What Is My Principal Really Looking for in my Summative?

It’s that time of year where many educators (myself included) are preparing to meet with their administrator for the glorious summative meeting.  Throughout my career, I’ve experienced a wide variety of these that have been anything from a short five-minute conversation to an hour-long meeting where I was required to bring a binder of evidence and plan to talk about my data for at least half of it.

Even when I received a lot of direction for what to prepare for, I never really felt like I knew what I’d be walking into other than some sort of rating at the end along with information on whether I’d be hired back for the following year.  Now that I’m on the other side of the fence so to speak I thought I’d help out my fellow educators and tell a little bit about what many administrators are looking for when we meet to talk with you  at your summative.

A Reflective Conversation

One of the most important qualities an educator can have is being highly reflective.  At this meeting, we want to hear your thoughts on your teaching for the year, both positive and areas for growth.  My assistant principal and I ask our teachers to come prepared to talk about examples of their strengths as well as areas for growth, favorite lessons this year, a student who has grown the most, a student who continues to be a concern, and progress towards the goals they set at the beginning of the year.  We don’t expect a portfolio, but we do want to have an in-depth conversation about the reasons why our teachers chose the examples they brought.  This allows us to see how they reflect on their practice as well as gives us an opportunity to talk about ways we can support them if they need it.  (p.s. Tying in the examples you give to the school goals or vision is an excellent strategy!)

A Celebration

A summative meeting is definitely a place for a celebration!  Even though the meetings typically take place 2/3 of the year through, there are plenty of examples of great things happening in classrooms.  To prepare for the meeting, my assistant principal and I write a narrative with specific examples from each domain.  At the meeting we share this with our teachers in a more casual conversational format.  Be prepared to smile as your administrator shares all of the good stuff with you! It’s wonderful being able to share specific examples of things our teachers do really well. 

An Opportunity to Grow

In addition to celebrating you, expect some feedback from your administrator regarding your practice.  When I asked my school leadership team what they wanted in the summative meeting, the most common trend was that applicable and actionable feedback was most important to them.  Because of this feedback, as I prepare for the meeting I always have the Danielson components in front of me as well as notes from my visits to my teachers’ classrooms throughout the year.  I then write up a few specific ideas for the teacher that will elevate the work they are already doing.  Your administrator will probably want to know your thoughts on their ideas so think about how you might implement their idea or questions you have regarding their feedback.  The feedback portion is another way to demonstrate that you are a reflective educator who considers growth an important part of teaching.  

Feedback for Me

I view this meeting as an opportunity for my own growth as well so I always end the meeting with an opportunity for my teachers to give feedback and ask questions.  This helps me to get better at my job as well as understand the needs of the building that I might not have considered.  Even if your administrator does not directly ask for it, I recommend coming to your meeting prepared to share ideas you have.  

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I know that many people worry about the summative meeting because it’s where educators receive their rating and if untenured, communication about whether they’ll be back next year.   This definitely is a component of the meeting, but for my admin team at least, it’s not the focus.  Our greatest goal is to get to know our teachers and students best.  As much as we try to be in classrooms, we don’t always catch some of the things in the highlight reel or things that we could help with.  Summative meetings are an opportunity for us to see more of the good and the work being done in classrooms as well as continue to grow through reflection.  

If you are currently preparing for a summative meeting, please remember, it’s all about being able to brag a little, reflect a little and impact the culture of the building through your feedback.  Walk in proud, prepared to share all of the amazing stuff you’ve been doing!  Your administrator is looking forward to getting to celebrate with you!

 

  

Predictions for the Next Decade of Education

I recently read this article from the Atlantic titled, Elementary Education Has Gone Terribly Wrong.  It’s an interesting read for a variety of reasons, but what stood out to me was the plethora of evidence that confirms what many of us have known for decades: the standardized testing movement simply doesn’t work.  Despite our efforts to systematize learning and add more “rigor,” we continue to end up with the same results along with an ever-expanding achievement gap.

The author, Natalie Wexler poses the questions, “

“What if the medicine we have been prescribing is only making matters worse, particularly for poor children? What if the best way to boost reading comprehension is not to drill kids on discrete skills but to teach them, as early as possible, the very things we’ve marginalized—including history, science, and other content that could build the knowledge and vocabulary they need to understand both written texts and the world around them?”

She pokes holes in many common literacy practices in the U.S. as well as presents examples of teachers who are finding success in trying out different approaches.  The article got me thinking about education overall, how we have tried so many new things, abandoned many ideas, gone back to the same ideas, but education has, for the most part, looked the exact same way for generations.

The start of a new decade feels like a fresh start for everything, education included.  There is no guarantee of what the next 10 years will bring, but I am optimistic that this decade will bring what the past hundreds of years have not, an education system that is valuable for all.  There are a plethora of amazing educators who are leading the charge and sharing their stories on social media and beyond giving me hope that we can and will create powerful educational experiences to help ALL kids succeed.    

Predictions for 2020-2030

The ideas I present in this post are a result of two decades of personal experience working with students, a lot of reading, watching & learning, and most of all, connecting with amazing educators across the globe.  (Thank you PLN!)  You will notice that no idea is brand new.  I believe that we already have the answers which we seek, it is the way that we use them with students that has the power to shift education for the better. 

Less About the Right Answer & More about Great Questions

One of the chapters that stood out to me in The Innovators Mindset was the chapter where George Couros discusses the importance of students being “problem-finders.”  This was sparked from the work of Ewan McIntosh. The premise is that we spend a lot of time working with students to come up with solutions to problems, but what we really need in a dynamic world is students who can find problems and innovative ways to solve these problems.

Besides the fact that solving problems with predetermined answers can be monotonous and insanely boring, (geometry proofs anyone?), if we spend all of our time giving students problems to solve with a finite answer we are giving students the impression that the purpose in life is to simply get the right answer.   Students leave school thinking there is a simple methodology to life and if they follow the success formula given to them they will be successful when really the opposite is true.  We need creative thinkers, students who can look at the world with a new lens and make it better. 

A great way to develop this skill is by teaching students to ask great questions and giving them opportunities to explore ideas that are meaningful to them.  Genius Hour or Passion Projects, QFT, TQE Method, and Socratic Seminar are just some ways that educators around the globe are working to develop the questioning ability in students.  Each of these methodologies helps students to not only create questions of their own, but they encourage rich discussion among students as well which can lead to new ideas from students.  It is exciting to think about what kind of learning will take place when we spend more time empowering students to question, explore & discover as opposed to encouraging them to simply find the right answer.  

Experiential Learning 

In the next ten years, whether virtual or in-person, learning will extend more and more beyond the four walls of the classroom.  Mentioned in the Wexler article, research confirms students learn best when they have experiences and background knowledge to be able to comprehend the texts they are reading.  Creativity is the number one quality that employers are currently looking for.  Reeves & Reeves suggest in their book on creativity, The Myth of the Muse that one of the ways to enhance creativity is through inspiration from experiences.  The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) recommend starting science lessons with a phenomenon so that students have a shared experience to ask questions and develop theories from.  Although I still think the best experience is one in real life, Augmented and Virtual Reality makes this a daily possibility for students.  

One school that is doing an amazing job at teaching from this approach is the GEMS World Academy in Chicago, Illinois.  In this school, the teachers plan out larger units that explore a broad question related to an essential idea.  Included in each of these are field trips to a place in the city where students can explore.  From the shared experience students then create questions they have and spend the unit exploring answers to the questions they create.  Each subject area is tied into this big idea including specials.  The result is that students see learning as interconnected as opposed to limited to one subject area which enhances their creative ability to connect ideas and create new ones.

A More Personalized Approach to Education

If you would have asked me if this was possible ten years ago my answer would have emphatically been no.  It takes too much time.  It’s not necessary or realistic.  It is amazing what a decade of experience can do.  I now believe it is more necessary than ever.  As you will hear me mention throughout this post, in the dynamic world we live in we no longer need students who can just get the right answer, we need students who are curious, think creatively and can find new problems to solve.  We want students to leave school with a positive view of themselves, recognizing not only what their talents are, but how they can use them to make a positive impact on the world.   

When I say a more personalized approach to education, I am not saying that every student would be doing something different in every moment of the day.  Students need foundational knowledge in order to be creative, ask questions and generate new ideas.  However, I think it’s a different approach to looking at the school day.  Design39 Campus in California has been exploring this idea for the past five years.  You can check out this link for more information, but their day is split up into Integrated Learning Time, Deep Dives & Explorations.   During Integrated Learning Time is when they explore content across curriculums for purposeful application of skills.  Deep Dives is time for students to explore their passions in an academic setting.  Explorations give students time to explore new things they are interested in trying.  I love the way they organize their day because it gives students foundational understanding as well as time to explore passions and build new ones.  For more information on how the idea began and the success they are having with students, check out this podcast from Modern Learners.

Going Gradeless/Meaningful Feedback

At some point, we have to recognize that grades are just meaningless little letters that students look at and then toss.  Even when we add in comments to the grade or SBR number students associate more meaning with the grade and typically ignore the feedback.   Both John Hattie and Susan Brookhart have written books on the topic and the research shows that feedback is a much more effective learning tool for students over grades.  

Many educators are already moving towards a feedback-heavy or gradeless classroom.  (check out the #gradeless on Twitter) Instead of using grades or fear of punishment to motivate students to complete their work, they have shifted their instructional practices to have students set goals that are meaningful to them.  The teacher and/or peers give them feedback on progress towards their goal to move their learning forward.  Learning then becomes a continuum as opposed to an endpoint.  I’ve linked a few useful resources below if you are considering making this shift.

6 Tips for Going Gradeless by Starr Sackstein

More Teachers are Going Gradeless.  I Asked Them Why.  EL Magazine July 2019

Teachers Going Gradeless (TG² Podcast)

Collaboration Over Competition

One of the best videos I have seen this year that has had a huge impact on the way I think about the classroom is Why School Should Be about Us Instead of Me from Trevor Muir.  Besides the fact that it has a totally Hamilton-esque vibe, the premise that school sets up a culture of competition as opposed to what our world needs, a culture of collaboration, rings completely true.  I’ve watched it probably 20 times.

I was definitely one of the students who groaned every time I heard it was time to work on a group project.  There was always the people who did everything, a few people who did nothing, and then somehow a project evolved.  It never felt to me like there was any purpose in working together.  As a teacher, I tried to circumvent this issue by assigning roles to each student, but even this had uneven results with students continuing to work in silos as opposed to creating something together.

After reading a wonderful post by John Spencer about collaboration, what I realized was missing was students seeing the value in one another’s strengths and using those strengths to build something greater than what could be done alone.  Instead of starting group projects by assigning roles, have students share their strengths, set goals for the project together and give them opportunities to give one another feedback along the way.  This creates greater meaning for the work and also mirrors the type of work they will be doing outside of school.  In the working world students will be collaborating daily, we have to increase the amount of collaboration they do throughout the day, but it also has to be done in a way that is meaningful so that it doesn’t just become another one of the dreaded group projects.

If you’re looking for ways to create this type of classroom, Trevor Muir’s new book, The Collaborative Classroom, filled with practical ideas and examples, is a great place to start.

The End of Labels 

This last one I am most excited about, although I think it might take a little bit more time.  I predict that gradually the labels we use in education, “gifted, special education, EL” will disappear.  As we start to shift the focus of school from everyone ending up in the same exact spot to encouraging students to be curious learners who explore their passions and develop their talents, the need for labels will go away because we will see students for their greatness of whom they already are, not some arbitrary standard we want them to become.   

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“Logic will take you from A to B.  Imagination will take you everywhere.” – Albert Einstein

We have spent the past hundred years approaching education from a logical standpoint.  Students need to learn ______________ so we will teach them ___________________.  We will set standards that everyone needs to reach and if they don’t reach those standards we will fix them with _____________________.   This is a very logical approach if we are working with products, but hasn’t always served us well with students.  We need more creativity and flexibility if we are going to reach all students.  

I am optimistic about the shifts I continue to see happening in our schools.  I believe that through these shifts we will have students leaving school with more creativity, empathy, equity, and curiosity than we ever have in the past.  It is inspiring to think about the wonderful world that these students will create.  

Goals Groupies: Synergizing the Passions of Staff

Last year, I read this post by John Spencer about the importance of being in a “Mastermind Group” with other educators.   It’s basically a group of teachers that meet regularly to explore and share ideas and also give one another feedback.  Because the members get to know each other well they can push one another in ways that would not be possible with other groups.

This idea has always stuck with me as something that would be great to implement with staff.  So when we started exploring options for our monthly staff meetings as an instructional leadership team, I brought this up as a possibility for a way to structure our time.  After talking through a variety of options, including a focus on the 6C’s or differentiated choices aligned to our School Improvement Plan, we ultimately decided on having staff finding a group of people who had written similar personal goals for the year.

The purpose behind this was twofold:

1.  It gave people time to delve more deeply into something they were already personally invested in.
2. It made our goal writing process more meaningful because staff would have dedicated time to continually work on them.  This is in contrast to past practice, where many educators (myself included) would wait until it was time to have a follow-up conference on their goals later in the year.  

At our first meeting in September, we had staff members do a “speed date” activity where they moved around the room talking about their goals for the year with different people.  Their goal was to find others who had similar interests or their “Goals Groupies.”  When they found a “match,” they would write that person’s name down on an index card.  At the end of the meeting, they met up with the people on their card and came up with an official focus for their group.  

Although I had met with staff members on their goals for the year prior to this meeting, it was fun to see how groupies ended up evolving and what they ultimately chose to focus on.  We had 5th-grade teachers working with first-grade and even kindergarten teachers.  There were groups of specials teachers mixed with grade-level teachers.  The goals chosen were just as diverse and included:  SEL, critical thinking, parent communication, inquiry-based and real-world projects, reading fluency and accuracy, and facilitated IEP and collaboration.  

This past Thursday was our second meeting.  Our Goals Groupies were given time to explore their work more fully setting specific outcomes for their impact on students, creating a plan of action and agreeing on what they would bring to share at the next meeting.  We gave them this template with guiding questions to help them to further think through their ideas.  As I walked around the room, I listened to rich conversations and genuine enthusiasm for the work they were doing.  It was a Thursday after school, but everyone was just as energized as if we were starting a fresh day.  

This process has only reinforced my belief that when we empower staff to take the lead, we embolden change that impacts students far greater than any mandated initiative ever will.  When staff is given dedicated time to collaborate with colleagues who have a common passion, we capitalize on our strengths as a school as well as build capacity in multiple grade levels. The goals the groups have chosen to work on have far surpassed my wildest dreams of what we could work on this year as a staff.   I am beyond excited to see the impact on students as the year unfolds.

 

Putting an End to the Meaningless Agenda

We’ve all been there.

Sitting at a meeting or a grad school class where the agenda is ten miles long, broken up into either short little choppy increments or hour-long blocks without a break in sight.

Half of the items on the list seem to come from out of nowhere or could easily have been addressed in an email.

The absolute worst?  When the facilitators in no way honor the experience and talents the people at the meeting bring to the table, making everyone learn about the same things as if they have no understanding whatsoever.

When I was a teacher I loathed these experiences.  It felt like meetings were “being done to me” as opposed to inviting me to bring my talents and grow my strengths.

Many of our students feel the same way.  No matter how great of a student they are, they feel like they are showing up to the “school show,” expected to follow the rules and expectations set forth for them with little input as to how the day will proceed.

Can you imagine spending every day this way? I can’t.

We can and should do better.

When I became an administrator I vowed I would never bring this type of experience to my staff.  Am I perfect at it yet?  Definitely not, but here are a few things I try to do so that I’m not bringing a case of the meeting dreads to my staff:

1. Ask for feedback.  Although I haven’t yet been able to start from scratch with my school leadership team in creating an agenda due to time constraints (we’re almost ahead of this), I do bring the agenda to the team and ask for feedback prior to our institute days or Wednesday late arrivals.
2. Build on the expertise of the team.  What are they good at?  What are they passionate about?  What do they see as the greatest need that would make the meeting most valuable to all?  Stop being the only one who presents and let teacher leaders lead.  They’re the ones who know the kids the best.  We need to trust them!
3. Tie everything back into the vision that was created as a staff.  Ours this year is #unlimitedgrowthandconnection.  We make sure that every agenda item is connected to this and explicitly stated.
4. Include breaks and don’t make people turn off their technology.  We’re all adults.  If we’ve made the topics of the meeting meaningful then people won’t want to distract themselves with other things.  We should trust people to use their resources when they need/want to.
5. Include something fun.  Meetings are an opportunity to build culture and camaraderie.  We added in a “Walk-Up Song” activity at the beginning of each staff meeting where we asked staff members to send us the song they would have played when they walk into the classroom like they do in Major League Baseball.  The rest of the staff has to guess whose song it is.  We even have prizes.  From the response at the last meeting, we might add in karaoke.  What does your staff enjoy?  Thankfully mine loves music and food, two of my favorite things so I also try to bring some sort of tasty treat.

If you’re a teacher, what might this look like in your classroom?  How often do you ask for feedback or build the day around goals students have set for themselves? How can you make each learning target meaningful to the students so they see a connected purpose in the work they are doing?  What would the day look like if more choice and voice were incorporated?

I love this question that George Couros poses to educators,

“Would you want to be a student in your own classroom?”

For me, this question has transitioned to, “Would you want to be a teacher in your staff meeting?” I hope as the year progresses the answer to this question becomes an emphatic yes!  Let’s stop “doing school to people” and start asking for meaning from our people.

Sometimes Small Wins add up to Big Losses

Just got done with my almost four year old having an epic tantrum at gymnastics class.

The cause?

I made her put on her shoes and socks when she came out of class before she did anything else.

I know.  I’m the worst.

That’s not what actually caused the epic tantrum.  That was more of a prequel to the disaster.  A foreshock if you will.

What actually caused the “drop on the floor, red in the face, screaming at decibels heard by two towns over tantrum” was the fact that I was unaware of the magical lady who hands out lollipops to all of the good little boys and girls who have stamps on their hands after class.

So, if you tell your daughter to put on her shoes and socks on before she does anything else she is inevitably going to miss the magical lollipop fairy lady because:

1.  Asking a toddler to do anything will take ten times longer than anyone could ever imagine is humanly possible.
2. When you were a kid at some point you threw temper tantrums and your mom said the stereotypical phrase, “I hope one day you have a kid just like you!” (Which at the time you blew off, but now as an adult you are wondering if she has some sort of voodoo power that you were not aware of.)

So here I am standing in the vestibule, trying to rationalize with a toddler that missing the magical lollipop that she “earned” is “No Big Deal” while her screams keep getting louder and her stomping is reaching epic proportions.  Minus her face turning purple I’d say she was pretty close to a direct reenactment of Turtle Throws a Tantrum.  (Side Note: DO NOT laugh at this point.  It is apparently not funny.)

People are staring.  Dogs are barking.  I’m about to pick her up and put her in the car kicking and screaming when guess who comes out of her office?  The magical ninja lollipop lady.

And do you know what she did?

SHE ASKS MY FULL ON TANTRUM CHILD IIF SHE WANTS A LOLLIPOP.

I looked at Alexandra.  I looked at the lady.  I looked at the faces of the moms ( totally not judging) staring at me.  I swear time froze.

I knew I had two options.  I could tell her no, that the way she was behaving did not merit a lollipop or any reward for that matter and endure the escalation that would ensue or I could let her have the lollipop ending the campaign of torture.

So, what did I do?

I totally caved.  I told her that if she would apologize to me for her behavior that she could have one.  I was worried about getting to her next activity on the other side of town on time and was honestly sick of listening to the tantrum that seemed to last for all eternity.

She apologized, instantly calmed, got her lollipop and merrily skipped to the car like nothing happened.  We made it to Little Actors Club on time and the rest of the day was great.

It appears that I made the right choice right.  But did I?  The entire car ride home I kept thinking all she is going to remember from this event was that a tantrum equals candy.  I chose the easy way out simply because of my fears of getting to our next activity on time (and yes of being judged) and now the next time I was going to have to start all over again with how we behave when we don’t get our way.

My short little win was most likely setting me up for defeat later on.

Choosing What’s Easy in Education

This longwinded story got me thinking about when I was in the classroom and the times I would choose what was easy over what would be a better learning experience for students.

How many times did I choose to teach whole class rather than differentiate because it was easier for me to cover the content that way?  I could say I covered the objectives, but were ALL of my students really learning from the lesson that day?

How many times did I teach something just because it was in the curriculum guide even though I knew that many of my students had mastered the objective already?

How many times did I make decisions based on what was easy for me, not on what was right for the students and then end up teaching it all over again?

I’d say the answer to these questions was more than I’d like to admit.  For a variety of reasons, (pressure from administration, district assessment deadlines, anxiety about keeping up with peers, inner drive to teach it all) educators feel a huge pressure to cover content over teaching the students in front of them.  None of these reasons are illegitimate reasons.  The expectations put on teachers are astronomical.  It is completely reasonable to feel like covering content should take priority.

Unfortunately, this dynamic causes many of us (myself included) to plan learning experiences and lessons that do simply that, cover content instead of creating learning that sticks with engaging in-depth experiences like we know we should.  Many times we end up reteaching these lessons because the learning was not meaningful to students.  Taking the time to prioritize and go deeper at the beginning would actually save us time in the end.

If I could be a classroom teacher again (one day maybe I will), I would stop placing the greatest importance on content and start with relationships.  I’d find out what was important to my students, learn their strengths and build from there.  I know there are many constraints with time in the school day, but I’d try to plan my schedule with longer blocks of time so that I could plan out integrated lessons that include time to ask questions, interact with peers, and causes students to engage in the learning.

I’d take the time to make it stick as opposed to getting it done.

Of course, I’m not a classroom teacher this year.  I’m an administrator and a mom.  So here’s my effort to choose differently than I have in the past.

1.  If you work in my school I will support you 100% in teaching the students in front of you, not covering vast amounts of the curriculum.
2. I will set up a schedule where you have flexible time to integrate subjects and plan deeper learning experiences.
3. I will set up structures so you can coteach, collaborate, and reflect regularly with your peers to learn from one another and build upon one another’s strengths.
4. I will plan engaging learning experiences that meet your needs as opposed to the God awful “Sit & Get” institute days.
5. When you come to me with innovative ideas I will be your cheerleader, your support system and do anything in my power to make your idea a success.
6. I will not take the easy way out and spend time in my office doing clerical tasks.  I will be present in the building getting to know the culture of the school so that I can contribute and elevate the great work being done.
7. I will listen to what you need, not try to force my agenda on you.
8. When there is an issue (anything, including missing a magical lollipop lady), I will listen, reflect and work to solve the problem with you.

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At the end of the day, it is better that we have contributed to creating amazing humans  than to have taught a vast curriculum.  Is teaching knowledge to students part of that formula? 

Absolutely.

But if you ask me what to prioritize in your school I’d choose deeper learning and relationships over being able to say I covered all the content any day.

(Quote by Wayne Dyer)

Making the Last Days of School Meaningful

Busy. Busy. Busy.

That one word has permeated my vocabulary since I took over as interim principal a few months ago at Emerson Elementary School.  I’m not just talking about myself.  With state and district testing, about a million end of the year activities as well as normal teaching responsibilities I’ve watched my staff and students move at a frenetic pace making sure that all of the things are done. 

This upcoming Friday is our last day of school making this the last week I will spend with this wonderful group.  Planning out our all school assembly for the last day of school has gotten me thinking about the activities I used to plan with my students at the end of the year as well as reflecting on what I would do now with these last precious moments if I were still in the classroom.

Questions

A good reflection always starts with a great question.  I believe the purpose of school is to grow curious learners and build on their unique talents as well as help them to discover new ones.  I want kids to leave my classroom knowing how much I appreciate their uniqueness and believe in them.  With that in mind, the following questions made me think a little deeper about what I would plan for the last week.

1.  What do I most want students to remember from this year?  or What was most meaningful from our learning?
2. How can I continue to shine a spotlight on the talents of my students so they leave my classroom confident in their abilities and native genius?
3. How do I continue to spark the curiosity of learning in students in my classroom beyond this year?  

Ideas

As a teacher of 10+ years prior to becoming an instructional coach and now administrator I have ended the school year in a variety of ways with my students.  In thinking about previous activities I had done with students as well as new ones I might try, here are some thoughts on how I might end the year now that fit with the questions I just posed.

Celebrate Learning Fair.  Have students think about how they have grown this year.  They can think about academic as well as personally.  I might have students include a quote that they create or choose from someone else.  I honestly wouldn’t give them too many parameters and create what is most meaningful for them.  On the day of the fair students would set up their area and other kids would come and talk to one another about their memories and growth for the year.  I would invite families to come in as well and share in our celebration.

Personal Memory Book.   Similar to the learning fair students think about how they have grown and what they want to remember most.  This can be an actual paper book or digital.  Like the Celebrate Learning Fair I wouldn’t want to give kids too many parameters, but would let them create what was most meaningful to them.  They could choose to focus on the personal aspects or academic or both.  If students wanted to share, I would give them time to meet in small groups or partnerships to share their ideas.  

Students as Teachers.  One of my good friends used to end the year with kids creating lessons about something they were passionate about.  I loved this idea and actually think it’s important to do throughout the year.  It allows students to see that we have just as much to learn from them as they have from us and also shines a spotlight on their talents.  The students would sign-up for a time that they would teach the class a 45 minute to an hour lesson to the class.  The things they taught varied from all sorts of things from cooking to sports to art to math tricks to photography.  

Academy Awards of Books.  When I was in the classroom I would have students create book trailer recommendations for books that they loved.  We then compiled these in a doc with links in our classroom.  With this activity I might have kids think about their favorite book they read that they would recommend to friends for the summer and come up with a category they would nominate it for.  They would then create some way of pitching the book to their class with an award given to the book at the end.  This would expose kids to new titles as well as encourage them to keep reading over the summer.

Summer Bucket List.  Bucket lists are currently very popular and I know many of my friends have their kids create these for summertime fun activities.  Why not do the same thing, but in the classroom?  It could include things they are curious about, but also ways they want to recharge over the summer.  When they come back in the fall they could come back and share all they have accomplished with you.  It would be a great way to touch base when school starts again.

Wall of Curiosity.  What are your students still curious about?  Create a question board using Padlet or another technology and tell students they can continue to add content to their questions or their classmates as the summer progresses.

Classroom Awards.  I did this every year when I was in the classroom on the last day of school.  I used to think about what was unique about each student and create an award for that student based on that unique quality.  It was so much fun seeing their eyes light up on the last day knowing that their uniqueness was cherished and appreciated.  If I was in the classroom now I think I would also ask for ideas from their classmates so they could also contribute.

Individual Conferences with Kids.  This is a great way to continue to build relationships with students as well as help them to see their unique talents and abilities.  While the rest of the class is working schedule 15-minute conferences with each student to talk about the year with them.  Name their strengths, ask them for their thoughts and create a plan for their dreams.  Keep track of what they said and touch base with them on it next year.  

Conclusions

With so many activities at the end of the year it would be impossible to do all of these things.  I would encourage you to think about what do you want students to look back and remember and what impact do you most want to have moving forward?  For me, it’s no longer about the knowledge I’m imparting, but the relationships I’m building that I want to last. 

Multiplying the Talents of Students

Every morning I have about a thirty-minute commute to work from my home in Wheaton.  Most mornings my routine is pretty similar.  After giving Alexandra a big hug and a kiss (sometimes 4 or 5 depending on what mood she’s in), I hop in my car, order my morning coffee and listen to whatever music I happen to be in the mood for.  I let my mind wander to nonsense during this time, but after I get my coffee (Americano, 2 sugars) it’s “Go Time.”

I turn on a podcast, listen to a book on Audible or spend the next twenty minutes reflecting on my practice.  This week has gotten me reflecting about one of the quotes I discussed from my last post about building a strength-based culture in our schools, (Making the Positives so Loud)

“But if people aren’t aware of their genius, they are not in a position to deliberately utilize it. By telling people what you see, you can raise their awareness and confidence, allowing them to provide their capability more fully.” – The Multiplier Effect & Multipliers

Instead of thinking about it in the context of building leader to teacher, I have been reflecting more on the implications within the classroom and how teachers can unleash the talents of their students.  In Chapter 2 of Wiseman’s original book on the same topic: Multipliers:  How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter she discusses a three-step process called, “Name the Genius” that is connected to this same quote. 

Like the title alludes to, “Name the Genius” is the process of finding what individuals are innately good at with the purpose of multiplying the ability.  The first part of this process involves reflecting on an individual’s strengths.  The book offers four questions to help leaders to define the native talents in others:

• What do they do better than anything else they do?
• What do they do better than the people around them?
• What do they do easily (without effort or even awareness)?
• What do they do freely (without being asked or being paid)?

In the context of education I might simplify these questions to the following:

• What does the student excel in at school? (What comes easy for the student – NOT just academics)
• What does the student choose to do when he or she is given choice in the classroom?
• What do the other students tend to come to this student for help with?

Step 2 in the process is literally putting a label on it.  Some examples given are, “synthesizing complex ideas,” or “building bridges.”  I think the labels in school would depend greatly on the age and the different students comprised of the classroom each year, but some of the ideas I have are:

Category	Student Description
Natural Leader	This is a student who naturally takes the lead when working in partnerships or groups.  The other students tend to look to him or her for leadership in the classroom.
Organizational Ninja	This is a student whose desk, locker, all materials are always organized. He or she has a system for everything.  This may transfer over into other subjects like writing.
Idea Generator	This is the student who is always coming to you with an idea for something they want to work on in class or out of class.  When you ask questions, this student almost always raises their hand and has a unique answer. They love to talk and share ideas.
Creative Artist	This is the student who the other students are always coming to to draw things for them.  They are always drawing or doodling something in class.
Creative Writer	This is the student who excels in creativity in writing.  Whether they are designing new worlds or interesting characters their mind thinks creatively when putting pen to paper.
Tech Guru	This is the kid who loves working on their computer.  When something breaks down in the classroom this student can usually figure out a way to make it work again.
Voracious Reader	This is the student who reads volumes of books in school and out.  He or she has favorite authors or genres and can be found reading whenever freetime is given.
Mathematical Mind	This is a student who can find an answer to even the most complex math in the classroom with what appears to be little effort.  Many times the student has different strategies for solving as well or can combine numbers in unique ways.
Kindness Coordinator	This is a student whose empathy runs deep.  He or she works well with any student in the classroom and can often be found helping other students to solve problems.
Performance Artist	This is a student who when given choice is always creating a play, song or dance related to the topic.  He or she loves to perform in front of any audience.

The final step in the process is the most critical, share with the student what you’ve noticed as their native genius and then look for ways to multiply it or put it to use in the classroom.  

There are a variety of ways I might do this in the classroom.  I would first schedule individual conferences with each student where my conversation might sound like this…

“I’ve been looking for the unique talents of each student in our classroom and I’ve noticed that you are an Idea Generator.  When I ask questions in the classroom your hand is almost always raised.  When you are working with other kids I’ve noticed that you are the one who comes up with unique ideas or are often the first to share.  You frequently come to me with ideas about our classroom or things you’d like to try outside of school.  This is a true talent and gift that will make you very successful both inside and outside of school because you come up with ideas that others may have never thought of before.  I’d like to use your unique talent in our classroom more.  Here are some ideas I have…What do you think?  Do you have more?”  

Just like in a literacy or math conference, name the observation and then give examples to the student of this trait.  By sharing the native genius with the student he or she is more likely to focus on this talent and use it more often in the classroom and beyond.  

The next thing I would do is incorporate ways to enhance students’ native genius into my planning.  If I’ve got a classroom of students who thrive on creativity then I want to plan lessons that are going to give opportunities for that genius to flourish.  Many times the answer will be obvious like offering choice in how students demonstrate mastery with creative options.  Sometimes though the creative answer is not always apparent to us as educators because that may not be our native genius.  This is an opportunity to ask the students how they would incorporate creativity into the lesson.  The more we give students opportunities to contribute, the more not only their talents will grow, but the ideas that we have for future practice will increase as well.

Planning for small groups or partnerships is another way that strategically planning with the students’ native genius is a benefit.  When planning for small group collaboration I might put students together who have very different strengths, but together would create a much better synergy than if they had worked in a homogeneous group.  For example, in a group of four, I’d look to have a leader, an organizer, a creative student and a student who is incredibly kind.  Depending on the type of work I might also put an Idea Generator, a Tech Guru, and a Creative Artist together.  At the end of the collaboration, I would have students reflect on what worked well, what they learned from the other students and what they might want to try to emulate.  I would use this information to plan for future groups.  

The final action I would take is to create something called, “Mastermind Groups” in my classroom.  These groups would be comprised of students with similar talents.  They would meet once a week and get to work on the things they loved most together.  It would kind of be similar to a passion project or genius hour, but with a group of like-minded individuals who could push one another due to their similar strengths.  I might also use this time as a brainstorming session with students to get more of their ideas of how our classroom could be enhanced by posing questions like the following?

• When is learning best for you in my classroom?  
• What problems do you see in our classroom or school?  How do you recommend we solve those problems?
• What suggestions do you have for making learning better in our classroom?

The ideas and feedback could then be incorporated into future planning for learning experiences or classroom procedures.

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The actual title of Chapter 2 in Multipliers is The Talent Magnet.  I have relistened to this chapter on my way to and from work probably 3 to 4 times, each time grasping something new.  Essentially, great leaders who are Talent Magnets draw talented people to them because they not only recognize the talent in others, but are able to take that talent and increase it exponentially.  

The longer I am in education the more I realize that it’s not the standards or content that is the most important thing, it’s the relationships I build with students and the way that I help them to grow and become the best possible version of themselves.  The role of the teacher (as well as leaders) is truly one of a Talent Magnet. 

“Multipliers not only access people’s current capability, they stretch it. They get more from people than they knew they had to give. People reported actually getting smarter around Multipliers. The implication is that intelligence itself can grow.” – Liz Wiseman, Greg McKeown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Data Review – A Little Less Talk, a Lot More Action

Data.  It’s a four letter word.  Especially in education.

It has been argued by many to play a pivotal role in increasing student growth.  The four key PLC questions from DuFour are centered around it.  Even Danielson includes it as part of Domains, 1, 3 & 4 of the teacher evaluation rubric.

And yet, when many educators hear that it’s time for a data review meeting they either cringe, cry, or circle up their friends to plan out who’s bringing what treats to get through the agonizing process.

So what’s wrong with data?  Specifically, what’s wrong with data review and why does it get such a bad rap?  More importantly, what can we do about it?

Problem #1 We Don’t Engage All Stakeholders

When I was a teacher I remember being invited to countless data review meetings where the reading specialists would project graphs of student growth (or lack of) using something called AIMSWEB.  We would painstakingly go through each student with the specialists all sharing their insights. Periodically I would be asked for feedback on my students, but in the end the decision would be made to change some sort of intervention that I was not involved in by the other “experts” in the room. 

I sincerely hated those meetings.  I became an expert head nodder at those meetings.  Most of the time I was dreaming about what I would eat for, let’s be honest, any meal, or thinking about which member I would take from my favorite boy bands to form the greatest band of all time.  (This is way trickier than you think.  You need at least one bad boy which means you can’t just take ALL the cute ones.)

From start to finish, each stakeholder, from educator to specialist needs to be both an active creator and participant in the process and beyond.  The reason why data review has gotten such a bad name is that many educators, like myself, have experienced it as something being done to them as opposed to the collaborative process that it should be.  No one ever explained to me WHY we were having these meetings or what the expected outcomes were.  No one ever asked me what data I thought would be meaningful to look at or even to bring data with me.  I was simply told I had a substitute and was to show up to these monthly data meetings.  They were supposed to be these all important events, but I usually left them wanting two hours of my life back and needing a coffee.

Problem #2 We Never Get Anywhere

When I was an instructional coach one of the big parts of my role was Data Coach.  I ran data review meetings, helped teachers to look at formative classroom data, and facilitated discussions in PLC’s.  DATA was a four-letter word regularly used in my vocabulary.  And (gulp), I liked it.

“Here’s What, So What, Now What” was my jam.  We used it to evaluate everything from exit slips to Fountas & Pinnell assessments to reading responses and everything in between.  The feedback that I got was positive from the teachers I worked with.  It was a well-organized way to present the data (Here’s What), talk about causes (So What) and then come up with a plan of what we were going to do about it (Now What).

Unfortunately, as I have been reflecting upon this protocol in preparation for some data review with my current staff I have come to realize that there are some serious flaws in the way we used this protocol. 

Wait, what?  Did I just say the mack daddy of data protocols is all wrong?

Yep.  I did.

Here’s why.  I’m a control freak.  And I broke it.

Yep.  I’m a control freak.  Ok, recovering control freak.  Back in the hard core CF days I thought we needed a list of guiding questions, as well as categories of students, to look at when talking about data.  I needed a predictable structure that would get us from point A to point B to point C each time.  I mean how would teachers know what to talk about if I (God of Data) didn’t guide them step by step each time through the process? 

Recovering CF me realizes how incredibly idiotic this was for two reasons:  

1.  See Problem #1
2. There are so many questions and levels of students to talk about that we rarely made it to the Now What (THE MOST IMPORTANT PART) in a 45 minute PLC time and would have to continue to the next meeting

Although we had some GREAT conversations about students using this protocol I have to imagine that my staff walked away feeling frustrated when we had to wait a week to get to the action plan or meet at another time after school to finish it.  Without action, data review is just a pretty little template with some glorious notes about our thoughts, but no real impact on student learning.

Here’s What, So What, Now What is still a great protocol, it just needs to be simplified.  Don’t try to look at all the subgroups at one time.  Select the group that is most meaningful for your team to talk about and only use it for that group.  Select a few questions to focus on during your conversation.  Doing “All the Things” is not productive when discussing data.

Problem #3 Meaningless Data

Problem number three could be argued to be a large part of number one.  

Many times we are asked to analyze data that is not very meaningful because the data has gone well past its expiration date.  Standardized tests like PARCC or IAR or whatever it’s being called this year are thought to be important data to analyze because often our school success is judged by this benchmark.  However, when it comes six months into the following year it’s hard to find any correlation between the results and current teaching practices.  The kids have grown.  Our teaching has changed.  Nothing is the same.  It’s hard to have buy-in to discuss something that is related to something so far in the past.  

Another way that data can be meaningless is when it doesn’t match our strategic outcomes for students.  If we are saying that as a school we are trying to foster collaboration, creativity, communication and any of the other six C’s, then it is difficult to make the argument that we should spend hours analyzing a multiple choice test or any other form of assessment that doesn’t show evidence of those indicators.   If data is going to be meaningful for analysis it has to match with our intended outcomes.

Other times it really does go back to Problem #1.  If we don’t explain the why or ask for the feedback of everyone involved in selecting data to analyze then there ultimately will be little impact on students. We have to move beyond the idea that data review has to involve fancy charts, graphs or percentages.  Coming from a business background, I love me a big fancy spreadsheet with a pie chart or bar graph involved, but if we never move beyond simply looking at numbers data review is going to continue to lack meaning for many.

My So What

In order to combat the full fledged groans that usually commence at the mention of the word data we have to simplify the process.  Let’s stop making it this mystical thing that requires elaborate templates and official numbers. The whole point of looking at data is to cause growth in students.  The best way to do this is to select meaningful evidence that will help us to make instructional decisions that we can act on. 

That being said, I don’t have all the answers (yet), but here’s where I’m currently at:

1.  Select a facilitator.  Have this person engage all stakeholders prior to the meeting about an area they see a need to talk about. 
2. Decide on some evidence (data) that would demonstrate this need. (exit slip, writing sample, conferring notes etc.) 
3.  Decide on how you will be assessing the data prior to the meeting as a team and come to the meeting with it already “graded.” (Note:  This is not extra work.  This is simply assessing something you would already authentically be doing or have done.)
4. At the meeting answer the following questions:
   1. What does this evidence tell us about our students?  What did they do well? What did they struggle with? 
   2. How could we build on their strengths to create success? 
   3. What action steps do we need to take so that each student will grow?
   4. What questions do we still have?
   5. Create a plan of action with a follow-up date included.

Albert Einstein allegedly once said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” To me this means that we need to simplify the process, but not the thinking involved in looking at student data.  It is my hope that through several iterations and feedback from my team we are able to further refine these processes and get to the heart of what will move all students forward.

Christina

 

 

Teaching Like a Coach – Part One

I’ve had a lot of great conversations since starting this blog about teaching and coaching and how the two are intertwined.  Two of the questions that have come up a lot are 

How do you ACTUALLY teach like a coach? 

What does that look like in real practice?  

This has gotten me to reflect about my own practice in a variety of roles in education as well as how for many of us, our schooling did not prepare us for teaching this way.  As many of you are doing your own reflecting and planning over Winter Break for changes and refinements you want to make in 2019, I thought that a series of posts dedicated to answering these two questions would be timely and hopefully useful. 🙂

It All Starts With…

Knowing your team.  I’m not going to try to pretend that I am the greatest basketball fan of all time, but I’ve learned a lot from Phil Jackson’s leadership philosophies via Dr. Marc Pinto.  He was a hockey coach and geneticist turned chiropractor whom I would have the most amazing conversations at our weekly appointments.  Dr. Pinto had read Phil Jackson’s books cover to cover hundreds of times and no matter what we were discussing his philosophies seemed to always creep into our conversation, especially when I was applying for the learning support coach position in Naperville.  One of the quotes from his book 11 Rings: The Soul of Success that really resonates with being a coach in the classroom is: 

“My approach was always to relate to each player as a whole person, not just a cog in the basketball machine. That meant pushing him to discover what distinct qualities he could bring to the game beyond taking shots and making passes. How much courage did he have? Or resilience? What about character under fire? Many players I’ve coached didn’t look special on paper, but in the process of creating a role for themselves they grew into formidable champions.” – Phil Jackson

I love that Phil Jackson’s goal wasn’t just to create amazing basketball players, it was to build on the strengths of his players overall and in that action he created a dynasty.  Our main job as educators is to help learners to know their strengths, develop their passions and help them to develop new abilities that sometimes feel outside their grasp.  In order to be effective at this you have to essentially know your team inside and out.   

Deciding what skills you will be looking for is a critical first step.  There are so many options that it is easy to get stuck here, weighing the options.  If the thought of that is already making your head spin, here are some ideas to start with:

1.  The 6 C’s – Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Creativity, Character, Citizenship

This is helpful for:  Promoting more global skills in your students that will transfer to a variety of contexts, subjects, and ages.

Something to think about:  Because these are broad skills you might want to have a conversation with others or your PLC about what each of these look like at the age of students you teach to create a specific definition of each.

2.  The Standards – The Common Core State Standards (CCSS), Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), College, Career & Civic Life (C3), ISTE Standards for Students

This is helpful for:  Collecting information that is more related to academic achievement in different subject areas (with the exception of the ISTE standards that are more global like the 6C’s)

Something to think about:  If your school uses standards based reporting, this is a great place to start.  Because the standards are vast, it might be good to see how the broader ideas from each of the subject standards are connected.  This document from NGSS does a nice job of making this connection already.

3.  Student Interests & Passions – This one is pretty self-explanatory.  You are collecting information on things your students are interested in, especially the topics they are passionate about!  These interests and passions are often strengths we overlook because they may not be subjects we teach in school.

This is helpful for:  Diversifying the definition of what a good student is.  Helping students to be able to name a wide variety of skills they have that aren’t necessarily taught in school, but still incredibly valuable.  Creating engaging lessons connected to your students’ interests and passions.  

Something to think about:  You may find that your students have a broad range of interests and passions.  If you are overwhelmed in how to honor these strengths or incorporate them into the curriculum, ask the students what they think.  I am always blown away by the ideas my students come up with when I can’t seem to find a solution.  

So How Do I Organize All This Stuff?

You probably have your own way of keeping data on your students.  I know I certainly tried it a million different ways as an educator, coach, and now administrator.  What I found was there are basically two different ways you can go about this: individual or whole group.  Regardless, you are going to need a system that works for you, the simpler the better. 

Individual

As an instructional coach I started with OneNote for keeping notes on each of my meetings with teachers and eventually moved to a Google folder per teacher.  If I was back in the classroom I would most likely the Google.  Here’s what I would do:

Idea #1

•  Create a Google form for the data I would like to create.  (Like this one that tracks the 6C’s) 
•  Use the Doc-Appender Add-on so that the data I collected would automatically populate into individual Google folders for each student.  (Here is a video of how to use it if you’re not sure what I’m talking about.) 
  • On a side note, this add-on is amazing because now you have a Google doc for each student that can be shared easily with other teachers working with the student or parents.  It’s great for conferring notes as well. 🙂
• As I was walking around and talking to students use my phone to use the form to quickly jot down notes.

Idea #2

• Create a chart for each student using Google docs like this one.  
• Print out each of these sheets and keep them in binder.  Create a new sheet for each student per week. (Or if you’re not a fan of paper, you could also do something similar with a folder for each student, but this might be difficult to manage as you are walking around throughout the day.)
• Keep the binder with me throughout the day.  As I am noticing strengths, ideas etc. about students jot down a quick note in their tab. 

Benefits of Individual Data:  Great for looking at students as a whole.  Also easy to share with students, parents and other staff members because your forms are per individual student.  

Drawbacks of Individual Data:  When planning for groups or looking for patterns based on the information you have collected you may be doing a lot of flipping back and forth or scrolling to find commonalities.  This can be more time consuming.  However, if you use Idea #1 Google forms will allow you to sort the spreadsheet that the form creates which solves this problem.

Group

Sometimes I found keeping individual data overwhelming and found it easier to keep track of the entire class at one time.   When taking this approach you are having the descriptors at the top of the chart while the student names go down the side of the chart.  Here is an example of what I mean by keeping track of the class’ strengths.   One of the reasons that I like this chart is the ability to write down goals for students directly in the chart so that they are all in one place. (The student can formulate these goals as well)  This makes it easy when you are reflecting at the end of the week for next steps for the following week.

Another way you might do this is by using an old plan book and assigning student names to each box.  You can then use post-its to take notes through-out the week and stick them to the boxes.   

Benefits of Group Data:  All of your data is in one place.  It is easy to create groups and see overall how your class is doing.  You can make plans for next steps without having to look back and forth at individual students.  

Drawbacks of Individual Data:  It takes an extra step to share this data with individuals because you will have to transfer the information to individual forms.  It’s not as easy to see individual progress from week to to week as it is with individual data.

When deciding how to collect your learner data think about your personal preference for collection as well as your purpose.  I would recommend starting small.  Select one type of data you wish to collect and try out different methodologies until you find one that works best for you.  You can then transfer that protocol to the other information you are keeping on your students.  

R-E-F-L-E-C-T

Even if you find the ultimate way to collect information on your students there will never be any impact if you don’t take the time to analyze and reflect upon this data.  You might find that reflecting at the end of each day is better for you or perhaps weekly is more preferable.  Again, it’s your preference, there is no perfect methodology.  Here are some questions to consider when you are reflecting each week.

1. What are patterns I am noticing in my classroom? (passions, interests, strengths, abilities that need strengthening)’
2. Who stood out as a leader? Who struggled?  What is my plan for celebrating or intervening?
3. What lessons should I plan based on this information?  
4. What groupings or partnerships might I plan as a result of the patterns I am noticing? Who might work together best?  

If you are a fan of forms, here is a Google doc with these questions that you can use in your reflection.  Another simple way to reflect is to create a daily list of 3 accomplishments that you would like to achieve by the end of the day based on the observations and patterns you are seeing.  This could be individual or as a class.

It is powerful to share your reflections with students or to even do the reflecting side by side with the student.  Share with them what you have observed and create goals together.  By involving them in the process and citing specifically their talents or skills they need to work on you are empowering them to own the next steps.  

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Recognizing and developing strengths, passions and talents in our students is not something new or revolutionary to education.  It’s what we do with this knowledge that makes the difference, positively affecting students and creating innovation in our schools.  Approaching the classroom as a coach creates a deeper understanding and connection to students because you are purposefully connecting with each student daily and reflecting upon, not what EVERY student should know and be able to do, but what is best for the individual learners.  This creates a classroom culture where students are energized to build on their strengths and empowered to learn in ways they may have thought previously was beyond their grasp.  

Part 2 of this series will be focused on the next step:  instructional practices.  I look forward to hearing your feedback!  Christina

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taking the Time to Be the Difference

If you were to ask me why I got into education I would tell you a simple fact:

I LOVE working with students.  

Seeing their eyes light up when they learn something new.  

Building on their strengths.  

Showing them they can achieve ANYTHING.

Except when I really think about it, I don’t know that ALL of the students I have worked with throughout my career would agree with this description.  The “troublemakers.”  The ones who didn’t fit into my image of what a great student should be.  The ones who talked out of turn too much or didn’t follow the directions or appeared to be completely unmotivated in my class.  What would they say?

Would they agree…

I knew their strengths?

I valued their unique talents?

I BELIEVED IN THEM?

I don’t know.  Some would, but sadly I am pretty sure there are more than a few that would not. 

My short response when they asked a question I had already given the answer to.  The tone in my voice when I told them for what felt like the 800th time to stop interrupting.  The phone calls home to share my concerns of what they were NOT able to do in my classroom.  Classroom interactions focused on my disappointment in their behavior, getting started on work, missing assignments and how if they didn’t change there was not way they could ever be successful in school and beyond.  

Without intending it, these actions told them more than my actual words ever would. 

You are a nuisance.

Your faults are what define you.

I do not value you.

This was incredibly hard for me to reflect on, but I know it’s true.  The worst part is I could have fixed it.  

The Seeds We Sow and the Mark We Leave

When I became an assistant principal one of the things I greatly feared was that my role would primarily be of behavior interventionist.  I had visions of unending days in my office scolding naughty kids, dealing with upset parents and frustrating teachers if I couldn’t fix the problem child in their classroom.  I was pretty terrified.

So I was incredibly grateful last year when I found my role to be more of instructional leader and culture builder than an enforcer of compliance and behavior.  

But then something amazing happened.  I started having more opportunities to work with students who had behavior issues in school.  And it has literally become one of my favorite parts of my job.

Why?  

Simple reason.  We talk.  About anything they want. 

Cars.  Unicorns.  The history of the Ukelele.  How they hate math. Love their brother.  Hate their sister.  Mastering the floss.  Youtube.

I get to know them.  Their strengths.  Their passions.  Their unique qualities.  They teach me stuff.  I teach them stuff.  (Sometimes without them knowing it) 

And yes, we reflect.  We talk about what happened.  Why it happened.  What they will do differently next time.  Why it might be hard to avoid doing whatever it is they did next time, but how they will still vigilantly work to learn from their mistake.  

Instead of seeing them as someone who is disrupting my busy day I see them as a gift.  An opportunity for me to connect.  To Learn.  To Pause.  To help a kid see that even if they made a mistake they are still special, unique, and talented.  School is a good place for them.  They belong here.  They are loved. 

They are not a problem to fix, but an untapped talent with a potential for greatness.  

A Thought

When I was a classroom teacher there were so many pressures and demands of the job that made me feel like I didn’t always have the time it would require to build relationships with my most troubled students.  If we didn’t get through every part of the curriculum each day I was somehow failing as a teacher. 

We tell ourselves things like, If I don’t get through Unit 12 Lesson 9 in math by the end of the year something terrible is going to happen. This students’ behavior isn’t fair to the other kids.  It’s taking away their opportunity to learn.  It sets a bad example.  I need to DO something about it quickly or somehow this behavior will spread like a T Swift album.

I would argue with you the opposite is true.  If we don’t get students to see their unique talents and abilities then we have failed them.  If we don’t make school a place where kids feel connected, develop their passions and leave with a sense of drive and purpose then we are failing society.

Taking the extra time that it may require to build a relationship with a struggling student will actually take up less time in the long run because you will have an advocate in your classroom as opposed to an adversary.   

If you are still struggling with finding the time, I would recommend trying the 2X10 strategy.  I read about it in an ASCD article a few years ago and it has helped many of the teachers I have worked with to build better relationships.  Every day for ten days you take two minutes to share something personal about yourself with that student.  Many times when we ask our troubled students things about themselves they come back with crickets or very little information.  This strategy helps to overcome that barrier and the student starts to see connections with you which opens them up to share more about themselves.  It helps them to see you as a human being as well and not just the daily source of their frustration.  

I promise.  It’s worth it.

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One of the reasons I felt so compelled to share this story this week was because of a new book I started reading by Dr. Brad Gustafson called Reclaiming our Calling:  Hold on to the Heart, Mind, and Hope of Education.  The foreward is actually written by a student who discovered his passion for drawing in Kindergarten.  This talent continued to be fostered throughout his elementary career by everyone in the school to the point where he has connected with published authors and is inspiring others and making a true difference.  His talent for artwork could have been seen as a nuisance or something to be put on the back burner for the curriculum, but it wasn’t. Now this middle schooler is inspiring others and making a difference.  Not gonna lie.  This story brought me to tears.

Let’s make stories like this one the norm as opposed to the exception in school.

Take the time. 

Build relationships.

Discover strengths.

Be the difference.

Thanks for reading.  Christina