Skating into the Puck: A Leadership Competency

I have been known to use the "skating into the puck" metaphor to explain a particular leadership competency in my role as principal. The more I reflect upon it, the more significant and profound it becomes. 


And so, as another hockey season is about to begin (Go Canucks Go!), I thought I would reflect and unpack its significance for me: 

Tough situations
In hockey, “skating into the puck” usually signifies going to the “tough” part of ice (after all , no one is going to easily “give up the puck”). In my role as principal, this may involve having a difficult conversation or making a difficult decision (usually the conversation that others don’t want to have, decisions others don’t want to make or taking actions others might shy away from).

Knowing when to skate into the puck
In hockey, engaging with someone without the puck is an interference penalty. Likewise in my job, I can’t “skate into the puck” in all situations. At times, various stakeholders come to me demanding that I intervene in a given situation. Depending on circumstance and/or participant, it may not be prudent or proper to get involved. Sometimes professional ethics and/or protocols demand that someone else “skate into the puck”.

Respecting the individual
Skating into the puck does not mean “taking a roughing penalty”. My interactions need to be respectful and empathetic in nature and based on the true spirit of collegiality. Communication rooted in honesty is a non-negotiable. While we may not always agree, we must always respectfully disagree.

It’s not personal
If you’re a skater in hockey, your job is to possess the puck. There are times when my job demands that I "skate into the puck".  It’s not personal, it’s my job.

To be honest, "skating into the puck" can be very draining and difficult .  At times I'd rather avoid it and take a "floater" instead.  


Nonetheless, as another school year begins, I know that for me to be most effective, I must "skate into the puck". 


Do you have your own favorite “leadership” metaphor? I would love to hear about it...

Our "21st Century Learning" Vision

I was recently asked by my superintendent of schools to share our school’s vision for “21st Century Learning”. While I am not going to share the entire scope of the presentation, I thought I would share the main ideas of our plan

The plan has four main components:

Access & Consistency
Our school currently has over 120 networked computer stations (550 staff & students) with a common interface. We want our students and staff to have a consistent user experience regardless of the station they are working at.

We have also made the decision to offer Wi-Fi to all our staff and students. Over the past two years we have focused our efforts in making the Wi Fi network stable and accessible. Through the expertise of our IT teacher (yes, one person) we now have the bandwidth necessary to offer Wi-Fi to all the personal electronic devices that both staff and students bring to school. (Currently it is set to handle up to 1000 IP addresses/devices but can be scaled to handle more).

From the school’s perspective, investing in this infrastructure is a strategic and cost effective decision that has tremendous implications for teaching and learning at our school. It is also worth noting that we have invested in upstream filters (at the source) for the school - blocking sites that involve illegal activity but allowing the rest (sites like Facebook, YouTube are NOT blocked). 

Communication
In my opinion, one of the main components of "21st Century Learning" is redefining how we communicate and collaborate as learners. Some of the initiatives that we have undertaken include: launching a new website that takes full advantage of social media, including: Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and our own YouTube Channel. We have also created the capacity for students and parents to download our school calendar onto their own smart phones.

In addition we have launched school wide, "life time" email for every student enrolled at our school, allowing for enhanced communication between teachers and students. It also allows us to stay in touch with our esteemed alumni!

We are also in the process of launching a "cloud based" file sharing network for teachers and students, again allowing for easier communications and collaboration. (Some future initiatives involve “voice to email” service for our staff and enhancing other cloud based technologies.)

Teaching & Learning
I recently came across a tweet from Josh Stumpenhorst @stumpteacher in which he wrote: "Technology without good teaching is like putting on cologne without taking a shower. Get rid of the stink first."

21st Century Learning is not just about throwing technology in the classroom. It's about being intentional about teaching and learning the skills and competencies necessary to make our students successful in this millenium. Technology is, however, a necessary vehicle to access 21st Century Learning and its related skills.

Given this reality, we need to continue to develop our technological capacity but also be very intentional about teaching and modeling the skills associated with 21st Century Learning. Some of our current initiatives include:

• Creating more time for teachers to enhance their own professional learning (see Building Experts post) 
• Being extremely deliberate about teaching and modeling Digital Citizenship to all students in the school 
• Teaching key 21st Century skills. An early priority we have identified is literacy and all its related competencies (Reading, Writing, Information Literacy, etc.). With this in mind, we have started a literacy initiative at our school 

 This is our plan, as it stands today. It will evolve. The route may change. There will be bumps along the way. We are committed to the plan and all its related challenges and risks.

 I certainly welcome any feedback and suggestions.

7 Keys to Behavior Interventions

This past summer a member of my PLN and educator that I respect tremendously, Tom Hierck, passed on a copy of his latest book for me to read: Pyramid of Behavior Interventions: 7 keys to a Positive Learning Environment  (2011, Hierck, Coleman, Weber).

What makes this book unique, from my perspective, is that it takes two commonly used “school improvement” approaches (Positive Behavioural Interventions & Supports  & Professional Learning Communities) and makes them accessible to practitioners looking to bring safe and positive learning environments to their school communities. 

While I have written about PLC's and our school's academic pyramid of interventions in the past, I have to admit that I am not too familiar with PBIS. 

The authors make the argument, successfully I think,  that for schools to successfully implement PBIS and PLC’s they should focus on the following seven keys:

1. Common Expectations

2. Targeted instruction

3. Positive reinforcement

4. Support strategies & interventions

5. Collaborative teams

6. Data Driven dialogue

7. School wide systems approach

I really appreciated some the practical and research based interventions and strategies that the book references.

Perhaps some of the more “controversial” strategies that the book references under the domain of “positive reinforcements” and creating “common expectations” are the use of extrinsic rewards (merit points, cards, etc.)

While my own attitudes around extrinsic rewards have evolved and changed over the past two years (more towards intrinsic motivation), I think the book handles the issue with enough sensitivity.  As the authors state:

“Over time, the goal is to move to more intrinsic and less extrinsic reinforcement, when students make good decisions for the sake of satisfaction it instills instead of the rewards it brings.

I want to thank Tom for sharing his book with me. It reaffirmed some of the practices that I hold "near and dear" as a high school principal and also challenged me to consider some others.

Grading failure is Not an option

One of the books I read this summer was Dweck’s Mindset. In a nutshell, the author argues that, as individuals we choose between two mindsets – the fixed mindset or the growth mindset.

The main attributes of the Fixed Mindset are as follows:

• Ability (physical, artistic, intellectual) is “fixed”. You either “got it” or you don’t. Test scores and labels are forever. Persons in this mindset don’t handle failure well. Compliance and the status quo is favoured and “safe”. 
• In this mindset, individuals spend a lot of time “proving” their ability – often at the expense of taking risks, learning from mistakes and being vulnerable. 
• Natural ability and success is favoured over growth and hard work. Challenges are avoided and outside excuses are used when mistakes are made. The fixed mindset is often fed by the ego. Individuals in this mindset feel like they have to protect and nurse their confidence (which the author argues, might explain, why some students do not put forward their best.) 
• In the fixed mindset individual accomplishment is favoured over team success. Individuals look to those who do worse for consolation 
• In this mindset “Effort is only for those who don’t have ability” and “effortless perfection” is preferred.
• In the fixed mindset, your failures label you a “loser”. 

The main attributes of the Growth Mindset are as follows:

• The growth mindset changes the meaning of failure. 
• Those in this mindset see ability as something that can be learned and enhanced with practice, perseverance and trial and error. Learning is synonymous with patience. Labels and test scores are not forever. 
• Those in the growth mindset are constantly questioning the status quo and seek critical feedback. 
• Individuals are comfortable showing others their vulnerabilities and mistakes. In the growth mindset the ego is dismissed. 
• Teamwork and collaboration is favoured over self-promotion (the use of the first person “I” is not used) and individuals look to learn from others who have done better. 
• In the growth mindset “character” is associated working hard, dealing with adversity, being a team player and dismissing your ego regardless of outcome. “Ability can take you to the top but character can keep you their” – John Wooden 
• Success in in the growth mindset is seen as “doing your best, improving & learning” while failure is embraced as a motivator to do better and learn. 
• A belief that all children can learn. Teachers who foster a growth mindset produce better achieving students. Teachers who label and promote a fixed mindset (grading all work, not honouring “practice” in learning, etc.) do not get better results. 

It’s time to stop "grading" failure in school.

I enjoyed the book and it reinforced some beliefs that I hold near and dear.

I worry that some who read this book might argue that “new trends” in assessment ( AFL, formative assessment, grading for learning, no zeros, etc.) have made “failure” obsolete and passé. That somehow schools and/or administrators have banned “failure”.

From my perspective (others can add their thoughts) what this book has completely reaffirmed in my mind is that, as teachers, we need to stop grading failure. Learning is about trial and error, taking chances and making mistakes until we get it right.

If we truly believe that all students can learn, than we need to embrace assessment and grading practices that honour learning for what it is (trial and error, practice, and perseverance).

At our school we have adopted some clearly defined grading policies, that I believe, are more in line with the idea that “learning is for all”. We don’t let students who might be stuck in the “fixed mindset” take a zero on an assignment for fear of being labeled “stupid”. We want to teach students that they are accountable for their work.  We want them to fully understand that true learning is about doing, making mistakes and redoing.

We need to stop “grading” our students’ mistakes and create environments that cultivate risk taking, trial and error and “learning for all”.

I have frequently used the slogan “failure is not an option”.  In reality, we need to embrace failure and mistakes as part of the learning process.  Perhaps a better slogan might be "grading failure is not an option!"

 

And on the 3rd day I cried (already).

I’ve been back at work for 4 days. Yesterday I cried.

I had a meeting with a prospective student and their family about the possibility of attending our school. I asked my usual question in this type of situation: “Tell me why you want to attend St. Pat’s?”

The tears instantly welled up and poured down her face. She couldn’t speak. She couldn't find the words. After a few minutes of quiet consolation from her mom, she finally found a few words.

The student was a victim of on-line bullying from some peers at her previous school.

I listened with my own tears welling up. As a teacher, father and fellow human being my heart broke for her. The only words I could find to say were: “I’m sorry”

We talked a little about her attending our school, her interests and passions.

I also explained that, as the principal, I couldn’t promise that she would be 100% immune from this type of reprehensible behavior from other students. But I did promise her that at our school

• All students have a clear understanding of how to treat others, both face to face and on-line. We are intentional in our modeling and teaching of how we, as people should treat other in all mediums. 
• She will be coached and mentored on how she should deal with situations that are hurtful. 

And most importantly,

• She will always have a caring adult who will listen to her and intervene to restore justice and bring healing to the situation. Always. 

As the meeting ended I thanked the student for being truthful and courageous with me. I wished her healing from all this hurt. I thanked the family for showing interest in our school.

The student and her mom left my office each with a used tissue in hand.

I grabbed my tissue when they left my office.

Grading Practices That Inhibit Learning

For the past 4 years I have been giving teachers at our school a copy of the following resource to start the year.  What I find interesting is the date the original resource was published (1989). As we all head back to school soon I thought I would share it on my blog.  


Maybe we can add more to the list?  


1. Inconsistent grading scale: The same performance results in different grades, in different schools or classes. Differing expectations can penalize students. 

2. Worshiping averages: Insisting on using all of the marks to calculate an average,even when “the average” is not consistent with what the teacher knows about the student’s learning.

3. Using zeros indiscriminately: Giving zeros for incomplete work has a devastating effect on
averages and often they are not even related to learning or achievement but to non-academic factors like behavior, respect, punctuality, etc.

4. Following the patternof assign, test, grade and teach: When teaching occurs after a grade has been assigned, it’s  and too late for the student. They need lots of teaching and practice that isn’t graded although it should be assessed and used to enhance learning before testing takes place.

5. Not teaching to the test: Too many teachers rely on trick questions, new formats and unfamiliar material. If students are expected to perform skills and produce information, for a grade, these should be part of instruction.

6. Ambushing students: Pop quizzes are more likely to teach students how to cheat on
a test than they are to result in learning. Such tests are often a control vehicle designed to get even, not as an aid to understand.


7. Suggesting that success is unlikely: Students are not likely to strive for targets that they already know are unattainable to them.

8. Practicing “gotcha” teaching: A nearly foolproof way to inhibit student learning is to keep the outcomes and expectations of assignments secret. Grades become ways of finding out how well students have read their their teacher’s mind.

9. Grading first efforts: Learning is not a “one-shot” deal. When the products of learning are complex and sophisticated, students need lots of teaching and practice and feedback before the product is evaluated.

10. Penalizing students For taking risks: Taking risks is often not rewarded in school. Students need  encouragement and support while they try new or more demanding work, not low marks.

11. Failing to recognize Measurement error: Very often grades are reported as objective statistics without  attention to such things as weighting factors or reliability of the scores. In most cases, a composite score may be only a rough estimate of student learning and sometimes it can be very inaccurate. 

12. Establishing inconsistent grading criteria: Criteria for grading in schools and classes often changes from  day to day, grading period to grading period and class to class. This lack of consensus makes it difficult for students to understand the standards. 

13. Weighting long questions for more: teachers tend to assign weighting to problem solving questions based on the number of steps or items in the solution. Using a problem solving rubric evaluates the students thinking skills, not the length of the solution. 

14. Moving target: Too often assignments are given to students without a clear explanation of what is expected. Set the criteria and standards for assignments before students are given task and discuss them with the class.

15. Inconsistent standards: Some teachers are philosophically opposed to giving a student a
high grade. If the student has achieved the curriculum standards Then that learning needs to be recognized.

Adapted from Canady and Hotchkiss, 1989

Beyond Mission Statements: Finding Integrity between Word & Action

Our school has a well crafted mission and vision statement.  It would make any school or organization proud.  It provides us with the strategic direction (in word) that we need.  But I've had a growing question lately:  Do our actions match what we say? In other words, “What are we doing and why are we doing it”? 

Linked to this idea of mission and vision statements is the idea of "culture".

“Culture is the underground stream of norms, values, beliefs, traditions and rituals that has built up over time as people work together, solve problems and confront challenges.” (Deal, 1993) 

As the principal I see myself as the guardian of the school’s culture.  One of my favorite researchers on this topic is Edgar Schein.  In his research he identifies three levels of organizational or school culture: the artifacts, values, and underlying assumptions. 

According to Schein, a school’s artifacts are those things that are easy to observe but more difficult to decipher (e.g. trophy cases, pictures, classrooms, etc).  Artifacts can be ambiguous and are often dependant on the observer’s reference point (Schein, 2004).  Schein goes further and states that to find a deeper level of understanding of a culture one must move to identifying the espoused values of a school (e.g. all children can learn, safe and caring community, etc).  The values themselves fall on a variety of levels.  At the outset, a culture’s values might not be shared knowledge; they must be tested over time (Schein, 2004).  Once a group’s values are reinforced through such things as problem solving, stories, traditions, and celebration than those values can become basic assumptions. 

Schein argues that these assumptions are the root of an organization’s culture and are so strongly held that any behavior based on a different premise in inconceivable (Schein, 2004).  These basic assumptions, according to Schein, are at the core of understanding organizational culture.  Good or bad, these assumptions are so entrenched in the group that, at times, it can be the cause of the distortion, or rationalization of certain realities.  As such, the challenge for leaders is to identify the assumptions of a culture, assess them and come up with coping strategies to deal with the anxiety when you try to change them.  

2011-2012 Getting off of the right foot

To start the 2011-2012 school year, we will be asking  ourselves some important questions related to our shared sense of purpose contained within our school culture.  For us to be more successful as a school we need to ask ourselves  - are our stated values and visible artifacts congruent with what we believe and do – across all stakeholder groups?  Put another way - does our "talk" match our "walk"?

To accomplish this, we will have to test whether or not our stated values are being matched by the actions of our stakeholders – in this case, the professional teaching staff of the school.

The following is a sample of some of the espoused values at our school and some guiding questions to test our underlying assumptions: 

Value

We educate the whole child. 

Testing underlying assumptions:  

How is teaching and learning conducted in the classroom?  How much differentiation is happening?  Is technology being embraced?

How do we assess and grade our students?  

Are learning opportunities extended beyond the classroom?

What extra-curricular activities do we provide our students?

Value

All children can learn.

Testing underlying assumptions  

Do our actions affirm our belief that all kids can learn?  Does our assessment and grading reflect this?  What does success look like for students?

Do you follow the pyramid of intervention effectively and consistently?

Do we understand the different ways that students learn?  (Brain based learning)

Do our school polices related to such things as admission, discipline, grading & reporting align with this stated value?

Who is control of the learning in the classroom?  What will an observer see when walking thru classes?  Who is doing the talking?  How are students being engaged?

Value

“Jesus is the reason for our school”

Testing underlying assumptions

How does this translate across the curriculum?  

Do our school policies match this value statement?

Value

Parents as primary educators and partners

Testing underlying assumptions

How and what do we communicate to our parents? 

Are parents given enough voice?   

Value

Working and learning in community

Testing underlying assumptions

How is teaching and learning conducted in the classroom? 

How is our PLC time being used?

What does collegiality look like?

How do we treat each other?

How do we celebrate together?

I am looking forward to leading the staff in this important process (before school starts) of finding integrity between our words and actions. 

This process is critically important in order for us to sustain a positive school culture - where there is a shared sense of purpose, where there are underlying norms of collegiality, where there is a focus on improvement, where student accomplishments are celebrated, where there is teacher innovation, where we encourage parental involvement, where meaningful traditions are maintained and where learning is surrounded with integrity, joy and humour. 

Any suggestions or comments that could assist in us finding greater “alignment” would be gratefully welcomed!