A Reader Writes... (Yes, I Know the Hours are Long - Part 11)

In response to the post, “Yes, I Know the Hours are Long – Part 1 & 2 (11/7/2010),” a LYS Principal writes:

I am one of the old time LYS guys, and I am one of the original writers of this fine blog. I know Sean Cain very well. And here is a news flash: Sean and I only agree about 90 percent of the time. We learn from each other, and I propose that it is the 10% we disagree on that drives our learning from each other. After all, if we agreed 100% on everything, there would be no need for me to call Sean, or for Sean to call me, on any issue.

As far as long hours, I think we ask teachers to do too much. We want teachers to embrace modern best practices, but still expect them to do everything teachers did in 1970. Teachers don't have time to be class sponsors. Teachers don't have time to do fund raisers for prom. Teachers don't have time to attend gratuitous meetings that could be handled with a memo. Teachers are asked to do too much duty that doesn't matter.

Let's look at administrators. Principals are expected to be instructional leaders, but they too are asked to do all the things principals did 30 years ago. Principals are supposed to coach teachers, be in classrooms, develop real improvement strategies, and communicate vision. On the other hand, Principals spend literally half of their time monitoring extra-curricular activities, which in my opinion have minimal (almost ZERO) impact on student academic performance. If you care to debate this point, I double dog dare you. Bring your “A” game.

Teachers need to focus on high quality delivery (instruction) of an aligned curriculum.

Principals need to focus on the high quality delivery (instruction) on an aligned curriculum.

At this point our schools are not good enough to focus on anything else. If extra-curricular activities were going to deliver the academic goods promised, they would have already done so. Concerning extra-curricular activities, educators sold school boards, parents, and students a bill of goods that has never delivered what was promised. I estimate the State of Texas spends anywhere from $3 to $10 billion dollars annually to fund extra-curricular activities. With a near $20 billion dollar budget shortfall, I can show you where to cut up to $10 billion that will never be missed. How did we get to the point where the public was funding the entertainment of our children? Yes, children put a strong value on extra-curricular activities. Guess why? I propose it is because ADULTS place high value on extra-curricular activities, hence kids follow what adults model. What if adults valued curricular activities as much as extra-curricular activities?

Don't get me wrong; I am not saying extra-curricular activities have no value. I am saying that toxicity is a matter of dosage. Oxygen in extreme dosages in lethal, as the lack of oxygen is lethal. Extra-curricular activities ceased to be about kids a long time ago and we have reached a dosage that is causing toxicity. Club sports funded by parents would be a far better option and would remove the burden of paying for the entertainment of children from the taxpayers.

Remember, Time, Energy, and Effort are finite and zero sum. Once they are gone, they can't be replenished. As a profession, we have to abandon the old ideas and practices that retard growth. BTW, I have thrown out some ideas here that Sean and I disagree upon, and I assure you he will post them on the blog in due time. No one is censored here. May the best idea win.

SC Response

It is my hope that the writer of the original posts has stuck with the blog (I can’t distinguish between comments from e-mail subscribers and web-site readers). If so, he or she can see that the purpose of the blog is honest, critical discourse – not blind agreement with each other. You are right, the two of us, who have voluntarily worked with, and in, some of the toughest schools in the country, still disagree on a regular basis. And it doesn’t bother me in the least. In fact, every time we disagree, I’m reminded of our mentors, E. Don Brown and Fred Richardson. Before retirement, they were recognized as two of the best high school principals in the country. About the only thing they agreed on was that schools can be better and that their schools would be better. After that they disagreed as often as they agreed. The day we agree on every thing is the day we have both lost our edge.

I too think that we ask teachers to do entirely too much. I believe that we would be better served with a staff of experts, as opposed to a staff of “Jacks of All Trades.” I also understand that the key to building expertise is focus. This understanding drove the development of the Foundation Trinity and Foundation Five. Both remove the extraneous from teachers’ plates and frees them up to become experts in the “how” of instruction. What is interesting is that teachers fight this more that any administrator. Which, I must be honest, I find difficult to understand. I’m hardwired to chase perfection, and though I recognize many aren’t, I don’t know why.

I also agree that principal spend too much of their time on the administrivia of campus administration and too little time focused on the most critical function of schools, teaching and learning. We will disagree on the value of extra-curriculars. But I recognize that most of your experience is with athletic programs run wild. I grew up in an athletic program that strengthened the campus academic program. Four of the best five teachers I had in high school were my coaches, including the best, Coach Tommy Wallace, who taught me Algebra II, Linear Algebra, Analytical Geometry, Trigonometry, Elementary Analysis, Calculus, and how to be a teacher. The strength of our diverse experience is that between the two of us we know the significant pro’s and considerable con’s surrounding extra-curriculars and are in a better position to make sure that they add to the campus instead of distracting from it.

I’ll close with an extension of our normal challenge, “may the best idea win.” What allows us to engage in the ongoing discussion, without malice, is not our friendship (which is not as old as our professional relationship). It is the fact that we back our ideas with empirical data and experience. When you say, “Here is want I believe, due to A, B and C,” and I respond with, “I’ll give you A, but what about D and E,” what is there to get mad at?

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (Yes, I Know the Hours are Long - Part 10)

In response to the post, “Yes, I Know the Hours are Long – Part 1 & 2 (11/7/2010),” a principal writes:

Ahhhhhhh! These comments sound like they came from my campus! When will the excuse making and complaining stop? If we, as educators, are so blinded by the need to preserve our own comfort by resisting changes that could potentially make the difference between student failure and success, ITS TIME TO RETIRE!!!!!! Get on board or get out of the way. Precious energy is being wasted on you that could and should be focused on kids!

SC Response

The excuse making stops when we embrace the three concepts of short-term data analysis and adjustment, transparency, and collaboration. Without the integrated use of all three, the self-esteem and self-preservation needs of the individual (adults) will trump the needs of the many (students). This is not an indictment; it is human nature. And before you accuse me of being cynical, insulting teachers, or both, refer to the works of Adams, Hamilton, Madison and Jay.

The recognition of the above underscores the importance of leadership. It is leadership that installs the structure and systems that support data collection and use, transparency, and collaboration. It is leadership that ensures the implementation of these practices. And it is leadership that must communicate the importance and benefits of these practices, like a broken record. Absent of this leadership, nothing will actually change.

In the short run, you are correct, a lot of energy is wasted getting people to move in a forward direction. This is the case in nearly all organizations. It is the “fly-wheel” effect that Collins describes; the initial one-step forward, two-steps back process that precedes the eventual leap forward.

Do know that as the machine begins to lurch forward and more staff and students are successful, the nay-bobs will either change their ways or go away. Which is a win for everyone involved.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (Yes, I Know the Hours are Long - Part 9)

In response to the post, “Yes, I Know the Hours are Long – Part 1 & 2 (11/7/2010),” a LYS Teacher writes:

Wow, this is too precious. Teachers taking time to point the finger at Cain and acting like the situation your school is in is his fault. I can assure you, he has been sent to your school district or campus to help you. You must try to sift through it all and find the positives or you will definitely wallow in anger, self-pity and the need to blame someone else for the shortcomings of yourself, your team, your school, and/or even your school district. Change cannot occur until you are willing to try to change even just one thing about yourself to become an LYS teacher.

Cain makes you see the worst side of being a teacher, laugh about it, and then get over it and do better. If you listen and take notes when he's talking and presenting you will find clues and ideas as to how to teach better. It's how we improve. This will help you, even if you don't continue teaching.

SC Response

First, thank you for having my back. You are correct; the reason why I work with campus is for the sole purpose of improving student performance. And honestly, if that were not the case, I wouldn’t spend my life on the road. Three nights a week in a Hampton Inn is neither an intrinsic nor extrinsic motivator.

What I think many teachers bristle at is the thought that an outsider has determined that they can improve. After all, the outsider obviously does not realize that they (the staff) work a lot of hours (we do, as I pointed out in the original post) and that most of their students are successful (the effect of rose colored glasses).

As you wrote in you comment, I actually “get it.” I know that as educators, we work in a stressful, labor intensive profession. I know that it is easy to cut a corner here, get your buttons pushed there, and without realizing it lose sight of the big picture. It happens to all of us, myself included. My job is to support educators, by pointing out where they can be more effective, but even more importantly, help them self-identify the half-steps that are holding them and their students back.

Finally, I’m glad that due to the way that the comments lined out that we are discussing this topic again at the beginning of the Spring semester. I believe that this discussion is important, and with half of the school year now behind us, the third round of comments might be less inflammatory and more substantive.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Blog and E-mail: A Review of Functions

Some of you have seen a version of this post before, but since I wrote it, we have added over 100 new members to the LYS Nation. Therefore, I thought a refresher might be in order. The following is my attempt to explain the features that are embedded in the blog site and the e-mail updates.

Note: This section relates to the blog site (not the e-mail updates).

On the left side of the page: If you enter your e-mail address in the subscribe box, you will get a daily e-mail update of all the postings within the last 24 hours, after you respond to the confirmation e-mail (a spam preventative).

On the left side of the page, under the e-mail subscription area: Links to the PowerWalks site and the Lead Your School campus support site.

On the left side of the page, under the Lead Your School Resource area: Current School News. Click on any of the four key words and the most current news stories that relate to that key word will be displayed.

On the left side of the page, under Current School News: RSS Feeds. I don't have a clue. The tech guys just said it needed to be there. Can anyone out there explain it?

On the left side of the page, under RSS Feeds: Followers. Again, no clue (just following tech guy instructions). Some of you do this, care to explain it to the rest of us?

At the bottom of the blog page, under the last post of the week: Blog Archives. Click on a week, and all the posts from that week will be displayed.

Note: This section relates to the actual posts (on the blog site).

If you click on a post title, it will pull up a comment box at the end of the post. Just type in your comment and click the "post comment" button.

At the bottom of each post, click "comment" and you can leave a comment or read comments others have left. However, the majority of the comments, I post under the heading, "A Reader Writes."

At the bottom of each post, click the envelope if you want to e-mail that post to another person.

At the bottom of each post, if you click a "Label" word, it will pull up all the other posts that have the same label words.

At the bottom of the post, there are reaction boxes. You get to rate the post.

Note: This section relates to the E-mail updates.

If you click on "Lead Your School", it will take you to the blog site.

If you click on a post title, it will take you to the post and there will be a comment box at the bottom of the screen. Just type in your comment and click the "post comment" button.

Note: This section relates to Reader Comments.

This is how all comments are handled:

Your comments, opinions and question are welcomed and encouraged. Keep them coming.

All comments opinions and questions are reviewed by me.

Comments, opinions and questions, where it is asked that the information not be shared, receive a private response from me.

One liners and comments that do not require a response are just posted as a comment.

Comments, opinions and questions of merit are posted as, “A Reader Writes…” They are posted in a first come, first serve fashion. So sometimes it takes a while to get to yours.

I don’t know if it is proper blog etiquette or not, but I spell and grammar check comments before I post them.

Post format:

Text in italics is the comment of the reader.

Your turn… This is your invitation to weigh in and join the conversation.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Submits... "Cainify"

Welcome back, LYS Nation! Time to hit the ground running at full speed and make this our most productive school year yet. I thought we would start the New Year with a note I received from a LYS teacher over the holidays.

SC,

Just thought you would want to know, before we could leave for the Christmas Break, we had to “Cainify” our rooms. Depending on the teacher Cainify is either a rubric or an expletive. Me, I think it is a good thing.

SC Response

Good for you and good for your campus (even the teachers who viewed this as an expletive). A pristine room, free of distractions, will assist you in maintaining student focus on mastering the content. The classroom environment either adds to, or distracts from, student performance. I have yet to understand why any teacher would purposefully make their job more difficult, but they do. On your campus, it sounds like this option is being taken off the table. Like you wrote, I think this is a good thing.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...