A Superintendent Shares... The Problem is Us.

A LYS Superintendent shares the following:

LYS Nation,

I recently moved to a new district, to serve as the new Superintentent.  It was soon brought to my attention by coaching staff that my son was not going along with the athletic program.  Of course I spoke with my son, told him it was important for him to be compliant and to set an example for other athletes.  I was really pretty hard on him for pulling such a stunt in the first place.  So, the next afternoon after arriving at home I asked how the workout went.  He said he didn't workout.  I was furious.  I was very disappointed in my son and I wanted answers.  My son quickly explained that since it was game day the coaches were busy so the non-varsity athletes simply played dodge ball.

Ok, so the coaches expect kids to toe the line, and I expect my son to be a role model, but the adults decide to take a day off and let the athletes play dodge ball? 

My new district is considered (by both the state and myself) low performing. We have to set an example of hard work, every day, every minute.  There can be no free time, loafing, not showing up to class on time, ice cream socials at central office, when we are not adequately educating the students in our charge. This district has a culture that does not instill consistent values of hard work in students.  But how can it, when we the adults do not model hard work?  The result is our climate is suffering, and of course both academic and athletic success is considerably lower than the full potential of our students.  We have work to do, and it starts with modeling expectations and work ethic.

As Cain famously says, “Adult Practice Drives Student Performance.”  I can promise you until we start to live up to this in my new district the engrained habit of blaming kids is now officially over.

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: LYS / TASSP Advanced Leadership Academy (Keynote); The 4^th Annual Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Top LYS Tweets From the Week of June 12, 2016

If you are not following @LYSNation on Twitter, then you missed the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of June 12, 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. Not sure how many times it needs to be said, but if you’re applying for a job, know the district you are applying to. Do your homework. (By @woscholar)

2. Vouchers are a political distraction from the state’s top priority: Providing a quality education to all Texas children. (By @Coalition4TxEd)

3. For teens, sight of social media "likes" activates the same brain circuits as eating chocolate and winning money. (By @anniemurphypaul)

4. Hard work usually prevails over better talent. Talent equals potential. Work equals movement forward. (By @TinneyTroy)

5. A transparent leader may not always be popular, but hey, leadership isn't about popularity. (By @DanVForbes)

6. There is no growth without change, no change without loss, and no loss without pain. Bottom line: If you're not hurting, you're not leading. (By @pauljsohn)

7. The people who are still with you at the end of the day are the ones worth keeping. (By @WiseWilbert)

8. Texas public school teachers labor valiantly to educate our children while Texas Legislators try every conceivable way to shortchange them. Unacceptable! (By @pastors4txkids)

9. Too few school Superintendents have the courage or political savvy to stand up to school boards that want the status quo or are self-serving. (By @tgrierhisd)

10. Don't fear opposition. Expect it. And use it as an opportunity to fuel your growth. (By @stevenfurtick)

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: LYS / TASSP Advanced Leadership Academy (Keynote); The 4^th Annual Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

The Alignment of PowerWalks and T-TESS

To conclude this series of T-TESS alignment posts, we’ll discuss formative walks-thru’s.  Principals are beginning to realize that the T-TESS implemented correctly means coaching and supporting staff to better implement better and best practice.  And to do this effectively, a tool that creates “game-film” for teachers is no longer a want... it is a necessity.  And any formative assessment tool that is not aligned to T-TESS, is now essentially a waste of time.  So where to find a formative assessment tool that creates game film for teachers and is aligned to T-TESS?  It’s a short list and at the top of the list is PowerWalks.  The chart below shows the alignment of the individual PowerWalks observation modules and the individual components of T-TESS    

PowerWalks and T-TESS

Module 8 is a customization feature that allows for campus specific observation elements.  Those elements may or may not align to T-TESS specifications.

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: Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations); Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Conference (Multiple Presentations); LYS / TASSP Advanced Leadership Academy (Keynote); The 4^th Annual Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

The Alignment of The Fundamental 5 and T-TESS

There are a lot of teachers suffering from heartburn trying to figure out how they will meet all the requirements of T-TESS.  Relax.  The secret to meeting T-TESS requirements is to focus on better implementing better and best practice.

But where to start?  Start (and finish) with working to implement The Fundamental 5 with greater frequency and quality.  Do that and the T-TESS will solve itself.  Sounds too easy? For proof, just review the alignemnt chart below.

No hype, notice how the individual practices of The Fundamental 5 align to the individual components of T-TESS.

The Fundamental 5 and T-TESS

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: Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations); Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Conference (Multiple Presentations); LYS / TASSP Advanced Leadership Academy (Keynote); The 4^th Annual Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

The Alignment of The Foundation Trinity and T-TESS

The best advice I give to teachers and administrators as to what to do for T-TESS is this...

Work to get better at implementing better and best practice and T-TESS will solve itself. Don’t work to better implement better and best practice, and it doesn’t matter what evaluation tool is used, you are living on borrowed time. 

So working to get better at implementing better and best practice sounds good, but what does that look like? In the next three post, I will provide visuals that illustrate the alignment of best practice to T-TESS. First up, how the individual components of The Foundation Trinity align to the individual components of T-TESS.

The Foundation Trinity and T-TESS

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: Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations); Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Conference (Multiple Presentations); LYS / TASSP Advanced Leadership Academy (Keynote); The 4^th Annual Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Top LYS Tweets From the Week of June 5, 2016

If you are not following @LYSNation on Twitter, then you missed the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of June 5, 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. Congratulations to LYSer, John Schumacher! He is the new Superintendent in Mason ISD!! Who will be next? (By @LYSNation)

2. For our leaders to ignore the current crisis in public education funding is ignorant. For them to deny it is immoral. (By @pastors4txkids)

3. "We starve schools to death by slashing funding and subsequently blame them for dying." (By @pastors4txkids)

4. The best aren't born that way. They work harder and practice more to master their craft. (By @JonGordon11)

5. "In life I never lose, I either win or learn." –Unknown (By @clwilkens)

6. Neighborhood and community schools are the great incubators of American participatory democracy. We make citizens there. (By @pastors4txkids)

7. The Texas Legislature may continue to sacrifice our children's future on the altar of political expediency, but not without us hammering their conscience. (By @pastors4txkids)

8. Know it all leaders do not know as much as they think. (By @TinneyTroy)

9. For all its bravado about a ‘can-do’ economy, Texas wears a dunce cap and sits in the corner when it comes to education funding. (By @pastors4txkids)

10. Texas Governor Greg Abbott on school finance ruling: "A victory for Texas taxpayers" Translation: We don't have to squander money on underfunded Texas schools. (By @WayneSlater)

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: Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations); Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Conference (Multiple Presentations); LYS / TASSP Advanced Leadership Academy (Keynote); The 4^th Annual Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook