The Vision I Have for School #SAVMP

The Vision I Have for School #SAVMP  

Assignment: 2

Well, it is assignment 2 for #SAVMP, and I am excited to finally sit down and have the time to reflect on this topic. We started school today, and it was a great -- GREAT -- first day. 

So what is my vision for what school should look like? Here goes:

Foremost school should be where Distributed Leadership is the system for all change and for all professional development. I desire to work in an environment where everyone's opinion is honored. We all need honest feedback in order to grow. I often refer to it as "hugging the cactus". Each of us must look at the parts of ourselves that sometimes cause us pain if we are to grow and make progress. I also want our work environment to be one where everyone "owns" and is invested in the processes that shape the school. It is critical that our teacher leaders are involved in guiding the new teachers in their growth. AND, with some practice at this leadership style, everyone on campus is collaborating and creating vs. reacting to someone else's agenda. With this model, eventually, we will become a professional learning community where we are continually looking for ways to improve and to impact learning.

Next, I believe that school should be a place for Ensured Learning on Behalf of Students AND Adults. With the advances in technology and data collection systems, we have precise information at our fingertips that will allow us to analyze, interpret and ultimately, IMPACT student learning. This is the pinnacle of teaching. I believe we need to move beyond awareness of data and use it for calculated measures to improve student learning like never before. However, we must also rally together as adults and insist that we too are continually learning. Brain research and technology are reshaping old paradigms for learning. Teachers need to model life-long learning and commit to polishing and sophisticating their craft at all levels.

Relevant--we must be relevant! Brick and mortar schools are quickly fading away. Our instructors must evolve with the new coaching and/or facilitator models that are presenting themselves or else we will be obsolete. We must bring relevance to our classrooms, whether they be within 4 walls or virtual. Relevance requires authentic assessment, project-based learning, and higher-order questioning. I recently watched a YouTube video of Heidi Hayes-Jacobs where she asked why we were asking students to complete the questions at the end of Chapter 2 when they prefer to create a FaceBook page for Julius Caesar. She asked the provocative question, "Is the 21st century inside or outside the doors of your classroom?"

AND Caring....all the other items are useless without our love for learning and for our pupils. I have frequently throughout my career served under-resourced students. These students come to my classroom with so much baggage and many obstacles to prevent their success. Frequently, one of their obstacles is the missing resource of family....someone to believe in them, to protect them, and to love them. As much as possible, our schools should be that bridge for these students. While we may not be able to cure their ills or give them family, we can certainly, and with fervor, BELIEVE in them, protect them in our school, and love them into learning! We may be their only positive adult role model. We must care and care deeply because they don't care what you know unless they know you care.

There are many other elements that would be a part of my vision for school, but these are the ones that speak to me strongly at this juncture of my journey. I hope this is a school where you would like to send your child. 

Why I Lead #SAVMP

I am very excited about a recent program I joined. I am now a proud member of the #SAVMP program. SAVMP is the School Admin Virtual Mentor Program started up by George Couros. And, now that I have been paired with my mentor and mentee partners, I am most energized by the global perspective I will gain from a mentor outside the U.S. Our perspectives will certainly be varied; however, I imagine the human situation will provide multiple common leadership experiences.

George Couros
Our Fearless Leader

As part of the program, I have several assignments. And, after taking care of the many steps in our first assignment, I must proclaim that I have already learned several things. And.....if you know me......LEARNING IS MY FAVORITE!

Yet, the most daunting part of my assignment is before me now. I am to write a BLOG entry on Why I Lead. Generally, self-reflection is easy for me and probably is why I was such a strong teacher. I spent most of my waking hours trying to revise and fine tune my practice so that my audience (students) were presented with the best lessons  and learning possible. This assignment stumped me--just a little. I have always struggled with the fact that leadership requires me to be in the forefront ALL the time. I have often preferred providing the structures for someone else to lead. I was always comfortable with being #2 or #3. So....when asked the question, why I lead, I had to have that internal deliberation about why I would pursue a career that puts me where I am sometimes uncomfortable.

Here are my conclusions:

1. I have a sharp and clear vision about what GREAT teaching and learning looks like. From the first day I entered the classroom, I had that "with-it-ness" that administrators look for in a new teacher. And within one year, I was seeking every professional development opportunity I could to improve and provide the best for my students. Within 5 years, I was courted by a curriculum resource technology team called the Beacon Learning Center. And at that point, I was then teaching veteran teachers how to wield the power of technology to increase engagement and productivity in the classroom. In addition, Beacon, from the beginning, took a hard-line stance on crafting the finest of lessons--using the backward design model and ONLY standards-driven units and lessons. All lessons went through a rigorous proving ground of peer feedback before being revealed to the public. So.....way back in the 90's I was able to develop a clear vision of what effective teaching is and what to do when the students don't learn....the spiraling of the curriculum. Well, even now, sometimes on a weekly basis I run into teachers (whether it be on the WEB or in real-time) who don't understand the link between CIA (Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment). So, I knew it would require someone to lead others to the power these structures provide for affecting student learning. I can help my talented co-workers work smarter not harder.  :O)

2. I am always on the first wave of all change and innovation. I sat in a workshop last week and heard an experienced teacher tell me the one thing she hates about education is that it is constantly changing. I was running a whole other paradigm through my brain while she said this. What if the physician's practice of 100 years ago had stayed the same and no innovation was allowed? What if our hospitals didn't change with the advances of modern medicine? Our teachers are amazing professionals, and embracing change should be a MUST! Just like a doctor who seeks the right combination of medicines and advancements to cure his patient's ills, we educators must grab and experiment with every change that comes along to see if it helps our students achieve their potential. I think this no-change mindset is one of the greatest obstacles in current educational practices. When our students walk in the door and know more about the computer or how to leverage social media for learning than we do, then it is like the patient knowing more than the doctor. So, I knew it would require someone to lead others to the magnificent capabilities of technology and its impact on student learning. I see fear in the eyes of lots of teachers, and I want to show them change is safe, and it is good, and it will make them and their students better.

3. I have a very strong sense of right and wrong. This is the hardest part of the leadership role. I want the best for our teachers, our students, and our families. So, when I see a professional who is harming our educational family, especially the students, vs. helping them, I take action. This allows me to be the best advocate for the folks I am paid to protect and nurture--my team and my students. A dear friend of mine who has similar proclivities once sent me a quote:  "I always wondered, why didn't somebody do something about that, and then I figured out that "somebody" was me." I was often frustrated as a teacher when I worked with administrators who didn't correct unethical situations swirling in the occasional classroom on our campus. For example, why didn't somebody address the teacher who punished her students with their grades OR the teacher who friended all of her students on FaceBook and partied with them. It was so taxing to come to work and do my very best and work tirelessly for every minute of classroom time while others did not. So, I knew it would require a strong someone to lead and to provide the best learning environments for the entire educational community. Sad but true, this trait sometimes makes for unpopular decisions. But, as my very wise friend also told me....if you want to be loved, "Buy a puppy!"

4. I want to be a servant leader. This is the greatest goal for me personally. I want to always be a respecter of persons, a gentle but firm boss, someone who honors every opinion, and someone who serves to make the lives of everyone I lead a better life. When I make mistakes, I often try to "own" them and ask forgiveness or at least understanding. I want to be a supporter of those who support kids. I want to support, especially, my team of friends who are out there walking the same walk as me--a difficult walk. I want to serve and make everything I touch better in some way. I follow lifestyles of men and women of character with scrutiny so that I can mirror their lives and attempt to gain their same level of effectiveness and impact. Because somewhere out there, it took someone to lead .......me.

Cross-School Collaboration

This past month, I had the pleasure of participating in my first ever cross-school collaboration. I had several times in the past been a part of vertical teaming between feeder schools where a middle school that feeds into a high school met and planned together or where an elementary school that feeds into a middle school met and planned together. This time, for the first time EVER, I was a part of a very exciting cross-school collaboration. How did that look? Well, two sister schools, Cherry Street and Oakland Terrace Elementary partnered up to work together. We spent the summer in a collaborative book study.

The book study was hosted at the home of Lyn Morris, our 5th grade math teacher. The idea to have it in someone's home was so clever. It really gave the venue a feeling of coziness and comfort. Teachers brought in breakfast items, and of course, the coffee pots were filled and refilled.

Lyn's Beautiful Home

The first thing that happened with the intermingling of these two faculties was that current relationships were encouraged. We got to see Lyn's lovely home. In the picture below, Lyn is showing us some of the labors of her garden.

Peppers from Lyn's Garden

Kim Nix and Paula Clements

Also, I saw current relationships revisited. Here, are two of our kindergarten teachers, Kim and Paula, sharing a Blueberry Pound Cake recipe.

Next, I noticed all the learning going on between these two groups. We spent two separate days at Lynn's home digging into the book. The book, Transforming High Poverty Schools into High Performing Schools, brought into focus the various traits of schools with under-resourced students and how the teams in those schools fostered them into high performing schools based on certain principles. Teachers had been asked to complete reading the book prior to the collaboration days. When we collected the data about the perceptions of our groups, across the board we recognized that people's perceptions about poverty... were all over the place. 

Here is a sample question and you can see our responses fell all over the map. The question wanted to know what the reader believed was the reason for the lack of parent involvement among children in poverty. The graph of the results demonstrates that perspectives were broad.

However, about mid-way through the first day, you could see our perceptions begin to unify and take hold. Here are the major points from the book that exposed what the HP/HP schools look like:

• Have high expectations for their students 
• Embrace and use all data they can get their hands on 
• Use data to focus on individual students 
• Constantly re-examine what they do 
• Embrace accountability 
• Make decisions based on what is good for kids, not what is good for adults 
• Use school time wisely 
• Leverage as many resources from the community as possible 
• Expand the time students, particularly struggling students, have in school 
• Do not spend a lot of time disciplining students in the sense of punishment 
• Make sure the kids who struggle have the best instruction 
• Ensure principals are important leaders but they are not the only leaders 
• Pay careful attention to the quality of the teaching staff 
• Provide teachers with the time to meet to plan and work collaboratively 
• Provide teachers with time to observe one another 
• Think seriously about professional development 

Full Group Debriefing

Full Group Debriefing

Our teachers then took action to transfer this learning back to our individual schools. During the final break-out session, teachers who had studied and analyzed the information with diligence contemplated how to share these critical elements with the rest of their school's faculty. Each school's study group developed an action plan for sustaining this information throughout the course of the entire school year.

This was a 100% positive experience. I have to say that Lendy Willis, who I consider a mentor, was brilliant in thinking up this possibility. Behind the scenes, Deniece Moss and Tammy Boyer helped make it happen! For both of our school's faculty, it was an endeavor of collaboration, BUT even more so, I believe it was an arena for creating support networks among educators. We are working harder than ever at both of our schools, and it is critical that we get some "wind beneath our wings" every once in a while. We need to have a shared experience -- knowing that we are not alone in giving every last bit of energy to improve the lives of children, especially our children in poverty.

I commend the faculty at Cherry Street Elementary and Oakland Terrace Elementary. Go Cheetahs and Orcas! Have a fabulous school year! I look forward to our next project together.

To all the other leaders out there, I recommend this experience of cross-school collaboration!

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/

Smiling Is a Super Power

     

Well, the school year is over, and we all made it safely to the end! As I look back on the many events that occurred, I would have to say it was truly challenging. The thing that saved me again and again was and continues to be my positive attitude. For example, there was a situation that occurred during the school year where I was speaking with some very hostile parents. They were seated in my office, raising their voices, and just plain mad.  I have asked office staff to be sensitive to such situations and to close my door when they hear folks get emotional or upset so that we can respect their feelings. Well, right on cue, Kathryn comes to my door and closes it for me. Can I tell you how much I appreciate my office staff!!!  Later that day, she said something to me that I will never forget. She said, “When I came to close your door, you were just smiling at these parents as they were yelling at you.”

     Well, I have to confess, keeping a smile at such times might be difficult, but I have found that it never fails me. As I recently read in Dan Kerr's blog entry on Connected Principals, “A smile breaks down barriers, it diffuses tense or contentious situations, it fosters positive intent, and it inspires a student’s or colleague’s perception of who you are and how you feel about them.”  Being positive is something I demand of myself and of my staff. School climate and culture grounded in positivity is one of the foundations of a great school.

     We have many more challenges ahead of us with the upcoming school year. AND, school grading and accountability can certainly put a spotlight on things that desperately need attention in the schoolhouse. Sometimes these needs might seem daunting, but keeping morale high and pressing on to positively face every obstacle are critical to surviving this job with a happy and healthy outlook.

     And when it comes to the children, your smile and your welcome greeting might be the only happiness that a student encounters in their life all day. I can walk into classrooms and tell where students are happy and into others where they are not. I can walk into classrooms where students love their teacher, and I can also walk into others where they fear their teacher. Practice smiling and keep everyone around you smiling. Do you laugh during your day? Look around you and find inspiration in the faces of the children you teach. Did you know that 1 smile can generate the same level of brain stimulation as up to 2,000 bars of chocolate? Click here to see a YouTube video about The Power of Smiling.

A smile is something you can’t give away; it always comes back to you.                    – Maya Angelou

                      

Inspired by dkerr’s blog entry, The Power of a Smile, April 21, 2013, Connected Principals

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.