I spent the last 3 days at the Model Schools Conference with a team of teachers from my school along with one of our district Instructional Program Specialists. During the course of the three days we heard from visionary education leaders on topics such as school transformation, branding, storytelling, data and the importance of equity. We were all impacted by the stories we heard and walked away with so many ideas and strategies that we were excited to implement back at school in the fall.
One of the biggest takeaways I had though was the importance of creating a STRATEGIC action plan with short-term goals to help us stay on track through the implementation of our plans. I know I am often guilty of beginning the school year with great ideas and plans, but then as the year progresses and we get into the weeds and begin putting out fires, I tend to (unintentionally) abandon those ideas and plans because I get so focused on the here and now. Sometimes I see myself as a visionary in the summer but I become more reactionary during the school year. I think some of that is normal, but one of my goals for the year is to take our ideas and dreams from this conference and take it one small step at a time. As I often say in our PLC meetings, "Rome wasn't built in a day!" As we look forward and begin the process of creating our action plan, we discussed creating an action plan around two areas: 1) Culture and 2) Rigor, Relevance, Engagement and Relationships. In the process of creating a long-term action plan, we plan to create shorter 30 day action steps to help us accomplish our greater goals. We believe this will help us to remain focused, and to take our school transformation one step at a time, which we believe will hold us more accountable and ultimately be more successful in reaching our goals to take our school to the next level!
A little over three years ago I wrote an entry in this blog about Common Core State Standards, and their soon to be implementation. There seems to be just as much controversy and political discourse now surrounding Common Core as there was three years ago.
In the last year there have been many articles written about the criticisms of Common Core in North Carolina, and the subsequent law signed by Governor McCrory tasking the Academic Standards Review Commission to review the standards. A preliminary report was released this week, and the final report will be coming by the end of the year.
An August 15, 2015 article in The News and Observer of Raleigh first got my renewed attention to the controversy. As I was reading the article, I did a little research about the history of the commission. I came across an NPR story from January 14, 2015 which reviewed some of the history and initial controversy and conversation that led to the creation of the commission by Governor McCrory. Finally, The News and Observer reported on the preliminary results of the commission on August 17, 2015.
As I mentioned above, I wrote a blog three years ago not just about Common Core, but supporting Common Core. Three years later, I still believe the Common Core State Standards have merit and value. Are they perfect? No. Do there need to be adjustments? Probably. Should we ditch them and start over? No.
The implementation of Common Core left much to be desired. Schools did not have the resources and teachers did not have sufficient training. Districts were left scrambling. I wonder if some of the controversy surrounding Common Core should be targeted at the implementation of the standards, rather than the standards themselves.
Have students struggled following the implementation of Common Core? Absolutely, as the standards include increased rigor and expectations for students and teachers. Did student achievement data initially decrease? Yes. But as time goes on, as teacher understanding of the standards increase, we should see improved instruction and increased student achievement.
So where do we go from here? One of my biggest issues with many education initiatives is that they are implemented without fidelity. We often scrap programs at the first sign of controversy or struggle. When it's obvious a program isn't working, then it should be scrapped. But in the case of Common Core, we need to give it time to work, for the standards to take root, and for students and teachers to grow while adjusting to the new standards. Slight changes and tweaks are necessary. We need to resist the temptation of a massive overhaul for the time being, and see what growth occurs over the next couple of years.
Well, it's been a while since I last blogged. 2 years in fact. I began this blog when I was enrolled in a Masters of Education program, and a technology course specifically. I finished that program in 2013 and after taking two years off, I have enrolled in an EdS program in Educational Leadership at UNCG, which is a gateway program to help me ultimately earn my EdD in Educational Leadership. I have been contemplating ramping this blog back up for some time now. Conveniently, one of the assignments in one of my classes is to maintain a weekly commentary on current issues and topics in education. What better place to put that commentary than right here on my blog BruceCarrollEDU!
So, all that to say, I will be blogging again. Soon and often. As (if) you read my posts, let me know what you think through comments, shares and individual correspondence with me!
As more schools, school leaders and teachers are exploring ways to increase student learning and comprehension. Many districts and schools are using various forms of technology to help incorporate and achieve these goals.
One of the more common methods being used in the past few years to increase student learning and achievement is flipping the classroom. In short, flipping the classroom means that students are introduced to the content of the lesson the night before, and learn through watching videos from websites like Khan Academy. Because students have learned, or at least begun to learn the material the night before, a bulk of the class period can be dedicated to students practicing the concepts learned the previous night, and students can get individuals instruction and assistance from their teacher.
I came across an article this evening on EdWeek, which proposed flipping parent communication to increase parent communication and parent involvement in the classroom, and in the school. The article, Take a Risk...Flip Your Parent Communication! and an earlier article, explain the potential benefits in flipping parent communication, and include an example used by a school at the beginning of the school year.
This is certainly a new technique for parent communication, but has an incredible amount of potential to open the lines of communication between the home and the school. I think both school administrators and teachers can use these ideas to radically change the communication in their school and/or classroom.
What are your thoughts on flipping parent communication?
In my previous post, I outlined two main themes that I believe good administrators should possess. I wrote that post from the perspective of a teacher. Today, I want to share my opinions on the completely opposite issue: what makes a good teacher, from the perspective of a(n) (aspiring) school administrator.
There are hundreds of qualities that could be used to describe an effective teacher. I want to outline five qualities that I believe are imperative for a teacher to be considered effective and successful.
1. Teachers should enjoy their job. Teachers deal with children, preteens or teenagers. That should not come as a shock to anyone, especially not teachers. Effective teachers should enjoy interacting with whatever age range of students they have chosen to teacher. Are there going to be difficult students? Of course. However, an effective teacher enjoys their job because they enjoy teaching young people on a daily basis.
2. Teachers should know their content. This goes without saying, but teachers should have an intimate knowledge of their content area. However, content area does not necessarily mean subject. Of course a Psychology teacher needs to know psychology. But teachers must know how to teach, they must have a direct knowledge of human growth and development, learning styles, and current instructional trends.
3. Teachers should be willing to improve. No teacher is perfect. Even your teacher of the year will have areas of improvement. Teachers should be continually working to refine their craft, modifying lesson plans, lectures and activities on a daily basis. Each class, each student brings a different need and slightly different learning style to the classroom. Effective teachers should be able to modify their instruction to allow all students to thrive in their classroom. Is it easy? No. Does it happen overnight? Of course not, but an effective teacher is always working towards that goal.
4. Teachers should be willing to share. As a teacher, most of my best lesson ideas came from other teachers, both in and out of my discipline area. Effective teachers become teacher leaders because they share ideas with their colleagues, what works, what doesn't work, and what could use improvement. I love the fact that most teachers are more than willing to share their lessons and ideas with the people around them. Chances are, they weren't their original idea in the first place. All teachers should work together to achieve the ultimate goal of education: student learning and preparation for life.
5. Teachers should be willing to lead. Effective teachers are teacher leaders. Effective teachers should be teacher leaders. Now, that doesn't mean being a department chair, on lead team, or any other official capacities. However, teachers should lead in their profession. That may mean going to professional development and sharing what was learned with the rest of the staff. It may mean leading a PLC at the school level. It could mean sharing your best instructional strategies. However you choose to lead, effective teachers are leaders.
As with my last post, this list is not an end all be all. However, I believe administrators are looking for these characteristics (among others), when working to identify effective teachers in their school, or in the hiring process.
Do you have other "must haves" for effective teachers? Let me know!
As I have mentioned previously on this blog, I am working on my Master's in Educational Leadership. I am hoping to pursue a job as an Assistant Principal in a local school. Throughout my entire career as a teacher, and throughout my entire time in graduate school, the same question is always posed: what makes a good administrator?
While there are some definitive answers to this question, the definition of a good, effective administrator is not always as clear cut. For example, the state of Maryland has outlined how principals can be effective in improving student achievement. The website Empowering Administrators offers specific strategies for empowering school leaders as instructional leaders. More locally, the state of North Carolina has outlined new standards for school executives to be measured by. For the sake of answers, in this posting, I will look at what makes an effective administrator, according to teachers.
One of the best resources online, in my opinion, to get an idea about what qualities teachers are looking for in school administrators is the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey. This survey is administered every two years to teachers across the state of North Carolina to gather data about how teachers feel about their jobs, including school leadership, teacher development, facilities, instructional time, and other aspects of a teacher's job. The questions on the survey that relate to school leadership give a strong indication of what teachers are looking for in effective school administrators.
If you ask ten different teachers to tell you what makes an effective administrator, you will probably get ten different responses. However, there are two common themes that you will likely find in their answers, and I want to highlight them here.
1. School administrators should be supportive. Effective school administrators should always support their teachers, especially in front of students and parents. If issues need to be addressed, they need to be addressed in private, and the school should always present a unified front to it's stakeholders. In addition, school administrators should be supportive in their instructional leadership with their teachers. Most teachers do not mind hearing criticism, and areas of weakness with their observation, it is what makes teachers become better educators. However, if an administrator is going to tell a teacher where they are weak, most teachers I have spoken to want to hear specific ideas or strategies that can help them improve.
2. School administrators should be effective communicators. Teachers want to know what is going on in their schools. I have seen effective administrators send out daily or weekly e-mails to their staff letting them know what is on the calendar, what they need to be on the look-out for in the school, and what the weekly focus is. One of the reasons effective communication is so important is that if administrators use e-mail, etc. to communicate dates and other important information to their teachers and staff, then staff meetings can be spent focusing on instructional strategies, and other items that can help improve student learning and performance. Along the lines of communication, it is also important for administrators to communicate expectations, discipline outcomes and other necessary information to their teachers. From my experience, teachers want to know why and how students were or were not disciplined. Open communication about this and more helps for all stakeholders to be on the same page, and will give students a better learning environment overall.
Are these characteristics the end all be all for effective school administrators? No. However, I believe that effective school administrators must possess these two characteristics, among others, in order to be successful. In our era of testing and accountability, school administrators must be instructional leaders in order to be deemed successful. Ultimately, test scores will be the measure used to determine whether or not administrators are effective. However, behind the scenes, administrators must be adept at building a sense of efficacy and empowerment in their schools, and the themes I addressed above are surefire ways, in my opinion, to accomplish this.
References
NC Teaching Working Conditions Initiative. Digital image. NC Teaching Working Conditions Initiative. Web. June-July 12. <www.ncteachingconditions.org>.
Education is changing. Change is inevitable. Change is important. Change strengthens. Change challenges. Change is good. So why, then, do we resist change? In schools throughout our nation there are teachers who teach the same curriculum in the same manner year after year. They grow frustrated when it appears their students are not learning. They grow frustrated when their test scores do not improve. "Insanity," according to Albert Einstein, "is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." If we want our students to learn, if we want results, we must be willing to adjust our lessons plans on a daily basis to fit the learning styles, strengths and weaknesses of our current students. I will be the first to admit this is hard, and I struggle with it on a daily basis.
The time for change is now. Ready or not, Common Core State Standards are coming! As an educator, you may not embrace change. As an educator, you might not like Common Core. As an educator, you may think that same lesson you have been teaching for fifteen years is working (it might). Your opinion matters, it really does. However, there comes a time where we all must face the future and embrace the changes that are coming. The time is now!
On June 2, 2010 the State of North Carolina adopted the Common Core State Standards as their official state curriculum. Ever since, the state and local educational agencies (LEA) like Guilford County have been working to train administrators, teachers and curriculum specialists on the standards, and begin to process of implementation in classrooms statewide. North Carolina has a significant amount of resources available for educators available on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website, and LEA's throughout the state are offering required professional development this summer.
I believe that Common Core is an example of good change. As of today (June 11, 2012) forty-five states and three U.S. territories have adopted the Common Core. I spoke on one of Common Core's biggest strengths, college and career readiness and twenty-first century skills in one of my last blog posts. However, I believe there are other specific strengths of Common Core that need to be highlighted. Under Common Core
students across the nation will be exposed to the same curriculum standards and expectations.
students will not be punished if their families are forced to move states in the middle of their schooling.
teachers can make easier transitions between schools, counties and states.
students will be better prepared for college or the workforce because the same standards will be taught nationwide.
Is Common Core THE solution? No. Is it an improvement from where we have been? Only time will tell, but we appear to be moving in the right direction.
What do you think? Is Common Core the answer? Is Common Core an improvement? Are we moving in the wrong direction by implementing Common Core?
References
Common Core State Standards Initiative. Digital image. Common Core State Standards Initiative. Web. June-July 12. <www.corestandards.org>.
