Take A Chance and Try Something New

Two months ago I ventured to upstate New York to conquer the Indian and Hudson Rivers in the form of  white water rafting. To say it was an awesome experience is an understatement. The weather was simply horrible, but it added to the mystique of our adventure. I was invited to participate in a guys only weekend trip by Steve Bollar, upper elementary principal and motivational speaker (@StandTallSteve). This is an annual trip, but this was the first time I’ve ever gone. Footnote #1: if you don’t have a guys or ladies weekend with friends, you need to start!

Our adventure began on Friday with a five and half hour drive from Philadelphia, PA airport to North Creek, NY. The only guy I knew was Steve, so the road trip was one of the most important parts of our journey. We talked, laughed, reflected on life, and developed friendships along the way. Without this time, the overall experience would not have been as great as it was. Footnote #2: nearly every meaningful experience in life boils down to the relationships you have with others. Dr. James Comer said it this way, “No significant learning takes place without a significant relationship.”

Once we hit the water on Saturday, we spent several hours rafting during the 17 mile trek along the Hudson River. The backdrop was the Adirondack Mountains in 60 degree temperature and rain. Did I mention I can’t swim? Well, if not, now you know.

As I reflect on our trip, I realize I learned a great deal about leadership.  Following are lessons learned:

  1. To do something new, someone has to initiate change. Steve Bollar was the connector of this trip. He’s done this before and invited friends from New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and me from Ohio. Without Steve taking the initiative to set this up, the trip would not have occurred. Leaders take charge, research, and create new opportunities for others to grow.
  2. As a leader, influence matters. When Steve first asked me to attend, I thought of every excuse why I couldn’t attend: “I can’t swim,” “I have an administrative luncheon,” “I needed to be at school (even though the students were gone).” Steve listened to my excuses, but then followed up by sharing his past experiences of white water rafting. He also talked passionately about his friends that he wanted me to meet. By the time he was finished, I couldn’t say no! Leaders not only present the facts,  they also tell compelling stories to convey a particular message.
  3. Communication is essential. Since three of the six guys in the raft had never been white water rafting, communication was key. However, the part of communication I’m referring to is listening. We had to listen very closely to our guide who was not only highly qualified, but he was every effective. When sharing something new, leaders use clear, concise language , but the leader also listens to the followers in the organization.
  4. It’s much easier to go through rough waters with others.Tough times are inevitable, but going through them alone is not. “We” is much better than “me.” With technology, the “WE” in our lives is much greater than ever.
  5. Take a chance and learn something new. How can we as educators and leaders expect others to try new things if we don’t? Model what you expect and you’ll see more of it. I mention this because as I stated earlier, I can’t swim so to go white water rafting was a major stretch for me. At one point during the trip we came upon an extremely large boulder sticking out of the water. Our guide indicated that we could climb the boulder and jump off into the 20 feet deep river. I thought, “Yeah, right. I’m going to sit right here.” Well, as we got closer we all started looking at each other and one by one, I heard, “I’m in!” I had this internal conflict going on: “If you jump and die, your wife is going to kill you!” “But, I’m with a number of people that can swim, I’ve got on the right equipment, others have shown it’s safe, what’s the worst that could happen?” I thought. Well, the worst that could happen is that I could die! After much contemplation I finally said, “I’M IN!” I climbed the rock with the help of our guide, approached the edge, looked down, backed up, took three big steps, held my nose, and…. splash! I can still feel the warm, clean, and fresh water take me in and everything just stopped for a moment… I did it!

That was an aha moment for me. Why? I realized that as leaders if we provide the right training, modeling, resources, support, and safe environment for others to take risks, the possibilities of what we can accomplish together are endless.

Be Great,

Dwight

10 Steps to Overcome Self-Destruction

Attention, attention! I have an important message to share with you: if you are an educator, you are the most important person in the building. I know you may not want to hear or read this, but your attitude and mental well-being does affect the climate of your classroom or school. I am sorry if you disagree with me, but it’s true you know. That’s a great deal of pressure and we sometimes sabotage ourselves because of self-destructive thoughts…

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Sometimes our greatest enemy or barrier to success is ourselves. Past experiences, fear, doubt, or even replaying negative words of others that have been spoken to us can sabotage ideas, goals, and dreams. If this describes you, raise your hand. I’m with you and I understand.

I recently attended the Jostens Renaissance National Conference (@J_Renaissance) held in Anaheim, California July 15-17, 2011. The closing speaker was Liz Murray, author of Breaking Night. Her life story was made into a Lifetime movie titled, From Homeless to Harvard. Her story is simply amazing! As I listened to her and frantically wrote down and tweeted nuggets of wisdom that she shared with the students and educators in the audience, one message emerged loud and clear: she chose not to self-destruct. I don’t know about you, but there have been a number of times in my life when I have thought or spoken destructive thoughts or words to myself that sabotaged my dreams. Following are 10 steps I gained from her presentation that can help overcome self-destruction.

1. “No matter where we come from, we all feel like giving up.”
• Lesson-acknowledge these feelings, embrace them, and then do the opposite. This is easier said than done, but each of us has reached major and minor milestones by simply not giving up.

2. “Think about what has made a difference in your life.”
• Lesson-rely on past actions that led to successes in your life and celebrate what you’ve accomplished. Think about the process and simply apply the lessons learned.

3. “Focus on your blessings, not your faults.”
• Lesson- we are imperfect humans with a number of faults. Okay, we get it, now move on. Focusing on our blessings of family, friends, a reasonable portion of good health, teammates, and opportunities encourages us to persevere.

4. “You are already making a difference. The question is how are you making a difference?”
• Lesson- when we walk into a room the energy either goes up or it goes down. Those in the room either feel encouraged or discouraged, no one stays the same. With that in mind, when you look in the mirror or really think about whom you are, focus on the things you do that positively change lives and impact others. Self-destruction is also destructive to those with whom you interact.

5. “Don’t push off your dreams by saying, ‘I’ll do it later.’”
• Lesson- we are not guaranteed time so whatever your dreams are, write them down, establish a plan, and DO SOMETHING. Better yet, just do something and develop the plan as you go. Excuses are self-destructive and waste time. Replace the, “yeah, buts” with “yes, and.”

6. “There is always something to complain about if that’s who you want to be.”
• Lesson-choose action over talk, questions over complaints, and solutions instead of massaging the problems. You’ll be amazed by how much better you feel and how much you actually accomplish. Additionally, your circle of influence will be even greater!

7. “You never know when you are going to meet someone who is going to change your life.”
• Lesson-self destructive behaviors prevent you from being keenly aware of those around you because you selfishly focus on your faults. Open your eyes, ears, and mind to people around you. Embrace the experiences and be receptive to new ideas, new adventures, interesting books, or opportunities to serve others. Better yet, invest in other people and be the person that changes someone’s life.

8. “You don’t know what you don’t know.”
• Lesson-become a great student of yourself and others. Learn and do something new each day, week, month, and year. Live your life! If you have no pre-conceived notions or ideas of what is supposed to happen, you have no barriers holding you back and no doubt. Learn along the way and enjoy the process!

9. “The world is filled with people who tell you what you can or can’t do. You’ll know it’s possible when you are doing it.”
• Lesson-ask and answer the “what if”… question. For example, what if I run a marathon? Or what if I start journaling? What if I hug twelve people a day? You don’t know what will happen if you only think about it. There are no statues of people who simply thought great things, only of those who did great things!

10. “Ask yourself, ‘What am I most passionate about?’”
• Lesson-finding your passion provides purpose for your life. Just think about those times when you were exhausted, but you suddenly had a burst of energy when you had to do what you are most passionate about!

So what does this have to do with being an educator? Everything! As an educator you are in a position of influence which impacts students’ lives every day. Believe it or not, you are the most important person in the classroom. Embrace it and then act on it!

What are your practices to overcome self-destruction? What advice can we share?

Be Great,

Dwight

67 Great Things about GLHS 2010-2011

Prior to the end of the school year, I sent my staff a Google Doc and asked them to share some highlights of the year. We have much to be proud of as we perservered through some tough times to create some great learning opportunities for our students. Following is a list of great things that represent what I call the 7 A’s of Gahanna Lincoln High School:
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Academics:
* 9% of our students averaged a 4.0 grade point average.

* 97% of our AP Psychology students passed the AP exam! The national average is 66%.

* 88% of our AP US History students passed the AP exam! The national average is 50%. Wow!

* 80.8% of our AP Calculas AB students passed the AP exam! The class average was 3.529.

* 87.5% of our AP Calculas BC students passed the AP exam! The class average was 3.938.

* 100% of our AP Literature and Composition students passed the AP exam! The class average was 4.056.

* Nearly 1000 students earned a Renaissance Card this year for Academics, Attendance, and Attitude.

* 55% or 294 of our seniors took 4 years of math.

* One of our Intervention Specialists that retired stated that she, “completed thirty-five years of working with special needs kids and learning lots along the way.”

* The 9th grade Global Studies teachers successfully introduced the Global Studies Symposium this year, where our freshman comprehensively applied knowledge and skills to understand the world today and demonstrated it with a project they designed and created. Pretty amazing!

* From one our English teachers: “This year more students than ever before reported ‘loving’ Romeo and Juliet and the English 9 research paper. I attribute this to the English 9 PLC collaborating and creating new ways to introduce the material in order to engage students.”

* From one of our Intervention Specialists: “The majority of students with LD, who are in Collaborative settings for U.S. History, passed the Social Studies section of the March OGT.”

* From our AP Environmental and Biology teacher: “Some of my students had a video they made for a PBL assignment on the creek attract the attention of Friends of Darby Creek, who want to use the video on their web site.”

* From one of our PE teachers: “Lifetime Fitness students made a video on YouTube: Did You Know Phys Ed? The news saw it and came out to do a story on us. Chipotle saw us on the news and had a fundraiser for us to get our Garden going. They brought burritos for all my students and spoke to us about how they use farm fresh ingredients. They also taught us how to make fresh guacamole and all my students received free gift cards!”

* ELL students made the AMAO’s for the year (another form of assessment criteria) and performed better on the OTELA than the state requirements.

* One of our Math teachers restructured her Integrated 1 classes to a class where students’ learn at their own pace. She and the students experienced many successes, and some challenges.

* Three debate seniors received Academic All-American from the National Forensic League.

* Our GATE teacher successfully started a new course team-teaching Science and English with one of our Science teachers. Two of the English units are paperless.

* The Gahanna Community School, our conversion school, presented its first Justin Vanguilder Memorial Scholarship of $1000.00. Justin was a GCS student that passed away from cancer last school year.

* Our 9th grade Integrated Science teachers formed a great integrated science PLC this year. Also, two students told one of the teachers at the end of the year that they used to hate science… but now it is their favorite class!

* Two teachers that worked in a collaborative Math classroom witnessed great success with an action research project regarding the math OGT. 84% passage in integrated math II, a largely collaborative setting, and 100% of sophomore IEP students passed.

* The Model United Nations Club had two freshmen girls win an Excellent award at the Northcoast Conference this past spring.

* From one of our English teachers: “the PLC in English really made a difference in academics and attitude with my freshmen. Final exam grades were great!”

* Our Senior Project students created amazing presentations on their wide ranging topics.

* From one of our US Government teachers: “Zero F’s!I did not accept failure and did not lower the academic level.”

* Our Science Academy students experienced a fourth successful Science Academy Symposium held in February with over $1000 in awards. Junior N.S. won 4th place in Ohio Junior Science and Humanities Symposium and qualified and attended National Symposium in April.

* Six Science Academy students won awards at Columbus Technical Council Awards Banquet in May. Houston Fortney was runner up to CTC Science Student of the Year. This is the third year in a row Gahanna has had either the winner or the runner up to that prestigious award.

* The Underwater Robotics team won the Great Lakes Regional ROV competition in April and qualified for the International MATE ROV Competition held in June in Houston, Texas at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab.

Attendance:
* 22% of our students earned perfect attendance.

* 88% of our staff members were nominated for a PRIDE Award, which is an award the recognizes individuals for exhibiting “personal responsibility in developing excellence.”

* 37% or 882 students were nominated for a PRIDE Award!

* WGLH-TV, our TV program, was first in the State and six students won top state awards for stories they produced.

* Gahanna art students had an exhibition at the Carnegie Gallery in the Columbus Metropolitan Library as well as an exhibition at the Gahanna Library.

* Senior D.C. won Broadcast Idol for the best high school Broadcast student in Central Ohio!

* Senior M. B. was runner-up at the Arnold Classic Film festival competing with high school students from across the nation for the documentary that he produced on Bill Withrow, a lifelong supporter and icon in Gahanna.

* Seniors M.B. and D.C. won a regional Emmy for their video journalism work.

* Senior B.G. and Junior R.J. were selected by audition into the OMEA all-state band!

* The bands lived up to this year’s motto, “the tradition continues” and presented outstanding performances on the field and in the auditorium, including earning unanimous superior ratings at state contest for all three bands.

* The Art Club along with student’s from Ms. Fairchild’s classes painted a mural for the Cafeteria. They courtyard received additional sculptures as well as the renovation of existing work and was mulched by Mr. Assman and Ms.Scott’s students.

* The Threatre department produced To Kill A Mockingbird in the fall and did a student matinee for the entire sophomore class. They also produced the Broadway classic, Thoroughly Modern Millie.

* Approximately 26% of GLHS students took part either back stage or on stage as part of the school theatrical productions this past school year.

* Speech and debate had a record 25 State qualifiers this season and four national qualifiers for speech and debate–have qualified 39 students over last 13 years!

* The full orchestra received a Superior rating at OMEA Adjudicated Events.

* Approximately 27% of GLHS students are involved in vocal or instrumental music!

* Performance Studio took part in Lincoln Elementary’s enrichment day and will be running a drama camp this coming Friday for a local girl scout troop. This group also performed for the senior citizens this past winter.

*Theatre students acted as mentors for the newly formed Middle School West Drama Club!

*The GLHS Orchestra visited High Point and Jefferson to perform, interact and have HS musicians teach grades 3-5 how to play the instruments.

* Our International Thespian Society sponsored the first ever high school theatre day for GLHS students.

* The Theatre for Young Audiences tour performed for over 3000 elementary students this past spring.

Activities:
* The Renaissance Action Team created an Ohio Coalition of Renaissance Schools and hosted a regional conference at GLHS with over 200 attendees.

* The “S” Club’s focus this year was Teen Dating Violence — they hosted Johanna Orozco (teen dating violence survivor from the Cleveland area) for a girls-only speaker session, and had a booth at the Health Fair to spread awareness. “S” Club will continue with the Teen Dating Violence awareness and prevention focus again next year.

*Student Council held fall homecoming here at the high school in October, and Prom at the OSU student Union. Both were the highly successful!

*The message of Peace week this year was Pause Before You Post, and was successfully communicated despite not being able to hold lunch on the lawn.

Athletics:
* Jake Blankenship was the Division 1 state champion in the pole vault. His 17’0” vault set a new state meet record and tied the all-time state of Ohio record. This was also a Jesse Owens stadium record, which includes collegiate athletes as well.

* Varsity Softball team finished as State Runner-up. This run included their 3rd District Championship in four years. He also placed first nationally and third in the World competition!

* Varsity Baseball Team won their 3rd District Championship in four years.

* Varsity Soccer Team was District Champions and Regional Runner-up.

* Boys Basketball was OCC Champions and District Champions

Acts of Service:
* The Renaissance Action Team collected and shipped 30 boxes of supplies to troops in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

* WGLH-TV, partnering with the Gahanna Rotary, raised $14,000.00 to send 80 WWII veterans to Washington DC on and Honor Flight this past April.

* During the Health fair WGLH-TV collected nearly 500 pledges from students who said “They will not Text and Drive”.

* WGLH-TV produced a 60 minute documentary on Un-sung Heroes here in Gahanna.

* “S” Club raised funds to provide a GRIN family (single mom with three children) with Thanksgiving dinner and over $300 in Christmas presents. The students had a terrific time delivering the gifts to the family and watching the children open them!

* The Multi-National Culture Club helped teach English to parents and volunteered at the International Festival at Vet’s Memorial for the second year in a row.

* The marching band honored our veterans and fallen soldiers in two Independence Day parades and three Memorial Day services, plus participating in the tribute to Gahanna Bill in downtown Columbus.

* Student Council collected over 700 pounds of food for the food bank with the Winter Dance homeroom competition.

* The January 2011 performance of Faure’s Requiem by the Chorale and Chamber Orchestra helped raise $2,696 (in ticket sales) for Gahanna Residents In Need (GRIN), more than doubling GRIN’s yearly budget to help our community!

I am thankful to work with such a dedicated group of educators that work tirelessly to do what is best for students. I look forward to next school year as we continue to grow together as a team!

Be Great,

Dwight

To Be Continued…

It’s mid-May and I’ve been thinking a lot about next school year. To say that this has been a challenging year is an understatement. I began the year telling my staff the “Who Moved My Cheese?” story as we were planning a number of changes. I wanted to set the stage for us to work through classroom and department changes, adding another level of interventions through our Response to Intervention Pyramid, period attendance using our new data system, and providing training for teachers who’ll be teaching in our new addition, Clark Hall (this will be discussed in another post). In spite of all these changes, I did not anticipate two failed tax levies, an additional $7 million in cuts across the district, and having to have conversations with nine teachers to let them know they were “Reduced in Force” or laid off. Not to mention the onslaught of Senate Bill 5 (Ohio Governor, John Kasich) and the negative impact it has had on the emotional, mental and professional security of my staff. Indeed, our cheese has moved!
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Nevertheless, as the dust settles, I am mentally gearing up for next school year but I’m also very anxious about the number of tasks ahead of us. For example, we are opening a new addition to our campus, yet it’s located across the busiest intersection in the district and it’s an absolutely beautiful building! Well, it’s not just a building, but a philosophy about our evolution as a district. The emphasis at Clark Hall is on collaboration, creativity, student choice and voice, critical thinking, and technology integration. It’s about giving students and teachers’ autonomy to learn and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways. It’s about 21st Century learning. The sheer beauty of the building automatically makes our current building look a little drab, a little worn, a little old. This presents a challenge of epic proportions… Anyway, this is not the purpose of this blog. The purpose of this blog is to talk about planning for next year…

Next year… August 2011 begins another step in our journey, yet I’ve been thinking so much about how to be more efficient, succinct, and concrete in my thinking and communication as a leader. About six years ago, I attended the Model Schools Conference hosted by the International Center for Leadership in Education (Dr. Bill Daggett) and was exposed to The Learning Criteria. I saw this document as an excellent model for a continuous improvement plan. So, I’m thinking this is the direction we need to go in order to gather qualitative and quantitative data to document our focus on relationships, rigor, and relevance. I think many parents, community members, staffulty (staff and faculty), and students will buy into the multiple data points that The Learning Criteria requires. Yes, that’s it! Additionally, it’s a living document that can encompass our Graduate Profile: responsible community member, collaborative team member, proficient technology user, effective communicator, and comprehensive problem solver. The Learning Criteria can bring all of our initiatives together to align our mission, vision, values, and goals. Or will it?

Then, I think about four of my teachers who attended a two day Project Based Learning Workshop in the fall and how much they learned. They then facilitated an all-day PBL training and discussion with 30 other teachers in my building. PBL, how does this fit into The Learning Criteria?
I’ve also been thinking about our core values, mission, vision, and goals. Are they clear, concrete, and do the stick? Are they even known: by the staffulty, by the students, by the parents? I need to know and should know as the building leader, the principal, the head instructional leader….

So here’s my plan: I’ve sent an email to my Administrative Team, Department Chairpersons, and Principal’s Advisory Council and asked them to review our core values. I asked if they need to be revised, rewritten, or modified in any way. I also asked if they are indeed our values. We will then decide together our next steps.

I plan to meet with a couple teachers who are PBL experts (their classes are designed this way and their results are simply amazing) to train other teachers in the building how to implement PBL in the classroom.

I will then review our goals from this year to see what we’ve accomplished. I have to admit that I allowed us to get sidetracked a bit and I let my foot off the gas the beginning of second semester because my staffulty was tired and demoralized by a barrage of negativity from outside. However, they still provided high quality learning opportunities for our students! Our data proves it! Besides that, I believe in them and we believe in each other.

Now for technology! Do we move towards laptops, tablets, a duo? What? Regardless of the device, the emphasis has to be on how the students will use the technology to demonstrate and improve learning. We are looking at a number of devices right now and working on a three year plan.

The next several weeks are extremely important for all building leaders as we have one foot in the 2010-2011 school year and the other in 2011-2012. I am so excited to get next year started yet there are a number of decisions that still have to be made! As I complete my third year as the high school building principal, I have finally come to the realization that education is a long continuous process of growth and change. It’s my responsibility to inspire, encourage and support change in education during my tenure as principal, which is hopefully for many, many years. Until then, let’s finish strong and gear up for next school year!

Be Great,

Dwight

The Difference A Year Can Make

One year ago (April 29, 2010), I was asked to attend an intense three day social media boot camp, called #Kipcamp. Kipcamp is hosted by the Kiplinger Program of The Ohio State University. We were introduced to the coordinators and facilitators, Debra Jasper (@Debrajasper) and Betsy Hubbard (@BestyHubbard) of Kipcamp by a Columbus State Community College administrator.
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Kipcamp was an awesome experience as it exposed me to the world of social media. We discussed how businesses use Facebook, the importance and influence of blogging, and the use of Twitter, among other Web 2.0 tools. Prior to this, I saw no use for Twitter whatsoever. I didn’t care what or where celebrities ate for breakfast, what they decided to wear to lunch or some awards show, or any other random piece of information that I assumed was tweeted! So, when they spent the second day of the three day camp on Twitter, needless to say I was not thrilled. However, it happened!

What is “it” you ask? Well, I’m glad you want to know! What happened was that I was introduced to the possibilities of connecting with people all over the world through Twitter. I was taught the language and the basics of how to compose a message in 140 characters. I learned about a hashtag, how to DM, RT, and follow someone. It was a great experience, but to say that I was overwhelmed is an understatement. I left day two of KipCamp enthused, but not yet sold that Twitter was something I would or could use as a principal. You know, there are so many rules, policies, and fears surrounding social media and public education.

Day Three: I played with Twitter a little bit more and stumbled upon @Shellterrell and the Teacher Reboot Camp. I then followed the great Shelly Terrell and quickly found George Couros (@gcouros) and Connected Principals (@conprin), followed by Tom Whitby (@tomwhitby) and The Educators PLN! It was like the scales from my eyes were removed! Tweets about emerging and relevant educational issues were nonstop and I couldn’t read them fast enough. I didn’t realize this world even existed!

As I took a leap into the Twitterverse, I first only lurked, meaning I read the tweets of others, but didn’t reply, retweet, or contribute in any way at all. However, about a month into it, I began to reply to others’ tweets, comment on others’ blogs, and retweet their information. I began to gain so much more from Twitter as I began to contribute. It was at that time that I understood what many education Tweeters referred to as a Personal Learning Network. A PLN is a network of educators who learn from one another regardless of distance and time. I was hooked!

Through Twitter, I have been exposed to Education Conferences (#educon) Teach Meets, and unconferences that occur all over the world. I even participated in my first online education conference-for free! Talk about relevant and engaging professional development! I have communicated with educators from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, England, China, and all over the United States through Twitter and I am so thankful for members of my PLN for adding to my growth as an educator. In no other time in my career have I had the privilege to learn from so many different people from all walks of life.

As of today, I am responsible for over 1500 tweets, I am accountable to 535+ followers, and I am following over 220 people, and I now have a blog called, Mr. Carter’s Office, all because of Twitter. It’s been a wonderful experience so far and I can’t wait to see what another year brings!

Be Great,

Dwight

Would You Follow You?

Learn & Lead
There comes a time in the life of every leader when we have to take a hard, honest look in the mirror and ask a fundamental question: “If I weren’t me, would I want to follow the example I set?” You know you better than anybody else in your classroom, school, or your home. You know your strengths and weaknesses as a person and a leader. And with this knowledge of who you are, what you think, how you live, you have the ability to make an honest assessment of your life- as a leader.

When I became a high school principal, I wanted to implement some of the ideas that Todd Whitaker shares in his book, What Great Principals Do Differently. In chapter fifteen he recommends that the leader communicate expectations at the beginning of each year. Following is a list of expectations I shared with my staff:

1. Respect-Respect your students, yourself, others, and the profession.
2. Communication-make contact with parents on a regular basis.
3. Manage Your Classroom-Be proactive by having clear expectations and be consistent.
4. Be Present-Being present makes a difference. Greet students at the door.
5. Be Punctual- Punctuality is a sign of respect.
6. Be Prepared- Prior planning prevents poor performance.
7. Professional Development- continue to grow; try new things.
8. Celebrate progress and achievement of your students.

As I think about what I expect from my staff, I’ve had to ask if I am meeting these same expectations. Some of the key questions I ask myself often, especially during tough times or times of transition are as follows:

1. “Are you punctual like you expect from others?”
My pastor has always said that punctuality is a sign of respect: respect for others time, talents, and responsibilities. This not only includes arriving on time, but ending on time as well. As of late, I have found myself arriving late to a meeting that I called! This is disrespectful and also has given permission for others to arrive late. This is not good and something that has to be corrected right now.

2. “Do you establish and honor the relationships you have with your staff, students, and parents?”
Dr. James Comer once said, “No significant learning takes place without a significant relationship.” Positive relationships are foundational for true learning and upon reflection; I have some solid relationships with some of my staff while others need work on my part. I need to be “slow to speak, quick to hear, and slow to anger” James 1: 19 (KJV). At times, I have gotten in the way of establishing a positive relationship with some of my staff because I was either quick to speak, slow to hear, or quick to anger. In other words, I didn’t make time to “be there.” I had to ask myself, “Would you follow you?”

I always feel that I need to interact with my students and parents more. Principals like George Cuoros ( @gcouros), Eric Sheninger ( @nmhs_principal), David Truss ( @datruss), Lyn Hilt ( @L_Hilt), Steve Bollar ( @StandtallSteve), and Patrick Larkin ( @bhsprincipal ), are people I look to for ways to positively interact with students and parents. In addition to leaders in my virtual Professional Learning Network, I rely heavily on my strong administrative team. Each of them brings a wealth of experience and individual strengths that I tap into on a regular basis. Each leader in my PLN uses blogs and Twitter to highlight teachers, special events, and accomplishments of students in their schools. The more they recognize the accomplishments of students, the better parents feel about the communication that comes from the school. This, in turn, along with personal interactions, builds and maintains positive relationships with parents. Establishing positive relationships takes time, yet the benefit of creating meaningful and engaging relationships is critical to a leader’s success in seeing the mission and vision of the school come to fruition.

3. “Are you open to new ideas?”
This is critical to ask because of the current state of significant transition and transformation that’s occurring in education. Many of my teachers and students have innovative ideas that can make a huge impact on teaching, learning, and the school climate. It’s difficult to follow someone if the only response you hear is, “No.” A good leader understands the need to create a collaborative environment. Todd Whitaker, in What Great Principals Do Differently says it this way:

One critical difference was the effective principals viewed themselves as responsible for all aspects of their school. Though these principals regularly involved staff, parents, and others in the decision making, they believed it was their responsibility to make their school the best it could be.” –p.15

Yes, it’s the leader’s responsibility, but no one person can do it alone. New, fresh ideas are alive in many schools from other members of the school community. It should be a primary goal of the leader to help these ideas become a reality.

These are just a few of the questions I ask myself on a regular basis. Leadership is extremely hard, but it’s also very rewarding. We demand much of others and must also hold ourselves to the same expectations we have of others. So I ask you, “Would you follow you?”

Be Great,

Dwight

Are You An Outlier?

Last year I read Outliers: the Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell and had the opportunity to share this book with administrators from my district during our summer retreat. An Outlier can be defined as an individual who not only have exceptional talent, but is provided and takes advantage of opportunities and resources to excel. This raised many questions about success and led to rich discussion about our personal life experiences. We talked about what success is and grappled with a number of questions: Who defines success? How is it achieved? What does it look like? Are you successful? Are you, or were you, an Outlier?

Image from Google Images
Image from Google Images

We are all products of many people who guided, directed, opened up doors, carved pathways, and challenged us to be better, but how often do we think about how we got to where we are today? It’s definitely something to think about, because nothing just happens by accident…As school districts across the country face cuts and other obstacles, we have to ask if we are we crippling the development of Outliers – Will we miss the chance to help nurture the next Bill Gates, Charles Drew, or Colin Powell? Following are some key points that were discussed with the group of administrators I was with. The italicized quotes are from the book and my points follow:

“In examining the lives of the remarkable among us- the skilled, the talented, and the driven-I will argue that there is something profoundly wrong with the way we make sense of success.” –p. 18

o Test scores are important but I would argue that a student is more than a test score.
o An “Excellent” rating on the state report card is commendable, yet success has to be viewed and defined from a much broader perspective.
o Thousands of teachers share stories of how they impacted a student’s life that includes, but is not limited to standardized test scores. Individual teachers tap into the talents of their students, they push them to stretch their learning and provide opportunities for them to excel. The relationship between the teacher and student creates the drive for the student to excel. Just think about the impact your favorite teacher had on you…

“A basketball player only has to be tall enough- and the same is true of intelligence. Intelligence has a threshold.”-p.80

o A threshold is a limit, yet our schools create opportunities through the performing and visual arts, clubs, service learning projects, and collaboration that aren’t always quantifiable.
o Many outliers perform at high levels through the “non-traditional” classes and extra-curricular activities. These areas cultivate creativity, collaboration, authentic learning opportunities, and constant and meaningful feedback. Just think your favorite coach, band, choir, or theatre teacher…
o What are your thoughts about this quote?
o What does it mean for our students and our schools?

“If intelligence matters only up to a point, then past that point, other things-things that have nothing to do with intelligence- must start to matter more.” –p.86

o What matters beyond intelligence is how we treat people, how we work with others, how we think, use the tools and resources to solve problems, and how we communicate. These are considered the “soft skills” of the 21st century.
o Share an example of how you or your school is developing “skills that have nothing to do with intelligence.”

“Practical intelligence is… procedural: it is about knowing why you know it or being able to explain it. It’s practical in nature: that is, it’s not knowledge for its own sake.” –p.101

o This should change how we assess what students know and are able to do.
o For example, implement project based learning, Understanding by Design, utilize collaborative web 2.0 tools, such as Google Docs, Wiggio, Diigo, etc. to develop and sustain opportunities for practical intelligence.
o Make learning relevant! Ask questions, listen to students, and let them decide how they want to be assessed.
o Check out Vision of 21st Century Learning.

“To build a better world we need to replace the patchwork of lucky breaks and arbitrary advantages that today determine success-the fortunate birthdates and the happy accidents of history-with a society that provides opportunities for all.”

o What does this say about the way we determine giftedness and course placement?
o What does this look like in 21st century schools?
o Does our current grading system promote or hinder success of Outliers?

I’m concerned about our educational system. I’m concerned that too many students and teachers face too many obstacles within our current system to reach their full potential. I’m concerned about where we are headed, but I’m also excited about the unknown. Transformation is occurring! “We can’t control our future, but we can contribute to our future.” Please share your responses to some of the questions I’ve proposed above or share how you or your school develops Outliers.

Be Great,

Dwight

No Office Day

principals officeSometime in December, 2010 I read a blog post by David Truss, principal of a school in Dalian, China titled, “No Office Day.” The title piqued my interest, but what really got my attention was something he wrote. “If a principal stays in the office all day, he/she might as well stay at home.” OUCH! Two things happened when I read this. First, I got excited about the possibilities and thoughts of what a “No Office Day” would like for me and secondly I felt conviction by my lack of presence, visibility, and connection with my staff and students.

I immediately thought of my very first staff meeting as principal in August of 2008. I publicly vowed that I was going to be visible in the hallways and classrooms on a regular basis. I had great intentions, but intentions get you nowhere. The first couple of months were as I imagined them to be. I was out and about, popping into classrooms, and standing at the major intersections in the hallway. You know, being visible, “managing by walking around.” However, as time passed, I found myself chained to my chair taking care of the necessary minutiae of the day (or days, or weeks). As the days, weeks, and now years have passed, about the only time I have taken to get into classrooms is that which is needed to do formal evaluations. Yikes! That’s not good!

So, on Wednesday, February 2, I sent out an email to my staff that included the following message:

NO OFFICE DAY– In order to visit more classrooms, I am having a NO OFFICE DAY on Friday, February 4. I will not be in my office the entire day (unless there is an emergency). I’ll see you around!

As David encouraged, I planned to send updates on Twitter using #noofficeday. So, on Friday, I sent out the following tweet:
no_office_day

What I heard and saw was so inspiring! My day began in an Advanced Composition class where the teacher was journaling along with the students. The assignment was a free write followed by an in-depth discussion about narratives. What was most intriguing about the lesson were the types of questions the teacher asked the students. It was like watching a master craftsman using intricate tools to complete a difficult cut. Not only did this occur in the Advanced Composition class, but in several other classes I observed.

I walked into another classroom where the teacher and students were having an in-depth discussion about Nathaniel Hawthorne and Transcendentalism vs. Anti-transcendentalism. The essential question was, “If you were able to travel in time, where would you go and why?” As soon I walked into the room, the teacher asked me the same question inviting me to join in! It was awesome. Before I left, I shared with the class what I just sent out into the twittersphere, which was public praise of the teacher:
no_office_day_2

Later that morning I had a very meaningful, honest, and heartfelt discussion with a highly respected teacher in the building. We discussed everything from current grading practices and student responsibility to accountability, among other topics. We just sat and talked with no pressure to hurry and get things done. I not only appreciated the time, but I appreciated just being able to actively listen.

As I traveled throughout the building I experienced groups of students working on an upcoming mock interview in Global Studies and a couple of students assisting each other with their pantomime speeches. But one of the best conversations I had was with our Student Council members. We talked for nearly 50 minutes about an issue we have recently faced. They asked some great questions, attentively listened, and worked together to come up with solutions. Our Student Council Advisor is truly developing leaders through this group’s experiences and I am so grateful for her work and her dedication to students.

The highlight of the day was a brief conversation I had with a student who, as a principal, I have known since she was in the sixth grade. It was near the end of the school day and she had earlier presented with a group of students at our Annual Science Symposium. She shared with me that her group earned a medal and she gave me the elevator summary of their project. I asked, “So how do you feel?” She said, “I am so tired, but I feel good about the work we did. It was so challenging, but I learned so much! And, I’m glad it’s over!” With that, we high-fived each other and went our separate ways. I had encountered yet another student, proud of herself and praising her teacher who provided an opportunity for students to stretch their learning.

As we begin each day at school, I share the Words of Wisdom, by Project Wisdom, and sign off by saying, “Make it a great day or not… the choice is yours.” Well, my No Office Day was truly a GREAT DAY!

Like David, I encourage you to have a NO OFFICE DAY and share the events of your day using #noofficeday. Have fun!

Be Great,

Dwight

“What is a moment really worth?”

image from wishfulthinking.co.uk
image from wishfulthinking.co.uk
Our school’s Jostens representative, Steve Krier, sends a quarterly newsletter/brochure about graduation preparation, reminders about professional and personal growth, humorous stories, and things to think about. It’s a very professional, yet casual publication that really adds value if one takes the time to read it. In the latest newsletter he included a list called, “What is a moment really worth?” It caused me to pause for a moment and reflect on the moments I take for granted, not only as a principal, but also as a husband and a friend. It also caused me to think about possible missed opportunities to fulfill my purpose (to positively change lives and impact futures). The business of education is the business of people and sometimes that gets lost. Please take a moment to read the list and share your thoughts:

WHAT IT A MOMENT REALLY WORTH?
On the bulletin board of a California company, someone once posted this sign to remind everyone of how time is relative-both the value of time is priceless.
• To realize the value of one year: Ask the student who has failed his final exam.
• To realize the value of one month: Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
• To realize the value of one week: Ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
• To realize the value of one day: Ask the daily wage laborer who has 10 kids to feed.
• To realize the value of an hour: Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
• To realize the value of a minute: Ask the person who has missed the train, the bus or the plane.
• To realize the value of a second: Ask the person who have survived an accident.

Be Great,

Dwight