“The more the student becomes the teacher and the more the teacher becomes the learner, and then the more successful are the outcomes.” (John Hattie, 2009) You may recall I mentioned we had opened a Twitter account for the GRCDC [GRChild]. The original intention was to open another communication path for our school. What I was unprepared for was the tremendous amount of networking and learning that can be facilitated with only 149 little characters. While posting a ‘tweet’ for our school last week I ran across the quote above with only the initials “J.H.” following. Curious, I set about trying to find the author of this wonderfully Reggio-aligned quote. Find it I did. I soon discovered the author was John Hattie, a professor from New Zealand, who not only made this wonderful statement, but as I began to research Professor Hattie and his work I found a larger volume on student achievement which speaks to the importance of visible learning, another important facet of a Reggio-inspired approach to education. In it he states: “It is critical that the teaching and learning are visible. There is no deep secret called teaching and learning: teaching and learning are visible in the classrooms of the successful teachers and students, teaching and learning are visible in the passion displayed when successful teaching and learning occurs, and teaching and learning requires much skill and knowledge by both teacher and student…..the explanation of visible teaching relates to teachers as activators, ….effective teaching and learning is not always loud and heated, but it is rarely silent and deadening….it is often intense, buzzing, and risky.” Even with the short passages I read by Hattie, I quickly realized I do not agree with his philosophy in total, but he does make some important and valid points. The main point I wish to convey here is that what we do at the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center is often intense, buzzing and risky, but with intensity [i.e. hard-work] and risk can come great reward. Examples of our risks have been moving to our new school building, trusting a new administrator, and being open to accepting needed changes in our systems, policies and procedures. Our reward is the continued achievement and success of our students, the happiness and well-being of our families, and the professional growth, development and satisfaction of our staff. As I have stated many times before, we still have challenges and improvements ahead of us, as long as we continue to be willing to work hard, implement change, acknowledge and accept challenges, we will continue to grow and succeed. It takes everyone working together, working hard, and the realization that sometimes the needs of the organization need to come before our own personal wishes and desires. If we can manage to keep our goals clear and visible, like our teaching and learning, we will be able to accomplish our objectives.