Top LYS Tweets from the Week of June 5, 2011

Two weeks ago I posted my revised recommended reading list for education leaders. I was asked how many were available electronically. An excellent question so I checked, and even made some purchases. I find it comforting that I can now access my favorite books anytime, anywhere. All of these following books (over 80% of my original list) are currently available in the Kindle store on Amazon.com

· Results Now, by Mike Schmoker

· Corp Business, by David H. Freedman

· The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell

· Switch, by Chip and Dan Heath

· The Fundamental 5, by Sean Cain and Mike Laird http://www.amazon.com/Fundamental-Formula-Quality-Instruction-ebook/dp/B0054R5B5S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1307963640&sr=8-2

· The Moral Imperative of School Leadership, by Michael Fullan

· The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, by John C. Maxwell

· 33 Strategies of War, by Robert Greene

· The Federalist Papers, by Hamilton, Madison and Jay

· It’s Called Work for a Reason, by Larry Wingate

· His Excellency, by Joseph J. Ellis

A number of you in the LYS Nation are now using 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 June 5, 2011, as tabulated by the accountants at Price Waterhouse.

1. LYS is searching for an Assistant Superintendent for a district in Central Texas. LYS experience and training is a plus.

2. Leadership 101: Protect those that need protection. Help those that need help. Be resolute in meeting your commitments. Be honest.

3. Anti-leadership 101: Be aggressively ignorant. Abandon your constituents. Waste time publicly defending obvious lies.

4. Tonight’s run thought: The reality of the Republican school agenda - Counselors, Nurses and Librarians are a luxury for the poor, not a need.

5. We need to give Gov Perry less money for rent. He needs to make do with the reduced amount we give him, NOT what he thinks he is entitled to. (By Museblogger)

6. Lawmakers want an educated populace in Texas. They just don't want to pay what it costs for it. (By Cheadhorn)

7. From a tactical standpoint, taking away your TPM inflated campus rating may be the best thing the state has done for your campus in years.

8. Tonight’s run thought: With the school library - accountability crippled it; less money makes it a luxury; digital text will kill it.

9. A school board member in our presentation audience has already read The Fundamental 5. She told everyone the book is great and is worth the time to read it. Hooray!!

10. East coast educators argue that high stakes testing will allow students to blackmail teachers. I can't imagine being that ineffective.

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

Louise ISD is searching for a Superintendent. Application details at www.LeadYourSchool.com

A Central Texas School District is searching for an Assistant Superintendent. Application details at www.LeadYourSchool.com

Follow Sean Cain on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Upcoming Event / Presentation Schedule

June 15 thru June 17 - TASSP Conference

June 16 (TASSP) - Conference Breakfast, hosted by E. Don Brown (LYS travel tumblers for the first 1000 attendees, last year we ran out)

June 16 (TASSP) – Book Release Event for “The Fundamental 5”

June 18 - TASB Conference, Fort Worth

An Offer from a Member of the LYS Nation

See below for yet another example of the LYS Nation stepping up to help its own. At the very least, print a copy of this and keep it in your desk. You never know when you may want to take Bret up on his offer.

Sean,

For any leader transitioning into a new position, I recommend the following two books:

1. You’re in Charge - Now What, by Thomas J. Neff and James N. Citrin

2. The First 90 Day, by Michael Watkins

I know you have read at least one of them. From those books, I developed my own transition plan/agenda for when I became Deputy Superintendent at Grand Prairie. I will gladly share my plan/agenda with the LYS nation. Anyone interested in receiving it need only e-mail me. I also have my highlights of both books typed up. I will also share them with the LYS Nation. Again, just email me.

Bret Jimerson, Ed.D., J.D.
Deputy Superintendent of Educational Operations
Grand Prairie Independent School District
2602 South Belt Line Road
Grand Prairie, Texas 75052
(972) 264-6141
Bret.Jimerson@gpisd.org

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (Four Books)

In response to the post, “Four Books,” a reader writes:

“I would love to see the other books that make up the Top 10!”

SC Response
The rest of the top ten list is somewhat fluid and situational. Also, my list is more leadership and system focused. This doesn’t mean that I don’t value books on instruction, I do. I read a lot books on instruction, but they are generally content or grade level specific, which limits their value to the broad spectrum of the profession. So, here are all of the books on my current list of Top Ten books for school leaders.

The First Five (posted previously)

1. Results Now, by Mike Schmoker.

2. Corp Business, by David H. Freedman.

3. Good to Great, by Jim Collins.

4. The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell.

5. Classroom Instruction That Works, by Robert Marzano.

The Best of the Rest (6-10)

6. The Moral Imperative of School Leadership, by Michael Fullan.
You actually should read everything that Fullan writes, but if time is a factor, this is the one to start with. I do have one small problem with Fullan. He’s too smart. He understands the nuances that drive expert leadership and does a world class job of explaining this (perhaps better than anyone). Unfortunately, the smart/lazy manager type can use Fullan as justification for their repeatedly inane actions (or inaction).

7. How the Mighty Fall, by Jim Collins.
Yes, it is a business book, but Collins lays out the doom loop that district after district is currently stuck in. Fortunately, he tells us how to get out of the loop and even prevent it. Unfortunately, most senior leadership doesn’t care and isn’t listening.

8. Who Moved My Cheese, by Spencer Johnson, M.D.
The modern classic. I only appreciated it after I read it the second time. First, you have to have tried to manage significant organizational change for the first time and made a mess of it; than you are ready understand what Dr. Johnson is really teaching us.

9. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, by John C. Maxwell.
Maxwell is a former pastor. He writes about church leadership. In many ways, church leadership is a better model for school leaders than business leadership. Violate the Irrefutable Laws at the peril of your organization and you career.

10. Slot number ten is filled by a number of books, that depending on my mood, interest, or need of the person I’m working with, that I might recommend. Some of those books include:

33 Strategies of War, by Robert Greene for strategic and tactical planning.

The Federalist Papers, by Hamilton, Madison and Jay. If you are trying to lead an organization of more than three people who have competing self interests, you might find this worth reading.

It’s Called Work for a Reason, by Larry Wingate. Admittedly a pulp book. But sometimes we have to get over ourselves, cut thru the BS and admit that we have a job to do and how hard we tried doesn’t matter if we’re not successful. Just looking at the title ought to give you a little boost when the going gets tough.

His Excellency, by Joseph J. Ellis. Think you have leadership all figured out? If this study of George Washington doesn’t convince otherwise, you must be pretty darn good.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Quick Book Reviews and Recommendations

I been so busy lately and the LYS Nation has had so many things to talk about that I have gotten behind on my book reviews. Since my last post on this subject, I have finished four books. Here are my short reviews, presented in order from least useful to most useful (from a school leadership perspective).

Free: The Future of a Radical Price, by Chris Anderson
A primer on the economics and profits of “free” services in the digital age. From a school leadership perspective, there is not a reason to recommend this book. But it is an interesting read if you follow business trends.

The Power of Small: Why Little Things Make All the Difference, By Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval
The authors celebrate the little things and the attention to details that have led to huge successes in the business and social sectors. I’m a fan of the concept, but not this particular book. The book is long on anecdotes and short on substance. Don’t waste your time reading this one. Read anything by Collins, Gladwell, Schmoker, or Fullan instead.

Classroom Walkthroughs to Improve Teaching and Learning, by Donald S. Kachur, Judith A. Stout and Claudia L. Edwards
The authors attempt to provide an overview of classroom observation tools and how to best use them. Don’t waste your time or money on this one. Use Powerwalks and just talk to E. Don Brown (or Montelongo, or Seabolt, or Laird, or McDonald, or Davis, or the other Cain) for 10 minutes and you will be light years ahead of the information in this book.

Revolutionary Strategies of the Founding Fathers: Leadership Lessons from America’s Most Successful Patriots, by Scott Thorpe
Revisiting familiar territory, the author takes the practices of our Revolutionary Era Leaders and provides examples of how the same practices have been successfully implemented in modern situations. If you are not a student of early American leadership practices, then this book provides a decent introduction. If on the other hand you are well read on the subject, this book will not cover any new ground. Overall, the book is an interesting, quick read.

Revolutionary Management: John Adams on Leadership, by Alan Axelrod, Ph.D.
Similar in theme to Scott Thorpe’s book, this book is a more difficult read, but much more useful and rewarding. Using Adams’ actual writings as the subject for each short chapter, the author then provides commentary on the advice and then outlines some practical considerations. If you are in the business of leading people, John Adams is a great historical touchstone. His advice on overcoming the frailties of the individual to achieve organizational success was ahead of his time and is still relevant today. Read this book.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Schmoker's Findings Revisited

I was recently talking to a group of teachers and administrators about the lack of critical writing that occurs in classrooms and relating how it was Mike Schmoker who actually brought this to my attention just prior to his publishing the book “Results Now.” A quick aside, every educator needs to read that book. If you haven’t yet, that is your LYS reading assignment for the upcoming Spring break.

One of the AP’s ran to her office and brought back a summary of Schmoker’s findings (and earned 12 brownie points in the process). Here is what Schmoker saw in 1,500 schools across the nation in the early 2000’s:

• Classrooms with a clear and evident learning objective – 4%


• Instruction using high yield strategies - 0.2%


• Instruction at the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy – 3%*
  * I assume that Schmoker meant work at the Synthesis and Evaluation levels.


• Classrooms where students were engaged in critical writing – 0%


• Classrooms using worksheets – 52%


• Classrooms engaged in non-instructional activities – 35%

Now let’s cut to Texas in the Fall of 2009. Here are the results of over 60 unannounced campus instructional audits:

• Classrooms with a clear and evident learning objective – 22% (Better)


• Instruction using high yield strategies - 15% (Better)


• Instruction at the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy – 1%* (Worse)
  * I assume that Schmoker meant work at the Synthesis and Evaluation level.


• Classrooms where students were engaged in critical writing – 4% (Better)


• Classrooms using worksheets – 33% (Better)


• Classrooms engaged in non-instructional activities – 12% (Better)

Now let’s cut to those same 60 (but now LYS) campuses in the month of January. Each of the campuses worked with one or more LYS Coaches during the Fall semester.

• Classrooms with a clear and evident learning objective – 76% (Awesome)


• Instruction using high yield strategies – 23% (Significant Improvement)


• Instruction at the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy – 5%* (Improved). The assumption is that Schmoker meant the Synthesis and Evaluation level. However, if Analysis is included, then these campuses are at 18%, which is an incredible improvement.


• Classrooms where students were engaged in critical writing – 28% (Awesome)


• Classrooms using worksheets – 10% (Significant Improvement)


• Classrooms engaged in non-instructional activities – 3% (Awesome)

The point being is that on our own we are not nearly as effective and efficient as we believe. Yet, improved instruction is well within the reach of any campus. All it requires is desire, coaching and discipline. The proof is in just three months worth of data.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (It's all About the Conversation - Part 2)

In response to the post “It’s all About the Conversation,” a reader writes:

“Listen to Cain on this one. I have done maybe 5,000 classroom observations over the last few years. It took me quite a few to start recognizing quality instruction. It took quite a few more to develop the level of competence needed to coach teachers towards better instruction. Along the way I made almost every mistake possible, even though I had the personal mentoring of Cain, Brown, and Brezina.

I will tell you this; keep your written feedback to yourself for a while. Also, don't give teachers copies of the form for every visit you make to the classroom. As I said before, after a bit of practice, anyone can spot bad or good instruction. If you spot bad instruction and you can't provide detailed solutions on how to improve the instruction, keep your mouth shut until you can. And I don't mean vague comments to teachers like "you need to increase rigor". No kidding. But, HOW? If you can't give specifics on how to fix the problem, keep your mouth shut, lest you become part of the problem.

Once you have the required expertise, read the book, “Crucial Confrontations.” This book will help you address the problems you run into professionally and effectively. As Cain said, it is all about the conversation, or the purposeful confrontation.”

SC Response
The reader is not exaggerating about the number of classroom observations that he has conducted. He is one of the early adopters that I reference when I present on the topic.

The process of understanding what you are seeing in a short observation is almost Zen like. First, you think you know everything. Then, you know you know nothing. And then, finally you start to know something.

We definitely have a translation issue at work. The short walk-thru pioneers and early adopters were hand crunchers. That is, we would conduct hundreds of walk-thru’s and then crunch the numbers by hand, using either legal pads or Excel worksheets. There was an organic quality to the knowledge we were gleaning. As we train new people on the process, in many ways we make it too easy. We now have field tested observation protocols and tools that instantly aggregate and disaggregate data. People have the ability to go from zero to full speed in one day. The problem this creates is that the long journey striped away your preconceived notions and ideas. On the express bus, you arrive with all of your misconceptions and baggage intact and fully functioning.

I spend a lot of time working with administrators to get past the “teachers should just know,” mode of leadership. Teachers should not “just know.” Our job is to identify what works and what does not work. Then we have to help teachers replace the “what doesn’t work” and successfully implement the “what does work.”

Right now many teachers are the equivalent of the playground sports superstar. They have lots of talent and energy, but because of the lack of a system, they "make it up" as they go along. These “playground superstars” need structure, systems and coaching to become world class. That is the responsibility of leadership.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Sunday Advice - Larry Wingate

From the book, It’s Called Work for a Reason, Larry Wingate writes:

“You are not paid to like your job. You are paid to do your job.”

I love this piece of advice (and the book). It is a simple dose of the real world. No one likes their job everyday, but we are fortunate in education. We are public servants working with children. In terms of intrinsic motivators, that fact should put us in a much better position to like our jobs than that of the typical adult.

Some days are worse than others, but on the whole, we have the opportunity to do something important everyday, for a fair wage (did you really go into education to get rich). If you don’t like your job, your boss can’t fix it, only you can. Just do the math; if intrinsic rewards + salary adds up to the right amount, then be grateful. If intrinsic rewards + salary is not enough, then help yourself and find the work that you do like.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Just a reminder for existing LYS readers and an invitation to new LYS readers, Sunday is advice day. Send me your favorite piece of advice and why, along with your mailing address. If I post it, I’ll send you a world famous Lead Your School can koozie.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (Leadership / Lonely - Part 4)

In response to the posts on, “Leadership / Lonely,” a reader writes:

“As far as rookies entering in the conversation, I agree with SC, we can all benefit. Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman was keen on staying in contact with students, even after winning the Nobel Prize in physics. Feynman stated: "I don't believe I can really do without teaching. The reason is, I have to have something so that when I don't have any ideas and I'm not getting anywhere I can say to myself, "At least I'm living; at least I'm doing something; I am making some contribution" -- it's just psychological.

When I was at Princeton in the 1940s I could see what happened to those great minds at the Institute for Advanced Study, who had been specially selected for their tremendous brains and were now given this opportunity to sit in this lovely house by the woods there, with no classes to teach, with no obligations whatsoever. These poor bastards could now sit and think clearly all by themselves, OK? So they don't get any ideas for a while: They have every opportunity to do something, and they are not getting any ideas. I believe that in a situation like this a kind of guilt or depression worms inside of you, and you begin to worry about not getting any ideas. And nothing happens. Still no ideas come.

Nothing happens because there's not enough real activity and challenge: You're not in contact with the experimental guys. You don't have to think how to answer questions from the students. Nothing!

In any thinking process there are moments when everything is going good and you've got wonderful ideas. Teaching is an interruption, and so it's the greatest pain in the neck in the world. And then there are the longer period of time when not much is coming to you. You're not getting any ideas, and if you're doing nothing at all, it drives you nuts! You can't even say "I'm teaching my class."

If you're teaching a class, you can think about the elementary things that you know very well. These things are kind of fun and delightful. It doesn't do any harm to think them over again. Is there a better way to present them? The elementary things are easy to think about; if you can't think of a new thought, no harm done; what you thought about it before is good enough for the class. If you do think of something new, you're rather pleased that you have a new way of looking at it.

The questions of the students are often the source of new research. They often ask profound questions that I've thought about at times and then given up on, so to speak, for a while. It wouldn't do me any harm to think about them again and see if I can go any further now. The students may not be able to see the thing I want to answer, or the subtleties I want to think about, but they remind me of a problem by asking questions in the neighborhood of that problem. It's not so easy to remind yourself of these things.

So I find that teaching and the students keep life going, and I would never accept any position in which somebody has invented a happy situation for me where I don't have to teach. Never.

This is from the book "Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman!" Part of Feynman's true brilliance was his appreciation of rookies.”

SC Response
Good point and great example. If you haven’t read “Surely Your Joking,” you should put it on your reading list. The book is probably 20 years old, but it is a great account of one of the geniuses of our times and a person who loved teaching, life and the pursuit of knowledge.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... Characteristics

To add to the discussion that has revolved around Brezina and Brown (their respective “rules” and advice), a reader writes:

“Yes, there are many types of principals out there, no doubt. What I was trying to tease out is that the only type of principal that counts is the effective principal. If we distill this idea, then perhaps we get these characteristics; the Effective Principal is:

• Is the ultimate and final advocate for the student;
  
• Engages the faculty, students, parents, and community;
  
• Is a leader of leaders. By this we mean the principal builds capacity in others and expects them to be engaged;
  
• Is the biggest cheerleader of, and for, the faculty when they are engaged; and
  
• Is aware of his district’s and school’s DNA and tempers (not compromises) approaches with patience and tactics.

I am sure I have missed something, but out of all of this Brezina and Brown wisdom, it would be useful to distill the characteristics. At least we would have a guide for self-reflection and discovery.”

SC Response
This is a pretty good start on the list. I have had discussions like this with a number of Principals and Superintendents and Brezina and Brown. I actually have a piece written on “Great Principals,” that I’ll post soon. But, here are two ideas that I have been pondering recently.

1. A critical characteristic of the "greats" versus the "others" is the search for ideas. The first filter is, “Are you actively searching for them?” If you aren’t, you may be a hard worker, but you aren’t on the path to being great. The second filter is, “Where are you looking for them?” The Great Principals look both inside and outside the system for ideas. They are self-sufficient shoppers of the world. Good principals seem to look for answers in just one place, either internally or externally.

2. The 10,000 hour rule (or why there does not seem to be as many great ones). The 10,000 hour rule has been discussed for a while now, most recently by Malcolm Gladwell in the book, “Outliers.” The idea is that it takes 10,000 hours of intense reflection, focused practice and work to develop the insight and experience package to be great. Greatness, it seems, is built by purposeful grinding. From a school year perspective, it would take a minimum of seven years to hit 10,000 hours. But, in reality, due to the mundane elements of work, the minimum time to reach the "great" level (think top-tier professional athlete) is probably around 10 to 12 years. So this answers part of the question, why aren’t there more great ones; there aren’t as many principals that are staying in the position for at least 10 years. But, that doesn’t answer the entire question. Here is what I think. I believe that the external factors can re-set the clock. When the rules change, for example – dramatically increased accountability, it backs everyone up. It may not wipe out all the hours of expertise that was built up, but it takes a big chunk of them. Think of Michael Jordan switching to baseball - gifted athlete, mediocre baseball player.

The clock was re-set and the principals that got their jobs right at the time of the re-set are the ones that are the furthest on the path on the new “great.” They have a head start on the new hires and they were building new skills while the older principals were still trying to adapt old skills (it takes a while to realize that what worked before, now doesn't work as well). Again, just some ideas I have been pondering.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

Cain Notes (As Named By Others)

Cain Notes were not named by me, it was an underground name that an AP said out loud one time and it stuck.

I read a lot. Not quite as much as I used to, but still much more than the typical educator. I can’t help myself, if it has words on it and I have 2 seconds, I’ll read it. When I was a teacher and an assistant principal, I assumed that everyone read at least as much as I did and I had no compelling reason to check to see if my assumption was correct.

When I became a Principal, I found out I was wrong. My first response was to suggest, beg, plead and chastise my staff into reading more. That worked a little (or at least they learned that if they nodded their heads “yes,” I would move on to the next topic). But, as I hired new staff I found out that waiting for them to catch up with the specific knowledge base of the existing staff took too long. So, I started typing up my book notes and commentary to use as a training tool. That way they would have an idea about what we were talking about until they had a chance to read the book.

ALWAYS READ THE BOOK.

As my staff got promoted and went to other schools, some of them would ask that I keep them in the Cain Note loop. Not a problem.

When I began working with struggling schools across the State of Texas, I dusted off the Cain Notes. When a particular book was a good fit for the problems that a campus was facing, I’d leave the notes, to prime the pump for a campus-wide book study. Some principals didn’t care, some found the notes useful.

Now I am posting the notes on the Lead Your School consulting website, just in case other school leaders might find the notes useful. I’ll put a 1 to 3 up each month. Here is all that I ask:

READ THE BOOK.

1. The notes are based on what I think is important from the book. They are not a replacement for the book.


2. Let me know what you think. Did you like the book? Were the notes helpful? Was I on the track or did I miss the boat?

Currently, I have notes for the following books posted:

• Corp Business, by David H. Freedman
• Made to Stick, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
• Environments for Learning, by Eric Jensen
• Who Moved My Cheese, by Spencer Johnson, M.D.

You can get to the notes by clicking on the following link, www.leadyourschool.com/Cain_Notes.html

Or, on the left side of this page, click on “Sean’s Book Notes.”

Did I mention, that you should read the book?

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (Sunday Advice and Book Recommendation)

In response to the Sunday Advice, Dr. Mike Seabolt writes (and then recommends):

“The advice to 'Seek first to understand, then to be understood,' is a basic principle of Steven Covey’s, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

It is a great read and will dramatically improve your leadership ability. The book focuses on communication and personal relationships and how they are used by effective leaders to promote their organizations.

The book was extremely popular 20 years ago, but is not much read these days it seems. The underlying principles are timeless, however, and I recommend the read. "

SC Response:
Doc, if you hadn't mentioned that the book was published twenty years ago, all of these 22 year old teachers and 29 year old AP's would think that it was new.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (Fear - Part 2)

In response to the post, “Fear,” a reader writes:

“I couldn't agree more! Douglas Reeves recently authored a book called, Leading Change in Your School. In the book, he discusses something related to this topic with regards to the implementation process.

There are times when tough decisions need to be made for the benefit of students and their learning. These changes may even involve systematic alterations that can positively impact the overall instructional quality of a school's program. Some principals may hesitate in taking action out of fear that their staff will reject the change or push back in a negative way.

The reality is that principals who are imprisoned by this type of fear will never be able to reach the levels of high student achievement that are possible. We know that success breeds success. Rather than fearing staff response, teachers need to be part of the decision-making process and their input should be solicited and seriously considered. They also need and deserve to understand the changes and how the changes will impact the organization in a positive way.

However, waiting out of fear to ensure that ALL teachers "buy in" prior to implementation, will often result in the change never being implemented. Reeves encourages principals to take the plunge and implement. The positive results that will be generated from the changes will actually create the deep level of "buy in" sought for and it will then be deep enough to facilitate the sustainability needed to impact student achievement.

Educators want to win. When something works for kids, we use it. By not allowing fear to tie your hands and by being committed to action that is student centered, you as a principal are in the position to impact academic achievement in a positive way.”

SC Response
Overall, an excellent and well reasoned comment. There are three quick points that I want to add.

First, as a leader, you have the ability to metaphorically step on either the gas or the brake. Depending on the situation, either response could be correct. However, as Brezina wrote, just make sure that if you find your foot on the brakes, it is a prudent action, not a fearful one. As a quick aside, with many high performance machines, speed actually creates a safer operating environment. For example, the faster you drive a Formula One race car, the safer it becomes. The rookie driver that still instinctively slows down when faced with difficultly, actually increases the danger to him and other drivers.

Second, if you are waiting for the masses to sing “Kumbayah” and demand that you let them change for the better, you should use the wait time to polish up your resume. Initial change requires LEADership, not WAITership.

Third, there is a world of difference between wanting to win and working to win. Everybody wants to win; few are willing to work at it. Even fewer are willing to do that work, completely on their own. The job of leadership is to create a system where we don’t have the option of not working everyday to win. That is the bleeding edge of change and where the conflict starts. Most people want the option of defining “work” and “win” for themselves and most organizations let them. With great leaders and great organizations these definitions are concrete and non-negotiable. In the attempted evolution from ordinary to great, those who don’t want these definitions defined, fight, pout, and sabotage. They will lose and eventually leave, or they will win and stop the evolution. Realize, if they win, your students lose. Viva la Evolution!

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

A Recommended Book

I just finished reading, Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, by John Ferling.

It is an excellent, though somewhat dry accounting of the ramp up to the election of 1800. The election that truly proved that the American Political Experiment would be successful. Put this book on your summer reading list if you are a fan of American History.

The book definitely puts our jobs into perspective. Leading a school is not that difficult when you compare it to creating a new country, a new political system, and new infrastructure, all while more powerful countries are trying to either influence or destroy you. Couple that with the fact that the two smartest men in the country (Hamilton and Jefferson) were in opposite political camps, so no matter which side you were on, the other side could (and probably would) eviscerate you with scalpel-like precision.

Enjoy this holiday weekend and remember those that the day memorializes.

Your turn…

A Reader Recommends - Leading Up

A reader submitted the following:

"I can recommend "Leading Up, How to Lead Your Boss So You Both Win," by Michael Useem ISBN 1-4000-4700-5. The author draws vignettes from the history of business , the military, extreme sports (mountain climbing Mt. Everest) and other fields to demonstrate his ‘Leading Up’ principals using examples and non examples. How to do it right, and how to get your head handed to you. I strongly recommend this book to anyone aspiring to leadership, regardless of where on the ladder they currently are. Superintendents should really pay attention to his corporate world examples. They apply to our situation almost perfectly.

You must Read, if you want to Lead"

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Another Reader Recommends - "The Global Achievement Gap"

In response to a prior recommendation to read, "The Global Achievement Gap," by Tony Wagner, another reader adds:

"The comment on the example of “not so good situations” mentioned in The Global Achievement Gap is a valid one. The book does address many good points. For example, Wagner discusses the idea that education must crawl out of the mundane, 50-year-old hole it has been drowning in and start preparing our students to meet the challenges of interacting successfully in a culturally diverse and globally connected world. Wagner’s book reinforces the fact that many educational institutions are producing learners that are unable to creatively problem solve, collaboratively interact in teams and with other cultures, be flexible and adaptive to change, become entrepreneurs, communicate effectively, and analyze information in order to make effective changes.

In many cases, educators spend exorbitant amounts of time with teaching in order to pass a high-stakes test instead of teaching the students to think and prepare them for the future. I look forward to changes in the ways that we assess our students’ knowledge to reflect application levels in solving real life problems."

SC Response:
I want to respond to the slippery slope that the reader comments on in the last paragraph. Yes, we spend a lot of time focusing of high stakes tests, sometimes to the detriment of our students (mostly the poor and minority students). But that fact is more the fault of the teachers working in silos, than it is the fault of the test. High stakes tests should be viewed as program reviews. Did we teach the critical components of the curriculum, or not?

Now, if individual teachers are expected to decide what they should teach, when they should teach it, and how they should teach it; they have been assigned an impossible task. There is not enough time in the day to be an expert in all three of those instructional components (if you think you are, I'll blind draw any four teachers, teach them how to work as a team, and in less than one semester, we'll beat you so bad that you will either cry or quit).

If, on the other hand, teachers are provided with an evolving and aligned scope and sequence, short term data that reflects the quality of their craft, and the time and expectation that they work as a team; they can escape the endless remediation cycle. With tools, teams, coaching and leadership, teachers can teach huge numbers of students how to think critically and cover the significant curriculum requirements to the point where state tests just reaffirm that the campus is operating on all cylinders.

One final note, if your test scores are OK, and you aren't using a common scope and sequence, short term data, and teacher teaming; there is a reason for your success. Nine times out of ten, you have a very small campus or serve an affluent zip code.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (A Fatal Flaw)

In response to the post, “A Fatal Flaw,” a reader writes:

“There has to be a balance with faculty. I have had a hard time with this balance, in part due to the fact that I have a habit of taking over schools that are in a ditch, in which the problem is usually due to adults. Having said that, I am reminded of Stephen Covey. Covey says you can make people work, but they volunteer their best contributions. What I now attempt to do is to never negotiate on best practices, but on the other hand I try to be one with my faculty, without being one of them. Celebrate success, share moments of joy, and moments of pain. Suggested reading: Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey. It is an older publication, but the principles in the book are time enduring.”

SC Response
I want to elaborate on my original premise. That being that principals must be loyal to their students first, staff second. The problem with my comment is that as Michael Fullan points out in his writing, it is ripe with hidden nuance. The statement is meant to be a proverb, to be used as a tool. But like any tool, if it is used incorrectly, it can cause more damage than benefit.

Loyalty is not always an “us-versus-them” proposition. You can be loyal to both sides. However, in the role of principal, if you don’t advocate for your students, no-one else will. And sometimes what is best for your staff, isn’t what is easiest for your staff. Doing what is right for students and working to get better, are not the comfortable paths.

What the principal I discussed in my original post appears to be doing is working to create a staff that is loyal to him, due to his ability to dole out favors and protect them from change.

To sum up, the principal that is loyal to students and pointlessly antagonistic to staff is not fulfilling the leadership requirements of the position. The principal that is loyal to students and positions and equips staff to maximize their effectiveness will have a campus that can achieve great things.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

Brezina Book Recommendation

Bob Brezina recommends:

"Disrupting Class," by Clayton M. Christensen.

It's now going on my list.

Think. Work. Achieve

A Reader Recommends...

A reader recommends the following:

"Another book on the must read list is, “The Global Achievement Gap,” by Tony Wagner. This book is very hot with the politicians right now and will give educators a good insight into the direction we are apparently going to be taking over the next five years. There is one point I would like to make. The author uses real world examples of both good and not so good situations. In one of the good ones, a teacher (whom we are supposed to emulate?) makes the following statement, “… All we were doing was teaching to the test. I wasn’t able to teach what I loved-which is big fat novels…” (Emphasis added.)

The days of teaching what each individual Loves are long, long, long, gone. Modern accountability is here to stay and the sooner our profession accepts that fact, the sooner we can focus our efforts towards the true Hedgehog principle, which is "Instruction." It is the ‘How’ of instruction that deserves our attention as the "what and the when" decisions are no longer ours alone to make. I doubt the Author realized that even his exemplar actually perpetuated the wasted, false discussions within our profession. The Eagles have a song, “Get Over It.” It is time for us to ‘Get Over It’ and move forward, or we will be left in the dust bins of history."

SC Response
Great comments and good points. All I can add is that I concur. We owe it to our students and our profession to use all the tools at our disposal to improve instruction and to address those in our profession that are addicted to the narcotic effect of comfort and the status quo.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Recommended Book

I just finished reading, “The 48 Laws of Power,” by Robert Greene.

It’s a good book, very dry and little scary. It will remind you how dangerous and manipulative power for the sake of power can be. On the other hand, as a leader, if you are naïve in the ways of the world, you are a detriment to those who follow you. If your reading stack is light, pick up this book, otherwise, I recommend that you listen to the audio version.

An extra recommendation: If you are thinking about getting this book and you haven’t read the author’s, “The 33 Strategies of War,” get the war book first. I found it more interesting and more useful from a practical standpoint.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

Recommended Book

I just finished reading, “Small is the New Big,” by Seth Godin.

If you are a fan of the author (I am), then this is a must read. If you aren’t a fan, I would still recommend the book. Godin is a new media, marketing guru, who writes on topics related to business, customer service, technology, and marketing. If you exchange the words “business” with “school,” and “customer” with “student,” he has a lot of wealth of ideas that you could easily adapt into your daily practice.

It’s also a quick read.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…