Keep Calm and #Turnaround!: Focus on the Early Wins

I have spent some time with the Turnaround Leader Competencies - I have even written about them in my blog. This week, I spent some time with some amazing leaders in my district, reviewing these Turnaround Leader Competencies, and I was brought back to "Focusing on the Early Wins." I will admit that I had thought I was past this stage, since I am entering in to year three as a turnaround leader. I was brought back to thinking about the early wins as a way to frame the positive things that are happening in my building - thinking about the early wins as a measurement of our current goals, rather than just as a point on the original path that we started out on.

Here is an outline of what it means to "Focus on a Few Early Wins:" (taken from http://publicimpact.com/web/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Turnaround_Leader_Actions-Public_Impact.pdf )

Focus on a Few Early Wins; Use the Momentum

Collect and analyze data: Successful turnaround leaders are focused, fearless data hounds. Initially, turnaround leaders personally analyze data about the organization’s performance to identify highpriority problems that can be fixed quickly.
Make action plan based on data: Turnaround leaders make an action plan that includes annual goals and major steps, with enough detail that each group in the school community knows specifically what they need to do differently. This allows people to focus on changing what they do, rather than worrying about impending change. Plan should cover years 1 – 3, with more detail for year 1.
Focus on a few early wins in year 1: Successful turnaround leaders choose a few high-priority goals with visible payoffs and use early success to gain momentum. Although limited in scope, these “wins” are high-priority, not peripheral, elements of organization performance, and they are bold in speed and magnitude of change. Early wins are critical for motivating staff and disempowering naysayers.

I thought that we were "past this" point in our turnaround, but when I was challenged to think about the early wins for right now, or for year three, I was suddenly able to see how important it is to frame the early wins in terms of where we are right now.

With that in mind, I will celebrate a few of the early wins in our turnaround. We are currently implementing a thematic, project-based summer program for our students. Students were able to select their theme (from options like I, Robot, Outdoor Explorers, Designing the Future, or CSI: Classroom Science Investigators). We are working with our enrichment partner so that everything we are doing is aligned to the theme. Our students are having so much fun learning! One student actually said to her teacher "When are we going to do math?" after they had finished a hands on activity where they were measuring perimeter and area. This is what we want for our children! To be so engaged in learning activities that they are not even aware that they are learning! I am so proud to be leading a team of teachers who believe in the power of hands-on and minds-on learning for our students.