3 Questions for Reflection to Move Forward

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“Student Voice” is something that many schools are focusing on and for a good reason.  If we, as educators, understand that we serve our students and not the other way around, getting their thought and feedback for not only problems but solutions in moving our schools forward, is crucial.

From my experience though, I have seen a lot of money, time, and effort, in getting thoughts and feedback from students, listening to their voice, and then often, no action based on what they have shared.  Dean Shareski wrote a challenging post on this and shared the following thoughts on “Student Voice”:

We certainly are doing well to provide students with more say, more choice and more power to own their own learning. For too long, they have been relative pawns in education where adults made all the decisions about when what, where and how they learned.  We’ve now entered a more enlightened time where things are beginning to shift. In some places, this shift is well underway and in other places, much work is left to be done but there are few places where this isn’t a conversation.

But providing increased say and power to students shouldn’t negate the knowledge, wisdom and dare I say, the authority of adults who provide the structure and foundation of education. I believe that adults and those with experience ought to be given greater say and voice when it comes to education and probably most things related to working with children. Education, like parenting, is not a democracy.  Children lack the maturity, experience, and knowledge to make all the decisions in their educational careers.  Children are certainly equal to adults in terms of rights and opportunities. They are not equal in terms of their decision-making skills.

When it comes to students I’m fine with hearing what students want from their education. However, they don’t know what they don’t know. It’s why I object to a full-on personalized learning experience if that’s being interpreted as students make all the decisions. That’s just a bad idea. Should students voices matter in how their schooling looks? Certainly. Students can provide us with insights we might be missing. We should be asking them for input into decisions that impact themselves and education more broadly. Should their ideas matter the same as the adults? I don’t think so. Again, if you’re struggling with this statement, think of yourself as a parent. If you let your children make all the decisions about their lives, you’d likely have some pretty selfish and poorly adjusted kids. Our role isn’t simply to provide them with whatever they need but also to guide and direct them into what it means to develop into healthy, happy and productive humans. If we truly care for children, we’ll offer them our wisdom and lead them as an act of love.

I agree with much of what Dean shares in this post.  Educators  (at all levels) are the experts on learning, and their voice is crucial in moving forward and school or district.  My struggle is when we ask and don’t follow up.  When being asked for feedback, isn’t it crucial that we consider it and follow up with our actions (or even lack thereof) based on what has been shared?

So what is the missing component? Reflection to move forward.  If we bring our students together to hear their voice, it is essential that we share our actions or inaction based on their thoughts.

Reflection is not only crucial in the case of “Student Voice” but in our development as individuals and organizations.

In this article by Col. Eric Kail, they share why leadership is crucial to growth:

Gaining wisdom from an experience requires reflection. In thinking back on the significant events of my life, experiences good and bad, it was the act of assigning meaning that has made all the difference for me. Reflection requires a type of introspection that goes beyond merely thinking, talking or complaining about our experiences. It is an effort to understand how the events of our life shape the way in which we see the world, ourselves and others. And it is essential for any leader.

Reflection is what links our performance to our potential. It is the process of properly unpacking ourselves as leaders for the good of others.

Looking back becomes beneficial to moving forward only if we take action based on what we have learned.  Below, are three simple questions that will not only help you look back but also take action.

The hope is that these questions can apply to all age levels and people within education but why these three questions?

The first one is to celebrate your strengths.  If we focus only on what went wrong or didn’t go well our confidence can be destroyed. Always start with strengths. Always.

The second one is to remind us that we can grow. All of us. Myself included.

The third one is meant to lead to action. We can look back, but action helps us move forward.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that your action moving forward will lead to better results in the immediate future, but inaction guarantees nothing will happen at all. If it doesn’t work, go back, reflect, retry, repeat.

Whether it is a reflection on what we learn from others or what we learn about ourselves, what we do with what we have learned is what moves us into the future.  Standing still while the world moves ahead only ensures we are falling behind.

What will you do with what you have learned?

4 Skills and Traits Great Schools Teach That Will Always be Essential

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Most educators are aware of the “Four C’s” (Critical thinking, Creativity, Collaboration and Communication) and their importance in schools for ensuring the development of today’s skills in our students (I appreciate Will Richardson’s contention that “curiosity” should be the fifth “C” and is more important than the others).  But there are other essential skills and traits that many schools teach, either through learning in the classroom or by providing extra-curricular activities, which are not as widely acknowledged, but are extremely important.

From my experience being a part of schools and visiting, I have noticed that great schools teach these essentials that are timeless: 

1. The Value of Hard Work.

Easily one of my favorite quotes is from Jim Valvano:

“Hard work is no guarantee of success but a lack of hard work is a guarantee that there will be no success.”

I have been very thoughtful to use the word “learning” instead of “work” in most cases, but deep learning is hard work. But success, no matter how a student defines it for themselves, is something that doesn’t come without a lack of determination and effort.  I have seen many people outside of education talk about students learning to be “entitled” within a school, but I believe that creating environments to ensure students have every opportunity to be successful is no more “entitled” than an employer doing things to put their employees in the best situations to be successful.

The major shift happening in education is more on what the students create with these opportunities. My friend AJ Juliani shares, “What are you doing for the students that they can be doing for themselves?”  This is a great reminder on who should be doing the “work” in the classroom.

I remember in my first years of teaching a speaker joined our district and shared the following:

“Why is it at the end of the day that students walk out of school with energy and teachers are exhausted?”

It always stuck with me.

Great schools know that if you want to see the success of the teacher, watch what the students are doing, not the teacher. They emphasize the importance of work ethic to their students to create opportunities for themselves in the future.

Which leads to the next point.

2. Time Management.

Time management is not talked about enough in education although it is crucial to current and future success.  When someone says, “I don’t have time for this” a couple of things can be happening:

a) They don’t see value.

b) They are not able to coordinate their time in a way where they can bring it to fruition.

If people see the value but can’t find the time, time management is a skill that needs to be developed like any other skill.

Students develop these skills in abundance in many ways. Balancing things like school with extra-curricular activities and a personal life is not easy, but in my time as a student, I learned how to find ways to ensure that I was able to get done what needed to be completed.

Although “time management” is crucial, we have to look at what we are asking our students and decide, “is it adding to the plate or adding to the person?”

For example, the question of “homework” is one that educators have debated for years. I would say that I would lean “against” homework, but I am in no way an absolutist on the topic. I have seen teachers give homework that is meaningful and relevant to students (adds to the person) that goes beyond filling out meaningless worksheets at home (adds to the plate).  Childhood only comes once, and I am a huge advocate of kids being kids. I am not sure filling their home life with extra work is beneficial, but I would suggest the book, “Ditch That Homework” by Alice Keeler and Matt Miller if you want to dig deeper into the topic.

Being said, I am not against students doing school work at home. There is a difference. I used to tell my students that they would have a certain amount of time within the classroom to complete projects or assignments, but they would have to learn to manage their time. If they didn’t use it wisely, they would have to finish it elsewhere and at another time.  Students would have to learn their boundaries and figure out what worked for them and how they could manage within a class.

As an adult, I have noticed that people that thrive in life are often experts at managing their time and make every second count, with personal, professional, and leisure. This is a skill that we need to develop with our students as the positive impact goes way beyond “work.”

3. Humility.

I recently shared this article, “Why Humble Leaders Make the Best Leaders” and I loved these key points of “humble leadership”:

Do they credit others? If a candidate fails to acknowledge the contributions of others in helping to achieve their successes, it’s a red flag.

Do they admit to mistakes? A humble person not only admits to making mistakes; they seek to understand what they did wrong and what they should change going forward. Be especially careful of candidates who blame others and exempt themselves from responsibility.

Do they accept constructive feedback? Does the candidate admit to receiving criticism in previous jobs? How did they respond? Ideally, the candidate will acknowledge the validity of the feedback and demonstrate a thoughtful response…

Do they strive to overcome their weaknesses? We all have skill gaps. Has the candidate recognized their own and sought to improve?

If you read all of those points, these are all skills that great schools teach students, consistently and with purpose.

A mantra I have for myself and share with those that I advise in their careers is “Be humble, or you will be humbled.” This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have confidence, but confidence is being comfortable with knowing you have weaknesses, that you can always get better, and that you can learn from every interaction and person you can encounter.  These are skills that all students and adults can benefit.

4. Kindness

This might seem like “fluff” but I have noticed schools having a focus on teaching students to not only accept other students but to celebrate their gifts and unique abilities.  I remember walking through a school hallway at the end of the day after a professional learning opportunity and noticed students writing notes to every single student in their school and posting it on their locker to share what they appreciated about them. It was a direct result of a teacher’s influence and program in school.

Kindness does not equal weakness. Being kind when someone isn’t is often a sign of tremendous strength.  We start in kindergarten teaching our students the importance of sharing and all through high school, and beyond, great schools teach the importance of collaboration through active listening and honoring the voice of others and being respectful. 

Kindness is a tremendous strength that great schools emphasize often.

The experience and traits I share are not the experiences of every single student and parent within schools. There is a reason I continuously said “great schools.” Culture is not something we only develop with the adults but with and for our students as well.

Like the “Four C’s” these skills and traits should be something that we focus on to develop within our students as these attributes developed, in a positive manner, will have an enormous impact on their future and the positive environment of our schools today.

Personalizing the Journey for Our Students

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I have been sharing the below thought for years, and it is a crucial part of having empathy as an educator, as discussed in “The Innovator’s Mindset“:

The key to this question is not thinking like you but thinking about your students and their point of view.  For example, I have been in adult sessions where you are sometimes forced to do certain icebreaker activities that the facilitator would love to be a part of, but I feel extremely uncomfortable.  I guarantee I have done things like this before, which is why I focus on turning my workshops into conversations more than a traditional “stand and deliver” session. It helps me to modify to the learners in front of me immediately.

Translate this thought into the classroom.

Katie Novak, an internationally recognized expert in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and all-around awesome person,  discusses this personalization of learning for students and why it is so significant:

Imagine this scene in a 3rd-grade classroom: Students are sitting quietly on the floor as a teacher reads Charlotte’s Web aloud. When the teacher completes Chapter 2, each student quietly writes a paragraph about Fern’s point of view and how she feels about Wilbur the pig.

In a high school U.S. history class, students are given a document-based question on John Locke’s Two Treatises of Civil Government (1690). They respond to the prompt on Chromebooks as the teacher conferences with individual students.

In both scenarios, students are immersed in rigorous text, the lesson is aligned to standards, and the class is well managed. The problem? The learning experience is not personalized and thus will not meet the needs of all students.

Katie goes on to describe how each scenario can be shifted to meet the needs of individual learners:

In the 3rd-grade class, some sprawl on beanbag chairs, silently reading from well-worn copies of Charlotte’s Web. Three students nestle on a couch, listening to the novel on an audiobook using a multi-headphone splitter. In another corner, two students take turns softly reading the book aloud to a group of peers. A graphic is projected on the whiteboard, pairing vocabulary words from the chapter with corresponding photos: apple blossom, woodshed, brook.

After students finish reading or hearing the chapter, the teacher shares options for expressing their understanding of Fern’s feelings for Wilbur. Students set a goal for their work, gathering appropriate graphic organizers and rubrics if they decide they need the support. Some students select stationery to write a letter from Fern to Wilbur. Others use purple gel pens to craft a poem or song about Fern’s feelings. Still others choose to collaborate, so they retreat to the back of the room to create a skit.

The teacher, meanwhile, provides mastery-oriented feedback and Tier II support to all students as appropriate. (Tier II support is the first layer of additional support when assessments indicate students need remediation of skills to become proficient, independent learners.) At the end of the lesson, students reflect on their learning and write, type or dictate a holistic self-assessment before sharing their unique products with their classmates.

In the U.S. history class, a cluster of teenagers participate in a Socratic seminar in a corner of the room, using a provided template as they explore whether citizens have a right to dissolve their government.

Others design John Locke’s Facebook page and interpret the Two Treatises of Civil Government through a series of status updates in today’s vernacular. Others choose to join the teacher in reviewing the strategies for closely reading primary source documents and responding to a document-based question on the AP exam.

A few things I think:

  1. When we think about “innovation inside the box” it is important to note that although a curriculum often binds teachers, the pathway for students can look different although they need to arrive at the same endpoint.  It is important to create opportunities for students to take different pathways to different end-destinations (personalized learning) but we also have to understand that are times when having students find different pathways to the same destination is needed to be done within the context of our work (individualized learning). You can read more about “Individualized and Personalized” learning here.
  2. What worked and interested you as a learner, might not work for some (or all) students.
  3. What works for some students does not work for others and what doesn’t work for some students works for others.
  4. There are times when students will have to take the same path to the same destination in school.  Because students don’t enjoy it doesn’t mean it isn’t helpful for their future. We need to find more opportunities where learning is personalized and individualized for our students.

What works for me doesn’t always work for our students and vice-versa.  Getting to know our students and passions may help shape the opportunities within the classroom, as well within professional learning (the questions below may help).

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What is essential to understand that although we often have to get students to the same place, designing and creating a personalized journey for our students is part of the art of teaching.

Rethinking Balance

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“Balance is stupid.”
George Couros, primarily from 2007-2017

That was me.

Maybe I didn’t say it exactly that way, but I was thinking it.

For me, to be successful, you had to live a reasonably unbalanced life.  I listened to the Grant Cardone’s of the world who focused on the importance of being “obsessed” to become successful at what you do.

Eventually that “obsession,” no matter how passionate I became led to struggles with physical and mental health.  I didn’t see myself when I looked in the mirror anymore. I was always tired and couldn’t do things that I used to be able to do.

I started to rethink the notion of “balance.” I started focusing more on my health, spent less time on social media, cut out as much negativity as possible and concentrate on people that would lift me up. I Did more to be present when I was home. I do things for fun that are solely to have fun. I said “no” to others more and said “yes” to myself.

I didn’t snicker when people would say, “It’s all about balance.”

Part of the way I see balance now is that it leads to better work and a better life. I don’t necessarily have to sacrifice one for the other. I have more energy. I’m more grateful. I am more focused where I am when I am there. I am more empathetic. I still have room to grow, but I look at the word “balance” differently.  I like this quote:

I don’t know if I am right but I know thinking differently about the word is right for me at this time.  This space is to show learning and growth, and here my shift right now is that I used to think “A” and now I think “B.” If I am going to preach the importance of embracing “change and growth” I should be able to share my development in both of these areas.

I still struggle with the world balance and maybe I am not good at doing it compared to others, but I think differently about the meaning and its importance.

Revised quote :

“Balance isn’t such a bad thing.”
George Couros, 2018 – Until I change my mind again.

3 Ways to Develop Leaders in Your School or Classroom

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I used to get teased mercilessly by some saying that everyone in education can be a “leader.” If you think of leadership in the traditional context, it is more about positions of authority than it is about ability. For example, not all administrators are leaders, and not all leaders are administrators.  It is a skill and process to be developed.

For this post, here is what I mean when I discuss the term “leader”:

A leader has the ability to move others forward in a positive direction.

Is this something you believe all people can attain in some aspect of their lives, personally or professionally? There is a difference between being “the leader” and “a leader.”

This doesn’t mean that you are either a “leader” or a “follower.” Some of the best leaders that I know are incredible followers and know when to step back instead of stepping up.

But if we look at leadership as the ability to move others forward in a positive direction, how do we develop this in our staff and our students?

Here are a few things to think about:

1. Build on the strengths and passions of people instead of focusing on their weaknesses.

If leadership is “the ability to move others forward in a positive direction,” how do we get people to positively move people forward in areas that they hate or have no interest in pursuing?

One of my staff who was not the best at the technology but had a strong passion for learning it, took over the “tech lead” position in my school. His enthusiasm was infectious, as was his willingness to learn with others. The staff took note and jumped on board.

Another staff member was teaching classes he hated and was interested in taking over the physical education program. Once he took over the program, I noticed that he made an impact on other programs and passions in the school because there was more time to focus on what he was good at instead of wading through what he had hated.  This doesn’t mean that we don’t have to do some of the undesirable tasks, they just become much more tolerable when we are given authentic opportunities to tap into our passions on a consistent basis.

This is not reserved for staff only.

One teacher I know developed a “communications department” in her classroom instead of simply having social media accounts prepared for the students. The students went on and suggested which platforms they should use based on why they thought it was important and what audience it would reach. This was not something they were assigned to do, but something they applied to do because of their passion or strength in the area. It provided so much more learning than simply having a “tweeter” of the day, which leads me to the second point.

2. Give ownership over the process, not just the problem.

Do you know the leader who wants you to go figure out a problem but they walk you around ideas so that you believe their idea is your idea? They might want you to take over the solution but they have an exact way of figuring out the problem. This is compliance as a cover for leadership.

If you are to develop someone as a true leader based on their gifts and abilities, you have to trust them with the process as well. It may not be the way YOU would do it, but if they are expected to produce results without having ownership over the way they do things, this is a recipe to ensure that you will get the bare minimum instead of something you could not have conceived on your own.

More trust has to be given in this process because this confidence is crucial to the development of others. Giving leadership opportunities to others, by definition, is leading.

This leads to the last point.

3. Know when to follow.

Sometimes you may know more than the person taking over the process. It may be hard to step back, but sometimes it is necessary. The best leaders I know, know when to give over the process, and stand back even when it is hard to do so. The process is the part that leads to the growth of others.

There is a difference between delegating to get out of work and delegating to give over opportunities to build culture. I have seen administrators have people take over with no interest in where the process goes unless it goes well. Then they are ready to take credit. Being involved in the process is still necessary as mentorship and reciprocated learning is beneficial to all parties.

Sometimes the best way to lead is to go to the back and support, not necessarily get out of the way.

Organizations, schools, and classrooms tend to move forward quickly when we develop a multitude of leaders in different areas than focusing on the abilities of a sole individual.  Building on the strengths and passions, giving ownership over the process, and knowing when to step-up or when to step back, is crucial to developing more leaders in your environment, not just followers.

Immersed in the Present With an Eye on the Future

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A good friend of mine and a tremendous leader reached out to me and asked me a question to share my thinking on, “What’s next?”

Knowing they already do incredible work I encouraged him to not think about “What’s next?” but to focus on what they are working on now and doing it well.

Too often, we get caught up thinking about the future that we lose focus on how fantastic and essential our present is currently. I am guilty of this, personally and professionally.  Years ago someone told me to “stop and smell the roses before the roses are gone” and I think about that conversation often.  I am working on it but have so much room to grow.

“Moving forward” is not always about “the next thing” but can be about your current place and taking it to the next and a deeper level.

Less is sometimes more.

 

“…it’s what you learn after you know it all that counts most.”

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“The best leaders are lifelong learners; they take measures to create organizations that foster and inspire learning throughout. The most effective leaders are those who realize it’s what you learn after you know it all that counts most.” 
― John Wooden

Two organizations.

Both have success.

Both highlight high achievement in traditional metrics.

One is satisfied and asks, “Why fix what ain’t broke?”

The other asks, “We have done some things well in the past, but what are we doing now to get better in the future?”

One rests on success.

The other appreciate their past success but knows resting will lead to future failure.

Which one will more likely have success in the future?

Remember…Risk is sometimes embodied in the things you don’t do.

Failure is easy to challenge, but success can create a false sense of security.  People get comfortable. Organizations can coast.

Success can be a catalyst for either success or failure, but it depends on how you use your past to fuel your future.

The above statement is true at the district, school, classroom, or individual level.

How will you learn from your past success and grow in spite of it, not regress because of it?

Starting With Positive Assumptions

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Assumptions can cause a lot of issues in the work that is done by educators.  They can be used as a detriment or to your advantage.

Think of these negative assumptions.

Parents don’t want education to be any different than their experience.

Teachers don’t want to change.

Students don’t want to learn.

Starting with these assumptions, even when you might see a bit of evidence to support it, will not lead to anything positive in helping people move forward.

But what if we started with these assumptions?

Parents want what is best for their children and need to experience and see something different than what they had in school.

Teachers want to serve students, but they need a deeper understanding of why they should change or shift their practice.

Students want to learn, but they also need to feel their strengths and current abilities are valued.

The shift here is that we start with assuming positive when helping people move forward, but we also take ownership of our actions and thoughts to help them create something better.

Assume the worst, and you will probably find it whether it is true or not.  Start with assuming positive intent, and you are more likely to serve someone in leading to positive action.

The Importance of Multi-Disciplinary Thinking

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I was sent a video called “The Adaptable Mind” by educator Erin Caldwell.  She told me the following, “I have since shared it with my students, and used it as a launching pad to discuss what are the most valuable skills we can set our students up with. ”  It would be an excellent video for discussion with students and/or staff.

There are five areas that the video focuses on, and they are, ” curiosity, creativity, taking initiative, multi-disciplinary thinking, and empathy.”  I have talked about each often, except for “multi-disciplinary thinking.” I did a little research on it and found some interesting thoughts. In the article, “Why solving the world’s problems needs to start a multi-disciplinary approach,” they shared a story on the connection between engineering and understanding humanity:

One traffic intersection in the center of Drachten, Netherlands, accommodates 20,000 drivers as well as many bicyclists and pedestrians each day. As a result, it became notorious for its high rate of accidents and deaths.

A conventional solution might have been to load up the roads with signage and signals that clearly instruct everyone where to go and when. But when Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman approached the problem, he saw the congested conduit as a place of profound disconnection. Rather than peppering the roads with signs, in 2003 he took all signage away.

This approach to “shared space” design meant that drivers, cyclists and pedestrians had to increase their awareness of each other to successfully navigate the intersection. This reliance on human connection rather than engineered traffic patterns upended conventional thinking, and dramatically decreased the number of accidents and deaths.

The most innovative solutions to local problems like this demand deep integration of quantitative and emotional insights that are too often segregated between traditional academic disciplines.

I think the importance of stories like this is that it pushes us to think of ideas like STEAM or “SHTEAM,” as shared in the video (Science, Humanities, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics), we look at them as disciplines that are interwoven in our classrooms, not separate.

It was just something that pushed my thinking in the video, and I encourage you to watch the whole thing below (thanks for the share Erin!)

Stepping Forward and Stepping Back

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In the book, “A New Culture of Learning,” by Doug Thomas and John Seely Brown (highly recommend this book), they state the following:

For most of the twentieth century our educational system has been built on the assumption that teaching is necessary for learning to occur. Accordingly, education has been seen as a process of transferring information from a higher authority (the teacher) down to the student. This model, however, just can’t keep up with the rapid rate of change in the twenty-first century. It’s time to shift our thinking from the old model of teaching to a new model of learning.

In my workshops, I do everything I can to tailor the content to the questions of the participants, not the aspirations of myself.  This creates an environment that can be unpredictable for me but hopefully, leads to deeper learning for the participants. I jokingly say that “if this is boring it is your fault because it is based on what you want to know.”  The learner drives the learning.

There are times I show some use of technology.  I was once guilty of going at a snail’s pace to do my best to people understood the step-by-step directions of any given software or website.  The problem with that approach is for the majority of participants, I am going too slow, while a large portion of the group it seems to be too fast, while some don’t care.  It would also have people check out mentally from the session because no matter what technology I would show, many would think “Why?” which is a legitimate question. Tapping into my inner Simon Sinek, if people don’t understand “why” the “how” and “what” doesn’t matter.

Now, I zip through things for a few reasons:

  1. To show how quickly things can be done.
  2. To show “value” to participants.
  3. To put participants in a situation where they know they will have to figure things out on their own.

The first two often make sense to people but many struggle with the third.

If I go through every step, people learn dependency.  But what happens when the “teacher” is gone? People that are determined will find a way so if you can show value in both the process and product of learning.

All of this doesn’t mean a teacher shouldn’t focus on delivering content or walking through a process with their students.  It is more about finding those times where we free our students to figure things out on their own.  A challenge of teaching in our world today is knowing when NOT to help understanding that this will lead to something much more powerful in the future.

From “The Innovator’s Mindset“:

As educators, we sometimes need to deliver content and transfer skills, but other times, we need to inspire our students to figure out their own way.  Sometimes we step forward, and sometimes we step back, but both steps are part of the artistry of a great teacher.