"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." WB Yeats
When words strike…
We are in the process of planning three new buildings in our school district. A new middle school, a new STEAM center, and a new elementary school. One of our architects mentioned a book during our last meeting. I like books. So I bought a copy of The Space: A Guide For Educators, by Rebecca Louise Hare and Dr. Robert Dillon.
I think the best way to describe the book, which is excellent, is as a workbook. Or as the title suggests, a guide for educators. We will use it as we begin ed specs on our new elementary school.
Early in the book, I hit these words.
It’s hard sometimes to figure out why certain words or phrases just hit you. These words just hit me. P.S. Students are humans. Those words got me thinking about all the different ways we consider students, or what students represent in the school structure. Test scores, FTE, gender, race, high-cap, special education, Title, homeless, free/reduced, and on and on.
It was good to be reminded simply that students are humans.
Jeff Nelson
Fife School District
Assistant Superintendent:Teaching-Learning-Innovation
39 years as an educator.
16 years teacher
3 years assistant principal
12 years principal
8 years Assistant Superintendent
BA, Washington State University
MAEd, Washington State University
Previous member of AWSP Legislative Committee
Previous member of UW Tacoma PEAB, Administrative Certification
Established and maintained Fife’s first website for 7 years
Present work includes establishing the first Teaching/Learning/Innovation department in the Fife School District. Examples of responsibilities include: teacher/administrator professional development, assessment, TPEP, curriculum/materials review, 24 credit requirement, technology levy leadership, teacher/administrator bargaining.
Initiatives underway in Fife, as a result of new TLI Department: AVID, OER, Curriculum and Materials reviews, Student Perception Pilot with CSTP, Google Expedition
Cofounder of Educational Internet Communications, LLC. Marketed and sold one of the first online grade checking programs in the US. Consulted with Seattle Educational Internet Company for 2 years.
jnelson@fifeschools.com
twitter.com/jeffnelsonTLI
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The Lighting of a Fire 
Word.
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