Fuzzy Thinking

Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of my education heroes. He is a master of using the power of his narrative to simplify the complex. This is true if he is teaching astrophysics or important life lessons. Check out the 5 minute clip from a graduation commencement at the link below:

Neil deGrasse Tyson on Fuzzy Thinking

The examples he gives in this speech are powerful in helping to illuminate the issue of an over-reliance on multiple choice or objective testing. As a teacher of science for 13 years, I enjoyed the ease of grading and disaggregation of  data that these objective assessments provided. Despite this convenience these assessments can create the problem Neil is discussing. What are some steps a teacher can take to reduce the occurrence of “fuzzy thinking” in our classrooms as a function of our assessment?

1. Minimize the number of questions that are only at the knowledge level. If the answer can simply be given by memorizing, we are only reinforcing the problem. A good filter for this is to ask ourselves, “Can the answer be found by googling it?” If the answer is an affirmative, then it is back to the drawing board to craft a deeper question.

2. Provide a variety of assessments and checks for understanding about concepts that matter deeply. Let's face it, not all learning targets are of the same significance. For those enduring understandings that are priority concepts for your content area, allow for students to demonstrate mastery in a deeper fashion. When students respond in an essay or short answer format, we can get a much clearer picture of where students are in their understanding.

3. Demonstrate that your focus is THAT students learn rather than WHEN they learn. Your behavior after formal assessments will show students what you value. Simply returning the assessment and moving on sends a devastating message for those who were unsuccessful. This practice communicates, "Learning is optional... as your teacher, I am OK with you failing." Purposeful opportunities for students to revisit the thinking behind the answers that they missed, communicates a positive message. Leveraging retest and redo practices that allow for student to fully recover show that our focus is on learning, not just a grade.

Do you celebrate the correct answer or learning in your classroom?

Oblivious or Conspicuous?

I have a life goal that has set me on a path to continue to grow as a man. My goal is to be the best man my children have ever known. On my reflective journey to become better, I have noticed something about myself. I find that when things are going well and everything is in its place, I am oblivious to my current state. As soon as something is no longer in a state that meets my expectation, it becomes very conspicuous. A simple example of this could be related to the cleaning of a classroom. Each day we enter and the room is clean. Throughout the school day, busy students traipse in dirt, sticky fingers touch surfaces, and the trash can fills. The next day, the room is clean again thanks to the hard work of our custodial staff. Over time we become oblivious to this positive state of existence. If we walk in one day and the room has not been cleaned, it is VERY conspicuous. Rather than noticing and celebrating 100 days of a clean room, we only seem to notice the one day that it did not happen. A bigger example might be how we take our good health for granted. Only when we have pain do we appreciate the pain-free existence from the day before.

I know I am not alone fighting this dark side of human nature. Why is it that we don’t take the opportunity to praise the majority of students who are doing just what they are supposed to day-after-day? We are often oblivious to their contributions. Instead, those few students who are not meeting our expectations become very conspicuous to us. This narrow focus on the small minority begins to cloud our perspective of the class as a whole, our school, and sometimes even our view of the world. I believe that shifting our focus to make those things that are in a positive state conspicuous, and become more oblivious the other things, makes our life better!

What are you doing to make the positive things in your life conspicuous to you?

A Tale of Two Windows

What a pleasure it is to walk about a new campus like ours!  Collaborative spaces, the latest technology and natural lighting abound.  I was walking about on one of my coaching days and was struck by the the variety of messages that I was getting from how my teachers chose to cover or uncover their interior windows.    

Check out the image above.  The classroom pictured on the top is identical to the one on the bottom.  Do you get a different feel when you look at them?

As I walked by the open window, a story began to form in my head.  This is a room in which the teacher trusts the students to maintain a focus on their learning, even when someone happens by. I find it noteworthy that all the students are engaged even though their principal is standing in the hall with his phone clearly taking a picture. This room tells a tale of openness and transparency.  It invites us to come and take a look at the amazing learning that is taking place within its walls. It speaks of a teacher who is vulnerable and authentic. It says clearly, "This space is all about collaboration and connection."

The tale of the closed window stands in stark contrast to the other.  It seems to say that students are incapable of recovering from the distraction of someone walking by in the hall. It whispers of something private happening within its walls. It sends the message that learning is siloed within its space.

What tale do your windows tell?

Mark

Max Learning: Learning Everything

How do you bring a big smile to the face of a father who has been an educator for 30 plus years?  My four-year-old Max knows just what to do.  Simply stare straight into Daddy’s eyes and make this heart-felt declaration, “I want to learn everything!”  My little man’s drive to learn is something to behold. His passion for learning is a precious thing. My wife Courtney, and I, treasure it and are driven to keep that fire stoked.  In this post I will explore some of the actions we take to engage Max so that he can move toward his goal of “learning everything.”  I think the lessons learned here apply to all learners, big and small.

Leave it for later – Max has a variety of centers throughout the house.  He has a store front opposite a miniature grill.  He can “cook” up a multiple course meal, ring you up on the register and serve you at a table for two.  A pressed plastic castle form serves as a central focal point for ongoing pirates versus knights conflict.  He has a dress up area, multiple libraries and his current favorite, a table for his Legos. 

To maintain order, our expectation for Max was to reorganize one center before moving on to the next.   “Clean up Clean up, everybody everywhere….”   I suspect you know this song.  Like most young ones, Max is prone to fight the clean-up process.   This is especially true when it comes to his Lego creations.  We learned a tough lesson through these battles to let Max pick a specific creation to keep for later.  Upon reflection, it makes total sense that he would struggle with dismantling the creation he finds value in.  This simple acquiescence has reduced our battles and created a balance between cleaning up and devaluing his creativity. How can you allow for ongoing processes that provide continuity of creativity for your learners?   

Let them lead – Max has become very proficient in riding his bike with training wheels. The wheels will be coming off in the fall.  As his proficiency grew we began lagging behind so that he could pick his own path.  I was amazed at how simply allowing for him to choose which sidewalk he would venture down increased his motivation to ride.  How do you provide autonomy for your learners so they will pedal faster than before?  

Search it up – The questions that Max has about the world seem to be endless.  This is especially true when it comes to space and natural science.  What can I say, he is his father’s son when it comes to that.  I find myself frequently struggling for complete answers that satisfy all his curiosity.  That’s when the smart phone comes in very handy.  My favorite platform to leverage is You Tube.  How do you respond to your learner’s big questions to support a “search it up” mentality?

Lessons within service – I understand that it is important that we all see ourselves as something bigger than ourselves. In an effort to support this idea, Max and I set a New Year’s resolution to pick up one piece of trash every time we are outside. On an outing last spring, we focused on cleaning up a ditch near our home.  Beyond the lesson in service, Max stumbled upon some really interesting things.  A dead cedar wax wing allowed us to look at the anatomy of a bird up close.  A shy crayfish and his recent molt gave us an opportunity to talk about exoskeletons.  How are you leveraging teachable moments for your learners?

Junk collecting – Every parent knows the frustration of their child finding more joy in playing with the box a gift came in than the gift itself. This should not be a surprise when we consider the creative minds of our little ones.  We have begun collecting odds and ends for Max to use outside.  He engages with these random objects as much as or more than his outside toys.  Bungee cords, sticks, and a variety of containers are his current favorites.  Could you create a maker space for your learners?

Moving beyond the trivial – Max has a great memory for past events and the names of things.  On a recent trip to the Sonoran Desert, he had the opportunity to see novel flora and fauna.  He knows the difference between a saguaro and organ pipe cactus.  He can recognize javelina, coyotes and quail.  I am proud of his ability to remember the names of things, but I work hard to question him into deeper understanding.  We were fortunate to observe some animal behaviors that are perfect for exploring the “why”.  We watched a pair of javelinas stroll into a dry creek bed.  One began rooting with its snout in the creek bottom until a muddy pool of water appeared.  Through questioning, Max was able to articulate why this animal was doing this.  At first he postulated the javelina was going to drink the water, but when the javelina rolled in the water, Max figured out that he was after a cool bath.  How do you question your learners so that they will think deeply and own their learning?

Butterfly lessons – In the spring we collected 5 monarch butterfly caterpillars.  On a daily, sometimes hourly basis, we watched as the caterpillars devoured the milk weed and grew larger.  Four of the five attached and formed a chrysalis. Only three of the insects fully pupated and spread their wings as butterflies.  In our world that seems to promote only immediate gratification, it was refreshing to see Max stay interested and ultimately be rewarded by seeing an adult emerge.  I believe this is the most important lesson of all.  Life and learning are imperfect and require patience, but wonder lies at the end!

Busting Silos: The Power of Connection

“It is lonely at the top.” We suspect that everyone who is reading our post has heard this quote relating to the isolation that can come with leadership.This can be true of educators at every level whether we lead a district, department, campus or classroom. With all the tools available to become a connected educator, there is really no reason to remain in a silo of isolation in your role. This post will explore the way two principals maintain an authentic connection that supports and challenges the work that we both do. We will explore some specific questions about being a connected educator and how we overcome those challenges. After that we will show how we stay connected and how you can do the same. We will end with a challenge for you!

Why is being a connected educator important to you?

I (Mark) am the principal of a new campus, Stockdick Jr. High. I have had the pleasure of serving students for 30 years as a science teacher and an administrator. I am driven to connect due to my strong belief in synergy. I am a servant leader who wants to be masterful in the craft of growing others. Connecting with others serves to stretch my thinking and give me fresh ideas.

I (Jeff) am the principal of A&M Consolidated Middle School. This is the third year at my campus as principal. Prior to my current role, I have been at the intermediate and high school levels of campus administration and teaching. In my years of education I have learned that staying connected to peers is critical to my success. The reason for being connected is because I need to be able to collaborate, discuss, share, and explore the possibilities related to my day to work with someone that can relate to my work.

How do you fight the isolationism that comes with the job of being a principal (or any leadership role)?

Serving in any kind of leadership capacity can be lonely work because you are the person that everyone looks to for guidance, solutions, vision, and judgement. You are supposed to have all of the answers, right?!? The pressure that comes with the title of principal is real. There is only one principal on a campus. Yes, there are assistant principals but, at the end of the day, they are looking to the principal as well. The buck stops with you. When you do not know the answer, who do you turn to? How do you make your decisions? Who do you talk to?

This is where having a peer principal to talk over issues with makes all the difference in the world. One of you may have already worked through the issue that the other is currently struggling with. Both of you are able to relate to the stress of the position and the expectations that come with the title of principal.

Sometimes those connections are made within your district and sometimes those connections are made across districts. With the in-district connections, you are able to have lots of rich conversation about the issues that are within your district and what is being faced within the system. There is power in those connections but sometimes those connections fall short because there is a lack of an outside perspective. This is where the out of district connections come into play. When you have peer connections at different districts you open the door for different perspectives and solutions. These connections are just as powerful as the in-district connections. Are you connected with your peers within your district? How about outside of your district?

What are the advantages to being a connected educator?

Most educators know that effective leaders are masterful at balancing pressure and support as they grow others. What fewer people think about is how a leader’s drive to be the very best creates an intrinsic pressure and a need to also be supported. Being connected to a peer educator helps us maintain an internal balance.

Our intrinsic pressure to get better is served by being connected. Through collaboration, ideas are exchanged. New and different ways to accomplish our goals are explored. Reflection on what is working or not working for our peer moves us forward. I find that some of my most meaningful learning opportunities come through ongoing connection to peer principals. The action orientation of these relationships is an advantage that comes from being connected.

The principalship is a tough job. The reality is that being connected to a peer that has your same position creates an easy opportunity for empathy. When you are walking in one another’s shoes, the ability to support each other is not much of a reach. When we are vulnerable and authentic in sharing struggles and celebrations, the connection grows. Through hearing and being heard, we are healed.

What makes voxer so powerful for you?

I think we all realize that the best possible connections with people are face-to-face. The ability to interact with one another in this fashion allows superior communication verbally and non-verbally. The next best thing to face-to-face communication is arguably the use of video chat platforms such as Skype, Google hangouts, or Facetime. The biggest issue with face-to-face meetings or video chats is the need to coordinate time. The reality is that there simply is not enough time to bring all the players together that should have a voice in the process.  Enter Voxer.

For me (Mark), Voxer is my go-to tech tool for asynchronous collaboration. I am able to have ongoing conversations with a variety of individuals and/or groups, as time allows. I spend approximately 45 minutes each day commuting to and from work. I leverage this time to move things forward with Voxer. I may lose the non-verbal aspect of a face-to-face, but I can still enjoy the more subtle forms of verbal conversation such as tone, word emphasis, and emotion. These elements make the communication clearer and bring the conversation to life far beyond the written word.
For me (Jeff), Voxer is a great tool for connecting with others from all over the country and within your own building. Typically, I use voxer during my 20 minute commute. I started this about 4 years ago and it has become part of my normal routine. Why? Talking is much easier than texting / typing. Hearing someone’s voice is very powerful and I don’t have to worry about the video component that comes with something like FaceTime or Hangouts. A reality of the world we live in is the hustle and bustle of our schedules. Making phone calls on a daily basis is challenging but with Voxer the connection is on our time and our schedule. Since you leave voice messages for each other and you check those and leave those when you can, the conversation continues regardless of the busyness of everyone’s schedule.

Do you want to see what a voxer conversation looks and sounds like? Click here to view a short video to give you a better idea.

Here is the challenge… join the voxer group, start a conversation, and bust that silo that is holding you back!

We want you to join in the Busting Silos Voxer Group if you are interested!  Please click here and complete the google form so we can get you in the group.

Thanks to Julie Woodard for the Sketchnote!  Follow her @woodward_julie

A Paradox within the Storm

It was after midnight and I laid sweltering in my bed listening to the cadence of the cicadas outside my open window continually interrupted by the cacophony of sirens and helicopters. This particular mix of sounds is something I hope never to hear again.  As a Houstonian who just endured the lashing of Hurricane Harvey, I found my prayers of thanks hijacked by imagined stories of worry about my staff, students and city. Memories of hours spent in a small bathroom with my wife, son and dog as tornado warning after tornado warning passed left me frazzled.  The images of familiar streets and neighborhoods flooded with water stretched my understanding of the scale of the impact beyond comprehension.

One of my top strengths is positivity.  Despite this inherent part of my nature, I found myself struggling to balance hope and optimism with realism.  My mind finally settled on an idea I first read about in Jim Collins book, Good to Great.  Collins shares a conversation with Admiral James Stockdale who survived over seven years as a prisoner of war.  Take a moment and watch the short video in which Collins explains the Stockdale paradox.  (Click here to watch the video)

There are certainly brutal facts to face related to Harvey.  Economic impacts approaching $200 billion, emotional trauma, displaced families and missed instructional time just to name a few.  What steps can we take to retain faith that we will prevail and at the same time confront our current reality?

Get your mind right – Whether we are leading a classroom, a campus or a district, our attitude and approach sets the tone.  Shifting our self-talk from, “I have to…” to “I get to...” shifts the paradigm of our thinking. Leaders make their biggest impact in times of great need.

Stay out of judgement – Human nature tempts us to blame victims.  Nothing positive comes out of this type of thought.  Conversation about what others could have done or should have done do not move us forward.  Shame and blame do nothing to heal the human heart.  Wisdom should drive us toward the parable, “There but for the grace of God, go I.”

Work to discover the true need – It feels good to give.  A real challenge for us is to ensure we are giving others what they truly need, not just what we want to give.  This requires us to be purposeful in collecting information about our friends, students and staff.  Google forms have been a big help as we collaborate to collect information about how our learning community has been affected and what specific individual needs exist.

Plan for long-term comfort and care – The flood waters from Harvey have receded but the impact will be long lasting.  We must be purposeful in providing ongoing support for those who we know are the most affected.  We have assigned specific people to serve as the point-of-contact for continued support over time for these folks.  A space will be created on our Instructional Leadership Team agenda that will allow us to keep this work on the front burner.

Exchange blind optimism with faith through action – No one can know how long it will take to recover from Harvey.  That lack of a clear ending can create depression and despair.  I believe the best medicine for this is service to others.  I realize that my service has evolved and will continue to do so.  What started with shelter volunteering shifted to pulling down moldy sheetrock and shoveling slime.  Now is the time to shift to connecting people to resources that are beyond ourselves.

Extend grace – We will come to know whose homes have been flooded and cars have been totaled due to the storm.  What will be harder to ascertain is the emotional toll. When we are swept up in the many tasks that need to be done, this can be easily forgotten. We can overcome this by focusing on the relational part of our work and extending forgiveness.

Remember the beautiful parts of this hard journey - My favorite memory during the past three weeks is of a family volunteering at the shelter I was working in right after Harvey passed.  It was late when they came in with a cooler full of chicken and food that they had just finished cooking.  Their children came behind them with arms loaded full of a variety of balls that were clearly taken out of their own garage.  This act of kindness exemplified the giving spirit I have seen repeated time and time again.  The lesson they were teaching their children was priceless.

Nothing brings people together faster than a common enemy.  Harvey was truly that. He held no bias in race, class or political affiliation.  His threat was to us all.  How fascinating it is to see how people that would not have given each other the time of day a week earlier are now in service to one another. I have unrelenting faith that our city and communities will prevail over the long term.  We may take a financial hit, but we will be far richer people in spirit.

I Hear Voices

I can imagine that some who read the title of this post are thinking that this is a strange place for me to reveal a psychiatric disorder!  I seek to be vulnerable with my writing, but that type of revelation is not my purpose here.  Folks in education circles these days know there is a strong push to hear everyone’s voice as a driver for our work.  When we consult students to inform decision-making that involves them, we make better choices.  Involving staff in designing changes that impact their role, results in ownership.  Honoring parent voice can increase the chance that they will advocate for our campuses and serve as ambassadors for the work we do.  How can we be servant leaders without seeking the input and involvement of those we seek to serve?  I value these voices.  What I want to explore here is something different.

Last school year we began exploring our strengths by using the Clifton StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment produced by the folks at Gallup.  This survey identifies 5 of your top strengths from a group of 34.  The deeper I get into this work, the more uncanny I find it to be in describing the core of who I am.  While in a district level professional learning session last month, one of our district administrators described those individuals who have the “Achiever” strength as having to live with the “whisper of discontent.”  That sent me down a reflective path about how my own strengths whisper to me as quiet voices of action.  What I am realizing is that ignoring those voices is just as dangerous as ignoring the voices of the individuals we seek to serve.  What follows are my strengths in rank order, the Gallup generated descriptor, and my thoughts around them.

Strategic – People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot relevant patterns and issues.  My strategic inner voice constantly speaks to me about tweaking processes in an effort to increase productivity.  It hisses in my ear a distaste for the status quo.  It moans when the phrase, “We’ve always done it this way” is uttered.  It reminds me to look down the road to plan ahead. 

Positivity – People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious.  They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.  “Pollyanna” whispers her perpetual optimism to me even in challenging situations.  I have worked to project this voice to those around me who I feel are worth celebrating, in the moment I hear it.  My New Year’s resolution has been to speak the positive to others, even if the timing seems awkward.  This is a commitment I intend to keep for the long-term.

Arranger – People who are especially talented in the Arranger theme can organize, but also have a flexibility that complements this ability.  They like to figure out how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity.  This inner voice warns me away from hiring others who are just like me.  It celebrates and recognizes that diversity of thought and ideas creates synergy when building teams.  This whisper speaks the virtues of connecting people for collaborative work.

Ideation – People who are especially talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas.  They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena. This voice frequently whispers the phrase, “What if…?” It can drive me down a path to question why things are done the way they are.  This voice is pleased when pondering.  In my journey to open my new campus, this voice has become increasingly vocal!

Relator – People who are especially talented in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others.  They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.  This small voice always speaks of a simple story.  It articulates complex ideas in plainspoken language that others connect to and find practical.  It rejoices when I am working with my close associates on work that truly matters. 

What steps can you take to amplify the quiet, whispering voices that speak to you from your areas of strength?

1)      Purposely discover you own strengths – Aristotle is credited with the quote, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”  Can you currently articulate your own strengths and apply them to your professional and personal life?  I don’t know of a better resource for this discovery than taking the StrengthsFinder assessment.  Tom Rath’s book entitled StrengthsFinder 2.0 not only contains an access code for the assessment, it serves as a perfect resource to begin understanding how to use your strengths. (Click here to find out more about the book) Specifically you will find that each strength theme has a number of “ideas for action” that will help you get started.

2)      Stifle that voice that drives you to be “well-rounded” in all areas – Few things disengage people more than working in their areas of deficit.  What engages us are the things that we perceive ourselves as doing well.  If you show me a struggling reader who can make others laugh, I can almost bet you he will be a class clown in language arts class!  Granted, there are some skills that we all must master such as reading.  In other areas, it is a much better investment in your time and energy to sharpen yourself in your areas of strength.  These are the areas where our passions lie.

3)      Discover the strengths of those around you and leverage them for success – Purposefully using the StrengthsFinder with those who you interact with is where the real power is in this work.  I gave copies of StrengthsFinder 2.0 to my wife and grown kids.  We then shared our strengths to deepen our connection and understanding of one another.  The entire staff at my new campus will be taking the assessment and we will be using this common vocabulary and understand to build our community.  My PTA Executive Board will be discovering each other’s strengths.  Even my students will take the age-appropriate StrengthsExplorer assessment to become more self-aware.  For this work, StrengthsFinder 2.0 has an area under each them that guides you how to work with others in THEIR area of strength.  The end goal is to create a strengths-based culture that drives our engagement and celebrates our diversity.

4)      Quiet the voice of busy – So often when I am not hearing my small strengths-based voices it is because of time pressures.  This loud, bullying voice sounds like the sassy quote from Sweet Brown, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!”(Click here for a smile) Rarely are issues as time-pressured as we make them out to be.  Do you find time each day to reflect?  Do you have a reflective partner that you regularly connect with?

We all have the voice of self-talk that we hear every day.  What do your small voices say to you?  If you are purposeful in discovering your strengths, you will have the discernment to know which voices to amplify and act upon.