Would you apply for your own job each year if you had to?

       A couple times a year, Ohio University-Zanesville hosts a mock interview session for their graduating education major interns. The program directors invite local school principals to the University, after school hours, to conduct thirty-minute interviews. Interns submit their resume's ahead of time and a feedback evaluation form is provided at the conclusion of the interview. Each intern gets a chance to practice three or four times. Afterwards, interns and principals are treated to a dinner which includes an informal question and answer session where interns have the opportunity to ask the things that are important to them as they search for their first assignment.
     I always enjoy meeting and talking to the interns as it helps me to keep things in perspective. I am always reminded of the many different experiences they are being exposed to as they complete their field work. Some of them may have just a glimpse of a certain educational topic while another may have a very deep understanding, depending on the grade level and topic of their cooperating teacher. It sometimes becomes apparent that not all intern placements are equal. Some schools are in different places with state initiatives, and some are committed to doing their own local thing.
    I always try to accommodate an intern placement in our building when I can, but it is not always an easy thing to do. Teachers are accountable for the growth of every child they come into contact with and it is a daunting task. I am encouraged though with the trend of some universities to move from the traditional student teaching placement experience to the "start teaching on your first day" co-teacher internship type model. I have heard it said that new teachers will be able to say to perspective employers "this is what I did in my classroom during my training" instead of saying "this is what I would do in a classroom."

    Almost every intern I talked to would most likely accept any offer proffered from any of the local schools without giving much thought about whether their new "family" would fit in with what they believe or were trained to do. They will count on their enthusiasm and freshness to make up for their lack of experiences.

    For the new interns, I recommend reading this short article found on the Connected Principals blog site to get an insight on what you may be getting into.
For my own staff, I sent this same article because I am curious: If THEY had to re-apply every year for their own job, would they do it?

http://connectedprincipals.com/archives/10406

Making Minutes Count

The following tweet gave me the inspiration for this post:

Jamie Wright @misswright06

you know you work in an awesome district when you have your post-conference via google hangouts. #rvlsd

Teacher evaluations take time. Lots and lots of time. Complaining about it doesn't help. Working harder doesn't help. Working longer and harder leads to even more complaining.

I have been out of the building this year more than at any other time in 17 years of education. I suppose it really can't be helped. So many initiatives are going on that mandate you attend meetings. So much is happening in curriculum and instruction that you need to attend workshops and trainings or risk being left in the dark on important educational topics that will have a big impact on students and staff.

By necessity I have been using every minute I can grab just to keep my head above water. For example, I had just finished an evaluation rubric of a teacher and when I recently went to work extra early I happened to find that teacher had also come into work extra early. He agreed to meet with me then and there and I was able to gain a valuable time slot in my busy calendar. Lesson learned? Don't be afraid to ask teachers to meet with you outside of contract time. They may be just as appreciative as you and it shows everyone just how much we value the coaching process.

I double dip. When in a classroom that uses a co-teacher, I observe and take walk-through notes on both of them.

I also have staff members who are very comfortable using technology and web2.0 tools. Sometimes when I revert to "the old ways" they will chide me and question my sanity. Having just completed an evaluation rubric on a Sunday afternoon, I took the chance of conducting a post-conference via Google hangout. A quick text to the teacher confirmed she was more than willing to do so. I scanned all of the evidence and documents she would need on her end and scheduled the hangout shortly after. Once we connected, we did a quick video and audio check and then followed the exact same procedures as if she were sitting right next to me. Lesson learned? Don't be afraid to think outside the box because someone may already be out there needing someone to collaborate with.

As a side note, the teacher thought the experience would have been "neat" if other teachers could sit in on a conference and learn from the dialogue. This tells me that this was a great coaching conference and less evaluative. NLHS principal Bobby Dodd blogs about a similar topic here.

 As my teacher was thinking that, I was thinking that it would be neat to have other administrators, especially new ones, join in the hangout to also learn from the exchange.

Everyone gets the same 60 minutes in an hour. How are you using yours?

Knowing your "school roots"

In my Inbox recently from the admin office:

Dear Mr. Moore,
I am trying to help on a project someone is working on. Could you tell me when Conesville ES was built?
J. W.

     That's an easy one. I knew that answer without even thinking about it.  I walk past it everyday on the way into my office. It's emblazoned on a stone 40 feet straight up. Nearby is a giant stone eagle. I have "dibs" on it, if and when it ever comes down.  I have often wondered who the craftsman was that had the honor of placing it there.  1936.
    I can tell you a lot more about this old school, too. $83,876 to build it. Mr. J.H. Proper was the principal when it opened it's doors for the first time. Before this building was built, there were a couple of smaller buildings that had already come and gone.  We used to be known as the Vikings, not the Bears. The school colors where yellow and blue, not black and gold. Graduating classes sometimes totaled 12, not 212.
     I know this because the first Saturday in June is still reserved for the homecoming classes that have come and gone. I get the honor of introducing new graduates each year.
   I have been enthralled as I listen to stories of returning class members from generations ago.  Classes from the '40s, 50s, 60s! Every story shared has a common theme. They talk about the people. The teachers. The classmates. The principal. Who did what. Who didn't. They don't talk about the bricks, or the lockers, or the floors. They talk about the experiences that set the stage for who they were to become later in life. Their pictures look down on us everyday from Kinnear Hall, which was named after a revered school secretary who probably doctored more children than the local hospital.

     I am fortunate to be the leader of a building that has a rich tradition of educational leaders. E.U. Marquand was the first principal in 1894, and also the village physician. Alexander McDonald 1898-1900. James Smailes, 1905-1908, who left to also become a doctor. Nathaniel McClure, 1910-1916.   H.W. Pigman who also became the county superintendent. J. Fred Lautenschlager, 1920-1931, left to become the county superintendent. Mr. Ward, 1959. I think I may have his paddle on the shelf behind my desk. It hasn't touched a kid in years.  Mr. Woodie. Mr. Duda. Mr. Widder. Ms. Martinez. Mrs. Hawthorne. Me.
    When I look at those who have come before me, see what they have accomplished for this district and it's students, I am humbled.  I wonder if when they are looking down on me, are they nodding their heads in quiet approval, shaking their heads in dismay, or maybe smiling and laughing at circumstances only building principals can relate to? What advice would they quietly whisper in my ear? What warnings would they shout if they could?

"Be fair"    "Slow down"       "Protect them"    "Love them"     "Teach them again"          "Come a little earlier"       "Stay a little later"      "People first, paper later"   "Read more books"   "Be a leader"   "You messed that up. Don't dwell on it. Move on"             "Don't let the drama turn into trauma"

I don't know what my successors will ultimately have to say, or even remember about our work and the things we have accomplished, but I think I have a pretty good idea of what really counts.  I greet 325 of them at the door everyday. 

The door that is guarded from above by a giant eagle.     

Items I added to my Diigo Library this week

• How to embed Twitter timelines on your website | Twitter Blogs
  tags: twitter
• Common Core Delays NY
  tags: commonCore
• Classroom library organizer
  tags: library classroom
• Web Apps - Google Resources
  sparcc stark county
  tags: chrome apps eric
• Life is Too Short for $#%++% Professional Development | Welcome to MrLosik.com
  slide show by teachers
  tags: professional development
• LeadLearner: From "Great Job" to "Great Growth"
  article to use for my pd on feedback
  tags: feedback

  • Good, Better, Best

     
    

     The word good affirms the present. Better is a step up from good, but by comparing yesterday to today, it solidifies the status quo for tomorrow. Best is the only goal of a transformational mindset.  If we want every member of the organization to be their best, each member must constantly know their performance every day without the leader's input and strive to improve. This will happen when leaders create the conditions for employees and leaders to work interdependently to evaluate one another's progress over time.  From there they must seek out new ways to more effectively and efficiently give their very best performance each and every day.

Posted from Diigo. 

Good, Better, Best. Never Let It Rest.

     Before I was a principal, I was a teacher. Before I was a teacher, I was a mechanic. Before I was a mechanic, I was something else. But I've always worked to be the best at whatever I was doing. Seventeen years ago, I entered a classroom for the first time as a teacher. To acknowledge the occasion, my mother gave me a small quilt to hang in my classroom which had a Tim Duncan quote stitched into it. Each class that came and went over the years religiously recited it with me immediately following the pledge of allegiance each morning. Today, it hangs in my office and I still read it every day.

"Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best."

   If asked, almost everyone would say they would like to be the best at whatever they do. Most would even say they strive to be the best everyday. Best mechanic, carpenter, electrician, teacher, principal. If indeed you happen to be one of the best at whatever you do, there is probably a good reason for it. It doesn't happen by accident, or randomly. People who are the best at what they do have common characteristics and many researchers have spent a lot of time identifying them.

   But, when asked what it would take to become the best, how easily do we come up with the specific verb statements that would actually move us closer to becoming the best mechanic, carpenter, electrician, teacher, principal?  Verbs are known as action words for a reason. Not adjectives. Adjectives don't get things done.

    Watch. Watch the people around you who have a reputation of being one of the best. Connect. Connect yourself to the best. They have been where you are and are usually willing to mentor others.  Do. Do what they do. It's proven to work.  Be. Become the best...

...one bolt, one nail, one wire, one student, or even one school at a time.

"Saying is easy, doing is real." - Dad 

The Power of 'Knowing'

Knowing know·ing  /ˈnōiNG/ adjective adjective: knowing showing or suggesting that one has knowledge or awareness that is secret or known to only a few people.

If you google the word, ‘knowing’, you will find the above definition. If you search for synonyms of ‘knowing’ in the Macmillan Dictionary you will see words like, ‘realize, recognize, sense,’ and words like ‘significant’ and ‘meaningful’.

Whether you realize it or not, ‘knowing’ is the basis of every relationship you have and these relationships are designed and dependent upon to what extent you ‘know’.

We all have relationships that are based on little or minimal knowledge; we ‘know’ the teller at the bank, we ‘know’ the pizza delivery guy and we ‘know’ the nice, elderly couple at church that we shake hands with every Sunday morning.

We would not ‘know’ however if the bank teller was having her second mammogram that afternoon because the first one did not come back so well. We may not ‘know’ that the pizza delivery guy is horribly intimidated counting back our change if we pay him with a $50 and we may never ‘know’ how concerned that elderly couple at church is about their grandson from Cleveland that tore his ACL during a basketball game last week.

The pace of life and the time restraints we encounter have a way of limiting the depth of certain relationships. We just cannot ‘know’ everyone on a real level despite the fact we may care about the hardships they are facing.

We do have the time and ability to ‘know’ our students on a real level and that knowledge can make all the difference in the world. The more we ‘know’ our students, the more effective we will become in their learning process. If you know their background, their culture, what kind of family dynamics they come from and take the time to learn this type of information, they will not only feel valued, but you will gain significant insight.  

The advantages of ‘knowing’ your students are endless. The better you know them, the better sense you will have of how they learn and how to communicate more effectively with them. You will ‘know’ what they respond well to and what shuts them down, how long you can hold their attention and when they need a break. You will also establish a sense of trust and genuineness with them that kids need in orders to feel comfortable in a classroom.

Think about the relationships you have where you really ‘know’ the individual compared with the relationships you have that are on the pizza guy or bank teller level. When you really ‘know’ someone, you can tell by the look on their face when they are overwhelmed or worried or totally zoned out to what you are telling them. You can read their body language and you can sense the way they carry themselves into a meeting if they are going to be productive during that meeting or just get through it. You know what kind of a day they are having before they tell you.

You know what to expect from their personality and you know when that person needs an extra word of encouragement, a pat on the back or a change in direction.

Whether you manage a corporation, teach a classroom, coach a team or oversee the nursery at church; ‘knowing’ the individuals you are involved with will enable you to be better at whatever you are doing. I love that the google definition of ‘knowing’ says, “has knowledge or awareness that is secret or known to only a few people”.

‘Knowing’ is like a secret weapon. It gives you significant insight, keen recognition and a real sixth-sense. ‘Knowing’ is one of the key ingredients in the impact we make on individuals. It’s difficult to impact those people we only get to know a few minutes each week; but the ones we ‘know’ several hours a day, 180 days a year…those are lives we can truly change!

Written by guest blogger Mrs. Shelly Webb, Conesville ES, paraprofessional and teacher in training.

Connect with Shelly at:

Shelly Webb

@webbstories 

An Education Carol~ “bah humbug”

An Education Carol~ “bah humbug”

Most of us are familiar with the Dickens’ classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and how visits from three spirits altered his attitudes and dispositions. These spirits helped Scrooge to reflect on what was important in the past, become aware of what was happening in the present and prepare himself for the changes he would experience in the future.

Well, like Scrooge, anyone involved in the education field is occasionally haunted by the ‘ghost of education past, present and future’, and like Scrooge we each have the potential to improve our attitudes and dispositions in a way that encourages and enlightens those around us.

The ‘Ghost of Education Past’ reminds us of a time when school was much simpler. Rows of seats in neat lines, every student holding the same Basal reader, assignments given, assignments handed in, and few behavior issues. Things may have felt safe and secure in that atmosphere where lessons were presented the same way to every student and you moved on regardless. There was no RTI, no IEP and no TIF. There was the teacher, the students, the curriculum, end of story and it seemed to work fine, or so we thought. Some may be tempted even today to embrace the staunch face of the ‘Ghost of Education Past’. I mean, Bah Humbug! Didn’t we learn and grow under her regime? Well… we may have; but did everyone else?

And on that note, a new spirit enters the stage; the ‘Ghost of Education Present’. This spirit challenges us to educate in a new way—to educate individuals, not classrooms. We are challenged to differentiate, discover learning styles, alter teaching methods, use technology, use manipulatives, use art, music, drama and any other creative avenue we can think of that will remove a barrier or break through a wall. We are challenged to train students to collaborate, question, speak out and think critically. We want problem solvers, 21st Century thinkers, College and Career ready students, common core aligned lessons with inquiry based modes of teaching. The ‘Ghost of Education Present’ is large and demanding and even a little over-bearing at times; but he is on the right track to prepare students for the ‘Ghost of Education Future’.

  The ‘Ghost of Education Future’, the spirit we fear the most, will bring many changes to teaching and learning. Technology will, no doubt, play a key role. Teaching methods whether direct instruction, student based teaching, distance learning, independent studies or the countless other strategies we now use will evolve and grow. We may anticipate what changes the future of education will bring, but no one can truly know for certain, we can only commit to implementing change and making things better for those we teach.

In the final paragraph of “A Christmas Carol”, years after his change of heart, Charles Dickens writes of Ebenezer Scrooge,

“it was always said of him (Scrooge), that he knew how to keep Christmas well”.

I hope that I am remembered one day as a teacher that “knew how to keep education well”. And in the words of Tiny Tim, “God bless us all everyone”!

Written by guest blogger Mrs. Shelly Webb, Conesville ES, paraprofessional and teacher in training.

Connect with Shelly at:

Shelly Webb

@webbstories 

A guest blogger writes why she loves her job!

     I love my job... I am an intervention specialist for 3rd/4th grade.  I work with some of the most amazing people in the field of education.  The reason I am in this profession stems from having select teachers who made a tremendous impact on my life.  It is important for me to pay this forward.  My goal for the remainder of the school year is to focus on growing my students the most I possibly can.  I want to give them the most real life version of whatever I teach.  



There should be no reason for them to ask "why do I even need to learn this?"  It is important for my co-teachers and I to really focus on our students' needs. Let's get them thinking... Get them thinking "I know exactly why I need to learn this!" 

Written by guest blogger Jillian Wesney, teacher. Connect with Mrs. Wesney:

Jillian Wesney

@MrsWesney_Cones FOLLOWS YOU

I am a mother of 3 very busy children, wife, 3rd/4th Intervention Specialist, coach, student, daughter, sister, friend, mentor, mentee, tech nerd...

Conesville · mrswesney.blogspot.com

The Change Train

There is no doubt about it. The "Change Train" has arrived, it doesn't have a reverse gear, and the caboose is no where in sight.

As I coach my staff through the current round of evaluations, much of the the discussion is centered around differentiation and (or?) personalized learning. Our admin team and evaluation committee have been trying to frame the OTES rubric into this perspective: "think of developing, skilled, accomplished as traditional, differentiated, personalized."   We believe having a majority of our teachers in the skilled domain truly differentiating, formatively assessing, and meeting the needs of all students will add value to our students. 

     I am trying to wrap my mind around what I am catching a glimpse of on the horizon.  These are some key phrases in the current OTES rubric and many educators and upper level policy makers are keeping these ideas on the forefront in their connected online communities:

   Student led      Accurately connects data to specific instructional strategies    Plan for specific strategies, content and delivery that meet the needs of individual students      Independent, collaborative support    Project based     Student ownership       Family partnerships     Trends and patterns in individual student progress

    

     I am concerned that many teachers, myself included, may have trouble defining what a personalized learning environment really looks like, let alone trying to create it with the same learning spaces and resources that were designed for traditional learning. 

   I may not  know for some time exactly how to help my staff create personalized learning spaces, or yet find and allocate resources to accomplish this, but I know what personalized learning is not. 

     It is not suddenly and randomly assigning new website skill sets to every student with little regard for what they have already mastered.  It is not taking the same old project assignments where everyone "makes" the same thing, turns them in by the same deadline, but adding a new, irrelevant twist to it. 

I have no doubt that we will figure it all out, and that our students and teachers will be better because of it. And we're not going to "just add glitter, either."

All Aboard!

News flash! The "Good old days" are now.

   I am confident that sometime in the future, a teacher is going to say, "Oh, I wish we could return to the good old days." Maybe we are living in the good old days right now and just don't realize it.

     I say this because every generation seems to perceive that the past was so much better. Back "then", teachers didn't have this or that to do. Back "then", teachers weren't responsible for this or that. I forget who said it, but time has a way of making things in the past more grand. A teacher in the early 1900s of a single room school house cleaned the chalkboards AND cut the wood for the fire stove. ONE teacher swept the floors, inked the wells, and still planned the lessons for students of multiple ages all in the same classroom. Talk about differentiation! I don't know about you, but I don't want to go back to the good old days of teaching.

    If we're the ones living in the present, what is it exactly that teachers in the future are going to look back on and wish they were us?

     The days when we only had to worry about writing SLOs?  The days where we had a common curriculum to work with? The days when you could instruct students face to face with good solid differentiated lessons and projects? The days when administrators would come in and observe our classrooms on a regular basis and give us encouragement and good descriptive feedback about our instructional practices? The days when teachers worked efficiently and collaboratively between buildings with cloud based documents?

They will say those things worked so well for us and we were used to them. Why all the change and confusion, and unneeded stress?

You don't get to choose the time you live in. You only get to choose how you live it.