A strong #ascd12 finish with Todd Whitaker

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My first introduction to the work of Todd Whitaker was through reading his book, What Great Principals Do Differently: 15 Things that Matter Most. Todd’s writing style immediately captured my attention. He aptly defined the characteristics of strong principals and described those things I most wished to accomplish as the principal of my school. Easier said than done, of course, but I certainly appreciate how Whitaker takes his many years of experience in education and offers inspirational guidelines for success for administrators (and teachers, another great read).

My next encounter with Todd – I feel like we’re on a first-name basis now – was through our interactions on Twitter. If you don’t follow him, you should, for both the educational resources he shares, and his humor. He’s truly a joy to know virtually, and has offered guidance and support to me over the past year.

And then, last weekend, I had the chance to meet Todd Whitaker for the first time, when he addressed a large group of educators who battled the temptations of the snooze alarm to attend an early morning session on the last day of ASCD. His session, entitled What Great Teachers Do Differently, was filled with amusing allegories, sage advice, and “why didn’t I think of that?” lessons. Warning: Long list of session highlights ahead. I took a lot of notes.

  • In a school, if we don’t have difficult teachers, we don’t have difficult parents.
  • When someone asks you how your day is, say you’re having a great day! How does it help anyone to tell them about the bad day you’re having?
  • The ability to know how we come across and how we are being received by others is the difference between effective and ineffective people – ineffective people have no idea how they come across- to students, to colleagues, to parents, etc.
  • Why do some teachers stay behind their desks all day? They’re afraid of the kids. They don’t know how to interact with them.
  • Some teachers and principals have a “Kids First” attitude. Others? “Kids first… right after me.”
  • It’s hard to envision what great teaching can look like until you see it.
  • Principals can name the teacher who will submit the most office referrals for the 2018-2019 school year. And class lists have not yet been made!
  • Parents bring you the very best they have.
  • Students do the best they know how.
  • Why do whiners whine? Because it works.
  • Stop treating people – teachers, kids, parents- like they are bad. Treat everyone as though they are good. When you see a child in the hall, assume they are doing GOOD. Ask, “How can I help you?” Don’t ask one child, “What are you doing? Where is your pass? Why are you out there?” and treat another child differently by saying, “Hi, and enjoy your day.” Why do we choose to do that?
  • Treat bad people like they are good. This makes the good people feel better and the bad people feel uncomfortable.
  • Great principals confront negative teachers and bad principals don’t. Neither WANT to confront those negative teachers. The difference is in the action.
  • Shift the monkey!
  • When bad people act inappropriately, it gives good people and good supervisors “the monkey.” The bad people have none. Shift the monkey.
  • Don’t take down all of the stall doors if one person keeps writing on it. Don’t punish the whole group for the actions of a single or a minority. (Let’s stop making the entire class put their heads down/missing recess/other consequences.)
  • In a great teachers’ school, nothing happens randomly. Great teachers have an intention behind every action: how the room is arranged, how partners are chosen…
  • Principals, one goal you should have when hiring a new teacher:  for the school to become more like the new teacher – not for the teacher to become like your school.
  • Admin, your teachers and staff want guidance, not corrections. Teach them how.
  • Don’t allow your new teachers emulate the veterans who aren’t good role models – get them to follow the leads of the strong teachers.
  • “Losers” pretend they are representing a whole lot of other people. The best people represent themselves.
  • Approach “crummy” people from the side, because they can’t stand it. The best teachers approach kids from the side, while the worst teachers approach them by drawing a line in the sand.
  • You can’t just win playing defense, you have to cultivate community.
  • Great teachers have an incredible ability to ignore. Ignore means, “I choose to respond or not to respond to something that’s taking place.” A great teacher has an unlimited ability to ignore. A poor teacher has no ability to do that.
  • “It is people, not programs.” Great teachers making a great school. 
  • To improve your school, hire better teachers or improve the ones you have.
  • The trend is to attempt to mandate effectiveness. You can’t do that!
  • “It is 10 days out of 10?” How many days out of 10 do you want students to treat you with dignity? They should expect the same from you.
  • “Arguing with a student is like wrestling a pig. You both get muddy, but the pig sure seems like he’s enjoying it!”
  • In a great teacher’s classroom, the kids don’t know the teachers have “buttons” because they’ve never been pushed. They’ve never seen them.
  • When is sarcasm appropriate in the classroom? Never. Humiliating someone in front of their peers under the guise of humor is unacceptable.
  • Leaders, make expectations clear from the beginning of the year.
  • Great teachers don’t have rules, they have expectations.
  • Teacher and admin evaluation systems systems are now mandating in attempts to teach the ineffective people how to be effective, when the effective people have been doing it right for a long time!
  • Every adults should say hi to every kid every time they pass them in the hall.  It doesn’t matter if that greeting is important to the adult, and it might not mean anything to the student, except for the one day that it does.
  • Classroom management has a lot to do with management of self
  • “The best thing about being a teacher is it matters. The hardest thing is that it matters every day. All the time.”
To close, Todd gave a shout out to Twitter and recommended that educators use the platform to connect with other great teachers and principals from around the world. I personally didn’t find ASCD to have an overly “connected” audience, but I did have the opportunity to meet with two administrators and get them started with developing their PLN, which was rewarding.
Thank you, Todd Whitaker, for your inspiring words in a time in the school year when it’s imperative to remember to “shift the monkey.” And thanks, ASCD, for the opportunity to share my conference experiences.

A conversation with Heidi Hayes Jacobs

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Photo by Dan Callahan

It was a privilege to spend my time at ASCD as a member of the press. On Sunday at an author’s luncheon, I had the chance to speak with Heidi Hayes Jacobs along with several members of my PLN. I read her book, Curriculum 21, shortly after its publication, and also enjoyed Jacobs’s TedxNYED talk. She asks all educators to consider, “What year are you preparing your students for?” and the content and ideas she shares cause you to reflect deeply about your school’s current practices and how shifts in curriculum, organization, professional development, and the types of learning in which our students engage are imperative. Joining in the discussion were Mary Beth Hertz, Josh Stumpenhorst, and Jason Flom among others, all passionate educators looking to lead this shift in their schools.

 “We need a new type of pedagogy and a new type of teacher.”

Jacobs shared her views on the varied pedagogies, including “antiquated pedagogy” (“drive-by” teaching, when there is no relationship between teacher and student); classical pedagogy (teachers are sensitive to their students and know how to engage with them, when to talk, and when to be silent; classical pedagogies are timeless), and the new pedagogy, where teachers realize they’re going to need to shift their roles. She referenced David Langford who referred to the student-teacher relationship as “colleague-colleague” relationships. We’re all colleagues… we’re all learners here.

Teachers (and administrators) need to be learners.  They need to be literate in digital media, and they need to be globally literate. These two characteristics are interconnected, but different. Mary Beth shared that she’s working to establish the colleague-colleague/learner-learner relationship with her students as many of us are, and Jacobs mentioned that the latest in value-added teacher evaluation methods tied to high-stakes testing are “irrational” and will do little to support new pedagogies.

She applauded those educators who are using digital tools to establish an online presence to reflect upon their learning and for use with students, and she said it’s difficult for teachers to get started with this without knowing what “quality” looks like in this area. When she first began blogging, she looked to Mike Fisher for inspiration. We need to show teachers examples of quality digital learning and share with one another. Mary Beth described trying to explain the power of connected learning to non-connected educators as “trying to imagine a sunset in a room with no windows.”

Jacobs raved about the global forum they presented at an opening session of ASCD, where schools, students, and teachers from China, Mexico, and New Zealand came together via Skype and other digital platforms to engage in powerful learning with one another.

As for professional development, it is essential in bringing about school-wide improvement, but it must be differentiated. She reminded us to “declare our century” and shared her disappointment in examining standardized tests from the 70s whose questions mirrored those from the 90s. Where is the progress? She urged us to look at our school websites. “Does it look like you’re selling car insurance?”

A focus of Jacobs’s work has always been mapping and standards, and she shared with us her current ventures working with Common Core 360 to create the LiveBook and LivePlanner, professional development platforms for teachers. She spoke excitedly of the capabilities of the highly customizable platform, an “interactive ebook experience that gives educators the theory, research, and case studies behind curriculum integration.” She described it as a “new type of reading experience.”

The conversation shifted to ebooks and textbooks and what our kids need educational  materials to be. Jacobs believe “every kid should have an annotated clearinghouse” that they, themselves, develop. We need to help children become curators and develop digital literacy skills.

I asked how school leaders can get this process started. What must every educational leader understand in order to help their schools progress? She believes every admin and teacher needs to commit to “upgrading.” Look at what you’re doing now, and make a change to at least one aspect of your leadership. When she and her team work with administrators, they spend the day forcing a culture of sharing- getting them using the tools, opening their eyes to the opportunities for globalization. She encourages admin to “get rid of meetings” and connect virtually. In regards to professional development, we discussed the #edcamp model, and how an autonomous learning model such as those provided in #edcamp settings would address the needs of a variety of adult learners. Jacobs helped us visualize a quadrant that organizes adult learning needs.

  • High Curriculum, High Tech Competencies – These teachers need autonomous learning, feedback, modeling, and the opportunities to share
  • High Curriculum, Low Tech Competencies – Need 1:1 support with the tools to help make ties to their strong curricular knowledge base
  • Low Curriculum, High Tech Competencies – Workshop model can be successful to reach these teachers
  • Low Curriculum, Low Tech Competencies – These teachers “need a career change” or “a lot of support.” (That honesty was refreshing.)

“The biggest mistake you can make is selling something in education,” she said. When administrators are working with their teams to decide how to proceed with instruction, curriculum, schedules, anything – imagine there is a student sitting at the table with your team. The guiding rule of the discussion is that any idea or concern that is raised has to be in the child’s best interest. While all team members won’t always agree, it will always be a good conversation if the child remains the focus. According to Jacobs, it’s a “no brainer” that we need to use technology in our schools. We have to prove it’s NOT good for kids before we should say it shouldn’t be used in schools, but ultimately, the first issue should not be ADULT comfort with the technology. “It’s not whether we use technology, it’s how.” Technology purchasing decisions are another great challenge today’s school administrators face. Today’s high school juniors have very different technology needs than our incoming kindergarteners do. How do administrators best manage to prioritize, purchase, manage, provide professional development for, and support learning with a large variety of tools?

Jacobs is an optimist in that she believes that many times, people are willing to change, they just don’t know how. We want our children to be able to live and learn independently of us, and frankly we’ve done students a disservice by creating such dependencies on the adults in the classrooms.

Jason keenly stated, “I want to be obsolete by the end of the year.”

Jacobs emphatically replied, “Yes!”

 

Relationships, passion, and the pursuit of learning.

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What did I learn on the first day of this year’s ASCD conference in Philadelphia?

  • Relationships rule.
  • Without passion, learning suffers.
  • Educators who connect have unlimited access to support systems, resources, and inspiration.

I know other bloggers have echoed these sentiments in their reflections, but it’s because they all ring true. It only took a few moments listening to ASCD 2012 Outstanding Young Educators Liliana Aguas and Matt McClure to recognize some of this.

Liliana, a 2nd grade teacher from Berkeley, California, explained how a passion for science led her to develop inquiry-based, hands-on learning projects that she and her colleagues shared at a local elementary school while they were working in a lab. She found that she loved watching students “discover.” The principal of the building said that she should become a teacher. She replied, “I work in a lab! I don’t teach!” Nevertheless, she was offered a fifth grade position, and she accepted. As a US immigrant, she began to contemplate the role of language and its influence on how we learn, and now works in a dual immersion classroom where she continues to stress the importance of discovery and inquiry on a daily basis.

Matt McClure, Superintendent of Cross County Schools in Cherry Valley, AK, spoke to his work with groups of constituents in his district. He asked teachers, “What skills do our kids need?” and then together they worked to prepare students for their futures. He said, “Knowledge is cheap. Everyone can be an expert.” What does this type of access to information mean for our students today? As McClure said, “It’s what you do with it that matters.” He stressed building relationships and trust with parents and community to allow for innovative practices and risk-taking.

Want your teachers to be more passionate about professional development? Consider hosting an edcamp-style PD day at your school and sending your teachers to your nearby edcamp offerings in the future. Kristen Swanson, Ann Leaness, and Chrissi Miles led a great conversation about how to better empower teachers and place them in command of their own learning through the “unconference,” edcamp model. While this may be intimidating for some, and a definite departure from typical PD models, I can speak from experience that the days when we allow teachers to direct their own learning and share with colleagues have been the most rewarding days of learning for staff. This is evident in the feedback they provide to us. They’re hungry for more of these days. They know that together, they’re better. The ideas flow freely, the growth is organic. They inspire one another, push each other, and ask the hard questions. If you’re an administrator who is looking to involve your teachers in this type of day, please contact me any time with questions, and/or check out these additional resources from the edcamp session here, here, and visit the Edcamp wiki. My next edcamp? Edcamp Philly, May 19. Join us!

After the sessions ended, it was time to meet up with friends, both old and new, at the Tweetup hosted by ASCD. These are always fun events, because you have the chance to meet face-to-face those educators who provide you with a wealth of resources, ideas, and support each and every day. Each time you meet someone new, you further develop your PLN. There’s nothing better than receiving a heartfelt paper tweet from Jerry, conversing with Joe and Antony about the sheer joys of the principalship :) , meeting Josh’s adorable spawns, talking with Spike and his colleagues and looking forward to their future visit, meeting Jason and Bill for the first time, and engaging in genuine conversations with so many passionate educators.

I know we continue to say this, but being a connected educator enhances the work that we do with students on a daily basis. And, let’s face it, that’s intense work. So it’s time to sift through the jargon, look past the big claims made by companies touting the “latest and greatest,” and get back to relationships, sharing with one another, admitting we all have a lot to learn, and helping each other do just that.

Lessons on leadership.

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CC licensed photo shared by Flickr user woodleywonderworks

With every turn of the page or scroll through a Reader feed, someone, somewhere, is giving advice on what leaders ought to be. Consider this recent post from passionate teacher Megan Allen who describes for us the qualities she feels “amazing” administrators possess. Or Erin Paytner’s latest post, 29 Things I’ve Learned as an Administrator…So far… I found many of those lessons to ring true for me, now in my fourth year as principal, as did Jeff Delp’s post regarding productivity, priorities, and the challenges school leaders face.

So the articles, blog posts, and books on leadership will keep on coming, because the role of leadership is ever-evolving and increasingly complex with each passing day. (And with each passing mandate.) I enjoy reading the work of leaders in fields outside of education, too. While not every lesson can be translated to the work we do with students, many can, and should, be considered. In a recent issue of Entrepreneur magazine, a piece entitled “The masters” by Christopher Hann highlights the successes of leaders who’ve managed to stay at the head of their games, and the philosophies they live by to do so.

Consider Mark Leslie, the CEO of Veritas. One of his top priorities is transparency - making sure that everyone in the organization knows as much information as he does, to squash secrecy and avoid uneven shifts in power. He stresses the importance of trust.

“I believe if you want to be trusted, you have to trust first,” he says. “If you do that, you will be betrayed sometimes. But the value of engendering trust is greater than the cost of being betrayed sometimes. People believed we were going to tell them the truth, be straight, honest, and didn’t think we were going to screw them.”

Further, Leslie makes developing a strong working environment a priority.

“It’s not about command and control. You attract the best and the brightest and people and create an environment where they can use their intelligence and judgment to act autonomously.”

For all of us charged with leading organizations of learning, we know that successful schools are built around a strong, shared culture and community. Clint Smith, the CEO of a marketing firm in Tennessee, shared ideas for how to develop and sustain the often illusive, but always desired, workplace culture. He began by examining the physical environment and ensuring his workplace was one where employees could be productive and feel happy in their work. William Smith, founder of IT company Euclid Elements, highlighted the need for leaders to develop awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses. This requires continual self-examination from individuals as well as the team as a whole.

“We want to get better at designing and developing products. That requires a real self-awareness as a team, and that’s an extremely important part of the culture we want to create- being aware of what we do well and what we don’t do so well.”

One of my takeaways from Educon each year is the way in which principal Chris Lehmann has built a shared culture for learning with all teachers, students, and the community, and it is both highly apparent and intoxicating. So while bringing the best team on board is an important part of a leader’s role, how the team is managed is equally as important. So agrees Leslie.

“You have to get great people to come in,” Leslie says. “You have to respect them, give them freedom. You have to provide the mission and the vision: Who are we and where are we going?”

Other leaders featured in the article stressed the importance of having fun with your teams;  weeding out employees who don’t want to be team players or don’t treat colleagues with respect; empowering and allowing team members to shine and reap the rewards of their hard work; and building an organization that is sustainable over time. With all of these philosophies and strategies shared, consider the quote featured in the center of the article:

“Creating a system that enables employees to achieve great things often comes down to the work of a single leader.”

No pressure, eh?

Leslie’s closing words touched upon the realities of leadership, which can be isolating and solitary.

“It’s an old cliche: It’s lonely at the top. It truly is. There’s no one to talk to. It’s a journey of discovery, a journey alone. And you actually have to be comfortable enough with yourself to do that.”

For school leaders such as those I’ve come to know through Connected Principals and other groups in my PLN, I think we have an advantage in that while we do embark on many solitary journeys each and every day, we know we have a strong foundation of colleagues and experienced voices to support us along the way.

 

Read the article online in its entirety here: Leadership Lessons from the Top of the Org Chart, by Christopher Hann.

Questions and Elemeducon.

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Shared by CarbonNYC on Flickr

I left Educon 2.4 with questions. I think that’s the point. For every new “a-ha” moment, a handful of extending questions surfaced in my brain. Some energized me, some exhausted me.

“What if?” This was the first question I was asked to ponder at Educon. David Jakes led a session that caused us to truly expound on our thinking about topics ranging from hallways in our schools to shopping cart design. Design Thinking for Educators is a resource that I’ve referenced in the past but would like to explore in depth. I see tremendous power in this process, yet could also see how many of us were extended past our comfort levels in thinking about change. Our experiences tell us that the ideation process should typically have limits. The design thinking process says, “No, it doesn’t.” We need to start asking, “What if?”

“Social media-fueled PD: is it making a difference?” Lots of chatter here. Jon Becker, Meredith Stewart, and Bud Hunt asked us to consider whether the time we spend engaged in learning through Twitter and unconventional methods. The #edchat and #edcamp folks amassed in this session, I believe, to stand firm and defend their methods of learning through social media. I don’t think the facilitators questioned the value we find in these methods so much as they wished for us to consider how we would defend the impact of this learning to parents, administrators, etc. A few months ago a conversation on Twitter emerged about how we measure the effectiveness of this PD. What actual difference is it making in our schools? How is that impact measured? And should it be? My take-away comment from this session came from Shelly Blake-Plock, who essentially declared that this type of learning “ruined his life,” in so much as it turned his life upside down; changed his way of thinking; caused him to relocate, change jobs, and devote himself to working with at-risk students. I’d imagine his students are quite thankful for this transformation.

“How do we ask the right questions?” Zac Chase’s session asked us to consider our inquiry-based practices in schools. What questions are we asked our students? Teachers? Why? He opened with a story about a young boy and his mother in the airport. The mother seeking to keep her son distracted from through a proposed “game” involving the arrivals/departure board; the son asking to change the “rules” of the game in order to better meet his needs.  So when we allow the learner to change the rules- if it gets us to the same goal, does it matter? Perhaps more importantly, are the questions we’re asking leading to the right goals?

“So you’re connected… now what?” Team Couros & Larkin again hosted a session to discuss the administrator’s role in propelling learning organizations forward through immersion with connected learning. This follow-up session also sought to define and describe real ways in which connected learning are influencing students. Not surprising, the topics of administrative fear, apprehension, and skepticism were raised. Many administrators are still uncomfortable with the ideas of connecting themselves, their teachers, and their students. Are you an administrator? Or do you know one? Send them to Connected Principals. Get them connected with one of us. It starts with tough conversations, but it has to start somewhere.

“How can we rethink learning spaces?” Michael Wacker and Glenn Moses kicked off their conversation by asking us to consider, “What is the most meaningful PD you’ve ever had?” Many mentioned Twitter (I stand in my position that Twitter in itself is not PD – the conversations and connections with other learners through that vehicle could constitute development, but Twitter is merely a tool), #edcamps, and the like. I remember when I taught 5th grade, one of my colleagues ran a PD session as a requirement for one of her master’s courses. It was the first time information was formally presented to me by a colleague. As I think back on that now, I found that session to be very engaging and informative, and I believe it was that much more meaningful since the ideas being shared were from someone I worked with on a daily basis. It was personal and real, as all PD should be, no matter if the learning space is physical or virtual.

Elemeducon. I proposed my conversation because in past years, I felt there hasn’t been much of an elementary focus in the conversations at Educon. I think that’s now changing, as there were several sessions this year with an elementary focus. My hope is that we can continue the discussion raised in our energizing elementary innovation session on the final day of the event. We asked a lot of questions. I’m working on a separate space to share our thoughts from the session, to create a place where the many passionate elementary educators in our world can share ideas and support one another through this journey.

Do you have ideas for what you would like to see in this space? Format? Must-haves? Essential components? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Stay tuned! 

Battling skepticism.

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“Skepticism has many definitions, but generally refers to any questioning attitude towards knowledge, facts, or opinions/beliefs stated as facts, or doubt regarding claims that are taken for granted elsewhere.”

Source: Wikipedia

Yesterday in a conversation with an elementary principal colleague, I allowed myself to become irritated.

I wasn’t irritated with Bill. He seems to be a genuinely great person who works hard to bring the best learning opportunities to his school. I’ve never actually met him, although I imagine I will engage in a face-to-face conversation at some point in the future, since his school is in a neighboring county in Pennsylvania. P.S. Bill is working to develop his PLN, so visit his profile and say hello! 

Principal networking was the topic of our conversation. In our county, there are planned elementary principals’ meetings at our IU about once every two months or so. Turnout is low- maybe 12-15. Considering how many elementary principals there are in our county, it’s not an impressive gathering. They do their best to accommodate our schedules by beginning at 7:30 and striving to return us to our buildings by 9:30 to avoid interruptions to our day, which we all appreciate. They offer topics that are interesting and informative. There are robust conversations. We end up leaving with packets of paper. Not my favorite.

But I wonder – what about the two months between meetings? Surely we have topics to discuss, questions to ask, and may be in need of support during the “off” time? Why limit our network capabilities in this way? Resources are sometimes shared via a listserv (I didn’t even know to spell listserv), so needless to say there isn’t a lot of sharing and communication that is ongoing and/or powerful.

Bill shared that elementary principals in his county met for the first time using Elluminate. Wow! I was impressed to hear that they utilized that format to streamline the meeting process. Sadly, attendance was low. I believe he said there were about 2 or 3 participants.

2 or 3. Out of a county of 9 districts, one of which is a large urban district with 15 elementary schools. Imagine the power of bringing all of those principals together- each with unique skill sets, ideas, questions, concerns, and resources to share.

“If you build it, they will come.” Not always. Because, as we know, to delve into working with new technologies and interacting with social media in new ways requires a foundation of trust. In one another, in the systems, in the ideologies.

It takes courage and an open mind, too.

Here’s my irritation: A participant in Bill’s session voiced his concern about Twitter, in that you’re not able to trust who you follow online because they might not be who they say they are. Really? As building administrators, that’s the level of awareness we have about social media? I worry for our teachers and students in our schools if that is the case.

Could you possibly encounter someone online who is portraying themselves as an elementary principal but who really isn’t? I suppose. (And I could think of about a billion more glamorous personas to assume!) But a misconception that Twitter profiles are fluff comes from someone who has only encountered the portrayal of what social media could be. He has yet to experience this type of networking for himself. It comes from a need to learn more about digital literacies. And if he hasn’t experienced it, he surely isn’t modeling it for his school community.

So, as school leaders who find benefit in this type of networking, we need to do a better job of demonstrating how and why it makes a difference. Many of us share our ideas on our blogs, at conferences, in publications…. and I think we’re really getting somewhere with school administrators as a whole.

I know it is not the only way to network, and I appreciate face-to-face opportunities for learning. But I know the demands of this role become more incredible every day.  And I know that we all experience the strain and stress this job can bring, and that having a network I can turn to is sometimes my saving grace on the rare occasion when I steer towards my wit’s end. They always have answers, and they always provide support.

So what I’m looking for in the comments section below are ways that administrators who are new to social media and professional learning networks can get started. Help their fears subside… help them battle the skepticism and preconceived notions they may have about the tools and the connections made. By sharing one real example of how social media has added to your learning, and/or by listing resources such as Connected Principals where administrators can go to gain a sense of community, or book titles such as Communicating and Connecting with Social Media, we can help grow our collective.

Please add to the conversation! 

CC licensed image shared by Flickr user heyjudegallery

Find (and share) your voice.

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Before I became a world-renowned blogger with a boatload of Klout*, my ramblings were published, in ink, in our college newspaper.

I was…. wait for it…. a humor columnist.

Those of you that have witnessed my hilarity firsthand would consider that to be an appropriate assignment, while others may furrow their brows in confusion and/or will likely leave this page for a more interesting read.

Sometimes I forget that I wrote for our school paper. I don’t remember how that happened. I don’t recall much about the creative process where I developed ideas for my posts (such topics included, but were not limited to, 1984 diesel VW Rabbits (The Diesel Train, as we called her, looked a little something like this), the childhood game of MASH, and the Tom Green show), but I know I enjoyed writing Playful Banter and contributing in that manner to our college community was a very meaningful experience.

I had a voice, and I shared it.

I saved the print copies of my columns, and curiosity about the current state of The Etownian led me to discover its online version, as well as a series of accompanying blogs. An awesome transformation, in my opinion.

How do today’s Etownian writers benefit? For one, they probably have a much smoother time of drafting, editing, revising, and publishing their work. I know I had several hoops to jump through to get my column published, which included having to visit the newspaper’s Mac lab instead of write from the “office” of our dilapidated-rowhome-turned-offcampus-housing-for-me-and-ten-of-my-closest-friends.

The writers and editors surely have an excellent idea about which posts/features are popular and well-read. Using analytics, they likely can provide columnists with in-depth statistics about their readership. While I like to believe my column had its fans, after re-reading my posts today… I can’t be certain. #notasfunnyasitwasbackthen

There’s real-time posting: sportswriters can post images and news snippets from games; current events and news from campus is reported in a timely manner. Posts connect with social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to reach a broader audience (if I wanted my parents to read my column I had to clip and mail it to them! Although upon review it appears I used some mild profanity in my posts. So I probably didn’t clip and send those columns anywhere.) You can now subscribe to The Etownian through RSS.

Readers can comment. There are now conversations where there once were one-sided accounts. I love this message on the blog:

Recently, we’ve grown our community as we extend our commitment to reaching readers outside of the campus grounds. Our plan is to be able to not only provide our content across different platforms, but to also use these mediums to engage.

Yes!

And, in the spirit of all things glorious about college newspapers, there is a print edition available, hosted on Issuu.

A multitude of voices, available and powerful, in so many different ways.

Sometimes, I lose my way creatively, especially with writing. I feel like I have nothing to say, which is when the weeks between posts on this blog reach two, three, or even four. Does that mean that my voice is lost? How else can I contribute and make my voice heard?

I chime in on Twitter occasionally. I comment on others’ blogs. I share resources with my staff and with my online colleagues. I contribute to conversations in the PLP Hub. So even if my thoughts aren’t enough to constitute a full post or column, I can add my thoughts to conversations about teaching and learning. I read. I reflect. I share photos, and post to my Posterous page or share something on Facebook. I share posts on our school blog. I browse my Google Reader feeds and check out what’s new on Zite.

How well do we prepare kids to share their voices in this digital age? Are we providing them with their own spaces? Empowering them to facilitate conversations, moderate comments, and share their voice with others? Or are we owning the spaces, dictating how, when, and what they can share? Are we limiting this to writing, or are we allowing them to post videos? Photos? Audio/podcasts? Artwork? Are we making sure there’s time in the day for creation, not overwhelming consumption? Are we teaching them to be responsible for every…single…thing they post online? How are we doing that? Are we using stand-alone lessons delivered in the media center, or is every single adult in the building modeling how he builds his own reputable digital footprint, and how he contributes to the collective?

How are your students’ voices being heard by parents and school community members? Is evidence of their learning just a click away? Or do they have to wait for conferences… or folders sent home… or article clippings?

Make 2012 the year your voices are heard- yours, and your students’!

*Insert please-recognize-sarcasm-when-you-read-it-giggles here.

Emotions available upon request.

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CC licensed photo shared by Flickr user Darwin Bell

For the past two days another elementary principal and I have hosted a variety of teacher candidates in my office for round after round of interviews for long-term substitute teaching positions. These positions are for extended periods of time in order to serve during family leave absences.

That being said, while there is no contract attached to the positions, I would expect as much out of a LTS candidate as I would for a full-time, contracted teacher.

Know this.

A bit about the process:
a) candidates submit complete applications in order to pass the first level of screening- we use the service PA Educator to screen electronic apps according to criteria we set
b) out of the hundreds (yes, hundreds, for one elementary position) that pass the screening, our assistant superintendent reviews apps and sends to the principals for review apps that may be a “good fit” for the open positions
c) principals review paper copies of the candidate’s documentation: resumes, cover letters, reference letters, transcripts; we then narrow the stack and schedule interested candidates for interviews. (Note: I have an incredibly hard time discerning qualities of candidates on paper. GPAs are similar. Canned reference letters are abundant. Extracurriculars are the same. Somehow, work to make yourself shine on paper. Proofread. Twelve times.)
d) at least two admin run the interviews; depending upon length and type of position offered, central office personnel are also involved, and there may be multiple interviews

I didn’t want this post to be about the process. A lot of schools use similar methods to narrow the field of candidates. I wanted this post to be about the quality of responses I received from candidates in our interviews.

Since I was the host, I selected the questions. A few years ago our administrative team read James Stronge and Jennifer Hindman’s The Teacher Quality Index: A Protocol for Teacher Selection and worked together to develop an interview protocol for our district, including sample questions for five domains: The Teacher as a Person, Classroom Management and Organization, Planning for Instruction, Implementing Instruction, and Monitoring Student Progress and Potential. Each question’s intent is outlined, with ideal responses summarized, and rubrics guide “scoring” of candidate responses. There is a writing sample included in the protocol, as well as providing the candidate with a “prerequisites of effective teaching score.” This pertains to how experienced the candidate is, the level of professionalism exhibited, etc.

Not surprisingly, the majority of my questions came from the “Teacher as a Person” category.

That’s what I’m looking for. Genuine people.

Here are some highlights and lowlights. If you are a teacher candidate, please, read and reflect upon your current preparedness to impress your interviewers. If you are someone who works with pre-service teachers, I implore you to pass along my sentiments. Not every administrator and school is looking for the same thing. I understand that. But even my colleague and I, who have very different building climates and who were seeking different qualities in our new hires, could agree on the strengths and needs of those before us.

The Highs

  • When asked about ideal physical space for a classroom, nearly all candidates indicated the desire for students to be grouped in order to facilitate collaboration, communication, and teamwork. One candidate mentioned that group work helps students “build knowledge together.” I loved that. Many mentions of cozy spaces where kids can enjoy independent reading and learning.
  • Positive reinforcements shone through as ways to “manage” a classroom. There was not a lot of talk about elaborate systems for classroom management, or discipline.
  • Many mentions of the importance of building community and getting to know students on a personal level in order to be successful.

The Lows

  • Lack of elaboration with responses. Please provide concrete examples of how this looks in your classroom, or how it would look. Paint me a picture. Even if I don’t get time to look through your portfolio, ask if I want to see it. One of the candidates actually left her portfolio with us, and included a self-addressed, stamped envelope for us to return it to her. Genius- although, better yet, give me the link to your online portfolio.
  • Too many buzzwords, some of which included: differentiation (I throw up in my mouth a little when I hear that, UNLESS you proceed to tell me what that looks like and why you would use such a word in the first place); think-pair-share, guided reading, manipulatives, blah blah.
  • A general “Technology is so important for kids today” notion, but not being able to articulate meaningful uses for technology in the classroom.
  • When the opportunity arises to ask the interviewers questions, don’t ask anything you can find on the website or principal’s blog. I enjoyed this question: “How would you describe your school community in one or two sentences?” Happy to do so.
  • A disheartening observation: When asked to describe an instance when the candidate had difficulty with a particular child’s behavior and how it was approached, within seconds of beginning the response, there was a mention of the child’s diagnosis: ADHD, ES, Asperger’s, etc. Guess what? I don’t care what the diagnosis is. I want to learn how you responded to the needs of the child and best supported her as demonstrated by her behaviors. Done.
  • Since I’m me, I asked: “Outside of taking formal courses through college or graduate programs, what are some things you do to help you grow and stay current as a professional?” Typical responses: I read professional books. I read articles. I listen in the faculty room when other teachers are discussing education. (I am quite skeptical of the quality of those discussions :) Since I sub, I get to learn about a lot of different programs and methods. Okay. So now what? Who are you going to talk to about the things you’re learning? There were zero responses that indicated any level of professional connectedness. One person mentioned going online to find ideas – but not to connect with others. We need to get our teachers connected.
  • A general lack of passion. Can some of that be attributed to nerves? Meh, maybe. Practice your responses. Talk to yourself in the mirror. This will help the nerves subside.

For the love of God, be emotional with me. Show me you want to be with my kids. Tell me. Tell me all about the activities you’ll do together. Give me details. Share your ideas with me. I won’t think you’re crazy. Be passionate in your responses. If I have to wonder, for one second, if you love kids? You’re not going to be offered a position. I can teach you programs. I can develop your content knowledge. I probably can’t transform you into a human being who loves being a teacher if you don’t inherently love doing so.

Passion is necessary. Don’t make me request your emotions -provide them, in every word, every response, every example of why you want to teach in my school.

‘Tis the season.

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CC licensed photo shared by Flickr user rust man

Awards mean a lot, but they don’t say it all. The people in baseball mean more to me than statistics. - Ernie Banks

The people responsible for the words on the page -er, the screen – are (hopefully) the reasons many of us take the time to nominate our favorite reads for Edublog awards. It is why I wish to share with you my nominations, with the sincere desire that you stumble upon a perspective you perhaps did not before consider.

Best Group Blog: Cooperative Catalyst 

The writers who contribute to Cooperative Catalyst push my thinking in every post. They passionately and intelligently challenge their readers to consider the questions and possible solutions that drive educational reform. Some of my favorite individual bloggers (John T. Spencer, for one) contribute to Cooperative Catalyst, and it’s a must-read for all educators, in my opinion.

(P.S. My heart belongs to Connected Principals and Voices from the Learning Revolution, however I am affiliated with both of those group blogs, so cannot nominate them.)

Best School Administrator Blog: Jeff Delp, Molehills out of Mountains
Jeff Delp’s blogging reflections always leave a lasting impression on me. He writes about topics of high interest to this administrator, including honest and self-critical reflections of his own practice. As someone who is new to the role of principal, I’d say Jeff’s wisdom and insight into the position rivals some of the more seasoned veteran administrators I know. Thanks, Jeff, for making me want to be a better principal.

Best Teacher Blog: Shelley Wright, Wright’s Room
But what does it look like? I think in theory we’d all agree that an inquiry learning environment is what we want most for our students. But it’s difficult to envision what the shifted classroom looks like – what is the teacher’s role? What are her students doing? Inquiry learning comes to life through the eloquent, honest, real-life-looks-and-feels-like-this posts of high school teacher Shelley Wright. She isn’t afraid to express her hopes, fears, failures, and successes through her writing, and I appreciate her transparent learning in this space. Thank you, Shelley!

 

Best Individual Blog: Bill Ferriter, The Tempered Radical
Bill blogs about PLCs. He blogs about leadership. He blogs about technology integration. He blogs about learning with and from his students and school community members. He shares what he’s reading. I appreciate the ways he challenges assumptions and has made me feel uncomfortable in my role as an educational administrator on more than one occasion. If I could hand pick my child’s teachers, he would be one of them. Thanks, pal!

 

Best Twitter Hashtag: #cpchat
I again nominate #cpchat, born out of the brains behind Connected Principals, although it’s blossomed into quite a comprehensive tag where anything related to educational leadership and learning can be found.

 

Best Ed tech/Resource Sharing blog: Jeff Utecht, The Thinking Stick
Jeff is quite knowledgeable about the ins and outs of everything ed tech from WordPress and blogging to Google Apps for educators (who wouldn’t want to learn how to be a Google Apps Ninja?!), and he’s also a fantastic person willing to take the time out of his busy day to respond to a principal’s email query. Thanks, Jeff!

 

Best Librarian/Library Blog: A Year of Reading 
One of the things I miss most about the classroom is that I feel out of touch with the latest and greatest children’s and YA book releases. Thankfully there are blogs like A Year of Reading, where contributors Franki and Mary Lee (a full-time school librarian and fourth grade teacher) share delightful reviews of newly released books and poetry. Well worth the visit. Thank you, A Year of Reading!

 

Best open PD/unconference/webinar series: Teacher Learning Community/Simple K-12 Webinars 
The free webinars offered by the Teacher Learning Community vary greatly in topics presented and intended audience, so there really is “something for everyone.” As an administrator always on the lookout for alternatives to costly, time-intensive PD for teachers, Simple K-12′s webinars offer quality learning experiences for individuals looking to enhance their professional practice. Thanks!

I dislike that I can’t nominate more than one blog per category, and I regret that I cannot personally recognize every member of my network whose ideas spark in me a desire to become a stronger educator, to do things differently- to fearlessly explore the unexplored, take risks and make mistakes, and approach conversations with courage. I have compiled some of my favorite blog reads in this bundle (also in the sidebar of this blog), and I hope you take some time to peruse and subscribe to it, if so moved.

While I know not everyone will take the time to submit Edublog award nominations, I hope you find the way to recognize someone who has positively influenced your learning.

‘Tis the season.

Get connected and make a difference.

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Originally posted on Connected Principals

CC licensed photo shared by Flickr user fauxto_digit

When I taught sixth grade science, our students were immersed in learning about wildlife characteristics, environments, and patterns in nature in relation to the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and our surrounding region. For weeks we explored and discussed the habitats and migratory cycles of raptors, plant life, conservation, as well as the formation of the “river of rocks” and other natural phenomenon that delighted children and helped spark in them a real desire to learn more about the environment. Our culminating day-long adventure to the sanctuary (just a short drive from campus… lucky us!) provided students with an appreciation for, and deeper understanding of, the beautiful and fascinating world of nature that surrounds them.This is a unit that was important to us personally, as residents of the Hawk Mountain area. Yes, there were PA science “standards” that related to our content, but we delved deeper. Had we only covered the required content standards at surface value, it would not have yielded as many benefits for students.This week’s #edchat was about how to close the gap between connected and non-connected groups of educators. I appreciate the many comments that pushed my thinking, like from Jon Becker who inquired whether I believed that if teachers/educators were not connected they weren’t learning or growing professionally. My response?

In one way, this planning for and inclusion of the Hawk Mountain experience in our curriculum required a certain level of connectedness among staff and the local area. At some point, teachers recognized the importance of including this environment in students’ learning experiences, and they made it a point to plan for that. It involved connecting oneself with the sanctuary in order to plan for the field trip, access resources, etc., as well as connecting with one another in order to plan for a meaningful unit for students, as there were many cross-curricular connections developed.

Later in the #edchat conversation questions were raised about how we determine if teachers are growing professionally: what measures we use, how we use data, why we use it, who should be evaluating teachers and how, should we be considering other measures, why are we measuring everything, can we measure what’s important? And so on, and so forth.

Frankly, if you are not a connected educator at this point, you may not have an awareness that we are at a critical juncture in education. These driving questions must be answered. If you are not a connected educator, how can you support your own professional growth and the success of your children if you are not constantly questioning, re-evaluating, and striving for improvement?

It’s clear we’re not the only ones raising the questions above. We know our politicians and government systems (read: non-practicing educators) are working to design and implement common standards (the Common Core is coming for you, too, science). They are determining for schools across the country what’s important to teach. How do we feel about that? Where are the very important elements of local control and student ownership in all of this? Mary Ann reflects on Common Core’s definition of what types of text students need to be read in order to build comprehension. Will wonders, what do we absolutely need to teach?

And to improve student learning outcomes we need to ramp up teacher evaluation systems, correct? The “latest and greatest” systems rely heavily on student achievement data to determine teacher effectiveness. Principals and central office administrators are trying to wrap their heads around the new state-issued teacher evaluation systems that are draining their time, energy, and according to at least one principal, their passions. Increased principal presence in the classroom? Yay. Getting lost in 3-4 hours of cumbersome rubrics and paperwork per observation? Nay. Superintendent Kimberly Moritz ponders, How are we going to do this work? In Pennsylvania, a new teacher evaluation system is set to be implemented, where 50% of teacher evaluations are based on students’ standardized test scores and growth data. Should we consider perhaps more comprehensive standards of learning for our teachers in order to promote true professional growth?

Administrators, get connected. First, with yourself and your beliefs. What do you know about your communities and students, and the world in which we exist? What is important for children to know and be able to do? If you don’t know – find out. FROM KIDS, the community, and others around the world. Next, connect with your own school and administrative councils. Consider what you’re asking your teachers to teach; why you’re doing so; how you’re evaluating the effectiveness of the learning environments in your schools; when and how often you’re going to push the status quo and start demanding changes in your school’s curriculum, assessment, teacher evaluation systems, and instructional methods in order to provide more authentic learning for your children. Get connected. Make your voices heard among bodies of decision-making leaders, starting with your own administrative council and moving beyond into your state and national organizations.

There are schools and systems out there that are getting it right: they’re designing innovative learning experiences for students, and those students have immense ownership over their learning; they’re being guided by a curriculum in which they have personally invested time, effort, and input because it contains great value for the learners and places emphasis on skills such as creativity, critical thinking and global engagement; they understand how to most effectively evaluate teachers and their impact on student learning. Connect with these schools. Learn from them.

We can’t lose sight of what we know is important. We can’t lose the chance to engage our children with the beauty of the Hawk Mountains of the world. Being a connected educator is so much more than Tweeting some resources and reflecting in a blog post. Get connected and make a difference.