Monday, December 18, 2017

Top LYS Tweets from the Week of December 10, 2017

If you are not following @LYSNation on Twitter, then you missed the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of December 10, 2017 when they were first posted.  And if you are on Twitter, you might want to check out the Tweeters who made this week’s list.

1. Will we protect universal public education for all children? Or privatize it for the few who can afford it? That is the spiritual crisis of our time. (By @pastors4txkids)

2. Never let anyone fail before you’ve done everything appropriate to help them succeed. (By @Leadershipfreak)

3. We promote what we permit. A culture can never rise above the worst behavior that is allowed. It all starts with our leadership and our example. (By @jistintarte)

4. You don't really know if you can lead others until you have been opposed by others. If you can’t handle opposition, you can’t handle leadership. (By @RickHaasl)

5. Coaches: Be the coach and mentor that you needed when you were a teenager. (By @CoachOzee)

6. Hire the type of person who stops to pick up trash on the floor because they take pride in where they work even though it's not ‘officially’ their job. (By @jistintarte)

7. Success doesn’t depend on getting every single thing right, but instead relies on identifying key priorities and fashioning them into powerful levers. (By DrKign_BBJH)

8. GOP hammering students while giving tax breaks to the ultra-rich should not surprise America. Look at Texas. When GOP came to power they almost immediately began dismantling financial support for college education. (By @CollierForTexas)

9. Folks confident in their actions, honesty and their innocence don’t bother trying to run down other folks so hard because if the truth is on their side, they’ll be fine. (By @chucktodd)

10. I'm amazed at the range of intelligence in our species. On one end you have people exploring galaxies and quantum physics. On the other you have Flat Earthers. Other species don't have this. You won't see one wolf doing long division while another refuses to believe that trees are real. (By @Thunt_Goblins)

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 
  • Upcoming Conference Presentations: TASSP Assistant Principal Workshop (Keynote); NASSP National Principals Conference 
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School

Friday, December 15, 2017

December 15, 2017 Update - PowerWalks Hurricane Relief Challenge

On August 25, 2017, Aransas County Independent School was Ground Zero for Hurricane Harvey.  To assist the district in its rebuilding LYS announced the PowerWalks Hurricane Relief Challenge which was supposed to run from August 25 to September 30, 2017. And the LYS Nation stepped up!

Then Hurricanes Irma and Maria ransacked Florida and Puerto Rico. So, LYS extended the PowerWalks Hurricane Relief Challenge through October 31, 2017. And the LYS Nation stepped up!

But in October the extent of the devastation that occurred in both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands due to the hurricanes was revealed. So, LYS announced that the PowerWalks Hurricane Relief Challenge would be extended through December 22, 2017.  And the nickels keep adding up.  Here are the current donation totals:

August 2017: 5,211 PowerWalks classroom visits, generating a donation of $300.00

September 2017: 39,135 PowerWalks classroom visits, generating a donation of $2,000.00

October 2017: 49,222 PowerWalks classroom visits, generating a donation of $2,500.00

November 2017: 37,238 PowerWalks classroom visits generating a donation of $1,900.00

December 2017 (In Progress): 21,355 PowerWalks classroom visits generating a donation of $1,067.75

So far, the current donation total for the PowerWalks Hurricane Relief Challenge is $7,767.75

As proof that the LYS Nation is going above and beyond to meet this challenge, we’ll share some historical numbers.  From August 25, 2016 to December 15, 2016 there were 80,098 classroom observations completed. This is a number that no other group of schools can match. Unless the comparison group is made up of motivated LYSers.  

Because LYS Nation, from August 25, 2017 to December 15, 2017 you have now conducted 152,628 PowerWalks!  Don’t stop now!

Keep Stepping Up!

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 
  • Upcoming Conference Presentations: TASSP Assistant Principal Workshop (Keynote) 
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Thursday, December 14, 2017

There are Only Two Honest Grades

With every school I work with at some point a conversation about student grades will come up. Because every school I have ever worked with does NOT grade student achievement fairly and accurately. 

By the way, that is fact… Not opinion.

Now I know you are upset and are about to either hit the unsubscribe button or write a comment that explains in detail how accurate and objective the grading policy is at your school.  Don’t do either.  Just know that almost all reported grades have elements of subjectivity.

In fact, I have learned there are only two grades that accurately paint a picture of the student. 

These are the overall semester grades of 70 and 69. 

The student who earns an overall semester grade of a 70 is a decent, agreeable kid. 

The student who earns an overall semester grade of a 69 is kind of a jerk.

“I can’t believe I failed with a 69.”

“Really, Mr. Cain? Because none of your teachers are surprised.”

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 
  • Upcoming Conference Presentations: TASSP Assistant Principal Workshop (Keynote); NASSP National Principals Conference 
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook