Shifting the Voice: A focus on celebration in staff meetings.

While studying Current Issues in American Education with Dr. Vaughn at the University of Oklahoma, I was exposed to the concepts of Classroom Meetings and the idea of Student Voice.  The concept of Student Voice is nothing new to those in education, but the idea of making sure students have a voice combined with Classroom Meetings where students can discuss how they are feeling about certain life issues prior to getting into the educational lesson (Dabbs, 2013) at hand is a natural compliment.  

I live and work in Oklahoma City where most of the students struggle not only with school, but also with hunger, adequate clothing, and parental supervision (Felder, 2015).  It makes sense that students who are struggling with very complex issues at home might need to process these events in a safe environment prior to getting down to the educational business at hand.  

According to Bandura’s social learning theory, children learn from interaction, modeling, and imitation (Cherry).   While studying all this, I also came across a Tweet linking to an article from Edutpoia where writer Scott Taylor discusses the importance of face to face meetings with teachers in our technology obsessed lives (2013).  However, as an administrator, I wanted to look at how to apply all this information to teachers.  A school’s culture is important to students’ learning, and according to Dr. Kent Peterson, staff development:  "It affects attitudes toward spending time to improve instruction, motivation to attend workshops, and the [activities] people choose to participate in” (2015).  

Thus, I am changing up our typical staff meetings this year.  Normally, the administrators come in, share information each Monday afternoon, we end quickly, so as not to waste any of our teachers’ time, and that is that.  That is the old way.  This year we are going to focus on celebration, face to face discussions, teachers having a voice in staff meetings, and affirmation of individual teachers.  This will be our agenda:

Welcome (2 minutes)

2 celebrations and 1 concern (10 minutes)

Staff share out (3 minutes)

Administrators get 5 minutes each to share vital information (15 minutes)

Close with 3X5 cards of affirmation for a teacher

The process will consist of me putting two 3X5 cards in our teachers mailboxes each Monday.  One will be for the 2 celebrations and 1 concern.  The teachers will fill this out prior to our staff meeting.  They will share these celebrations first around their tables and then their concerns.  If a concern has been overcome since the last meeting, a check mark will be placed next to it.  Thus, these concerns will be shared first.  Those concerns that have not been overcome, will be shared, so that those veteran teachers can share some possible solutions with the teachers who have not been able to overcome their concerns the past week.  (I would expect these conversations to continue after the staff meeting ends since 10 minutes is not enough time to fully flesh out all the ends and outs of possible concerns.)  Once the tables have shared, we will have a quick full staff share out with two celebrations and one concern.  

The second 3X5 card will be for each staff member to write a positive statement about the randomly chosen teacher (to be shared in an email and asked to be kept secret until the end of the staff meeting).  These 3X5 cards will be left with the identified teacher as they leave the staff meeting.  These cards will be available for the teacher to reread as tough and tiring days come.   During the second semester, we will also include the secretaries, custodian, and maintenance staff in the celebration cards.  

At the end of the meeting, the 2 celebrations and 1 concern cards will be left on the tables to be collected by the administrators.  This would give us a way to see the individual successes and the concerns that had been conquered and those that hadn’t. The concerns that had not been conquered would be a focus for the principal and assist principal to visit during the week to see how to assist in these concerns.  My goal in this is to allow the teachers a time to voice their victories and defeats weekly, be affirmed, and celebrate the week’s victories.  

References: 

Cherry, K. Social Learning Theory: How people learn by observation. About Education; Retrieved from 

http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htm

Dabbs, L. (2013). The Power of the Morning Meeting: 5 Steps Toward Changing Your Classroom and School Culture. Edutopia; Retrieved from 

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/morning-meeting-changing-classroom-culture-lisa-dabbs

Felder, B. (2015). Student Poverty Challenges More than Schools. Oklahoma Gazette; Retrieved from 

http://okgazette.com/2015/01/21/student-poverty-rate-puts-burden-beyond-schools/ 

McLeod, S. (2007). Lev Vygotsky. Simply Psychology; Retrieved from 

http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html

Peterson, K. (2015). Is Your School’s Culture Toxic or Positive? Education World; Retrieved from

http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin275.shtml

Taylor, S.  (2013). Four Suggestions to Help You Lead by Relationships and Realize Your Vision. Edutopia;  Retrieved from

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/leading-by-relationships-scott-taylor 

Calming the crazy…

I realize I am blessed. I have a great job. I work at an excellent school. I have an outstanding family, and I have amazing friends. Who could ask for anything more?

Anyone else singing that last part? 

Anyway, it seems I have a penchant for honing in on the negative. I let one bad teacher make me feel as if no one teacher is giving enough. However, in reality, my school is full of ROCKSTAR teachers. I let one irritating administrator get under my skin, and I start feeling like I hate my job. However, I have so many amazing administrator friends who are out of this world EXCELLENT at what they do. 

So, I find myself asking, “Why focus on the negative?”

So, why do we let the bad occupy our focus?

 (I say we, but it may just be me.) 

I’ve heard many people say that exercise helps release stress; however, I’m so mentally exhausted when I get home, I have become a couch potato. It doesn’t help that I hate the cold, so I’m not motivated to get out of my house when the weather is yucky.

I’ve heard that drinking can relieve stress; however, I would much rather eat chocolate than drink alcohol. Neither will help me lose those 15 extra pounds I carry around. 

Nonetheless, here are some ways I try and deal with the crazy and try and stay sane.

No, I haven’t conquered sanity yet, but I’m working on it…

1. I have GENTLE written on my mirror, so when I get ready every morning, I remember to be gentle with others. 

(Sometimes I forget my focus word in the middle of the insanity at work.)

2. I try to remember the blessings in my life.

3. I try to take a moment to think through what I am about to say…do I really want those words spoken outloud? How would I feel if someone said those words to me?

4. I listen to music. I’m blessed to have a string orchestra outside my office that soothes my soul. Sometimes I sing when no one can hear me.

5. I share my irritation with those who understand I just need to talk it out. 

This I think I do too often. No one wants to be a complainer or be around a complainer. 

6. I Pinterest quotes that are uplifting.

7. I read those quotes I pinned…sometimes several times.

8. I laugh as much as possible. Laughter and chocolate make everything better! 

9. Chocolate!

10.  Did I mention chocolate??

Top 5 From My First Year

     I started my blog with a post on being a first year assistant principal.  Now that I have completed a year in administration, I thought I would reflect on the top five things I (re)learned.

1.      Teachers are amazing.  
• I knew this, but I saw it in a more broad spectrum this past year.  Teachers are an amazing group of hard-working adults who battle daily to increase student learning and achievement in order to give them opportunities to better their lives.
2.      Who you work with matters!
• I have the honor of working with the best admin team and group of teachers around.  If I didn't work with such outstanding people, it would be rough to get through some days. 
3.      Working in public education is exhilarating!
•  There is little in life more rewarding than working in public education.  What you do daily makes a difference in children's lives.  
4.      PLCs are a great way to ensure all students are learning at the same high levels.
•  Figuring out how to have productive PLCs can feel like you're making lasagna blindfolded.  Nonetheless, once your PLC is making -
• Common Formative Assessments
• Looking at the data from those CFAs
• Using the data to:
• identify and share best teaching strategies
• reteach standards not learned by most
• identify the few students for remediation who didn't master a standard most did
•  identify those students who mastered standards most didn't for enrichment  

• - student knowledge acquisition will increase, and all teachers will improve in their pedagogy which will only make your site a better place to work and this collaboration will increase the climate in your building.  

       5.       Staying positive and encouraging is essential.

• Whether I'm talking with teachers or students, it is important to motivate them in an uplifting manner.  Too often we can get down on ourselves, and everyone needs to know they are doing a great job, they can do a great job, or I believe they can make better choices to start doing great (for those students who are in my office due to discipline issues.)

As I start my second year, I plan to be intentional by being authentic with people, communicating as much as possible, and choosing daily to have an excellent attitude as I deal with others.

Here's to another fantastic year in education for all!  Let's knock it out of the park!

Thank You

   Education.  What a calling.  I don't know about you, but as we enter the last month of school, I'm exhausted.  After working to teach all we can to our students, encouraging them at every step, analyzing data, remediating, working Saturday school, planning, preparing, differentiating, scaffolding, tiering...summer can't get here soon enough.
    I wonder if all those who think teachers shouldn't get paid more because they only work 9 months of the year would feel a little differently if they walked a year in our shoes.  How many students did you have to cajole to squeeze out the most work from them possible?  How many phone calls to parents, asking them to support your efforts in the classroom at home, did you make?  How many hours did you poor over lesson plans to engage your students, so they would be more interested in what you needed them to learn?  How much of your sweat, blood, and tears have you poured into this year's students and their success?
     All I know is the longer I'm in education, the more I love it.  It becomes a larger part of me and what occupies my mind.  Nonetheless, I'm worn out.  I feel like a limp noodle.  I'm looking left and right and seeing sick teacher after sick teacher: all those whose EOIs have been taken, so they know their body can finally give in to the germs attacking them for the last month.  All this hard work, investing in students, preparing the best we know how takes a toll on our bodies, minds, and souls.
     I say all this, so you know I know how you feel.  I also say all this, so you know I mean it when I say THANK YOU!  Thank you to all the teachers out there who give their all.  Thank you to all the administrators who work tirelessly to support the instruction in the classroom.  Thank you to all the parents who support the teachers and their work with your child.  Thank you to all the students who know how important education is, and even though they are small children up through teens, they come to school and do what they must even when they don't want to.
     Even though education is a hard field to hoe, and sometimes we feel attacked from all sides, education in America is still the best educational opportunity in the world.  We teach every student.  We teach at high levels, We teach in all circumstances.  We teach because we are called.  We teach because we love learning.  We teach because our heart and soul is dedicated to the improvement of every child's life we touch.
     Again, I say THANK YOU!  I am blessed to belong to such an amazing profession and to work alongside admirable professionals.

Speak Life

     I was challenged at the beginning of this year to choose a word, a phrase, or a sentence to guide and motivate me during the 2014 year.  I chose "Speak Life" from a song I heard by Toby Mac.  The basic idea was to use my words to bring about a positive experience when I speak to people.
     As I start my day, I remind myself that I want to build others up.  I want to encourage people; I want people to feel good about themselves and what they are doing.  However, there are times in my job that I must hold people accountable for missing expectations.  So, how do I share that someone has missed the mark while still building them up?  This has been a struggle for me since I always want to believe the best of everyone.  I want to give people another chance to prove they had a bad day and the error isn't normal for them.  Nonetheless, I still have to hand out consequences for the behavior whether they had a bad day or not.
     How do I reconcile these conflicting desires?  I do my best to be consistent.  I try to be upbeat and positive every chance I get.  I make a point to say hello or good morning to everyone I see.  I make a point to stop and give my full attention to people I am talking to even when I have two places to be and 12 things to do at that exact moment.  I make a point to not complain to others.  I know everyone is busy, everyone feels overwhelmed, and everyone has their own personal issues to deal with, so what does it help those I interact with to complain?  It doesn't, so I don't.  I make a point to offer assistance where ever I can, even if it's not really my responsibility.  I believe these conscience efforts help me to project a positive persona, so that when I must hand out consequences, I hope people understand I am doing what must be done in response to their behavior and choices.
     In addition to building up others, when I do have to apply consequences to actions, I treat the person as I did previous to the conversation about choices and the outcome of that discussion.  I continue to speak in a positive manner; I continue to greet people with a smile and courteous discourse; I continue to offer assistance when ever and where ever possible.  I know they are not the only ones who have had a bad day, said something or acted in a way they shouldn't.  If we were all treated in a manner consistent with our worse day, what an awful place that would be for everyone.
     Speak life into others.  Make a choice to build people up instead of tearing them down.  Does that mean I like everyone - no.  I'm human.  However, I try very hard for all those I interact with to believe they are my favorite.  I will have succeeded in my goal when everyone I work with feels that way.   What does it hurt to make people feel good?  What does it hurt to choose to express yourself in a positive way instead of a negative one?  I think it doesn't hurt; I think it heals.

Taking Ownership

     Recently, I spoke with one of my teachers about lessening his lecture and increasing student collaboration in the classroom.  This very successful teacher told me he never did group work in the first semester because he didn't feel students would focus on the task at hand.
     About two months after this conversation, I happen to be presenting a PD on best teaching practices. The PD was mostly group orientated while I spoke only to set up what the groups needed to discuss and eventually share out.  Later that day, I heard the teacher sharing with others in his subject area how he enjoyed the PD because there was so little lecture, and he was able to share and hear others' thoughts on the topics at hand.
     These same subject area teachers are tasked with getting outside the "typical" teaching box in Saturday school when they identify students by specific standards to come to a four hour tutoring session.  These students are those who didn't master the standard(s) from the previous unit.  We have discussed how the "typical" classroom teaching didn't work for them, so how do we get them involved in learning in another way.  We use video excerpts to engage students in the standard, and then lead them into a text with the same standard.  We use authentic assignments to engage students such as asking them to evaluate the logical errors or appeals used in commercials to convince people to buy things.  From there, we move into a text where we have students use the same ideas they discussed in commercials to evaluate the argument written in the text.
     However, my question is why do we save these more engaging lessons for Saturday school?  Why don't we teach like this all the time?  Why are teachers doing most of the work by finding texts, lecturing about the standard to be identified within the text, and then asking students to show what they know in some assessment?  Why are the students not choosing a text, why are the students not identifying the standard within the text, and why are the students not writing higher level DoK questions for their peers to identify within the text they chose or presenting their findings to the class?

     As we move closer to our testing window, we need our students to take ownership of their learning.  One big way we can get them to do so, is to turn it over to them.  This is a scary proposition for many teachers.  We often feel students don't want to know anything; however, how many students really just sit there and do nothing?  How many, if given the choice to decide what they read might become more engaged in their learning?  How many might be able to identify the standard(s) within a text of their choice?  How many might be willing to debate and support their arguments if they were more interested in what they were studying?  Why do we fear allowing students more ownership over their learning, when by contrast, we - just like my teacher - prefer to be a part of a discussion rather then be lectured to.

Eat, Talk, Learn - My Favs!

     So...I'm sure your school is as busy as mine.  The teachers work hard, the administration team works hard, and the students work hard.  With all the time consuming hard work, where do we find time for new teachers, career teachers, and those in-betweens to gather to share best practices and support each other?
     For our school, we instituted a Lunch & Learn for our teachers.  They meet the last Thursday of every month during their lunch hour.  (We have 3 lunch times, so we have 3 separate meetings each day.)  During this time, a teacher will facilitate a conversation focusing on problem solving, best practices, or plans for the following year.  Each teacher facilitating the meeting started out by saying this is a time to share and ask questions.  This is not a time to gripe; do not come here planning to do so.  The point of Lunch & Learn is to come and have an open discussion about problems, concerns, strategies, and / or classroom successes.
     Our Lunch & Learn has focused on how to meet the needs of traveling teachers (we have 26), how to start off they year by directing student focus, best practices in classroom management, how to engage students, and how best to use blogs for students.  This is one way we were able to meet our teachers needs for mentors for new teachers, updated strategies for career teachers, the opportunity to share successful classroom experiences for all teachers, and the avenue for teachers to ask for help / support when struggling with an issue.  It has been a great success.

     Having just come back from EdCampOKC 2014, I realize Lunch & Learn is a micro type EdCamp process.  Our teachers are taking control of mimi PDs developed in that individual lunch meeting to meet the needs of the teachers who are present.  What a wonderful way to continue the process of EdCamp and organic PD.