Plan ahead

This year has definitely been filled with learning experiences; most of those experiences falling somewhere along the leadership spectrum. With the exception of those events that relate directly to my position as the AP Coordinator or a classroom teacher, my role has been more observational than participatory.

I am a planner. I like to have plans. I like to have backup plans. I like to have backups to my backup plans (sometimes). I like structure. I like to know where to go, who to go to, when to go, and the best way to go. I prefer to be proactive rather than reactive.

This year has intensified my aforementioned character traits.

I went looking for pieces that would tout the virtues of any of the above, but couldn’t find anything that was all that concise. In my search, I stumbled upon an Edutopia blog post, “An Open Letter to Principals: 5 Leadership Strategies for the New Year”, by Eric Sheninger. No, it didn’t fit my intention for this post; however, it is related.

Sheninger provides five recommendations to school leaders, and as I plan for my next venture, I decided that I would keep them in the front of my mind as I plan to pursue further leadership opportunities. The first strategy Sheninger mentions is to not make any excuses; earlier in my career I was really good at finding the lemons in the lemonade - focusing on the negative minutia. I wasn’t really interested in coming up with a solution so much as I wanted someone to solve the problem(s). Rather than trying something new, I tended to come up with reasons why it would never work in my classroom. Thankfully, at an early point in my career, I found myself surrounded by risk-takers and changemakers, & I began looking for solutions rather than problems; in fact, I sometimes find myself looking for solutions to things that really aren’t problems, but may just be a better way of doing something.

The vision can’t just be something that is thrown down on paper or on a wall; it has to be lived. It is a responsibility of the school leader to live the vision. When in a leadership capacity, every word matters - whether spoken or written - and how we demonstrate those words also matters. Sadly, I have been witness to what happens when a leader says one thing, but does another…or when he or she says two conflicting things.

In School Genetics (2015), Lockhart does a superb job of describing the change that has taken place in education in the last one hundred years; at one point, teachers, along with their textbooks, were repositories of knowledge that were provided to students via lecture or reading, but now due to technology, the kids have all of the information and it is now our job to not only show them how to use it but how to filter it. We must embrace this change in education in order to make what we do relevant and beneficial to society.

The best way to make sure education continues to make positive contributions to society is to provide educators - not just teachers -  with authentic professional learning. This can be in the form of PLCs or PLNs. In Zepeda’s Professional Development: What Works (2008), the author presents research that indicates that job-embedded professional learning is best, and that there should be a consistent focus on a professional learning experience over the course of the school year - educators learn then apply then return to discuss then go back out to apply again, etc.

Finally, Sheninger highlights the importance of being connected to other leaders. The higher up one goes the lonelier it can be. It is extremely important to find like-minded, and in some cases opposing-minded individuals to encourage or challenge us. After all, iron sharpens iron.

21 Things All Great Leaders Do

My principal shared this article with our staff last week. It’s called “21 Things All Great Leaders Do.” I thought it had pretty good alliance with The Principal 50 from last semester’s Twitter chats’ readings (especially #9 of the 21 things on the list. I’m still personally working on that one!). The article is an easy read; it’s nothing earth-shattering. Just one of those one-stop-shop kind of readings that makes you think about and rate yourself on these characteristics.

To me, the best quote in this article isn’t one of the 21 things they discuss. It’s this: “Age doesn’t make you better as a leader. It just makes you more of who you really are. Your habits, disciplines and skill sets make you better.” This quote is like a splash of cold water on your face when you get bogged down; a jolt back into a little bit of reality. I think a lot of people are of the opinion that time and experience will make them into a leader who is worth following. Not true! If someone wants to be a leader, but they aren’t someone worth following at the present moment, this article kind of proves there’s hope for them in the future. However, if they don’t make a concerted effort, then time will just keep them who they are, just with a higher age number (See #2 of the 21 things on the list). I guess that’s part of the reason all of us are in this program…to become better leaders (and to get a pay raise...that helps, too! J).

One of my other faves from the list of 21 that made me stop and think is #14: “Develop a Trusted Inner Circle.” The summarizing quote of that one is at the bottom of the section: “If you’re the smartest person in the room, get some new people in the room.” Another cold water splash in the face. Makes you take a stock of those around you. 

An Oscar Winning Performance

It’s that time of year for recognition and awards: Super Bowl, 

Grammys, and Oscars. Best football team, best artist, best actor, best film? What makes the best of the best? Principals have the daunting job of hiring the “best” teachers, making sure “best” practices are being implemented, using all forms of communication to provide the “best” information and data, and making sure they project the “best” image of their school to the community. Articles about strong leadership characteristics abound the internet. However, The Eight Characteristics of Effective School Leaders sums it up for me. These are great characteristics to strive for but they can lose their meaning without specific examples. I recently attended a conference where an elementary school principal literally "rolled out the red carpet" for parents. The principal and his staff turned their school into an "award-winning" night where they dressed up and hosted an Oscar-like event. They invited the local news and radio station to document the event. They spent the evening showering parents with information about the school, tips for helping students at home, and lots of exciting door prizes and giveaways. The night was so successful, they now make it an annual event. So, I'm searching for ideas that I can store up for the future. Please share something special (no matter how big or how small) that you have experienced from leadership at your school or something that was an "Oscar-winning" performance from your principal.

The E-Myth continued: part II

In my last blog, I shared the fatal flaw I had unearthed in my school's "DNA" (to borrow a term from Dr. Lockhart's School Genetics book).  We had fallen into the E-Myth trap, believing that our vision and our technical talent were enough to keep our school afloat.  However, we only had 2/3 of what it takes to run a successful organization-- the entrepreneur and the technician; we were missing the crucial third element known as "the manager."

Let's travel back in time to May 2013.  The school had opened doors for a half year beginning in January 2012, held a successful summer camp, and was nearing the end of its first full school year, making it a total of 1.5 years old.  We were in what E-Myth author Michael Gerber calls our organization's infancy.

According to the E-myth, organizations go through three life phases: infancy, adolescence, and maturity:

(Click to enlarge)

I know we were in our infancy at that point because the organization was completely "people dependent."  Individuals knew the processes and procedures, and nothing was written down.  Communication was limited, and there were very few people doing lots and lots of work.  Burnout risk was high.  Tensions rose as colleagues struggled to navigate their unclear roles.  We were innovating an exceptional and highly effective education program, but all the other pieces were crumbling.  This was the moment we took our first purposeful step down a very long path from infancy to adolescence.  We embarked on an epic adventure that would be rocky, messy, and what one of my life heroes Glennon Doyle Melton calls "brutiful."  It has not been easy-- like they say, nothing worth doing ever is.

Step one: we identified the problem.  I talked to each staff member individually, then called an emergency board meeting to share my findings with the board.  I was the teacher board member at the time, so I felt compelled to serve as the bridge between the school and the board and make sure the ones in charge of the school's direction were aware of our current reality.

A visual from the board presentation, illustrating our communication and reporting obstacles.

The observations I shared fell into 4 main categories: roles & responsibilities, reporting structures, communication & decision-making, and unanswered questions.  After the presentation, we exchanged thoughts and ideas, and we scheduled a follow-up meeting.  They asked me what direction I feel we should go, and I said I would like to submit a proposal next meeting nominating one of our founding parents as the executive director of the school.  That way there would be one clear person at the top of the reporting chains, working inside the school, and keeping communications flowing properly. At the follow-up meeting, my proposal was adopted, and it came with consequences.  One of the other founding families jumped ship, pulled their child from the school, and never returned.  She felt we were making a mistake in our new direction, and she felt "dethroned."  It was then that I knew leadership expert Barry Jentz was right in the quote he shared with us at a communication training: "leadership is pain and discomfort."  There is no easy path, and leaders must cultivate a deep level of resilience in order to succeed.

I focus on this particular milestone because after reading the E-Myth, I see that we were headed from infancy to adolescence, but nowhere near maturity.  We were still trying to throw people at the problem, when really we needed to be putting systems into place that would allow the organization to be systems-dependent instead of people-dependent.

Next time, I will lay out the time line from the milestone I shared here to present day.  I will show how we are now working through the awkward adolescent phase, experiencing the growing pains that go with it, and seeking organizational maturity.  My hope is that by revisiting errors made, reflecting on mistakes and missteps, and going back through time, it can be a learning opportunity for more than just me.  Mistakes are learning, so we may as well learn together.  Stay tuned to find out how we are building the next era of Cloverleaf.

Retention or Nah?

 As the RTI/SST Specialist for Atlanta Public Schools, I am often times teachers ask my opinion about retaining students.  Teachers want to seemingly "move" a student to SST (Tier 3) and think this will promote the retention of a student and solve the students "issues."   Yes, some student's academic issues can be attributed to social forces beyond our control, however, some issues are the result of poor teaching.  I often times come across teachers who claim that a student lacks this or lacks that, has academic deficits in reading and math, but nothing has been done on the teacher's part. And yet-- the teacher can fix his or her mouth to ask about my thoughts on retention.

I am opposed to retention because:
1. It has developmental effects on students psych, as well as socio-emotional development.
2. It increases the rate of potential drop outs.
3. It is not equitable.

I understands students learn at different rates, but I do not believe keeping a student in the same grade to repeat standards he or she did not master.   Teachers have the ability to reach students, if it means going over and beyond.   Once you find that small weak spot in a child, use that as ammunition and teach as much as you can to these students.  Remember learning she be focused on growth, not grades.

So I ask you, Retention or "nah"?

Vote or Die! ...not really though...

It's an election year, and it is time to talk about where our potential president stands in regards to education. One candidate wants to make college free, others wants to provide vouchers for school choice, and all have different stances on Common Core curriculum. Here is a basic run down for all of the major candidates:

https://ballotpedia.org/2016_presidential_candidates_on_education

While I am not comfortable stating my party affiliation, I do feel comfortable talking politics. And when it comes to education, I want to hear what everyone has to say. So here are my two cents about their visions for American education.

Clinton: I like what she states about charter schools. I don't think that we should through the baby out with the bath water, and allow for charter and public schools to coexist. I do think that there should be more of a merger since it is about the improvement of communities.

Sanders: Feel college tuition! A college degree does help for long term success, but student loan debt ain't pretty (which is why I will be in school for forever :). So, I agree that some persons are deterred from going to college due to cost and that it is a pathway to the middle class, but with free tuition and increased wages for professors, I wonder what happens to the size of staff and faculty - will there be cuts? Will there be firings? I wonder what the fallout would be...

Bush: He isn't the first Bush to rewrite education, and he proposed newer education policy to Medium (here it is https://medium.com/@JebBush/restoring-the-right-to-rise-through-a-quality-education-a27ef314f2c#.ivgtouqvz) Basically, deregulate federal control and give it back to states and local governance.

Trump: He is a capitalist and therefore thinks that competition improves the quality of education. Therefore, basically deregulate federal control and return decision making to local schools. Provide vouchers, charter schools, and give families the freedom to chose where to send their children. Schools will not doubt have to improve. But what about the schools who can't and can a business style infrastructure really work in education? Overall, He is not with the common core...

Like I said, I like talking politics and I really like talking education politics so let me know what your thoughts are on where they each stand :)

Teachers out of the business of teaching

When do teachers get the right to get out of the business of teaching?

Many times when I am observing classrooms, I don’t feel as if teachers are really serious or into teaching as they should be.  I feel like teachers are out of the business of teaching on a daily basis. I often run across teachers who sit behind their desk on the computer while there students complete worksheets which is not rigorous.  There is very little conversation or engaging teaching and learning going on in some classrooms.  I am extremely sadden especially when our special education students are slighted like this. Students with disabilities are already at a disadvantage and to see them overlooked is a crime shame. It is very frustrating for those of us that really take out job seriously and want to see students succeed. I blame both the teachers and administration for this terrible act.  Teachers continue to do this because administration does not address these issues and use TKES; therefore, teachers get away with it and think it is acceptable. Additionally, administration is not consistent with teacher observations, being visible and providing affect feedback to address the lack of teaching.  How do we get teachers back in the business of teaching??? 

Equity on a grand scale

Photo from skepticisim.org

Are we headed back to the desegregation of the 50/60's? How will the new Superintendent of Fulton County Schools help bring equity to a system whose disparity between North and South county is so great? Will North Fulton County be successful in their discussions to break from Fulton County to create Milton County? What would happen to South Fulton County when the money from North Fulton is gone along with the money APS takes from Midtown and Downtown?

The problem isn't unique to Fulton County. Atlanta Public Schools is divided between East versus West. Look at the disparity in the Ferguson schools (Normandy) in Missouri. Many attempts have been made to desegregate the schools in Ferguson, but are always met with hostility and anger from the higher performing systems to which the students will be bused.


Dr, Phillip Lanoue is our finalist for Superintendent. He has brought much recognition to Clarke County Schools since taking over as their Superintendent. He was able to draw national attention to Clarke County for their work on closing the achievement gap as a Title I district. Can he do the same for a district so divided by race, socioeconomic status, and of course APS?

How do we provide the students in ALL schools with the same level of instruction? How do we hire staff that resembles the student population? Should we be concerned that the staff or administration resembles the student population if we hire the best candidates out there? If our staff and admin teams do not reflect the student population at the school, how do we provide role models for the students so that they have someone that "looks like them" to inspire them to dream bigger? I am worried about the state of education today when it so clearly shows that where you live will be the biggest factor in whether you will graduate, attend college, or wind up behind bars!

I have been trying to get my principal to offer pre-calculus to our top students at McClarin without avail. We have students, who although they failed out of other schools, are testing above the 80th percentile in math when compared to other high school students across America in the same grade. Why shouldn't we be challenging them with a math course fit for their ability instead of only offering Advanced Mathematical Decision Making (AMDM)? Just more evidence of minority students not receiving the level of instruction best suited for them!

I did find this very interesting article entitled Segregation forever? from Teaching Tolerance. I also found it interesting that I decided to blog about this and suddenly I received the email from Teaching Tolerance, a post from Mind Shift (mentioned earlier in this post), and a cartoon about privilege from Upworthy. I guess I am not alone in my quandary!

Training or Nah?

The transition from teacher to administrator has been exhilarating. I was used to going into my classroom everyday and teaching the snot out of the curriculum. I stayed out of work politics and was friendly enough to make allies but very few friends. I did my job and rarely made a fuss and preferred to be forgotten quite frankly. But now, I'm in charge. I have to be in the know, be visible, be vocal and make decisions that impact everyone. Out of my comfort zone for sure.

I'm just wondering if other people who made the transition had any type of training. Should I be asking more questions, observing other leaders, attending specific conferences. I feel like most of what I do is on the job, learn as you go type training. But are there other opportunities to learn that I've missed? I have learned an incredible amount these first few months as an administrator but I know I have a long way to go. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

The E-Myth

I read a book over December break that rocked my world and changed the way we run our entire organization.

The E-Myth starts off with a vignette of a woman who absolutely loves baking pies, and her pies are everyone's favorite.  Her friends and family gush about how delicious they are, always urging her to start her own pie shop.  Eventually, she heeds their advice and decides to take the leap into the entrepreneur world!

After 2 years running her pie shop, her friends never see her any more, and the book's author describes how weary and worn down she is.  She says she'd be happy if she never baked another pie again in her life.  Her pie shop is in such financial trouble that she is the only employee-- she sweeps the floors, bakes the pies, works the register, and manages inventory.  Alone.

So what happened?  She fell victim to the E-myth, a.k.a. the myth of entrepreneurship.  Like so many before her, she thought that being good at a certain skill would allow her to have a successful business providing that skill.

It turns out it takes much more to run a pie shop than incredible baking abilities.  In fact, it requires a trifecta of personas all in perfect balance: the entrepreneur, the manager, and the technician.

Then and only then will a business be successful.

But how does this apply to school leadership?

As a school-starter, I realize my team and I had fallen victim to the E-myth ourselves.  When we started Cloverleaf, our founding team included 6 visionary parents with lofty ideas about the future potential of an outstanding, unique special education school ("entrepreneurs"), and 3 exceptionally talented, highly skilled teachers ("technicians").  However, unbeknownst to us at the time, we had a giant, gaping hole in our founding team where the manager persona should have been.  We were destined for failure if we didn't fill that gap, and we hadn't even realized it yet.

We threw grand opening parties, we gave tours, we attended school resource fairs, we wore our new t-shirts around town.  We grew enrollment by 3-fold each year.  We provided innovative, multisensory, experiential learning opportunities that our students couldn't get anywhere else.  Yet eventually after 2 years, the gap in our organization grew painfully obvious-- things slowly began eroding internally as role tensions mounted, finances were neglected, and under-developed internal structures neared collapse.

We knew we had to do something, but the question was what.

Special Ed Students On Grade Level??

So I came across this article recently from a blog post and it truly caught me off guard. Most of you know that my background is in special ed, so for me to be taken aback by this is unusual. The reason I was taken aback, though, is because the concept behind this article is that all special ed IEP goals and objectives should be written to the grade level of the student. Which is pretty preposterous considering the actual performance level of many of our special needs babies!

I know that this type of article does not necessarily directly affect most of you; however, I think it should! The more that students with IEPs are integrated into the general education setting, and the more that the performance pay initiatives gain steam in the legislature (i. e. teacher pay affected by student test performance), the more things like this are going to get some spotlight. And I don't anticipate that being a positive spotlight.

I work in a large metro-area district, and we are not practicing what this article says, so I seriously doubt the other districts are either. In fact, we pretty much practice the opposite of what this article says is federal law. The point of an IEP goal/objective is to provide a target for the student to work toward that s/he can attain in one calendar year. So, for example, if a 6th grader is reading on a 1st grade level, why would we write a goal for that student to be reading on 6th-grade-level? It is virtually impossible for a student to progress that many grade levels in reading in one year. But, this article says that's what we should be doing. Instead, we write goals that are actually attainable, and then increase or adjust them the next year, depending on if the student is showing progress. I know that's what most districts are doing.

At the end of the day, it seems to me that this will be one more thing that either gets counties sued or  falls by the wayside because it's simply not attainable for most students. After all, if they are in special ed, they are in it for a reason. Not always an academic reason, but for a reason.

Put Me In...

On Friday, I took an opportunity to observe at another, albeit very familiar, school. The only real similarity, aside from the basics of both being high schools, between that school & the school in which I currently work is the fact that they both have a new principal. Up until Friday, I had not yet taken an opportunity to get out of my school & observe, but I am glad that I did. The school I observed was implementing Power Hour (if you’re unfamiliar, check out this article from the 2015 Model Schools Conference & to see an overview, watch this quick video from West Port High School in Ocala, FL:

The school in which I was observing has implemented Power Hour once or twice before with success; unlike the West Port example, Power Hour is not a daily occurrence. At the school, Power Hour is a time of academic recovery/remediation/enrichment or of exploration; in addition to the academic sessions taking place, there were student-led sessions on how to make use of the makerspace in the new Learning Commons, teacher-led yoga classes, club meetings, etc. In order to encourage students to take advantage of the academic recover/remediation opportunities, the school ‘caters’ these sessions with outside vendors - Zaxby’s, Chick-fil-a, Marco’s Pizza, etc.; this creates a lunch-&-learn atmosphere for the students.

My recollection of the day’s events may be slightly more romanticized for a variety of reasons - this school is my alma mater (both as a student as well as a faculty member), I was in a school in which innovation and outside-the-box thinking is a little more accepted & encouraged, & I was doing what I want to do - working with a variety of the school’s stakeholders to make the day beneficial for the kids. I could not stop smiling. No, the day did not go completely smooth, nor is everyone on board with Power Hour, but it was still a day well spent; it passed so quickly, and at the end of it I was sad for the dismissal bell to ring. Although we are only six weeks into second semester, I needed Friday to reinvigorate me - I felt like I was fulfilling my purpose by being an actively contributing member to making school work more effectively for our kids.

At the end of the day, I was able to pop my head into the principal’s office to thank her for the opportunity & to essentially say “put me in.”

"Family Feud"

Yes, this is the face of fundraising at my school. There is much debate about what to sell and how to sell it. Three years ago, we started a Read-a-thon fundraiser to kind of change things up. We were tired of giving 40 or 50% to companies to help us raise money. We did away with wrapping paper and cookie dough and organized a Read-a-thon from scratch. That year we raised $18,000. The next year, we split the endeavor with PTO. They partially took over and our profit was $14,000. This year we completely handed the whole thing over to PTO. Our profit was $11,000. What did we do wrong, you ask? We realized that the teachers had much more influence in the classroom than parents did. As teachers stepped away from the fundraiser more and more each year, the students didn't get the same competitive edge as they did when teachers were "pumping them up" daily in the classroom. We realized that the teachers were the driving factor in the success of this fundraiser. However, it doesn't stop there. Now, the PTO feels like the Read-a-thon has been exhausted and that people want something for their money, not just the idea that a child did some reading. They want to sell wrapping paper, and candy, and plants, and trinkets. There is an ongoing disagreement between the PTO and the school over what people want to buy. Everyone who has talked to PTO wants the novelty items. Everyone who talks to the school wants a reading or a fitness fundraiser. What works well at your school? What event or fundraiser do parents, teachers, and students really seem to come together for the good of the school? Is there any new, exciting, or innovative way that your school raises money? I would love to hear some different ideas and maybe have something that I can bring back to settle this disagreement!

Student Tech Teams...

I thought I'd share out a resource that I created for a group of school leaders who I work with in case it helps in any of your schools. Feel free to share with others!

Today’s topic:  Student Tech Team

What is it:  

• A student tech team can be formed in lots of different ways, but it is designed to help support students and teachers with technology issues they face.  

Purpose:

• Provide students with a very unique learning and leadership opportunity.
• Provide the school with much quicker and more easily accessible tech support to deal with lower level technology issues.

Examples:  

• This Middle School began with a voluntary after school club that created a blog, but moved to a more systematic organization that now creates video tutorials.
• This is a 4th-6th grade student tech team that trained members who were present in most classrooms.

Other Resources:

• Here are some ISTE recommendations for supporting your 1:1 program with a student tech team
• School Tech Teams 101 Blog Post
• iTunes Course about Student Tech Teams

Final Thoughts:

A student tech team can be extremely beneficial for not only the school by providing quicker technology solutions, but it is also an amazing experience for students.  It gives some students a unique experience that they aren’t able to get elsewhere. Check out the video of one team below:

RTI/SST Processes?

Blog 2

The RTI/SST Process

 

As the Special Education Department Chairperson, I have had the opportunity to observe and participate in RTI/SST meeting at my school. In doing this, I was able to see both sides of the process of helping teachers identify students’ deficit areas.  Nothing is more embarrassing than you sitting in a meeting with a parent (that is already stressful for the parent) and teachers do not know a thing about the student!  What do I mean by this you may ask?  Teachers are not really aware of the students’ strengths and weaknesses nor can the articulate what interventions they should try with the student.  If teachers are unaware of the RTI/SST process and how this process can truly help students, that’s acceptable.  Our counseling department is excellent and has provided many professional learning sessions on this topic as well as resources for interventions.  Additionally, the county level coordinator for RTI/SST has been to our school to provide professional learning as well.  Even with all of this training, the process continues to go undone. Administration is aware of this issue; however, accountability is low.  There needs to be consistency amongst administration for using TKES when this occurs.  What is the process at your school for the RTI/SST and how are teachers held accountable for the process. 

 

 

 

Forgetting vs. Refusal

As we all know, meeting deadlines is a part of one's duties and responsibilities as a professional is education.  Many administrators connect this with TKEYS Professional standards 9- The teacher exhibits a commitment to professional ethics and the school’s mission and participates in professional growth opportunities to support student learning, and contributes to the profession and TKEYS Professional Standard 10- The teacher communicates effectively with students, parents or guardians, district and school personnel, and other stakeholders in ways that enhance student learning.

However, at what point do you decide that missing a deadline is grounds to be rated ineffective or needs improvement for these 2 standards?  Now, everyone knows that the requirements and demands of each school vary, however, I believe my school is OVER-THE-TOP King!  The demands placed on these teachers are so tedious, lengthy and very heavy.  In the event that one deadline is not met,  do you believe that this is immediate grounds for a Letter of Direction/write up-- especially if this the first deadline one missed?  Furthermore,  the type of words that are used in the letter of Direction gives a different connotation that what really happened.  For instance, words such as "refusal to submit" or "insubordination" does not mean the same thing was forgot or missed.  

I dont think its fair to write a teacher up for missing ONE deadline, where 20 other deadlines have been met.

What would be the most effective way to handle this situation?

Move it or Lose it!

It took me about two hours to read it, but the whole time I thought he was spot on. Ron Clark's classically outlines the many personalities of employees / teachers in Move Your Bus (2015). Writing from the perspective of a school leader, Ron Clark details the methods and tricks to "move one's bus" or school into greatness. First, he outlines the major cast of characters on the bus: the Driver, the Runner, the Jogger, the Walker, and the Rider. Each character has their own traits and personalities, and I thought it was genius how he described each one. Then, he details the many ways to move your bus forward like rewarding your Runners and ditching your Riders. Also, he uses specific examples and ethics that he has learned along the way to help his reader get their bus moving successfully and swiftly. Here it is: http://www.moveyourbus.com/

There are two things that I truly struggle with (and really sweat about) when it comes to being an administrator: 1. The customer service component of schooling and education, and 2. Holding high expectations for adults. "Move Your Bus" was spot on and is an excellent resources for anyone like me who has those same fears! I had a lot of great takeaways but here are some of my favorites:

1. Let your Runners reap the rewards. A little competition doesn't hurt and they are working the hardest anyways.

2. Get the Riders off your bus immediately! They only bring your down and these character have no interest in improving so it only hurts to keep them around.

3. Your joggers think they are runners! This made so much sense to me when I thought about why some people only did so few things and it is because they like a small locus of control.

4. Never, ever, ever break the spirit of a Runner. Apparently, it is an ugly sight so he offers different ways to provide them with critical feedback.

Needless to say, I really enjoyed this book and I would certainly recommend it!

Redesigning Schools

A week or so ago, I ran across this post on Facebook about starting over. Paul Tatter is talking about redesigning schools to facilitate learning. He believes schools should be designed as learning parks.

Oddly enough, my principal was just presented with two options. Fulton County will give her $15,000,000 to build a new facility on a site near our current location. We have to remain close to the College Park MARTA station as we don't have transportation for our students provided by FCS. However, as an alternative/non-traditional school they would not build a theater or gymnasium. Her second option is $10,000,000 to renovate our current location. It is important to note that FCS does not own our building. It belongs to the City of College Park. They would have to agree to a long term lease of the facility for the district to move forward with this option.

What a grand opportunity for the school. We are hoping that we can work it out with the City of College Park to remain where we are. Ten million dollars will go a long way toward creating learning centers that better suit the needs of our students. We are in the process now of moving to personalized learning and redefining our learning spaces. It is a real challenge to redesign a space being locked into the old furniture options. We have been able to provide a kidney table for each of our teachers to support a teacher-time station, but our collaborative stations are four old fashioned student desks thrown together that by design do not form a nice flat space to work.

It is time for school districts and school leaders to see beyond the spaces in which they grew up and design maker spaces which challenge students to think in new and better ways. Creative teachers are finding ways to "make" the tools they need, but why can't they be provided with a classroom designed to support their needs as facilitators of learning. I understand that the money is not there to remove the old high school desks and replace them with new and innovative spaces for students. Every school leader should be actively seeking grants or other money to finance the dreams of their staff. Let's take a long hard look at our classrooms and brainstorm better ways to do what we do and provide students with learning centers designed to promote thinking, understanding, and problem solving!

photo credit: http://www.lothinc.com/company/clients/hilliard-city-schools-mcvey-innovative-learning-center/

Maintaining School Culture

I am realizing now more than ever the importance of school culture. My school has a small faculty made up of many different  ethnicities, ages, experience levels, religions and teaching styles. The faculty that have been here the longest however, are very clearly warm and demanding.  They have high expectations for student behavior and learning, teach engaging lessons and stay at school after hours to prepare.  They hold up our entire school with their dedication and proficiency.

I feel like there is a great divide here. On one hand we have teachers like those teachers mentioned above. On the other hand we have a group of unconventional teachers, new teachers and some that meet the standards without going above. Most of our teachers are great at what they do but have formed unofficial alliances with each other.

Photo credit: falibo.com

I guess I am wondering, how do I intervene as an administrator, or do I need to? Teachers often work together in order to make decisions and I haven't noticed anything that impacts the school directly. If teachers have personal differences but it hasn't trickled over into professional problems I guess I should let it go.

On another note, I am wondering how to control for culture when I am in charge of hiring decisions. I know its good to have a diversity of teachers but how do you predict how well teachers will get along and work together? Last semester in The Principal, the unit on human resources discussed panel interviews and having multiple people in charge of hiring. I think implementing that here would require us to change how we do things but would ultimately maintain the school culture.

Applying for the next job...

I’ve decided I’m going to start applying for other jobs. Not because I’m unhappy. Not because I am itching to make a change, necessarily. Right now…it’s for the experience and to see what else is out there. I look at it this way:

At some point in the (most likely) near future I will want to move out of my current position. I like the idea that I can leisurely think about it now and try to make strategic decisions of who/where to apply to, instead of being forced to apply or find a job out of necessity. I make a habit of advising high school students to take a myriad of courses while they’re in the safety of high school and aren’t paying college tuition to take a course in something they merely have a side interest in learning. So I’m pretty much taking my own advice in doing this. This Ed. S. program is about expansion (your abilities, your network, your interests, etc.). So that’s what I feel like this is, expanding my options.

I somewhat feel like a fish out of water doing this, but that’s probably a good thing. 

Forbes.com has a good list of reminders about searching for a job here. The link of “13 Pictures” is also pretty interesting. Not earth-shattering stuff, but just great reminders. In the world of education I think some of these things get lost in the shuffle while we continuously have the “are we corporate or non-corporate” debate, and we act as if some of these rules don’t apply. I think there’s much merit in this advice, though. 

The stress!!!!

Over winter break, the stress I've been under this school year caught up to me in a major way.  I came down with a bad case of strep throat-- fever, chills, fatigue, and searing pain in my throat.  I was stuck in bed for 2 straight days.  I even had to go to the doctor on my own birthday, causing me to miss my at-school bday celebration, and my birthday dinner with my family.  

Oh, and it didn't stop there.

After that, I finished my antibiotics, and my strep throat somehow morphed into a 5-week bronchitis.  I felt like I was never going to get well!  I tried raw vitamins, electrolite water, nutrient-smoothies, Zicam, Airborne, and 2 more doc visits.  The stress of this school year was just wearing me down completely.  And it isn't even like me to get sick.  I never miss work, and usually when I'm sick, a day of bed rest and chugging water usually does the trick.

This year has been different.

The never-ending renovation project my school is undergoing is going to be the death of me.  On top of all the usual leadership stuff (as if that isn't enough!), we are building our new school home.  We've been trying to move into it since August, but the timeline keeps getting extended further with each building inspection.  And with each extension, I have to deliver the bad news to 22 eager students/families and 12 eager staff members.  Not to mention how far over budget we are after all these extensions.  We're finally nearing the end, but man has it been a long road.

How do you cope with the stresses of leadership?  Leadership is an extremely high-pressure job.  What are some of your go-to, de-stressing strategies? How do you maintain sanity?

Selling Myself!

It's just about that time of year...I've signed my letter of intent and the next phase is coming up soon. As I've mentioned in other posts, I kind of "fell" into leadership. It wasn't a passion of mine or something I knew I wanted to do. However, once I got into it, I really liked it. It certainly has been a "roller coaster" of mixed emotions, constantly changing situations, and never knowing what's coming up next. 

As I prepare to interview for assistant principal jobs, my mind is racing with questions of what I'll be asked. I found some sites that offer suggestions on interview questions and most of them I think I can answer fairly well. Connected Principals has some good information.  I can honestly say that I've had a thorough experience for the last two years as instructional coach. I've covered the entire school (PreK through 5th grade) and have been well-trained in many areas. Can I present that experience well in an interview? I can sing and dance in front of a classroom of students. I can conduct meetings in front of my colleagues. I can even stand in front of 400 parents and students to explain a school event, but can I sit in front of a panel of county administrators and sell myself? If you are a principal or AP, can you share what really captures you in an interview? What are you looking for most? I have several options for where I may potentially be next year, but it's hard to make the leap into the unknown. It is probably going to require me leaving a school that I've been a part of for 14 years. That part is tough. Hoping to put my best foot forward as I gain some courage to use my training at GSU and my school experiences to help me be the candidate they need!