Creating the Change One Conversation at a Time

Triumph in the face of adversity!  Ok, well maybe not quite triumph; maybe more like formidable battle cry.  Ok, to be honest, it's probably more like shaking hands and agreeing to disagree, but it's a start.  What exactly are we dis/agreeing on? How best to serve children, of course. There really is no more important conversation that happens between educators, and the conversation most often left out of legislative discussions about education...but I digress.

So, this past week I had quite a few opportunities to talk with teachers, mostly just listen to them because I'm new and they still don't know what to do with me, but while listening, I get asked a lot of questions.  What do I think? Why are things this way? In a perfect world, what would you do?  Now some of these questions are fishing questions, trying to feel me out, while others are genuine calls for help with situations that haven't yet happened this year.  Being the straight-forward person that I am, especially when talking about all things education, I shared my views when the questions were genuine and responded to the fishing questions with some of my own.  Yeah, ok, maybe not so straightforward there, but I'm working on it.  Then I participated in a Twitter chat (#satchat & #satchatwc) that made me reflect a little more on the very nature of these conversations and how the fact that teachers are willing to engage in this type of dialogue is a springboard for great things!

First thing I realized is that I really have to get my mind in the right place and remember that I'm no longer just another teacher, nor am I a district appointed "coach" of sorts; I'm part of the Admin Team, and even as an intern, they look at me for direction.  These are no longer normal peer conversations, but rather opportunities to help my teachers grow.  I truly believe that in all situations it's important to check myself first because I can only control me and my reactions.  I need to focus on reflective questioning rather that making statements as if they're fact.

Then I took stock of the actual conversations themselves and realized there are patterns of concern that I will be addressing in some fashion here this year, but also that I will more than likely face regardless of the school I'm in--concerns such as discipline, reluctant learners, differentiation, and perceived lack of administrative support (in terms of discipline).  I have a couple of posts planned for my other blog on behavior and interventions, as part of my A-Z of Education Today, so I'll leave my views MOSTLY on there because this post really is about the conversations.

Let me quickly throw in the caveat that teachers are not the only ones who begin the year focused on discipline before the students even step foot in the building.  As I was sitting in a meeting of all district administrators, one of the very first questions that was asked was "How will we be entering discipline?" quickly followed by "Will we be able to see historical discipline issues?".  *Raised eyebrows*

I've decided that these conversations could be placed into three categories:

Behavior vs Learning: What's the focus?
Panic is probably the best description for one of the conversations I had. "I thought I was ready until I met the students! We have students with this label and students with that label. How is that fair to the other students?" I've been there, felt that, but I dropped the ball on this one when the response to "Now that you know, what are you doing to do?" was "Teach to the Middle." *cricket cricket* Yep, that was me, dumbfounded. If I look back over what I know of Education, we've been traditionally teaching to the middle forever, and yet our middle is still unprepared. Ok, so I WILL revisit this one at a later date when I'm better prepared to tackle it. *adds to to-do list*

Excitement mounts when there is a behavior management plan we think will work, right? Like incentives for good behavior (homework done, preparedness, etc) that result in extra credit...that should work, right? Um...what's the focus? Do those extra points skew how you look at that child's proficiency on the standards? What are we telling the kids really matters? Behavior incentives should be behavior based, not linked to academics.  You see, this conversation I was ready for! Yes, I know, parents like grades and students like extra credit, but we've created this monster, and it's time we tame it.

Compliance vs Change: Who has the power?
Ahhh, the all-important website.  Everyone has to have one, and everyone is supposed to update it at least monthly. What's the purpose of a school or teacher website?  Unfortunately, many teachers see having a website as just one more thing to do, so it becomes a compliance issue.  The change comes in seeing it as a communication too, which really is the point after all. "But, I post all of my information and updates on Edmodo."  That's great, fine, cool, add the link for parents on your school-based webpage that says "Check us out on Edmodo!" We seriously never know who we're communicating with when it comes to our public webpages, but I'm not sure blank pages or way outdated pages send the message we want.  "Parents don't really look at our pages anyway." Are we sure about that? Even if that's true for many, does that mean we shouldn't communicate with the ones who do? We have the power to change how we relate to others when we get past just doing things for compliance.

As an aside, thought not really, I was amazed at how many teachers truly believe that Administrators have no power, that everything is pushed down and we just comply.  If they think we are powerless in the office..........empowerment is another area I'm concerned with and trying to figure out how it can be tackled.

Us vs "Them": Who's at fault?
The school year hasn't quite started and the dissenting voices are swirling around, just a little right now, but still swirling.  Finger pointing is a bad habit we have in schools.  "Students are apathetic." "Parents are uninvolved." "Administration doesn't support us." "Central Office doesn't understand what we're going through." and when those don't get an affirmative response, "Legislature is out to get us; they just don't treat us right!" Yep, I've had that thrown out, not as a real concern but rather as a hopeful way to change the subject.  Uh oh...hit a nerve.  Back to that empowerment thing; when we feel empowered, we have to take responsibility.  Yes, there are things out of our control.  Yes, there are people making decisions without any experience or knowledge of the repercussions for their decisions.  We, however, have a moral obligation to live up to those posters we put in our rooms.  I've seen so many with the "It takes a village to raise a child" posters, and I'm looking for examples of it being lived every day: collaborate with peers to reach students; communicate with parents in ways that work for them; share your best practices and be open to learn other ways of doing things; appreciate and empower our classified personnel, so they see the students as their kids too.

I'm just one person trying to model change, but we're all educators; we need to model the change we want to see. It starts with one conversation, one reflective question, one challenge to the status quo.

Who knew?

Who knew?

Who knew that there was still so much to plan, create, and do 3 weeks before school starts, even before teachers enter the building?  As a teacher, I knew how much I had to get done, so I started early, got my classroom together, and prepped my lessons, so I could help my colleagues as they came in ready to try and fit everything in the week before students start, amidst meetings and trainings, and open houses.  Not once did I think about all of the work that goes into preparing those staff meetings, or getting teacher materials ready, or planning the Open House activities.  Not once did I imagine that there would be so many last minute mandates and adjustments to schedules and decisions out of the school's control.

Who knew?

Who knew that a principal could feel the same amount of nerves and stress for the first day back for teachers that teachers feel for students' first day back? Is the agenda right? Will they like the activities? What about breakfast? You want to take how many people for training in what?!?! This is our first meeting together as a staff! 

Who knew?

Who knew the amount of work the support staff puts in just to make sure all of the clerical things are ready for when teachers and students come back? Copies? Made. Folders? Stuffed. Schedules? Printed. Keys? Ready. Supplies? Ordered. Mailboxes? Relabeled and alphabetized. Phones? Answered. Students? Registered. Buses Schedules? Attached to Class Schedules and ready for student pick up. and the list goes on and on.

Who knew?

Who knew that adults are just as guilty of the copy and paste mentality as students? How should we plan this? Here's last year's, just change the dates and times.  Expediency over innovation breeds frustration, at least that's what I've learned in the past few days.  Also, delegation of copied and pasted plans creates a series of last-minute reviews, rehashing, rewriting, and time wasting; so much for expediency.  Can anyone guess that I'm all about changing things up?  Oops!  That's not a who knew though because anyone know knows me already knows that...lol

Who knew?

Who knew how much life gets breathed back into a building just by the arrival of teachers?  The school is a very empty and lonely place before everyone comes back.  The hustle and bustle of hallway chatter, quick-fire requests, and shuffling furniture are a welcomed change to listening to yourself turn the page of the next memo you're writing because there are no other sounds around.  I have been in my school for an entire week already, and today was the first day I really just wanted to get out of my office and walk the halls; teachers, you are appreciated, and you were missed! Yes, even those of you who bounced out ASAP, room still undone on the eve of Orientation and Open House while others stayed to make sure every poster ever created was carefully glued to the walls.

Who knew?

Who knew that the anticipation of having students in the building could be just as exciting today, without a classroom of my own, as it was my first year of teaching 8 years ago?  Students give me a reason to do what I do; they're the impetus of the conversations I have with teachers.  The possibility of making one minor, positive difference in their lives gives me the energy to keep going.  Yes, there will be struggles, especially with trying to learn this whole new perspective this year, and Yes, there will be frustrations when I see things that I would've done so much differently, but there's nowhere else I'd rather be and nothing else I'd rather do.

Who knew?

Who knew that there are so many things in education that even those of us in education take for granted?  I'm so looking forward to taking notice of all of those things that make a difference and yet often go unseen and unappreciated.  I'm looking forward to a great 2013-2014 School Year!!

Who knew?

Getting over myself and getting on with it

I know I haven't kept up with posting like I wanted to or said I would, but I have done a ton of reflecting over the past couple of weeks, and I'm both eager and nervous about getting started in my school next Monday.  So many questions going through my head and nearly every single one is about me, not the job, not the process, ME...how am I going to hold it together and yet grow through all this?

We hear all the time about the different ways of leading--by example, by teaching, by doing, etc--but then last week during our last class we were told that our primary job in this year's internship is to Lead by Learning.  Hmm...wow...What in the world does that mean?  Ok, I mean, I theoretically know what the words mean, but how exactly does one equate the two parts (leading and learning) without one of the other "by"s mentioned earlier or simply reverting to the cliched title Life-long Learner?  Just another one of those profound statements that gets filed away for another day when I have something more concrete to connect it to...and then someone brings it up again: "Your job is to Lead by Learning."  Fine, I get it; time to figure this out and make it a goal.  So, here is my brain dump.

I've always looked at the titles "learners," "teachers," and "leaders" as having two catergories: the natural and the created.  There are some people to whom all three of these things come naturally; that's not to say that they can't develop strong skills in each, but for the most part, these "naturals" rarely struggle through the process.  Those people who create themselves as one or all go through some often difficult struggles in order to reach a level of success; they may not like the process or even want to be in the category really, but they make it there over time.  My conundrum comes from the fact that these things have always felt very natural to me; I never really had to work at them, at least I didn't feel like it was much work.  I've also had a hard time understanding the struggles of others for whom they don't come naturally, often catching myself saying "What are they thinking?" or "How do they not just get that?"  These questions in my own head have always been a challenge with my patience, or lack thereof.

Hmmm...patience.  Yeah, definitely never been one of my strong points.  In fact, I don't think it existed until late into my first year of teaching, and then it came on like a switch, but only with the students.  People who know me well, including my mom, would joke and ask me how in the world I survived as a teachers because I have NO patience for people. Heck, I often asked myself the same question, and all I could come up with is that I don't expect children, even high-school-aged children, to behave the same way as I expect semi-educated adults to act.  It's not that I have no patience for "people"; I just have little patience for things like complacency, apathy, selfishness, and feigned ignorance (What I call Boboism: knowing how and choosing not to). I especially have little patience for these things with professional adults who I expect to at least fake it well enough to still do their job appropriately because that's what they're paid to do.  So, yeah, hmmm, Lead by Learning.

I have a goal for this year and that's to struggle through this patience with adults thing.  It was a bit easier when I was in the classroom because I could close my door, work with my students, and hope that they not only learned the content I was teaching but also how to be a little less of those things that try my patience.  When I left the classroom, I learned that I had to tamp down that impatience in order to work with other teachers more directly; it has truly been an effort in learning to control my behavior in light of someone else's--reactive rather than proactive.  Moving into this new role requires that I learn how to ask "What can I do to help you see things differently?" rather than "WTF are you thinking?"  It's no longer appropriate to avoid these types of conversations, and so I need to LEARN how to LEAD through them.  Easier said than done, but necessary.

Wish me luck!