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

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.

Embracing Insecurity in the First 2 Weeks

My new position as Dean of Students/Teacher has drastically changed both my responsibilities and what my day looks like. The juggling act that is my new professional existence is physically, mentally, and emotionally packed, but it's allowing me to do exactly what I've wanted to do for two years; while having the chance to build a school-wide culture of achievement at the administrative level, I also have the unique chance to continue to find ways to enhance student learning at the classroom level.

But, it's hard. I've never been as professionally self-conscious as I've been over these first two weeks in my new role. There are two reoccurring situations and thoughts I have been experiencing constantly since school started that challenge my confidence in my abilities to perform, but rather than allow my own insecurity to interfere with my capacity to lead, I've embraced it as a motivator and used it as a reminder of the steps I know I have to take to succeed and impact the school positively. This self-doubt could overcome me, but I choose to spend my time and energy reflecting on the remedy rather than the problem. Do I have it all figured out? No. But, I figure the concerns and paranoia I've experienced two weeks in can't be unique, and maybe what I do to overcome them will help someone in a situation similar to mine.

It's the end of day where I didn't sit down or eat lunch, and  my "to do" list I made at 6:30 this morning has nothing checked off...

I try not to dwell on the outstanding tasks on my list and spend more time on the professional relationships I need to build in my new position; the paperwork and things I need to "get done" can be finished anytime, but the students and staff are only in school for a fixed block of time each day. If I fancy myself as a leader of people, then that's where my priorities must lie. I focus on being a resource to as many people in the building that I can, and I figure the rest will take care of itself. I've been capitalizing on many apps and digital tools to improve my efficiency and organization with administrative tasks, but that can be saved for a different post.

I was a full-time teacher here; I know there are staff members who talk about administration all the time. Surely they are talking about me and my decisions...

People are inevitably going to talk about what I do and how I perform in my new role, and instead of being a slave to my own insecurity, I use it to make sure I'm always in an optimal position to make the right decision and be in the right place at the right time. I use that self-consciousness to pull myself away from the office and walk the halls to interact with students and staff.  I listen to people, because I figure that if I let them know that I'm listening then maybe they won't need to find another audience in less constructive environments. If I'm going to be a topic of conversation then I might as well make sure people are talking about me for the right reasons. I welcome anybody talking about my work ethic, positive energy, or my genuine commitment to the learning that happens every day in and out of our schoolhouse. And, if they're not sold on me yet, I still have 38 weeks to get it done!

The bottom line is that my biggest takeaway from these first two weeks is that all I can do to alleviate my own insecurity is to lead by example, and model the elements of a culture of achievement I wish to see. Everything else is currently out of my hands.

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?

Listening & Media Literacy in the Social Studies Classroom

I have always been impressed with the way foreign language teachers infuse the enhancing of reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills with their content on a day to day basis.  The combination of differentiation, utilization of technology, active learning, and content acquisition in well run language classes is truly remarkable.  I have worked hard this past school year to actively promote and grow the skill set of my students, rather than simply "give them information." A site that I have found great value in is Vocaroo, an easy to share voice recording platform.

"No man ever listened himself out of a job"-Calvin Coolidge

To culminate our final unit on Political Philosophies and Media Literacy, I created sample audio clips for class analysis that highlighted a political philosophy's views on a particular issue within the American political scene.  Students were able to practice applying context clues and key words to the identification of a given philosophy and position. In the age of infinite access to information, I reckon the ability to identify and recognize bias is of the utmost importance. Also, instead of listening to me (again) read the statements in front of the class, the playing of the different audio clips give students natural transitions and miniature breaks throughout.

Freedom of Speech According to a Statist

Voice Recorder >>

I have blogged before about the need to use technology and digital resources as a medium to more effectively promote the critical reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills that have separated the successful from the rest of the pack for scores of generations. Something as simple as utilizing a free voice recorder can take a traditional type of activity/skill like listening and enhance the delivery and results.

Corporate Welfare/ Bailouts According to a Libertarian

Record and upload voice >>

Student Loan Interest Rates According to a Liberal

Voice Recorder >>

How else can we utilize the infinite resources around us to better promote and enhance listening skills? What tools do you use?