A LYS Principal Shares... Make the Last Month Count - Part 1

In response to the 5/1/2012 post, “Make the Last Month Count,” a veteran LYS Principal writes:

SC,

In response to your May 1^st post entitled “Make the Last Month Count,” I wanted to share our year-end cross-curricular culminating project with you.  I believe the culminating project correlates with many of your aforementioned points.  Our K-12 aligned curriculum (C-SCOPE) calls for a culminating project in ELA for the last few weeks in school.  Our teacher teams worked together to include all four core curriculums in a school-wide Holocaust Project & Community-wide Program (i.e. Capstone Project and  Lesson Frame). 

Students researched and wrote critically in all classes with the ELA and Social Studies classes heading up the final drafts of the research papers (Critical Writing).  Students built scale models of cattle cars, concentration camps, and various historical artifacts, sites, and locations through the math and science classes (Ample Power Zone Time & FSGPT).  In addition to writing research papers and presenting to their peers, our students presented their projects to the community during an evening showcase through various forms of multimedia presentations (Recognition & Reinforcement from the community). I have included articles and a link from local news stations that showcase the capstone projects. 

I am very proud of our teachers for kick starting the 2012-2013 school year with such an emphasis on facilitating student lead, project-based learning.  Linear capacity (Fullan, 2007) continues to be built as a result of a dedicated group of teachers that believe that high-level teaching and learning does not happen in isolation—it happens through organizational and curricular unity.  Thanks for sharing your thoughts, end-of-year encouragement, and article with our staff and the LYS Nation. Stay focused on the Fundamentals….

K10 News Article:

http://www.kten.com/story/18430921/tom-bean-students-study-holocaust

DS

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/4ydqd4t
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Confirmed 2012 Presentations: TASSP Conference (multiple sessions); Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote)

A Principal Asks... EOCs, Credits and Transfers

A LYS Principal asks the following:

SC

I need your help (and the rest of the LYS Nation) in making sure that our EOC policy is reasonable and fair, as it relates to students who transfer to our district. As most of the districts around us are doing, we are waving the use of the EOC in the determination of a student’s final grade. But for some strange reason, not every district is doing this.  Which creates the following problem. 

We are seeing some students transfer to us prior to the sending district applying the 15% EOC score to the student’s final grade in the class.  The transcript states the final grade in the class, WITHOUT granting credit, because the district has not received the EOC score.  In addition, after a student transfers to the new district, the sending district will no longer receive the score for the student since he/she is no longer a student. 

How would you handle this situation?

SC Response

This is yet another case of students suffering from, and schools dealing with, the unintended consequences that occur when we continue to elect anti-educators to office. VOTE.  But all posturing aside, we still have your issue to reason through.  My analysis is that the issue is moot. Consider the following four cases of a student transfering from a district that uses the EOC in the determination of granting credit in a course.

Case 1. A student transfers to your school with a passing grade, but no EOC. 

1.     You enroll the student,

2.     Accept his grades,

3.     Include the grades he earned on your campus,

4.     Determine a final average based on your weighting system,

5.     Grant or deny credit based on your weighted average. 

Case 2. A student transfers to your school with a failing grade, but no EOC.

1.     You enroll the student,

2.     Accept his grades,

3.     Include the grades he earned on your campus,

4.     Determine a final average based on your weighting system,

5.     Grant or deny credit based on your weighted average. 

Case 3. A student transfers to you school with a credit earned, solely due to the EOC result.

1.     As before, once a sending district has determined if credit will be granted or not, the receiving districts honors that decision.

2.     For the student who earned credit, even if by your system he would have failed,  enroll him in the next course.

Case 4. A student transfers to your school with a credit denied, solely due to the EOC result.

1.     As before, once a sending district has determined if credit will be granted or not, the receiving districts honors that decision.

2.     For the student who did not earn credit, even if by your system he would have passed, enroll him the same course.

I think I have covered all the possible scenarios. LYS Nation, let us know if I missed something or if you are handling one of the above cases in a different manner

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/4ydqd4t
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Confirmed 2012 Presentations: TASSP Conference (multiple sessions); Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote)

A Principal Shares... Staff PowerWalks

A LYS Principal shares:

SC,

I wanted to let you know that the staff members enjoyed the PowerWalks classroom observations they did with you today.  After you left, we continued the discussion at our staff meeting. The conversations were great.

Thanks again for your time and assistance.  See you in a few weeks.

SC Response

I'm glad that your teachers found the visits be a positive and valuable learning experience, as many do.  Continue the practice by having you and your administrative team include teachers during your regular classroom visits. For your teachers that that really enjoy visiting other classrooms on a regular basis (a number significantly greater than what most people would assume) you can give them a PowerWalks log-in and they too can enter their data into the system.

I am a big believer that we learn much more by observing actual teacher practice than by talking about hypothetical teacher practice.

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/4ydqd4t
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Confirmed 2012 Presentations: TASSP Conference (multiple sessions); Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote)

Top LYS Tweets From the Week of May 13, 2012

As you are wrapping this year up and beginning preparations for next year, hopefully bootleg technology is on your agenda.  If not, let's put it there.  Below, I have created the first draft of a bootleg technology checklist.  Hopefully, this will aid in your planning.  If I missed anything (and I know I have), send me your inclusions.

_____ Review and revise district / campus policies relating to student owned, internet capable devises.

_____ Increase Wi-Fi access, speed and coverage.

_____ Provide an internet filter for student / guest Wi-Fi access. Set filtering at a reasonable level.

_____ Identify and remove damaged and outdated computers from campus.

_____ Increase student access to school owned computers.

_____ Create a technology device loan program for students (limited time, check-out system).

_____ Schedule a regular time and place where teachers can share their bootleg technology knowledge, practices, success and failures with each other.

_____ Create a bootleg technology support system.  This could be a dedicated staff member, a staff member with expertise, a specific class, a student club, etc.

_____ Create a campus PLN.  PLNs can be campus-wide, or can be organized be grade-level, content, or specific interest.

_____ Connect the school with students, families and the community through social media.

A number of you in the LYS Nation are now using your own bootleg technology devices to follow Twitter.  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 May 13, 2012.

1. What if parents and society in Texas were as passionate and willing to spend as much money on education as they do on athletics? (private account)

2. Our "Me First" society has forgotten that prior generations paid for the schools that they went to and now it's their turn to pay it forward.

3. I'm OK with removing barriers for innovation. I'm not OK when you handcuff me and then blame me for being handcuffed.

4. When your Internet filters block everything, you reduce connectivity back to zero.

5. Saying that a Principal shouldn't be evaluated based on student performance is like saying that a head coach shouldn't be evaluated based on wins

6. The art of Principal Performance Evaluation is the understanding that 9 wins at UT is subpar, when 9 wins at Rice is exceptional.  All campuses are not equal.

7. I know it sounds crazy, but the Fundamental 5 solves your differentiated instruction dilemma. Trust the process and implement at full speed.

8. There's a reason why veteran teachers are cynical. Years of blame, criticism and negligible support will do that to you.

9. If you are already collecting textbooks and library books, why are you surprised that teachers and students are shutting down?

10. In the long run, system issues are always at some level, leadership issues.

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/4ydqd4t
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Confirmed 2012 Presentations: TASSP Conference (multiple sessions); Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote)

You Never Know Who Might Visit

LYS Campuses are known for doing great things.  Start doing something extraordinary and you will attract attention.  Case in point, in a little more than a semester, new LYS campuses Hutto Elementary School and Hutto High School have made significant leaps forward in improved classroom practice, increased student engagement and decreased student discipline issues. So when former U.S. Secretary of Education, Dr. Rod Paige, wanted to stretch is legs and visit some rapidly improving schools, Hutto is where he went.  Below are some pictures of the visit.  And just to raise the level of difficulty, he visited two days before Spring Break.  So you have to ask yourself, was your campus hitting on all cylinders the days before Spring Break?  Because if it wasn’t, your students just lost a step on that day to the hardworking kids at Hutto Elementary and Hutto High.

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/4ydqd4t
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Confirmed 2012 Presentations: TASSP Conference (multiple sessions); Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote)

A New LYS Principal Asks... Fundamental 5 Targets

A New LYS Principal asks the following:

SC, 

Attached you will find our PowerWalks data. We will significantly improve the number of walk-thru’s we will perform for the remainder of the year as I purchased an iPad2 for each of our assistant principals (they love the PowerWalks system). I am also breaking down each of the Fundamental Five and the researched components that make for high level instruction during our “Huddle” meetings. What we are curious about is what does the research indicate about the frequency rate for each of the Fundamental Five areas for exemplary campuses?

  

Thanks for all of your guidance and help. We are excited about becoming a great campus. I look forward to hearing what your research has shown to be a good baseline indicator. I think our staff is looking for a percentage, so they can shot for it.  I will share with your our next PowerWalks Fundamental 5 report at the end of the month.

SC Response

I’m glad to hear that you and your AP’s love the PowerWalks system. I will admit that even now, I still think that the system is just plain cool. Now you know why every principal who has seen it, but can’t have it, rightfully hates whatever their district makes them use.

Now, the first thing to remember is that the Fundamental 5 is about instructional delivery. Instructional delivery is not the primary variable in the early stages of campus improvement.  Instructional content is the primary variable.  If I'm teaching the wrong thing, it doesn't matter how well I teach it.  That is why the Foundation Trinity is Alpha and Omega of LYS schools.

However, at veteran LYS schools that have been incrementally increasing the quality of instructional delivery, we observe the Fundamental 5 frequency levels at significantly higher levels than what is observed at typical campuses.

I have looked at your latest Fundamental 5 report (note to readers: PowerWalks is the only observation system that generates Fundamental 5 reports) and right now some of your numbers seem high.  That is not unusual.  As you increase inter-rater reliability, your numbers will most likely drop at first and then rebound slowly.  

Keep pushing to get better and call us if we can help you in any way.

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/4ydqd4t 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Confirmed 2012 Presentations: TASSP Conference (multiple sessions); Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote)