Where are the connections made?

ATTENTION ALL TEACHERS, PARENTS AND THOSE WHO WORK WITH YOUNG PEOPLE

This post was floating around facebook without citation.

I posted it Friday afternoon and received source documentation within hours.
 
Please read this post:

It is a moving rendition of the thought processes of many, many of our teachers.

I had posted it without citation but have removed it upon my own accord.

I offer her compete credit and accolades for this moving read. 

Thank you.

 http://momastery.com/blog/about-glennon/ 

Is it time yet? What happens on day 1 in your room?

Is it ever too early to think about the first day of school?

Taken this week, last year, the afternoon shower created a spectacular rainbow followed by a matching sunset over Buena Vista Colorado.

Its never too late, or too early, to think about teaching and reaching into the future.

 Day 1

What’s important at the beginning of school?  What are your plans for the first days of school?

Below are topics and routines I addressed in the early part of every course.  These are important to establishing high expectations for the entire year.  These lessons stem from study of Wong, Whitaker, Payne, Lemov, Hattie and others.  As most things in education, they were often modified to fit individual situations. We had procedures for everything and we discussed, learned and reviewed those procedures till they became natural and the way we did things.  Students enjoyed them, although they wanted to appear reluctant at the beginning.  By the end of the year, they were all invited to attend a field trip, five hours away to the big amusement park.  Paragraphs below describe the procedures, their explanations and implementation.

“You are in those seats because I love my wife.”

This was often the very first thing I said to my classes on the first day of any school year.  It always took students by surprise but maybe it made them wonder.  I would pause, then explain their assigned seats were in alphabetical order according to the overhead projector shining on the front board placing them in that position so we could pass in papers. Instructions were to “put your own paper on top!”  This allowed them to be in order when they were passed across the room and not back to front.  Back to front methods encouraged the person in the back to get the attention of the person in front, usually with some physical contact that could escalate. Placing the growing stack of papers on the adjacent desk sorted papers somewhat alphabetically thus diminishing my time spent grading and increasing the time I could spend with my wife.

"Procedures verses Rules"

Rules are “meant to be broken” but procedures are how we do things.  For example, the speed limit sign reads 55 and this “rule”  is often disobeyed.  Few signs are required however to keep drivers to the right side of the road.  The procedure suggests safer travels will be achieved with drivers all agreeing to stay to the right.  This simple example from the road reinforces a few of the outcomes and benefits when a teacher sets up procedures.  First off, it demonstrates to the students the importance of systems, structures and plans.  Later, students will expect routines, plans or other mnemonic devises and look to the teacher to provide those. Finally, the time invested early lays ground work for instructions later, such as field trips, assemblies and those out of the ordinary days that require group instructions  and “on the fly” decision making.

Parenthetic Note:

(Framework for these concepts grew from study into Harry Wong, Todd Whitaker, Ruby Payne, Teach like a Champion, Hattie and others.  Teachers can prepare their rooms as well as their minds for the upcoming school year by reviewing of any of these inspiring summer readings!)

Has a student said, "I have to come to school!"   
     In reality "You choose to come to school, and thank you!"

This is fairly close to the actual first few days I spent setting up my classrooms.  My students were typically reluctant learners dreading school, however a favorite anecdote stems from my principal asking me if a certain student, “Johnny” was “there yesterday.”  I replied with a "Yes, but why do you ask?”  The answer was astounding.  It seems little Johnny skipped every other class that day but showed up for my class alone!  I am not sure if that is good or bad.  I do know, he was there by choice.  

S: I have to come to school.

T: You GET to come to school.

S: My mom will get "locked up for educational neglect if I don't." *

T: So you are really saying, you choose to come school instead of the alternative."

   Pregnant pause while student ponders the options.

T: Thanks for being here.  Now that you understand consequences, let's learn."

 (*Some Students just prefer to say She'll be mad if I skip!)

Define Manners:  Making others around you feel comfortable.

I like to say my wife taught me that definition.  Maybe the real truth is I never really grasped the concept but am still trying to learn how to do that?!  Maybe she was trying to tell me something?  Maybe she was trying to let me down easy?  Maybe I made her uncomfortable?  In the classroom, we talked about manners, respect and being nice.  We were not to use sarcasm, put downs and verbal jabs but instead build each other up. Even Pink Floyd called out teachers using dark sarcasm in the classroom.  There is no room for sarcasm in the classroom.  We will be taking educational risks and nobody wants to be made fun of, or thought about being made fun of for making a mistake.   

 

A post 9-11view of Ground Zero.

"Entering and leaving the room"

What’s the tallest building you were ever in?  There's a lesson in that visit.  When teaching an Elements of Algebra class, a picture of the Twin Towers was in the book for the lesson that day. We looked into our book and there was a picture of them on the page I had planned to teach from that day.  I will always remember where I was on that day.  Tall buildings have elevators that work with buttons directing us to floors 1-55,  56-80, or 81-100.  When boarding the elevator, we have to let the people on the elevator get out of the way, clear the path and make room for new riders.  If there is no room, we just wait for the next car.  Similarly, when entering a room, allow those leaving to exit first, maybe even holding the door open for them (See manners above) and allow them to exit?  Thus preventing a log jam at the door, teaching manners, procedures and making those ready to leave feel comfortable and respected.

Stool Sheet: 2 Truths and a Lie and Attention Getting Mechanisms!

We often have students complete a data card that first day, claiming we need their number in-case "the computer goes down."  Students added a few things to this data card to round out the first day.  Two truths and one lie is a good mixer allowing folks a bit of self-reflection time, showing the importance of out of the box thinking and individuality.  But it was also good for the teacher to read out loud and let the students try and guess the authors.  Other included were other items such as their favorite meal at McDs (always listed as a number) would allow me to take a break, tally their attendance, allow them to talk and regain their attention with the signal of a raised hand.  No screaming, shouting, lights flipping or ruler slapping, but the simple act of raising a hand. They would be expected to get quiet and attentive within 5 seconds, or be kept after the bell for however long it took to get quiet. And after they shared with their neighbor their favorite meal, we would return to work refocused after the brief pause.

Finally, What is your EXPECTED GRADE!
Students often make a list of their course schedule.  Here we added a twist with the EXPECTED GRADE they wanted to earn in that class.  Students were asked up front to begin to think about the outcome, even before any assignments or coursework was done. They were allowed to enter a PASS if they wanted but none were allowed to not submit a grade.  This first step in visualization publicized and made conversations about grades, progress, effort and achievement the first steps in learning.  Students began to see themselves as that type of student.  YES, THEY WERE GOING TO PASS!  That's the beginning of Positive Psycho-Cybernetics. (Thanks Dr Maxwell Maltz) 

These things sometimes seemed basic, immature or even like something students should know when they enter a room.  THEY DO NOT.  We can't progress until students do know these routines. We must discuss, rehearse and reteach over and over again to teach.  One exposure to an idea, process, routine or discipline DOES NOT always ensure it is retained.  Note:  We still have not discussed rules of the class yet.

What important foundational events or procedures take place in your first day of class?
How would you like April and May to be different?  Plan things differently in September and see what happens.

Reference Me helped me assemble this citation page.

Clark, R. (2004) Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator’s Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child. 1st edn. New York: Hyperion

Hattie, J. A. C. (2008) Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement. London: Routledge

Kagan, S., Rodriguez, C., Kagan, M. and Taylor, B. (1992) Cooperative Learning. United States: Kagan Cooperative Learning

Lemov, D. (2012) Teach like a champion field guide: practical techniques to master the art of teaching. 1st edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Lemov, D. and Atkins, N. (2010) Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques That Put Students on the Path to College. 1st edn. San Francisco: Wiley, John & Sons

Payne, R. K. (1998) framework for understanding poverty. Baytown, TX: RFT Pub.

Sommers, W. A. and Payne, K. (2000) Living on a Tightrope: A Survival Handbook for Principals. Highlands, TX: Aha! Process

Urban, H. (2008) Lessons from the classroom: 20 things good teachers do. Redwood City, CA: Great Lessons Press

Whitaker, T. (2003) What Great Teachers Do Differently. Tandem Library

Wong, H. K. (2004) First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher. Tandem Library

Good schools make an area? or Does the area make the schools?

All across Missouri and this week at Winfield Middle School, we are beginning our annual rite of spring, the MAP tests.  Teachers are nervous.  Administrators are jumpy. Students are excited to have a messed up routine.  Our testing coordinator is extra busy.  Some might even loose a bit of sleep.

This QR Code holds a message for the students to consider?  What does it mean?

We asked students today in preparation for their MAP tests to consider a simple request:  

TO DO THEIR VERY BEST!  

We understand the stakes involved, we know the motives may or may not be true yet we made a request for them to try hard.

WHY? 

What would it matter if anyone ever did well on these exams?  What would the motivation be behind giving the best effort?  Why would it even be important?

Pride in accomplishment

Of course we all pay lip service to doing our best, claiming we are trying to improve and we are working towards a better tomorrow.  That sounds nice but here is a wonderful opportunity to verify those intentions. 

Property Values

Whenever anyone moves, one of the first questions the potential buyers seem to ask is, "Tell me about the Schools?" This also verifies the perceived or actual value in good schools.  Marketing principles support the ideas that good school may actually raise property values faster than the general market, making some areas highly desirable but other areas flat or declining.   Are good schools in the area because the area is good, or is the area good because the schools are good? 

Selfish

We value the students effort but only ask them to do their best one time.  We believe that doing our jobs, building relationships with all of them and forming an environment of learning for all with a high bar for behavior as well as academics does far more than bribing, begging, pleading or even bargaining!  Students don't care how much we know until they know how much we care!  Students know if we care, or if it is just an act!  Good schools produce good scores and good scores reflect on the leadership!  We want our students to look good, and we might be the only ones that care!

De-Coding Skills  
When I was in school... 

Our students will enter a world that we cant even begin to describe.  The class of 2020 will face obstacles and issues that arent even developed yet, so we work to equip them with processing tools, thinking skills, infering practices, taking from something concrete and working towards the abstract.  We are asking them to solve problems that don't even exist yet!

ANSWER:

The QR Code above, easily made at many online sites takes information and processes it into smaller bites, linking back to the internet of sharing data directly.  Just as a long web address reduces into a tiny address, there are many shortcuts, abbreviation and quicker ways to communicate.  What other new things will our students face as they mature into leadership positions in the communities?

We are preparing students for their future!  Not our past!    Winfield Middle School is #onthemap.

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Where did you go to High School?

While reading Malcom Gladwells latest on underdogs and battling giants a few highlights jumped out implying Winfield Middle School was on the way to its rightful location #onthemap.

 

Big Fish in Small Pond or Small Fish in Big Pond

Not to steal any thunder from the book but the author poses the idea that a better bet may be a person familiar with success, regardless of the venue.  For instance, the scores at one school may all be better than all the scores of a different school, yet a top student at the mediocre school is often more effective and better suited for success.  To apply this to Winfield Middle School we know our district is not the biggest, yet that is exactly what makes it likely we might produce champions!  We study success, building champions and reaching goals.  Other schools may have more students try out for a sports team than we have in the entire class, yet was are competing on a level playing field?  Yes, the Big Fish from our small pond have likely success relative to the Small Fish in more successful pond.  Again, even though China has more honors students then we have students, where would we go to find ready and willing potential.

For example, the standard question floating many gatherings in St Louis starts with, “Where did you go to high school?” In St Louis, this question opens many introductions and social, professional and business meeting.  Of course, it supplies social clues leading to common connections, yet the hidden undertone often carries other connotations about the potential for success, growth or opportunity.  Almost like, “Are you from a Big Pond or Small Pond?”

What advantage is a disadvantage?

Gladwell continues his examination of underdogs considering the inordinate amount of CEOs and other business leaders with deficiencies like dyslexia.  His hypothesis addresses their overcoming the original obstacle by tuning other characteristics.  Similar to a blind person that tunes their hearing.  For instance, a successful trial lawyer overcame poor reading by hyper-sensitive hearing listening to the nuance with testimony supplied from the witness stand.  As underdogs, we often are overlooked following the formal and traditional channels.  It seemed the thing that these characters had to overcome, actually made them stronger and better suited to lead, connect with others and build from strength around a weakness.  Johnny Cash anecdotally described it in A Boy Named Sue.  Would you ever wish dyslexia on your children?

Don’t be afraid of being afraid.

Fight or Flight, Fear of Fear and the paralyzing results of some fears keep many of us back but build confidence in others.  The familiar quote:  What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger is actually articulated for better understanding and application.  Considering London during the bombing raids of Germany in WWII, we noticed three groups of people:  first, those that did not make it; second, those that suffered a near miss and finally those that made it through a remote miss!  Regretfully, the first group deserves complete respect. Then the near miss is just that, somebody fairly close to the impact.  This may be traumatic and even personally injurious but definitely different than a remote miss.  A victim of a near miss may so suffer a temporary negative setback.  Ironically the remote miss had the opposite effect on the citizens.  It brought them together.  Surviving a horrific bombing actually galvanized their unity.  The more bombings they survived, the more they believed they were invincible.  This made them stronger.  Anecdotally, some claimed they would rather stay in the city then flee to the countryside!

How does this apply to us? 

Are we a big pond struggling to succeed or small pond building fish ready for any pond? 

Do we let our perceived disadvantages give us a disadvantage, or do we just work around them?

Does our fear motivate us to fight, improve and get better or quit, submit and suffer setback?

http://gladwell.com/david-and-goliath/
@gladwell

From Leading leaders to Teaching Teachers!

From “Leaders Leading Leaders” to “Teachers Teaching Teachers:”

Monday, October 28, school officials from Lincoln County, Warren County and St Charles County assembled a team of presenters, facilitators and a keynote speaker for a day of educational professionalism!  We called it the Three County Professional Development Day (#3CoPD for twitter folks).    Three breakout sessions began the day, with presenters as teachers, administrators and professionals right from our own districts.  Lunch and a national speaker supplied entertainment as well as education during the mid-day transition.  After lunch, we organized into teams of common interest, such as math teachers, SPED professionals or counselors to collaborate to exchange positive and effective techniques from their individual areas of emphasis. Finally, an optional discussion ended the day when representatives from our independently funded and managed retirement organization spoke about the benefits, procedures and stability of our teacher retirement program.  PSRS



When nearly 700 local teachers attend, an event like this are they better equipped, motivated and ready to return to class afterwards?  When they hear from a peer, is there additional credibility?  When they hear form a peer, do they weight words differently?  What does it take to make a presenter an authority or credible?





What follows is a list of feedback from attending teachers.  When asked to list three “take-aways” or lessons from the day, here is how they responded!  These responses begin to demonstrate, however anecdotally, the benefit of collaboration.  They show that teachers can, will and do learn from each other.  It shows teachers are conscientious and do want the best for their students.  Can teachers teach teachers?  This implies we can!

The staff is responding to the following prompt:  Would you email me 3 take-aways from the day?  They could be from the morning break-out sessions, the keynote speaker and/or the round table discussions.  They might be personal for you or classroom ideas or building ideas.

 

1.)    Some useful activities to use in the classroom when I start teaching them how to write arguments
2.)    An interesting way to introduce a new concept. This was shown and demonstrated in my last session. Concept Attainment
3.)    I enjoyed the speaker during lunch. He had a lot of information that was new to me.    He pretty much kept my attention the entire time and I was anxious to hear what he had to say next.

A.       Reading the same article, but from various perspectives.   (this seems so simple, yet I have never tried this!)
B.      Layering Texts-   Reading a short story, a poem and watching a video clip about the same topic.    (I think I do this a little, but it would be or effective to do this more often)
C.      Keynote speaker-  I really liked the positive message he had for teachers.  Sometimes it is too easy to let the negative press take hold.  It was refreshing to hear that our profession is making a difference!

1. I got great emergency sub-plans for days when we are doing projects that cannot be done with a sub.
2. The keynote speaker was very positive.

3. I got more confidence that I am where I need to be in the art room.

1. I found some cool new apps that can be used in the classroom
2. I learned a new way to track physical fitness test.

3. From the round table I learned that our physical education program here at the middle school goes above and beyond what other  middle schools and some high schools in the area do.  Wright City was amazed about the fact we get every kid to "move" with such large class sizes.

I liked the format and information from the Tri County PD Summit.  For me maybe the most useful professional development I've been to.

1.        In the model drawing for algebra, he used it to solve percent problems.  The book used it as a reference, but I understand the connection more, so I will stress that more for the students to understand it.

2.       Quizlet seemed like a good resource to study, and I will work on setting it up for my students.
3.       I am much more confident about the model drawing after yesterday, so I will incorporate it for word problems.  One the students understand it, I think they will be able to solve word problems much better.

A.  I learned about some great apps/website that I can try using in my class...socrative and polleverywhere are just a couple examples.
B.  I was given a great rubric for paragraphs that I can use when I have short answer questions.  It is a quick way to grade them and make sure that all the key components are in the paragraph.
C.  One of the big things I took away from the keynote speaker was that it is the small things that we do for students that can really make a difference.  We never know when there might be something we say or do that might change the life of a student forever.
1. Keynote speaker was really uplifting and informative

2. I was given some good reading strategies for Science.
3. There are many practical apps our students can use in class for free.

A change that I will use in the next 10 days in my classroom is to implement more of the Kagan strategies into my daily classroom.  Having the students work together to come up with answers and sharing with the classroom or with a partner will help those who are struggling and well as those who are not.  It will also make those students who normally are not focused to be held accountable while reading or discussing what we read.  I would also like to bring more technology into the classroom through the use of apps which the students can use from their smartphone or other devices. 

In the future I loved the idea of a 5 subject notebook for the science classroom. Each subject would be set aside for certain things such as notes, vocabulary, bell ringers, labs etc.  I feel that this will hopefully keep the students more organized in my classroom. 

Three take-aways…

a.       Little things can make a huge impact on students.
b.      Don’t believe everything you read.
c.       Radiate the positive and NEVER trash talk in public!!!!

To make our place a better place to work:
http://johndraper.org/uploads/Successory_Nomination_1_.pdf

1)      Everything I say and do has the potential to have an impact on someone.  The stories from the keynote speaker were a good reminder of the importance of our jobs day to day, hour to hour and all of the interactions we have with students.

2)      There were several useful APPS that I will refer back to whenever needed from the APP ATTACK session.  I believe embracing technology is important to keep up with a changing world and help give the best to our students.
3)      At the roundtable with other MS PE teachers there were some helpful ideas shared on how other schools do the MS PE/Health combination

a. need differentiation up in reading

b. understand icloud
c. we have it together more than we think in the area of spec ed

My favorite breakout session was the third one I attended about using the Concept Attainment method in lessons.  I remember learning about it in college, but it was a nice refresher.  The presenter had numerous entertaining examples and non-examples for us.

I also thought the speaker was both entertaining and uplifting.  Sometimes all we hear from society around us, is how terrible we are as teachers, and it was nice to see someone recognize reality.  Studies are easily skewed. 

I also really enjoyed meeting and talking with other foreign language teachers from other districts.  I got some really great ideas from them!
 

1. argumentative - pre essay writing, audience exercise
2. vocabulary work - connecting
3. kids need to read more complex text

Some staff even presented about various topics surrounding school issues.

Standards Based Grading (SBG) addresses the understanding a student has over a various topic.  Here is the Power-point link used by our team of presenters:  SBG in the Middle School  & Artifacts to document

Summer Academy -A High School Transition Tool:  Summer Academy Presentation

Details and schools planning the event:

Warrenton R3 School District - http://www.warrencor3.org/

Winfield School District - www.winfield.k12.mo.us

Wright City School District www.wrightcity.k12.mo.us

Orchard Farm School District www.ofsd.k12.mo.us

Guest Speaker www.johndraper.org

Venue http://stcharlesconventioncenter.com/

 

Assemblers comment: Identifying authors of the above responses was considered.  Two perspectives were debated.  On one hand, the authors should be proud of their thoughts but, just because they responded, that does not imply they will incorporate every feature into their classes.

On the other hand, the staff are trusted professionals.  The intent is not to force people but work with people to grow from within.  Therefore, names were removed but clues were left.      

Progress or growth? What do we measure?

Progress or Growth?

 

These two characteristics are measured by our state MAP tests.  We look at what each cohort does as it travels through the buildings, meeting each team or group of teachers.  They work their way through the system, growing and maturing.  We also compare this group to last year’s group, looking at how well they did in comparison to last year’s group of students measuring the effectiveness of the instruction, calling it progress.

Now that we are finished with the first quarter of the 2013-14 school year, we begin to wonder with renewed interest about our impending scores for this year.  We have made some adjustments in our schedule.  Now, each math teacher has agreed to teach multiple grade levels and abilities.  This allows us true collaboration since each teacher will have a partner, also teaching the same class.  Hence, the term common assessment, collaboration and a true PLC model becomes more than a few teachers each teaching their own content.  Now, these teachers can collaborate.  These teachers are able to look at this individual group of students, examine their area of needs and strengths.  Thus we see what this cohort does as it grows through the system.

Progress, however, attempts to examine a grade level, comparing this 8^th grade with last year’s 8^th grade.  Growth would be the students getting better and progress would indicate teachers making better connections with the students.  Together, they indicate the health and vitality of a school building.

Winfield Middle School improved in all our areas last year.  Math, English/Language Arts (ELA) and Science all scored increases.  Knowing the efforts in place last year and comparing them with our efforts this year, we can’t wait for July!  #onthemap will really mean something as each of the staff at WMS play their #partofthepuzzle in our students lives.  #sbg

Communication about change from the middle school:

How many forms of communication about change are necessary to connect with constituents?

 This teacher has communicated in so many ways, there is no excuse not to know!

 

What is the best way to communicate?

Connecting, building bridges of influence, helping others grow regardless their position and enjoying progress are a few of the marks of master teachers.  Is this rare or is this the norm.  At Winfield Middle School, there are many solid educators striving to influence the future, one life at a time, all through exemplar communication. 
 

No longer.

To improve our communication from our teachers we are piloting a program called remind101. www.remind101.com  This allows staff to send a text message to every parent signed up.  Homework reminders, test dates and class announcements would be the primary purpose.  So when you want to know what happened, look at your text messages!

Parents, connect via Remind101:

text @mrmccracke to 573/629-1051

Social Media:  Twitter: @mccracken63
We are also using twitter for PD, personal and professional development and connecting with other professionals, as well as letting parents and followers know about teams, schedules, play by plays and even scores. Like us on Facebook for other timely information about what is happening here.

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This weekly blog www.mrmccrackensblog.blogspot.com shares the Principal's perspective of a variety of leadership topics, from teaching, serving, building champions to Green Eggs and Ham, all surrounding education.  There are over 75 posts devote to the advancement and development of our educational growth.

A daily email from our Office
Everyday, our students hear announcements but seldom do they make it all the way home.  A duplicate written version is published every day and sent out via a group email. Feel free to call or email to sign up to receive these timely posts.

Traditional modes:
Of course the cell phone, text messages and email as well as personal visits and letter writing are also allowed and even encouraged.  Gone are the days when we could say, "I never knew." or "Nobody told me."  If the desire to know is there, the mode is there. 

What is your favorite form of communication?

 

Tom McCracken

Winfield Middle School Principal

From #onthemap to #pieceofthepuzzle