Committed Sardines

This is a great analogy to share with your School Leadership/Faculty Advisory Team.

Why Should We Be Called Committed Sardines?


Let’s start on a tangent. A blue whale is the largest mammal on earth. An adult blue whale is the length of 2 1/2 Greyhound buses put end to end, weighs more than a fully loaded 737, has a heart the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, and a tongue 8' long. (that tongue by itself weighs more than 25 elephants.) A baby blue whale is estimated to gain more than 20 pounds an hour from birth to age one.


Another little known fact about the blue whale is that it is so large that when it decides to swim in a different direction, it can take 2 to 3 minutes to turn 180 degrees. That’s the reason why some people draw a parallel between the blue whale and school. It just seems to take forever for schools to turn things around. Our ability to adapt to changing times helps explain at least in part the rise in demand for vouchers, charter schools, home schooling and virtual schools. There are some people who just don't believe or don't want the public school system to turn things around in time.


But compare the way a blue whale turns around (slowly) to how a school of fish turns around - specifically a school of sardines - which has the same or even a greater mass than the whale, does the same thing. A school of sardines can turn almost instantly. So the question is, how do they do this? How do they know when to turn. Is it ESP? Do they use cell phones? Are they using the Internet?


The answer is simultaneously a little simpler and quite a bit more complex. If you take a careful look at a school of sardines, you'll notice that although the fish all appear to be swimming in the same direction, in reality, at any time, there will be a small group of sardines swimming in a different direction, in an opposite direction, against the flow, against conventional wisdom. And as they swim in another direction, they cause conflict, they cause friction, and they cause discomfort for the rest of the school.


But finally, when a critical mass of truly committed sardines is reached - not a huge number like 50 percent or 80 percent of the school, but 15 to 20 percent who are truly committed to a new direction - the rest of the school suddenly turns and goes with them – almost instantaneously!


Isn't that what has happened with our attitudes towards drinking and driving? Isn't that what became of our feelings about smoking? Isn't that exactly what happened to the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union? Isn't that what caused the Internet to suddenly appear overnight? Each and every one of those events was an overnight success that took years in the making. Overnight successes that took a small group of people who were truly committed despite the obstacles and challenges to make the necessary change.


Noted anthropologist Margaret Mead once wrote "never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever has."

Teacher Appreciation Ideas

With Teacher Appreciation Week coming up in May, I thought it would be a good idea to have a special recognition of teachers and their individual "unique" strengths and contributions. As such, I made this list of ideas for teacher recognition. PLEASE respond to this post and share any additional ideas that you may have:

A can of defroster- for the teacher who is so good at breaking the ice

A shower cap- for the teacher who never allows anything to “dampen” her enthusiasm

A Payday candy bar- for the teacher who deserves an extra Payday for coming early and staying late all the time

Some mints- for the teacher whose contributions on the School Climate Committee have “mint” so much

A bottle of lotion- for the teacher who is always able to “smooth” things over with disgruntled parents

A roll of Lifesavers- for the teacher whose conscientiousness has “saved” some inattentive students during afternoon dismissal

A nice pen- for the teacher who is always so de-pen-dable

A notepad- for the teacher who recently had a “noteworthy” accomplishment (Leadership Fellows)

A box of tissues- for the teacher who refused to let a challenged student “blow it”

A coke- for the teacher who has proven to be the “Real Thing”

A clock- for the teacher who so graciously gives freely of her time

A bag of Hershey Hugs/Kisses- for the teacher who always has hugs and kisses for her students

A pair of dark shades- for the new teacher who has a bright future ahead of her

A bag of Smarties- for the teacher who proved she is a “Smartie” by recently finishing her Master’s degree

A package of flower seeds- for the teacher who plants the seeds of learning and is so patient for the seeds to take bloom

A roadmap- for the teacher who is gifted at articulating and sharing the new direction of the school

A book of matches- for the teacher who is always able to ignite a spark in unmotivated students

An art-set- for the teacher who inspires everyone with her creative bulletin boards

A pack of highlighters- for the teacher who regularly makes it a point to “highlight” the accomplishments of EVERY student

A can of air freshener- for the teacher who always has a “fresh” outlook

A jar of honey- for the teacher who got us out of a “sticky” situation with…..

A Mr. Clean Magic Eraser- for the teacher who does such a great job of allowing students to start each day with a clean slate

A pack of POST-IT Notes- for the teacher who is faithfully at her morning duty "post" each and every day

A balancing scale- for the teacher who so perfectly balances her pressure and support to manage student behavior

A bottle of SPIC & SPAN- for the teacher who always has such a tidy classroom

A gold-colored plastic food tray- “A Golden Tray Award” for the teacher who always has her students behave and clean up in the cafeteria

A Teddy Bear- for the teacher (coach) who looks intimidating, but is really just a big teddy bear

A bird stuffed animal- for the exceptional education teacher who gave her students wings to fly

A pack of Extra and pack of Carefree gum- for the retiring teacher who deserves an “extra carefree” future

A lock/key set- for the ELL teacher who has taught her students to unlock the door into another culture

An ice-cream scooper- for the teacher who always “has the scoop” on the latest innovative practices and research

A box of microwave popcorn- for the teacher who constantly keeps things “poppin” in her creative writing class

A rock collection set- for the teacher who “rocks” it in the science lab

A book of stamps- for the teacher who tried to “stamp” out hunger by organizing the canned food drive

“A Magic Wand”- for the teacher who we all consider to be our “Baking Fairy” (she always makes baked goods and brings them to the lounge for everyone to enjoy).

A pair of scissors- for the teacher who is always dressed so “sharp”

A coffee mug- for the teacher who is “cooler than a mug” according to her students 

Some lip balm- for the teacher who is “The Bomb” according to her students

A mirror- for the teacher who is truly “reflective” in her practice

A lion stuffed animal- for the teacher who courageously questions the status quo

A pack of “Red Hots”- for the teacher who “spices things up” at the school board meetings

Almond Joy and a Mounds candy bar- for the teacher who always brings “mounds of joy” to her students

Utilizing a Critical Friend to Improve Social & Emotional Intelligence

“Social Intelligence” typically has to do with a person’s ability to act wisely in human relations. “Emotional Intelligence” is often referred to as “a set of skills that include awareness of self and others and the ability to handle emotions and relationships” (Golman, 1995).

People who have the ability to perceive accurately, understand, and appraise others’ emotions tend to respond more flexibly to changes in their social environments and are more able to build social networks. These skills are vital because personal relationships are a central element of daily life in organizations like schools. I have witnessed situations where change efforts failed- NOT because the leader’s intentions were not sincere- but because the leader was unable to handle the social challenges of implementation.

As school leaders, we must possess a keen sense of social and emotional intelligence. I have a close friend (who is also a school leader) and we have brutally honest conversations with one another all the time. She has no reservations at all about challenging my motives or questioning my judgment, and I am the same way with her. We can do this because we trust one another completely. I honestly think that it makes us both better leaders.

What’s your opinion? Do you have a critical friend? If so, how has the friendship contributed to your development?

Do You Refer to the Educators at Your School as "Your Teachers?"

In an article from the March/April issue of Principal magazine the author brings to the surface a thought-provoking topic..... He says that when principals refer to their school’s faculty as “my teachers” it sends a negative message to teachers that they are not respected as professionals. The author, Eric Glover, says that principals should move away from using this phrase because it is inappropriate in most cases. “My teachers" is shorter and quicker to say than "the teachers with whom I work" or "the teachers in our school” Glover contends. “The problem is that rather than serving as a title of respect, ‘my teachers’ may be interpreted by teachers as a symbol of the power that a principal holds over them.”

Do you believe that using the term “my teachers” is condescending to your faculty? Are teachers being too sensitive, or is this a valid argument?

Understanding Value Added

I had a new teacher ask me to explain value-added to her. She wanted to know how we could use it to improve test scores.

While value-added is statistically and computationally complex, it really is relatively easy to grasp at a conceptual level.

Test scores are projected for students and then compared to the scores they actually achieve at the end of the school year.

Classroom scores that exceed projected values indicate effective instruction. Conversely, scores that are mostly below projections suggest that the instruction was ineffective. This is very insightful and gives us a framework for developing some differntiated professional development and coaching opportunities.

What are some ways that some other principals are using value added data?

Professional Dress

I'm interested in knowing how other school administrators feel about school dress codes/standards- for administrators and teachers:

Here is some food for thought-
- How is professional dress enforced in your school and district?

- Do you think administrators should have a higher standard for professional dress than teachers?

- Do you believe it is more acceptable for elementary school teachers to dress comfortably than secondary teachers?

- How do you generally dress at work?

Let me know what you think!

The Power of Handwritten Notes: Avenue for Encouraging Teachers or Liability Disaster?

Being in the midst of a budget crisis and facing the possibility of a serious workforce reduction and school closings has made the morale at my school pretty low lately so I decided to write my teachers some personalized notes of encouragement this week. Among school administrators, there is a long-standing set of opposing opinions about writing teachers notes. I have lots of friends who are school administrators and I know people who subscribe to each of these camps:

CAMP #1- Writing teachers personal notes of encouragement will make teachers feel appreciated and thus strenghthen the teacher/principal relationship. Furthermore, it will encourage the teacher to strive to continually improve his/her performance.

CAMP #2- Writing teachers personal notes opens you up for possible grievances. As all school leaders know, at any time a teacher's performance can change. If you work in a school district with a strong union, positive notes have the potential to come back and bite you in the butt.

What's your stance? I really want to know how other principals feel about this.

I definitely belong to the group of administrators who believe that writing personalized positive notes is worth the risk. I don't do it as often as I should, but I definitely do it when I can. I think it's really important for the notes to be hand-written and have comments specific to that teacher's performance. I recently heard that people are much more likely to read the full contents of a hand-written note than an email. Now, don't get me wrong, I do occasionally shoot teachers a quick email to tell them that I like their bulletin board or thanks for coming to PTA the night before. But....When I want to really recognize some serious work or a major contribution by a teacher, I always use a hand-written note.


I would really like for some principals to share their experiences about writing personalized notes.

Thick-Skinned Principal

One of the things that I heard over and over before taking the plunge into administration was "You have to have thick skin!" I have been given similiar advice from many of my mentors over the years and I've read a ton of articles stressing the need to "not take things personally." I've heard friends of mine who are principals say things like, "I come to work every day with a ton of friends and a family who loves me so if I don't get that at work, I'm fine." I agree that administrators need to be able not to take things personally in order to survive the demands of our jobs, but I think it's dangerous not to care about how we're perceived by others. I recognize that there's no way we can make everyone happy, but I strongly believe that if we make decisions based on what's best for kids, we'll be better able to handle any resulting criticisms.

I think that the notion of adminstrators needing to "turn off their feelings" is unrealistic and frankly, not a smart idea. I think that a primary characteristic of a good administrator is a keen sense of empathy. I would never advise any leader not to show any feeling. People begin to view you as unapproachable and uncaring. Of course, you should never be overly-emotional or overly-sensitive when making decisions, but appropriately demonstrating disappointment, concern, sadness, joy, etc. shows others that you are down-to-earth and sensitive to the feelings of others. I truly believe that if you train yourself to become "feelingless" at work, you will see this sense of apathy creep into other aspects of your life. And nobody wants to to be viewed as robotic!

Good principals are sensitive, caring educators, not distant, unfeeling machines. People get upset at us for a reason. Even if we don't agree with or understand their anger, we should care enough to want to try and understand where these perceptions come from. Administators who turn off their feelings for the sake of self-preservation can miss out on the potential opportunity to assist others in what they may need to help them become a better contributor to the team. After all, we are all here for the same reason: to educate kids. I think a good principal is someone who is willing to sacrifice and "take one for the team" so to speak, in order to grow and help others, such as teachers and parents, so that they may be able to better help the student.

If we aren't willing to sometimes show vulnerability, we run the risk of becoming cold, jaded, and insensitive.

Change is Emotional

As I mentioned a few days ago, I just finished this book called Our Iceberg is Melting. It's a story that gives a humorous account of the change process (just like Who Moved My Cheese?). But the thing that I really liked about the book is how many of the characters were affected so emotionally. It's a good reminder of the importance of effective communication during times of change.

Since the book was based upon Kotter's 8 Steps for producing lasting change, I went back and reviewed those pretty thoroughly after reading the book. Here they are

1. Set the Stage and create a sense of urgency.
2. Pull together the guiding team.
3. Decide what to do and develop the change vision and strategy.
4. Communicate for understanding and buy-in.
5. Empower others to act.
6. Produce short-term wins.
7. Don't let up.
8. Make it stick- Create a new culture.

I read Kotter's book, Leading Change, a couple of years ago. That book really elaborates on each of these. If you are in position where you're trying to influence others to change, I strongly recommend it.

Dealing with Change and Succeeding in Any Condition

I just read the most adorable little book by John Kotter. It is called Our Iceberg is Melting. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is dealing with change or trying to lead it. I have pasted a synopsis of the book below.

Our Iceberg Is Melting is a simple fable about doing well in an ever-changing world. Based on the award-winning work of Harvard's John Kotter, it is a story that has been used to help thousands of people and organizations.

The fable is about a penguin colony in Antarctica. A group of beautiful emperor penguins live as they have for many years. Then one curious bird discovers a potentially devastating problem threatening their home and pretty much no one listens to him.

The characters in the story, Fred, Alice, Louis, Buddy, the Professor, and NoNo, are like people we recognize — even ourselves. Their tale is one of resistance to change and heroic action, seemingly intractable obstacles and the most clever tactics for dealing with those obstacles. It's a story that is occurring in different forms all around us today — but the penguins handle the very real challenges a great deal better than most of us.

Excerpts from My Leadership Platform

“A man who stands for nothing falls for everything.”-Malcolm X

My journey of discovering “my purpose” in life began at an early age. I recall a significant event that took place when I was around the age of six. I attended an all-white elementary school with the exception of one biracial little girl that I will call Andrea. Andrea was often the target of criticism and bullying, and I inferred that school was not a happy place for her. One sunny afternoon, as I spun on the merry-go-round, I caught a glimpse of Andrea crying alone under a shaded tree on the playground. I went to inquire about what was the matter. She informed me of the racial slurs that the other children had been shouting at her. Infuriated, I marched her right over to the teacher, fully confident that the teacher would correct the situation and justice would be served. What happened next might very well be the origin of my beliefs related to respect, compassion, and tolerance. When I informed the teacher of what had been said to Andrea, she pulled Andrea close to her, rubbed her on the back and said, “It’s alright sweetheart. It is not your fault that your parents committed a sin, and God will not blame you for it.” This is also most likely the reason why I became such a strong proponent for the separation of church and state. Misuse of authority has been a reoccurring concern for me that first became important on that day so many years ago. Related issues have revealed themselves repeatedly in both my professional and personal life over the years. I was grown before I came to fully understand the impact that incident would have on me.Upon arriving home from school that day, I immediately explained to my mother what had taken place. Because my mom had a mere ninth grade education and she had me just three days after her fifteenth birthday, people often assumed that she could not possibly possess the skills to teach me very much. My mom’s reaction that day proved just the opposite. As I spoke of what had happened, I noticed that my mom’s expression drastically changed to one that was obviously indicative of tremendous sadness. This frightened me a bit because my mother had always been a portrait of strength. Her parents died seven days apart when I was nine months old, and she was left to single-handedly raise a child and care for her epileptic brother who had Down’s Syndrome. My mom leaned toward me, got very serious, and told me that the way the teacher had treated Andrea was wrong. At the time, it was hard for me to imagine a teacher being wrong. Perhaps this was when I first learned to never assume that an individual is professional, or even ethical, because of his or her title. As a result, titles have never been very important to me throughout my career. My mom went on to fervently insist that good people have a responsibility to always take a stand for what is right. And so my journey began.

“If a man has nothing in his life worth dying for, then he doesn’t have a life worth living.”-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The students in my sixth grade class were eagerly peering out of the window in hopes that the rain would cease. As was customary in these situations, the teacher informed us that we would have to view a filmstrip during our recess time due to the inclement weather. We had been learning about the civil rights movement and the movement’s legendary leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We had learned about the injustices and violence, lynchings, church bombings, and the KKK. I found myself constantly anxious and upset as these facts were introduced to us. The teacher explained that we would be viewing the famous “I Have a Dream” speech. As I watched Dr. King, I was in absolute awe of his courage. Although I did not realize it at the time, I believe that I made a connection to the words my mom had spoken to me several years earlier. I recalled how she had told me to speak out against wrongdoing and take a stand for what is right. Dr. King risked his life to do just that, and he eventually paid the ultimate price for doing so. This was the moment in my life when I began to detect in myself a certain desire to help others by way of social reform. I began to understand that it often takes incredible valor to fight for what is right. This was when I came to realize that a great leader is someone who is brave and willing to take risks. A goal I have is to try and temper my courage so that I will not come across as unapproachable or intimidating.

“What you are shouts so loudly in my ears that I cannot hear what you say.”-Ralph Waldo Emerson

My teenage years were all about rebellion. Whether it was organizing a march for women’s rights or starting a petition to boycott a cosmetics company experimenting on animals, I was definitely well on my way to becoming an activist. I was most likely strongly influenced by the fact that my parents were “hippies.” During this time in my life, I had a very strong desire to “stand out” from the crowd. Getting tattoos, body piercing, listening to punk rock music, and having a boyfriend that was not “socially acceptable” were all ways in which I tried to say “I am not afraid to question what society says is ‘right’.” Since then, I have become very aware of my charismatic tendencies as they relate to societal authority. I have been, at times, “sharply opposed both to rational, and particularly bureaucratic authority, and to traditional authority” (Cuilla, 2003). As a leader today, I still find myself challenging society, but I have learned some specific strategies that are perhaps more appropriate for allowing me to do so. For example, I frequently find myself using rational influence to try to convert people to my way of thinking (Pierce and Newstrom, 2006). As an instructional leader, I absolutely refuse to choose bureaucracy over what is right for kids. I am very heavily involved in urban school reform, but I have learned that sometimes it is more appropriate to pursue change in a less “attention getting” way. Close friends have often advised me to pursue a career where I can take more of an advocacy role. My response to that advice is always the same. “Is teaching not the ultimate venue for advocacy?” I did want to be an attorney when I was in high school. I dreamed of being a part of the ACLU and working to support Affirmative Action and other gender and racial equity issues. I accidentally “fell” into education though, when I took a job as a teacher’s assistant (just to pay the bills). Now, I like to believe that “the universe was conspiring” to put me where I needed to be to fulfill my life’s work (Coelho, 1996).

“Chaos breeds life, where order breeds habit.”-Henry Brooks

It was the spring of 1992, and I was eagerly awaiting the birth of my daughter. I recall how this season in my life encompassed hope and optimism. I was very proud of what I had accomplished in my life. I had overcome some significant adversities in life, including poverty, an abusive stepfather, and four years in foster care. I was the first person in my family to graduate from high school and the first to go to college. These early accomplishments served as glimpses of the drive that would guide my actions in the future. I was an instructional assistant in an urban school that served a predominantly African American population, and even as someone new to the field of education I was able to recognize the lack of cultural awareness and sensitivity on the part of many teachers. It was at this time that I experienced a brutal awakening with regard to the prevalence of institutionalized racism in our school systems, but I felt certain that what I was doing was making a difference, which brings me back to that day in 1992. I woke up early that morning and had a moment of devotion. I recall praying for the Lord to help me be a good mother. I wanted my child to grow up in a world that was harmonious and kinder to her than it had been to me. Because my husband was African American, I worried about the challenges my child might face as a biracial person in the south. After my devotion, I went to turn on the news. Images of violence, burning buildings, looting, and despair filled the television screen on each of the major networks. It was total chaos. The Los Angeles riots dominated the news programs for the next few weeks, right up until the time my daughter was born. I can remember having a sense of panic and urgency take over my body as I thought about the children and families that I served and my own unborn child. The cultural issues that had merely been important to me before were now nothing less than emergencies that had to be dealt with aggressively. Everything was more personal now. The hope and optimism that I had experienced before had now become replaced with a sense of exigency and impatience. I believe that this was the first time in my life that I truly came to believe that drastic measures, even if they result in chaos, are sometimes necessary to bring about progress. Yes, the riots were horrible, but I saw the awareness that resulted from the riots as a benefit to society as a whole. As a leader, I am not afraid to take drastic measures into my own hands if the result will be for the greater good of others. My biggest challenge at this point in my life is not assuming that what I think is in the best interest of others is always the right action to be taken. I recognize that it is common for me to use my charisma to persuade others to adopt my urgent stance when it comes to change. I believe that I have the ability to detect the needs, hopes, and values of others, and I find that I very often use that insight to get people to commit to my causes (Cuilla, 2003). I know that I have to be very careful with using my charisma. Sometimes I scare myself when I realize what I can get people to do. I constantly have to remind myself to help people change their levels, not their courses (Northouse, 2004). I follow my inspirations completely, whether they turn out to be good or bad. I view this as a strength that is always dangerously close to becoming a weakness. I spent the largest part of my twenties being an aggressive teacher-leader who was constantly in the midst of conflict. However, despite the beliefs of some, I do not seek conflict, but rather I have seen it as necessary for growth at times. What I have come to realize over the last few years is that I have to be more sensitive to the feelings of others during chaotic periods. Because I have courage and very strong convictions, I will stand against the crowd. I do, however, recognize that I am often too nonconforming and typically ahead of the crowd. My most prevalent fear as a leader is that I tend to use people to further my causes (as means to an end). From an ethical standpoint, I try to justify this by looking at the big picture and the end result. In the past, I have taken the stand that if I have to occasionally be manipulative of the system in order to help disadvantaged children and women get a fair advantage, then that is just the way it is. I know that good leaders treat people as ends (even when those people represent the system), and I recognize that this is something that I have to be very aware of at all times, as well as consciously making an effort to improve. I have learned that the moral community is not limited to certain people (Rachels, 2003). Therefore, I have a strong desire to develop the ability to consider all interests equally, even when that interest is of a teacher who I view as culturally unaware, insensitive, incompetent, or unprofessional.

“If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants.”–Isaac Newton

I was excited when I was offered a teaching position before even graduating from college. My newly appointed principal called me at home that summer and asked me to come in for a meeting. I was a bit intimidated and worried, and I wondered what it was that she wanted. I figured she was she going to go over my responsibilities with me. However, this woman, who I will refer to as Donna, was the kind of person who could just set your mind at ease as soon as she looked at you. She taught me an important leadership lesson on that very first day; invest in relationship building. It turns out that she had invited me there so that we could have some private time to just get to know each other. She said that she wanted to know all about me. She asked me to tell her about my passions and what motivated me. She inquired about my expectations and my needs. Because my mother was so young when she had me, and she always had to work two or three jobs as I was growing up, I think that I had always longed for someone just to hear me, be interested, and actually care about what I thought. Donna did all of that. The principal that had originally hired me had a health issue arise and retired unexpectantly that summer. Was the universe conspiring again? (Coelho, 1996). Donna taught me so much about leadership. Donna could get me to do anything in the world, but she never once gave me a directive. Because I knew that she genuinely cared about me, I had a strong desire to please her. I knew that she shared many of my passions related to urban school reform, but she modeled a more productive way to pursue them. I am also thankful that I had such a great a mentor to teach me about team building and collaboration. I have often wondered how my career may have been different without her influence. She once told me that she wanted to grow me as a leader because I was an important part of the legacy she was trying to build. Donna taught me that leadership is about producing more leaders, not more followers. As a teacher-leader, I have a strong desire to develop others, and I make a concentrated effort to do so.

Roles in the Change Process

I have been reading Gladwell's The Tipping Point and Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations. One thing that I have found very interesting is the adopter categories of the individuals involved in a change effort. It's very important for a change agent to be aware of which category individuals belong to because this will ultimately affect the rate at which the change effort gets adopted. Here's a summary of the five different adopter categories represented in my school system:

Innovators:
In my school system, I see these people as huge risk-takers that are “trailblazers” when it comes to creating and developing new programs. These are the teachers and instructional leaders in my school system that are the very first to develop the most progressive curriculums, teaching strategies, assessment procedures, behavior management programs, community partnerships, parent involvement programs, fund-raising efforts, and professional development plans. I do not believe that we have any true Innovators at my school, but I do see some of our partners at our Public Education Foundation (PEF) as Innovators.

Early Adopters:
I see these people as the educators who closely watch the innovators and are typically first to follow suit and adopt the innovations. They are opinion leaders who are well respected and credible. I view myself as an early adopter. I am the kind of person who recognizes, even anticipates, the need for change. My visionary attempts at improvement are often viewed as not being appreciative of past successes or traditions. The Early Adopters are individuals that are thoughtful and analytical. Although we are not as big of risk-takers as the Innovators, we do take risks. However, the risk-taking is never haphazard, but instead very cautious and well thought out.

Early Majority:
These are the teachers who adopt an innovation just before the masses. These educators are seldom opinion leaders, but because they are between the very early and relatively late adopters, they play a very important role in bridging others and aiding the rate of adoption. These individuals are not teacher leaders. These are the educators who rarely take a risk, and they hold out until the Early Adopters have adopted and implemented the innovations and they are recognized as valuable and commonly utilized by the most respected educators.

Late Majority:
These are the skeptical teachers. Anytime an innovation is proposed, they typically have the reaction of, “So what is it this week?” They never believe that any innovation is going to be successful. They are notorious for dampening the enthusiasm of the teachers that may actually want to give the idea a try. I see these teachers as needing some peer pressure from the teachers that they view as credible before they will adopt. These teachers are not risk takers so all uncertainty must be removed before they view it as safe to adopt.


Laggards:
These are the strongest resistors who see no need for change at all. They are very traditional in their teaching techniques and they have no desire to question the status quo. The Laggards are always the least enthusiastic and committed if the decision is made by the faculty to implement an idea.

Leadership Models for Reframing Organizations

I just read Bolman and Deal's book, Reframing Organizations. In it, it offers four frameworks for looking at leadership and management. They are the structural frame, the political frame, the human resources frame, and the symbolic frame. Here's a summary of each:

The Structural Framework
The "structural" leader tries to design and implement a process or structure appropriate to the problem and the circumstances. This includes:
clarifying organizational goals
managing the external environment
developing a clear structure appropriate to task and environment
clarifying lines of authority
focusing on task, facts, logic, not personality and emotions
This approach is useful when goals and information are clear, when cause-effect relations are well understood, when technologies are strong and there is little conflict, low ambiguity, low uncertainty, and a stable legitimate authority.

The Human Resource Framework
The human resource leader views people as the heart of any organization and attempts to be responsive to needs and goals to gain commitment and loyalty. The emphasis is on support and empowerment. The HR manager listens well and communicates personal warmth and openness. This leader empowers people through participation and attempts to gain the resources people need to do a job well. HR managers confront when appropriate but try to do so in a supportive climate. This approach is appropriate when employee turnover is high or increasing or when employee morale is low or declining. In this approach resources should be relatively abundant; there should be relatively low conflict and low diversity.

The Political Framework
The political leader understands the political reality of organizations and can deal with it. He or she understands how important interest groups are, each with a separate agenda. This leader understands conflict and limited resources. This leader recognizes major constituencies and develops ties to their leadership. Conflict is managed as this leader builds power bases and uses power carefully. The leader creates arenas for negotiating differences and coming up with reasonable compromises. This leader also works at articulating what different groups have in common and helps to identify external "enemies" for groups to fight together. This approach is appropriate where resources are scarce or declining, where there is goal and value conflict, and where diversity is high.

The Symbolic Framework
This leader views vision and inspiration as critical; people need something to believe in. People will give loyalty to an organization that has a unique identity and makes them feel that what they do is really important. Symbolism is important as is ceremony and ritual to communicate a sense of organizational mission. These leaders tend to be very visible and energetic and manage by walking around. Often these leaders rely heavily on organizational traditions and values as a base for building a common vision and culture that provides cohesiveness and meaning. This approach seems to work best when goals and information are unclear and ambiguous, where cause-effect relations are poorly understood and where there is high cultural diversity.

Workplace application:
Although I can see some of all of these frames in my style of leadership, I would have to say that I have learned that I am primarily a symbolic leader. Because of my current work situation (being a fairly new member of the organization) I make it a point to listen to and share stories of the organization, to create a sense of purpose and "being part of something special", and to constantly analyze the relationships and dynamics within my building to be situationally aware. As a new leader in a school, I try not to mess with the culture of the school too much right now. Even if it needs to be changed, I typically try to respect the current culture and past traditions while taking a piecemeal approach to introducing new ideas for change. I believe that a new administrator to a school should, the first year, primarily focus on doing a cultural analyis of the school. It's important to just determine who the opinion leaders are, what the values and traditions are, and how things have been done in the past. When the time is right, you can be more assertive in introducing change initiatives. But by then, you will have listened and observed enough to know how to do this effectively. You have to be able to successfully determinine who is considered a hero, who others respect, and how you can use those individuals in a leadership capacity.

Sociolinguistics and Teacher Self Awareness

I was in a colleague's classroom when I witnessed something that absolutely is a perfect example of the lack of cultural awareness/sensitivity on the part of many teachers working with diverse populations. An African American student said to his white, middle class teacher "Is we going to lunch?" The teacher made this huge deal, calling out the child and embarrassing him in front of the class. She informed him that that was not the correct way to speak. Then she said "We're fixing to go to lunch as soon as you get where you're supposed to be at!"

Contrastive Method

I'm thinking that I may want to do a careful examination of the contrastive method for teaching students to code-switch for my dissertation. The contrastive method is a culturally responsive method for teaching African American students Standard English (SE), and it is showing up in some of the most recent linguistic research. A research practitioner named Kelli Harris-Wright has done some pioneering work with the contrastive method, which is also called the bidialectal approach, and with code switching. Harris-Wright was a classroom teacher who, in the last few years, has begun to focus her efforts toward training pre-service and practicing teachers in DeKalb County, Georgia. In Enhancing Bidialectalism in Urban African American Students she explains the contrastive method for teaching African American students to code-switch between AAVE and Standard English (SE). Contrastive analysis and code switching are both useful tools for teaching Standard English. Contrastive analysis helps students develop a conscious and rigorous awareness of the grammatical differences between home speech and school speech. After carrying out such an analysis, students can code-switch between language varieties, which involves choosing the language appropriate to the time, place, audience, and communicative purpose. One of the ways of implementing the contrastive method is through literature where the narrator uses SE and the characters, in their dialogue, use AAVE. In such a narrative, students get good models of SE and they see how it contrasts with AAVE, which, if the writer cares about her characters, is presented respectfully and typically as a very expressive manner of speech. So students in a reading like this see a positive model of SE set right alongside of a positive model of AAVE. As students discuss what they've read, they can analyze the rules underlying AAVE as well as those generating SE, all of which helps them appreciate and understand language as whole much better as the dialect contrasts bring out the underlying structures of language.

Collaboration: The Key to Student Achievement

Conversations at grade level meetings, dialogues between teachers in the lounge, informal talks in the hallways, and conferences between teachers and adminsitrators are all used as examples of collaboration. HOWEVER, authentic collaboration goes much deeper than this. In order to experience the benefits of true collaboration, educators must being willing to look deep within and attempt to understand what distinguishes collaboration from other types of interactions.

If you've never experienced real collaboration, you may not be able to truly appreciate what it has to offer. If we are not careful, it could become collBLABoration where teachers simply sit around and chat and/or complain about students while being resentful of all that they need to be getting done in their classrooms.

I taught for a principal who gave me what I considered a GIFT of common planning time with my colleagues every day. It was wonderful because the principal taught us how to be "critcal friends" and discuss our teaching practices in a productive and reflective way that helped us to constantly grow our skillsets. We were taught specifc protocols for looking at dilemmas pertaining to student achievement, motivation, behavior, parent situations, etc. It was common for us to conduct lesson studies during our planning times. By using the protocols, we learned how to LISTEN to feedback, not be defensive, and depersonalize the feedback by focusing on data. We got all our planning for the following week done in one day by working smarter not harder and having everbody on the same page.

As an administrator now, I wished I had paid better attention when these processes were being introduced to me because I know that I need to do the same thing for my faculty. I hope that, when the time is right, I am able to inspire and motivate them to view collaboration in the same way.

The Power of a Positive Attitude

When interviewing teachers, one of the most important things that I am looking for is a positive attitude. There is so much that we as educators do not have control of (poverty, parental commitment, students' lack of experiences before entering school, etc.) The one thing that we have complete control of, however, is our attitude. If given the choice of hiring a teacher who is skillful at teaching with a poor attitude or a teacher who is lacking teaching skills with a positive attitude, I will always choose the ladder. I've had the privilege of working with educators who embrace a great sense of optimism and it is very inspiring. Teachers who approach their practice in a positive way are very genuine in their love for children. Their enthusiasm spreads like wldfire and it is so powerful! As an administrator, I have seen teachers who view everything as an insurmountable challenge and they constantly dampen everyone else's enthusiasm. It's really exhausting. Give me a teacher with lots of will and I can take care of providing her with the skill to match. As educators, we have a choice. We can view our job as an impossible challenge or we can embrace the career we have chosen by instilling in our kids a sense of efficacy.

Growth-Producing Feedback

There's a ton of research out there that claims to provide edcuators with the best ideas to increase student achievement. The ideas are wide and varied, but typically include topics such as differentiation, assessment, curriculum design, and motivating at-risk students. For me, the most powerful idea that I have researched relates to feedback. Feedback is an incredibly powerful tool that has the potential to make a huge difference in student achievement and teachers have it at their disposal! When feedback is given to students properly, it makes a major difference. Students who are given specific information about the accuracy and quality of their work will spend more time and effort on achieving academic tasks. As a classroom teacher, I witnessed this first-hand when I made the decision to commit to conducting regular writing conferences with my students. I saw the writing improve- DRASTICALLY- in just a few short months. As an instructional leader, I believe that teachers also benefit greatly from specific feedback related to their practices. When I give feedback to students or teachers, my primary rule of thumb is to make sure that they know that feedback is not about praise or blame, approval or disapproval. It's about helping them to grow and improve. Ultimately, I do not want students or teachers to become dependant on my feedback. I believe that when feedback is provided in the proper manner, the recipient begins to develop the skill of self-assessment. This is my goal- to help them to become more self aware and reflective.

Rethinking Assessment Practices

A defining moment in my development as an educator was when I attended a Stiggins workshop entitled "Asssessment FOR Learning." This notion of assessment FOR learning instead of assessment OF learning was the beginnning of a paragigm shift for me. Through my conversations with other edcuators and my research related to this topic, I began to realize that we (educators) typically assess the same way that we were assessed as students and we rarely stop to think about why we do what we do, or whether it is the most meaningful way to determine if our students are truly learning. As an instructional leader, I now realize that I have a responsibility to help my teachers stay focused on the ultimate goal- STUDENT LEARNING. As such, I think that one of the best ways to do this is to make the emphasize be on learning- not grading. I think it's also important to constantly build students' confidence and give them multiple opportunities and avenues for illustrating what they have learned.

Creating a Culture for Learning

I've been reading so much research lately that indicates the direct link between student achievement and the principal's role in establishing a learning community. Every principal that I know entered the rpincipalship with great enthusiasm and the intent to promote a culture for learning. I have seen that some leaders are able to keep the focus on student achievement and constantly take it to the next level. I've also seen leaders who, despite their good intentions, were not successful at maintaining the goals for learning. I'm in a place in my development right now where I am constantly thinking about these kinds of things and trying to make sure that I am able to keep the focus and be the kind of instructional leader that I want to be.

The Abilene Paradox: The Management of Agreement

I love to share this paradox with teachers when we begin working on committees. I explain to them that, during our work on the committee, I don't want us to ever "go to Abilene" on any decision. Teachers should not just agree to something because they think it's what everyone else wants. It's important to speak up when you don't support any idea or don't feel like you can implement it with fidelity.

That July afternoon in Coleman, Texas (population 5.607), was particularly hot-104 degrees according to the Walgreen’s Rexall’s thermometer. In addition, the wind was blowing fine-grained West Texas topsoil through the house. But the afternoon was still tolerable-even potentially enjoyable. A fan was stirring the air on the back porch; there was cold lemonade; and finally, there was entertainment. Dominoes. Perfect for the conditions. The game requires little more physical exertion than an occasional mumbled comment, “Shuffle ‘em,” and an unhurried movement of the arm to place the tiles in their appropriate positions on the table. All in all, it had the makings of an agreeable Sunday afternoon in Coleman. That is, until my father in law suddenly said, “Let’s get into the car and go to Abilene and have dinner at the cafeteria.”

I thought, “What, go to Abilene? Fifty-three miles? In the dust storm and heat? And in an unairconditioned 1958 Buick?”
But my wife chimed in with, “Sounds like a great idea. I’d like to go. How about you, Jerry?” since my own preferences were obviously out of step with the rest, I replied, “Sounds good to me,” and added, “I just hope your mother wants to go.”

“Of course I want to go,” said my mother-in-law. “I haven’t been to Abilene in a long time.”

So into the car and off to Abilene we went. Mt predictions were fulfilled. The heat was brutal. Perspiration had cemented a fine layer of dust to our skin by the time we arrived. The cafeteria’s food could serve as a first-rate prop in an antacid commercial.

Some four hours and 106 miles later, we returned to Coleman, hot and exhausted. We silently sat in front of the fan for a long time. Then, to be sociable and to break the silence, I dishonestly said, “It was a great trip, wasn’t it?” No one spoke.
Finally, my mother-in-law said, with some irritation, “Well to tell the truth, I really didn’t enjoy it much and would rather have stayed here. I just went along because the three of you were so enthusiastic about going. I wouldn’t have gone if you all hadn’t pressured me into it.”

I couldn’t believe it. “What do you mean ‘you all’?” I said. “Don’t put me in the ‘you all’ group. I was delighted to be doing what we were doing. I didn’t want to go. I only went to satisfy the rest of you. You’re the culprits.”
My wife looked shocked. “Don’t call me a culprit. You and daddy and Mama were the ones who wanted to go out in heat like that.”
Her father entered the conversation with one word: “Bull.” He then expanded on what was already absolutely clear: “Listen, I never wanted to go to Abilene. I just thought you might be bored. You visit so seldom. I wanted to be sure you enjoyed it. I would have preferred to play another game of dominoes and eat the leftovers in the icebox.”

After the outburst of recrimination, we all sat back in silence. Here we were, four reasonably sensible people who-of our own volition-had just taken a 106-mile trip across a godforsaken desert in furnace-like heat and a dust storm to eat unpalatable food at a hole-in-the-wall cafeteria in Abilene, when none of us had really wanted to go. To be concise, we’d done just the opposite of what we wanted to do. The whole situation simply didn’t make sense.

*Taken from: The Abilene Paradox and Other Meditations on Management; Harvey, Terry B.; Lexington Books, 1988 (reprinted by Fossey-Bass 1996)

Sweet Treats for Teachers

Never underestimate the value of food when it comes to teachers!
I think it's a great idea to give teachers treats as a sign of appreciation for all of their hard work. Here's a few fun ideas I've tried with teachers:

Right before Fall, Winter, or Spring break, give each teacher packs of Carefree and Extra gum with a notecard that says "You deserve an Extra Carefree break for all that you do. Get some much deserved rest and relaxation!

Buy each teacher one of the gourmet Godiva mint chocolates (they come in a very nice square package) and write a little note that says, "Thanks for all of your hard work on____________. It really "mint" a lot!

Give teachers an Almond Joy and a Mounds candy bar and put a little note that says, "Thanks for the MOUNDS of JOY you bring our students everyday!"

Give each teacher a "PayDay" candy bar and a note that says "You deserve an extra Payday for all that you do."

Roll a cart around with cold cans of Coke and Diet Coke and tell each teacher to "Have a Coke and and smile (you younger teachers might not get that one).

When a teacher in your building completes an advanced degree or earns some other professional honor, buy them a bag of Smarties and give them a card that says, "You're such a Smartie. I'm so proud of you!"

There's always one teacher on the faculty that has a great sense of humor and keeps everything light-hearted. Place a Snickers candybar in that teacher's mailbox with a note that says, "I always enjoy all of our snickers. Thanks for being such a joy to be around."




Does anyone know of any more?

Peace Makers

I found this great idea posted by Pam Hill, principal at Flory Academy of Sciences and Technology in Moorpark, California. I thought it was a great way to promote character education. Principal Hill says:

Each month, students who have been good citizens and met all classroom criteria for achievement during the month earn a colored strip of paper; each student writes his or her name and room number on the strip. Students in the class merge their colored strips to create a "class chain." Then students gather in our school's quadrangle for our monthly "Peacemaker" assembly. (At that assembly, two or three classes take a role in presenting the "Character Trait of the Month.") At the start of the assembly, classes are called forward one at a time. Students cheer for their class as a representative brings forward the chain they have created. That class chain is joined together with that month's chains from other classes. Will the chain extend across the entire length of the quadrangle? The chain for the month is then connected to the chains from previous months as they "wrap" along the wall of our cafegymatorium. Students love to watch the chain as it grows each month. They're always trying to get the chain to go the length of one more wall… Will it make it?

Friday Appreciation Cart

I was thinking today about what kinds of things I could do to boost the morale of the teachers in my building. I believe that it would be a good idea to get a rolling cart and decorate it and place various items on it for teachers to choose. I could roll the cart around every Friday and let the teachers choose something. It could have things like:

Boxes of Kleenex
POST-IT Notes
Sodas/Bottles of Water
Chocolate Bars
Baby Wipes
Markers
Pens
Highlighters
Lotion
Herbal Tea Packets
Stationary
Granola Bars

It might be possible to get parents to donate things for the cart too. The small token of appreciation is a nice gesture, but my prediction is that teachers will be much more touched by the fact that you have taken the time to walk around the entire building to say thanks in person to each teacher. A note with words of praise and appreciation placed in the teacher's box are fine, but you still need to make sure that you are providing them with face-to-face praise as well.

Recognizing Peers

I can't stand "sit and get" faculty meetings where teachers just have to listen to someone else go on and on constantly. I think it's always a good idea to let teachers have opportunities to share success stories with one another at the beginning of every faculty meeting. One great idea for a principal is to take three "Kudos" candy bars to every faculty meeting and say "Here's three kudos for the first three people who are willing to come up and share something positive that you witnessed one of your collegues do this week." The teachers who take the bars, stand up and actually give the Kudo to a peer, but the best part is that they then share something nice about their peer with the entire faculty.

Morning Announcement Ideas

I find myself constantly thinking about the fun things I want to do when I get my own school someday. I want my school's morning announcements to be motivational and fun. I plan to include some special features that students really enjoy. For example, every Monday we could have a "Monday Morning Mental Exercise." It could be like a brain-teaser type riddle or logic puzzle. For example, I might ask kids to think of a set of rhyming synonyms for the words obese and feline (fat cat). We could give them the day to ponder and discuss this and announce the answer at the end of the day. On Fridays, I would like to have a "Fantastically Funny Friday Joke"-things like, "What do you call cheese that doesn't belong to you? Nacho Cheese!"

Team Development

FORMING, STORMING, NORMING, PERFORMING

FORMING (Stage 1)
Why am I here? What are we doing?
Verbal members dominate.
Inability to stay on task. Little good listening.
Polite: true feelings hidden; Hidden agendas; CONFLICT SUPRESSED
Personal weaknesses covered up.
Preference for voting.


STORMING (Stage 2)
Personal attacks used; issues not confronted
Leadership may be challenged
Cliques/alliances form; Subgroups pick on each other
Power struggles; members “jockey for position”
Personal weaknesses begin to surface
Emotional reactions to the task
Outsiders blamed for problems
Members try to opt out
Sense of being stuck; frustration


NORMING (Stage 3)
Leadership issues resolved
Procedures re-established
Issues (not people) confronted
Sub-groups disappear; cohesion begins
Ability to remain focused on task
Values and assumptions are discussed
Willingness to experiment
Risks discussed in meetings
Formerly quiet people now contributing


PERFORMING (Stage 4)
Outside help and resources welcomed
Members energize each other
Much role flexibility: leadership may rotate
Members protect each other: inside and out of meetings
Sense of genuine enjoyment of working together
Lots of “ahas”.
Frequent review of process.
Objectives clear and sound
Problems handled creatively.
Decisions by consensus

Consensus Building

Fist to Five is an effective and easy conscensus-building strategy.

This is how FIST TO FIVE works: You propose an idea/initiative to the faculty. Then, you have everyone show their level of support by a show of fingers. Each person responds by showing a fist or a number of fingers that corresponds to their opinion.

5 Fingers
It’s a great idea and I will gladly take on a leadership role in implementing it.


4 Fingers
I think it’s a good idea/decision and will work for it.


3 Fingers
I’m not in total agreement, I but feel comfortable to let this decision or a proposal pass without further discussion.


2 Fingers
I would like to discuss some minor issues before committing to support this.


1 Finger
I still need to discuss quite a few issues and suggest changes that should be made.


Fist
I can't live with this. I'll fight it.


If anyone holds up fewer than three fingers, they should be given the opportunity to state their objections and the team should address their concerns. Teams continue the FIST TO FIVE process until they achieve consensus (a minimum of three fingers or higher) or determine they must move on to the next issue).

A Child's Perception

I ran into a former student of mine today and it got me thinking about this really funny thing that happened when I taught her so many years ago. It was the night of Open House and I noticed Shyniece standing at the bulletin board talking with her parents. I had not ever met them in person before so I wanted to go over and formally introduce myself. As I introduced myself and began to tell Shyniece's parents how much I enjoyed having their daughter in my class, I realized that her mom was just sort of staring at me. I began to feel a bit uncomfortable and even wondered if I had something in my teeth. Then she said, "I'm so sorry to keep staring at you, Ms. Spates. It's just that my daughter talks about you constantly and I am sure that she told me that you were black." She looked at Shyniece and asked her why she had told her that. Shyniece said, "Oh, my bad Ms. Spates. I thought you was light-skinned."

Management Styles

I have been reading about many different management styles for a class that I'm taking. I just had to complete an assignment on Alderfer's ERG Needs Theory and McClelland's Needs Theory (MNT). These theories can assist any organization in the analysis of human behavior and employee motivation. Clayton Alderfer’s Hierarchy of Motivational Needs, also known as ERG Theory for its categorization of needs into the three categories of existence, relatedness and growth, emerged from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The three levels of needs in the ERG Theory may be described as follows: existence needs represent physiological or biological needs; relatedness needs represent the need to be in relationships with others; and growth needs represent the desires for development within one’s self.

David McClelland’s Theory of Needs (MTN), is sometimes referred to as an acquired-needs theory, due to his explanation regarding needs formation. McClelland theorizes that needs emerge as a result of one’s experiences and environmental influences. McClelland categorizes human needs into the following three categories: achievement needs, affiliation needs, and power needs. Although it is believed that all people experience needs in each of these areas, the needs are not arranged in a hierarchical manner. The fulfillment of one level is not a prerequisite for moving to a different level.

Workplace Application:

As part of the instructional leadership team at my school, I find that I am very apt to utilize ERG when working with teachers. I wasn't even aware that I was doing so until I did this assignment. In my "world" of teacher leadership this is commonly referred to as situational leadership. This form of management involves having a strong sense of situational awareness regarding those who you are managing, as well as assessing what they need in order to motivate them. This theory suggests that leaders try to identify what motivates an employee while at the same time determining what the employee's needs are and then utilizing that information to manage them in the workplace. I typically use the following situational leadership formula for managing the teachers with which I work:

If they are low ability, but very motivated I assume the role of coach.

If they are high ability, but low motivation I assume the role of supporter.

If they are both low ability and low motivation I assume the role of director.

If they are both high ability and highly motivated I assume the role of delegator.

As I read about ERG, I made several connections to the situational leadership model. The teachers that are efficacious enough to simply delegate projects and assignments to are the ones that are motivated by growth opportunities because they are high achievers who strive to be innovative change agents themselves. They are intrinsically motivated. Often times, the ones who are in need of support also fall into this category if given enough guidance and adequate resources. The teachers that I coach would typically fall into the relatedness category because they are usually most motivated by feeling like they belong in the group (often times, this is the ONLY thing that motivates them). The ones to whom I give directives are definitely in the existence stage. They are simply trying to survive. I do take a hierarchical approach with them because I fell like they need to “crawl before they can walk.” I can also see close connections to McClelland's Theory of Needs as well. The star teachers are highly motivated by achievement and sometimes authority. Depending on a variety of variables, the teachers needing support and coaching can either be motivated by authority or affiliation. More likely than not, the ones who have the capabilities but who are not very motivated respond best to affiliation.

Leading in High Risk Schools

I recently applied for some administrative positions in my school district. I was talking to a friend the other night and asked her what she thought might be an interview question for the positions. As I considered the possibilities, I thought, "What if they ask me what I think it takes to effectively lead in a high risk school?" What would I say? I've been thinking about what it is that I believe would be necessary in order to bring about growth and increase student achievement in such schools, and here is:

I think that the first action that needs to be taken is to establish some core values and create a common vision. What do we believe about teaching and learning? How can we promote that? I strongly believe that it takes an educator with a special skill-set to be effective in an urban school. They need to have a compelling nature in order to work with parents and resistant teachers. They must have some cultural knowledge and respect and sensitivity to the population being taught. And they need to have a capacity for empathy so that they can understand and appreciate students who are coming from backgrounds of poverty (empathy DOES NOT equal Savior mentality)! Once you have teachers with this prerequisite skill-set, you can really get down to the issue at hand. I think that the administrative team should visit the vision with the faculty constantly in order to foster a meaningful sense of what they are all going to be committed to doing together. If this is done in a thoughtful and consistent way, you can't help but develop values that are similiar.

Then, I think the number one, on-going focus needs to be on teacher empowerment. I am 100% positive that the capacity to improve things in urban schools is within each building already. Start with a small group of teacher leaders and nurture their leadership capabilities. Give me a critical mass of highly-skilled and committed teachers and I can turn a school around. I just view it as so important to let them know that you see them as capable professionals and expect exactly that from them. Provide teachers with time to collaborate, professional development opportunities, and a fair allocation of resources. We always hear these blown up horror stories about teaching in urban schools, but my experience tells me that it's not the needs of the children or the uninvolved parents that chase good teachers away from the inner city- it's the working conditions- no time to collaborate, apathetic colleagues, and the big one...LACK OF PROFESSIONALISM- These are the things that make working in urban schools so difficult. Foster professionalism by involving teachers in decision-making regarding their work and create a strong system of accountability that encourages direct dialogue about expectations and needs.

The best way to go about empowering teachers is to professionally grow them. It's in urban schools where having teaching expertise makes the biggest difference. If I have the ability to empower teachers and facilitate quality, on-going professional development, the level of poverty represented in my school becomes irrelevant because I'll have the tools needed to create a professional learning environment. Once teachers become confident in their own abilities and they are knowledgeable of best practice, they begin to feel safe enough to deprivatize their practice, which opens up all kinds of opportunities for growth (peer observations, reflective dialogue, critical friends, self awareness, etc.).

Leaders in high risk schools have got to stop accepting "the left-over teachers" that couldn't get hired anywhere else. Nobody wants to be on a losing team. Everybody wants to be associated with a high caliber faculty. It's important to recruit star teachers and offer them professional development and a sense of purpose that they will not be able to get anywhere else. Highly effective teachers in urban schools really believe that they have a responsibility to use their talents and expertise where it will make the biggest difference. They understand that it is at the high-risk schools where teacher expertise makes the biggest difference. Students in the suburban schools can have a mediocre teacher and be fine because the range of other supports can compensate for that teacher. The same cannot be said for mediocre teachers in high risk schools. Great teachers in urban schools make the critical difference so it is critical for leaders in urban schools to work diligently at getting the word out to teachers about the professional learning environment that they have created. Sell it!!! Make them want to be a part of something special- something profound and intrinsically rewarding.

It is so important for the leaders in urban schools to be excited about the work and constantly articulate that to the teachers- and utilize those teacher leaders to do the same. A few teacher leaders who have enthusiasm can cause positive change to spread like wildfire.

I know that it is much easier to say these things than to actually do them, but I believe that these are a good start.

What Multicultural Teaching is NOT

Heroes and Holidays- Foods and Festivals

When teachers take this approach, it is common for them to "celebrate" differences by integrating information or resources about famous people and the cultural artifacts of various groups into the mainstream curriculum. Bulletin boards may contain pictures of Martin Luther King, Jr. or Rosa Parks, and teachers may plan special celebrations for Black History Month or Cinco de Maya. Learning about "other cultures" focuses on costumes, foods, music, and other tangible cultural items.

The positive thing about this approach is that at least the teacher is attempting to diversify the curriculum by providing materials and knowledge outside the mainstream culture. This is a pretty common approach taken by teachers because it is fairly easy to implement with little new knowledge. Still, the weaknesses heavily outweigh the strengths:

By focusing celebratory attention on non-dominant groups outside the context of the rest of the curriculum, the teacher is further defining these groups as "the other."

Curricula at this stage fail to address the real experiences of non-dominant groups instead focusing on the accomplishments of a few heroic characters. Students may learn to consider the struggles of non-dominant groups as "extra" information instead of important knowledge in their overall understanding of the world.

The special celebrations at this stage are often used for justification -- not to truly transform the curriculum.

This approach trivializes the overall experiences, contributions, struggles, and voices of non-dominant groups, fitting directly into a euro-centric and male-centric curriculum.

Preacher Teacher

“You can’t teach what you don’t know.” That’s what Mrs. Williams said to me as I vented my frustration during my first year of teaching in an inner city school. She was an older, African American woman, tall with a very strong presence. She had appointed herself my unofficial mentor. I came in eager, enthusiastic, and ready to change the world. Like so many other young, white, middle class teachers at the time, I was completely unaware of what it took to be an effective teacher in an urban school. I believed that if I knew a variety of instructional strategies and had a behavior plan in place, I would be all right. What I had not yet discovered was the impact that my cultural norms and values would have on my practices. What I hadn’t come to realize was the potentially detrimental implications of my lack of cultural awareness and sensitivity.Many urban schools have a majority population of African American students from backgrounds of poverty and a majority population of White middle class teachers.Throughout my career as an educator in urban settings, I’ve seen countless numbers of intelligent, well-educated, and well-intentioned teachers that were unable to reach their students. Although they may have a wealth of knowledge, they still struggle with transferring that knowledge to their students. Even as a new teacher, I was able to recognize that differences in language patterns, values, and culture affected my teaching and my students’ learning. A very defining moment in my teaching career came when I read the book The Dream Keepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children by Gloria Ladson-Billings. A paradigm shift took place within me, and I was able to fully comprehend what it means to be a culturally responsive teacher.Mrs. Williams told me that I could come and observe her teaching during myplanning period. As I watched her, I was amazed at how well the children listened to her and how engaged every student was. The lesson wasn’t anything elaborate. It was asimple class discussion, but the students were all sharing, asking questions, and listening. I noticed that Mrs. Williams’ speech was vibrant and animated, and the students seemed very accustomed to it. As I observed, I noted that she used lots of call and response, repetition, alliteration, and variation in pace. She seemed to have a natural talent for taking sophisticated concepts and breaking them down into simple ideas. As the discussion winded down, Mrs. Williams asked the class of first grade students if they thought they could go back to their seats and write a couple of sentences about what they had just discussed. The class enthusiastically assured her that they could. “And you better not forget to put your name on your paper!” she said in a joking manner. “Turn to your neighbor and remind them right now.” She said. Every child, without hesitation, turned to the person next to him or her and said, “You better not forget your name!” in the same joking manner that it had been said to them by the teacher. During a debriefing, I told Mrs. Williams how impressed I was with the way she captivated the students during the discussion. “It’s called preacher-style honey.” She said to me. She explained that if I was going to teach African American students, I had a professional duty to learn about their cultural norms and behaviors. She informed me that many people in the African American culture use this type of speech, and that the children are accustomed to it.The speaking patterns that were viewed as “professional” during my preparationas a teacher were quite different from “preacher-style.” I began to put some informalresearch into practice with my second grade students. Sometimes, I would make aconcentrated effort to use a “preacher-style” approach with the students. I kept a journal of notes during this time, and as I read over these and reflected, I was able to conclude that students responded to it very well. I have continued to use this “preacher-style” approach throughout the years and it has been very effective with my students.Of course, it takes more than adapting the way that one verbally delivers information to be a culturally responsive teacher. Self-awareness of teachers is crucial if one wishes to incorporate a culturally responsive and relevant practice. In the book, We Can’t Teach What We Don’t Know: White Teachers, Multiracial Schools (Published by Teachers Press in 1999), G. Howard says “We need to understand the dynamics of past and present dominance, face how we have been shaped by myths of superiority, and begin to sort out our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors relative to race and other dimensions of human diversity.” There is a pressing need for self-analysis and reflection on the part of teachers. Effective teachers are willing to examine their own beliefs and practices to ensure that they are teaching their students in the most compassionate and meaningful way.Relationships with parents and students must be built and nurtured in order to have a truly culturally responsive practice. Parents must believe that teachers respect the student’s culture. Teachers concerned with developing a culturally relevant and responsive classroom environment take the time to gain the trust of parents and appreciate the insight that parents have to offer. Culturally aware teachers put great effort into getting to know their students and families. They understand that, by learning the cultural norms and values of the students, they will be better equipped to present knowledge in a meaningful way. Students learn best when they believe that the teacher cares about them.Quality teacher preparation programs are beginning to emphasize the importance of reflective activities and dialogue with regard to cultural diversity. Universities are beginning to focus more on incorporating cultural awareness and education into the pre-service teacher curriculum. These types of programs are making a positive impact on teaching practices in urban schools. The research seems to indicate that children from homes in which the language does not closely correspond to that of the school (including African American dialect)may be at a disadvantage in the learning process. These children may become disengaged from learning. Research has shown that most African American children tend to prefer to learn in cooperation with others, as opposed to independently. Teachers must become knowledgeable of the cultures represented in their classrooms and present lessons in a way that reflects communicating and learning that is familiar to the students. For many African American students, the “preacher-style” approach for breaking down information into simple terms and using vibrant, expressive, interactive modes of conversation seems to be most effective. Children learn about themselves and the worlds around them within the context of culture so we (educators) must understand the culture ourselves in order to adequately teach them.

Feed the Teachers!

I just read the most inspiring and hilarious book ever. Neila Connors' book, If you Don't Feed the Teachers They Eat the Students, is a very easy-to-read, humorous book that uses the metaphor of food to illustrate how to be an effective school leader. I just believe that it is a must for the library of every school administrator. It offers many clever yet practical suggestions that can be implemented immediately by administrators at all levels. In the first chapter entitled, "Whetting your Appetite-the Menu Please" Connors promises a book steeped in practical experience and not research, a promise she keeps throughout. Nevertheless, it should come as no surprise that many of her suggestions parallel current educational research, especially with regard to building relationships with staff members and affecting positive change. I actually caught myself laughing out loud so many times when reading this book, but don't let the humorous easy-read mislead you: it is still very substanitive.

This book compares effective school leadership to the cooking and eating of a fine meal. From Chapter 3-"Creating the Ambiance-Preparing to Dine" to Chapter 8-"The Check, Please!" the author very cleverly organizes the sections in yummy little portions. For example, Chapter 4 discusses "Passing the P's", which describes a list of important attributes of successful administrators, all of which begin with the letter "P".

Because it's such a quick read, this book serves as a "tasty little snack" to keep you going. One of my favorite parts of the book deals with D.E.S.S.E.R.T.S. I won't ruin that for you though, just in case you want to give it a read.

The Role of Culture in Literacy Development

I've been thinking a lot lately about the many ways in which culture affects teaching and learning. One specific area of interest deals with the reading and writing processes. I'm thinking that this may become a focus for dissertation, but I'm having difficulty narrowing it down and deciding on a direction to take. Here's what I know: The role of culture and language is vitally important to literacy learning. Historically, African American children who speak African American Vernacular English (AAVE) have not experienced high levels of academic success because their particular literacy needs go unaddressed, as they are encouraged, even forced, to assimilate into the mainstream. When addressing literacy needs of students who employ AAVE, cultural and linguistic differences should be recognized and respected in order to most appropriately serve them. Effective literacy instruction should build upon cultural and linguistic backgrounds, the different ways of making meaning, and prior knowledge that children bring to the classroom. Most teacher preparation programs only have one required multicultural class, if that. New teachers are often culturally unaware and insensitive to the specific needs of their students as a result. Those beginning teachers often become discouraged and discontinue working in urban schools or they leave education all together. Some of them spend their entire career with negative and inaccurate perceptions and beliefs regarding their students and what they are capable of accomplishing. Although AAVE has been clearly shown to be a systematic, rule-governed linguistic system, it appears that a number of non-AAVE speakers continue to view it as an inferior, unequally linguistic system when compared to Standard English. Teachers sometimes form negative perceptions of students as a result. This can have adverse affects on AAVE speakers' academic educational achievements. Because reading is a two-step process for these students, they are at a huge disadvantage.

Being a Multicultural Educator

20 Self-Critical Things I Will Do to Be
a Better Multicultural Educator

1. I will learn to pronounce every student's full given name correctly. No student should need to shorten or change their names to make it easier to pronounce for me or their classmates. I will practice and learn every name, regardless of how difficult it feels or how time-consuming it becomes. That is the first step in being inclusive.

2. I will sacrifice the safety of my comfort zone by building a process for continually assessing, understanding, and challenging my biases and prejudices and how they impact my expectations for, and relationships with, all students, parents, and colleagues.

3. I will center student voices, interests, and experiences in and out of my classroom. Even while I talk passionately about being inclusive and student-centered in the classroom, I rarely include or center students in conversations about school reform. I must face this contradiction and rededicate to sharing power with my students.

4. I will engage in a self-reflective process to explore the ways in which my identity development impacts the way I see and experience different people.

5. I will invite critique from colleagues and accept it openly. I accept feedback very well until someone decides to offer me feedback. Though it's easy to become defensive in the face of critique, I will thank the person for their time and courage (because it's not easy to critique a colleague). The worst possible scenario is for people to stop providing me feedback, positive and negative.

6. I will never stop being a student. If I do not grow, learn, and change at the same rate the world around me is changing, then I necessarily lose touch with the lives and contexts of my students. I must continue to educate myself—to learn from the experiences of my students and their parents, to study current events and their relationship to what I am teaching, and to be challenged by a diversity of perspectives.

7. I will understand the relationship between INTENT and IMPACT. Often, and particularly when I'm in a situation in which I experience some level of privilege, I have the luxury of referring and responding only to what I intend, no matter what impact I have on somebody. I must take responsibility for and learn from my impact because most individual-level oppression is unintentional. But unintentional oppression hurts just as much as intentional oppression.

8. I will reject the myth of color-blindness. As painful as it may be to admit, I know that I react differently when I'm in a room full of people who share many dimensions of my identity than when I'm in a room full of people who are very different from me. I have to be open and honest about that, because those shifts inevitably inform the experiences of people in my classes or workshops. In addition, color-blindness denies people validation of their whole person.

9. I will recognize my own social identity group memberships and how they may affect my students' experiences and learning processes. People do not always experience me the way I intend them to, even if I am an active advocate for all my students. A student's initial reaction to me may be based on a lifetime of experiences, so I must try not to take such reactions personally.

10. I will build coalitions with teachers who are different from me (in terms of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, religion, first language, disability, and other identities). These can be valuable relationships of trust and honest critique. At the same time, I must not rely on other people to identify my weaknesses. In particular, in the areas of my identity around which I experience privilege, I must not rely on people from historically underprivileged groups to teach me how to improve myself (which is, in and of itself, a practice of privilege).

11. I will improve my skills as a facilitator, so when issues of diversity and equity do arise in the classroom, I can take advantage of the resulting educational opportunities. Too often, I allow these moments to slip away, either because I am uncomfortable with the topic or because I feel unprepared to effectively facilitate my students through it. (I often try to make myself feel better by suggesting that the students “aren't ready” to talk about racism or sexism, or whatever the topic might be, when it's more honest to say that I am not ready.) I will hone these skills so that I do not cheat my students out of important conversations and learning opportunities.

12. I will invite critique from my students, and when I do, I will dedicate to listening actively and modeling a willingness to be changed by their presence to the same extent they are necessarily changed by mine.

13. I will think critically about how my preferred learning styles impact my teaching style. I am usually thoughtful about diversifying my teaching style to address the needs of students with a variety of learning styles. Still, I tend to fall back on my most comfortable teaching style most often. I will fight this temptation and work harder to engage all of my students.

14. I will affirm and model appreciation for all forms of intelligence and the wide variety of ways students illustrate understanding and mastery of skills and knowledge.

15. I will reflect on my own experiences as a student and how they inform my teaching. Research indicates that my teaching is most closely informed by my own experiences as a student (even more so than my pre-service training). The practice of drawing on these experiences, positive and negative, provides important insights regarding my teaching practice.

16. I will encourage my students to think critically and ask critical questions about all information they receive including that which they receive from me.

17. I will challenge myself to take personal responsibility before looking for fault elsewhere. For example, if I have one student who is falling behind or being disruptive, I will consider what I am doing or not doing that may be contributing to their disengagement before problematizing their behavior or effort.

18. I will acknowledge my role as a social activist. My work changes lives, conferring upon me both tremendous power and tremendous responsibility. Even though I may not identify myself as a social activist, I know that the depth of my impact on society is profound, if only by the sheer number of lives I touch. I must acknowledge and draw on that power and responsibility as a frame for guiding my efforts toward equity and social justice in my work.

19. I will fight for equity for all underrepresented or disenfranchised students. Equity is not a game of choice—if I am to advocate education equity, I do not have the luxury of choosing who does or does not have access to it. For example, I cannot effectively fight for racial equity while I fail to confront gender inequity. When I find myself justifying my inattention to any group of disenfranchised students due to the worldview or value system into which I was socialized, I know that it is time to reevaluate that worldview or value system.

20. I will celebrate myself as an educator and total person. I can, and should, also celebrate every moment I spend in self-critique, however difficult and painful, because it will make me a better educator. And that is something to celebrate!

*This list was developed by Paul Gorski.

Self Awareness in Teachers

We Have a Responsibility to Face Ourselves

Every person on this earth is socialized to perceive their culture group as superior to others. It’s just human nature. Whether the culture group is based on race, religion, gender, class, or language, it is common to form some prejudices. The longer I teach, the more concerned I become about the lack of self awareness in many educators, and what I perceive as complete obliviousness to notions of superiority. It’s hard for me to understand how anyone who has taught in an urban setting for any amount of time at all cannot easily recognize the institutional racism and the white priviledge attitudes that dominate. I am so past the point of debating this or preaching about it. I am in season of my life where I just want to make things better, but I am at a loss of how to go about doing this. The old saying, “change myself, change the world” is illustrative of my current frame of mind. I know that the best way to influence positive change is by modeling it. So I have committed to doing the following: I will thoroughly analyze my own prejudices. I will do some serious soul-searching to try and determine the origin of these prejudices and figure out how much a part of my daily life these beliefs are? I think that it will be really difficult, but I know that I am also going to have to admit how I benefit from my prejudices. In addition, I will need to understand how my prejudices may harm me too. I know that I have a professional and ethical responsibility to explore the ways in which my prejudices may be affecting my beliefs and attitudes about students, parents, and public education. Lastly, I have to use the information that I gain to make some changes. All of the self-awareness in the world does me no good if I am not able to utilize it to form some sort of growth/action plan.I think that the most frustrating thing for me is when I attempt to initiate a conversation about these types of issues with others, and they automatically say, “I don’t have any prejudices!” I just think that if a person is in denial, the likelihood of them growing is just about all but diminished and they shouldn’t be allowed to work with children.Lately, I’m thinking so much about making the transition to higher education. Over the course of my career, I’ve certainly tried to be a teacher leader and influence teachers to develop and grow in order to better serve their kids. However, I’m feeling very defeated lately. I feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. I feel like it’s getting harder and harder to taking the high road. I’m becoming more and more lonely and isolated and I often catch myself preaching at others (which everyone knows is a total waste of time and energy)! In a college setting, however, perhaps I would be better able to influence, motivate, encourage, develop, and mentor teachers-to-be. I just see this self awareness process as so crucial to the development of teachers, yet it is not even a focus in traditional teacher education programs.For now, all I can do is model what it means to be a multicultural educator. I will continue to strive to be culturally competent and sensitive to the needs of the children and families I serve. I will continue to regularly examine the ways in which cultural diversity affects teaching and learning.

Mentoring New Teachers

There is a new teacher at my school who was in need of assistance in the area of behavior management. She came to me asking for help so I analyzed the teacher’s discipline referrals for a period of four weeks. I observed this teacher in class. I had a conference with the teacher after observing. The following is a summary of the recommendations I gave to this teacher and the process of modeling and collaboration that took place among the two of us.

The second grade teacher that I worked with is someone with whom I had already established a relationship, and I was confident that I had earned some credibility and referent power with her. The first thing that I did was sit down with her and assure her that I was there in more of a supportive role than an evaluative one. I assured her that I would not be reporting to the principal her mistakes. I explained that because I had to get permission from the principal to clear my schedule to work with her, I was required to share with the principal what I had done to assist her. I made it very clear to the teacher that I would use “I statements” when informing the principal of any details. For example, I told her that I might report to the principal statements such as this: “I modeled how to conduct center transitions, I worked with her to create a behavior management card pulling system, I developed an individual behavior contract form to use with challenging students, etc.” It was very important to me that she didn’t view me as a nark that would go tattling back to the principal.

We agreed that I would devote three days to working with the teacher. The first day would be to observe. On the second day, I taught this teacher’s class, and I modeled various strategies while she took notes. On the third day, I observed the teacher again and made notes of her attempts to implement the modeled strategies. We conferred each afternoon.

The first day was extremely difficult for me because the situation was very chaotic, and I wanted desperately to intervene. I concluded that this teacher had not established routines and procedures in her classroom. There were no set procedures for things like turning in homework, transitioning from desks to carpet, sharpening pencils, going to the restroom, etc. It was obvious that this teacher had four or five students who were completely out of control. They cursed, “shot bird fingers” behind her back when she was reading a book to the class, left the room without permission, and refused to join the group on the carpet. It was also obvious that there was way too much “down time” and that the teacher seemed frantic as she tried to think of things to do off the top of her head. I knew that I was going to have to be very explicit when explaining and showing her how to effectively plan. That afternoon, I explained to her my sincere belief that ALL of her most challenging students could be successfully managed by developing a bond and showing them consistently that she cares for them. I also explained to her that if “she failed to plan, she could most surely plan to fail.” I took her step-by-step through the planning process for the next day. I used the Tennessee Standard Performance Indicators to plan some rigorous and engaging activities that fit in with her current unit of study (ocean habitat). She expressed concern that the students would not be able to accomplish what I was expecting. I explained to her the methods for differentiation I had planned (small group, peer tutoring, etc.).

On the second day, I stood at the door as each student entered and said “Good morning” to each child as they came in the room. I inquired about how they were feeling, I made comments about how nice they looked, and I explained that they were going to have fun today. I instructed every child sit on the carpet, and I explained to them that we were going to have “a talk”. I had used industrial tape to write each child’s name on and placed these tape strips on specific places on the carpet. They were instructed to sit on their name. I explained to them that it was very important that they keep their hands to themselves. I then shared with them a trick that I "use to help remind myself to keep my hands to myself." “Open and shut them, open and shut them, give your hands a clap, clap, clap. Open and shut them, open and shut them. Put your hands right in your lap.” I told them that they could then whisper to the person next to them, “AND KEEP UM THERE!!!!” We practiced doing this several times. After this, I explained to the class that I was a lazy teacher, and I really liked classes where the kids did the talking and working instead of me having to do it all. I asked them if they thought they could help me out with this. I went on to explain that there would be times when they were talking and working and I might need to get their attention. I told them that during these times I would simply say, “Hands on your head!” I told them this was their prompt to stop what they were doing, put their hands on their head so that I could see that they were listening, and to be absolutely silent. I informed them that they would have to pull a card from the behavior chart if they failed to do this (three cards for the day and each card represented a loss of five minutes of recess). Then I explained that since I was SO nice I would even be willing to give them an extra five seconds to get it together. We practiced talking in groups (about anything they wanted to talk about), and then I would say. “Hands on your head, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.” Sometimes I would say things like “Touch your nose. Give yourself a hug. Pat your Glutious Maximus.” The first time I said this kids did not know what to do. I explained to them that this was their bottom. Because I anticipated that they would get excited, I whispered it in a very animated way. I tried to constantly utilize the strategy of calling the kids to come in close and WHISPER something if it was really important. I thought this was important since the teacher that I was working with was “a yeller”. I desperately wanted to prove to her that kids would listen more if you did not yell at them. After we had practiced this attention signal over and over, I explained that we needed to have a serious talk. I have always been a user of the “preacher-style” method of teaching. There is tons of research that indicates that this is very effective for getting and maintaining the attention of students who are users of African American Vernacular English. I explained to the students, in my preacher-style, that things were "gettin ready to change." I said something like this, “You all know that you’ve been buck wild these first few weeks of school, don’t you? Well, guess what friends? Those days are over. That’s right. It’s a new day, and you are about to turn over a new leaf. All that craziness ends TODAY! You better turn and tell somebody what I just said.” Every child then turned to the person next to him or her and repeated what I said in the same style and manner in which I had said it. I went over the expectations that they had developed with their teacher a few weeks before. Then, I went over the assignment for the day. We created our own mural of the Great Barrier Reef, and each child got to create a character to put on the reef. Some were marine biologists, some were professional divers, there were lifeguards, bathing suit models, teachers on field trips, and one student was a rapper taping his newest video at the Great Barrier Reef. We found Australia on the globe, and students shared their own prior knowledge about Australia (where the crocodile hunter lives, where Alexander wanted to go in the Horrible No Good Very Bad Day book, where dingos and kangaroos live, etc.) For language arts, they wrote biographies about their characters. For science, we went to the science lab and examined coral and documented what we saw in our science journals. For social studies, I read a book to the class about a Project that Green Peace was undergoing at the reef. I constantly paused and had the kids “turn and talk” to one another about specific things in the books and share any personal connections they may have had. I really wanted to let this teacher see the social benefits of discussion, as well as the ways in which this would improve the students’ comprehension levels and keep kids from becoming disengaged and acting out. I facilitated a Socratic Seminar about personal responsibility. We looked at an article from Time for Kids entitled Oceans: What Can You Do? What Will You Do? Throughout the day, I used various active learning strategies such as clock buddies, inner circle outer circle, and placemat to encourage students to have meaningful conversations. At the end of the day, I talked with the teacher, and she expressed that she was very surprised at how well the students behaved. I asked her if she noticed how much affection and attention I gave to the most challenging students? I really wanted her to see that, in most cases, the students that are causing the serious problems just need some extra attention and sensitivity.

The next day, I observed the teacher. She utilized the “hands on your head” and the “open and shut them” strategies constantly throughout the day. She only used the “turn and talk” strategy once. She did not use any of the specific active learning strategies that I had modeled. She still yelled, but it was not as frequent. We talked at the end of the day, and the teacher told me that she was not at all comfortable with using the “preacher-style” approach. She said something that actually made me very sad, "They can learn to talk slang at home. I think my job is to expose them to 'proper grammar'." I guess this upset me because, although I agree that it is important to model Standard English, I know that we must also appreciate the rich and expressive venacular our students already have. I also think it's so important to make connections with students and explain things to them in a way that is meaningful. I do, however, totally respect her right not to do something that is uncomfortable or unnatural to her. I guess I was just hopeful that she would recognize that "Standard English" isn't always the most natural or comfortable for them. She went on to explain that she believed that the kids were more cooperative with me because they viewed me as an administrator. I listened to her, and then I praised her for taking some risks. I let her know that I would be coming back at least once a week to read to the kids and check in on them. I offered to facilitate a Socratic Seminar anytime she wanted me to do so.

As I reflect on this experience, I realize that I learned some valuable lessons from it. I learned that change has to be taken on a bit at a time. I learned that I am very persistent when trying to get others to “see it my way.” If I could do this again, I would probably try to work it out where I could spend at least a week with the teacher. I think she was excited about what she saw at first, but then she became completely overwhelmed.

Words to Live By

I came across this quote today and it really made me reflect on what it is that I hope to accomplish as an educator and social advocate.

To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one's self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived... this is to have succeeded. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

My Preferred Instructional Design Model

I subscribe to the beliefs and philosophies of the constructivist camp. Of these, I think that my teaching, as well as my own personal learning has been most greatly influenced by the theory of problem-based learning. During my teacher preparation, problem-based learning was a popular instructional design. In my methods courses, I was introduced to this design repeatedly. I think it is very interesting to consider whether or not that my passion for this design may be directly related to the fact that I was repeatedly exposed to problem-based learning during what I refer to as my “most moldable teaching years.” Although I cannot be certain of the origin of my preference of the problem-based approach, I am certain that it is the most meaningful to me as both a teacher and a student.

Even as a beginning teacher, I enjoyed presenting students with real-life problems that had meaning to them. I was able to see that this motivated even the most resistant learners to participate and contribute. When I reflect upon what I view as most important to real-life learning, I recognize that the two processes that always come to mind are inquiry and collaboration.

As a child, I was very inquisitive. This often got me into trouble and it was conveyed to me in no certain terms that inquisitive children are annoying. As an adult, I recognize that I still question everything. In working situations, I have found myself feeling just like I did as a child when it was conveyed to me that my inquisitiveness was not appreciated. I recently even had a group of colleagues say to me before a leadership meeting, “Please Jennifer, don’t analyze everything to death today. We don’t want this to take forever.” As a teacher, I really try to encourage my students to be inquisitive, especially when it comes to questioning the status quo. I tell them that it is okay to question everything and anything as long as 1) they are respectful and 2) they base there answers on principles. Because I am an urban schoolteacher and I have such strong feelings regarding social justice, I feel like I have an ethical responsibility to equip my students with the skills they will need to face social injustices head on. Through problem-based learning and Socratic Seminars, I regularly explore issues of inequity and inequality with my students and we collaborate on ways to address these issues. I do not proclaim to be an expert on problem-based learning, but I do think that I have developed some effective skills to facilitate this type of learning throughout my years as an educator. As a new teacher, I did a lot of presenting scenarios and having students discuss and write about how they might go about solving certain kinds of problems. What I have learned over the years is that this type of instructional design works best when the problems are real and the students’ actions really do matter.

I also like the collaborative component of problem-based learning. I am one of those folks who believes strongly that the most impacting learning is that which is socially constructed. When I present students with problems, I am very careful to just present the facts related to the problem because I really do want them to make their own connections, probe the issue, and explore it together rather than me offering any solution. The real-world is all about working with others, negotiating, and compromising. I want to provide my students with as much practice for doing this as I possibly can.

When I think about the units of study that I have taught where I feel like students learned the most, they typically have to do with a problem-based situation that was relevant to the students’ everyday lives. For example, when I taught in a very poor part of town, there was a creek that was considered by the people in the community to be polluted and almost all of my students had to walk along it to get to school each day. We conducted some chemical tests on samples from the creek, wrote letters to government representatives expressing our concerns and findings, and we organized a clean-up effort. Another problem that we addressed was the fact that none of the stories from our basal reader were from an African American perspective. My entire class was African American. We wrote letters to the publisher and we collaborated together to compile a list of suggested stories to be included in a future edition. Some of the things I address with my students have gotten me a stern warning from the administration not to “ruffle feathers”, but this has not changed my beliefs or my practices very much.

I do not think that all problem-based learning must always be from real-life situations. For example, I went to a workshop one time on this computer-generated problem-based learning/anchored instruction program that seemed like a very high-quality program to me. It was called The Adventures of Jasper Woodbury. It was great because all of the mathematical problems that students had to work on could be solved (in a variety of ways) using the data that was embedded in the stories presented in the software. I was not able to convince my principal to purchase that program for our school, but I did talk her into purchasing some Real-Life Mystery Detective science kits. One was a forensic investigation program where students got to be crime scene investigators. We conducted chemical tests on what we thought was blood, but determined through chemical make-up that it was red paint. We did fingerprint analysis of the items at the “crime scene”, we tested the “victim’s” soda can for traces of poison, etc. After researching the “victim’s” background, we determined that he faked his own death because he was in debt. The great thing about those particular kits was that there was no right answer.

When I was in college, I was exposed to this notion of teachers as facilitators. I view that as my role still. At the beginning of a unit, I typically provide students with some overall factual information, provide them with various forms of information in writing, and utilize a jigsaw-type approach for discussing and teaching it to one another. I am pretty much what I refer to as a “floater.” I like to “float” around and coach and confer with individual students to check for understanding and ask probing questions. I think that this is pretty much aligned with problem-based learning.

Urban School Reform

I have been reading a lot of literature dealing with urban school reform efforts lately, as well as talking to people who are going through reform or who have been through some type of reform initiative. Based on my extensive review of the research on comprehensive school wide reform and my discussions with peers, this post represents a brief overview of some of the things that I view as essential for success.

Participatory Decision Making and Facilitative Leadership

Making teachers partners in the decision-making process from the outset creates a natural accountability that positively influences the implementation of the reform efforts and is essential to achieving successful classroom-level changes; teachers who, conversely, perceive top-down decision making are more apt to resist any restructuring effort. Reform is most successful when schools have decision-making autonomy and the leadership team fosters participatory decision-making processes. In graduate school, I learned how to use processes like the Fist to Five, the Delphi, and sticky dots to make decision-making more democratic. These things typically work well and secure buy-in among the faculty and staff.

Paradigm Shifts, Increased Self Awareness, and Collaboration

Schoolwide reform requires a new vision of professionalism, where teachers assume a major role and responsibility for the school. It necessitates making fundamental changes in the way instruction is provided, and, usually, redefining roles and relationships, reconsidering allocation of control and resources, and managing conflict effectively. Implementation of the most ambitious models may extend over several years, depending on both school factors and the complexity of the model; it requires teachers to focus on multiple goals, such as governance changes, collaborative planning, and fundamental changes in curriculum and instruction.

Effective Allocation of Resources

Providing teachers with adequate resources for implementation, such as materials, professional development, and time for planning, increases their support. Districts that give more money to schools for professional development and teacher planning tend to have more success. Not only are resources important in themselves, but their allocation is a key mechanism by which teachers judge the commitment of the school's leadership to the reform. Having adequate time for all the work involved has been a consistent and primary frustration for teachers trying to implement school reforms. They need time for training, curriculum development, preparation, and planning, and for interactions with other teachers. Some teachers have, in fact, noted that time for meeting as a team was critical to the model's effectiveness.

Focus on Professional Development

Professional development is at the heart of school change efforts. The leadership team needs to be keenly aware and supportive of the fact that teachers in the same school vary significantly in what they need for growth. Teachers in restructuring schools report a preference for frequent training and the opportunity to observe other teachers who are implementing similiar initiatives. Professional development tailored to their specific needs is the most helpful, as are models that provide substantial information about implementation. I believe that on-site embedded professional development is most beneficial. I think it's also a really good idea to encourage teachers to particpate in leading the PD sesssions.

My Teaching Philosophy

My Teaching Philosophy

Jennifer R. Spates


My goal as a teacher is to provide a safe, engaging, and relevant learning community where literacy and parent partnerships are paramount. I strongly believe that everyone has something to teach and everyone has something to learn. I think that every person involved in a learning community should be treated as a valuable stakeholder. There are three specific areas pertaining to education for which I have strong feelings and beliefs- literacy, cultural awareness, and parental partnerships.

Literacy- I view literacy as priority number one. I am completely devoted to helping students become thoughtful, independent readers who deeply understand what they read. I believe that all students have the potential to become proficient readers if they have teachers who equip them with focused, in-depth instruction of reading strategies.

Cultural Awareness- I have strong convictions about the need for a more culturally relevant approach to teaching for students from diverse backgrounds of poverty. I fully subscribe to the belief that every child, regardless of race or financial circumstance, can learn and perform to the level now achieved by our highest performing schools, if given the same opportunities and expectations. My mission is to bring more equity and cultural sensitivity to urban schools.

Parental/Community Partnerships- Another passionate belief of mine is the importance of school, family, and community partnerships. It is essential that parents and other stakeholders be encouraged to participate in decision making. I view decision making as a process of partnerships. I think that all parents should be allowed to share views and work collaboratively with schools to develop and accomplish shared goals. I think it is important to represent all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups in the learning community when making decisions.

My Code of Ethics

My Code of Ethics
By Jennifer R. Spates

I take my responsibility to my students, my colleagues, the public, and my profession very seriously. I assume responsibility for providing educational leadership in my school and community. As such, I fully subscribe to these responsibilities, and I take an oath to fulfill the following actions.

My Responsibility to Students

When making any decision, what is best for children is my highest priority. I will always allow students to have a voice in their education, even when their opinion may conflict with my own. I will provide equal opportunities for students and ensure that they are treated fairly. I will do everything in my power to ensure that students are taught in a culturally sensitive manner that respects and celebrates individual differences. I will continuously work to maintain a positive learning environment for students. I will make a concentrated effort to provide a safe learning environment for students. I will foster an atmosphere of teamwork, problem solving, and real life application learning scenarios for students. I will support the principle of due process to ensure that students have an opportunity to speak on their own behalf.

My Responsibility to Teachers

I believe that everyone has something to learn and everyone has something to teach. I will always encourage teachers to share their individual gifts with one another, and I will foster an environment of collaboration and reflective practice. I will always attempt to let teachers have a say by employing participatory decision-making techniques. I will, with honesty and integrity, always seek to maintain standards and improve effectiveness of our profession by utilizing research and placing a strong emphasis on professional development. I will be equitable in the sharing of resources, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that teachers have the support and guidance needed to fulfill their own responsibilities to students. I will maintain confidentiality of teachers, and I will discuss concerns in a professional and productive manner. I will support the principle of due process to ensure that teachers have an opportunity to speak on their own behalf.

My Responsibility to the Public

I recognize that my actions are viewed and appraised by the community I serve. I will obey all local, state, and national laws. I will put forth great effort to involve parents and community stakeholders in decision-making. I value the input of parents, and I will work very hard to ensure an open door policy. I will implement Hamilton County’s policies and administrative rules and regulations. I will make a concerted effort to correct laws, policies, and regulations that are not consistent with sound educational goals. I will avoid using my position for personal gain. I will use my power, authority, and influence in a positive manner that promotes the well being of students. I will never misuse school funds or school property.

Paideia Princess

I started my teaching career at a Paideia school. Since that time, I have taught at a D.I.S.T.A.R. school, a Montessori school, and an urban school in the midst of major reform (Benwood School). I have taken what I consider to be the best of each philosophy of teaching and integrated them all into my own practice. Without a doubt, the Paideia approach has had the most impact on my teaching and my students' learning.

The Paideia philosophy celebrates the fundamental notion that to be fully educated is a lifelong adventure that only begins with an individual's formal schooling. It is based on the assumption that all human beings are by definition activist learners, capable of a fully humanistic life defined by intellectual growth. Thus, Paideia schools should ultimately be judged by how well they prepare students for a full and active life of the heart and mind.

Paideia's original thinker, philosopher Mortimer Adler, joined with a diverse cadre of educators and intellectuals to form the Paideia Group back in the early eighties. Its members charged themselves with the task of defining a list of "Paideia Principles" as a summary of ideas introduced by Adler in his seminal work on American education, The Paideia Proposal. These principles were intended to help shape future efforts to improve schools and classrooms.

As part of The Paideia Proposal, the Paideia Group outlined a comprehensive course of study that incorporates three complementary instructional techniques or columns. Known as the Three Columns of Instruction, the techniques are:

1. Didactic instruction of factual information;
2. Intellectual coaching of skills; and
3. Seminar discussion of ideas, concepts, and values (Socratic Seminars)

I LOVE utilizing this as a framework for my instruction. I just believe in it so much. I have done it. I have seen the results. I hope to have the opportunity to be at a Paideia school again some day.

To learn more about Socratic Seminar, check out my other blog www.grandconversations.blogspot.com