What kind of teacher do you want for your child?

Earlier this week I was at Walmart, one of my least favorite places on the planet. Sorry Walmart! I was eager to get home after a long day, but the checkouts were backed up. I randomly picked a line since they were all busy. But this time I picked the right one. Before I knew it I was on my way home. The clerk in the line I picked was giving great effort. It was noticeable she was putting forth great effort, not just putting in her time.

When it was almost my turn to checkout, I applauded the clerk's service to the customer in front of me, "Wow, she really knows how to make a line disappear." The customer smiled and agreed. I added, "She's really a hard worker."

The clerk then replied with these magical words, "I love my job." She proceeded to double bag all of my cold items, rush around to help load bags of groceries into my cart, and even made a suggestion about a type of potato chips she liked that were similar to the ones I bought.

On my way home, I called Walmart and asked for the store manager, explaining that I had just received amazing service and wanted to commend the employee for her outstanding job. The store manager was not available, but I did talk with a shift manager and shared my story, referring to the employee personally since I took note of her name badge. The manager was very appreciative of the phone call and said she would share the complement in their store meeting.

This experience got me thinking about several things.

1. Isn't it great when people go above and beyond for a job well-done? We all appreciate having excellent service provided, whether it is in the drive-thru, the doctor's office, or the check-out line.

2. Each of us gets to choose our attitude about our work each day. I once knew someone who worked as a checkout clerk at Walmart and complained nonstop about her job. Each time I would see her at her station she barely moved a muscle, wore a frown, and said little to any of the customers. Her attitude was a choice, just like the clerk who chose to share with me, "I love my job."

3. Everyone matters. Every job matters. And I am thankful I was taught to respect hard work and to respect people regardless of their level of education, how much money they have, or what kind of job they do.

4. Even though every job matters, I think our work as educators is especially important. We work with children everyday, and we have the opportunity to help shape their future. Every word and every deed makes an impact and can be used to build up or tear down a child's dreams.

5. Since our work is so significant in the life of a child, we owe it to him or her and to her parents, to be our very best every day. We have to be all in 100% or we are doing a disservice to our profession and to the future of a child.

6. So what kind of teacher do you want for your child? I bet you want one who goes above and beyond to do a great job every day, even when it's not easy.

Using RiseVision and Animoto for DIY digital signage

A couple of years ago we wrote a grant with the Walmart Community Foundation to purchase three large flat screen TVs for our commons area. The plan was to use the TVs as digital signage to celebrate student success, communicate important information, and promote upcoming events.

After trying a few options for displaying content on the screens, we are now using RiseVision.com as our platform. It requires a PC or signage player be connected to your screens, but it is easy to use and currently is completely free. In the future, there may be in-app purchases for storage of files or extra features. We currently have two PCs driving our three TVs.

Although RiseVision has many templates available and the ability to create custom screens from scratch, I've found that can be time consuming, especially if you are trying to keep fresh content on the TVs. But since RiseVision has the ability to stream video, I am trying a new solution.

Using Animoto, a video creation app available for PC or mobile device, I am quickly tossing together awesome videos that look great but take little time to create. Animoto will automatically create polished videos from the photos and video clips you select. In just a few steps, you can create a video start to finish.

Animoto also allows for text to be added in the video, and so I am including a few announcements within the video. Because of the convenience of Animoto, I hope to have a new video each week for our students to enjoy. I will also highlight a few building announcements in each of these.

I tested this new workflow today, and it worked great. The video I created uploaded to RiseVision and streamed perfectly in 720p. I would love 1080p but Animoto requires a PRO account for this feature.

In search of better thinking, not right answers

I shared the following Tweet recently because the embedded paragraph below really encapsulates much of what I believe to be true about what students really need from today's schools. We cannot ignore that the world is a very different place than it was for previous generations. As a result, schools need to think about preparing students not just for today, but for what they will need in the future.

Knowing right answers is not enough. The #future will demand problem solving, and adaptability. http://t.co/OkUvbgrkEw #satchat #satchatwc
— David Geurin (@DavidGeurin) August 30, 2014

While the argument could be made for completely rethinking the structure and format of our learning systems, that is outside the scope of what most educators feel they control. What is in our control is what happens in our classrooms each day. We can do relatively simple things to cause deeper thinking and help students develop skills as questioners and problem solvers, skills that will be very useful to meet challenges of the future.

Steve Wyborney, who by the way was 2005 Oregon Teacher of the Year, shared this strategy in response to my Tweet. This simple idea doesn't require completely retooling how school works, it can be applied in the traditional classroom.

@DavidGeurin @MESPrincipal_ Wade, David, take a look at this strat, providing answer at same time as question http://t.co/XklxpoaSk7
— Steve Wyborney (@SteveWyborney) August 30, 2014

Here is an excerpt from the article Steve authored explaining this strategy.

Taking the answer out of the equation

Steve Wyborney June 27th, 2014

In the quest to promote deep student thinking, sometimes the answer is the problem.

In the classroom, we can launch a beautiful, rich question only to see students reach the answer – and reach the end of their thinking. After all, why would they think beyond the answer? Isn’t the purpose of a question to lead to an answer? Isn’t the answer also the conclusion? Isn’t the answer the end of the journey of discovery?

No, it’s not.

The purpose of a question is not always to launch a journey toward a single answer. The purpose is often to give students an opportunity to think, to stretch, to learn strategies which they can apply to a wider range of scenarios. When students regard the answer as the end of the journey, they may miss those very growth opportunities. But how can we cause students to reach for deeper thinking when they are accustomed to ending the journey at the point of reaching an answer? A simple solution is to take the answer out of the equation. In other words, when you ask a question, give the students the answer to the question and change their task. Ask them to find as many connections as possible between the question and the answer. Click here to read the entire article on Frizzle.

Courage of famous failures (and one not so famous failure)

We showed this incredible video to teachers at our opening meeting for back to school. We were discussing one of our essential questions on growth mindset, our emphasis for the first quarter. It's very interesting and inspiring to see the struggles these famous world changers faced on their path to success.

After watching the inspirational video, one of our teachers suggested the school create a similar video, to share with our students, that included the challenges (also known as failures) that BHS teachers had overcome in their lives. I was very excited about this great idea and plans are developing to make just such a video.

But then I started thinking about what failures I would share that could be included in the video. I really don't think I have a story nearly as compelling as these famous people. However, as I considered some of the challenges in my past, I realized there were some definite hurdles in my life. Maybe revealing these challenges would benefit some of our students. Maybe my story, and the story of other teachers in our building, could be that spark of inspiration a student needs.

Of course, our goal is to show that every person will encounter struggles, but the important thing is to never give up. It's much better to try and fail than never to try in the first place. And failure isn't the end. If you fail at something that just means it's not the end. You have to keep at it.

Here are a few of the setbacks I think I will share in our video:

1. I was held back in 2nd grade because I wasn't succeeding in the classroom. I think I was a pain in my teacher's neck...or pick another part of the anatomy.

2. I was bullied relentlessly throughout junior high and was the 'fat' kid. I often dreaded going to school and can remember feeling hopeless after some of the things that were said or done to me.

3. Our family moved three times while I was in high school so I never stayed anywhere too long. It was difficult to make lasting friendships, and I often felt like an outsider.

4. Although I was an average high school basketball player, I made a failed attempt to play college basketball. Actually, I was briefly on the team, but I never fulfilled my dream of actually playing at the college level.

5. As a young teacher I was placed on an 'improvement plan,' and I totally deserved it. And ultimately, I learned from this humbling experience.

6. I applied unsuccessfully for a number of principal or assistant principal jobs, before a school finally took a chance on me.

7. After getting my first principal job, a former supervisor commented to a colleague, "I didn't know if he'd make it as a principal. I thought it could go either way."

Coaching students to follow through

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It's always best to influence students in positive directions with the least use of positional power possible. We want to save our power for only when we really need it and help develop students' abilities to make good decisions. We want our students to develop good judgment and operate with social reciprocity as part of a community of learners. When we do this, we are empowering our students to own their behavior, learning, etc.

But we all know there are times when we are coaching kids that we really want them to commit and follow through with a direction we've established together. We've all had those experiences where we thought a student had agreed to a decision only to lack follow through. They may nod approvingly, but that should not be mistaken for a true commitment to action.

Here are a couple of phrases I sometimes use to try to get a firmer commitment and call them to action. After discussing an issue with a student and arriving at a solution, I will ask them to summarize our discussion, "What is your understanding of what we've discussed?' I might follow that up with another question, "How will you take responsibility in this situation?" And finally, "What are you going to do next (or next time)?"

If I am not able to get a feeling of mutual cooperation from this type of discussion, I might get a little stronger with my accountability language. I want to invite the student to offer a stronger commitment beyond just head nodding. I think questions are usually much more powerful than statements, "Can I fully count on you to follow through with this plan?"

After having a conversation like this, it is much easier to address the lack of follow through if it still occurs, "When we discussed this last time, I remember you agreed to do such and such. When we don't follow through on commitments, there are consequences for self and others."

But most of the time, if we get a really firm commitment, students will do their best to follow through with their actions. Of course, having a great relationship built on mutual respect is so important for any of this to be effective.

Starting the journey towards 1:1

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Yesterday I met with district leadership to officially get started toward what our digital future will be. We are establishing a committee to examine the digital readiness of our school and to explore the direction we need to take to fully support learning in our digital world. All along the way toward whatever may be I plan to blog about our journey. I hope to make our learning journey visible.

I have to admit I'm a little impatient. I really want to see students have the opportunity for consistent access throughout the school day and even beyond school. I feel like each day that passes is filled with missed opportunities for learning. But I realize we need to get this right. We need to enlist all the voices and get a shared vision and make the decisions confidently, knowing we had all the information we needed.

So here were a few thoughts from our district level meeting.

1. We need to assess what access our students have to devices at school and at home. We plan to develop a survey to do this.

2. Where are our teachers in their thinking on using technology in the classroom? How can we help everyone understand this is a learning initiative and not a really expensive project that won't change pedagogy.

3. We will ask our committee to help establish goals for our school. What do we really want our students to gain from their digital experience as learners?

4. Before we get too far into this process, we have to make sure our network infrastructure is right. We can't launch a new initiative on a crippled network.

5. We recognize that teachers need professional development for any digital initiative to be successful. What will that look like?

6. We will start with the big picture of why we are doing this and then move to more specific decisions about what, how, and when.

7. And one more that I considered after the meeting, how can we include student and parent voices in the process? We need engagement to arrive at the best solutions.

Our first committee meeting is in less than two weeks. Exciting stuff!

Teachers, leaders stand firm

Our family walked together through the pasture of my grandparent's farm excited to bring back the perfect Christmas tree. It was my mom and dad, my little sister and I, all enjoying family time during a season of making family memories. But suddenly, my dad noticed something menacing. Up by the pond he spotted a bull we called Victor trotting in our direction. This animal was extremely large and capable of doing great harm, but he had never acted like this before. Now he was running straight for us.

I sensed the danger even more when my dad gave serious instructions. "Get behind me," he urged. We all quickly huddled in his shadow as the bull continued his charge. My dad threw his hands in the air and called out with several loud and authoritative words intended to let the bull know he was in charge. The bull was not deterred until he was within inches of my dad, when the creature dug his front hooves into the ground slowing his massive frame. Dad wielded the handsaw he carried to harvest the Christmas tree, and smacked the bull right across the nose, yelling again as if to remind him who was boss. Victor retreated.

Now these events, lasting a matter of seconds, have been glued in my memory ever since. I knew in that moment what courage really meant. I saw love carried out. I witnessed a lesson about leadership I would only later fully realize. My dad was my hero, standing firm in the face of a palpable threat.

As educators we are facing real threats too. Outside influences with harmful agendas are trying to force their 'reforms' on public schools. In Missouri, a billionaire named Rex Sinquefield has spent millions in his attempt to buy education reform. His narrative is that if we run education like a business, we can 'fix it.' I'm here to say education doesn't need 'fixing,' and especially not by the misguided agenda Sinquefield and his political allies are advancing.

Now Sinquefield, who has no background in education, and his political machine have gathered enough signatures to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November that would require teachers to be evaluated by 'quantitative' measures and would effectively end teacher tenure. This amendment is a direct affront on local control of public schools. Similar efforts have been launched nationwide. The message inherent in these attacks is clear: education is broken and teachers are to blame.

But what I see in my school everyday is something entirely different. I witness educators who are deeply committed to students' success, educators with a vision of making the world a better place by investing in the lives of children. These teachers love their students and recognize the influence they have in building the lives of young people. We don't need external bureaucracies or billionaire reformers telling us what is best for our teachers or students.

So as the threats materialize, we must stand firm. Like my dad held his ground for his family, all educators must hold to core beliefs and persevere even in the midst of these attacks. Moreover, we must push forward with improvements that will work and tell the stories of how our schools are succeeding even in these challenging and uncertain times.

As a school leader, I hope to protect my teachers from messages that disrespect their work. I hope that my words and actions are encouraging and appreciative to each one who gives so much to helping young people reach their dreams. I feel a sense of obligation to protect and encourage. The work of a teacher is a calling, and it is complex. Your value as a teacher cannot truly be understood by standardized test scores. Stand firm.

http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/constitutional-amendment-teacher-evaluation-approved-november-ballot

Amendment 3
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:
• require teachers to be evaluated by a standards based performance evaluation system for which each local school district must receive state approval to continue receiving state and local funding;
• require teachers to be dismissed, retained, demoted, promoted and paid primarily using quantifiable student performance data as part of the evaluation system;
• require teachers to enter into contracts of three years or fewer with public school districts; and
• prohibit teachers from organizing or collectively bargaining regarding the design and implementation of the teacher evaluation system?

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