Video Gallery

The Human Connection

Go to Video Gallery Added Apr 30, 2017 •

Copy this URL:
Embed code:	<iframe class="edlio-embed-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="360" src="//middle.mypagosaschools.com/apps/embed/?v=145698" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Change dimensions

Go HD

Pagosa Springs Middle School principal, Chris Hinger, gives an Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teaching and Teachers (ECET2) Talk on the importance of human connection. Thanks to Colorado Education Initiative for their support of public educators and documenting these ECET2 Talks. To find out more go to http://teacher2teacher.education/ecet2/

Show Transcript

I think they took advantage of little bit of me when I got the invitation for to speak to because I had just found out that our school would be nominated to be or awarded to healthy schools Champion Governor's award and I was on cloud nine now is ready to tell you all the million things did I had teeming in my brain about what we do to create a healthy school and then they invited us to this cozy little dinner and fed us wonderful food and then they told us this is what we want you to do  and as a principal I can publicly speak I'm not scared to do that but they asked me to two things they said number one we want to hear about you  I don't know about any other principles but I've eliminated the word me out of my vocabulary and replaced it with because I really don't accomplish anything myself it's always the power of our staff and through that we accomplish things but it is not me so ask me to talk about me then they said it's not a PD you're not telling somebody how to do something you need to inspire them  and so I'm going to do my best to inspire you through my story  that's me that's my favorite selfie this fall I took a ram find myself it was like a huge lifetime go of mine my father did when I was five I grew up in Colorado this was a big deal for me it's been like the best school I never had  and I grew up in heaven  literally right there in the clouds that's Our Guest Ranch this is our 50th year is my family I'm running this Guest Ranch right to put a Wolf Creek Pass and you probably driven by and if you picked over that Overlook right there I grew up right there fishing those ponds fishing the upper reaches of the San Juan River and my dad and bedded a love of the outdoors and me like no other this is my family and lie my school are demographics are 15% Hispanic 15% African American 70% Caucasian but before your mind start burning with curiosity cuz my wife is in the room we did add Ops the last for a my wonderful wife literally is not the most important  job sorry this is us last fall on our anniversary 23rd anniversary celebrate 23rd anniversary on Pagosa Peak right before my wife returned to the classroom and knocked it out of the park by the way and education can I tell you that background because it's important to what I have to share with you because they said Inspire and they said tell you what really is if it was in your heart and it is a little bit of a model so you're going to catch me but it's a little bit of a model in what I have to talk about so I'm modeling and teaching and I just can't stop that so sorry what I really think and I've heard it so many times today is important in education is the human connection and I'm not downplaying all the Nology that we we have and all the pedagogy and all the things that we have but it's the human connection that if I were to tell you I have everything I've learned isn't that the most important when I try to boil it down to a word the best word I can come up is Rapport but I'm going to have to explain it in a time of unprecedented in education from the federal level to the state level where we have alignment to higher set of standards in an assessment system that is trying to evaluate that higher set of standards and Howard listing there to an evaluation system of teachers that supposed to knit it all together that's a lot of work forget the human connection rapport tell it to me has the foundation of two things and I'm not going to show you a lot of graphs I'm just going to talk to you the foundation of all human organizations all die can make human organizations is Trust  number one in the number two is respect and they kind of go hand-in-hand would you can do all the research that you want but you want a dynamic high-performing organization if you want a school to rock and roll you've got to invest and make sure it's a trusting environment when you got to build up that trust through respectful respectful interactions  respect at the level that you would treat a student the same as you would have call and then if you would do otherwise that you would pause and I know you have to be a disciplinarian now and then but you can do it in respect play that says I love you  report to me sounds very PC and so I want to talk about report a little bit different level I want to talk about the relational report  and imma show you some really fun pictures that have to do with that  rapport good strong Rapport if you and I have good strong Rapport we've know each other beneath the surface it's not that just we have a PC can lasting relationship we really know what makes each other Tech and if you're a teacher or your principal or you're a superintendent this all applies to every level of our you've got to get to know each other like we did today and it was awesome to sit at that table and hear people say this is why I teach because I feel like this conference more than any other conference I go to gets the heart of what we're about and we share that and we hear from our colleagues we got to laugh together we've got to play together we've got to have adventures together and experiences together that Bond us together and I'm not just talking about good stuff and I'm sure not talking about just in the classroom I love when people say experience or learning for kids for me that is not within the fourth wall have the classroom I know it can be and that's awesome and as we nurture that at Pagosa Springs Middle School we try to create an environment that gets at the part of the human connection and then we value it throughout that picture captures the heart of human connection better than any make sure I've ever seen so far and we've taken some good ones this is a picture of a 6th grade language arts teacher she was a part of what we do in the middle school is part of an advised she's an advisory teacher and 450 of our kids are assigned an advisory teacher this isn't a nuke on set the concept that was embedded in me and I said a challenge before the staff a few years ago is that I want you to design the first month of school is about report getting to know kids and I mean really getting to know kids so that you know what's relevant to them and you know what motivates them and you know who's at risk because go to change tomorrow and you better stay in touch and so you have one month in your advisory design a team building event to get to know your kids you can do anything you want as long as it's free and it's local cuz we don't have any money  and the first thing that the kids will do will say we want to go to the hot springs and chill out right cuz we're cool middle schoolers and we want to do that so we had to make it free because getting-to-know-each-other didn't cost me money and so I put a little money in so we can send bus is all across the county and and I made a challenge I said make this an experience of a lifetime don't make this your average everyday go hang in the park connection with kids that's the only thing and everyone smile teacher come to me and go home that's that's a big that's a big deal statement I'm not sure I do something like that but if you do it's going to be worth your investment and it's yours you get to lead this collaboration with your advisory decide what you going to do miss Sonia what is it she was going to the top of Sand Mountain up one of the tougher Pagosa trails to Rideau Bronco Trail and she tops out at 12050 cancel with her pirate time with a  magic marker she writes down 12050 we're going and I went with her the first time rookie and I wasn't sure show  we started climbing and I was hiking with key and I she's going high school she was my hiking partner because she was kind of heavy set and she got behind and it was hard whole crew is getting up there and we were at 11-5 for probably a thousand foot climb and it's Switchback you and we're getting up there and kids have never been there I mean those golf these keep screw up here like you ever been here no never been here most spectacular place in the world and we I see boys taking backpacks from kid that you know girls in here in two or three backpack your shirt off  can I'm Hangin with Kiara cuz he's having a tough time but when we to the top what an experience they take that picture and we sit down and conversations my conversation with Kiara was away from everybody cuz she wasn't holding down her lunch too well and I patter show but we have human connection that's mister how about is the math teacher he always Summits Alberta Peak every fall with his comes back with stories of I almost froze to death this year he really did it's not always sunshine and pretty is that  Miss Livonia 24 Mile Falls that scared me a little bit  the boy what an inspiring picture in what some stories kids have the same and are we have an amazing special education program and are high Pac program and special talents program incorporates these and so miss Medici decided to spend it on the lake and kayaks teaching kids hack I'm going to have you reflect for just a couple minutes I got a couple of Reflections and we're leave you with a fun story any organization that value something dedicates time and resource to it ICF my gift I know how to just simplify it all and say it straight any organization that value something it's a big rock right it's important be dedicate time and resource to it so here's the gut-check are you ready what time and resource did you spend human connections I-25 more slides of potlucks  that were designed to knit our community together and everybody had to bring the traditional food their family eats at Christmas  can we had the biggest potluck in the world 450 kids well least we call it that I don't know if that was make is Potluck pretty big mess and I pictures of we go up to three times in the mountain and because we feel like it's important that our kids learn how to ski from fifties grade you can learn to ski or snowboard three times including and go up there with her family days for basically next to nothing you can learn it you know what that's important and that's also a time that you can build human connections  we do experience of learning in form of trips and we go to Moab and we go to Bandelier and building these interdisciplinary units now wondered include those they told me I didn't have very long but I'm taking long the other thing I would challenge you is if you value it and you dedicate time to it and you dedicate resource to it and you're feeling good with that gut checks and I'm going to ask you this any good organization knows it if you value something that you know I'd only dedicate time you dedicate resource to it you also measure it how do you measure that there's so many things you can't measure I would just proposed that if that's a big rock you should measuring and monitoring how you build human connections healthy kids Colorado survey student perception surveys teacher perception surveys perception surveys those are all tools make up your own I don't care but Monitor and get some feedback about the human connections that you're making and make sure when you ask yourself that that you're making that gut check because we all have stories like we heard the day of the teacher that inspired us and the teacher that broke us down we all have those stories right and we want to be the kind of people Inspire and if we're going to Value something and we want to get better at it you better monitor it and it sends a message as organization we value human connection leave you with a fun story  one that I hope cements this a mind forever  stories about Davy belardi he is an absolute  sheesh I get all emotional Davey that's him where is  he's an absolute wonderful custodian I've worked with him for years I considered him to be a colleague and a friend and has AZ in current member of our staff is anybody cuz he's the daytime custodian he's the one that greets all 450 students when they walk into the cafeteria both more sing the first face they see a lot of the time and at lunch and he knows how to build human connections when I guy retires and he gave me his three or notice add my stuff that's been kind of the funny talk right they give me a nine-year notice I got a three-year notice when we were asking is anybody leaving and they start I'll give me their notices 20 Dave gave me A3 we have an atmosphere in her staff that we'd love to joke and mess around and and also we hold ourselves accountable to high standards and that we connect with kids and that's a big rocking and he does that beautifully in right before school was starting I think this was couple years ago I called him on the phone and it was just a day or two before school is starting and I had all these things add to line up at this PD here and have this go in here and I had this going here and I and I didn't since I'm leaving him a message  and I are going to the Litany of things and I'm at my house and it's at Kenny in the evening I'm kind of tired and I'm drifting off and I I look out the window and I could wrap up my message and I say okay I love you in literally  literally in like just a couple of seconds I thought it would be appropriate to add man to make it better right I hung up but this is a guy who guaranteed is going to bring this up and I'm worried so I say prepare yourself so I go to work the next morning he says not a word hey Dave how you doing good sermon unlike and I'm worrying about it so we get all set up an in Pagosa we have a cool tradition in for you when we've gathered the whole District back in the high school Commons we feed everybody breakfast and then then the literally is like it's a lot of people in the Commons area and they also get there and we enter what's the new staff it's like a giant family reunion right after the summer and it's really fun to see everybody in our elementary principal stands up and says you know these are going to do Staffing and and then turn it up and I ain't you introduce all the staff and I in right as I finish  from the back in the most Crystal Clear Voice UK hey coach I love you man but I tell you that story because it's my heart and I couldn't have a better Legacy and now we walk around the school specially when there's been a joke for you to me love you man  do I hope that you make those human connections and you tell somebody you love them and I hope your conference goes well thank you for listening

Video Gallery

The Human Connection

Popular Videos