Monday, November 30, 2015

Repost from Richard Bruford


Check out this post from R. Bruford...Quality Stuff!


Avoid a toxic school culture by being a Mythbuster

by  

toxic lego
Toxic school cultures thrive on the rumour mill. Often we can find groups of teachers being negative about aspects of our respective schools that are not just untrue but plain and simply not right both literally and figuratively. Of course, it is important for all school leaders to listen carefully to feedback from staff and act upon it where necessary to ensure that a healthy school culture prevails and morale remains high in the interests of best serving the students and each other as education professionals.
There are a four things that I really dislike about rumours that have an adverse impact on school culture:
  1. The behaviour is often child-like. There are times when education professionals behave worse than their students. We need to stop this by first looking in the mirror at our own actions before criticizing others and we must remind each other of this.
  2. Rumours are frequently unsubstantiated. When the person(s) spreading rumour is confronted, on many occasion there is not the evidence to back up their claim. It is, therefore, vital that leaders in schools do not allow subversive, toxic conversations to occur. Appropriate forums or mechanisms need to be provided for teachers to bring their issues to the table and discuss matters in a mature and respectful manner.
  3. In many instances, people claim to be representing others with their viewpoint without their consent to do so. This leads to misrepresentation and further angst. Subsequently, when complaints are raised a process must be in place that the staff member speaks only for themselves or has those being represented present. This can at times be unwieldy and a better solution would be to have a staff association that have regular meetings with administrators to raise and address concerns.
  4. Problems are commonly raised without discussion of solutions, as this is someone else’s problem. We all must take a shared responsibility of making schools better. Putting all the blame at the Head or one or two senior administrators is not helpful nor is it professional. In fact, discussions about problems that do not include talk about solutions become ever-decreasing circles of self-affirming depression, which erode the elements of positivity in a school’s culture.
So, what can educational leaders do to fix these problems when you encounter them?
A few strategies are suggested above but the most important thing we can do is to debunk the myths; be a Mythbuster. Provide transparency as much as possible and call our colleagues on matters where they are wrong. This does not mean humiliating them in front of others, nor addressing the problem in an aggressive manner, but having the difficult conversation and getting facts straight in a respectful way with the evidence on the table.
Doing this can be uncomfortable and, at times, a tiring process but a necessary one for all concerned. Above all, in the best interests of our students, there is never any harm in reminding someone of the importance of professional conduct.
Originally posted at: Ed Leader – http:richardbruford.com
Connect with me @richard_bruford
photo credit: clement127 via photopin cc
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Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Happy Weekend!

It’s hard to believe that we’re entering the holiday season, and I would like to wish a very happy Thanksgiving to all our HESD families and our great Harney County community.
Thanksgiving is a time of year we all reflect on our many blessings.  Although our lives can be filled with many challenges, this is the time of year we are grateful for people in our lives who love and support us so that our students achieve.  I am personally thankful for my family, my friends, and the tremendous folks (staff, students, and families) here in Harney County Schools and HESD.  This county school system is a blessing to all who work and attend.  I truly wish for all the best to each and every member of your school family.  Have a safe and joyful holiday, and I look forward to seeing you soon!.
Sincerely,
Eric Nichols
Harney ESD
School Improvement/Technology
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Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Memo--November 18

And that’s the great thing about the world of ideas—any of us, with the right insight and the right message, can make an idea stick….For an idea to stick, it’s got to make the audience: (1) pay attention; (2) understand and remember it; (3) agree/believe; (4) care; (5) be able to act on it.
Chip & Dan Heath (2007)-- Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (2007)

            Have you read Made to Stick (2007)? While this book was not written specifically for educators, it did include many examples about teachers and how the best teachers get students to learn material in a way that “sticks” with them over time. The authors offer six principles for successfully communicating ideas, which seem so relevant to classroom instruction. These six strategies for making ideas stick can be compacted into the acronym SUCCESs to represent:

  • Simple: The authors suggest that if you say three things, you don’t say anything. They advocate stripping an idea down to its very core, relentlessly prioritizing what it is we want to communicate. Yet, brevity alone will not work; the idea of communicating in proverbs is ideal: creating ideas which are both simple and profound. Think of how this applies to teaching our students. So often, less is more, in that our students will latch on to simple, but powerful, messages.
  • Unexpected: Our kids tend to pay attention more when we present material in unexpected ways. The authors of this book recommend “breaking a pattern” when desiring to make ideas stick. We must generate interest and curiosity by systematically “opening gaps” in our students’ knowledge and then setting about “filling those gaps.”
  • Concrete: We make our ideas more clear to others, causing them to understand and remember, when we consider the principle of concreteness. We must explain our ideas in terms of human action and sensory information. Abstract truths can be made concrete, for example, in widely-known sayings such as “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.” Speaking concretely is the only way to ensure that our ideas will mean the same thing to everyone in our audience.
  • Credible: Our students will believe what we say and/or agree with us when we implement the principle of credibility. When we try to build a case for something, most of us instinctively reach for hard data. But in most cases, this is exactly the wrong approach. The authors use the example of Ronald Reagan’s message in defeating Jimmy Carter. He could have cited innumerable statistics regarding the economy, but instead asked a simple question: “Before you vote, ask yourself if you are better off today than you were four years ago.”
  • Emotions: We can encourage students to care about what we are saying and trying to teach through emotions. That is, we must make them feel something. The authors invoke what they call the “Mother Teresa principal” which is: “If I look at the one, I will act,” meaning that it may be easy to overlook problems on a large scale until we put an individual human face on the problem—when we know one person suffering from the problem, we are more likely motivated to act. The authors suggest cultivating a sense of caring within others through the power of association and appealing to others’ self-interest and identity.
  • Stories: We get others to act on our ideas through the use of effective storytelling. Hearing stories prepares us to respond more quickly and effectively. Certainly, in the classroom, many of you are masters at disguising lectures as page-turning stories that our kids recall with clarity. Stories can be used as stimulation (telling people how to act) and inspiration (giving people energy to act). The authors believe in using three different types of stories for three different purposes: (1) Challenge Stories (to overcome obstacles); (2) Connection Stories (to get along or reconnect); (3) Creativity Stories (to inspire a new way of thinking).

Obviously, it is of paramount importance that we, as teachers, get our curriculum standards “to stick” with our students. I found the authors’ SUCCESs framework for making ideas in the “real world” stick to be equally applicable to the classroom setting. To help our students retain the messages we are communicating, we need to keep it simple and include the unexpected. We need to make our presentations concrete and credible. We need to use the power of emotions and storytelling. What wonderful ways to present information to adolescents so that they will feel compelled to pay attention, understand, believe, care, and act.
In reading this book, I thought of many teachers in our schools who excel in one or more of the above areas of communicating information to others. The authors could have used our school for all the examples they wanted to include for each of the six principles. You have worked hard to identify with precision and clarity just what it is we want our kids to know. Making this information stick with our kids can be challenging at times, but by considering the SUCCESs principles, we increase the likelihood that students will remember core curriculum material.

Have a great week and weekend!

Eric

Post modified from Jeff Zoul's original Friday Focus post
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Calendar of Events:
E-RATE TRAINING @ Harney ESD--Nov 20 9AM-4pm
ORRTI Individual Problem Solving--Dec 3
Writing Scoring--Dec 11
Teacher Voice Workshop--Jan. 8 (RESCHEDULED!!!)
Deadline to distribute opt-out form--Jan. 9
Deadline to distribute Report Cards to Parents--Jan 15
Teacher Voice Workshop--Feb 12 (RESCHEDULED!!)
Harney Tech Conference--April 1
Math Talk Workshop--April 15-16
Katrina Ayres--Classroom Practices--May 6
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Monday, November 9, 2015

MMM-Douglas

Perhaps some of you know the Paul McCartney song about a father’s wishes for his son. It often reminds me of the wishes we have for Harney County students. We have teachers who are immensely influential and important in the lives of their students. You are nearly as important to your students as are their own fathers and mothers. Each day, you reach out your hand to our students to help them and to “make things clear.” Whether you are teaching a lesson about fractions, rhyme scheme, history, or life in general, the hand you reach out to your students each day will be remembered long after it is extended. Many of you have probably already heard of or read the story below, and I know it’s just a little bit sappy, but I wanted to share it as an apt expression of thanks for all that you, as teachers, do to help our students.

Thanksgiving Day was near. The first grade teacher gave her class a fun assignment—to draw a picture of something for which they were thankful. Most of the class might be considered economically disadvantaged, but still many would celebrate the holiday with turkey and other traditional goodies of the season. These, the teacher thought, would be the subjects of most of her student's art. And they were.

But Douglas made a different kind of picture. Douglas was a different kind of boy. He was the teacher's true child of misery, frail and unhappy. As other children played at recess, Douglas was likely to stand close by her side. One could only guess at the pain Douglas felt behind those sad eyes. Yes, his picture was different. When asked to draw a picture of something for which he was thankful, he drew a hand. Nothing else. Just an empty hand.

His abstract image captured the imagination of his peers. Whose hand could it be? One child guessed it was the hand of a farmer, because farmers raise turkeys. Another suggested a police officer, because the police protect and care for people. Still others guessed it was the hand of God, for God feeds us. And so the discussion went—until the teacher almost forgot the young artist himself. When the children had gone on to other assignments, she paused at Douglas' desk, bent down, and asked him whose hand it was. The little boy looked away and murmured, "It's yours, teacher."

She recalled the times she had taken his hand and walked with him here or there, as she had the other students. How often had she said, "Take my hand, Douglas, we'll go outside." Or, "Let me show you how to hold your pencil." Or, "Let's do this together." Douglas was most thankful for his teacher's hand. Brushing aside a tear, she went on with her work.


Teachers, thank you for reaching out your hand each day to our kids. While we have many students from affluent families with loving mothers and fathers, we also have our share of “Douglases.” Your hand means a great deal to both. Often, when I visit your classrooms, I witness the power of your hands, as students soak in your wisdom, your warmth, and your passion. Many of our students express their appreciation immediately through their engagement, their quality work, and by returning your smiles with their own. Others are less obviously responding to the hand you tirelessly extend; yet they, too, are storing away these moments and will remember you and your steady hand long after they have left us. Sometimes we use our hands to applaud our students for an outstanding effort in the classroom or in an extracurricular activity. We also use our hands to greet our students each day, as we shake theirs, and wish them a happy day. Give yourselves a “hand” for work well done each and every day. 

Post edited from original post by Jeff Zoul. thanks Jeff!

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Do the Right Thing (2 min)

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Resisting the Marshmallow (9 min)

Becoming a good writer with Lucy Calkins (8 min)
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Calendar of Events:


SBAC opt-out form available from ODE--Nov. 9
Teach Like a Pirate--Nov 13
CTE Revitalization Grant Winners announced--Nov. 16 
E-RATE TRAINING @ Harney ESD--Nov 20 9AM-4pm
Writing Scoring--Dec 11
Teacher Voice Workshop--Jan. 8
Deadline to distribute opt-out form--Jan. 9
Deadline to distribute Report Cards to Parents--Jan 15
Teacher Voice Workshop--Feb 12
Math Talk Workshop--April 15-16
Katrina Ayres--Classroom Practices--May 6
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Sunday, November 1, 2015

Graphic Orgs


Graphic Organizers

Students learn over half of what they know from visual images.
Mary Alice White, Teachers College at Columbia University (1999)


 I was an average student who made OK grades.  From what I can remember, most of my teachers lectured, and I spent most of my time not listening very well.  If my teachers used graphic organizers or visual aids, especially those used today, I don’t remember them. So my questions to you are:  (a) When you present information to your students verbally, how much of it do they retain?  (b) If your students see and hear the information, do they have a better comprehension of the material?
As a former Social Studies teacher, I used to require students to bring in a current event article with a brief written summary.  There were some great summaries and some not so great. My students often copied words and their definitions from the whiteboard and were expected to be prepared for tests on these vocabulary words from these current events. I stopped that after year 1. Why? If didn't work!!!  The graphic organizer below allows students to become actively involved with the vocabulary on many different levels.  You can offer students a chance to share their sentences, clues, or what the word isn’t.  This allows students to not only recognize the new words, but also understand them.

Word
Dictionary Definition
My Definition or Clue
What the Word Isn't
Sentence






 The organizer in the link below was developed by teachers at Chestnut Oaks Middle School in Sumter, South Carolina (2008), for students like me.  They had students who could grasp math word problems and those that couldn’t.  I would have been in the “couldn’t grasp” group.  Try this in your class if you like by following the hyperlink: http://coms.sumterschools.net/site_res_view_folder.aspx?id=d2274d4d-2e4e-4839-8edf-8b10cb4fca28


The purpose of graphic organizers is to assist students with understanding the material being taught.  There are a variety of organizers available for your use; limit the number you use to those that are most effective for your purposes. And just think, if my teachers used these types of teaching aides, I might have made valedictorian!  Would you believe salutatorian?  Principal’s honor role?  Okay, my mom was just happy I graduated!

Happy teaching & learning to all; have a great week!

Eric

adapted from Post by J. Zoul...Friday Oct 10...Friday Focus

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The heart of Teaching (11 min)

Using Tech to Close Equity Gaps (12 min)


Nike Snow Day (2 min)
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Calendar of Events:



DTC Training online from ODE--Nov 3-5
Teach Like a Pirate--Nov 13 (Sign up....it's not to late!)
E-RATE TRAINING @ Harney ESD--Nov 20 9AM-4pm
Writing Scoring--Dec 11
Teacher Voice Workshop--Jan. 8
Deadline to distribute Report Cards to Parents--Jan 15
Teacher Voice Workshop--Feb 12
Math Talk Workshop--April 15-16
Katrina Ayres--Classroom Practices--May 6
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