A Reader Asks... The Key to Becoming an Expert in Instruction

A LYS Assistant Superintendent asks the following:

SC,

What do you believe is the most important key to building insight and deeper understanding about teaching and learning in our classrooms?

SC Response

The most important key to building insight and deeper understanding about teaching and learning in our classrooms is high volume classroom observation, WITH REFLECTION.

By watching a wide variety of teachers, with varied skill sets, in varied settings, over extended time, one positions oneself to see patterns and connections that accelerate or inhibit instruction.  With reflection on these patterns one begins to build the required vocabulary to describe these patterns in a way that teachers can capitalize on them.  

Obviously, just having once attended a school, doesn't make one an expert in instruction (sorry, politicians).  

Not as obvious, but just as true, being a teacher or a school administrator does not automatically make one an expert in instruction.

Expertise is purposefully built.  

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 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: American Association of School Administrators Conference; National 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

A Reader Writes... Primary Classroom Lesson Frames

A LYS Principal asks the following:

LC,

I am trying to help my K-2 teachers with Framing the Lesson.  Do K-2 teachers, or teachers with self-contained classes, at other schools write all of the objectives and closing questions for each subject they teach?  Do they write all of them in a certain location or do they change the objective/closing question as they progress throughout the day?

I am trying to get my head around this logistically so that it is not so overwhelming for my K-2 teachers as we work to better implement The Fundamental 5. 

Lesa Cain Response

Thanks for taking the time to write and ask about this.  For Kinder and 1st Grade teachers, they should write a Lesson Frame for whole group reading, whole group writing and whole group math time.  Teachers are not expected to write any Lesson Frames for stations, phonics, centers, etc.  If they did that, they would never have time to actually teach.

The best way to organize the Lesson Frame in K/1 is to write them on a chart tablet/easel or board beside where the teacher does most of her teaching. If the teacher brings students to the carpet, then the Lesson Frame should be right there beside them, pre-written ready to go.  The pre-writing is best so that teachers have it done.  If teachers try to write Lesson Frames as they teach throughout the day we’ve found that they tend to lose track of time and then nothing gets posted or verbalized and then the kids never even get to attempt responding to a closing question. Because in practice, not posted means that the closing question doesn’t exist.  

My teachers laminated half a poster board - green was reading, blue was writing and red was math - they just used a black dry erase marker to write the Lesson Frames on the poster board.  As the subject changed, then they just put the appropriate poster board on the easel and it stayed up for that period of time.  

2nd Grade is more like Grades 3-5.  The teachers should Frame whole group reading, writing, math for sure. It is a campus-wide decision whether or not to add science and social studies.  I would recommend that you do so because we need our students to know what they are responsible for learning in every subject. This decision will depends on the kind of leader you are.  Do you like to go a bit slower, or just rip the band-aid off all at once! :-)

No grade should ever Frame anything that is not whole group teaching and a core understanding for the content.  So in a reading class, phonics, word work, stations, centers, spelling, etc., generally should not have a Lesson Frame.

I hope this helps.  E-mail us if you have further questions.

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 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: American Association of School Administrators Conference; National 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

Top LYS Tweets From the Week of January 10, 2016

If you are not following @LYSNation on Twitter, then you missed the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of January 10, 2016 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. "If you cannot win, make the one ahead of you break the record." - Jan McKeithen (By @Msjackson4real)

2. There is no magic formula. If classrooms (teachers) focus on doing the ordinary things extraordinarily well... success will come. (By @blitzkrieg607)

3. It takes a student thirteen 100’s to fully recover from one zero. (By @justintarte)

4. Managers desire authority. Leaders take responsibility. (By @mkaplanPMP)

5. True Science Literacy is less about what you know, and more about how your brain is wired for processing information. (By @neiltyson)

6. Turn and Talk - with a pre-selected question to focus discussion, is the easiest and quickest way to raise student engagement. (By @yankee_todd)

7. "I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives.” - Jim Rohn (By @blitzkrieg607)

8. It is hard to "wing it" with purpose and intentionality.

9. All coaches have a powerful ally, but most are afraid to use it... the bench. – John Wooden (By @CoachMotto)

10. At what date will Dippin' Dots no longer be the ice cream of the future? (By @LYSNation)

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 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: American Association of School Administrators Conference; National 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

Facilities Support

It is difficult (but not impossible) to run a quality education program in a poorly maintained facility.  And even if the education program is of high quality, a subpar facility impedes student performance.  And in too many districts, the urgency of the Facility Staff leaves something to be desired.  (Side bar: I worked in two districts, one with horrible facilities support, and one with fantastic facilities support. For those of you who have experienced both, you know first hand the effect of environment on student performance).

The practical problem for principals is how to increase the urgency of Facilities Staff and have them better respond to the needs of your campus.  Here are some ideas to consider.

1. Treat the Facilities Staff as if they are the most important people in the World. This will make you unique. Most educators ignore Facilities Staff.  Would you give your all for someone who doesn’t know you exist?

2. Consider the Facilities Staff as part of your staff.  If you are feeding your staff, include them.  If you do staff shirts, include them. You get the idea.

3. Submitting work orders:

A. When you submit a work order, attach a picture. Facilities Staff seems to respond faster when they see the problem. 

B. If there has been no response after one week, resubmit the work order and picture, but CC your supervisor, and the Facilities Director.

C. If there has been no response after two weeks, resubmit the work order and picture, but now CC your supervisor, and the Facilities Director and the Superintendent.

4. And if none of the above works, send the Director (or Assistant Superintendent) of Facilities a bottle of his favorite Scotch every Christmas (this is what I did).

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
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: American Association of School Administrators Conference; National 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

Reasonable Accountability - A Primer for the Texas Legislator

First, let me state for the record that I am a public school advocate and an accountability proponent. As are most of the proactive public educators that I know and work with. 

Accountability, implemented correctly, is good for students.  Because without accountability, it is too easy for too many students to be systematically underserved by the schools they attend. This is a real problem that requires a real solution. And in spite of the rhetoric of anti-accountability advocates, the “We will hold ourselves accountable,” premise has never worked at scale.

Now, my accountability revisions. 

Shorten the End of Course (STAAR/ EOC) exams. Twenty to twenty-five questions are more than adequate. 

Reduce the number of elementary and middle school tests.

3^rd grade: Reading and Math

4^th grade: Reading and Writing

5^th grade: Reading and Math

6^th grade: Reading and Science

7^th grade: Reading and Writing

8^th grade: Reading, Math and Social Studies

Make the high school exit tests actual high school EXIT tests instead of high school PROGRESS tests.

Algebra 2 (instead of Algebra 1)

ELAR 3 (instead of ELAR 1 and 2)

Chemistry

Biology

U.S. Government / Economics (instead of US history)

Administer the EOC’s are at the end of April / beginning of May.  Any student that does not a pass a particular EOC gets to take the failed test again, at the end of May. For accountability purposes, passing either administration counts.  This takes the, “One day should not measure a school,” argument off the table, and it is more fair to students.

Set the passing rate at 75%. Yes, I know this is significantly higher than the current standard.  But we (educator, taxpayer, politician) should expect mastery of the subject.  And correctly answering 75% of the questions on a test that is 100% correlated to the state mandated standards is not an unreasonable expectation.

Allow district to exempt up 5% exemption of its students from testing.  Use a sliding scale that is driven by the percentage of students with severe special education needs and LEP students enrolled in a district. Again this is reasonable and fair.

Recognize that when considering student demographics, poverty is the great equalizer. Therefore, the performance of economically disadvantaged students should be the primary driver of accountability ratings for districts.  Then based on the performance of other demographic groups allow some ramp-ups and ramp-downs. But basically assign accountability ratings based on the following performance standards:

Acceptable / Met Standard / C: At least 75% of students pass their EOC’s.

Recognized / Exceeded Standard / B: 85% to 92% of students pass their EOC’s.

Exemplary / Model School / A: More than 92% of students pass their EOC’s

As always, I’m open to further discussion.

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 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: TMSA Winter Conference; ASCD Annual Conference; TASSP Summer Conference (Multiple Presentations); TEPSA Summer Conference (Multiple Presentations); NAESP National Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Superintendent Writes... Common Assessment Reflection - Part 1

In response to the 1/16/2015 post, “Common Assessment Reflection,” a old school LYS Superintendent writes:

LYS Nation,

What to do with common assessment data?  What a question.  And a good answer was provided.  But I think Cain’s response can be substantially expanded.  First, keep in mind there is a big difference between data and information.  I have seen too many schools collect data and gather no information. That is called DRIP: Data Rich, Information Poor.

So, what's the difference?  Data turns into information when it changes adult practice as well as the very structure of your school.  Cain's approach to using common assessment data to improve instruction is an excellent start.  Also, his suggestion to use common assessment data to address the weakest SE's identified by the common assessments is also very valid, and is an example of turning data into information.

Still, there is more information that can be squeezed out of the common assessment.  In our district, common assessments are one of several factors that drive our support and intervention program (RTI). 

RTI Level 1 might be interventions; in class, pull-outs and/or push-ins for a short period of time in order to intervene on the specific deficiencies identified in specific children. 

Level 2 may last longer and involves some contact with a specialist.  Maybe a special education teacher works with the child for an hour a day for a few weeks, one on one (yes, even if the child is not special education). 

Level 3 results in heavy support, all year long.  In Level 3, the child will work with specialists as well as regular education teachers.  We have RTI classes built into the schedule across the district so we can adjust the child's schedule in order to meet identified needs.  Before and after school tutorials are not a part of our formal plan.  Our theory: if you don't get it done during the regular school day, it probably won't happen.

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 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: American Association of School Administrators Conference; National 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