What I Learned This Week (Volume 9)

            This week I want to focus on the connections we make and the enduring aspects of our work that continue to shape positive outcomes for our students. As I was completing this post, the horrific events in Newtown, Connecticut unfolded and the words below rang ever more true for me. Such a tragic loss of young lives, and the lives of those who cared for them, can never be comprehended and the impact is far reaching. On some levels the impact of the work of a teacher has never been clearer.

            My youngest daughter has just completed her extended practicum and she is so excited about the work of a teacher and the connections and impact she can have in that role. We have been chatting at various times and it’s a thrill for me as well to see her take on the role of a teacher. All parental bias aside, she is going to be an outstanding addition for a school out there eager to pick up a passionate educator who “gets it”. We had been talking about the end of her thirteen-week stint and how she and her students responded just prior to my leaving for a week of presentations in Woodridge, IL and Raleigh, NC. I told her I wanted to continue the conversation when I got back.

            While in Woodridge, I had the chance to go out for an evening with my host, Greg Wolcott, and was delighted that his Dad, John, was able to join us. John is just one of those people who you warm up to right away and I enjoyed the stories he shared. He’s the kind of guy I would have loved to have as my Dad. The evening disappeared far too quickly. Greg had indicated to his father that I worked with schools on positive culture and relationships. John was generous in acknowledging me in this area and asked about whether he had got it right back when he was a Principal. He told me how he felt it was really important to get to know the kids, their strengths, and how it was easy to avoid challenges this way. He spoke about the importance of relationships as he shared stories. He absolutely “got it right” all those years ago.

After returning to my hotel room, I opened an e-mail from my daughter and she described a rich experience that occurred on her last day with her students. Here’s part of what she shared with me:

In my last week I had an experience that fully validated my teaching philosophy and that I was on the right path. As I have told you my philosophy of teaching is that every child has the ability to learn and succeed and my job as a teacher is to find ways for all students to have success. Children come to us every year from different socioeconomic backgrounds, with different behavior issues, and with unique skills and weaknesses yet regardless of the background of each student they should start the year with a blank slate and with endless possibilities. Along with this I think every child should feel special. If every student feels they are one of the teachers’ favorites then I am doing a good job. There was one boy in my class who was a bit chatty and unfocused at times and might be written off by some as a trouble maker but I had a feeling that his home wasn't perfect so one day after school I took the chance to talk to him and get to know him a bit better. We talked a little bit about his family and about the project he was working on. It seemed like no big deal, and it certainly took no extra effort on my part but I took a moment to listen to him and let him know I cared. I didn't think much of it but on my last day as I was saying goodbye to the students, the young boy gave me a present that was clearly his personal belongings and things that were important to him (a small plastic toy and a piece of wood chewed by a beaver that he had found) and gave me about 8 hugs. It showed me that he knew that I cared about him and I was glad to make that small impact in his life. As a teacher I hope to make every student feel special, and let them know that each and every one of them has limitless potential and even if they don't believe in themselves, I always will.

As a Dad, I am bursting with pride as I read this. As a future colleague, I can’t wait to work alongside this teacher who also “got it right”.

            My final connection to the theme came as I was arriving late to my hotel in Raleigh and checked the messages that had accumulated while I was in transit. Once was from a former student who is now a teacher. Heidi took the time to share her joy at being a teacher and to reach out to me with this message:

I have been following you on Twitter, and have enjoyed what I am reading.  You are doing amazing things! I am a middle school teacher in the Greater Victoria school district, and am loving my job. Anyway, I thought that I would check in and thank you for your work.

It was a great energy boost at that late hour and propelled me through the next two days with a feeling that perhaps I also “got it right” occasionally, and that Heidi definitely has “got it right” as she describes her work.

What I Learned This Week (Volume 8)

            The completion of the move into our new home was interrupted by a trip to Las Vegas, which is not a bad reason to interrupt the unpacking of boxes! Charlie Coleman and I did the U.S. launch of the two-day workshops built around our book Pyramid of Behavior Interventions: Seven Keys to a Positive School Environment and had a great group representing four provinces and seven states.

The workshop re-affirmed for us the critical thrust of the book - behavior and academics are inextricably linked – and we must find a way to focus on both if our students are to have the ongoing level of success they are capable of. As one participant put it:

“It’s hard do the collaborative work of a Professional

Learning Community if your school is struggling

with student behavior and school climate issues”

The notion that we create great lessons for the academic outcomes we expect all students to achieve but only focus on consequences to address lapses in behavior needs to change. In the absence of equally structured and effective lessons for imparting our behavioral expectations with students, we will continue to find ourselves reacting. This rarely leads to effective solutions and often produces “more of the same” in terms of the misbehavior. Students who routinely run the consequence route find ways to get even and their methods are often less sophisticated (graffiti, destruction and damage to property, physical and verbal abuse). They also tend to become more disengaged resulting in increasing time demands on all educators.

            It’s also important for educators to understand that positive behavioral outcomes are the expectation for all students. It’s a mistake to assume that our most capable students always understand the reason behind demonstrating expected behavior. Simply performing the task does not mean understanding the task and may not lead to the task being demonstrated in a time of stress. The riots in Vancouver were an indicator of this as the individuals charged with breaking the law have come from a cross section of society that would mirror the academic range found in most schools. Our work in building a behavior matrix is based on the notion that all students should know the expectations in all settings. Lesson plans for social skills need to be incorporated across the grade and content levels.

            What I learned this week, or had reaffirmed, was the idea that our best hope for moving students, schools, and districts forward lies in effectively altering the outcomes for all students. By co-creating (all staff, all students, all parents and community members) our expectations based on our values, we stand the best chance to generate the types of results students are capable of. And the exciting part is that this really does reflect the best practice of teachers over time. As another participant shared after the two days:

“The beliefs you passed on struck a strong chord with

me and reflect many of my own views on education.

I hope they will make our school a better place.”

I’m certain they will!

What I Learned This Week (Volume 7)

            There has been a bit of a gap since I last posted in this series, based on a hectic travel and writing schedule coupled with moving to a new house. Of course, this has also provided some great learning opportunities and here are the highlights.

            George Couros has become a “go-to” colleague for things related to leadership with a technology twist. I have no doubt that George would be an excellent leader without any technology but he has taken the new tools and used them in a way that enhances his leadership. And he’s willing to share. His idea to create a MOOC (massive open online course) and invite colleagues to facilitate one of the leadership sessions has proven to be a hit. I was both excited and apprehensive to lead one of the sessions. The hour seemed to race by fueled by the excellent moderating of Chris Wejr and awesome participation from colleagues across Canada, the United States, and elsewhere. One of the highlights for me was to have a colleague from the Netherlands share what they do to encourage parent support in the school. I always try to get participants engaged in the sessions when I present and was worried about how that might be managed in this new format. Giving folks the microphone and calling on them after they shared some brilliant comments in the chat box provided the solution. I look forward to future opportunities to use this technology or other variations to connect with colleagues at a distance. I also know it’s important for a relationship guy like me to find ways to blend the personal contact that happens when we meet face to face.

            I really enjoyed my two days with the Kainai Board of Education working with all of the teachers and education assistants in developing and enhancing their formative assessment skills. While working with colleagues is always a great learning opportunity, I really appreciated the learning that happened outside of our working time. I was honored to be invited to attend their celebration evening and spent most of the time learning about the history of the Blood Nation and the Blackfoot Confederacy. It was great to meet Chief Charles Weasel Head and to learn of some of the history from Lionel Weasel Head. I feel that I know a lot about the history of Canada but quickly felt inept as I heard the stories of the families that trace their lineage back to a time long before Canada was a thought. I also had the pleasure of seeing students perform during the day and also understand the deep connection to family within the group, as many children were present during the two days of my presentation.

            Moving to a new house always bringing some learning (or perhaps a recurrence of things we should have learned but quickly forgot after the last move!). My wife and I are excited to have a place to call our own after being renters for an extended period of time but on some levels, moving stinks! There was so much to be done and my travel meant an enormous burden for my wife in terms of all of the detail work. Then there was the cleaning of our previous house. Three hours cleaning cobwebs out of a basement we hardly spent time in, was not the deep learning experience I was hoping for, but attention to detail is important in ensuring no web was left behind. Now we’re setting up our new home and looking forward to having our grandchildren come over and play in the new space. I’ve also learned I waited too long to get a hot tub as the evening soaks are awesome!

            I’m off to Las Vegas for the US launch of the two-day workshop built on our Pyramid of Behavior Interventions book. Looking forward to some more learning with colleagues!  

What I Learned This Week (Volume 6)

            I have been enjoying the weekly reflections that are creating these posts and am very appreciative of the feedback received and the time taken by colleagues to check-in each week. Brandon (@AlwaysPrepped) has checked in and asked if I would write a blog for his site using this theme and with a technology angle. The timing could not have been better as my last week had a number of technology moments and served as a great reminder of the potential for so much more learning.

 

            George Couros (@gcouros) started the Leadership 2.0 initiative through Twitter with a stated purpose to create something similar to a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for leadership, He asked colleagues to help provide some of the nine sessions that will be taking place over nine consecutive weeks. Mine is coming up in two Tuesdays with the theme of “Understanding and Responding to the Larger Societal Context”. I’d love to hear from colleagues about their views as I prepare my session. This open, online course is free to anyone who cares to participate and I have found the exchanges to be fascinating and the follow-up to be quite informative. I’m not sure I fully understand (or even remotely understand) the technology behind these Blackboard Collaborate sessions but I am amazed by the capacity they provide, as people from around the world gather to share their views. I have not met most of the facilitators of the sessions but feel like I know lots about them from participating.

            With the amount of travelling I do, I am always looking for ways to stay connected with family, friends, and clients. I enjoy using Skype and iChat to link up and consider them (generally) to be better than the phone of days gone by. As my oldest granddaughter approached her third birthday, I know we will communicate more using this technology. The downside usually happens with some less than satisfactory hotel Internet service (and that’s a column on its own) resulting in a return to the phone connection.

            I also took advantage of iChat to connect with a school in Winnipeg while I was in San Francisco and then back home in Gibsons. We were able to lay out some good plans and then also discovered some flaws with the process, which we will address in time for me to present a session to the entire staff from the comforts of my home office. While I will always prefer the “in person” contact, I have found this approach to be helpful in laying some groundwork for subsequent work when I arrive.

            My final technology connection happened as I spent an extended period of time with my co-author Chris Weber (@Chi_educate) working through a couple of chapters on our next book. I remain in awe of the potential of the tools that allow us to share ideas, graphics, and tools while in the development process. Chris and I may not be in the same room until after the book draft has been completed and that is certainly a 2012 way of creating a book.

            I’m certainly no technophile and am likely more hesitant than most to get the new tools once they are released. I still enjoy the look on students’ faces when I tell them about a significant historical moment I experienced while listening to my transistor radio. Their complete amusement at my description of the small rectangular box I held to my ear while shifting directions to get better reception is a good reminder of the changes that have happened during my career as an educator. I look forward to becoming more technologically literate and am thankful for colleagues who have taken the leap first and are willing to share with reforming Luddites like myself.

What I Learned This Week (Volume 5)

            I spent most of this past week in the United States and was working closely with a middle school staff in Texas. I really enjoy these opportunities as I feel it really adds to my knowledge base and also serves as a reminder that effective practice transcends geographic borders.

            The staff at Richland Middle School is working to create more positive outcomes for their students. We spent time identifying what they value the most and creating a vision and purpose statement for their work. The y drafted a motto, “equity for all”, that accurately captures what they want to be known for. What became clear during this work was how difficult this process can be when everyone becomes fully invested in the process. Each word in their vision had to be internalized and agreed upon by the staff in order for it to be a part of a school-wide belief and a way of doing their fine work. As I mentioned in my post last week, the best vision statements are not about what we do but who we are. The RMS team under the guidance of Dr. LeeAnn Bartee reminded me of this.

            Many schools I have worked with, and the educators that inspire the students that attend them, will share with me their belief that “all kids can learn”. In fact, I can’t recall a time where I encountered someone who didn’t espouse this. The point I’m trying to make is that our actions need to mirror our intentions. If we really believe this, then we will spend our time and effort on ways to actualize this. We’ll steer clear of the time wasting debates about zero as an earned grade or the unfairness of second chances. “All kids can learn” means we’ll do whatever it takes to make that so. Not by lowering our standards but by elevating all students to reach them.

I also learned that I’m not the only one who gets annoyed by the CAPTCHAs that are now on most websites. I’m not sure why these need to be so challenging with wavy lettering, blurry numbers, and lines through them. CAPTCHA is an acronym from Carnegie Mellon University. To complete the obnoxious nature of these, it stands for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart". Bill Ferriter (@plugusin), was equally annoyed by these devices, when he tweeted:

Thinking about buying bifocals so I can actually read the

Captcha codes on people's blogs. ‪#gottatrysomething

I replied with a tweet of my own that summed up my feelings:

These remind me of the worst assessment devices created.

They are designed to confuse and prevent the end goal being reached!

It’s clear to me that the whiz kids at Carnegie Mellon could also design a really ineffective summative assessment. Here’s hoping they don’t enter that line of work!

            Finally, this week proved conclusively that the time on the road (23 days in the last four weeks) is made infinitely better by two factors – the quality of the work (and I have a passion for the topics I share) and the quality of the people I get to work with. The people I spent time with during the day extended their hospitality and shared their company during the after-work hours. Thanks LeeAnn and Chad, Staci and Justin, Nancy, Ann, and Jenn for the extended hours!