Recruiting Season

A few months ago, during one of my FMLA principalships, I attended a district principal's meeting where one of the principals stood up, almost in tears, and began to speak about how hard it was to be the principal of a Title campus, that it was harder than other schools (she'd know, her experience runs the full range of socioeconomic backgrounds) and it was very difficult to get teachers to stay and buy into the work that was happening. My apologies, I really can't remember the exact context of the comment, but I recall it very clearly because it was an emotionally charged portion of the meeting.  She was highly frustrated.

While every campus has its struggles and challenges, having taught at Title campuses, I'd tend to agree with her, but my brain immediately shot to what is the identity and brand of this campus?  Why do teachers want to belong, what makes this school an amazing place to be?  I also began to think about how we often speak of student engagement.  Is the difficulty or type of work any different than blaming video

More than Group Work

7 Essential Principle of Innovative Learning

I came across this article a few days ago and tweeted it.  It is a great overview of 21st century teaching foundations and practices.  I'd encourage you to click & read it.  #2 caught my eye particularly.  It seems I've had many conversations over the last five (5) years or so surrounding this idea.  And, many of these conversations were surrounding a misunderstanding of this idea and I'm thinking there are many out there that have had similar experiences.

I remember these conversations began when opening a new middle school campus.  There would be a wealth of technology, but not 1:1.  Our focus was to be more project based, but for some reason that immediately meant that everything we were going to do was group work.  The discussion

Grit Matters & So Do You #TEPSA15

Returned from a great week in Austin this past Friday.  The Texas Elementary Principals & Supervisors Association (TEPSA) Summer Conference was the best I have attended yet.  I found myself frustrated (good thing) because I was having to make tough decisions on which sessions to attend, which was a first for a TEPSA conference for me.  Conferences are great in the fact that you get to see Twitter friends in complete reality!  Enjoyed meeting greats like Eric Sheninger, John Wink, Mandy Vasek and Jennifer Roach and getting to see and hangout with great friends like Don Jacobs.  Always highlights of conferences!

Key takeaways often came in single words.  I attended a session with a Northwest ISD administrative team and they talked about the word grit and growing that trait in their students at Kay Granger elementary.  They understood a key issue for their students was a "stick-to-it-iveness".  They failed to persist in difficult tasks.  They highlighted the importance  of resilience when faced with failure.  This is a skill that is explicitly taught, practiced and celebrated and has to begin with staff.  If the faculty

A Building Again

Another year complete. I remember following my very first year of teaching saying to my mentor how fast the year had felt and she told me that they only seem to go faster.  I replied then I'm going to get old really quick! That has proved to be absolutely true.

As I walk the building, Displays are down, furniture is stacked, paperwork is signed, there is an overflowing shredding box and teachers and kids summers have begun.  I stand by my post from the beginning of the year. School is done for 14-15 and Eagle Ridge is merely a building until August 19 when teachers and students fill it again with the beauty of learning and instruction.  What makes a school a school is the people that fill it!  Parents and teacher pouring into our kids.  The relationships forged, the challenges faced, the achievements celebrated establish a reason to belong.  I saw that George Couros posted a piece regarding innovation and the need for love and

Win Everyday

"We don't win today by reaching the masses, we win by becoming meaningful to the few." - Bernadette Jiwa

I see a current struggle of education in this quote. Political climate (idiocy) and large district bureaucracy where the the bottom line is a test score drive us to focus on one day, one assessment to show the world, nation, community that we are improving and/ or relevant and "deserve" the reward of funding and respect.  

I would assert that is trying to matter to people that don't matter (or at least don't deserve that much attention) What would it be like if we have laser like focus to the folks that do matter? Providing an experience that grows, engages and delights (love that word) that group and mobilizes and empowers them to speak.   

That way we win everyday!  In what ways are you remaining focused on the things and people that matter most?

Happy thinking!

B

Own Your Connections

I shared this quote in a presentation last week in regards to the importance of writing across the curriculum.  This quote from Fundamental Five highlights for me the important of the blog in digital leadership.  When we write, we own our learning.  When we share, we learn out loud for all to see.  We model the connection.  We model the practice.  We grow as individuals and professionals!  Is that not what learning is all about?

"The act of writing critically encapsulates the learning."

Cain, Sean; Laird, Mike (2011-05-11). The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction (Kindle Location 874). CreateSpace. Kindle Edition. 

For me this blog made the presentation I gave possible.  Over the past six months my thoughts, ideas, belief and vision have been refined just in the simple (yet not necessarily easy) act of putting thoughts down, sharing and receiving feedback.

How has blogging helped you own your connections and learning?

Happy posting

B

How Are You Measuring That?

Success is how your customers feel. How are you measuring that? 

Jiwa, Bernadette (2014-09-30). Marketing: A Love Story: How to Matter to Your Customers (p. 73). The Story of Telling Press. Kindle Edition. 

Read this and it really struck me.  We spend so much time setting goals and being very quantitative
about the things we are focused on instructionally.  We set up formative assessment processes, we discuss data in PLC meetings, we put the data up on the wall and/or student binders and it tells a story of learning.  We plan interventions and hopefully take the time to celebrate success!!  All of these are great things!

Social Media & Schools: Why?

So why should we be part of social media?  We could look at one of a number of areas and have a great reason to jump in and each one is worthy!  Let's make a quick list:

• As an additional communication platform - get your message out in every way possible!
• Because you were told - hopefully this means you have a boss or administration that values innovation and using current and relevant tools!
• To connect with parents and/or students where they interact - the saying is "build it and they will come".  Well, in this case, it is already built, people are there and we need to go meet them there!

Plan vs. Design

Below is a post from 2012 (just a few edits).  Probably one of the final posts from my previous site that I will pull to the new one.  Still relevant and a challenge we all should accept!

"When I look at nature I see design & patterns everywhere & know that designs don't happen by accident. There is a Designer." - Jon Gordon

If you don't follow Jon Gordon on Twitter, you should. Not only is the man a great writer and motivator, but he strikes me as a person that is just good to know. Maybe I'll get to know him one day. The tweet above was posted yesterday is just really struck a sweet chord with me on a number of different levels. On one level, it is difficult to look around and not see a beautiful design in action. The exquisiteness of creation is just too intricate to be random and by chance!

I Don't Want to be a Special Guest

I don't want to be a special guest.  Not at school or in a classroom, at least.

This past Thursday, I was out and about visiting classrooms, walking through, checking things out.  Nothing super official yet, but really trying to work on being present where the learning happens.  I ended up hanging out a little longer in a 4th grade classroom where an interactive read aloud was taking place (a shared book will always catch my attention).  As the teacher read, then made her calculated stops to ask questions, driving the objective of point of view, she asked the question, "what do you think the point of view of our special guest will be?"  A number of the students who had noticed me come in turned to look at me.

New Thoughts on the Old Box

One of my summer reads I made some headway on was Unlocking Harry Potter: Five Keys for the Serious Reader.  I am, for sure, a Potterhead.  I'd say something about it in my twitter bio, but there is just not space and thinking about it now, I probably need to go adjust my bio page to note this (shame on me).  I've read that series all the way through at least a half dozen times and I'm slowly working my way through the John Granger books looking at the literary values the Harry Potter series contain.  If these books were around when I was in high school, I probably would have enjoyed those classes a whole lot more.  Of course this is all my own interest and purely for the fun of it, but then I read this quote and I couldn't help but stop and think:

Marketing Education 3.0

We did not jump lightly back into our professional learning activities when teachers came back last Thursday.  We went straight to work on revisiting our campus mission statement.  It was developed 7 years ago when the campus opened, but it was time for a revisit .  Many things had changed in the seven years since Eagle Ridge opened it's doors and what we found both from staff and community, is while a large majority were pleased with the campus, they had zero awareness of what the campus mission was.  Of course we shared the same purpose, but no reflection of the unique identity and values of the campus.  The coolest part of the experiences is that my principal and I took a PBL approach to the learning including challenge briefs, developing research questions, hosting workshops, developing DIY's, in addition to the final task of drafting a mission statement.  Part of the initial experience was watching this video.

Digital Leadership Day - A Call

So what, I'm a day or two late!  For Digital Leadership Day, I thought I'd review and tweak of thoughts from July of last year when I shared thoughts about difference between transformation and improvement. Thinking about digital leadership, it is a model of transformative learning and practices versus a focus on improvement.  In a time where transformation is necessary, being a leader is not enough.  The most effective leader is one who can most effectively wield the best tools to motivate, inform and model the transformation they desire to inspire in others.

I suppose I first came across the idea of transformation versus improvement during a reading of Why School by Will Richardson (@willrich45).  For me, this is a game changing book. No professional book I

Creating Difference

Lately I have found it fascinating to read about the rise and success of brands like Apple, Google, Southwest, etc. and the experiences they create and the way they engage their communities.  The difference they make versus others is that they have created an experience!  Bernadette Jiwa says it this way::

"the meaning we attach to stuff —the experiences we create around it and the stories we tell ourselves about it— has exponential value."

Jiwa, Bernadette (2014-02-03). Difference: The one-page method for reimagining your business and reinventing your marketing (Kindle Locations 420-421). The Story Of Telling Press. Kindle Edition. 

While she is specifically speaking to business and product, I would contend that there is applicability to schools here.  School and learning should be an impactful experience!  The time spent and invested in schools should leave a positive and indelible mark on our students and their families. There should be a healthy focus on the affective areas: experience and feeling created versus the product itself (not that that isn't important). I am certainly not saying school should be Disneyland or the "experience" should be at the expense of quality instruction (fluff), but the school experience should be just as special!  The experience and relationship are what make our product (learners and learning) just that much more meaningful!

Right now at Eagle Ridge, we are looking closely at who we are, what we believe, what are the unique traditions, what are unique needs of our campus (both instructionally and affectively).  What is it that makes Eagle Ridge, Eagle Ridge?  We don't want to be a campus that does things just to do them or goes through the motions, no matter how well we do them.  We want to "create difference" for the benefit of our students!

"It isn't the person with the best idea who wins; it’s the person who has the greatest understanding of what really matters to people."

Jiwa, Bernadette (2014-02-03). Difference: The one-page method for reimagining your business and reinventing your marketing (Kindle Locations 147-148). The Story Of Telling Press. Kindle Edition. 

I want to explore and refine this idea as part of this site.  I hope in the coming weeks to develop the idea in my head of "The EDentiy Interviews"! I want to pick brains of school leaders and great teachers about what makes their schools and classrooms so special!  What were important stepping stones and processes they went through on the way to greatness?

What would you ask or want to know of these folks?

Happy Learning

B

D of L Diaries - Hard Conversations & PPDs

I'd like this to be a regularly revisited segment of my site/blog.  Last year we had a new Director of Leadership overseeing my boss and our campus.  One of his priorities was to change the view of his position so he made great efforts to make regular visits to our campus and others.  The culture what it was, this caused higher levels of anxiety, but in the interest of shifting culture he persisted, to his credit.  I always find value and learning from his visits, so I'd like to share that!

This week (8/5/14 to be exact), I took the opportunity to make an appointment and sit and chat with him for a bit.  It was a beneficial visit and many things we talked about I'm still marinating on, but here are a couple key points I walked away with:

Morning Power Walks

Here is an updated post from January of 2013.  In reflecting on the practice, everything I wrote back then still holds absolutely true and it remains one of my favorite parts of the day, along with morning duty!!

One of the most rewarding activities that Anne (my principal) and myself have dedicated ourselves to is the morning power walk.  Each morning, following our announcements, we visit every classroom in the building as well as our cafeteria kitchen, personally greeting the great students and staff at Eagle Ridge (@EagleRidgeKISD).  In every moment spent, it has had the greatest return on investment of any of the important practices and duties that we have throughout the day and we have heard nothing but positive feedback from faculty and parents regarding the practice.  I'd like to share some of the benefits that we have seen from this first half of the year (in no particular order).

• The morning power walk  has allowed us to keep a close check on the pulse of the campus.  Although focus may be to give students a quick personal greeting, we will often have the chance to talk to teachers and staff and hear the joys, celebrations, concerns and issues that are on the forefront of teacher's minds, both business and personal.  Many times during our senior leadership team meetings we will discuss and tackle issues that were brought to our attention during these brief interactions.  We also have the opportunity to follow up on those for some anecdotal improvement data as well!