Teacher Leadership

There is no doubt that I try to be a little liberal with how I choose to manage a school. There are some things that students and teachers do that I may not 100% agree with, but I try to recognize a human element to the organization. I believe that you can spend a lot of time focusing on managing that human element or your can spend that same amount of time improving instruction and student effectiveness. The fact is, I am always outnumbered. With almost 900 students and close to 70 staff members, I can never watch all the people, all the time. I rely heavily on teacher and student leadership to find an effective balance. Last week we met with student leaders and I wrote about what those students said to out board members. This week I want to discuss teacher leadership.

I recently saved an article that highlighted 7 habits of teacher leaders. The author identified the following:

1. Model lifelong learning

2. Engage in effective collaborative learning

3. Assume collective responsibility for student success

4. Support newer colleagues

5. Contribute to the schoolwide improvement agenda

6. Impact school system performance

7. Build relationships with policymakers

All of these attributes are necessary but they also require action. Most teachers, even new teachers, know what should be done. Taking the next step to actively do those things can be hard sometimes. But that's what makes a leader.

It's the time of year when we start doing summative evaluations and I wish that teacher leadership (Standard 1) was even more emphasized because it impacts so much of a school. In the spirit of preparing for those evaluations and preparing for a strong finish, take a few minutes to self-reflect on your contribution to those 7 habits. Where do you excel and where can you improve? When we have 70 teacher leaders, it greatly increases our odds of leading an effective school!

Wisdom That Still Works

I was welcomed back in full force this week! We had a lot of events and it instantly reminded me of how busy the end of the school year will be. That became even more interesting when I inadvertently sent out a virus to everyone on Monday! (If you ever want to know who  reads your emails, just send them a virus! You'll find out really quick!) After the stress of that first day, I was already exhausted.





On Tuesday afternoon, I was invited to the Greene County Senior Center to celebrate Mr. William Davis. Mr. Davis is a former assistant principal for Greene County Schools and recently celebrated his 100th birthday. I was amazed at this man. He spoke to us after his recognition and said something that I instantly thought was worth writing down. It may even be my new mantra. He said, "If you can impress students by showing them that you care for them; they will take care of you." How simple, but how true. I hear from people in and out of education about how schools and students are just not the same as they used to be, but here was a 100 year-old administrator that knows what worked then and what still works today.

That idea instantly proved true for me on Wednesday as we hosted our annual School Board Luncheon. This event gives our student leaders an opportunity to speak with members of the school board and county office about our school, changes they have seen and goals that they would like to see. I never think that I should coach them into saying what I want them to say. For me, this is an authentic assessment of how well I am doing and how well we are doing collectively. I was impressed to hear from our student leaders that they believe that our teachers have improved in how they teach and in how they interact with students. They see you pushing them and caring for them and they told the people that matter most in our profession. I instantly thought of Mr. Davis and his words of wisdom.

Student feedback can be formal and informal and you have to treat that as your formative check. Are you impressing them by taking care of them? How do you know? While this may not be the best evaluation for that kid that you call down every day, it probably is a great evaluation from the majority of your students. Work to impress them and they should be taking care of you. 100 years of experience says so.

Communication

When I first knew that I was coming to Greene Central I wanted to meet with Mr. Marr to talk with him about what I needed to know before making the transition. I came over one morning that summer and Tammy asked me what I was doing there. She's not a very good liar. She knew exactly why I was there. She knew because she's a great communicator. Since then, communication between Tammy, the assistant principals and myself has been a hallmark of our working relationship. We talk to one another a lot, often trading texts before 6:00 am. The only breakdown in communication comes when Tammy is trying to get me to read her lips in a crowded office. I'm horrible at reading lips and I have no clue what she is talking about!

Tammy Oakes has proven everyday that good communication can solve most problems. It's something that we can all learn from. Good phone calls home to parents when students do well and tough ones when they fail are essential. Communication between teachers helps you all feel better about what you do each day, and maybe makes you feel normal when things go wrong. I've recently seen great teacher sharing with the Honors Portfolios and it is something that I hope continues afterward.

On Tammy's last day with us, I want to say thank you to her on behalf of everyone for the multitude of problems that she has solved for all of us over the past 12 years. She has laughed with us on our best days and helped support us on our worst days. We will miss her greatly.

Teaching Magic

I'm going to tell you something that every principal education program says that I should not tell you. Many of my graduate school professors will disagree with me. There are people with higher degrees than mine, that have written many books about how schools work and how students learn that will say that I am wrong. I can prove them wrong and I'll tell you why.

Here's the big secret: Direct instruction can work and can be incredibly effective.  Modern theory says not to speak to students through lecture as a means of whole group instruction (I won't even get into the fact that this is how most higher education classrooms are run despite their own theory). The problem is that most teachers cannot do it correctly. Doing it correctly is difficult unless you have seen it and have the courage and "magic" to recreate it. Those modern educational theorists claim that students cannot focus on a single activity for a prolonged period of time, yet they do it every time they watch a movie, play a sport, play video games or basically anything else they are interested in. The problem is that they are not interested in what we have to offer.

So the question really becomes how do we become interesting? The answer is to use "magic." I'm not talking about pulling a rabbit out of a hat or doing card tricks. I'm talking about the kind of magic that holds people at the edge of their seat and captivates them, not because of what is said, but because of how it is said. I'm talking about the kind of magic that most grandparents have that captivates their grandchildren to give them 110% of their attention when their parent can't seem to get them to sit still. Storytelling is an art that should be taught as a part of any teacher preparation program. While not everyone will be experts at this skill and while it may not work for every kid in every class, it certainly is a skill that can work for most students, some of the time and it deserves to be a tool in every teacher's skill set.


It seems that I'm not alone in this idea though. If you have an extra 7 minutes, I highly suggest watching the video below.  Focus on what he is saying, but more importantly, focus on how he delivers his message and what he does with his body. This guy is a magical teacher.

A Little Help From My Friends

This week I have been reminded of that Beatles song that Joe Cocker made famous at Woodstock. Never has a little help from my friends at Greene Central been more needed! Any principal that wants to appreciate the value of their assistant principals, needs to run a school without them for a few days. With Mrs. Blackman and Mr. Castillo at a conference in New Orleans, I found myself wearing many hats and I depended greatly on several of you to help support me along the way. I also truly appreciated all of the ways that they make my job easier without me knowing it. On Wednesday of this week I was going to use this metaphor to highlight how important it is that we support each other as much as we support students. Then Thursday afternoon happened.

This could be any of our teachers on Thursday afternoon

About ten minutes before the after school bus would load to take students home I heard a very distressing call from Ms. Hedgepeth on the radio. A fight had broken out between two students outside of the math hall and I went running. While we were able to break up the fight pretty quickly, I would not have been able to control the chaos that ensued from the students' families had it not been for the support of the many teachers that were there quickly to assist. They all jumped right in like they had done it a hundred times before. While I was upset at the situation, I could not have been more proud of my staff. (Gentlemen, those ladies on the math and English hall are no joke!) 

This week would have done me in had it not been for a little help from my friends. I can only hope that each of you feels the same way of the staff at Greene Central. Support from colleagues gets us all through tough spots and makes us shine brighter when we get to help each other. Thank you to everyone that helped me get through this week and every week and thank you for all of the help you give each other. It's nice to be reminded how amazing you are.

Trust

I don't even know why it surprises me anymore. I should be used to it by now. It's just so great to watch it happen. I guess I'm still in shock that everything came together as quickly as it did for the ACT. When I found out on Friday afternoon that we had to test on Tuesday, I was pretty upset. I quickly thought about all of the things that could go wrong, wouldn't happen on time and wouldn't be right. What I did was exactly what I shouldn't have done. I doubted the expertise, commitment and resolve of our staff and students. I thought about everything that could go wrong, instead of trusting in my people. Everyone did a fantastic job this week. Teachers helped one another throughout the day. Students worked as hard as they could for four hours during that test to give their best. Other staff members pitched in and covered classes and helped get the right people in place. It went off without a single problem.

I find it pretty amazing how trust works. When you have a group of people that believe in a common goal, they almost always seem to find a way to make it work. I think the same happens in effective classrooms. It is easy, and almost intuitive, for teachers to think about what could go wrong in a new lesson. We think about that one kid that can't handle the structure. The group that just couldn't handle the assignment that way or a million other things that could go wrong. But if you prepare them with what they need, set up structures that support them and allow them to support each other, it is always impressive what students can produce. The problem is that it can be scary to try for the first time. Stepping off the ledge and into the unknown means giving up control and you find yourself just like me last Friday. Sometimes it's not until you have no other choice that you find out just how incredible the people around you can be!

From February 20, 2015

We are entering the tough part of the school year. The next few weeks often put a strain on teachers and students (administrators too). I'm not sure if it is due to the fact that we are ready for warmer weather (I know I am after this week!) or if we are just ready for another break, but the end of February through March is always difficult for a school. Add to that the regular distractions of major testing like Work Keys and the ACT, scheduling for next school year, multiple events that disrupt the day or week and a change in athletic seasons and it begins to add up quickly. Just writing about all of it is enough to make me a bit anxious. The one thing that we do control in difficult times is how we react to one another and how we lead in our classrooms and in our building. Over the next several weeks, your support and encouragement of students and fellow teachers will be essential.  I strongly believe that we are on the edge of making even more progress at Greene Central, but any change is always most difficult just before it occurs. Keep your heads up and if you need support, please let us know. We're all in this together!