IBelieve in Common Language

On Friday, Harvest Middle School welcomed visitors from East Contra Costa County Office of Education, Mt. Diablo School District, and Oak Grove Middle School.  Joe Paniagua, Jenny Banta, four students and I shared our International Baccalaureate journey and next steps.  Our 7th and 8th grade students shared their appreciation of formative and summative assessments because it gives them a chance to try again and they acknowledged that classwork and homework are still important because they help on the formatives.  We heard 6th graders talk about being open-minded as they planned their spaghetti towers, a student explained what monochromatic means, and students connected their learning in art to the gender inequity they were learning about in language and literature.

All I can say is “Wow!”  We are doing the right work for kids.  Thank you for opening up your classrooms so that our visitors could experience IB in actions.   We offer students an incredible learning experience at Harvest because of the work you do every day.  Students are connected to their learning, developing skills, inquiring at a deep level, and developing a growth mindset through IB.  Friday was a proud moment for me as the Principal of Harvest Middle School.  I hope you find time to reflect on the power of the work you are doing with pride.

Go Together

“If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.” ~ African Proverb

Families, students, teachers, support staff, and administrators make up Team Harvest and are the ingredients to supporting all students.  Back to School Night demonstrated the importance of team.  I saw parents and teachers building relationships that will help students succeed at Harvest. Yet, the most powerful part of the night for me was standing in front of a gym full of our families with three students translating.  It served as a reminder of the child we are seeking to create as an International Baccalaureate World School.  Our students demonstrated risk-taking and communication by using two languages to help all of our families have access to the information they need to support their child.  Our students also showed their knowledge of language and just as important their care for our school community.  Tuesday night, our students were leaders and models of an IB education.  Thank you to the teachers who have enabled these students to listen carefully, speak with confidence, take risks with the understanding that mistakes are fixable, and instilled in them the importance of servant leadership.    

Success: What it really looks like!

On Thursday, September 15, 2016, we will complete the 21st day of our school year.  As a team, we were challenged to go slow to go fast and build team because “kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”.  Take time on Thursday to reflect.  Think about:

• How did the start of the school year feel?
• What do you know about your students?  How does your knowledge about your students impact your teaching?
• How is the culture in your classroom?  What created that culture?
• How are you going to deepen connections in the next 21 days?
• How do you feel as an educator?

Once you take time to reflect, remember culture and team as you teach and assess inquiry learning.  Empower students to take ownership of their learning.  Finally, think about what success really looks like and use the connection and knowledge of your students to help your classroom team get to success.

Share Humanity

Thank you, Harvest Hawks, for coming together as a school for our Share Humanity Assembly. I saw teachers involved in organizing, tending to behaviors, diving into class competitions, sweating in the mascot, and cheering with their students.  Our leadership students took risks by planning and performing in front of the whole school.  Each grade level had students demonstrate many IB Learner Profile Traits as they tried to stay connected and unravel their human web.  Thank you Jessica DiGregorio and Marie Zorn for making it possible! Culture is important.  It is built by all members of our school, including students.  As we focus on building teams and relationships with each other and students, we are tending to our school culture.  During the rally, it was evident that we are building school culture and we still have work to be done.  I know that our focus on early, often, and ongoing will help us develop a positive learning culture for all students at HMS.