Are You Ready Yet?

As I wander in and out of classrooms throughout the course of a school day, I witness numerous gifts of skill, talent, and passion-driven teaching.  I see students engaged in learning- sometimes noisy and chaotic, sometimes quiet and focused intently on an activity. Kids are ready to go from the moment they arrive.  As educators, our challenge is to tap in to that readiness, that urgency, that excitement, and get kids learning with student interest and passion in mind. This requires a change on our part. This requires us to be ready to do something different and approach how we structure our learning environment to facilitate student-focused learning.

We are in the first year of 1:1 iPad integration with our 8th grade students. We adopted this change out of a desire that our students be ready for high school, where many will be using iPad's in a 1:1 setting. The impetus for this move was readiness on the part of our students. It required readiness for our teachers as well, to consider how this tool would be used in a meaningful way rather than as a distraction. I don't want to say "toy" because I see a benefit to playful learning. Some would argue Minecraft is using technology as a toy, I disagree. If a child is thinking critically, problem solving, and creating, we're seeing the top of Bloom's Taxonomy come to life- regardless of the academic benefit in question. We cannot continue to contain 21st Century learners to 20th Century structures and practices because we're comfortable. What it comes down to is a matter of readiness on our part.

Being ready can be a point of friction. Kids are ready for different things at different times. So are adults.  When we ask the question, "Are you ready?" we have to accept that the answer might be "No." When that response is given, the ball is in our court to address the barriers to readiness and change the mindset.

Here are some resources to get ready to push kids and ourselves...

12 Things Every Student Should Be Able to Do on Google Classroom

Have iPads? Here is a Bloom's Taxonomy tool for iPad apps.

Edutopia has numerous resources on Technology Integration.

TeachThought is a great resource for shifting the nature of education, especially this article, Tomorrow's Learning Today: 7 Shifts to Create a Classroom of the Future.

Teachers, schools, and districts are in different places in terms of readiness to change and adapting to prepare kids for the future. No matter where you may be, start with one thing you can modify to create a classroom where student drive is championed and kids are ready to meet the future as ready as can be.

Wavering on Waivers- What's Really Best for Kids?

I took a personal day on Friday. It is something I'm not good at, as I am constantly checking email and touching base with the office.  I have a hard time taking time away even though I know I have a fully capable staff who keeps the school running just fine when I'm not there.  However, I needed some quality time with my 2 1/2 year old daughter and I have been late at work several evenings preparing for our site visit in a few weeks. So, I took a day for myself.

However, one email stuck out to me on Friday morning. It was from the Director of the Iowa Department of Education, Dr. Brad Buck.  I glanced over it quickly, seeing that early start waivers wouldn't be automatically granted any more for districts that wanted to set their start date before September 1st.  This letter set off a lively debate, especially in the "comment" section on news station stories and Facebook posts. 

I wasn't surprised by the move.  This was going to happen eventually and seemed to be only a matter of time, as it had been attempted a few years ago.  The difference then was that there was a strong outcry by educators and our supporters that argued that tourism shouldn't trump the ability of schools to set their calendars as they see fit. It stopped there...until now. There is plenty of outcry, but I am not sure who is yelling louder, who will be listened to, or if it is going to achieve much.

I want to believe in the process.  I want to believe that as we begin to set calendars for the upcoming year, any reasoning we provide the Department of Education will be accepted and waivers will be granted anyhow. I want to believe that this letter was sent by the Director to satisfy the Governor and that the concerns of school leaders will be accepted and honored through granting a waiver. The only thing I believe firmly is that local school leadership is able to know what is best for our students in our local districts and these leaders are smart enough to plan accordingly by listening during public comment and surveys when establishing a calendar.

The argument for tourism is pretty shaky. In every district in which I've worked (four to be exact) there are parents who will pull their kids whenever they feel it convenient for their family to take a vacation, regardless of the school calendar.  Because, hey, "tickets to Florida are cheaper in October than April, so we're taking a vacation next week. Oh, and can you send homework along? We don't want them to miss anything." I've got a great way for them not to miss anything...

I get the family argument, but it doesn't quite hold up. This all plays in to the bigger problem in our society of devaluing educators and education. We erode control and support bit by bit and eventually, we are left with a lot of finger pointing, blame shifting, and the people for whom we were all trying to do what is best- the kids- are the ones who suffer in the end.

Without Remorse: Violence, Schools, and Our Kids.

An 11 year old arrested with knives, a gun, and 400 rounds of ammunition.

A 14 year old murders his teacher.

A 12 year old kills a teacher, shoots two others, and kills himself.

That was this week alone. As a school principal, a parent, and a citizen…I am disgusted.

With each event, we have to look this ugly monster in the face and dissect it. We can debate gun control, bullying prevention, metal detectors, cameras, arming teachers, and whatever other temporary school safety fix we can think of until we are blue in the collective face. Where has it gotten us to? I don't aim to discredit these discussions but the essential questions that we have been grappling with are: "Why?" and "How?" No matter how useless it may seem to ask these questions, they always surface. Why? Why this school?  Why this student? Why these teachers? How do we stop this from happening again?

I have grown up with these incidents as a disturbing emergence of normalcy in the news. I remember Springfield, Paducah, and Columbine, all of which occurred before I graduated high school. Add to that Red Lake, Virginia Tech, NIU, and Sandy Hook. One of my earliest memories of school violence occurred twenty miles south of my home, at the University of Iowa. In 1991, a graduate student shot and killed three professors, two students, and himself out of anger over an academic award.

School violence and violence toward children and educators is nothing new.  One of the worst events took place in 1927 in Bath Township, Michigan. A school board member who was upset about his farm being foreclosed upon, blew up the school, killing 45 and injuring 58 (Staff). However, the notable increase in occurrences each year seems to be on the rise, steadily, since the 1980's.

Are some instances the result of copycats? Perhaps. Are some of these instances of a bullied kid attempting to take control? Maybe. I believe there is a deeper and more haunting issue here. Our children believe they have the right to take someone else's life and they do not feel remorse.

I hate to sound old fashioned, but what are our kids raised by? Who do our kids look to for role models, if anyone? How do our kids escape harassment when they are connected day and night? There is little sense of community.  How many of your neighbors do you know? Not too long ago, we heard that it takes a village to raise a child. What has happened to our village? The school I serve as principal of is in a small town. Even here, kids would just as soon give you the finger than wave hello.

I know I'm painting with a pretty wide brush here, but respect for our fellow person and the awareness of each individual's sacred worth is nearly nonexistent.  As a Catholic school principal, I can talk openly with my students about our Christian duty to love and serve one another. In fact we have a little motto that I stole from my first teaching position: "Every day we are to treat each other as we would treat Jesus Christ- with all of our hearts, our minds, and our souls." I've taught in public schools and while spouting off religious ideology may get you fired, it is not out of line to reinforce the importance of respect and dignity for every creature. But to what avail? Even here, our students pledge not to bully- yet I see students regularly who say or do unkind things.

More and more gets piled on the plates of schools. It seems as though more often than not, we are in the business of raising other people's children rather than helping guide them to new understandings and explorations of knowledge. Home to school connections and relationships are critical. Relationships with our students are essential to save them from a cyclical and cynical world.

We need to foster a sense of community. We need to empower parents to actually parent. We need less celebration of classless and unsavory behavior. We need to respect each other so that our kids see that every person has worth. Most of all, we need to teach our kids the value of each person and that problems are not solved with a weapon or filthy rhetoric but through seeking to understand and working together for a solution. Maybe I am old fashioned…or even…help me God…more conservative than I ever thought I would sound. But we cannot keep doing what has always been done in hopes that kids stop killing others. At what point will enough be enough?

I look forward to the Governor's Bullying Prevention Summit on November 4th.  Maybe we'll have some ideas and solutions. Time shall tell.

References
Staff, P. (2013). School safety timeline Leading Issues Timelines. Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.com

What's Your Guiding Philosophy?

This is our building's guiding philosophy: "The Student is Always Worth It!" Every day, every student is worth our time, our effort, and our best. Our students are the reason our school exists. Anything less than quality instruction, strong relationships, and a positive attitude would be wrong.

As a school community, we have discussed our mission, vision, values, and goals.  We have taken time to study the status quo and dream about what we could be and what we want to be known for. Needless to say, our former mission had been around for a while and had grown to be wordy and in need of new life. Coming in as a new principal, this was an area I wanted to focus on.  Without a meaningful mission, the vision, values, and goals, and the school community as a whole plateaus, rests on its past successes and becomes irrelevant in our changing world.

In a time when we focus so greatly on a number of pressing issues, it can be unintentional, yet easy to ignore the culture and health of our learning community. Taking time to reevaluate our purpose and commitments can be a great culture builder.  Last week during our staff meeting, we worked through an activity from "The Ten-Minute Inservice" by Todd Whitaker and Annette Breaux. We brainstormed 10 things we are proud of at our school.  My plan is to share this list with parents and community members to showcase our pride in St. Patrick School and the good things we are doing.

In preparing for my role as a principal, I had numerous opportunities to reflect on my beliefs about education and what I would dream of as an ideal school.  Ideal schools do not exist in and of themselves, they are created. It cannot be the work of one administrator, teacher, or parent to create the ideal learning community.  It must be a joint effort, with all stakeholders sharing in the conversation. Our personal philosophies and values drive our passion for what we do.  Capturing the philosophy for an entire building or district requires monitoring, evaluating, and above all listening to the people served by your school.

This is what we discovered at St. Patrick's School. The student is always worth it because parents trust our school to provide unique and transformational learning experiences for their children.  The student is always worth it because our staff is here for each child, ready to meet their needs. The student is always worth it because our students will be the leaders in the community sooner rather than later and they deserve the best preparation to be successful.  This is what guides us. What guides you?

Tone- The Key to Your Message Getting Through

As a former English/Language Arts and speech communications/drama teacher, one of my favorite lessons to teach focused on the tone of the sender.  My example to start the lesson was one that kids and adults can resonate with, a simple statement- "I didn't say you were wrong." I would say this sentence over and over, emphasizing a different word each time, beginning with "I" and working through the end. Each time the emphasis was changed, the meaning of the sentence changed causing the message to be interpreted differently by the receiver.

Too often in relationships, whether personal or professional, we slip up with tonal mistakes. We let emotion or laziness dictate how our message is received because we do not pay attention to how we are  sending our message to the receivers.  Think of the last disagreement you had with someone.  It is difficult to recall the words we may have said but it is likely easier to remember how the words were said to you. This, in fact, may have caused the disagreement in the first place. How you say something is as important as what you are saying.

As an educational leader and often the person parents approach with an idea or concern, my tone in responding can make or break a relationship with a stakeholder.  When an idea is brought to me, I like to talk with the person making the suggestion in order to think through the many parts. If I am dismissive, even unintentionally, in the initial response, "What made you think of this?" the likelihood of anything fruitful coming from the discussion is limited. Tone dictates where your conversation goes.

In observing classroom instruction, I carry may laptop, even on walkthroughs and email the teacher shortly after leaving the classroom. Luckily, I am blessed with excellent teachers. I typically give feedback regarding what I saw and ask some questions.  Email is an especially tricky realm to interpret because your message is read in the receiver's mind. What you may have intended as a joke comes off as an insult.  WHEN YOU TYPE IN ALL CAPS- PEOPLE ASSUME YOU'RE SHOUTING AT THEM. Even if you are just trying to draw attention to something...or your keys are, for whatever reason, stuck on caps lock. If I email a teacher and ask a straightforward question, "What was your lesson about?" It could be interpreted that I thought her lesson was without focus.  Instead, I might ask, "What learning targets were you hoping to meet?" This shifts from a critique of the teacher to a question about curriculum. The need to be defensive is lessened and the real answer I am looking for, regarding content standards, is the focus.

You can't guarantee that your message is always received the way you intended.  However, by focusing on the way you say something, the chances of it being misinterpreted, particularly in a tense situation, will be lessened. If a policy change is on the horizon- focus on the benefits of the change rather than all the problems with the way things are now. Help others to understand your thoughts with clear and positive tone, alleviating misunderstanding and misguided anger or confusion.

You Don't Wash a Rental Car- Improve Staff Ownership

If you own it, you care for it more.  This principle applies to more than just vehicles but as the saying goes, "You don't wash a rental car."  Why would you? Take the scenic route. Drive through mud. Eat in it.  After all, when you return it, someone else has the unenviable task of cleaning it.

Unfortunately,  the school community is sometimes guilty of adopting this mindset. After all, surely there will be someone there after us to take up the challenges and opportunities that arise. "The new teachers will be in the career longer than me." "There's always a new fad, just a rehash of old ideas or acronyms." "Why do we have to do this?"

The challenge with staff development and professional learning is that too often, teachers have heard the same ideas, movements, etc. through the years too often with little follow up or adequate resources to actually improve learning.  So the heart of the matter is ownership. If faculty/staff do not feel any ownership regarding a movement or a change within the school or district, your buy in and ownership are null. This is why teachers need to be involved in the decision making process and leadership of an initiative or movement.

As a new principal, my plan to achieve buy in and ownership with changes is a simple line of questions.

1. What do our students deserve?
2. How is ______ what is best for kids?
3. What/how will ______ look in my classroom?
4. How will we know that ____ is working?
4. Now what?

I believe the best question is the last one.  It requires the conversation to continue. Administrators and teachers must develop an action and follow up plan.  Resources need to be committed to improving student learning and achievement. By having this discussion with staff when embracing the unknown or new whatever, anxiety is decreased, ownership is increased and best of all, your school culture benefits. You no longer have a "Here's what I think we should do" mindset but a "Here is what we have agreed is needed to ensure success for all" norm for operating.  A little wordier...but it does the job. 

You Don't Know What You Don't Know

I have been a school administrator for about 18 days now.  In these 18 days, I have talked with staff, parents, board members, and students.  I have also connected with former members of my graduate school cohort.  One of the most refreshing things shared with me by one of those former cohort members was a much needed reminder.  I asked her how her first year of being a principal was.  Part of her reply was important for me to grasp, "I didn't know what I didn't know."

Graduate programs prepare fresh batches of administrators with the organizational, theoretical, and experiential foundations necessary for licensure.  However, much like being a first year teacher, being a first year administrator can be daunting. You cannot be prepared for everything.  I have been told that if I am an administrator long enough, nothing will surprise me.  The amount of paperwork already indicates that I will be reading more than I probably have since grad school. Here is what I have learned so far...

ASK FOR HELP...
I have been unclear on some of the acronyms in my new school.  I didn't know where the paperclips were. I wasn't sure what the hours were for the open house. I am still not sure how the fire alarm system works.  So rather than sitting, pondering where the paperclips might be or taking a guess at what the long string of consonants meant, I asked.  Who did I ask?  The school secretary and my predecessor.  Finding people who can help me understand and uncover what I need to know to be effective is critical to my success and happiness as a school leader.  This is also where social media becomes helpful as I work with my PLN through various twitter chats to gain understanding and ask for advice.

BALANCE...
I could have taken July off.  OK, probably not.  Maybe in fifteen years. I wanted to get an early start on figuring out what I don't know and what needs to be taken care of in the weeks leading up to school.  I recognize that this first year will be full of learning.  I plan to take on all that I can but balance is critical to being effective. Seeing my wife and daughter are important to me.  Catching up with friends and former colleagues will be refreshing.  If I have been told one thing repeatedly in my career, it is that balance life and work and happiness will ensue.  Balancing home and career, time for personal and professional growth, and perhaps balancing my diet will allow me to be a better principal and healthier person overall.  We'll see about the diet part.

ADMIT WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW
Since I don't know what I don't know, I will be learning all year.  This is okay.  I have already accepted that I am not Superman.  This is not an admission of failure but a recognition of fact.  There might will be mistakes (hopefully not many) and situations I likely could have handled differently.  If I am honest and admit what I don't know before it gets out of hand, I might just be all right. Recognizing a learning opportunity is something I plan to become skilled at. However, failing to file forms on time and claiming, "I didn't know" will probably result in a fairly short administrative career. Don't rest on "I don't know" but instead recognize and learn what it is that is needed to know and do.

So far...my desk top is fairly organized.  By August 10, I assume that will have changed. All we can do is what is best for kids.  If the desk is cluttered but the school is effective, the staff and students are happy and learning, and I am doing what is right for all- I'm okay with a few piles of paper.