What’s the Future Ready movement all about? A small team from Grant Wood has recently spent two days at the Future Ready Institute in Detroit, Michigan. Future Ready about best practice to prepare our students for what lies ahead. It’s a framework that leads to actionable steps to change the educational experiences for our students that at the center focuses on personalized learning.
Check out the details of the framework here. The Future Ready Framework is unique because it includes many voices in the conversation that are essential to a creating a student-centered environment in which our students will thrive. It brings to the table a clear vision for district leaders, principals, technology leaders, instructional coaches, and teacher librarians linking job-specific roles and responsibilities to the gears of the framework.
Check out the details of the framework here. The Future Ready Framework is unique because it includes many voices in the conversation that are essential to a creating a student-centered environment in which our students will thrive. It brings to the table a clear vision for district leaders, principals, technology leaders, instructional coaches, and teacher librarians linking job-specific roles and responsibilities to the gears of the framework.
Here are our big takeaways from the Institute:
Amber: Even though this is the Future Ready Institute, I didn’t really feel like we were casting a long line into the deep future. During many moments, we were asked to reflect and dream about education. What should learning be like in 5 years? What do we want classrooms to look like in 5 years?
Five years is not that long from now. Five years is a tangible amount of time. It’s far enough out to be flexible and allow not only time to dream, but also learn, prepare, plan and execute ideas. How can we make real changes in our educational system that are good for kids? The core of the Future Ready movement is personalized student learning. Students are the reason we became educators and should always be our main focus. The future is now and the self-assessment built into the framework gives schools actionable steps and supports towards change for the near future which will have a direct impact learning for students.
Lynn: At the heart of the Future Ready framework is personalized student learning. It’s the “why” of the work.
Over the course of the last two days, as we dug into the learning around the frameworks, we were confronted with a multitude of questions meant to help guide our thinking as we move to action. The questions weren’t about the “how” of this work, but rather about the “who”: Whose voices need to be heard? Are we considering the insights and valuing the input of those who are essential to and impacted by this work?
Are we asking the right people the right questions?
Perhaps that’s what I value the most about the Future Ready movement and the subsequent frameworks for each role. It brings multiple voices to the table to engage in the conversation.
Even though the students don’t have a framework for themselves, they are the heart of the Future Ready movement and frameworks. They are the most important “who” in the “why.”
Andrea: Relationships, relationships, relationships: It was clear that relationships are a large part of making this work. I think differently about this statement now, after listening to the opening sessions from Tom Murray, the facilitator in my strands session, Shayla Rexrode, as well as the keynote from Jimmy Casas. There are key ideas to establishing relationships which cannot be overlooked.
Language - One must have a clear understanding of the language being used. We often hear “build relationships” but do we have a clear idea of what we want those relationships to look like? Do we model what we want this to look like? It all begins with leadership. Ineffective leadership is the biggest barrier in our schools. It was clear when hearing the word leadership that it was not just a reference to district leaders. This language was referring to everyone in the room as a leader. We cannot hide behind this or from this fact. We have to own it and rise up to our leadership opportunities and challenges. We must be relentless as we strive toward excellence in leadership.
Culture - your culture is the definition of your space. Jimmy Casas outlined three ways to build culture. Champion for kids; Expect excellence; Carry the banner. Investigate what your culture looks like on a variety of levels from multiple lenses. How are you building your culture? One example was of a Virginia principal, Hamish Brewer, and how he is making learning fun again and disrupting the traditional landscape in education. How are you being relentless and disrupting tradition?
Find your tribe - Who do you count on to build you up and keep you striving to run the race? How do we build each other up? How are we honoring each other’s core values? Do we understand each other and our core values? Do we have empathy for each other? Jimmy says, “Your vibe attracts your tribe.” What is your disposition attracting or deflecting? Ask yourself this… would you be classified as an “awfulizer” or an “awesomizer”? It is your choice how you want to live each day. Never pass up an opportunity to make someone’s day with something as simple as a smile or a hello.
Amber: Even though this is the Future Ready Institute, I didn’t really feel like we were casting a long line into the deep future. During many moments, we were asked to reflect and dream about education. What should learning be like in 5 years? What do we want classrooms to look like in 5 years?
Five years is not that long from now. Five years is a tangible amount of time. It’s far enough out to be flexible and allow not only time to dream, but also learn, prepare, plan and execute ideas. How can we make real changes in our educational system that are good for kids? The core of the Future Ready movement is personalized student learning. Students are the reason we became educators and should always be our main focus. The future is now and the self-assessment built into the framework gives schools actionable steps and supports towards change for the near future which will have a direct impact learning for students.
Lynn: At the heart of the Future Ready framework is personalized student learning. It’s the “why” of the work.
Over the course of the last two days, as we dug into the learning around the frameworks, we were confronted with a multitude of questions meant to help guide our thinking as we move to action. The questions weren’t about the “how” of this work, but rather about the “who”: Whose voices need to be heard? Are we considering the insights and valuing the input of those who are essential to and impacted by this work?
Are we asking the right people the right questions?
Perhaps that’s what I value the most about the Future Ready movement and the subsequent frameworks for each role. It brings multiple voices to the table to engage in the conversation.
Even though the students don’t have a framework for themselves, they are the heart of the Future Ready movement and frameworks. They are the most important “who” in the “why.”
Andrea: Relationships, relationships, relationships: It was clear that relationships are a large part of making this work. I think differently about this statement now, after listening to the opening sessions from Tom Murray, the facilitator in my strands session, Shayla Rexrode, as well as the keynote from Jimmy Casas. There are key ideas to establishing relationships which cannot be overlooked.
Language - One must have a clear understanding of the language being used. We often hear “build relationships” but do we have a clear idea of what we want those relationships to look like? Do we model what we want this to look like? It all begins with leadership. Ineffective leadership is the biggest barrier in our schools. It was clear when hearing the word leadership that it was not just a reference to district leaders. This language was referring to everyone in the room as a leader. We cannot hide behind this or from this fact. We have to own it and rise up to our leadership opportunities and challenges. We must be relentless as we strive toward excellence in leadership.
Culture - your culture is the definition of your space. Jimmy Casas outlined three ways to build culture. Champion for kids; Expect excellence; Carry the banner. Investigate what your culture looks like on a variety of levels from multiple lenses. How are you building your culture? One example was of a Virginia principal, Hamish Brewer, and how he is making learning fun again and disrupting the traditional landscape in education. How are you being relentless and disrupting tradition?
Find your tribe - Who do you count on to build you up and keep you striving to run the race? How do we build each other up? How are we honoring each other’s core values? Do we understand each other and our core values? Do we have empathy for each other? Jimmy says, “Your vibe attracts your tribe.” What is your disposition attracting or deflecting? Ask yourself this… would you be classified as an “awfulizer” or an “awesomizer”? It is your choice how you want to live each day. Never pass up an opportunity to make someone’s day with something as simple as a smile or a hello.
We will be working more on the Future Ready Movement and what this can mean for our Iowa Schools. Feel free to contact any of us with questions.
Amber Bridge - Digital Learning Consultant - @abridgesmith
Lynn Kleinmeyer - Digital Learning Consultant - @thlibrarizen
Andrea Townsley - School Improvement Consultant @townsleyaj
Amber Bridge - Digital Learning Consultant - @abridgesmith
Lynn Kleinmeyer - Digital Learning Consultant - @thlibrarizen
Andrea Townsley - School Improvement Consultant @townsleyaj
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