Friday, October 13, 2017

PowerWalks Hurricane Relief Challenge - October 13, 2017

To assist schools in Florida, Puerto Rico, and Texas dealing with the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria for every PowerWalks classroom observation conducted between October 1, 2017 and October 31, 2017, Lead Your School will donate 5¢.

As of today, there have been 17,665 PowerWalks completed. This means that the current donation total stands at $883.25.

Additionally, to increase the donation total, on the LYS Store Site there are Hurricane Relief Bag Tags and T-shirts.

LYS Nation, keep stepping up!




Thursday, October 12, 2017

Curriculum Sources

Recently, I was meeting with a school board to provide some training on the practices of effective school districts. I was pointing out the providing teachers with a common scope of sequence is a leadership responsibility, and to not do so is a failure of leadership.  This board instantly understood the logic of this and one board member asked how her district was doing.  I said that they were on the right track, but they have made a critical misstep that was hampering implementation.  The error, they had four curriculum sources (or platforms). One for each content area. 

The subsequent questions were as follows: 1. How did this happen? 2. Why is this a problem?

First, how did this happened.  It happened because central office missed the critical distinction between theory and practice.  In identifying the what curriculum source to use, each group of content specialist searched for the best solution for their content area.  The four content areas found the four best solutions, for content areas in isolation.

Now, this leads to the second question, why is this problem?  In this district, it is a problem because each content curriculum is accessed and used a different way.   For the teacher that teaches just one content area, this is no problem at all.  But if you are a teacher responsible for multiple content areas (every elementary teacher and a large percentage of the secondary teachers in this district) or a campus administrator responsible for supervising and supporting teachers from multiple content area (every administrator in the district), you are in trouble.

The district had inadvertently created the following problem…  “Teachers we got you a different computer for each class that you teach.  For math, we got you an Apple. For science, we got to a PC. For ELA, we got you a Chromebook.  For social studies, we pulled an old Commodore 64 out of storage.  Now learn to use all of them at an expert level.  Why are you crying instead of thanking us?”

The answer, find a good curriculum source that spans all four content areas.  In this case, good is better than great.  And here is the dirty little truth that curriculum specialists just don’t understand.  It does matter how good the curriculum is, it is the mastery of the teacher that makes the curriculum come alive.  A great actor can read the back of a cereal box and make it riveting.  A great teacher can change the world with a good curriculum. 

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: The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

A Reader Asks... Lesson Frames on Test Day

An assistant principal asks the following:

SC,

If a teacher is giving an assessment during the entire class period - there will be no instruction taking place.  Should there be a posted Lesson Frame, "We will" and "I will"?

SC Response
First, though in what you have described there is no instruction taking place, there is an instructional task (taking the test).

Now to answer your question. It depends if the teacher has received training on Lesson Framing or not.

If the teacher hasn’t been trained, then not having a Lesson Frame on a test day is OK.  The students know they are taking a test, and a Close for a test is basically an empty exercise.

Unless… the teacher has been trained on how to Frame a Test.  Then here is what you would expect to see.

An objective (We will…) designed to motivate and reduce student stress.  For example,

"We will use our enormous brains to totally dominate today’s math test."

A close (I will…) designed to promote effort and provide a goal. For example,

"I will work hard and score at least an 85 on the test.”

That is what you want to see. But you will only see it if your teachers have been trained.

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: The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Top LYS Tweets from the Week of October 1, 2017

If you are not following @LYSNation on Twitter, then you missed the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of October 1, 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. Teachers, advocate for your children by voting for Public Education in 2018! Pastors, advocate for your children by urging folks to vote. (By @pastors4txkids)

2. Simple truths are usually best. And the simple truth is that ALL children deserve a quality public education. (By @DrJoeRussell)

3. You support public schools or you don't--there is no neutral. This is THE fight worth having, y'all! (By @KendallScudder)

4. Vouchers are immoral. Do not yield on them. Not one bit. And do not support any legislator who yields on them either. (By @pastors4txkids)

5. Never miss the opportunity to do good. Tomorrow might be worse. (By @clwilkens)

6. "Important to vote in the primary election - that's where state elections are decided." (By @antraasa)

7. The three most commonly observed forms of instructional differentiation: 1) Slower. 2) Louder. 3) Angrier. (By @LYSNation)

8. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic. (By @DavidRoads)

9. Lack of money, resources, or position is an excuse for inaction from those who don’t believe in themselves. (By @Leadershipfreak)

10. Public education is the cornerstone of America. (By @pastors4txkids)

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: The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook