|
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Friday, October 4, 2013
PowerWalks Hero Schools (September 2013)
In furtherance of a LYS Nation
tradition, we will take this time to tip our caps to the campuses that have
embraced the most important step in creating and maintaining an action oriented
professional learning community.
These are the campuses that have conducted an extraordinary number of
formative classroom observations in a given month. There were a total of 13,299 PowerWalks conducted during the
past month and the September targets for Hero School designation were:
Big Schools – 325 PowerWalks
Observations
Medium Sized Schools – 225
PowerWalks Observations
Small Schools – 125 PowerWalks
Observations
Very Small Schools – 65
PowerWalks Observations
Next month, as you can see
below, the bar will be raised a little bit higher
Your October Hero Targets
Big Schools – 350 PowerWalks
Observations
Medium Sized Schools – 250
PowerWalks Observations
Small Schools – 150 PowerWalks
Observations
Very Small Schools – 75
PowerWalks Observations.
Now without further ado, here
are your twenty-three PowerWalks Hero Schools for the month of September
2013. Congratulations!!!
Elementary Schools
|
Junior High and Middle Schools
|
Alternative Schools
|
Combined Campuses
|
High Schools
|
McFee ES (CFISD: mid-sized
school) - 566
|
Carver Academy (WISD:
mid-sized school) - 676
|
San Marcos (JWJPCS: very small
school) - 157
|
Louise Schools (LISD: small
school) - 154
|
Hutto HS (HISD: big school) -
774
|
Bell’s Hill ES (WISD: small
school) - 336
|
Cesar Chavez MS (WISD:
mid-sized school) - 593
|
|
Wink Schools (WLISD: small
school) - 125
|
Mayde Creek HS (KISD: big
school) - 672
|
Ray ES (HISD: small school) -
319
|
Tennyson MS (WISD: mid-sized
school) - 459
|
|
McMullen County Schools
(MCISD: small school) - 130
|
University HS (WISD: big
school) - 608
|
Rennell ES (CFISD: mid-sized
school) - 259
|
Hutto MS (HISD: mid-sized
school) - 274
|
|
|
Fairdale HS
(JCPS: big school) - 583
|
West Ave ES (WISD: small
school) - 225
|
Farley MS (HISD: mid-sized
school) - 264
|
|
|
Kennedale HS (KISD: mid-sized
school) - 310
|
Marlin ES (MISD: small school)
- 216
|
|
|
|
|
Dublin ES (DISD: small school)
- 205
|
|
|
|
|
JH
Hines ES (WISD: small school) - 166
|
|
|
|
|
Dean Highland ES (WISD: small
school) - 148
|
|
|
|
|
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
Thursday, October 3, 2013
A Superintendent Writes... What Do You Really Think - Part 4
In response
to the 3/19/13 post, “What Do You Really Think,” a LYS Superintendent writes:
SC,
Amen, Sean. CSCOPE is a tool and a tool that we had to find in order to
align the three curriculums Fenwick English identified: the written curriculum
(TEKS with SEs); the taught curriculum (scope and sequence tools with lessons
like CSCOPE); and the tested curriculum (STAAR/EOC). If these are not
aligned... Student success suffers and teachers spin wheels with lots of effort
but little to show for it. In Texas, the written and tested are decided. We
have to align the last item or our campuses fail with big gaps between disaggregated
groups. CSCOPE is not perfect, but it was born out of a politically highlighted
need. It's still a work in progress. Try to write scope and sequence with
pacing guides and lessons and units on your own as a small district... This
might have been possible with adequate funding and unlimited time. Neither of which our state provides.
The ESCs just tried to fill that tall order, on an accelerated timeline, on a
limited budget, without state aid help. So no wonder it has gaps and is still
developing. But it's an aligned start.
DK
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
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
An Assistant Superintendent Writes... What Do You Really Think - Part 3
In response
to the 3/19/13 post, “What Do You Really Think,” a LYS Assistant Superintendent
writes:
SC.
As usual you are right on target. Good teaching is good teaching. If our
students are assessed on the standards then we must make sure we teach the
standards. How many of us plan our summer vacation down to the last detail and
how many of us just get in the car and start driving? My experience has been
the planners use the data as the science of teaching. The really great teachers
use the data to hone the art of teaching to make it meaningful.
SC Response
Here is what wears me out and sadly I witness this over and over again.
Teachers who believe that they have done something enough that they can
just “wing-it.” The problem with
this mindset is that you actually can wing it and cover your content. But you will cover that concept with
your default practices. Which
means the lowest common denominator of a person’s skill set. “Winging it” does make your job easier
in the short-run, but in the long run all you are doing is leaving potential
and performance on the table.
Now the retort to this observation is, “I don’t have time to plan for
multiple preps, everyday.”
And I agree. If the teacher has to plan for what to teach, when to teach
it and how to teach it (even for a single prep) this is an overwhelming, if not
impossible task. Which is why the
use of a common scope and sequence is a complete no-brainer. Take “The What” and “The When” off a
teacher’s plate. This represents a
significant and daily gift of time.
Time that can be used to plan for a better, more enriching, more
engaging “How.” EVERYBODY
wins. Teachers, students and the community.
Or we can just keep ignoring the tools and winging it. If we do we can
bemoan the results, finger pointing and sanctions all we want; but those things
are just the predictable results of purposeful inaction.
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
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
A Reader Writes... The Common Assessment Process - Part 4
In response
to the 3/13/13 post, “The Common Assessment Process – Part 3,” a long time
LYSer writes:
SC,
I had an interesting discussion about the implementation of common
assessments and benchmarks with a state literacy expert. What is
abundantly clear is that the STAAR and EOC assessments are more than ever,
reading literacy assessments.
Students find themselves more challenged by the rigor and complexity of
the assessments as the supported level of reading competency is progressively
decreased from grade level to grade level. How we got away from literacy,
both academic and life literacy, and the development of interdisciplinary
vocabularies is beyond me. But, the fact remains that we have isolated
core content areas from each other in a desire to specialize, especially at the
secondary level. The impact of this can be seen in the urging of the use of
common assessments as benchmarks.
I tried to make the point that it is difficult to administer Social
Studies assessments at the high school level when the assessments are built to
specific literacy levels. The same is true for all other content
areas. Complicating this reality, especially at campuses and districts
that are working to dig out of being academically unacceptable because student
performance is not at grade level, is the desire to administer benchmarks in
lieu of common assessments. Testing students on the entirety of the content
prior to the material being introduced seems detrimental to the learning
process. Such benchmarks do not focus on the supporting standards
required and the pre-supporting standards that may not have been mastered
either. I have to wonder if we are actually caught in the eddy of
assessed illiteracy, with no diagnostic or recommended response.
SC Response
An excellent, reasoned extension of the discussion.
I have to agree with your initial concern/observation. If the rigor of an assessment is
increased, that increased rigor necessitates increased literacy
competency. Which means that
literacy instruction and support must be scaffolded, PK-12. Which as we all know, isn’t the
case. This isn’t a new need. The experts have been preaching this since
I was in the classroom (very early 90’s).
In the long run, this situation can be corrected without a lot of effort
(in fact the solution actually reduces the work stress loads for most
teachers). But the solution is
rarely implemented because it looks slightly different from what we have always
done.
In the short-run, at the secondary level (where you work) here is 80%
solution. Start reading more, especially in ELA and Social Studies. Start writing more, in all subject
areas. Start having students talk
more, about what they have read, done, wrote about and/or will write about. Do
this every day in every class.
Then with your short-term assessments, do your trend analysis and tackle
the deepest hole and the deepest gap.
Don’t worry about the “bubble / almost got it” items. You don’t have time to fix everything,
all the time, so don’t try.
Instead make a purposeful baby step every day, every class. This adds up
and the gaps will close. But the
expectation that one can fix years of deficits quick and easy is either a pipe
dream or selective recruitment.
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
Monday, September 30, 2013
Top LYS Tweets From the Week of September 22, 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
September 22, 2013.
1. Getting our students to write critically every
day is imperative. Student
reflection and synthesis lead to higher rigor! (By @mathayres)
2. We should hear less "Be Quiet," and
more "Talk about what you are learning," in our classrooms. (By
@Snowmanlearning)
3. "Frequent Purposeful Talk is a great way
to monitor understanding and document the effectiveness of our RTI." Karen
Rocker (By @CabidaCain)
4. Teach students to read like detectives and
write like investigative reporters. (By @Jeff_Zoul)
5. The ongoing discussion on school safety begins
and ends with exterior door security. (By @LYSNation)
6. Many policymakers mean well but are blind to
what actually happens in within the halls of schools. (By @RYHTexas)
7. Bad instructional practices + a good excuse =
bad instructional practices. (By @LYSNation)
8. Rethinking Breaking Ranks, and then I see E.
Don Brown's name. Now it all makes sense! (By @TinneyTroy)
9. Morale follows performance. Focus on student
success. As that improves, so will morale. (By @LYSNation)
10. It never gets old sharing this. The Number 1
best selling education book on Kindle, today? The Fundamental 5! 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
Labels:
E. Don Brown,
Fundamental Five,
Instruction,
Leadership,
morale,
Politics,
Rigor,
RTI,
Safety
Sunday, September 29, 2013
The Fundamental 5 National Summit - Your 1-week and 2-week Reminder!
A message from a LYS Assistant Superintendent:
I just met with E. Don Brown and Harry Miller at LYS Booth at the TASA/TASB conference. We were discussing my team of principals and teachers preparing for the big Fundamental 5 Summit in Dallas (also in Austin).
We are stoked!!
I just met with E. Don Brown and Harry Miller at LYS Booth at the TASA/TASB conference. We were discussing my team of principals and teachers preparing for the big Fundamental 5 Summit in Dallas (also in Austin).
We are stoked!!
|
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)