Yesterday was a Top Ten Day

I’m blessed. No need to elaborate. But even with that being the case, yesterday was a top ten day. It started out at the SIRC Conference where E. Don Brown and I got to spend a quiet moment together planning out our moves for the day and the up coming weeks. Then things took off a pace that I didn’t think possible, three back-to-back, standing room only presentations (on three different topics, in three different rooms), talking about the hard work of the LYS Nation. By the way, a special “thank you” goes out to the ever-growing group of audience members that jogged with me around the convention center to each different room to hear each presentation.

Then, it was seeing all the LYS’ers at the conference. I know I’m missing at least 50 of you, but it was great to see John and his crew, Dr. J and his crew, Christy, Eric, Wade, Chris, Nancy, Jessica, Donna, Alan, Rick, Van, Baby Van, Marc, Debbie, Eddie, Dean, and all the rest. And you wouldn’t believe the mob at the booth. 500 LYS Koozies, Bloom’s Cards, and Fundamental 5 books, all gone.

As soon as the conference ended, we headed over to visit some LYS campuses where Lesa, Bob Brezina and I did about 20 classroom observations. Each classroom better than the last. And Brezina conducted all of his PowerWalks on his new I-Phone. But the day wasn’t over; we then spent an hour with the Hutto ISD School Board where we all engaged in both small group purposeful talk and critical writing on the role of leadership in district improvement.

But to top it off, it was my birthday and I got to spend every bit of it with Lesa. That has never happened in our 16 years together. Today’s has a lot to live up to.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/4ydqd4t

Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Confirmed 2012 Presentations: NASSP Conference; NASB Conference

A LYS Principal Submits... Peer PowerWalks

A LYS Principal shares the following:

Just wanted to share some exciting news. Last week, I scheduled times for each grade level team to voluntarily meet with me in front of the library to conduct classroom PowerWalks. Over half of the teachers on the campus joined me throughout the day. We had a wonderful time. Teachers repeatedly commented that it was easy and fun. Teachers got to see what is happening in other classrooms and search for models of specific practice. It worked so well, that I have scheduled the same for this week.

I can sense that the teachers are getting a better understanding of what we are all looking for and I can see friendly competition happening as well.

How wonderful.

SC Response

Way to go! What a terrific plan to get staff involved and coach in a way that builds trust! It is evident that you guys work very hard on planning and implementation. This just reinforces that the results are noticeable and measurable. Keep up the good work and I’ll see you soon.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/4ydqd4t

Attend the LYS presentations at the Texas School Improvement Conference on 10/27/11

• Improve Now!– 8:00am
• The Fundamental 5 – 9:15am
• You Can't Fix What You Can't See – 10:15am

Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Confirmed 2012 Presentations: NASSP Conference; NASB Conference

A LYS Superintendent Shares... Fundamental Change

A LYS Superintendent shares the following report from a campus:

SC,

This note just made my day.

We have completed our third module of the fundamental five. I have noticed a difference in my teachers’ room arrangements and they appear to be working in the power zone more often. I have heard comments like,

"I really thought about what Dr. Davis said and looked at my classroom arrangement. Once I changed it, and didn't let my technology dictate where I teach, I noticed a difference."

"This is not rocket science. It just reminds us about best practices that we sometimes let slide."

"This is a good reminder of effective practices."

Good things are starting to happen on my campus!

SC Response

Great news! Now the campus leadership team has to step up will do their part and do their PowerWalks so the momentum will continue to build.

Remember, initially the campus PowerWalks are not about collecting data. Start-up data is unreliable (no inter-rater reliability). Early PowerWalks are about providing staff with lots of behavioral cues that trigger the teacher to continue to attempt the new practices. Second, it gives teachers visual proof the even leadership is changing its daily practice in the shared effort to improve the student performance.

Change begins with leadership, so we have to constantly remind leadership (ourselves included), “Less lip service... more action.”

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/4ydqd4t

Attend the LYS presentations at the Texas School Improvement Conference on 10/27/11

• Improve Now – 8:00am
• The Fundamental 5 – 9:15am
• You Can’t Fix What You Can’t See – 10:15am

Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Confirmed 2012 Presentations: NASSP Conference; NASB Conference

A LYS Teacher Shares... Her LYS Principal

A LYS Teacher shares the following:

SC,

Our principal is LYS’er, Dewitt Smith. He attends all of your workshops and trained us on The Fundamental 5 even before the book was released. This year, The Fundamental 5, is one of the books we are studying. He is one of those guys that not only “talks the talk”, he “walks the walk”.

I wanted to attach an example of his weekly e-mails to the staff. I also wanted to say that his practices and leadership has turned our campus around. He has turned us into a professional learning community, and our teachers and students have truly benefited from it.

Tom Bean Middle School Family:

I have included a “quick hitter” teaching tip video for you below. My hope is that these clips will provide you with short applicable reminders/tips for best practice during the school year. The stuff that we already know that prompts us to say, “Oh yea, I forgot about that technique—I’ll implement it during “x, y, z” lesson. This week’s topic is “Attention Getting Signals”:

http://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/attention-getting-signals-practice?fd=0

I hope that this will prove to be a usable source of tips, support, and a sort of instructional "idea" springboard throughout the course of the year. Stay focused on The Fundamentals…

SC Response

Thanks for sharing. There is nothing better that news like this from the field. I would agree with your assessment that Dewitt is an outstanding principal. But based on all my conversations with him, he makes that case that it is the quality of the staff and the hard work of the students that drives the continued success of Tom Bean Middle School. All he does is make sure that the doors are open and that the teachers have the tools and support that they need.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/4ydqd4t

Attend the LYS presentations at the Texas School Improvement Conference on 10/27/11

• Improve Now – 8:00am
• The Fundamental 5 – 9:15am
• You Can’t Fix What You Can’t See – 10:15am

Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Confirmed 2012 Presentations: NASSP Conference; NASB Conference

Top LYS Tweets from the Week of October 16, 2011

I’ve been getting questions on how to deal with the policy issues that relate to the use of Bootleg Technology. Here’s my quick advice.

1. Remove the district policy barriers to the use of bootleg technology. It’s time that districts address these policies, since most of them were adopted back when pagers and cell phones were new and the only people who could afford to use them were drug dealers, lawyers and doctors. The world has changed; it is time for district policy to reflect this fact.

2. Give campuses the flexibility to make and amend procedures that best meet the needs of the individual campus. Yes, this may mean that what is allowed on one campus isn’t allowed on another. But during the early stages of implementation, I’m ok with that. What I don’t like are district mandates that are designed to protect laggards and the un-informed. Free up the forward thinkers.

3. Don’t overreact when your students make predictable stupid mistakes. Teach and coach (more than once) before you punish.

4. Use common sense!!!

5. Quit fretting and do something.

A number of you in the LYS Nation are now using your own bootleg technology devices to follow Twitter. If you haven’t done so yet, we want you to join us. To let you see what you are missing, here are the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of October 16, 2011, as tabulated by the accountants at Price Waterhouse.

1. The only schedule worse than the 8 period day is... The 9 period day.

2. Constant announcements and classroom interruptions during an 8 or 9 period day is darn near educational malpractice.

3. I have yet to meet a classroom interruption compliance monitor. Leadership either protects instruction or it doesn't.

4. Texas school districts requested class-size waivers for more than 6,000 classrooms this year, up from 2,238 last year. (@e_mellon)

5. The lack of actual engagement between adults and students on secondary campuses continues to amaze me.

6. Pick any secondary campus anywhere and I will argue that 99% of student discipline and behavior is self-managed.

7. Run Thought: Hard work doesn't guarantee success, but the lack of it almost always guarantees failure.

8. Ms. Heyward was 5 for 5 with the Fundamental 5! She teaches in a Juvenile Facility. Expert instruction can occur in any setting.

9. How can we use Technology to innovate? We don't necessarily have to use the tool as it was originally intended. (@lthumann)

10. While 70% of people in the developing world now have mobile phones, only one in four have bank accounts. (@FareedZakaria

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/4ydqd4t

Attend the LYS presentations at the Texas School Improvement Conference on 10/27/11

• Improve Now – 8:00am
• The Fundamental 5 – 9:15am
• You Can’t Fix What You Can’t See – 10:15am

Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Confirmed 2012 Presentations: NASSP Conference; NASB Conference

PowerWalks Lite - Coming Soon to the Apple App Store

Feeling left out because you don't have access to the best instructional observation tool in the world?

Cheer up!

Just for you, the sidekick is on the way to lend a helping hand!

In the LYS spirit and practice of transparency, old school LYS Principal, The Marine, sends in the following comment:

Has the LYS Nation turned into a promotion site to sell products? I am becoming disenchanted. I love the products, but sadly, they are dominating the once pure leadership scene.

SC Response

Not products, tools. And if we don’t announce them, how do LYS’ers know to look for them? But I do appreciate the reminder to stay on message.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/4ydqd4t

Attend the LYS presentations at the Texas School Improvement Conference on 10/27/11

• Improve Now – 8:00am
• The Fundamental 5 – 9:15am
• You Can’t Fix What You Can’t See – 10:15am

Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Confirmed 2012 Presentations: NASSP Conference; NASB Conference