Educate Me G

https://canvasrebel.com/meet-gordon-lyng/

Check out where the last 10 years have brought me and some of my opinions on the current state of education!

Greetings,

Here is the end result of a prior post!

Linking up with local businesses, I was able to ask high school students to show off their passions! Through this, they have something to take with them for the rest of their lives. All of these students have a great deal of passion and sense of direction. This is a small example of the life-worthy education I wish to bring to the students I work with.

Huge thank you to False Ego and First Tape Media for helping with the vision of this project.

Find the YouTube link here!

Good morning y’all,

I was recently interviewed by Shoutout Colorado to discuss how my upbringing / background has shaped who I am today. I feel as if I am one of the fortunate ones to know what they wanted to do at a young age. Although, I can see the other side of knowing too early and how maybe a lack of experience could hinder how you think. This is why I say I am lucky because I still find great passion in what I do and still look to move up through education.

If you would like to read about me and my background, click the link below! 🙂

Meet Gordon Lyng | Grade Level Chair / Humanities Educator / Athletic Director

Happy Inauguration Day!

Massive day in education. Lots of rhetoric happening within school walls (or zoom classes) around the country. I was involved in multiple programming for today’s school day.

Had me thinking about how habits and identities of our students are cultivated through teacher bias. Lots of information was distributed to our students today backed by a sly jab, gesture, or comment.

I am no way shape or form a political person. My connection to the American political system is very little, even with a Bachelor’s in History. The reason being? I attempt to embrace other parts of humanity over one that was created for me. In simpler words, my goal is to life a choice filled life. My choice is to travel, learn, experience, help, etc. I would rather spend my time doing what I enjoy instead of cultivating my identity around a political party.

When it comes to education, I attempt to live by the facts. Anything political, I probably don’t know enough to feel good having strong opinions. Are these opinions others believe as truthful as they think? Do they know there is still more research to be done and or that their biased opinion could potentially be way wrong?

I try to control what I can control. Therefore, my goal as an educator is to cultivate experience and build relationships through aspects of humanity, not systems or blatantly biased opinions.

I just want to be a good person first.

Greeting y’all,

Through help from multiple stakeholders, we were able to secure $25,000 from the Colorado Department of Transportation. CDOT surveyed our community and decided that the data collected matched an opportunity to improve the experience of young people. That opportunity is a bicycle program.

I was handed the reins of the program and tasked with ordering the equipment, implementing how they would be used, and redesigning a physical education curriculum. I purchased a storage unit, 30 bicycles, 30 helmets, 30 bike pumps, 30 bike locks and 2 years of free maintenance. The little money left over will go to program upkeep.

I was able to run physical education classes teaching students how to ride bikes as well as bike maintenance. Some students have never ridden one before! The goal of the bike program is also for students to rent them, teaching responsibility while encouraging coming to school more. Read this article from Denver News9!

I am honored and fortunate to be leading this level of programming.

You can find the story about the program shared on the local news channel here.

Morning everyone,

I wanted to pop in and speak on a project I worked on this last year with middle school aged students. I was able to crowd fund around $600 which was enough to order 30 chessboards, 30 chess clocks, and other chess related equipment.

From there, I led a chess club of around 28 middle school aged children once a week. It was very introductory, but the students loved learning the game. If COVID didn’t happen, the goal was to send the top players from the club to a local chess tournament where I would cover the fee’s.

With the right marketing and backing from your school, this type of program can be seamlessly created! There are so many benefits to chess and I hope this helps spark spreading the game!

Good Morning Readers,

At least in the ever-changing Denver communities, schools are sadly being looked at as contributors to the community and not the center of it. This is where I believe community engagement suffers. The identity of the schools is not engrained in the day-to-day. A school should offer programs, opportunities, experiences not just for students, but for the entire community. Parents will be more inclined to get involved if they can get something out of it. Below I will list 5 ideas / solutions to bridging the gap between communities and schools.

1. Professional Development seminars – Monthly meetings helping families with job interview skills, resume building, public speaking, etc. Have teachers assist with family success.
2. Letting facilities be used by the community – Local sports leagues, after school programs, etc. Have the school be seen as a haven for the community.
3. Community Quarterly – 4 times a year, local vendors / businesses come represent themselves at school while we celebrate the academic success of the students. If a business has a new item or is new in the community (or a business with roots in the community), have them come show it off or market themselves on this day.
4. Outside programs – For example, every Thursday our school hands out free fruit / vegetables from local farms to underserved families in the community. Being an outlet of hope goes a long way and the more we create, the more families will be engaged with the school.
5. Uniforming communication – Consistent and easy to find communication from the school to families. Having parents sign up in the beginning of the year when they register their students is the ideal way to streamline this. Group chats, email chains, social medias are all under this umbrella.

My goal as a school leader one day is to uniform these ideas into school culture. Overtime, I hope to see change and positivity in whichever community I represent.

 

Voyage Denver is a digital magazine that spotlights people in the Denver area who are positively impacting the world we live in.

Please take a second to read up more about who I am and why I do what I do!

Voyage Article on Gordon Lyng 

Thanks 🙂

I have taken a strong stance on incorporating life-worthy education into classrooms this year. One role I have been given this year is covering other teachers classes if they have emergency’s and need to leave school. I always ask teachers to never leave a lesson plan (which they appreciate very much) so I can facilitate a lesson more closely linked to what I believe children need.

Last Thursday, I covered an 8th grade art elective which hosts about 30 students. We began talking about what they want from their educational experience and what they feel like they’re missing. Giving students a voice is crucial to their education. The conversation led to focusing on creating a five year plan that aligns with where their brains are at now. Kids craved this activity because it was student centric!

Once student said when he turned 14 he was going to apply for a job at the local supermarket. He was a little hesitant on explaining how he would acquire this position. The feedback I gave him was to make time for trying. If you don’t align your thoughts to your actions, nothing will happen. If you don’t become relentless in pursuit of what you want, you will never get it. Go to the store everyday until they give you a job. If you get it after multiple failed attempts, you will learn more about life works than any textbook from that experience.

Gordon

Blessed to be working and creating with educators that improve communities. The Lights On Project is an attempt for three schools, one in which I work, to establish safe and structured areas for our kids. Traditionally, the region suffers from gang related violence. Our kids are exposed to these tendencies at early ages.

Our first venture is upcoming this month. We will be keeping the Lights On in our school until 11pm. Teachers are volunteering in 2 hour shifts and will have several different events / activities planned. Students from the elementary school, middle school, and high school are invited.

More to come with the Lights On Project as we progress.

Gordon