#SAVMP: Our Perspectives

I wanted to post some collective thoughts on the School Administrator Virtual Mentoring Program I have been a part of for the past year. #SAVMP connects current and aspiring administrators from around the world and I was so lucky to even participate in the program. My fellow mentee (@AndrewSharosAP) and my mentor (@TonySinanis) wanted to contribute a collaborative blog post that summarized our experience learning from each other. 

You will find similar posts to mine on Andrew's blog.

And on Tony's blog here.

I am looking forward to expanding #savmp within my own school district and am so grateful to the work of George Couros and Amber Teamann to connect us. This was an awesome example of how a PLN can really help us grow together.

 1. Why did I sign up for #SAVMP?

Andrew: I was an Assistant Dean and Social Studies teacher in a high school setting looking for an administrative position when I first heard about #SAVMP. I knew it was a great opportunity for me to learn and grow as a school leader. I was interested in connecting with people from outside my PLN and outside my district. I think the perspective that the program offered afforded me a great opportunity to learn more about leadership. I did not know what to expect when we first started but I knew that I had absolutely nothing to lose by signing up.

John: I saw a post on Twitter from George Couros about developing a mentorship program for new administrators. At the time I was finishing up my Educational Leadership program and wanted to continue to learn from others, I knew this would be a great way to continue my learning.
 

Tony: I was entering my ninth year as an elementary level building administrator and for the first time in my career, I genuinely felt like I might have something to offer a new or aspiring educational leader. The possibility of mentoring someone was of interest to me because as an educator I feel it is my responsibility to support and encourage those new to the field - to possibly help them avoid some of the landmines I hit during the early stages of my career and meet with greater levels of success. Also, it was clear to me that being paired with people through a mentoring program meant that I would do a lot of learning myself and that is always a priority for me. The appeal of #SAVMP was that it was using Twitter as the platform for the mentoring experience and that definitely spoke to my interests and made me feel like it would be much more manageable.

2. How did #SAVMP help you learn and grow as an administrator?

Andrew: I am one of those people who claim, “I have never won anything in my life”... until now. I won the lottery by getting Tony Sinanis as my mentor. He immediately reached out to me through twitter and we began learning together right away. He gave me feedback on my blog posts and encouraged me to stretch my thinking as a school leader. I think more than anything, #SAVMP exposed me to a different type of school leader than I have observed in my career. There’s power in learning from someone across the country who works with a different population. There’s agency in a process that encourages sharing of ideas and leadership styles. My interaction with my mentor provided all of that, and more. As I began to interview for different administrative jobs, I scheduled Google Hangouts and phone calls with my mentor. Tony was an amazing asset to have in my corner- always coaching me on the logistics of answering questions but also giving me the confidence I needed to be successful.

John: By taking on a mentor who is completely outside of my own school, district, and state I knew it would allow me a chance to look at education, and leadership through a completely different lens. When I was partnered with Tony Sinanis, I knew I was extremely fortunate. Tony reached out to me and immediately began to develop a relationship with me that went beyond the world of Twitter. Tony invited me to his school to see how his school functions and what a typical day looks like for him. I was immediately blown away. It is easy for someone to state what they believe on Twitter or in a blog post, but it another thing completely to turn those beliefs into reality. That is what Tony Sinanis has done at Cantiague Elementary school in Jericho, New York. We spent the entire day in classrooms and I was treated like a celebrity by the student just because I knew Mr. Sinanis. The students at his school absolutely love him because Tony sees them as children, not test scores. He knows EVERY student’s name and can talk to them about their individual interests. I left Cantiague knowing I had a great of work to do to build these types of relationships at my own school. However, I was comforted by the fact that I had seen a great school in action and if Tony could do it, so could I. Throughout the year I would throw questions at Tony about how he would handle different situations and no matter how busy he was, he was always able to get back to me and give me a piece of advice.

Tony: From my vantage point, it is clear that I learned so much more from Andrew and John than they did from me. Their enthusiasm, passion and willingness to take risks in their current roles was an incredible inspiration for me. They provided me opportunities to dialogue about leadership, the current landscape of public education, pedagogy and a bunch of other topics that I am incredibly passionate about and love discussing. Through our conversations and exchanges - whether through email, Voxer, text, in person, through a GHO, I was able to deliberate with them and broaden my point of view and perspectives, which helped me become a better leader and educator. I have done a lot of research about the idea of social learning and the power of learning through social interactions with other like-minded people and the #SAVMP became just that for me - I was learning something through every interaction I had with John and Andrew and was fortunate to be associated with them. Being that I technically had the title of mentor in this relationship, the highlights for me were the successes that Andrew and John experienced this year - John successfully completing his first year as a building administrator; Andrew securing his first administrative position; John pushing me to participate in national podcasts with our kids; and Andrew becoming a father. These are just some of the highlights and in the end, it is an honor to be associated with these incredible educators who have become friends and mentors for me.   
 

3. What will this program mean for you going forward?

Andrew: I am so thankful to Amber and George for helping me connect to some great leaders in our field. I would love to continue on as a #SAVMP mentor or mentee to continue learning and blogging. I was not able to answer all of the blog topics every week so I am excited to double back to some of them in the future. I would also like to start a mini-admin mentoring program in my own school district using #SAVMP as a model.

John: I am grateful for the opportunity Amber Teamann and George Courus provided me with, to connect and learn from Tony. I feel as though we have developed a stronger relationship than I could have ever expected when I started this program. Moving forward I feel like I am just as lucky to be connected with Andrew. I was lucky to have Tony as a mentor and hear his words of wisdom, but having Andrew to learn with will be an added bonus that I did not foresee when I started #SAVMP. I can’t wait to schedule an #Edcamp where the three of us can get together face to face for the first time.

Tony: There is no doubt that going forward the #SAVMP experience has left an indelible mark on me - both personally and professionally. First off, a special thank you to George Couros and Amber Teamann for facilitating this experience because once again, they helped push me out of my comfort zone and gave me access to experiences that helped me learn and grow. Second of all, I now have access to two awesome educators from different parts of the country who I can rely on for support, perspective and ideas and that is definitely a critical part of the PLN. Finally, participating in #SAVMP has given me two new friends who make my world a better place - I cannot wait until the next time I get to collaborate with John and Andrew! ROCK ON!

Standards - Based + Self Paced = Surprisingly Awesome

I attended #edcampNJ in the fall of 2013 and while I walked away with so many ideas there was one session that really stretched my thinking.  It was a session run by Rebecca McLelland-Crawely (@WWPscience) who is the Supervisor of Science at West Windsor North High school and Kristina Nicosia (@kmsusca) who teaches a Freshman Biology class at the same high school.  Kristina teaches Biology with Robert Corriveau, and together they have developed an amazing classroom to engage students in their own learning.  Rebecca and Kristina gave a presentation about a classroom that seemed amazing.  They talked about a class where there was problem based, learning and standards based grading while the students were self-paced through this process.  After hearing about this classroom I knew I had to go and visit to see it for myself, and I was going to bring teachers with me to see how we could bring elements of their classroom into our own.

The Awesome:

• Time is maximized, the students walk in and get right to work.  Some open Chromebooks to find where they left off (the entire YEAR of learning is in a Google Drive folder).  Some have signed up to present their projects to the teacher.  Other students are giving presentations to the class using tools like Prezi on the SMART Board.  
• All students have the opportunity to redo an assignment or retake an assessment they didn't do well on, because the goal in this class is to have students learn material, not for the teacher to cover material.  
• Students have the ability to self-pace their homework.  I spoke to a student named Lauren who told me:   "There is free scheduling and flexibility when it comes to homework. You can choose to do as much homework as you want. That means a lot to me because I'm involved in so many after school activities."  
• It is 100% clear which students are actively learning and which students are not. In a traditional classroom, where the teacher is in front of the room lecturing, how many students are actively involved?
• Students own the workspace. Several students had an activity where they had to determine the rate a disease would spread so they had to roll dice. They chose to go out out in the hall where their rolls wouldn't be interfered with.
• Only the grade at the end of the year is the one that counts. In a traditional classroom if a students bombs the first marking period with a 'D' there is no way he/she can earn an 'A' at the end of the year. In this class if a student falls behind the first marking period, they can work hard and still earn an 'A' by the end of the year. If a student masters all concepts they have done 'A' work.
• Students could not only name their own objective for the day, but the majority of students understood why they were learning it. They understood how it connected to what they had learned previously and how it could connect what they will learn in the future.

The Surprising:

• Many students did not like the set-up of this class. Some students would rather sit down and listen to the teacher lecture, if there is confusion you could ask another student because everyone is at the same place.
• One student shared with me, "If you are having a bad day in a regular class, it is no big deal, you don't really have to work that hard. But if I have a bad day in this class, I have to work twice as hard the next day to catch up."
• I asked a student if this type of learning environment could be replicated in a math class. His response: "It kind of already is, I mean I don't really always understand they way my math teacher explains things. So now I know how to look for resources and learn math skills by watching videos online."
• ZERO behavior problems. I thought by giving students this much independence there could be issues with behavior, but I was wrong. The only mis-behavior I witnessed was that the occasional student was off task. His/her has a natural consequence of falling behind in the class.
• Teachers still teach and give lectures, and students can sign up for them. I have NEVER seen a group of students more attentive to a teacher lecture than the one I saw. Every student had a felt need to understand what they teacher was explaining. They needed to understand what he was saying in order to move on, and the students hung on every word.
• Students were asked if they thought this type of class could be replicated in a middle school. Most students said they didn't think middle school students would be 'mature' enough. However one student did say he wished he did have this type of class when he was younger because it would have taught him how to learn and he would be better prepared for high school.

The Take-Aways:

• Several of our teachers use stations and the students rotate around the room. One of those stations could become a self-paced station. The work on a project for the unit of study they are currently learning.
• Why do we grade the way we do? We began a discussion on what a grade really says about student learning, and we agreed that earning a 'B' for a marking period can mean many different things for many different students. This will be an ongoing discussion for us.
• Our hosts brought up the fact that they run Student-Led Conferences and our teachers seemed to really like the idea of it. We will definitely begin the process of rolling out SLC in the fall.
• If another school can do it so can we. By stepping out of our school we were able to hear from teachers who are trying something new, and constantly adapting their practice. These Biology teachers try everyday to improve their instruction for the students.

I want to thank our hosts again for allowing us to come into their classroom. It was an amazing experience to see this classroom function at such a high level. I would like to thank the students for welcoming us and answering our questions. I know how valuable their time is and I am grateful they were willing to give us a few minutes to better understand their how the magic happens. My biggest take away was how these teachers are implementing best practices in education with no road map. They are blazing their own trail because they believe the path they are creating is one that is best for students. They know that their classroom is not perfect yet, they are always looking for ways to improve it, but they refuse to allow perfect to become the enemy of great. This is a classroom that allows GREAT learning to occur.

FedEx Day

http://www.businessnc.com/articles/2012-09/regional-report-triad-september-2012-category/

Yesterday we launched our first FedEx Day at Byram Intermediate.  For those of you who don't know, Fed Ex Day is when the teachers spend the day designing innovative teaching practices and then present what they have created at the end of the day.  It was the first time teachers in my school had a professional development day like this, and they blew me away with what they were able to do.  As I walked from room to room their excitement was contagious and their passion for teaching was palpable.  Here are the steps it took us to have our Fed Ex Day.

Step 1:   Consult the Experts

I sent a message out on Twitter asking if anyone had ran a Fed Ex Day at their school and +Jenna Shaw reached out was a a tremedous help.  She shared with me the format she had used at her school and put me in contact with +Lyn Hilt who has done tremendous work with FedEx Days in her distritct. Without these two experts there is no way we would have been able to pull off what we did.

Step 2:   What is Your Sentence?

As educators we have so many mandates pushed upon us.  There is always a new teaching strategy that must be used in the classroom every few years, and because of this teachers can sometimes forget why we got into education in the first place.  We wanted our teachers to reconnect with the reasons why they got into education, and find their passion.  The teachers created their sentences and posted them on a Google Presentation Slide for all the teachers to see.  As I looked at these slides I could feel the passion our teachers had, and their desire help our students learn and grow.

Step 3:    What Motivates?

The teachers had to list 5 things that motivate them and 5 things that motivate students.  The reason for this was to have the teachers focus on inspiring students to learn.  So many times we throw things at students, ask them to learn, and then when they don't, we call them lazy, or unprepared.  It is our job as educators to inspire students to want to learn.


Step 4:   Developing a Plan

Teachers were allowed to work with anyone they wanted to create an innovative teaching practice.   The teachers filled out a Google Form to let the administration know who would be in their group, what they were going to accomplish and where they would be working.  This allowed the teachers to have a game plan when they arrived for Fed Ex Day and let me know where I could go visit and check in on the work they were doing.  Teachers were encouraged to keep their groups to about three, but we had groups as large as eight that did a brilliant job.  

Step 5:   Get to Work!

Teachers arrived and we had bagels, muffins, and pancakes to load up on carbs before everyone got to work.  As the teachers got to work I would float from room to room and listen to the plans the teachers were unrolling.  It was not easy for all groups to get rolling right away.  Some of the groups struggled with their scope and how 'big' to make the project they were working on. The teachers wanted to do something GREAT, and I got the feeling they were nervous that they wouldn't be able to complete their work by the end of the day.  We worked together to get past those fears, and we didn't allow 'perfect' to become the enemy of great.  

Step 6:  Deliver!

At the end of our Fed Ex Day it is time to deliver.  Each group had 60 seconds to present their creation to the rest of the staff.  The teachers would come up to the front of our All-Purpose Room and if they were able to create a digital link they could show some of what they created, or they could simply explain what they were able to do.  I was so proud of our staff, who has never had PD to learn about Google Docs or digital tools attempt to use these types of technology.  Some were successful with the technology while others were not, but I was so impressed that they were willing to take a risk and try.  It was such a great experience for the teachers to hear what everyone else was working on.  I know I was amazed at the ideas, energy, and innovative teaching practices our teachers were able to produce.  As I used my iPhone timer to try and keep everyone to 60 seconds and respect their time, I soon realized some teachers were so proud of the work they had done there was no way I was getting the mic back after a minute.  They wanted to share with everyone the amazing things they created, and  I couldn't blame them at all.  I cannot list all the brilliant and dynamic lesson the teachers created in this space, but I encourage you to go here to see what they created.  Please note they are still being updated.

Step 7:  Reflect

This is my first year in the Byram school district, and my first year as an administrator.  This was by far my favorite day on the job so far!  As I reflect upon the day there are a few things I learned:    

I learned just how passionate our teachers are about what they do!

I learned if you are born in Puerto Rico, you can run in a Presidential Election, but cannot vote.

60 seconds isn't long enough for teachers to share what they have created for Fed Ex Day.  

I learned if we want teachers to take risks we need to support them with time to collaborate.  

It is easier to take a risk, to take that first scary step, when someone is doing it with you.  

We are all better when we work together.

One Fed Ex Day is not enough....I hope to do this again next year!

Step Outside Your School

This week in New Jersey educators had Thursday and Friday off to attend the Teachers' Convention in Atlantic City.  I believe this is something New Jersey gets right!  Giving teachers two days to develop their craft, learn new strategies, collaborate with colleagues, and maybe even have some fun in A.C. at the same time.  I am addicted to learning new things, but I did not attend the Convention this year.  Instead I took Tony Sinanis up on his offer to see his school, Cantiague Elementary, in action.  I connected with Tony on Twitter over a year ago, was able to meet him at Joe Mazza's #ParentCamp, and he is now my mentor via George Couros and his #SAVMP project.  Tony currently holds the title of Elementary Principal of the Year from the Bammy Awards, and his school was a National Blue Ribbon Award winner.  That is a lot of hardware for a school and I wanted to see what made Cantiague so great.  

1. Student Choice 

Students had amazing opportunities when it came to choice.  When visiting Reading Workshop classes the teacher used authentic texts to instruct and then every student had books to choose from.  As I traveled from room to room students were excited about reading and eager to discuss their books with Mr. Sinanis.  In kindergarten students were able to fill their bags with short books for them to practice their reading.  In other grades there were projects that were allowed to be completed many different ways.  From posters, and models to PowerPoints, and Prezis it was clear the students were given many choices along the way.   

2. Rigor

Yes, I know this is the trendy word now in education and I have to admit every time I hear it I picture kids sweating over a worksheet.  In Tony's school there was rigor because the teachers had such high expectations.  In a fourth grade Reading Workshop lessons the teachers and students were having a back and forth conversation about symbolism.  As Tony gave new parents a tour of the school, the parents were amazed by the reading taking place.  As they entered a new room they saw students independently devouring books and the mom said to Tony, "So ... this is second grade?"  Tony politely corrected her and told her they were actually in a kindergarten class.  

3. Teaching Philosophy

The teachers at Cantiague all worked towards teaching in small groups or teaching 1:1.  In most classes the lessons were set up in a way where the teacher taught a new concept to the students in about 10-15 minutes, then visited students to work with them in a smaller setting.  As teachers met with the students they were constantly taking notes, most of them on iPads, using programs like Evernote and Google Docs to document the learning taking place.  I saw teachers who had the conferencing part down to a science, they would meet with student for about seven minutes, gain some insight into how the student was doing with a specific skill, offer some helpful hints, take notes, and move on to the next student.  It felt like I was watching a doctor do medical rounds, I was amazed.  I believe the school has this practice down so well because it's Instructional Leader still takes part in the lessons.  He will sit on the floor with students to read and ask questions, and he practices what he preaches.  

4. Allignment

Every class had recently published their Writing Workshop pieces and displayed them for everyone to see.  There was no class that was Going Rogue, or marching to the beat of a different drummer.  The teachers know they have a tremendously important role to play in a student's education.  But at Cantiague they see the bigger picture.  The teachers see how when everyone in the school picks up the same rope and pulls in the same direction they have a greater impact on a student than just one year, they are setting up that student to have great success year after year after year.

                          

5. Love

I have a feeling many administrators are trying to do the things Tony has accomplished.  They are trying to align their curriculum in a meaningful way, they are trying to have all teachers agree on the same basic principals of a teaching philosophy, and trying to have rigor added to the curriculum.  What separates Tony from most principals is his love of his students and of his teachers.  The teachers know when he introduces a change he is doing it with the best interest of his students in mind.  They can see how he greats students and finds out about their personal lives.  Tony is a resource to his teachers so when he has an idea he goes into their classroom and models what it could look like.  As we walked from room to room there was never a time when a teacher tensed-up because the principal was in the room.  It is such a common practice for Tony to enter classrooms the learning just continued.  Teachers also indicated to me how nice it was to get notes from him when he visits.  The only time Tony was in his office the entire time I visited the school was to film one of his school videos.  He loves his school so much he needs to be immersed in it everyday.  Tony's nurturing, loving quality is what has allowed his school to become great.

I'd like to thank Tony for allowing me to step into his school and learn about the wonderful things going on at Cantiauge.  While I know I missed the New Jersey Teachers' Convention, I left inspired by what I saw at Cantiague.  As an administrator is difficult to step outside of your own school and see how things could be done differently in another school.  While it is not easy, I encourage others to find a school you respect greatly, and go there.  Not for a lesson or two, but for as much of the day as you can, to discover how it became great.  

How Many Windows Does Your School Have?

One of the things I am most passionate about is trying to make our schools as transparent as possible.  We live in a world where you can start your car from 1,000 miles away (still not sure why you would need to do this), answer emails anywhere you can receive a cell signal, and check your bank account 24/7 and know the exact balance to the penny.  With all of these new technologies we need to leverage some of them to help parents stay more informed about their most prized possession, their children.  We need to create virtual windows where parents can connect with the school on their phone or computer.  Here are three ways to try and make your school more transparent.  


1. Weekly Newsletter
Traditionally parents have received a weekly newsletter from schools keeping them informed about the learning that takes place in the building.  There were two problems with this.  1st many students would lose the newsletter before they walked in the door to show mom and dad.  2nd it is from an adult perspective, not one of the students who are the experts about what is happening in school.  Students are the ones living it every day and we should consult them.  To address this problem I tried to emulate Tony Sinanis and contact a weekly podcast to keep parents informed.  The feedback from parents has been very positive, they love being informed and seeing the students front and center is what makes the videos amazing.  

2. Window into the Classroom
When I sent out our first video I asked parents for any feedback they could give me.  I thank them for getting back to me with two suggestions.  #1:  Fix the camera angle so the viewer doesn't feel like they are looking up the entire video.  That will be an easy fix, no problem there.  #2: Parents would like to see images of students in action as they are learning.  While I will not be able to incorporate those action shots into the Weekly Podcast we send out, we do have an idea to help parents see students in action.  Our administration is hoping our Board of Education will allow us to take pictures of the students in action and then use Twitter to share those images of students with parents.  At the end of the week we will send out an email via Storify to show the parents action shots of the students.  By creating this window into the classrooms we are hoping to change the conversation at home.  As students come home from school the question is no longer, "What did you do in school today?" It is now, "Tell me more about that science experiment I saw you working on today."  It allows parents to stay engaged and have much more meaningful conversations with their students.  



3. Phone Calls Home
While new technologies are great, a phone call home is necessary to communicate with parents on a more personal level.  This year we have our grade level teams to reach out and contact parents at least once by phone before our Back to School Night.  The teachers who have done this have received positive feedback from parents.  Teachers said parents were so surprised to get a phone call when their son or daughter was doing well.  I have tried once a week to make a positive phone call home to at least one student this year.  There are weeks where I have been able to call up to five and weeks where I only called one.  As an administrator I need to do a better job calling parents about the positive, our school has so many fantastic students it is not difficult to find some to highlight.  I just need to do a better job balancing my time to make this possible.  

I am hopeful these three windows, along with traditional ones, will keep parents better informed about what is happening in our schools.  In our community most families have two parents who are at work during the day.  When they come home at night they are busy with so many things from making dinner, to driving to lacrosse practice, to helping with homework, they don't always have time to take a breath and have a long conversation about what happened in school.  Most parents do have a phone however, and if we can push out meaningful information to a parent's phone they can look at that information at a time that is convenient for them.  Parents are our most valuable allies, and we need to do everything we can to keep them informed, breakdown the walls of the school, and get them involved.  I'd like to thank Amber Teamann for reminding me that regardless of family income or background, students with involved parents are more likely to:   

• Earn higher grades and test scores, and enroll in higher-level programs
• Be promoted, pass their classes, and earn credits
• Hve better social skills, show improved behavior, and adapt well to school
• Graduate and go on to postsecondary education. (Henderson & Mapp 2002)

I am a new administrator, and I realize I have a great deal to learn.  If you have other ideas on how to 'Add More Windows' into your school, help keep parents informed,  and become more involved in the school I would love to hear them.

Introducing Connected Education

Source: http://nickapedia.com/2010/09/30/vision-of-a-creator-the-silent-revolution-in-technology/

Recently I had my first Back to School Night as an administrator and I was excited about a few minor changes that were taking place. (Click here to read about this in a previous post.)   One of the changes I was most excited about having our first ever Student Ambassadors be a part of our back to school night.  The students were to introduce teachers and discuss how they overcame difficulties during a class or talk about a challenging and exciting project students should be looking out for.  When these students were selected they were extremely excited.  They were filled with pride and smiled ear to ear as they entered my office and I handed them a permission slip that needed to be signed by their parents.  At the bottom of the permission slip I made it a requirement for the students to reflect on their experience.  I did this for three reasons, to reflect, connect, and inspire.

Student Reflection:
Most of the time we ask students to reflect after they have done something wrong, we rarely ask them to stop and take a few minutes to reflect after being successful.  All of our students were extremely successful, they shared favorite moments from last year in school, they provided parents with helpful hints on how to navigate a new grade level successfully, and even provided a laugh with an inside story about a teacher.  Many of the students wrote down what they would say and practiced several times at home in front of parents or even in front of a mirror and I wanted them to see how this hard-work and preparation lead to success.  I was hopeful they would come to realize that even if they were nervous they are capable of controlling their fear and overcome it.

Student Connection:
My school is a place where students and teachers are passionate about learning and growing.  It is a place where you will see teachers go out of their way to help students on both a personal and academic level.  It is a place where once new ideas are shared teachers and students are both eager to try something new.  I realize how lucky I am to be in a school that values new ideas, and I want to help both the staff and students see beyond the walls of the classroom.  A first step in accomplishing this goal was to post Student Ambassador reflections below.  I am asking readers to please leave comments for these tremendous students to show them how powerful it can be to connect with educators and students outside of their school.  They have not had much experience connecting with 'outsiders' and I would be grateful for them to have this experience.

Student Inspiration:
Once students realize they have an audience outside of the school that is interested in his/her Student Ambassador experience, I am hoping a few students become inspired to share something they are personally passionate about online.  Connecting about a school assignment the Assistant-Principal assigned is one thing, but connecting with others about your passion is quite another.  I am hopeful students are inspired to share their passion with others in a positive way online.  If they are able to do so it will change the way they learn and grow exponentially, I know it did for me.

Skyler's Reflection

Mikey's Reflection

Grace's Reflection

An's Reflection

Jack's Reflection

Dayton's Reflection

3 Changes to Back to School Night

I recently helped to organize my first Back to School Night as a Vice-Principal.  As my principal, Fran Schlenoff (an amazing leader), and I began to plan for the night we looked at what was done previously and didn't want to change things that worked in years past, but there were changes we wanted to make.

In the past all the parents met in the school auditorium where the principal greeted and welcomed them.  Once everyone was seated the principal spoke, the PTA president said a few words, and then our Education Association president made some remarks before.  Parents were then dismissed to meet with the teachers of their student as a grade level team.

Highlight the Teachers
Our principal thought it was important to recognize our staff with all the parents present.   To do this we arranged seats for them in the auditorium facing the other parents.  When their name was called they quietly stood so all parents could see them.  I know this might seem like a small step however, I think it sends a powerful message. These teachers are here to be recognized for their efforts in the school, and they deserve to be a part of this large group gathering.  It was important to face the audience so when they do stand all the parents can see who it is.  I had never thought of this before but most of the time when a teacher is introduced so many parents just see the back of the teacher's head.

Student Highlight Reel
I wanted to provide parents with a window into our school so they could see the students in the halls with friends, working in small groups on science experiments, and actively engaged in learning in every subject area.  I emailed the teachers and told them I was putting together a highlight-film to show the parents at back to school night, if they had something they wanted me to see please email me and I would do my best to make it into their room.  Being a new administrator I was afraid many of the teachers would be reluctant to invite me into the classroom, but I was wrong.  Many of the teachers wanted a chance to share what they were doing, and were excited to have an administrator take note of their great work.

I went into the classrooms armed with my iPhone and took pictures and short video clips from every grade level and many different subject areas.  I clipped the images and videos together using iMovie and had "Home" by Phillip Phillips as the background music.  At our Back to School Night we played the video and received a round of applause from the parents who were there.  I learned whenever possible highlight the students in action because it is the students everyone wants to see.

Student Ambassadors
The next change we made involving students was our Student Ambassadors.  Each grade level in our school addresses parents after meeting in the auditorium.  We asked each grade to choose about three students from the previous year's class to introduce teachers, share memorable experiences, and provide advice for parents on how to help.  These Student Ambassadors were a huge hit, they came dressed professionally to our Back to School Night, and were able to explain things through the eyes of a student.  It is one thing for a teacher to say, "This year will be challenging, but your son/daughter will grow a lot this year."  It is quite another to hear a student say, "I had a really difficult time learning how to be a good writer at the beginning of 5th grade, but with the help of my teachers, I can now say I am a great writer."  Both parents and teachers provided us with positive feedback about the student ambassadors, and it is something that will be part of our Back to School Night routine next year.

By recognizing our teachers and placing students at the center of our Back to School Night I believe we made some significant improvements, however there is still more work to be done.  For example, next year I want to provide child-care for parents, I do not want the lack of childcare to be an obstacle for parents to have to overcome.  I'm sure there are many other ways to make our Back to School Night experience a better one.  I would love to hear other suggestions educators, parents or administrators have that has made your Back to School Night a success.

Trust #SAVMP

As I enter my first year as an administrator I realize how important trust is in a school system.  It is what holds us together, and allows us to build something great.  There are so many relationships within a school that rely on trust.  The trust that exists, or does not exist between parents, teachers, and administration lays the groundwork for success.  I do not believe that just because there is trust a school will automatically be successful, but without a strong, trusting relationship there can be no success.

As I was beginning to learn about my new school, I quickly learned something went wrong last year.  Both myself, and the principal are new.  The old administration of principal and vice-principal only lasted a year.  I'm sure there was a list of reasons why the administration had to be changed after only a year, and I would guarantee a lack of trust was extremely high on the list.

Knowing this I wanted to start off on the right foot, and get to know the teachers' strengths.  So the first thing I did was make sure I knew as much as I could about each staff member.  I read through all their past observations and was amazed at the talent that lies within this school.  I started taking notes about amazing things these educators are doing and I have tried to commit them to memory, but honestly the list seems to go on and on and I don't think I will have them memorized by the time school starts.

To let the staff begin to know me, I called them at home.  I just wanted to introduce myself as the new Assistant Principal, and let them know if they ever needed anything throughout the year they could always come and see me.  I told them how I excited I was to see their lessons in person.  I said thank you for some of the things they have done for the district in the past, and while I was not there to observe these accomplishments, they no doubt made our school and community stronger.  

I know I have a long way to go, that trust is not something you can snap your fingers and earn. I hope by reaching out to the staff we have begun the process of building a relationship where we can trust each other.  I know there will be difficult times that arise throughout the year, but if I can trust the teachers, and they can trust me, we can work together to do what is best for the students.

What is Your Vision for Your School? #SAVMP

As part of the School Administration Virtual Mentorship Program the question I was asked was: "What is your vision for your school?"  I feel as though when I think about what I want my school to be, there is way too much  My vision can be broken down into three parts for teachers and students:

Be kinder than necessary

Find what excites or motivations you and go for it.

Don't settle, for OK, make yourself amazing.

As I was sitting down to write this post I saw what Jason Markey was doing as he welcomed his freshman to his school for the first time.  If you haven't seen the welcome video his staff and students created you should watch it here.  This is definitely something I would like to do next year.  Towards the end of the video he asks three things of his students:

Be kind

Find your passion

Commit to Excellence

I quickly realized that Jason's had a much cleaner way of delivering that same message and it is important this message be clear and repeatable, so I will be using some of his phrases as I explain my vision.

Be Kinder Than Necessary

Middle school is a tough place, and I believe it is difficult because students are trying to learn who they are, what they should be like.  As they attempt to figure this out they will undoubtably try on many hats, and that is a good thing, to find their true voice, to find who they really are and the people that make them happy.  However, I want to deliver the message that no matter who you decide to be, no matter what group of people you surround yourself with, we all need to be kinder than necessary.   As many of you know I am stealing the phrase from the book Wonder, about a 5th grade student entering middle school for the first time.  No matter what level of education you are involved with, if kindness is an important message you want to deliver you need to read this book. Being kind to one another allows students to open up and be themselves, it allows them to take risks, it allows them to focus on school instead of worrying about what someone else is going to do or say to them.

Find Your Passion

I want my school to be a place where students are excited to learn.  While it is true that every student cannot be excited about every single lesson, I believe it is up to every school and every student to develop their passions.  We loose too many students, and I believe a great number of boys, through our belief in what school should be.  I want to encourage teachers to take calculated risks, to allow students to develop their interests.  While I would not make it mandatory, I would encourage teachers to create their own Genius Hour, or develop their own Innovation Day to help students develop these passions.  Seth Godin struck a cord with me when he said, "If it is work, they try to figure out how to do less, if it is art, they try to figure out how to do more."   I want to help the teachers make learning as authentic as they can to help drive our education to become more like art.  If school is supposed to be for the students, shouldn't we at least discover what they students are passionate about?

Commit to Excellence

Being good at something is easy, achieving excellence is hard.  I want my school to be a place where everyone realizes their is a price for greatness.  To be great you must, you must first acknowledge there are things you need to work on and improve.  That self-reflection can be scary the first time you do it, and if the school is not a kind place to be, it will never happen.  Next you must commit to fighting through tough times.  We must let students and staff know there will be times during the year when you are having difficulty, how are we going to handle it?  We need to persevere and keep moving forward to develop our grit.  I am in agreement with Angela Lee Duckworth when she says that IQ scores, and socioeconomic status are not the best predictors of success outside of school, it is a students Grit, that is the best predictor.  How do they respond to adversity?  What happens when they fail?  How do they get up and keep working?  We need to all commit to excellence, develop our Grit, and keep moving forward.

This is the vision I have for my school.

Why Lead? #SAVMP

George Couros asked this question as part of his School Administrators Virtual Mentor Program, or #SAVMP, which I feel lucky enough to be a part of.  The reason I chose to be in a leadership position was because I feel as though teaching is difficult work.  It takes tremendous patience, determination, creativity, intelligence, and empathy to be a teacher.  On top of that, teachers are being pulled in many different directions lately with the sweeping changes that have come across the board.  In New Jersey over the last year teachers have had to adjust the three enormous changes:

• Become fluent with Common Core State Standards
• Adjust to a new assessment model through which they will be observed
• Deal with the continuing pressures of high-stakes testing

While I understand why these changes were made, and do not disagree with their potential positive impact on student learning, I feel teachers can become overwhelmed by them and not have the time to develop their passion.  

I read a story recently where President Kennedy was in a meeting with Charlie Luce Booth, a political advisor, who had some advice for the President.  He told the President his ideas were too scattered, and he wasn't focused enough on one or two things he was passionate about.  That he couldn't make a real impact and be remembered if did re-focus his energy.  Booth said:  

"A great man is a sentence.  'He preserved the union and freed the slaves ... or He lifted us out of  the Great Depression and helped win a World War'  A great man is a sentence.  What is yours Mr. President?"  

I want to help teachers to find their sentence.  For the last few years I have noticed teachers becoming so overwhelmed by what they must do, that they have a difficult time developing lessons they are passionate about.  Teachers are at their best when they can stand in front of a class excited about the lesson they are about to teach.  Students learn best from an engaging teacher who is completely engulfed in what he or she is teaching.  As a leader, I want to help teachers rediscover their passion and  develop their own sentence about who they are as a teacher.  I feel this will allow the teachers to inspire students to do great work instead of requiring work to be submitted.   Your thoughts?