Posts
In response to the post, "The Great Ones Outwork Everyone Else," the Marine faction of the LYS Nation writes:
“Don't be shy about condemning the lazy, the Bible calls laziness and slothfulness sin.I don't think adult hard work is looked at enough by leadership in education. I would rather have a teacher that showed up everyday and worked hard rather than a super talented slug with a bad attitude. In the Marine Corps, the Marines who work hard can be molded into a World Class fighting machine from pure willingness alone, regardless of talent. The lazy ones can not be fixed unless there is a serious change in mentality. For a Marine, getting shot at is a great attitude changer, what is the education equivalent?
In the Marine Corps the slothful are immediately weeded out in boot camp. So I ask you: “Where is the weeding out process for teachers and administrators? Why are they given so much time to flounder in a mediocre state and destroy the future of kids?”
Education is a war. It is a war against ignorance. In this war, we must define our core characteristics and laziness is not one of them”
SC Response
I have been speaking recently on the “Strata of Professional Craft. The four strata, as I identify them are:
1. Non-compliant
2. Novice
3. Technician
4. Artist
The discussion and concept is deep, but a critical component is “purposeful work.”
Purposeful work differs from just showing up or doing the time. It is the difference between having 20 years of one year of experience vs. 20 years of continuous learning. Many of us in the field ignore that difference. And we end up with too many experienced non-compliant’s and novices.
To cut to the chase, the educator who generally shows up and only makes adjustments that reduce that amount of energy they have to expend is the model “Non-compliant.”
The educator who works 8 to 5, does exactly what he is told to do and only uses district provided training to stay current with the craft is the model for the self-selected “Novice.”
The educator that works hard, makes a reasonable attempt to remain aware of changes in the field, uses the tools provided by the district, tries to make some changes to her craft, and pays attention to what students seem to better respond to, generally occupies the “Technician” strata.
The “Artist” obsesses on the craft (think Michael Jordan and Peyton Manning). She burns the mid-night oil, she reads, she actively participates in training, she purposefully tinkers with classroom set-up, instructional delivery and student management. But here is the kicker, she’s been doing this for a long time.
There are no short-cuts to becoming an artist. The minimum requirements for true artistry are staggering.
A. 10,000 hours a purposeful practice.
B. Laser like focus and commitment.
C. 100’s if not 1000’s of incremental adjustments based on both subjective and objective data.
The point being, and this is where we agree, as leaders we can not treat the Non-compliant, Novice, Technician and Artist the same. We must rapidly indentify the Non-compliants in our ranks and either remediate or remove them, post haste.
The Novice (rookie) we must indoctrinate, train and coach for the sole purpose of moving them to the ranks of technician as quickly as possible. For the Novice (self-selected), we must determine if it is a case of “can’t do or won’t do.” The “Can’t Do” is in the wrong field and we have a leadership duty to the employee, organization and most importantly the student to quickly and professionally address this. For the “Won’t Do” we either motivate or remove, with no need to apologize.
The Technician we continuously train, re-train, support, and coach. I believe that one way you measure your success as an instructional leader is how many technicians you build and how well you support your technicians. And since Artists come straight from the technician pool (remember the 10,000 hour rule), the greater number and greater quality of your technicians the better chance your campus has of developing a couple of Artists.
The Artist represents the ceiling of your organization's potential. If we are only as strong as our weakest link (and you still tolerate the non-compliant?); we can only climb as high as our highest rung. When you have an artist in your midst, give her all the resources she needs, solicit her council, observe her more frequently than anybody else, and work as hard as you can to translate her magic into actionable practice for everyone else.
And always remember that the alpha and omega of this entire discussion is purposeful works, years of purposeful work.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Friday, August 13, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
A Reader Writes... (Urban School Myth - Part 3)
In response to the post, “Urban School Myth – Part 2,” a reader writes:
“I am new to LYS so I hope it is okay to comment!
Sean, you stated, "...the sad truth was in most cases the problem is easy to pinpoint, all you had to do was hold up a mirror."
I sat through my first LYS training with you last week in the Common Assessments Development Camp. I think the biggest thing I brought back from that meeting was that I, and teachers in general, need to look in the mirror and see where we are lacking, thus failing the students. I am so excited about LYS helping us out. The last day of our training was yesterday, and I've already been on the phone with 7 different teachers from my school telling them all about LYS and the Common Assessment piece. Through my conversations with each of these teachers, I have reiterated the concept that we have to look at ourselves and see what we need to do differently. It is not always an easy task to self-critique, but I believe it is something that is necessary if we want to be better teachers for our students.
Thank you for your insight and we are looking forward to working with you and your team!"
SC Response
Great post! Thanks for writing in, and yes, whether you agree or disagree with a post, it is always OK to comment. This blog doesn’t exist if the LYS Nation doesn’t have an opinion or something it wants to write about.
I glad you found the Common Assessment Development Camp to be immediately valuable. It is my belief that the CA Camp puts a campus on the path to high achieving self sufficiency, but I realize that my perspective from outside the campus and the perspective from inside the classroom can differ.
The idea of looking in the mirror is not to blame educators for the problems that we face but to get us to recognize that adult practice is the most important variable correlated to student success, that we control. Once we accept that fact (instead of fighting it) and begin to act accordingly, we have yet to find the limit to what campuses and students can achieve. This doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen much more rapidly than most people imagine.
Also, by your actions, you are the “poster child” for LYS. People outside of the LYS Nation seem to think that we only address formal school leadership (Board, Superintendent, Principal, etc.). But that is not our sole focus. We work equally as hard to address the needs and improve the quality of the informal leadership in districts and on campuses. In fact, without a strong, student centered focus by a campus’ informal leadership, any hope of meaningful change is fleeting. Your advocacy is informal leadership at work.
Your enthusiasm is invigorating and we too look forward to working with your campus in the upcoming school year.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
“I am new to LYS so I hope it is okay to comment!
Sean, you stated, "...the sad truth was in most cases the problem is easy to pinpoint, all you had to do was hold up a mirror."
I sat through my first LYS training with you last week in the Common Assessments Development Camp. I think the biggest thing I brought back from that meeting was that I, and teachers in general, need to look in the mirror and see where we are lacking, thus failing the students. I am so excited about LYS helping us out. The last day of our training was yesterday, and I've already been on the phone with 7 different teachers from my school telling them all about LYS and the Common Assessment piece. Through my conversations with each of these teachers, I have reiterated the concept that we have to look at ourselves and see what we need to do differently. It is not always an easy task to self-critique, but I believe it is something that is necessary if we want to be better teachers for our students.
Thank you for your insight and we are looking forward to working with you and your team!"
SC Response
Great post! Thanks for writing in, and yes, whether you agree or disagree with a post, it is always OK to comment. This blog doesn’t exist if the LYS Nation doesn’t have an opinion or something it wants to write about.
I glad you found the Common Assessment Development Camp to be immediately valuable. It is my belief that the CA Camp puts a campus on the path to high achieving self sufficiency, but I realize that my perspective from outside the campus and the perspective from inside the classroom can differ.
The idea of looking in the mirror is not to blame educators for the problems that we face but to get us to recognize that adult practice is the most important variable correlated to student success, that we control. Once we accept that fact (instead of fighting it) and begin to act accordingly, we have yet to find the limit to what campuses and students can achieve. This doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen much more rapidly than most people imagine.
Also, by your actions, you are the “poster child” for LYS. People outside of the LYS Nation seem to think that we only address formal school leadership (Board, Superintendent, Principal, etc.). But that is not our sole focus. We work equally as hard to address the needs and improve the quality of the informal leadership in districts and on campuses. In fact, without a strong, student centered focus by a campus’ informal leadership, any hope of meaningful change is fleeting. Your advocacy is informal leadership at work.
Your enthusiasm is invigorating and we too look forward to working with your campus in the upcoming school year.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
A Reader Writes... (Who are We Letting In - Part 2)
In response to the post, “Who are We Letting In,” a reader writes:
“First, let me say thank you for providing the LYS blog-alogue. It is a challenging and empowering opportunity for growth as teachers and students of educational leadership.
Second, I haven't had any time to participate in the dialogue because our administrative team has been working hard and smart in overdrive since February to promote, create and support student success. We’ve burned the midnight oil to make sure that our students overcome their learning challenges to become achievers of high expectations. We were successful in moving this campus out of AU. This meant we had to get beyond an inherited deficit of over 200 over age students that our feeder pattern as pushed up to us over the past three years. It took holding students and teachers to the same high expectations through consistent monitoring and feedback. We promoted the idea that each classroom was like a campus, the teacher was the instructional leader and the students their instructional staff.
When students began engaging each other in the learning process, quantum leaps were made across the academic gap. Students started asking faculty and staff how to improve their own learning and teaching (peer-tutoring) which led to dramatic improvements with our culture and climate. Teachers put into practice in the classroom the expectations asked of them and achieved a truly shared learning experience.
Hats off to our principal who gave us the permission and support to empower a "don't blame students for failure" systemic change. We proved that a "one size fits all" education doesn't work, but being of "one mind for all students" makes us fit to meet the needs of all learners.
Third, that being said, here is my question: "How do we address the disconnect between campuses up through the learning chain?"
A concern for meeting the tested needs on each campus at their particular grade level doesn't necessarily help students grasp the next expected rung on the grade-level ladder.
Thanks again for all you do to keep us on the cutting edge of successful leadership teaching learning success."
SC Response
You're welcome and welcome back! Your story illustrates a coaching point that I had with a campus I was working with last year. Like most schools that struggle, it wasn’t that they weren’t working hard; it was that they were working at everything. Which meant that little was being done well. So I gave them a checklist for short–term survival (and long-term success).
“A” priority: Teaching and learning
“B” priority: Everything else.
What they (and most schools in their situation) couldn’t grasp is when you work on and solve teaching and learning issues at full speed, a big chunk of the other stuff just evaporates. As you have experienced, yet again.
Now for your question, the successful solution to feeder pattern disconnect has a number of inter-connected actions, below are the big three.
1. The High School principal has to take a pro-active role in engaging her feeder pattern principals. She has to meet with them on a regular basis, address common concerns and push for vertical solutions. The High School principal is not the boss, but she is the de-facto first among equals. If she doesn’t fill the void (which over 95% percent of HS principals do not) no one else will.
2. The feeder pattern principals have to assume some responsibility for the success of their students at the next level. That means if a lot of 6th graders hit the wall during the first semester, the elementary has to re-examine their actions. As one of my mentors regularly pointed out to me, “The measure of your success has less to do with how students perform when you are there to hold their hand; and more to do with how they apply the lessons you taught them, when you are not around.”
3. The feeder pattern schools have to focus on more than just meeting minimum performance standards. The High School can not add value if its only viable option is to run a remediation factory.
Can all of this happen? Yes. Does it happen? Rarely. I believe the reason for that is that most campuses are so busy, they can’t see the forest from the trees and they are not looking to create more work. And the last thing central office wants to do is to mandate one more meeting for campuses to complain about. So for the most part, outside of the vertical alignment activities managed by the curriculum department, this vital area of school operations is ignored.
For a reasoned and compelling argument on the “why’s and how’s,” of vertical collaboration, refer to the works of Michael Fullan.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
“First, let me say thank you for providing the LYS blog-alogue. It is a challenging and empowering opportunity for growth as teachers and students of educational leadership.
Second, I haven't had any time to participate in the dialogue because our administrative team has been working hard and smart in overdrive since February to promote, create and support student success. We’ve burned the midnight oil to make sure that our students overcome their learning challenges to become achievers of high expectations. We were successful in moving this campus out of AU. This meant we had to get beyond an inherited deficit of over 200 over age students that our feeder pattern as pushed up to us over the past three years. It took holding students and teachers to the same high expectations through consistent monitoring and feedback. We promoted the idea that each classroom was like a campus, the teacher was the instructional leader and the students their instructional staff.
When students began engaging each other in the learning process, quantum leaps were made across the academic gap. Students started asking faculty and staff how to improve their own learning and teaching (peer-tutoring) which led to dramatic improvements with our culture and climate. Teachers put into practice in the classroom the expectations asked of them and achieved a truly shared learning experience.
Hats off to our principal who gave us the permission and support to empower a "don't blame students for failure" systemic change. We proved that a "one size fits all" education doesn't work, but being of "one mind for all students" makes us fit to meet the needs of all learners.
Third, that being said, here is my question: "How do we address the disconnect between campuses up through the learning chain?"
A concern for meeting the tested needs on each campus at their particular grade level doesn't necessarily help students grasp the next expected rung on the grade-level ladder.
Thanks again for all you do to keep us on the cutting edge of successful leadership teaching learning success."
SC Response
You're welcome and welcome back! Your story illustrates a coaching point that I had with a campus I was working with last year. Like most schools that struggle, it wasn’t that they weren’t working hard; it was that they were working at everything. Which meant that little was being done well. So I gave them a checklist for short–term survival (and long-term success).
“A” priority: Teaching and learning
“B” priority: Everything else.
What they (and most schools in their situation) couldn’t grasp is when you work on and solve teaching and learning issues at full speed, a big chunk of the other stuff just evaporates. As you have experienced, yet again.
Now for your question, the successful solution to feeder pattern disconnect has a number of inter-connected actions, below are the big three.
1. The High School principal has to take a pro-active role in engaging her feeder pattern principals. She has to meet with them on a regular basis, address common concerns and push for vertical solutions. The High School principal is not the boss, but she is the de-facto first among equals. If she doesn’t fill the void (which over 95% percent of HS principals do not) no one else will.
2. The feeder pattern principals have to assume some responsibility for the success of their students at the next level. That means if a lot of 6th graders hit the wall during the first semester, the elementary has to re-examine their actions. As one of my mentors regularly pointed out to me, “The measure of your success has less to do with how students perform when you are there to hold their hand; and more to do with how they apply the lessons you taught them, when you are not around.”
3. The feeder pattern schools have to focus on more than just meeting minimum performance standards. The High School can not add value if its only viable option is to run a remediation factory.
Can all of this happen? Yes. Does it happen? Rarely. I believe the reason for that is that most campuses are so busy, they can’t see the forest from the trees and they are not looking to create more work. And the last thing central office wants to do is to mandate one more meeting for campuses to complain about. So for the most part, outside of the vertical alignment activities managed by the curriculum department, this vital area of school operations is ignored.
For a reasoned and compelling argument on the “why’s and how’s,” of vertical collaboration, refer to the works of Michael Fullan.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
A Reader Writes... (Who are We Letting In - Part 1)
In response to the post, “Who are We Letting In,” a reader writes:
“I have to say that I agree with at least 80-85% of LYS. Sometimes more, depending on the time of the year. I wish our district would bring you in but that would mean everyone above us would also have to focus on improvement.
I cheered when I saw your responses to the dress code issues and realized that you have mellowed somewhat in your stance. Always professional and always willing to listen and accept differences. I always knew where I stood with you whether we agreed, or agreed to disagree.
I love my LYS koozie. I may have used it too much recently to chew on to keep frustrations down. Better than chocolate (not really) and definitely less calories. It is a great tool also to throw against the wall on those days when I question why I do what I do (it keeps from chipping the paint). All I have to do is roam the halls and talk with the kids and teachers who are committed to kids and I re-center. I look forward to this school year for many reasons and will use many examples from your comments as well as other members of the LYS Nation to kick the year off.”
SC Response
I remember when I was in college and one of my professors contradicted the text book (which he wrote). When I asked him about it, he said, “Just because I wrote the book, doesn’t mean that I give up the right to change my mind when new facts emerge.”
I find it humorous when people believe that we all have to agree. Systemic group think easily stifles more creativity than it encourages. On the other hand, I do believe that it is critical that we agree on our mission, vision and goals. After that, let the best idea win. In fact, knowing your experience and skill set, the 15% that represents the areas where we don’t agree is where I believe our real innovative thinking will emerge.
You are right about the dress code. When I was younger, I wanted to “save” students. I saw dress code as a way to shift student expectations. Now I see dress code as a teaching tool. Use the tool appropriately if it supports the mission and vision of the school and the district. Quit using the tool if you lack the will to use it appropriately or it does not support the mission and vision of the school or district.
Good luck with the start of school and don’t fret about me not being there. Your daily actions and examples are much more powerful than a few hours of me talking.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
“I have to say that I agree with at least 80-85% of LYS. Sometimes more, depending on the time of the year. I wish our district would bring you in but that would mean everyone above us would also have to focus on improvement.
I cheered when I saw your responses to the dress code issues and realized that you have mellowed somewhat in your stance. Always professional and always willing to listen and accept differences. I always knew where I stood with you whether we agreed, or agreed to disagree.
I love my LYS koozie. I may have used it too much recently to chew on to keep frustrations down. Better than chocolate (not really) and definitely less calories. It is a great tool also to throw against the wall on those days when I question why I do what I do (it keeps from chipping the paint). All I have to do is roam the halls and talk with the kids and teachers who are committed to kids and I re-center. I look forward to this school year for many reasons and will use many examples from your comments as well as other members of the LYS Nation to kick the year off.”
SC Response
I remember when I was in college and one of my professors contradicted the text book (which he wrote). When I asked him about it, he said, “Just because I wrote the book, doesn’t mean that I give up the right to change my mind when new facts emerge.”
I find it humorous when people believe that we all have to agree. Systemic group think easily stifles more creativity than it encourages. On the other hand, I do believe that it is critical that we agree on our mission, vision and goals. After that, let the best idea win. In fact, knowing your experience and skill set, the 15% that represents the areas where we don’t agree is where I believe our real innovative thinking will emerge.
You are right about the dress code. When I was younger, I wanted to “save” students. I saw dress code as a way to shift student expectations. Now I see dress code as a teaching tool. Use the tool appropriately if it supports the mission and vision of the school and the district. Quit using the tool if you lack the will to use it appropriately or it does not support the mission and vision of the school or district.
Good luck with the start of school and don’t fret about me not being there. Your daily actions and examples are much more powerful than a few hours of me talking.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Sunday, August 8, 2010
A Reader Writes... (Advice for the First Year Principal - Part 4)
In response to the post, “Advice for the First Year Principal,” a reader writes:
“SC, if it wasn’t for you I would not have made it though my first year. I don’t say that lightly, there were other first year principals in my district that didn’t make it. Why doesn’t our district hire you to coach all of our first year principals? Don’t they care?
To all the new principals out there, get LYS to your campus, even if you have to pay for it out of your own budget like I did. The stakes are too high to just guess all the time.”
SC Response
Thanks, for the high praise. It’s not the districts don’t care. I’ve yet to come across a district that wants principals to fail. Principals are like fighter pilots, very expensive and hard to replace assets. But I do recognize that many districts do a poor job of new employee induction in general and new principal induction in particular. It has been my observation that there are three common reasons why this happens.
1. Money and time. It takes both to organize and operate a meaningful induction program. Unfortunately, I haven’t found many school districts that are flush with cash and have nothing to do during the day.
2. A faulty memory. Part of the human condition is that we minimize or forget hardship and remember the good times and experiences. If this wasn’t the case, we could never get past tragedy. But a by-product of this is by the time you are in a position to support a first year principal, you have forgotten the toll it actually took on you. The highs you remember (of which there are a lot) the lows you forget (which at the time felt devastating). When you don’t remember things being that tough, in a world of limited resources, induction programs go from being an “A” priority to a “B” priority.
3. An outdated experience base. Many of us in mentoring and development roles today, earned our experience during times of less rigorous accountability. We forget that during our first year the stakes were lower. We actually had the luxury of time (relatively speaking) to learn our craft. Therefore, what I might view as a luxury, based on my experience base, is now a necessity.
If your district has an induction program, embrace it. If it doesn’t, find somebody you can trust and talk to them a lot. Just the process of stating a problem out loud often makes it less ambiguous and easier to solve. During my first year as a principal I was very fortunate I had the advice and council of an internal coach (Dr. Richard Griffin) and external coach (Wayne Schaper) and a coach that I hired from my own budget (Harlan Yetter). Would I have survived without them? Probably. Would my career trajectory been as steep? Absolutely not. My coaches made me and my school successful. Since then, I have been conscious of the need to pay that forward. It is unfortunate that many in our field view the need for coaching as a sign of weakness (ironic, since we are supposed to be focused on continuous learning and improvement). Because the more potential you have, the more valuable timely coaching becomes.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
“SC, if it wasn’t for you I would not have made it though my first year. I don’t say that lightly, there were other first year principals in my district that didn’t make it. Why doesn’t our district hire you to coach all of our first year principals? Don’t they care?
To all the new principals out there, get LYS to your campus, even if you have to pay for it out of your own budget like I did. The stakes are too high to just guess all the time.”
SC Response
Thanks, for the high praise. It’s not the districts don’t care. I’ve yet to come across a district that wants principals to fail. Principals are like fighter pilots, very expensive and hard to replace assets. But I do recognize that many districts do a poor job of new employee induction in general and new principal induction in particular. It has been my observation that there are three common reasons why this happens.
1. Money and time. It takes both to organize and operate a meaningful induction program. Unfortunately, I haven’t found many school districts that are flush with cash and have nothing to do during the day.
2. A faulty memory. Part of the human condition is that we minimize or forget hardship and remember the good times and experiences. If this wasn’t the case, we could never get past tragedy. But a by-product of this is by the time you are in a position to support a first year principal, you have forgotten the toll it actually took on you. The highs you remember (of which there are a lot) the lows you forget (which at the time felt devastating). When you don’t remember things being that tough, in a world of limited resources, induction programs go from being an “A” priority to a “B” priority.
3. An outdated experience base. Many of us in mentoring and development roles today, earned our experience during times of less rigorous accountability. We forget that during our first year the stakes were lower. We actually had the luxury of time (relatively speaking) to learn our craft. Therefore, what I might view as a luxury, based on my experience base, is now a necessity.
If your district has an induction program, embrace it. If it doesn’t, find somebody you can trust and talk to them a lot. Just the process of stating a problem out loud often makes it less ambiguous and easier to solve. During my first year as a principal I was very fortunate I had the advice and council of an internal coach (Dr. Richard Griffin) and external coach (Wayne Schaper) and a coach that I hired from my own budget (Harlan Yetter). Would I have survived without them? Probably. Would my career trajectory been as steep? Absolutely not. My coaches made me and my school successful. Since then, I have been conscious of the need to pay that forward. It is unfortunate that many in our field view the need for coaching as a sign of weakness (ironic, since we are supposed to be focused on continuous learning and improvement). Because the more potential you have, the more valuable timely coaching becomes.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
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