21st Century Learning....I love new toys!!!!

     I have always been a big fan of using technology.  While I started as a Mac guy, in my travels to various districts I have had the chance to enjoy both PC and Mac and while I have a preference, both machines can do great things and the key is - kids love using both of these machines as well and they may very well need to learn to use either.  What is obvious to all except the most stubborn of Old Schoolers and traditionalists, which are still extolling the greatness of things like reading by candlelight and the great audio of AM radio, is that the digital environment is here to stay and all we can do is hang on for the ride.  Don't feel frustrated that your cell phone is outdated even before you buy it or that a laptop is only cool for about 6 months.  These are just tools to access the digital content that is out there for us all to access.  That being said I was so excited to get my new iPad that I could barely contain myself.  I have been showing it off, using it everywhere I could (and I am finding that is almost anywhere in any situation) and trying not to bankrupt my online account as I purchase cool app after cool app.  There is so much you can do with it, and I am really wanting to get this tool into kids hands, except my own kids....just kidding, I do share it with them.  However my daughter is on a reading obsession right now with the Warriors series by Erin Hunter and I cannot afford to buy that many books nor will I share my iPad as often as she has been reading.  So I drop her off at the Library while I play with the iThoughts app in the parking lot or read the iBook version of Ken Robinson's The Element.  I have been fortunate enough to fall in with a district that is also supportive of the belief that we need to prepare kids for the future by gettting them using technology now.  We are looking at updating our practices as well as our policies if they are not in line with that vision.

     I hope we can find a way to provide these new tools to our students in the future, but in the meantime we will do our best to integrate them into the classroom as much as possible and try to maximize the tools we do have in our building and classrooms.  And I, well, I will keep buying those toys I love and make sure that I stay on the cutting edge so at least I can inform staff of all they can do with the new toys once we have the funds to provide them for our students.  (Don't tell my wife but I have already started saving for the iPad2).

Continuous Improvement- Why Change is Good

Being a former Physical Education teacher brings with it a  certain prejudice of what you know about reading and teaching in general.  To be honest I used to feel a little inadequately informed myself.  In order to overcome this I have joined every professional education group I could find as well as began to read voraciously all of the well known authors and researchers on educational practice.  I am finally fairly confident I have a pretty good knowledge base when it comes to teaching, especially in the area of reading.  It probably drives my staff and even my superintendent a little crazy when I start quoting Robert Marzano, Richard Allington, Timothy Rasinski, Grant Wiggins, Jay McTighe, Charlotte Danielson, and Douglas Reeves amongst many others, but I have a deep belief in their research and writings so it is hard to not support my beliefs with their writings. My wife happens to be an elementary teacher (one of the best I have ever seen) as well as a voracious reader, although she has mostly moved on to Barnes & Noble Fiction, but she loves seeing me progress from former caveman to intellectual.

I have had some philosophical struggles with our current reading program since I have come to my new district, but still I tried to embrace it where I could, besides the evidence that it was pretty successful was clear.  While our district reading scores have been very good, we have also seem to hit a plateau.  We continue to have a small percentage of students that struggle with the Direct Instruction program we use.  One of my other concerns is that  it appears our common approach for addressing the kids that struggle with reading is to give them more of the same program.  In all of the reading I have done on quality reading instruction, I had reservations about the program we were using.  When staff members started coming to me with many of their concerns I decided to try to become better informed.  Yep, I read another book.  While I had read plenty already and listened to many keynote speakers,  I was looking for further confirmation of what I already knew.

I found an excellent book called "Readicide" by Kelly Gallagher.  Mr. Gallagher is a High School English teacher and while much of the focus in the book is geared toward high school and middle school, there is still some very good practical information for all teachers of reading.  What was most important, in what I gleaned from the book, was that with our drive to improve our students' reading scores on standardized tests, we have turned them into test taking machines that no longer read for enjoyment, and that was exactly what I was seeing when I went into classrooms. 

I started talking with teachers last year about our reading program and what their thoughts were on student engagement and the amount of time kids were given to actually read on their own.  Both answers were discouraging.  I had already read the Daily 5 book by Moser & Boushey and I knew my wife had used it in her classroom in her previous district.  There was a strong interest from the staff to have my wife come and speak about the use of the Daily 5 in her classroom, so much so that she came and spoke to the staff twice about the subject.  I have convinced many of my teachers to drop the dreary workbooks and to start using student created projects to provide practice and create better formative assessments.  I am looking forward to creating lifelong readers of our students and I am thinking the more they like to read and the more authentic learning and assessment we give them, the better our tests scores will become as well.  I will keep you posted on this process as it is bound not to be easy or smooth.  Why?  Because change is never easy, but often it is worth it.

Becoming a Better Team

I have been working with the best administrative team I have been associated with these past two years.  This year we have had to discuss some big issues that I could tell we had varying concerns and beliefs about.  The problem seemed to be that we were all afraid to discuss our feelings on the subject.  As these concerns and issues seemed to continue and new ones arose, it became apparent that the concerns weren't going to be beaten up and or debated so that the team could see all aspects of the decision to ensure we made the best choice. 

 I decided to talk to my Superintendent about a book I had read and was using with my staff to make sure we were doing a good job of building trust and being an effective team.  She thought I might be on to something and that we should not only read the book but also go through The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team training.  It was a great and somewhat humbling experience.  It is not easy to admit some of your faults  and have your teammates point out what they believe to be your weaknesses as well.  It was a great growth experience.  The best part of it all was that we seem to be a far more effective team now.  Team members that used to mostly sit silently through a meeting have now found their voice and are comfortably arguing their opinions about every major topic raised.  If you work in a team environment at all I highly recommend this book by Patrick Lencioni.

Good Book for Schools Beginning the PLC Journey

I found an excellent new book this summer for those beginning their journey into becoming a PLC.  It is packed with excellent information and straight forward examples and procedures for getting started.  Easy to read and loaded with reproducibles.  Check it out even if you are just wondering about all this PLC stuff you have been hearing about.

I've been pondering a situation that has been bothering me lately.  I have been to quite a few professional conferences and workshops over the last year and this summer and I am quite surprised (and somewhat disappointed) by the district's I see presenting their experiences and practices.  I think I need to start talking to my staff about being the exemplars when it comes to PLC's, MAP Testing, RTI and host of other practices we are apparently a little more practiced and knowledgeable in as compared to those we have attempted to learn from.  I  shouldn't come off as being so negative.  While we may have had some more experience or better results than some of the districts we have listened to, we still have gleaned a great deal from them.  I'm really not trying to come off as too cocky but we have been doing some great things and we have been trying to follow the best practices established by some of the biggest names in education today.  Besides, I want my staff to know how proud I am of all the great work they do and all that they have learned.

PBIS....another new thing to add to our plate.....But this is going to taste GOOD!!!!!

Went to a fantastic conference on School-Wide Positive Behavior Intervention Supports.  While many of the concepts and practices we have already set in practice it was another fantastic example of the need for data collection to produce the desired results and to refine the intervention that works best for each unique situation.  Still, while we may have been on the right track with many of our efforts, there was still so much to learn and the variations on some of our practices will help to make our program so much more effective. The universal language will also help to provide consistent verbal cues, and a more positive theme to our approach with handling students that exhibit behaviors outside the norm.  

The true "sign" that this was the right philosophy and time for us to begin the PBIS journey, was that we were told to take a year to collect data and to plan out our phase in of PBIS.  Since we had already created a 4 year plan to begin our full implementation of our RTI plan, and RTI for Behavior concerns was to begin in the 2011-2012, the timing was perfect.

As I sat and listened to the various speakers, I grew more enthusiastic to begin using PBIS.  Once again I was told to slow down and prepare.  It won't be easy but I am actually looking forward to collecting data and planning things slowly as we build our program.  Not easy for the guy of action and little patience.  So I will collect my data, slow down and plan with my leadership team and go out gain what other insight and knowledge I can this year.  It's going to be great!!!!

Summer Vacation 2010: a summer of change

It has  been a while since I have checked in and I will try to renew my vigor to be a  better blogger.  It has been a crazy summer, mostly in the sense of all the changes taking place in my personal life (a few changes in my education life as well).  We were able to take our annual Whitford Family Trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, but that was truly the only vacationny thing about this summer.

My wife was finally able to finish her Master's in Ed Administration program this past year and has gotten a job in my area (actually in my same school district).  Unfortunately she hasn't had the chance yet to utilize her new degree and I know she is itching to take a shot at a leadership position.  The best news is this new job in my school district is allowing my family to be together again.  The two years apart went by quickly but I can tell it was a tough seperation (especially for my two youngest kids) and it is great to all be under one roof again.  We spent a great deal of June packing up our old house and either putting things in storage or moving them up to our apartment in my Mom's basement (our old house cannot sell soon enough as this 41 year old is tired of living with his mother again). The next big change is sending my oldest off to college this fall.  While it is exciting (especially for him) it is also a little scary and is making realize how quickly life is moving by.  He was just 6 years old when I married his mother and I had a blast watching him grow up, but wasn't he just playing youth football a couple of years ago?  Wow!  Time sure flies......

The next big change for me was being asked to become the District Gifted/Talented Coordinator.  I was asked in a very complimentary way and was hard pressed to deny the position and the small raise that came with it (especially facing the big pay cut my wife took when she elected to resign from her previous district to join me here).  My only setback is that my experience with GT programs is limited by the fact that none of my previous district's had a program either.  I Love when states mandate that you have a program for these students but they in no way help fund this mandate.  Not only that but they don't really care if you have Gifted or Talented students because they only want to know how many are below the standards they set as proficient.  So it has been a summer of reading for me and I am facing a Fall full  of workshops as I bring myself up to speed on what is best (and more than likely what is feasible) in GT Education.  I will try to check in with you soon as I begin to do all of those fun things administrators do in the month of August!!!

Trying to Gain Insight

I have been doing some additional reading over the past month.  After having a staff meeting where I felt myself becoming upset with what felt like a lack of motivation from my staff to take on a little professional development in the form of a book read, I decided maybe I needed to brush up on controlling my emotions when dealing with setbacks.  I may have been judging myself harshly as I had no one tell me they noticed it or that they felt pressured but still I knew how I was feeling and it was time to do something about that.  After all, my wife is often telling me that I am a little too passionate about my job.  So I did a little research online and found a book that looked like a good resource for me and my problem.  When I went to the website, the company also had a quick quiz you could take to see how you rated yourself in certain leadership situations.  It opened my eyes to some things and made me be a little more reflective than I planned to that day.

The first book I found was called "Crucial Conversations" and after only a couple of chapters it has already given me some sage advice.  It has also provided me with strategies that I have already begun to implement with my staff.  I also ordered a set of Audio CD's of the book "Influencer."  Again loaded with some very good advice on how to use proven strategies to influence people to change habits and beliefs.  Don't by the books if you are looking for a step by step procedure for making everyone agree with you, or if you think it is written just for principals.  These were written with business leaders in mind for the most part, but the research and methods shared within are valuable to all, even parents.  What you have to remember is to take the concept and figure it if and how it could work for you.  They will also help you to believe that almost any challenge can be addressed and overcome if you just look for the right strategies to apply.

I decided to implement one of the strategies pretty promptly.  The idea was called motivational interviewing.  After thinking about it a little I considered it a chance for me to improve myself and address some building concerns.  Of course the idea is that by letting staff have a chance to air concerns, share what is working, discuss progress, where additional training or support may help and share areas for my improvement, then I have a better chance to gain insight into my staff's thoughts, views and perceptions.  I think I will also try to tabulate the results of the interviews and then share them with the whole staff.  Some may be surprised how the majority of staff responded.                                                            

The state test is finally over and now we are starting our first report cards.  While it had a few technological kinks along the way, the new report card system is going to be a fantastic addition to our elementary program and I have to give the credit to the teachers that worked so hard to come up with a unified system of how things should be reported. A common and more unified grading scale, similar templates.  It's just so much better it is hard to even compare.  Veterans Day is coming up, followed by Thanksgiving and then a quick run to Christmas (or Winter Break if you are looking for the PC term).  Time is flying by!

State testing and traditions.....hmmmm?

Wasted a bunch of time (and paper) today printing off practice tests so that students could prepare for the high stakes (but practically worthless) WKCE exam.  A test that sets the bar so low that if a student is identified as proficient you may still have to be concerned that your child could fail classes and not score well enough on the ACT or SAT to get into college.

There is talk that Wisconsin will finally create a new state test.  Hopefully a computerized test that will return results to schools within a couple of weeks.  A test that stays consistent so you can see student growth and compare apples to apples.  Of course there are those folks that also would like to keep the test the same.  They want the test to stay focused on a state approved curriculum.  What the heck for?  What is so special about Badgers, Lead mining, Governor Dodge, Dolly Madison and all of the other local garbage that we need to test to see if our students learned it.  And why does it need to be tested?  does it make you ready for a job in Wisconsin?  You need skills to be ready for a job in the 21st century, not localized facts about the history of a quirky state....and yes, I am from this quirky state.  Some folks just have trouble letting go of tradition I guess.

September Down, lots done.....Lots to Go!

Wow! The first month of school blew by quickly. It is October already and while it seems to have gone quickly it is hard to believe all that we have accomplished as well. MAP Testing is over and we have finished our first attempt at AIMSweb benchmarking. Looking forward to the additional data on student achievement. I am hopeful that this will help us greatly in the implementation of our RTI model. Compass Learning is up and running and it looks like it will be a great tool for the students and reinforces the importance of our MAP testing. We invested in the online version of the Everyday Math games suite. Unfortunately all of this added technology has slightly slowed our network and completely overrun our IT director.

The new schedule we created has had some bonuses (collaborative planning time) but it has some setbacks as well (the Sp Ed teachers and aides seem stretched). We have our new report cards almost all ready to go and they look so much better than what we used to have going parents may just go into shock over the change. Why they will be implemented this year, we will have to wait until next year to try to switch to a Trimester reporting calendar. The Trimester will line up much better with our MAP Testing periods. This way teachers will be able to report on student progress with the help of our MAP data, AIMSweb benchmarking, and curricular coursework.

I have found a few new books to read for personal improvement, but I would recommend them to almost any leader. As a matter of fact I would even encourage teachers to read the book Mindset by Carol Dweck. The other two are Crucial Conversations and Influencer. Another audiobook I have enjoyed and benefitted from is "The Big Moo" which was written by about 30 authors and is getting at making whatever you do remarkable. Check em out!

Back in the Office

Ahhhh August! Well vacation is over and I am back in the office now. Title Budgets to work on and ARRA funds to play with (really wish I was able to decide what to do with them) and a few other odds and ends to get ready for the start of school.

I have my team of teachers ready to take to the PLC's at Work conference down in Lincolnshire. I am looking for great conversations and some serious planning for our substantial collaborative planning time that we will have this year. I am hoping that we will come back with a mission to work on common formative assessments and how we can use our current assessments to improve learning and instruction.

On a down note, I lost a great staff member today. While she was new, she had a great energy, fantastic attitude, reflective, and fearless to try new things. She was a go getter, as my high school coaches used to say, and I will miss her positive attitude as well as her support. Still, I wish her luck in her new job in Florida and want her to kow she will be missed.