If the leader sneezes...

I have been at my new job for exactly a month, as of today. What was a long and arduous journey of looking for a new school district as landed me in the right place at the right time. I am thrilled beyond words as to how things have turned out in my new position with my new district.

My journey began a little before I officially started when I was invited to attend the 2 day administrative retreat. While the term retreat might get some people excited, those of us who have attended administrative retreats in education before know the truth. Putting the day long meetings aside, the message, culture, and vision of the district and the leadership was evident from the first moments walking in the door. As I was the only really new person to the district (other people we familiar faces in new places), I kinda stood out as a fresh face in the crowd. Because of this, nearly everyone in the room came over to introduce him/herself, welcome me, and tell me that I will love it here. It was genuine. You could see it on peoples' faces how much they enjoyed the people, the schools, their colleagues, the district and the community. Many people expressed how they are alumni of the district, returning to give back to a place they hold so dear.

Then the meetings began and the superintendent started the day. She started with a simple, but powerful message: If the leader sneezes, the organization gets a cold. She went on to expand the idea we, as the learning leaders, must make sure that we are putting the correct message out to our stakeholders and colleagues, and must always try to remember where the other person is on their journey when they come into your path. She described how if a leaders is dealing with a real crisis or emergency, and we quickly dismiss a student, staff member, or parent who might be asking something "trivial" (at least in immediate comparison to the crisis), real damage has been done. Regardless of the amount of time afterward is spent trying to repair the damage, the scar has been created. This is evidence of the cold that the organization might receive.

When someone comes to you, as a leader, with a question, they are looking for validation, input, an opinion, or knowledge that they are being listened to and respected. Leaders maximize every opportunity to help their colleagues realize these events for if we ignore a teacher complaint, that complaint will become their truth.

Does this mean that every emergency must stop when asked a question? No, reality must prevail, but the question becomes who's reality? Perception of the other person is their reality. In these situations, even in the "need-to-know" situations, a leader can take the time to say "I do want to listen and hear what is going on. Unfortunately, I have an emergency I must attend to right now, but I will seek you out to provide whatever support and assistance I can." The key step is living up to seeking that person out in the end.

I want to thank my principal and superintendent for providing me this opportunity to be a part of this great organization. I will do my best to live up to the examples set before me in my first month. I look forward to continuing to grow and learn in this great organization that has a real vision and direction for the future.

Don't live in the 10 seconds

Welcome back to another school year. I am sure that there have been changes all over the place. Change can be a wonderful thing, but very difficult to accept and deal with in the moment. We become very comfortable with the status quo, sometimes even when we know there are things that can be improved.

For students, change occurs all of the time causing them to have to continually adapt to new situations. Over the summer, when discussing how to help students express themselves better, about their academic, emotion, physical, psychological, etc. needs, a teacher told me that kids today tend to "live in the 10 seconds". They react before they think about the larger picture, understand the root of the issue, what is the real cause, and what some of the effective solutions could be. When this happens, sometimes students will yell and scream, hit, withdraw from communicating, and other non-effective actions to help remedy the issue. If we, as educators, accept that we must educate the whole child, then we must educate them on social emotional needs, conflict resolution, goal setting and achieving, in addition to their academic needs. But we know this...

As we open the school year, we, the adults, need to keep the big picture in perspective. Teachers might not like having to switch classrooms, when their planning period is, classes are full, teaching assignments change, etc. With the excitement and hiccups that always accompany the opening of school, we need to NOT live in the 10 seconds. We need to look at the larger picture to solve the immediate issues and once things have settled down and reached equilibrium, then we need to reflect on the system and look for improvement. Changes that happen will disrupt equilibrium and that is uncomfortable. Adults need to discern the difference between the discomfort of change and an actual problem. If it is discomfort, give it a chance to work and know that reflection and evaluation will occur to make improvements. If it is an actual problem, we need to develop a solution and then monitor if that is the best scenario for the big picture.

As leaders, we need to exercise our listening abilities to help teachers discern those differences and identify them ourselves. We need to effectively communicate with teachers about the big picture and prioritizing how issues will be handled.

Change is never easy. But when the need for change is communicated, team members listen to one another, and the change is understood to help the system improve, it can be an easier pill to swallow and might allow people to see the 11th second and beyond.

Have a great start to the year!

This is my boss

In the never ending series of changes to my role and responsibilities (which I can appreciate because if we cannot change and adapt, we go extinct), I am currently in charge of the summer bridge program. This is a program where students who had some difficulty getting through 8th grade are provided support in reading or math in order to support them in their transition to high school. The students are reluctant at first to accept the ideals of the program and every once in a while, a student will be sent to my office to discuss choices that they have made that might have led them to this program and the choice they most recently made. The discussions with the students usually go pretty well and we are able to get them to reflect on their choices and be cognizant of the triggers that lead to them.

Every once in a while, one of the teachers will tell a student "This is my boss". While I would like to think that, for the teacher, the meaning is colleague, supporter, and fellow learner, I get the feeling that the teacher is indicating to the student that this is the person in charge and if you won't behave for me, you had better do it for the boss. This has left me perplexed.

On one hand, some of these exchanges will progress out of the developing teacher-student relationship. Essentially, the teacher is saying "Look, I know you are having a difficult time right now, but please, for MY sake, don't make me look bad in front of my boss". If that initiates the desired behavioral change, then that indicates to me that the teacher has made a connection with the student, and vice versa, and for each others sake, a change in choice will be made. This is a good thing that relationships are being developed, but is it truthful? Why is the external motivator of "the boss" needed?

On the other hand, the "this is my boss" comment seems to give up control, power, and authority (for lack of better terms) that the teacher of a class should have. It reminds me of when a teacher writes a discipline referral for a minor classroom issue. The referral sends the unintended message to the student that the teacher no longer cares to deal with this issue and will pass it off to someone else. Is that what the "this is my boss" comment is going for? Does the teacher lack some confidence or not feel the immediate support to enact a decision that they feel is best for the student and the class?

This situation reminded me of the "Front Porch Leader" by Jimmy Casas (@casas_jimmy). "It is in these moments that leaders must decide to leave through the back door or take a seat on the front porch". Am I being overly critical of a teacher who uses the boss as a deflection? Are they leaving through the back door? How often do I use my boss as a deflection of why we have to do something? This is something I will have to contemplate in this new school year.

Why is it different in school?

I have been in the workforce since the age of 15 and a half. When I first began, it was part time work as a cashier and stock boy in a local pharmacy. If there was a large project that needed to be completed, especially in a short amount of time, a few of us working that day would work together, divide the tasks, and, at the end of the day, report out what was completed and what still needed to be done. The people working the next day would pick up where we left off until the project was complete.

This process continues in my work as an administrator. When a large project comes in, we will sit down, discuss the goals and expected outcomes, divide up the tasks, assign realistic deadlines, and provide progress reports. If one of us runs into an issue or has a question, we ask our colleagues for their expertise, guidance, and ideas. When complete, it is OUR project. While individuals might be recognized for a specific contribution, it is the work of the whole that gets evaluated. We stand or fall together.

As a child, I participated in multiple team sports and learned the skills of cooperation, teamwork, problem solving, settling disputes, providing guidance, accepting assistance. These skills were mirrored at home because I have a sister and we would have to get along. When disputes arose, we had to figure out how to co-exist peacefully.

But, as I grew up, I also received conflicting training and information. For 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 36 weeks a year, I was told that I needed to work only by myself. I could not confer with others, share ideas, or seek out advice from someone with more experience. In the rare instance that I was able to work with someone else, when it came time for the task completion, I had to complete my own and the credit or fault was all mine. The same was true for anyone with whom I may have worked. Work was duplicated and it was evaluated on an individual basis.

Why the two different systems? Why is it different in school than out in the "real world"?

I understand that in the early grades it is a matter of ensuring that each student has assimilated essential skills in order to effectively participate in a team structure and share in the problem solving. It is even essential to do so in the upper grades as new information is introduced in newer, more complex content areas. But if we focus on skill development, once the basics have been introduced, should we, in the educational world, model the skills and project completion models that the business world is asking for?

Having been a part of our career and college readiness, I have heard from many local business leaders that they would prefer a generalist, who has good communication, teamwork, and problem solving skills, and the business can provide them more job-specific training. That models what Thomas Friedman discusses in The World is Flat. Schools will need to meet the flexibility that the working world has discovered the need for.

Why do schools force isolation, in both practice and assessment? Why does the federal government mandate it...without funding.

Let's try something different! Flip the class, PBL, cooperative assessments...something has to give. Leaders need to be supportive as they push instruction out of the standard comfort zone of the adults to move the learning into the comfort zone of the students!

Me vs. We

As I (and many others) have said before, Words Matter!

A relayed conversation got me thinking about Me vs. We. I think it would be an interesting study to interview Superintendents and Principals of comparable schools and districts that are considered successful and unsuccessful (it would take a long time to define that right now) and ask them questions using indefinite articles concerning the schools, students, academic programs, etc. under their charge.

What got me thinking was a conversation told to me of a Superintendent from a school district that is not considered successful through the lens of percentage of students who meet and/or exceed expectations on the Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE). [Note: The PSAE is the NCLB mandated 2 day test which consists of the ACT for Day 1 and the Work Keys and a state developed assessment of science content.] When this Superintendent was talking about the schools, students, and academic programs, they continually said "my schools", "my students", etc., but when posing questions to the building principals, this superintendent used "you" and "your". (i.e. What is your building doing for the School Improvement Day?). The superintendent would then respond to the principals, again using "me" and "my".

In my humble opinion, there seems to be an inherent disconnect. Almost an implication that the superintendent could claim credit for any successes found within the schools or district, but then use the distance created between me and you in order to be shielded from an problems or failures. Wouldn't this also feed into an "us vs. them" mentality, if one existed?

I would be curious, in this proposed study, to see if the more successful schools and districts have building and district leaders that continually used "we" and "us", creating that sense of community and the thought that everyone is in it together.

What happens in your school/district? Is it a ME or a WE?

Convert from consumer to producer

This post is a commentary on the shifts that are needed in schools in order to make the role of a data coach more effective.

The shift that I will comment on is this:

• Adults need to focus less on the teaching and more on the learning

In earlier days, I was a teacher of biology. One of my favorite units to teach was on Ecology. I loved to see the surprise in my students' faces when they learned that the study of ecology and the environment was so much more than a recycling program that gets discussed at the middle school level. One of the most dynamic parts of ecology is the study of energy transfer.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturewise/5060452732/sizes/m/in/photostream/

 

 



My reason for bringing up the food web is to discuss the concept of producers and consumer. A producer, or autotroph, is an organism that can create its own food within its cell via a chemical process (i.e. photosynthesis or chemosynthesis), whereas a consumer, or heterotroph, is an organism that much eat another organism in order to sustain its existence. In the classroom, I would discuss the current carrying capacity of the Earth and how the that could be increased if we all acted as lower order consumers instead of the tertiary or higher consumers in the food web (i.e. top consumer).

Students would then ask if they could be a producer, instead of a consumer. This would indicate to me that we needed to discuss some cellular concepts a little more...

But, when we move from an ecological discussion to one of educational preparation, the environment of the classroom takes on a new look in the terms of producers and consumers. For anyone who has been through a teacher preparation program up through and including the past few years, was taught to have their students be consumers of knowledge in the class.

Teachers, classically, have been taught and prepared to be the smartest person in the room and provide all of the information to students. Even older teacher evaluation models focus on how well the teacher can impart knowledge upon the class and create a sense of order and control of the young people in their room. The focus has been completely on the teaching in the room and had very little do with the learning that is happening by the students. (Take a look at how student grades are entered -- mentioned in my last post).

Recently, there has been a (needed) change in education that teachers need to guide and facilitate the learning of the students instead of directing it. (The biggest challenge to this is that Federal laws and tests that are required.) If this change can be realized in the classroom, then the students will be able to make the change from the consumers of knowledge to the producers of their own learning. This would allow focus to shift from the teaching to the learning.

Being the data coach

I have had the opportunity to attend a 6-day coaching institute from Learning Forward. For those who may not know, Learning Forward is the new name of what was formerly the National Staff Development Council (NSDC). Learningforward.org has some wonderful resources surrounding the latest research in providing professional development and professional learning. (e.g the newest version of professional learning standards can be found here.) Each standard begins with the stem of "Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students...". Within the stem of each standard exists the emphasis of professionalism, continual learning, increasing effectiveness, and equity for all student...and that is just the stem!

I digress...

The coaching institute has provided me with the opportunity to reflect on how I have worked with teachers in professional development, evaluations, and even day-to-day interactions. One of the great things I have learned is that in the coaching role, as opposed to the administrative/evaluator role,  there is no preconceived answer or solution. The coach is a support and an equal partner in the learning that will occur between the two professionals. While there are times that the administrator is needed, I think leaders should emphasize the coaching aspect more often.

My current position involves looking at all of our data and making it meaningful to those who need it. There are a lot of spreadsheets, equations, and bar graphs. Luckily, I like exploring Excel.

One of the things discussed today in the workshop were the critical shifts that needs to happen within an organization in order to make the role of a data coach more effective and successful. They are as follows:

• Individual accountability needs to shift to collective responsibility
• Optional data discussions need to become essential parts of teaching and learning
• Placing blame needs to shift to inquiries in examining potential solutions
• Teaching in isolation NEEDS to shift to collaborating with colleagues
• Adults need to focus less on the teaching and more on the learning

In the next few days, I will elaborate more on each of the bullet points above. How do you accomplish these in your school? Has the shift happened? Has there been a realization that the shift needs to happen?

Does the business world see the education world as lazy?

Today was a great EdChat on Twitter. These chats are on Tuesdays from 11 am - 12 pm CST on Tuesdays and hosted by Jerry Blumengarten, Tom Whitby and Nancy Blair. Today was a very interesting conversation centered around the topic of "Business people & politicians insist on comparing schools to business. Are bus.strategies applicable in lrng environments"

What made this discussion so great is because there were some contributors who felt that education can learn a lot from the business world while others felt that business' influence on education was creating an environment that needed to be focused on profits over learning. This led to the question of how do you define profit in education? It is test scores? It is how much students have learned? Is it creating productive citizens? Responsible citizens? A steady workforce?

These were great questions that were discussed. Some of the tone of the discussion brought me back to my Organizational Theory class and the concepts of Theory X and Theory Y for managers in business. If you need a refresher:

Theory X:

"management assumes employees are inherently lazy and will avoid work if they can and that they inherently dislike work. As a result of this, management believes that workers need to be closely supervised and comprehensive systems of controls developed. A hierarchical structure is needed with narrow span of control at each and every level. According to this theory, employees will show little ambition without an enticing incentive program and will avoid responsibility whenever they can" (Wikipedia -- see link above)

Theory Y:

"management assumes employees may be ambitious and self-motivated and exercise self-control. It is believed that employees enjoy their mental and physical work duties. According to them work is as natural as play[1]. They possess the ability for creative problem solving, but their talents are underused in most organizations. Given the proper conditions, theory Y managers believe that employees will learn to seek out and accept responsibility and to exercise self-control and self-direction in accomplishing objectives to which they are committed" (Wikipedia -- see link above)

Specifically, the EdChat discussion got me asking the question if the business world sees the world of education as lazy...if politicians are the ultimate policy creators for education, I think we can safely associate them with the management of the education system.

When people are quoting economic theory that competition will improve the education system with the concepts of vouchers and charter schools, I feel that it comes from a theory x perspective. Even the ideas behind the Common Core and the new NCLB assessments (either PARCC or Smarter Balance) add to this thought. Is this the public view of education? Especially when you make it "education" as opposed to a specific school/set of teachers? Do the vast generalities presented in new blurbs and political speeches perpetuate this because it is an easier message to spread?

Working in schools, I know that most teachers, administrative teams, grade level teams, etc. are focus on preparing students for the world that exists, or will exist, and will do whatever they can to help students grow, mature, learn, and even be protected.

Is there an inherit conflict between the management of a system and the education that occurs within that system? Aaron Ross asked about the role of the CEO vs Executive Director of a school. I responded that a Superintendent is more of a political position than an educational position. With Aaron working in a private school, he responded that his school has both an Executive Director and a Principal (to provide a separation of the management from the education). When I asked him what happens when there is a disagreement between the two, he responded that is where tensions rise.

Businesses can be great partners with schools, but do they need to remain silent partners as to not exert undue influence on the public education of all students?

Lot's of questions, great discussions. Comment on the blog to add your thoughts!

Final addition: A great tweet from PJ Caposey -- Twitter Tip - Follow someone you disagreed with. Divergent thoughts will help you grow as a professional

Trying to enlarge the thimble...

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2009-12-04/

Once again, my daily Dilbert desk calendar is prophetic!

 

While it does not amaze me that all superintendents and assistant superintendents are not up to date on the most recent trends in instructional technology, it continues to baffle me when these leaders do not consult with the people within their organization that does keep up with the trends.

 

Too often we see grant dollars spent on technology equipment at the last minute without consulting educators who have used the equipment in the field or have at least had discussions with people using the equipment. Authorized signatures seem to always believe the technology sales rep who collects their check and leaves the bulk of the work to people who were not involved in the development of the project.

 

Case in point, I know of a district that is purchasing low-cost tablet laptops. Great idea...except with this new purchase, the director of IT was never consulted (about the purchase, the effect on the infrastructure and wireless network, manpower needed to physically ready and tag all of the machines...), nor did they talk to a neighboring district who went through this process and could describe the pitfalls they went through and how to avoid them. And guess who is going to be left holding the bag? Teachers who will get about one hour of PD on how to turn the machine on...

 

Now, part of the issue may be with the state and the fed. Grant notifications seems to always come with less than a 2 week turn around time. School districts do not want to look bad to their court of public opinion by denying an opportunity for funding, so they quickly put together a proposal and then heaven forbid the proposal gets approved! Now, comes the scramble of trying to make a pipe dream a reality.

 

But, I am not about pointing out problems. I want to try and fix them.

 

I am thrilled that I have had the opportunity to go to some wonderful conferences this year and I have learned a lot and connected with a lot of great people. The ISTE Leadership Forum was a wonderful event and I have made the recommendation for as many administrators attend this conference as possible next year. I informed my boss that I was approved to present at ICE with some great people (@stumpteacher, @principalkmelt, and @tomwhitby) and she told me to extend an invitation to some teachers to attend!

 

These are some good steps, but I have realized something...when technophiles attend a technology conference, we are the choir getting preached to. I presented some methods of immediate student feedback using mobile devices at a science teacher conference and this is where I may have added a new tenor or two to the choir...I think we need to expand our outlook and begin presenting at our content area conferences about technology. This might plant some seeds in maiden fields and really expand the 21st century learning pedagogies into more schools.

10 things I have learned in my short time at ISTE's inaugural Leadership Forum

Here we go for about the 4th time of getting started in blogging.

Here 10 things I have learned in my short time at ISTE's inaugural Leadership Forum:

From the address by the board of ISTE:

• Intelligent people who truly love to learn surround themselves with people from whom they want to learn.
• Intelligent people also correctly say "inaugural" instead of "1st annual".
• "True leadership begins with a commitment to students" -- Brian Lewis, ISTE President

From @chrislehmann's keynote address:

• Students have the ability today to create profound artifacts of learning.
• Students should have the opportunity to reflect on and direct their learning.
• "We NEED kids to be better than we are".
• The three major design influences for schools were factories, prisons, and churches.
• We cannot replace schools with Wall Street. High-stakes, one-shot testing does not meet the original vision of schools. Schools need to represent our Democratic ideals, not those of capitalism.
• Rube Goldberg has a larger influence in schools than imagined. Why do we keep trying to build a better multiple choice test or filmstrip?
• We have several challenges facing us to change schools:
• Leaders need to change the way teachers talk and model this talk. Students should never be the implied object of education.
• We need to ask questions that we do not know that answers to. That is the link between inquiry and care. In the same vane, we need to care about students, not care for them.
• Technology should be used to optimize person to person time. It should unite and connect...not isolate.
• Administrators, in particular, should understand this and remove themselves from their office for an entire day each week. Remember why we got into education in the first place. (See Brian Lewis quote)
• Schools need to be great places of passion: For teachers in guiding the learning and for students being an active participant in the learning.
• Students need to be synthesizers of information. Were current educators trained how to make this happen for students?
• Schools cannot be depositors of information. Learning needs to matter to students.
• True change happens when leadership develops a vision, models that vision for all, and sustains that vision with systems and structures. If you lead by majority rule, it is the best way to build 49% opposition.
• Leaders need to stop trying to fix the broken...we need to evolve.
• And above all, be one school. Don't have a 1 set of rules for students, one for teachers, one for parents, etc.

If the keynote is any indication, all administrators need to attend this conference as a team to remember what schools can be.