Over the past several weeks I have had the opportunity to talk with several of our high school students. They have provided me some resources through youtube and web articles that have helped me understand that providing a relevant education for them is extremely important.
In speaking with students, they truly want more than to learn process or recite facts. They want to be challenged and given the opportunity to explore. Many of them expressed interest in expanded opportunities to serve their communities. I believe our staff gets this and try to provide much more than a “textbook” education. Some of my evidence comes from our current group of BP Teachers of Excellence. Without fail, the nominators of these teachers expressed how the teachers would try to connect course material to the “real world” while making positive personal connections with students. The nominees themselves talked about personal connections with students being their number 1 priority.
I have mentioned before that I believe in a rigorous curriculum and standards, relevance of the curriculum to a student’s interest, and most importantly, establishing a positive relationship with students. The saying “Students don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care” is something I truly believe in. A large part of that caring is getting to know students well enough to know their interests, aspirations and dreams. Only after that, can curriculum truly be relevant to a student which in turn motivates them to seek greater challenges and become life long learners.
We are about to close out another school year and I look forward to my next post as a reflection of where we are at as a district from my perspective and where I see us going next year. As you can imagine, I will focus on the 3 R’s (rigor, relevance and relationships) along with a continuous improvement mindset embedded into our culture.
More with Relevance
Over the past several weeks I have had the opportunity to talk with several of our high school students. They have provided me some resources through youtube and web articles that have helped me understand that providing a relevant education for them is extremely important.
In speaking with students, they truly want more than to learn process or recite facts. They want to be challenged and given the opportunity to explore. Many of them expressed interest in expanded opportunities to serve their communities. I believe our staff gets this and try to provide much more than a “textbook” education. Some of my evidence comes from our current group of BP Teachers of Excellence. Without fail, the nominators of these teachers expressed how the teachers would try to connect course material to the “real world” while making positive personal connections with students. The nominees themselves talked about personal connections with students being their number 1 priority.
I have mentioned before that I believe in a rigorous curriculum and standards, relevance of the curriculum to a student’s interest, and most importantly, establishing a positive relationship with students. The saying “Students don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care” is something I truly believe in. A large part of that caring is getting to know students well enough to know their interests, aspirations and dreams. Only after that, can curriculum truly be relevant to a student which in turn motivates them to seek greater challenges and become life long learners.
We are about to close out another school year and I look forward to my next post as a reflection of where we are at as a district from my perspective and where I see us going next year. As you can imagine, I will focus on the 3 R’s (rigor, relevance and relationships) along with a continuous improvement mindset embedded into our culture.
Take care and talk again soon!