Rigor Is...

Rigor is NOT what the teacher has written on the board, “The student will CREATE a foldable.”

Rigor is not what the teacher says, “So as you can see class, the parallels between the Elections of 1800 and 2016 are more numerous than appears at first glance…”

Rigor is NOT more work, “Instead of five problems, we are going to do fifteen.”

Rigor IS the depth and complexity of student cognition.  And the easiest ways to increase the depth and complexity of student cognition are to embed more of the following in your daily lessons.

1. More hands-on activities. Have students manipulate, build, and deconstruct.

2. More multi-step process questions. 

3. More purposeful student talk, with the appropriate prompt.

4. More critical writing, with the appropriate prompt.

In summary, have your students build, talk, and write, a lot and you have effectively increased instructional rigor in your classroom.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Upcoming Conference Presentations: Texas ASCD Summer Conference, Virginia Middle and High School Principals Conference; The National Principals Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Top LYS Tweets from the Week of April 30, 2017

If you are not following @LYSNation on Twitter, then you missed the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of April 30, 2017 when they were first posted.  And if you are on Twitter, you might want to check out the Tweeters who made this week’s list.

1. There is real risk that a federally funded voucher program will lead to more segregation in schools. -Phil Tegeler (By @akarhuse)

2. If instruction stops after the high stakes test, it gets hard for people to believe the argument that teaching is more than a test score. (By @BluntEducator)

3. "Those who say forgiveness is a sign of weakness haven't tried it." -Desmond Tutu (By @clwilkens)

4. A long list of classroom rules probably causes more discipline problems than it prevents. (By @BluntEducator)

5. “The educated differ from the uneducated - as much as the living differ from the dead.” (By @DrRichAllen)

6. Wisdom isn't in knowing all the answers. Wisdom is in applying those answers once we find them. (By @clwilkens)

7. Conspiracy Theorists May Really Just Be Lonely –Scientific American (By @LYSNation)

8. Conservative business leaders all over Texas think public tax money for private schools with no accountability is… Just. Plain. Dumb. (By @pastors4txkids)

9. Conservative faith leaders all over Texas think government meddling in church schools through voucher programs is… Just. Plain. Wrong. (By @pastors4txkids)

10. If conservative business leaders and pastors think vouchers violate tax accountability and religious liberty, how are vouchers conservative? (By @pastors4txkids)

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Upcoming Conference Presentations: Texas ASCD Summer Conference, Virginia Middle and High School Principals Conference; The National Principals Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Pulling Forward or Pulling Back

Here’s a scary truth that most of us don’t realize until the day after we leave the principalship of a campus.  When it comes to campus performance, the principal is either the accelerator or the brake. And all too often, with the best of intentions, we are the brake.

Two factors drive this. First, like most people, the natural tendency of teachers is to slow down.  This is not a laziness issue, it is a comfort and confidence issue.  We avoid discomfort which means avoiding new practice. And we avoid not feeling confident which, again, means avoiding new practice.

Second, as Principals, we are hypersensitive to not overwhelming our staff.  We know that we are pushing them, but we don’t want to push them so hard they quit.

But here is the thing, good teachers and good teams want to accomplish meaningful things.  Sure, they grumble along the way, but that is just the human condition.

Don’t walk out the door with the realization that your good people wanted to be great, were willing to be great but the only thing holding them back from achieving exceptional things was… you.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Upcoming Conference Presentations: Texas ASCD Summer Conference, Virginia Middle and High School Principals Conference; The National Principals Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook