The Change Game simulation provided an opportunity to really delve into the trials of creating change in education from

the inside. Most remarkable was the required networking and political maneuvering necessary to move forward with the most basic of steps to even share ideas within the system. Coming to a consensus in our small group rarely provided us with a challenge. However, once we received multiple no! answers for our ideas, it became difficult to keep the momentum moving forward. "etworking seemed to be another strength to accomplishing change. #nce several groups became interested or enrolled in the desire to create equality in the schools, moving steps further seemed easier. #ur group failed to move forward with great strides, in part because of technical difficulties and in part because the concept of networking seemed foreign to most of us. $e thought presenting would be the first steps in lieu of talking to other small groups of people. The resistance key administrators e%hibited seemed daunting in the face of the e%citement of creating change. The simulation reminded me so much of the political process of creating a bill on Capitol Hill. The process takes forever, with small steps and getting others to help with creating the change. &atience and perseverance in the face of others trying to achieve their ob'ectives appears to be the key to impacting change. Creating change in the simulation was much more difficult that what ( have e%perienced where ( work, )rts *ased +chool. )s a charter school, we have the fle%ibility and vision to implement change as we see fit. Collaboration remains an important part of our staff and encourages teamwork throughout the school and administration. Most importantly, our school leadership team continuously seeks out ideas for improvement and suggestions from staff. #nce a problem is identified, teachers

will form committees or present ideas in a forum for discussion. +ometimes, ideas seem unattainable, but that is when our staff truly innovates something totally different and new. Three years ago, ( chaired a committee at school to streamline our reading instruction. The difficulty for students and staff was a lack of common language for strategies and reading levels. )lthough our students loved to read, the consistency with which students and teachers discussed books and stories left us often confused regarding abilities of the students. ,nowing that a standardi-ed te%tbook didn.t fit our philosophy, our team of / teachers began researching and e%amining different reading programs that would help our staff and students attain a common language for reading that adhered to our philosophy. )fter two months of summer reading and meetings to discuss the pros and cons of different programs, we suggested to our principal our desire to implement 0ountas and &innell as our primary reading program and created a plan for teacher training throughout the school year. The books arrived before school began so teachers could begin the year with the 0irst 12 3ays! section in the book. The entire process took less than three months. The following year another committee completed the same e%amination and implementation for a writing program. #ther changes in our school have included a green committee! that focused on strategies for recycling, eliminating wasted food in lunches, and energy conservation. The desire for more planning time and structuring schedules with large blocks of uninterrupted classroom learning time also became a reality through another committee. $hat makes our school so fun to be a part of is the can do! attitude of the staff and administration. (f a concern arises, we all take a part in becoming a solution in lieu

of complaining about what other people want. 4ven our parents participate in solutions. "ow that our school has e%panded to include middle school, our parents play a valuable role in identifying needs for students and finding creative ways to provide the school with the resources. +ince our school seems to have no barriers, ( can only speculate on barriers that ( have heard of from other teachers in less innovative environments. ( think the first barrier seems to be gossip.! Too often, ideas seem to get shut down immediately by other staff that doesn.t agree with another person.s goals. These disagreements often get aired negatively with other administrators or staff, impacting the enthusiasm for the idea before all can understand the benefits. )nother barrier discussed seems to be the reluctance to change by teachers. $hen ( first started teaching, older teachers informed me that ( should not teach the new way.! These teachers looked forward to retirement in less than 52 years and appeared to be cruising to the finish line, resistant and afraid to implement new ideas. 6ooking back ( reali-e they also didn.t want to look! bad because they didn.t implement the latest and greatest teaching strategies. (n all, ( learned that implementing change in a school or system would take much networking, patience and perseverance. The ideas need to be complete, ready for presentation, with evidence for the need, a list of necessary resources and ideas for implementation. Thorough planning and research are important to gaining support and enthusiasm from the right people who can help perpetuate the desired movement. ,nowing who to ask to help you spread your ideas and plans