A Principal Shares... Embrace The Foundation Trinity and The Fundamental 5

A LYS Principal shares the following:

I hope all is well out there in the LYS Nation. I shared this quote (see below) with my staff this week and thought it might make a good “jumping off point” for other LYS Principals at a staff meeting. We are continuing to work towards increasing our student critical writing across the curriculum. Our instructional protocol, including the use of a written response to the Closing Question, is yielding noticeable improvements in student writing at all grade levels. For the first time, I am not freaking out with worry about our writing scores. PowerWalks has been terrific for tracking our writing progression. We are able to use writing data to keep our campus and teams informed as it relates to our overarching campus target goal for writing across the campus.

Have a great week and be the “Silver Bullet”…

There are no silver bullets in education. But writing – particularly nonfiction writing – is about as close as you can get to a single strategy that has significant and positive effects in nearly every other area of the curriculum

—Douglas Reeves

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: NASSP National Conference; The 21^st Century High School Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

The Fundamental 5 National Summit Recap

For those of you in Dallas this past Monday, it was an incredible experience! Nearly 200 educators braved the weather to meet, discuss, learn, and network on how better implement the Fundamental 5 for the purpose of improving student outcomes.  The effort and energy of the attendees was inspiring.  If you missed it, stay tuned because we are going to do it again next Fall! 

And for those of you who are either not Twitter users or were not following #Fun5Summit, here are some of the highlights that were shared.

A. The average person gets 30,000 mornings - are you making the most of yours? (By @CabidaCain)

B. 80% of the time in classrooms Whole Group instruction is observed. High-yield strategies are observed so infrequently it’s like a unicorn sighting. (By @tra_hall)

C. Use student conversation and critical writing as a window into the brain – it allows us to "see" student thinking. (By @CabidaCain)

D. Increased instructional rigor has almost nothing to do with teachers and everything to do with student talking & writing. (By @tra_hall)

E. “The good old days never were... They are now and the great days are to come.” S. Cain (By @jaredpeters23)

F. Students who are acknowledged for working hard choose to pick harder and more challenging assignments. (By @principalschu)

G. Changing old habits are hard. (By @scot_wright)

H. What's the point of your class TODAY?  Frame the Lesson. (By @scot_wright)

I. Critical writing is not just for ELA teachers. (By @scot_wright)

J. It's ALL about leadership. Are we focused, do we practice, do we maintain positive energy, are we engaged throughout? (By @CabidaCain)

K. Student performance is driven by adult practice. Habits and routines drive adult practice. (By @scot_wright)

L. Team Canada is representing at The Fundamental 5 INTERNATIONAL Summit! (By @LYSNation)

M. Six weeks tests are three weeks too late. (By @scot_wright)

N. Your data is your students talking to you. Are you going to listen to or ignore their voice? (By @principalschu)

O. Your fragile students give you the most accurate data on the effect of your practices... both effective and not. (By @LYSNation)

P. Thanks, Allen High School for hosting The Summit! (By @scot_wright and every attendee at the conference)

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: NASSP National Conference; The 21^st Century High School Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Reader Writes... Getting Rid of ISS - Part 3

In response to the 3/26/13 post, “Getting Rid of ISS – Part 2,” a LYS Assistant Superintendent writes:

SC,

You may not be surprised to hear that one of your former campuses now uses ISS. The rationale was to change behavior and keep students in school. The data shows the same students spend more time in ISS than in class until they get fed up and escalate the behavior to ensure they get sent home. No one wins. Everyone loses. It makes me very sad. There are alternatives for dress code violations that don't involve being out of class. It just takes a planning, creativity and leadership will.

SC Response

Sad, but not surprising news.  It has been 11 years since I left (it seems like it was only last week).  Maintaining a campus culture that values student learning above all else is difficult proposition.  It means that regularly, you have to advocate for and act on the needs of the voiceless and powerless (students) over the needs of those with voice, influence and power (adults).  Without a crystal clear understanding of the mission of the campus and resolute leadership will, the base needs of adults (power, order, status, comfort and revenge) will invariably shape the practices, structures and procedures of the campus.

That in of itself isn’t good or bad.  It just is.  What I find galling is those who have the experience to know better and are in a position to temper this, choose not to.

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: NASSP National Conference; The 21^st Century High School 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 October 6, 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 October 6, 2013.

1. Administrators, your staff shouldn't have to guess about your beliefs and ideals of education. What you think shouldn't be a secret. (By @justintarte)

2. Research: What parents do at home (read to children every night) appears to matter more than what parents do to help out in school. (By @tgrierhisd)

3. Homework should count very little, if any, toward grade. Grades should represent mastery, not compliance. (By @LaurieBarron)

4. Too many educators have been led to believe that poverty trumps everything else. Rigor, high expectations, quality teachers, quality principals, etc. (By @tgrierhisd)

5. Leadership must be a part of the PLC process. They just aren't expected to lead every meeting. P means Professionals... All of them. (By @LYSNation)

6. It's not about the device, but rather how the teacher uses the device. The teacher is the primary 1-1 device! (By @angelalovesmath)

7. No technology can take the place of content and academic fundamentals. (By @DrJerryRBurkett)

8. We complain we don't have money for powerful devices for student use, yet we make them power down their smart phones at the door. (By @woscholar)

9. The most powerful structural change you can make to increase graduation rates is to have your best math teacher teach Algebra 1. (By @LYSNation)

10. The Fundamental Five (Cain & Laird). Great book study for an entire district. (By @Snowmanlearning)

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: NASSP National Conference; The 21^st Century High School Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook