Commencement Address - Four Practices

Last week I had the honor of being the commencement speaker at a local high school graduation. I had a great time and the students were fantastic.  Below is the draft of my speech.

When Dr. Laird asked that I speak to you on this exciting day, I was both honored and confused.  Honored to have a small role in this milestone event in your young lives.  Confused by what I could offer you on this day. 

I could tell you about myself, but really that story is only interesting to me and my parents.  So we will skip most of that.  The only thing about me that is pertinent today is that I am AN old (by your definition) former principal that has had success in both my life and career beyond anything I ever imagined when I was sitting at my high school graduation. 

So as we celebrate, what I consider to be the last day of your childhood, I want to share with you some guidelines for adulthood that I wish someone had shared with me.

Now I have graduated 3 times and I have to be honest I don’t remember one thing about any of the commencement speakers, much less the content of their speeches. Nada. Zilch.  And of course I blame them. They didn’t understand their audience.  I won’t make their mistake.  See, you don’t know me, you are not my students, and as of now you are not even in school.  You are, at least until the beginning of the Fall Semester, adults in the workforce.  So I don’t want to talk to you, I want to hire you for about the next 15 minutes. 

(Hand out note taking templates)

What you have just received is a note taking template and your pay for engaging in this task.  I going to talk, you’ll take some notes and then you will get to talk. 

Parents, family and friends, you can join us, but sadly you will have to serve the role of unpaid intern.  But I’m sure the experience will be reward enough.

Ready...

Let’s start with this, if in ten years you look back and think that your experience as a high school student is the highlight of your life, then everyone in this room has failed. Everything to this point has been to prepare you to be kicked out to where the action is, to climb to ever-greater heights, accomplishments and experiences. This has been the training wheels segment of your life. Now is the time to kick the training wheels off.

So write this down, if you ever hear yourself saying something along the lines of, “Back when I was in High School, those were the good times...” stop and instead say, “After I graduated from High School, then it really got good.”

So how do you make that happen?

First know this.  Hard work trumps everything.  Hard work trumps IQ. Hard work trumps connections. Hard work trumps luck. If it is work worth doing, do it hard at full speed.  Adult life is a tournament.  The harder you work, the longer you stick with it, the further you will go.  Slow down, coast or quit, and I guarantee that you will get passed by someone not quite as good who is still moving and breaking a sweat.

So let’s have a quick 30-second conversation with your neighbors.  What are you going to do this summer to get a jump on all the graduates from the other high schools in Texas who don’t know about the power of hard work?

Second, I want you to THINK... Think a lot and think deeply.  Think about what you are working hard on.  How can you do it better, more efficiently, more effectively? How does it connect with other things?  This is where you add to your value, make yourself more marketable and increase your competitive advantage in the tournament that is life and career.  Sweat and reflection is an almost unbeatable combination.

Now I have shared that hard work and deep thinking is key to success in the tournament of adult life.  But that success has to have context, which brings me to my next point. Third, you must have a generous heart.  Yes, life is a tournament, but those who are the happiest, those that create a legacy, they compete to make things better for others.  If you are playing just for you, that is a miserable existence and you will become a miserable person. Give time, give money, and give yourself.  You will be richer because of it and it will add meaning to your hard work and deep thinking.

Time for one more quick talk with your neighbors.  Do you agree with what I have shared so far? Why or why not?

Finally, vote.  Vote a lot. Vote in every election.  Vote so much that you regret some of the votes you make.  In this last primary only 4% of eligible voters voted.  Our community, our state and our country are stronger when hard working, thinking, generous people vote. Those in politics will only be responsive to the needs of you and yours, if you participate.  No matter what anyone wants you to believe, you are ready. Participate.

I ask you to follow your passion and follow the four practices I have shared with you. Work Hard. Think Deeply. Have a Generous Heart. Vote. Do these things and you can’t help make everyone in this room proud.

Graduates of 2014, thank you again for allowing me to share in this first, but not to be the last, of your major life accomplishments.  Good luck and God bless.

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 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook 
• 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) 
• Upcoming Presentations: TASSP Summer Conference (Multiple Presentations); Texas ASCD Summer Conference; ESC 14 Sumer Conference (Keynote Presentation); ESC 11 Summer Conference (Keynote Presentation); NEASP National Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote Presentation) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A LYS Teacher Submits... Fundamental 5 Training

A new LYS’er submits the following:

SC,

By far, Fundamental 5 training is the most valuable teacher training I have ever been a part of.  I graduated from (A PROMINENT UNIVERSITY) in the 90's and what I learned from the Fundamental 5 is better than any methods course I took.  The Fundamental 5 should be a required course for all education majors.  And why no one else delivers training like LYS does is ludicrous. The LYS method gives us (teachers) them time to practice and focus on improving a few things, as we continue to teach.

Thank you.

SC Response

Awesome! You are the winner of my “Favorite Teacher of the Week” designation.  You have validated our intent in everything we do relating to the Fundamental 5.

When Dr. Laird and I wrote the book, obviously our intent was to share the results of our research. But we wanted to do so in a way that was clear to the practitioner.  We wanted to give our audience what we asked for when we were teachers; an actionable plan for accomplishing everything we want to accomplish in our classrooms, how to do it and why it works.

When the LYS team designed the training, our intent was to not waste teacher time, district money or our effort.   So we embed training to give teachers a chance to actually improve their practice, while continuing to manage the dynamic system that is daily classroom instruction.  Again, a by-product of LYS being a practitioner’s organization that spends the majority of its time on campuses and in classrooms.

We have found that there are more “efficient” ways to deliver information but our process is the most effective way to help teachers and by extension, improve opportunities for students. 

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 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook 
• 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) 
• Upcoming Presentations: Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

More Praise for the Fundamental 5

The following is a reader’s review of our little book:

"The Fundamental 5 should be required reading for every educator. This book should also be required for every teacher preparation program in the United States."

Funny that you should suggest the use of the Fundamental 5 in teacher preparation programs because I just recently received the following e-mail.

Sean and Mike,

Just wanted you to know that Sam Houston State University IS using your book, The Fundamental 5, in the College of Education.  This is now the second year the school has used it. Hoo Ray!

Then, we were notified that this week that The Fundamental 5 is currently the second best-selling education theory book on Kindle.  Beating out such heavyweights as Marzano, Reeves and Whitaker. This is beyond our imagination. But do know that we understand that this success is because schools across the country want to replicate the success of the hard-working educators that make up the LYS Nation.  Laird and I can’t begin to thank you enough!

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 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook
• 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)
• Upcoming Presentations: Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote), Advancing Improvement in Education Conference (Multiple Presentations), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), North Dakota Association of Secondary School Principals (Keynote), American Association of School Administrators Conference (Multiple Presentations), National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations)
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

A Principal Shares... The Power of the Fundamental 5

In response to the 3/7/2012 post, “State of the Blog – The Last 100 Posts (1,000 and Counting),” a reader shares:

SC,

The LYS blog has been a great companion and source for strength when bringing change to my middle school campus. In the Fall semester, we completed a campus book study of the “Fundamental 5” (by Cain & Laird), which has provided great dialogue and discussions among the staff. With "crunch" time upon us, I have increased the expectation that the Fundamental 5 be implemented every day, in every lesson!

The last couple of weeks we have had an increase in student conflict (most often described as bullying) and it has taken me away from the classroom and moved my focus away from instructional improvements. However, this week's faculty meeting allowed me the opportunity to re-teach Lesson Framing and reiterate that bell-to-bell teaching using the Fundamental 5 will increase rigor and allow us to use our most powerful instructional tool. Which is creating engaging lessons that excite our students about learning. 

Thanks LYS!

SC Response

Thank you for the kind words and affirmation.  And you are absolutely right, when the going gets tough it is easy to cut corners and wing it.  But that is the road to ruin, short-term relief that leads to long-term pain. Instead, when the going gets tough focus on better executing the fundamentals and increasing both the quality and quantity of adult/student interactions.

Along those lines, there are tools that will help you and your staff in this continuous endeavor.  The app, Fun 5 Plans (available at the Apple App Store), embeds the Fundamental 5 in each lesson and supports teacher collaboration.  And PowerWalks (classroom observation system) allows you to create and share numerous data reports, including Rigor and Relevance reports and Fundamental 5 reports.  An introductory version of the main system is also available at the Apple App Store, just search for PW Pro.

Keep up the great work and send us an update at the end of the semester.

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 Reader's Review... The Fundamental 5

The following is an abridged version of a principal’s review of our book, “The Fundamental Five: The Formula for Quality Instruction”.  You can read the entire post on her blog at www.theessentialprincipal.blogspot.com

Sean Cain and Mike Laird co-wrote this book outlining 5 very simple steps to significantly alter the landscape of a classroom.

The five steps they identify are all characteristics of good, solid teaching. When used together and intentionalized, student engagement and achievement are profoundly impacted.

How does this impact me as an educator? Intentionalize. Intentionalize. Intentionalize. We must focus and make decisions in our classrooms that are intentional and meaningful. Marzano measured these intentionalized practices in terms of percentile gains. As Cain and Laird noted, these percentile gains can add up to become sustained student achievement.

Sustained student achievement is not accidental - it is fundamental.

SC Response

First, thank you for the kind words and great review.

Second, everyone in the LYS Nation have a SAFE and restful Thanksgiving holiday.

Third, the blog posts will resume on Monday, November 28, 2011.  Unless something really exciting happens.

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

Confirmed 2012 Presentations: NASSP Conference; NASB Conference

A New LYS Teacher Shares... This Really Works!

A LYS Principal sent in the following:

SC,

Thought you might want to see a note I received from one of my teachers:

Even though they are not physically here daily, I want to thank LYS for teaching us the "Small Group Purposeful Talk" method. I did this at least 3 times in class today and noticed a remarkable difference:

1. The sidebar conversations decreased tremendously.

2. Students were more in-tune to the lesson.

3. Every group could answer my closing question for the lesson.

It was absolutely amazing!! If you haven't tried it yet, you need to. It really works!!!

I also spent more time in the power zone, with pen in hand, grading as I met with each table group. I placed a checkmark on each student's paper as they were working and told them they have a 100 so don't stop. Neighboring students were asking me to check their work too because they wanted that satisfaction of knowing they were accomplishing their daily goal. Every student completed his or her work today and now my grading is done!!

Again, this really works!!

SC Response

Thank for sharing. And I understand your teacher’s excitement.  Even after Laird and I identified the Fundamental 5, the first time I used all five in the same lesson (as a field test) when I finished I told everyone, “This must be how the really great teachers feel everyday.”

Tell your staff that we are proud of them and don’t slow down. 

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

Confirmed 2012 Presentations: NASSP Conference; NASB Conference

A Reader Submits... LYS Followers?

A LYS reader shares this:

I was at an ESC meeting recently when I heard some non-LYS principals discussing “LYS Followers.”

LYS Followers???

I don't know of any LYS “followers.” I go back to the early years of LYS and I don't consider myself, nor have I ever been accused of being, a "follower". With LYS, I found a group of like-minded school leaders who were able to coach me to better put my ideas and philosophies into effective practice.

The reason the LYS concepts are so clear and prevalent now is because trail blazing principals like Owens, Marchel, Laird, Lesa Cain, Montelongo, Gibson and Seabolt implemented the concepts early on. Mistakes were made, lessons were learned. I am sure Sean Cain, Brown, and Brezina, will tell you they learned as much from our feedback as we ever learned from them.

Just because a principal has heard the message but doesn’t do anything different, doesn’t make them an independent thinker. It simply means that they value the status quo more than student performance (now, who is the follower – because that is not leading). There is a difference between simply attending church and being a true believer. The core of the LYS Nation are not simply believers, we are zealots, bent on improving our schools for our kids.

SC Response

Nothing I can add to this one except for, “Amen.”

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

Come visit us at the LYS Booth at the TASA/TASB Fall Conference

Teacher Appreciation - Fundamental 5 Dedications

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, Dr. Mike Laird and I would like to share the dedications from our soon to be released (within the next three weeks) book, “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction”.

Laird’s Dedication:

I dedicate this book to the most important people in education today, classroom teachers. When all is said and done, it is the teachers who do the heavy lifting in education. What and how well they teach our children is critical to our future success as a society, and they deserve the best leadership and support that we can provide them.

Cain’s Dedication:

I dedicate this book to the five educators who made the biggest impact on my education, career, and life: Ronald Maas (Aldine ISD), Betsy Shipper (Aldine ISD), Tommy Wallace (Aldine ISD), Roy Smith (Aldine ISD), and Richard Hooker (University of Houston). I stand on their shoulders.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Coming Soon! "The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction" www.TheFundamentalFive.com

Follow Sean Cain on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Upcoming Presentation Schedule

June 11 (TASB) - The Fundamental Five; Improve Now!

June 15 (TASSP) - Improve Now!

June 16 (TASSP) - Conference Breakfast, hosted by E. Don Brown (LYS travel tumblers for the first 1000 attendees, last year we ran out); Fundamental Five; Tech Tools for the 2.0 Principal

June 17 (TASSP) - PowerWalks

June 18 (TASB) - The Fundamental Five; Improve Now!

The Countdown Officially Begins, T minus 30

Yesterday, Dr. Laird and I approved the final digital proof for our book, “The Fundamental Five: The Formula for Quality Instruction”. This means that we will get the hard copy draft in our hands within 10 days and the book will be available within 30 days. To say that we are excited is an understatement. And as many of you have already requested, we promise that there will be a release event and a book signing or two, so watch the blog and the LYS Nation Twitter feed for more details.

Since we noticed some data anomalies a little over four years ago, the Fundamental Five has taken a life its own. Dr. Laird and I have conducted over 15 national presentations to thousands of board members and district administrators. There have been over two hundred campuses that have adopted the Fundamental Five as its core instructional framework. And LYS has trained over ten thousand of teachers on how to seamlessly integrate the Fundamental Five into their daily routine. The results have been nothing less than stunning. But as a LYSer, you already know that.

Which brings me to a favor that I want to ask the LYS Nation. Send me your Fundamental Five anecdote, success story, or endorsement. When I share with the world the success of the LYS Nation, I’m often accused dealing in hyperbole. No one wants to believe that they are not already working at the peak of effectiveness. So let me attach some more names and schools to this continuing story of student, teacher and school success.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Coming Soon! "The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction" www.TheFundamentalFive.com

Follow Sean Cain on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

June 11 (TASB) - The Fundamental Five; Improve Now!

June 15 (TASSP) - Improve Now!

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

June 17 (TASSP) - PowerWalks

June 18 (TASB) - The Fundamental Five; Improve Now!

TASA/TASB Conference Summary

Another great Fall conference. As usual, the LYS booth was a hub of activity, with old friends and colleagues stopping by to catch up with and/or check up on other members of the LYS Nation. Some notable visitors included Dr. Richard Griffin, Coach Tim Edwards, Dr. Jerry Roy, Dr. Mike Laird, and Dr. Rod Paige.

We also distributed another 1000 world famous Lead Your School koozies, again running out before the conference ended. And as you can see from the picture, there was an extended meeting with roots of the three major branches of the LYS Family Tree – Brezina, Brown and Berry.

If we missed seeing you, we’ll rectify that at the TASA Mid-Winter Conference, the TASB Winter Conference, the AASA National Conference or the NASSP National Conference.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Chef Dewayne

I was able to travel the country this summer to work with dedicated LYS educators, speak to packed halls filled with excited audiences, and discuss theory with some of the best thinkers and practitioners in our field. All phenomenal highlights, but one of the best moments was one that on the surface seemed unrelated to schools.

After my presentation at TASB in San Antonio, I had a choice, fight rush hour traffic or wait at the Chart House in the Tower of the America’s. So I grabbed my co-presenter Dr. Mike Laird and we went to the restaurant. The Executive Chef, Chef Dwayne, follows the blog and is a member of the LYS Nation.

Chef Dwayne expects his restaurant to be the best in both San Antonio and the best in the Chart House chain. He monitors every detail of the restaurant, constantly coaches his staff, and models both charm and excellence. I marvel at the way his staff works like a well-oiled machine, but until this summer, I thought it was just the “Chart House Way.” I was wrong; it is the “Chef Dwayne Way.”

Two weeks after the visiting the Chart House in San Antonio, the LYS team visited the Chart House in Monterrey Bay. It was nice, but it wasn’t special. The staff moved a little slower, they were a little less attentive, and their overall presentation was just OK.

Once again, a real world reminder that the organization takes its cues from leadership. If leadership is OK with OK, then OK is what you get. If leadership doesn’t monitor what is important, then what is important receives diminished attention, by everyone.

The bottom line is that it is up to leadership to position the organization to maximize its potential. If you are not working to do that, what are you working on?

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...

Come See Us

This coming week LYS will be out at two different conferences.

The first one is the Texas Association of School Boards Winter Governance Seminar in Corpus Christi, Texas. On Thursday, February 11th, I'll present on the realities of leading meaningful change.

LYS will also have a booth at the American Association of School Administrators Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. On Friday, February 12th, Dr. Mike Laird and I will present on rapidly bridging achievement gaps.

If you are in either area, stop by and visit. It is always great to personally catch up with members of the LYS Nation.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (Brezina Coaches)

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

“It is hard to grow in any capacity without coaching. We all grow as leaders by reading this blog, but our organizations need more than this blog, they need personal coaches. This is where Lead Your School comes in. Lead Your School can provide the honest coaching your organization needs to grow. And no, I am not an employee. I am a real leader in a real school.

SC hits on another point. Coaching and teaching often points out inadequacies. This is not always a comfortable process. I have received some real honest feedback from E. Don Brown that was not comfortable to receive at the time, but I am a better leader now than I was even just 6 months ago.

SC is a better leader now, I have seen him grow. But I bet you some of the coaching he has received from Brown and Brezina has not always felt good. The point is we all need coaches, even our organizations, just to make sure we face our inadequacies. Even though it is not fun.”

SC Response
I believe that exceptional performers search for answers both internally and externally. If you are not reflective, your ability to improve will be greatly limited. And if you don’t have an objective person, that you trust, standing in your blind spot, your ability to improve will be greatly limited.

As the writer points out, every coaching interaction is not a “feel good" situation. This is becuase an effective coaching relationship requires a great deal honesty and significant give and take. As such I believe that there are two critical elements in selecting a coach.

1 - The coach should not be your supervisor. A truly honest coaching dialogue requires the sharing of questions and weaknesses. Your supervisor may mentor and support you, but providing him or her with a running list of your inadequacies is rarely a good career move. I am a product of external coaching. If not for Wayne Schaper and Harlan Yetter, I may not have survived my first year as a principal. Instead, my first year was so successful that it fast tracked me for promotions (not my goal, but a nice fringe benefit). In fact, I believe you should have the ability to fire your coach. If your coach isn’t making you more effective, get another one that does. Just try firing your boss.

2 - Select a coach that you trust and has experiences that will be beneficial to you. If you don’t trust your coach, then why are you wasting your time? And beware of the coach that has little practical experience. I once had “coach” from a service center come to advise me on a personnel issue. The advice seemed good and then I asked an innocent, yet crucial question. I said, “How did this work for you on your campus?” The response was, “Oh, I was never a principal.” After she left, I called Harlan Yetter. His advice was similar, but his actual prior leadership experience gave me the confidence to act.

If you are a supervisor, either provide an external coach for your key people, or give them the budget to get their own. When Brezina promoted me, I realized that much of my success was the result of the coaching I received. As such, one of the first things I did was hire Wayne Schaper to coach my principals as he coached me. There were just three rules. 1 – He would meet with each of my principals at least once a month. 2 – The content of those meetings would be confidential between him and the principal. 3 – A principal could replace Wayne with a coach of their choosing. Wayne never shared one conversation with me and not one principal replaced him.

I often sum up the power of a coach this way, “You can fool your mama, you can buffalo your boss, but you can’t B.S. your coach.” Dr. Mike Laird sums it up this way, “Your boss provides directives; your coach provides suggestions.”

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Asks and a Contest Update

A reader asks,

“Fundamental 5? Unfortunately I missed that workshop and am out of the loop. Sounds great and I hope to get caught up.”

SC Response
The Fundamental Five are the five practices of effective instruction that set up every other effective practice that teachers know to do. Just like in sports (blocking and tackling; boxing out and making free throws; hitting the cut-off man and laying down the bunt), if teachers and schools are not experts in the fundamentals, their chance to be truly great is diminished.

Besides the on-going training that Lead Your School does in districts, Dr. Mike Laird and I will be presenting the Fundamental Five at the National Association of Secondary School Principals conference in March.

Those of you that have been trained know the power of the Fundamental Five, those who haven’t will have to wait another week because right now there is a Poster Contest that is in full swing.

A number of schools have already submitted their Fundamental Five poster, if you or your school has yet to do so, you still have time. Here are the contest rules once again:

Send me a copy of your Fundamental 5 poster by September 18th, 2009. The winning school will have their poster displayed on the blog and have pizzas delivered for the staff.

1. E-mail an electronic version of your Fundamental Five poster to the blog (if you don't have a poster yet, make one).

2. Deadline for entries, September 18, 2009.

3. Submissions become the property of Lead Your School.

4. Prize – Pizza lunch for staff

5. Winner announced by September 25, 2009

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... Spoke Too Soon

A reader/contributor writes:

“I see that Commissioner Robert Scott shut down Pearce Middle School! I have to eat my words now! Too bad it took five years of kids getting the short end of the stick to make this happen.”

SC Response
Yet the story hasn’t ended yet, local political leaders are still trying to save the school. They are using the same old excuses.

Excuse #1: “We need more time.” So evidently after 5+ years of horrific results, they almost have it figured out.

Excuse #2: “We’ve made progress.” They can't face the reality that in the 5+ years that it has taken the campus to go from failing miserably, to just failing, means that they are harming students at a wholesale level.

Here is what we (both the LYS company and the LYS network) know: In terms of adding value and performance growth – Some schools outperform most schools; and some teachers out perform most teachers. To be the “one of the some” requires the right tools, a singular focus on students, the discipline of an extra-ordinary work ethic, and the willingness to engage in the fight against aggressive ignorance.

If you haven’t done it in five years, you aren’t going to do it at all. And it is being done, right now. Here are a few examples:

• John Montelongo (a Brezina and Brown Guy) just took Fox Tech High School from “unacceptable” to “recognized,” in two years.

• Mike Seabolt (a Brezina and Brown Guy) took Blue Ridge High School from “unacceptable” to “recognized’” in less than two years.

• And at a district level, Tommy Price and Mike Laird (both Brezina and Brown Guys) now have the following results: When they took over the district two years ago, they inherited 4 “acceptable” campuses and 1 “unacceptable” campus. Now, they have 1 “exemplary” campus, 3 “recognized” campuses and 1 “acceptable” campus. And, pay attention to this, the “EXEMPLARY” campus is the one that started out as “UNACCPETABLE.”

Time is not the critical factor for improving schools, but time does doom students.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

A Reader Writes... (Brown Wisdom)

In response to the post the discussed E. Don Brown’s advice that from a system standpoint, “the Principal’s role is to be the pure advocate for students,” a reader writes:

“It makes sense that the principle of student advocacy should be led by the principal leader of students. It reminds me of a principle I have shared with colleagues, that our duty as instructional leaders seeking exemplary schools is to develop instruction leaders in exemplary classrooms. They, in turn, are developing instructional leaders in exemplary students who are then instructional leaders of students and learning. The most powerful learning happens in peer teaching, coaching and mentoring. Who says we can't have a school filled with powerful instruction leaders who are sold out to life-long learning for all constituents?”

SC Response
Your distilling of the concepts parallels two conversations I have had that have stayed with me and impact my professional actions. The first conversation was when Dr. Jim Davis and I were struggling with the poor academic performance of very “street smart” students. The product of the conversation was an instructional format built on the belief that the only way a student could cheat, would be not to help his buddy. In other words, build a classroom that operated with a teacher and 20 full-time peer tutors. Two words: IT WORKS.

The second conversation was with Dr. Mike Laird, as we were discussing the effect of teachers implementing the Fundamental Five at high frequency has on students. What we have observed is that as students become more actively engaged in the learning, they begin to “own” their learning. As this sense of “ownership” matures, the intrinsic need to learn more, increases. The result - a classroom full willing volunteers, instead of a waiting room of bored clock watchers – the dream of every teacher and school leader.

Your last sentence is what drives the Lead Your School team and network. We must have schools filled with engaged leaders who will not rest until every constituent is a life-long learner.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (Conference - Part 3)

"My principal has provided my school the opportunity to work with Sean Cain for the past 3 years. We have implemented the many suggestions that he has provided, including the GAME ON system, and our school has seen a tremendous turn around. Administrator accountability, teacher accountability, and student accountability have all soared.

Sean and his team support school leaders in doing what we often ask teachers to do - CHANGE. It has not always been easy, and sometimes it has been REALLY hard. But, when any professionals from the outside (central office, other schools, universities, etc.) walk into our school (1000 students, bilingual, and 75% low SES), they are simply amazed.

I am proud to say that no one out works our administrators, teachers, or students. I come to school every day knowing that almost all of us are working towards the same goals - STUDENT SUCCESS in both academics and behavior. And those who aren't quite with us on the same page receive constant attention, support and coaching.

During the past three years we have implemented many changes (and will continue to do so), and we are a hair’s breadth from being Exemplary on the TAKS. In terms on student behavior our students outperform the entire district. Currently we are Recognized, but not satisfied (and never will be). Much of this current success is based on suggestions Sean and his team have provided us.

I was able to hear Sean and Mike Laird at the Cy-Fair conference twice. If you were present at the last session on Friday, you were able to obtain some information that if implemented correctly will dramatically increase student performance. You were also able to witness the true passion Sean has for our craft. As I said earlier, Sean has been at my school numerous times, but this was the first time that I saw a different side to him while relaying his message and it was really special and motivating to see it.

Thanks for sharing your passion and providing this blog to post comments on a variety of topics!"

SC Response
First, thank you for the kind words. You give me too much credit for your success. I just made a few suggestions. You and your peers do all the heavy lifting. If you and the staff weren’t willing to work everyday to improve your craft, my suggestions would mean nothing.

Second, this reader’s school is a special place. I have yet to visit a campus that maintains a higher sense of instructional urgency, anywhere. When I worked for the state of Texas, I used this elementary school as a model school for low performing high schools. We would bring secondary school leaders and teachers from across the state to take notes and witness first hand what quality classroom instruction looks like. And they are much better now than they were then.

Third this school works smart: short-term common assessments; PowerWalks data; vertical teaming; Game On; etc. If you have read about something new or are thinking about doing something new, this campus is probably already doing it.

Fourth, this school knows its data and adapts accordingly. Last year they averaged less than five discipline referrals a week and missed being Exemplary by just four individual questions on the science test. How’s that for awareness?

Finally, yes - I actually was speechless at the end of that last presentation.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

The Places I Have Been

Let me first apologize for not keeping up with my posting duties. The past five days have been a whirlwind. In five days, I have conducted 9 presentations to over 1,100 school leaders in 3 different cities. And in each case the audiences were larger and more enthusiastic then ever before. Even the school board members were fired up to hear that dramatic and rapid school improvement is possible if you have the vision, desire and discipline.

Starting with the next post, we’ll continue the discussion on fear. I may have stopped writing for a couple of days, but you, the Lead Your School reader have not. So we will get caught up this week.

I want to thank all the Lead Your School readers who came up and said “hello” on this mini-speaking tour. One of the many highlights of the week was when I got to introduce Howard the blog participant to Mike the blog participant.

I want to thank Dr. Mike Laird, who came to my first presentation as a coach, to stand in my blind spot and give me some feedback on how to improve the presentations. And then quickly became an usher and finally a co-presenter as the audiences kept growing.

I want to thank Don Brown and Sherilynn Cotton who presented with me in Austin.

I want to thank Dr. Tommy Price and the Splendora ISD School Board. The opportunity to share with over 200 school board members the story of the ongoing “Splendora Miracle,” is just a small way to acknowledge their hard work and perseverance.

But most importantly, I want to thank the audiences at the Rigor, Relevance and Relationship Conference, hosted by Cypress-Fairbanks ISD. Your passion for knowledge is unrivaled and your focus on students unequalled. And for one of the few times in my life, I was speechless. I have included some pictures. For those of you who weren’t there, after all the chairs were taken, people brought their own chair from other sessions. After no more chairs could be squeezed in the room, people stood against the wall and sat on the floor. And finally, after every square inch of floor space was occupied, people stood and sat in the hall.

Again, thank you.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...