Readers Write... (MLK Jr. Day)

In response to the 1/17/2011 post, “MLK Jr. Day,” two readers sent in comments. The first is from the Old Ball Coach, and he simply writes:

Excellent.

SC Response

An ‘Atta Boy’ from your coach, feels good. No matter how old you are, or how far you are removed from the field.

The second reader writes:

I work at a school that has a lot African American students, Hispanic students and students from other ethnicities. When I first came to this campus the grade level I worked with had in place an excellent program for the Mexican celebrations of the 16th of September and the 5^th of May. We added emphasis on Black History Month by honoring those who had attended this school in years gone by, through interviewing these alums who were now prosperous role models and leaders and then writing a paper about these wonderful and outstanding people. We had a culminating activity by which all of the students gave their person a certificate of honor and a copy of the paper they wrote about them.

I believe that making these connections with our community, whether they come from the African American community or another part of the community is a connection that stays with the student for life. It also taught our students how these people came to such a wonderful life. It all pointed back to education. Because our students were allowed to reflect upon the previous students who'd attended this school and meet them and know them and honor them, our students then became students who wanted to be like these people.

SC Response

To quote the Old Ball Coach, “Excellent.”

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Visit the LYS Booth at the TASA Mid-Winter Conference

Attend the LYS Presentation at the National Conference on Education

Visit the LYS Booth at the NASSP Conference

A Reader Writes... (Yes, I Know the Hours are Long - Part 18)

In response to the 11/11/2010 post, “Yes, I Know the Hours are Long – Part 5,” a Principal writes:

Well... You have really scratched the scab of a sore wound. I read the posts and wonder if these people are “Believers” with a strong philosophy that they can articulate clearly or are they simply “Gomo’s” (going thru the motions) and that's why they're so upset.

As a wise woman once told me, “Put kids first and keep kids first. Everything else happens for a reason and you can't take it personally.”

Maybe you should do a post on how much time effective administrators put in and see what kind of response you get.

SC Response

I don’t know the motivation of the angry writers, though my gut feeling is that they are not “Gomo’s” (by the way, I love that term). Would a Gomo read the blog on a regular basis and then take the time to write in? I really don’t think so. I think that this was a case of some teachers missing the context of my post and believing that I was dismissing the hours that they put in.

I do know that the longer one works in an unsuccessful system, the more defensive one gets about their own craft. It’s the “I may work with a bunch of slackers, but I’m not one of them” syndrome. I’ve even lived through this myself.

As for the hours effective administrators put in, it’s an apples to oranges argument. Bottom line, the effective administrator puts in more hours, both weekly and annually. And no, they don’t always make more money. When I was an AP, I was one of the lowest paid members of the staff (and actually took a pay cut for the job). When I was a principal, I had some teachers who made as much as I did (and worked 40 fewer days). When I went to central office, two of my principals made more than I did. And in each case, I didn’t have a problem with this. Why? Because leading is my avocation (as it is for most effective leaders). Which is why the argument isn’t fair, especially if one considers the principalship and the superintendency. When you examine the economic equation logically, the requirements of the positions are not offset by equal remuneration. One doesn’t take the job for the money alone, you take the job because deep down you love it, hours be damned.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Visit the LYS Booth at the TASA Mid-Winter Conference

Attend the LYS Presentation at the National Conference on Education

Visit the LYS Booth at the NASSP Conference

Quit Testing Out of Habit

I have been working with a secondary school that is struggling with student performance. For the third time this year, I have observed the students taking some form of a national test. Each time, the operations of the entire campus have been adjusted so a group of students can take a test that does not provide timely information to teachers nor indicate student mastery of instructional concepts required by the district or the state.

To which I always ask, “Why are you doing this?”

The answer is either, “Because we always administer this test," or “Central Office said we have to.”

If we expect things to improve on our campuses, we have to quit doing the things that are of marginal value to student performance. Schools typically have about 175 days each year in which to teach students. Every day spent testing subtracts a day of instruction.

If you believe, as I do, that instruction is paramount, then you have to protect instructional time from all sides. Which means any test that is administered should do one of the following:

1. The test provides timely information to teachers for purpose of adjusting instruction.

2. The test is for state accountability purposes.

3. The test is for college entrance purposes.

4. The test is for individual student diagnostic purposes.

If the test doesn’t meet one of the above requirements, why are you stealing instructional time from your students?

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Visit the LYS Booth at the TASA Mid-Winter Conference

Attend the LYS Presentation at the National Conference on Education

Visit the LYS Booth at the NASSP Conference

A Reader Writes... (Yes, I Know the Hours are Long - Part 17)

In response to the 11/11/2010 post, “Yes, I Know the Hours are Long – Part 5,” a LYS Principal writes:

As an old LYS principal, I can tell you most administrators are running scared. The game is instructional leadership, and most administrators have very little training or experience in this area. Lets face it, traditionally about 70% of the principal's job was monitoring extra curricular activities, which required about 50% of the time. Now monitoring extracurricular activities still takes 50% of our time, but it is only 10% of the job. The other 90% is instructional leadership. Obviously there needs to be a shift in what administrators spend their time doing, but we are so locked into tradition.

It sounds like your school needs to take a deep breath, focus only on curriculum and instruction, in particular the Fundamental Five. Believe this - an aligned curriculum, implementation of the Fundamental Five, and a commitment to frequent curriculum assessments, will transport your school a long way towards success in one year. All of the other things you are doing are taking away from the time, energy, and effort that you can spend on the fundamentals I just listed.

I know, you are thinking it can't be this simple. It can be. I have been asked to lead four AU high schools. Three went Recognized. I am now working on my 4th.

Several things:

I NEVER remove teachers from the classroom for meetings or professional development. The only exceptions (which I loathe) are if they go to a conference or to our Education Service Center.

My faculty meetings ALWAYS include a discussion on the Fundamental Five. I may discuss other instructional and assessment issues, but I almost NEVER discuss operational issues in a faculty meeting. Teachers can read about the operational (managerial) needs of the organization in a memo.

I look for things to take off of teachers’ plates. I subtract mandatory fund raising, class sponsorships, and as much duty as possible. At this point only AP's, counselors, and paraprofessionals do duty on a regular basis. And of course, me.

A note on high quality instruction. High quality instruction doesn't have to be difficult to develop. Sean observed a teacher on my campus recently with a simple C-Scope assignment requiring the students to identify similarities and differences. The teacher hit a home run by merely having the student turn the page over, take a position on the learning objective, and had them write a paragraph defending their positions. Time spent developing lesson - minutes. Time preparing the materials - minutes, it was just one page. Impact on learners - synthesis and evaluation level with a high level of relevance. In other words, a home run.

SC Response

The concept is easy, the execution is difficult, the expert execution is a life-long endeavor. Dr. Rod Paige (my first superintendent, former Secretary of Education) asked me if I was worried about other school improvement organizations and/or consultants, stealing the LYS system. I laughed and said “No.” Because our real “secret” is purposeful action, hard work, and bulldogged determination. The LYS Nation simply outworks the field.

You did an excellent job of explaining what we do in about four paragraphs. When those outside of the LYS Nation read what you wrote they either think, “I already do that,” or “we’re already beyond that simple solution.” They are wrong and the proof is in the data. All things being equal, the student taught by a LYS teacher outperforms the student taught by a non-LYS teachers and the LYS school outperforms the non-LYS school.

You can love the LYS Nation or hate the LYS Nation. But if that love or hate distracts you from the work of teaching and learning, you are falling further behind the LYS teacher who is in the Power Zone working with teams of students as they craft their argument (using historical and modern elements) for or against joining the League of Nations. Going… Going… Gone!

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Visit the LYS Booth at the TASA Mid-Winter Conference

Hear the LYS Presentation at the National Conference on Education

Visit the the LYS Booth at the NASSP Conference

The Power of Healthy Competition

This weekend, one of the LYS Game On! schools sent me a motivational video that a head coach made for her team. The short version of Game On! is that every component of student performance is measured and embedded into a school-wide game. In this case, one team had been coming up short in number of games in the area school pride. Hence the video.

*Note: I tried to attach the video to this post, but the file is too large. Needless to say, it is really funny.

Did it work?

After sharing the video, in just one week Ms. Roberson's team increased their spirit shirt participation by 22%, up to 91% (the other team had a 13% increase to 88%). And her 5th grade (the too cool for school kids) participation rate jumped from 49% to 96%.

And after two loses in a row, the dramatic increase in school pride was just enough for the Rockstars to eke out a victory!

What are you doing to get better today, and how many people are actually paying attention?

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Visit the LYS Booth at the TASA Mid-Winter Conference

Hear the LYS presentation at the National Conference on Education

Visit the LYS Booth at the NASSP Conference