Meet Students Where They Are

Students need teachers to care about them as individuals.  Each child comes into school with a unique story.  Behaviors often come from a deeper problem.  These behaviors manifest themselves in a way that is difficult to deal with while trying to teach a classroom full of children.  Some people believe that to be fair, all students should all be treated the same.  They believe that if a student acts poorly, something should be done with no consideration of what is going on in the life of the student.  Others see a student with disadvantages and then lower expectations in subtle but devastating ways.  Kids need to be loved for who they are, even when they are at their worst.  All students deserve to have teachers who have high expectations of them.  As educators, we don't get to decide where a student starts, but we can help impact where they end up.

Statement #1: Students don't deserve to get extra attention just because they act bad

What they have right: Dealing with behavior is a balancing act.  You can, at times, unintentionally reinforce negative behaviors.

However, if you want behaviors to change, you have to change your behavior and then reflect on your impact.  If you hope to just ride it out the bad behavior, the behaviors will likely not change.  If the child is seeking attention and they get the most attention when they act poorly, you are reinforcing the poor behavior.  Each individual student has separate needs.  Giving a student specific positive feedback when their behaviors are positive can be very effective.

Statement #2: Don't have fun with them when they are misbehaving

What they have right: If a student is getting positive reinforcement for misbehaving, expect the behaviors to go up.

However, if a 6-year-old child needs a moment to breathe or they need to reset their emotions, it can be very helpful to allow them that time.  Once they are able to think more clearly, then it is time to get into consequences.  Time to clam down isn’t “fun time,” it is sometimes needed to address the behavior.

Statement #3: Stop being easy on Kids-Punish bad behaviors

What they have right: expectations should be high for all kids

However, the end consequence should connect with the behavior and should fit the individual if it is going to be effective.  If a basketball team misses a lot of layups, having the kids run as a consequence will have no impact on their behavior (unless of course, they were missing the layups on purpose).  If the players are missing layups, practice layups.  Make the consequences fit the action.  All behaviors have consequences.  If you study hard, you get better grades than you would have otherwise gotten.  That is a consequence.  Consequences that connect the behavior to the action make a much more significant impact.

Build Relationships 

What works in the short term doesn't always work in the long term.  While yelling will get an immediate reaction, building a trusting relationship will pay bigger dividends over the course of the school year.

All students deserve adults in their lives who will see their potential and take the time to find out how to get them to the high expectations set for all students.

Embrace Your Passions

Embrace being different.  Embrace what makes you different.  Embrace the strengths you bring to the table.  Build a school culture around the passion of the people in the school. As a principal of a school and as an avid learner, I want those I work with to follow their passions and create an exciting and engaging environment for everyone in the school.

As a child, I didn't want to seem different, so I often went along with the group when it came to activities and my desire to learn.  This peer pressure is often associated with kids or teens.  However, this thinking creeps into our adult life also.  The pressure is to go to the middle.  Don't be great, be just be good enough.

During High School, I was passionate about football.  That was an acceptable passion to have from my peer group.  As a result, I excelled in football and learned a tremendous amount about leadership and teamwork.  I found a passion and it made me a better person.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the same for learning.  Overall, I was a good student.  However, I wasn't a great learner.  The best example is that I wanted to be bilingual since I was very young.  In High School, I took Spanish I and then Spanish II.  Then I quit.  No real reason, I just didn't continue.  I had enough credit for what I needed for going to college.  I got through on the bare minimum.  That would truly be OK if it wasn't a passion of mine. So why did I quit?  This is where the push to the middle happens.  This isn't to blame my friends.  In fact, many of them went on to Spanish III. However, taking Spanish and learning Spanish are two very different things.  I simply didn't want to admit that I wanted to learn something that others didn't have the same passion for.   Interestingly, I think some of my friends may have had the same interest, but we never talked about it, so I'm not really sure what they thought.

The push to the middle is powerful.  I've seen many great people who resist the push to the middle.  It's amazing, we all have tremendous respect and admiration for these people, and yet some of us never want to take the steps to be different than the group.

So here are some ideas to embrace your passion and help others embrace their passions:

1. Talk about your passions - Make your passion public.  Others may want to help you or may have contacts that could benefit you.  Talking about your passions also makes it more acceptable for others to talk about their passions.  You might soon find out the other person's passions.

2. Speak with passion - Let there be no mistake of what you are passionate about.

3. Encourage others in their passion - When a student or a peer share their passions with you, encourage them.  Never be the person who diminishes someone's passion.

4. Celebrate - When you reach a goal, make it public.  When others reach a goal, celebrate.

Passion will push you to an incredible school culture and learning environment. People who work in their passion areas are going to perform better and be happier.  Giving teachers and students time to talk about what they are excited about in an encouraging environment will lead to amazing results!!!

Reflective School Leader

Habits are critical to everything we do.  Focusing on the 10/90 Principle, we can concentrate on what is important.  Ten/Ninety is prioritizing how we respond over focusing on how others have treated us or what has happened to us.

Routines that focus on priorities will help you become a better school leader.  For me, it can be easy on a day to day basis to waste time. So, I try to focus on 4 R's, or r sounding type of words: Read, Write, Run, and Reflect.  These are my daily habits.  These 4 things are an easy way for me to reflect on my day.  Did I do each of the 4 R's?  

Here's how I define the 4R's of Habits:

Read - means to learn.  Learning includes my Spanish classes, Duolingo, learning podcasts, etc.  It also refers directly to reading about leadership or education also.

Write - Each day I write in my journal.  I'm also am trying to incorporate a weekly blog.

Run - This is about health.  It used to be about running, but running sometimes doesn't work for me since I have a bad back.  So, lifting, walking, and running can all count as "run."

Reflect - This also comes in the form of journaling.  I empty out my thoughts and reflect on the day.  Did I do all of the 4 R's?  I usually try to reflect on Leadership, Innovation, and Passion.  Somedays though it is more of a specific reflection on one of the 4 priorities I've identified for myself. I have found that writing helps bring thoughts to the forefront.  Often, I think I don't have anything on my mind or I don't need to reflect on the day because nothing that noteworthy happened.  By practicing writing every day, I'm amazed by the amount I have to reflect on but I wouldn't know that without the actual act of writing.

Planning for these routines is important.  Time slips by if you don't plan around priorities.  By planning around priorities, I can move the little things outside of the school day so I can better focus on being with students and there for teachers during the day.

Centered Leadership: Mindset Matters

1) 10/90 - The basic idea takes from Stephen Covey's 90/10 principle that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond.  It is critical to focus on what you can control.  You can control your response.  Let the small things go and react in a positive, proactive, and strategic way to negative situations. Push the things you can't control to the outside.

2) Growth Mindset - Learn from everything.  Take a "not yet" approach to life.  If you haven't met your goals, look for how you can grow to meet those goals. 

3) Keep Promises to yourself - In the weight room, every day I see a sign that says "every rep counts."  If you make a promise to yourself in the weight room that you will do 10 reps, then do 10 reps.  I like lifting, so those promises to myself are easy but I hate doing planks.  I do 3 sets of 20 seconds and repeat this on my right side and left side.  I often want to cheat and cut it at 19 seconds (or even before).  But everything counts.  So you are cheating yourself if you don't keep your own promises. While one second on one set may not seem like a big deal, 3 reps on 3 sides (front, right, left) 3 times a week for 52 weeks =1404 seconds.  It's like a drop of water on a rock.  One day or even one year may not matter, but the cumulative effects of our behavior have a greater effect with each passing day.

4) Get Started - "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"-Laozi.  Big problems can seem overwhelming. Focus on your first step.  Breakdown the big issue into smaller parts and then get started.

5) Never Give up - Take the next step, even when it's hard.  You need to have a clear picture of you are going so you know the next step is worth taking.

6) Self-efficacy - You must understand your impact.  You must believe in your ability to succeed and know that what you do matters.  If you are fixed in your mindset or believe you have no impact, you will fail to plan and prepare, causing a self-fulfilling prophecy.

7) Power of Mistakes - Never fear making a mistake.  Fear not trying. Language learning is a great example of being humbled by mistakes.  You have to make mistakes, or you will never get better.  A language learner that never speaks in the target language is not a language learner.  A language learner has to trip up to get better. 

8) Take a moment - Take a breath.  Give yourself 10 or more minutes in the day to do nothing.

9) Reflect - Journal daily.  It is incredible that when you go into journaling, you think, I have nothing to say.  The simple act of forcing yourself to journal will help you become more reflective.  My focus while journaling is "Reflections on Leadership, Innovation, and Passion."  I use journaling as a way to release information from my mind before going to sleep each night.

Centered Leadership

Push what doesn't matter to the outside. Center yourself and focus on what matters.  I intend to dig deeper into each part of this during the next several weeks.

Passion Projects

What is a Passion Project?

Many schools and districts have been looking for more personalized learning opportunities for their teachers.

A passion project is a specific time for educators to learn about something that interests them in a format chosen by an individual educator.  Teachers will learn what, when, and how they want.

What is the purpose of doing Professional Learning this way?

Every person has their own learning needs.  This allows educators to have control of their own learning and it allows educators to learn about something they are passionate about.

When would you have time?

In our school, we have provided 11 hours of Professional Learning time to be dedicated to Passion Projects throughout the year. Many teachers will go far above that due to their interest in their topic. It is important for the building or district to provide time within the contractual day in order to emphasize the importance placed on this type of learning. The time also should not take away from personal planning time. As an administrator, you may have to give up that cool powerpoint you were planning on showing.

Elements of a High-Quality Passion Project-Tips for Teachers doing a Passion Project

Data Informed
1) Data informed-consider relevant information to improve student learning.
2) This is in contrast to “data-driven”-having data drive decisions implies that reading the data objectively determines your future actions.  

Strive to Get Better
1) Teachers take ownership of their learning.
2) Teachers learn because they know it is going to impact their students.

Further Reading
For those interested in creating Passion Projects in your school or district, read "Hacking Leadership" by Joe Sanfelippo and Tony Sinanis.

I will continue to keep you updated on projects that teachers are doing and on any pitfalls we might run into. I'm excited to see how this goes this year.

Please reach out to me if you want specific information about how it is going or any questions. @bcudly on twitter or comment in the comment section.

Unleashing Passion

As I begin to prepare for next year, I'd like to collect and share some thoughts on unleashing passion in those who are naturally passionate.

Show me a teacher and you will show me someone who loves kids.  So it follows that teachers are passionate by nature.  They are driven by something that many others aren't.  They are driven by service, by the desire to change lives, by a belief in the good in people, by learning, and by love.

So, why does professional learning not connect with these people with a predisposition to learning, service, and passion?

Does professional learning:

• Connect with passion?
• Keep kids at the center?
• Provide opportunities to serve?
• Make a difference to the teacher's students?
• Drive change that will benefit student's lives?

Through this summer, I intend to explore ways to personalize the learning of our teaching staff to make meaningful differences for them and for our students.  This is an exploration, not an answer.  I look forward to studying ways to connect district and building leaders with ways to personalize professional learning for the benefit of our students.

Leave comments for me on ways to personalize professional learning (or professional development). If you've had a great PL experience, let me know.

Servant Leadership

Servant Leadership

Outward Mindset: Think first of others interests

Leadership, at its core, is service to others.  A leader must have, what the Arbinger Institue calls an “outward mindset,” thinking first of others needs, challenges, and objectives.  If a leader acts selfishly, thinking only of his own self-interest, expect his followers to act in their own self-preservation.  Leaders, great leaders, serve others.  Quality leaders focus on those they serve.  Simon Sinek writes, “Leadership is not about being in charge.  Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.” People follow leaders who show care and concern for them as a person.  People don’t want to feel used but rather want to feel that they are a part of something greater than themselves.  This sense of fulfillment comes from service.  

Put Others First

People want to be a part of the solution, not simply as a cog in the machine.  Liz Wiseman writes about effective leaders in the book “Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter.”   She states "Multipliers are leaders who look beyond their own genius and focus their energy on extracting and extending the genius of others, they get more from their people.  They don't get a little more; they get vastly more." Multipliers do not see themselves as the center and they don’t need to be the smartest in the room.  Putting others on the stage is more important.  “Some leaders seem to drain intelligence and capability out of the people around them. Their focus on their own intelligence and their resolve to be the smartest person in the room had a diminishing effect on everyone else.” When around a person who wants you to know how smart they are, the conversation is often stifled.  Others begin to look to the “know-it-all” leader and expect them to have the answer.  This reduces the overall effectiveness of all those in the room.  Great leaders talk less and listen more.  They want to really understand the issue being discussed and they show that they value all of the individuals in the room.

Get comfortable with Messy

Servant leadership can be messy because it relies on collaboration.  Leaders can be empowering by bringing people together to solve issues.  On the other hand, leaders can be directive leaders which allow you a clearer path to the end result.  You get a straight line to the end goal.  The problem with directive leadership is that you don’t explore the full depth of possibility that you do when you involve others in decision making. Empowering leaders push their followers by giving them a voice and sometimes that voice is in contrast to their own opinion.  Michael Fullan speaks of decisional capital and social capital.  Social capital is “working together in focused, specific ways to learn from others to accomplish something of value.”  Decisional capital is “the ability of individuals and groups to make expert diagnoses and identify corresponding solutions based on experience and expertise.”  Professionals need to have the freedom to make decisions.  It is incumbent upon leaders to allow those they lead to have the ability and freedom to make choices.  At the same time, it is incumbent upon those professionals to always learn and constantly collaborate.  Collaboration can be messy but for deep learning and sustainable practices, it is essential.   According to a study by Dr. Natalia Lorinkova at Wayne State University, directive leaders initially outperform empowering leaders.  However, their leadership does not last past themselves while empowering leaders will experience higher performance in the long run.  Directive leaders do not build sustainable systems. Directive leaders do not see value in the people that surround them. Instead, they see people as simply a means to their own ends.  They see their employees as subordinates who carry out their ideas.  They do not tap the full potential of those around them.

Empower Those Closest to Students

In education, we must work together to get the best results.  Decisions belong as close to the students as possible.  This means a fairly flat leadership structure.  Simon Sinek, in the book “Leaders Eat Last” writes one of his leadership lessons as “Lead the people, not the numbers.”  It is critical that you are deeply engaged with the people that you lead.  This seems obvious but have you heard a school or district leader talk about children like they are only a number?  Physical space and distance from students allow decisions to be made with the students as merely an abstract idea.  The more decision making power we can put in our teachers, the more our decisions will fit the needs of the children we serve.  This requires that administrators trust teachers.  To develop that deep trust, it is also critical that we are explicit with our vision and that we make sure our focus is on instruction and is student-centered.  Imagine a Principal who makes all the decisions for her teachers.  Now imagine a Principal that trusts her teachers to make nearly all of the instructional decisions.  Which one do you think is going to need a deeper belief and value in her teachers?  Which one do you think is going to invest in professional learning that assists teachers in frameworks that allow them to make the best instructional decisions?

Be Humble and Recognize the Value of Others

It is also critical to realize the importance of every member of a school staff.  Everyone brings something to the table.  A leader who listens and values others opinions will learn and grow to become a better leader.  A principal who has all the answers will be well served to listen to those around them.  As the Arbinger Institute writes in the book “The Outward Mindset: Seeing Beyond Ourselves, “Leaders who succeed are those who are humble enough to be able to see beyond themselves and perceive the true capacities and capabilities of their people.”

Further Reading:

“Leaders Eat Last”-Simon Sinek

The Outward Mindset: Seeing Beyond Ourselves-The Arbinger Institute

Together is Better: A Little Book of Inspiration-Simon Sinek

Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter-Liz Wiseman and Greg McKeown

Coherence-Michael Fullan

Indelible Leadership: Always Leave Them Learning-Michael Fullan