What’s your message?

What’s the message?

Crossposted at EdAdministrators2.0
The past two and a half years have been difficult as a school leader. We have moved two schools – a K-6 and a 7-12 – into a new building. As we started this process we did a number of team building activities and had staff meetings together. The message I always began with is “Do what is best for students”. Today i still begin our discussions this way. The implied message is that what we do may not always be what is easiest or less stressful or …. but will be in the best interest of the students we serve.

As a leader, it is important that you have a cornerstone upon which you can stand because that will be what will see you through the difficult times, provide you guidance in times of uncertainty and ground you when things are going well.

What’s your message?

 

Learning to lead

Today I get to watch my daughter play hockey. She’s a goalie. Anyone who hasn’t played that position doesn’t really understand the position. It’s lonely at times, with a great deal of pressure. As I watched her today, it’s amazing how much she has improved from the beginning of the season. Heck, how much she learned from last weekend when she had 28 goals scored on her in 3 games. Not many kids would volunteer to suit up after that. In fact, she is even missing a family wedding so she can play this weekend.
As an educator, I’m always so impressed with children when they don’t allow a bad game or 3 affect them. As my daughter was getting ready today, all she was focused on was improving – not letting the other team score on a wrap-around. Not give up the long goal – get her body in front of that puck. It wasn’t about the bad games or the mistakes but about learning from them and getting better.

Somehow, as educators, heck as adults, we must adopt this same attitude. People like Angela Maiers, Lisa Dabbs, Tristan Bishop, Vicki Davis and others continue to bring this message but it needs to become something our children hear each day, especially in our schools.

As a K-12 principal, I often feel like a goalie (which I have been)! Too often I don’t just shake off that last goal and I waste too much time on what I could have done to make that save instead of looking around me to see how hard my team is working, thanking them for all their hard work, patting them on the back and getting ready to play again. That’s what I saw my kid do over and over last weekend – 28 times. She’s taught me a few things – last weekend it was about being a real leader.

Thanks Sarah.

 

Telling and Doing are not the same

Telling – Why not?

Smoking – We all know it’s bad for your health, is linked to cancer and is the root cause of many other physical problems. Yet people continue to smoke, we continue to sell tobacco products and our youth continue to be swayed to using them. Why? In the 21st century with so much advancement, why does this continue? Why can’t everyone just quit?

QUITTING

As someone who smoked for years, quitting smoking was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I didn’t do it on the first try, in fact it took many years to go from wanting to doing  and finally being able to state that I had quit. I still get cravings and I’ve needed to change my lifestyle so as to avoid being in certain situations where I willpower just won’t work. It was a very HUGE difference between saying “I’m quitting” and actually doing it. People who have never smoked don’t understand. Bill Engvel, an American comedian, talks about quitting smoking and how hard it is. Getting advice from non-smokers who’d tell him to “just quit! Why can’t you just quit?”  And it’s true, people who have never smoked will give all kinds of advice on how to quit, bombard you with all sorts of health information, which makes you feel even worse – sometimes like a complete failure. Someone who has smoked isn’t as quick to offer advice and will be more willing to offer support if asked but they aren’t as full of the “I know how” advice or the “you’re an educated adult, what’s wrong with you?” tone.

Technology Integration

What does  smoking have to do with technology integration?. For one, it’s kind of hard to sneak around the corner to “integrate”! How they are the same is that many people will tell you that’s it’s easy or that you should be doing it or how you should do it or why you should do it and provide you with all sorts of data – making you feel like that failure as their finger-wagging tone continues the “What’s wrong with you?’” But, they’ve never really done it. They’ve never looked at year/lesson plans and tried to imagine how they might integrate technology. They’ve not had to assess or evaluate students in order to provide a “mark”. They’ve not had to look at the long term of how does this fit into where I am now and what I do everyday. They might have classroom experience or put together a lesson or two but not the day-in day-out year-long experience.

They can tell you you should do it, that it can’t be that hard and will provide you all kinds of stats/articles/data about why, as a teacher, you should be doing it. They’ll throw out phrases that will include “21st Century Skills, digital citizenship, digital natives” and others. Some will be able to point you to teachers who “didn’t know a thing about technology but are doing it” just like there are some smokers who quit, first time, no problems. Well, for the rest, it wasn’t so easy.

A Plan

As you move to integrate technology, you might want to think of these things along the way – they’re things I’ve learned from experience in my classroom:

1. Decide why you are doing this and make a plan. Base your decision on learning not because you think you should or someone says you should. Cool might look “fun” but focus on the learning that will be taking place and how it will become part of the strategies you use in class and how might you assess the learning. I use tools like MindMeister and Gliffy to do brainstorming – sometimes. For some of the work, they are the best option for getting students involved and helping them to make connections between parts. They’re relatively easy to use. Now, there are other options like Popplet, text2mind and Mind42. This year I’ll also be looking at aMap and wikimindmap in some of my classes and I might even give Pinterest a go. Now, I’ll look at them but I won’t force them to fit and if I can’t use them, that’s okay. We’re way past the “wow” factor – our time is too precious.

2. Find your support people are and USE THEM. Teaching is not a solitary endeavour. Although there are a great number of resources that show you how, having someone to go to for support is essential for success. Whether it’s IT support or planning support or assessment support or delivery support, you need to have someone who can give you a hand. In the division where I teach, we have different people who support me in each of the above areas but because they are a distance away, it is important to find someone within the building or within you PLN that you can look to for assistance and help. This is where those connections via twitter or Classroom2.0 or Ed Administrators2.0 help.

3. Be prepared for setbacks. It will happen and there will be times when things don’t work out. Instead of tossing in the towel, getting down on yourself and forgetting it – reflect on what happened. That is why it’s important to plan – so you can assess for yourself and then make adjustments. Make notes of what went well and what you need to do to be successful.

4. Allow the students to guide some of what happens. You don’t have to control the whole process. In fact, it’s better if you build in various opportunities for their own exploration and sharing. Build the capacity of the room – make learning, not control, the focus of what is going on.

5. Have a backup option. I’ve been using technology in my classes since the mid 90′s – wikis and the LMS HotChalk since 2006 or so and have found out through experience that I always need to have an option that will allow us to continue to learn even if the internet is down or the system is buggy or ….. I’ve amassed a pretty good collection of items, articles, pictures that provide alternatives if things are working. Now, having more students BTOT, I rely on them to provide a buffer if our school system isn’t working. Heck, I’ve created my own  hotspot to allow students to work. But you need to think about these types of things and have alternatives. Having 26 grade 1′s all being frustrated because “It won’t work” can lead to great issues.

6. You need to lead with your strengths. I’m really good at the big picture – putting things out there so students/staff can see the parts fitting together. I’m not as good going from parts to whole – so I use my strengths and look for someone who can support me in areas where I’m not as strong. As an administrator, I have staff who have strengths which I encourage them to use and develop. When I first began teaching, I wasn’t very good but I was surrounded by a whole team of great teachers, each with their strengths. I visited them, watched them, had them help me, give me ideas and suggestions. I focused on making improvements while still using my strengths.

Telling and Doing are not the same

I’ve noticed that people who have quit smoking aren’t the first to offer you advice. In fact, they usually only offer suggestions or ideas because they know that whatever you do, it won’t be easy. They listen to what you have to say – will tell you a story or two of their failures before they were successful.  I know very few people, actually only 2,  who were successful the first time and did it with no plan. It’s kind of like that with technology integration – people who are successful usually have many setbacks, have learned from their mistakes and will share but will do so through stories which will usually include a failure or two.

Then there are the “Tellers” – they’re experience is vicarious – they’ve talked to all sorts of people who have done it but they really haven’t had the experience themselves – they don’t know what it’s actually like to have those successes – they just tell you that they will come. They’ve never been in a room with 29 grade 7′s when the computers aren’t working and things are going south fast – the panic as you realize your plan isn’t working, the sinking sense of failure, the “what do I do now panic” that sets in. They’ve heard about it, maybe even seen it but working through it and learning from it and watching or hearing about it are two different things.

So, as you begin to make plans, looking for tools to use – I like the site http://www.go2web20.net which has all sorts of sites that give you many different options that are searchable by tags – remember that you aren’t alone – you have supports around you and you need to use them. There will be setbacks but it’s only a failure if you don’t learn from it and move forward. You don’t have to control everything – it’s about learning and not control. Use your strengths – we all have them. Give yourself time – you are making changes in “teachingstyle” much as I did with having to make adjustments in lifestyle. One of them was exercising – I still remember my first “run” walking to the end of the block and back. Don’t compare yourself to what others are doing.

 

In this Galaxy or the Next – It’s Learning

Isn’t it becoming a bit redundant to say “21 century” already. I mean, 10 years ago it sounded so “new” and almost futuristic. Today, it’s starting to sound like someone hasn’t quite figured out where they’re living. This is especially true of education where we tend specialize in acronyms and titles.

21st Century Learning/ 21st Century Skills

Do we need to be reminded what century we’re in? The students and parents know what century it is and the rest of the world seems to have figured it out. Why does education seem to be the last place where we have to be reminded we’re in the 21st century. I mean it’s kind of a marketing ploy – “We’re teaching our students 21st Century skills” still has a ring of “Wow” to it. The reality is that there are quite a few different visions of what that really means – from testing to technology – which usually brings about a great discussion. So let’s pause for just a moment of reflection….

The skills people need today are somewhat similar to skills that people had in previous generations – collaboration, cooperation, problem solving skills (real-world or maybe non-real world), creativity and an ability to use information in a new an unique manner. Much the same set of skills people who first came to NA had to have to trek across the land with no maps, build houses and towns in the middle of nowhere with basic tools, help one another survey in a climate and landscape they were not use to and build two nations that have become leaders in the world.  If you take a look at the skills needed to accomplish all that in a few hundred years, the skills our students need are very similar. Granted they may be doing this in a different manner, across the globe using different technologies but these “21st Century Skills” aren’t much different than the skills that the pioneers possessed. It might be we’ve let some of these skills lapse since then but do we have to look at them as some new set of skills that we haven’t seen before? It’s much like the catch phrases “Web 2.0 and Digital natives/immigrants (look at the problems that’s created!)” which all have finally dropped out of use because we don’t need them. We really need to move past this naming thing. It gets in the way of getting things done because we spend so much time defining the label and figuring out what it means.

LEARNING AND SKILLS

Instead of naming our learning and skills, lets focus on creating situations where students can build skills and encounter learning that will motivate them and assist them to follow their passions, build community and solve problems regardless of what century they’re in or what world they are on! We need to spend less time “naming” and more time “getting things done”. Our students would be better of for it.

 

From Tech Talk to Transformation

Yesterday, as I scanned through my twitter feed, I came across this post by Lisa Noble - @nobleknits2 – about her experience with social networks and her own personal experience. It is a great example of how social media can have a powerful influence on lives. However, Lisa’s final few paragraphs at the end had me pondering.

This experience was a “game-changer” for me, at least in part because I watched my own kids become completely engaged in this process and take on some of the ownership of the experience. I realized how involved they are with my PLN, because I share things I’m learning with them. None of us have ever met Kim, but we’ve gotten to know her, and know we can ask her questions and call on her knowledge if we need it. That’s what I want to share with my students.

How do we take very personal experiences and relationships and bring that into a school setting? Can we create the same type of experience that Lisa and her children had, because of the nature of the situation, in classrooms? Do we need to? Do we have to recreate all life experiences in the classroom? What responsibility do we, as educators, have to provide students with this type of experience? Is it the relationships that we need to help our students see?

First, this is beyond what almost all people discuss when they talk about technology integration in the classroom. One of the key components of this is the personal relationships that have developed over time. Although the technology provided the means, it was the relationships that provided the foundation for what took place. For me, this is a story about relationships and life in which technology is part of the family’s life. If it hadn’t been, this story might not have taken place or maybe it would have taken place only locally. Some of our students have this degree of integration, some don’t. As Lisa points out,

 How do I help students realize that while the Internet can be a scary place, it can also be a place of healing? How do I teach them to be open to this kind of experience, while still being aware of how to be safe?

 

Ah, questions with which all parents struggle, not only concerned with technology but so many other aspects of life – friends, sports, alcohol, relationships, sex,… And isn’t that what many of us, as educators, are trying to do – help our students with tough questions? Our subjects and curricula are conduits that provide us with the opportunity to connect and help our students with so many of life’s questions.

As a family, what took place was such a personal experience, one that involved so much more than just learning, a social network and some yarn – it involved the heart, memories over time, struggles of life and death and so much more. Finding one’s passion is a journey and, sorry to say, might not be realized while in school. We can help our students and introduce them to the tools, provide them examples and give them opportunity but, just like you can’t make a 2 year old eat green beans, you can’t make someone find their passion. We need to give our students permission to find their passions – and the permission to search well beyond school. Not all students come from a situation where they can take advantage, nor have the opportunity, to follow their passion right away. But, by providing them the tools and opportunity, we give them the freedom to choose – the ability to continue on their time not our and the encouragement to keep seeking. Not everyone has found their yet!

 

Leadership Day – the hangover

To some, this may come across as a bit whiny, to others, a bit egocentric and to a few in the crowd, it will be , like, WTH. That’s okay. As an administrator, I’ve learned that many people do not see the full picture of what takes place in schools – no matter how transparent you try to be because that is the nature of what happens. Also, it’s been on my mind for a while and needs to be put out there.

It all began 5 years ago when Scott McLeod began Leadership day. Check out the link to see what that is all about. The one thing I will steal from his post are the bullets he outlines for his reason for promoting such a day.

Many of our school leaders (principals, superintendents, central office administrators) need help when it comes to digital technologies. A lot of help, to be honest. As I’ve noted again and again on this blog, most school administrators don’t know

• what it means to prepare students for the digital, global world in which we now live;
• how to recognize, evaluate, and facilitate effective technology usage by students and teachers;
• what appropriate technology support structures (e.g., budget, staffing, infrastructure, training) look like or how to implement them;
• how to utilize modern technologies to facilitate communication with internal and external stakeholders;
• the ways in which learning technologies can improve student learning outcomes;
• how to utilize technology systems to make their organizations more efficient and effective;
• and so on…

Administrators’ lack of knowledge is not entirely their fault. Many of them didn’t grow up with computers. Other than basic management or data analysis technologies, many are not using digital tools or online systems on a regular basis. Few have received training from their employers or their university preparation programs on how to use, think about, or be a leader regarding digital technologies.

5 years ago when I first read this, it kind of irked me because, as an administrator, I guess I was one of the few who understood the power of technology and the need for collaboration. In fact, in my Master’s Thesis of 11 odd years ago, Teacher Professional Development in Saskatchewan – Meaningful Transformation – I argued for the following:

• Teacher led, school-based pd focusing on: curriculum renewal, technology, teaching strategies and assessment.
• The need to harness the use of technology to have teachers share and collaborate and work with students – guides/coaches
• Collaborative collections of resources to assist with curriculum renewal – in Saskatchewan we have a resource based provincial curricula that really is geared to the use of multiple resources – perfect for technology integration.

That was 11 years ago, give or take a few months. As an educational leader, I have strongly advocated for school-based pd where teachers share their resources and ideas with one another. I have promoted the need for teachers to gather, just like the Edcamps that are currently taking place, to share their learning and build their knowledge. I even tried to organize one this past spring in my own province to no avail. As an educational leader, flipping the classroom was something I have done for the past 7 years, using technology – delicious, wikis, mind maps, LMS like HotChalk and more recently twitter, Survey Monkey, EasyPoll, Remind101, diigo , Youtube and various other websites when teaching because, well, I still teach. Middle years and high school. Different subjects each year. It’s been part of they way I’ve taught before there was these “technologies” – asking students to create videos, documentaries, doing cross-curricular units to help students make connections.  I’ve been using UbD for years –  am well versed in PBIS, RTI, PPP’s and Assistive Technologies because every school where I’ve worked as an administrator was inclusive. Period.

I’ve been online for some time – Educational Discourse  ,  Educational Discourse and Ed Administrator2.0 plus my blog – Educational Discourse all examples of how I try to share with others – well plus my twitter @principal_kelly.  Our school has a FB Page, twitter account and the staff uses Livebinders, pbworks wiki, skype and other online and in-school software to facilitate learning, sharing, collaboration and integration with students. This past year we have developed online blogs for our K & 1 classes hoping to add our 2 to 8 student portfolios via Class Blogmeister - which I’ve used with classes to have students blog about their learning – to facilitate discussion and to hopefully encourage them to speak to an audience other than me. I was a teacher support for the flat classroom project, have presented at conferences about the use of SM tools and technology integration.  My work in 9 schools with a few  hundred staff has focused on changing their paradigms, helping to move each one forward with the integration – not use – of technology and moving to a student-oriented view of teaching and learning.

But as a leader, I have also felt the repercussions of not following the prescribe path. I’ve been overlooked and passed by – outspoken about the need for schools to make changes which doesn’t always sit well. I’ve been chastised for technology use amongst a group of peers and used as a negative example of technology use.  People ask for example about SM or online discussions that have had a negative effect – I have personal examples which caused me to – make my online SM accounts non-public, close and delete a number of my accounts and always use previewing for comments. Having received a Master Degree that was mostly online plus several other classes through Harvard Graduate School of Education, PLPNetwork and other online educational providers – some focusing on business, I’ve seen some very good online teaching and some not so good. Schools where I have been administrator have been providing online classes for years – some synchronous and some asynchronous. No one has ever come to me and asked me to share or lead an inservice.

So why all this? Well, to be truthful, it doesn’t seem to matter. (This is where those who think I’m bragging and those who think I’m whining will be WTH?)

You see, I’m not an educational leader who thinks that everyone needs to tweet, blog, pin, chat, google+, plurk or whatever to be a good teacher. I don’t believe that, as an educational leader, my role is to impose my vision upon them or what they need to do – I don’t believe being a SM Star makes you a good teacher and I don’t believe that SM is deep PD. If 140 characters capture the essence of your thoughts, how deep can it be? What it does is provides you points of reference on your individual journey – connecting you with others who, hopefully, will cause you to stretch and think, to pause and reflect and building your own learning and allowing you to create something total new and you – much in the same way that teachers do with students.

Some teachers are there but others aren’t. As an educational leader, I need to put my time and resources where it’s most needed, much the same as we do with students – with teachers who need assistance to improve. For some, all they needed was the okay to go ahead and, bang, off they went. They need to continue to have our support. Others, it’s not so easy for them. But instead of talking about how much they gripe or how many excuses they give (no time, not proficient at it, too hard, too old, too young, too many kids, not enough kids, too early, too late, etc and writing lists about how these aren’t valid or how they aren’t good teachers and live in caves or how, if they’d just listen, they too could be great) it’s about meeting them where they are and moving them forward – sometimes through working with them one-on-one and sometimes by providing a mentor but all the while fostering a belief that they can do anything – there is a leader within them and they are capable. I could finger wag, give them a list of 10 reasons they need to be on twitter, provide them with blog posts of how technology is necessary for learning or I could go to them, see where they are and walk along side them until they can do it themselves – “look ma, no hands!” Just an aside – teachers are professionals but they are people too and if you set yourself up so that there are good/bad teachers with particular criteria – they’ll live up to your expectations – or down to them. Being able to talk about how great technology is might be wonderful – showing how others do it might get them interested but being able to walk with them – having them see how you use the technology – not as an administrator but as a teacher – will go farther than any keynote speaker in making changes in a school’s culture. Leaders who don’t have this might be able to talk and show but they lack the walk – that actual ability to do what they say others should do – not through incidental demonstrations but day-to-day, week-by-week. Really, if you can’t demonstrate that you can walk the talk, as a leader, I won’t listen to your talk. That’s what so many reformers don’t get – it’s not a class or pd session that will convince people – it’s the real results that people can see. Look at the infomercials for fitness and weight loss – it’s about real people getting real results. The more teachers, not those 3 and 4 degrees removed from the classroom, can demonstrate the results and share it with colleagues in close proximity, the greater the change and the swifter the movement. (Psst – that’s why more and more teachers are willing to make changes – the teacher next door is too!)

I don’t think you need to be online, barring your life to the world to be a successful educator – others might think differently and that is okay – but if it’s okay to think that, why isn’t okay to not be hardwired, soul-barring? Why isn’t it okay to question the technology reformists just like I’d question any reformists? Why is it when  many technology reformists are questioned, they dismiss the questions as coming from someone ill informed, not with it or uneducated or unknowing about the way of the world today?

As a leader, I think I’ve the right to be able to question and expect to be answered not dismissed or given a generic, all encompassing general answer, patted on the head, told how educated/informed the person is, how much they know/have researched and how, apparently, uniformed/uneducated I am. Yet, surprisingly, this happens quite often, especially in discussions involving technology reformists – so much so that I often don’t get involved in discussions when it involves technology or reformists. In fact, I don’t encourage teachers or leaders to follow them – I give them other contacts who I know are walking the talk and can provide them with some insights or connections to others who are doing the same thing.

So why did I write this?  Mostly, because it’s been on my mind for some time and a few incidents in the past week have kind of pushed my buttons enough to make me want to give voice to my thoughts. Hopefully some will read this and reflect, give pause and maybe comment, maybe even positively. Mostly, because as an educational leader that has been in the doing this for years, working to improve the learning of students, it’s deeply frustrating and somewhat disheartening to be constantly dismissed, openly ignored and routinely passed over.  Why do I keep at it? Well, really, because it’s about the students, teachers, parents and community where I live and not the rest. And, sadly, that’s what seems to be lacking from much of what is presently going on – creating teachers/leaders who are SM Stars – not helping teachers to connect with students and build relationships which help students to become leaders and be the best they can be.

I’ll end by linking to this post by Dr. Rodney S. Lewis – from the heart and deeply true.

 

Slogans Don’t Make Changes

Having been around twitter and SM for quite awhile, I’ve noticed a shift in content of what people are writing about and the proliferation of “quotable quotes” that seem to fill space. Now, I don’t often write/blog as I find there are other ways to connect and share. (I do have some thoughts on that but they’ll have to wait for another post!) but I figured this might be worth a mention.

Slogans and Quotes Don’t Make Change

I’ve read, heard, listened to a fair number of inspirational speakers, keynotes, bloggers, “the progressive minority” and others. Lately they all seem to be dealing out some “tweetable” quotes which has me wondering if too much is focused on nailing the “tweetable quote” and less is about actual substance. Don’t get me wrong, having your quote tweeted, retweeted and reretweeted is really great. But what we do each day in schools isn’t about quotable tweets – it’s about changing lives. Visions, Missions and Values might guide us but actions and relationships are what make us.  Now, if what someone says inspires you to begin changing and helps with motivation, then use it. The hard work of change and helping others change isn’t about the quote – it’s about the person.

Connections Help to Motivate – Relationships Haul You Through

I’ve a few thousand connections – not nearly as many as the “Big Guys” but enough to know that being connected allows one to learn and expand. Connections allow for exchange of information, links, ideas and discussion. However, it’s relationships that really move the rock. These can be online or f2f or somewhere in the middle – but they’re more than just connections/linkages. A connection can bring me a new idea or help to clarify something or…. but a relationship to go with that connection solidifies whatever it is into something tangible between me and someone else. And it’s those relationships that will work through the rocky and “less than your best” days and share and celebrate with you on those “wow, this rocked” days.

Too often, as people try to build a following or whatever their reason, they focus on the quotable quotes and the list of things to do and blogs about generic leadership or what I call the “love, trust and pixie dust” elements of leading. To make real changes requires so much more – and in education today, to create lasting change, relationships need to be the foundation of where things begin.

Experience Matters – (to me anyway)

Too often I read administrative advice being provided by someone with little or no school administration experience. In fact, there are many who are providing advice with a little actual classroom experience. They use these slogans and generic subjects to expound great wisdom in such a way that you can’t really argue with them – who doesn’t want what’s best for students? Who doesn’t think that technology is important? Who wouldn’t want to have students be more creative, think deeper and create their own unique responses. Who?

From my experience – as an administrator, father, husband – you cannot expound wisdom without experience. Look at being a spouse or parent? You knew it all right from the getgo and there was no learning needed, right? WRONG. Not only did you not know it all but how many times did you want to read that manual again? Being a parent of 8 children  - 4 girls and 4 boys aged 3 yrs to 20 yrs – I still don’t know it all and have made it a kind of unwritten rule to not provide parenting advice – even when asked sometimes – because it will come back to haunt me. You can try to “pass on your wisdom” and – if generic and “love, trust and pixie dust” feeling enough, people will eat it up. But, in the day-to-day comings and goings of the lives of children, schools and teachers, lack of experience can bring tragic problems. As a young “go getem” administrator, I stuck my feet in my mouth so many times I could see me shoe size on my tongue. Since that time, I’ve learned that slogans, new fads and “quotable quotes” don’t get things done, people do.  But it is you, as an administrator, others look to for leadership. If you don’t provide it, they will find someone who will – slogan or no slogan.  Given enough time, people will see that you don’t have the tools or skills or anything more than your slogan or “great ideas and sayings” to lead them through tough times – and they will look for another leader. Unless, of course, you only stick around for a short time – leaving before you really need to lead.

Slogans motivate people – great leaders use them all the time. But they don’t keep people motivated – people’s actions and the relationships do that. People who speak with a lack of experience in these areas but expound wisdom about knowing what it takes to lead are those I stay away from. They give great keynotes – but that isn’t going to help the students in school – they aren’t there to hear it. So, do the people to whom you listen speak with authority from experience or from a “what I’ve seen and heard from others” experience? Because you know what they say about gossip……

 

Following the conversation

Today, I was involved in a chat on Twitter. It’s nothing new, I join them all the time but it became clear to me that not everyone who follows you or is on twitter understands the breadth and depth of conversations that take place since not everyone is at the same stage in its use or in following chats, the experience differs.

During the #edchat this morning,  I was responding to a comment that went something like “In my experience, there have been more average or poor admins than great ones” – my paraphrase. My response to this was “that’s too bad. Being in Ed for 20, I’ve exp more consultants who think they know about teaching but haven’t a true understanding” My point was that making generalizations about different partners in education doesn’t add to the discussion – in fact it adds to separation and fracturing that is already taking place. Now, my experience isn’t universal but I have worked in 9 schools with hundreds of teachers and a great deal of consultants. It’s a generalization based on my PD experiences where consultants are brought in and, the term has morphed over time and now includes many who work with teachers within school divisions/districts.

A response I received read “oh so harsh ” Well, it wasn’t meant to be harsh just as I don’t believe that the first comment was meant to be harsh. Both, I believe, are reflections of experiences.

As an administrator who has been working to develop and grow for my whole time in education, well maybe except for the first 4 or 5 years when I was just trying to survive, I find it quite difficult to continually hear from people about the bad/poor/mediocre administrators that seem to abound everywhere, except those who are on SM sites. Are there poor administrators? Yes. But, as I continually try to point out to people, telling them they suck doesn’t make them want to listen. To drop in on conversation after conversation after chat after chat and continually hear about the sordid state of administration in schools doesn’t make me think people who might be “lurking” want to look at taking on the challenge. Just as there are many teachers who need to improve, there are many administrators who need to improve and there are many consultants who need to improve. Each is part of a team and being good at one does not mean that a person will be good at another. Not all great players make great coaches. There are different skills that are required. Because I both teach and am an administrator, I’m reminded of this. Having authority won’t help you if you aren’t engaging students – just as having technology won’t. Good teaching needs to come first!

Back to the Comment!

The comment I received makes me wonder if the person took a look at the hashtag to see the conversation or, did they just take my comment without the context? Like listening in at the water cooler but not hearing the full conversation then taking that snippet as the whole conversation.

So, in response to this, I offered this follow up “look at the #edchat conversation from this morning. Not ALL consultants just like not ALL administrators or ALL teachers.”
“yes I would imagine that generalizations are troublesome.”
“absolutely – we are moving away from doing such things to students – its just not fair to anyone.”

The best leaders, teachers or otherwise, I have met or read about or listened to have been those who are sincerely humble. They understand the influence they have and realize that what they say will be taken to heart by many who listen. They have a vision that influences others so they want to work with them. They realize they do not possess all the knowledge or tools or skills and seek out others who do. They listen but, when necessary, are willing to make difficult decisions. People often confuse popularity or power or money or the person who continually makes the most noise and moves their agenda along with someone who is a good leader. They might be but it’s good leaders can be found without these. As a young administrator, I use to think I had the answers to change things – only to realize that pure energy and shear will isn’t enough and, without being able to humbly accept that I am only as good of a leader as I am able to follow, I won’t be able to make much lasting positive impact. So, in trying to prove a point with my original comment, I may have inadvertently created a bigger issue since the first conversation was really outside my circle of influence while the second was inside that circle and anyone who might be a consultant but who wasn’t/didn’t follow the whole conversation will most likely be offended. That’s why I really struggle with the negativity that flows out towards particular “tribes” within education – some whom are using SM and the “others” and the comments from those of “influence”. I’m not sure that if I wasn’t on the administration side of the desk I’d want to venture there now – the criticism just wouldn’t seem worth it. Being there, I know that, just like every profession where there are those who struggle, there are administrators who might not have the skills or the experience or the training or who might not be cut out to be an administrator. To continue to point and flog isn’t helping – we should know that from our work with students, especially when we continue to hear such things from people of influence. Pointing and flogging hasn’t brought about significant changes, why would we think it would now? Because we have a new social media avenue to flog and point?

There’s a Program for That

I coach senior girls basketball. There are many things that, as a coach, you can develop and work on with your players. You can’t coach height. It’s impossible. You have it, you are tall or you aren’t. Being tall doesn’t mean you’ll be good at basket ball but, if you have skills and you are blessed with height, well – you can’t coach height.

You can’t program experience. There is no way to develop experience but over time. Without that experience, you can have a great many other aspects of leadership. Experience cannot be taught or gained from a program and you won’t find it on a top 10 list or through a chat because it is gained through day-to-day interactions. If you’re an administrator, these interactions will be with the students, parents, teachers, custodians, support staff, bus drivers and community members with whom you interact. Being aware of things you pick up through your learning  will help you but you can’t artificially create experience just like you can’t coach height.

Today, I was reminded of this. A simple comment – which might have a great impact. Another day of learning.

 

It’s about the season – not the game

This weekend the Sr. Girls basketball team played in another tournament final. We didn’t win. Now, many people who watched made comments like “Well, you had the chances, the ball just didn’t drop” or “You just couldn’t find your groove” or similar things. These statements are true – on the surface. However, as the coach/leader, I’ve learned to evaluate not just the team performance but mine as well. On reflection, this loss was more about me, as a coach, not making good decisions as it was about the team not shooting well.

As a coach, I’ve never had to cut a player because I’ve never been in a position to have that many players! Each player on our team plays. They have to because we don’t have a long bench. In fact, with everyone there, we have 9 girls. They each have strengths and weaknesses and we work at improving both throughout the season. Our team needs all the players to play – we need everyone to go out and give it their all. It’s just our reality. We don’t have a bunch of height this year but we have other strengths. Last night I didn’t coach to those strengths. I had a game plan and we stuck to it – too long – too late I realized it wasn’t going to work. By then the girls were frustrated, tired and somewhat disheartened. We regrouped at half but it was too late. Next practice, I’ll let the team know that the loss was probably due more to my decisions than their playing. It was a coaching error not a playing error.

Was the loss a failure? Absolutely not! It’s only our 2nd all year and it provided us with some more incentive to work hard at practice, focus on the drills and put in the time. Although it was a disappointment it was by no means a failure. It was LEARNING! We all learned – the team and I – we learned. It was important learning – critical to our future success.

Behind the Bench

This is my 17th year as a basketball coach. In fact, I’ve coached most sports over my teaching career. I’ve had the honour of coaching a team all the way to provincials and a few to Regional Playoffs. Basketball has been the sport I have coached the longest and the one I knew the least about when I started. In fact, when I first started, I didn’t really consider basketball a sport. Growing up on Canadian prairies, I did what so many other youth do, I curled. And played hockey and volleyball and badminton and did track but there was no basketball. None.

17 years later, I’ve learned quite a bit about the sport but I still know very little. That is why I watch video on YouTube, subscribe to newsletters, check regularly a few key websites and, whenever possible, watch what other teams are doing. I have to be willing to learn and adjust what I do as a coach so that the each member of the team can continue to get better. Having coached primarily teenage girls, I’ve also developed a sense of what works with motivating them, what helps to keep them focused, when to push and when to lay off. Today we didn’t have our usual practice because the team needed time off. They needed to rest. Some of the seniors will be going over the game throughout the day and will come to our next practice determined to improve. The juniors will follow them.

Being a Leader

What I’ve described above is somewhat of a mirror reflection of my journey as a teacher/administrator. I started teaching not really knowing what it was about. The first few “seasons” were losing seasons. None were winless but some were pretty darn close. I became determined to improve since I couldn’t cut any players, I needed to figure out how to help each of them. I eventually figured out that if I stuck to “my game plan” and didn’t pay attention to what was happening with the team – we’d lose. ALL of us would lose.

Now as an administrator, it’s the same thing. By no means do I know it all as a school administrator but I have become better at leading because I’ve become better at using all the talent in the room. I can’t cut anyone! Instead, my role is to seek out those strengths and talents, encourage and grow them while at the same time working on the weaknesses. For teachers, each day is game day – 5 days a week. But it’s about the season – we want to have a winning season with students. However, will there will be days when it just doesn’t flow and it won’t be a “winning game” or you’ll have a bad “quarter” and that is when, as an educational leader, I ask teachers to reflect and critically evaluate what they did, the decisions they made and the “plays” they called. Sometimes it’s a student having an off day. But sometimes, it has nothing to do with the students – it’s our actions/reactions/game plan that needs to be adjusted.

To Err Is Human – To Forgive Divine

We will make mistakes. It will happen. In fact, if it doesn’t, I’m thinking that you have a talented group that isn’t being challenged. It’s like being a 4A team playing in a 1A league – you’ll be a winner but what will the players learn? No challenge – little growth – little development – limited progress. If you challenge them, there will be mistakes and unsuccessful attempts  but it will be how you react that will be critical in development. Are you willing to self-evaluate critically? Will you admit it was partly your error? Will you point out how you made the error and discuss it? Will you change that loss into growth and improvement? Will you be willing to forgive – them and yourself? It is a critical step – letting go and moving on – not dwelling on the mistake but focusing on looking for improvement – in yourself and your “team”.

As a coach, I serve my team. That is my role. Yes, I push them at practice, find the drills and make game decisions but I serve the team – building individual talent to make us a better team. As a school administrator, I have a similar role. In both cases, I cannot play the game/teach for the others. I have to relinquish control of the play  - I am there to serve. So, when I err, I must be willing to accept it but then, demonstrate that it is a learning experience – model life-long learning – seek out solutions and then begin the task of working with the team, learning from what has happened. As a coach I server – I lead – as an educational administrator it’s the same thing.

 

 

You Can’t Stop the Rain

Singing their Song

So often when we talk about schools, students, parents and teachers, we discuss things in arm-lengths type of way. We discuss how they need to have richer and more meaningful learning experiences, how we need to provide them with the opportunities to use the technological tools in authentic learning experiences. What we don’t discuss is how schools need to be places of living not just of learning. They need to be places of community where children can experience life-lessons not just academic lessons. The story that follows is about one such event that took place at our school this past year.

The Idea

Tyler came to see me after basketball practice. I coach girls basketball so he had to wait until after I was done to see me. This isn’t necessarily unusual as I often have students come to see me after school, some because they want to work, some need help and some just want to be able to stay at the school for awhile longer. On this occasion, Tyler wanted to talk. He had this idea that he wanted to put on a Coffee House to raise money for Cancer. As he explained to me, he just really felt he needed to do this. His grandfather had passed away earlier in the year from cancer and he wanted to do something. He had been involved in other Coffee Houses, he played the guitar and thought it would be a great idea. We discussed times and dates. Another teacher who happens to play in a band was willing to help Tyler with setting up. A date and time was picked and the school was booked. Tyler was excited about the event which showed in his eagerness to get started on preparing. On December 8th, our school hosted the Coffee House where over $1300.00 was raised for Cancer Research.

The Rest of the Story

The story is a bit more than just the Coffee House. It’s a story about life. Tyler spent the next few weeks after our initial meeting working on the event. He put up posters around the school. He put out jars to collect money and advertise at various businesses around the town. He put up a sign-up sheet at school and began to spread the news that this was taking place. He spent a few days after school practicing, as did a number of the other students who were going to be taking part in the event. He promoted and had his friends promote. He arranged for a local band to take part.

The evening of the event, there were about 80 people in the school foyer ready to watch the different performers. In attendance was Tyler’s family, including his grandmother. This is where the real story starts. As Tyler got up and welcomed everyone, he explained that his reason for doing this was because he really needed to help others. He described how much it hurt when his grandfather had passed away, how the pain had been so great and he had hurt so much and he wanted to help others because it hurt so much. He explained that his grandparents would have been married 50 years this summer and his first song was dedicated to them as he had been practicing to play it at their anniversary. Beautiful. Powerful. Here was an 18 year old young man doing what many other adults could never do, would never do.  Then, with each performer that took the stage, there was a story. One had lost a sibling, another had lost a parent and a third had recently lost a sibling. They sang and danced in remembrance. The band,  which one of the staff plays in, took the stage.  One of the members had recently lost their spouse. It was an incredible evening. It all happened because one young man wanted to give – give to others because of the hurt he felt. Throughout the evening, people laughed and people cried. They applauded the efforts of the performers, enjoyed coffee and dainties and shared in conversation. All because one young man wanted to give.

Schools Are Real Life

Too often I hear the phrase “Well, when they leave school and experience real life…..” In fact, school is real life. To try to explain that to anyone who isn’t in a school is difficult. Schools reflect, to some degree, the society of which they are a part. Some of the resistance to change is, in fact, a resistance of society to the changes taking place. Schools are more than just places of learning, they are places of living which are changing and evolving. For so long schools have tried to keep the changes taking place in the society  from disturbing what was going on within their walls. This is no longer acceptable – our schools need to be living and growing, adapting and changing. But it’s more than just technology – it’s about all aspects of life. Too often when people discuss school reform, they focus on technology and learning but it’s so much more – it’s about life long learning. You can’t stop the rain from falling but you can use it to power your ideas and grow your dreams if you quit complaining about it falling

Tyler ended  the open mic portion of the Coffee House with a classic Tom Petty song – Free Falling.

Free Falling

Schools are real life – real life for our children. Things may not be where we expect them to be but then again, when does life ever go according to someone’s schedule or plan. Let’s not diminish what does take place through focusing on one narrow aspect like technology. Life is so much bigger.