Connecting a Hurricane to LME

What does a hurricane have to do with the teachers and staff at Laurel Mountain?  During our staff development on August 24th, we found out.  Nancy and Debbie from Mesquite ISD presented "Connectors" to all of the Laurel Mountain staff.

What is a connector? A connector is a way to look at and think about relationships, any type of relationship.  First, you start with the output...what to do want to happen?  Then, you look at the input...what is the current situation?  Finally, you focus on the transforms or the actions that connect your input  to the output. In the end, the only thing we have real control over are the transforms, or the actions that you can make in a situation.

In simpler terms, every teacher, every student, every parent, we are all connected at Laurel Mountain.  What we say and how we act affects everyone within our learning community.  And every one's output as a direct affect one someone else's input. 

Let me give you an example.  Let's pretend that I am not a morning person (side note: I know this is a stretch, since why would a person pick the profession of a teacher if he/she was not a morning person?  But for this situation, we are just going to pretend).  And let's say that I am on morning duty and I do not smile or greet a child walking in to school.  That child goes to class upset because I did not acknowledge him/her.  That child acts rude to his/her teacher, which then has started off that teacher's day on a bad note.  My output 9not smiling) had a direct affect on that teacher's input (being treated with disrespect).  It is all about the connections and the relationships that we create. 

Nancy and Debbie lead us through several different activities to demonstrate this point: my output directly affects some one's input. 

In this activity, we learned how hard it is to stay calm with so many "balls" in the air.

Next, we created a BIG connector.  We thought about about Laurel Mountain and how we want students to leave our school at the end of 5th grade (problem solvers, love to learn, prepared, respectful, etc.).  This became our output.  Then, we thought about how our students come to us (excited, nervous, experienced, tired, etc.).  This became our output.  Finally, we focused on the transforms in the middle.  What do we need to do as teachers to get our students from input to output (listen, teach, guide, question, support, love, etc)?  Here is a picture of this big connector, or as we named it, Lory the Lion.

Lory the Lion

Next, we discussed how in any organization there are smaller connectors inside the BIG connector.  See picture below.

All of the connectors need to line up for the organization to run smoothly.

We were put in small groups and thought about the other connectors that fit inside Lory.  We first worked on our relationship connectors.  How we act towards others has direct affect on our students, staff and parents.  The picture below shows how our relationship connectors line up inside Lory.  Each output affect another group's input.

Those blue papers are our relationship connectors.  Notice how all of the outputs line up with the next group's input.

Next, we worked on our academic connectors.  This time, we were grouped by grade level. We discussed how we want our students to leave that grade level (output), how they come to that grade level (input) and finally what we can do as teachers to get them to that desired output (transforms/actions).  In the end, the only thing we have control over as teachers are the transforms, or what we can do to make sure our students are ready for the next level. See the picture below to see how our academic connectors fit inside Lory.

The pink ones are our academic connectors. 

It was a eye-opening day of learning.  There were several "ah-hahs!" and "hmmm..." throughout the day.  Nancy and Debbie were very easy to listen to and entertaining.  But they did get the message across that our output affects the input of everyone we come in contact with. 

So, finally back to the title of this entry, "Connecting a Hurricane to LME".  What does a massive storm have to do with our school.  Well, look at the definition below:

"A hurricane: many individual raindrops cooperating."

An individual raindrop can't do much good.  It can water one blade of grass.  However, one raindrop is not going to do much good for the whole yard.  But when those raindrops get together and cooperate, massive change can happen (as shown to us this past week with Hurricane Issac). 

At Laurel Mountain, we want to be a hurricane.  We want to be strong.  We want to be a powerful force of change. The only way we can do that is by working together.  That means all of us, teachers, parents and students.  By thinking about, creating and remembering our connectors we can guarantee a successful and powerful year of learning for all of the students at Laurel Mountain.

Continuing to develop the whole child....

Building SEM Brick by Brick

This past July, I had the opportunity (along with eight fellow staff members) to attended Confratute at the University of Connecticut.  This conference, attended by educators from all over the globe, provides research-based practical strategies for engagement and enrichment learning for all students. 

I was very excited to present this year at Confratute.  I was honored to share Laurel Mountain's successes with fellow attendees.  My presentation was titled "Building SEM Brick by Brick".  I discussed how we implemented the Schoolwide Enrichment Model at LME.  I also talked about what has and has not worked.  I was a little nervous at first.  But once I got started, it was hard for me to stop talking about the important work we are all doing for all of our students.

Below is my presentation on Prezi.  Feel free to take a look.

Continuing to develop the whole child...

Building SEM Brick by Brick

Our Teachers are Learners at Confratute

This past July, nine Laurel Mountain Elementary educators had the opportunity to join more than 600 educators from across the US and fifteen countries at Confratute, a week long program at the University of Connecticut that provides educators with research-based practical strategies for engagement and enrichment learning for all students. Attending this past summer:

Mrs. Lucy Castro, 5th grade teacher
Mrs. Melissa Hein, 5th grade teacher
Mr. Trevor Hance, 4th grade teacher
Ms. Kate Fredrickson, 3rd grade teacher
Ms. Jessica Lofaro, 2nd grade teacher
Mrs. Charlotte Justice, Counselor
Mrs. Nicole Levitan, Enrichment Coordinator
Mrs. Johanna Kelley, Assistant Principal
Mrs. Jan Richards, Principal

For the past 35 years, Storrs, Connecticut, has attracted more than 20,000 educators worldwide for this highly acclaimed, enrichment-based program sponsored by the Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development. It blends educators interested in gifted education, differentiation of instruction and curriculum, and creativity and innovation in education.

Confratute started in 1978, when Dr. Joseph Renzulli and Dr. Sally Reis decided that they wanted to host a summer conference focused on Enrichment Teaching and Learning. They didn't want it to be just any conference, though. They wanted to combine the best qualities of a CONference with a summer instiTUTE and add a whole lot of FRAternity in between.

This summer, Confratute offered a jam-packed schedule of events to engage, inspire and rejuvenate educators. Some of the sessions our staff attended included Math for Those Who Think They Can’t Do Math; Storytelling, Mime and Movement; Silk Screen Printing; Enrichment Clusters-Advanced; The Kaplan Depth and Complexity Model; Fun and Friendly Algebra and numerous other sessions. Mrs. Levitan presented a Special Topic Session titled “Building SEM Brick by Brick”. She was proud to share Laurel Mountain’s successes and challenges implementing and sustaining SEM.

For the first time, Confratute hosted the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) Leaders Forum, an intensive week for principals who are interested in school change using a philosophy of Enrichment Learning and Teaching. Mrs. Richards attended the SEM Leaders Forum and was able to share her experiences. Just as important, she learned from other principals and leaders from around the country on how they have implemented SEM at their schools.

Through exposure to differentiation, talent development and enriching learning experiences, the community of adult learners at Confratute are able to share similar interests, as well as foster professional growth. All of our staff members returned to Austin energized, excited and ready to enrich the lives of our students at Laurel Mountain Elementary to ensure that we are developing the whole child for a lifetime of success.