A New LYS Teacher Shares... This Really Works!

A LYS Principal sent in the following:

SC,

Thought you might want to see a note I received from one of my teachers:

Even though they are not physically here daily, I want to thank LYS for teaching us the "Small Group Purposeful Talk" method. I did this at least 3 times in class today and noticed a remarkable difference:

1. The sidebar conversations decreased tremendously.

2. Students were more in-tune to the lesson.

3. Every group could answer my closing question for the lesson.

It was absolutely amazing!! If you haven't tried it yet, you need to. It really works!!!

I also spent more time in the power zone, with pen in hand, grading as I met with each table group. I placed a checkmark on each student's paper as they were working and told them they have a 100 so don't stop. Neighboring students were asking me to check their work too because they wanted that satisfaction of knowing they were accomplishing their daily goal. Every student completed his or her work today and now my grading is done!!

Again, this really works!!

SC Response

Thank for sharing. And I understand your teacher’s excitement.  Even after Laird and I identified the Fundamental 5, the first time I used all five in the same lesson (as a field test) when I finished I told everyone, “This must be how the really great teachers feel everyday.”

Tell your staff that we are proud of them and don’t slow down. 

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

The Unfair Fight

I don’t know why, but it always surprises me when an obvious novice argues (not questions, but argues) with an expert.  I first experienced this when I watched a small group of principals argue with Mike Schmoker.  In the early 2000’s, Mike flew to Austin, Texas to meet with a small group of school leaders that were taking over failing schools.  In that room were a number of Old School LYS’ers (when they were rookies who had just taken jobs that nobody else wanted).  Most of the participants were furiously taking notes, trying to retain as much information as much as possible from one of the big brains in education.  But then there were the other three principals.  Every time Schmoker said something or made a point, their facial expressions were as if they had bit into lemons and them they would whisper knowingly to each other. Finally, after they had evidently had enough, one in the group challenged Schmoker on some of his arguably less important, but still correct points.  Schmoker was polite, but would not cede that the arguers were correct, because frankly, they weren’t.  It finally got to a point where the other principals in the room asked the arguers to either stop or leave. 

Looking smug the arguers simply turned their backs to Schmoker and talked quietly to each other.  I have to admit that I wasn’t surprised when each of those three principals quickly flamed out and were replaced.  But that’s another story.

All that to say there is significant value in picking your battles.  Experts are experts for a reason.  In their area of expertise they have read more, researched more, built more and/or done more than the typical person in the field. So when an AP decides he or she has taken umbrage with something E. Don Brown says, just know that the Old School LYS’ers aren’t laughing with you, they are laughing at you.  

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

Stupidity Masquerading as Reform

I just read where another district is rolling out the same old tired “leadership” reform. You may even recognize a version of this actual lack of leadership in your district.

Teachers that are rated as “Exceeds” on their annual evaluation for a given number of years are given a classroom observation waiver and are not evaluated for a certain number of years. The false logic that is presented as the reason for this reform is that it “frees” up valuable manager (do notice that I purposefully did not use the word leader) time so the manager can focus on new and struggling teachers. I could give you a host of reasons why this is a bad idea (after all there are a million ways to do a thing wrong) but I’ll stick with the big three.

1. The only time that campus leadership truly adds value to the campus is when leadership is problem solving and coaching staff. You have to come to grips with the fact that wading through reams of administrivia doesn’t matter. Anyone can be trained to fill out paperwork, deal with angry people and create a schedule. If you don’t believe me, what do you think the manager at the local McDonald’s does on a daily basis? And that comment is not to be construed as disparaging to any McDonald’s manager. The only way leadership can gather enough relevant information to effectively problem solve and coach is to observe lots and lots of classroom instruction, school operations and student / adult interactions. The military call this “ground truth.” Without ground truth, your plans and ideas are at best a decent guess and at worst pure delusion. Think Bay of Pigs and Little Bighorn. So with this being the case, purposefully not observing any classroom is either managerial laziness or negligence, not reform.

2. Coaching and feedback maximizes potential. It is the Best who are able to do the most with coaching and feedback. To purposefully rob your best teachers of this opportunity resigns them to a career of arduous trial and error. By exempting them from the observation, feedback and evaluation process you are essentially telling your best people, “Congratulations, you have worked in obscurity and isolation and have achieved (completely on your own) the minimum level of expected performance. As your reward, you now get to keep working in district-mandated isolation. And if you begin to struggle, it’s your fault.” Again, this is either managerial laziness or negligence, not reform.

3. Campus leadership needs to build expertise in understanding and recognizing the spectrum of instructional practice. This means that leadership has to observe both extremes of the performance spectrum. If I only observe the best teachers, I can increase my skills in recognizing the components of instructional excellence. If I only observe my worst teachers, I can increase my skills in recognizing the components of instructional inadequacy. If I observe both, I can better filter out what actually works and what is superstitious behavior. At that point I can better coach any teacher on my campus. To purposefully not observe one particular group of teachers is either managerial laziness or negligence, not reform.

I will close this post with a composite anecdote. In my past role as the “Fixer” for the State of Texas, when I would first arrive on a struggling campus I would ask the principal, “How many teachers received 'Exceeds Expectations' on their last evaluation?”

The answer was always “Almost all of them.”

Then I would ask, “How many teachers are on a growth plan?”

The answer was always, “Less than two.”

So I ask you, do you still think that purposefully reducing the already miniscule level of true performance discussions that occur between teachers and administrators is a good idea?

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

PowerWalks Hero Schools Comments

After reading the 11/1/2011 post, “PowerWalks Hero Schools (October 2011),” a number of you sent in comments. Below is a representative sample.

“I’m fired up, I personally visited twenty classrooms today.”

“There’s no need to fear, a PowerWalker is here.”

“We just missed the Hero mark. You can pencil us in on the November list.”

“Now the pressure is really on, we’re not going to lose our spot.”

And one from Old School LYS’er, The Marine,

SC,

I thought walk-thru’s are about quality observation and changing instruction. When did just doing your job become about numbers? You can do 100 walk-thru’s on a teacher but if you do not convey to him or her the importance of change and growth, what have you accomplished?

SC Response

Written like an Old School LYS’er. I figure the purpose for your comment is for one of two reasons.

Either, you want me to clarify that FORMATIVE classroom observation is about quantity and quality. I have to do a lot of walk-thru’s so I have enough valid information to engage in a PURPOSEFUL coaching conversation with a teacher. One walk-thru is a random wisp of time. A collection of twenty walk-thru’s creates a fairly accurate trend line. The more often I collect twenty quality observations, the more often I can coach. The more I coach, the more valuable I am to my staff. Which as you point out, as an instructional leader, is your job.

Or second, you are hoping that by distracting me that I won’t mention the fact that I didn’t see your campus on the Hero list this month.

Everyone keep up the great work!

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

Top LYS Tweets from the Week of October 30, 2011

The Pew Research Center reports that two out of five cell phone users have downloaded an app. The most popular downloaded apps are used for gaming, information, communication and personal knowledge. What this means is that people with cell phones (now a majority) are increasingly customizing their phones to meet needs far beyond making phone calls. Our students (and teachers) are walking onto our campuses with handheld computers in their pockets that are faster and more powerful than any hardware purchased more than three years ago. What is your campus doing with all of that free, ultra modern technology? You are doing something positive with it, aren’t you?

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 30, 2011, as tabulated by the accountants at Price Waterhouse.

1. The politician that signs the "No tax increase ever" pledge has pledged that there is nothing more important than getting elected.

2. 30 instructional days left in the calendar year. What can you do with 30 days? (by @DrJerryRBurkett)

3. Those who argue that heterogeneous groupings are ineffective have little understanding of the teaching/learning dynamic. Or worse.

4. Power Zone Quote of the Day by a Teacher: I am the Power Zone!

5. Power Zone Quote of the Day by a teacher: When I'm in the Power Zone, we're all on-task more.

6. Zero tolerance discipline policies are a bad idea in general and are completely asinine at the elementary level.

7. If principals talked to non-compliant teachers as teachers talk to non-compliant students, hostile workplace complaints would be commonplace.

8. If principals expected the same level of preparedness from teachers that teachers expect from students, they would be labeled micro-managers.

9. The unemployment rate for college grads is 4%, but for high school dropouts it's 14%. The US has a 25% dropout rate. (by @FareedZakaria)

10. In America, there are more students studying visual and performing arts than engineering. (by @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

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

Confirmed 2012 Presentations: NASSP Conference; NASB Conference