Top Ten Things NOT to Do as a Principal

Ten Things NOT to do as a Principal

 10. Think you only have to wear a pant suit to work. Your staff and students expect you to remain professional at all times, but it is equally important to remember to have fun, take risks, and create memorable and meaningful working and learning environments. I find no shame in dressing up as a banana, hot dog, superhero, rock star, book character, or in other costumes if it means making an impact on my students.

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9. Forget about the Parents: The parents of our students are our greatest allies and partners in education. Think outside the box in how you can you show appreciate and gratitude for parents or engage them in unique and meaningful learning opportunities!

https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/2015/10/06/dgs-literacy-harvest/

http://blogs.dunlapcusd.net/d323/2015/12/02/donut-drop-of-gratitude-at-dunlap-grade-school/

8. Lock Yourself in the Office: A key piece to my principalship has been my portable office. The Port-a-Principal is simple. I spray painted an old AV cart (that was on its way to the dumpster) in royal blue (of course). With a couple touches, it is now a mobile office that will allow me to stay connected to email and the school secretary while being visible in the hallways and classrooms. It is stocked with stickers, post-its and note cards that will allow me to leave notes of encouragement to staff and students, provide feedback on their work, and support their teaching and learning. With all the necessities of my office, I can observe lessons, engage with students, and still respond to emails or situations that need my attention in the office. I enjoy carting around the port-a-principal , and more importantly, interacting on a more frequent and regular basis with my students and staff.

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7.Communicate in a Single Manner: Gone are the days of relying on paper newsletters as a sole strategy for communication in my building. Parents are provided with updates through digital newsletters, video updates, facebook posts, blogs, twitter, and Instagram posts. Promoting the positive elements of our school, including student learning and best teaching practices, plays an important part in establishing relationships, trust, and communication with parents, families and the community.

(https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/2016/01/15/promoting-positive-school-communication-with-video-updates/)

@dgsroyals

www.facebook.com/dunlapgrade

https://www.instagram.com/dgsroyals/

6. Forget about your Personal Inspirations: I often say that I want to be the leader and principal that I would want my daughters to have. They are the driving force that propels me to continue to learn, improve and grow in my leadership abilities and to seek new and innovative ways to teach and learn. I continuously learn from my own children and in doing so, develop and hone my leadership abilities. These reflections come at inopportune times, including times I relish as a mom at gymnastics practices! https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/2015/11/04/lessons-from-a-gymnast/

Furthermore, much of my inspiration and love of learning comes from watching my own two children grow and develop. I often employ strategies from my home at school and from school at home. My girls truly make me a better leader and I’d be remiss not to link my passion of education wtih my inspirations that come from being a mom: https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2015/12/04/how-does-a-principal-foster-a-love-of-reading-in-her-own-children-by-mandy-ellis/ 

5. Think that Professional Development has to take the form of a Traditional Staff Meeting to be Effective: As a teacher, I sat through my share of institutes and faculty meetings that were laborious and tedious. The information was either not relevant to my position or could have been communicated through an e-mail. Professional Learning does not have to be that way. As educational leaders, we have to think creatively to model for our staff how learning can be engaging, differentiated, meaningful and FUN! I have done this in numerous ways:

https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/2015/12/08/the-ripple-effect-thinking-of-professional-learning-differently/

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4. Fail to Provide Feedback to Staff: Our teachers are the front lines that make an impact on the success and achievement of our students and school. I participated (and continue to participate) in a series of challenges that have provided a structure for showing appreciation, honoring voice, and offering support for teachers. You can learn more on twitter at #leadlap or read my posts below:

https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/2015/10/20/a-is-for-appreciation-challenge-accepted/

https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/2015/11/12/challenge-accepted-honoring-voice-and-choice-in-teachers/

https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/2015/11/19/challenge-accepted-o-is-for-offer-support/

https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/2015/12/04/great-learning-comes-from-happy-teachers-happy-teachers-come-from-dgs/

3. Think Reading is ONLY for the Students: Anyone knows me, knows that I love to read. I firmly believe that leaders are readers and readers are leaders. I share my love of learning and reading in my building with displays of my current book titles, an update in my weekly staff memo with my current book titles, and a good reads account linked to my blog and webpage. I look forward to seeking and reading new titles, tweeting resources and sharing new practices and ideas with my staff (in memos, the lounge or even posted in the staff bathrooms!) My top ten books for professional reading can be seen at https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/2015/10/13/top-10-cornerstone-books-in-my-professional-library/

2.Ignore the Impacts that PIRATES can have on Teaching and Learning: Pirates? Really? “Teach Like a Pirate” was written by Dave Burgess and has been revolutionizing teaching and learning since its publication. 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. It is important to me that we set the stage for student learning in the environments and experiences we create. Why wouldn’t you roll out the red carpet for your students on the first day of school?

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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/

1. Take Yourself Seriously. You work for 5-12-year-old children. There is always a time to be professional, communicate effectively, and manage a building. Leading a building and staff is vital to success of an institution and cannot be overlooked, but when all is said and done, you are creating learning environments to promote lifelong readers, learners and thinkers. Kids need to feel important, empowered, and loved. Why not do that while having a little fun?

 

Promoting Positive School Communication with Video Updates

I recently read the book and blog “Your School Rocks: Passionately Pitch and Promote the Positives Happening on Your Campus.” The authors shared a simple way to publish video newsletters and I was instantly inspired. You will now see a green screen and tripod in my office that are accessible to staff and your students should they also want to do something similar or have their own idea. You can read about the process I gleaned the inspiration from on their blog at: http://www.yourschoolrocks.com/2015/10/creating-video-newsletter.html

I plan on using the video screen and video updates in multiple ways:
1. To update staff in my Friday Focus staff memo with “Great Things I’ve Seen this Week” My inaugural attempt at this is shown in the video below. These will be cataloged in my YouTube Channel and shared with staff as part of their weekly updates. I am deliberate and strategic in ensuring that I continue to model innovative and creative ways to use technology and apply them in effective and meaningful ways. The video is then embedded into the remaining notes and information shared on a SMORE page (as seen after the video)


2. To engage students in “Royal News Updates” on a weekly basis. I started this today and the students did a wonderful job and were excited to share their learning. I created a format for them to follow as they shared the highlights of the week with staff, families and friends.
[embeddoc url=”https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/files/2016/01/Dunlap-Grade-School-Royal-Review-2978tie.pdf” viewer=”google”]

3. To promote reading with guest read alouds that will be shared on our social media (twitter, youtube, facebook). I have done this several time and just uploaded videos straight from my camera
You can view a project I did with two members of service and leadership club in the video below. This project took less than 10 minutes of editing time from the moment they finished recording until I uploaded it and shared it on YouTube.

 

I used the App Green Screen by Do Ink to format the background and iMovie to edit the videos.

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This process really is easy and affordable. I purchased a green screen and tripod on Amazon for less than $125.00. My tripod included a bluetooth remote that allows me to simply start and stop the video record component on my iPhone or iPad. The cost of the Green Screen App is $2.99. iMovie, YouTube, Facebook, SMORE, and Twitter are all free and efficient and effective ways to communicate with families and the community about the positive and amazing things that are going on in our building everyday!

Take The Great Kindness Challenge

Dear Educational Leaders and Colleagues,

I am thrilled to share that I am an official Kindness Ambassador for The Great Kindness Challenge. I wholeheartedly support this grassroots initiative and I would like to invite your school/school district/county to participate in this powerful, positive and proactive program.

The Great Kindness Challenge (January 25-29, 2016) is a week-long bullying prevention initiative that is FREE and extremely EASY to implement. Using the provided checklist of 50 kind acts, students – kindergarten through high school – accept the challenge and prove that bullying is weak and kindness is strength. You will see increased student engagement and improved school climate. Learn more & create a culture of kindness on your campus!

 

Kindly,

Mandy Ellis

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“Every school in America should participate in The Great Kindness Challenge. It not only helps to elevate the school climate, it’s a highly effective tool in engaging all students, staff and community members. So simple, so powerful”.Garry Grotke, 2013 California Elementary Principal of the Year

 

“The Great Kindness Challenge provided an opportunity for our students to care for each other in ways that went above and beyond their normal interactions. As a result, we noticed a real impact on the school’s culture with a decrease in bullying and an increase in compassion, unity and respect.”Chad Lund, Elementary Principal

The Ripple Effect: Re-framing Professional Learning

If you do an analysis of my work day, you would see something different everyday. My job may include meeting with staff to discuss an observation or evaluation, meeting with parents to discuss a concern or create a plan, working with students or addressing any of the other myriad of items that come across my desk: answering emails, balancing building budgets, ordering instructional supplies, developing professional development activities, hiring staff, completing state reports, monitoring lunch time, visiting classrooms, greeting students at the door, dropping handwritten notes, recognizing positive behavior, and so much more.

So I get asked at times how I have the time to blog and tweet. The answer is simple. We all have the same amount of time in the day. I choose to make time for these meaningful practices. My blog is an outlet for me to reflect on best practices and share my experiences, ideas, resources, and thoughts with other like minded professionals. It is part of being a connected educator. In addition, my blog models reflective learning with my staff and shows that I value reflection and sharing of educational practices. During a recent Danielson flavored evaluation training, our presenter focused on the key elements that make a great teacher. Whereas 3C (engaging students in learning) was the most important in his presentation, he stressed that excellent teachers also grow professionally and share their learning and expertise with others. Why would I expect that from my staff, if I am not willing to walk the walk and talk the talk? So, I make the time to  blog. I share my blog posts with my staff and in many cases with our students’ families and with the greater community. It creates a ripple effect.

A principal I have connected with on Twitter challenged principals to share their practices that create ripple effects of learning. Beth Houf encouraged school leaders to create a twitter challenge, tweet or post the wonderful things occurring in their buildings, and overall enthusiastically share the awesomeness occurring in our buildings. You can read her initial post here. I’ve taken the inspiration I’ve seen from connecting to other principals to create staff twitter challenges. In the month of December, staff have a calendar to challenge themselves to tweet and share resources, ideas, and celebrations from their classroom. The inaugural twitter challenge was focused on student engagement and encouraged staff to tweet, retweet, and post articles, pictures, and items related to student engagement.

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In addition to self-paced and individualized twitter challenges created for staff, our most recent staff meeting was a collaborative team twitter treasure hunt. Staff was asked to go throughout the building searching for examples and models of key artifacts that support school goals and professional learning. Staff worked with partners to find examples of a culture of readers, student engagement, celebrating student success, fostering physical fitness, and more. As teachers found this evidence and took pictures, they shared them on twitter at #dgstweets. Following the twitter treasure challenge, staff assembled to debrief, view the tweets, and discuss their takeaways.

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PIRATE Treasure Map

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As incentive to grow professionally by completing these challenges, staff are given surprise incentives that are either inexpensive or free. They range from a casual day, to coverage for their classrooms, to candy or a certificate of participation. I’ve included these below along with access to editable word documents that can be customized.

#dgstweets

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You can view this moment of serenity certificate at: dgstweets

 

CUNA14oW4AQwwVx.jpg largeYou can view this certificate that was given to teachers upon completion of their first challenge at: dgstweets certificate

 

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Staff were given a pirate treasure box of candy once their first challenge was initiated. You can get an editable word document of this at: dgstweets Twitter Challenge Treasure

So what has come out of all of this?

  • It has created a culture of positive personal professional learning in which teachers access twitter and/or blogs to seek to connect and learn with other educators and professionals. Teachers share their ideas with each other as well as staff in other buildings in our district and districts across the nation.
  • Teachers connect with parents, promote a positive culture, and reflect on their instructional practices. It has taken away the concept that we work in isolation and fostered open and collaborative learning amongst the staff.
  • It has provided me an outlet to provide feedback and be present in the classroom during times I can’t physically be there. As an instructional leader and coach, I have gained a stronger understanding and insight into classroom instruction.
  • In some cases, it has created a ripple effect in which parents have created twitter accounts to follow classroom learning.

 

Great Learning Comes from Happy Teachers. Happy Teachers Come from DGS!

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In the early 2000s, an ad campaign was launched that suggested, “Great cheese comes from Happy Cows. Happy Cows come from California.” In a happenstance conversation with a former staff member, we began talking about this slogan. Although we live in Illinois, she is from Wisconsin and dairy, cheese, and cows are items that came up in our conversation when we discussed her Thanksgiving Break. What was interesting was an immediate connection we made to school culture, teacher performance, and student engagement. We can spin the slogan to say, “Great Learning Comes from Happy Teachers. Happy Teachers Come from DGS!”

Establishing a school culture that promotes teacher engagement and satisfaction rests on some basic tenants of school leadership:

  • Administrators need to remember what it was like to sit on the other side of the desk. I was told this by a veteran educator that had served on his community’s Board of Education as well. This advice came the week I accepted my first principalship. His advice has always focused my interactions and approach with staff. As principals, we are teachers first and must consistently remember what it is like to be a teacher.
  • Staff norms that are collaboratively development, monitored, and celebrated are the core to staff interactions and efforts. Our staff norms are focused and intentional mutually agreed commitments. They are displayed in common work areas, celebrated in weekly communications to staff in our Friday Focus, and the start to our leadership and faculty meetings. An area in the teacher’s work room provides an opportunity for teachers to use post-its to share examples of their colleagues modeling these norms.nroms
  • Principals should model taking risks and support staff that do. I am not talking about jumping out of an airplane or bungee jumping off of a bridge; I would never be able to model that kind of risk taking. I am referring to professional educational risks that push learning in the classroom and foster creativity and innovation. This may include trying a new strategy or lesson, using a different app or technology device, or thinking outside the box regarding an approach to classroom management. Some of the best memories our students will have in school are those times when teachers stepped outside their comfort zone and tried something new or did something unconventional. In order for this to happen, teachers need to feel secure in knowing their attempts in learning will be encouraged, supported, and celebrated. After all, we are modeling lifelong learning for our students and the notion that the word FAIL can represent “a first attempt in learning.”
  • Recognition and Support go a long way in validating teachers in their work and interactions with students and families. As adults, we are motivated on positive affirmations and validation of our work. Just as our students benefit from positive praise, teachers do to.  Recognition can be both formal and informal. Some examples include:
  • Hiring and Mentoring practices that support ongoing learning. The core to any positive staff culture is the hiring of the right individuals that will contribute to their culture and teaching environment. Hiring practices that include the teachers or staff members that will work directly with the new hire can improve collaboration and offer voice to current staff members and give a glimpse into culture for the potential new hire. I make it clear in interviews the expectation of collaboration, communication, and positive interactions. This sets the tone that it is something that is part of being a DGS Royal.
  • A school that is student focused and accepts responsibility for all learners. As I write this, I really should place this at the top of the list. To foster a positive school culture, this tenant is paramount. The adults in the building need to accept ownership for all learners, not just the one in their classes or supervision. Learning is a process and doesn’t stop when a child leaves a classroom or grade level. Staff that accept this promote a student first approach and work collaboratively to support all student learning.

This reflection does not discredit the fact that there are challenges, moments of frustration, or bouts of tension. To move forward and grow there are stumbling points and growing pains. The bumps are what we climb on. What does matter is that teachers feel supported by their leadership and each other to weather the storms and look for the rainbows. After all, Happy Teachers make Happy Kids.

 

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Challenge Accepted: O is for Offer Support

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The O is for Offer Support Challenge was a favorite of mine. As I read, learn, and access resources, I enjoy sharing them! This challenge allowed me to grow as a learner as well as provide staff meaningful resources.

I have three teachers that are in different places with work on professional reflection blogs. Two teachers have established blogs and another is working on developing hers. All three of them would benefit from some inspiration for topics to write about. As I was working on my own blog posts, I ran across an article that was a 30 day blog challenge. I emailed the link to the staff with a list of the 5 blog post inspiration ideas that I felt would best align to their personalities and strengths as a teacher. By reading this blog post, I also was inspired to do several

A 30 Day Blog Challenge at http://www.teachthought.com/uncategorized/reflective-teaching-30-day-blogging-challenge-teachers/

 Several of my teachers received OSMO devices as a companion tool to their iPads. These have been in our building for just a month. I followed up with a team of teachers that have the devices with ideas for implementation from Pinterest. In addition, I placed an order for the math number tiles to support their implementation of it in the math setting.

Ideas for the Implementation of OSMO Device with the iPad https://www.pinterest.com/PlayOsmo5/kids-osmo/ 

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I have a new special education teacher that is experienced in literacy instruction, but is new to a specific intervention we use in our district. During a walk-through I was able to talk to her about her level of comfort with the program and learned that she felt stifled by the rigidity of the program. Knowing that she would benefit from the online learning community and inter-activities that are available, I sent her a link to the SMARTboard files and followed up with customer service to get her access to the training modules, videos, and discussion community. This saved her the time and effort of locating the customer service number, making the call, and creating an account. By taking that on for her, I opened up time for her to focus on instruction and preparation.

Just Words Reading Intervention Resources http://www.wilsonlanguage.com/professional-learning/learning-communities/ilc/


 

In addition to personalized resources shared to specific teachers, I have found ways to embed access to resources in a few additional ways:

  1. In addition to these personalized resources, I have been adding articles, quotes, and ideas to the walls and mirrors in the staff bathroom. After reading, “Personalized PD” I wanted to take advantage of literal ‘down’ times for teachers to engage in professional reading and reflection.
  2. In my weekly memo, I have a section devoted to “blogs, tweets, and pins.” This section allows me to link interesting and valuable resources specific to what I am seeing in classes or that are specific to school learning goals.
  3. I share my reading life with staff. By writing reflections and reviews of books, I model for staff lifelong learning and the importance of reading, but also then have resources to share in conversations as they come up. I can’t think of how many times I have said, “In my office I have a book that you’d love” or “I read in a book about just that topic that you’d love.”
  4. Obviously twitter serves as an immediate and powerful resource to share personalized learning with teachers. If I read an article or see a tweet that reminds me of a teacher, I can easily retweet it to them or message them about it.

I got ONE email…

Each day, I come to work at a job I love into an office with a secretary that is passionate about her service to the school, and into a building that is meticulously and carefully maintained by two custodians that take pride in their work. We have a cafeteria that is led by two cooks that are passionate about nutrition of our students, but are also focused on developing personal relationships and a cheerful lunchroom space.

I often walk through those doors only to be greeted by teachers that are already in the building well before their contractual hours prepping for the day and week ahead. In one day, I observe teachers lean over to dry tears, provide a supportive pat on the back, purchase supplies, meals, incentives, or other materials out of their own pockets for their students, or bend down to tie a shoe, button a coat, or send a student back to get a coat so they will remain warm. I observe teachers talking about students. The kind of talk that makes you proud to be in education while at the same time, the kind of talk that makes you weary of being in education. The kinds of conversations that celebrate small successes of students. The kinds of conversations that teachers share when they are up at night with a student on their mind because they are worried about them~ academically, socially, behaviorally… The kinds of conversations that remind you that we work for our kids and it is the greatest, although at times demanding and taxing, work in the world.

I know teachers get together on Friday nights, long after the students are gone to plan the following week. To lean on each other for support, guidance or ideas. I know teachers cry with each other when they can’t seem to get to ‘that’ one kid that they are so desperately trying to reach. I know teachers that spend more time with the students at our school than with their own children at home sometimes. I know teachers that enter their classroom to be with our children when their personal grief and struggles are such that I can’t imagine getting out of bed,  but they do and they do it with enthusiasm, passion, and perseverance, not to be recognized, but because they LOVE their career. They LOVE their students.

All of this happens even before the instruction of content takes place because the teachers I work with know that we teach KIDS before we teach content. But you know what? Our teachers are pretty amazing at teaching their craft too. This year I have seen teachers spark the scientific inquiry in the minds of fourth graders as they observe the behaviors of meal worms before they complete the life cycle and turn into a beetle. I have seen teachers collaborate to sing a parody of “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” when hooking students on to building electrical circuits. I have seen teachers dress up in ridiculous outfits to bring  a smile to the face of their students. I have witnessed teachers pouring over classroom assessment data and discussing instructional strategies to support the learning of both struggling, average, and high-achieving students. I have smiled as teachers have transformed their classroom environment to take students on field trips to the ocean and the jungle within the walls for their classroom. I have seen students’ faces illuminate when their teacher literally cooked up a comet or connected with a local judge to provide meaningful and engaging learning experiences.

I often get emails and contacts from parents throughout the week. The range from simple questions to deep concerns. I value each of them as I understand, as a parent, how important it is to feel valued, understood and heard. But as I reflect on today, on this week, on the pending holiday that promotes appreciation and gratitude, I got one email. One email from a parent, sent on a whim, sharing how her student made a connection with her teacher (or as I like to think, how a teacher, made a deep connection with this student). It was an email that brightened my day, but also brightened the day of that teacher and validated her work, efforts, teaching, and joys.

This simple email, in the sea of others that flood my inbox, showcased just one act and one teacher, but reflected what I see daily. I see hundreds of moments a day that make me appreciate my staff, that make me proud to be the lead learner in my school, and give me hope that we are making a difference on the shoulders of educators that do put their heart and soul into the children they lead and serve.

Leadership Lessons Learned as an Iowa Hawkeye

When I married my husband, it was no secret that I was marrying into a family of Iowa Hawkeyes and that the expectation of the family was to assimilate my allegiances, wear black and gold, and cheer for the Hawks as well. This season has been one in which I am proud that I am a Hawkeye, even if just by marriage. As the football team made history this past weekend by going 10-0 for the first time ever in school history, I reflected on the practices that make strong sports teams successful and their application to the K-5 Educational Setting.


 

1. A winning team made up of talented and committed individuals promotes positive culture. Individuals are deeply dedicated to self-improvement as well as a cohesive team structure. Teachers in successful educational settings are also deeply engaged in individual self and professional improvement while advocating and supporting the successes of their colleagues. This comes in the form of classroom teachers presenting their learning during professional learning opportunities, teachers opening the doors of their classroom so colleagues can observe best practices, or a team of teachers nominating another team for an award to honor their collaboration. Just as a highly successful football team relies on positive culture, so do schools and educators.

2. Fans and cheerleaders that encourage and support the team are vital to success. High functioning schools have high engagement of their families and communities just as sports teams have high interactions and support of their fan base. Supportive families and engagement can lead to a variety of positive outcomes in the school setting.

3. A head coach and other leaders provide vision and provide support for the players to execute plays and make history! Principals are essential to fostering a culture that supports vision and mission and provides support for this to become a reality. As a college football coach coordinates putting key players in essential positions, provides feedback, and orchestrates plays, he also places trust in the capable hands of his players to execute this vision on the field. Principals and other administrators function in much of the same way by placing teacher leaders in key roles, articulating vision and monitoring progress.

4. A strong and identifiable brand is formed and communicated throughout the community. On Saturday night, tens of thousands of Hawkeyes filled Kinnick Stadium dressed in black and gold with Hawkeye logos and University of Iowa trademarks. Their progress was continuously updated on social media, important information was dispelled on their website, and fans from all around the country tuned in to watch the game. Schools can benefit from these practices as well with a glass classroom approach that shares important learning goals, activities, and information through social media, blogs, websites, and other communication home. The brand that is communicated shares positive stories of learning, student accomplishments, and teacher successes and is identifiable to students, parents, boards of education, and the community.


 

As the Hawkeyes won their game against Minnesota, they marched across the field united in solidarity to retrieve the trophy of Floyd of Rosedale. The trophy marks yet another win against a rival team, but also signifies the victory that was a function of hard work, individual success, a positive team dynamic, cohesive group effort, strong leadership, and active and supportive fans. We can have that in the school setting as well as we lead our teachers and students to educational victory toward common and meaningful goals among a positive and supportive school culture with four key components:

1. A dedicated and professional team of teachers, administrators, and support staff that understand how their individual roles contribute to the success of the school as a whole.

2. Parents and Community Members that support the school, the students and all learning endeavors.

3. Leaders that are learners and foster vision and mission.

4. An identifiable brand that is communicated efficiently to engage families and the community.

 

Go Hawks!

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Lessons from a Gymnast

I was sitting in the viewing area at my daughter’s gymnastics class and was struck as I watched her ‘coach’ instruct her. I couldn’t help but make the connection to what was going on in her lesson to the feedback that educators and principals can provide to students and teachers.

Displayed prominently in the gym are a progress of skills that the students learn. Students practice drills to build strength, flexibility and endurance while actively practicing specific skills that build upon each other as the gymnasts progress through the skill levels. It is clear which skills are necessary to master before a gymnast moves to the next level of skills. Failure to master a skill at a lower level limits the gymnast’s ability to perform other skills at higher levels. Gymnasts are regularly evaluated on these skills and their progress is reported to parents. All of this learning occurs following modeling of the skill and hands on/body on practice of the skill. The gymnasts do not improve their skills by watching their coach. They improve their skills by doing the work and performing the skills. Was I really having this revelation of application to teaching in a seemingly unconnected environment?

As my daughter approached the uneven bars, her coach said, “you’re going to keep tight legs, with pointed toes, and lean forward” before she began her skill. Her coach supported her efforts as she attempted the skill by providing a spot. Following the practice of the skill, her coach praised her efforts by saying “your toes were pointed and you had a lot of power going into the skill.” Her coach then gave her feedback about how to improve the skill in subsequent attempts: “next time, put more power into your cast as you rotate around the bar.”

What was strong about this coaching was clear:

1. Clear expectations of the skill to be executed

2. Praise for positive behavior or performance of the skill

3. Specific feedback for improvements in future executions of the skills

The learning cycle was constant as the coach moved from gymnast to gymnast; providing feedback and encouraging the children to keep executing the skill. I am amazed at how much grit and perseverance is fostered in these girls through the simple notion that we always have room to improve and once we reach one milestone, we have the next to strive for.

The same principles of coaching in the gymnastic arena apply to providing feedback to students (and teachers).  Our role is to coach, encourage, support and spot the learning of those in our care. As educators, our students and teachers benefit from:

1. Explicit goals and expectations of their learning. This can include self-assessments and collaborative conversations on what these goal areas are.

2. Specific praise and appreciation acknowledges positive behavior and can foster internal motivation, grit, and perseverance.

3. Feedback that focuses on impact and opportunity for improvement drives growth and development.

 

The goal of feedback is to raise student achievement, encourage high levels of learning, and support the social and emotional development of our students and teachers. In the end, we are fostering champions of lifelong learning just like the coaches at my daughter’s gym are developing habits of fitness, grit, and perseverance!

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C is for Collaborative Conversations: Challenge Accepted

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As I progress through the Anchor Conversation Challenges, I am growing as a leader and honing effective best practices in observation, evaluation, coaching, and feedback. I love that the challenges give me a framework to be more strategic and focused when I provide feedback to the team. During this challenge, I maintained the integrity of the first two challenges by dropping anchors of appreciation and noticing the impact of instructional practices. These two pieces are vital to build rapport, respect, and positive culture surrounding the feedback and coaching.

I plan to continue this process, but as a result of my initial collaborative conversations I have gained a lot of insights in to the classrooms and teachers I have visited:

  • I asked:

    I noticed you using some conference forms. I’d love to chat with you about how these forms are going and the impact you see them having in your classroom. If you have a second, let’s chat about them at some point today.

    From our Collaborative Conversation, I learned how reading conferences in that classroom dig deep to determine a variety of behaviors, preferences, and information on students related to their reading habits. A teacher took her learning from the Illinois Reading Conference and has been embedding these in her daily reading block to building relationships and rapport with her classroom of readers.

  • I asked:

    I noticed your Whole Brain Teaching Book was out on your desk. What strategies have you been trying out or are seeking to have a better understanding of? I’d love to learn more. When you get a chance, come down to the office at some point this week so I can learn more!

    From our Collaborative Conversation I learned this classroom teacher is pursuing whole brain teaching certification by independently and voluntarily re-reading and responding on a blog with other connected educators. Our conversation about this led to her agreeing to share this practice at an upcoming professional development breakfast club meeting. Excellent teachers share their learning with others.

  • I asked:

    I’d love to know a little more about how the 3rd grade team prioritizes focus areas for students based on the data sheet if a child has multiple areas of need. Please pop into the office at some point so we can discuss how this works so I can have a clearer understanding.  

    From our Collaborative Conversation I learned through our collaborative conversation that classroom data is being reflected on by a group of students to determine their own intervention groups and focus areas. Students look at this performance data and decide which intervention groups they go to based on classroom based assessment. The classroom teacher is involved in assisting students in prioritizing academic and behavioral goals.

More importantly, I gained a deeper insight into what I observed by inviting teachers into my office to further provide information to their practices. I was able to wear the hats of coach and learner as my own knowledge base was deepened by the information that was shared with me and I was able to provide verbal feedback to the teachers during the conversation.

Following the last three challenges, I sought feedback from my teachers about how they felt the feedback was being delivered.

One teacher wrote:

I like how you gave me things to consider and reflect on! Also, I liked how you asked me more about something I am doing. I know you stop into our rooms as much as you can, but it is nice to know that if you aren’t sure how we do something, you aren’t afraid to ask! J Thanks for all you do!

To provide an ongoing opportunity to solicit an understanding of teaching practices and to foster collaboration amongst teacher staff and myself, I developed twitter challenges. These voluntary opportunities have the power to foster professional learning and engage teachers in collaborative dialogue and conversations. Reading through posts thus far is exhilarating as staff shares blogs, articles, quotes, resources, and ideas with each other. Twitter provides teachers the opportunity to continue the conversations we may hold and provides them engagement in their teaching and learning that we want for our students.

december twitter challenge

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