You ARE Qualified!

At times, teaching can feel like an endurance race more than a job. Research says there are two teacher traits which can measure the effectiveness of a teacher. They have nothing to do with years of experience, or how many degrees a person holds.

These two traits? Teacher Self-Efficacy, and the intrinsic Belief Students can learn.

Teacher self-efficacy has to do with capacity. Are you qualified to do your job? Well, you wouldn’t have been hired if you didn’t have the skills. You were hired because of the skills you have, and your philosophy on education. You are capable, you just need to make sure you express the confidence which goes along with capability.

You may have been asked the following question in your interview: ‘Do you believe all students can learn?’. You are in your position because you answered yes, and because the person who hired you thought you meant it. To say that all students can learn is one thing, but meaning it is completely different. When you have a strong belief in something, it often helps you in an adverse situation. Consider  the Little Engine Who Could… “I think I can, I think I can…” There are going to be students who challenge your beliefs. Unfortunately, there are also going to be other adults in your building who are going to challenge them too some will be outright adamant this just isn’t true. Don’t let them change your thinking. Kids will know when you give up on them.

So the next time you are confronted by a parent questioning your credentials, or a student asking how old you are, remember this: YOU ARE QUALIFIED! You have the skills needed to get the job done, and you have a plan to do it! You believe in yourself, and most importantly, you believe those students you work alongside on a daily basis can too.

Learn More About These Teacher Traits And What John Hattie Has to Say About Them

New Job, New Vocabulary

Sometimes I use this blog to reflect upon things I’ve learned about. One of the best ways I process information, especially information new to me is by summarizing what I’ve learned. This is why at the bottom of this document, you will see links to resources I used to write this.

One of the things I like about my new position is the feeling I have about being part of something innovative. I was lucky enough to move my stuff into my office the day before I officially started. People all around were in the process of transitioning. Some were transitioning to retirement, others were transitioning to a new position outside the department or building; and then there were those like me who were transitioning to a new position within this organization. There were boxes everywhere along with pieces of furniture in the process of being transported from one space to another. That afternoon, I got my space set up to be functional, and then wrapped things up for the day.

Walking in the following Monday morning, I felt as if I was in a completely new environment from the one I walked out of the Thursday before. Furniture was arranged in a collaborative fashion and the space was minimally, but tastefully decorated. What stood out to me the most, though was a sign on a small conference room which read “Scrum Room”. Scrum room? That sounded like a locker room for a rugby team. I didn’t think much else about it as I had a full schedule of activities for my first official day.

The next day, however, the word “Scrum” would have a whole new meaning. Our director had pushed out a series of Lynda.com videos. The first one was entitled: “Agile at Work: Building Your Agile Team”. There were also two other videos regarding the Agile framework we were asked to watch in preparation for a departmental retreat the following week. According to the videos and some side research I performed, Agile is a framework with roots in the software industry, developed for the purpose of streamlining the software development process to expedite the delivery process of a high quality product to the customer. The Agile philosophy, however, is not necessarily exclusive to the software industry.  The terms collaboration, self organization, and accountability are noted as best practices of those practicing Agile. Scrum and Scrum Master were brought up regularly in the introduction and discussion of this framework.

Scrum is basically a process which insures the most valuable components of a project get completed in a reasonable amount of time. Scrum also employs the best practices of Agile to assist in the completion of these projects. From a leadership perspective, the facilitator of this process, or the Scrum Master may serve as an administrator, coach or trainer. Most importantly, the Scrum Master works to facilitate the process by pulling together the right people needed to complete the project; and then eliminates any obstacles or distractions in the way of completing the task at hand.

What makes me excited about this whole process is when I research them they are not synonymous with the field of education; which makes this innovative and exciting all at once. What’s exciting to me is that I get to be part of it!!! Interestingly enough, I have found a correlation to the Scrum process in a change model I’m getting ready to share with students this week known as the ADKAR model.  ADKAR is basically an acronym facilitating the change process:

• AWARENESS for change
• DESIRE to support change
• KNOWLEDGE of how and what to change
• ABILITY to implement the change on a daily basis, and
• REINFORCEMENT to keep the change in place.

Through this model, Scrum are part of the Action and Reinforcement stages. This is exciting to me because so often there are many obstacles which exist in the field of education. The leadership in this department has a strong desire to make a sustainable change, has the ability to implement those changes and the tools needed to keep that change in place, and I can’t wait to see how all of this unfolds!

Links to Resources:

• “Agile at Work: Building Your Agile Team”
• What is Agile? What is Scrum? The Everything You Need to Know Guide.
• Agile Frameworks: Scrum, Kanban, and Extreme Programming
• Change Approach Characterization Model
• Change Management – Description of ADKAR.
• Using a Change Model Like ADKAR

In A Few Days, I Will Be A Former School Administrator…

In just a few days, I’ll be moving into my new office, and my new position. I’ll no longer be able to call myself an administrator. I may have to change my blog to “The Left-Handed Educator”.

Now I think of it, that’s what my blog should have been called all along. I am an educator. In fact, any school administrator who doesn’t consider themselves to be an educator first and foremost needs to find another job immediately.

I’ll be honest…there was a time when I foolishly considered myself to be a school administrator first and an educator second. While I may have been really good at completing paperwork or handling discipline, I certainly wasn’t good at making an impact in the lives of students or teachers.

In no particular order, here are my thoughts on what it takes to be an effective school administrator:

• Never Forget Where You Came From – As stated above, I was more effective in my position when I remembered why I got into the field of education in the first place. I would be lying if I said, “I want to be a principal when I grow up!” No. I wanted to teach. I wanted to help students grow. The best part of being a school administrator is not necessarily helping students grow; but instead making sure the supports are in place to help students grow. The teachers in your building have a lot to say about that. Before making any decision in you building, be sure to hear the teachers out. They always have an extremely valuable point of view which must be taken into consideration. As you listen, think about what you would have thought when you were in the classroom. Do those thoughts compliment one another or contradict?
• Engage Your Families Any Way You Can – There is a lot of recent research on the importance of engaging families in schools. If you have worked in a building with an extremely supportive PTA, you would think this to be a “no brainer”. However, in schools where parent support seems to be nonexistent, stakeholders often wish more family involvement existed. For those in buildings with low family involvement, my advice is to find out exactly what will engage parents. There is something which will interest them; though it may not be academic at first. Your job is to work to get them engaged, to get them comfortable with being in a school environment. Remember, for many of these family members, school may not have necessarily have been a positive experience on the first go-around.
• “Making Your Mark” Should Be The Farthest Thing From Your Mind – Many school administrators make the mistake of thinking they need to implement a framework or program in the building they can be remembered by. When a signature program, framework, or legacy is implemented, it is often tailored to the administrator who created it. When that individual leaves, those who are left behind are unable or unwilling to sustain it, and the students end up suffering somehow. It’s perfectly OK to want to implement a change or a new program. However, your stakeholders should own this change as much as you do.

Being a school administrator is a big responsibility. Decisions made not only have the ability to impact the working environment of teachers; decisions also impact the present and future lives of the students who come to your building to learn on a daily basis. “Kids first” is more than a catch phrase. As planning for the new school year continues, be sure to use the lenses you have acquired through your experience as an educator: student, parent, teacher, community member…even the lens of a critic can be enlightening.

For most, being a school administrator doesn’t mean you are the only person making the decisions. Even in the smallest school systems, building administrators have the talents from another building, central office, or even their personal learning network to draw from. Though school administration can be a lonely field, it doesn’t have to be.

#ObserveMe

In true form of most of my ideas, I am stealing another from a colleague of mine. This past weekend, she posted a picture of a sign she had placed on her door. It read like this:

I’d love formative feedback on three of my professional goals:

• Do I keep student learning at the forefront of conversations?
• Do I value staff and student opinions by actually listening?
• Do my actions create a collaborative culture?

The sign also included a link to an observation tool individuals could use to provide feedback.

Upending some research, the idea comes from Robert Kaplinsky and he got the idea from a Tweet he came across.

To say the least, I AM ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE WITH THIS IDEA, AND WILL BE USING IT IMMEDIATELY! I’ve always found it very interesting we as administrators are so focused on giving feedback that we often forget to seek out feedback for our own growth. Consider a building principal who gets the majority of feedback from a superior who they see on a very infrequent basis.

If you want to participate, visit Kaplinsky’s website (Link Above) and post a sign outside your door. It’s an easy way to gain peer feedback and reflect on your practice!

Quick Share

Looking at articles pertaining to supporting new teachers, I found these today:

Motivated vs. Lazy – Re-Engaging Teachers in Their Profession – I liked her blog so much I followed it.

10 Things I Wish Teachers Knew – Another good BLOG – 4 O’Clock Faculty! 

VIDEO: Stephen Sondheim Talks Oscar Hammerstein and the Importance of Teachers in New Interview – Perhaps to show teachers at a faculty meeting?

Mentors for New Teachers Found to Boost Student Achievement—by a Lot – Like we don’t already know this, but some good research here! Also good to share with mentor teachers!

Looking For a New Hashtag?

I’ve always said the new year doesn’t begin on January 1. It begins when teachers come back to school. It’s the best time of year to start something new, as you are getting used to a new schedule, a new building, a new position.

For educators, summer is a time of renewal. It can also be an opportunity to try something new in preparation for turning over a new leaf come fall. If you are looking for some direction, look to your personal learning network. If you don’t have one, now is a good time to begin establishing one. A personal learning network should inspire and support you.

Don’t know where to start? Try Twitter or Instagram. Here are some hashtags to get you started:

#teaching – Whether on Twitter or Instagram, this time of year the posts are heavy in pictures. With summer upon most of us, the posts are inspirational in that they celebrate the end to the year, promote wellness, or feature lessons learning during summer professional learning workshops.

#instructionaldesign – Much more activity on Twitter – Much of the focus is on student engagement, one of the well-deserved buzzwords going around right now.

#teacherlife – I LOVE this hashtag. On Instagram right now, teachers are posting pictures of their summer selves, or pictures of concepts they are excited to try next year. On Twitter, the posts are entertaining to say the least!

The hashtags (and the possibilities) are endless. Search one. Search many! Just be sure to share what you learn with others!