RadicallyTransformingLives

Several of you have asked me what my thoughts are on “Common Core” or the new SBAC assessments. Wanted to provide a thoughtful response and invite you to do more digging if you’re interested. I’m also happy to engage with you in dialogue back and forth, discuss and answer questions, etc. First-The “Common Core” standards in WA are referred to as the “Washington State K-12 Learning Standards.” There is a ton of information that you can find out about at http://www.readywa.org/ Education nationally has varied tremendously over the past 100 years. Quite frankly, the richest of us sent their kids to exclusive private schools. The rest of us sent our kids to public schools, which varied from state to state broadly and even from community to community. Many of you value “local control”….and I do too….but not when that “local control” means that kids from small, rural or other communities don’t have access to the same high level rigorous curriculum. At the end of the day….for me it’s ab...

1.      Tell us a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it. Living in America is difficult for new immigrants, but it has not been nearly as hard as getting here. I came from Somalia, a country where gunfire and violence are not unfamiliar to people. When one tribe’s greed and lust for power corrupted the government, everything fell apart, politically and economically. With the onset of civil war, my mother decided to flee with the children. Traveling with three children and being a female made it a difficult voyage. We were in a group of about forty families fleeing the violence. We survived on little more than water until we were able to reach villages on our path. All the males including my father where told to remain behind to fight the attackers, thus giving us a presumed safe passage. However without males in our party, many of the villagers in our path took advantage of us—robbing us and ...

“It's not the critic who counts. It's not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled. Credit belongs to the man who really was in the arena, his face marred by dust, sweat, and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs to come short and short again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming. It is the man who actually strives to do the deeds, who knows the great enthusiasm and knows the great devotion, who spends himself on a worthy cause, who at best, knows in the end the triumph of great achievement. And, who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and cruel souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” ―  Theodore Roosevelt I love Teddy Roosevelt! I love that he was a courageous leader who risked it all! I'm inspired by his quote to push the principals I work with each day to to the right thing by their kids....no matter the cost! School improvement is a challenging endeavor. ...

If you want to excel at something, then let no day go by without dedicating your life 100% to making it happen. Time is precious. Reflecting this am on the thousands of kids that I've had the honor to serve over the past 23 years in public education. My frequent urging to them was first to ask a question..."What is your big dream?" "Where do you see yourself in the future?" If each of us can define in our minds what it is that we dream of, aspire to become, have as a goal....then we can take incremental steps each day to get there. What is your big dream that you will take steps today, tomorrow, the day after....to make a reality? My big dream is to change the way that public education works in the United States...so that the system is built to support kids and outcomes for them as our clients. My dream is to create a system where all kids, regardless of race, socio-economic status, and the position/background of their parents....are empowered to be life...

Feeling melancholy by the outside critics and our sometime lawmakers who are so overtly critical of the public education system in our country, over politicize decisions that affect our poorest kids, and fail to act with courage...and yet have never walked side-by-side with the kids/teachers/principals who need them the most. Reminded me of one of my heroes. The Man in the Arena-Theodore Roosevelt-1910 It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who a...

493 faces in the crowd from 1306 SW Webster Street to the Starbucks on Westlake at South Lake Union, Seattle, WA. Even gender division, well-dressed and disheveled, young and old, tired and alert, black, brown, white and in-between. 493 faces in the crowd. On the street corner. Metro bus route 125. South Seattle Community College. Westlake Center. Sidewalk passing Fantasy Girls adult theater. 493 faces in the crowd. I noticed 493 different faces in the crowd this morning. Counted them actually. I was struck by the enormity of the work within our public schools in Washington State and around the country. I paused this morning to consider the differences portrayed on the faces I passed. What is it that creates "the look" of each face I passed. What role did/will teachers play in the attitudes of fellow human beings that crossed my path this morning? There really seemed to be no "in between." Faces were filled with joy, hope and optimism or sadness, despair...

In 1978, Ron Edmonds  in his  Some Schools Work and More Can  speech , said, " We can whenever, and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us. We already know more than we need, in order to do this. Whether we do it must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven’t so far." As a public educator for the past twenty years I am dismayed at how much time and energy goes into the "blame game" about why are schools are not yet meeting the needs of all kids. What a waste of time, energy and resources. Everyone has a finger to point at someone else....Consider the comments that I've heard or read in the last two weeks: Those dang parents-if they would just do their part That teacher-if they would just teach! We need a new evaluation system to run them out. Principals-why don't they lead with courage? Let's evaluate them out too. We need a new superintendent...one who really understands t...