When I began coaching I dreaded dealing with girls. At the time, I had a highly successful boys cross country team and not even enough girls to make up a team. I had a parent complain about me not doing anything to motivate and encourage girls runners to make them better. What I was failing to realize was that the two groups operate very differently. It was actually a book I read for a college class the next semester that changed my outlook. I was taking a course on the history of the middle east and we were studying the cultural impact on women within the region. The book described an experiment within the Israeli army to build a group of women that were trained snipers. The experiment hit a major roadblock as women were not responding to traditional methods of basic training. The trainers were applying the same techniques that they had used for years. They tear down bad habits and teach new ones in their place. To teach, they yell and criticize. When they did this, the women snipers actually got worse. When they abandoned their methods and tried encouraging and praising good shots instead of criticizing bad ones, the women actually began to outperform the men. When I tried this same tactic in coaching, I quickly built a girls team that was unstoppable.
This week I have been reminded how different girls are and how important it can be for girls to be successful. Our girls soccer team enjoyed their first win in school history on Wednesday night against North Pitt. I was able to quickly rush from the Beta Club inductions (where many young ladies were awarded for their academic excellence) to see the final minutes of the game. The 1-0 win looked like a World Cup victory for these ladies. The look on their faces personified grit. On the other end of the athletic spectrum, our softball team remains undefeated. The recent win over JH Rose of 25-0 in three innings showed just what confidence can produce in a group of young ladies. These girls look unstoppable on game days and any coach will tell you, that confidence is a major first step in winning.
I reflected on all of this on Thursday morning when my wife was called into work early and I couldn't get back to sleep. When my own girls awoke that morning, I laughed at myself as I struggled to use a hair straightener to get my little one ready for picture day. That evening I carried my oldest to a daddy/daughter dance at school. All-in-all I think I have fully realized how important it is to provide positive attention and praise to girls. Confident girls perform better. Maybe it's not even a girl thing. Maybe it's a part of human nature that we just see easily in girls. Either way, I think that this element of human nature cannot be ignored when we seek to teach others, female or male. Praise and confidence in the task can make the difference in quitting and fighting to get that essential first win.
You can tell a lot about a person from the language that they use. While we often pick up on body language and mood very quickly when talking with students and adults, language sometimes tells us a lot more. Language can describe motive and motivation within a person simply by the words that are chosen. I once heard someone express this concept very simply. Saying, "I have to..." implies a negative attitude toward a task. Saying, "I want to..." changes the connotation to the positive, but could still be driven from selfish reasons. Saying, "I get to..." implies selflessness and genuine joy in the task. Many of you "had to" finish grading papers this week so that report cards could be issued. I heard it in the hallways and I saw it on your faces. I also heard many of you "want to" start the second six weeks with a renewed motivation and a higher expectation for student success. I had a chance to think through this throughout the week and I can honestly say that my entire attitude changed as a result. I get to do a lot of great things. This week I got to see my student leaders meet with the Board of Education and I was overwhelmed at what they had to say about our school and the many projects that they are all so involved in. So many of our students believe in this community and in giving back to younger students in our school system. This week I got to appreciate having a school social worker. I have never had one as a principal until this year and I didn't know that this week was School Social Worker's week. Working with someone that is willing to go to student's home and make their lives better so that they can come to school is truly a privilege. I also get to work with a dedicated group of teachers that give up their time and energy to make our school and community a better place each day. I get to reflect every day on how our effort makes students successful and how their success serves as a role model for siblings and younger students in the district that they work with. What do you "get to" do?
What a week!!! Between the ACT, a packed schedule, the stomach virus and a substitute shortage, stress had me maxed out early this week. When we got through the ACT on Tuesday without a hitch despite a million reasons why it should have failed, I must admit that I felt a little foolish. I stressed out because I thought that I had to control everything. That's not a natural reaction for me, so when I feel like I have to make the impossible happen I try to over work things and I stress out. What I really should have done was trusted my team. No one would ever have known that we operated school and the ACT with 10 teachers out.
March is a tough month on teachers. We have so many things begging for our time and attention and you feel stressed because no matter how hard you work, you just can't seem to make it all happen. You lose sleep, and you can actually start to feel sick. Science calls stress the "silent killer" because high stress can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure and an irregular heart beat. Stress is a natural reaction our bodies take to heighten our senses as a survival technique. That seems ironic, because when I'm stressed out I feel like I'm barely surviving!
Toward the end of the week I vowed to work on keeping my stress level lower in an effort to improve my performance and my faith in my team. I encourage you all to take a lesson from my mistake. Trust your team. We forget that so many of us can and will support one another like a family. Students and parents also contribute to that team as well. Having faith in what we have built and those that are with us each day makes any situation better. And if that still doesn't work, science also has shown that laughter and chocolate both have proven to reduce stress!
This week my wife and I got into an argument. Ok, so it wasn't really an argument, but more of a heated discussion. She is a nurse and helps manage the children's emergency department. I am always comparing schools to other professions, and hers is often the one I pick. It all started when we got on the topic of the ED being backed up and it taking a long time for patients to be seen. Sometimes they even are seen by doctors and nurses in the hallway when all rooms are full. That just made no sense to me as a comparison. Sure these people got care, by a professional, in a timely manner according to their needs. My argument was this: Imagine if we treated children the same way. If a child came to enroll in school and we had no class below capacity in the subject they needed, would it be ok to put them in a desk in the hallway? Would it be ok if I gave them a book and had the teacher check on them? While they are receiving an education, something doesn't feel right about it. Needless to say, I would expect a heated visit from that child's parent very soon!
My wife contends that I cannot compare the two situations. The management of an emergency room and a school are just too different. Her argument is that while it is not optimal, good nurses can mitigate these issues with great communication and great care. I have to admit, from a management standpoint, I was wrong. I was focusing on the problems with infrastructure, staffing and care. What I should have been focusing on was what really matters, how the patient or child in both situation feels. Children learn when they feel wanted, appreciated and valued. Patients heal under the same conditions. Good teachers, like good nurses, make that happen no matter what the obstacles. Thinking back on it, our teachers make students welcomed and wanted when the roof leaks, AC breaks, the room is crowded or whatever life throws their way. Environment has much more to do with how you feel about what is around you than the building or space within it. So while I work on improving the environment of my own house after being overly critical, I want to encourage each of you to continue to build positive environments in your classrooms and in our school. Remember that teaching is a service industry and our clients deserve to feel great about their product.
This week I told two freshman students the truth. We have lied to them long enough. What I told them was harsh and unexpected. "You're not special." The words almost hurt to say each time they came from my mouth. You could visibly see their faces change each time I said it. Both students have goals of being the first from their family to attend college. Both students were not meeting the expectations of their teachers or of any student that I would consider college bound. I said it again. "You're not special. Why would a college want you?" Again I saw their faces drop.
We spend a great deal of time from Kindergarten through Senior year telling students that they can be anything that they want to be and that they can go anywhere that they want to go. The truth is that unless they distinguish themselves in and out of the classroom, that is a lie. The other truth is that it is our fault. We spend so much time generating positive relationships in the classroom and motivating students to try, that sometimes we short change what they can produce if we pushed them to do more.
This week our teachers did professional development on generating higher level questions in their classrooms. That is a tough job when sometimes you worry about the students that cannot show success with mid or even low level questions. The other side to generating higher level questions, is generating higher level expectations. That process is not easy or quick, but it is necessary. It's true, average students with average or even good grades are not special. They are average, and they will be competing with all other average students for college admissions. Higher expectations and a strong push can provide them a pathway toward showing abilities and that is how our students can stand apart from the rest. That is how they can be special.
The term "college-ready" is one that has become all too familiar to high school teachers. That term has been used to embrace many different statistics that seek to measure a student's chances of being successful in a college classroom. From our Levels 4 and 5 on End of Course tests, to PLAN, SAT, ACT and DAP scores, everyone seems to have a way of predicting a student's success before they ever set foot on a college campus. Before we accept these tests as the gold standard that they claim to be, there are a few things that anyone associated with a high school in a low-wealth area should understand.
Consider these facts:
Only 42% of Americans over 25 have a post-secondary degree.
Research suggests that college recruiters tend to focus on schools with a track record of successful students and may actually be overlooking schools with a high ratio of African American or Latino students, despite their ability to handle college rigor.
Though the number of African American and Latino enrollments have greatly increased since 1995 (73% and 107% respectively), these students are attending schools with open-enrollment policies that are perceived as academically weaker.
More African American and Latino students with an A average are choosing to attend community colleges over white students with an A average.
Each year, there are as many as 111,000 high-scoring African American and Hispanic students that do not attend college or do not graduate. (That makes over 2 million students since 1995)
The SAT claims that a student scoring a 1550 out of 2400 has a 65% chance of scoring a B average in their first year of college
Students with this score have a 69% chance of graduating within 6 years of college
Students below this score only show a 45% chance of graduating within 6 years
In 2014, less than half of test-takers achieved a 1550
Only 16% of African American and 23% of Hispanic students scored a 1550
The ACT claims that students meeting the benchmark score for each area have a 50% chance of finishing with a B average in the subject area in their first year of college
Only 40% of test-takers met the benchmark in 3 or 4 areas of the test in 2014
33% did not make the benchmark in any subject area
These statistics prove what most teachers in low-wealth areas already know. There are many other factors aside from performance on the SAT or ACT that keep minority students from attending college. With these factors hanging over our student's heads, how on earth do we work to continue to make our students college ready? Well, not-so-fast! New research says that these tests are ignoring some very important factors: Grades and Grit. Students with higher GPAs in high school and lower SAT or ACT scores are actually proving to outperform students with just high test scores. Other studies point to students with a growth mindset are also outperforming students with just high scores.
Keeping students working hard in the classroom, taking challenging courses and teaching them the value of grit is showing to be a far better indicator of college readiness than any of the standardized tests that are currently being used. This information is going to be very valuable for us in the next few months. Between upcoming tests where students can work hard to perform, scheduling for next year's classes and an incoming crop of freshmen just 6 months away, grit and grades need to be on everyone's mind! Every teacher and parent can help by preaching the value of hard work and resilience at every opportunity. Let's fill every student's ear every chance we get!
This week I am at the NCASCD conference. I look forward to this week because I always leave with great ideas to come back to school with. At one session I saw a video that I have not seen in a while. If you have not seen the nail video, I strongly suggest that you stop reading and watch it now!
In schools, we spend a lot of time talking about teacher and student relationships. These are so important that I believe that they are equally as impactful as the curriculum or methods that you use in your classroom. With all of this focus on the relationships with students, I think it is easy to put the relationships with other adults on the back burner. Particularly your relationship with school administrators.
All working relationships hinge on the fulfillment of four basic needs. They are: freedom, fun, love/belonging and power. These four domains allow you to be a connected equal in any relationship and I can certainly see how they relate to teachers as well. Teachers need autonomy, enjoyment, appreciation and a voice in what they do everyday. When I started reflecting on this, I instantly thought of times that I was acting just like the guy in the nail video. I recalled conversations with teachers that just wanted to share how hard they were working. They needed validation, not suggestions. And I get it, it's hard to tell me to shut up!
The spring semester is always a blur of events and activity and in the hustle of it all, please remember to focus on relationships. Not just student relationships, but also relationships with adults in our building and the adults that are in our student's lives as well. We all need those four needs to make the very most of our purpose and we can all work to help provide them for each other.
