Easy Stolen Ideas For A Fun Faculty Meeting

"The schools that celebrated authentically on a regular basis created a great atmosphere for collegiality.  Collegiality is not collaboration, but having colleagues who genuinely like and respect one another creates an atmosphere ripe for collaboration."
-Anthony Muhammad, Transforming School Culture


Anthony Muhammad links healthy adult relationships to student academic achievement. Anyone who has worked in a school knows that sometimes April can be a month that strains those relationships. Our school recently had a Friday afternoon faculty meeting that ended with laughter, which is sometimes in short supply in April.

Three, easy to replicate ideas were part of the meeting....along with candy and music. All of these ideas were stolen. I've done my best to give credit to the source.

1.) Chart the year (stolen from Ginny Vanderlicht of the Hook Center): A sheet of butcher paper was hung on the wall horizontally. The left side represented August and the right side represented April. A line was drawn through the middle horizontally. Teachers had six post its, and they posted notes about three highs and three lows through the year. The higher or lower the moment was, the higher or lower it went on the sheet. What's great about this is often folks struggle to come up with three lows and a lot of the highs will be recent. A visual picture of a school getting happier is created. Music was played and candy was eaten while moments were charted.

2.) Argys (stolen from Wendy Lentz): Kind of like the grammys, but with an "arg" sound, like a pirate, our mascot, makes...get it. Teachers nominated and voted for each other for fun awards such as who do you hope brings snacks to the work room, who do you hope checks on you on a bad day etc. A copy of the form can be found here.

3.) Everyone wins bingo (stolen from Scott Friedman, a really funny presenter at MASA): The faculty meeting closed with a game of bingo, which was rigged so that everyone won at the same time. Winners received a soda and a fee pass to leave early for the day. A copy of everyone wins bingo with the call order can be found here. 

Hearing everyone yell "Bingo" at the same time is pretty awesome.

What Our School Learned From Teacher Walk Through

At the 2015 Powerful Learning Conference our leadership team was introduced to the concept of teacher walk through by the Excelsior Springs Middle School team. Over the course of the next year, our six core teachers completed fifty peer observations. The observations provided great data on the learning and teaching that was taking place in our school. More importantly the process helped create a more collegial atmosphere. 

While our staff is still learning how to best leverage the value of teachers observing each other, there are several reasons why the practice has been worth the time.

Promotes Teamwork
We had to come together as a staff to implement peer observation. Classes were covered by an administrator who still missed teaching, so teachers could visit classrooms without giving up plan time. Teachers took on a bit of a different role and provided non-threatening feedback to each other.

Provides Opportunities for Informal Coaching
Because teachers were able to see students in different settings and see the talents of their peers, additional fuel was available for conversations at lunch, staff meetings, and PLC meetings.

Promotes A Growth Mindset
Our leadership team set a goal for the number of peer observations, which helped us gravitate to towards a culture that was focused more on specific and measurable outcomes. Also, as we became more comfortable with the process we tweaked our form. In PLC teams we studied how to use compare and contrast structures to promote critical thinking skills. In our PBIS work we studied the importance of positive feedback. Two additional questions were added to our walk through form to assess the level of implementation of staff learning in classrooms.

Provides Valuable Data
Our staff now has a better picture of what teaching and learning looks like throughout the building. We have data to tell us how varied the "learning diet" is for our students. We know how often they are being asked to complete various tasks. We know the answers to the following questions:
What is the teacher doing?
What are the students doing?
What is the task?
How many positive comments are being made?
How often are students asked to compare and contrast?

Our Process:
-After the conference the leadership team created the form.
-Shortly after walk throughs began.
-Walk throughs were not scheduled but occurred irregularly as the flow of school life permitted; however, goals for the number of walk throughs were set.
-Walk throughs were conducted the principal, covered a teachers' class. The teacher using an i pad filled in a google form. Sometimes the teachers visited several classrooms. Sometimes the teacher stayed for a longer period of time in one room.
-The google form automatically populated a spreadsheet and created charts summarizing the data.

Putnam's Our Kids: Takeaways for Educators

Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis by Harvard professor Robert Putnam was not written for educators, but there is much here for those working in America's schools. In the book Putnam observes that Americans often gravitate to the lone cowboy as a symbol, in the rugged individualist tradition. A symbol just as accurate, and more needed in our current culture, Putnam argues, is the symbol of the wagon train. In the wagon train, cooperation was as valuable as independence and each member had an interest in looking out for the others. By telling the stories of families across the country, and by comparing his hometown in the fifties with its current reality, Putnam argues that our society has been increasingly divided along class lines, and our children our paying the price. Putnam's book is intended to be call to all Americans to reclaim a tradition of collective responsibility for our country's children. 

Below are three important concepts for educators to take from the book. 

1.) Two Worlds

As much as anytime in our country's history, our students are being raised in distinctly different environments, according to their parent's income and education. In Putnam's hometown, like many communities, it was not uncommon for blue collar and white collar families to live near each other and associate at schools an churches. Then the gap in income between education levels was not as great as it is today. Today, due mostly to residential segregation along class lines, Americans with means often live separated from families in poverty. The geographic gaps often correlate with opportunity gaps. Through numerous scissor charts, Putnam details the differences in outcomes that children of wealth and children of poverty experience. Educators must be aware of the effects of these gaps on their students. 

2.) Investments with the Highest Returns

While Putnam goes to great lengths to prove that schools are sites, not causes, of inequity, he does offer some suggestions to educators for minimizing the effects of the economic gaps. Extra curricular activities receive special attention for the positive impact they have on students in poverty. Putnam asserts that these activities provide students the opportunities to build soft skills and make social connections that are so vital for success after graduation. Putnam is a sharp critic of "pay for play" (activity fees) policies that have become common in cash strapped districts. Putnam also advocates for high quality early childhood programs.

3.) Personal Connections

Putnam acknowledges the efforts educators make in their professional lives on behalf of their students. However, throughout the book Putnam argues that the gaps in educational and career outcomes between rich and poor kids have much more to do with their lives outside of school than inside. One of Putnam's key claims is that in earlier decades, when our culture was not as divided along class lines, poor kids were in a better position to be mentored by successful professionals. Informal mentoring relationships, mostly formed outside of schools, are spaces for kids to "understand the institutions that stand astride the paths to opportunity and to make those institutions work for them." Churches have been, and still are, important places for these connections to form. Putnam observes that church participation rates of poorer families are declining faster than those of their peers, which leads to less access to mentors. In the vignettes of actual families that Putnam shares, youth pastors, more often than coaches or teachers, appear as heroes. Educators looking to make the biggest difference in kid's lives will most likely have the greatest impact in informal mentoring relationships that extend beyond the school day, formed in churches or otherwise. 

This is the message educators should work to teach to their friends and families who work outside of education. Our country will be stronger when more adults find ways to invest in the lives of kids across class lines. 

Overcoming Challenges: Small Schools and PLC's

Anyone who properly uses the noun, "gymocafetorjum" automatically gains credibility with small school educators like myself who are used to wearing many hats and being creative to meet the needs of students. Aaron Hanson, former National Model School Principal and author of How to Develop PLCs for Singletons and Small Schools, understands the challenges of using collaborative models in small settings.

His book provides practical tips and examples for educators whose journey through the collaborative process gets stuck at the question: How do my students receive the value of common assessments when I don't have anyone with whom to collaborate on assessments because I'm the only one teaching this in my district? 

Hanson details several strategies including interdisciplinary teams, singletons who support, and virtual teams, but the strategy that seems to offer the most benefit to students in my setting is the effective use of vertical teams.

Hansen argues that the most important tasks vertical teams can take on are identifying essential skills and agreeing to the level of rigor necessary to demonstrate proficiency. He offers straightforward protocols for beginning these discussions.

I'll break from Hansen and offer two specific examples of how these discussions could play out. Consider the first image below. Suppose the Algebra I instructor in a district defined proficiency as the ability to answer the questions at the top of the image and mastery as the ability to answer the questions at the bottom. If the teachers in the grade levels below and above held different visions of profficiency, confusion could result. Similarly in the second image we find objectives for a biology course. If one teacher defines proficiency as the ability to compare and contrast animal and plant cells using six of the terms listed correctly, students would be challenged differently than if the instructors below or above believed proficiency should be gauged by the ability to provide textbook definitions for all the terms present.

Students in small schools deserve to have teachers who engage in these conversations. Hansen shows us how to begin.

Borrowed from SLPCSchools

DESE's Biology CLE's

Three Things I Want 3rd-8th Grade Teachers To Know About Testing In2015-16

Earlier this summer I posted notes from a meeting with a DESE official regarding state testing in Missouri. At the administrator's conference in July, I attended a session led by DESE's Michael Muenks and Shaun Bates. Below are three key points from both sessions. Overall, I believe teachers should have less anxiety regarding the administration of the tests this year.

1.) The technology used to deliver the tests this year will be similar to last year's. e Direct will be the portal, and tests will be administered by Insight. Teachers and students won't have to navigate a dramatically different system to take the test. We were successful in administering the tests last year, and I'm sure we will be able to do it again.

2.) The content and structure will be the same. This year's test is based on the same standards as last year. Although test items have been created by non-SBAC affiliated companies (in compliance with legislation), the tests will have a similar number of items and a similar ratio of constructed response to selected response.

3.) DESE worked to create tests that are less frustrating to administer. Resetting tests for students who are inadvertently logged out will be easier.  Classroom activities will not be a part of the tests this year.

In my opinion DESE has done as much as they can to provide stability, given the current political climate. I realize teachers, for good reason, worry about the interpretation of test results. I want the teachers with whom I work to know that, while I recognize the importance of test results, I find formal and informal observations, effective lesson and assessment design, and evidence of healthy relationships as more important marks of strong teaching than state test scores. When I see those in place, I am more than willing to support teachers when explaining test results to stakeholders.

Court Cases Which Could Impact Educators In The 2015-16 School Year

School law may be the most dynamic factor affecting educators. Every year courts set new precedents. Below are a few notes on cases discussed at the Mickes Goldman O'Toole school law seminar on July 26.

Estate of Smith v. Brown Local School District (2015): 

The case centered on the school's efforts to warn parents of a student's  risk of suicide. Ethics require educators share concerns about suicide with families. The reality of litigation demand these efforts in communication be documented. Schools should have clear protocols for dealing with students who present a risk of suicide. 

McArdle v Town of Dracult/Dracult Public Schools (2013):

The case warns districts to consider time spent outside the school day, when considering if an employee has reached the 1,250 hour mark to receive FMLA benefits. Teachers will likely meet this mark quicker than the typical employee that works eight hour days. Teachers won't have these hours documented as employees who receive overtime do.

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015):

The Supreme Court ruling on same sex marriages means districts must extend FMLA leave to employees to care for same sex spouses, even if they were married in a state that recognized same sex marriages before the district's state was required to do so by the ruling. FMLA benefits do not extend to un-married partners. 

K.M. v. Tustin USD (2014):

The case involved a parent's request for a CART system for a hearing impaired child, when the district recommended an FM system. The court ruled in favor of the parents. The case reminds districts that an IEP team's determination of  FAPE may not shield a district from 504 or ADA Title II litigation. Districts must document consideration of parent's requests and reasonable alternatives. Districts may need to prove a request substantially alters their programs. 

Coaching vs Evaluating a Personal Story

The students at our school are fortunate to have second year teacher who is determined to improve her teaching, which is quite good already.  The evaluation tool our district uses is effective for it's purpose, evaluating. However, after several post evaluation conferences, it was clear that she was not finding the feedback in the evaluation especially helpful in her development.  

For me, the administrator, the evaluation tool provided a structure that was fairly clear. I would evaluate the areas of emphasis previously selected and evaluate those areas according to the rating system as I was trained. Teaching is an extremely personal act, and I took some comfort in the objectivity provided by the evaluation tool. Besides the new evaluation tool was driven by compliance with legislation. It was something we had to do. 

To be clear, I believe evaluation has it's place and the new emphasis on evaluation results in better instruction. However, this teacher was looking for more than evaluation. She wanted coaching. She didn't want numbers on a narrow set of performance indicators. She wanted suggestions for how to improve an area outside the ones chosen for evaluation. 

Every post evaluation conference ended with questions and requests for guidance. My shallow responses and efforts to redirect the conversation to what were good evaluation marks were not enough. My efforts to allow her observe veteran teachers and have veteran teachers observe her were not enough. 

When I thought about stepping outside our evaluation model, I kept stumbling over the same questions. 

-As a classroom teacher was I ever much better at this area than she is? 

-My training as an evaluator was intense, but I wasn't really trained to coach was I?

-What if my suggestions don't work? 

-What if my suggestions discouraged this talented educator? 

Finally I decided that logically speaking, something beats nothing. The next time I went in the classroom I didn't open the evaluation tool on my phone. I opened my note taking app. I didn't mark numbers; I wrote descriptive and qualitative comments. While I made an effort to include remarks about great things that were taking place, my comments focused mainly on areas of weakness, even though I knew those same weaknesses existed in my own teaching. When I shared the notes, I requested it not be seen as an official evaluation but as observations from a critical friend. 

I hit send, hoping it wouldn't do more harm than good. 

To my relief the teacher recieved it in the spirit it was intended. Productive conversations followed. 

The process left me with the realization that coaching is much tougher than evaluating. Coaching, especially in this situation, is not as compliance driven. Because of that, it requires more trust. To be effective it can't be reduced to a formula or rubric. It requires individuals who are truly committed to improvement, not just box checking. 

In my opinion the best model is for schools to have instructional coaches who do not evaluate and to have evaluators who do not coach. They are distinct functions that are both important. However, in many schools it is not feasible. Administrators find themselves tasked with coaching and evaluating, which is a fine line. 

It's a line worth walking.  

Best Way To Prepare Students For Online Science MAP Tests? Do Labs.

Practice tests are now available for the new computer delivered MAP test for fifth and eighth grade science students.

I'll be the first to admit that I was skeptical about the influence of computer based testing for science. I was worried that computer scored questions would result in more "recall" questions. However, after taking the practice test, I was pleased to see that the majority of the questions evaluated the ability of the taker to think scientifically. Many questions require students to set up data tables, or graph data using the information presented within the four corners of the screen.

Science teachers will give their students a better chance to excel if they give their students some screen time with the practice tests. Students need to know that "tab" won't move the cursor between fields and they need a chance to work the "drag and drop" feature. Some time in Excel or Google Sheets won't hurt either. That said, putting kids behind a computer screen won't be the best way to prepare them for the test. The best way to prepare students for the test will be to get them in a lab.

If you want students to be able to fill out data tables and chart the data in graphs, give them opportunities that will allow them to design experiments and communicate the results of the experiments.

Not only will it prepare them for the new tests, it will also give them a chance to enjoy science.

Wrestling With Grit

Angela Duckworth's Ted Talk on grit celebrates perseverance in academic achievement. Duckworth correctly asserts that IQ and talent do not always lead to success. Her formula, achievement = talent x effort is another phrasing of the coaching maxim that hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.

I almost used the TedTalk in a professional development session because her basic message is so appealing: in addition to teaching content, we also need to teach work ethic.

It begs the question.......what's the best way to go about doing this?

Do we teach work ethic by pilling on more worksheets? Do we teach work ethic by assigning tasks with complexity beyond our students' skill levels and withholding any supports that would help them be successful? Do we make "responsibility" and "work ethic" a prerequisite for the opportunity to learn anything? For example, shaming a student for failure to complete an assignment in a way that guarantees disengagement.

These are the questions that Paul Thomas and Ira Socol ask in their respective posts, The Poverty Trap: Slack, Not Grit, Creates Achievement and Angela Duckworth's Eugenics. They force us to wrestle with "grit" by making us  question. Are there times when our students need slack? Is it possible to use "grit" like a hammer?

I try to avoid coaching analogies, but before I stumbled into administration I spent twelve years coaching wrestling, a sport requiring perseverance.

I coached athletes who struggled with certain drills. They would say "I can't do that," and I would respond "You can't do that, yet." I never let them off the hook completely for attempting the drill, but I never made their inability to do one task restrict them from a chance to learn another. I also coached talented and driven athletes who had to be required to rest due to injuries or family situations. There were times over the course of a season when training peaked and times when it tapered off. Even in the very "gritty" sport of wrestling my coaching instincts told me sometimes "slack" was more appropriate.

And so it is in classrooms.

Our students need grit and perseverance, and our best teachers constantly calibrate how to do this best. How much? How fast? Which student needs a challenged? Which student needs more support? Determining the slack/grit ratio is not a science waiting to be perfected; it is an art.

More often than not, our teachers excel at this art.

Teaching is a tough job, a gritty job, taken on by tough, and caring, people. It is far more complicated, and beautiful, than a talk, a blog, or a word.

School, the Brain, and Poverty: Reflecting On the Work of Jackson andJensen

A collaborative team at our school chose Eric Jensen's Teaching With Poverty In Mind for a book study this year. As I've considered Jensen's work, I can't help but make connection's to Yvette Jackson's Pedagogy of Confidence. Both books are foundational for educators working to serve all students.

Jackson and Jensen both make two claims educators should accept. 

1.) Poverty often negatively impacts brain development of children for a variety of reasons: chronic stress at home, limited access to medical care, improper nutrition, etc. 

2.) The plasticity of the human brain allows educators to mitigate, and even reverse, those effects on the brain. 

Jackson and Jensen each offer practical advice to educators for leveraging the brain's plasticity to increase academic achievement. Here are three values they both embrace. 

1.) Relationships are key.

Jensen encourages teachers to "build supportive relationships, provide positive guidance, foster hope and optimism, and take time for affirmation, and celebration." Administrators are warned that their schools "will hit a test score ceiling until you include students' emotional and social lives in your school 'makeover.'" Jackson states, "Possessing a deep understanding of child and adolescent development enables us to be better able to construct relationships and classroom environments that are motivational and lead to cognitive and social growth." 

Prioritizing relationships, in my mind, is a main function of building administrators. Most teachers, I believe, want to be given permission to teach kids, not content. 

2.) Enrichment should be provided for all students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

Jensen describes enrichment not as "'more' or 'faster' schooling.' It means rich, balanced, sustained, positive, and contrasting learning environments.'" Jackson draws on her experiences with gifted education and encourages teachers to allow their pupils to experience "gifted land."

Again, here I say, administrators should communicate clearly the expectation to provide rich learning experiences: projects, labs, field trips etc. These activities are important even if, and perhaps because, they force the pace of the class to slow or reduce the number of learning targets that can be assessed in a unit. The clearest way for administrators to do this in my opinion is to challenge teachers to reduce the number of power standards they intend to teach. Teachers have to be given permission to teach fewer standards if we expect deeper learning, the kind that occurs in enriched environments, to occur.  

3.) Teachers should devote time and effort on teaching students how to learn. 

Jensen offers guidance for teachers on how to "build capacity" in their students by upgrading their "academic operating system." Jackson outlines techniques to help teachers "nurture high intellectual performances."

Often we assess the short term working memory of students without collectively working to build their short term working memories. Often we want students to evaluate without teaching how to evaluate. Administrators must support teachers' efforts to teach "learning how to learn," by providing professional development on teaching strategies that support engagement and critical thinking across all content areas. 

Much of the Yvette Jackson and Eric Jensen's work compliments the other but there are unique offerings from each I find compelling. 

Jensen offers a great deal to school leaders. He reminds them that the best way they can support disadvantaged students is to support their teachers. He reminds administrators that teachers need support, flexibility, and time to collaborate. He reminds administrators that one of the biggest mistakes that can be made is "putting kids first and staff last." These are important reminders.

Jackson also offers an important reminder. Much of her work is grounded in the work of Reuven Fuerenstein, who educated and documented the intellectual gains of Jewish children who survived the Holocaust. I love this because it places the work of educators in a historically significant context. We are part of Fuerenstein's legacy, which is a legacy of hope. We need to remember this. 

I'll leave the final word here to Dr. Jackson, introducing the man who inspired her.  

A Thought On Autonomy

No school improves without the tough work of collaboration. "Leave me alone and let me teach," is a mantra for those who are uncomfortable with collaboration. While the allure of autonomy is understandable, interdependence is the path to better outcomes. 

Are our attempts to teach responsibility ethical?

Imagining Assessment

An important way of considering of the true purpose of assessment.

Using EdHub to Increase Flexibility and Clarity

To support teachers in our evaluation system we are using the resources provided by Edhub in our monthly professional development days.

Registering for the Edhub resources was fairly simple. The Edhub administrator provided tokens that were redeemed when the account was created.

Once the account was created, resources for two of the four indicators our district uses for evaluation were curated: student/teacher relationships and critical thinking. Teachers volunteered to lead professional development sessions on the indicators, and a schedule was created that allowed teachers to choose, elective style, which indicator they most wanted to explore.

For our district this approach increases flexibility for teachers: they are provided a time and place to develop skills of their choosing. Clarity is also increased: administrators and teachers together can learn what research says regarding appropriate student/teacher relationships and critical thinking.

There is great value in educators gathering together to affirm:
-relationships are healthy and secure when structures and limits are in place
-creative, collaborative work on open ended assignments ensures that critical thinking is taking place

EdHub's research based presentations on a range of performance indicators are great resources for clear, yet flexible, professional development.

What should change most about schools? The pace!

Slow down
Recently, I was challenged by a professor to identify one change I would make to improve American public education. In my opinion, there is one place to start: pace. Our schools, in response to the annual testing cycle, simply move too fast.

Alternative visions for education are cast by Sir Kenneth Robinson, who advocates for slow learning, and the Finnish educators who are often highlighted by Edutopia. If our education culture were not so driven by the data cycles, more time could be devoted to creativity, collaboration, and deeper transfers of content knowledge.

Content Knowledge
Research proves that spaced practice yields more benefits than massed practice. Students need time to learn, and some need more time than others. However, many teachers, responding to poorly communicated expectations from leaders, often forfeit reteaching to maintain fidelity to regimented curriculum sequences. Projects, the kind that promote mastery and that show the relevance of content in real world applications, are also casualties. If we truly want all students to learn at high levels, we must be willing to support adjustments to the pace of learning that currently is demanded.

Relationships
Schools are dependent on healthy relationships, and cultivating healthy relationships takes time. Often the behaviors that impact learning are driven by emotions and experiences that lie under the surface. Strategies such as Conscious Discipline help students process their behaviors and motivations, but these interventions require time. Students often encounter set backs in their lives outside of school. The pace of schools should be flexible enough to support them as they bounce back. Teachers would also benefit from a slower pace. The collaboration and coaching that we all desire can not exist without time. Five minute feedback is better than none, and forty minutes of collaborative time beats none, but we could do better.

Slowing the pace of our schools would require substantial cultural and institutional changes and sacrifices. Making such sacrifices may not be realistic, but we should all consider what we risk sacrificing, richer learning opportunities and healthier relationships, to maintain the current pace.

A Few Thoughts On Assessment

Hattie's research demonstrates the importance of feedback. All of the individual techniques that yield high effect sizes do so because they are avenues for feedback. Because the quality of feedback depends on the quality of the assessment, time spent considering assessment practices is valuable. Rick Wormeli's Fair Isn't Always Equal provides guidance in this area.

Purpose
A core belief communicated by Wormeli is that the main purpose of education is to promote mastery. Most teachers embrace this concept in regards to instruction. However, remembering to extend the emphasis on the promotion of mastery to assessment is difficult. Often assessments are treated with finality. All teachers are forced to operate within fixed time frames for courses; the most thoughtful teachers extend the opportunities for mastery as much as possible within those parameters.

Differentiation
When teachers see assessment primarily as a tool for promoting mastery, they see the need for differentiation more clearly. Because all students are at different stages in the journey toward mastery, it is necessary to adjust assessments accordingly. If the goal is mastery for each student, the act of extending a deadline, allowing a second chance, or providing extra scaffolding becomes the most pragmatic response. If treating a student exactly the same as a peer does not move the student closer towards mastery, then alternative practices should be employed.

Three Practices Worth Scrutinizing
Wormeli identifies ten practices that do not lend themselves to differentiation or the promotion of mastery. I'll briefly discuss three. Assigning grades to homework or quizzes given immediately after a concept is introduced does not respect differentiation or mastery learning. This does not mean that feedback should not be given when a student has not mastered a skill. Students need feedback, but it should not come in the form of 4 out of 10 points. Similarly, forbidding second attempts on assessments limits mastery. If the goal is for the student to demonstrate knowledge and skill, it should not matter how many opportunities they take advantage of. Lastly, is the practice of assigning grades to behaviors. Behaviors should be addressed, but averaging in grades for "showing up to class prepared," will result in final grades that do not accurately communicate the student's mastery of the content.

Perspective
Wormeli acknowledges that differentiation is not easy. When teachers are asked to process grades for over 100 students a cycle, precise calibration for each one is impossible. Wormeli also grants that there are times when students will not perform without the threat of a grade penalty. The "ten practices to avoid" could perhaps be deemed "ten practices to minimize."

I won't take a dogmatic approach to specific practices; however, I believe the healthiest classroom cultures will be visibly influenced by the values of mastery and differentiation.

Questioning Growth Models

"Next month many administrators will spend valuable time explaining growth models to first year teachers. There will be a temptation to take a reductionist approach."

Growth model. I prefer the term to most conceivable alternatives: stagnation model, death model, plateau model. It is important; however, to pause and critically consider growth models, particularly in teacher evaluation.

Next month many administrators will spend valuable time explaining growth models to first year teachers. There will be a temptation to take a reductionist approach.

-Using this Kagan strategy will increase the probability of scoring above a five out of seven for this indicator.

-Read this excerpt from Teach Like a Champion, watch the accompanying video clip, and implement the strategy in your classroom for successful evaluations.

Administrators have a responsibility to clearly communicate expectations while consistently implementing policy. But there must be an appreciation for context and a few questions.

-Teaching, more importantly learning, is challenging. Sometimes very challenging, and rarely tidy.

-Whose growth is the priority?

-Can numerical systems stand without authentic reflection and conversation?

-Will authentic reflection and conversation take place without accountability systems?

-When we define growth narrowly how much do we restrict it?

Teacher evaluation is a necessary element in our schools. Students and teachers will be best served in environments where it exists with high levels of mentoring, coaching, and evaluation of student performance on tasks other than state assessment. 

Congrats, Rookie

"You give us cause to laugh and groan when we realize you are younger than the songs we listened to in high school."

This May the graduates of 2014 will rightfully be the center of a lot of attention; however, there's another group in the school community who deserve recognition as well: first year teachers.

When the final bell rings on the last day of school, and everyone exhales fully for the first time since August, take time to find the first year teachers in your building and give them a well deserved pat on the back as they reach the finish line for the first time.

Here are four bits of insight to share with those finishing the first year of this crazy, demanding, exhausting, frustrating, exhilarating, rewarding, and important job.

1.) If you had moments in the classroom this year that were less than perfect, you're not alone. Within the first ten minutes of the first class I taught, I spilled coffee on a student in the first row. I'd like to be able to say that from that moment I had no where to go but up, but that just wouldn't be true. Most honest teachers have similar stories to tell.

2.) There have been folks rooting for you along the way. Your victories have been celebrated, and your frustrations have been shared, by mentors struggling to ration out the proper amounts of support and space. Mentoring first year teachers is akin to teaching someone how to ride a bike. When the training wheels come off, there will be bumps and bruises, and increasing protection limits skill acquisition.

3.) You have inspired the other teachers in your building. You remind us why we started in this profession. You expose us to new ideas and challenge us to examine our own through a new perspective. You give us cause to laugh and groan when we realize you are younger than the songs we listened to in high school. Your presence is appreciated.

4.) A promise. Next year will not be easy, but it won't be nearly as difficult. Going into next year you will have much clearer expectations. You've made your first office referral (and maybe a couple others), your first parent phone call, and your first sub plans. You've probably had one hundred experiences that threatened your calm beforehand, but turned out to be much less dramatic that expected. You will be going into next year in a much better position. Your second year will not be easy. In fact, it will be hard. Every year you teach will be hard. This job is great because it is hard.....and important.

The good news is, you can handle it.