#GoInnovate16 Reflections - Day 2

Another challenging and inspiring day at the first annual GOCSD Innovation Summit.  Here are my takeaways:

1. Our current structure of school limits us in meeting kids needs. Schools have changed very little in the past 100 years.  However, students and their needs have changed significantly.  As educators, we must evaluate the purpose behind our practices to ensure they align with our beliefs about education.  We do many things that are for efficiency and convenience that have minimal impact on student learning.  We must find ways to unlock the passions our students have if we want to truly motivate them to learn.

2. Learning must go beyond what is needed for the test.  If we truly want to change our system, we must reduce the reliance on tests as the end goal and make MORE LEARNING the end goal.  When a student begins learning something, our goal should be for them to have a passion to learn more about it.  To do this, learning must have relevance, context, and meaning to the student doing the learning.  We tend to focus on the TEACHING process when we should be focused on the LEARNING process.

3. Are schools doing the right things, or the wrong things right?  We have focused on improving our current system for the past 100 years.  What if we have reached the maximum potential of the system as currently designed?  What if we were to put student learning at the forefront and design our schedules, buildings, technology, and other things around what works best for students?

4. We have students using tools that they will never use outside of the classroom.  What does that really prepare them for?  We need to become much more authentic in the tools that students use in our schools.

5. 'Routine' jobs are disappearing and 'Non-Routine' jobs are replacing them at a rapid pace.  Anything that can be automated using technology is heading that direction. To help students prepare, we must have them asking questions that are meaningful to them, solving real problems in their community, and trusting them to think on their own.

As educators, we must re-evaluate our current practices, structures, etc. to ensure that they are preparing students for THEIR future.  We must structure our time so that it serves students.  We must structure our buildings so that they serve students.  We must give some choice and freedom to students if we truly want them to own their education.  No longer is it good enough for students to sit in rows for 50 minutes and learn prescriptively from teachers.

Thank you to GOCSD (@GOCSDMO) and Will Richardson (@willrich45) for providing a space in which I could re-ignite some passions for innovation that serve students.

GOInnovate 16 - Reflections from Day 1

I was fortunate to take part in the first-ever Innovation Summit organized by the Greater Ozark's Cooperating School Districts (GOCSD) today.  Over 700 educators from across Southwest Missouri gathered to hear a keynote address from George Couros and share best practices from their districts.  As I reflect on the day, these are the items that stuck out to me.

1.  Compliance never develops creativity.  As educators, we like it when students are neatly following directions and completing tasks according to our specific instructions.  However, we must encourage students to step outside of those directions and tight structures if we want to develop creative thinkers.  Students need freedom to solve problems and generate ideas that are not teacher-directed.  How can we shift our expectations from the convenience of compliance to the chaos of creativity?

2.  We don't need problem solvers, we need problem identifiers.  We work hard as educators to teach kids how to solve problems.  Much of our instructional design centers around teaching students the skills to solve problems.  To do this, we tend to use problems that have already been solved by someone else - simply having students walk through steps that have been pre-determined.  If we want students to be highly engaged, we must teach them to identify problems that are meaningful to them.  Once they are identified, students will be excited to work through them and find solutions.  The result is highly-engaged students, participating in meaningful and relevant learning, and contributing to their community in a meaningful way.

3. Our job as educators is to inspire students to do things that inspire us back.  We generally don't do this through standardized tests and with students in neat rows facing forward.  We need to develop relationships with kids, find out what inspires them, and use it to 'light a fire' under them.  Once we do this, we will be amazed at how kids can inspire us back.

4. The PROCESS is more important than the product.  When we work with students, we tend to focus on the outcome - the final product of a project, the answer to a math problem, the final draft of the research paper.  But in focusing so intently on this final outcome we miss allowing students to make mistakes, try new ideas and methods, and explore on their own.  The product is easily measured, but it is the way that we get there that is where the magic of learning happens.

5. Learning is messy - failure is not fatal.  Thinking about the previous four points, it is clear that the learning process is truly messy.  Learning is not linear - instead it is a winding, unpredictable journey along which many mistakes and failures happen.  What is critical is that we continue to encourage kids through the struggles and help them to 'fail forward'.  It is only when failure becomes an endpoint that learning stops.

Thanks to George Couros (@gcouros) for the insightful and inspiring address today that encourages us to innovative educators.

For those of you that attended today, I'd love to hear your takeaways.  For those of you that didn't, what would you add to this list? 

What 3 Minutes Can Do....and a big Thank You!

Just over a week ago our area experienced a fast-moving winter storm.  In my role as Assistant Superintendent, I spent the morning (while the weather was still ok) checking out forecasts, checking in with other area districts on their plans, and discussing our plan with the Superintendent and our bus contractors.  Things seemed to be holding steady and in good shape until about a 3 minute stretch of time around 1:15.  In that three minutes, we went from dry with excellent road conditions to icy with very slick roads and sidewalks.  That three minutes of frozen precipitation set off a long afternoon/evening of work for all of us in the district.

Almost immediately after that three minutes, we made the decision to dismiss school early.  Hindsight being 20/20 I wish we would have made that decision earlier.  It would take about an hour for bus drivers to get in, complete pre-trip inspections, and get to schools to pick up the kids.  We set the dismissal plans in motion and began working to get kids home safely.  It would take about 6 hours to do so, but ultimately we succeeded.

This couldn't have happened without the dedication, caring, and hard work of many, many groups of people.  First and foremost, our bus drivers worked diligently to get students home safely.  We had some slide offs and places we couldn't get to, but every student got to a warm house for the night.  Many of the drivers worked supervising, driving, and caring for kids until late into the evening.  Our bus company owners worked tirelessly too - getting stuck buses moving again and delivering students home in 4-wheel drive vehicles when a bus couldn't get them home.  Many of our students had to wait at school for quite some time for a parent to get them or for one of those 4 wheel drive rides.  These students were cared for by secretaries and administrators until they were all safely delivered home.  Central office staff members spent the evening receiving and making phone calls in an effort to keep parents up to date on the progress of their child's bus.  The list could go on and on.

It was not an easy night.  Not for school employees, bus drivers, students, or parents.  But, ultimately, every child - over 2,300 of them - made it to their destination safely.  If you see a bus driver, secretary, principal, or other person that works with kids in any way, take some time to say 'Thank You' for all the hours they put in during times of difficulty and in times when things are going well.   It is these individuals that make sure our kids - our future - are well taken care of each day.

So from me to all the employees of our district and our bus contractor - THANK YOU for a job well done in a difficult situation.  Your efforts did not go unnoticed.

Saying Goodbye...

This week has been hard.  I am saying goodbye to a school and a team that I have been a part of for the past 15 years to begin a journey in a new district.  Making this transition has caused me to reflect on the impact we have on students, teachers, and others as an administrator.  It is a bit overwhelming to consider the number of human lives that have been touched by my influence - both positively and unfortunately negatively - over the past 15 years.  To be quite honest, it is those influences and people that make it so hard to walk away.

As I get to the end of this chapter in my career and life, it is my sincere hope that Monett High School is in some way better than it was 15 years ago and is primed for even greater success in the next 15 years.  As a team, we have undertaken many initiatives, had great discussions, laughed, cried, agreed, disagreed, and pondered.  I hope that through each of these individual moments we have made MHS a better place for kids and have continually improved in preparing students for their future.

I want to say thank you to all the people that have and still currently work with the kids in this building and district.  You are the reason this place is special, not just to me, but to this community and to the kids that are served here.  The passion you display for serving kids on a daily basis is inspiring.  The openness you have to try new things is energizing.  The patience you have, both with students and your leader, is appreciated.  The creativity you display in solving problems and developing learning experiences is fascinating.  In short, each of you, whether a teacher, secretary, counselor, custodian, cook, etc., make up the heartbeat of this awesome school.  Thank you for making it a living, thriving organism.

I cannot express enough the gratitude my family and I have for the way in which you, as individuals, a school, district, and community, have supported us through many difficult personal times.  God placed us here for a reason and I believe that a large part of that reason was that he knew what trials we would face and that we needed a supportive community for those trials.  He sure has provided that support - and for that we are eternally grateful.

While leaving is difficult, I know that the kids at MHS are in good hands.  I have no doubt that for years to come MHS will continue to be a leader among schools because of the people that are here.  I wish you success, peace, prosperity, and happiness.  You deserve it!

It has been a great journey, one that my family and I will cherish for the rest of our lives.

Thank you faculty, staff, students, and patrons of Monett High School.  Deep in my heart, I will always be at least part Cub!

Are We Confined?

"I understand preparing students for high school or whatever may be next for them, but again we can’t allow that to confine what we do. . . and we can’t allow a test to confine or paralyze us and what we do or don’t do." - Bill Powers (@MrPowersCMS) on his blog cmslearning1.wordpress.com

As I read a recent blog post by Bill Powers, this statement he made struck me and really caused me to think.  Are we confined by other's expectations?  Do we limit ourselves to the minimum acceptable standard in educating our kids?  If so, are we doing our kids a disservice? What impact do these 'confinements' have on student motivation?  How can we break through the 'minimum' ceiling and expose our kids to the exciting world around them?

I think that the answers to these questions must revolve around tapping into each student's passion and giving him/her ownership of their learning.  Only then can we truly customize and personalize learning in a way that makes it relevant to each student.  And if we don't do this, we most certainly are doing a disservice to our kids.  If we are only concerned about test scores and confine our students' opportunities to these areas, then we are definitely limited by others' views of education and what's important.

Look at the tweet below from Dr. Robert Dillon (@ideaguy42) to Eric Sheninger (@e_sheninger).

Are we using the confinement of standardized tests as an excuse?  If we break outside of the barriers that these tests create will our kids suffer or blossom?

I believe that it is through overcoming this confinement that we truly begin to serve students and provide them with quality preparation for their lives.  I would guess that if we focused more on student passion and the development of the 6 Cs - Collaboration, Creativity, Communication, Critical Thinking, Connection, and Culture - that the standardized tests would take care of themselves.  And if they don't, what have we really lost?

How will you break through the barriers that confine you today?

The Speed of Innovation

Recently, I was fortunate to engage in a chat on Twitter that accompanied a local district beginning to discuss innovation and change for their kids.  The chat was extremely interesting (check out #ImagineSPS to see the discussion) and got me reflecting on change, innovation, and specifically the speed at which each can occur.

I'm fortunate to be part of a district that encourages innovation for the purpose of preparing students for their future.  My high school has undergone two major innovations in the past 5 years and I have learned a significant amount about the change process through those experiences.  We have implemented a 1:1 laptop program for grades 9-12 (almost 4 years ago) and transitioned from a traditional schedule (8 period day) to a flexible modular schedule (see more about it here).  I was very surprised at how quickly we were able to implement each innovation and I believe the items below were key in the quick pace of our change.

1.  The innovation/change must have a specific purpose and address a specific need.  We put technology into each student's hands not for technology's sake, but to give each student equal access to a global community in preparation for the jobs/careers they will have in the future.  Our schedule change was to address the need to provide additional support to students during the school day and to help students develop 'soft skills' such as time management, prioritization, and self-advocacy.

2.  Stakeholders must be informed and have the opportunity to share their thoughts.  In each of the above innovations, focus groups and/or a task force was involved early in the process to gather input from varying perspectives.  It is critical to include parents and students in these discussions early.  These conversations shaped the unique design of each initiative and made it 'ours' instead of a packaged product.

3.  The leader must be the champion of the project.  Leading with passion and purpose is necessary when asking people to think beyond their own experiences and to look at what the future holds for students.  The leader must be responsive to the thoughts and opinions of others, but must keep the focus on the needs to be addressed through the innovation.

4.  Learning from others that are already doing it is crucial.  In each case, we took multiple site visits and engaged with other schools that had undertaken similar initiatives.  This allowed our staff to see the change in action, alleviated fears, and built momentum.  This is one of the most critical components for success!

5.  Acknowledge hopes and fears.  With any change, no matter how much we understand the benefits of implementing it, there will be associated hopes and fears.  It is vital that these be discussed openly and honestly - especially for innovation to occur quickly.  Doing so will not make them go away, but it is reassuring to teachers when they are able to express their doubts and know that they are being heard.

6.  Once the decision is made and the plan developed, get to work quickly.  Momentum will fade if these discussions and plans happen then action is delayed.  In each case, the time from the first focus group meeting to implementation was less than 12 months.  Capitalize on the excitement!

7.  Remember that the implementation will have speed bumps.  No matter how much thought, planning, and analyzing occurs prior to implementation there will be things that don't go as planned.  Innovation and change are messy.  Being flexible and ready to adjust is key to success.  The final product (if there is such a thing) will look somewhat different than the initial plan.  Be mindful of this.

8.  Keep the impact on kids at the forefront.  We are in the education business to prepare kids for their future, not to make things convenient for adults.  Innovation and change will upset traditional constructs and routines.  Continually remind yourself and others that what is occurring is about kids and their education.

9.  Don't wait until there is 100% agreement - because that will never happen.  Many times in education we wait until everyone is on board before we try something.  Quality leaders know how and when to 'pull the trigger' to begin the innovation process.  Innovation cannot occur without significant buy in, but waiting until everyone is on board means never changing anything.

These items are not intended to be all inclusive, but are important if you want the change/innovation process to occur quickly.  Our current education structure has been in place for more than 150 years with relatively little substantive change.  We need educators and education entities to be willing to look at what is best for today's kids and make strategic, systemic changes in a timely fashion.  The world is changing more rapidly each day.  Education must change and innovate in order to avoid becoming irrelevant.

Be sure that you also celebrate successes and share your story.  If we want to change the narrative that surrounds public education, we must be willing to publicly share and recognize the successes we have achieved.  Other schools need to know that change and innovation will work and that it's ok to try new things.

It takes a large, committed team to make any innovative efforts successful.  I am blessed to be working with a group of educators that are committed to kids and their future success.   None of the innovations we have undertaken could have been accomplished without the work of our Board of Education, Central Office administration and staff, counselors, and teachers.  Surround yourself with good people and trust them!

What other components would you mention?  I'd love to hear your feedback in the comment section below.

What We Do Well

I've written a couple of blog posts recently that have been aimed at challenging our thoughts about some areas of education.  The posts were meant to make educators reflect on why we do some of our current practices and consider alternatives.  I hope they have accomplished that purpose for those that have read them.  But today, as I sat and listened to three of our students share their thoughts on our schedule with representatives from a visiting school district, I was reminded that we do a lot of things well!  I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to listen to these young ladies share the ways we are preparing them for the next step in their lives.  So, here is a list of eight things we do well.

1.  We build positive relationships with students.  When I say we, I'm mean teachers, coaches, counselors, and others that interact with kids on a daily basis.  Many of our kids look to one or more of these role models as someone that genuinely cares about his or her well being, for support and encouragement when they struggle, and to celebrate with them when they succeed.

2.  We teach students responsibility.  All three of the young ladies mentioned this to our visitors today.  Specifically, they credited our change to a flexible modular schedule for helping them develop skills in self-advocacy, prioritization, and organization that will be invaluable later in life.  While at times students don't like these components of what we do, deep down they realize that we are helping them learn to be responsible adults.

3.  We develop confidence in students.  We push students to achieve beyond what they believe they can.  On a daily basis, I have teachers that lead, push, and guide students through struggles to successes beyond their self-set limitations.  As this happens, students develop a confidence and belief in themselves as individuals.

4. We provide opportunities for healthy competition and performance.  At our school of just over 700 students we offer countless sports, vocal and instrumental music programs, and a top-level Speech and Debate team.  Through these avenues students develop work ethic, teamwork, the ability to deal with success and failure, trust, and a host of other characteristics that are needed to be successful in life.

5.  We allow students flexibility and choice as they grow.  This is an area that we continue to grow in ourselves.  Students can take courses in technical areas, academic areas, and the arts that fit their interests and passions.  This year, as a result of our modular schedule, we are beginning to be able to place students in internships in areas of their career interest.  This choice and flexibility is important in enhancing student motivation and drive.

6.  We provide technology to students 24/7.  We don't just provide this, we expect students to use it to solve problems, think critically, communicate, share globally, and create original works.  Students have the world at their fingertips every day in our classrooms - and they are learning how to be productive contributors on a global scale.

7.  We show students the meaning of helping others.  Each of our students has the opportunity, every year, to give one school day for community service and work on projects that benefit others.  We set up work sites at nursing homes, YMCA camps, churches, other schools, and other community locations that need a little TLC that our students can provide.  We also host pre-school students from the local Developmental Center each Christmas and present them with gifts to be used in their education, read them a Christmas story, and let the meet Santa - all in front of the entire student body.  This is by far my favorite event of the year!  Our students have the opportunity to help with Special Olympics Field Day as well.  All of these give our students an appreciation of what it means to help those less fortunate than themselves.

8.  We innovate to provide as relevant and current an education experience as possible.  I grow prouder each day of our faculty, staff, students, parents, and community for the risks they allow us to take as a school.  Many may be hesitant or uncertain as we discuss and embark on changes, but most are willing to do these things in order to prepare students for their future.  In the past five years we have become one of the first schools in our area to provide every student with a laptop and become the first public school in the state to implement the modular schedule.  These innovations would not be possible without the dedicated work and vision of a large number of people.  The benefits to our students are immeasurable when we innovate.

This is by no means an all-inclusive list, but is certainly representative of the ways students are impacted and prepared for their future by educators each day.  Thank you to each and every teacher, counselor, librarian, coach, secretary, cook, custodian, paraprofessional, and other individuals that take the time to make these positive impacts with our kids.

It's About the Learning - Not the Letter

As the semester draws to a close, many students are focused on a final push to get the grade they want.  Teachers are, in some cases, overwhelmed with stacks of final papers and exams that need to be graded and entered before the deadline for first semester grade reports.  What does this 'grade push' at the end of a semester reveal about our educational beliefs?  I think it points toward a misguided approach in our education system - the grade is the most important value in our system.

As a society and education profession, we place an inordinate amount of validity on a single letter representing a student's achievement in a specific course.  When in reality, many times that letter is a better indication of how well that student 'plays' school than it is of achievement.  Many students, teachers, and parents - when asked about school - immediately begin to talk about their GPA (students), average class grades (teachers), and their child's grade card (parents).  Are these really the most important indicators of success in school?  Is the student's A in a course that comes naturally for him/her inherently more valuable than a student's C in a course where he/she had to work hard?  Does a grade indicate that a student has the material committed to permanent memory?  Or is it more likely that the student learned the material for a brief time, regurgitated it on some assessment, and then forgot it because it lacked relevance?  No matter how a grade is derived, there is a flaw in assigning a single letter to a semester's-worth of work and learning.  Every system, including standards-based grading, can be 'gamed' by students in order to get the best possible letter next that course on their transcript.

Further, I would argue that grades are no longer a motivator for a majority of our students.  Certainly for the top 20-25% they are, but in many cases these are the students that 'play' school well anyway.  Are we really preparing them for their future by encouraging them to play a game and focus so much on a letter and what it represents.

I don't have all the answers on this, but I certainly believe that as an education system and society we have to change our focus from the letter definition of a grade to the learning that needs to occur.  How can we do this?  How do we overcome the need for a GPA to send to colleges and put on scholarship applications?  How can we ensure that students are retaining knowledge and skills and not just learning them for the test?  I believe that a large part of this lies in creating a school experience that is full of relevance and context for the student.  This can be accomplished by allowing students more choice in what they learn.  Students need more ability to explore potential careers and post-graduation options and less mandates on how many credits are needed in each subject area.  And, we need to start this exploration much earlier than grade 11 or 12.

If we truly want to make it about the learning and not the letter, student passion must be part of the equation.  I know I'm motivated to learn when I'm interested and passionate about a topic.  I believe students are too!

Off The Rack or Tailored?

Recently, my wife and I went shopping to get me a new suit.  I have put on a few pounds and my others just don't fit quite right.  This experience was quite interesting as I discovered that I don't have a 'typical' build for a suit.  After going to four different suit shops and finding out that a coat for my body type is typically not in stock, we finally discovered one shop that had a suit that fit me pretty well.  If not for that shop, we would have been buying a suit and having it altered to fit correctly.

This experience got me to thinking about our student's education experience.  Our current accountability systems, media pressure, and comparisons to other schools lead to 'off the rack' options for our students.  There are some of our students that are able to find exactly what they need, but for many the fit is just not quite right.  This is not because we don't want them to have a 'suit' that fits correctly - teachers constantly do a great job of differentiating instruction and working to meet individual needs.  It is more a result of the 'education manufacturers' that create the standards and assessments for which we must have students prepared.  These are very broad and general standards meant to ensure that every student has access to the same education and opportunity.  While that is an admirable goal, is it the correct goal?  Should each student have exactly the same experience and education?

I believe that while the foundation of each education (or suit) is the same, if we want it to fit each student it must be 'tailored' for their goals and passions.  While each suit (or education plan) has the same foundation, in order to get the right fit for an individual it must be altered by a professional.  This altering takes significant measuring, tearing out existing seams, and rebuilding the components of the suit with precision and care.  I believe that we must reach each student by helping him/her discover individual passion and goals (measuring), removing parts of our general education plan that doesn't fit him/her (tearing out the seams), and building a plan that allows him/her to work in areas of passion and interest as part of their education (rebuilding with precision and care).  This 'tailored' approach should lead to better student engagement, increased student motivation, and ultimately students prepared for their future.

I'm proud to be part of a district that is beginning to take this approach.  Our district and community are currently exploring partnerships that would allow students to spend significant time working shoulder to shoulder with individuals in business and industry, solving real problems, and developing specific skill sets and abilities related to their passions and interest.  This plan doesn't fit neatly into a curriculum binder or assessment protocol; instead it fits neatly into a 'tailored' plan for an individual student to experience relevant learning in an authentic context.  I believe that this is a first step in creating a 'suit shop' for our students that provides a 'tailored' education for every student.

And so it begins...

Today was the first day of the 2014-15 school year at MHS but we didn't have any regular classes.  We did a full day orientation for all students as we transition to a flexible-modular schedule - regular classes begin tomorrow.  This transition has taken a great deal of planning, man hours, and adjustment to be ready for students to begin taking classes tomorrow.  As we have gone through the process I have been unbelievably impressed with my faculty and staff.  A modular schedule is not a simple thing. (For an explanation you can see a video I made for parents here.)

During our back to school meetings over the past few days, teachers have had many opportunities to express concerns, complaints, irritations, etc.  But you know what?  I didn't hear one from any staff member.  That's right, not a single negative comment about this major transition.  Instead, I heard genuine excitement, anticipation, confidence, and even a bit of awe as we are the first school in Missouri to embark on this journey.  That really says something about the teachers and other staff members I'm fortunate to work with....they care about KIDS success more than their own convenience.

Let me be perfectly clear - transitioning to a modular schedule contains very little convenience for the adults involved.  It changes instructional planning.  It changes the physical components of the building.  None of my core area teachers have their own room anymore - their desks are in a shared 'resource room' where they will tutor students during the school day.  Their planning time is all over the place and many times is just in 25 minute segments between classes or resource center time.  The schedule doesn't repeat itself every day or every two days - instead it repeats itself every five days meaning nearly all teachers have a different schedule each of those days.  Teachers that teach the same course will likely have 'shared' students so that the student's schedule time is maximized.  Again, very little about that screams convenient for adults.

My faculty and staff however have embraced the things that are more important than their own convenience - preparing students for THEIR future!  This schedule will allow students to reach out to teachers for tutoring and extra help during the school day.  It will allow us to prepare students to manage their own time, make decisions about their academic priorities, advocate for themselves, and push themselves farther than ever before.  These components were more valuable to the adults in my building than any of the conveniences they were losing.  That makes me one proud principal!

So, to the teachers, counselors, office workers, maintenance staff, custodians, cooks, paraprofessionals, and other adults in my building I say THANK YOU!  Thank you for stepping up and taking on the challenge of putting kids needs before yours.  Thank you for all the hours spent planning instruction so that students benefit.  Thank you for trusting in your building leader to go forward with an initiative that no school in our state has attempted.  And thank you for being the greatest faculty and staff in not only Missouri, but in the nation.

It's gonna be an AWESOME year!

PS - A special Thank You to my wife, Shelley, and son, Sean, as they have put up with me during the planning.  I love you both!

It's About the Kids

As part of an online twitter chat the other night, a challenge was issued.  That challenge was to write a blog post on the topic of "I love being an educator because..."  It didn't take me long to come up with my answer - and that answer is not earth-shattering.  I love being an educator because I get to help kids.  Plain and simple.  It's about the kids.

Photo taken by author

Now, as a principal I don't get to have as much daily interaction with kids as I did when I was in the classroom.  Part of that is my fault for not making more of an effort.  Part of that is because of the other responsibilities of being a building leader.  Still, every decision and/or action I take is about the kids.

Many times, I think that decisions are made in schools because something is 'streamlined' or 'efficient'.  But many times, those things are not best for kids.  At MHS, we are embarking on a new schedule structure next year.  It is a modular schedule that is quite complex.  (More info about the schedule - click here).  It has taken hundreds to thousands of hours from me, my office staff, my counseling staff, and my teachers to begin to prepare for this change.  We could have been more 'streamlined' or 'efficient' if we had continued with our traditional 8 period day.  But I'm blessed to work in a place where the people's number one priority isn't themselves or making things operate conveniently.  They believe that it is all about the kids and preparing them for THEIR future.

Why do I love being an educator?  Because I get to impact kids lives every day!

Changing Public Perception

Public Education is under attack.  We all know that because we see it on the news, read it in the paper, and get asked about it by our patrons.  Why haven't we been able to turn the tide toward the positive?  It seems that no matter what we say, the result is still the same...public schools are in bad shape.

At the Spring Conference of the Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals these past few days, I heard great messages about what is right with public schools and how we can get that perception out.  What do we need to do?  We need to change our language, give people an emotional connection to our school, and tell individual, specific success stories.

Why change our language?  As NASSP President B. J. Paris so succinctly stated, "the language we use speaks volumes about what we value."  What does that mean for schools?  We need to stop talking about 'dropout rates' and instead view 'every child as a graduate'.  We need to take the term 'faculty lounge' (think about how our public perceives a lounge for a second) out of our vocabularies and start calling those areas something like 'teacher think-tank'. (I'm sure there's a better term out there, but that's the best I could come up with at the moment!)  We need, as educators, to consider carefully how we name things and what those names convey to non-educators.

Dr. John Draper also indicated that we need to quit comparing ourselves to neighboring schools, states, and other countries.  We need to compare ourselves to....ourselves!  It is really irrelevant to our students, parents, and communities how a standardized test score stacks up against another education institution.  What is relevant is the growth and progress of each individual student!  It is so easy to find negatives in data when using comparisons.  Take the US 'so called' underperformance on international testing measures.  According to Draper, the US has never tested well due to a number of issues.  In fact, the first time international tests were used, the US finished 11th out of the 12 countries tested!  Since that time, we've 'fallen up' to about average which is real progress.  Another misconception he addressed was that the average ACT/SAT scores are continually falling.  Of course the average is falling, more students are taking the test!  When these tests were first scored, only the top 10% of students even took the test.  Now that about 60% of kids take the test shouldn't the overall average drop?  What's important to recognize (and you never hear this in legislative halls or the mainstream media) is that EVERY SUBGROUP has shown continuous improvement on these tests for the past several decades!  Why aren't we hearing that piece of the story?  It's because we don't tell it!  The US also scores high on the Global Competitiveness Index (a measure of the number of original patents and other creativity measures) while those scoring high on standardized tests are lagging in this area.  Let's start sharing data like this with the media and legislators.

So how do we change the dialogue in our favor?  We all have to work together.  The best thing we can do is to tell specific, individual success stories about kids in our school.  These stories will create an emotional connection between the listener and the school.  The more emotional connections we create, the more we turn the tide in our favor.  Draper suggested four things we should do every week to start the change.

1. Focus on the positive!  We must celebrate even small victories.
2. Stop bad-mouthing other educators/education institutions in public.  We are all in this together and negative talk about one another adds to the current perception.
3. Share ONE positive story per week with a non-educator.  If every educator in the country would do this for the next 52 weeks imagine the impact on non-educators!
4. Monitor your progress.  This doesn't mean look at achievement data.  It means hold yourself accountable to the above three steps on a weekly basis.

I know that I came back from the Spring Conference at MASSP motivated.  I learned much more than I can share in one post.  Most of all, I came away feeling positive about the state of public education in our country.  Thank you MASSP, Dr. John Draper, and B. J. Paris for helping the principals in Missouri feel empowered to continue the good work we do while leading our schools.

I will...

After reflecting on the NASSP Ignite '14 conference in Dallas last week, I wanted to put out a list of commitments that I am making as an administrator.  These commitments will revolve around the need of educators to have and develop a growth mindset (instead of a fixed mindset), telling my school's story digitally, creating an environment where both students and teachers 'own' their own learning, and cultivating a culture of risk taking and excellence where failure is celebrated as a growth opportunity.

I will...

• stop using the word CAN'T and replace it with the phrase NOT YET.
• recognize students and teachers for taking risks and pushing through barriers.
• reduce restrictions and create as flexible an environment as possible.
• create mechanisms for student and staff input and recognition.
• carry my smart phone/iPad at all times to take pictures of good things happening that need to be shared.
• work to change adult learning from a Professional Development (PD) model to a Professional Learning (PL) model by creating flexibility for staff learning times.
• encourage students and staff to try new things.
• increase the use of this blog as well as other digital resources to share information with students, staff, community, and other educators.
• work to establish an environment where IMPROVEMENT is more valuable than achievement.
• ask students "What is the purpose of education for you?'
• shift the focus from content to...
• communication
• collaboration
• creativity
• problem solving
• critical thinking

Other questions I am pondering as a result of the conference:

• What are the brilliance blockers at MHS?
• How can we use our resources to EMPOWER our students academically and socially?

Thanks to NASSP and their presenters for challenging me in these areas.  If you're not familiar with Eric Sheninger (@NMHS_Principal), Todd Whitaker (@ToddWhitaker), Annette Breaux (@AnnetteBreaux), and Sean Cain (@LYSNation) you should check them out. 

What are your 'I will...' statements?

Leading Change

If there is one thing I have learned throughout my career in education, it is that change is both inevitable and difficult.  During my 12 years as a building principal, I have had the opportunity to lead my school through a couple of significant changes.  One of those was our 1:World Learning Initiative that provided every student a laptop.  I believe that the process we went through as a building led to effective implementation and as a result, an effective initiative.  Currently, we are in the process of potentially converting our traditional eight period day to a flexible-modular schedule.  As I reflect on the processes that have been important on each journey, I thought I would share some thoughts.

None of these items are earth shattering or groundbreaking, but they have been important in my experience leading change.  So....here are eight items that are important to me in the change process.

1.  Begin with the end in mind.  What is it that you want to accomplish with the change?  What are the key issues that the change is to address?  These items must be defined in order for the change to be view as essential for success.  If you can't answer the question of 'How will things be better as a result of this change?' then you are just changing for change sake - which is rarely successful.

2.  Develop 'buy-in' from the staff/students/community. For any change to be successful, those that are impacted must understand and value the change.  This is not to say that you have to have 100% of those impacted fully behind the change, rather it is to say that momentum must be built leading up to the implementation of the change.  It is vital that key people within your organization are supportive of the initiative.  These people will help bring the others along throughout the change process.

3.  Show them how it's working elsewhere.  As we completed our 1:World Learning Initiative which provides every student a laptop computer, the most valuable piece of the change process was site visits.  We took several trips to other schools that were already doing this type of initiative successfully.  This reinforced the need for the change and created momentum toward making the change successful.  But, most importantly, it alleviates many fears that exist when a change is taking place.

4.  Keep the 'Main Thing' the 'Main Thing'.  As you work through the implementation of any initiative, it's easy to get distracted by the logistical hurdles or negative thoughts that will surely present themselves.  As we worked through the transition to every student having a laptop, we worried about such things as battery life, charging stations, PE locker room issues, field trips, etc.  Several times, it felt that we became so overly worried about these things that the real focus of our initiative was lost.  As the leader, it is your job to take a step back and remind your team what the focus of the change is.  Details are important, but the impact for students is the most important.

5.  Acknowledge fears. To me, this is high on the priority list during change.  The leader must be ready to validate the fears of his team.  One activity that I do for this is 'Three Hopes and Three Fears'.  When we undergo a major change initiative, after the education process and near the time of commitment I ask my teachers to anonymously submit to me their three hopes for the initiative and their three fears for the initiative.  I then compile these lists and put them out there for all to see.  This simple acknowledgement helps us to deal with those fears up front by focusing on what we hope will come from the initiative.  Then, after we are several months into the initiative, we pull those lists back out and start marking off fears.  With our recent technology initiative, we reduced the fears list from 29 items to 12 items just over a year into it's implementation!

5.  Model your expectations.  As the leader in the building, it is vital that you are the first one to try things that will be impacted by the change.  If you expect your teachers to use technology in instruction, you need to be using it in faculty meetings.  Nothing will kill a change initiative faster than your team feeling like you are in a 'do as I say, not as I do' leadership mindset.  Modeling expectations develops a 'we are in this together' mentality.

6.  Provide training and time.  Providing training for teachers is vital to the success of any initiative.  However, where we usually miss the boat is by providing excellent training but skimping on the time teachers are allowed to work with the new material.  How many times have you had a full day inservice and then asked teachers to implement a change in your classroom?  When do you expect them to plan to use these new strategies?  Time to process and plan are the most critical yet most often sacrificed components of learning a new skill.

7.  Celebrate Failure. (thanks @casas_jimmy) - Anytime you make a change in expectations, procedures, culture, etc., you will make mistakes.  Those mistakes should be CELEBRATED!  Why celebrate mistakes?  Because that is how we learn!  The key to this mindset is to not give up when a couple of things go wrong.  If the change is good for kids, it is essential that we fight through the issues and stay the course.

8.  Be comfortably uncomfortable. (thanks @johnjungmann) - Throughout the change process (and the overall growth process for that matter) there will be discomfort.  It is vital that you as the leader are comfortable with that and that you teach those in your building to have the same mindset.  The trick here is to know the line between comfortably uncomfortable and being completely uncomfortable.  This will vary from situation to situation and from school to school.  It is your job as the leader to determine this line and make sure your organization doesn't cross it.

I believe that including these eight pieces in the change process are essential to a successful implementation.  I'd love to hear about your experiences, thoughts, and/or additional steps you feel are important.  Thanks for reading!

What motivates students?

I had the pleasure earlier this week of being invited into one of my teacher's classrooms to watch student presentations.  These presentations were the culmination of a semester long project in which each group had defined a problem or issue of interest, gathered data, and then presented their findings with possible solutions.  The work of these students was high quality and they were excited to discuss it.

After the presentations, I had the opportunity to discuss the overall project with the class.  Each of them indicated that they were more engaged in and motivated by this project than most of the class work they do on a daily basis.  So I asked them why.  They responded that the choice in topic, structure, etc. allowed them to 'own' the project.  In other words, it meant something to them.

That discussion led to me reflecting on student motivation and motivation in general.  Why are most of our students not motivated in school?  I believe it is pretty simple - they don't have much choice in their learning.  For a myriad of reasons, almost all of their school time is on things that are mandated to them.  Think about yourself as an adult.  Why do you do the hobbies/activities you do?  Why do you not do other activities?  It is because we have the choice to engage in activities for which we have an interest. Students, in much of our current educational structure, have little if any choice.  The project mentioned above gave students choice.  They were allowed to follow their own interests, curiosities, and passions which led to internal motivation and semester-long engagement.  The best part of it from my perspective - the students were engaged in critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration without even knowing it!  These kids really ENJOYED this part of school.

I'm not naive enough to think that we can only put students in courses/projects that they are interested in just for motivation's sake.  There is a foundational level of knowledge across multiple subjects that is necessary to be a productive citizen.  Additionally, part of school is learning about life and sometimes we just have to do things that have to be done - whether we are interested in them or not.  That is called responsibility.  However, our entire life is not that way.  We, as adults, get significant choice in how we spend our time and we choose to spend that time doing things that interest us.  How can create this balance for our students?

As you look at the next semester and at the following school year, my challenge to each of you is to look for ways to utilize student choice as a motivator.  Be innovative! Be open! Be different! - Your kids will appreciate it.

An Open Letter to Legislators and Appointed Officials

Dear Legislator or Appointed Official,

I'm in my 21st year in public education and I've seen many changes.  Some have been good and some have been head-scratchers.  All have been enacted with the greatest of intentions, but their effectiveness has varied greatly.  Recently, I've been thinking about our current accountability systems (NCLB, Common Core, etc.) and struggling to really find the benefits that our current systems have for STUDENTS.  I understand that these systems are designed to allow for comparison among states and countries, but I don't know how that helps the low socio-economic freshman in my building that is searching for an education that is relevant to his or her future.  I don't think he or she really cares how we compare to our neighboring states or other countries.  He or she cares about how school is going to make his or her life better.

As public educators, we depend on our patrons for financial support and we handle our country's greatest resource - the next generation of adults.   So I get the need for accountability, I really do. However, as I have been reflecting on our current systems, I have come to the realization that we are being held accountable to the wrong things.  We should be held accountable to each individual STUDENT to prepare him or her for their next step in life.  Whether that step is college, military service, a trade, or an hourly production or service job the primary focus of education should be to prepare each STUDENT for that step.  I think that our current test-driven accountability system takes the focus off of the student and places it on the test. That is a great disservice for our kids!

I know that tests are easy to gather data from and generate nice, neat comparisons.  But what is easily measured is not always valuable and what is valuable is not always easily measured.  What would happen to our education system if, at graduation and again a few years later, we asked students and their families for their feedback on how we did preparing them for THEIR future?  I know that type of data gets a little messy and it's not always easy to gather, but isn't it the most valuable piece of data we could use?

One of the issues I see with our test-driven accountability is that we try to force all students into the same box.  I know that there is a base of knowledge that each student must know and it is our job in education to facilitate that knowledge.  But our kids each have different strengths and passions.  Our current system does a great job of taking their passion and squelching it by inadvertently telling them that their passion doesn't matter unless it is in one of the tested areas.  I'm reminded of this quote from Albert Einstein, "Everybody is a genius.  But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid."  We need an accountability system that encourages students to work in their areas of strength and passion, not the areas that others deem important.

My goal in this letter is not to be a whiner or complainer.  Rather, I think it is time that we take a step back and look at the focus of our accountability and ask ourselves if it is really being effective for students.  I know that in my building, we are making efforts to put the focus back on each individual student.  We will not ignore test scores and the current accountability systems, but we will make them a secondary issue.  Our primary focus will be to help students discover their strengths and passions and then use those to develop problem solving skills, critical thinking skills, and communication skills - skills that will serve them no matter their chosen path following graduation.

Sincerely,

David Steward, Principal
Monett High School

A Good First Day

We completed the first day of the 2013-14 school year yesterday.  I have to admit, I was really nervous because of a directive I had given my faculty.  I had banned rules presentations and syllabus discussions on day 1.  I expected my teachers to show students their passion for their subject area and engage students in activities designed to capitalize on their excitement for the first day of school.  However, the administrator piece in me was worried I was setting myself up for more difficulties because we weren't going over rules on day 1.  How would the kids behave?  How would they know the expectations?

The results could not have been better!  As I talked to students throughout the day, asking them how their day was going, they were excited about school.  They were genuinely appreciative of the teachers' efforts to engage them and they were definitely not bored.  Most said it was their best first day ever!  Many of my teachers have 'flipped' their rules presentations and will give a short quiz later this week to ensure students watched them.  In fact, I did the same thing with handbook changes for the building.  I checked this morning and about 1/5 of the student body has already watched the handbook video when it isn't 'due' until Friday.

As you start your school year, think about capitalizing on the excitement of day 1 and using it to build a positive culture and climate.  I think it was successful for us.

Now, I can shift my worry to something else.....like day 2....

Where's the Passion?

Recently, I read Will Richardson's book "Why School?" and it has challenged my thinking and led to me question much about our education process.  Mr. Richardson discussed things like: information scarcity vs. abundance, whether standardized tests are the most appropriate measure of student success, and the skills that students will need to be successful as they move on to college and careers.  His thoughts and assertions led me to think about student motivation as that seems to be a common concern among teachers and parents.

Why do students enter school at age five or six eager to learn but then, over time, begin to dislike school?  I believe that it is because we (the system, not the people) educate the passion for learning out of them.  Think of all the content objectives that students are mandated to learn - whether they are interested in them or not.  These mandates take ownership of learning from the students themselves and have given that ownership to 'the powers that be' in the name of educational improvement.  The problem with that is that the things that are touted as improving schools and students are simply the things that are easily measurable - that is to say the focus is on more content knowledge and not more 'soft skills' for which employers are longing.  Finally, at some point in the education journey the focus for students, parents, and others shifts from the learning to the grade.  The letter we assign to the learning takes precedence over the learning itself.

So what do we do about this?  How can we move forward for students while still 'playing the game' of testing.  I believe we need to find a way to reignite each student's passion for learning.  First, we give them ownership of at least some part of their learning.  There are certainly foundational concepts with which every student must be familiar, but outside of those students should own what they are learning.   If we could provide that, what would that do to a student's motivation?  Secondly, we must make learning relevant to students.  Standardized tests, and the concepts they address, for the most part are seen by students as irrelevant.  They are asked to solve problems and answer questions that are of little value to them.  As Alan November says, "Whoever defines the problem owns the learning."  Clearly, standardized tests are not owned by the students.  Finally, we must honor individual student strengths and passions.  Each student is 'wired' differently so why are we working to make them all the same?  Students need to be allowed to work in their area of passion and on things that excite them.  More growth is possible in strength areas than in areas of weakness.  Let's work on growing each individual's strengths and managing their weaknesses.

What would this look like in schools?  I believe a start is to build at least 20% of a student's time around their area of passion.  That number could increase for those that have a solid grasp on basic skills in every content area, but even those that are behind in basic skills would be motivated by spending 1/5 of their time working on something about which they are passionate.  (Google has used this philosophy and it has worked pretty well for them.)  With technological access, much of the basic skill learning could be done virtually with support from a local teacher if needed.  Teachers must shift from the dispensers of knowledge to the facilitators of learning - not knowing everything about everything but being able to guide students to find the answers they seek.  This would require a complete rethinking of the traditional school schedule and school requirements.  What would happen to standardized test scores?  My first thought is 'Who cares?' but that is a little flippant.  However, I believe that if we allow students to develop the critical thinking skills that would be necessary for this type of learning, test scores would be just fine.  And more importantly, our kids would be prepared for success in whatever each of them chooses to do after graduation.

As I meet with my teachers, students, and other community stakeholders at the start of this school year, I will be asking them one question - "If we take away all pre-conceived notions about school and all the requirements placed on schools and we simply focus on what students need to succeed when setting up our learning structure/environment, what would our school look like?"  I hope that question generates discussion and ignites a passion in my staff and community to change the way we do business - because I want my students to know their passion and be able to design their learning around it.

We have been doing the same thing in schools for 150 years.  Now, we are trying to do the same things better to get better results.  But, as Mr. Richardson puts it so eloquently in his book, we don't need to focus on better, we need to focus on different.  Remember the definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  We have to be different for our student's sake.  It's time to stop the insanity and ignite the passion.

Yes....or No.....

In preparing for the next school year, I am constantly confronted with 'yes or no' decisions regarding pilot projects, curricular changes, instructional ideas, etc. from teachers, central office, students, and others.  As I've been thinking about some of them, I've pondered which is easier/less stressful to say - yes or no?  Which is best for kids - yes or no?  Which will move my school forward - yes or no?  Which will continue to improve our culture - yes or no?  While it is impossible to generalize completely, I've  come to the realization that many times it's harder to say 'yes' than it is to say 'no'.  Maybe it isn't 'harder', but it feels more 'dangerous'.  Human nature is to make decisions based on what is most convenient and/or easiest to manage.  Saying no may be hard initially because of the disappointment or disagreement with the individual that made the request, but saying yes is usually harder in the long term because it upsets the status quo.  Maybe the status quo needs some upsetting.....

What kind of culture do you want in your building?  Do you want a culture where teachers and students push to improve constantly or one which values routines?  Do you trust your teachers and students to have student growth and creativity as their ultimate goal?  Do you believe students should have a voice in their learning or that adults should set all the parameters in which students are to learn?  Do you want teachers and students to look for solutions to problems or simply complain that problems exist?

As you ponder these and other questions that come to your mind, think about the answer you will give when individuals or groups make requests to try something new - that answer will say a lot about the culture you want in your building.

What's Important???

As educators, there are numerous items that are important for us to spend time on to help students and teachers.  Curriculum, instruction, professional development, scheduling, activities, etc. keep us running from one place to another to make our schools the best they can be.  However, over the past 18 months I have come to realize the importance of something that sometimes gets neglected - family.

My wife, Shelley, has faced some serious health issues over the past year and half that has required me to be out of the building more than ever before.  (She is going to be fine - today is the last 'treatment' in a long series!)  As I have taken time to help her through this ordeal, I realized that I had been placing her (and my sons) behind my career success.  How unfair to them!  As I sit here with her during her final treatment, I realize how I have changed my priorities back to where they should be - God first (without Him I don't know how we would have made it through), family second, and career third.  I have come to understand that I am a better principal when I take care of things at home first. 

My encouragement to my fellow administrators - take time for your family and let them know by your ACTIONS that they are important to you.  As you work to impact the future through your career, make sure that your most significant impact is on the future of your family.