This is a blog about my life, education, challenging discussions and what I learn. The mission and goal of this blog is to promote the sharing of ideas and resources to improve student performance.
There is NOTHING more important that blogging. Do you agree with that? I'm not sure where I stand but I remember the day April 15th 2009, when I started this blog. This blog hasn't been a place of regard on the internet, it hasn't changed education as a system. You know what it has done? It has given me a voice, given me a place to document my thoughts, cool tools and ideas. What do leaders like Seth Godin and Tom Peters think about blogging, well:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.2a Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general observation and focus, and group related information logically; include formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.2b Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.2c Link ideas within and across categories of information using words, phrases, and clauses (e.g., incontrast, especially).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.2d Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.2e Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation presented.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3a Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3b Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3c Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3d Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3e Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.
How can this all NOT be accomplished through blogging? PLUS we get a chance to allow family and friends to subscribe, comment, and all the while teaching digital literacy. Hard to not pass it up. Recently I listened to Michael Hyatt's podcast on "the resistance." It's that urge we all feel when we are going to try something new. The fear we have that creates all the doubt to try something new. He states that the first phase to overcoming that fear is to: Just Start.
After all, What's more REAL WORLD, than the actual REAL WORLD! So, Start blogging today! More importantly, let your students blog.
10. Pretty overwhelming and pretty amazing at the same time. Links and images organized by topic or theme. Pretty cool! You can set up an account, make this your homepage, personalize the “MyFaves” section and get almost anywhere you need to go.
5. Good blog post on “why you aren’t as successful as you want to be.” I like some of the ideas here. I often get lost in the to do list and miss out on focusing on my goals or personal vision. http://www.chrisbrogan.com/notsuccessful/
2. Risk taking in the classroom is always an interesting topic of discussion. Standardization, data-based and research-based decisions and actions often stifle the creativity and passion of educators. Every once in a while it’s okay to not be “research based”
1. Math teachers and dorks like me will LOVE this. Enter a number and it’ll tall you everything you every wanted to know about it but were afraid to ask
This video inspired me to FLIP my classroom. What does it mean to "FLIP" your classroom. I no longer give notes/lecture/have students write things down during class. Class is time to investigate, try things out and make mistakes while I'm there to provide guidance.
Isn't your job hard enough? Why do you continue to make it harder on yourself by stressing out about the things that happen during your day?
Do me a favor, the next time something "bad" happens, ask yourself:
Is this a problem, a constraint, or an opportunity?
The next time someone says something can't be done, ask yourself: what's the problem, are there constraints, is there an opportunity to think differently about something?
The trick to great leadership is recognizing the difference.
In a recent post from Seth Godin (yes I read him a lot) and he talks about problems and constraints. I'd like to also propose another option: opportunity.
Seth defines both for us:
A problem is solvable. There is a solution to every problem. Even though every solution may not be the best, or is feasible, there is always a solution. A solution has to be made in the light of what's best for that specific student. As we know, not all solutions are the same for all students (and in my opinion all solutions should be made after a progression of collection of data through a response to intervention process).
A constraint is something to be lived with. Gravity is a constraint. It is inevitable, it is something that cannot be avoided. Like the one student in your class that causes the most trouble, he/she wil never be absent. Like a student with inconsistent parenting, the bottom line is you have to take that parenting issue out of your conversation, that is something that you cannot control and you can only do whats best for the student between the hours of 8-3 (or whatever your school day is).
I'd like to add.....the opportunity!
An opportunity is something that can (and should) be improved. (I always struggle using the word "should" because really, who am I to say.) Things around your school building are broken (see my blog post on things that are broken, and also enjoy the This is Broken website). Every chance you get to make improvements in your classroom, school, facility, or environment as a leader we can capitalize on that opportunity. I try to find one thing each day to make better.
When faced with an obstacle, Identify it. Is it a probelm, a constraint, or an opportunity?
One of my favorite quotes of all time is, "If someone says it cannot be done, then they should not interrupt someone who is doing it." I know this quote is a tad bit audacious and a little arrogant but I love it. I love it becasue it reminds me to always evaluate the situations in front of me, see them for what they are, and seek to overcome them, live with them, or improve them.
As leaders we can use this evaluation method to alleviate stress and move our organization forward.
What’s wrong with PD? (this is the crabby section so just skip over this :-))
To borrow a phrase from business experts like Seth Godin and Mark Hurst: professional development “is broken.” (for more on things that are broken check out: http://goodexperience.com/tib/) Professional development (PD) is ineffective and inefficient, Dr. Reeves believes there are a number of reasons that that has occurred. First of all, PD is designed in the same format as an autopsy. PD is often designed as “a procedure that is undoubtedly filled with data but rarely improves the health of the patient” (Reeves). This means that the information and activities that are completed and deemed as PD really have no real translation to students or student achievement. For instance, the data from the MAP test does not get returned to the school until the following year. This gap in time makes PD focused on the MAP assessment as effective as an autopsy. There are no tangible ways to translate that specific data into a usable and vital resource to plan professional development.
PD is often planned and organized in too short of a time period. I often overhear administrators say, “What do you want to do with the February professional development day?” The other replies, “I don’t know, we’ll figure it out in January.” This lack of focus on the program through a holistic approach leaves the teachers without the ability to make a lasting change in teacher or student performance. The implementation of PD without an overall idea of where the staff is and where they are going creates an ineffective use of time and resources.
PD lacks purpose. There are very little ties from professional development to performance in the classroom. There may be new ways to do something, new strategies to use, but they are often presented in isolation. Concepts and skills do not build, loop, or cycle in order for teachers to create lasting change. Professional development without purpose and ties to student performance has no impact.
PD introduces too many new programs. The law of initiative fatigue states that “when the number of initiatives increases while time, resources, and emotional energy are constant, then with each new initiative—no matter how well conceived or well intentioned—will receive fewer minutes, dollars, and ounces of emotional energy than its predecessors” (Reeves). WOW! Powerful statement. If you relate this to juggling, imagine that there is a limit to how many balls a juggler can keep in the air at one time. Educational initiatives are much like the balls in the air. How can we as administrators continue to put more balls in the air with each professional development day and just hope teachers get better from it? The lack of focus on a specific measurable objective yields no overall response. As leadership continues to add more and more items to the workload of educators, continues to under utilize systems thinking into the overall plan, this causes each new task to decrease in effectiveness. Eventually faculty and staff arrive at the point where nothing successful is happening and it is hard to determine why.
Research shows that the “largest effects were found for programs offering between 30 and 100 hours spread out over 6-12 months.” (Darling-Hammond, 2009)
“If you were to decide in the months ahead to substitute high-impact learning for meetings, assemblies, and workshops, you may decide that you are not giving up very much after all.” (Reeves)
How do we fix it? (YES, All the answers!!!!!)
First of all, choose a topic. Reeves states that the topics can include improving teaching, curriculum, assessment or leadership. He says that it must be something determined through a comprehensive needs assessment. Then, while implementing this plan, administration must focus on three aspects of PD. The first is student learning and how the actions of PD reinforce or seek to improve student achievement. The second is that there must be rigorous measurement of adult decisions. This means that administrators examine not only what teachers know, but what they do every day in their craft. Finally, there must be a focus on people and practices. We, as administrators, must focus our energy on the individual needs of the teacher as a learner and examine his/her practice to see if there are changes being made as a result of PD.
Reeves states that successful PD has 9 characteristics:
1.Comprehensive needs assessment – “Plans contain evidence of school leadership decision regarding the use of time, assignment of staff, and allocation of resources that were directly related to student needs.”
2.Inquiry process – causal relationship is determined between teaching and leadership practices and student results
3.Prioritization – six or fewer priorities
4.Specificity – directly related to academic expectations for students, grade levels, skills, and individual students
5.Measurability – objective statements can be made about progress, or lack thereof, to the achievement of goals
6.Achievability – goals were established to close gaps in there to five years
7.Relevance – represented as urgent, critical needs and are clearly aligned with needs analysis process
8.Timeliness – specific dates, seasons, months, etc. for assessment and data collection
9.Monitoring – data to be monitored, along with intervals to examine and reporting progress, student results and professional practices are used
How does this impact the superintendent? "Inspected by number 2."
The role of the superintendent is to be the leading learner in the district. The CEO/superintendent cannot forget that his/her role in education is not only to lead the district but to continue to the role of lead learner for the district. The superintendent should make time to attend professional development, learn what the teachers are learning, and then see the learned skill or concept in action. Similar to the show Undercover Boss on CBS where CEOs go undercover in their own companies, superintendants should do a quality control on how their district personnel are being challenged, improved, and developed to become better.
Every once in a while I will buy a shirt and somewhere on it will be a sticker that says “inspected by number 2” (or some other number). This is equivalent to quality control of the product at hand. That quality control needs to not only come form the person assigned to that responsibility but also seen first hand by the lead learner: the superintendent. Focusing on that role and assisting those within the district in not losing sight of developing teachers and all things that impact student learning will pay off when evaluating the effectiveness of the superintendent. After all, being a successful leader of a district where kids are not learning will make for a very short tenure.
Understanding the law of initiative fatigue is a crucial piece to the success of the district. Being aware of where the staff is as a whole, what they are learning, why they are learning it, and challenging administrators to protect teachers will focus the staff. The focus of the superintendent should always be on improving student achievement through creating the direction/vision of the district and what initiatives are needed based on a thorough needs assessment. Nurturing PD as a crucial piece to the success of the district will allow for a successful tenure as a superintendent.
Seth Godin is a master at creativity in business. He states that this book is free and should be passed on to others. His goal throughout this book is to help others find ways to make their message, their company, and their ideas, catch on, to help the ideas spread like a virus. As leaders in a school district, as the CEO, if we see a vacuum between how things are and how things should be, we must be masters at marketing our own ideas and plans to help fill the vacuum and assist in school district success.
The “ideavirus” is the belief that a concept can spread, like the common cold, throughout your organization. This book analyzes how it spreads, what makes it spread, and what are the pitfalls and opportunities CEOs have in order to assist in the growth of their organization. In this day and age people are more connected than ever. A simple video of a kitten being tickled that someone uploaded earned more than 33 million hits on YouTube. 33 million! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bmhjf0rKe8) This video caught on, it spread like a virus, these concepts/ideas/thoughts are said to be viral. The idea that someone wants to see a video of a kitten being tickled was probably not intended to spawn such an amazing result. The key message here is that many ideaviruses are not intended to spread. The reason why they do is they speak to the key factors that make an ideavirus successful. The key factors to consider when trying to spread an idea like a virus are: velocity, smoothness, sneezers, hives, persistence, vectors, and amplifiers. Each of these key parts plays an important role in spreading an idea. Mistreating or neglecting any of these will cause an idea to fail to spread and the virus to die out. Understanding each of these concepts will also help the CEO to understand why an unintended virus spread and how best to manage or contain grass root movements.
Impact on Superintendent
Just as the CEO of a major company, the superintendent is given the job not only of managing the day-to-day operations of the district but also of setting a course, a vision, for what is to come in the road ahead. It is imperative for the superintendent to focus not only on today while also always preparing the course of tomorrow. In completing this task an important piece of this puzzle is marketing the district as a viable option for community members to support. Just as they say in marketing, one bad review will take over ten thousand positive referrals to refute. We must be cognizant of those we seek positive referrals from and market our district to those people. We must ensure those people, who Seth Godin calls the “sneezers,” continue to have positive interactions and memorable experiences at our schools. A superintendent must be thoughtful about the initiatives the district undertakes. They must work with the central office staff to unify the goal of the initiative, break it into manageable pieces, and surround the organization with the right people to communicate the task ahead. Marketing that initiative is imperative to the success of the idea. Understanding the vacuum the initiative should fill and the medium the message should be communicated through is as important as the idea itself. Creating a catchphrase to ensure that the essential aspects of the idea/intiative are spread to the community (hive) will all help the idea go viral. Justin Bieber is famous. There is no doubt about that, but his rise to stardom was not because of hard work, dedication to his craft, talent agencies, and corporate executives. He was made famous by ordinary people through the website www.youtube.com. What can we learn from this as CEOs? Ultimately, ideas spread. Why do they spread? They spread because there is a need, a vacuum, a desire for people to hear a certain kind of music targeted to a certain population that was not being targeted by music executives. This is what made him famous. As the superintendents we must be aware of those pockets in our community. We must seek to capitalize on those pockets, identify services to alleviate that need so we can continue to serve our community. If we do not do it, people will seek out other resources to fill their needs. As a superintendent we must know the correct medium with which to fill that need which in turn will make for a successful tenure.
We live in a society connected like no others, we no longer have to spread an idea at the hair salon, phone call to phone call, station to station. Ideas spread like virus, they go viral. What can we do as the leaders of our organization to recognize and capitalize on this realization? As the CEO of our organization, superintendents should master the art and science of marketing. How they spread the message of the school district matters. How they gain support from the board and the community, matters. How they develop their district through strategic, focused, planned and unplanned change, matters. Understanding how ideas spread like viruses, who makes them spread, and how to influence the virility of the message can rapidly improve the tenure of a superintendent and the success of the district itself.
