Hey? Whatcha Readin'?

"I don't read books on education. I read books on business, creativity, innovation & make parallels to learning."

I saw this quote on Twitter the other day and it stuck with me. I'm inferring from the tweet, that this quote can be attributed to David Culberhouse, whom I met recently at a CUE Admin Rockstar Camp. David's session focused on leading our schools while fostering innovation and creativity. To center our work, we read an excerpt from Exploiting Chaos. Then, we discussed using a reading protocol. I was happy. Effective Professional Learning should mirror good teaching practices that we want to see in the classroom, while overtly stating the strategy so there is no question about what should be replicated elsewhere. Where am I going with all this. Reading.

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that as a profession we are reading more. We are reading more and we are learning more. That's what we say though, right? We say we are a learning organization? Yes, we do claim to be a learning organization - at least, I've heard the Superintendent say so. Right now, people are learning. Now, maybe it's always been this way and I just never noticed. I'll admit, I haven't always been the most voracious reader. During my time as a classroom teacher, I don't think I really read that much. Not as much as I do now anyway. In fact, I still don't really like reading that much. I can't seem to slow down long enough to do it. On top of that, I read very slowly and often stop to think and process while reading, which means that it takes me long time to get through anything. Audible has become my new best friend, which is a whole other blog post! Needless to say, in a group reading session, I am often the first to start and the last to finish. Frequently, I even use my noise cancelling headphones to help me focus. Like I said though, that is for another time.

This year I've been challenged to read: On Your Mark, Rethinking Grading, Mindset, 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, True North, Leadership as an Art, Mathematical Mindsets, What's Math Got to Do With It?, Designing Groupwork: Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom, and Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate & Compete in the Knowledge Economy. The people around me have been challenged to read many of the same titles. I don't always remember it being this way. And it's not just my workplace! I see this happening all over the place. Across school districts, businesses and social media, people are not waiting around to be told what to do. They are learning and applying what they learned to affect change in the world.

Affect Change in the World.
Isn't that what we are asking kids to do?

Educators are not telling learners what to do anymore. We are asking them to read, think, do math, know history and understand science. More simply, we are teaching kids to use their brain. We are teaching them to be like us . . . Readers, Thinkers, and Doers.

So, ask yourself, "What am I reading, thinking and doing?" How are you affecting change in the world? The reality is that Change is always happening. We can choose to be a victim and let it happen to us OR we can decide what the change is and how to make it happen.

If you're ready to jump in with both feet, you can start with the man that inspired this post, David Culberhouse. David, who wakes at 4 am daily to shred through as many as 12 books at a time, has also published not one, but two, free ebooks.

It's not about you!

Image Credit:  http://13thirtyone.com/

Currently, my school district is in the middle of our Benchmark Assessment window. Benchmark Assessments are given district wide to serve as a check on our instructional system. Assessments (tests) serve many purposes. Broadly speaking, tests can be broken into two categories - formative and summative. Formative assessments are used as an assessment for learning, while summative assessments are an assessment of learning. Examples of formative assessments are daily tickets out the door, weekly quizzes and minute by minute teacher observations. Formative Assessments help the teacher understand where a student is on their learning path so their next step can be carefully planned. Summative assessments are end of unit exams, end of quarter/semester exams, and the like. These snapshots in time are often called educational autopsies because, while you have data to analyze, students and teachers have already moved on.

We ask our teachers to analyze benchmark data to initiate a discussion on best practices. Many teachers (even entire school sites) are great at this. If the data shows that a teacher outperforms another, we must ask why. What instructional strategies did the teacher use? What learning activities did the class participate in? The idea is to pull out what works best. Sadly, some teachers often feel that student test scores are a reflection on them as a person. This is a misapplication of data. As a result they shy away from (even fear) this kind of data analysis. I believe that this fear lies in an antiquated, fixed mindset notion that some people are great teachers and some are not. Are great teachers simply born? No. The issue is compounded by the fact that, for many, the role of "teacher" is very tightly woven into their personal identity. Pointing out instructional weaknesses are often perceived as personal jabs. This must change if progress is to be made. As a professional developer and coach, I believe that all teachers and students can achieve at high levels.

Just as some adolescents are crippled by changing in the locker room, some teachers are hesitant to share scores. To those teachers, I say, "It's not about you." It is, and always should be, about students. When benchmark data is analyzed, it's important for teachers to understand that they should not take the scores personally. It doesn't mean that you are a terrible teacher. It just means that whatever you were doing, was not working well and you should try something else. A scientist doesn't take it personally when a experiment does not yield the results they were expecting. Neither should teachers.

Oh and there is no one at the district office sitting around, pouring over test scores, trying to determine who should be on the "naughty" list. Set aside your ego and talk to your colleagues. Rather than beat yourself down because your class scored low, find the bright spots in the data. Find out who scored better and ask why.

Hello World.

Much of what I do in my job as a Coordinator of Professional Learning for a Unified School District and in my job as a father and husband, involves trying new things. I'm constantly trying to streamline my workflow in an effort to be as efficient and effective as possible in all areas of my life. I make a lot of mistakes. I spend a lot of time reflecting on mistakes too. I spend a lot of time learning. I've noticed that some people don't like to learn new things. Some people are very happy with the status quo. Well, I want to inspire people to try new things, to learn, to step out of their comfort zone, to try to be better, for yourself and those around you. Here goes . . .