Mindset



This past Monday, Austin staff members received the book Mindset.  We will spend the next few months looking at it in-depth through a campus-wide book study.  Here is an overview provided by the book's website:



In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong.

In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.

Teaching a growth mindset creates motivation and productivity in the worlds of business, education, and sports. It enhances relationships. When you read Mindset, you’ll see how.

Mindset Website

Has anyone out there read this book?  What were your impressions or take-aways?

"Your Output Is Messing With My Input!"

Wow!  Yesterday's professional learning on "Connectors" was a day of A-HAs and Hmmms.  Check out this video of an activity that got us to thinking about how we are connected as a campus and how everything that we do (our Output) affects others (their Input).

(Hey, don't laugh!  It's harder than it looks!)

 In an overly simplified nutshell, "Connectors" introduced us to the idea that every student and staff member is connected at Austin Elementary, and every word, action, and deed has an impact on our learning community.  Take a look at the connector below (we named her "Mustang Sally").  

 The left side of the Connector, or the Input, illustrates what comes to us; students that are smart, eager, tired, gifted, troubled, innocent, nervous, etc.  See below...

  The right side of the Connector, or the Output, shows how we want students to leave Austin Elementary; students that are encouraged, aware, passionate, happy, creative, playful, independent, etc.  See below...

   As "Connectors" taught us, what helps us make the transition from our Input to our Output are the Transforms (generally verbs) that we do to "transform" our Input to our Output.  Still with me?  Some of our Transforms were: laugh, provide, share, challenge, discipline, celebrate, empower, enrich, motivate, model, teach, correct, etc.  See below...



From there, we began to discuss how within the Austin Elementary Connector (Mustang Sally) there are individual Connectors and even grade level Connectors that, when aligned properly, build toward the desired Output of Mustang Sally.  Now I'm sure I've lost a few people.

Below are pictures of some of the aligning we did with our grade level content-specific Connectors.

Our final Mustang Sally (with the grade level Connectors inside) has been posted and will be used to facilitate discussions of content alignment and vision alignment.

Whew!  What a day!



"E-Time" Success!

We sucessfully completed our first session of E-Time!  I think we were all a bit nervous, but things went smoothly.  After all, this was a first for each of us.

Our teachers did an excellent job of introducing the concept of "enrichment."  We frequently overheard words such as passion, discovery, interest, and choice.  Students were excited to "take the wheel" in their own learning.  

After the concept of enrichment was introduced and E-Time was defined more clearly, students had a chance to spend some time on activities that matched their interests.

Check out the video below for a quick "recap" of the morning!
For more info about the Schoolwide Enrichment Model @ Austin Elementary, check out Lifelong Learning Made SEMple and follow us on Twitter with #AustinSEM .

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year's From Austin Elementary!

It is our first day back of 2012, and we are hitting the ground running!  January will be a month full of Professional Learning for Austin Elementary.  Here are just a few of the things coming up this month:

• January 6- Our first day of E-Time!  (see previous posts)
• January 12-  Several Austin teachers will attend a PBIS training at Region X on "Extreme Behavior Modification."  Should be interesting!
• January 16-  The entire Austin staff will participate in a training on "Connectors."  

Check back soon for some photos and updates of our first day of E-Time! 

Prepping For The First Day

We've spent a lot of time in the past few weeks prepping for our first day of E-Time (January 6th).  At our most recent SEM Professional Learning session, we shared some ideas on what to do/plan for that first session.  Remember, for many of our students, this will be their first exposure to SEM and enrichment!  Below are some guiding topics and questions that we thought might assist our teachers.  Thank you Mrs. Kirby and Mrs. Raney for pulling this together!

First Day of E-Time

• Class discussion of key words: enrichment, E-Time, interest, choice, passion, discovery
• Show students some of the common interests within the classroom from Renzulli profiles
• Complete grade level interest surveys - (binder in the workroom)
• Group students with common interests and give them time to discuss what types of activities they would enjoy doing.
• Discuss what some of the activities could look like-
• Making cards for new students
• Researching your favorite sport
• Learning how to take care of pets
• Scrapbooking
• Creating clay sculptures
• Interviewing community helpers
• Designing an ocean mural
• Performing magic tricks
• Using problem-solving skills to solve pattern block puzzles

Our Hollywood Debut!

It's been a long time coming....

I've finally been able to put our experience at Laurel Mountain Elementary into a short movie!  There are some great examples of current enrichment clusters as well as some good advice and suggestions from the Principal and SEM Coordinator.

Once again, we would like to send a big THANK YOU to Laurel Mountain for hosting us and spending the time to answer our questions.

E-Time Is... E-Time Is Not

Our professional learning on E-Time earlier this week was a big hit!  We began with our Scavenger Hunt of the Laurel Mountain S.E.M. blog (see previous post).  We then had an energizing and enlightening (more "E" words) Skype session with Laurel Mountain S.E.M. coordinator Nicole Levitan.  She was kind enough to share her time answering questions and giving advice on how Laurel Mountain has successfully implemented E-Time.

Drawing on what we took away from the Scavenger Hunt and from speaking with Nicole, we then created a list on the SmartBoard of what E-Time Is and Is Not.  Check it out...



We wrapped up our professional learning with a challenging reflection piece facilitated by Laurie O'Neill.  Each teacher thought of one word that summed up the afternoon's learning.  They then shared their word with their E-Team.  Each team then wrote a sentence incorporating every teacher's word (that's when it became a bit challenging).  Check out their sentences below.  It wasn't as easy as it sounds!