Secondary Learning Walks - Painting a picture of secondary English classrooms

During the month of February, the Humanities team, along with a few secondary administrators and instructional coaches, had the opportunity to make visits to a sampling of 6-12th grade ELA classrooms across the district.  Every campus was visited, and teachers from every grade volunteered to show us how they were implementing our SpringBoard curriculum in classrooms.  This curriculum, adopted nearly 5 years ago, has had a big role in transforming the way ELA classrooms operate.  Every grade's curriculum is comprised of 5 units that are designed according to theme.  Reading and writing skills are taught within each unit using texts and writing assignments that stretch students to think deeply, collaborate, and consider a variety of sources in their learning.

SpringBoard is a curriculum that is published by The College Board and is very rigorous in nature. One of the things that was most exciting to see was the way in which teachers were using the resources creatively with learners at all levels of skill. Teachers have definitely refined their practices with the curriculum to stretch far beyond the "workbook" that contains the basic materials.  Very creative word walls adorned rooms, students worked in groups to compose arguments, and a plethora of digital and print resources were used to help students in their learning.

As a curriculum director, perhaps the most affirming part of my learning walk experience was to see the way teachers have begun "owning" the process and the content of our adopted resources.  They see value in the vertical alignment of the skills/materials, and they have contributed to the "GCISDification" of our SpringBoard implementation.  Students' skills are becoming stronger with every teacher who builds on the foundation of prior learning.

In addition to seeing many positive things during our campus walks, our team also found ideas that we need to share across campuses (so that ALL kids have the benefit of them!) and a few areas that we need to hone and more consistently implement.  Overall, however, the visits were a great success, and they affirmed many of the great things we had suspected were going on in classrooms.

Soring Valor - The trip of a lifetime for students and WWII veterans

This post shows what can happen when a person has a good idea and acts on it, and when another person has a good idea and acts on it, and peoples' lives are changed for the better as a result.

A couple of years ago, Gary Sinise began coordinating and funding Soaring Valor trips to send some of the last living World War II veterans to the Nat'l WWII museum in New Orleans. He did this because he had developed a passion and an appreciation for our active service members and veterans. Prior to this week, his foundation had partnered with American Airlines, the museum, and the Air Power Foundation to sponsor 5 of these trips. Here's a link to show how these trips have gone. https://youtu.be/l3P15s4zWNQ

About 9 months ago, I got a call from Tricia Palmersheim who teaches 5th grade in GCISD. Her husband, Jim, is the Director of Veterans Affairs for American Airlines and has worked closely with Gary on Soaring Valor. Tricia and Jim invited me to facilitate the first student-veteran paired trip to the museum. Wow. An incredible opportunity and an enormous undertaking.

We, of course, said yes and began planning all of the events that just wrapped up yesterday. Through a districtwide contest (including nearly 1000 juniors), 40 students were selected from Grapevine High, Colleyville Heritage High, and Collegiate Academy in GCISD. On Tuesday night we had a community send-off in which the students met the veterans they'd be paired with on the trip. Veterans ranged in age from 88-101 and were accompanied by a guardian to assist with their care.

Gary Sinise, Mary Eisenhower (granddaughter of the president), Gary Littrell (Medal of Honor recipient), Steve Amerson (America's Tenor), and Doug Dunbar (journalist from CBS News 11) all participated in the program on Tuesday. All (except Amerson) also traveled on the museum trip. A group of 25 GCISD teachers, instructional coaches, and administrators also traveled with students and veterans. The majority of the cost of the entire experience was covered by the sponsors, and the students had not a single expense.

There really are no words to describe the enormity of the week. Students and veterans interacted respectfully, tenderly, and curiously during their walk through the exhibits. Many of our veterans' names and battles were featured throughout the tours. Students were literally walking arm in arm with living history. Tears were shed between students and vets, and bonds were formed that will last long beyond this trip.

It is a chapter in my career that I'll never forget, and a week for which I'll always be grateful. I'd highly encourage all who read this to visit the New Orleans museum, donate to the Gary Sinise Foundation, and consider the profound question that Gary posed to us at dinner on our first night of the trip. "What would our world be like today if these veterans hadn't chosen to serve, fight, and win the war?"