Author Archive

Week 27: Little Things and School Culture #savmp

When I first began as principal, I wanted to build a culture that was focused always on the notion of “what is best for kids”.  If we always started with this question, we would make better decisions for our students.

As I wanted the school to be extremely focused on our kids, I noticed that when you walked into the front foyer, they had the pictures of all the former principals at the school, and soon my picture would be added to the wall.  I hated it.

If we were to be a school that focused on kids, why was the first thing that you saw when you walked into the school the principal, past and present.  I decided that all of the pictures were to be taken down and replaced by pictures of current students in the building doing different activities.  The change was massive!  As my office was right by the front office, I noticed kids, parents, and staff all staring up at the wall, mesmerized by the pictures.  We also put a TV up in front and head just a running slide show of students so we could get as many of our students shared in the front hallway.  That little change and focus on them, set a tone for so many other aspects of what happened in school with students.

Sometimes we do not notice the little things in our school that are just “fixtures” on the wall but promote a very different culture of what we are trying to create.  This was one of the reasons that we started this program in the first place.  The idea that you could talk to someone outside of your own organization to get some different ideas and perspective on how to build a more positive culture in your leadership.

What are some of the little things that you could do or have done, to promote a more positive culture for students?

Thanks to one of my favourite principals in the world, Shauna Boyce, for inspiring this question with her recent blog post on “School Culture“.

Week 26: What makes a great teammate? #savmp

Leaders should never work in isolation and the best one’s often create teams that will ensure they are doing what is best for kids.  In a previous article I posted on my own blog, I share some of the attributes that I look for in a great Assistant Principal.  I would like to challenge you to think and share what you look for in a “leadership partner”?  See the article below.

 

——————————————————————-


cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Big Mind Zen Center

A good friend of mine has just become an Assistant Principal (Vice Principal), which was probably one of the best jobs that I have ever had.  Often you get to help guide the direction of the school but you still have many opportunities to be in the classroom and connect with kids, more so than a principal.  That being said, I believe that a principal can still connect with kids in many ways, but in my experience, they have a lot more meetings and have to be out of school a lot more.

I have been blessed to have worked with an amazing principal who had taught me a lot and even though we would argue (a lot), it was always about figuring out what was best for the school.  To be honest, he encouraged the push-back because he cared more about “what was right” as opposed to “being right”.  My two years with him was probably one of the best learning experiences that I have ever had and I still connect with him all of the time when I need help because he always focuses on what is best for kids.

On the other side of the coin, as a school principal, I was blessed to work with amazing vice principals who pushed me to be better.  They challenged me to be better, but they were also sponges.  They were always open to learn and develop; not only from what I would share to them, but from the experiences that they had with staff, students, and parents.  I expect (these are non-negotiables) that administrators focus on building relationships with the entire school community, are approachable, are change agents, and ALWAYS have the idea of “what is best for kids” driving their decision-making.  My “administrative team” colleagues have had these qualities in spades.

Thinking about the work that I have seen from many staff in Parkland School Division, here are some of the other qualities that I noticed the most successful ones have all had:

1. Self-starters – There is often a misperception that a principal should be delegating tasks to the leadership team and I guess sometimes this does happen.  With that being said, I rarely had to ever ask my leadership team to do anything because they were already jumping on every opportunity to do different things for our school.  One of my proudest days as a principal was when our school started “Identity Day“, not only because it was such a great day for our school community, but this was an idea that was started and lead by my assistant principal.  Not only did she come up with the idea, but she worked with every single grade to ensure that the day was a success.  Being able to be actively lead initiatives and work alongside teachers gave them instant credibility.

They did not only do the “fun” jobs, but my assistant principals jumped up to take on some of the boring stuff to ensure that we would all work together to better their school.  Did they love doing that work?  Probably not.  But they knew what my strengths and weaknesses were and we would do things that would compliment one another as opposed to say “that is a job for the principal”

2. Determined to work towards success. – I have always been adverse to say things such as, “I am okay with failure”, because of the people that I have been blessed to work with.  I think of Jesse McLean and “Innovation Week“.  When he shared his thoughts with me about the week he was determined to make it a success, yet I know there were a lot of challenges that he, his admin team, and his school worked through to make the day a success.  When I think of “failure”, I think of it as a step towards success, as opposed to something that determines success.  Things may not be perfect, but I know that some of the people I look up to work extremely hard to make whatever they do the best possible.  Failure is not finite, but a bump along the way.

3. Always takes ownership when things go wrong, but always gives credit when things go right. – When I think about “Innovation Week” and “Identity Day“, what was humbling was that the people that lead these initiatives gave ALL of the credit to others even though they were the catalysts for the ideas.  They repeatedly acknowledge the hard work of the staff and said nothing of their part.  On the other hand though, if things would have failed or there would have been trouble, they would have owned that and not blamed others.  What that shows me over and over again, is that they are more worried about what is best for kids and the well-being of staff.  They carried a lot of weight on their shoulders yet they gave credit so much to others.  Not that it wasn’t deserving (because it absolutely was), but their focus was on the team and not themselves.  Still, they knew they had to do their part to make sure it was a success.

4. They will challenge authority.– I will never forget my interview to become an Assistant Principal with my soon-to-be boss.  We actually got in an argument during the interview and I thought that I would have no chance to get the job.  A few days later, he called and offered me the job.  What he had told me was that he did not want me to say “yes” to everything that he had said, but to push against him when I disagreed.  He did not want to go in front of the staff and say something that was ridiculous while I just simply watched him and disagreed in my head.  Again, he focused on what was right, not being right.  This did not mean that he agreed with everything that I said when I did challenge him, but he always tweaked his ideas based on my feedback.

When I hired my AP, this was a quality I knew that she had because she had pushed me as a teacher when I was an administrator.  I knew she was always focused on what was best and I learned so much from her challenges that I thought there would be no better hire.  If you are looking for someone to just agree with everything you say as an administrator, then you are better off hiring no one.

I was spoiled as both a Principal and Assistant Principal to work with amazing people that helped me to be successful.  I learned a ton from them and they were people that were extremely talented, trusting, yet were sponges; they always wanted to learn and grow.  With those that I have worked with, they have taught me that these qualities they possessed were not only for “administrators”, but are something that you should expect from others in your organization as well.  As an administrator, you sometimes have to make some tough calls, but if you are open to working with your administrative team and build trust with your school, those decisions become easier.

As I write this, I worry that many people new to administrative teams will think that simply implementing these ideas with their “boss” will lead to success, which is not true at all.  Leaders of organization would have to be open to these things, but in my opinion, if they are, their schools will be much more successful.  The collaborative approach to school leadership (not just administrators, but whole school) is more likely to lead success for kids than would an approach based on one.  I am hoping that the “top” of organizations would think about these qualities that I have listed and think about how they create an environment to ensure that these qualities can flourish.

If you are not open to learning from others in your building as “the leader”, will you really be able to create an environment where students and staff excel?

Week 21: Online Portfolios #SAVMP

One of my hopes for this program is that educators will walk out with an online portfolio that will help them with their work moving forward.  I recently have written a blog post on the topic, which I share in full below.

 

“My prediction is that in the next ten years, resumes will be less common, and your online presence will become what your resume is today, at all types and sizes of companies.” Dan Schawbel, 2011

Having a conversation with teachers and administrators, I asked how many of them still had “paper portfolios”. Surprisingly, it was over half of the room, and many of them had developed it in university, updating it only when job opportunities arose.  I remember actually having a paper portfolio and applying for jobs, and hating the process of dusting off a binder, adding a ton of great information into it, only to walk into an interview and have the person hiring not even look at it.  It was extremely frustrating as I had put a lot of work into it, only to have it ignored, and I never really understood why.

And then I became a principal.

When I would look at applicants for interviews and have a limited amount of time to talk with them and interact, the thought of flipping through a binder with them sitting in the room in front of me, seemed a little ludicrous.  I wanted to spend as much time getting to know them as possible.  At the end of the interview, sometimes they would offer to leave the portfolio with me to peruse at my leisure and they would either come back to pick it up or I would have to mail it (does anyone go to the post office anymore?).  I might have been the exception in my process a few years ago, but this is becoming more of the norm now, not only in education, but all aspects.  A portfolio could be great for the process of an interview, but shouldn’t the things you do help you get the interview in the first place?  Sending mass binders out to potential employers doesn’t make much sense.

I believe it is time (it has been for awhile) to ditch the paper portfolio and move it online.  Here are some reasons below.

1. The Google Factor – We talk to students a lot about developing their digital footprint, yet how often do we help them build this footprint in schools?  A digital portfolio is hugely beneficial to this type of work as it helps you to create your own online presence and shares the great work that you, or your students are doing.  The nice thing about a digital portfolio is that it is also not limited to text, but can be anything that you can see or create.  If I want to be a photographer, animator, actor, athlete, or anything else, digital can help share that information and make it accessible to others.  A portfolio that is able to bring together all of these different elements into one space will make your “footprint” that much better and easier to find.

2.  Searching and Organization – My own blog is a “portfolio” of my work (if you want to see how it is set up, check out this video) that I have been working on for over four years, in a constant and continuous basis.  That is a lot of information over time, but with thoughtful “tagging” and “categorizing”, I am able to google myself and find my own work.  For example, if I want to find any time that I referenced “Daniel Pink”, I simply do a search for his name om my blog and voila!  Even using something as simple as “Command + F” (“Control + F” on Windows) can help me find a word instantly on amy page.  This is much easier than flipping through pages in a binder.

3. Anywhere, any place, any time access – If you were to have a paper portfolio and I asked to see it while you did not have it in hand, how would you get it to me?  If you ask my for my portfolio, I would simply give you the URL to my website and peruse away.  This was the nice thing about applicants that had an online portfolio to share with me.  It was accessible before, during, and after an interview and at my convenience.  In a world where there is always a shortage of time, accessibility at a time of your convenience is important.

4.  Creating opportunities instead of looking for them – In a market where jobs are scarce and a university degree guarantees nothing, the competition for positions is tough.  With a online portfolio, especially one that continuously invites people to look at it (every time I write a blog post and you read it, you are looking at my portfolio), you have the ability to have opportunities come to you, instead of the other way around.  I know many people that have simply shared the work that they have always done on their online portfolio, and then were asked to speak at conferences or consult with schools, simply because their work was visible.  Simply sharing your work is not enough to create those opportunities, but you will never know what is the one thing that you share that someone else will deem valuable to their organization and call in your expertise.

5. Continuous learning – One of the most powerful things I have found by doing an online portfolio is the growth in my own learning that I have done by sharing.  By simply knowing that other people will see what I write or share, I put a lot more thought into what I am doing.  I also find tremendous value in the comments and conversation that is started from some of the things that I share; they push my learning.  If we are to look at online portfolios as both a way to “showcase” and “learn”, they are hugely beneficial to our growth.

Although I have listed several reasons why an online portfolio is beneficial (and I am sure I could list a lot more), many educators are happy where they are in their career, and would argue that there is no need for them to have an online portfolio themselves as they will never apply for another job.  My belief is that if we are truly doing what is best for kids, we have to learn how to do it ourselves to help our students in the future.  Wayne Gretzky once said, “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.”  We need to look ahead for our kids sake.

Another question that I get is, “Well what if no one googles me?  Then I have done all of this work for nothing.”  To be honest, if you get not one single opportunity from an online portfolio and only went deep into your own learning, isn’t that still a pretty good thing?  The other suggestion I would make is that when you submit a resume, right at the top of it share the following:

“For more information, please refer to my portfolio located at…”.

This ensures that you lead people to the great work that you have already done.

In my view, there is a difference between a “digital” and “online” portfolio.  An online portfolio is usually digital, but it is not necessarily the other way around.  There are many benefits to both professionals and students to share our work in an open way.  As Chris Lehmann has said before, “it is no longer enough to do powerful work if no one sees it”.

Where can I see your powerful work?

Resources

If you are interested in some help for Online Portfolios, here are some links:

Blog as Portfolio Workshop

Blog as Portfolio (Video)

Digital Portfolio Project (Write Up)

Week 19 – Communication Essentials #SAVMP

In our world of constant updates and information, I believe we have to be thoughtful on how we communicate with parents when a “traditional” way serves best.  For example, many schools use things like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Remind101, etc., to connect with parents (I can’t believe that I forgot email) and share the story of their school.  This is great, but there are a few considerations that I stress to educators.

For example, when an incident has happened with a student, a phone call or in person conversation, is your main go to.  Never deliver bad news about someone’s child through email.  That is a standard.  The other thing that I always consider is that I always call home to a parent when their child has been in my office and talk to them while the child is in the room with me (most of the time but there are times when it needs to be a private discussion with the parent).  My assumption is that if a child went home at the end of the day and told their parents they were in the office, minds would begin to race and it could cause an issue when there is none.  It also ensures one story.  I know that as a kid, if I was in trouble and my teacher never called home, my story was WAY different than the one the teacher would have told.

Telling your story is essential and we have so many mediums to do this now, but it is important to also remember when NOT to use them.

For this week, I want you to talk about some of your communication essentials and ways that you believe are imperative that we communicate with all of these technologies available.

Week 17: Bringing Parents Into The Learning Process #SAVMP

Recently I wrote a post on my own blog regarding parents and some ideas on how to bring them into the learning process at school.  This week, I encourage you to share some of the ways that you bring parents into the classroom through your own blogs.  Here is the full text of my recent post below.

 


cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo shared by Spiro Bolos

“The role of parents in the education of their children cannot be overestimated.” ~Unknown

When you ask parents from any country in the world, what they ask their children at the end of the day about school, their question is very similar:

“What did you learn today?”

The disconcerting thing is that the answer is almost always exactly the same.

“Nothing.”

Parents are a great untapped resource in our schools, and social media gives us an opportunity to engage them in their child’s classroom in a way that we never were able to before.  The traditional modes of communication are still vital in the way we connect with parents.  I am a firm believer in the importance of calling parents to share good news and hearing a voice is the only way that bad news is delivered.  I strongly suggest that an educator never deliver any bad news about a child over email.  Although I do not have children of my own, I remember my secretary distinctly saying to me, “When you call a parent to deliver some bad news about their child, you are about to destroy their world.  Make sure that you let them know the positives and that you still care about their kid.”  That advice has always stuck with me.

With all of that being said, I think that there is a larger role that we can ask parents to play in the learning of their child.  In my view, if a parent reinforces the learning of the school, at home, the child is more likely to be successful.

Here are some ways that we can build strong connections with the parents in our school communities:

1.  Use what the kids use – Often times, when communicating home with parents, we have created special platforms or have put a lot of money in developing a website to ensure that we constantly “branding” our school.  Yet this type of communication is all surface with little depth.  If we can connect using mediums (blogs, YouTube, Twitter, etc.) that our students use, not only are we building an understanding and instructional leadership within our schools, but we are familiarizing our parents with many of the tools that their children will be using.  The first time a parent uses a blog, should not be from their child, but from adults in the school.  This shows that we are not just “throwing” kids online, but we are building our own understanding as well.

2. Have an open mind – I cannot count the number of times I have heard from teachers or administrators that “the parents will never go for this”, when talking about the changing landscape in schools.  My question is, “Have you asked them?”

I fell prey to this assumption before.  After a session with a group of parents, one of the parents had her hand raised and looked annoyed with what I had just presented.  Preparing myself for the pushback I was used to receiving, she said to me, “Why are we not moving faster?”  I couldn’t believe it and was ecstatic to know that there were many parents out there that are pushing for the same opportunities for learning that many progressive educators are pushing for.

You may not have all parents excited about the changes that are happening in school, but they are out there.  You have to find them which leads into the next point.

3.  Tap into parent leadership – One thing that we have to realize is that parents are more likely to listen to other parents.  Not necessarily educators that have children because they may feel their view is biased, but other parents in your school community.  What is imperative is that we connect with parents that have a voice with others and get their feedback on new initiatives.  This is not necessarily a parent-council type meetings, but in one-on-one conversations. It is also not a time to simply tell parents what the school is trying to do, but to listen to them, get feedback, implement their  advice, and show them that you have listened.  Once this happens, it is important that we ask those parents to talk to others so that they get their perspective.  Focusing on developing parent leadership, listening to them, and empowering their voice is crucial if we want to move forward as a school community.

4. Focus on open communication – Every week I would write an email to staff sharing where I was during the week and some articles that I suggested for them to read.  I thought about it, and there was no reason why I shouldn’t share this information with parents.  I then decided to share that information through a blog and make it open to our community.  Obviously there was nothing shared in this space that would be considered confidential, but it was important to share the learning my staff was doing openly with our parents.  Sharing blogs and articles from other schools, helps to show your community that the things that our school is doing is not something specific to our school, but many others are taking on similar endeavours.  Leading parents to a Twitter hashtag for the school and encouraging staff to tweet to it during conferences, also shows what teachers are learning in real time while also giving a parents to connect with them in that space as well.  Blogs, Twitter, and other Web 2.0 technologies allow parents to not only hear the conversation, but to be a part of it.  With most people comfortable with back-and-forth communication, we have to make sure that we communicate in this same manner.

5.  Create learning opportunities – Traditionally, schools have had “parent-nights” where new initiatives or learning or simply shared with parents.  Parent-teacher interviews were one of these ways, where parents simply heard about what their child was learning.  But with activities such as “student-led conferences”, parents are actually engaging in the learning that is happening with their kids. Leaders like Patrick Larkin have had nights with parents where does not tell them about blogging and Twitter, but actually teaches them and gets them to engage in the practice.  With all of the amazing things that many schools are doing, it is very powerful to give parents the opportunity to learn these activities so that they can partake at home with their child.

You often hear comments that parents are advocating for the old ways of school, but ultimately, they just want the best for their kids.  If we focus on bringing parents into the schools, it is my hope that they become grateful of how much better school can be now, they will be advocating for change alongside educators.  When we work together with our parent communities and focus on bringing them in on the learning of their child, the opportunities for our students will be endless.

Week 15: Instructional Leadership #SAVMP

Stephen Covey talks about the notion of great leadership and how it is measured by “character and credibility”.  Character is basically that people see you have good values in who you are, and credibility is in what you have to offer.  In much of our conversations in the #SAVMP program, it has talked about the importance of trust and fostering effective relationships.  If you have no trust, you will have change.

Instructional leadership is an important part of becoming an effective principal, yet many teachers question if there administrators would be effective teachers.  How can you change what the classroom looks like if you were never an effective teacher?  This was something that I focused on in my writing and shared things that I looked for in today’s classroom.  I also wanted to immerse myself in work with my teachers and started to do “1-to-1” sessions talking about things staff could do with students.  This is the focus on “credibility”.

So…in your work as a leader, what are some of the things that you do to not only show your knowledge and understanding of today’s classroom, but also get deep into the work with your staff and students?  Please share some of your learning to the #SAVMP hashtag through your tweets, or blog.

Have a great week!

George

Week 14 – What is school for? Staff Activity #SAVMP

This is a powerful Ted Talk by Seth Godin that asks the question, “What is school for?”:

A powerful way to do simple professional development with staff, is to take a Ted Talk like the one above, and open up conversation on our staff. Think about it…how many times do we spend with staff to talk about the purpose of school? If we want things to change, is it not important that we embed time where we can talk to staff about how things are changing and where they are at?

I encourage you to blog about some of the things that you do with your staff to help understand where they are at, and how to move them forward.

Week 13 – Individual Learning and Mass Sharing

In my leadership role, I have started to do “1-on-1” days with staff where they could ask questions on initiatives that they wanted to learn about.  This has been the most effective way to do PD (in my opinion) and I learn a lot from their questions as well.

Although I have done this several times, I decided to try something different and summarize what I did with each teacher in a tweet.  Why did I do this?  Well, I wanted people to know in the school who was working on what, and to also make great learning viral.  People probably would not ask about what others learned in their individual session unless they were exposed to it.  This goes back to what I discussed in the post on the different roads to innovation.  Both 1-on-1 time and mass sharing will get you places quicker if combined.

Below is a Storify that I put together to share what was learned by each staff member,

 

Here are some questions…

How do you share the work that you do during individual staff PD to ensure that great learning goes viral? I would love to see some other examples of how people are sharing.

Week 10 – Time and Priority #SAVMP

After last week’s post, I was really happy to see how many people were recommitting to helping out and pushing within their own little groups.  As a mentor, it is important that we are there for our mentees, but it is also a reciprocal relationship.  There is a lot we can learn from each other.

As time management is a crucial part of leadership, I would love if others shared some advice on “time management”.  I have some big beliefs on time management in schools:

  1. If it is important (priority), you will make time for it.
  2. You should never look at doing more, but doing things better.
  3. For every thing you are willing to “add” to your plate, you need to take something off.

What are some of your thoughts/suggestions on effectively managing your time and the time of others in your school/organization?  Please share your thoughts below or I encourage you to use it as a blog post.

Have a great week!

1 2 3