Give a Hoot about Parent Communication

Does your organization care about parent involvement or it is just another mandate that you fulfill? Schools are so focused on meeting governmental marks that they lose sight of what they are truly designed for, changing the world one kid at a time. How can schools change the world if they leave out their most important ally, the parent? The reality is that schools can't change the world until they start giving a hoot about parent involvement.

Some schools continue to view parent involvement in the 20th century: parent meetings, PTA organizations and getting things signed and returned. This effort, while still very important in schools today, fails to meet most parents where they are now, in the 21st century.

Schools must make the change and here are some ways to bring your parent communication into the 21st century.

Facebook

Most every parent has a Facebook account, and they look at it daily. Every school must have a Facebook account and use it to share links, videos and make announcements on a daily basis to educate parents on current issues that affect their child and his learning. Facebook encourages dialogue with the school and other parents. Parents can also message you or have discussions through the comment feature and this is a great way to gauge what issues parents need more information on. 

Twitter

Twitter is a another great way to send short messages less than 140 characters along with pictures, links and videos to parents. Twitter accounts can also be linked to your Facebook account so that you can reach more people in multiple ways. Some schools create hash tags so they can have Twitter chats with parents to communicate with multiple parents at once. At first, Twitter can be intimidating to beginner users because of the language used, so training may be recommended on the lingo that your campus would use.

Hootsuite

This tool is amazing, and it brings all of your social media together and allows you to send one message over multiple accounts. You can also schedule your messages days, weeks or months in advance so that you dont forget to send that very important message to your parents at a time when the message is most pertinent to them.

YouTube

Having a YouTube account makes it easy for you to create videos and share videos through your Twitter & Facebook accounts as well as email. Parents can learn campus processes and procedures,  see exactly what's happening in your school as well as learn new information through a short video, Video is a powerful communication tool to show parents what learning looks like in the 21st century.

Website

Websites are not new, but many schools do not get maximum exposure from websites because they are overloaded with content or not maintained regularly. Schools must create easy-to-navigate websites with current, concise and parent friendly information. Websites must be simple in organization and content so parents will not be overwhelmed by information overload or by difficulty in finding information that they need.

Push your Information

If you want parents to get important information, it is important that you push information to them. RSS feeds, call out systems and text messaging systems for pushing grades to parents on a regular basis builds transparency and trust between the school and home, which translates into a desire to work with parents.

The days of sending papers home and expecting every student to get the information home, signed and returned is unrealistic, to say the least. Schools must step out, commit to over-communicating in a systematic fashion so that they minimize the chance that the message is not received by parents.

Schools that are most successful in parent involvement believe that they must do whatever it takes to involve parents in the education of their child. These schools also are successful in student achievement because their parents are active partners in supporting their children in reaching academic goals. In short, giving a hoot about parent involvement translates into student success.

The iLearn School

Our campus theme this year is 'iLearn'. Many people want to know what the purpose or meaning of the theme is.  Obviously, our theme is based on the iPad which is a tool that we are beginning to implement in our instruction, but for our campus it is much deeper than that.  I hope that this post will do justice to what our leadership team meant when they decided that this would be our theme for the year.  Before we discuss our theme, let's analyze the company that we modeled our theme after, Apple.

We asked wiki.answers.com to answer the following question: "What does the 'i' in iPhone mean?"

"As announced for the very first iMac that came out in 98', the "i" stood for "Internet, Individual, Instruct, Inform, and Inspire".

and another answer:

"the original imac, released in 1998, was marketed around the concept that it was the easiest computer to connect to the internet. in '98, the internet was still something that most people didn't use regularly, and so the idea of a computer that was "internet ready" was hip and new. the i stood for internet, but it also stood for "I" as in "me". the imac was designed to make the personal computer feel more personal, and make the user feel like the computer was working for them, not against them."

And another answer:

"The term iPod (according to Apple) simply stands for Interactive POD. The POD in the name stands..."

So for our campus, what does the 'i' in iLearn mean?  What does it represent?  As we ponder these questions, it is extremely important that we reference and analyze the answers from our wiki search.  While the answers are very different, they have some great similarities to education and more importantly, the idea that we would like our campus to emulate.   Here are the adjectives that the describe the 'i' in iPad and my thoughts on how they apply to the goal of learning on our campus.

Internet-Ready: The world that our children will inherit will require navigational skills on the Internet with a variety of tech-tools.  Students must be able to research and use the tech resources that are ever changing.  Most importantly our students must be prepared to use these tools without any training on them.

Individual: Our curriculum must meet the unique needs of each and every learner. The 20th century conveyor belt model of learning will not prepare our kids for the 21st century; therefore, we must individualize instruction. In addition, students must learn in an environment where they own their learning.

Instruct: Our instruction will lay the foundation for kids' learning. Our teachers must create innovative, challenging and engaging instruction that will guarantee that every student is successful in learning.

Inform: Every day, the results of our learning must inform our instruction, not only for the teacher, but for the learner also. Formative data aligned to high leverage skills must be used to measure growth and guide our daily actions for both the teacher and the learner.

Inspire: In order to ensure that every child is successful, we must create a culture that inspires students to believe in themselves and in the power of their learning. Inspiring all kids and one another is a 21st century skill.

Interactive: Teamwork is one of the most critical 21st century skills. This means that students must know the value of good character and respect for self and others. The skill of working together is a skill that can only be developed through frequent interactive learning situations.

'I' Stands for Me: The iMac was designed to make people feel like the computer was working for them, not the other way around. This is Apple's mantra and defines why iProducts are so popular. In an iLearn school, one must pose the question, does our school make students feel like it was designed especially for them? Learning experiences and structures must meet the learner where they currently are and engage them in such a way that the learner deepens their knowledge with the 'apps' provided by the school. A school can gauge if their 'apps' are effective by reviewing discipline, attendance and academic data.

So now, we ask the question, "What does the 'i' in iLearn mean? There are so many good choices listed above for what it could mean. Apple has thrived on constantly reinventing itself based on the needs of the market. In learning, we must thrive on constantly exploring and reinventing ourselves to make learning meet the needs of our kids. So again, what does the 'i' in iLearn mean? The answer to that question can only be one answer and that is an emphatic YES!  The 'i' stands for every descriptor listed above because the iLearn school is exactly what the learner makes it for themselves. I look forward to hearing your comments on what you think it means.

Twitter, the Exponent of Learning

Twitter has been the most mind blowing learning experience I've ever had. If I compare it to my previous experience of traditional PD, which has been great by the way, there are some vast differences. Here are some reasons why you should consider using Twitter to enhance your current PD.

Frequency

Traditional PD requires you to be there for at least a day, and that would be great if you had nothing else to do. I thoroughly enjoy going to workshops. Some of the greatest ideas I ever received came from a workshop, but I typically attend one or two a month.  There's not enough time to attend traditional PD. Twitter exponentially increases the frequency of PD because I can learn any time of day for short or long periods of time.

Geography

Going to a workshop takes time, and you have to dress up. You have to drive there, and you are sometimes limited to the ideas from your region. On Twitter, I get ideas from California to China and all points in between. Seriously, I do. Cutting edge ideas are found in links, blogs, videos, chats and tweets from around the world, and it is overwhelmingly awesome to learn from people around the world.  Most importantly my geography is unimportant because I can learn from the comfort of my couch or anywhere that I am.

Collaboration

This is the most amazing part of Twitter. At workshops, you have little time to network with the people you come in contact with. On Twitter, you find new contacts and they are experts in specific areas. Teachers, principals, lead teachers and central office staff come together to share their experience as well as gain new ideas from others, but what's great is that everyone forgets about the hierarchy of their position. How utopian is that? Tweeps organize themselves into chats and lists based on where each Tweep is interested in growing in their own learning.

Ideas flourish and interests change based on the needs that each person has each day. Learning is personalized daily because everyone is part of a PLN (Personalized Learning Network). This is what PD should be all about.

Twitter and Traditional PD

Twitter does have its limitations in that traditional PD can take learning much more in-depth on broader topics.  The simple fact is you just can't replace a face to face PD. I always leave a traditional PD inspired and motivated to do an even better job. Twitter's role is to solidify my thinking in between the traditional PD opportunities as well as connect with other educators on issues that I currently face. I need both to be the best educator that I can be. Twitter exponentially improves my learning, but coupled with traditional PD it goes even further.


Special thanks to members of my PLN for playing a part in this post and taking my learning to a newer and higher level: @Cowpernicus, @DCulberhouse, @Mandery, @ChrisStogdill

'How' Leaders Support PLC's

PLC work is a complex beast with many variables. Personalities, varying levels of experience and beliefs about education are just a few variables that PLCs must consider when building collaborative teams. Leaders must guide teams to come together to be the best for kids. Leaders set expectations for 'What' teams must do to provide the best instruction and supports for all kids. In the leader's desire to push the campus toward alignment and synchronicity in the ideals of being a PLC, leaders are prone to make a critical mistake by going one step too far. They will succeed in clarifying the 'What', but will cripple teams by telling them 'How' they want the 'What' to be done.

Leaders that want teams to succeed must support teams in figuring out the 'How'. The 'How' is the pathway in which teams will work together to get the 'What' accomplished. Leaders can't possibly know the 'How' for every single team. They do not have the same vantage point, experiences, educational tendencies or language to design all of the learning structures necessary to accomplish the mission and vision of the campus.

So, what do leaders do to empower teams to decide 'How' they will do the 'What'?

Honor the Different Starting Points and Needs of Each Team

Leaders must take steps to recognize and respect the different needs and starting points at which teams begin to incorporate the 'What' into their daily work. Teams need to know that the pathway on their PLC journey is based on the collective experiences of the members. If leaders tell teams 'How' to do the 'What', leaders will set a bar that is beyond the reach of the PLC or set the bar so low that teams will feel the need to abandon their current work to meet the leader's desire of 'How' the work must be done. Either way, teams will lose valuable time and confidence because of confusion caused by the leader.

Example - A kindergarten PLC with a strong foundation will be much further ahead than a 2nd grade PLC with half of the team new to the school; therefore, their starting points and needs will look and sound much different to begin working together. Leaders must provide vastly different levels of support to each PLC.

Offer Options

When leaders define the 'What', they must realize that teams need a variety of options to help them process 'What' it looks like. Format for submitting work, structures for making plans or instructional designs are just a few of the major road blocks that many teams encounter because it locks teams into a specific way of thinking about the 'What'. Leaders must provide teams with several examples of format options and graphic organizers. These options must be presented by the leader with the explicit understanding that the options represent possibilities for the starting point rather than the proverbial box to fit into. In offering options, leaders must intuitively know the tendencies and thought processes of each team. When leaders know the work styles and team mindsets, options can become more personalized to the needs and thinking of each team rather than the "One Size Fits All" mentality.

Example - The way that a high school English PLC will go about implementing Tier 1 interventions will look much different than interventions in a high school Algebra PLC because of the nature of their content. A leader will know this and offer different options to each team so that they can have the autonomy to make intervention plans centered around the students' learning needs within each given content.

Warrant Autonomy

A Professional Learning Community is a team of professionals that must work and learn together to reach learning goals. Leaders impede the team's professionalism and culture for learning when they fail to articulate that it is the team's responsibility to find the best way to meet the goals of the campus. This means that leaders must warrant or charge teams to design 'How' they will go about the work of being a PLC. Teams must have the autonomy to select actions that will help them meet campus goals or initiatives, and leaders must create the environment for this autonomy by giving them guidance and support in creating team values and norms.

Example - When teams ask for the way in which the leader wants a given task to be done, the leader must resist the urge to answer the question and provide guiding questions to help the team create the best method that they will work together in a way that is effective and efficient. This action fosters trust in the team and stability in its work.

Final Thoughts on the Leader's Role
Leaders have intense pressure placed upon them from federal, state and at times, local expectations. The task is daunting to say the least. In order for leaders to meet these demands, they must look beyond the trap of short-term data-based targets to focus on creating the conditions for empowered PLCs. Once leaders create these conditions of trust and professionalism, they can focus on their primary task, leading, guiding and supporting PLCs to create their own path of student success and isn't that 'What' leaders should be doing?

The Surgical Leader

I was driving down the road the other day, listening to the Message on Sirius XM, and I heard a song by 10th Avenue about how God breaks us to bind us. The song talked about how he uses our pain to heal us, and it made me think of what a surgeon does to heal his patients.

A surgeon is a great healer. He is extremely knowledgeable about the human body. He is able to use information to decide what is causing the pain or illness, and then he makes a plan to go in and perform a surgical procedure to remedy the problem. This procedure invariably causes much pain to the patient, but it is necessary so that the patient doesn't continue to ail or worse, end up dead. Last, the surgeon schedules follow up appointments to ensure that the surgery was effective and if it wasn't effective, he repeats the cycle all over again. In essence, he breaks his patient to bind him.

Leaders must have the same surgical skills to be effective at solving problems that ail people, teams, systems and the school as a whole.

 

Knowledge of the Body

In order for the leader to have surgical precision, he must have a great knowledge base about the body or the school and its systems. Knowledge of curriculum, instruction, assessments and interventions are critical. The leader must know in specific detail how the organization must run to be effective and efficient. Last the surgical leader must know the people within the organization and the strengths and weaknesses that each brings to the organization.  Knowledge of the people in the organization guides the leader to design how they must work together to keep the organization healthy.

Gather Information to Diagnose

Leaders must know the pulse of the organization and gather data to chart progress of the school. Data can't be just limited to tests or benchmarks. Standards-Based Rubrics as well as teachers' perceptions are invaluable data that the surgical leader can use to pinpoint the source of the problem within the organization. Constant communication with the staff will also help the leader decide what is actually causing the system to hemorrage.

Pre-Operation Plan and Surgery

Now that the leader is able to diagnose the source of the problem, it is time to make a plan for surgery.  The leader must decide what changes need to be made but more importantly must know what the anticipated results of the surgery will be.  How the organization will respond must be predicted and that can only happen if the leader has a close relationship with the staff.

Surgery requires conflict, difficult conversations, institutional change, philosophical change in the staff and ultimately a whole lot of discomfort to the part of the system that is being operated on.  Leaders, like surgeons, do their best to minimize the effects of the surgery (change) so as not to disrupt other organs or areas of the system.  Surgeons use tools that are most effective in the surgery and don't cause unnecessary problems with the patient.  Leaders use different tools to make the change as painless as possible.  Having emotional intelligence and situational awareness are the two most effective tools that the leader uses to perform surgery.

Post-Operation Appointment

After the surgery, the surgeon will always see the patient to conduct some follow-up tests and talk with the patient about how they are doing.  Leaders often leave this part out.  The staff or group that went through the surgery must have time to reflect and evaluate with one another and with the leader.  The staff will always reflect with one another because they are the ones going through the surgery.  The leader must monitor and evaluate how the change has affected the organization and if things are not going well, the leader must be self actualized to know that the change did not produce the intended results; therefore more surgery or a different procedure may be required.

No one looks forward to going through the pain of surgery, but everyone looks forward to the long term effects that benefit the patient in the end. That is because the surgeon communicates to the patient what he can expect as far as the pain from surgery and the recovery time.  He goes even further to always communicates the benefits from the operation and the surgeon's guarantee to make it happen. Leaders must do the same before operating on their organization.

Analyzing the Attack

Being attacked is a regular occurrence in leadership. Someone is always upset and blames leadership for their frustration. Sometimes it's justified. Other times its not. Either way, leaders must avoid the natural reaction to defend and embrace the opportunity to analyze the attack.

Let's walk through a typical scenario. Someone is negatively impacted by a decision from the leader or from an organization procedure. They obviously become upset or frustrated by the decision; therefore,  a natural response is to complain about the decision, the organization and/or the leader.

Sometimes the complaint is grounded in understanding, and sometimes it is due to a lack of information. Obviously, when the complaint is grounded in complete understanding, the leader knows that something needs to be addressed. But when the complaint is completely unfounded, it is natural for the leader to become defensive toward the complainant.

When there is a lack of information, this leads others within the organization to develop negative assumptions. Negative assumptions lead to negative beliefs that the leader approves of the current situation. If the person has enough confidence in the leader, he will confront the leader, and leaders must recognize the strength in this action. If someone is willing to confront the leader, that means that they believe in the leader and his ability to listen and resolve difficult issues.

Leaders must avoid the temptation to defend themselves and seek to understand the animosity. By seeking to clarify, leaders can find communication gaps, inefficient procedures or systemic breakdown. Through analysis of the complaint to a deeper and impersonal level, leaders can close frustrational gaps and ultimately build stronger relationships between the complainer and the organization.

In the end attacks are rarely about the leader, but a frustration about the organizational environment. When leaders come to a place where they embrace this mindset, they can truly begin to do what they were hired to do, lead.

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.