Wisdom is found sometimes in the unlikliest of places. Napoleon may have been a dictator, and one who aspired to rule. A "dealer in hope" is part of what leadership can do. When put to good use, people are inspired to dream of possibilies. The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet.
Another important facet for guiding people to fulfill a shared vision is to be a servant leader.
Sometimes it takes connecting with what's in the hearts of other, other times its sweetness, or cold facts of the new reality. People will follow that which is clear and shown to be in their best interests.
In education, schools, even districts, build and follow school improvement plans whose intent is to provide students a successful learning experience. This is done, in part, giving teachers the tools to do that job, and for guiding administrators with a road map for leading the adults towards success. Such accomplishment takes a lot of work and sacrifices by the adults. There are no short cuts. No free rides. In most cases, effective school improvement plans require a shift in thinking by educators as to the ways business is done must change.
What gets monitored, gets done. What is not monitored does not get done.
As schools strive to become more skillful, better at meeting student needs, success is about building buy-in among staff. Not everyone will be on board. Yet a persistant leader can bring along staff by staying the course of action. There are veterans who with each initiative will murmur, "This too shall pass." While seeming cynical, those teachers and administrators speak from experience not fantasy. Resistance is a form of conserving ones energy for the real work. Change for its on sake does not by nature take root.
Strong leadership is needed to have effective school improvement plans. Leaders need to involve staff in the planning, include them in the shaping of a plan, and hold them accountable to their commitments. A leader who pays lip service will see the school improvement plan become a paperweight rather than a vehicle for improving success by teachers teaching students, and learners learning. Sadly, too many well intentioned leaders get trapped in the day to day demands. Like parents of kids going away to college where they are out of sight and no longer guided, a swamped leader "hopes" the staff is following the plan and doing what's expected. Just like the leader, the staff also struggle to keep their heads afloat. Priority is survival. The first things cast overboard are the tools and expectations of the school improvement plan.
'Good directors, playwrights and leaders are enablers who make it possible for others to succeed by providing the means and opportunities for actions.' Anon
Leadership is passionate persistance about what's best for learners needs and ensuring that all staff strive to meet those identified needs.
Socrates continues to have an enormous impact on my life. He leads the teachers that influenced my thinking and the lenses I use to interpret the world. He’s known as one of the greatest philosophers for human kind, even in his own time. He taught or influenced Plato and Aristotle, both men also arguably great thinkers who transcend their era to ours. Consider Socratic Questioning, a highly respected instructional strategy named after the philosopher. The questioning process proves effective for helping expand student thought process. Socrates thinking, called the Socratic Method, was so phenomenal that his peers feared him for the power of how he influenced others to think for themselves. Yet this man believed that he “knew nothing,” that there was so much more for him to explore. And he did so until his death, orchestrated by those who feared him.
This blog exists for personal and professional reasons. My work as an educator drives me to explore many, many ways of teaching and learning. Blogging serves as an instructional/learning tool and a means for personal reflection. I’m not sure what reflections will have value beyond my desire to examine my thinking and, hopefully, grow my understanding. My interests are in ways of teaching and learning that are effective. I know and teach about many systems and strategies. There is so much more that I understand little or am not aware of. So this blog is a way to mine gems, explore undiscovered territory (at least unexplored by me), and experience many cognitive shifts by maintaining open-mindedness.
If there is vanity in publishing my ideas and belief systems so that others might examine what “wisdom” is contained, my hope is to recognize illuminations for what it is, and in that process grow beyond that naïveté. Learning is everywhere if we keep open-minds, and allow for the possibility that knowledge is malleable.
Socrates is a constant reminder to me of living with humility. The adage applies here in that the more I learn, one truth holds…there is so much more that is unknown. Every open ended question answered uncovers multiple questions. Especially in areas of my expertise, the people I teach benefit my understandings as well as from the leading thinkers in and outside the field of education.
This journey will explore concepts and views on education and life in general. For experience is indeed an effective teacher if we are but open to her lessons. My travels will lead to areas that don’t exist in my understanding, and into examining self-beliefs that I as yet do not hold. Perhaps my path will intersect with others, and for that opportunity, perhaps we’ll both be the richer. Throughout this experience, Socrates’ wisdom is my compass and Experience is the two by four for helping me keep perspective.
Covey tells a story about being on a train during a crazy moment. Two young children jumped on chairs, shouted and chased each other. Their behavior was better suited to a playground, not a public transit system. In the confinement of the train, people stared at the father with increasing impatience and agitation, demanding action with their eyes. The father sat oblivious to the silent demands and to his children, who’s activity increased in volume and intensity. When confronted about his kids needing attention, the father noticed his children as if breaking from a trance and seemed helpless to act. Apologetically, he explained that they’d come from the hospital where his wife just died. The father said he did not know how to tell his children that they’d lost their mother. What was apparent from a distance of a man with undisciplined children shielded the passengers from the deeper reality of pain and loss.
In “The Red Shoe” by Linda Webb (full text), an article from Education Leadership (September 2000), the author tells a story about her childhood experience entering kindergarten. Full of enthusiasm for the exciting world of school, she did everything asked of her in class. One day the children demonstrated if they knew how to tie their shoes. The girl volunteered to go first. She began tying her shoe using her teeth to pull the shoelace through the loop made with her fingers. Aghast, the teacher shouted, “Nasty Girl! What would your mother think of you putting that in your mouth?” What the teacher did not know is that the kindergartener’s mother was born without hands. The girl learned to tie her shoes from her mother.
“Seek first to understand then to be understood.” This Covey principle deals with being open to other people even when their actions or beliefs seem in opposition to our own. So when a person says something that makes me think they’re from another planet or the thought bubble that appears is, “I can’t believe you said that,” the temptation is to mentally close the door on them. Disengage in further genuine conversation, and if I can’t leave immediately, then watch the clock for when leaving is possible. Most times, I resist this urge and ask questions to understand that person’s point of view. Rather than set them up for failure by shutting down, inquiry gives the person voice, opportunity to express themselves. I may discover a perspective that brings me pause to consider. In the end, I may discover a new understanding, or respectfully agree to disagree.
People, especially children, need their voices to be heard. When their actions or behaviors appear strange or inappropriate, it’s tempting to make executive decisions and move on. So much more is gain time is taken to understand, as was needed for the man on the train and the kindergartner.
Try this video instead, and count the passes by the players in white shirts.
Did you see the AgLoLrIiRlOlGa the first time?
When dealing with someone who I do not understand or agree with, this is tough to do in situations that are tense, emotional, or demand a decision. Breathing helps a person to pause long enough from acting so as to suspend judgment and consider the other person’s perspective. In some difficult situations, filled with tension and anger drives people to fight or flight. The person who flees or loses the battle is voiceless.
At a steering committee, members tackled the complex issue of drafting minimum competencies for computer skills by employees. I was among advocates who laid out a rationale and suggested guidelines to support the educators in the building to develop needed core skills to do their work and bridge the cultural gap between them and their technology literate students. The discussion seemed amicable and supportive of implementation when one fellow teacher expressed opposition to the plan. Her tone moved from conversational to argumentative to punishing statements that bordered on bullying. Any reasoning that I or others said seemed only to inflame her more. She used words and tone as a weapon to beat us into silence. Finally, a break was called in hopes that the tension would abate.
As combatants went to separate corners, I approached the leader of the opposition and asked her to explain her reasons. Her words were like a rough wind buffeting me. I leaned into the gale seeking understanding to the meaning behind her attack. Why, I wondered, was she so upset?
What became clear was that she was afraid of failure. Lacking computer skills, she did not want to be labeled. Prideful of her skills as a professional, admitting that she was unskilled in technology was a heavy blow to her confidence. I let her know that I understood how she felt, and that guiding her to the needed skills would be my personal mission. She felt heard. She believed that support would be at hand to ensure her success. Opposition dissolved.
While adults need to be heard, students are especially in need. An elementary child might be a monster in the classroom, doing everything possible to disrupt class from screaming, damaging property, to hitting other kids. Discipline is necessary to maintain authority, and understanding is a way to discovering and eliminating the on-going problem. What if the child’s parents are divorcing, and the kid believes demanding attention will bring them back together? Knowing the background, what if an adult talked to the child about the pain of parents separating, and suggests that positive attention is better than negative attention? How might that child respond? Or, what if the student is sent to the principal’s office, and, ultimately, is suspended for the improper behavior, but the root of the behavior is never explored with the child.
The beginning of a school year, I welcomed high school students to English class. One student, a large teen with a shock of curly red hair, entered class. Tardy, he strolled across the room with an amused expression as if challenging me to say something. Some would have asked for a tardy pass, and when one was not forth coming, sent him back to the office. As I breathed, something about his manner suggested taking a different course of action. Ignoring him, I continued the introduction. Seated, he tried to “press buttons” that would get my attention and send him swiftly to the discipline office.
Finally, I had him step outside of the classroom. He looked at the other students, moving with a triumphant swagger. He believed that his prediction would come true, that I would send him to the assistant principal’s office. Outside of the classroom, I asked him why he tried to disrupt the class when I’d done nothing to him? Belligerent at first, his words were like rushing water. I stood in the stream, allowing the water to pass. Breathing deeply, I held my objective in mind—to understand him and connect with his sense of fairness. His words turned from his game and became about his feelings of frustration and anger that he was labeled for failure. I was one of few adults who gave him space for his voice. He remained a constant challenge, but he came to my class and strove to be part of the community.
What I learn from these experiences is that breathing is a constant challenge. When stress is high, the airwaves constrict as instinct says there’s little time to breathe. Pausing even a few seconds can make the difference. Hopefully these stories help you to understand my perspective. If not, breathe, and search for the gorilla. :)
Geography, mapping skills, and attention to details are key to solving clues as you help Team Kim Possible stop 7 major villains from taking over the world. Each villain is in a "country" in Epcot. You're job is to learn about the culture so as to solve clues to prevent the bad guys from completing their quest for world domination.
Disney World in Florida has an attraction based in Epcot called: Disney's Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure. It's a mystery game where individual or a team follow clues to different locations in one of seven world culture stages. Clues are communicated via cell phone.
I visited a Kim Possible station, where upon registering for my family, the KP Team member gave us a cell phone. Using its video capabilities, one of Kim's friends directed us to our destination: Japan. Each adventure is composed of about 5 quests, which took us throuhout the cultural center. At designated hotspots, we used the cell phone to activate more clues such as a baby robot peeking out of store shelves, a monkey statue rising out of the water, and spirits inhabiting a glowing chimney.
The kids loved the experience. They plowed through the clues, never allowing frustration at a subtle hint or evidence to deter. Each adventure took 30 to 40 minutes to complete, and the kids never tired. Japan, Great Britain, China, and Norway. We visited museums, stores, and restaurants. Each had history to tell and another clue to solve.
While Disney's approach might seem to some as too complex, it's not when you consider the power of Web Quests. Cell phones with internet access turns webquests into mobile activities through out the building and beyond. Every team, not each student, needs a cell phone to use. This elliminates the concern of access for everyone. It's even possible for one person, the teacher, to input data on the phone and give out instructions for the next step in the exploration. Students moving around, exploring their surroundings to connect abstact concepts to their world, is a powerful learning experience.
Classroom walkthroughs are an effective means to support powerful learning for all stakeholders. The intent is that administration, and teacher leaders, visit all classrooms 2 to 4 times a week (depending on building size), and time in classrooms is 3 minutes. The intent is to support and monitor school improvement initiatives for good instruction and learning.
Teachers benefit from administration understanding the challenges and celebrations of instruction. There is a deeper knowledge of what resources instructors may need. Most importantly, reflection sessions after several visits can lead to teachers realizing their effectiveness and areas to expand their repoirtore of tools.
The role of administrator is observer coach, not evaluator. Doing walkthroughs raises awareness of areas of good practice, where systems are being implemented, and support needs. Administrators and observing teacher leaders deepen their knowledge by asking questions based on the lesson's objective(s) and assessment.
Students are the big winners as initiatives are implemented as intended, and instructional practices are honed. The result is that the educators get a good sense of what's really working, what needs to be changed, and what should be let go.
Walkthroughs support the addage: What gets monitored gets done. Too often initiatives are "implemented." Teacher leaders spend many hours planning and in-servicing the staff, or paid consultants conduct workshops, and then behind closed doors the initiatives are paid lip service. Which leads to another addage: This too shall pass. There are good resources available. One is The Three Minute Classroom Walkthrough.
Another resource is this info packet, included is a walkthrough form.
Of the many workshops I do, my favorite group to work with are new teachers. Each year I do 3 to 4 sessions on Differentiated Instruction for districts and my organization. For the record, I like working with veterans too. But there's something critical about supporting new teachers. It's a desire to help them maintain their passion, optimism, and idealism about what's best for kids. Veterans have established support networks and know where to get support, or have figured out how to manage. New teachers deal with so much in the first several years. One article cites a report that says 30% of teachers leave the profession after 3 years, and 50% after 5 years.
During my first 3 years of teaching, I had 2 informal mentors, a department head and another colleague. They took me under their wings, and got me involved in professional development such as an Essential Schools conference, the Great Books course, and the National Endowment for Humanities program. I learned so much from these experiences. The core concepts that I took to heart is that I don't know what I don't know, therefore there is always something I can learn to sharpen the saw (Stephen Covey) of my practice, and there are endless ways to connect learning for students. In subsequent years, each new school I worked at a veteran teacher stepped up to guide and continue my education for effective instruction. The life lesson I gained was that my turn would come to support others. That time is now.
President Obama called on the American people to volunteerism. In schools across the country, veteran teachers and other educators need to reach out to those new to the profession. Even in schools where a mentor program exists, new teachers can always use extra perspectives.
The experience is mutually beneficial. The impact for students...
Whenever cell phone use in the classroom comes up, there's excitement about the possibilities for learning and engagement. Inevitably roadblocks are raised because of the potential abuses or inequity of resources. Suddenly the energized conversation bogs down and is mired in the "why it's not possible." Reminds me of the conversations around using the Internet for learning 15 years ago. The unknown, or rather "unfamiliar", can be the biggest obstacle to the richness and freedom that comes with possibility. In this case, using cell phones to support student learning.
Children using cell phones to chat or pass answers is as challenging to deal with as those students who pass notes and conceal text books or notes during tests. During a test, if we're walking around the room, proximity inhibits cheating of "any" fashion. I can't imagine any instructor sitting behind their desk while administering a test. Can you? It's not that I don't trust my students, movement around the classroom helps keep them focused and makes me available to offer guidance, not answers.
For those industrious students who think of and plot out innovative ways to circumvent the rules, I want to find ways to channel that energy for "good." Thinking about it now, those kids are our future engineers, inventors, scientists, and teachers. No, I'm not implying anything shady here. Those occupations require ingenuity and thinking outside of the box.
Concern for misuse of cell phones is a serious issue to problem solve. The approach to finding answers could be best effective if we look for ways how to do, and not let fear or unfamiliarity forces us into a U-Turn.
