Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Use Last Year's Data to Drive the First Month of School

For some of you this may be a little late, but the start of this school year has been unique, to say the least.  Because of this, there is little time to ease into instruction.  From now to Christmas Break, we need to be operating at a full sprint. With that in mind here are two suggestions that will allow teachers to review and reteach critical concepts while moving forward with this year’s curriculum.

1. Take a look at the related course End of Year Exam or final that the students took last year.  Identify the three or four concepts that the class, as a whole, did the worst on.  Then for the first three to four weeks of the school year, purposefully review, reteach and practice those concepts during the warm-up, every class, every day.  By the end of four weeks, teachers have provided 100 minutes of focused review while teaching a month of this year’s curriculum.  That is a win for everyone: students, teachers, and the school as a whole.

2. Again, take a look at the related course End of Year Exam or final that the students took last year.  Also look at their final grade in the course.  Any student that did not meet the passing standard for the exams or the course, should be referred to tutoring, starting the first week of school.  These are the students at greatest risk of failing this year and we all know that regression over the summer is a given. So, don’t wait.  Provide these students extra support, now.  To wait isn’t being prudent, it actually borders on professional malpractice.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...


Monday, September 11, 2017

Top Tweets from the Week of September 3, 2017

If you are not following @LYSNation on Twitter, then you missed the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of September 3, 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. This quote sits on my mind today: "My whole career has been about 'You can't do that,' and guess what: I did that!" -E. Don Brown (By @jackson_carrie)

2. Congratulations to LYSer, Becky Flynn! She is the new Assistant Principal at Roosevelt Middle School in OCPS!! Who will be next? (By @LYSNation)

3. For elected officials to treat teachers as threats rather than heroes is an astonishing affront to civil society. (By @pastors4txkids)

4. Texas Senate to Texas House: "We will starve your schools until you let us privatize them." (By @pastors4txkids)

5. Some kids go an entire day without anyone saying their name. Be the teacher who speaks to each student by name every day. (By @justintarte)

6. School leaders must consider the instructional cost of any activity. (By @SRead806)

7. Don't be afraid to take the road less traveled on. LEAD your school! (By @Crysrommuel)

8. Research: "Homework in elementary school does not contribute to academic achievement," but daily reading does. (By @DanielPink)

9. Prison is an expensive way of making bad people worse. (By @TheEconomist)

10. I am confident my students will perform much better after I read your book: The Fundamental 5 (Cain & Laird). Excellent book!!!!! (By @michaelwillis08)

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) 
  • 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

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Register Now - The Fundamental 5 National Summit - New Dates

As announced earlier this week, due to Hurricane Harvey, The Fundamental 5 National Summit has been rescheduled to November 5 & 6, 2017. Austin, Texas in the Fall is glorious, so register now!


Friday, September 8, 2017

Rebuild Rockport (ACISD) Schools Update

The Rockport, Texas area and Aransas County Independent School District bore the full force and fury of Hurricane Harvey.  Their buildings were battered but their spirit remains intact.

For every PowerWalks classroom observation conducted between August 25, 2017 and September 30, 2017, Lead Your School will donate 5¢ to Aransas County Independent School District to assist in their clean-up and rebuilding efforts.

As of today, there have been 11,209 PowerWalks completed, this means that the current donation total stands at $560.45.

LYS Nation, keep stepping up!

Visit Classrooms – Rebuild Rockport Schools!