Model the Way: Like We Have Ice Water in Our Veins

     As this week comes to a close, we are within 48 hours of teachers and staff being back on campus to open schools for the 2020-21 school year.  As I reflect on the preparation for opening and the upcoming uncertainties we face in education, I’m reminded of Kouzes and Posner’s “The Leadership Challenge” and the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership.  The first exemplary practice is to “Model the Way”, which includes clarifying and setting the example for the rest of the organization.  As we go back next week, it’s important that staff and students see leadership as confident, competent, and calm.  Staff follow the example of leadership, which is basic Social Learning Theory from Bandura.  If leadership goes back and seems anxious or on-edge or quick to react to small things, it will create an unsettledness and possible panic, which will filter down to the students.  This could actually exacerbate the situation and intensify the stress people are feeling and the fear that they have in returning.  If staff see us as calm, competent, confident, and collected there’s a much higher probably of reducing anxiety, which will already be high.  I’m reminded of Tom Osborne, head football coach at Nebraska, and his demeanor on the sidelines in the most stressful situations.  Players and coaches believed in him and had confidence he would lead them in the right direction partly because of how calm and collected he was under pressure. He was described as having the demeanor of an old farmer, who never gets rattled because they’ve weathered plenty of storms and are confident they can weather the next one as well.  

     Next week and the weeks to come will be stressful, staff and students coming back will have much anxiety and stress in returning, parents will be worried and stressed about their children returning, administrators will be worried and probably even fearful to a point.  All these are givens in the uncertainty of the situation we are about to face.  We also need to remember that administrators are both tired and stressed at this point from all the work they’ve done the past few weeks to prepare, which often makes our tempers a little shorter and our reactions a little quicker or sharper.  Patience and seeking understanding will be critical to our success.  Sometimes when we know we are about to say or do something that is uncharacteristic of our leadership or evidences the stress we are under, it’s a great time to take a pause and catch our breath before we speak or act.  The reactions of leadership that succumb to stress or pressure can damage or destroy relationships and/or confidence/trust, can disempower people,  weaken instead of strengthening others, create divides or friction, and hinder our progress.   

      When it’s 4^th down and 1 yard to go with no time left on the clock and you’re going for the win on the last play of the game, players and coaches want a quarterback that steps into the huddle and leads with ice water in his veins because he’s so cool and collected and confident in the most stressful situations .  The last thing the team needs is a quarterback or coach that’s rattled or shows signs of cracking under pressure or creates more fear and anxiety because this will spread to the rest of the team.  I think about Franklin Roosevelt’s “fireside chats” of the 1930s and Winston Churchill’s speeches in World War II and how they brought calm, collectedness, and resolve to a tremendously stressful and challenging situation.  It’s also important to realize the impact of leadership around you and their influence on you.  Do they create a calm confidence, exude competence, deliver with honesty that builds trust, and treat others like they would want to be treated?  Do they handle things that take stress off of you or do they shift the monkey to create more stress and pressure on you?  Depending on the things they do and their attitudes/actions, you might not have the right people on the bus with you that can help you win.  Stress and pressure isn't necessarily a bad thing, they're often required to help us find the weak link in the chain or magnify a weakness or crack in the armor.  Even in the medical field of cardiology, stress tests are required to show where there's a blockage or weakness.  We need to be that quarterback and coach that steps in and gives the play call with confidence and tells our team we are going to find a way to win.  Whether you like it or not, modeling the way is part of leadership and you are the person the rest of the team will look to and follow.  Remember that while stress and pressure can break some people, they can also create a diamond that shines bright!

“Sit and Get” Don’t Grow Dendrites: It’s Time for a Fundamental Shift From Focusing on Teaching to Focusing on Student Learning

Students in today's classrooms learn very differently than the way most of the people teaching them were taught.  Students today need and want to be actively engaged for effective learning to take place.  The fundamental shift has to be from a focus on teaching and what is the teacher doing to a focus on student learning and the impact each activity and action in the classroom has on student learning. 

For many decades, observations and the assessment of school classrooms were on the actions of the teacher: “The Sage on The Stage” with long lectures and possibly note taking.  Brain research contradicts this approach as being the most effective.  Research tells us that the person doing the work is the one doing the learning.  In many classrooms that person doing all of the work is the teacher, it shouldn’t be. If we are still doing lecture and having students take copious notes, which muscles are we really exercising?  and what’s the impact on student learning?  Contrary to what people think, the brain can’t really multi-task either, so we can’t 100% concentrate on listening to a lecture and taking notes at the same time.  A more effective way to do this activity would be to listen intently for short periods (1-2 mins.) and then do a quick write to process and review what was just said. Then the student and/or teacher needs to review or use that content one more time before the brain will comprehend and retain because three is the minimum number of times something must be taught before brain research tells us the brain will retain.  Doing those things and in those ways are grounded in brain research and the way that all brains learn more efficiently.  21^st Century Learners’ greatest retention rates come from reciprocal teaching, collaboration and classroom talk, creation and project-based tasks, inquiry and problem-based approaches, learning by doing….activities where they are actively engaged. 

One of the best solutions to classroom management problems is to have a classroom where students are engaged, one of the best ways to reduce tardies and students skipping class is to have a classroom where students want to come to learn, and one of the best ways to increase student achievement and reduce discipline is to have a classroom that’s fun.  Wouldn’t everyone learn more if instruction was both rigorous and relevant, including an element of fun and enjoyment with learning?  Everyday students and teachers should be greeted, should hear something positive, and laugh and/or smile.  Research tells us that it takes 47 facial muscles to frown and only 13 to smile, laughing reduces endorphins and chemicals in the body that reduce stress, your body can’t tell the difference in genuine laughter and fake laughter so either way it helps reduce stress, and reducing stress not only helps you to live longer but also makes a learning environment more effective.

The pandemic and reopening of schools is an excellent opportunity to reinvent and redesign learning through shifting our focus to student learning instead of teacher actions.  The most important part of teacher actions are the impacts they have on student learning.  The transition to virtual or blended learning shifts the focus to the teacher as a content creator and facilitator of learning.  By nature, assessments will be more authentic and both scaffolded and differentiated.  This will change the focus to a priority towards learning and mastery of standards with multiple methods of students being able to demonstrate their learning and have a self-reported grading or assessment approach.  The title I chose for this post was “Sit & Get” Don’t Grow Dendrites, based on Dr. Marcia’s Tate’s research on student engagement and brain-based learning.  It’s fact that worksheets and lower order activities aren’t the answer to increasing student achievement.  If students can do the worksheets they don’t need them, they need to accelerate and move forward.  If students can’t do the worksheets it won’t help them anyway.  Yet, many teachers think students filling in worksheets qualifies as learning.  If you look at student achievement rates nation-wide and especially in classrooms driven by worksheets and “sit and get” instruction, you’d have to borrow a line from Dr. Phil and ask “How’s that working for you?  Has it every really worked for you?”  

Research demonstrates that schools with high levels of music and arts are also the most academically successful.  Why?....Because those schools engage both hemispheres of the brain in learning, decades of brain research and data on student performance fully supports this approach. The pressing questions is….why don’t all classrooms in all schools do that?  Learning isn’t complicated, but it’s both an art and a science.  Great teachers know how to use both the art and science of teaching and learning to make learning rigorous, relevant, and most importantly FUN!  It’s not a revolutionary concept, but it works!

         Obstacles or opportunities.....it's up to us! As we enter the 2020-21 school year, we need to embrace the opportunities that we have as educators to work with children and impact future generations.  We need to create a safe, supportive, engaging, and fun learning environment.  With all of the school choice options, we are lucky that students and parents choose us for their education.  Without students, they wouldn’t need teachers, principals, or schools.  It should’ve always been about students and their learning, never about adults and what’s easiest for the adults in the building!  Let’s remember who our customers are and focus on service with gratitude in creating an engaging and fun learning environment for ALL students! 

Do Your Job - Make Decisions Based on Your Best

          This sounds like the simplest advice for everyone in a school or any organization.  To some teachers and/or staff this sounds offensive.  We sometimes get too complex and education is no different with all of our educational jargon and sophisticated lingo.  But the process of winning, as an organization, is so simple if everyone will just do their job.  When someone doesn't do their job, what they are really doing is making it harder on their co-worker or colleague.  A teacher that wants to be "cool" by letting kids come in class late, or leave early, or not work from bell to bell, or not have high expectations consistently and constantly......is simply making it tougher for the teacher next to them and the teacher down the hall to do their job in upholding expectations.  We have simple "Non-Negotiable" expectations like teaching from bell to bell, the 10-min rule, have a lesson plan everyday for instruction, etc. that are actually designed to prioritize instructional time and make life better for everyone.  What most people fail to realize are that these expectations are the minimum requirements for everyone and designed to make it more effective for everyone by providing continuity and consistency.  

          One of the things you learn in educational leadership is to treat every teacher like they're your best teacher and to make decisions around your best teachers.  The one thing that frustrates your best teachers is someone next to them not doing their job or not pulling their weight, and being allowed to do that by administration or peers.  This is part of the culture of a successful school in high expectations from and for all in the building so that everyone in the school is actually working on the school's goals.  High achievers don't like mediocre people and mediocre people can't stand high achievers.  Do your expectations promote high achievers or allow mediocrity?  Does the culture of the school have high expectations or is being "okay" acceptable?  Good has always been the enemy of great.  An example for a principal is when a teacher comes to complain about a student and your response shows if you really treat ALL teachers like your best.  When the teacher talks about a student not turning something in or not working in class, do you allow them to shift the monkey by handling it for them or do you say "you ought to call a parent"? Or do you treat them like your best teachers in asking "what did the parent say when you called them" because we all know the best teachers would've always called parents first and taken every step possible before a referral to administration? When a student is out of class during an unauthorized time, do you take them back to the class and ask the teacher for a discipline referral for skipping because the best teachers wouldn't allow students to leave their class during unauthorized time, especially without a note?  Have you ever noticed, as an administrator, that the teachers in a staff meeting that are the most vocal and complain the most are usually the ones doing the least to reach the school's goals or the most ineffective?  This is because the best teachers have all of these things under control and they wouldn't complain anyway because their goal isn't to try to make it easy for them but always doing what is best for kids.  Why should administrators always get input from their best teachers prior to decisions, or at least as much as possible?  Because your best teachers always make their decisions around what's best for kids, kids are always the top priority to them. 

         It's amazing what schools and organizations can achieve if everyone simply does their job!  It's really not rocket science, an organization can be great if everyone will "just do your job"!

The Power of Belief - Collective Efficacy

Belief is a powerful factor in achieving any goal, in an situation, and in any organization. Collective efficacy in a school is the perception of teachers that the faculty as a whole can execute courses of action required to positively impact student achievement....in short, the school sees itself as an effective agent of change. Every great outcome starts with a belief. Research demonstrates collective efficacy in a school has the highest effect size in increasing student achievement. As an educational leader, do you believe in yourself and your team? Do you truly believe that you and your team can positively impact every child every day in your school? Doesn't every child that walks through our doors deserve to have teachers, staff, and administrators that believe in them and believe in themselves to achieve greatness? Does your school (people in the school) believe they are truly effective agents of change for every child every day?

What It's About!

We've spent a good deal of time this summer, as principals, examining our mission and vision with looking at what, how, and why.  I know a good number of staff always wondered "What's this about?" with requiring lesson plans a week in  advance, instructional feedback, Monday morning staff meetings before school, instructional PLCs, increasing the level of structure in school to protect instructional times, strict finance policies and guidelines, and always seeming to want to raise expectations.  In reflecting and reviewing material for the upcoming school year, I ran across something my brother Toby, who is a far better principal and leader than me, did with his staff several years ago.  I couldn't echo his sentiments any better in answering the question of "What It's About", but did add a couple of things to it that would resonate with staff.  This is what I plan to share with our staff at the close of our opening staff meeting for 2020-21 that gives them my reply to the question I'm sure they often had last year and explains the "why" of our expectations for the upcoming school year!

You Can't Cheat the Process

For several weeks there has been a great deal of debate and speculation about returning to school and the end-of-course standardized testing and assessment protocols for this school year.  The AccelerateEd committee for opening schools recommended that we waive the standardized testing requirements for this school year and yesterday the South Carolina Senate voted to forego standardized testing for this school year.  Many people have asked what we will do without testing and how this will change our work, like we won the lottery or a free pass for the school year.  My reply to this type of question is simple...we are going to not only do what we always do, but we will work harder than ever because our focus is on the process and not the outcome because we believe the outcome takes care of itself when we focus on mastering each part of the process  in providing students the best possible education in a safe environment. 

The things we’ve done that have raised test data tremendously is simply effective best practices and personalizing learning to help each child grow and perform at their best.  Our focus is on the process each day.  Coming from a coaching background, I’ve always been a believer in focusing on the things we control and giving our all to each part of the process of preparation.  In his book, “They Call Me Coach”, John Wooden said that he never talked about winning with his players.  He always focused on proper technique, effort, conditioning, and teamwork.  He believed if you prepared properly, winning would take care of itself.  In his book “Faith in the Game”, Tom Osborne said his Nebraska football teams focused on the process in making sure they did everything they could to give them the best chance to be successful and each player playing to their maximum ability and as a team.  Osborne saw winning as a by-product of sound preparation.  Vince Lombardi conducted an entire coaching clinic around one play, for an entire day, over eight straight hours on the Packer Sweep.  Every detail down to each step every player took, where their eyes should be focused, the angles of every movement, what they should anticipate, where the play should be run and the sill to run to daylight. In his book “Finding the Winning Edge”, Bill Walsh says that confidence is found in preparation.  Some of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time, Joe Montana and Steve Young, describe Bill Walsh’s West Coast Offense like a choreographed dance or ballet where every intricate detail of every step and movement is calculated and taught for every player on the field to have perfect timing and placement.  The focus is on the process and not the outcome, the results take care of themselves when we focus on doing the process to the best of our ability.    

As a coach, we wanted to emphasize with our players is how they play the game – the process of preparation, the effort they display during the game, the attitude they carry on the field.  These are all things that we can control and that reflect on the process of athletics and also in the process of education.  Many times the end result – the win or the loss – we cannot control.  It may hinge on the bounce of the football, it may depend on who has the better athletes, it may depend on an official’s call or could depend on how a child feels on the morning of testing. .    As we move into the new school year and the much anticipated return to school from the coronavirus pandemic, not only should we do all of the best practice instruction strategies and a multi-tiered system of supports, but we should be even more intricate and detailed in our planning…..both instructionally and for the safety of our students!  We will ensure our curriculum is aligned and blend standards for multiple exposures more than ever.  We will integrate technology and have a more detailed plan for remote learning than ever.  We are going to prepare for social distancing and cleanliness procedures more than ever.  In classrooms, our focus will be on our high impact instructional strategies that are best practice in every classroom to include: Clear Learning Goals, Instructional Pacing, Explicit Teaching/Questioning, Data Motivated Instruction, Cumulative Daily Review, Classroom Discourse, Literacy Across the Curriculum, Formative Assessments, and Reflective Practice.  As a team, we are going to create a system of peer feedback and a culture of collaborative support in becoming masters of our profession.  These are all parts of the process of effective and high-performing schools.  This is our focus, the outcome will take care of itself with our without a standardized test.  Providing our students with the best possible instructional experience is what we must be committed to....regardless of the format when we return to school.    

Ultimately, we have to look in the mirror and answer to ourselves about our dedication to mastering each part of the process.  Is our curriculum aligned and integrated, blended, and differentiated to reach each student?  Do we implement a common instructional framework of best practice instructional strategies in every classroom every day?  Do we focus on the most highly impactful instructional strategies for students’ success?  Do we have a plan in place and utilize this plan to make sure our classroom assessments are planned, predictive, and have a plan to remediate with students as needed?  Are our instructional practices equitable and not just equal so that it fits each child?  Do principals, as instructional leaders, practice what they preach with high instructional expectations and does their practice reflect this priority?  Do we integrate technology effectively and have a detailed plan in place for remote learning if needed?  Have we embraced the transition to technology based instruction to give our students the opportunity to learn during a pandemic?  Do was have a community of instructional learning to support teacher growth in a safe setting? Does our professional development align to instructional expectations and follow up with support and guidance for continued growth and improvement?   Does the culture of our school support teachers?  Is the best interest of students prioritized over what’s easiest for the adults in school?  We must be committed in our culture and leadership actions that “You Can’t Cheat the Process” to be successful and outcomes will take care of themselves, no matter whether we test or not, as we focus on mastery, personalizing education, and creating a safe environment for learning. 

Pyramid of Success - John Wooden

John Wooden's "Pyramid of Success" - 12 Lessons in Leadership

"Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable." 

More Than Winning

       What constitutes "winning" in education?  Winning, in terms of meeting certain levels of proficiency, doesn't necessarily constitute "winning."  Our goal and focus has changed to be centered around growth for ALL children and helping ALL children reach their maximum potential.  As a former coach, winning was great but we always wanted to measure our success by how well our kids played, how close to their potential they played, and how well they played together.  There were some games that we won where we played awful and somehow won because our players were simply that much more talented than the other team.  If you viewed a win as the total measurement of success, you had a false indication of our performance.  It's a given that many of the children sitting in our classrooms won't meet designated local, state, or federal standards for proficiency no matter how well we align curriculum, facilitate instruction, provide tiered interventions based on formative and summative data, address basic needs both physically and social/emotionally, and go above and beyond to give them the best possible learning experience we are able.  We don't control the level each child comes to us, but we have a profound impact on their growth each year.  We control our preparation and organization, the way we tier instructional support to meet each child's needs, the multi-tiered system of supports we have in place to address all needs including social and emotional needs, and the culture and climate of our schools.  
       Education has to be about more than "winning," as often outlined or measured by proficiency score assessments of students/teachers for accountability purposes.  Every child is far more than a test score and parents have trusted us with their most prized possession, their child, to educate to the greatest extent possible and prepare for success after their school years. Contrary to many teachers' belief each parent sends us the best child they have, there isn't a better child locked up in a closet at home.  And we all know our most challenging students will never miss a day of school, but those are the students that need us the most and that bring a sense of joy to us most when they are successful despite so many obstacles and challenges.  "More than winning" means we truly believe in selfless service and do everything we possibly can to help ALL children. Each child's growth and success is our success, just as their failure is also ours.  

        Did we fail if we only had 60% of our students "pass" the end of course test, even though the projection data showed we had 40% projected to pass?  Did we fail if a student was sick on the morning of testing and didn't score well after a year of excellent preparation?  Did we fail if a student scored a single point below their projected score?  Our biggest failure would be if we cheated the process and didn't prepare each principal, teacher, and student for success at the maximum of their capabilities.  Our greatest success is in the preparation, organization, facilitation, differentiation, assessment, remediation or acceleration, and relationships we build with students.  Rita Pierson said "No significant learning takes place without first a significant relationship."  Touch a heart, touch a mind, when students know you care and are prepared you'll win all the time.  “More than Winning” in administration means that all of our decisions are not based on what’s easiest for adults and are ultimately driven by what’s best for kids!  The attitude, character, and dedication to preparation will ultimately lead to success.  It simply means giving everything we possibly can to help our schools and students be successful.  
                Even if we "win", there's "More Than Winning" in our profession.  If the end goal or "winning" is a set score or level of proficiency, it's human nature to do "enough" to reach our goal.  What could the results have been if our true goal meant "More Than Winning" and focused on helping every child reach their maximum potential? When we focus on the process and are truly dedicated in our preparation, the end results will take care of themselves with scores and growth.  The relationships will last a lifetime and the sense of self-satisfaction in knowing we did everything we could for our children, every possible thing without leaving a single regret or doubt, let's us know we are committed to "More Than Winning!"  

What's Your "Why"?

Simon Sinek - "Start With Why": How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

Without A Playbook: The Certainty of Uncertainty

      It's ironic that the first post in "The Principal's Playbook" blog is titled "Without a Playbook."  Over the past several months, we've faced challenges and adversity that we never imagined or fathomed would bring much of our educational world to an abrupt halt or at least a sputtering pace.  Educators don't have a playbook or game plan prepared in advance for this type of situation.  However, we have a wonderful opportunity to add a new chapter to our playbooks and a new wealth of knowledge and experience to our repertoire.  Even without a playbook or game plan, it was amazing to see the collective work of our dedicated team come together for our children.  Within hours of schools shutting down we had a plan in place to make sure meals started immediately to ensure our students' basic needs were met, our instructional teams designed and implemented learning packets and eLearning resources within days to ensure the continuity of instruction, we found ways to provide wifi and broadband access to the most remote and rural areas of the school district, we ran buses to drop off food and learning packets/resources to students that didn't have transportation to pick them up from school, we found ways to communicate with our students to make sure they were safe and to provide support for the continuity of instruction.  In the middle of all this, we also found an appreciation for the blessing we have as educators to help children and serve our community, a sense of gratitude from our community and parents for all that teachers and staff do for children, and a very real sense of collective efficacy as a educational community to find a way to be successful for our children.  In some of the eLearning sessions we did through Facebook Live, you could see a renewed sense of passion for helping children and an appreciation for each other when teachers and students communicated live online  Teachers looked forward to seeing their students and were emotional in being able to communicate with them and it reminded us "why" we all chose to be educators. We also saw students that were more excited to see their teachers online through Zoom meetings than any day they were physically present at school and were extremely grateful for their teachers trying so hard for them during this time.  This goes back to one of the most foundational beliefs that "You have to touch a heart before you can ever touch a mind" and "Children don't care how much you know until they know how much you care!"  

      Most people say these are unprecedented times and unchartered waters in education. However, educators have been working with change and overcoming obstacles to reach and teach children since the inception of the profession.  While there are many factors that we aren't able to control and don't have all the answers to, our focus has been on the things within our locust of control. Our mindset during times like these are critical to success.  The great thing is that we have the choice in how we think, what we communicate, and our actions during this time.  This might actually be an opportunity to reinvent the way we facilitate instruction, a period of time available for planning for instruction that we've always dreamed of and a luxury we've never had before, and a revelation about our true character and dedication to the work in the profession that trains all other professions.  Thoughts become words and words become actions.  What are you thoughts about the pandemic, obstacle or opportunity?  Are we prioritizing the use of time and using it purposefully to reflect on our curricular alignment and instructional practices?  Are we willing to think differently and adapt our instructional practices?  Are we using this time to prepare for one of the greatest success stories in the history of education?  Do we truly believe that we, as a team, will find a way to be successful for our children?
      One thing certain about the pandemic and it's effect on education going forward is uncertainty.  We don't fully know when or how we will open schools in the fall, the limitations and restrictions we may face, the comprehensive myriad of safety precautions that need to be taken to protect our students and staff, the logistics operationally or instructionally that must change to meet each child's needs, new or adjusted instructional formats including the level of depth with remote or eLearning, fears from both staff and students returning to school, how arts and athletics will be able to operate, etc.  One certainty that has held the true test of time is the resolve and dedication of principals, teachers, staff, and district office personnel to ensure our children are safe, they learn at a high level and grow exponentially, and the well-being of the whole child is paramount to our practice.  Like a great coach, we will plan and prepare for every possible scenario we might face this fall but we will also adjust our game plan as needed to put our team in the best possible situation to be successful given the variables we will face.  One commitment remains certain above all: Our community, parents, and students can count on our team to collectively do whatever it takes for our children!