Investing in You / Investing in Your School

I meet with Principals every day who are at their wits end trying to keep school performance just above state and federal minimum standards. Everyone wants to know the short-cut to success. 

What tutoring program works best?

How do I hire better people?

How do I get rid of weak staffers?

What discipline program to use?

Is there a better curriculum?

There are no short-cuts.

There is only the daily on-going hard work, sweat equity and reflection on and with the right processes, tools and practices.  And there is the rub.  There is hard work and sweat produced on every campus, most every day. But it is diffused, misguided, penny-wise/pound-foolish work and sweat.

Take for example the practice of observing classrooms for formative purposes.  We know that if school leaders will invest just 30 minutes a day observing classrooms (this can be any combination from five, 5-minute observations to one, 30-minute observation), that over time good things begin to occur. A short list includes: improved student behavior, improved teacher craft, improved resource allocation, improved problem solving, and most importantly, improved understanding of pedagogy and the classroom dynamic.

Implemented correctly, the ROI on this leadership practice is as close to a guaranteed positive as you can get.

We also know that when presented the option of making the small daily investment of visiting classrooms for formative purposes or searching for shortcuts / scapegoats, only about 25% of principals engage in the first choice. 

Now, what will you invest in?

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: Texas ASCD Summer Conference, The National Principals Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

State of the Blog - The Last 100 Posts (2,200 and Counting)

Hello, LYS Nation.  This is the 2,200^th post to the column, so as has become a tradition, we will review our progress. 

First, the review

The 1^st post was on Monday, February 16, 2009.

The 100^th post was on April 14, 2009.

The 200^th post was on June 10, 2009

The 300^th post was on September 2, 2009

The 400^th post was on December 16, 2009

The 500^th post was on April 7, 2010

The 600^th post was on August 2, 2010

The 700^th post was on December 17, 2010

The 800^th post was on May 17, 2011

The 900^th post was on October 5, 2011

The 1,000^th post was on March 7, 2012

The 1,100^th post was on August 24, 2012

The 1,200^th post was on February 1, 2013

The 1,300^th post was on June 5, 2013

The 1,400^th post was on October 30, 2013

The 1,500^th post was on April 7, 2014

The 1,600^th post was on September 18, 2014

The 1,700^th post was on February 20, 2015

The 1,800^th post was on June 25, 2015

The 1,900^th post was on November 12, 2015

The 2,000^th post was on April 21, 2016

The 2,100^th post was on October 25, 2016

The 2,100^th post is today, April 27, 2017

The top 15 posts, in terms of distribution, have been:

1. Your Best STAAR Preparation Plan – Section 2 (3/6/2014)
2. Your Best STAAR Preparation Plan – Section 1 (3/5/2014)
3. Maximize Your Instructional Time (8/20/2015)
4. Student Test Taking Anxiety is 99% on Us (3/12/2014)
5. Campus Security Checklist (12/18/2012)
6. Be the Best Me in the Classroom (11/14/2014)
7. Closing the Lesson – It’s All About the Plan (10/22/2014)
8. How To Turn “Pencil on Paper” Activities Into Critical Writing (10/28/15)
9. New From the Lead Your School Lab... The Fundamental 5 Classroom App (8/26/2014)
10. A Reader Writes... Lesson Framing – Part 1 (10/11/2013)
11. A Reader Asks... HS Math Lesson Frames (2/19/2014)
12. The Five Fundamentals of Classroom Environment (8/19/2015)
13. A Principal Asks... Should We Frame a Test (11/6/2013)
14. Your 6-step STAAR Preparation Strategy (12/14/2012)
15. Make the Last Month Count (4/25/2014)

There are now international readers and e-mail subscribers, with the following 52 countries represented: Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Cook Islands, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, U.S. Virgin Islands, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

A little blatant self-promotion

First, if you like the blog and you haven’t signed up for the e-mail subscription, please do so.  I find that it’s easier to write to people than it is to write to web hits.

Second, if you like the blog and find it useful, tell three other people.  This blog is a much more powerful resource for school improvement when it is a dialogue.

Third, if you have not sent in a comment yet, please do so.  Education research points out that the act of critical writing actually makes the learner smarter.  Let the blog assist you in sharpening your saw.

Finally

Thank you so much for reading and responding.  This network, which started out as a way for just a handful of principals to stay connected has turned into a small nation of board members, central office administrators, campus leaders, and teachers who are focused on redefining student success.  Who knows what we will discuss in the next 100 posts.

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: Texas ASCD Summer Conference, The National Principals Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Top LYS Tweets from the Week of April 16, 2017

If you are not following @LYSNation on Twitter, then you missed the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of April 16, 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. You’re bigger than the short-term issues that consume your energy. (By @Leadershipfreak)

2. Poverty is a real and legitimate obstacle to academic success and can be overcome with adequate resources and quality teachers and principals! (By @tgrierhisd)

3. Excellent educators embrace change as a way to make their lives-and their students' lives-more meaningful. (By @PrincipalOgg)

4. 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)

5. Eliminate the false perception that it’s possible for someone to do all things well. (By @Leadershipfreak)

6. I've never seen a problem that was solved by only complaining about it. - Steve Keating (By @DrKBowen)

7. Hard work trumps entitlement. (By @Leadershipfreak)

8. Nebraska loves public schools. Keep them public. No vouchers. (By @DianeRavitch)

9. Never criticize unless you're ready to pursue solutions. (By @Leadershipfreak)

10. You should never be proud of doing the right thing. You should just do it. (By @CoachKWisdom)

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: Texas ASCD Summer Conference, The National Principals Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook