The ABCs of All Kids can Learn

All kids possess the ability to learn. If you don't believe me, then how in the world did we learn to walk?  How did we learn to talk?  How are you able to read the words in this sentence?  Scientifically speaking, the human race is genetically engineered to adapt physically, emotionally, socially and yes academically. 

Education figureheads promote the mantra, "All Kids Can Learn". It's on the banners of our schools. Most of you reading this actually believe all kids can learn. But here is where the rubber meets the road. Some educators believe all kids can learn; therefore, some educators do not prescribe to this rhetoric. What's worse is that some educators say all kids can learn, but their actions and interactions fail to match their words. 

So here is today's test to see if we truly believe all kids can learn.  Do we possess the ABC's of All Kids?

Action - Do your actions give up or try harder when kids fail to learn?

Belief - Do your inner judgments of kids change because of a child's background, parental support, economic status, language barrier, disability, race or behavior?

Commitment - Does your commitment depend on the response of the child or the parent or the level of support you get from other educators?

Determination - Is your will power to ensure that all kids succeed stronger than all of the obstacles you will have to endure to get them there?

Effort - Does your planning, preparation and reflection get down to the specific needs of each kid?

Fearlessness - Do you experiment with new and innovative instructional strategies or do you let your comfort level dictate which new things that you will try?

Grit - Do you have the intestinal fortitude to overcome the difficult times you face in meeting the needs of kids.

Honesty - Are you honest with yourself when you fail to meet the needs of kids or do you blame others for failure?

Ideology - Do you believe that kids must walk in the door and meet you where you are in your instruction, or do you believe that you should walk through the door and make your instruction meet kids where they are in order for them to learn?

Justice - Do you see the potential in your role which is to guarantee that all children take advantage of their unalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

Knowledge - Do you seek out new ways to be more effective in meeting the needs of all kids?

Love - Do you truly have a love for all kids no matter what issues and baggage they bring in the door?  Do you love all the things that you do for kids, or do you do only the things that you love? That answer could have an effect on all kids.

Mindset - Is your mind fixed on guaranteeing that some kids will master all content or that all kids will master the most critical content?

Nobility - Do you do things for kids because it's what's popular or comfortable, or do you do what's best for kids because you know that it will guarantee that they learn?

Opinions -  Do you allow the bias of your opinions to drive your decisions about students?

Purpose - Does your moral compass drive your actions toward supporting all kids, or do your reactions take you further away from that purpose?

Quality - Do you focus on ensuring that your work guarantees high quality results for all kids or do you justify your work by the quantity of things you get done?

Resolve - Is your belief in all kids dependant on the success or failure of the students, or is your commitment to your belief strong no matter how students perform?

Spirit - Is your attitude about kids dependent on their behavior or how they respond to you, or is it cheerful in all weathers?

Tenacity - Are you passionate about your belief in all kids to the point that you are willing to fight for and defend your beliefs to anyone regardless of title or position?

Understanding - Do you accept the fact that learning is a process over time and that there will always be setbacks and successes within that process?

Vulnerability -  Do you reveal your weaknesses to others so you can learn how to get better at meeting the needs of all kids?

Wisdom - Do you seek to broaden your understanding and your depth of knowledge about all of the needs that children have in their quest to learn?

aXiom - What is the unquestionable truth that people see in your actions and your words? Do these things reveal to every observer a deep rooted commitment to every child and their learning?

Yes - Can you answer yes to the following question? No matter how difficult the task is, will I never cease to believe that each and every child deserves my best every day?

Zest - Does your attitude set the tone for every child to do his best regardless of the circumstance?

"All Kids Can Learn" is a cliché that is easy to say but hard to do. All kids deserve more than our words. They deserve our best. If you believe in all kids with the passion of the ABC's, then all kids will learn and achieve success. 

PLC - A Summary of our Cultural Recommitment

Celebrate

Today, our staff came back ready to work and learn.  We started out by welcoming back all of our staff and having our new members introduce themselves to the campus.  After our introductions and welcome back, we moved into celebration mode and honored all of the hard work that our teachers and staff accomplished last year:

• Built a new and innovative curriculum aligned to the new standards,
• Implemented our new PLC philosophy with the 3 Big Ideas,
• Created a positive CHAMPs behavior system,
• Piloted iPads in 10 classrooms,
• Motivated our students with fun activities centered around our learning targets, and
• Made outstanding improvements in our students' learning.

After our campus celebrations, each staff member took a moment to write about a personal celebration that was special to them last year. To see the pride in our campus team's eyes was truly an inspiring moment for me.  Our hard work was recognized, honored and celebrated. 

Mission & Vision

Our new campus theme, 'iLearn', was unveiled, and the concept set the tone that our campus will thrive on a low threat / risk rich environment to ensure that learning occurs within every child and every staff member (more on that in a later post).  We then reviewed our compelling reasons to recommit to the mission and vision of the campus which was based on a Did You Know video as well as research that illustrates the consequences for students who fail to get an education (via Daggett, DuFour, and Mattos).  The challenge was posed of each staff member to take one word from our vision that meant the most to them and write in their journal about how the word described the campus that we hope to become. The word led us to our values.

Linking Values to Norms

Teams  reviewed our values and collaborated using Twitter #geschat (as an integrated PD activity).   Each team selected one value that meant the most to them and summarized it in 140 characters or less, and each tweet elicited some poignant thoughts about our campus values.  We then took a moment to reread each tweet from our projection screen, and I asked the campus to pick one word that stuck out the most in their minds.  These are the patterns that described our campus values:

• Trust - We must have an environment where we can count on one another and be vulnerable with one another, especially in our times of difficulty and failure.  Trust is foundational to collaboration.
• Safety - Our teams must create safe havens where team members know that their flaws, failures and mistakes will not be judged, but supported. Safety is essential to learning.
• Relationships - "Great relationships precede great performance", and we believe that we must never allow conflict to jeopardize our trusting relationships.
• Celebration - We must celebrate every achievement both great and small, campus-wide and individually, because we believe that celebration is the fuel for learning.

After watching Rick DuFour's video on Groups vs. Teams and a couple humorous videos to further illustrate his point, we learned about values and norms and how they are linked.  Values are beliefs, used as a blueprint for improvement and they support the mission and vision.  Values define the attitudes that each member must display each day to reach our vision, but values are useless if our behaviors do not reflect them.  We must have norms that define our behaviors and how we will go about our day to ensure that we are self-disciplined and focused on learning from one another.  Norms make teams effective, efficient and ultimately accountable.  Teams took their new learning and began the work of developing their Recipe for Success.  They revised and updated last year's norms ensuring that Trust, Safety, Relationships and Celebration were supported by every norm.

As teams came back ready to have lunch, the atmosphere was electric.  Our campus was pumped about the upcoming school year and ready to set our SMART Goals.  Teachers shared stories of how far they came last year and about dreams of what our campus could accomplish this year.  The stress our new STAAR test didn't have a place in this room because the staff released themselves from the fear of accountability.  They were recommitted to something bigger, something bolder and the real reason that they were called into the profession of education.  They were recommitted to a culture focused on guaranteeing the very best education for every child, every day in every way.

Thank you, GES.  It is going to be an amazing year!!!

10 Principles to Principal By

Culture drives the structure and ultimately the performance of a campus.  If teams are to succeed at meeting the true mission and vision of the campus, the campus culture must be positive and united to attain the goal.  Leaders, new to a campus, make the tempting error of solidifying structural elements before cultivating the culture of the campus.  When this error occurs, the culture can turn toxic because the leader hasn't established an environment for structure to excel.

Each time I began my new role as an elementary, middle and high school principal, I spent the entire summer getting to know the staff through one on one conferences. The purpose was two-fold: learn about the culture of the campus and find out what the campus' expectations were for me and my fellow administrators.  In meeting with the staff, I made sure that I had a pad and pen and wrote down key points from each conversation. In my principal work with my first assistant principal, Donna Clark, she developed the term, 'Principles to Principal By' and ever since she introduced me to the concept, I have been committed to finding them on every campus that I have led.  These are the discussion points that I used with every staff member:

1. Tell me about yourself.

This statement communicates that I want to know more about the people on the campus and their personal lives. I am interested in hearing about family, experiences and anything that is important to the employee. From this discussion point, I want to be able to build a personal connection with each employee because it is a priority that I know my fellow staff members personally.

2. Tell me something really great about the campus that you want me to continue.

This statement helps me identify the campus work that I must honor and not change. The answers tell me what actions and traditions they are proud of and the work that the staff wants to continue doing. These answers also reveal the positive aspects of the campus culture.
 

3. What is one thing that you would like me to change?

This question can be difficult because it takes courage for an employee to answer this to the new principal.  Open body language, direct eye contact and empathic listening communicate a desire to know how you can help the campus. Responses will guide you to the structural problems and cultural undercurrents that exist on the campus. The more frequent that specific issues come up in the responses, the more urgent it is for you to further investigate and address the problem.

4. If you were my supervisor, what is one directive that you would give me?

This is the boldest question of the meeting, but the most important one, too. The answer to this question will tell you the most important thing that your staff wants you to do on the campus. Make sure that you write the answer down.  Every staff has one specific directive for the principal and this question will ensure that you know what your #1 priority is.

Pattern your Answers into Principles

After you finish meeting with the staff and synthesize the answers, identify reoccurring answers to your questions. Identify the most important actions that the staff wants you to continue as well as change.  Find the most important action that the staff wants you to do more than anything else from the fourth question.

Finalize your Principles

From the answers, create expectations for you and your administrative team, post them and share them with your administrators. At the beginning of the year when you meet with your staff, present your 'Principles to Principal By' to the staff and clearly state that these expectations were derived from individual conversations with every staff member. It is also important to convey that you and the administrative team are committed to following them.

By going through this process, trust will be established, the culture will be positive, and staff members will know that you are sincere about supporting and serving them. 'Principles to Principal By' in essence sets the stage for a positive and productive culture, and if leaders follow these principles, their campus will later celebrate great and amazing achievements.  This will come to be because open communication and commitment to the campus were the first two 'Principles' that you demonstrated one person at a time.

The Teamwork between Leadership and Management

Soccer helps me synthesize so many things that I do. Today's epiphany comes from the roles of defense and offense. The best offense is a great defense, but you can't win games if you don't score. So how does the teamwork between offense and defense relate to the relationship between management and leadership? Both are essential and either one in isolation will not help a school improve.

Offense

The best offensive players are the ultimate risk takers. They stand on the edge of the limits of the rules of the game because they know they can't break the rules. They excel in the areas of ball handling skills and shooting abilities.

Take for instance David Beckham, arguably the best soccer player in recent history. He can bend a shot in amazing ways to score for the team. As a result he is looked to in times of need when the team needs the win, and he delivers. He is respected by his teammates and feared by his opponents. Most importantly, he is a very good defender and is committed to helping the defense succeed.

Innovation, risk taking and change are the offense of your team. Without it, you can't score and you're destined to lose the big game. Teams need leaders who will inspire others to take risks, model leadership behaviors by taking the big shot and rally the team toward victory. The players on the team look to the leader to guide the team to make changes to the game plan if they are behind. Leaders motivate others to jump out there and try new things to help the team score, and they are the first one there to lead the celebration when another teammate scores for the team.

Defense

Defense can make or break the team. If you don't have a strong defense, your offense has to expend a lot more energy attempting to score more goals to keep the team ahead. Teams can't win if the defense can't defend against the opponent.   Defense is also the foundation of the organization. It gives the team shape so that the offense is in the best position to do its job. When the defense fails to perform, the offense will have to abandon its job of leading the attack to help protect their own goal.

Great defenses have a great captain to keep the defense organized and prepared to protect the goal. The defensive captain is often overshadowed by the leading goal scorer because others do not see the tangible results of their job, protecting the team's goal. One thing is certain, the defensive captain is extremely critical to protect the team from the attack by the other team or from within. 

Expectations and protocols comprise the defense or management of your organization. These structures protect the organization by keeping the team in tact so that effectiveness is preserved and efficiency is improved. The defensive captain is the manager, and they ensure that everyone knows what to do and supports them in getting the work done. They also hold others accountable in a positive and tactful way when members of the team fail to uphold their end of doing a good job. In essence, they sustain the initiatives or improvements that are brought about by the leader.

The Relationship between the Leader and Manager

This relationship is codependent. One can't be successful without the other. The manager needs to know where the leader is guiding the team, and the leader must know the status of the organization before he can lead the team through the next venture. Communication is critical and trust is paramount to the relationship. Adversarial relationships between managers and leaders will cause the team to lose because the link between offense and defense will be based on competition or confusion rather than collaboration. Managers and leaders with a strong commitment to each other support one another in times of loss or failure. They come together to learn from each other with the explicit goal of guiding the team to victory.

Role Reversal

Successful partnerships between the leader and manager are fluid.  Leaders and managers with relationships forged in respect take turns leading and managing.  Situations dictate who should lead and who should manage.  Position in the organizational hierarchy exists but does not have to limit the positions from leading or managing.  In fact, some of the best leaders are managers and vice versa.  The decision of when to lead and when to manage is based on the strengths of both parts, prior experience and the issues within the given dilemma.

If a team has a deep desire to win, the big game, leaders and managers must work together. Their roles are equally vital to both improve and sustain the team. If either role fails to commit, the team will deteriorate little by little and eventually fail. Every organization lives and dies by the relationship between the leader and the manager.

In the game of school improvement everyone is vital. The ultimate leader or manager knows this, and if they act with selfless leadership, the school will win everytime.

Light Switch Leadership

Lightbulbs are everywhere. Incandescent, LED, florescent, flood lights, spotlights and even strobe lights all serve one distinct purpose, to illuminate the world.

They range in power required to work properly. From 40 W to well over 1 million, light bulbs use energy to make our world a better place. And when more light bulbs come together within the same fixture, our world gets even brighter.  It's pretty neat what an awesome variety of light bulbs there are and how they serve such unique purposes. 

Sadly, it doesn't matter how many light bulbs we have, let alone how many different types there are.  If the light switch is not flipped on, they are virtually insignificant.   Leadership is the light switch. It is the empowerment each light bulb needs to do it's job. It is the encouragement that everyone needs to illuminate.

Whether we like it or not, leaders are constantly flipping the switch on or off. Our actions, words and attitudes are either flipping the switch on or flipping the switch off for every light bulb in our building. We are either stifling or stimulating growth. 

So as we walk into our buildings each day, we need to ask ourselves this one question. Am I closing the circuit, or in other words am I building strong relationships, so that every person in the building can illuminate the world.  The answer won't be hard to find. We just have to look for the light bulbs that are out and find a way to close the circuit. 

We can close the circuit when we:

1. Listen intently
2. Involve all
3. Genuinely take interest in all ideas
4. Humor others
5. Team with all members of the organization

We open the circuit when we...

• Devalue with our actions
• Intimidate with our title
• Manipulate with our words

The lights are on, but is anyone home? If you want to light up your organization, you need to check your own switch first.

How do you flip the switch to engage the people you lead?

The Passionate Leader

Passion is a word that describes what I get to do everyday. What I do is not a job or even a career. It is even beyond a calling. It permeates throughout my body, my mind and my soul. As I reflect on my life as an administrator, some basic tenets of my passion surfaced, and I believe they are vital to my daily life as a leader. Hope you enjoy them.

Purpose

My purpose in life is to help every teacher in every way so they can help every child find their passion in life and become successful at it. If you dig deep into your soul and synthesize why you were placed on this earth, you will discover your purpose as well. Purpose guides your daily actions and keeps you focused on the most important aspects of being a leader.

Attitude

Passionate leaders possess and consistently display a positive attitude in all situations. Setbacks occur but they don't affect the deep rooted commitment that one has for their work. This undeniable attitude is visible to all, and people will follow this person because his attitude reveals his true heart. After all, one's attitude reflects his altitude.

Service

Passionate leaders live in a world of dedicated service. They are so committed to who they are and what they believe that they will help anyone that they come into contact with. They realize that in order to fulfill their passion, they must help others realize their purpose. Constantly serving others and asking them for their input or thoughts on issues guides the leader to decide how he or she can be more effective servants.

Spirit and Stamina

A passionate leader is hard to catch and their spirit is contagious. He or she is so full of spirit that their stamina outpaces others. The fire inside forces them to constantly move, think and act. A leader with an untamable spirit fueled by a vigorous stamina has the potential to ignite a wildfire of cultural transformation throughout the entire organization.

Infectious Disease

Leaders who are openly passionate about what the organization must do for kids will infect everyone that they encounter with their passion. People will commit to the cause if the leader's actions and words convince them that the cause is noble and morally imperative. Organizations that become infected with a passion of deep substance will do amazing things for kids.

Opportunity

Passion knows no boundaries. Passionate leaders never ask why and constantly ask why not. They view difficulties as opportunities to learn more, and they model this very important skill to their staff. An organization that looks for opportunities is a team purposeful in their improvement.

Network

Passionate leaders constantly build a network of teamwork and support because they thrive on strong relationships. These relationships are forged in the belief in the vision of the organization and what the leader is trying to accomplish. These relationships are also reciprocated by the leader's belief in the people that he works with. The leader depends on the network not only to make the organization successful but also for his or her own personal growth. Passionate leaders will commit to the network and will do anything to help make the network stronger.

I love what I do. Each task that I have has purpose, I firmly believe that what I do makes an impact on the lives of many people. The people that I serve are extremely important to me, and I hold myself accountable for doing a great job of serving them. With every failure and every success, my life grows with ambition and inquiry. After all, I don't have a job. I have a passion.

The Recipe for Building Successful Teams

My second indoor soccer game in the past five years ended, and I was exhausted. Monday night I played with my new indoor soccer team. The game was difficult as we had no substitutes to give us relief.  This was coupled with the dilemma that we didn't know each other very well. What was amazing was that our difficulties forced us to become interdependent. We had to take turns getting a break by playing defense while our teammates moved up to try to score with what dwindling energy they had left to muster. Communication permeated the field as we helped one another conserve our energy by telling each other when to make runs or pull back. By the end of the game, our comraderie was high and our teamwork was solidified.

Our team managed to tie the game against a much better team because of our interdependence. We encouraged one another with positive feedback and constructive criticism and supported our teammates when critical mistakes were made.

Do your teams have all the ingredients for success?  Here is how your teammates can quickly become a fully functioning team focused on student achievement.

Relationships

Does your team have a solid relationship base? Before teams can build interdependence, relationships must be established around trust and mutual respect for one another's abilities. If the team doesn't take steps to build a foundation of trust, the rest of this post is not worth reading. Strong lines of open and honest communication accompanied by individual selflessness are imperative to make relationships thrive. Listening sets the foundation for relationships.  If the members of the team like one another and have a good relationship before they begin to work together, the chance for success is greatly improved.

Purpose

Why is your team established? Just like campuses establish a mission and vision, teams must set a purpose for working together that will support the campus mission and goals. Setting team mission and goals gives the team a unified target that all members play a role in supporting. Once the purpose is created, it must be published, discussed and most importantly kept in front of all to guide decisions that are made by the team.  Again, the work has not yet begun.  Teams that clarify the purpose of why they are together add one more layer to their foundation for future success.

Values

How must we believe in each other in order to maintain our trusting relationship and accomplish our mission? Teams must define the beliefs and commitments that each member must demonstrate to reach the goal. Values should include how we will honor and respect one another and how we will make every member and equal part of the team. It would also be important to include how we will learn from everyone in the team.

Norms

How will we hold ourselves accountable to our relationships, mission and values? Norming is about behaviors that every member must demonstrate to help the team go about its daily work. High functioning teams hold each other accountable without sacrificing relationships. Members must be selfless in being held accountable because their values and actions can either help or hurt the team. A team without norms will eventually be dysfunctional in its relationships, and ultimately will lose sight of their purpose.

Risk Rich Environment

Does our team thrive on experimenting and celebrating mistakes? In order for a team to be progressive, teammates must support one another in taking risks and celebrate when a mistake is made. A team that cultivates a risk free environment free of negativity when mistakes or failures occur will generate amazing results because learning is constant and fluid. Remember failure means that your team tried something new for the first time and the effort to take a risk must be honored so that your team as a whole will become better.

Teamwork is a difficult thing, but when teams follow the recipe for building stronger teams, student achievement is the focus and isn't that why we are here?