Middle Level Leader - How to Build Teachers' Capacities for Creative Thinking
May 2012
Quick! Answer yes or no: do you consider yourself to be a creative thinker? While the term usually brings to mind artists, musicians, dancers, and actors, all of us have the capability to be creative thinkers. Thinking creatively can be as simple as solving a problem in a new way or looking at something from a different perspective. It means taking risks, facing our doubts, challenging ourselves to do something new, or looking for a new route to an old destination. As Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
To provide the best possible education for our students, school leaders need to both model creative thinking and encourage it in our colleagues. In this month’s issue, author and speaker Rick Wormeli shares ways to build the capacity for creative thinking in others. In the technology section, Dedra Stafford shares how we must think outside the box to blend technology into the Common Core State Standards.
Both Rick and Dedra will be sharing their expertise in NASSP’s Summer Concert Series, a series of professional development opportunities designed for school and district leaders. See the “News and Notes” sections for more details.
Patti Kinney
Associate Director, Middle Level Services
Building Capacity for Creative Thinking
By Rick Wormeli
It’s not overtly taught in many teacher-prep programs, but learning how to think creatively is key not only to student success, but teacher longevity as well. There are many ways that principals can build teachers’ capacities for creative and critical thinking in daily teaching. For example, principals can invite teachers to learn content or a new skill outside of their subject discipline, build instructional versatility, brainstorm, read, listen, open instruction to professional critique, and more. However, building teachers’ capacities to generate creative responses on the fly takes practice and humility. We can’t be creative unless we’re willing to be confused. (Continue reading)
Blending Technology Into the Common Core
By Dedra Stafford
As states move from widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards to implementation, the realization is becoming clear that technology can no longer be a standalone opportunity used only in certain classrooms; rather, it must become a blended part of all areas of thinking and learning. To prepare our schools for such a 21st century shift, we need to start with honest reflection and exposure. (Continue reading)
Spotlight on Middle Schools
National Junior Honor Society members and advisers carried out impressive service projects this year. Here are a few highlights:
- The NJHS chapter at Daniels Middle School in Raleigh, NC, sent 52 Operation Christmas Child boxes to needy children at home and abroad in December and followed up locally by caroling at a convalescent center. In March, they supported Read Across America Day by reading to elementary students in their feeder schools. They also teamed up with two other service groups to raise $380 and collect food and toys for cats and dogs at the local SPCA shelter.
- NJHS members at Marshall Middle School in Clovis, NM, helped their peers and community all year long. They collected 13 boxes of snacks and supplies for military personnel overseas, raised money to help a local family whose apartment was burned, and sponsored a dance to raise $321 as a gift to a family whose son (a student at the school) was killed in an accident in December. In April, they held a rummage sale to raise money for their Relay for Life team.
- The NJHS chapter at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Alexandria, VA, participated last December in Wreaths Across America and placed wreaths on the headstones of fallen soldiers at the National Cemetery in Arlington, VA. Other chapters can look into helping out with a similar project for Memorial Day at the end of the month. Local VFW or American Legion groups are good resources.
- Students at Sleepy Hill Middle School in Lakeland, FL, seek any opportunity to wear something other than school uniforms to school. The NJHS chapter sponsored a dress down event to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Students who donated $2 to the cause were allowed to come to school in “street” clothes for a day. More than $700 was collected.
- When the NJHS chapter at East Middle School in Plymouth, MI, received a $300 Green Schools grant earlier this year, members helped build a Michigan native species garden at the school. A side benefit of the project was that a family of ducks nested in the new garden, adding a little fauna to the new flora for all the students to see. The chapter also cleaned up the yards of houses neighboring the school, raised money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, made blankets for children in a local cancer center, planted trees on campus, and coordinated the school’s recycling program.
- The 25 members of the NJHS chapter at St. Paul’s Lutheran School in Des Peres, MO, contributed more than 1,000 volunteer hours (an average of more than 50 hours per person) to a variety of causes this year. They collected more than 1,500 books to take to their colleagues in Joplin who had been the victims of a devastating tornado. They baked cookies and brownies for their city’s public safety officers, helped sort and organize clothes at a local thrift store, played bingo with residents of a local retirement home, served dinner at the local Ronald McDonald House, and supported the annual school auction with volunteer helpers.
Our hats go off to these responsible and hard-working middle school student leaders and their chapter advisers for continuing to make a positive difference in their schools and communities.
News and Notes
Cultivating Creativity in Teachers: Workshop with Rick Wormeli
Back for the fourth summer, Rick Wormeli will present a two-day workshop on Cultivating Creativity and the Differentiated Mind-Set in Teachers. The engaging seminar, part of the NASSP Summer Concert Series, will help school leaders break free of conventional thinking and discover new and fresh ideas to differentiate instruction, especially when teaching 21st century skills. Watch a short video of Rick discussing the content of this event. The interactive, hands-on workshop will take place on June 28 and 29 in Reston, VA. Come and plan to stay for the July Fourth festivities in Washington, DC.
NASSP’s Summer Concert Series
In addition to the Rick Wormeli workshop, NASSP will host a series of professional development opportunities this summer that are designed especially for school and district leaders. With special discounts available for teams and multiple-event registrations, the NASSP Summer Concert Series will offer in-depth professional development events focused on differentiated instruction, Common Core State Standards, leadership training, and more. Here’s the lineup:
Inspiring Stories From Breakthrough Schools
All of the 2012 MetLife Foundation-NASSP Breakthrough Schools serve high-needs students and have been achieving significant academic growth for at least three years. Read the stories of these amazing schools in the May issue of Principal Leadership (no login required).
- Bloomfield High School, Bloomfield, NJ
- Lafayette Academy Charter School, New Orleans, LA
- Lesher Middle School, Fort Collins, CO
- Oscar F. Smith Middle School, Chesapeake, VA
- Pierce County High School, Blackshear, GA
- The Preuss School UCSD, La Jolla, CA
- Vallivue Middle School, Caldwell, ID
- Wade Hampton High School, Greenville, SC
- West Carter Middle School, Olive Hill, KY
- Woodbridge Middle School, Woodbridge, VA.
After reading the articles, if you think your school meets the selection criteria, apply by June 30 to become a 2013 MetLife Foundation-NASSP Breakthrough School.
Capitol Hill Briefing: Creating a Culture of Excellence
NASSP and the Alliance for Excellent Education recently sponsored a briefing on Capitol Hill— "Creating a Culture of Excellence: The Role of School Leaders." Principals from four of this year's MetLife Foundation-NASSP Breakthrough Schools were the featured speakers. Watch the video of the archived event.
Middle Level Dissertation Award Winner
Congratulations to the 2012 NASSP Dr. Ted Sizer Middle Level Dissertation Award winner, Jacqueline Gale, former principal and presently adjunct professor at Johnson (VT) State College and the Community College of Vermont. Gale’s research, Examining Principals’ Perceptions of Middle Grades Leadership, examines 24 Vermont middle grades principals’ perceptions of leadership in grades 5-8.
Schools to Watch Conference
NASSP is a member of the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform which sponsors the Schools to Watch. This year, the annual Schools to Watch Conference will be held June 21–23 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott near Washington, DC.
Recognize a Distinguished Middle Level Colleague
The NASSP Gruhn-Long-Melton Award was created in 1983 and is given to recognize “distinguished service and leadership in improving middle level education.” The award was named in honor of Dr. William T. Gruhn, Dr. Forrest E. Long, and George E. Melton—all of whom made significant contributions during their lifetime to the field of middle level education. Applications are due November 15 and we encourage NASSP members to consider nominating a colleague worthy of this award.