Connecting With New Teachers

connecting-with-othersA couple of years ago, a second year teacher stopped by my office after school and asked if we could talk. The look on her face had me concerned so, of course, I welcomed her to have a seat. I thought she was going to share her concerns about student behavior or wanted help to solve a problem. Man, was I was wrong. What she said to me made a lasting impression…

As soon as she started to talk, tears started to flow from her eyes and she apologetically said, “I accepted a position in another district.” I shallowed hard because I was completely shocked. I felt blindsided, and immediately started to ask myself where we went wrong, where I went wrong as the principal. She said she needed a change, that she didn’t always feel supported or heard. Her comments were difficult to hear, but I appreciated her honesty. It was at the point that I vowed to myself to do everything within my control to prevent this from happening again under my watch as building principal.

One of our goals at Gahanna Lincoln High School is for every student, teacher, and parent to have a sense of belonging. It’s a lofty goal and we take it seriously. Losing that young, promising, and passionate teacher showed me that I, we, needed to do a better job of connecting with our new teachers. We hired 17 new teachers this school year; some with zero years of experience and a few with 4-6 years of experience. Nevertheless, I decided to meet with them once a month in an informal setting to simply give us an opportunity to connect, share, reflect, learn from each other.

It’s key to keep these meetings informal. There is no agenda, the teachers don’t have to prepare anything, and they aren’t assigned anything to do. We just talk. We first met in our Library Media Center in September, but decided together to meet at Panera, which is on our campus, for the rest of the year.It’s been amazing to hear their stories, their reflective thoughts about their craft, their suggestions on how we can get better, and to see how they support each other.

Admittedly, not all of them come each month and I’m fine with that. It’s simply an invitation to attend, not a mandate. I have asked a few questions to guide our discussion, but most of the time we go where the conversation takes us. Some of the questions asked are as follows:

*What has been the most successful thing you’ve done so far?
*How are you taking care of yourself physically?
*What do you do for fun?
*Have we lived up to what we promised you?
*What’s one thing we can do differently?
*What are you planning to change second semester?

Once I ask a question, I simply sit and listen. It’s great to hear their responses and how they build on each other’s comments. Before we concluded our most recent meeting, I asked, “Are these meetings helpful?” Following are some of their responses:

*“I think they are fun. I look forward to them each month.”
*”It’s good to see and talk with people outside your department. It’s good to learn from others.”
*”You make us feel like we are important to you.”
*”It’s good to hear what the other new teachers are thinking.”

I appreciate their time, their honestly, and their commitment to the GLHS Family! I can only imagine how much better we will be as we progress through the second half of this school year. If you have any ideas of how you connect with new teachers or suggestions to make this process better, please feel free to comment.

Be Great,

Dwight

Photo credit: http://www.erelationshipcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/connecting-with-others.jpg

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

#Leadershipday11: Reading is Fundamental

“Reading is Fundamental.” I’m sure we’ve all heard this statement and may have used it from time to time. Reading a good book can transport your mind to another place, open your mind to new ideas, broaden your perspective, and create opportunities for reflection. As I ponder #Leadershipday11, I want to address the question, “What should busy administrators be reading (or watching) that can help them be better technology leaders?”

My first recommendation is Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind.  It has everything to do with making a shift in the way we think about learning, leading, our the future state of the workforce. Pink challenges the status quo of many school districts in that he highlights ways in which the creative, outside-the-box thinkers are what is needed. The left brain dominant, analytical and logical workers are becoming obsolete.

So what does this mean for schools? Everything! The research is in and the covers have been removed: we have to create learning environments that prepare students for what’s required in the business world and in higher education in the second decade of the 21st Century and beyond. Before we think about how to integrate technology, Pink highlights why we need to change our approach to school leadership and teaching.

My second recommendation is an ebook created by Shelly Terrell, titled The 30 Goals Challenge. This is less of a traditional book  and more of an interactive guide to learning how to use technology as an educator. She also created a tribe by using a Twitter hashtag, #30goals for educators who are taking the challenge. This provides support, encouragement, accountability, and moments to celebrate. Taking the challenge allows one to fail safely because of the level of support and collaboration that exists in the tribe. Each goal stretches the user to do and learn something new. I encourage administrators to take the 30 Goals Challenge as a leader of leaders.

My final book recommendation is Communicating and Connecting with Social Media by William M. Ferriter, Jason T. Ramsden, and Eric C. Sheninger. This book is a quick read and provides surveys to use to gather feedback from students, teachers, and parents. It also provides a number of examples of educators who are modeling effective use of social media. There are guided questions, a list of additional resources, and action plans to follow. I highly recommend this book and have shared it with a couple of administrators in my district.

If you don’t have time to read, make time. You can’t afford not to…

Please add your book recommendations in the comments section and I look forward to learning together!

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:
Idea in chalkboard with yellow chalk

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!
confusion for continuum blog
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.
twitter3

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