A LYS Principal Writes... The Reference - Part 2

In response to the 7/11/2012 post, “The Reference – Part 2,” a LYS Principal writes:

SC,

This is exactly who I strive to be!!!!!

I Love It! I'm going to print this and put it in a frame on my desk!!

SC Response
The good news is that you are well on your way to becoming this type of principal.  That's why this past year, your campus got a facilitated site visit from the staff of a similar, yet struggling school.  Trust me, they drove past numerous schools both in and out of your district before they stopped at yours.

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/Fundamental5 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook 
• 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) 
• Upcoming Presentations: Livingston ISD Leadership Team Kickoff, Channelview ISD Leadership Team Kickoff, Bushland ISD Staff Kickoff, Canadian ISD Staff Kickoff, Highland Park ISD Staff Kickoff, Sunray ISD Staff Kickoff, Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote), Advancing Improvement in Education Conference (Multiple Presentations), American Association of School Administrators Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

A Reader Requests... The Secret

A new LYS reader sent in the following question:

SC,

I enjoyed your presentation. I look forward to following the blog and learning your secrets, those that worked and those that didn’t.  I understand that the secrets are continuously evolving based on ever greater experience and I appreciate your sharing of emerging insights into this challenging mission.

SC Response

Thanks for writing.  First, your comment touches on an understanding that I haven’t expressed in a while.  Our understanding of what works in schools relies more on the recognition of what doesn’t work than it does on innovation. What we know sits on top of years of sub-optimal solutions (even if at the moment those sub-optimal solutions were our best effort).   It is due to that realization that I’m not a big fan of three to five year plans.  If we’re still doing what we know now five years from now, are we really moving forward? In my experience, that is not likely. 

Second, if I was to sum up the secret of school evolution, I would say that it is when a campus embraces the fact the adult practice drives student performance.  The staff that acts based on that understanding invariably improves and stays ahead of the curve.

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/Fundamental5 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook
• 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)
• Upcoming Presentations: Livingston ISD Leadership Team Kickoff, Channelview ISD Leadership Team Kickoff, Bushland ISD Staff Kickoff, Canadian ISD Staff Kickoff, Highland Park ISD Staff Kickoff, Sunray ISD Staff Kickoff, Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote), Advancing Improvement in Education Conference (Multiple Presentations), American Association of School Administrators Conference
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

The Superintendent's Corner: Central Office Modeling

A LYS Superintendent asks the following:

SC,

As I reflect on the 2011/2012 school year, it is clear that I spent too much time focusing on the budget crisis facing our district and campus leadership practices. Central office leadership practices completely slid off my radar.  At Cabinet this morning, I listened as the list of tasks that Principals are deficient in was delineated.  To check to make sure that my directors were walking the talk, I asked if they were modeling the deficient practices.

Crickets.... 

Though this may seem rhetorical, but do I have to track everything, all the time?  At what point does senior leadership hold itself to a higher standard? Given my limited statewide experience, is this a significant problem in other districts?

SC Response

What you describe is commonplace, but it is only a problem if the Superintendent makes it a problem.  Most do not and for the life of me I do not understand why.  So I asked a tenured, big district superintendent his opinion.  The short answer was he focused on those who affected the most change, Principals.  On a daily basis, one Principal can (and will) directly impact Assistant Principals, Teachers, Counselors, Para-professionals, Students and Parents.  But on a given day, a single central office staff will selectively influence a handful of others, maybe. And of those influenced, how many will make an immediate impact on students? Not many.

This leaves most central office administrators to issue edicts, attend meetings and put out fires. Getting the whole machine to focus on coaching, implementation and learning is not a quick fix. So you will need to objectively track your expectations if you really want central office behavior and practice to change.  And don’t expect this to be welcomed and embraced.

You are now asking your people to do what they have never really done before and has not been expected in your district for the last 20 years, if ever.  I believe you will get there, but not overnight (tough, since patience has never been your defining quality).

You need your #2's to think like #1's. That is an exceedingly rare commodity even in good districts. You and your staff can get there, but it will require that you measure and track the things that matter to 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/Fundamental5 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook 
• 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)
• Upcoming Presentations: Livingston ISD Leadership Team Kickoff, Channelview ISD Leadership Team Kickoff, Bushland ISD Staff Kickoff, Canadian ISD Staff Kickoff, Highland Park ISD Staff Kickoff, Sunray ISD Staff Kickoff, Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote), Advancing Improvement in Education Conference (Multiple Presentations), American Association of School Administrators Conference
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Top LYS Tweets From the Week of July 8, 2012

In case you are still trying to decide if bootleg technology should have a role in your class or on your campus during the upcoming school year, consider the following short list of benefits:

A. Many of the books and articles that are accessed though bootleg technology are now enhanced with more images, video and audio.  This can often makes the text more engaging for students.  In addition, the ability to increase/decrease font size and adjust contrast and brightness may increase readability for students with reading difficulties. Couple all of that with embedded (and shareable) note taking and highlighting capabilities and reading just became a much more active instructional activity.

B. Bootleg technology is lighter, more portable and stores more than a locker and backpack full of textbooks and notebooks combined.  And with the ability to email documents and save material in cloud servers, the “dog ate my homework” excuse may finally be put to rest.

C. Bootleg technology saves the district money.  No need to but classroom sets of graphing calculators, dictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopedias.  All of that, and more, are now available as free apps.

The above is just scratching the surface of bootleg technology benefits.  And here is the best one of all. Bootleg technology will walk through the front door of the school at the beginning of the school year at no cost to you, your campus or your district.  It will be in pockets, purses, backpacks and lockers. All you have to do is let teachers and students pull it out and use 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 July 8, 2012.

1. Me, Starbucks and The Fundamental 5. Rereading it in preparation for the upcoming year. (By @kimbarker25)

2. The "assets effect": @DanaGoldstein on findings that kids with a savings account are more likely to attend college (By @anniemurphypaul)

3. According to a Duke report, 40% of our daily actions are driven by habit. Based on my observations I'm surprised it's that low.

4. "Problem with the world is that intelligent people are full of doubts and the stupid ones are full of confidence." (By @johnkuhntx)

5. It would be nice to spend billions on schools and roads, but right now that money is desperately needed for political ads. (By @BorowitzReport)

6. The self-contained classroom may be the most inefficient system constraint we place on elementary teachers.

7. Steve Snell: research shows for every ten minutes of teaching, kids need 2 minutes of interaction to process. Aka, Frequent Small Group Purposeful Talk! (By @principalschu)

8. In general, adult comfort and student performance are inversely related. Student success is labor intensive, adult comfort is not.

9. “We’ve yet to find a disease where exercise isn’t helpful”—Miriam Nelson, Ph.D., Director of John Hancock Research Center, Tufts University (By @CooperAerobics)

10. Summer testing OVER! Finally can focus on improving instruction on campus through Fundamental 5 and PowerWalks. The new school year begins. (By @blitzkrieg607)

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/Fundamental5 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook
• 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: Livingston ISD Leadership Team Kickoff, Channelview ISD Leadership Team Kickoff, Bushland ISD Staff Kickoff, Canadian ISD Staff Kickoff, Highland Park ISD Staff Kickoff, Sunray ISD Staff Kickoff, Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote), Advancing Improvement in Education Conference (Multiple Presentations)