Minute Meetings: Giving Students a Voice to Improve School Culture

 Originally posted on the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Shaped blog.

This blog post is part of a series on how school leaders can become instructional change agents. In last week’s post, Adam Drummond offered insight into how education leaders can serve as instructional change agents. 

When was the last time you intentionally talked to a student about his or her learning? How did that conversation go? What did you do as a result of the feedback you received? With whom did you share that information? How does the student voice impact your culture?

Research tells us that when we include students in decisions, we save time, energy, and resources.
ked to a student about his or her learning? How did that conversation go? What did you do as a result of the feedback you received? With whom did you share that information? How does the student voice impact your culture?

See more here:

To learn more about improving school culture and acting for impact in your district, join Adam Drummond, Author for ICLE, and learn his new book, The Instructional Change Agent: 48 Ways to Be the Leader Your School Needs.

How School Leaders Can Become Instructional Change Agents

 Originally posted on the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Shaped blog.

This blog post is part of a series on how school leaders can become instructional change agents. In next week’s post, Adam Drummond will offer advice on how to determine ways to improve school culture.

I glance at the clock, and it reads 6:30 p.m. on a Friday night. I sigh heavily and return my focus to the dual screens at my desk. The screens show a teacher evaluation I’m working on, as well as the upcoming round of NWEA testing for students. Email notifications continue to chirp in with messages from teachers, district folks, and parents. My fourth-grade son is hanging out somewhere in the school while I stare at the countless “to do’s” piling up before my eyes.

See more here:

To learn more about improving school culture and acting for impact in your district, join Adam Drummond, Author for ICLE, and learn his new book, The Instructional Change Agent: 48 Ways to Be the Leader Your School Needs.

Student Discipline - Another Way to Support Students & Teachers

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and getting the same results. This is how I felt as a new school principal when I dealt with discipline. Within a few weeks, I could tell you exactly what was going to happen when a discipline issue made its way to my office.

1. Teacher calls down to office about student.
2. Student either comes to office or I escort them to office.
3. Teacher shares what happens and leaves (because they have students in the classroom).
4. Student is upset.

   

   http://www.greatschoolsinwake.org/student-discipline/

5. Student either yells, cries, or goes silent.
6. Student eventually shares what happened.
7. Student and teacher story doesn’t match.
8. I wasn’t there and am now batting cleanup. The need to support the teacher is necessary, yet the student perspective weighs on my heart.
9. Offer a solution that isn’t really going to change behavior. I tried to use natural consequences.
10. I’ve spent anywhere from 15-30 minutes on the said discipline issue.

Sure, the steps may have varied time to time. But, this was the Groundhog’s Day experience.

Somewhere in my second or third year as principal two things made me turn behavior upside down in some cases.

• Teachers give up control when they send a student to the office and loss of respect and trust occur between student and teacher.
• The discipline issue almost always had a broken relationship between teacher and student.

Instead of following the 11 Steps of Madness, I turned the entire process on it’s head. I probably should have warned the first unknowing teacher what I was about to do. But, it came to me as I walked to her room from the office to retrieve a student for their 100^th time (it seemed like it).

I got to the door and the teacher shared all the infractions that said student did. She had him at the door ready to leave. He heard it all and I could see the anger in his face.

I asked the student to wait inside the classroom and asked the teacher to join me just outside the door. Then, the following happened.

• I shared that the only two people who can change the behavior in the classroom is the student and the teacher.
• I will support you (the teacher) in any consequence and even help brainstorm the consequence with you. But, you are going to deliver the consequence to the student.
• But, before the consequence you must spend 10-15 minutes talking with the student to learn his perspective, share your perspective, and get to the root cause of why the behaviors were occurring. The key is for you to listen to his feelings and perspective.
• You need to develop a plan that you can both agree upon.
• While you do this, I will teach your class.

You read the last bullet correctly! I traded spots with the teacher. While she had a conference with the student, I worked with the other 26 students in her classroom. What’s my thinking you are asking right now…

1. I am going to spend 15-30 minutes dealing with the incident and I wasn’t there.
2. The relationship is between the student and the teacher. By her conferencing with the student, the perceived power rests with the teacher and no longer with me. I am now just a “Yes Man”. I support and reiterate the decision of the teacher.
3. The teacher and student work on his/her relationship.
4. I get to work with 26 other students – something we rarely get to do!  I get to build different relationships because many of the students I rarely get to spend time with. Plus, I get to hone my own teaching skills so they don’t get rusty and I get too far removed from the art and science of teaching and learning.

The process worked beautifully. Did it solve all behavior issues? Of course not, but there were far less incidents. I didn’t use it every single time, but I used it frequently enough that we started to see our culture of discipline slowly change. There were less referrals, students were less angry at teachers, and everyone seemed to love what they did a little bit more.

Sure, there was a learning curve for everyone – students, teachers, and me. But, the benefits outweighed the challenges.

Remember, 100% of the students, 100% of the time. Think outside the box. Above all else – be tenacious! 

The Power of Reflection

If you've been an educator you know that more than 1000 decisions are made in a single given day. From instructional design choices to feedback for students, we are in a mentally exhausting position each and every day. Please note mentally exhausting does not mean that we don't love what we do. That's hardly the opposite. To know that we have the ability to impact three generations of family members each year is an opportunity that inspires, challenges, and if we are honest - terrifies - some days or weeks.

Sometime we are challenged in the day to day decisions that we make that we forget to stop and reflect on the actual work we are doing (think of a hamster wheel right now)! it's easy to get caught up in each moment and those moments pile on top of each other. But, a critical piece in making the BEST decision in our classrooms and schools occur when we have spent time in reflection about the work of you - the educator - and our students.

I know you are thinking, "My internal voice is reflecting with me all day long." I get it. But, what I am talking about is a different type of reflection. This is a deep, purposeful reflection on the work that happens in your role as an educator. We need to spend time thinking critical about how our students are learning, and how my voice impacts that learning.

Consider the idea of Friday Reflections to build purposeful reflection in your daily life.

Friday afternoons: Let's face it. End of the day Friday is often the least productive day of the work week for many. So, instead of wasting this time let's put it to good use. Spend 30 minutes every Friday after students leave and journal about how the week went for you. Consider these questions:

1. What went well this week and, why did it go well?
   
2. What did not go well this week, and why did it not go well?
   
3. What one activity assumed the most amount of time for the week, and how did it better the school because of the time spent?
   
4. What are your three goals for next week, and how will you achieve these goals?
   
5. What do you identify as a major obstacle for next week, and how will you manage the expectations for this task?

      Consider keeping a weekly journal as you answer these five questions. What you will find by spending time in personal reflection around these questions is that you feel accomplished about your work week (who doesn't want to feel good?), and you have your priorities set for the next week before you leave for the weekend (a focus for the next week eases anxiety and offers direction). 

      Give it a shot. Commit to the next four Fridays. It could change your outlook and your effectiveness. If nothing else, you give your brain some mental space to breathe! We all need that every now and then! 

      Hint: If you want to keep your responses electronically, consider creating a Google Form (see image). Happy Friday. It's almost time for me to reflect on my week. How about you?

Patience is a Gift

It's the time of year where we count our blessings, love our family and friends, and appreciate the wonderful season of the Holidays. But, after the lights are down, the holiday food is over, the real challenge can often begin. It can even be harder for our children of all ages.

The first of the year can be a challenge for our students as they return from a holiday break that might not mirror the love and hope we experienced in our home. They return to school with needs having been unmet. We come back to school and there are many days of learning back to back to back. So, what's the best gift you can give your students to the start of 2019?

Patience.

You can give patience.

Yes, we have been in school for a semester and they should know what to do.
Yes, it should be no surprise that students are expected to work independently during independent work time.
yes, we should be kind to our peers and to the adults.

But, let's face it that is not always the reality. When those moments occur that disrupt the 'natural flow' of learning, give patience. It's not something that is guaranteed or promised to anyone. But, I promise giving patience can make the difference between a great day and a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!

Try these three strategies to give the gift of patience for the new year.

1. Breathe deeply. There are moments in our classroom where we may have to repeat ourselves several times or a student says something they should not to you. Resist the urge to jump on your emotions. Take three deep breathes and determine the choices you can make. Three deep breathes can make the difference in how we deal with a student issue before we make a mountain our of a mole hill.

2. Laugh often. See the humor in circumstances. When a little child decides to skip in line instead of walking down the line as she should, chuckle to yourself. Be appreciative that she has that much joy and love in life that skipping sounds so fun. In fact, try letting everyone skip. See what happens. Lots of smiles. High school friends - they may not skip in the hallway, but there are some great one liners kids say. Enjoy them and call them out!

3. Give Options. There are some 'battles' not worth fighting. If a student needs a pencil and doesn't have one, have options ready. Perhaps it's a borrow basket, ask a friend, or use a pen. A student asking for a pencil means she/he is wanting to work! Celebrate the small things. Anticipate options that allow choice for students to ask. When we have options its easier for us to practice patience.

Give patience as a gift. If you don't, who will?

Top Shelf: Favorite Books for the School Leader

It's hard to believe we are 13 days away from Christmas! This time of year offers a great opportunity for personal and professional reflection. What were you goals for 2018? How do you measure success? What might you revise as you look into 2019? Don't wait 19 more days to renew your goals - do it now!

Students benefit from leaders who read. I always work to increase capacity in understanding and application through professional reading. Consider the following Top 9+ Books to consider for your own reading pleasure for 2019.

#1: Results Now by Mike Schmoker
This was a transformational book when I was in a K-12 leadership role. This text helped generate a brand new professional learning model for the district I was in as we looked at how to increase student learning while building capacity in professional learning. Schmoker's book offers a laser focus view on professional learning communities for schools, literacy, and consistent curriculum.

#2: Bold School by Weston Kieschnick [#BoldSchool]
My colleague Weston sold over 25,000 copies in the first year of release -- and for good reason! This is a pivotal book for all teachers and leaders who are striving to to keep tried and true professional learning practices with building intentional and specific uses of technology. Wes created The Bold School Framework for Strategic Blended Learning to offer a clear and consistent approach to strategic learning in classrooms.

#3: Architects of Deeper Learning by Lissa Pijanowski [#AODL]
There are few things in life that get me more excited than instructional design! Creating purposeful and meaningful learning opportunities that translate into high levels of engagement is some of the most rewarding work we do. My good friend Lissa offers this exact solution. Her eight design principles offer a step by step approach to ensure that the most rigorous, relevant, and engaging experiences exist in classrooms. Lissa's wealth of experience in classroom, school leadership, and district leadership bring an unique approach to the instructional aspects of learning for all students.

#4: Learning Transformed: 8 Keys to Designing Tomorrow's Schools, Today by Eric Sheninger & Thomas Murray.  [#LTKeys]
First, using the #LT8Keys offers a great professional learning network that compliments this great resource for leaders. Sheninger and Murray offer an approach that helps shift districts from the industrial model of education to the 21st century, future-forward education that students should be engaging with each and every day. What I appreciate about this professional reading is the importance of meeting the needs of students at a personal level. The level of leadership needed for schools to achieve this requires us - school leaders - to be inspirational, intentional, and innovative. The eight keys offers an opportunity for great reflection - be sure to check this one out by Eric and Tom.

#5: Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies From a Life at Disney by Lee Cockerell
As a school leader, our stakeholders are critical to the success of the school. When I was a school principal, this was the must read book for our cabinet. Through this text, we redesigned our customer experience families experienced in school. Don't get me wrong, we had friendly and supportive in our cabinet - some of the best I ever worked with in my career. But, this book took us to the new level - we were intentional and strategic in the how and why we created the experience for our families. I cannot tell you enough how powerful this book is - a 2019 must read for your team. Plus, it's a Disney nod and who doesn't love Disney!


#6: The Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap: Small Ideas that Lead to Big Impact by Daniel Bauer
I just recently connected with Daniel and the work he does for school leaders. Daniel is a true connector and finds value in bringing teams and resources together. Daniel walks the walk in the support he offers in his new book. Built upon ideas around creativity, servant leadership, and mindset, educators will enjoy this resource. If you want to be challenged in your thinking and refine the 'why' you do what you do, this is the book for you.

#7: Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
This powerful book has taken the educational world by storm - so much in fact that the word "grit" is now another educational jargon in our repertoire.  But, it's not the word that is powerful - it's the practice. Duckworth's challenges the status quo in how we prepare students. We must help students build tenacity in all that they do. Effort, effort, effort is critical for our students. We must build these skills to become part of the student learner DNA make up for each and every student. Teaching grit is different than teaching thinking and relevance. Grit requires persistence, modeling, and productive struggle. It's also a pretty self-reflective assessment - take Duckworth's Grit Scale and you will see what I mean!


#8: 10 Mindframes for Visible Learning: Teaching for Success by John Hattie & Klaus Zierer
If you are in education and you have not heard about the text Visible Learning, stop and and go get it right now. Seriously. While you are ordering that book, grab this one, too. Hattie and Zierer works from the research presented in VL to offer 10 mindsets teachers need to create high levels of student outcomes. This practical mindframe approach offers teachers to go from theory to practice to action. What I most love about this text is that building powerful relationships is one of the 10 frames - remember kids don't learn from people they don't like. We must be relationship builders all day every day.


#9: When by Daniel Pink
I first heard Daniel Pink at ICLE's Model School Conference in the summer of 2017. To say that my world was rocked would be an understatement. There are so many variables in education that impact student learning and teacher efficacy - an infinite really. But, Daniel offered one more to me that was powerful - time! Pink immediately puts you right into reflection and thinking by asking you to find when is your perfect "When". Reflecting on your day and what you do impacts your performance and attention to details (among many other things!). We may know some of this intuitively, but Pink puts the research and rationale behind this. The implication for education is exciting. A great leadership book read to brainstorm the how and why we do things in school suddenly now matters.

Wait, why is there not a #10? Great question ... in the coming weeks I promise to share the #10 book that is a must read for 2019. The #10 book promises to be an exciting and powerful resource for school leaders, district leaders, pre-service leaders, and teacher leaders. Stay tuned for this new and exciting book to add to your Top Shelf!

Top Four Leadership Legacy Skill: #4 Listener

Top Ten Leadership Legacy Skill: #4 LISTENER

God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. I have always remembered this phrase from my childhood. I couldn’t even tell you if it was my parents, my great-grandmother Cookie who I spent many a day with (she made the best sugar cookies and let me put a raisin in the middle), or just heard it in the many phrases that are tossed around. But, it has been a phrase that has great promise as a leadership trait: listening.

We live in a global world of noise. We have industrial noise such as factories, trains, planes, and automobiles. We have visual noise in television, social media, and the internet. There is also family noise – bills that need paid, homework to be assisted with at home, activities for children, caring for ailing parents, and keeping a house running smoothly. There is also work noise. No need to add details here – you all feel and know that one, too well, I am assuming. But, how do we filter all this noise and do a better job of listening.

We first must be in the moment. There is nothing more gut wrenching than hearing your child say, “Dad isn’t really listening to me, he is on his phone again.” I admit that I have a huge challenge with the use of electronic devices. They can be all assuming. My wife can tell you all the issues. She even tried to name my phone once. That was a blow to the stomach, and a lesson well learned for me (She may still have a name for the phone, but we did not discuss one together). But, we must work to be in the moment with the people we are sharing life with. As a principal, I had an open-door policy. Faculty and staff could come in any time, truly. This was great, but also required me to do a better job listening. I found at times I had to turn off my computer screen or put my phone in the drawer. The auto notifications on our devices are like the Pavlov’s dog study. Every time we hear a ding, we must see who ‘needs’ us know. But, the people in the room need us now.

To be an effective listener, we must understand that listening does not require a response. There are times that people just want to be heard. That is all – nothing more. I am a fixer. I like to offer suggestions, solutions, and jump right in to make things better. But, I realize that not all people want me to be in a fixer mode. Again, my wonderful wife (as you can tell who puts up with a lot) will share a story about work (she is a high school Career and Technical Education Director) and I immediately start providing solutions or input. I have gotten to a place where I force myself to listen, and even ask on occasion if I am just to listen, dialogue, or problem solve. We must know our role.

One strategy I often use when I am needing to be in “Listen Only Mode” is to have pen and paper handy. I usually take notes and do a lot of work on my tablet. But, when I need to be strategically focused on the task at hand, I resort to paper and pencil. I find myself more engaged in what is being said, and even partially transcribe what I am hearing.

You may have a strategy that you use. But, the evidence is clear. We need to listen more and speak less.