to happen.

With Coach Jay Atwood

You’ll notice that these two blog posts were very lacking in discussion about technology, which you would think you would have found in this particular post. While we did talk a lot about the impact of technology, I believed the Academy was more about mindset. We have big problems in education and we need even bigger solutions. We need to empower students, families, teachers, and everyone in education to innovate every single day. Only then will we get where we want education to be.

To EdTechTeam, Google for Education, the coaches and mentors, the #MTV16 cohort, and everyone who supported me in this endeavor, thank you. It was well worth the money for this experience. You can check out the vlogs I made about the experience on YouTube. I hope to continue connecting with you all and look forward to big things from us in the future.

Innovation Across the Nation (Part 1 - Personal Reflection)

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” ― Terry Pratchett

Over the past 6 days, I have been fortunate enough to travel to California to attend the Google for Education Certified Innovator Academy at the Googleplex in Mountain View. This has been a life-changing experience, and to fully do it justice, I need to split the experience into two parts. This is my personal reflection and you'll find my professional reflection here.

Typical pose with Mari

The best personal memory from this trip was the chance to spend a day with my partner-in-crime Mari Venturino. Mari has probably been mentioned in more than half of my blog posts and we have become super close over the past year. However, we had never met before this week. On Saturday, she picked me up and we went to EdCampSV in Palo Alto. After the EdCamp, we went to Windy Hill, which had some incredible views. We recorded an on location EduRoadTrip, which you can check out here. Finally, she took me for my first In-and-Out experience. It was amazing, to be blunt.

Karly, Mari, and me

The EdCamp was fun (with lots of learning to be covered in Part 2) and I got to meet some of my Twitter friends (Karly Moura, Craig Yen, Ben Cogswell, Joe Young, and probably more that I am forgetting) and make some new ones!

Outside of preexisting friends, I made a ton of new close bonds with the #MTV16 Innovator Cohort. (Team Black Eyed P.E.A.C.E. represent!) I could list all the people I consider friends at this point, but then I would just retype the entire Innovator list. I have memories with each of these people and I look forward to continued friendship with them all. I will give a big shout out to my German-South African roommate Adriaan van der Bergh, who brought Lindsey, Natalie, and Ari to our room the first day. To #TeamES and #Team378, thanks for making the hotel fun!

Jump shot attempt 187

While I was in San Francisco before the Innovation Academy officially started, I got to visit the Golden Gate Bridge with Jess, Chrystal, David, and Jared. After about 273 attempts to make a jump shot picture, we finally got one great one of us over the Bridge. We wandered around San Francisco, talked about life and education, and got to just generally enjoy our time together.

With Bill Baker at Alcatraz

The following day, I channeled my inner Sean Connery and visited The Rock (Alcatraz Island.) I am ashamed to say I forgot that The Rock was in San Fran, but as soon as I found out, I dropped all plans to go to the Full House house (sorry Mallory) and went here. I was joined by Katie, Angie, Maggie, and Erica (only one of which who has seen The Rock.) The audio tour was extraordinary and it was surreal to be inside the actual prison. The entire experience came to a head at the end of the tour. A former inmate named Bill Baker was on site talking about his experience and signing copies of his memoir. I bought one and had a wonderful discussion with him. He told us that the average IQ of the inmates was actually higher than the US national average at the time. In his words, "they were the dumbest smart people in the nation."

Credit to Mattcopter for the incredible photo

But by far the coolest place I got to visit was the Googleplex itself. I got to ride the famous Google bikes, tour the campus, drive Google Earth in the Holodeck, eat some incredible and unique food, take a nap in the nap pods, and take all the selfies. I quite literally felt like I was in The Internship. This is definitely crossed off my bucket list and now I need to find a way to get to the Marvel Headquarters.

On a personal level, this trip has been an amazing experience. You can check out the vlogs I made about the experience on YouTube. It is honestly hard to go back, but I am excited to see Mallory, Conner, and my students again. I will never forget the memories, experiences, and people I met along the way.

Living Like George Washington

"First in war, first in peace, and first 

in the hearts of his countrymen."

- Henry "Light Horse" Lee

Mt. Vernon after hours

The above quote comes from the eulogy of George Washington, and pretty much sums up what the average American knows about Washington. We are taught from an early age that he was a strong leader during the Revolutionary War, the first President, and the Father of our Country. However, the man behind the legend is much, much more. 

While at VSTE15, I saw a tweet from @GWBooks in my #vachat Tweetdeck column about "A Residential Weekend with George Washington" at Mt. Vernon. I clicked on it to find that there was an opportunity for Virginia educators to spend a weekend on the grounds of Mt. Vernon, delving deeper into the role of Washington during the Revolution era. I applied, was accepted into the Teacher Institute, and made my way there last weekend.

Our political cartoon

In a word - Incredible. I learned so much from this experience. My brain is still trying to process all of the information I took in. For example, Washington's motives and views on the Revolution surprised me, and I gained a larger insight into his stance on slavery. I actually took notes by hand, which will come as a surprise to anyone who knows me due to my love of technology and atrocious handwriting, but I found it to help me in retaining the information. The scholars they brought in were amazing, as were the educational staff. Each of them had a great balance of knowledge and personality. The other educators joining me were incredibly insightful and a pleasure to be around.

I learned so much more than just content about Washington. A major facet of the program was learning how to effectively use primary sources in teaching. I have attended professional development sessions about using primary sources before and studied it extensively during my graduate program, but something just clicked during this experience. Specifically, I liked that you do not need to use the entire primary source, how readily accessible most transcriptions are, and you can use primary sources to have students create their own, as we did in the pictured political cartoon. I am going to be using primary sources to teach most of my upcoming Civil War unit, drawing on lessons and instructional tips I learned here.

Sunrise on the Potomac

Beyond the learning, the experience was truly one of a kind. We had total access to the grounds of the estate the entire time and were given an exclusive tour of the mansion. How many people can say they watched the sunrise from Washington's porch, gazed at the moonlit profile of Mt. Vernon from the back lawn, or enjoyed the sunset from the cupola of the home? I will literally never get to do that again (unless I am accepted for another program there, which I hope to do). This experience will definitely spoil me for when I go to another estate. Luckily, there are more Teacher Institutes in other locations and I have already begun working on the application for one at Monticello.

When I returned from the trip, I developed a challenge for my students on Google Classroom. It contained various tidbits of information I had learned, which would involve their research skills, analysis of primary sources, and family involvement. About half of my class chose work on the challenge on MLK Day, all working to earn a chance to view the sunrise through Google Cardboard. The parents and students alike enjoyed the challenge, which you can view here.

Sunset from the top

This post did not do the entire weekend justice. It was an adventure like no other. My knowledge of George Washington and my ability to use primary sources were definitely impacted through this experience. I recommend visiting the Mt. Vernon website and checking when they are offering one for your state, or other historical homes in your area to see if they have anything similar. You'll learn a lot and develop memories that will last a lifetime. 

#Teach20s

Author's Note: This project ceased to exist in April 2016. If anyone wants to adapt it as their own, be my guest. I still feel there is a need for it.

In our respective 2015 reflection blog posts (Justin’s here and Mari’s here,) we noted that part of our resolutions was to continue to grow and look for new opportunities, and specifically mentioned a Top Secret Plan between the two of us.

Consider this Phase 1 of the Top Secret Plan.

#Teach20s is a new slowchat for teachers in their twenties. We will focus on the balance between growing into an adult, while thriving as a new teacher. Let’s face it, becoming an effective adult is just as daunting of a task as becoming a master teacher. Let’s build a community of openness, honesty, and collaboration to all help each other grow.

Not in your twenties anymore? That’s perfectly fine too! #Teach20s members can benefit from advice on how you navigated through this time in your life. Teachers in their twenties need a solid mentor who will help them not only grow as a teacher, but also as a person.

In our 2015 reflection posts, we also mentioned that we want to dedicate more time to our personal lives and improve our instructional practice. Starting a new Twitter chat seems like a direct contrast to this. We beg to differ. We are constructing a place where we can grow personally and professionally, and we are surrounding ourselves with individuals who will help us improve our instructional practice.

Because we know how important time is to everyone, we are offering this as a slow chat. On Sunday morning, we will post the question (with the #teach20s hashtag) through our Twitter accounts (@Mr_B_Teacher and @MsVenturino) and the new @Teach_20s account. It will be a graphic and will be reposted a few times throughout the week. Whenever you get a chance, respond with the #Teach20s hashtag. We encourage you to respond to others and engage in meaningful conversation, as that will help us all to grow. Remember to set up a column for #teach20s in Tweetdeck to help track the chat easier.

Establishing a new identity as an adult and navigating a new career of teaching can be a daunting experience. Let’s not do it alone; let’s help each other. If you have any suggestions or ideas for topics, feel free to leave a comment below.

Author’s note: This post is cross posted on Mari Venturino’s blog too.

Successes, Challenges, and Resolutions

As 2015 draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on our first semester. I ask myself three questions:

1. What went well?

Merry Christmas from Room 22!

I made some major changes to my classroom this year - most notable being developing a student-led classroom and flipping the classroom for math. Both have been successful for the most part. It is definitely a huge shift in paradigm for the students but they have adapted well.

On the student-led side of things, they pretty much run the classroom. I give them their directions for activities and then they take off from there, leading themselves and each other. We have had discussions and role plays of how to help others make good choices in team work. The students announce and manage transitions and inspect the room for cleanliness and such. Around Thanksgiving, students began leading morning meeting. I post my lesson plans online and they are familiar with the format of morning meeting, so it seemed like a logical progression. It has gone pretty well so far. Another part of the student-led classroom was student-led conferences, which you can read more about here. It is hard to let go of control in the classroom, but it helps to empower the students and teach them how to self-manage. 

Flipping the classroom has also been a great new endeavor. I wrote a piece on how I flip the classroom for Participate Learning, and I will write a longer post dedicated to my reflections on flipping the classroom in early 2016. Overall, parent and student reception has been very positive to it. I can target instruction better based on gauging their understanding from the prior night's video and help challenge or remediate students accordingly. Students actually create videos for each other, so that is another cool part I like about flipping the classroom because I can assess how well they know the material by their ability to teach others.

BreakoutEDU success!

In addition to these two major changes, I have also integrated a lot of new ideas into the classroom, including coding, Google Cardboard, BreakoutEDU, a larger focus on STEM, and other activities. While these don't always fit perfectly into the curriculum, these are the activities the students look forward to and help teach good skills for life.

I have also taken great efforts to maintain a positive mindset, with the #FlyHighFri movement and the Friday Five calls. While not every day is perfectly positive, I have seen a big difference in my attitude this year. 

Finally, my class is fantastic this year. I have been fortunate to have had two pretty great classes the past two years, and this class continues the pattern. They have impressed me with how well they have adapted to each other and the various changes from previous years. As with any class, there are some students who may be more challenging, but I have seen growth in all of them. They truly have lived up to our mantra: "We don't make excuses, we make changes."

2. What challenges did I face?

Coding during the Hour of Code

Despite all the awesomeness going on in Room 22, I have encountered some challenges too. One of them revolves around testing. As I said in the Halloween Rest Stop of EduRoadTrip, most my feelings on testing are not the most positive ones. I think students are overtested, but that could be a separate post by itself. I did find one good moment from testing recently, which I shared on the Christmas episode of EduRoadTrip (check it out around the 6 minute mark.) I've tried to make testing more kid-friendly this year, but allowing the students to choose when to take their tests. (Side note here: we call tests "opportunities" because they are opportunities to show me what they can do. It seems to relieve stress for the students) The first quarter, I said, "All of these need to be done by the end of the quarter, but you can choose when." The majority of the students waited until the last day of the quarter. The second quarter, I gave two week windows, but many would still wait until the end of the windows. It is not a perfect system and still needs tweaking, but I like the idea of putting them in control. 

Along with this, I am struggling with time management this year. I moved over the summer, so I now have a 35 minute commute each way. This isn't terrible, but I've never had to commute more than five minutes in my life to any job. I essentially lose over an hour every day to driving, (although I do enjoy the drives because I listen to podcasts and audiobooks.) However, between time being taken for meetings and other events, I have a hard time keeping up with grading. I used to be really good at turning around grades in a day or two, but now sometimes it takes me a week or more. I use my nights and weekends to develop engaging lesson plans, but the grading time seems to have been slid to the back burner. I am human and I recognize that I need to develop a better system.  

Using Google Cardboard

The final challenge is more internal. I struggle with some of the national, state, and local mandates because I don't see the direct benefit to the students. Often times, I feel conflicted; do I do what I am told or do I do what I think is right for the students? I don't have an answer, nor do I think I will have an answer for a long time. I do spend a lot of time thinking about this, and in nearly all cases I will side with the students.

3. What are my resolutions for 2016?

I have consistently made resolutions for the past 15 or so years, but have a hard time following them. Hopefully by writing them down, whoever is reading this will hold me accountable.

Presenting at VSTE15

• I will continue to hold my students to high expectations: Sometimes, it is easier to say "good enough." Our second class motto is "Good enough is never good enough." I will continue to push all students to grow, both socially and academically. 
• I will develop better systems for testing/grading and time management: These are two struggles I identified and they need to be improved. Using before/after school times and planning periods more efficiently will help me with this. I also want to eventually shift to standards based grading and giving feedback versus grades, but that is a long term goal.
• I will continue to develop professionally and look for new opportunities: This year, I co-founded the EduRoadTrip podcast and the #FlyHighFri positivity movement. I want to continue to create new things (including a major idea for another collaboration with Mari Venturino, but you'll have to wait and hear about that one) and continue to find the best fit for my philosophies and mindsets. I'll continue participating in Twitter chats and conferences to advance my knowledge base. One goal for 2016 Twitter is to have more real conversations on Twitter versus echoing all the fluff. I already have some professional development lined up in January- attending a Residential Weekend at Mt. Vernon and presenting at a #gafesummit!
• I will take more time for my personal life: This seems like a direct contrast to my previous resolution, but it's possibly the most important. Between school/commuting, EduRoadTrip, #FlyHighFri, Twitter, blogging, and other educational related things, I have been missing out on spending time with my girlfriend, cat, friends, and family. I will intentionally set aside time to strengthen these connections, because without those four, the rest does not matter. I also need to get back into a workout routine and take more time to relax. This also ties into better time management. Nothing will necessarily be eliminated, but more streamlined efficiency is necessary.  

These are my thoughts from 2015. I am looking forward new adventures in 2016 and can't wait to see what it holds. I laid out my successes, challenges, and resolutions for the world to see; hold me accountable.

What are your reflections from 2015? What do you hope to achieve in 2016?

Student-Leaders Sharing Success

"What power to be able to talk about your own strengths and weaknesses instead of your parents and teachers talking about you behind closed doors."

- Parent of child in my class

Dressed professionally to present

Imagine parent-teacher conferences. You probably envisioned a new set of parents (with no child in sight) entering every fifteen minutes, with the teacher speaking a mile a minute. Later, the parents would go home and either praise or criticize the child for the report they just received. (I'll be honest, every year I heard, "Your teachers said you need to stop talking all the time! But your grades are fine!")

However, our conferences were different this year - I probably spoke about fifteen minutes total all day. The student developed, practiced, and led the entire conference this year.

This year, my classroom is a student-led learning environment, thanks to Learn Like a Pirate and the help of Paul Solarz. While preparing for conferences, I realized that with the students in charge of their learning, it made sense to have them lead the conferences.

On Twitter, I saw two of my close friends, Kayla Delzer and Allison Kerley, had recently completed student-led conferences. I reached out to both of them for advice and they happily obliged. I "borrowed" ideas from both of them. There are many ways to do student-led conferences; this is solely my take. 

First, I introduced the idea to my class. I asked them why they thought we were doing it. They expertly made the connection between student-led learning and the goal of the conferences. They seemed excited; for many of them, this would be the first time they even attended a conference, let alone run it. 

Working on the script

I set up a template (feel free to Make a Copy) and sent it out to them. They were to self-evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in all academic areas and set a goal. I also tasked them with developing a goal for their learning and behavior. The template included an introduction and closing, where I tasked them with formally introducing me to their parents and vice versa. For many of them, it was the first time they had spoken Birckbichler in many months!

After completing their "script," (completed example here) they partnered up and began practicing. One student would play the role of parent and the other would be the student. Part of their closing was to ask their parents for questions, so this was practiced too. I also practiced one-on-one with the students, providing feedback on both their information and presentation.

Practicing 

On the parent side of things, I notified them all that they would be bringing their child to conferences. Using Google Forms (along with Choice Eliminator, FormMule, and AutoCrat) parents selected their times and were sent reminders with time and the fact that the child had to attend, a tip I got from Allison.

The preceding steps spanned about four days. We only had about 30 minutes each day to work on this, which meant some students did not have a lot of practice time. However, the conference day approached.

I re-purposed my Selfie Stick to take pictures during
the conference

On the day of the conference, I asked the students to dress professionally or business casual. Every single student met this requirement, and some have even continued! For each conference, the students sat down on one side of the table with me, and presented their conference to the parents.

They all did a fantastic job! Most everything they said was accurate and reflected what I would have said. In reminder letters to parents, I asked them to ask their child questions and all parents did a great job targeting points I would have fleshed out myself. If a question was directed to me, I tried to give a succinct answer and divert it back to the student. I wanted to stay out of it as much as possible and let the students shine. The students did a tremendous job of thinking on their feet for the responses to questions they may not have had an answer ready for. 

Parents, students, and I were all amazed. I was very impressed with how honest and critical students were of themselves. They were able to examine their own learning, articulate it to their parents, and set realistic goals. Afterwards in class, I also asked students to write reflections, of which I will provide some brief snippets from their much more in-depth responses:

• I got a chance to tell Mr.B what i feel instead of him telling what he feels about my learning.
• I think it was a good idea because i could learn how to present things and i got to practice it and share how i felt about my learning.
• In my conference I liked that my parents were calm and asked questions that I have never thought of.
• I felt excited and nervous to start and lead the meeting.
• The advice I would give others is that you should not be nervous it is actually a lot of fun to do.

I also reached out to the parents to get their thoughts:

• I really enjoyed the flip... It was cute watching him get so nervous and his cheeks get all red. I'm very proud of him and his accomplishments. 
• I really enjoyed the concept and the change up in the style. I feel it allows them to look at their selves critically in a new and interesting way that they may have not thought of or gotten otherwise.
• I think it is empowering for any child to be in charge of their learning plan no matter where they are in the learning spectrum and you could tell that he was very proud even if he said it was very scary. Thanks for all you do to make learning easier for my son, the dream would be for schools to be filled with facilitators of learning for children on all levels rather then teacher who try to teach from the front of the class.

What would I do differently in the future? I would have liked for the students to have different samples of work and assessments. They would explain the grades (examining if any low scores were due to testing problems or content knowledge) and how to improve or further challenge themselves. I plan to start the students tracking their own results this quarter with this similar strategy. I would also like to do a second conference; where the students reflect on the goals they originally set and how they have worked toward achieving them. Along with this, I would have them set a more specific goal. I would allot more time to work on this too to give students more time to practice.

I feel it was a very beneficial experience. How often do students get to share their feelings with their parents and teachers in a formal setting? Like the opening quote reflected, many decisions about students are made without them behind closed doors. We expect students to be responsible for their own learning, but then don't include them in the process. It seems backwards to me. The goal of education should be to empower all students to succeed. 

Below you will find a video of two students' conferences. What can you learn from them? How can you do this in your own classroom? Let me know in the comments. 

I Thrive on the Friday Five

"They may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel."

- Carol Buchner 

We are only nine weeks into the school year and I have already called parents 45 times. I don't think in all of my years of teaching I have ever had to contact parents this much in such a short timeframe. However, all 45 calls have been positive calls. This year, as part of my positive mindset plan, I have incorporated the Friday Five into my schedule. 

I want to make it clear that I did not come up with this idea. I heard about it a while ago, but couldn't remember how or when. When I tried to track down the original idea to give the due credit, I found two different articles here and here. So kudos to those educators for inspiring me!

Here's the quick version of it: Every Friday, I call five parents. While calling them, I share something great about their student from that week. It could be a concept they worked hard to improve, a great peer interaction, or showing respect to me or another teacher. I do this every Friday without fail. I aim for verbal contact with the parent, but if I can't reach them I will leave a voicemail. Yesterday, I was fortunate to connect with all families.

Google Sheet with specific comments and dates

How do I pick the students? Randomly. I have a Google Sheet set up with all the names of the students. I quite literally press my random name generator until I get five names. This way I'm not targeting specific "problematic" kids or the "overachievers."  Under this system, each student gets a call about once a month. I write the date down that I'll be calling them and then use the comments feature to write down what I want to share. I aim to be highly specific. Saying, "On Tuesday, Johnny worked really hard to master decimals" is much more powerful than "Johnny had a good week."

How has this impacted the classroom? In a word: hugely. The parents are very appreciative. Taking a tip from one of the provided articles, I now start each call by asking if they have time to hear something awesome about their students. Before starting this, parents seemed worried or hesitated to listen. You can hear the sound of relief in their voices and they thank me profusely. I have even had parents email me thanking me for the voicemail. 

The students love it too. They are aware that I'll be calling their parents because I tell them that day. On Monday, they normally come in beaming saying, "My mom said you were bragging about me!" This sticks with them for the next few weeks and I rarely have major behavior problems. Relationships matter.

One thing I would like to try is make the calls in class. I saw this idea from David Huber during #FlyHighFri. He posted a video of teachers and him doing this in front of the whole class. I'm sure that moment sticks with the students for a long time. 

We are #flyhighfri with more positive in class calls to our families #SSSct We are proud of our kids & their effort pic.twitter.com/KDuPun4Hl4

— David Huber, Ed. D. (@DavidJHuber) September 25, 2015

I have also benefited from it. While I like to think that I watch over all my students all the time, this  holds me accountable to be looking for specific moments of success and greatness. I've realized that I am now looking for excellence in all kids all the time versus just those five. Using the Track Record idea from Hacking Education by Mark Barnes and Jennifer Gonzalez, I have a Google Form set up where I record both good and bad choices that are made. With the RowCall add on, the Sheet sorts it into each students' individual page for me to review later.

Try it yourself. On Monday, pick five students. They could be random or they could be targeted. Look for something amazing they do during the week. Write it down somewhere. On Friday, surprise both them and their parents by calling them and praising their child. A two minute phone call will pay off in dividends. 

Who's with me? Who's trying it this week? Share your comments and experiences in the comments below.