I have had students where after a great deal of effort I am tempted to give up -- Maybe he will connect better with next year’s teachers? I wonder, trying to give myself permission to feel less defeated. The truth that reinvigorates me is the understanding that what motivates the student, as advised in the expectancy theorem, is his perception of his level of skills, combined with how important he feels it is to do the work. How capable does he think he is to begin with, and what’s in it for him? Does the effort really lead him to a better place, or just exhausted, frustrated, and reaffirmed in his being less than enough. If I am going to respect the pillar “It’s Never Too Late to Learn” I have to make it my job to help the student connect with the skills and beliefs to get him on board and taking responsibility for his own learning.
1. Is failure a real and regularly option and experience for kids at your school? Happily, “real and regular” failure is not an option at my school, extenuating circumstances not prevailing. 2. If so, what impact do you believe that is creating? If not, what structures have been put into place to accomplish alternatives? Several years ago, under the assumption that all students can learn, our school made a concerted effort to address the needs of struggling learners at our school. A vibrant RTI (Response to Intervention) program was initiated with expanded hiring of resource specialists in language arts. Presently students are identified to receive Tier 2 or Tier 3 small group skills instruction within the classroom. Additionally, literacy specialists were introduced to the upper levels through fifth grade. SST meetings by grade level make it unlikely that failure persists into the next grade level without accommodations in place. 3. What conditions exist that make it too late to learn and reach competency in your school? Can you give an example? With so few english learners at my school, I am not certain that all efforts are being made to ensure that these students are transitioned well from CELDT goals to state standards. 4. What would you do, if anything, to introduce/enhance “never too late to learn” structures in you school if you were the school leader?
5. What can you do in your present position to create “never too late to learn” structures into your current practice and those of your peers? Are those things in your sphere of influence? In PLC team meetings, I would like to highlight in Compass Learning, the Student Goal Setting document, and show teachers how the “action plan” section engages students. 6. Commit to 5 things you are willing to do this semester that will make your school an increase learning opportunities: 1. With consistency allow retakes on quizzes; 2. Revisit Student Goal Setting Document and have kids recommit; 3. Have report card grades reflect current level of mastery; 4. With regularity, have small-group skills based reteaching; 5. Promote the after school homework club. 1. What role does school play in building students’ agency and identity?
Central to the idea that students’ sense of self and perceived ability to be the cause of positive effects and accomplishments is the gross amount of time they spend at school. “The school system is responsible for students during a time of significant identity development, including moral development, competence, and fidelity.” (Fisher et al., 2012, Kindle Locations 1287-1288) Decisions the teachers make in responding to student behaviors create a feedback loop that can be destructive or creative. It is for the teacher to be proactive in his role in this loop by appropriately answering the questions: Am I going to build this person up? Am I going to help them internalize the motivation to grow from dependent to independent to interdependent? Teachers have the ability to help the students cement their belief that their hard work, focus, and follow-through produced amazing results. Well crafted questions can facilitate the growth of student agency, and give them the confidence in their skills to persevere and attack problems -- intrinsic motivations the child can own and move beyond that particular teacher through her academic career. 2. How aware are you and your colleagues of the impact our choice of words have on developing students’ agency and identity? Can you give examples? I was golfing with a friend having a lights-out round until he asked me what my handicap was. I replied, “I am a 14.” Immediately, the level of my game dropped to meet the number I had proclaimed to be. Ever since I have answered that question, “My handicap is…” The simple change in words allowed me to be better than my moving average on any given day -- my handicap represented HOW I had been playing on average, not WHO I was, which was ever-present. Kids deserve to understand the separation of who they are being different from how they are behaving. I am keenly aware of that separation and practice it daily, but remain unsure of how deliberate my colleagues are in teaching and living that truth. Parents of my students have reported back in the last few years since I made this lesson a theme of my classroom (I have four agreements, and it is the first: Be kind with your words), that it is internalized and repeated at home. 3. What would you do, if anything, to make using choice words a more conscious and accountable school wide practice if you were the school leader? Reinvigorate positive discipline class meetings where teachers could model and teach the appropriate use of language; lead professional development trainings to help teachers become more aware of being impeccable with their words and its impact on growth mindset. 4. What could you do, if anything, to make the use of choice words a more conscious and accountable personal practice as well as one embraced by others on your site? Are those things within your sphere of influence? Be an example of someone that is impeccable with my word. (Ruiz, 1997). Make sure not to participate in gossip about one another, students, or their parents. 5. Commit to 5 things you are willing to do this semester that will make your school choose words wisely? 1. Engage in conversations referring to Positive Discipline practice; 2. Make “blacktop language” a topic of discussion at class meetings; 3. Have kids respond to situational prompts in journals; 4. Influence “Words of Wisdom” announcements; 5. Get kids to monitor their self-talk. Resources: Fisher, Douglas; Frey, Nancy; Authors, Ian Pumpian (2012-04-27). How to create a culture of achievement in your school and classroom. Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. Kindle Edition. Ruiz, M. (1997). The four agreements: A practical guide to personal freedom. San Rafael, CA: Amber-Allen Pub. I believe the power of the concept, Do No Harm, comes from its three-pronged perspective: the self, others, and the environment. When you approach the school as including all three of those entities, it becomes easier to have the student understand the specific effect of his or her behavior. Once you can identify and agree upon this causal relationship, then you can agree upon a plan of action for restoration. We’ve all heard while shopping in a grocery store, “Clean-up on aisle five!” When a mess is made that fouls either yourself, someone else, or the environment, next steps can become apparent. Beginning with the instructors as models, we can set and work hard to maintain high standards for each of those places.
As a future leader, my discipline policies and practices would reflect my belief in mutual respect and responsibility. I would have my reactions match the situation with student learning as the driving force. Removal from school, either through suspension or expulsion should be last resorts, when protecting the rest of the students becomes an overriding consideration. Students will understand that “restoring the harm you have created by stealing, or cheating, is part of the consequence.” (Pumpian, 2016). This gets the student “off the bench and into the game” where they feel like they are part of the process of their growth. In so doing, the kid also shares in the satisfaction of achieving a goal -- staying in school and learning. An example of a program I would adopt and support, is Positive Discipline. In my future sphere of influence as school leader, I would promote the idea that having the student feel that they are a valued part of the school culture is imperative to their taking personal responsibility for their own growth and learning. Positive Discipline encourages the student to become more cognizant of the effect of their actions on others, and make up for the pain, distraction, or discomfort to which their behavior may have contributed. As a practice I would motivate the students by having them earn autonomy through mastering self-control and contributing to purposes greater than themselves. (Pink, 2009). Professional development in this future leader’s school would reflect a commitment to the idea that, “The hallmark of a learning organization is not lovely visions floating in space, but a relentless willingness to examine “what is” in light of our vision.” (Senge, 2010, p.210). PLC’s would work to critique teachers’ handling of difficult situations, and help give one another strategies to try out, all along the accepted value that the discipline must match the ultimate goal of student learning, not “winning.” To the extent that teachers practice Positive Discipline, teaching students to “first do no harm” is integrated into the culture of my school. I think, however, that the regularity of using classroom meetings to explicitly teach students how to behave in the moment of a conflict is not consistently practiced. In a conversation with my principal this week, she shared that a student almost became her first expulsion. And this is over a roughly ten year stint at this post. Clearly, there are very effective practices in place to create behaviors that do not lead to so severe an outcome as expulsion, and I can take this as evidence of the Do No Harm pillar in action. The present state at my school, although positive, does not imply that we don’t have work to do. How do you provide students the support they need to develop the habit of Do No Harm? “How does failing to develop that habit become a consequence that keeps you from rather than get you into learning.” (Pumpian, 2016). What I love about that thought, is that it flips the perspective from reacting to the behavior to being more proactive in preventing the behavior. The energy is spent before the event, and is causal, rather than regretting misbehavior because of punishment or shame, and being reactive. I think we can do more to improve school culture; in that light I can commit to:
References Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. New York, NY: Riverhead Books. Senge, Peter M. (2010-03-25). The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization. The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 1. How is the challenge of making stakeholders feel welcome to your school (or place of work) connected to your school mission?
Rowe School’s vision is “Inspiration Through Revolutionary Education,” and our complementing values are: 1) Are committed to learning through active participation in an engaging, inspiring, and rigorous educational experience; 2) Are a caring community that promotes mutual respect, interdependence, global awareness and service to others; and 3) Have exceptional character and are personally responsible, accountable, and aware of our impact on others. These values were developed about eight or so years ago, and the fact that I was unsure of what they were (I copied them from the district webpage) speaks for itself. At the risk of being sloppy with words, the behavior of our school population at large reflects a level of entitlement that stereotypically accompanies a life where you have everything you need, and almost everything you want is within reach or already your pantry, playroom, garage, or scheduled on your calendar. To be fair, a great deal of talent, work, risk, support, and luck is integral to having those choices; unfortunately the negative effect of easy access to “stuff” is more evident on campus than the exemplary work ethic needed to obtain and hang on to it. In that light, our school mission is largely ignored and not connected to making stakeholders feel welcome. 2. What did you do to assess which stakeholder group (or subgroup) could be more effectively welcomed? And what did you find? We are so lucky to have at our front office a person of such exemplary character and professionalism that everyone, all the time, is welcomed to our school with care and competency. I asked her what would make welcoming at our school a bigger part of our school culture. She replied, “Having the kids be welcoming back.” This played smoothly into a trait I already lived, sometimes to a fault. I tell everyone hello as I move through my day: kids especially, custodial staff, parents, anyone who will make eye contact. To do my research, I stopped greeting people to see if they would initiate, and it was pretty sad. The stakeholder group I chose to focus on is the students. 3. Future Sphere of Influence: What would you do to improve welcoming this group if you were the school leader? I would approach this on two fronts: commit to engage personally with every adult on staff to get them on board with lifting their eyes to acknowledge one another; and say hello or have a hand signal greeting for every student I pass through my day. 4. Current Sphere of Influence: What can you do in your present position to enhance welcoming these stakeholders? Set an example through my own behavior of paying attention to people, including and especially students, I meet throughout my day. Make it a 5th grade theme. Current Sphere of Influence: Commit to 5 things you are willing to do this semester that will make your school a more welcoming place: 1. Consistently greet students at the door; 2. Consistently greet all stakeholders in passing; 3. Offer to help campus visitors if they appear to need directions; 4. Coordinate with teammates to expect all 5th graders to walk on campus; 5. Have 5th graders be Elementary leaders by greeting adults and one another. |
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