Every day, seniors come into my office - not to ask me a particular college related question, but to see if they can read my mind. Yes, my mind, because every senior by now knows me really well and has figured out that sometimes the college counselor gets a bit of a "preview" on what is likely to happen to his students in terms of admissions consideration. The conversation goes something like this:

Senior: Hi, Mr. Martinez, how's it going?

Me: Fine, how are you?

Senior: Good.

Me: That's nice, what's up?

Senior: Oh, nothing.

Me: Is everything okay?

Senior: Well, yeah, but I was just wondering if maybe you might know something?

Me: Hmmm… Well I know many things, but if you're looking for a "hint" on what a particular college is likely to do with you, you're not going to get one from me.

Senior: What do you mean? I just came in to say "hi" and wanted to make sure you didn't think I forgot about you now that all my college applications are done.

Me: Really? How nice of you!  Well, I'm good, sounds like you are good, and since we are both good, we can relax.

Senior: Oh, so are you telling me that I got into my college?

Me: No, I didn't say that at all.

Senior: Oh No! So you are telling me that I didn't get in?

Me: No, I didn't say that either.

Senior: Oh, so it sounds like I got wait listed then?

Me: No, what are you talking about? I didn't say anything, so stop being paranoid!

Senior: Well, make up your mind, Mr. M.—did I or didn’t I get into the college?

Me: You will find out in due time!  And even if I knew, the college would swear me to secrecy, so I would never tell you.

Senior: I knew you were going to say that.

Me: Yeah, great. Well, why don't you go try to read someone else's mind? Mine is totally consumed by the junior class now, and I need to get back to work.

Senior: Yeah, I know, but I figured it was worth a try.

Me: Yeah, well nice try, but no such luck. Maybe when you come by again tomorrow, you will have better luck!

Senior: Sure, but I doubt it.

Me: Yeah, me too.

Every senior that is still waiting to hear about his/her admissions to college is sitting on pins and needles right about now. They feel tortured that they have to wait so long to get a decision - even if most of them haven't been waiting for longer than a week or two since they completed their final college applications. The waiting game is long and torturous, and that is understandable. After all, college admission offices have an enormous task at hand, and it will take time to read all those applications.

I feel sorry for some of my seniors around this time of year. They are officially second semester seniors and graduation seems so much more attainable than ever before; however, getting into college still feels like a far away dream. Some of them will hear any day now; but most will have to wait weeks, if not months (most decisions are not handed out until late March or early April). Some will try anything to see if they can get a "heads up" on what is coming their way. It’s not unusual to get a strange stare from a senior once in a while, and when I ask him/her why they are looking at me so funny, he/she will actually say to me, “I’m just trying to see if I can read your eyes to see if I got into college yet!” Others will lose patience and figure out that I either really don't know what a particular college has decided (which is usually the truth), or that I will simply never let them know even if I do know something ahead of time (which is also true).

Good news? Bad news? Neutral news (like getting wait listed)? Which is it going to be? Our seniors will simply have to wait it out like the rest of the college-bound population across America. But rest assured that they will find out sooner or later and most of the time, the news is well worth the wait. Does this mean I know something they don't? No, it simply means they have to be patient. Only the admission officers reading their applications right now know if they are going to get in or not. And they, like me, aren't going to spill the beans until it's official, and the decision is in the mail. Excuse me, there's someone at my door.

Me: Come in.

Senior: How's it going Mr. Martinez?

Me: Good, how are you?

Senior: Good, thanks.

Me: That's nice, what's up?

Senior: Oh, nothing...

As an independent school educator of some thirty-plus years and a director of admission at a number of highly-selective independent schools for twenty-two of those years, I must admit that I am becoming increasing concerned about the overuse of the term “gifted child.” Now, as a disclaimer, I believe profoundly that every child has a gift for something and that those gifts are often overlooked in large or small schools. And no, I am not talking about that hard-working A’s-all-the-time, terrific test taker. We all have them; we all identify them easily; and, of course, we love them as much as we love all our students. But, I am seeing so many applicants whose resumes list Gifted and Talent Education (GATE) programs or participation in the one of the many programs designed for the “high-performing student” that I am beginning to wonder who is not “gifted.” Many of these students are happily spending their summers studying forensics, psychology, writing, economics and I applaud those interests.  It sure has to be better than spending the summer locked in front of the newest version of World of Warcraft. But there are so many of these programs and the vast majority use your typical battery of standardized tests to identify such students; the result of which is that now we have seventh graders taking some version of the SAT and that is implicitly encouraging parents to prepare sixth grade students for the SAT. Oh, to be in the SAT prep business today! And how very sad this is all becoming. Just the other day, I had a young parent ask me if I would accept her child’s SAT results in place of our typical standardized assessment test for admission. “And what grade is she in, may I ask?” “Well, she’s gifted, you know, and she took the SAT in grade 7.” “How do you know she’s ‘gifted’?” “Well, look at her test scores.”

Some years back, I had the privilege of working as the director of admission for a school whose entire focus was the truly exceptional (we call them “highly capable”) learner. I was simply captivated by these remarkable students, for how one captures their attention and imagination goes well beyond what I am seeing in many a school’s classrooms. These are the children that learn in a completely different way from most children. Their minds are working in overdrive and everything seems a world of wonder.  Placed in your standard “I teach you; you learn” environment, they either explicitly rebel or check out. They might see solutions to math problems completely outside the norm. Some have extraordinary individual talents (I am thinking of the boy I took to the National Geographic Geography Bee finals in 2001. He won.); some have extraordinary verbal skills. What they have in common is that they are such uncommon learners and I believe they are among the most misunderstood and poorly served in educational institutions where standardized tests, SAT results, and registration in AP courses are used to determine what many believe defines a “gifted” student.   It is not so.

During my interviews I can pick out the child of which I am writing. I am thinking of a boy - let’s call him Joseph - who sat in my office and could talk about whatever esoteric subject came to mind. During those thirty minutes we explored black holes and the possibility that if the Big Bang means the universe started from nothing, then nothing must be something. We analyzed the meaning of the word “should” and engaged in solving a physics problem of motion. He was a talented animator and designer of computer games but he never played them. His head was full of ideas; his room full of books. On paper?  A “B” student. He didn’t turn in his work as, for many of these children, the homework we demand is pretty much mindless and I would agree. This is not the kind of student who can sit quietly solving the odd-number problems in the back of the algebra text. Most likely, he knows the material without expending much intellectual energy. Answer the questions in the back of chapter four of A Survey of World Literature? I don’t think so. The result? Well, instead of attempting to discern what this student really knows or can demonstrate mastery of, he gets a “C” since 40% of his grade is mindless homework. So, he disappears to the middle of the classroom, unnoticed and certainly forgotten in big schools. He doesn’t bother anyone and is never encouraged except for the rare instance that a special teacher opens her eyes and reaches out. She notes the student who confounds her with his questions that seem to come out of nowhere and whose verbal dexterity can only be matched by his remarkable insights no matter how seemingly inane. I know because I worked with such students like Bert, all of 10 years old, who assisted me on a tour of the school with a father, an engineer. Upon viewing a class where algebraic solutions were scattered across the board (this was fifth grade), the engineer suggested an alternative solution to the problem. “No”, remarked Bert. “That would be wrong. Let me show you why.” He was right. I can still see that father’s eyes. Bert and all his classmates used to call all teachers and administrators by their first name. “Hi, Leo.” It would only work there. I just loved the place because everything was so very different from what I was used to. And we had waiting lists. 

I always worried for these children because after they graduated from grade 8, there really were no schools for them. Yes, of course, there were the schools hyping IB programs or their lists of AP courses and, horror of horrors, universities that purported to “accelerate” these children bypassing any notion that developmentally they were still only fourteen years old. What’s the rush? I wonder. But IB/AP does not necessarily address the needs of the truly exceptional, highly capable learner. There are few schools that are addressing their needs and certainly not in the public sector. The task is left typically to that special teacher of whom I remark; and given the size of their classes and the independence from state mandated standards, I believe many independent schools, particularly boarding schools, are well-suited to address the needs of such students.

Teenagers want to be known, and once known they do remarkable things. Imagine then if that highly capable child who possibly does not understand his talents or gifts – they seem too natural – is identified in a caring community such as we have in boarding schools. The possibilities for that child are enormous. I love seeing these students on my campus and I can tell stories about every one of them. And I can do so because they seem to thrive in the intellectual freedom provided by schools like ours. When you sit around a table with fifteen students and engage in a Socratic dialogue about Robert Frost’s take on the American Dream, or take your students on a field trip to the Utah wilderness to search for a newly identified miniature T. Rex, you open the possibility for such students to reveal themselves.  It is when you let them stretch their minds without the burden of meeting arbitrary rubrics for success that the highly capable child begins to see that the world has meaning for him or her. And when we teachers hear them think, it is something to behold.

You've probably viewed the YouTube video "Did You Know; Shift Happens" and its latest incarnation "Did You Know? 4.0" more than once by now. Stunning isn't it?  

The exponential rate of change is a cliché these days, but it's the world we live in and the world for which we need to prepare today's students. Coupled with the rate of change is the dynamism of such things as social networks, social production, and media grids that are a regular part of today's world. These two factors alone - and there are many others - support the argument that a major survival skill for the 21st century must be "agility and adaptability" as Tony Wagner and others name it.

Massive changes in technology have caused massive shifts in social adaptations. It's easy to see why agility rules. Most of us would acknowledge that our jobs are not the ones they were last year or five years ago much less 20 years ago, and we'd probably also acknowledge that we learn differently than we did even a few years ago. We use different tools and we use tools differently. We're all adapting every day, and the flexible mind will be increasingly important. 

So where's education adjusting and moving to teach the habits of adaptability and agility? What are American schools doing? Is current teaching in the US at the leading edge or not? Are schools actually reforming or only re-arranging themselves? Where's the evidence of advancement or stalemate on embedded curricular and delivery change? Education has historically been a conservative process and industry. Educators have believed in order and certainty in both pedagogy and their profession. But tomorrow's world begs a much more organic, web-like, non-linear and rather messy way of learning and carrying out work. 

Fostering agility and adaptability changes the old educational paradigms, most of all, perhaps, the one that considers the teacher as the classroom leader with all the  right answers, if not all the right questions. If we're to teach our students to be adaptable and agile, then they need practice managing disruption and uncertainty, which are often perceived to be negatives, as well as practice creating innovation and embracing new ideas.  Asking questions, challenging what is, understanding that ambiguity is often a fact of life and being able to actually thrive in ambiguity are skills that should be learned in classrooms and schools that are actually "run" by students. Learning that there are sometimes no completely right answers and certainly not just one right answer is fundamental to living and leading in a world that changes profoundly at an exponential rate. 

A common thread running through many of my conversations about athletics at Webb is the idea of building and maintaining success. What are we doing to grow and improve? How do we maintain and build upon those improvements once achieved?

Of course, the answer to these questions often depends on the point of view and assumptions of the person asking the questions. At Webb, we strongly believe that success in the athletic arena can and should encompass ideas far greater than just wins and losses. Likewise, success cannot be defined without truly understanding the context in which it is achieved. Having said that, I think there are three pillars to building and maintaining a successful athletic program that can be agreed upon no matter the perspective.

First, to have a successful athletic program you must have great coaches. Webb has made a concerted effort to hire men and women who are not only technically proficient at the X’s and O’s of their particular sport, but who are also able to effectively communicate their passion to their athletes. In addition, Webb looks for coaches who understand and buy into the culture of The Webb Schools. While it is easy to write these criteria down on paper, Webb has had a tremendous amount of success in recent years finding coaches who fit this profile. Unsurprisingly, this focus in hiring has correlated with some of our most successful seasons as we reached the volleyball playoffs for the first time in school history in 2008 and won the CIF championship in boys’ water polo this past fall season. But, as any athlete knows, a good season encompasses more than just a record. Our student athletes are enjoying their experiences and growing in many ways, learning new skills and often discovering remarkable talents they didn’t realize they had. Just as with a successful teacher, a successful coach brings out the most in his or her athletes in a way that is both challenging and fun.

In addition to hiring great coaches, Webb has supported the building of the athletic program through improvements to facilities and equipment. With the awareness that many factors are out of your control as a player and coach, I am a strong proponent of taking proper care of the things that can be controlled. In recent years, Webb has improved the experience for our student athletes with renovations to Faculty Field, the McCarthy Fitness Center, Les Perry Gymnasium, the Sutro Pool and Chandler Field. In addition to these facility renovations and the regular maintenance of fields and equipment, Webb has a full time athletic trainer to treat and diagnose any injuries that may occur. The combination of these factors affects our teams on many levels. When our coaches and athletes are treated like top-class athletes, they are more likely to perform at their best, which is all that can be asked of them.

Finally, the last piece to the puzzle is the athletes themselves. While we cannot and do not recruit students for athletics, we do work to give student athletes every reason to say yes to our program. While athletics alone is not the reason a student comes to Webb, strong coaching, enthusiastic athletes and great looking facilities are a strong pull. In addition, Webb competes at the highest levels to be found for schools our size in Southern California. Not only do we provide this level of care to our best athletes, Webb prides itself on developing new skills for all levels of experience by providing teams at all levels. As a result, the vast majority of our students leave Webb having discovered and developed athletic skills and interests they were not even aware of when they first enrolled.

Great coaches, well cared for facilities and passionate athletes are essential to achieving success, no matter how you define it. By maintaining the proper focus and appropriately establishing strong programs, we are reaching new levels of success while remaining consistent with our main goal: to develop great men and women of character. 

GO GAULS!

I’ve been in a LOT of very good meetings lately, all of which have had some focus on the work we do with Webb students, in and out of the classroom. Through all of these conversations I have been reminded of one of my guiding principles in working at schools, that being, as simple as it might seem, to leave every place that I work in better shape than I found it. As our world changes, and at an alarming pace, one’s grounding in the foundation of his or her personal belief structure becomes increasingly important. It has always been my strongest belief that we have a responsibility to our students to assist them in developing more than an intellectual base from which to build their lives. As, if not more, important is to help them develop a conscience that will allow them to move forward in life confident that they have it within themselves to make a difference in the quality of their lives and the lives of those around them.

When working with faculty and students, I often find myself reflecting back on the teachings of Dr. Nel Noddings who so eloquently reminds us of the importance of having students learn to care about the things and beings around them – think of the applications and interpretations that can grow from such a simple idea. If students learn not to “do,” but to “care” about a subject, it will likely follow that their dedication to that subject will become a part of their learning process. This allows for a subtle shift of focus (and energy) away from teachers having to motivate (or entertain) students, to finding ways to have them channel their newfound energies.

Noddings also argues the importance of having students learn to know that they are cared for – in essence that they matter and that their contributions matter, however great or small. While we continue to encourage our students to learn and cultivate their own senses of identity and individuality, they must also learn that it will likely be through acts of communal collaboration that they are ultimately successful in school and in life, whether that collaboration be with a teacher, another student, a colleague or a life partner. It is essential that students learn to be aware that they play a role in a bigger picture – caring requires that they turn their attention outward, rather than inward – and they must be taught to constantly consider their impact on the greater good.

Daily, we struggle as a faculty to achieve that fine balance where we have confidence that we are teaching content and process in ways proportionate as to allow our students to be most successful in this new world. Constantly, we remind ourselves of the responsibility and opportunity we have as an independent school to equip our students with the essential tools that will allow them to distinguish themselves among the masses of capable and driven young adults who will shape the legacy of their generation. As an example, take the use of technology - our challenge is to guide our students in developing a conscience that will allow them to be discerning with their research, the choosing of applications, the sharing of resources, or the generation of original (and often very public) material, all while staying grounded in a true, not virtual, reality where they are capable of original thought. Learning this sense of responsibility is a transferable skill that they will need to sharpen to succeed at such seemingly simple tasks as interpreting the news or forming a political opinion. They must learn to wade, intellectually, through the white noise that our media-driven society produces. We are challenged constantly to find ways to provide students with skills of discrimination that will afford them a sense of balance from which to make constructive choices.

Simple, yes?  No, not really… but this work is so worthy of our full attention as we are challenged to secure the foundations of our students for “when the winds of changes shift.” In one of my meetings I was struck by the phrase “boundary dissolution” – its many implications and potential applications in the work we do with your children. Such a simple concept, yet consistent with a teaching premise that lends a different, critical importance to every, single thing that we choose to share with and inspire in your children, and the connections we guide them to make. This is noble, demanding, rewarding, ever-evolving work, and why I’ve spent my life in good places like this.