"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." WB Yeats
Hey…psst…it ain’t about tiktok….
So the latest entry in the world about which we can gnash our teeth about ‘kids these days’ is tiktok. Want to see how a great leader is addressing this latest version of ‘dumb stuff that some kids do’?
Obviously when kids are causing literal damage to their school, that is unacceptable. Full stop.
But to think that getting rid of an app is the solution is foolish. There will be 17 new apps tomorrow. Dr. Daniel’s leaning into kids as family, loving them, building and strengthening bonds and relationships, is a great way to go. Probably the best way to go.
Mildly related, fidget spinners? Remember the tremor in the force about those? I actually wrote about those too.
In neither case is the thing actually about the thing. The thing is about kids. And grownups. And those two things together deciding that doing unacceptable things won’t fly in this place where we care for each other. Relationships, trust, acceptance, and love are at such a place that a kid can’t imagine letting the people down who have built those relationships in the first place.
We’re good at that. Building relationships, trust, acceptance, and love are our foundational work.
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 