The Fundamental 5 National Summit - Begins Tomorrow

The second annual Fundamental 5 National Summit will be held in Austin, Texas on October 5^th and 6^th.  Last year over 400 educators from across the country (and Canada) met for the purpose of better implementing the Fundamental 5 on their campuses.

This is a practitioner’s summit, with real live teachers and campus administrators leading the breakout sessions.

The Fundamental 5 National Summit is open to all states, all schools, and all grade levels! Bring your team and experience the power that is unleashed when theory and practice align.



The Fundamental 5 National Summit

Austin, Texas

October 5 & 6, 2014

Open to All Educators

Presented by the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals

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 

Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool) 

Upcoming Presentations:  The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote Presentation); ASCD Annual Conference; TEPSA Summer Conference; 

Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

The Fundamental 5 National Summit - In Just 2 Days

The second annual Fundamental 5 National Summit will be held in Austin, Texas on October 5^th and 6^th.  Last year over 400 educators from across the country (and Canada) met for the purpose of better implementing the Fundamental 5 on their campuses.

This is a practitioner’s summit, with real live teachers and campus administrators leading the breakout sessions.

The Fundamental 5 National Summit is open to all states, all schools, and all grade levels! Bring your team and experience the power that is unleashed when theory and practice align.



The Fundamental 5 National Summit

Austin, Texas

October 5 & 6, 2014

Open to All Educators

Presented by the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals

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 

Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool) 

Upcoming Presentations:  The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote Presentation); ASCD Annual Conference; TEPSA Summer Conference; 

Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

PowerWalks Hero Schools (September 2014)

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. In September, the Hero Schools met or exceeded the targets below:

Big Schools – 325 PowerWalks Observations

Medium Sized Schools – 225 PowerWalks Observations

Small Schools – 125 PowerWalks Observations

Very Small Schools – 65 PowerWalks Observations.

For October, the targets will remain the same:

The October Hero School Targets

Big Schools – 325 PowerWalks Observations

Medium Sized Schools – 225 PowerWalks Observations

Small Schools – 125 PowerWalks Observations

Very Small Schools – 65 PowerWalks Observations.

For the record, the schools in the LYS nation conducted a total of 13,979 PowerWalks observations this past month.  But enough stalling. Without further ado, here are your thirty-six PowerWalks Hero Schools for the month of September 2014.  Congratulations!!!

Elementary Schools	Junior High & Middle Schools	Alternative Schools	Combined Campuses	High Schools
Raymond E. Curtis ES (WISD – small school): 896	Big Spring JH (BSISD – midsized school): 472		Louis Schools (LISD – small school): 234	Morton Ranch HS (KISD – large school): 781
Rennell ES (CFISD – midsized school): 564	Magnolia JH (MISD – midsized school): 417		Wink Schools (WLISD – small school): 160	Mayde Creek HS (KISD – large school): 683
Stephen F. Austin ES (WISD – small school): 356	Bernard Harris MS (NEISD – midsized school): 359			Fairdale HS (JCPS – large school): 581
Juan N. Seguin ES (WISD – small school): 321	Lomax JH (LPISD – midsized school): 347			Weatherford HS (WISD – large school): 570
David Crockett ES (WISD – small school): 247	Mance Park MS (HISD – midsized school): 304			Iroquois HS (JCPS – large school): 400
Goliad ES (BSISD – small school): 240	Shirley Hall MS (WISD – midsized school): 274			Sulphur Springs HS (SSISD – midsized school): 330
Bose Ikard ES (WISD – small school): 238	Joe M. Tison MS (WISD – midsized school): 263			Dublin HS (DISD – small school): 305
Ray ES (HISD – small school): 220	Hutto MS (HISD – midsized school): 239			Weatherford 9th Grade Center (WISD – small school): 236
Mary Martin ES (WISD – small school): 207	LaPorte JH (LPISD – midsized school): 238			Winona HS (WISD – small school): 186
Bill W. Wright ES (WISD – small school): 187	Winona MS (WISD – small school): 188
Refugio ES (RISD – small school): 179	Big Spring IS (BSISD - small school): 172
Dublin ES (DISD – very small school): 171	Dublin IS (DISD – very small school): 152
Hutto ES (HISD – small school): 127

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
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote Presentation); ASCD Annual Conference; TEPSA Summer Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Reader Asks... Lesson Framing in Kindergarten Classrooms

A LYS Assistant Superintendent asks the following:

SC

The training that you provided this past summer was great and our staff has worked all semester implementing the Fundamental 5.  With that implementation, we some have questions.

  

What about Kindergarten? These students may not be able to read the Lesson Frames that are posted on the board? Should we still do it?

I look forward to your answer.

SC Response

That is a good question. When it comes to Kindergarten classrooms, there are some adjustments to typical lesson framing practices. Adjustments, not abandonment.

First, if I were to embrace the “Students can’t read yet,” argument, then anything written and posted in a Kindergarten classroom would be a waste of time and board / wall space. And we know that is not true.  

Second, the teacher is going to frame the big concepts.  That might entail “The Morning” concept and “The Afternoon” concept, or it may be content driven.  Think, “When the students are pulled to the floor for a whole group lesson.” That is likely a frameable concept. 

Third, the Lesson Frame will be written in very concrete language and may (or often) include pictures and icons.

Fourth, the closing questions will have a higher percentage of demonstration activities than the upper grade levels.  For example, “Does my letter look like the letter on the board?”

Fifth, the teacher will still write the Lesson Frame on the board. She will still point it out to the students and she will still talk about it and read it to her students.  In this way the Lesson Frame still serves to prime the learners brain, explain the expectation of the lesson and provides a text-rich, literacy supporting learning environment.

Finally, just because the student can’t read, doesn’t mean that we don’t model reading.  The Lesson Frame is an authentic way to embed reading instruction and practice throughout the day, every day.

I hope this helps and I look forward to working with your team again.

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 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote Presentation); ASCD Annual Conference; TEPSA Summer Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Reader Shares... PowerWalks 2.0 is Awesome

A LYS Principal share the following:

SC,

As you are aware, I have been using PowerWalks since it was first introduced.  It was a pretty exciting instrument then, but nothing compares to the new version that you launched this school year.  PowerWalks 2.0 is amazing! 

I love how you can see the scoreboard for schools right when you open the program.  This has been very motivational for my team of observers.  They have been working hard to get their visits completed and keep us in the top schools.  The benefit of that is that we are ready to begin sharing data with teachers by the first week in October.  This is much earlier than we have ever had enough data to begin sharing. 

In addition to the scoreboard, the quick report that I am able to run showing all of the counts for each observer is terrific.  The email feature has made it possible to send the administrative team the counts for each of us every Friday afternoon.  No one wants to be the one that didn’t get his or her visits done!  What a great use of positive peer pressure!  We use the reports for our counts and observers, inter-rater reliability reports, and individual teacher reports as a regular part of our administrative meeting each week.  It is making a huge difference not only in the number of visits being done, but our understanding of what is going on in each classroom.

Now the best part of the program has to be the survey instrument itself.  The changes are brilliant.  You have trimmed down the indicators being monitored without sacrificing the critical items that help identify great teaching practices.  The cleaner version is easy to understand and makes it less likely that those doing the visits are rating indicators differently.  Lastly, the reports for teachers are so much easier to build and run.  The charts are clear and concise, making them easier for teachers to pinpoint areas that they want to focus on for improving their craft.

If it is not already clear, I love PowerWalks 2.0.  I appreciate your dedication to education and providing us with a quality program that helps us do our job better.  I am a lifelong fan.

Sincerely,

L. T.

SC Response

Thanks.  As you well know, every change to the system is the result of feedback from leaders like you who believe in formative observation and coaching and want to best tool possible. As the principal of a perennial PowerWalks Hero School, your endorsement carries significant weight.  It is our validation.  Keep leading the way for your campus and district.

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
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote Presentation); ASCD Annual Conference; TEPSA Summer 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 September 21, 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 September 21, 2014.

1. In the absence of effective leadership success will be a "situational phenomenon" at best. (By @JohnJungmann)

2. Wendy Davis reminds the audience that Greg Abbott can drop the appeal of the school finance lawsuit at any time he chooses. (By @LYSNation)

3. Stand firm about what matters most. Let the other stuff fall by the wayside. (By @vhsaldana)

4. Lack of willpower and drive cause more failures than lack of intelligence and ability. (By @AlanStein)

5. A teacher who closes the lesson well is like the gymnast who nails the landing. (By @LYSNation)

6. Fundamental 5 school leaders - remember to use Specific Recognition & Reinforcement with your STAFF too! (By @Crysrommuel)

7. As a Texas resident nothing is more disappointing than a candidate who is obviously more interested in winning rather than leading/serving. (By @cheadhorn)

8. Without a good process, you will always struggle. (By @LYSNation)

9. Today's Quote:  "Merely imparting information is not teaching." (By @DrRichAllen)

10. The Fundamental 5 (Cain & Laird) has now sold over 66,000 copies! 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 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: TESPA Fall Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote Presentation); ASCD Annual Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook