4 Questions to Reflect on the First Week of School

The first week of school is always so much fun and so exhausting at the same time. Think about it. So many names, so many needs, so much new, and so little time to get it all in. What do great teachers do to leverage the first week of school so the second week is set up for success.

4 Questions to Reflect on the First Week of School

• RESOURCES FOR LEARNING - How effective did I introduce C4B4Me with my classes and most specifically for my most struggling students?  Where are they resourceful learners or were they more dependent on me?
• ROUTINES & PROCEDURES - How consistent and independent were my routines and procedures?  Where will I need to tighten up next week?
• RELATIONSHIPS FOR LEARNING - How well did I build relationships with all kids, and how well did I get them interested in my content, and interested in learning with and from their classmates?
• ENGAGEMENT IN LEARNING - How engaged were my students?  Did they instantly chase learning through the activities I provided or did they wait for me to prompt them to participate in the lesson?

The first week of school provides a powerful foundation for success, but in order to solidify that foundation, reflection is critical. The best teachers reflect on their organization, their preparation, and their delivery, but the one thing that great teachers reflect on is their students’ response to all of their hard work. That reflection provides teachers the vital information that will help them make key adjustments to their plan for the next week, and in the end it will make the 2nd week of school 10 times more impactful than it would have been without reflection. 

What Breaks You?

Nick Saban spoke to his players in summer workouts on the ESPN special, “Training Camp” with the University of Alabama, and one of the most impactful parts of the show was the question he posed to his players about mental toughness.

What Breaks You?

As he persistently asked this question, he referenced everything that prevents players from making “The Play” or the obstacles that present themselves in the forms of disappointment,  mistakes, and failure. Those mental barriers to a football player’s excellence would include. 

• Pain, 
• Injury,
• Frustration,
• Missed Blocks,
• Fumbled balls,
• Missed steps,
• Mistakes

His point was that mental toughness is the most critical component to excellent execution, and the best players have more mental toughness than their opponents. In fact he said that mental toughness is the ability to forget the past, focus on the present and aspire for growth in the future. Without mental toughness, you will always fall short because you’ll be mentally preoccupied by something that is already said and done. In short, you won’t move because you haven’t mentally moved on first. 

So let’s apply this concept to our role as educators. 

What breaks you from finding excellence in every student?  Some examples include:

• Student misbehavior,
• Preconceived beliefs about kids,
• Learning labels on kids,
• Challenging questions,
• Unmotivated students,
• Major gaps in student learning,
• Difficult content,
• Huge workloads,
• Personal attacks.

What Breaks You?

If you want to find excellence in your craft and excellence in every student, you must first realize that the real barrier is found between your ears. It’s you and your mind, and you must first break what breaks you. Being unbreakable means never relenting when trials and tribulations attempt to detract you from your quest for continuous improvement. More specifically, it means ignoring yesterday’s failure, pushing through today’s pain of growth, and letting your work confront the negative naysayers and critics chirping in the background. All of these roadblocks exist for one reason and one reason only, to break your focus  away from your moral imperative, finding the pinnacle of your success. 

To ensure that you never break, let’s commit to the here and now. Reach out to your support system for help, for encouragement, and for the brutal truth. When you have people who care for you and your success, you can and must lean on them when you’re about to break. If you’re isolated, giving up is inevitable. 

The best never rest. The best never relent, and the best never break before the rest. In the end what breaks you is your choice, and if you want to discover your best, you will need to make the choice to never ever give up. 

The Invisible Backpacks in our Classrooms

On the first day of school there are lots of backpacks walking in the school. Some are full of the newest school supplies, while others have the basic essentials for learning. Some backpacks are brand new, while others are the same ones from last year. Students are bringing the best of what they have to your class.

But do you see their invisible backpacks?

Some kids walk in your classroom door and won’t have any backpack except for the backpack we don’t see. It’s not full of school supplies or even a pencil to write with. The backpacks I’m referring to are the ones that are full of the emotional baggage that they carry with them every single day. I’m talking about things like stress, anxiety, abuse, neglect, disappointment, frustration.  Some kids can fit a few of those unseen supplies in a small nap sack while others need a moving truck to carry the baggage that weighs on them every single day.

As we begin school, don’t forget that kids are bringing more with him then you will ever imagine. They will put on a brave face and hide that baggage from you all year long. Others will show you immediately how much baggage they have in their backpack with their behavior and raw emotion. In order to take kids from where they are to where they need to be, we must put on our eyeglasses of empathy, understanding, and respect because kids have no one to turn to but us. They are searching for hope. They are searching for belongingness, and we are the only ones that some of them can count on to help them unpack their suitcases of isolation and desperation.

The start of school is all about having a fresh start. It’s about believing that this year kids will be able to find their ultimate purpose of being on this earth. Never forget that kids need to know how much you care and how much you accept them, for those are the things that will inspire and invite kids to unpack their negativity and aspire for a new beginning.

The First Rule of Excellence in Every Classroom

Teaching is the most complex profession there is.  We have this massive goal, but there are 20 to 140 variables throughout the day that affect this goal.  They’re called kids in every class period or subject that we teach, and with all of these variables, there’s a smorgasbord of instructional strategies, resources, products, and nuances for teachers to choose from that could potentially have a positive impact on each and every situation that teachers encounter in the course of a day.  So it’s no surprise when educators become overwhelmed. There are simply so many things to address and just not enough time to address them all.

But that’s not all that teachers have to consider.  Teachers then couple their ideas with ideas that they get from their teams, and then teachers are presented with campus and district initiatives that are designed to make teachers’ lives more efficient and more effective.  And before students even darken the doors for the first day of school, our teachers' plates are overflowing to the point that they can’t even begin the arduous journey toward excellence in every student. Simply put, their proverbial wagons are overloaded with too many things to get done and not enough time to do them.

In order to end the insanity of “too much to do” we leaders should rethink how we can support teachers in reaching this goal of providing every student with the most effective instruction.  This new goal, bringing out the excellence in every student, can only be attained if we own the first rule of excellence:

    That means we will have to allow the theme song of Disney’s movie, “Frozen”, to permeate throughout our soul.  Yes, we must “Let it go”. We will need to let go of practices that we know are nothing more than going through the motions.  We will need to evaluate and identify practices and activities that do not lead to our goal, instruction working for all kids all the time, and we will have to redirect our focus on actions, practices, and behaviors that grow students.  If it doesn’t grow students, we will need question ourselves as to why we are using those ineffective practices in the first place.

     As you head into the beginning of the school year, ask yourself this question.  What am I doing to ensure that teachers do less things more effectively?  After all doing less always leads to more productivity, and the better we do at fewer things, the more students will ultimately grow in the end.  Focus on less and watch more excellence come your way.

The Right Start to School

New shoes, school supplies, folders with brads, folders with no brads.  Yep, the start of school is almost here. The stores are packed. The malls are buzzing with excitement as kids pick out their fresh new duds to  begin the year. The start of a new school year brings out the very best in every one of us, and why shouldn't it.  The beginning of a new year is every kid's new opportunity to realize why he was placed on this earth.

What Makes a Strong Start?

How you start the race will put you either in the lead or behind the pack, but we must remember that strong starts are not in the clothes we buy or the supplies we are able to find (folders with brads). Sure these things make us feel excited and prepared for the possibilities of a new year, but they won't help us finish strong.   Strong starts begin with strong preparation.

To start the year strong, we must locate the behaviors, attitudes and effort needed to tackle the work and it is successfully tackled with the grit and perseverance.  All the "clothes" in the world will not help kids overcome the difficulties they will find in their first period Algebra class. Those students who possess tenacity or learn it quickly will overcome their deficits. 

All the school supplies in the world will not help a teacher respond to a class that doesn't connect to him or his content. Organization and commitment to that structure (as well as the kids who will benefit from that structure) will also be critical supplies teachers will need to lead their students to excellence. Furthermore, the ability to build, maintain, and sustain strong student relationships will be the best tool to keep kids in this year-long marathon we call learning. 

As you get ready to start the year, what intangible supplies will you need to begin your race to excellence. After it’s all the intangibles that excellence educators possess that push all kids to excellence, not the tangible supplies on the list. Good luck and have a great beginning of the year. 

7 School Culture Lessons from Japan

Culture says everything about your school because it reflects the values, goals, and aspirations of the community at large. While some cultures possess values that are selfless, others take on a “me first” mindset. Other cultures value winning at all costs while a few value the reputation of their collective character above the results that the culture strives for. 

Take for instance, the Japanese fans at the World Cup whose culture created a viral impact on the world. No matter the result, the Japanese fans supported their team to the very end and then the did the unspeakable.  They cleaned up the stadium after the game. Yes, they cleaned the stadium.  Have you ever done that after a game or better yet at the visitor’s home?   The video below illustrates why they do this abnormal activity. 

So what lessons can we take from the Japanese?
Here are a few take-aways that I believe can benefit all schools and the people inside those schools.

1. Your character is the most important thing that grows your culture.  Protect it.
2. Your culture will have wins and losses, and how the people in that culture act in both situations says everything about you and your culture.
3. Be joyful in everything. 
4. Appreciate everyone in your culture for that is how your culture is developed.
5. Celebration is the fuel that keeps your culture growing.
6. Respect everyone especially those you disagree with.
7. Leave your school, stadium and every place you go better than you found it.

I was truly inspired to be a better person by what the Japanese displayed, but more than that I was challenged to build a culture that emulates the Japanese spirit.  They could have been cocky when they won or bitter when they lost, but their culture was never either of those selfish postures.  That's because their culture not a ‘winner’ culture.  It is a ‘winning’ culture, and they spread their winning spirit by showing reverence, displaying respect and most importantly demonstrating unbelievable selflessness.  

I think in this time of rudeness, divisiveness, and at times downright hatefulness, our country could use a few plays from their playbook.  Our schools can be the catalyst that actually changes this nastiness that does little more than tear people down.  I say we give it a try.  You never know.  It might definitely make our schools better for all kids, and it could even make our country better for its citizens.

5 Leadership Lessons from the Golf Course

Golf has never been a favorite sport of mine, and I mean never. Perhaps it is the tedious and technical nature of the game that never appealed to me. Maybe it was the lack of excitement in contact sports, such as soccer, basketball, and football that caused me to be a passive golf enthusiast.

As I enjoyed my monthly golf outing with my daughter, I started to see a lot of similarities between golf and leadership. Here are a few things I learned this past week.

1. Your current shot is impacted on your ability to forget about your last shot (this applies to both good and bad last shots.).
2. Sandtraps, and water hazards in front of you will kill your shot if let them.
3. Keep your head down throughout your shot.
4. Some clubs are better for your game than others. 
5. Your focus is your friend.

I don't know about you, but my leadership can be impacted by situations that I have no control over. I have clubs that never let me down while others seem to always hurt my game. When I focus on the sand trap or water in my way, I lose confidence in my swing before I even approach the ball. Isn’t that the same with leadership. Our head is sometimes our greatness asset and worst adversary. 

 Here's the deal, my leadership suffers WHEN I allow factors beyond my control to instill fear or doubt.  Conversely my leadership excels when I look beyond the barriers and set my sights toward the green. As leaders, we owe it to our organization to keep our eyes on the prize and not the obstacles. When we can do that, our swing will be strong, accurate, and ultimately effective, and followers will find confidence in our leadership. 

This week analyze where your swing is slacking. Identify leadership “clubs” (actions) that are hurting your game, and put in some time to get better at them. Finally, identify barriers, fears, and doubts that are inhibiting your game, and make a commitment to meet them head on with confidence.  Trust me. Your game will improve when you face your fears and view your weaknesses are opportunities for growth.