Top LYS Tweets From the Week of November 12, 2017

If you are not following @LYSNation on Twitter, then you missed the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of November 12, 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. It is not about who is in my classroom, it's about what I'm doing with instruction. (By @Faith4learning)

2. Instructional rigor isn’t for high-stakes testing; it’s for career skills and a competitive advantage for students. (By @tra_hall)

3. We can’t wing it and close the lesson – we must PLAN for it. (By @CabidaCain)

4. If you want students to learn they must be talking! (By @tra_hall)

5. As a campus principal, I'd rather walk into a noisy classroom than a silent one any day. I love the noise of learning. (by @jackson_carrie)

6. If we really want instructional rigor in the classroom, we have to plan for it!!!! (By @iTEACHAmy)

7. Age x 1 = number of minutes a student can listen effectively. 14 minutes is the max! (By @tra_hall)

8. Want to know who is doing the learning in the classroom? Look at who is doing the talking. (by @jackson_carrie)

9. Success doesn’t come from testing kids to death. It comes from teaching. (By @sarah_taylor25)

10. If you want your students' brains to be on fire for learning, MAKE LEARNING SOCIAL. (by @jackson_carrie)

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

A Check List for School Improvement

The Quality of Delivered Instruction Is No Longer Enough.

I’ll repeat that. The quality of delivered instruction is no longer enough to ensure adequate student performance.  But why? 

The brutal, yet consistently ignored truth is that the expert delivery of the wrong content will not produce improved student performance.  Which means that student success is now a function of system and delivery.  Below is the checklist for school success in the accountability era.

The Sequential Check List for School Improvement

1. A Scope and Sequence aligned to the standards

2. Pacing fidelity to the Scope and Sequence

3. Rigor fidelity to the Scope and Sequence

4. Frequent instructional planning that is aligned to the pacing and rigor of the Scope and Sequence

5. Short-cycle common assessments that are aligned to the pace and rigor of the Scope and Sequence.

6. Timely, strategic, and surgical review, re-teach and remediation strategies.

7. Data use to determine three critical instructional dynamics. A. Are we on pace? B. What strategies work? C. What strategies do not work?

8. Leadership lives in classrooms to cue practice, and ensure fidelity to planning.

9. On-going teacher training

10. Leadership committed to coaching staff up or coaching staff out, based on attitude and capacity.

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, TASSP Summer Conference, Virginia Middle and High School Principals 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

Rigor Is...

Rigor is NOT what the teacher has written on the board, “The student will CREATE a foldable.”

Rigor is not what the teacher says, “So as you can see class, the parallels between the Elections of 1800 and 2016 are more numerous than appears at first glance…”

Rigor is NOT more work, “Instead of five problems, we are going to do fifteen.”

Rigor IS the depth and complexity of student cognition.  And the easiest ways to increase the depth and complexity of student cognition are to embed more of the following in your daily lessons.

1. More hands-on activities. Have students manipulate, build, and deconstruct.

2. More multi-step process questions. 

3. More purposeful student talk, with the appropriate prompt.

4. More critical writing, with the appropriate prompt.

In summary, have your students build, talk, and write, a lot and you have effectively increased instructional rigor in your classroom.

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, Virginia Middle and High School Principals 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