Friday, November 7, 2014

A LYS District Needs You as Its Next Principal

Marfa ISD is seeking the right LYSer to serve as an instructional coach, curriculum guru, and part-time Principal. This exemplar educator (you) is a Fundamental 5 proponent and supports enhanced literacy across the curriculum.

This is the perfect position for the LYSer seeking his/her first administration opportunity (you).  World famous artist colony / cultural mecca Marfa, Texas is ideal for those loving big skies and a little adventure.

Your passion to improve instruction is more important than the certificates you currently hold.  If you want to join the MISD team, send your resume and a letter of interest to Andy Peters, Marfa ISD Superintendent, at apeters@marfaisd.com

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: ASCD Annual Conference; TEPSA Summer Conference 
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Thursday, November 6, 2014

A Superintendent Writes... My Texas School Plan - Part 1

In response to the 10/10/2014 post, “My Texas School Plan: An Open Letter to Candidates,” a LYS Superintendent writes:

SC,

I like it overall.  

A. On item 6 (21:1 maximum class size), I would make class sizes smaller.  I would go 18 in pk-6. And yes, I would have universal Pre-K, full day.  It would be optional at the parents’ discretion, but the option would be there.

B. On item 7 (increase time devoted to academics), I would also limit students to 2 extracurricular or co-curricular activities per semester.  A student with a straight A average could get a waiver for 3 per semester.

C. On item 8 (EOC testing), we are far apart.  I would rather see no EOC tests whatsoever.  The state and Pearson has lost all credibility with the ability to administer a testing program.  Ditto on accountability.  The state politicized the testing and accountability system to push an ideological agenda.  The needs of the students were put behind this political ideology.  Any testing and accountability system should be put together by a panel of school district and university system employees, with no state involvement other than to administer the resulting program.  All tests should be verified by a second, independent panel of public school and university system pedagogy experts to be developmentally appropriate, something current tests are not.  I am good with the rest of item 8. 

D. On item 9 (superintendent salary scale), I really don't see how putting state controls on superintendent salaries will help children in the classroom.  And I don't think it would save anywhere near as much money as you think it would.  Given current salaries, I doubt this plan would save more than $20,000,000 statewide.  Of all the items in your plan, this item just doesn't seem to fit the overall direction of all other items.  However, if item 9 salaries are put in place in conjunction with and simultaneously with item 3 teacher salaries, I would have no problem with it.

E. On item 10 (charter school rules), charter schools should be forced to take all children who apply.  No stipulations on parent involvement or other gimmicks to weed out the hard kids to teach.  

SC Response
On Point A, I’m in complete agreement.  Yes, it will require an increase in school funding (which in all likelihood will increase school taxes). But I don’t look at this as an increase in taxes. I look at this as an increase in our collective investment in our communities, infrastructure, and economic engine.

On Point B, I agree.  I’m not anti-extra curricular activities. I’m a realist.  The chance of a student getting an extra-curricular college scholarship is slim. The chance of becoming a professional in the extra-curricular activity, essentially zero.  Everyone is better served with an increased focus on academic endeavors.

On Point C, I agree that the credibility on the accountability system built by our legislature lacks credibility.  But I don’t believe the answer is no testing.  We have both witnessed that the negative effect of  “district self-accountability” systems on students.  If we agree that the TEKS are workable, then building an EOC that assesses grade level mastery of said TEKS is mostly a mechanical proposition.  As you suggest create an advisory board of key educators to actually review the created tests and we are back on the right track and ready to move to a incentive based accountability system.

On Point D, I see the teacher and superintendent pay components as a package.  And tying Superintendent pay to average teacher salary creates an incentive for School Boards and Superintendents to do more than just talk about adequately paying teachers.

On Point E, we agree. But the issue is not just with some charter schools.  Similar hard and soft enrollment games are used by traditional schools and school districts for gifted and magnet programs.

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: ASCD Annual Conference; TEPSA Summer Conference 
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

PowerWalks Hero Schools (October 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 October, 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 November, due to the Thanksgiving holiday, we will adjust to the targets listed below:

The November Hero School Targets
Big Schools – 250 PowerWalks Observations
Medium Sized Schools – 175 PowerWalks Observations
Small Schools – 95 PowerWalks Observations
Very Small Schools – 50 PowerWalks Observations.

For the record, the schools in the LYS nation conducted a total of 14,136 PowerWalks observations this past month.  But enough stalling. Without further ado, here are your thirty-nine PowerWalks Hero Schools for the month of October 2014.  Congratulations!!!

Elementary Schools
Junior High & Middle Schools
Alternative Schools
Combined Campuses
High Schools
Raymond E. Curtis ES (WISD – small school): 656
Magnolia JH (MISD – midsized school): 346
San Marcos School (JWPCS – very small school): 207
Louis Schools (LISD – small school): 270
Morton Ranch HS (KISD – large school): 575
Winona ES / IS (WISD – small school): 619
Big Spring JH (BSISD – midsized school): 300
Afton Oaks School (JWPCS – very small school): 71
Frost Schools (FISD – very small school): 82
Fairdale HS (JCPS – large school): 531
David Crockett ES (WISD – small school): 537
Big Spring IS (BSISD - small school): 284


Weatherford HS (WISD – large school): 428
Rennell ES (CFISD – midsized school): 446
Hutto MS (HISD – midsized school): 232


Iroquois HS (JCPS – large school): 331
Marlin ES (MISD – very small school): 384
Shirley Hall MS (WISD – midsized school): 227


Dublin HS (DISD – small school): 287
Refugio ES (RISD – small school): 351
Dublin IS (DISD – very small school): 151


Big Spring HS (BSISD – midsized school): 269
Juan N. Seguin ES (WISD – small school): 309
Marlin MS (MISD – very small school): 85


Weatherford 9th Grade Center (WISD – small school): 217
Ray ES (HISD – small school): 303



Marlin HS (MISD – very small school): 82
Marcy ES (BSISD – small school): 296




Washington ES (BSISD – small school): 281




Johnson ES (HISD – small school): 270




Dublin ES (DISD – very small school): 265




Veterans’ Hill ES (HISD – small school): 202




Bill W. Wright ES (WISD – small school): 202




Goliad ES (BSISD – small school): 184




Bose Ikard ES (WISD – small school): 184




Mary Martin ES (WISD – small school): 172




Moss ES (BSISD – small school): 172




Hutto ES (HISD – small school): 156




Stephen F. Austin ES (WISD – small school): 143





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: 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 October 26, 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 October 26, 2014.

1. Why don't political candidates talk about increasing funding for schools? (By @herbertoneiljr)

2. In the absence of collective prioritizing, individual teachers prioritize. (By @AmyCarlsonGage)

3. "When everything is important, nothing is important." (By @TPNorton2)

4. If you are suspending kids who are not an immediate threat to safety, you have missed the boat as a principal. (By @txschoolsupe)

5. Amazing PowerWalks with Sherilynn Cotten (LYS Coach). Now researching to make instructional adjustments. That's how powerful the Fundamental 5 are! (By @vhsaldana)

6. Clear learning targets lead to shared responsibility. (By @conniehamilton)

7. That's why Lesson Framing is so important. Sets the purpose and the assessment for the lesson. (By @vhsaldana)

8. If we truly value teacher professional learning and collaboration, we must find ways to provide job-embedded learning. (By @woody_cindy)

9. Giving kids "free time" is conducting educational malpractice. (By @vhsaldana)

10. Be sure to praise students for effort! (By @pwester74)

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: ASCD Annual Conference; TEPSA Summer Conference 
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Monday, November 3, 2014

Remember to Vote

Tomorrow is Election Day.  And for those of you who did not vote early, you still have some work to do. 

If you think that your candidates are going to win, vote to make sure that it happens. 

If you think that your candidates are going to lose, vote. Because for the other candidates, not voting is almost as good as voting for them.

And I would like to share some of the wisdom taught to me by one of my high school social studies teachers.

1. Don’t vote a straight ticket.  All that does is ensure that you have voted for some of the least deserving candidates on the ballot.

2. If the choice is between the smart candidate you have some disagreements with and the idiot you completely agree with, vote for the smart person.  Good government is subtle and complex.  It requires smart people to make it work right.

3. Good men and women sacrificed everything so you can vote.  The least you can do is participate so their sacrifice was not in vain.

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: ASCD Annual Conference; TEPSA Summer Conference 
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook