N is for Noticing: Challenge Accepted

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Last week I participated in the “A is for Appreciation” #LeadLAP Challenge to drop notes of appreciate to staff members at DGS. This week’s #leadlap challenge was presented by Shelley Burgess and Beth Houf as “N is for Noticing.” Principals and instructional leaders were charged with getting into classes and “Noticing” the impact by providing feedback of instructional practices. Guidance for feedback that is meaningful and can impact instruction was given at http://linkis.com/shelleyburgess.com/2/6PJh9

In addition, I’d like to reference some additional resources for providing teachers feedback:

1. How Principals Can Give Effective Feedback to Teachers

2. 7 Steps to Effective Feedback

3. Seven Keys to Effective Feedback

4. Rich Voltz Thoughts on Teacher Evaluation


 

N is for Noticing

With my port-a-principal cart armed with my “N is for Noticing” notes, I set sail into classrooms to start my day. When providing teachers feedback, I was intentional about providing judgement/bias free feedback to and speak to the best practices strategies that were used within their instruction. I cited specific evidence and observations. I engaged students in conversations that focused on learning goals and targets. I then wrote these down and shared them with teachers.

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In a book I previously read over the summer, “The Three Minute Classroom Walk-Through,” the authors stated “The major purpose of our walk-throughs is to provide opportunities for the teacher’s professional growth. Professional growth is considered a process and not some abstract point of finality on a continuum of development.” Providing the systematic feedback on an ongoing basis to teachers by noticing their instruction practices, student engagement, and curriculum decisions, teachers can continue to grow and develop. In addition to my teachers growing through feedback,  As a result of this week’s challenge, I have set some professional goals. My goals include:
1. Making regular and specific feedback a priority.

2. Making the feedback I give goal-oriented, specific, and free from bias.

3. Continue to provide feedback that is balanced between hand-written, digital, and face-to-face

Book Review: The Zen Teacher

 

 

Book Review

The Zen Teacher

By: Dan Tricarico

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We typically view thriving in the classroom as having two key components:

1. A passion for teaching and learning

2. A strong pedagogy and content knowledge base

What is often overlooked is how mindfulness on behalf of the teacher AND student can contribute to the success, health and well-being of all learners and teachers. In his book, “The Zen Teacher,” Dan Tricarico provides insights into how teachers can include elements of mindfulness to improve their personal and professional practices and find joy in teaching.

As 21st century learners, we stress the importance of grit and perseverance in our students. When presented with a math problem, we encourage students to utilize multiple strategies to reach a solution or find multiple solutions to the same problem. We strive for students to look at topics from multiple perspectives and to engage in learning that is scaffolded or spiraled. We expect ourselves to be experts trained in the content areas we teach, but what Tricarico reinforces in his book is that as teachers, we have the ability to model a “Beginners Mind.” This concept suggests that we approach situations with a willingness to learn. Even when content feels routine and mundane to an adult, we have the ability to approach it in a fresh and mindful ways that focuses on growth and deeper understanding of the content. It is ok not to know the answer, but we can all learn more.

One of my favorite quotes in his book is, “There’s no room for zombies in education.” I appreciated this because we all know that teaching content and teaching children are two different things. Similarly, teaching a lesson and students learning are not one in the same. Tricarico stresses the importance of being present in the classroom and with our students. When we walk in the hallways and into classrooms, reduce distractions so that you can be present to observe changes in a child, recognize a pattern of favorite book genres, be with it to notice when friends are not getting along, or when a child may need extra support.

Another take-away from his book was the concept of “This IS.” I enjoyed this section of the book so much that I posted a note to my desktop with the words “THIS IS” on it as a reminder that as Tricarico writes, “the struggles we face often come down to one thing: the difference between the way things are and the way we think they should be.” Tricarico reminds educators that “practicing the zen tenet of non-judgement helps us control our reactions.” This is valuable to keep in mind as we respond to challenges we confront within the constructs of our work.

 

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“The Zen Teacher” provides strategies for engaging in Zen practices including; intuition, non-judgement , lovingkindess, compassion, gratitude, detachment, acceptance and a quiet mind. A focus on meditation, mindfulness, space, stillness, and self-care are pillars of “The Zen Teacher.” In a time where we continue to focus on meeting the rigors of higher standards, maintaining the engagement and motivation of our students through high energy and passion driven instruction, and responding to the social, emotional and behavioral needs of our students, this book is an excellent reminder that it is also vital that we need to take time, as educators, for ourselves too.

A is for Appreciation: Challenge Accepted

A is for Appreciation

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You realize early on as a principal that you are only as good as your team. I am fortunate to have a strong team that ‘anchors’ our school. That’s when I read about Shelley Burgess’ and Beth Houf’s #leadlap challenge on twitter, I knew I had to tackle it.


 

When you read “P is for Pirate” by Dave and Shelley Burgess, you will read that A is for anchor. We have an inherent belief as educators of the premises that are showcased on this page: Every child can learn. Every child possesses enormous potential. Every child will rise or fall to our level of expectations. The #dgsroyals teachers are the anchors of DGS. They demonstrate these values in their classroom instruction, their professional and collaborative conversations, and personal triumphs to overcome obstacles and challenges.

The letter ‘A’ is also for Appreciation. Shelley and Beth challenged school leaders to take 30 minutes to drop anchors of appreciation to staff. I willingly took the time to complete this valuable task to recognize my staff for their individual contributions to DGS.

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This challenge inspired me to recognize each staff member from classroom teacher to custodian. From kitchen staff to speech language pathologist. From counselor to aide. What I noticed was clear. There is a staff in my building that comes armed to do their very best each day. They empower and engage students. They maintain the effective order of our facility. They ensure our students are safe and nourished. What I also noticed was that by writing short notes of appreciation that I became inspired and reinvigorated. By spreading a positive message to my staff, I myself felt more positive and engaged. Writing the notes was a highlight of my day. Walking the hallways and delivering them to classrooms and mailboxes also was a bright spot.

Not only does the emotional affect make an impact, there is also research that supports employee appreciation and recognition. When individuals are recognized for their efforts, they are inspired to achieve more, feel valued, and serve as exemplary models for their colleagues. Service awards have the potential to ignite employee engagement and recognize staff loyalty.

Organizations that excel in employee recognition are:

  • 12 times more likely to produce stronger results
  • Experiencing 14% improved employee engagement, productivity and customer service
  • More likely to have employees motivated to work harder when they feel appreciated

I encourage you to accept their challenge, drop your own anchors and spread your appreciation to those within your circles. You’ll be amazed at how your staff reacts and how you feel.


 

You can read a post by Shelley Burgess at: http://shelleyburgess.com/2015/10/19/leadlap-monday-challenge-drop-an-anchor-a-is-for-appreciation/

You can read a post by Beth Houf at: http://principalhouf.blogspot.com/2015/10/a-is-for-appreciation.html

It’s the Little Things

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Friday morning the DGS staff greeted me in the office to celebrate Bosses’ Day. I’ve always been uneasy with ‘holiday’ and the term ‘boss.’ Boss always sounds so managerial and, well… bossy. As a leader in education, I prefer the term, “Lead Learner.” After all, my position is not to create followers, but as the saying goes, ‘create more leaders.’ At DGS, we have plenty of leaders. Instructional leaders are in every classroom interacting and leading our students daily. They are the ones doing the big things and the little things that foster relationships and make the magical learning at DGS happen everyday. That’s why my heart was warmed with one of the gifts I was presented with~ a tiny vase.


 

Upon first look I was confused. Although beautiful, this vase had no initially apparent functional use. Then, one of the teachers referenced a card in the box that indicated that it is a ‘mother’s vase.’ The intent behind the vase is simple: What some may see as weeds, others see as beautiful bouquets. This bud vase was specially made to display the tiny wildflowers and dandelions picked by small, muddy hands and given with love. The small simple gift is a reminder of the importance of ‘the little things.’

The Little Things

On a consistent basis, students come up to me to share

  • what they had for breakfast
  • a skill they just mastered
  • a trip they recently took
  • the score of their baseball game from the night before
  • the book they just read
  • the ouchie they just got on the playground
  • the goal they just met or the score on their test
  • a writing piece and illustration
  • an art piece masterfully constructed and created

 

It’s can be easy to shrug these tales off, but this little vase serves as a reminder that the little things to adults are sometimes the big things to our kids.  So, on this “Bosses’ Day,” I pledge to remember that leadership, especially school leadership, should focus on the little things; the small victories, the wilted flowers given as gifts, and tiny hugs. Success is found in progress, in high fives in the hallway, and in the smile on a child that just met a personal goal. Because, when children leave my hallways, they may not remember every homework assignment, hot lunch meal, or library book, but they will remember how they felt as a student at DGS because all the little things that make a big difference.

Top 10 Cornerstone Books in my Professional Library

Leaders are Readers. Readers are Leaders

Those that have seen my office at home or at school, or have looked at my nightstand or iPad ibooks library know that books are an important part of my life. I read veraciously articles, books, twitter, and journals. My focus is both on professional reading and books for personal joy. I have seasons in my life that I read more frequently and can devour multiple books in a week (or day) and than other seasons that require more time for me to complete a book. That being said, when thinking about all the literature I’ve consumed in recent years, I wanted to reflect on the 10 best books related to education (in my opinion). Whereas there are many more valuable books on my shelves, these 10 have each had their hand in molding, shaping and developing my philosophy and approach to teaching, instruction, and leadership.

1. Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess

This has been a game changer for my staff and me. The book details how to increase student engagement through various instructional hooks. TLAP reinforces the art of teaching as the cornerstone of education and focuses on the presentation of a lesson in congruence with content knowledge and curriculum.

I was able to guest moderate a twitter TLAP chat on 10.05.2015 that you can read at https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/2015/10/06/teach-like-a-pirate-twitter-chat-10-05-2015/. 

I also reflected on the opportunity to meet with and learn from Mr. Burgess at https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/2015/10/01/finding-the-spark-lighting-a-flame/

2. Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller

This book has framed the way we embed reading into our culture at Dunlap Grade School. It has also driven the way I lead my daughters as readers. You can read more at https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/?s=book+whisperer

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3. What Connected Educators Do Differently:  by Todd Whitaker, Jeffery Zoul and Jimmy Casas

Twitter and other social media outlets are powerful tools for professional learning and growing. In addition, being a connected educator models digital citizenship for students and teachers. You can read my book review at https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/?s=what+connected

4. Read, Write, Lead by Regie Routman

Regie has written several books about literacy instruction and coaching. All of her books are worth a read!

Read, Write, Lead: Breakthrough Strategies for Schoolwide Literacy Success

5. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

Women in leadership has its own barriers, obstacles and celebrations. Lean In validates these concerns and celebrates the barriers women have overcome to be successful in the workplace.

6. Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids by Chris Biffle

An absolute must read for classroom management and student engagement. This is beneficial for novice and veteran teachers. You can read my book review at https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/?s=whole+brain+teaching

Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids

7. Kid President’s Guide to Being Awesome by Robby Novak and Brad Montague

Sometimes we just need the honest truth about how we should treat each other and spread awesomeness through the world. Kid President hits it on the head. I purchased this book for my staff as a morale booster and appreciation gift. My book review is at https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/?s=kid+president

Kid President's Guide to Being Awesome

8. Learn Like a Pirate by Paul Solarz

From the same consulting company as Teach Like a Pirate; Learn Like a Pirate focuses on developing a collaborative culture that is student led and promotes self-efficacy and determination.

Learn Like a PIRATE: Empower Your Students to Collaborate, Lead, and Succeed

Not all inspiration in my professional library comes from non-fiction text. I’ve been inspired by two books in particular. “Fish in a Tree” and “Wonder.” Both books I have shared with my staff. They have a strong focus on celebrating differences, developing empathy, and fostering a love for unique differences.

9. Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Every educator should read this book! My book review is at https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/?s=fish+in+a+tree

10. Wonder by R.J. Palacio


DGS Literacy Harvest

Dunlap Grade School teachers hosted the first Literacy Harvest to provide parents relevant resources and book titles to support the development of a culture of readers in the home. As part of this evening program, teachers reviewed current and beneficial technological applications or websites and current book titles or authors for parents. Parents accessed available technological devices to browse each resource and analyze potential uses for their child.

The following applications we reviewed and serve as recommended resources for parents to access at home with their child

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News-o-Matic: http://press4kids.com/ features daily news stories and current events and serves as a resource for non-fiction texts.

Starfall: http://www.starfall.com/ offers early reading activities, texts, and resources for developing readers in K-2. Vivid images and animated text makes it engaging for young learners. The navigation is simple for little learners.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/ allows readers to document their reading life, connect with other readers, write reviews, and develop a reading plans. Students could benefit from authentic reading and writing audiences.

Kids Learn to Blog: http://kidslearntoblog.com/ provides the structure and information for children to learn to blog. Blogging provides an authentic audience and purpose for writing that can enrich students’ writing experiences or allow them to share with an audience experiences.

Read.Write.Think.: http://www.readwritethink.org/ provides several resources for home and school that includes writing templates and generators that are easy to use.

Wonderopolis: http://wonderopolis.org/ Is a favorite at DGS for students to search ‘wonders’ and find answers to questions like “What is a Hot Dog” or “How is a Telescope Made.” Students can search particular topics or ask their own ‘wonders.’ Answers provide kid-friendly responses with multi-media pictures or videos.

Word Salad: This app is available in iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wordsalad-beautiful-word-clouds/id545164778?mt=8 A word cloud generator that can support the development of a reader’s ability to determine importance, synthesize or text, or expand their knowledge of vocabulary.

Newselahttps://newsela.com/ features engaging non-fiction texts and serves as a resource for non-fiction texts that allows the teacher or parent to differentiate text by lexile level.

AR Home Book Finder: http://www.arbookfind.com/default.aspx search to determine a particular book is an AR book, determine book level, or find related books to a particular keyword.

In addition to reviewing the applications, staff reviewed ways parents could assist their child in choosing relevant and meaningful book titles. Parents “Bobbed for Books” as we provided parents complimentary copies of a few of our favorite titles and spoke to our decision for including them in why they were chosen. Of the book titles shared, we focused on the variety of ways to choose appropriate and engaging books:

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  1. Balance your reading diet with a combination of fiction and non-fiction texts across genres
  2. Picture books may require higher levels of critical thinking and are appropriate to use across grade levels to engage learners in inferences of pictures, plot, and character development.
  3. Texts that tell a strong story can also be great examples for other literacy elements.
  4. Graphic Novels are popular, engaging, and appealing to readers. It is ok to encourage these.
  5. The “Who Am I” series provides students access to biographies at a grade and age-appropriate level.
  6. Accessing the Newberry or Caldecott honor lists can provide an instant list of books that are award winning for their contribution to children’s literature or illustrations.
  7. Books written by the same author or included in the same series can provide students structure in character development or plot structure; however, some authors write texts that are very different in theme, level, or content.

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Thanks to Stefanie Pitzer and Samantha Mahrt for their planning, preparation, and delivery of the important content that was shared with families!

Teach Like a Pirate Twitter Chat 10.05.2015

I relished the opportunity to guest moderate the Teach Like a Pirate Twitter Chat on 10.05.2015. This chat brought over 60 educators together from across the country to discuss student engagement and motivation with over 1500 total tweets on 8 focused questions. Several teachers of the #dgslearns and #323learns team also participated and shared their learning! It was epic!
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  I’m thankful to author, Dave Burgess, and his wife for the opportunity to lead this professional learning experience and add to my professional learning network. The storify below archives much of the conversation

Advanced Evaluation Training Reflections and Resources

I am thankful to have had the opportunity to learn advanced teacher evaluation strategies from Dr. Richard Voltz today. As part of this learning experience, I was reinvigorated to put on my instructional coaching hat to drive improvements within my building. I spent the day engaging in powerful conversations as well as documenting resources and reflections on twitter. I have compiled those thoughts and resources in a storify.

A True Reading Emergency

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For the first time in my tenure as a parent, I was confronted with x-rays, a fractured ankle, and a cast that came along with too much fun on a trampoline. With little outside or physical activity as an option, my daughter initiated a literal reading emergency. This emergency precipitated my reflection of how we develop readers in our home and at school. So often we refer to ‘reading emergencies’ at Dunlap Grade. Reading emergencies are glimpses of time that students grab a hold of to maximize their opportunities to read throughout the day. Our staff learned about this concept after reading books by Donalyn Miller; both the Book Whisperer and Reading in the Wild. You can read more about her at http://bookwhisperer.com/

Her books have become cornerstones of my professional reading library as well as helped in form our philosophy of teaching reading and developing a culture of readers at Dunlap Grade School. In addition to Donalyn Miller, we’ve been heavily influenced by the literacy work of Regie Routman. Both educators stress the importance of student choice, modeling reading, and engaging students in books that are appropriate, entertaining, and balanced.

Children need to love reading and books to become readers. Many may assume that the home of an educator includes pocket charts on the wall, strict visual schedules to follow, and stickers charts that reward positive behavior, but that doesn’t apply in our home. When I look at developing readers in my own children, it relies on some simple concepts that were made evident today following my daughter’s fractured ankle mishap.  As we came home from the doctor’s office, her only choices for entertainment, due to her mobility constraints, were to read or color. She chose reading as she often does. I don’t drill her with flashcards, sight word practice, letter tiles, or word walls, rather, we foster a love of reading with a few simple principles.

For children to become lifelong readers:

1. They need to have access to a variety of books. Our shelves in our home are filled with book titles that span a variety of genres, reading levels, and topics. The shelves are centered in one particular location, but are rather filtered throughout the house. Our children have access to a wide range of reading material in the living room, basement, toy room, and their bedrooms. We even have a tub of books in the middle of the backseat for car rides and a book that consistently stays in the backpack for reading emergencies in the car or at school. Whereas our bookshelves aren’t pretty and organized by genre, our children are free to read a book, replace it in a location, and are often the first to be able to locate a particular title. Reading materials include board books that my 6 year confidently reads to our 15 month old daughter, highlights magazines, picture books, and beginners chapter books. It’s ok if your child goes through a “Fly Guy” phase or loves all the books in the Clifford Series. In fact, I just ordered a few more books in the Mercy Watson series as it is recently become a new favorite of ours. It’s okay (and in fact awesome) if your child loves to re-read the same book over and over. Those behaviors and reading choices lay the foundation for developing an independent reader. Babies and toddlers also benefit from access to a variety of books. Our youngest daughter loves pulling our 6 year old daughter’s books off the shelves and thumbing through the pages as much as she loves looking at pictures and connecting them to words in board books.

If you look closely, some of my reading material has also made it’s way to these shelves, and although they don’t read the words or understand the content in these books yet, it leads me to my next principle:

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2. Children need to see models of lifelong learning and reading in the adults in their lives. Just as often as I sit and read a book to my daughter or have her read a book to me, I sit parallel to her and we individually read our own books. I document my reading life on www.goodreads.com and enjoy talking about the books I am reading with her. We consistently read the newspaper, articles, and mail in front of our children and model the importance of non-fiction text features in the mail we receive or articles we are reading. We need to ‘practice what we preach.’

3. Children benefit from real-world experiences that they can make connections to as they read later on. Those trips to the zoo, children’s museum or park are not only quality time spent as a family, but they provide children a context for reading later on. When they pull out a book, they can make important real world connections and apply their individual experiences to the contents of the text. Our children enjoy going to many community events that builds our bond as a family, but also develops their background knowledge that can/will be applied to their reading lives.

4. Children need time to read, immerse themselves in a book, and enjoy the tenants of reading. I am just as guilty as others of filling our schedule with sports, activities, and events. Whereas these all have tangible social and emotional benefits, it is also important to provide ample downtime that supports and encourages reading. We try to conserve the time before bed as our sanctuary for reading, but have also grown to love talking about or reading books in the car in between these activities. We try not to make reading “a chore,” but rather a time together that we look forward to and enjoy on a regular and consistent basis that is embedded into our schedule just as dinner time, bath time, and brushing your teeth are.

 

 

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Whereas developing reading skills can be a complex process as students emerge from pre-reading skills in phonics to developing fluency and comprehension skills, the most important tenant is that we foster a love of print. Whereas I am sad that my daughter endured the pain of a fractured ankle and the inconveniences it will cause her in the next few weeks, I’m thankful to take a step back and see how the little, strategic elements of our home environment have fostered her love of reading and learning.

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