12 Ways to Use Words to Inspire Growth

Your words matter. 

The way we give feedback, lead meetings, or speak to our teams or colleagues matters. In reading Self-Regulated Learning for Academic Success: How do I help students manage their thoughts, behaviors, and emotions? several selected quotes throughout the book show how impactful or unimpactful our words are and how inspiring or uninspiring they can be.

"Praise is a mixed bag. Although it can increase students' self-efficacy and their expectations of future success, it can also lead them to feel helpless in the face of challenges if their self-worth is tied too closely to being praised." -page 11

Acknowledge effort over result. Don't discuss things outside of their control. Use words that make improvement seem possible.

Be specific with your praise. Identify why they're being praised. Don't use praise as a consolation for disappointment, or because you feel obligated to. Use words for a purpose.

Don't make them reliant on your approval or input. They need to be able to self-diagnose their own problems and solutions. The goal is always to grow and get better; it's not to receive kudos. Use words that promote dialogue.

Visualize later now. Talk about how the praiseworthy incident can be replicated elsewhere. Use words that make connections and promote transfer.

"When a child learns to associate task outcomes with the effort invested,he's more likely to attribute failure to a lack of effort and to adopt new strategies and work harder until he succeeds." -page 11

Acknowledge effort over result. People have to believe their efforts matter or else you won't be able to keep them motivated to embrace the challenge. Use words that will inspire more effort.

Focus on what's controllable. Don't waste time with things that can't be changed or that have already happened. I once spent an entire coaching season blaming our losses on 2 guys who had quit the team earlier in the season. What a blunder, and a waste of energy and time. I shouldn't have used words that caused people to dwell on things they couldn't control.

Action plans have to be achievable. Set them up for quick wins. Don't aim for a target that can't be placed or can't be achieved. Use words that can be realized.

Tell stories of your own failures leading to growth. Empathize with how hard it is to keep getting better. Use words that make it seem possible.

"...teachers can do a lot to further students' self-regulation by creating a warm and supportive social climate, providing collaborative learning opportunities, and giving feedback focused on the learning process rather than the learning outcomes." -page 19

Give them a tangible skill of focus. One improvement at a time. Use words that make it clear.

Include them in the planning and feedback process. Make it their plan and their result. Use words that get them to own it.

Create critical thinkers and decision makers. They need to be able to evaluate their own habits and ideas. Use words that cause them to reflect.

Don't waste time on things they already know. "Good job" or "you can do better than this" or "this is terrible" or "A" alone doesn't help anyone get better. We usually know when it didn't go we'll; tell us how we can improve. Use words that promote growth.

"...it can be difficult to remember that your verbal and written feedback should concentrate not in outcomes but on students' selection and use of learning processes and strategies. Doing this focuses students on what they can do to improve their work and gives them a sense of control over their academic success...." -page 26

Image Source

6 Easy Ways for a School Administrator to Get Out of the Office

Before I was a school administrator I cavalierly wrote and spoke about how easy it ought to be to get out of the office and onto the floor, and chalked it up as nothing more than time management and possession of mobile technology.

I'm now privy to a bit more reality; a lot more goes into getting out of the office (for non-walkthrough/evaluative purposes) than wanting or even needing to get out of the office.

It's hard. Earlier this year I was 99% of the way out of the door to go out on the floor, and the phone rang; I never made it out.

I love being out on the floor; it's by far my favorite part of the job. I always learn something new; I always find opportunities to connect more with students and staff.

But it doesn't happen by chance.

I've learned that calendars get filled quickly; finding the time to be on the floor and enjoy the school culture I'm trying to build is almost impossible sometimes, but there are quick little practices that get me out multiple times a day to interact with staff and students.

1.Hand Deliver
Instead of emailing documents as attachments that I know will be printed anyway, I'll print them myself and hand deliver. It always leads to 5 minute conversation, and the whatever the document is means that much more. A little bit of efficiency is an insignificant price to pay for the value of getting out on the floor.


2.Follow Up
After a staff meeting, a student assembly, class meeting, etc. I always make a point to get out and engage folks in quick follow up conversations about the content. Any excuse to get people talking and listening is good.

I'll oftentimes follow up an email to a teacher with a pop in during their prep. It usually takes less than 5 minutes and both strengthens the impact of the email and gives me an excuse to intentionally get out of the office and onto the floor for even the briefest of time in between appointments.

3.Collaborate Publicly
If I'm planning something or creating something with another teacher or administrator, and it's not of a confidential or unsavory nature, then why not do it in the media center or school common area?

Some things are private and need to remain private, but a lot of things aren't. Thoughtfully determine whether the meeting needs to be behind closed doors.

Photo Source

4.Go to Them
Whenever I have the choice between my office or their classroom I choose their classroom.

When appropriate, I'll go to where a student is to deliver news or have a conversation rather than call them to my office.

If someone needs to speak to me I'd rather try to go see them than do it over the phone if the timing is right.

5.Say Yes
Anytime a teacher or student asks me far enough in advance to be a guest judge, moderator, speaker, etc. I say yes. It's great to be able to walk in to a classroom or common area and not see folks tense up or lose their place for a second.

Create for yourself multiple follow up opportunities with the students and teacher; take and share photos with the class afterwards. You'll have potential conversation starters for months.

6. Schedule It
You'll never have the time to get out if you aren't purposeful with it.

I've found great results by simply scheduling 30-60 minutes of "floor time" right in my online calendar. The office staff doesn't schedule appointments because it's already blocked off, and once it pops up on my phone I stop what I'm doing and get out. Sometimes it's coupled with walkthroughs or other little errands or chores, and sometimes it's just leading and learning by walking around. It's always empowering though.

Getting out is refreshing; it reminds me of the why. It's not as easy as I thought it was going to be, but priorities are rarely convenient.

#leadership #mobility #education

23+ Ways to Motivate Professional Learning

What motivates learners?

Not just school-aged students but anybody trying to learn something

What motivates people to learn what you're teaching?

The book Engaging Minds in the Classroom: The Surprising Power of Joy is about school-aged students, but it includes 5 motivational generalizations* that identify what all learners need to believe about themselves and the topic / objective in order to be motivated to learn it.

You can teach it, but if they're not motivated to learn it, then it's probably not happening. Learning is a choice.

The 5 motivational generalizations are:

"adaptive self-efficacy and competence beliefs motivate students" (believing in yourself and your abilities motivates you)

"I can do this; I am good at this; I have the ability to become good at this."

"adaptive attributions and control beliefs motivate students" (believing you can do it if you try)

"I am in control of the outcome; if I put effort in, then I will learn this."

"higher levels of interest and intrinsic motivation motivate students" (you want to do it)

"I want this; I am not doing this only because I have to; This interests me."

"higher levels of value motivate students (you think it's important)"

"What I'm doing matters to me."

"goals motivate and direct students" (you know what it takes to get it)

"I know how I'm going to learn this; I know what I need to do to get there."

Instructors who understand the principles of motivation are more likely to produce learners who demonstrate a joy of learning.

"Teachers who understand and use motivation principles may be better equipped to discover ways to construct joyful learning experiences....paying attention to what motivates their particular students will lead teachers to design motivational classrooms including activities that students perceive to be fun as a way to motivate them and spark their learning." p. 15

But what about professional learning?

What can I do as a school administrator to bring the motivational generalizations to the professional learning and development offered to school staff throughout their careers? 

What can I do as a school administrator to better ensure staff is motivated to learn and grow intentionally?

I can do plenty.

At least 23 things 

to motivate staff to learn and grow.

Inspired by pages 12-13, 31
See the chart here

To foster self-efficacy and a belief of competence I can:

• celebrate and promote staff accomplishments and growth
• give specific improvement centered feedback
• find out how staff members perceive their own ability to learn certain things

To promote high attributions and solidify a belief about control I can:

• have clear expectations and benchmarks
• learn new material alongside staff
• use self-assessments to determine professional learning offerings

To tap into interest and intrinsic motivation I can:

• find out what interests the staff
• design PD that models engaging and motivating teaching practice
• build a community of learners
• intentionally set up interest-based interactions amongst staff members

To ensure high levels of personal value I can:

• design PD around shared priorities and values
• participate in my own learning activities
• build in opportunities for individualization and application

To provide a path to success I can:

• model how ideas can be applied to the classroom
• design action oriented PD sessions and meetings
• connect similarly interested staff in purposeful ways
• offer multiple follow up opportunities for interested staff

How else? What else can school leaders motivate their staff to continue to learn and grow?

#motivation #professionaldevelopment #savmp

*Pintrich, 2003

4 Quotes & 20 Questions re: Walkthroughs

Reading Betty Garner's Getting to Got It! got me thinking about the classroom walkthroughs I do and where my attention ought to be during the 5-12 minutes I'm in each classroom. I picked out four quotes that especially stood out to me along with some thoughts and questions I ought to ask students related to the quote.

"Sometimes we are tempted to tell students what to recognize or notice, and then we assume that because we told them, they have learned it." -p. 32

I need a walkthrough form that records what the students are doing and saying rather than simply what the teacher is doing and saying. Instead of measuring learning by what the adult is doing I need to focus on what the students are doing. Just because the teacher is telling the students about it in an effective manner doesn't mean anybody is learning it. I've been writing a lot recently on focusing more on what the output is and that ought to transfer to what I'm observing when I'm visiting classrooms and supervising teachers. What they're doing is secondary to what the learners are doing (if my prime focus is learning.)

Questions to ask students during a walkthrough

1. what is the most important thing for me to know about what you're learning?
2. how is what you're learning connected to everything you're doing in class?
3. how would you explain or teach this to a little kid?
4. what questions do you have for the teacher or about the topic based on what you're learning?
5. what have / will you produce or make?

"Students confuse imitation with learning. In the classroom, they may correctly  complete assignments by simply imitating what the teacher models, without making the information their own." -p. 36

I'm a big proponent of modeling; I've written about it a lot in previous posts. For skills like organizing, classifying, communicating, etc. modeling is an awesome teaching tool. But for the learner to fully learn what you're teaching they have to make it theirs. It has to be a little original for it to stick. I need to engage more with the students when I'm walking through classes; I need to hear from them how they interpret what they're learning and how they've adopted what they're learning into practice.

Questions to ask students during a walkthrough

1. what do you make of what the teacher is telling or showing you?
2. how can / will you build on what the teacher is doing?
3. how can / will you adopt this into your own practices?
4. how could you teach this to a little kid?
5. what would this look like outside the classroom?

"Some even maintain good grades by memorizing information; however, they can't connect , apply, or transfer the information  to other situations." -p. 49

Maybe I ought to take a random student's schedule and walk through each of his/her classes in one day, and then meet with them to discuss how or if they take what they're doing in class A and use it in class D. We know the true measure of learning if how well we use it elsewhere; engaging students in those kinds of conversations after experiencing their entire schedule would be a powerful measure of how much they're learning in relation to what they're being taught.

Questions to ask students during a walkthrough

1. how can / will you apply this outside of this class?
2. how does this remind you of something else you've learned?
3. how do this connect with what you're doing in other classes?
4. why is what you're learning important or relevant?
5. what would this look like outside the classroom?

"The students follow directions with little or no personal investment or processing of information." -p. 64

Neat and tidy and orderly is great, but it's not reflective of the process of learning. I need to be more observant than that.

Questions to ask students during a walkthrough

1. what impact does this information have?
2. how will you use this outside the classroom?
3. how does this fit in with everything you already know?
4. what is the most important parts of the lesson you need to retain?
5. what is the significance of what you're learning? Why here? Why now?

8 Ways to Improve Praise

In reading Emily Houck's 100+ Way to Recognize & Reward Your School Staff I picked up a bunch of nuggets that I can immediately start using to make folks I'm trying to lead feel more valued, respected, and motivated to grow.

She writes, "...we should highlight and recognize their contributions to the present and the future, both because it is the right thing to do and because it will motivate them to continued excellence."

When people feel acknowledged they feel empowered to keep going.

She writes, "An educational leader needs to know which factors will promote and nurture professional growth in each individual."

No one person is motivated the same way; the more we know about the folks we're trying to lead the better position we're in to praise effectively.

She writes, "you have to tell the person why they are being recognized in a very specific way."

Don't cheapen your praise by just throwing it around for no particular reason.

She writes, "Immediate praise...signals true respect for the action and the actor because it requires us to rearrange our priorities to make the praise happen now rather than waiting until it's convenient for us."

Recognition that's planned around my schedule isn't real recognition; if it's worthy of being praised, then it's worthy of being praised right now.

She writes, "Recognition is a mind-set -- a way of doing business and relating to people every day."

8 ways to more effective praise:

Instead of..	Try This
Praising the group	Praise specific people
Giving vague praise	Be specific
Thanking someone in passing	Take the time to seek them out
Acknowledging talent	Acknowledge effort
Recognizing achievement	Recognize growth and improvement
Typing notes	Hand-write notes
Waiting until it’s convenient	Do it now
Combining praise with criticism	Criticize later

Why Do We Do the Work For Them?

Why do we do the work for them?

 I started thinking after reading the Week 20 post about delegation in the #savmp blog, and this quote from a book I just finished

"Adults need to model, ask clarifying questions, and help students reflect on and about their own routines, not do the work for them." - Margaret Searle, Causes & Cures in the Classroom p. 77 

Why do we do the work for our staff and/or students? Because we're afraid of what others will think if people under our tutelage produce work in need of improvement or worse. Because we think short-term.

Sometimes I catch myself thinking something to the effect of, "if my evaluee doesn't write a proficient goal or provide satisfactory evidence, then my colleagues are going to think I'm an unsatisfactory supervisor; what good am I if my people (or students) aren't proficient?"

So I do more than I ought to; I try to control the outcome rather than support and assist during the process. The goal that I'm concerned about becomes 90% my words and 10% theirs. They're "proficient," I pat myself on the back for "helping," and we repeat again in a few months. Nobody learns; we're not growing.

Ask questions instead of giving answers

If they don't do it themselves, then it comes at the expense of the long-term; the goal is always for them to be able to do it well without assistance. Start with them doing it themselves and let the doing it well happen organically. Guide by the side, ask questions, generate partnerships.

I shouldn't compromise the long-term goal to satisfy short-term insecurity.

Replace speaking with listening as often as possible

I should try to be the resource that makes them their own resource. In practice:

Student Discipline: Go through the handbook with them as you're determining consequences; when they match the offense with the proper consequence and then serve it, it becomes a lesson rather than a simple consequence.

Organization / Note Taking: Expose students to different examples of note taking and organization for the same topic. Show them an outline, word web, word cloud, venn diagram, etc. Have them decide which makes the most sense for them instead of mandating one style because it's what's always worked for you. 

They need to own it for it to be learned; if they don't own it, then it was merely taught; they won't remember

Instead of Getting Frustrated...

What I read:

"Adults must have tons of patience and provide lots of modeling, practice, and encouragement to support the development of good planning and problem-solving skills." -  Margaret Searle, Causes & Cures in the Classroom: Getting to the Root of Academic and Behavior Problems p. 42

"The ultimate goal is to enable the students to become more confident and independent." - Margaret Searle, Causes & Cures in the Classroom: Getting to the Root of Academic and Behavior Problems p. 30 

What I thought:

We've all worked with students and colleagues who have difficulties getting started and/or following through with tasks or initiatives; our first reaction often is to challenge the excuses folks that struggle with this always have, or to assume that they are lazy or oppositional.

In the classroom I saw this manifested in students who were always missing assignments, turning in assignments half done, or have grand plans end in mediocre finished products; in school leadership I see this manifested in staff who miss deadlines, create goals that are nearly impossible to meet, or want to improve in a certain area but have no concept of how to.

How we respond and how we as teachers & leaders communicate will determine if we will have any type of meaningful impact on their improvement.

Labeling or assuming takes the improvement process out of our hands; when we decide that our efforts will be wasted because of lack of motivation, laziness, etc, we've lost the opportunity to guide and support; we undercut our own capacity to lead and understand how to help folks move themselves in the right direction.

Getting frustrated or angry doesn't work; our relationships and the culture we manufacture in our classrooms, offices, schools, etc will either encourage or deter folks from seeking assistance. If they think we'll be mad or lash out, then they'll probably mask or hide the problem rather than seek our assistance.

If out of impatience we simply do it for them, then they become dependent on us.

If the same issue keeps happening despite our efforts, then keep trying something new; if they can't seem to get started or follow through, then help them:

• visualize the goal.
• see how by modeling using a "first me, then you" procedure.
• break down the process into individual parts
• visualize the action plan.
• verbalize potential obstacles before starting.
• verbalize the plan's details step by step.
• by building in class time for planning and clarifying questions.
• discussing what to do when they don't know what to do.
• engage in conversation about what went wrong last time and how to avoid this time.
• by showing them what you would do in same scenario.

The end goal with our students and staff is always confident independence; we don't want to respond to missing, incomplete, or poorly crafted work in a manner that will impede progress toward that overarching goal.

We want them to be able to do it consistently well without assistance, but we need them to be honest and timely when they require assistance.

Instead of reacting emotionally when planning and problem-solving skills lack we ought to think clearly, identify why the issue may be happening, and continue to utilize new strategies until they can move forward with a plan confidently and independently.

Lesson #2 - Everything Is An Opportunity to Build or Burn a Bridge

I’ve been reflecting a lot on my first year in school leadership; the second lesson from this year is EVERYTHING IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD OR BURN A BRIDGE.

Photo Credit

Too often we forget that people need to be listened to. It was two months ago that an irate parent was telling me she was putting me on the front page of the newspaper for being terrible at what I do, and it was two hours ago that the same parent was telling me she was thankful for how much help I offered her son throughout the school year. My conduct and professionalism throughout the prior hostile exchange built a bridge; had I focused my attention during that meeting on retorting or debating the parent rather than listening to what the concerns really were I probably would have burned the bridge. Had my behavior and response to the hostility been reciprocal I doubt the second exchange would have happened as it did. Even hostility can move us toward where we’re trying to go. Everything is an opportunity to build a bridge.

Too often we act solely in the short-term; we just want issues to go away. A student was being referred to the office by the same teacher for same type of behavior and poor academics over and over and over again, and I was growing tired of it. So badly I wanted to suspend the student and reprimand the teacher for not managing the classroom well, but what would the long-term impact of that be? So instead I wedged in another appointment in the day, got the teacher coverage for a face to face group meeting, and got everybody together for as long as it took. In the short-term it created a hectic day, and meant that I was spending another hour on an ongoing issue; in the long-term it set the student up for 3 consecutive months of success in a required class following the conference and established for the teacher a network of allies in me and the parents. Everything is an opportunity to build a bridge.

Too often we get too busy to realize how busy others are and how hard the people around us are working. Teachers are doing awesome things in classrooms that can easily go unnoticed if we let them; making time to visit shows appreciation for what they’re doing; appreciation empowers others. Replying to emails matters. Being on time and keeping meetings within the scripted time frame matters. Only have meetings that you’re prepared to hold matters. Everything is an opportunity to build a bridge.

Responding to Bad Staff PD As A School Leader

We had some bad PD last week on an important school matter - writing curriculum with UBD. It lacked for 3 key reasons

• The presenter did little to engage the group
• The examples and documents had little alignment with district vocabulary & direction
• The presenter had difficulty answering any questions teachers had

Writing curriculum is too important to allow a bad presentation be the excuse why it doesn’t happen, and from this I learned a couple of lessons about how to respond to bad PD from a leadership position moving forward.

1. Roll Up Your Sleeves - The PD wasn’t aligned to any of our district vocabulary, curricular categories, etc so I made some templates and design tools to distribute to the staff. I’ll share them with everyone in the school via Google Drive, and they’ll be there when folks need them. The presentation being poor doesn’t change the importance of UBD in the eyes of the district and school; if the speaker didn’t get it done, then it’s up to the leadership team to help staff get better. Leaving the result to chance and allowing bad PD be the reason folks don’t improve isn’t an option.

2. Find Authentic & Convenient Ways to Do It - People need to be able to conceptualize how they’re going to do whatever is being asked of them; I’ve found in my brief leadership stint that modeling pays huge dividends. I needed to plan for our next Staff Tech Club meeting, and I needed to make use of the bad PD on UBD; I did both. It takes care of multiple birds with one stone. To promote it further, I screencasted my efforts and put in the staff resources section of my school website
   
   
   
   

3. Make Staff Sharing Easy - I set up a community on Google + for our teachers earlier this year when we moved to Gmail, and it’s worth it’s weight in gold. During the PD one of our science teachers posted from his tablet that we should create a discussion category regarding UBD. Since Friday’s “PD” we’ve seen resources, articles, and commentary regarding UBD posted from teachers in various departments. There hasn’t been any talk of the performance of the speaker; even though the speaker performed poorly the community is keeping the discussion about UBD and professional learning alive and on point. Creating the community was a low effort / high reward idea that gets better with every new request to join and resource shared.

4. A Little Goes A Long Way - Maybe only a few people will even click on the documents I created at first. As of now, only a small sampling of faculty is engaged on Google+. But, there’s more talk and action happening in regards to UBD and other edu topics than there would have been otherwise, and all of those resources and perspectives already shared will be there forever; someone may not look at it for a few months, but it’ll be there. I reckon folks simply seeing leadership working to salvage a poor PD session through creation and community has an impact even without specific engagement; people respond to effort.

The lessons I learned here can easily be applied to the inevitability of more lackluster professional learning engagements over the years; even if I’m using outside speakers to facilitate the session, I still have multiple opportunities to insure the outcomes and changes in practice I wish to see.

Ten Easy Ways You Might Discourage the Truth

While reading Fisher, Frey, & Pumpian's How to Create a Culture of Achievement, a quote jumped off of the page at me and led me to reflect on different things I've witnessed, experienced, heard about, and/or done, and the effects it had on people.

"If people think that there are consequences to their honesty, they will no longer be honest and you will be faced with making decisions and taking action on inaccurate data." -p.68

If you cannot be trusted with the truth, then you will at one inevitable point be in the precarious position of trying to fix a problem, answer a question, or exist in a situation with incomplete, exaggerated, or fictitious information or data. Effective leaders (or anybody who interacts with people casually or professionally) must be aware of the potential truth barriers their actions or words may inadvertently create. I wrote down ten things in no particular order that you may do or oversee that probably discourages or at some point will discourage honesty and openness from the people you work and interact with.

1. Your organization has a spoils system culture with favorites; there are haves and have nots
2. You're hotheaded; you're reactionary
3. You're vindictive or judgmental
4. You're someone who only does what they "have to" to fulfill the position
5. You're a "me first" personality
6. You shoot the messenger(s)
7. You have a big mouth; you tell people other people's information
8. You always make it about you and how it makes you look 
9. You don't make an effort to include everyone
10. You don't seem like you care enough to do anything

 I'm most guilty of number eight, and am consciously working on fixing this insecurity. What about you? Are there any on the list that you know you need to be aware of? 

What are the other mistakes we make as people and as leaders that discourage people from telling us the truth? How can we avoid sabotaging ourselves by not promoting an open and honest culture?

"How to Create a Culture of Achievement" - Welcoming Students & Teachers

 Chapter 2 of Fisher, Frey, and Pumpian's How to Create a Culture of Achievement in your school and classroom discusses the importance of making all the stakeholders in a school feel physically and intellectually welcomed; while reading I found myself thinking about ways I can make students and teachers feel more apart of the culture and operations of the school. Some key questions I wrote in the margins as I read were:

• how can individual groups of stakeholders be made to feel more valued as contributors to school policy and direction?
• how can I as a classroom teacher and a dean of students better show my appreciation for each stakeholding group's potential value as builders and shapers of a culture of achievement?
• how can I from my positions better reach out to the folks in each stakeholding group who do not feel welcomed in the school community?

 There were two quotes that especially stood out to me in highlighting what can happen if we do not pay attention to how welcomed our students and staff feel. (the underlining was added by me)

"They will makes choices to actually be where they are supposed to be and be there on time. Students will exercise this choice over and over again through the day, week, and year. Finally, and most importantly, students choose to engage or not, to tune in or not, to contribute or not, to value being in your school or not." -p.20

We can force and mandate all we want, but if we want our schools to have cultures of achievement and excitement for learning then we must create the kind of school where students want to do the right thing and want to be present physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Just as we don't want an environment where people are abdicating their responsibilities and ignoring procedures, we also don't want a culture of people only doing what they "have to," and nothing else. Although the eventual results surrounding complete student participation and engagement is an outcome not exclusively in our control as educational leaders, there are certainly many steps and actions that can be taken to better the odds of a favorable outcome. Two steps I've taken as a classroom teacher that I will continue in my new role as Dean of Students in an attempt to make students feel welcomed in our school are:

• speaking to every student every day- Even if it's just a "hey, how are ya?" as they walk in the room, I make a point to say something and elicit a response from every student I teach every day. I miss them in class, I get them in the hallway at some point. 
• taking every student's thoughts seriously- Some of the most valuable class-wide discussions I've experienced as an educator have been in the most unexpected classes. It's amazing what a person can do when they know the leader respects them and takes what they do and offer seriously; welcoming students beyond physical presence in the classroom goes a long way

"When teachers talk about administrators as 'them' instead of as partners, boundaries prevent the transparent and collaborative flow of ideas, program development, and accountability." -p.26

Teachers who ignore how welcome their students feel in class do so at the expense of their individual classroom culture; administrators who fail to make their staff feel welcomed as professional members of a great team do so at the expense of their entire school's/district's culture. Similar to welcoming students, administrators can do wonders by making a point to engage with all faculty/staff in regular intervals, and by celebrating and taking seriously their hard work and effort. Some steps I've taken to make new teachers feel welcome in my old role as mentor, and plan to apply on a grander level in my new role in leadership are:

• curating and sharing collections of resources- who doesn't like getting free stuff? I always gave the new teachers on day one a binder of resources ranging from school specific info to assessment and pedagogy. As my technology skills have improved (lifelong learning), the resources have gone digital, but the effect remains the same; professionals feel most welcomed when the organization is immediately helping them be better at their job. 
• following up & asking- if a teacher comes to me with an issue, I follow up on it. If I notice a teacher who I think has a lot to offer on a committee, I ask them if they want to get involved. It sounds simple and obvious, but it's the simple and obvious things that add up to make big positive cultural changes; it's the simple and obvious things that make people feel important.
• visiting their classes and learning what they do- I have always wished that administrators came in my class more and talked to me about teaching and learning; now that I am in leadership I have the opportunity to fulfill that desire, albeit in a different way. I can make teachers feel more welcomed in school simply by watching them do what they do best, and providing them opportunities to get even better. It also puts me as a leader in a position to learn as many tools of the trade as possible to better educate and assist the staff in becoming master teachers. 

A group of we will always outperform a bunch of you and me; how are you going to make your school more welcoming to all stakeholding parties? What can you do to make sure your students and staff feel important, appreciated, and perpetually working toward something bigger and better?

"How to Create a Culture of Achievement" Chapter 1

After I read chapters of the books on my summer reading list I intend to reflect on some of the key quotes I highlighted as I read. I just finished reading chapter 1 of Fisher, Frey, and Pumpian's How to Create a Culture of Achievement in your school and classroom, and selected four quotes that jumped out to me from my duel perspective as a classroom teacher and school administrator for next school year and beyond.

"We believe that no school improvement effort will be effective, maintained, or enhanced unless school culture and academic press are both addressed and aligned." -p.5 

 How many great ideas for professional learning, assessment, etc. have you had stifled because nobody else was into it? Have you ever brought something into the classroom you were absolutely convinced was going to be a hit only to have to drag students through it like a reluctant pet going into the vet? Even the most innovative initiatives are destined to remain ideas in the wrong culture. We tend to focus on the more tangible aspects of our lives, and spending our time on the academics surely makes sense with any school reform, but in order for us to avoid wasted time and effort attention must be paid to developing the culture needed for meaningful change.

"An effective school culture will provide students a respectful mediating experience through which they can understand, examine, affirm, modify, or change understandings of the world and how they want to engage in it." -p.9

We all have our personal dogmas and beliefs that will always affect who we are and how we think, and effective cultures use that to their advantage.  Open dialogue, an emphasis on the art of listening,  and emphasizing the process of learning and reflection rather than common understanding. That's how enlightenment happens; that's how the society we're preparing our students for best operates.

"A shared definition of quality also enlists all members of the culture, not just a few, to take an active part in the effort. Importantly, it also empowers people by sending them the message that they are of value and their contributions are essential." -p.11

Sometimes I seek people out simply because I know I haven't sought them in a while; folks that feel included are invested.  Whether someone is a superstar, backbone, or mediocre teacher or student, they are a member of your team and learning community. No matter what, quality and quantity of output will be superior from members who are invested.  While turning everybody into a superstar is unrealistic, finding the way to get maximum physical, emotional, and intellectual effort from the entire team is paramount the overall health of any organization.

 " If mission building and revisiting is designed as a pivotal and integral driver of a school's ongoing implementation revolution, it is unlikely that the mission will be treated as something you did two years ago in a...meeting room." -p.13 

Do what needs to be done to ensure that your work is meaningful and leads to the results you intend for it produce.  Agreeing to a common mission and vision on paper is the beginning, and whether it not it leads to anything of value depends on what happens next. Like with anything that matters, the real work lies in the middle. What you do with your mission will have a far greater impact on your culture than the simple act of putting one on paper.

What else can be done to create a culture of achievement? How can we as school leaders promote the openness, inclusiveness, and constant reflection required to produce optimal school environments?

Screencasting for Teachers & School Leaders

I love finding tools that address problems I frequently encounter as an educator.  Using technology for the sake of using technology is not the point; when I promote tech integration to both colleagues and students I always aim to show them why it will be of educational or organizational value, how to functionally use it, and, of course, what the given service or site does.  I have recently discovered the possibilities that screencasts present, and I embedded examples of how they can be used by both teachers and school leaders to improve their ability to communicate integral information both efficiently and effectively. Both screencasts were made using Screencast-O-Matic and were uploaded and embedded using Vimeo.  I chose Vimeo over Youtube simply because the latter is currently unavailable at school.

This first screencast is a compilation of excerpts from recently submitted student essays; I provide commentary on each of the points the excerpts raise and explain how students could use the example to improve their own writing moving forward.  It's a way to quickly communicate and possibly remedy any common mistakes one sees students making as a whole.  Especially in an AP class where there is so much content to go along with necessary skills, teachers may find screencasts as a great way to save time and effectively improve writing at the same time.

This second example highlights how screencasts can be used by school leaders as a way to communicate important information to the school community, and as a way to quickly provide a visual tutorial on how to use a digital tool that some on staff may not be comfortable with.  I explain each section of a proposed expectations for student learning document as well as a brief visual explanation of how to use Google Docs and the comment feature. Tools like this allow school leaders to communicate efficiently with their entire community in a way that combines visual and auditory means.  As opposed to sending emails that get buried over the course of one day videos can remain front and center for longer periods of time, increasing the chances for more views.  For anybody interested, the learning expectations were ratified unanimously and we look forward to implementing them moving forward!

Whether you're looking to target specific skills in the classroom or communicate essential information or tutorials to your faculty, screencasting presents fantastic opportunities!

Intrinsic Learning

A recent combination of writer's block, professional interest, and thrift led me to re-read a book I half-heartedly looked at some time ago as a first year graduate student. I had been meaning to re-visit Failure Is Not an Option by Alan Blankenstein; I read it simply to fulfill an assignment a few years back, but remembered finding value in the little bit of the book I actually read when I "had" to.  Filled with poignant stories of successful school leaders and the methodical steps they took to build Professional Learning Communities in their schools, I found myself nodding and highlighting in agreement through much of the entire book as if I had never read it before. After the second read, I highly recommend this to any aspiring/current educational leader looking to change professional culture and build community capacity.

"...staff compliance alone is not enough. It takes total staff commitment to succeed in the...work of reaching...students"-A.Blankenstein
— Eddie Evans (@eevansHHS) February 22, 2012

"Teachers cannot be the mere targets of other peoples leadership, but must see themselves as being...leaders..." A.Blankenstein
— Eddie Evans (@eevansHHS) February 27, 2012

Aside from the content of the book articulating and expanding on much of the ideas and conclusions I have come to regarding the kind of educational leader I am and want to be moving forward, I appreciated the irony of the situation; I was reading and heavily annotating a book over my February vacation that I haphazardly read and hardly noted two years prior in a class that I paid to take and would be graded after reading it.

Re-reading a book I had to read as student. Getting way more out of it now than when I "had" to read it. It's funny how that works out...
— Eddie Evans (@eevansHHS) February 26, 2012

I recently wrote about leading people to a place where they are going beyond "have" to. My two readings of Blankenstein's work clearly demonstrates the effect of adult learning with a purpose.  My intrinsic motivation as a professional genuinely looking to get better at what I am attempting to do inspired me light years more than any extrinsic motivation ever did. What I take away from this is that leaders must uncover and tap into the intrinsic motivations that exist within each member of their team as it relates to the overall mission and vision of the school if they ever want to get beyond what Blankenstein calls contrived collegiality. As Marilyn Tallerico writes to school leaders, "...you must...help build and sustain a schoolwide environment conducive to adult learning," (p.70) and the most prudent way to achieve this is by capitalizing on the professional interests and passions of the adults in the school.

 "The prime responsibility of all school leaders is to sustain learning."  

(Blankenstein, p.203) 

Without getting to know and eventually taking professional advantage of the intrinsic motivations and curiosities of the adults in any school, leaders will always struggle to reach the optimal levels of engagement and commitment needed for a sustainable culture of professional learning; they will find it difficult to get anything more than the motions from most people. Sure, there will always be folks on staff taking it upon themselves to re-read books on achievement and leadership over vacation, but I reckon the finest school leaders will not leave that to chance.