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1. Technology
I believe that technology has been and always will be evolving. That when used correctly in tandem with curriculum, can get through to students where sometimes a teacher can not. I believe this because I have first hand experience using the latest technology in tandem with good curriculum. When I did so new ideas and possibilities opened up for students. Some issues with technology such as cost, scalability, over reliance on it (IE some teachers might think of it as the ‘silver bullet’ to solve all problems) and the time/energy it takes to train teachers the new devices/platforms are some of the drawbacks of more tech. I’d like to talk about how technology ought to be used with students. Explanation: Last year the non-profit I am part of finally launched it’s first large scale youth event where some 500 teens and young people came to experience different careers. The event featured TED-like talks from professionals in various career fields, career workshops, and VR (virtual reality) workshops where teens experienced careers in VR. VR in its current state is mere novelty. It is simply a large format picture bent into a dome shape in the computer that when someone puts on a headset, it creates a 3D-like setting. If it wasn’t for the focused curriculum we used, this technology would not serve many purposes. However we used the VR technology to show a doctors office as a real doctor walked the students through what they were seeing. This technology in tandem with the curriculum allowed students to go to and experience a place they otherwise might have access to. The results were amazing with students being lit up and inspired by what they saw and experienced. 2. Discipline and School Climate/Culture I believe that each school has its own unique culture and no two are alike. I also believe that the culture of a school is made up of any things but culture is the soul of a school. I believe this because in my line of work I have had the privilege of working manys schools both public and charter over the years. I can tell you I have never seen a great school culture and mass underperforming students. In other works a good school culture goes hand-in-hand with the successes of its’ students. Explanation Student discipline should be administered through the focuses of 1) does the punishment foster better learning for the student, and 2) does the punishment create a better learning environment for everyone around that student. Having worked with hundreds of youth over the years and seeing many school cultures in action, a good school environment usually administers punishment through these or similar focuses when it comes to student discipline. In short a school that has a nurturing culture, tends to have less students that act out and if they do, act out to a lesser degree. Schools that have a negative culture (IE teachers that seem unempowered and don’t want to be there and admin that is not organized and/or not prompt) seem to consistently have a higher percentage of students that act out. That is why a good school structure is paramount to a child’s learning and that decisions made at the top of a school always affect the students in some way. 3. Parent and Community Involvement I believe in the old saying of ‘it takes a village’. A school is a part of a village but is not all if it. I can not stress the great importance of parent and community involvement. There are many life things that schools can not / do not provide that children need to learn outside of school. Many of those things are soft skills (or social emotional literacy skills) that can not be measured but determine so much for a child. I believe this because in the program I administer, we make it a very big point to actively call parents and to tell each one of them how their student is doing in our program. When calling a parent, many parents first ask ‘what has my child done now’ to only be greeted with the reply of ‘nothing bad. We just wanted to let you know there are doing well in our program and there is a parent event coming up’. Explanation From my informal research there are tremendous advantages to a child’s learning when the parents and/or the community is involved with their upbringing. When parents are involved to the extent that students take the curriculum work home with them and bounce ideas of their parents, when they come back a door is opened for richer and deeper conversations about it. Conversely when parent(s) are not involved, this is when we usually see problems arise in students. They act out more frequently because it is in my opinion the consequences of misbehaving are not as real to them when a parent is not around. Therefore it should be a must for schools to make an effort to involve parents and/or the community. It truly makes THE difference in a child’s life. 4. Curriculum and Instruction I believe with good curriculum and instruction students have the possibility of seeing something new for themselves. I believe this because one of my favorite things to do is create engaging curriculum. Curriculum and instruction is simply content that is being taught. That’s it. Nothing special. What makes teaching curriculum special is in the way it is taught. Case and point, you can take the driest of subjects but taught through interactive exercises, working with others, maybe a little technology in there, it becomes fun and students retain the content better. In the large youth event we did last year we took the subject of careers and made it into an interactive curriculum where students interacted with professionals in those career fields. We did this through speakers, Q&A, workshops, and VR headsets as stated above. This glorified career-fair turned into something else through the teachings of the curriculum: an event where youth could see themselves in a future career. It was very powerful for them. All in all there is so much content out there today that the process of learning has become more and accessible and quicker. Just be being alive young people will learn regardless but through quality and focused curriculum and instruction they have the possibility to retain it the best and be inspired by it. As much as the two words are juxtaposed to one other, if I am being honest, my leadership style is predominately that of a of a democratic leader, specifically a transformational, leader however sometimes I can be a bit of an authoritarian leader. I find myself constantly striving for transformational leadership in which key stakeholders are brought into the fold to be part of a process or a solution. However when time is running short or I see there is a ‘lack of leadership’ I tend to steer conversations with the intention of moving forward rather than just talking about something. An example is if too much time has gone by without solutions in a meeting, my authoritarian leadership kicks in and I move items to vote, a decision be made, or move it for another time. This blend has been more of an asset but at times has been a liability. It’s an asset when I am in a group and decisions need to be made and no one is making them, a little authoritarian seems to quicken the pace. However it’s a liability when I’m prematurely antsy in a meeting and risk hampering others from being self-expressed. Its also a liability because sometimes I can come off as inpatient. I strive to create a safe space in all my circles and demand it for myself so I look at this style of leadership as walking a tie rope.
Reading my posts in what I plan to improve on this semester you will find the words: empathy, patients, and listening all over the place. I believe working on these skills will make me a more consistent transformational leader. Non’s I do not negotiate on the following: 1) when someone asks me to do something that blatantly goes against the rules, specifically for self gain, 2) when someone constantly lies or conceals information, 3) when something constantly tells me what I want to hear rather than what is really going on. And then came Matt. I was born. Fastforward, I have been mentoring teens and young people since I was 15 years old when I was a Boy Scout and worked on camp staff. I got my start working with young people and teens over two summers working as a camp counselor then director. In this experience I taught various skills to ages 12-18. From sailing to first aid, to swimming, I was tasked with making sure everyone I was teaching ‘got it’. I enjoyed teaching young people so much I never stopped. When I was 18 and out of high school I moved to San Diego where I met a colleague at work that mentored kids at the Salvation Army. Immediately I started working with families mentoring young people.
In my 20’s I held a number of well paying corporate jobs but always came back to mentoring youth at various organizations in San Diego, then in Los Angeles when I moved north. In the late twenties I was asked to take over a managers position at one of the non profits I volunteered at and since, have been working professionally in non-profit field. I get a deep satisfaction when someone ‘gets it’, much like when I am taught something and I ‘get it’ I feel lit up, like you have discovered something newly for yourself. That thrilling experience is what I love passing on when the young people I work with get it. I have never been a credentialed teacher but rather have always come from the non profit side of education teaching, mentoring, and directing after school programs. Currently I am a director at a non-profit in Los Angeles that administers a large after school program across the county in partnership with many public, charter, and magnet schools. In the last three years I have launched my own non-profit that has focused on hosting teen events with the aim of better preparing them for college and the workforce. In addition I still work with the Salvation Army in San Diego teaching financially literacy to families and also an a Director with the Family Division at Landmark Worldwide which hosts youth events across the country each month. What guides me is my personal mission statement of ‘successfully preparing tomorrow generation, today’. In my experience of working with youth I bring to the table an immense amount of experiences of working with many great people and organizations and some not-so great people and organizations. I think that’s why I am in a good position to finally really go after my goal of facilitating youth transitioning to adults in career and as a way of being, because I have done it many times myself, and know the pit falls to avoid and better roads to take. I have a goal in the next couple of years that my non-profit will have enough funding where I can work on that full time and then eventually launch my own charter school. I believe this because a teacher took the time to make me present to my actions when I was acting out.
It was the sixth grade. I was the class clown. I constantly made the other kids laugh in my art class as I did in every other class. One day I cracked too many jokes and the teacher took me out into the hall. She said to me ‘do you realize how much you influence those kids? They follow you. You are a leader Matt. Please be responsible’. Up until that point in my life no one had ever talked to me that way nor said such encouraging words to me. It was then I woke up and started thinking about my actions and the effect I had on others. Looking back at that moment, it shaped my life more than I have realized. It was then I learned the effect one person can have. That teacher had such a profound effect on me, subconsciously I believe I have been emulating what she did with me with my kids all these years later. This anecdote demonstrates that even in a small moment a teacher has the ability to have a life long impact on a child. Belief Statement
It is my belief the essence of education is for 1) young people to have a common knowledge around specific disciplines (history, science, math, language, etc.) and 2) to prepare them for the workforce and/or college. Above all what I believe in is making sure each child is adequately prepared out of high school for the workforce and/or college. Why is this so important? Because everything hinges on education. From society’s values, to macro economics, to the next technological advancement(s), to each individual lifestyle, in it here in these years that we as adults have the ability to institute and refine the hard and soft skills required for them to steward the world of tomorrow, and with any luck, for them to learn to leave it better off from when they came. Do I think overall as a country we are adequately preparing the generation of tomorrow? No not at all. One survey that has shaped my that opinion on the current state of education surveyed college professors and hiring managers concluded ‘47% of high school grads aren’t prepared for college’ (Haycock, 2016). If young people are going to say they want to be someone when they grow up, it is our responsibility as adults to facilitate their learning so they can be the person they want to be, or at the very least prepare them for the world of tomorrow, today. |
Matt Snead
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