What We Have Here: A Failure to Communicate

Nelson Ching/Bloomberg via Getty Images

I just came across this article on NPR.org and thought it coalesced a lot of the thoughts I've had over the last few years. I know we've been discussing it as it relates to how we can reach kids, the many ways in which communication mediums have proliferated, and the erosion of personal communication skills.

Check it Out: What We Have Here: A Failure to Communicate

Canterbury Lacrosse: 8th Grade Last Home Game

I will be sorry to see these guys go at the end of this year. They have been a huge part of establishing the program. You can see they are a pretty fun group to work with as well....

Reconfiguration Report: April 2012

18 April 2012

Dear Parents,


As we embark of the last six weeks of our academic year, I wanted to take a moment and update you on the progress of our reconfiguration work. In November and January, I sent Reconfiguration Status Reports outlining the main components of Reconfiguration including the transition to the middle school, staffing and scheduling, enhancing the middle school program, and building community.


In the report below (see link), we will outline a new grading policy for the middle school, update you on further decisions related to Reconfiguration, and outline important dates for the 2012-2013 school year. Below you will see a brief overview of the topics discussed in the report:

1. Grading Policy
1. General
2. Honor Roll
3. Grading Policies for Middle School
2. Reconfiguration Updates
1. Parent Portal
2. Language Selection
3. 5th and 6th Grade Schedule and Gender Classes
4. Big Brother/Big Sister
5. Dress Like a Middle Schooler
3. Important 2012-2013 Dates
1. 5th and 6th Grade Orientations
2. Sports Tryouts for 6th - 8th Grades
3. Trips

My hope in this letter and status report is that you feel informed about and invested in the experience your child will have once the 5th grade moves into the middle school. Please email or call me with any questions or input you may have.


Sincerely,


Dave


David W. Skeen Jr.
Middle School Director
Canterbury School

Reconfiguration Report: April 2012

I Mean...This is What it is All About

Creativity, problem-solving, ingenuity, entrepreneurship - these are all 21st century skills we hope to enable in our students. In this video I found on Daniel Pink's blog, it is all there and more - in Caine, a 9 year old boy in East LA.

Check it out: Caine's Arcade

Some Thoughts on Leadership at Canterbury

This year, we have spent significant time thinking about leadership at Canterbury. You may have seen Tricia Fisher's survey on the traits of leadership. Our immediate goal is to create an intentional curriculum of leadership development for our 7th and 8th grade which will be embedded in the weekly schedule.

Out of the work surrounding that goal came an idea of what leadership should look like at Canterbury. Our motto, To Learn, To Love, To Serve: To Live provides an excellent starting point. Michael McKinney recently wrote a blog post on his blog, Leading Blog, which summarizes nicely what we want out of our leadership curriculum. Please read below:

(I'm not really sure what the guy kissing the mini-giraffe has to do with his post, but...)

A Leader’s Most Dangerous Thought

“I deserve.”

Leadership is demanding. It takes a personal toll and if we are not careful, we can begin to make it about us. It’s not a difficult position to rationalize.

The problem with “I deserve” is that it changes our perspective. We see our contribution as more important than anyone else’s contribution. It creates a lack of proportion.

It leads to a wrong motivation for leadership: leadership as a means to better get what we want. We see this all the time—the hypocrisy of leadership—seeking positions of power while denying the real nature of leadership. Service. And it is why we have seen far too many leaders derail.

“I deserve” thinking threatens our ability to lead. It diminishes our influence because it takes us out of the community; out of the narrative. We no longer lead for the cause but only as a means to serve ourselves. Side effects include distrust, cynicism, the wrong kind competition and isolated thinking. Good leadership creates connections and avoids points of disconnect.

The opposite of “I deserve” isn’t denying ourselves. We must take care of our needs in the same way we take of the needs of others or we will not be able to properly serve others.

The antidote is remembering that leadership is not a position but a role. It’s a gift and it is temporary. It’s channeling all that we are for the benefit of others.

Leadership is something we live, for others.

NC Middle School Diversity and Leadership Conference Concludes

On Thursday, March 15, 50+ students from Canterbury, New Garden Friends, Greensboro Day School, and Noble Academy came together at the North Carolina Diversity and Leadership Conference here at Canterbury School. During a full day of presentations, workshops, small group dialogue and activities (Check out the 2012 Program Outline for a complete schedule of the day), students grappled with the heady topics of bias and prejudice and how we can face them down in our schools, especially when they manifest themselves as bullying.

At the end of the day, the schools met with their delegations to discuss what they had learned, reflect on what it looks like at their school, and brainstorm ways in which they can bring the skills they learned to bear in a meaningful way meant to change. I was very proud of our delegation which had an open and honest dialogue about bullying first, but also how the "-isms" we heard about can be the catalyst for that bullying.

What really brightened the discussion was the eagerness with which the students discussed how to address the issues when they come up here at Canterbury. They came up with two approaches: Individual Accountability and Awareness.

The 28 students who were part of our delegation discussed what bullying looked like - the often subtle nature of it was a hot topic, what it would look like to interrupt an instance of bullying, and how to bring allies into the fold to help interrupt and prevent bullying. The key understanding came when they realized the exponential nature of influence (see Pay It Forward). They decided that each one of them would stand up to bullying when they saw it and would get one friend to agree to do the same. When we thought about the numbers we realized that meant 56 students in the middle school would be on board. If those 56 each got one more friend on board, that would mean 112 students in the middle school would be on board. We have 114 students in the middle school.

The group also discussed ways they could put this topic in front of their classmates. Ideas ranged from a skit at a chapel service, to a Diversity Day, to showing a video for a BIG Question, to making posters and signs for each classroom. They agreed that the key would be the follow up. There was genuine enthusiasm for the next step and we plan to capitalize on it.