Tuesday, August 25, 2015

What should I do first?

If you are a new leader, you might be feeling overwhelmed about all of the things that are on your plate. If you are a turnaround leader, you may be feeling pulled in many directions and feeling like you have many "cooks in the kitchen." I was in your position a year ago. It is exciting, but also very nerve wracking!

As a new leader, you may wonder where to begin because the task is so monumental. There are many resources that can help you - including a very helpful book called The Principal's Guide to the First 100 Days of School by Dr. Shawn Joseph. Here are some important reflections on first steps to take as a school building leader.


  1. Have a clear vision and find a way to communicate it clearly. I made an "elevator speech" to help me articulate my thoughts and ideas in a clear and concise way. 
  2. Establish with your team what you expect to see at the end of year one and use that to set targets for what you would expect to see and how you will get there. For example with culture and climate, if you expected to see a percentage decrease in office discipline referrals and improved student behavior in classrooms based on walk-throughs and observations, plan backwards for what you will need to implement in September to ensure that you will get what you expect. 
  3. Start as you intend to go on - establish regular meetings with your leadership team and follow through on meeting. I meet with my leadership team weekly and we combine leadership development with necessary business.
  4. Set goals for your first 90 days and publish them to your leadership team and teaching staff. We have to hold ourselves accountable and we should expect others to hold us accountable as well. 
  5. Review your data and then meet with children and families to put faces to the numbers. Data is only ever one piece of the puzzle - don't forget to humanize the numbers. 
  6. Inspect what you expect - if you expect all adults to greet children at the door, you will need to walk the building daily and provide feedback when things are not what you expect. 
  7. Celebrate the little things. There will be challenges, but there will also be things to celebrate. No matter how small, remember to appreciate your team and the work that they are doing.
  8. Ask for help. Find a colleague that you trust to ask questions that you have. We established a new principal group text using an app called Group Me. It allowed us to ask and answer questions within the group and it also built relationships between our group.
If you are working with several consultants, you will find it important to organize what you need and expect from your consultants or coaches. It seems like this may be articulated for you, but I found that it was necessary for me to identify what each of my consultants and coaches brought to the table in terms of strengths and align them with the work that we needed to accomplish. When I did that, I stopped feeling like I was being pulled in so many directions by so many outside support systems. When I was able to actually get my consultants to start working together on common goals - we really were able to make some significant gains. 

If you are new to the principalship, congratulations! Being a school leader is the best job in the world, but it certainly comes with a mountain of responsibility and pressure. A colleague of mine from years ago always reminded me that administration is about service. I try to remember that when I start to feel overwhelmed. My role is to serve the teachers, students, and families that are in my school. My vision is for them - not for me. Being a principal is inspirational, stressful, challenging, and fun. Welcome to this amazing journey. 

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Effective Enrichment Programming

Arts. Music. STEAM. Writing. Academics. Project Based Learning. Martial Arts. There are many ideas about what makes an effective enrichment experience for children. How does exposure to the arts or science or music impact student achievement? Some may argue that students who are already academically below level need more academic time, rather than time spent involved in such "extra" activities. I have personally heard the comments like "these kids can't read, they don't need to go to band," or "why are we encouraging them to draw if they can't write?" With so much pressure on kids, teachers, and school leaders to see results in terms of academic achievement, it is understandable that enrichment programming can be seen as "extra" or "unnecessary."

I fully believe in the power of enrichment. There is magic in what happens in classrooms where the arts, hands-on learning experiences, and problem solving experiences are happening. There is a power in understanding how the arts and sciences can compliment one another and can enhance a certain symbiosis of understanding. While I definitely feel the pressure of academic performance, enrichment provides students with what we need more of in our society - the ability to develop soul, creativity, and collaboration.

Gretchen Morgan, in her book Innovative Educators, states that our factory school approach has taught children, and teachers, to be passive (2015). Have we stopped to think about what the skills are that our students will need in order to be college and career ready? Where are those skills in our schools? We must encourage creativity, collaboration, flexibility, problem-solving, and perseverance in our schools if those are the skills that we know our children need to master in order to be successful in their future. Enrichment often provides opportunities to engage in this type of thinking.

But creativity does not flourish without structure. You cannot simply hand children a paintbrush and expect that their state test scores will improve. Creating a culture where creative thinking flourishes, where it is safe to explore ideas, and where failure leads to growth and learning sounds great, but tends to make most educators feel slightly nervous when pushed toward implementation. How do I grade that? How do I assess that? What about the curriculum? These are valid questions, and certainly must be considered by enrichment teachers as well. Enrichment teachers who fail to consider the structured side of teaching end up missing out on powerful connections that exist between creative thinking and critical thinking. We have to teach our students to connect the dots between these ways of thinking - it doesn't just happen magically. Likewise, we have to develop relationships with our colleagues where we can see what will help our students master the skills they will need for their future and not just doing a project for the sake of the project.

So, what does it take to be an effective enrichment program? Here are my beliefs.
  • Collaboration - there simply must be communication and everyone must be on the same page. If someone, at any level, is trying to do their own thing and it doesn't align with what is needed for the kids - it will impact the whole program.
  • Connections - there must be someone in the program who can see the big picture - who "gets it." Without someone who understands both sides of the equation, the program will fee disjointed. There must be someone who can connect the dots between the school curriculum and enrichment curriculum. They have to see the possibilities in both sides as well as the possibilities within the children.
  • Communication - this must happen at all levels. Sometimes outside organizations do not understand the intricacies of schools and sometimes schools just don't get how the organizations can really assist and support them. Teachers can easily become annoyed with enrichment programming that seems unstructured or without purpose. Enrichment staff can feel like they don't belong. Honest communication at all levels has to keep it moving forward.
  • Classroom Management - this is so important because it is that structure piece and it is how teachers live, breathe, and find success. Without classroom management, the greatest ideas will not work. A friend of mine referred to teaching as a "series of episodes" and I have always kept that with me. Like a good television show, your lesson must have a structure in order for the children to stay engaged and involved.
  • Curiosity - isn't this what it is about? Enrichment should not be about "make and take" activities that just keep kids quiet and in their seats. It should be about questioning, creating, developing ideas, having more ideas, trying things, and learning about the way things work. Enrichment of any kind should be about exploring who we are and not about following strict instructions to create a carbon copy of the exemplar. Children should be full of new ideas and ways of thinking as a result of enrichment - not bored, checked out, or disengaged. If the kids don't love it - rethink it. Is it about you or the kids?
We have such an opportunity to change the future with everyday that we teach our children. We need to ensure that we are teaching them the skills that they will need for their future and not for a factory based future that no longer exists. Enrichment is a powerful opportunity for our children. Let's make every moment count. 

Thursday, August 6, 2015

#DETOUR

I have shared a lot about the challenge of managing change in order to keep commitment and momentum high. How do you do that when the rules of the game change mid-stream? How do you make sure that the integrity of the work and direction you are going is not lost in the latest politics or other initiative?

If your work is based in data and research-based approaches that are proven to move students, then you are on the right track. The key, as a leader, is to find how your work aligns with the new initiative or political strategy du jour. When you take the time to see where the connections are, you will be able to make connections for someone else.

Leadership does not always mean compliance. It means taking a stand for what you know is right - but that takes more than having a squeaky wheel. You really have to have a solid alternative plan that supports the underlying objectives in order to be heard with alternatives. I like the way that Pam Moran ("Edutopia") refers to "Rule Challengers." http://www.edutopia.org/blog/insight-outsight-catalyze-district-wide-learning-pam-moran Being a rule challenger is not being disrespectful - it is asking thoughtful questions and posing realistic alternatives that align to the goals being presented and the goals you are trying to achieve. Frederick Hess refers to this as "cage-busting leadership." Do you have what it takes to think outside the box and push on the expected or status quo to get where you need to go? Or are you merely implementing the initiatives that someone else has presented to you because it is what is expected?
It can be hard as a new principal to stand up to leadership initiatives or political pressure. But you were chosen to be a leader and if you want to lead, you must lead. You are not in your role to follow, but to lead. Sometimes you must find a compromise between the work you believe is right and the initiative of the day. Whatever you decide to do as a leader, know your staff and your students, know the data that supports your decision, and always do what is right for the students in your building and you will be able to make a case for your solution. Don't get caught in the trap of blaming someone else for the initiatives in your building. If you go with them, they are your own - because you are the leader.

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Musings of a Turnaround Leader

It's August 1. The countdown to a new school year begins. There are so many theories about what makes a successful turnaround school. Is it a longer school day? Is it magnet schools? Is it charter schools? Is it eliminating unions? Is it technology? Is it investing in early childhood education? How do we replicate the work that has been done in other schools successfully? What is the magic bullet that we can say, "do this, and you will improve teaching and learning in your school?"

There isn't a magic bullet. There isn't a "one size fits all answer." If we knew the answer, we wouldn't be where we are in the first place. I do not believe that any teacher actually sets out to do harm to children - to rob them of their future through apathy and low expectations. That happens through a series of complex decisions over time. And as hard as it is to hear, we have been holding children back from reaching their full potential.

I am not an expert in turnaround schools. I just happen to be extremely passionate about turning around the school where I live, and as such, I have a few ideas about what makes a turnaround school actually turn around. The degree to which we experience success - we will save defining that for another post - but let's look at the indicators of culture/climate (this includes safety), academic achievement (both local and state assessment measures), and teacher turnover. My thoughts are not research-based and I didn't have a consultant track data for me. My thoughts on what makes a school turn around are based on my experiences in my building. Yours may be different. That's what makes this work so challenging.


  • The leader has a clear vision and everyone - from the secretaries to the parents to the teachers to the children themselves - knows what the vision is and what it means. (Ours is "Every child. Every day. College and career ready. We connect what we are doing to that vision. If we are doing what every child needs, each and every day, then we are making sure that they will have the skills they need for college or career).
  • The vision connects to targeted goals and those goals are rooted in data. I asked everyone what they wanted to see by the end of year one and then we backwards planned to make sure we had what was necessary to get there. So, if the number one thing was improved behavior and school culture throughout the building (and it was), what did we need to do in September, in October, in January, to make sure that we got there? We did a similar exercise for year two. Culture and climate is still number one - even though it is definitely better, we know that we have work to do to really provide what every child needs every day in terms of behavioral support and intervention.
  • School-wide systems are clear, modeled, practiced, and reinforced. Everyone in the system has agency in holding the expectation high on no more than 5 do's and don'ts. (For us, we had to take a firm stance on being in the hallway without a pass based on the previous culture within the building. Everyone has to uphold that simple expectation and if someone forgets, we must all agree to remind them).
  • The right people have to be on the bus. While a leader cannot hire the way to achievement, having key staff members who can move the vision forward is essential. There is no more important work for a leader than hiring and retaining the right people. That being said, if you don't have the right people, you need to take steps to fix it as soon as possible. Your staff is your classroom as a turnaround leader. They are everything. Develop, support, encourage, and build capacity - but if that doesn't get you where you need to be - do not be afraid of making necessary change.
  • Acknowledge that your team is amazing regularly and in a variety of ways. Build their capacity for leadership. Show off their skills. Brag on them. Know them - like really know them - and what they are able to bring out of kids. My teachers are absolutely amazing. I am in awe of the way they push, challenge, love, question, and give so much each and every day. When I hear a kindergarten teacher asking a student to support a claim with evidence from the text or hear 2nd grade students conferring about their work with depth and understanding or watch a veteran teacher give up lunch or planning to conference with a student - I know that I have something very special. 
  • Celebrate your successes. We challenged our students to read 10,000 hours to support our shift to a culture of readers. We actually thought that they would be able to do that easily - 800 kids - we thought the hours would really add up quickly! By March, we were only at 5,000 hours. Rather than continuing to say "come on and read!," we celebrated the 5,000 hours that they had accomplished by letting students with the most hours throw pie in my face. The kids loved it and it really motivated them to keep working hard. There is always more we can do - celebrate the growth and be specific about what we need to do next to get to the next level.
  • Turning around a school is a bit like starting a business and it is better to know that going in. This school will become your family and the children are your children. My own family, and the families of my team, are regularly at school and they know the children and their successes. It's exhausting. It's draining. And it's so rewarding to know that you are making a difference in the lives of so many.