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

Two of our staff back to school activities are...

This year we have opened with a puzzle theme!  Two lessons were stressed.

 Our back to school activities for teachers:

1.       Instead of sharing with a shoulder partner a few pictures of the summer everyone submitted a few pictures via email and a movie was made, set to the Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony! Each picture was shown for 10 seconds and we all shared a verbal vine about the scene.  The variety of all the submitted pictures ranged from Spain to Florida, to family and friends, beaches and mountains, with and without people!  To conclude, we pondered how our experiences in this room, over one summer were far more than those of most of our students, maybe even over a life time!  We did more in one summer than they may accomplish in their lifetimes.  This granted us the permission to begin our academic adventure painting a picture of a physical adventure, traveling from a place of sure footing to uncertainty.  We connected the educational risks with those geographical risks surrounding travel, adventures and summer trips!  We thought of the joy these adventures brought to our own children and how their eyes lightened and memories were etched in their minds.  We wondered what it would take to being that same passion and enthusiasm into the classroom.

2.       Additionally, later that same day, we built a puzzle with pieces we received earlier that day.  However, one piece was deliberately withheld.  When asked to assemble the puzzle, things were progressing smoothly.  We got to the end and noticed the missing part.  Many applications to this missing piece were discussed.  We talked about the contributions each of us makes to the students’ lives.  Additionally we wondered if our students were feeling these same feelings of frustration when they almost finished their projects but were not equipped to reach the final conclusion.  Often, they could not reach the mark due to circumstances beyond their control.  This only reinforced the student’s perception that the true locus of control was outside their influence.  According to the students, success is unattainable and extenuating circumstances always prevent them from reaching the finish line. 

Therein lays the issue.  Students often follow this thought process:

With no opportunity for success, why even try? 

If I can’t win, why would I even play? 

If the chances of success are so slim, I won’t even risk it!

Our answer is simple.  We deliberately reach out to students, even if they push us away, especially if they push away.  They need healthy relationships even more!  A student must learn self-affirmation and positive self-talk!  A student must believe in himself or her own value, regardless of the situation.  A student must have a positive example, role model, caring adult or some support team that breaks the negative cycle.  This comes through a concerned adult, caring enough to share their lives with the student’s lives and willing to follow the green eggs and ham example. 

How do we help foster success?  Build a relationship.  Make a connection.  These simple actions begin to act as bridges or pathways or routes out of the negative cycles and allow students to court with success.  This lays out a foundation for a future attempt, and sets up an exit strategy for those attempts that fall short.  A pattern of persistence and determination becomes the norm.  The illusive success becomes attainable and reachable becasue the pupil learns how to win and how to fail!

WSD is "Construct, Renovate and Change"

Q: What does it take to build anything, like New York City?   

A: One brick at a time!

Welcome
Thank you so much for the support for the students of our middle school.  This is a wonderful time in their lives and we here are honored to be a part of it.  We would like to share a few of the details surrounding some of the adjustments we are making here.

Technology

Parent: What did you do at school today?  

Student: Nothin.

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!

Schedule

Research shows that teachers talking together actually helps students do better, especially when the teachers teach the same classes!  This is called collaboration.  We have grouped teachers geographically together by content this year:  math by math, grammar & reading together and sciences together!  This is designed to allow teachers to have lunch together every day, reducing competition and improving communication.

Lunch

Therefore lunch will be based on the 4th hour class, and not grade level.  Math and most science classes will eat first.  English second, and everyone else, third.  Some may even be allowed to attend their Jazz Band class early.  Another benefit is the number of students served per lunch is better aligned.  No longer do we have one lunch substantially different than another.  Our kitchen staff truly appreciates this! 

That is why the rooms are arranged differently.  We understand it will be an adjustment but together we can and will work through it.

Theme

Last year our theme was #onthemap.  We feel we have done a good job of putting Winfield Middle School on the map, and not just because of our flood assistance!  There were successes in every department, grade level, and class! 

This year, we are focused on a puzzle.  We know there are many types but in each, every part of necessary.  Here at WMS, EVERYONE is necessary, vital and valued, especially our students.  

These are some bricks we are using at the middle school.  What other contributions are available?  

 

Watch your thoughts; they become beliefs.

Watch your beliefs; they become words.

Watch your words; they become actions.

Watch your actions; they become habits.

Watch your habits; they become character.

Parents:  text @mrmccracke to 5736291051 to get the latest announcements and pertinent information from the Middle School.

What is a reading list without Hattie?

How could I forget John Hattie?  While reading his tome, Visible Learning: A Synthesis of over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement, I uncovered many lines worth highlighting, but since I borrowed the book, I refrained! 

"The greater the challenge, the higher the probability that one seeks and needs feedback, but the more important it is that there is a teacher to provide feedback and to ensure that the learner is on the right path to successfully meeting the challenges."

 

But I could not skip that one above from page 24 discussing learners and teachers.

 

During classroom walk-thoughs this year, I noticed many situations warranting and receiving feedback!  (Great job teachers of WMS)  According to Hattie, appropriate feedback is a major contributor to student growth! (0.73)  It also builds esteem, confidence and tents to recalibrate the locus of control back to within the students.  Students begin to take ownership and responsibility for their learning.

After getting preliminary MAP data, everything is viewed through the successes and challenges faced during last year’s efforts and reporting.  Working through Hattie's first 3 chapters has both confirmed a few things but energized me for the upcoming year. 

Pushing and prodding, extolling and encouraging while listening and observing to grow and progress in student terms of success in achievement.

 

Whats next? What is going to change?  What will be different?  I have some ideas but together, we work to build effectively, efficiently and around students needs using research based activities!

 

 John Hattie

Visible Learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement
@visiblelearning

What is on your reading list this summer?

Get to Know You Questions:

What is your favorite meal?

What is your favorite movie and why?

So what is your sign?

So, how about those (insert the name of the local team here)?

What is the last book you read?

How about the weather?

What do you like to do in your free time?

 

Questions: These are all questions people ask each other as they get to know each other.  The questions lead to other conversations and topics of interest.  The direction either endorses the continuing of a relationship or the determination that this might not be a relationship heading in a common direction or along an compatible journey.

Social fluency: One of those questions people often ask as they get to know each other addresses reading habits: How much, What genre?, Favorite authors? or style? and latest? or current read?  The answers to these questions help each party identify common interests, beliefs or strongly held opinions about the other.

For instance, in an effort to introduce myself, and in case others were interested, I began to compile a list of my summer reading.  It began as a short list but evolved into a few other books that have made an impact on my philosophy of education.  Interestingly, this selection even includes a couple of ebooks!

 Your First Year as Principal, Tena Green

Drive, Daniel Pink
Leaders of Learning, Rick Dufour
Engaging Teachers in Classroom Walkthroughs,  Kachur, Stout, Edwards
Never Work Harder Than Your Students,   Robyn Jackson
Outliers, Malcom Gladwell
The Taming of the Crew,  Brian Mendler
Shopclass as Soulcraft,  Matthew Crawford
Oh, The Places You'll Go,  Dr Suess
Understanding a Framework of Poverty,  Ruby Payne
Lessons from the Classroom,  Hal Urban
What Great Teachers Do Differently: 14 Things That Matter Most,  Todd Whitaker
Conative Connection

Pop Quiz: Rank these according to Hattie Research?

Below, the morning sun is trying to shine its light through the distractions of the trees and branches.  Sort of like our best practices try and rise to the surface to displace less effective teaching actions.  The light overcomes the darkness.

Sunrise, July 16th, 2013

For instance, lets take a look at this Pop Quiz:   Rank these following terms from greatest impact on student learning to least:

a.       Summer School

b.      Peer influences

c.       Classroom Behavior

d.      Socio-Economic Status

 

A. Here we have an instance where we can probably eliminate the lowest one.  Summer School is scored with 0.23.  This implies the effect is slight.  Those activities scoring below a 0.2 have little effect and too low (below 0.0) actually have negative effect.

 

The typical or regular classroom, if there is such a thing, scores at about a 0.4.  This implies activities above that score are better than average.  The other three choices in our Pop Quiz all fair better than the 0.4 cutoff.

 

B. Peer influence submits a score of 0.53, implying a pretty good positive effect on students achievement levels.

There were 138 parameters in this 15 year long study.  Over 200 million students were assessed in over 50,000 different studies regarding impact and effect of these various parameters.  Our Pop Quiz only address four.

 

D. Closely scored at 0.57 is Socio-economic status.  Yes poverty does have an impact on students success, but with proper PD, faculties are able to adjust and compensate for these challenges.

With all these variables addressed, we would be poor stewards indeed if we failed to examine the implications on teaching, classrooms and true "best-practices."

 

C.  Finally,  of these four characteristic and parameters, the one with the greatest impact on student learning is actually classroom behavior.  It seems a secure environment where there are boundaries, limits and a sense of connection actually encourages students to take educational risks and try.  This seems especially true when considering the converse:  In a chaotic environment, students may not want to risk failure.

 

The ranking according to Hattie, from most impact to least,   C, D, B and A.  Well done to those who figured it out!

What does this mean for us?  Maybe we should invest more time in working at effective practices and less time in easy or practices that have less impact!

Credit to:

 @visiblelearning
John Hattie:   http://visible-learning.org/hattie-ranking-influences-effect-sizes-learning-achievement/
Summer School, Peer Influence, Classroom Behavior, Socio-Economic Status

Q: What are the most important things to do in a classroom?

This sunset pic was taken at Tan-Tara, Lake Ozark Missouri.

 A:  Ask John Hattie

What were we doing at Lake Ozark?  Training, of course!

 

All these meetings and training?  Do they really impact student learning?*  Do our efforts as educators actually impact student learning?  If so, can we determine how effective or measure the impact of what we do?  What about the effect of teaching activities on the students in our classes?  What about home life, poverty or even summer vacation?  Do these impact learning? (It sure seems like a lot of questions but hopefully, they are worth asking.)

 

IS ONE PRACTICE BETTER THAN ANOTHER?

Can we isolate the most effective things to do in the classroom as well as the least effective things?  John Hattie says we can!  He measures and quantifies many school functions, rating and assigning a score to each. This 15 year study was completed a published in 2009

 

For instance, how does cooperative learning compare to inquiry based teaching?  He scores cooperative learning a 0.41 yet inquiry based teaching at 0.31.  Many parameters (138 total) of our favorites are scored and sorted and the results are surprising!  Especially the summary impact to describe what and how we should make adjustments.

THE SCALE:

Ranking above a 0.4  Better than average

Ranking below a 0.4  Mediocre at best

Rankings below a 0.2  Little to negative effect on students achievement

 

Consider what this means.  A few minor adjustments and a teacher's influence can climb from a mediocre 0.17 to an influential 0.60.  Jump to here for a good review an application for teachers.  Don't take their word for it and run a google search and see all the results.

 

Any thoughts or feedback?  Does it align?  Does it make sense?  How close are we to being effective or just coasting or getting by?  What adjustments can we make directly?  How do these things effect our students?  Is it worth the investment to consider the data?

 

 

 

*Professional Development for Teachers  (Hattie Score: PD = 0.62, putting it in the top 20 of 138)

 

John Hattie http://visible-learning.org/hattie-ranking-influences-effect-sizes-learning-achievement/

Visible Learning Laboratories

University of Auckland 

Visible Learning  on Twitter @VisibleLearning