Keep It Simple-Relationships & Growth...Go!

Philosophies of Education tend to be like shoes...your experience changes with them over time and there is always something new to try on.  Philosophies are well intended and give a basis of why we teach or lead in a particular fashion, but as we are all different, so too are the philosophies we carry.

Via Mindslap.com

My perspective on what education has become and where it can go has certainly changed over time depending on my role and time in a district.  New initiatives that brought the promise of solving the issues with struggling learners, advanced learners, classroom culture, and behavior management seem to come and go like miracle diets.  All of this is well intended, but the multitude of changes in education have allowed our staff members to wait out initiatives they don’t like because they don’t have time to invest or dismiss them altogether because they know another one will be coming soon.  So, at its core I believe educational philosophy should revolve around the two things that have not changed in all my years of school...Building Relationships and Growth.

Relationships-Kids are smart, they may not know how to find the circumference of a circle, diagram a sentence, or problem solve on the playground, but they know if you like them.  The connection with kids is something you simply can’t fake.  They may not like everything you do or what you assign or how you assign it, but if they know you care about them they will try anything.  They are not just here to gather knowledge, spit it out, grab a diploma, and move on.  They want the experience of school and they want to be in a place where they are wanted...it is our job to make them feel that way. That environment will allow them to take risks and allow them to grow beyond the score on a test or the grade in a book.

Via quara.com

Growth is not just about kids, it’s about all of us. This means that sometimes we have to engage in learning that helps us, not just adds to areas where we find success.  I will never be a great golfer. I hit the ball well and score relatively well most times that I play, but I don’t get any better for one reason.  I can’t putt.  Horrible...and I refuse to practice putting because it’s beyond boring.  I would much rather go on the range and hit the ball as far as I can.  So, clearly I’m never going to get better.  If we as educators only work on things that we do well already, we don’t grow.  Stepping outside our comfort zone is tough, but necessary for growth. If we want kids to think beyond what is safe we must do the same in our practice. Everyone’s checkpoints are different, but when you hit one it becomes the new normal and the beginning of new growth.

My philosophy is not long, but doesn't come with a ton of exterior variables...create relationships with the people around you (students, colleagues, community...) and grow. Wherever you are now...just grow. The impact that it can have on you and your students will be fantastic!

Why I Lead

Did you ever start doing something and then think... “Wow, that got a little more involved than I thought”? I think every leadership opportunity I have had in my life started as a good idea that turned into something much bigger...and in the long run better...but as it’s hard to see the forest through the trees it is equally as hard to see the impact of leadership through the daily grind.  Sometimes it’s nice to refocus. George Couros (@gcouros) started a virtual leadership mentoring program this summer (#SAVMP) and I thought it would be a good way to share some knowledge and learn from those around me when it comes to mentoring in a new way.  After a few weeks, multiple posts by incredible educators, and the connection to phenomenal leaders across the world, I have already found myself pushing leadership thought and learning from everyone involved. The first thing George asked us to do was reflect on why we lead.  Sometimes I wonder, but never regret...here are some of the thoughts that came to mind:

Flickr via Michael Dales

I lead because it drives me

The opportunity to grow and help others grow drives what I do on a daily basis...and honestly, consumes me at times.  If I can get one new resource into the hands of a teacher who needs it, make a new connection with a student who is struggling, or promote the great things going on in our district, I feel like I have helped move the group forward. Above my desk sits My 3...a piece of paper that I am forced to look at everyday...and it keeps me focused on the true importance of why we do what we do.  My 3 are: Every Teacher...Every Day, Follow Through...No Excuses, Connect with All Students.  I adjusted them recently and feedback from our staff was the impetus for that change.  We have a duty to listen to what our group is saying and it is our responsibility to make changes to what we do to help them grow.  We expect our teachers to evolve...we should be held to the same standard. Reviewing the data and developing a plan to get better helps me become more transparent and I think our group enjoys the fact that they know what I am working on professionally.

I lead to be the voice of those who don’t

I am the loudest person you will ever meet...and it’s not close.  I find it ironic that I often tell my kids to lower their voices (which inevitably leads to the eye roll from my gorgeous wife).  There are time that being the loudest person ever is an issue...but there are others when being the loudest helps advocate.  Our kids and teachers do great things...not good things...great things.  They make amazing connections, have always been willing to try new things, and work tirelessly with our students.  I see them at sporting events, concerts, plays...I saw one teacher at MULTIPLE birthday parties for her students outside of school...they are amazing and the volume of my voice, hundreds of tweets/posts, and the fact that I will stop anyone in the streets to tell them about the great things happening in Fall Creek is one of the positives of being the loudest.

I lead for them
Most importantly...I lead for kids.  All kids...we owe it to them.  Not because it is our job, or because someone did it for us, or even because they will be taking care of us someday...we owe it to them because they deserve the best. No questions...they come to us as innocent 4 year olds and trust that we will help make them better.  They test our patience and we spend the majority of our professional lives having our happiness determined by the attitudes and actions of kids ages 4-18.  Having said that, we chose this and they deserve everything we can do to make their time with us magical.  We are going through a building remodel this summer...and as I walk through hallways that are changing, a playground that is new, and rooms that are much more inviting I start to countdown the days until we’ll all be back together again.  Our building is going to be great...but it’s not school until they come. I can’t wait to see the look on their faces when they walk through the doors or hit the playground for the first time.  There is something about a child’s smile...and helping to provide an environment where SMILES ARE THE DEFAULT make me extremely happy...and is a clear reason why I lead.

Fear of the First Step

I think most people have a sense of fear.  Something...someone...somewhere...most people go through life sensing fear at some point.  This week we took our kids camping and as we were hiking in the bluffs of western Wisconsin I feared that any or all of our kids could go over the edge, get a snake bite, cut themselves whittling, or what I would do to them if they took the last marshmallow.  Sometimes that fear can stifle what could be a great experience.  We had a great time camping...no one went over the edge, the intricate designs of weaponry developed through whittling were fantastic, and we had enough marshmallows to send us away with a slight stomach ache.

Fear is so relative.  I wake up without pain, walk to work without any sense of danger, and I am able to provide for our family so we live comfortably in a great village. I realize that fear is different and am not trying to compare my fear to someone who doesn’t know where they will find their next meal, work, or something horribly worse.  The point is this...there are things that hold us back...and sometimes breaking out of our current normal can be frightening. My hope is that we can take a step out of the comfort zone and venture to a new place...knowing that fear may be part of that process.

There aren’t too many things I fear professionally.  I have a great school board, an incredible staff, and a wonderful community.  I think the majority of my fear is in continuing the status quo.  My only fear is that I look back on places I have been and groups I have been able to work with and come to the conclusion that they did not grow as much as they could have while I was there...and more importantly, continue to grow after I had left.  Establishing a culture where people can coexist and enjoy coming to work is the initial phase of change, but if that environment doesn’t turn into one of continuous growth, we’re closer to an amusement park than a school.  As I contemplated where we have been and how we should prepare our teachers for the upcoming year, I started to think...is everything I am planning contributing to the status quo or am I helping our staff grow and move forward?  

I spend a great deal of time through this blog and on Twitter talking about creating an opportunity for student voice in classrooms.  It is truly important for our staff to take on the perspective of kids and allow them to own their learning process.  We have to go from the purveyors of content to the facilitators of growth.  This doesn’t mean we scrap everything we have been doing, it means we make a connection with kids so they begin, maintain, and extend a love for learning that takes them well beyond 13 years in our building.  In contemplating this perspective, I asked myself...am I providing this same environment for our teachers?

Dr. Leo Marvin via yobucko.com

I often turn to Twitter when planning and preparing for almost everything we do in school.  It has been and will continue to be an incredible place to learn.  This week I found a post by Wendy Lap entitled If Teachers Planned Inservice Training.  Though the post was meant to be humorous, it literally kept me up thinking...Good Lord, I do all of the things on “Don’t Do” list.  Binders of information...check.  Presentation for the whole group...check.  Humorous video to break the ice...check.  Building a newspaper and popsicle stick tower...check, check, double check.  Yep...all of it. I am not ready to can the whole process, but with an open mind, I clearly want to move in a direction that meets our group in a better capacity.  So...with the advice of  What About Bob’s Dr. Leo Marvin, I will be taking baby steps to improve what we do in our school and put our inservice in the hands of our staff.  Here are a few things that may help:

Inservice and professional development owned by staff: We have held techno days at our school where certain classes or sessions were offered to help staff learn new things to implement in their classrooms.  Our tech team has done a great job of planning and providing an opportunity for our staff to learn and grow in this area.  We ask what types of sessions they want to take in and find people willing to facilitate.  The issue has not been with the sessions, it has been with the time to explore.  We will still offer sessions based on what our staff want to learn, but this year we are providing less sessions and more time.  Staff will have the option of coming in for 2 days (and be compensated) to explore something new and start the year thinking about how to integrate some of those tools or revamp some of the others they have learned.  Session times will be posted...and our staff can choose to come in for a portion or all of the day.  We will have an open lab throughout the 2 days where staff can get help with any of the resources. Again, open, with no expectation to stay the entire time...just an opportunity to grow with help if needed.

Professional Growth Goal Resource Day: We are in the second year of our Professional Growth Model.  One of the issues with our process last year was strictly focused on the amount of time our staff members had to create their goals considering we rolled it out at the beginning of the year.  This year we are providing an opportunity for our staff to spend time with the teacher group that developed the model and talk through goal and potential evidence options prior to our students arriving.  This is an optional day and will hopefully allow our staff members to work through some of the logistics of a goal so it doesn’t cause as much stress when the year starts.

Modified Edcamp: I am a huge proponent of Edcamp style PD.  Utilizing the skill and expertise in our own building helps those who learn and those who facilitate.  The issue with running an Edcamp style PD in schools is simply that when people attend an Edcamp they choose to be there.  One of the reasons Edcamps are so successful is that you are putting hundreds of people in a room who have chosen to spend their Saturday growing as professionals.  That is not always the case outside of Edcamps.  In our modified Edcamp style, we will be asking staff from our school and 6 other districts what they would like to learn and if they would be willing to lead sessions.  We are scheduled to run two Edcamps this year for a group of schools in our area...the group planning these days has been incredibly dynamic and we are really looking forward to moving in this direction.

Commitment to Continuous Improvement: At the end of the day...these are still days.  We are hoping to move from “Event PD” to using those days as check in for continuous growth.  Learning doesn’t have to be driven by schedule, but due to the structure of how our public system works, there are only a few days we have together throughout the year to connect and grow.  If we use those days as boosters or times to refocus, our staff can continue to model that learning doesn’t start and end with a scheduled day.

Our inservice days will still include meetings (though hopefully less) and we will offer opportunities throughout the year for growth, but as we move forward I hope that we can trust our staff to make use of the time in their own way and direct their growth for the betterment of our kids. The fear comes in the unknown...I trust our staff to own their learning...but do I trust myself to step back and allow them to do it and break free of the what we have done in the past?  I guess we’ll find out!  Go Crickets!

How Big is Your Brave?

When you build a new playground one of the things you don’t want to hear is… “That may be the biggest structure in Fall Creek.” As you can see, our new Play Web is huge…and awesome. One of the complaints our older elementary kids have had for years is that there is no playground equipment dedicated to them.  This Play Web and a few other pieces that we hope to add in the coming years will give our older kids a place to climb and enjoy. Having said that…I still can’t get over the size of the web.  It simply didn't look that big when I went to see an identical version in Ashwaubenon, WI a few months ago. It is big…and there may be some bravery involved to navigate it…even for older kids. Eventually they will all make it to the top (probably something our playground supervisors don’t want to hear), and won’t consider it a monumental task. As it often happens, the thought of the structure and bravery took me to how we operate in schools. Couple that with a Sara Bareilles song I heard the kids listening to and here we go...

We want teachers to grow, but we want them to own the process in which they grow.  If they are able to develop their own parameters I believe they will be brave enough to take big risks and grow whether the final result ends in success or failure. This year we completed our first attempt at a Professional Growth Model where staff were able to choose their goal, how they were going to assess it, and what evidence they could show to discuss their progress.  Success or failure of the goal was not determined by student score, but by evidence of teacher professional growth.  In essence, we wanted to know how they grew as an educator…and the results were great.  96% of our staff took part in the Professional Growth Model program. Here are some of the highlights:

• 94% of staff taking part in the program felt it made them a more effective teacher and improved some aspect of student learning.  
• 98% of staff taking part in the program felt they will use the strategies they learned in the coming years.
• 92% of staff members taking part in the program felt their plan produced results that have benefited (or could benefit) the Fall Creek School District beyond their classroom. 

Conceptually, we allowed people to drive their own growth and the feedback has been great.  I was so proud of the process and reading through growth plans and evidence pieces at the end of the year was one of the highlights of my educational career.  There was so much work put into their evidence…and they were so brave to stretch their thinking. Our challenge to staff this year is simply this…How big is your brave?  We want people to take what they have learned and use that as the new baseline for growth. The question is how far can they take it? This is such a two way street.  As administrators, we need to trust our staff to challenge themselves to grow…from wherever they are to a new place…a better place. Our staff members need to feel safe to take risks…but then they need to be brave enough to take them.  Growth will not happen if their brave isn't big enough to stretch both thinking and practice.  Experience does not equal growth…but experience, reflection, and action certainly have the potential to bring us to a new place. If we can stretch as educators it takes us somewhere else…and that becomes the new normal.  Are we brave enough to not just step outside of our comfort zone…but leap to a whole new level?

We are just over a month away from staff members heading back to schools.  The prospect of a new year, fresh starts, and a renewed commitment to kids is always exciting.  Think about what risk you are willing to take…and then go one step further.  However, if you are planning on ordering the Play Web for your school district…you may want to stick to the medium. In every other case…I truly hope your brave is big.

The Power of Our First Teachers

I had a very interesting conversation with my mom recently.  We had a chance to sit down together…which rarely happens…and the conversation started out with her saying... “So, I was reading your blog the other day,,,”.  This comes after a text I got from her last week that let me know that she was now on Twitter.  We are talking about a woman who has spent the better part of the last 7 years turning her television on with a needle nosed pliers and now she rocks an IPhone, reads blogs, and is delving into Twitter.  We talked about the time she threw a sandwich at me because I said the peanut butter was on the wrong side (this story actually made the front page of a local paper…sorry, mom)…and when she poured a container of Kool-Aid over my head because I wouldn’t pick up the stuff I had left out…and when she waited up for me to get home and open a college letter to see if I got in…and when I called her after defending my dissertation.  The list could go on for many blogs, but it made me think about the journey we all take in education and who we choose to share that journey with along the way.

Our conversation turned to teaching, more importantly teachers.  It was very interesting to hear her experience going through school with me as it tended to mirror how I felt about teachers.  I think we sometimes forget that the first teachers in everyone’s lives are parents, and as schools we can’t lose sight of the fact that a student’s first teacher needs to be included in how we educate children in the future.

My elementary school experience, in particular, was not a model in academic excellence or behavior.  I knew there were teachers in the building that saw me walking down the hall and wondered what I was up to or were waiting until they could catch me doing something I should not.  Having said that…I believe I probably earned the looks and the added accountability.  I felt out of place…knew I wasn't the smartest person in the class and that I really wanted to be in charge instead of being told what I should learn.

My mom ran into one of my former teachers in the grocery store after I got my first principal position. This teacher was one of the people that did not see my need to be on stage and propensity to make people laugh in class as a solid foundation of scholarship. My mom stopped and said hi to the woman and said, “You are not going to believe what Joe is doing now.”  After the initial look that my mom could have perceived as…maybe 5-10 with a slight change at parole…she told her that I was a principal at an elementary school.  The answer told a story that surprised me a great deal.  The teacher said that she always thought if they could take someone who struggled to behave in school and somehow inspire the importance of education, then they may be a pretty good teacher.  I kept thinking what that would have looked like in a conversation as a student in her class.  Would I perceive our relationship differently if I knew she thought I had potential to lead a school?

Then there was the one.  The teacher who cared more about the fact that I was there than what she was going to teach me that day.  The teacher that spent more time talking WITH me than talking AT me.  The teacher that somehow was able to help me solve a Rubik's Cube when I was stuck and let us play real dodge ball as a class because she knew there were many of us that just needed to get out.  The teacher that called my house just to tell my parents that I did a great job.  On what you ask? I still have no idea…but I know she did it.  I KNEW from every minute I was in that classroom that I had potential to do great things.  I have NO IDEA what she taught me…I don’t know at what Lexile Level I ended the year or how far below the standard I was in Math.  I don’t know what my state standardized test score was or how many office referrals I had for the year. I do know…that she cared about me…and the perception I have is that she cared about me more than anyone else.  I am sure if you ask my classmates from that year they would say she cared for them more than me…and that is the true essence of what a teacher can do for our kids.

The bottom line is that kids and parents know if we care about them.  The student’s experience in class often mirrors the thoughts parents have about the teacher and school.  Would you rather have them feel it every day or wait 20 years until you run across them in a grocery store to let them know they have potential?  

0-80 Getting Buy In During Times of Change

The following link takes you to the slides shown today during the Simple K12 Webinar I hosted on getting Buy In During Times of Change.  Hope everyone enjoyed it...I had a great time!  Thanks to Simple K12 for allowing me to be part of the program!

http://www.slideshare.net/joesanfelippo/from-0-80-getting-buy-in-from-staffsimple-k12?utm_source=slideshow03&utm_medium=ssemail&utm_campaign=share_slideshow

The Power of Professional Growth Opportunities

Packer football games are clearly important events in Wisconsin.  People plan their weekends around when the Packers are playing and their stress levels tend to rise leading up to and during games.  Those feelings transcend game time and work their way into the following week.  I know because I am one of these people.  The lasting impact on how our team performs on a field seems a ridiculous notion, but it’s real.  Fan is short for fanatic…and defined as “a person excessively devoted to a cause” by Merriam-Webster.  I also find it funny that there are some crazy people out there (the author not excluded) who believe where they stand, what they eat, who they are with, and their location have some sort of impact on the outcome of a game.  The latter was the reason I spent 3 ½ quarters of a Packer game outside in January watching through a window because Craig Newsome picked up a fumble and ran it in for a touchdown vs. the 49ers in 1996 as I was entering a house.  As fans, we get worked up for, during, and after an event but the lasting impressions tend to wane as time goes on.  Well…most of them…for arguments sake, let’s exclude the following:

·        Terrell Owen's catch in the end zone (January 1999)

·        4^th and 26 vs. the Eagles (January 2003)

·        Favre interception vs. NY Giants (January 2007)

The point is that events are planned, anticipated, enjoyed and then lost.  I have watched most Packer games since I was a kid.  I can clearly remember a handful of games because they tugged at the emotion of my being, but for the most part, I will remember certain plays or scores as opposed to full games.

So…what does that have to do with schools?  Everything.  Think about how we grow our teachers.  Historically we have used Professional Development days with initiatives that may not mean anything to our staff to drive their “growth”.  The question that keeps coming to my mind is this… If professional development is supposed to be an opportunity to improve, then why is it that we only expect teachers to get better under our rules, on our timeline, and through “events” that may not have a lasting impact on their instruction?  Growth should be about choice and as leaders we need to trust our teachers by giving the time to grow, but also the capacity to find and retain things over time to improve what they do in the classroom.

I understand daily schedules, minutes of instruction, prep time, and school calendar tend to drive when we can spend time getting better as a staff.  I don’t have a problem with having professional development days where people can gain more knowledge or resource.  My view is that if this is the only time you talk to your staff about getting better, it will never happen.  What if these days turned into “check in days” or “sharing days” where we have time and resource to collaborate and grow from what we have done as opposed to a one time offering that no one remembers?  We are just starting the process of change when it comes to staff development in our district.  We are far from finished, but have an incredible group of people who want to get better.  Here are a few things we are looking to do to make things more productive for our staff:

Time. During our last staff development opportunity I asked our staff members to pick ONE thing to improve instruction…ONE.  I asked that they didn’t spend the day organizing their rooms, grading papers, or lesson planning.  I asked them to find something new and dive into it for 6 hours.  The feedback from staff has been great and more importantly primed the pump of learning.  The 6 hour start up on an activity allowed staff members to become comfortable with a new instructional method, tech innovation, collaborative organization…whatever.  They now use what they learned on a regular basis and it became part of a routine.  Another day was a check in on their Professional Growth Goal.  This allowed staff members to assess where they were and what resources they would need in the second part of the year.

Choice.  I recently had an opportunity to run an EdCamp style PD session for a group of 7 schools in our area.  We surveyed the group, asked what they wanted to learn, found colleagues that felt comfortable presenting, and let people choose where they wanted to go.  Our first opportunity had over 40 people…a good start to something worthwhile in the future.  We have a group of 20 people from those 7 schools coming together in a few weeks to plan what our collective PD could look like…involving more people in the process will be a fantastic way to grow professional learning networks for our educators.

Twitter. Every staff member in our elementary building has a Twitter Account.  80% of our district teachers have accounts.  Not all are using them actively, but we’re getting there!!  I truly believe that Twitter is the most underutilized professional development tool in the world today.  Taking the time to find out how to navigate and engross yourself in learning is a great way to grow as a professional.  We have done a Twitter chat as a group and hopefully will continue to use it as a fantastic vehicle for improvement. Increasing our circle from 60 staff members to 600 members of a Professional Learning Network and beyond on Twitter allows for enormous opportunities for growth.

We have tremendous resources in our building…and those resources are doing the work and modeling every day.  Learning from each other is a powerful tool.  I see our group taking part in more Appy Hours, EdCamp style choice professional development, and Ted style talks that everyone can learn from on a consistent basis.  Events come and go…constant growth is about MAKING the time to improve and I can’t wait to see where it takes us…Go Crickets.