A Teacher Shares... Ode to the Fundamental 5

A LYS Teacher shares her ode:

Ode to Fundamental 5

Fundamental 5, how you challenge me so,

You have renewed in me that “new teacher” glow.

Lesson framing, mental filters, cognitive tools and more,

Offer to me new meanings galore.

I am beside myself with the new tasks at hand,

I’ll prove I can frame a lesson, using rigor on demand.

I will occupy the power zone with proximity instruction,

Add to it meaningful praise and it equals minimal disruption.

I will commit to this practice with all that’s in me,

I will strive to engage and assess with glee.

Fundamental 5… you behoove me to tears,

I am a teacher with a plan; I’ll deliver it with no fears.

Rhonda Smith

Ray Elementary School

SC Response

BEST... POEM... EVER!!!

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
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Confirmed 2012 Presentations: TASSP Conference (multiple sessions); Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote)

The Marine Writes... So What is Your Scheduling Alternative - Part 2

In response to the 1/6/2012 post, "So What is Your Scheduling Alternative – Part 1,” the Marine writes:

We could talk mechanics of scheduling all day long. But why? Cain is right.

Regardless of schedule, having teachers take maximum advantage of every minute of instruction is still the key. Schedules, time, holidays, those are all mechanics of leading your school. The Art is coaching teachers to perform to their maximum potential. The Science is the curriculum. As long as principals can adapt, overcome and improvise, they can be successful with any schedule. But then again, that is a Marine Corps principle that only a few of us have! Forward, MARCH!

SC Response

I do like to remind people that the master schedule is never “THE” solution to campus performance problems but it can easily turn into “THE” problem.  That being said, I find it asinine to purposely make the job of teaching more students at higher levels more difficult by using a schedule driven by adults needs instead of student needs.

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
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Confirmed 2012 Presentations: TASSP Conference (multiple sessions); Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote)

A Reader Writes... PLC Focus - Part 1

In response to the 3/28/2012 post, “A Principal Asks... PLC Focus,” and old school LYS’er sent the following note:

SC,

This post now hangs in our conference room.

SC Response

I’m glad you and your team found the post useful.  In case any readers missed it, here is the executive summary of the post.

To get value and action, here is my basic PLC recommendation.

1. Have a syllabus for the year.

2. Have a predictable meeting focus cycle. For example:

• Week 1: Curriculum preview
• Week 2: Assessment development
• Week 3: Data analysis & adjustment

3. Repeat cycle.

4. Have a tight meeting agenda.

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
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Confirmed 2012 Presentations: TASSP Conference (multiple sessions); Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote)

A Principal Shares... The Power of the Fundamental 5

In response to the 3/7/2012 post, “State of the Blog – The Last 100 Posts (1,000 and Counting),” a reader shares:

SC,

The LYS blog has been a great companion and source for strength when bringing change to my middle school campus. In the Fall semester, we completed a campus book study of the “Fundamental 5” (by Cain & Laird), which has provided great dialogue and discussions among the staff. With "crunch" time upon us, I have increased the expectation that the Fundamental 5 be implemented every day, in every lesson!

The last couple of weeks we have had an increase in student conflict (most often described as bullying) and it has taken me away from the classroom and moved my focus away from instructional improvements. However, this week's faculty meeting allowed me the opportunity to re-teach Lesson Framing and reiterate that bell-to-bell teaching using the Fundamental 5 will increase rigor and allow us to use our most powerful instructional tool. Which is creating engaging lessons that excite our students about learning. 

Thanks LYS!

SC Response

Thank you for the kind words and affirmation.  And you are absolutely right, when the going gets tough it is easy to cut corners and wing it.  But that is the road to ruin, short-term relief that leads to long-term pain. Instead, when the going gets tough focus on better executing the fundamentals and increasing both the quality and quantity of adult/student interactions.

Along those lines, there are tools that will help you and your staff in this continuous endeavor.  The app, Fun 5 Plans (available at the Apple App Store), embeds the Fundamental 5 in each lesson and supports teacher collaboration.  And PowerWalks (classroom observation system) allows you to create and share numerous data reports, including Rigor and Relevance reports and Fundamental 5 reports.  An introductory version of the main system is also available at the Apple App Store, just search for PW Pro.

Keep up the great work and send us an update at the end of the semester.

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
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Confirmed 2012 Presentations: TASSP Conference (multiple sessions); Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote)

Top LYS Tweets From the Week of April 29, 2012

Last week (Tuesday, May 1, 2012), I wrote about making the month of May count.  I listed four examples of things that schools could do during May to keep students engaged and instruction meaningful.  But I saved example number five for today’s post.  Make May your bootleg technology beta-testing month.

This is your chance to unleash your innovative teachers to try to figure out how to better embed bootleg technology in daily instruction.  Let them figure it out so your campus is in a position better implement this powerful tool with improved frequency and effectiveness next year.  As one LYS Principal told his teachers last May, “We have better computing power and speed in our pockets than what the district has put in our classrooms.  Let’s figure out how to take advantage of it.”

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 April 29, 2012.

1. "The Fundamental Five was one of most useful studies I have ever engaged in." From a teacher's self report in PDAS. Enough said. (By @principalkinney)

2. The secrets for efficient passing periods: 1) Less transition time. 2) One-way halls 3) More supervision. 4) No warning bell.

3. A simple trick for improving the climate and culture on your campus. Have an administrator visit the classrooms where substitutes are teaching, each period.

4. Does anyone really believe that the vocabulary word search puzzle is a quality instructional activity?

5. The lesson is not framed, the teacher is lecturing from desk. A student falls asleep. Who is at fault?

6. Enrolled my son in kindergarten tonight. He's one of the 80,000 unfunded students from the 82^nd Texas Legislature. (By @DrJerryRBurkett)

7. 1) Increase rigor. 2) Reduce resources. 3) Ignore inequity. 4) Shout crisis. 5) Blame teachers. 6) Privatize. (By @johnkuhntx)

8. Classroom clutter is the friend of vermin and security threats.

9. All the money I spent on Pac Man growing up, I could have saved to buy an I-Pad... to play free Pac Man. (By @DrJerryRBurkett)

10. A quote from my good friend, Dr. Rich Allen. "Teaching does not improve by chance, but by change.

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
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Confirmed 2012 Presentations: TASSP Conference (multiple sessions); Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote)