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A message from E. Don Brown [Retired Principal; School Thinker; World Record Holder (Senior Division) Blindfolded Shark Wrangling] to LYS readers who do not subscribe to the e-mail updates.
LYS Blog reader,
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Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Quit Voting for Idiots
Those of you who know me, most likely know that I am a proud Texan. So much so that I really do not understand why all of you who live in Not-Texas states don’t pledge allegiance to Texas every morning like we do. But I’m about to quit saying the pledge (at least for a day or two) if we don’t do something about the idiots on our State Board of Education.
Their latest foray into inspirational, selfless leadership is the revision of the State’s social studies curriculum. Now it seems that Thomas Jefferson’s role in shaping the political debate and landscape during our nation’s founding evidently wasn’t that significant. Religious freedom? Only if you are a member of the right religion. And Jefferson Davis, now it seems he is equally important as Abraham Lincoln.
One of my mentors, Dr. Richard Hooker (the “Robin Hood” of the “Robin Hood” plan), told a group of aspiring principal back in 1995 that if we keep voting for ideologues who hate public education that we will eventually get what we deserve. Evidently besides being brilliant, Dr. Hooker was also psychic.
LYS Nation, either start voting and/or don’t vote a straight ticket. It is the straight ticket that guarantees that you are voting for some of the biggest idiot on the ballot. And shame on you, BOE. The Eyes of Texas are embarrassed.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Their latest foray into inspirational, selfless leadership is the revision of the State’s social studies curriculum. Now it seems that Thomas Jefferson’s role in shaping the political debate and landscape during our nation’s founding evidently wasn’t that significant. Religious freedom? Only if you are a member of the right religion. And Jefferson Davis, now it seems he is equally important as Abraham Lincoln.
One of my mentors, Dr. Richard Hooker (the “Robin Hood” of the “Robin Hood” plan), told a group of aspiring principal back in 1995 that if we keep voting for ideologues who hate public education that we will eventually get what we deserve. Evidently besides being brilliant, Dr. Hooker was also psychic.
LYS Nation, either start voting and/or don’t vote a straight ticket. It is the straight ticket that guarantees that you are voting for some of the biggest idiot on the ballot. And shame on you, BOE. The Eyes of Texas are embarrassed.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
A Reader Writes... (Instructional Discussions - Part 8)
In response to the posts addressing, “Instructional Discussions,” a reader writes:
“The blog is on fire write now. The LYS Nation is right on target and SC has just been hitting them out of the park.”
SC Response
I have to say that I agree, the blog is on fire. As I tell people, I lost control of the discussion six months ago. We are now in the middle on an active exchange of ideas, centered on the fact that we love schools and we are driven to see that our schools do great things. Other than that, may the best idea and argument win.
E. Don Brown and Fred Richardson, both former TASSP presidents, close friends, and before they retired, universally recognized as two of the best principals in Texas, would disagree more than they would agree. And we have to understand that the argument is both healthy and necessary. The argument forces us to recognize that what we do is both a science and an art. If we can nail down the science (and we are getting closer everyday), it will be the artists that push and pull us to ever greater heights. That’s makes getting up and going to work everyday worth it.
And for the record, I was never a power hitter. I just worked to put the ball in play and advance the runner. It’s all about fundamentals.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
“The blog is on fire write now. The LYS Nation is right on target and SC has just been hitting them out of the park.”
SC Response
I have to say that I agree, the blog is on fire. As I tell people, I lost control of the discussion six months ago. We are now in the middle on an active exchange of ideas, centered on the fact that we love schools and we are driven to see that our schools do great things. Other than that, may the best idea and argument win.
E. Don Brown and Fred Richardson, both former TASSP presidents, close friends, and before they retired, universally recognized as two of the best principals in Texas, would disagree more than they would agree. And we have to understand that the argument is both healthy and necessary. The argument forces us to recognize that what we do is both a science and an art. If we can nail down the science (and we are getting closer everyday), it will be the artists that push and pull us to ever greater heights. That’s makes getting up and going to work everyday worth it.
And for the record, I was never a power hitter. I just worked to put the ball in play and advance the runner. It’s all about fundamentals.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Open Mouth, Insert Foot
As I often explain to teachers and administrators, we are more to blame for unmotivated students than we can ever imagine. Meaning you show me a class of unmotivated students and I can show you either a teacher who isn’t motivated or a teacher that does not believe in his or her students. I observed a near perfect example of this last week.
I’m in the teacher’s classroom and he tells his entire class the following, “We now have exactly 23 days until the state test. I’ve taught you everything you need to know in this subject for this year. Now all we are going to do is review until the test.”
Now this statement begs any number of questions, but I just have two. First, why would I be motivated to participate in the class if you are not going to teach me anything I don’t know for the next twenty three days?
Second, why should I even bother coming to class for the 20+ days of school that remain after the state test?
With the greatest single controllable variable of student performance being adult practice, I cannot say that I am optimistic that this teacher’s classroom will exceed my expectations this year.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
I’m in the teacher’s classroom and he tells his entire class the following, “We now have exactly 23 days until the state test. I’ve taught you everything you need to know in this subject for this year. Now all we are going to do is review until the test.”
Now this statement begs any number of questions, but I just have two. First, why would I be motivated to participate in the class if you are not going to teach me anything I don’t know for the next twenty three days?
Second, why should I even bother coming to class for the 20+ days of school that remain after the state test?
With the greatest single controllable variable of student performance being adult practice, I cannot say that I am optimistic that this teacher’s classroom will exceed my expectations this year.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
A Reader Writes... (Teacher Stress - Part 1)
In response to the post, “Teacher Stress,” a reader writes:
“I have been teaching for 10 years. But I have never experienced more bullying from central office than I have in the past three years. There is now more meanness in principals’ attitudes toward their teachers and more disrespect toward teachers from central office administrators.
Just this year alone I have trained for 9 new mandated programs. I feel overwhelmed, disappointed and burned out. I am considering another profession. As a teacher, I am used to working long hours at school, but this is extreme, to say the least.”
SC Response
Thank you for joining the conversation. Unfortunately, since I don’t know what district you are in, I cannot address specifics. But I can respond in broad terms.
The fact that you are feeling more pressure is not unique. The accountability expectations of the state are making everyone feel the heat. The pressure you are facing has been around for a while. Those who felt it first were our most at-risk campuses. As the standards have increased, each year more schools reach the point where doing what they have always done will no longer suffice. Then everyone goes into panic mode. The old saying, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” is the perfect recipe for system meltdown.
Then, when the system starts to meltdown the easiest people to blame are those closest to the problem, in this case, school-based staff. What compounds this is that the typical central office staffer or administrator has a skewed view of the current realities of campus operations. This has occured because accountability standards have changed so rapidly. The instructional practices that made me a successful teacher in the early 90’s would now be considered sub-par, at best. I am aware of this, because I continue to spend a significant portion of my month, in classrooms, observing and coaching teachers. As you well know, this is not typical central office behavior. Once you get to central office, most people become too “busy” to visit schools and classrooms on a regular and frequent basis. Thus, they have not experienced the tempo and constant high quality execution of fundamental practices now neccessary to just keep your head above water.
However, if you think central office is tough on you, sit in the principal’s chair. The principal must deal directly with central office on almost a daily basis. They catch the heat on everything: performance, budget, personnel and community relations. If there is a problem, rest assured someone will soon be calling. Thus, as the pressure on the principal is increased, it is natural (and at times, unfortunate) that some of the pressure is directed towards the staff.
As for training on all the new programs, believe me, I am empathetic. I am a proponent of going slower in order to speed up implementation (but I can promise you that my definition of slow is quite different from that of the typical educator). And trust me, there are a number of Superintendents and Assistant Superintendents that are getting tired of me pointing out that they are training their staff to the point that they are unable to teach. On the other hand, there are some districts that we are working with who have done so little to stay current with the best practices of our field, that they are now trying to fix everything at once. In that case, all I can say is do your best to get a little better each day and at some point the learning curve will seem less steep.
Finally, when it comes to burn-out, you always have to ask yourself why you are doing the job. If you are just doing it for the money, the money isn’t good enough. If you are just doing it for the holiday schedule, that ship sailed years ago. If you are doing it because you get a charge out of your students learning and succeeding under your tutelage, then stick it out. Adversity builds character and capacity. Plus, you read the blog. That means that you are actively scanning the horizon in search of better practices and solutions. That puts you at least one step ahead of both your peers and most administrators.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
“I have been teaching for 10 years. But I have never experienced more bullying from central office than I have in the past three years. There is now more meanness in principals’ attitudes toward their teachers and more disrespect toward teachers from central office administrators.
Just this year alone I have trained for 9 new mandated programs. I feel overwhelmed, disappointed and burned out. I am considering another profession. As a teacher, I am used to working long hours at school, but this is extreme, to say the least.”
SC Response
Thank you for joining the conversation. Unfortunately, since I don’t know what district you are in, I cannot address specifics. But I can respond in broad terms.
The fact that you are feeling more pressure is not unique. The accountability expectations of the state are making everyone feel the heat. The pressure you are facing has been around for a while. Those who felt it first were our most at-risk campuses. As the standards have increased, each year more schools reach the point where doing what they have always done will no longer suffice. Then everyone goes into panic mode. The old saying, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” is the perfect recipe for system meltdown.
Then, when the system starts to meltdown the easiest people to blame are those closest to the problem, in this case, school-based staff. What compounds this is that the typical central office staffer or administrator has a skewed view of the current realities of campus operations. This has occured because accountability standards have changed so rapidly. The instructional practices that made me a successful teacher in the early 90’s would now be considered sub-par, at best. I am aware of this, because I continue to spend a significant portion of my month, in classrooms, observing and coaching teachers. As you well know, this is not typical central office behavior. Once you get to central office, most people become too “busy” to visit schools and classrooms on a regular and frequent basis. Thus, they have not experienced the tempo and constant high quality execution of fundamental practices now neccessary to just keep your head above water.
However, if you think central office is tough on you, sit in the principal’s chair. The principal must deal directly with central office on almost a daily basis. They catch the heat on everything: performance, budget, personnel and community relations. If there is a problem, rest assured someone will soon be calling. Thus, as the pressure on the principal is increased, it is natural (and at times, unfortunate) that some of the pressure is directed towards the staff.
As for training on all the new programs, believe me, I am empathetic. I am a proponent of going slower in order to speed up implementation (but I can promise you that my definition of slow is quite different from that of the typical educator). And trust me, there are a number of Superintendents and Assistant Superintendents that are getting tired of me pointing out that they are training their staff to the point that they are unable to teach. On the other hand, there are some districts that we are working with who have done so little to stay current with the best practices of our field, that they are now trying to fix everything at once. In that case, all I can say is do your best to get a little better each day and at some point the learning curve will seem less steep.
Finally, when it comes to burn-out, you always have to ask yourself why you are doing the job. If you are just doing it for the money, the money isn’t good enough. If you are just doing it for the holiday schedule, that ship sailed years ago. If you are doing it because you get a charge out of your students learning and succeeding under your tutelage, then stick it out. Adversity builds character and capacity. Plus, you read the blog. That means that you are actively scanning the horizon in search of better practices and solutions. That puts you at least one step ahead of both your peers and most administrators.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Monday, March 15, 2010
Reflections on Phoenix
Another NASSP Conference in the books. Attendance was a little lighter than I expected, but budgets are tight. Overall, I thought the presentations were of exceptional quality and of course, any time you get a group of school leaders together, the conversations were lively. Here are some of my reflections and observations, in no particular order.
1. Downtown Phoenix is clean and easy to get around.
2. The sunrises in Phoenix are breathtaking.
3. I’m disappointed with the on-going hatred for NCLB. It’s not perfect, but holding ourselves accountable for educating our students is good for our profession and good for our students. What I like to ask the opponents of NCLB is this, “Have you already pre-selected the children who you are going to leave behind?”
4. I think that one of the central messages of NASSP’s executive leadership is misguided. If you listen to Tirozzi, you would think that this is the absolute worst time to be a principal. I vehemently disagree. This is the best time ever to be a principal. The tools, practices and research that are available to us now are opening up undiscovered areas of teaching and learning on a daily basis. The fact that we now know when we aren’t effectively reaching our students actually speeds up our innovation curves. If that doesn’t excite you, quit griping and just retire.
5. Next time you are in Phoenix, make a special trip to Donavan’s Steaks and Chops. It is ranked in the top ten steak houses in the U.S. and the ranking is deserved.
6. The shortest conversation Don and I had with a principal was probably the most honest. She came looking for us because she had heard we had a great “program” for her students. She quickly pointed out and she and her teachers were all top notch and were doing a good job. It was her students that weren’t performing. We told her that we work under the philosophical premise that adult practice drives student performance. We then told her we don’t have a “program,” we coach adults in more effective practices. She looked at the two of us for a second and said, “I don’t want to work that hard.” Then she turned on her heels and left.
7. The LYS “Talk Like a Genius” cards are a huge hit.
8. My favorite conversation was with a teacher who was attending the conference for the first time. She said, “What I find most shocking is that all these principals actually go to the sessions. At the teacher conferences there are more people in the hallways than in the rooms.”
9. A quick shout out to our friends in Splendora ISD, Pflugerville ISD, and Cypress-Fairbanks ISD who found us at the conference. And a quick hello to all the new subscribers to the LYS Blog. Give it three weeks and it will all start to make sense.
Finally, if you didn’t attend the conference this year, start making plans for next year, now. The conference will be held in San Francisco next February and LYS will be on the front row.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
1. Downtown Phoenix is clean and easy to get around.
2. The sunrises in Phoenix are breathtaking.
3. I’m disappointed with the on-going hatred for NCLB. It’s not perfect, but holding ourselves accountable for educating our students is good for our profession and good for our students. What I like to ask the opponents of NCLB is this, “Have you already pre-selected the children who you are going to leave behind?”
4. I think that one of the central messages of NASSP’s executive leadership is misguided. If you listen to Tirozzi, you would think that this is the absolute worst time to be a principal. I vehemently disagree. This is the best time ever to be a principal. The tools, practices and research that are available to us now are opening up undiscovered areas of teaching and learning on a daily basis. The fact that we now know when we aren’t effectively reaching our students actually speeds up our innovation curves. If that doesn’t excite you, quit griping and just retire.
5. Next time you are in Phoenix, make a special trip to Donavan’s Steaks and Chops. It is ranked in the top ten steak houses in the U.S. and the ranking is deserved.
6. The shortest conversation Don and I had with a principal was probably the most honest. She came looking for us because she had heard we had a great “program” for her students. She quickly pointed out and she and her teachers were all top notch and were doing a good job. It was her students that weren’t performing. We told her that we work under the philosophical premise that adult practice drives student performance. We then told her we don’t have a “program,” we coach adults in more effective practices. She looked at the two of us for a second and said, “I don’t want to work that hard.” Then she turned on her heels and left.
7. The LYS “Talk Like a Genius” cards are a huge hit.
8. My favorite conversation was with a teacher who was attending the conference for the first time. She said, “What I find most shocking is that all these principals actually go to the sessions. At the teacher conferences there are more people in the hallways than in the rooms.”
9. A quick shout out to our friends in Splendora ISD, Pflugerville ISD, and Cypress-Fairbanks ISD who found us at the conference. And a quick hello to all the new subscribers to the LYS Blog. Give it three weeks and it will all start to make sense.
Finally, if you didn’t attend the conference this year, start making plans for next year, now. The conference will be held in San Francisco next February and LYS will be on the front row.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Sunday, March 14, 2010
A Reader Writes... (Instructional Discussions - Part 7)
In response to the posts addressing, “Instructional Discussions,” a reader writes:
"I know there are educators that read the blog that have never worked with you, or Brezina, or Brown. LYS Nation, SC is right about being there every step of the way if you are taking the road less traveled. When I finally said, “Enough is enough, we have to get better,” Cain and Brown are the only ones who didn’t waiver and had my back when the going got tough. But after my teachers and kids started having success, there was a long line of people who showed up to try to get some of the credit."
SC Response
Thanks for the compliment. Here’s a little known story. Brown and Brezina, for being national icons, had never met until 2002.
Texas had identified 15 high schools that would be closed if they did not improve immediately. 11 of the high schools, on paper, had the potential to get better with a few tweaks here and there. Those schools were doled out to the big national school improvement organizations. I won’t name those organizations, but all of them are still out there. 4 schools were considered so bad that no one would go near them out of fear of having their reputation tainted.
As a favor to the Commissioner of Education, Brezina came out of retirement for the second time to work with two of the campuses and Brown came out of retirement to work with the other two campuses. Those four campuses improved faster that any of the 11 “easy” campuses. Brown and Brezina noticed what the other was doing with equally tough campuses, and as the say, the rest is history.
If you are serious about doing what is necessary to improve the quality of education for all of your students, we will find a way to help you and your staff. And as for credit, you have heard numerous times what we tell everyone, “It is the Principal and the staff that do all the heavy lifting. If there is any credit, they are the only ones who should get it.”
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
"I know there are educators that read the blog that have never worked with you, or Brezina, or Brown. LYS Nation, SC is right about being there every step of the way if you are taking the road less traveled. When I finally said, “Enough is enough, we have to get better,” Cain and Brown are the only ones who didn’t waiver and had my back when the going got tough. But after my teachers and kids started having success, there was a long line of people who showed up to try to get some of the credit."
SC Response
Thanks for the compliment. Here’s a little known story. Brown and Brezina, for being national icons, had never met until 2002.
Texas had identified 15 high schools that would be closed if they did not improve immediately. 11 of the high schools, on paper, had the potential to get better with a few tweaks here and there. Those schools were doled out to the big national school improvement organizations. I won’t name those organizations, but all of them are still out there. 4 schools were considered so bad that no one would go near them out of fear of having their reputation tainted.
As a favor to the Commissioner of Education, Brezina came out of retirement for the second time to work with two of the campuses and Brown came out of retirement to work with the other two campuses. Those four campuses improved faster that any of the 11 “easy” campuses. Brown and Brezina noticed what the other was doing with equally tough campuses, and as the say, the rest is history.
If you are serious about doing what is necessary to improve the quality of education for all of your students, we will find a way to help you and your staff. And as for credit, you have heard numerous times what we tell everyone, “It is the Principal and the staff that do all the heavy lifting. If there is any credit, they are the only ones who should get it.”
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
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