Balancing Administrative Reality with Being Connected #SAVMP

#SAVMP

Balancing Administrative Reality

with Being Connected

I recently finished watching the Google Hangout hosted by Amber Teaman a.k.a @8amber8 on “Balancing the Administrative Reality with Being Connected.” The hangout was extremely informative because I got to see all the different personalities that I often follow on Twitter, but I also got to think about their responses to several good questions.  I was happy that many of the responses were similar to my own responses. I shared the same answers that they did on several questions, and that helped me feel like I am being successful in my Personal Learning Network (PLN).

The first thing that was humorous to me was... YES, some people consider being connected as not necessarily working. Justin Tarte @justintarte shared a story about getting called into the superintendent's office for tweeting while at work, but he was ultimately able to explain to his superintendent and eventually win him over to understand that leveraging social media is a highly effective way to increase your instructional leadership capacity. I have always been very wary of tweeting or blogging during work hours, and so I try to reserve my PLN work for evening hours. With this practice,   I don't ever run aground, and I keep perceptions from ever being misguided. I am very careful in this respect.

Next I was able to find solace in Tom Whitford's a.k.a. @twhitford answers. His view is that it is okay to send out personal tweets included in your PLN tweets because we are all real people. I appreciated that response because I have often tried to keep my personal and professional voices separate. I have three different twitter accounts, and it was refreshing to realize it is okay to use my educational account to throw out some personal tweets every once in a while to all my peeps so they will know I am more than my leadership “self”.

Next I got a fantastic resource from Amber Teaman called #kinderchat. That, by the way, is really what all this connectedness is about.  There is not a day that goes by that I don't identify and learn something from my PLN and then I turn around and share that information with the people in my own PLN or even better... I share it with my faculty or our school or our community.

Just this past week, I used the resources I found in #kinderchat in my newsletter that goes out to the faculty which I send out every Monday. I focused on the #kinderchat information that analyzed increasing rigor in the early grades. I received new knowledge from digging deep into the resources provided on that Twitter feed.  It is a great resource that allowed me to develop a context or knowledge base for something I've never done. I have not taught kindergarten and so having the new #kinderchat tool gives me a certain level of knowledge that empowers me to be a better leader for my early grades teachers.

One of the best parts of the conversation centered on the question… how can leaders find the time and find the energy necessary to be connected? I appreciated their answers. First of all, each of them seem like they are very high-energy. I am definitely a high-energy person. I am drawn to other energetic folks.  They shared that being connected is motivating and inspiring to them and it is what they live for! I agree because I know I love to learn. I constantly pursue new learning and strive to process new information to aid me in growth and improvement.  That feeling of growth is, in itself, inspiring to me and gives me the energy to spend those extra few minutes every night being connected and being the connected learner engaging in  DIY (DO IT YOURSELF) and creating my own pathway for improvement.

The last question that spoke to me was about... the need to be connected and still be productive at work. Wow. That is a tough one. I marvel at some of the people that I follow in my PLN like George Couros or Justin Tarte or Amber Teaman. I am alarmed at the level of presence they have and how little presence I have in comparison. Sometimes it is discouraging, but I know that I have just started this journey, and I will be able to grow my connectivity as the years go by. Also, I know that I will NEVER be the “Rock star” that some of those folks are. I will just be me, and I will be amazing being me! So, I will put in my 100% during the work day, and then I will come home and give my other 10% to my PLN. Then I have to kick in my mom and wife 100%.  Until they approve human cloning, I will just be very busy and very happy giving it all I’ve got!

Here is the Hangout in case you want to watch the professionals:

Google Hangout - Balancing Administrative Reality with Being Connected

Developing Leadership #SAVMP Week 5

Week 5 – Developing Leadership #SAVMP

How do I develop leadership? I must say this is one of my favorite things to do. However, at the last three schools where I have been able to lead, it was not a natural part of the culture of the school for teacher leadership to succeed. This was a culture that had to be developed over time. Actually, I am involved in year two of creating such a culture at my current school, and nothing pleases me more than watching a teacher begin to lead others. It is vital to distribute the leadership across the entire school or else we will exhaust those few who have been the engine of the school. They will run out of gas, and morale will dip. To prevent this from happening, avoid using an elite few to impact change and rely on every faculty member and their abilities to make the whole team stronger.

How do I do this?

1. Look for those with natural leadership penchants and begin to tap into their talent. At our school, we had no Talented and Gifted program. Weeks after arriving on campus, I identified several teachers who were innovative in their approach to teaching. They also were fearless in their desire to try new things if they believed they would help their students learn. AND, they were highly organized. These teachers began their gifted endorsement coursework, and today the two I challenged are now part of a very successful fledgling enterprise in our new Chee-TAG program! Each of them demonstrates their talents to the faculty at faculty meetings. One recently held two separate sessions on grant writing and earning money to support innovative programs in the classroom. The other is a technology tester, and she recently demonstrated Classroom Dojo to the faculty as a behavior management system. Teacher Leaders Rock!

2.  Look for those who are not leading at all in any way and think of ways to draw them into leadership roles. This tactic is the most fun to watch develop because you have to get teachers to believe in themselves. One of the strongest leaders on campus this year has been a teacher who was so modest she never promoted her own skill sets. She felt this was boastful and was uncomfortable sharing her expertise. Now, she has accepted a role as grade chair, and she is mentoring three new teachers to our school. This teacher was always strong, but she liked to work in the background unnoticed. This may have been a more comfortable existence for her; however, it did not benefit the other teachers on campus. Now, she is leading, and she is a shining star. She is in the kitchen, and she is cooking with gas! 

3. Create systems of teacher leadership. This is critical for leadership development. A Principal needs teams to carry out the vision across the campus. For me, it has been a year-in-the-making developing my leadership teams. I have relied on our grade chair team and our school improvement team. The grade chair team and I will soon engage in a professional learning community where we begin with a book study and conclude with taking our vision of common assessments to the rest of the faculty. Our school improvement team will meet with me once a month to take a status check on all of our improvement initiatives and how they are impacting our students and their learning. I could easily be frustrated trying to push all of these initiatives using a top-down model, but I have locked arms with a strong group of teacher leaders who will fan out and monitor the vision with me.

4. Develop the leadership strengths of those closest to you. The inner circle that surrounds a Principal can bolster or can harm the leadership style of the instructional leader. To ensure they are supporting the leader, I believe it is important to share my vision with those around me and allow them opportunities to practice supporting and investing in the vision. As these leaders maneuver through the growing pains of pseudo leadership roles, I must be careful to monitor progress and protect them from the frustrations that can exasperate developing leaders. This means I will dole out responsibility to those capable of managing it, and I must protect those who carry this heavy load--which sometimes means I need to let them work through their own development of leadership style, even when it gets messy. But when it gets too messy, I have to help these new leaders reflect and regroup.

I could write for ages on this topic because I love to watch new leaders grow. Distributed leadership is, in my humble opinion, the most effective leadership style. I am always analyzing new personnel and thinking about long-term plans for how they will work and lead on our campus. Everyone has talents, and if we repeatedly share our strengths, our system will be STRONG. 

Learning from a State Leader

I first heard Commissioner Bennett's name in January 2013 when one of the listervs I subscribe to  sent out an introduction video from the Florida Department of Education announcing his appointment. I watched the video and read his bio. I was hopeful that he would be a strong leader for our state. We are moving to the new teacher appraisal system and also transitioning to Common Core State Standards. These are both daunting challenges, and having the commitment to take on both of them at the same time is downright frightening.  

Fast forward to July 2013. Yesterday I got a chance to speak with the Commissioner in person, and I still look ahead with hopefulness that he can lead us forward at a very challenging time in our state. 

I requested a meeting with the Commissioner the day our first school achievement data began to arrive--sometime in May. Weeks earlier, my Superintendent had nominated me for the Commissioner's Leadership Academy. When I saw our data, I thought to myself..."If and when I see the Commissioner, I want to talk about THIS data!" But, being a person who takes action, I decided to email him right then and there. Our clever Superintendent, Bill Husfelt, always encourages us to let our legislators and decision-makers know what we think. To my surprise, when I got to the site where I was searching for a contact address, I located the option to request an appointment. By golly, I filled out that request! And.....they called me about a month later for my appointment. That was truly encouraging.

So....yesterday my husband and I drove to Tallahassee. I had prepared talking points so that I could make certain I covered everything. My husband joked that I would get through the first two and then the Commissioner would have to go to another appointment. I knew he might be right, but I hoped for the best. 

As I sat in the lobby of the Turlington Building, I was apprehensive. I knew I wanted to speak on behalf of several new leaders in my district and capture all the conversations we had shared over the course of the year. I also wanted to be the voice of the students and the families and the teachers at my own school. I wanted to provide the "in the trenches" perspective of the demands and obstacles our schools are facing. What really made me uneasy is that I am almost always Ms. Positivity. I didn't want to sound negative or defeated when I presented my concerns to the person in charge. 

I went up the 15 floors in the elevator, I was greeted by his assistant, and I got to sit in a comfy arm chair. He shook my hand, and I finally got my chance to speak. I think I just overflowed with nervous energy, and I hardly know if what I said in those first few minutes made any sense. Wisely, Mr. Bennett had invited someone else to sit in on our conversation. The Deputy Chancellor for Educator Quality joined us, and I settled into my talking points. She had a very calming demeanor, and I felt she was truly interested in what I had to say.

Mr. Bennett was so gracious. I told him to jump in at any point, and then he explained he was trying to be a good listener. I commend him; in retrospect, he was a GREAT listener. I talked  specifically and broadly about many things. I shared about working in high poverty schools, preventing the exodus from public schools to charter and private schools, improving the instructional capacity of our teachers, the irritating components of our school grading system, and the time required by leaders to create educational impact . 

I also shared how our school had been afforded some "grace" last year due to the DOE's safety net policy. According to the rules of the safety net, no school could drop lower than one school  grade. The new school I had taken over was--by points a C-- with only 9 points keeping us from earning a D. We were precariously close to a D. BUT WE EARNED a score of B due to the safety net. Then, when this year's writing data rolled out, I quickly estimated our school grade would land us in the point zone for an F. On paper, it would appear we had gone from a B to an F. That was and is a hard pill to swallow! In my mind, it would have been better to never have had the safety net OR currently beneficial to have the safety net continue.

As a good leader does, he responded by asking me thought-provoking questions and coaching me to provide him with my opinion about solutions. He talked about the challenges that his team faces in working with our state schools. I think the most meaningful things I took away from his dialogue were that it is imperative to increase rigor and make change incrementally. He also agreed that it was critical to move forward with accountability while avoiding breaking the backs of the people involved. He quoted the Superintendent from Miami-Dade a few times. I will have to look him up next as my friend Tammy says he has his "act together."

Then, he did something remarkable. He handed me two books to read. He explained the details behind both of them and recommended that I use the 8-Step Process in the book entitled Monitoring; Keeping Your Finger on the Pulse of School Improvement. I got a chance to skim the second book today, and it looks very much like the FCIM Model that we used at Bay High School several years ago to move the school from a D to a B. It is called No Excuses; Closing the Achievement Gap.

I can not even imagine the burdens he faces as he worries about 2600+ schools in our state, and I am only worried about my precious little school. Yet, he took the time to listen to my story and to try and empathize with my concerns. 

As the meeting came to an end, he explained that he has this next week to make his recommendations to the School Accountability office as it pertains to the release of school grades. I know he is listening AND thinking about all these things since he just finished taking input from a task force that made recommendations about ways to improve this process.

I got to speak with the Chancellor for Educator Quality for a while longer after my meeting with the Commissioner. I really connected with her and felt she had truly understood some of the things I was saying.

Hopefully, my voice and the voices of all those I speak for will be in his mind as he moves forward with his goals and the state's implementation of initiatives. Whatever the case, he took the time to listen, and I thank him for that. 

Who Is in Your PLN?

Unless you are a technology junkie like me, I think this title probably has some folks scratching their heads. What IS a PLN? A PLN is your Personal Learning Network.

Ask yourself where you would go to learn? A decade ago, your answer would have been the “library” or possibly “a college class” or “buy a book like Paddleboarding for Dummies,” etc. Well, with the internet, we can easily Get Connected  and learn from all of our contacts across the globe. For example, I rely on Twitter, ITunes University, Blogs, Wikis, YouTube, Skype, Facebook, various online news networks, and many, many more connections to do my learning.

Your Personal Learning Network should consist of * n. – the entire collection of people with whom you engage and exchange information, usually online. The usually online part is the best, because you can be a passive learner -- just watching others. I read several BLOGs during the week from other Principals, and EVERY week I learn something new or get a great idea. I also subscribe to several YouTube Channels such as TED Ed and khanacademy. AND, I also have my own YouTube Channel where I post all of my favorite videos so that I can pull them up easily for professional development with our school faculty and staff – any time and any place.

Here is a perfect example of how the PLN works:

I was searching Twitter for info. about first year principals. I located someone I follow, and she had a book recommendation. So, I clicked over to Amazon and ordered the book. I tweeted that I had ordered the book, and the book’s author (sitting out there somewhere in the twittersphere) tweeted me a “thanks” for purchasing his book. Wow. That was waaaay cool!

Another time, I had prepared a presentation for our LOL Academy (leadership academy hosted by our district HR director, Sharon Michalik). I used EdCanvas to host and present my presentation. Sure enough, EdCanvas began tweeting about my presentation, and then other people who followed EdCanvas were able to look at my technology leadership tips, passively and online. It is sooo risk-free. I love my PLN.

But, I can’t forget the face-to-face elements of PLN!  I have several people with whom I engage and exchange information. I have mentioned in a previous BLOG entry the one group I refer to as Team Willis. I rely on these fellow principals to explore good ideas, dump bad ones, to master current educational research and to simply feel the empathy of the challenges we all face. The pictures here are of us digging into the current research on feedback--notice the books strewn all over the restaurant table. I truly appreciate Denise, Glenda, Susan, and Lendy.

Who is in your PLN?

* Definition credited to: onceateacher.wordpress.com/

Practice What You Preach

Practice What You Preach
                                                    

As a first year principal this year, I set out with a lofty list of goals to move the school vision forward. Now, as I am nearing the close of the school year, I am beginning to reflect on how close I have come to the targets I set for myself and for the school. We have come very far in a short amount of time. I am beaming with pride about many areas where I have grown personally and where I have seen my faculty grow as well. While it is true, that some goals were not met, I feel confident that growth was made and that we will pick up where we leave off this year and continue to pursue advancement with the ultimate goal of student achievement in mind!

One area where we have ALL grown exponentially is in the area of data analysis. Technology has advanced to the level that I can track and analyze data on just about anything. Through various initiatives this year, my faculty has begun to analyze data regularly to the point of asking for more data on their students and designing student assessments based on student need. Further, many of our teachers are now triangulating data as a best practice. It has been so exciting to watch this growth. I even have one team of teachers who have requested planning days this summer to begin creating common assessments in order to better assess student progress with the newly implemented Common Core State Standards. The great part about this request is that the team asked me for leadership support instead of me asking them to “get on board” with a specific initiative. This is what makes leadership enjoyable…seeing your teacher leaders driving change.

I think the most unexpected growth I have seen this year is in the “thirst” for data analysis occurring all over campus. I have been modeling data analysis at every opportunity. For example, I place bar graphs of diagnostic data and mid-year data in our Cheetah Chronicle (our internal Monday memo) and in grade chair and School Advisory Council Meetings. Next, I embed behavioral data analysis graphs in most every faculty meeting. I also demonstrate to the faculty any time that I make a decision based on data. We had a bus/dismissal situation in the afternoons that I was able to use specific behavioral data collected from bus discipline referrals to convene a meeting with the transportation staff. We plead an effective case because our data was so strong. And…I monitor data on everything: enrollment data, student session results from the computer lab programs, behavioral data, achievement data of every kind, attendance data, lesson planning data, and even energy conservation data (quantitative data). I conduct data chats with the teachers and have them reflect on their own student data. Lastly, I survey the students and the teachers constantly (qualitative data). We just completed a bullying survey and are currently collecting data with a cross-section of teachers in a lesson planning survey. Analyzing the results and making sound decisions based on their interpretation is critical to our success. 

The teachers see me “practice what I preach”. Perhaps this makes them feel empowered that they can also analyze data to make sound decisions. Whatever the case, there appears to be a layer of data analysis on our campus that was not there when I first came to campus. As a matter of fact, I knew we were making progress when one of my teacher leaders asked to train the faculty on the use of reports in the SuccessMaker program. She was conducting her training about analyzing the data, and she said, “You know we are all about data here.” I know I was grinning from ear to ear when she said that.

Where will this take us for next school year? I firmly believe that next year we will begin to closely examine the results of data and make interpretations based exclusively on what works BEST for our students. For instance, the questions should become very narrow: “Is the intervention I am using increasing student achievement?” OR “Is there a better intervention for increasing achievement?” Data is a part of the educator’s life. Data provides powerful tools to help us fine tune our craft, and it is absolutely critical that the leader is examining the data for the school’s progress continually. My advice….PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH.

The Elation of Eight

Today I had the opportunity to sit in some refresher professional development. It was awesome and really got my mind moving in the direction of possibilities. The training was on the Common Core State Standards 8 Mathematical Practices. As I reflect about the things that I thought were exceptional about the training I would say:

1. The trainer  -- Cylle Rowell, our District Math Coach, is highly motivating. She has such a passion about math and a love for students that she makes me feel as if I want to go back to the classroom and teach again just to try some of the exciting strategies she is showing us. However, Cylle tells me that the change to impact student achievement starts with the school leadership. I just need to "look for" these awesome practices when I am observing instruction in the classroom. Also, I need to train the teachers and support them as they learn these 8 practices for themselves.
2. Resources -- While doing our "reporting out" in small groups, we were discussing key concepts of the practices, and I (Self-Proclaimed SmartPhone junkie) was Google-ing this and that to support our conversations. I came across an amazing, DID I SAY AMAZING, website that has videos of each of the practices and what they look like in the classroom. Each of the 8 practices is described as it appears for students and as it appears for teachers. The site is www.insidemathematics.org
3. Knowledge -- I had attended Common Core State Standards training at a CCSS Summer Institute, a Jacksonville one-day professional development and several minor sessions. Yet, I had been paying attention to the new ELA standards and not the math. Our district has been coaching me on the math standards, and I feel more confident about them each time I am exposed to them. But TODAY, I really felt like I made a huge leap in my understanding of the 8 mathematical practices and all the benefits of students learning in this manner. I feel empowered to help our students!
4. Ideas -- It just so happens that I have been working with my school CCSS team to try and build awareness of the standards for our entire faculty. One of my super epic teachers has suggested the idea of presenting a CCSS best practice at each of our remaining faculty meetings. We have been exploring how to do this, and then EUREKA, today I walked away from this training with at least 7 (I missed the chance to use 8 again- LOL) different ideas how to create awareness that start at the faculty meetings and go even further.

As you can see, I am ELATED about EIGHT. I am grateful for a district that invests in its leaders and its teachers, and I am excited about next steps in moving my faculty toward the CCSS goals. I encourage you to experience the Elation of Eight!

In the Beginning...

It's 4ish in the morning, and I just finished reading Education Rethink's Blog, Advice for New Bloggers. I keep running into articles about Blogging as an Educational Leader, and until now I have been hesitant to do so. You see, up until early this winter, I have been an assistant principal. I was comfortable following my principal, as she led us down the halls of our school. I was just following along as one of the members of the line. But, thanks to the encouragement of a close and very wise friend, I anxiously decided to MOVE TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE.

I am the new principal of a small elementary school in our city. With this new role, my struggle is probably very minor to some; however, I am struggling with being the one everyone is watching. When I was following my principal, I could often move up to second place in the line. I could even back off (rarely) and move to the end of the line. But now, when I would like to move back into the almost anonymity of the line, I turn to see everyone following me. Everyone's eyes are watching me for guidance, for vision, for support, and for direction. 

I need to get comfortable in this new skin, and I believe that one of the ways to do so is to embrace this place I now occupy. I have read article after article about how leaders should Blog, and I am giving it a try.

I have learned as I begin to transition into this position, that in elementary school, being the Line Leader is a pretty cool thing. I am learning to appreciate its coolness. Before I was always the one working in the background like good software. I was the one who made my boss look amazing. I don't necessarily want to look amazing, but I sincerely want to do a great job for the students, parents, and teachers of my school. I have a lot to learn, as I move to the front of the line.