Skip to main content

What a Chef knows about School Change


...he also happens to be the Obamas' Assistant Chef, and a very eloquent one! 


Check out these inspiring session notes and quotes from Sam Kass, a Policy Advisor at The White House.  And, oh yeah, Asistant Chef for The Obamas! He made these comments at the GenYouth summit yesterday, talking about the importance of, anong other things, school-based initiatives to promote student health,  and I was fortunate enough to hear him in person.  I found him articulate, passionate, and inspiring: 

The right information is actionable; it can be translated into real life. 

We change course or we prepare to live with devastating numbers that indicate poor quality lives: 1/3 of our kids today could become diabetics. 

We must change now because over 20% of health costs already are preventable obesity-related ones.

We change now because every General tells us that it's already our biggest national security risk because poor health due to obesity is the number one reason why we have to turn people away from military service. 

Kass's Keys to change:

Universal access: if it's good, make sure all kids can get it 

Age-appropriate activities: do what's right developmentally 

Right amount and duration: Make sure we do justice to it 

Have to make it fun: that's not as easy as it sounds

Have to provide training and knowledge for teachers and coaches

Partner with local businesses and organizations 

We must use positive reinforcement, and do so in small, meaningful ways

We must take action. None of this matters if it is not put into action. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why be a connected admin?

I'm at #NETA15, on Twitter at @yourNETA. Or as the morning keynote said, "We are with our fellow nerds." I am excited today to have the opportunity later this morning  to speak with @Mandery, @dougkittle, @bmowinkel, @mrbadura, @catlett11 and @chlor13 on being a connected administrator. (For the uninitiated, these are their Twitter handles.) Why connect, anyway? 1. It is where are our kids live. 2. It is where our parents have gone. 3. It is important for administrators to model tech use, not merely give lip service to it. We must project what we expect. 4. When we model tech use, we demonstrate the fundamentally important learner behavior of risk taking and we ensure our teachers know they are in a supportive tech environment that encourages pedagogical risk-taking to enhance learner engagement. 5. The less you use digital communication tools and the more you continue an over reliance on traditional communication platforms like hard copy mailings to parents, the

Comments to @norris160 teachers on technology integration

This morning Tech Director Noel Erskine and Network Administrator Jim McConnell hosted an ad hoc committee to engage in strategic planning and professional development preparation for further technology integration.  Here were some of the topics, areas of interest, and needs identified: Topics: Clickers Prezi Blogging with Google sites Google forms Google sites Advanced Google forms with self-grading quizzes Review game web sites. Sessions on web resources for specific curricular strands or grade levels Paperless classroom workflow and setup. Smartpen (Livescribe) Technology needs: More computer availability More Clickers One comment I would offer is in follow-up to Rick's comments about the need for more computers, which I think was widely re-affirmed. Dr. Brandt and Shari seemed ecstatic to learn that a cart of netbooks will be rolling their way soon. This summer we had the opportunity as members of the admin team to meet with Scott McLeod and discuss tech integration at

The eternally elusive mission: Thoughts for the new crew of Norris teachers

Welcome, teachers! Norris is a special place, and today marks the formal start of your employment with our school district.   The Jedi-mind trick you have to master, though, is the realization that this district will only remain special if you endeavor to make it so.  You have to perpetuate a legacy of great instruction because we have brought you in to replace people who established and sustained that over many years – or we brought you in to meet the growth needs of a burgeoning student population.   We need you at your best. We don't want you to settle in and settle for average outcomes from yourself or mere proficiency from your students.  Strive for more.   It is the commitment of classroom teachers and the combination of compassionate care for every learner coupled with rigorous academic expectations you uphold that helps us realize our mission. You should realize – you must realize - that the process starts with selection and you are not here by accident.  We do not