Catching More Flies & Other Old Adages: Simple Wisdom for Leadership

Catching More Flies & Other Old Adages: Simple Wisdom for Leadership

There are a few things my grandmother used to say, it’s as if she there were certain phrases she set to auto response. Growing up with your grandparents and great grandparents in walking distance is a blessing coupled with constant reinforcement of manners. The old cliche “ You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar”, has always resonated within. About 7 years ago during my first few years, a successful assistant principal brought these words to my remembrance. When it comes to leadership, treating people well sometimes gets lost in a laundry list of things to do. The little tidbits our grandparents and parents gave us still count. Look others in the eye and offer undivided attention when communicating. Here are a few others that can be applied to leadership:

A Good Beginning Makes a Good Ending

Start the way you want to end up. It’s important to spend time building relationships with those we lead just like our students. Simple things such as remembering to ask about an ill parent or spouse go a long way. The more effort you put into building a solid relationship, the more you set the stage for a positive work climate.

A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand - Abraham Lincoln

From the famous House Divided speech of 1858 one of our country’s leaders proclaimed that a house divided against itself cannot stand. It is impossible to move any organization forward if members of that organization are all on different pages. It is crucial to create shared vision and goals with your staff. Allow employees to participate and work closely with them to develop policies and procedures. In addition to including those that have a hand in making the vision come to pass, be prepared to be consistent and follow through. For example, if the staff develops a disciplinary procedure all staff (from the leader to every department) must be consistent. Inconsistency leads to division.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Your employees need to see you doing everything you’re requiring. If you’re communicating that there is a culture of respect, they need to see you being respectful. The same principle goes along with other requests such as time and effort.

Bad News Travels Fast

Choose words carefully and be mindful of the actions that are displayed. Be careful, strategic, and cognizant of what is being said. Resist the temptation to be negative and condescending. Once it starts, everyone will know. When disciplining an employee be sure to stay focused and not let personal preferences creep in, once they do everyone will know. Your reputation often precedes you so keep this in mind.

The list of cliches goes on and on. Almost all of them offer positive words that speak to the challenges of leadership. When interacting with others, keep these in mind. Remember you can catch more flies with honey.

Discipline in the 1:1 Environment

Adding devices to the classroom creates new concerns and increased anxiety for most teachers. Technology is and it’s abrupt changes are enough to manage, but as more districts adopt 1:1 programs teachers must rethink classroom management. Before you pull your hair out, here are few tips:

Keep the Procedures

The same students have rules regarding when pencils are up are down, the same applies to a device. There may be times in the class period when students need to close their chromebooks or turn their ipads over. Students don’t need the screen available all the time. Regardless of whether or not your district has adopted a monitoring program, there will still be times that their attention will be on you. Simple signals such as turning off the lights, is a great way to let students know it’s time to remove ear buds and nix the screens (ipad screen, chromebook screen, or phone screen).

The Basics Still Apply

Good old school strategies still apply to this new school generation. Eye contact, proximity, and moving around are tried and true. Every teacher has their own version of “the eye”, use it. If students know that you’re constantly moving versus standing or sitting in the same place, they are less likely to access something inappropriate.

Automate Repetitive Tasks

There are some tasks that have to be done such as attendance, communicating lesson objectives, and the daily agenda. Attendance can be done by a free application called Plickers, simply scan the students’ plicker cards while they are lining up to come in or as they enter the classroom. All lesson materials can be shared using a Google Slide, Google Classroom, or class website. This also helps reinforce technology as a learning tool for kids.

Keep Instruction as the Focus

Teaching with technology doesn’t differ that greatly from traditional pedagogy. Good teaching is just that, with or without technology. Continue to think about what makes a lesson engaging and integrate those same strategies in with technology.

These are just a few ways to avoid P.A.T.D. (Panic About Technology Disorder). Any change is challenging just take it one day at a time.

VA Summit, here I come!

In just a few days, I get to share at the Virginia’s Google Summit in Charlottesville. When my district first mentioned adopting Google Apps for Education (now the Gsuite), I was definitely a skeptic. I wondered if we were hindering our students by making them function in Google while living in a Microsoft world. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I decided to fully immerse myself in Google over the past two years and I love the power it brings to the classroom. I'm ecstatic to share some tools that I've found powerful with other teachers.

When I submitted a proposal for the Virginia Summit, I’m not certain that I expected to be chosen. I can’t explain how I felt when I received the email stating that my proposal was accepted. Since then, I’ve been working to prepare 3 fun and interesting workshops. Although every educator won’t be interested in presenting on such a large scale, here are some tips for preparing a professional development workshop:

Slow it Down

Often times we expect participants to know something about the topic being discussed. Even at the intermediate level, your participants may not be familiar with what’s being shared. Go slower than planned and allow time for participants to explore.

Solid Progress, Better than Completion

As a teacher, I always “over” planned. I tend to do the same thing with workshops because I don’t want to finish early with an eager audience. It’s okay if you don’t get through your entire presentation. Make sure to include resources that participants could reference even after they leave the workshop.If you notice that participants are interested in one particular area, it's fine to stay on those points a little longer. This isn't a race to the finish line.

Make it Plain

Give examples, pictures, and videos that relate to your topic. Images and videos are great take aways that serve as references long after participants have returned to their classrooms. Be specific when referencing websites, extensions, and other resources so participants can get the most out the presentation.

Preparing for the Shift

Education is approaching a difficult cross road with a new set of challenges, if you’re a teacher this means a paradigm shift. Many districts are heading towards 1:1 in technology, but is the instruction changing? Just 5 years ago Psychology Today published an article about children’s immersion in technology. The results are startling. Let’s take a look at look what technology is used the most:

Television 4:29 hours

Computer 2.31 hours (video sites account for 16% of this time, social media sites 25%)

Video games: 1.13 hours

Reading .28 hours

Movies .25 hours

What would these numbers look like today? Would there be an increase in users under the age of 8? What about the number of kids on mobile devices such as tablets and cell phones? Have you considered how this might impact your instruction? Although there are basic skills that all children need, neglecting technology integration could result in missing the mark with today’s child.

YouTube is definitely on it’s way to becoming a TV replacement. Most teachers shy away from YouTube due to lack of control over comments and ads, but it’s worth a second look. Educational companies such as Mastery Connect, Google, etc. have YouTube channels. In addition to the educational products you use creating their own informational channels, there’s a wealth of good content available. It’s very easy to curate content by simply creating a playlist on unit topics.

Teachers can also create their own videos in YouTube and annotate them. When using videos to support instruction they should be 4 minutes or less. Video time can extend up to 22 minutes if they’re interactive.

EdPuzzle is one Chrome extension worth downloading. EdPuzzle allows teachers to embed different types of questions within the video. Videos pause themselves and remain stopped until the student answers the questions.

The educational website maxmoby.com allows students to work on different subject areas. This site helps students work on weak areas, as the students work they earn points towards game time. This generation responds well to games, use them.

In addition to creating games on the internet, teachers can create game boards on any topic. Templates are available online at sites such as Timis printables.

These are just a few strategies to start making small steps towards our changing world. As the access to technology increases, it’s important to prepare for the shift rather than be shifted.

References

Taylor, J. (2012, September 10). Children's Immersion in Technology is. Retrieved February 09, 2017, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201209/children-s-immersion-in-technology-is-shocking

Google's Innovation = Life

Google’s latest updates just gave me life! If your district utilizes Google’s GSuite (formerly known as GAFE) these last few changes will blow your mind. As many districts make the shift to paperless classrooms, Google Classroom has grown in usage and popularity as an LMS. This latest revision now gives teachers the power to differentiate lessons and resources with just one click. Instead of all handouts or assignments being shared with the entire class, teachers can now select which students receive various resources.

The current shift in education is moving teachers towards personalized learning this new feature combined with tools like newsela.com or tweentribune takes the stress out of implementing leveled reading strategies. In addition to utilizing some of the latest strategies, Google’s given teachers the power to meet accommodations effortlessly.

In addition to the revisions in Google Classroom, the new Google Sites is also available. The new interface is easier to navigate for those the inexperienced web designer. It’s also easier to use with students. Allowing students to build a site throughout the semester or school year is a great way to document learning and share learning experiences with parents. Google Sites is an authentic way to provide students with an audience for their work.

If you haven’t checked out the new tools, take a look today!

Recruiting vs. Creating the Staff your Organization Needs

The field of education is always faced with challenges, the new task on the horizon is finding teachers.  Where are the good teachers? Teacher preparation has shifted from traditional college classrooms to online programs and alternative routes to certification. Educators are entering the field from other disciplines bring expertise, but often lacking effective strategies. This poses a new challenge to district and school administrators. With declining enrollment in education programs, the recruitment  pool is very shallow resulting in changes to the way staff is developed. Intentional interventions must be made in order to create the staff your organization needs.

Diversifying Professional Development

This sounds like a daunting task that is almost impossible, but technology creates several opportunities for effective training to take place with supporting documentation. Flipped Learning is best defined by providing content prior to a lesson taking place, then performing tasks during class time. It’s time to flip professional development. Apps such as Edpuzzle and PlayPosit create a number of opportunities for educators to get a visual of various strategies. Videos allow educators to see what a strategy looks like in action while hearing the steps to fulfill that strategy. These apps allow administrators to embed questions for documentation and can be used for discussion during meeting times. Flipping PD frees up time for teachers to actually plan how to implement a strategy rather than just hearing about a new strategy.

Search for the hashtag

Twitter is used for a number of things, but Twitter for PD? Education professionals share a plethora of resources online. Simply search for a hashtag such as, #flippedlearning, and articles, blog posts, videos, etc. populate the screen. Education companies, technology coaches, authors and principals are just a few of the types of professionals that are available to follow on Twitter. This social media site can provide awesome resources for professional development, it’s for more than ruffling feathers.

Take a Blended Approach

Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s) can be found within every school throughout the United States. Blended learning combines face to face interaction with online content, let’s apply this to professional development.  

• Highlight Star Teachers
• Create pre-recorded videos that focus on what good strategies look like.
• Allow these teachers to explain how they implement the strategy.
• Curate Content with YouTube
• Create playlists on various topics and allow teachers to choose the ones they want to focus on.
• Choose a strategy of the month for teachers to focus on.

Late Arrivals

Every year due to a number of different circumstances teachers start after school starts. They’ve missed the typical beginning of the year meetings and simply tossed into a new environment without any orientation. In order to properly train all staff, district’s should be developing their own teacher academies. Utilizing tools such as Google Drive is a quick way to share information with all staff members, new and returning. Planning is imperative for these types of strategies to be effective.  Better use of in-service time is a must and each district must clearly communicate organizational norms for new hires. It’s imperative that districts and schools shift the way orientation takes place, modeling business best practices.

Ditch the Favorites

An unfortunate reality with supervisors is that sometimes personal preferences cloud judgement. It’s very difficult to recruit talent, it’s time to separate job performance and personality. In the ideal situation, supervisors can like every employee and every employee like them however that’s not always the case. Be willing to recognize the positives that individuals bring to your organization even if their not the individuals that you would invite to dinner.

Staffing is becoming more of a problem for the field of education. Technology creates opportunities to personalize professional development as teachers are personalizing lessons for students. When recruiting becomes a challenge, roll up your sleeves and get to work on training.

Getting to know Symba....who? Symbaloo

As I was looking over a conference workshop list, I came across Symbaloo. I knew this website was used to  book mark websites and I just couldn't see how it could be used as anything more. I didn't attend the workshop and time went on. Recently, my team mate shared the lesson plan link and as I scrolled through the ideas I was amazed.

Symbaloo can be used to build resources for a lesson, to manage workflow, or as a way to keep students focused on one set of websites. The education account is free and webmixes (collections of sites or RSS feeds about a topic) can be shared among colleagues or students. Currently, I'm working through the Symbaloo educator training, even their web mix is in a sequential order. The lessons flow and all lead to a quiz. This would be awesome to provide support when teaching a unit, especially in the 1:1 environment where all students have devices. 

If you haven't tried Symbaloo, take a look...it's free.

Check out this link to view a webmix:http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/1stgrade11