A Reader Asks... A Common Scope and Sequence

A LYS Principal asks the following:

SC,

We have all heard and/or been told, “A Scope and Sequence is a living document.” 

But I don't think “the scope and sequence is a living document that can be changed” should be anyone’s justification for not following it at any given time.

Before I step on any landmines, what are your thoughts on the topic?

SC Response

A fantastic question, with an answer guaranteed to upset a lot of people and spark a heated debate.  In other words, a worthy issue for the LYS Nation.

A COMMON scope and sequence IS a living, breathing document.  But think magnolia tree, not fruit fly.  If the common scope and sequence did not grow and evolve, then every year it would become less valid and useful. But it should grow at a slow, somewhat predictable rate. And this growth and evolution should occur during summer.  In the summer curriculum staff and teachers have time to review student performance results, student needs, staff strengths, district goals, and changes to standards and make the required adjustments and revisions to the COMMON scope and sequence.  This then becomes the playbook for teachers in the upcoming school year.  It is common for all teachers teaching the same subject.  This better guarantees that students are taught the required content, at the required level of rigor, regardless of the class the student is assigned to.

What most teacher want is a fruit fly scope and sequence lifecycle.  By this I mean, they are OK with starting at the same place, but then they want autonomy on pacing and emphasis.  The result of this is on the vast majority of campuses by the end of the second week of school there is not a COMMON scope and sequence. Instead there are as many individual scope and sequences in play as there are teachers.

Once the scope and sequence is adopted for the year, it is the responsibility of the teacher to deliver the content and stay on pace.  There will be imperfections that will be identified throughout the year and these should (must) be documented, so they can be addressed during the annual summer revision sessions.

There are three critical curriculum decisions in play everyday in the classroom:

1. What To Teach

2. When To Teach It

3. How To Teach It  

The COMMON scope and sequence addresses the first two decisions, freeing up teachers to focus all of their thought, energy and creativity on the HOW.  Those who do not embrace this have destined themselves to being, “a Jack of All, a Master of None.” Sad for those teachers and sad for their students.  Those who do embrace this create a very real opportunity to become a true expert, an asset needed in every school and by every student.    

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: TASSP Summer Conference (Multiple Presentations); Texas ASCD Summer Conference; ESC 14 Sumer Conference (Keynote Presentation); ESC 11 Summer Conference (Keynote Presentation); NEASP National Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote Presentation) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Principal Submits... Just Quote Einstein

A LYS Principal shares the following:

SC,

I saw the following quote and immediately thought of you. But not due to the Einstein part.

“If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.”  Albert Einstein

You cut to the chase.  Not because you don’t get it, but because you get it better.

SC Response

Thank you! That is much too kind, but it does validate the work we try to do.  As a profession we are bombarded with theory and ideas.  At LYS, we just try to show people what the theory looks like in practice and then how to do the practice with increasing frequency and quality.  So we strive for the simple explanation, because we know the execution is far from simple.

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: TASSP Summer Conference (Multiple Presentations); Texas ASCD Summer Conference; ESC 14 Sumer Conference (Keynote Presentation); ESC 11 Summer Conference (Keynote Presentation); NEASP National Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote Presentation) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Readers Write... Transforming Schools - Part 2

In response to the 2/20/2014 post, “Transforming Schools – Part 1,” LYSers write:

Loved the post today. (LYS Principal)

Outstanding response!!! (LYS Principal)

AMEN!!!! (LYS Teacher)

Touché'!!! Great response! (LYS Teacher)

Well said.  I was about to address this very topic… (LYS Assistant Superintendent)

I really liked the post today.  You wrote what we know to be true, but because we are public servants and professionals can’t defend ourselves. (LYS Superintendent)

SC Response

Here is one of the critical mistakes we have made as educators over the past decade. We have stoically ignored half-truths, pandering sound-bites and overtly ignorant attacks of our profession with the mistaken belief that the general public would recognize both our good works and the difficulty of better educating students in the world that is changing more rapidly that every before. 

Obviously we were wrong.  Without a valid, logical, and emotional counter-argument, the readily available falsehoods are now accepted as common knowledge.  The solution? I don’t have an easy answer, I have a personal statement.  

I’m not going to seek out the misinformed; I have more important work to do.  But if the misinformed seek me out, I will tell them the truth.  And frankly, if they don’t work in a school, their opinion carries little weight and I will unapologetically share that information.  The layperson that believes his or her opinion on medicine makes them equal with a doctor is considered a buffoon.  The layperson that believes his or her opinion of football makes them an equal with a Nick Sabin or a Bill Cower is considered a blowhard. 

As we have seen, being polite and sugarcoating the truth has only benefitted the every growing Anti-Public School Industrial Complex.

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: TASSP Summer Conference (Multiple Presentations); Texas ASCD Summer Conference; ESC 14 Sumer Conference (Keynote Presentation); ESC 11 Summer Conference (Keynote Presentation); NEASP National Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote Presentation) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Lesa Cain Shares... Retention

Former LYS Principal and current LYS Coach, Lesa Cain, reflects on the following:

LYS Nation,

Retention only REALLY works over the long term in certain situations.

1. Something changes at home to put all focus on education and the child, or

2. We actually do something DIFFERENT at school.

Most kids sit through the same material for a 2nd time and because they've heard it once and do better, we all think it (retention) was a good idea. Then the next year comes and when exposed to new material, the retained student once again falls behind.  Add to that the social stigma of retention and for the student not much good has occurred.

Retention in Kindergarten is misguided in almost every single situation. Of course there are a few exceptions. If a student has missed a ton of school due to health reasons, we MIGHT consider retention.  Or if the child of migrant workers, who has missed a lot of school but is catching on to everything we do and just needs more time to solidify the foundation, again MIGHT be a good retention candidate. But I say “MIGHT” because it also means we have to put that student with the absolute best teacher we have and we need to believe that the student will remain on our campus.

If you believe (moving towards “know”) that a student has a learning disability I would rather place the student in the next grade and then begin testing. The harsh truth is that in many cases retaining the student allows him to score just high enough so that he never qualifies for services and then we all (student, parents, teachers) wind up being sad and stuck.

Teachers going outside the school and talking to parents before an internal decision is discussed is wrong - very wrong. I had conferences with every teacher about her students each six weeks. We kept data and tracked progress all year, so at the end of the year we could look back and make a sound decision - which was very rarely to retain (even if they failed the test in 5th grade by the way).

Just remember we always make the best decision for the little people.  If the big people don’t like that decision, they still get paid.

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: TASSP Summer Conference (Multiple Presentations); Texas ASCD Summer Conference; ESC 14 Sumer Conference (Keynote Presentation); ESC 11 Summer Conference (Keynote Presentation); NEASP National Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote Presentation) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Top LYS Tweets From the Week of May 4, 2014

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 May 4, 2014.

1. Don't think outside the box. Think like there is no box. (By @Cyrsrommuel)

2. Finish the school year race by running through the finish line. You ran a good race, now finish strong. (By @TinneyTroy)

3. Learning from Dr. Andrea Ogonosky; she references the value of the Fundamental Five and @LYSNation to improve Tier I instruction. (By @bjaco)

4. Negativity among teachers results in lowered student achievement and increased discipline issues. (By @CabidaCain)

5. The concept of "buy-in" is the hallmark of ineffective leadership. The issue is "Do or don't do," and how leadership supports and responds to those actions. (By @LYSNation)

6. Recognizing / Reinforcing is about what the student DOES, not about whether or not we LIKE them.  (By @CabidaCain)

7. If instruction stops after the high stakes test, it's hard for anyone to believe your argument that teaching is more than a test score. (By @BluntEducator)

8. Winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else. (By @CoachKWisdom)

9. Lots and lots of bond issues passed across Texas tonight. People support their local school districts. (By @johnkuhntx)

10. The Fundamental 5 (Cain & Laird) just surpassed 56,000 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: TASSP Summer Conference (Multiple Presentations); Texas ASCD Summer Conference; ESC 14 Sumer Conference (Keynote Presentation); ESC 11 Summer Conference (Keynote Presentation); NEASP National Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote Presentation) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook