A Reader Writes... Sometimes It Pays to Play the Game - Part 2

In response to the 6/26/2103 post, “Sometimes It Pays to Play the Game,” a LYSer writes:

SC,

What do you think about this adjustment in science?

9th Grade: IPC

10th Grade: Environmental Science

11th Grade: Biology

12^th Grade: Chemistry

SC Response

Your schedule should work for 50% to 80% of your students.  And it is a significant improvement to the traditional schedule.

Start rescheduling.

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: The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Multiple Presentations); NASSP National Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Reader Writes... Sometimes It Pays to Play the Game - Part 1

In response to the 6/26/13 post, “Sometimes It Pays to Play the Game,” a LYS Assistant Superintendent writes

SC,

This post was brilliant.  Will schools do it?

SC Response

Thank you.  But to answer your question, for 98% of the high schools in the state, “No, they will not do this.”  

This schedule is too different from what has always been done.  And in a risk adverse profession like ours, it is better to be wrong in a big group than be right alone.  So they will come up with reasons "why not" instead of "how to."

In short the effort to change adult practice will outweigh the potential for increased student success. A sad indictment... 

But also why those in the LYS Nation are different and their schools consistently lead the pack.

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: The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Multiple Presentations); NASSP National Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Reader Writes... Sometimes It Pays to Play the Game - A Necessary Revision

In response to the 6/26/2013 post, “Sometimes It Pays to Play the Game,” a LYSer sends in the following (and mandatory) revision to my proactive scheduling plan:

SC,

It is always good to think out of the box for scheduling. A couple of hiccups in your science plan, though, due to prerequisite requirements in the TEKS:

Chemistry may only be taken AFTER successful completion of Algebra I. If you move Algebra I to the sophomore year, chemistry has to be a junior course.

Physics can be a freshmen science, as it only requires concurrent Algebra 1, or successful completion of it. If you keep Algebra 1 as a sophomore class, then Physics cannot be a 9th grade class, but could be 10th grade. 

That means the only options for 9th grade science under your model would be IPC or Biology (& it's STAAR test). 

The math prerequisites for sciences influence the order. 

D. Tate

SC Response

Thank you for catching the fly in the ointment.  But as you point out, the plan still works with a minor adjustment.  So here is the revised High School schedule.

Freshman Year

English – English III or English IV

Mathematics - Geometry

Science – IPC

Social Studies – World Geography or World History

Sophomore Year

English – English I (EOC TEST)

Mathematics – Algebra I (EOC TEST)

Science – Environmental Science or Physics

Social Studies - World Geography or World History

Junior Year

English – English II (EOC TEST)

Mathematics – Algebra II

Science – Biology (EOC TEST)

Social Studies – U.S. History (EOC TEST)

Senior Year

English - English III or English IV

Mathematics – Upper level math or elective

Science – Chemistry or Physics or elective

Social Studies - Elective

Now look at how the traditional schedule compares against the LYS Proactive Schedule in terms of EOC administration.

	Traditional Schedule	The LYS Proactive Schedule
Freshman Year	3 or 4 EOC Tests	0 EOC Test
Sophomore Year	1 or 2 EOC Tests	2 EOC Tests
Junior Year	0 or 1 EOC Test	3 EOC Tests
Senior Year	0 EOC Test	0 EOC Test

So what are you going to do on your campus?

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: The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Multiple Presentations); NASSP National Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Top LYS Tweets From the Week of June 30, 2013

A number of you in the LYS Nation are now Twitter users.  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 June 30, 2013.

1. Congratulations to LYSer, Dr. Sylvester Perez! He is the new Superintendent in San Antonio ISD. Who will be next? (By @LYSNation)

2. In the zone! Making lesson frames, quality questions, and critical writing prompts for every lesson! Excited! (By @TarynOurso)

3. (Frequent Small Group Purposeful Talk) Wondered how students could be engaged by a 2-hour movie and struggle with a 50-minute class? Did the research and found that the average movie scene lasts 1 to 3 minutes! (By @jaredpeters23)

4. Average secondary student writes 1.6 pages a week in English & 2.1 pages in all other classes. Not enough to learn to write well (Applebee). (By @CarolJago)

5. Some say, "What if we spend money training teachers and they leave?" I say, "What if we don't train them and they stay?" (By @twhitford)

6. I'm not overselling this: The Fundamental 5 is the unifying theory of the successful classroom. (By @LYSNation)

7. Most people are in favor of progress, it's the changes they don't like. (By @principalspage)

8. I'm a tech guy, but if you are looking for technology to SOLVE your instructional problems then you are looking to REPLACE teachers. (By @LYSNation)

9. Before entering a job interview, mentally review all of the times you were brilliant and successful. (By @StanfordBiz)

10. The Fundamental 5 (Cain & Laird) just rocketed past 35,000 copies sold! Thank you, LYS Nation!!! (By @LYSNation)

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: The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Multiple Presentations); NASSP National Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook