Lone Star State History -Reflections on Change- Leadership Lessons #SSSAustin2016

Why change when you have been so successful? Think about Blockbuster and Borders … change or – well – you know! – Mike Lubelfeld (via Tweet on 11/5/2016) – (challenge for most people is justifying change – especially in high performing venues)

img_0273I just attended the 52nd annual national conference of the Suburban School Superintendents. Inspired leadership lessons from experts like George Couros, Carl Hooker, Hall Davidson, and others helped my colleagues and I frame, reframe, affirm, reject, think, and plan on many levels. The conference was held in the state capital of Texas – Austin, Texas. Austin is an amazing venue and it formed a powerful backdrop for our journey into innovative and meaningful leadership.

In this blog post I am (hopefully) drawing connections between the rich and diverse history of Texas with the need (in my opinion) for structural changes to public schooling and for innovative instructional practices to become the norm and not the exception. In addition, I am a strong advocate for meeting the needs of ALL learners through integrated practices and not through segregationistic practices that plague CScRi5IWsAAIIv8our school systems at present. The school system we have was built in 1893; just as I do not think Texas should leave our union and become an independent nation (as it was from 1836-1845) I do not think we should remain stuck in a 19th Century mentality with respect to how we “do” school.

file_004-1Texas has a rich and varied history. The image at the left shows the six flags that have flown over Texas since 1519. The flags of Mexico, France, Spain, The Confederate States of America, the Republic of Texas, and the United States of America.

Texas has undergone many changes and innovations in its long and storied history. As times and circumstances changed, so did Texas. As part/parts of two kingdoms, two republics and as an independent nation, Texas has re-iterated, re-designed, transformed, and remained proud, powerful, and unique.

As times and circumstances changed and as technology and technological progress impacted governance and structure for Texas, I wonder why the governance and structure of our nation’s public schools still remain rooted to what many, including myself, consider to be an outdated factory model.

It’s no longer relevant for Texas to be an independent nation (in my opinion) as its place in the USA is what is now just and right for our time. But in the past it was relevant for the Texans to exist as a separate nation. Just like the fact that we no longer use check imprint machines like the one shown (from the old Texas Treasury office) I wonder why we still “do” education in an outdated 19th Century factory model.

file_005Just like technology, progress, and innovation caused us to print and perforate checks more efficiently with technology, and just like the technology, progress, and innovation caused Texas to iterate through six nations, so too, I believe the time is now for education to progress and innovate into new and better structures of organization and implementation.

I often write about personalized learning (which I acknowledge has many interpretations) and meeting the needs of all learners. I study, read, research, reflect, learn and lead based upon the evidence of others’ experiences and work as well as my own experience and work. One of the most read blog posts based on readership statistics, that I ever wrote was about John Hattie’s research findings and the impact of strategies, structures, and practices in education. Often I ask the question “If we know what works, why aren’t we universally doing what works?”

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Based on these readership stats I can conclude or infer that there is interest in the meta analyses and their implications for change and review of schooling. Just as the Battle of San Jacinto, where Sam Houston and his Texan forces defeated the Mexican general Santa Anna and declared independence from Mexico in 1836, the past few years in education have felt like a revolution of sorts.

With so many school districts “going one to one” and infusing technology and technological tools into instruction. The modern realities of progress and change are becoming normal. In addition, with groups like Education Reimagined, change efforts are about to become as normal in our present as fixed rows and desks in the teacher centered design from the 19th Century have been from our past.

The past few years have seen change and change thinking as the norm, and with a major emphasis across the continent on classroom redesign efforts as well as films like Most Likely to Succeed and Beyond Measure challenging the practices of education, it feels in some ways similar to the 1830s when “change agents” like Sam Houston re-created changeimageTexas in a new frame by declaring independence and starting over anew. The Texans did not like the structures imposed upon them and they revolted. Of course I am NOT suggesting armed revolt as an ideal in the public school change process, I use this as an example of change from my recent visit to one of the most significant state capitols in the USA and the fascinating history of the Texan people. I apologize if this is too much of a stretch!

I welcome comments, challenges, affirmations of my ideas, rejection of my ideas, all thoughts are welcome. My charge is to lead and support leadership as the lead learner in the community where I am privledged to serve. Leadership is not doing what’s popular – it’s doing what’s right!

Thank goodness we have outstanding educators in the Deerfield Public Schools District 109 who challenge the process and model the way and who demonstrate the capacities to unlearn that which worked yesterday so that we can create tomorrow.

 

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER
ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

 

 

Below I’m sharing some additional images of the majestic Texas Capitol; if you visit Austin, I encourage you to visit and learn about the unique history of Texas.

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Superintendent’s Summer Reflections

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Although the sun never really sets on the school district administrator’s work or world, summer is a nice time for reflection and thinking as the stress levels are somewhat reduced and the work load is more project based than people based. Many people ask me “what do you do for a living?”, “what does a superintendent really do anyway?”, etc. For many years I have been a “12 month administrator”; a full year employee like many/most in the private and non-education public sectors. I work whether students and staff are present – or not.

My summer work revolves around “on-boarding” new administrators and leaders in new formal positions. It also revolves around supporting and serving the leaders of professional development and training in the district. I also indirectly oversee the myriad of construction/maintenance projects at all seven district sites. My summer work involves all of the elements of my school year work – just without the 3,500 or so people with whom we interact during the school year.

SAMR model developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura
SAMR model developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura

My summer work also allows me to think, “recharge”, seek out professional growth and learning and ways I can refine and improve my own personal and professional leadership. I can read those leadership journal articles that have been filling my inbox and piling up on my desk. I can read other leaders blogs so I can make my blog better and more relevant. I can participate in Twitter Chats with other leaders and educators around the nation and world to increase my knowledge of current practices and research in real time.

I can also plan in the summer, individually, with other leaders, with the Executive Leadership Team in my district, with neighboring superintendents – all with the intention of refining our collective practice, the individual practice of leaders with whom I work and have the privilege of professionally evaluating, and with “the system” itself. During the summer I also review student achievement data, growth, learning, achievement, attendance, state reports, etc.

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Summer is a time for reflective thinking, reflective growth, reflective planning and a re-evaluation of mission/vision/goals/priorities and plans. While I love the warm weather and the red light “not” blinking on my phone, I use summer as a bridge from one school year to another! For, in a few short weeks, I get the honor of bringing together hundreds of educators, leaders, students, etc. as we open up for another school year!

I guess I can say I’m a “school geek” so to speak in that I truly love to facilitate learning on a grand scale! While at times I do miss the classroom and the 8th grade social studies I loved to teach, administration allows me and the wonderful team with whom I work the chance to support learning for thousands of learners!

In summer I give great thanks for the honor of working in education, educational leadership, community leadership, support, service, growth, learning, … all under the umbrella of our motto: Engage, Inspire, Empower!

I hope you enjoy summer too – for before we all know it we’ll be back at school year work- fall and the back-to-school season is just around the corner!

How do you spend your summer?

On what do you reflect in the summer?

How does summer break help to make you a better educator?

Are there any books you recommend others read to sharpen the saw?

Journey toward meeting the needs of all learners

In this blog post my aim is to share a personal journey and the relationship of video and technology in meeting the needs of all learners. The overall purpose of this blog post is related in part to my participation in the Blogamonth Challenge, #Blogamonth on Twitter, and http://blogamonth.weebly.com/ on the web.

I’m participating in the Blogamonth Challenge, and this month’s optional topic is: “Great movies challenge our thinking, speak to our emotions, and take us to distant worlds both historical and fantastic.  Integrating the power of videos into your classroom, professional development, and/or school culture offers even greater potential impact as there is the opportunity to reflect, discuss, and critique the quality and message of the video.

Suggest one – two of your favorite videos (Ted Talks, YouTube Clips, Vimeos, Movie Clips…etc) that you have used in your school setting, and share how you used it. Explain how incorporating this visual into your presentation or lesson has helped you to achieve your goals.”

The journey began in 1993 when I first stepped into the classroom at Blackhawk Middle School in Bensenville, Illinois. We’ll fast forward to an experience from 1995 which was pivotal in my journey toward meeting the diverse learning needs of all learners with whom I had the honor of teaching.

In 1995 I attended a professional development 5-day workshop led by Dr. T. Roger Taylor (link to his website). The point of this workshop was for me, then a middle school social studies teacher and district K-8 social studies coordinator, to learn how to integrate video clips, audio clips and H.O.T.S. (higher order thinking skills) into all units and lessons of study. This was in the early days of the “standards movement” and the change in Illinois from IGAP to ISAT (we’re now watching the ISAT go the way of the IGAP in favor of the PARCC) … but I digress … The Roger Taylor unit/lesson planning was also a way to get “general education teachers” like me to DIFFERENTIATE instruction. Differentiation is a “buzz word” and an oft misunderstood concept in education. Meeting the needs of ALL learners is a goal of instruction and an often elusive goal for many teachers.

Using video clips (1995) to You Tube (2014) in and of themselves will not be sufficient to reach and motivate and challenge each and every learner. But the use of multiple modes of content delivery and use of multiple ways for children to show learning WILL lead to meeting the different needs of all learners. In my classrooms where I taught, in social studies, I always had multiple levels of ability. As a recipient of an Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) Caring Enough To Challenge Award early in my career I realized the value of meeting the needs of the highly gifted in a differentiated classroom. As a teacher of children with special needs, regular needs, and every need in between, I learned the value of lessons learned from Roger Taylor and others of differentiated learning.

One of the major “disruptors”, or “game changers” in education, and in my experiences as a teacher and as an educational administrator is TECHNOLOGY. Flash forward to 2011, as seen and read in the linked video I made regarding district/school technology integration: VIDEO LINK. The power of Technology to motivate learners is easier to see and feel and study and observe than the power of technology (and the tools related to technology) to meet the needs of all learners.  Returning to this month’s Blogamonth Challenge, I’m sharing the reasoning behind the linked video above from 2011. I share this video here – not for shameless self-promotion – but instead to show how a teacher who learns, grows, and becomes a school district superintendent (me) continues the journey to share with broader audiences tools, strategies, methods, ideas, values, goals, and aspirations all centered around the eye on the prize – the prize is learning for ALL students. The most effective way to get there is through carefully and thoughtfully planned out lessons and units and assessments designed to meet the varied learning needs and ability levels of all students!

An additional use of video is linked here to a ROUGH Udemy course I created – emphasis on ROUGH … The point of sharing this set of videos and embryonic entry into online learning with Udemy is an effort to show a unit planning process that like the Roger Taylor work, was instrumental in supporting and sustaining a rigorous course that was designed with multiple student ability levels at the beginning, middle, and end. I used the workshop in 6th grade world history as well as in 8th grade U.S. history (the 8th grade Workshop is described in the Udemy course). Teachers in districts where I have served currently use the Workshop model in an effort to meet the learning needs of all students in their classrooms.

My professional career is based upon the foundation that our society is complex enough to present many challenges to people as they pass from childhood to adulthood. It is my firm belief that a strong foundation in educational preparation will support a person’s quest for success and prosperity. My philosophical foundation holds that young people are our windows to the future; working with them has given me a unique vantage point to assess their goals, needs and abilities. I have been, and I remain committed to preparing our young citizens, and those who teach and support them, for their futures – and ours.

So … as a recap … I’m motivated to Blog as part of professional growth, learning and reflection. I’m participating in the Blogamonth challenge with other educators around the country and world (via the best personal learning network – PLN – Twitter), and I am committed to helping principals help teachers meet the needs of ALL learners. I am also a firm believer that technology and the related tools are and will continue to be the “game changers” in terms of seeing a world where all classrooms differentiate for all learners. And, finally, I am proud to share works in progress of my own tinkering with video, communication, leadership, and growth as I continue in service above self to the various stakeholders whom I serve and with whom I am inexorably linked in a journey to support continued growth and learning for ALL.