Things are in motion. My making my plan public has set the wheels to turnin’, and while that is exciting, it is also daunting, for with things now moving, there’s no turning back. And unless something completely unanticipated presents itself to prevent my plan, it’s a go, which means I have work to do, a lot of work to do before September. Though there are still numerous details to work through, I wanted to share my big-picture plan with you this morning.

Operation Status Quo

By now, I hope I have made clear how I feel about the status quo in education and how those irrepressible feelings are the driving force behind my journey. It is something that I have wanted to do for years, and now, at this twenty-year milestone in my career, I feel that I am finally ready to tackle that I which I believe must change in public education. Thus, I look to challenge conventional, traditional thinking around grading and learning, hoping to discover and promote a better approach for serving our students. I will share what I have learned not only at the end but also every day, a 360- day chronicle that will flip convention upside down and then back over again, arriving full circle–arriving hopefully at a better place, a place from which I can inspire and inform change beyond my own classroom.

Project 180

Year one. A school year is 180 days long. To flip something upside down, it needs to be turned 180 degrees. So, in year one, I will chronicle the “flip” every day in my blog, allowing the outside in, a daily view of the journey. Still working through some thinking on this, but my goal is to include my voice, my students’ voices, and parents’ voices in the narrative, sharing both struggles and successes. My goal is to then use the blog to write and publish a book in two volumes, Project 180 being volume one.

Project 360

Year two. The end of year two will bring us back full circle, another 180 days, getting us to 360. It is from here–the end where we began–that I hope to share an outcome that can help us make some significant changes in education. Of course, it may well turn out an epic fail, but I won’t know until then. I can’t succeed if I am afraid to fail, so I am prepared to fail in order to succeed. This year, chronicled the same as year one, will result in volume two.

Ideal to Reality

So, not sure how I feel about this next part, but it has begun to occur to me that I am going to need some help to make things a go for the next two years, and while I wish I could suggest that the resources are readily available and at my immediate disposal, I cannot, and I would humbly and soberly remind folks that I work in public education and that resources are scarce, so I am considering a few financial possibilities to aid my way. But this is not easy for me. One I hate to ask for help. Two, I don’t want to lose any support by turning people off. So, please know, that my thinking here is meant to help my journey, otherwise, I wouldn’t do it.

Among a number of things that I would like to have in place, to secure for the trip is technology that will help show and share the journey. I want video equipment and my own set of Chrome Books for my classroom, so I can let the world in. Two possibilities that I am contemplating include a GoFundMe and advertising for my blog. Both are far out my comfort zone, but they are avenues that could help me secure some resources that could be vital for this experience. Of course, I can and will do it without, but the ideal would be more real if they were at my disposal. Please give me some feedback here. Truly struggling with this part of it.

Happy Monday, all.