{"id":845,"date":"2012-12-10T21:17:50","date_gmt":"2012-12-11T05:17:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/?p=845"},"modified":"2012-12-10T21:17:50","modified_gmt":"2012-12-11T05:17:50","slug":"whats-your-rock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/?p=845","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s your rock?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/photo-21.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-848\" title=\"photo 2\" src=\"http:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/photo-21-e1355202249992-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/photo-21-e1355202249992-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/photo-21-e1355202249992-1024x764.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/photo-21-e1355202249992.jpg 1296w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>I want to be a linchpin. Seth Godin says, \u201cEvery organization needs a linchpin, the one person who can bring it together and make a difference.\u201d Can we create an organization of linchpins committed to making a difference? And he adds, \u201cWhat will make someone a linchpin is not a shortcut.\u00a0 It\u2019s the understanding of <strong>which<\/strong> hard work is worth doing.\u201d\u00a0What is the most important work? Which hard work is worth doing? Do we have clarity and laser-like focus on what truly counts?<\/p>\n<p>My personal goal is to transform education. I have a rock in my office that I keep on my desk. My goal is written with a black sharpie across the rock. I have intentionally used this to guide my work and remind me of my focus. My goal is broken down further into two key pieces so when I speak of transforming education it looks like this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Continue to create and support opportunities for Curriculum Transformation (ie: personalized learning, 21<sup>st<\/sup> century learning).<\/li>\n<li>Use technology as a tool to leverage change in pedagogy in order to transform teaching.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/iStock_000007042359XSmall.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-851\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" title=\"iStock_000007042359XSmall\" src=\"http:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/iStock_000007042359XSmall-300x146.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"146\" srcset=\"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/iStock_000007042359XSmall-300x146.jpg 300w, https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/iStock_000007042359XSmall.jpg 496w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Essential to achieving my goal is building capacity across the organization. For me, this fits. I am fundamentally addicted to learning. I have a thirst for knowledge that is inherent in my being. I do believe that when others are equally engaged and passionate about their own learning, it has the potential to transform the organization and the classroom. When we find what we are passionate about, when it is connected to a higher purpose (making a difference with students), we are released to maximize our potential. The enthusiasm for learning, for growing, for improving, is infectious. It spreads across the organization, across the school, and into the classroom. Students reap the benefits.<\/p>\n<p>At a recent meeting with some district staff and external guests, I brought my rock for \u201cshow &amp; tell.\u201d I used it as a symbol to talk about what is important in my work, and the work of the district. I also talked about it in connection with our district. I do feel that if we can transform education in Surrey (the largest district in the province), that we can transform it in other places as well. I see our district as a potential \u201ctipping point.\u201d Do it here, do it in a big way, and it will overflow and tip out to the rest of the province. In some respects, it is embarrassing to share one\u2019s deeply personal goal with others in this fashion. I try not to feel self-conscious but it feels like one is undressing a bit of one\u2019s soul, of what is at the essence of one\u2019s being, in a room full of strangers. I do like to dream big but I don\u2019t always like to share that out publicly. Others might think I am crazy. But, that being said, I would rather be crazy and adventurous than live my life in a stalemated routine of sameness. The \u201cbleeding edge\u201d suits me quite fine.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/iStock_000002312811XSmall1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-852\" title=\"iStock_000002312811XSmall\" src=\"http:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/iStock_000002312811XSmall1-300x282.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/iStock_000002312811XSmall1-300x282.jpg 300w, https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/iStock_000002312811XSmall1.jpg 357w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><\/a>I have people standing on my rock. How do I know this? They are committed to the same work as me. We do it together. Our Superintendent has described his view of the purpose of our organization: \u201cBuilding Human Capacity.\u201d I would consider that his rock. And I stand on his rock as well as my own. What is your rock? And whose rock do you stand on? Does the clarity of your focus help drive your actions? We are inundated with the urgent that we sometimes lose sight of what is most important. Let\u2019s bring clarity to our work. <strong>Which<\/strong> is the hard work worth doing? What\u2019s your rock?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I want to be a linchpin. Seth Godin says, \u201cEvery organization needs a linchpin, the one person who can bring it together and make a difference.\u201d Can we create an organization of linchpins committed to making a difference? And he adds, \u201cWhat will make someone a linchpin is not a shortcut.\u00a0 It\u2019s the understanding of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,4,7,8],"tags":[162,151,163,287,286,46],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=845"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":857,"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845\/revisions\/857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}