Lab Rat

Sometimes I wonder if I am the lab rat. I'm involved in a couple of federal research projects where change is the subject of the day. We know that there are problems with secondary education today. The focus in these projects is to facilitate positive change in student achievement. Let's follow this through, though....

In order to change student achievement, we must focus on those who interact with the kids. In my case, we are talking about middle and high schools for the most part. The focus of our work is on content literacy and in the encouragement of high levels of thinking and problem solving in secondary classrooms. We focus on engagement of students through keeping them sufficiently challenged with lots of feedback. This is a tall order in many classrooms today. The range of abilitites among students is huge. It is not an easy assignment for a teacher - especially in urban classrooms where academic diversity is the norm.

My point is that while our focus definitely is on changing outcomes for students, we must focus on helping the teachers change and adjust. They are often stressed and feel overwhelmed. Which brings me back to the title for today's post - Lab Rat. Sometimes I wonder if I'm not the lab rat after all! I recently attended a meeting where we were given our assignments for this school year. There were several new data collection tools and additional expectations were given. I reacted because I was under stress. I must also remember to adapt to change. My reaction was typical when it comes to feeling overwhelmed. I need to keep this feeling at the forefront of my work this year. I am sure this is what teachers feel everyday because we are asking them to step out of their comfort zone and do something that they don't quite understand yet. We are asking them to trust us and live with ambiguity. I must do the same thing.

Moved to Speak

Several years (over twenty now) I was caught up in the Community Building movement. I was a great fan of Dr. Scott Peck, the psychiatrist and author of The Road Less Traveled. I read every book he wrote, and I felt like I learned a lot from him. In some ways, I considered him a mentor from afar. In later books, including The Different Drum, Dr. Peck wrote about community, and how our world is in such desperate need of civility. I longed for the feeling of community, so I attended a Commuity Building Workshop at a retreat facility sponsored by The Foundation for Community Encouragement. Little did I know that I was on my path of partnership at that time.

One of the norms we followed in the community building circle was called Moved to Speak (mvd2spk). The idea being that there are so many words and voices when groups are together. People talk at the same time; often several conversations are going on within the same group. Who can really listen and pay attention? And that is the crux of it ... people talk, but no one listens. People tend to talk without thinking. There is so much "noise" that taking it all in can be a challenge. I love the idea of being "moved to speak." Why say something just to fill up the airwaves?

Meeting everyone's needs in a group can be tricky. This past week I led a group of twelve professionals in an institute which focused on working with adults. We all had lots of ideas and much to say. Early on, however, when we talked about our norms, someone asked that we honor the "2 Before Me" Rule. This rule is similar. This young lady said that she tends to talk a lot, and that remembering this rule helped her to pay attention to what others' have to say. It is very simple - let two other people talk before you say something. I then shared my thoughts about being moved to speak.

I think blogs and all the various types of social communicating allows us to express our voices. I hope that you may be moved to speak. What are your thoughts and ideas about helping adults working in groups to talk less and listen more? We would all be better for it, if we did more listening and less talking. I think that authentic caring and real listening are the foundations of building community and partnership with others.

"In and through community lie the salvation of the world."

M. Scott Peck, Introduction, The Different Drum

Where do bad decisions come from?

Honestly, I just can't figure it out. Where do bad decisions come from? How are really critical decisions made? I know that generally there are reasons why people act in the ways that they do. I have been heartsick this week because of a situation regarding (what in my view) was a terrible decision.

School change is such a complex process. I'm not sure how how many educated people actually understand this process. I am in the midst of it (and I have been for a number of years), and I certainly don't understand all of the factors. It is such a complex process. However, I do know that leadership is the critical variable. I'm working in a very difficult school located in a very difficult district located in probably one of the most economically disadvantaged city in the country. The school is only difficult because of resources and situation. The staff of this school is amazing - from the bottom up. I have worked with one of the finest high school principals that I've ever met for the past year and a half. She has been accessible, supportive, and extremely well liked by her staff. She knows how to make things happen in a day and time when that is not an easy skill. She keeps the staff motivated to succeed and focused on the students. She maintains an orderly climate in a challenged city. She provides programs and activities for students so that they have something positive to focus on.

Over the weekend this principal who I admire and respect deeply, learned that she was fired. This district where she has worked faithfully and with integrity simply threw her to the curb. After 25 years of teaching English and over 10 years as a principal in a popular high school, her contract was unceremoniously "non-renewed." I guess this is the nice terminology for fired. I am angry, hurt, puzzled, and heartsick. I've only worked with this woman for a year and a half and I feel this way. I can only imagine how others who have known her for years feel. I'm still stunned. I've written to the powers that be and the city newspaper. A friend of mine this morning told me to write to President Obama and congress. I'm thinking about it. I just might. I am so incensed with the unfairness and stupidity of this decision. In an age when we need the best people leading our schools, we get the best ones thrown out. To think that one person can change the achievement level of a school makes no sense. Improved achievement is going to take change and hard work from all constituents - teachers, students, administrators, parents, and the community. Until we all work together and stop the blaming, it simply will not happen.

The Need for More "Tempered Radicals" in our Schools

Debra Myerson, Professor of Education at Stanford, and author of the acclaimed book "Tempered Radicals: How Everyday Leaders Inspire Changes at Work" is a very validating work for me. It provides hope and a sense of fulfillment as well. I often tell teachers to NOT underestimate their ability to influence others and make change. So often, I hear teachers' voices that sound tired and, to be honest, a bit hardened. So much of being a good teacher well into the latter years of teaching is about having some control over what happens in the environment. Having control over what happens in the classroom is easy, but what is more important is exerting a positive influence on those around us. Teachers have a huge influence on the future of the country, and it's well-being. I've known far too many excellent teachers who became passive because they didn't believe that their voice mattered.

Well, REJOICE, teachers... Dr. Myerson confirms through her research that by rocking the boat ever so slightly (and ever so kindly), we can be voices for real change. The key is to remain focused and firm in our beliefs and to have courage and compassion with our colleagues. It is difficult to swim upstream, but in many instances that is what it feels like to go against the majority in a school culture. Seniority and "years of service" often have the loudest voices in a school culture. It is the adult version of peer pressure. Young or new teachers may feel uncomfortable when speaking up, but Dr. Myerson would urge them to be brave and go ahead and rock their boat. Voicing our ideas and opinions may inspire others to do the same. She said the following in an interview with Dennis Sparks for the Journal of Staff Development [JSD, Winter 2005 (Vol. 26, No. 1)]:

"Effective agents of change at the grassroots level know who they are and what they are trying to accomplish. Effective tempered radicals hold on to their deepest goals, which enables them to push through their fears and to choose their battles effectively."

I think my dad would agree that I've always tried to gently "rock the boat." Maybe it has to do with being a child of the '60's. I don't know. I don't think so, though. What I do know is that Dr. Myerson's book validates my feelings and thoughts about this subject. Everyone knows that our secondary schools today must change, and change soon. Be a boat rocker, and stand for positive change in the schools!

Rock the boat, baby!

Wordle - Have you heard of it?

The graphic below is a Wordle I made. A Wordle is a "branded" word cloud. Take a look at my Wordle below. Can you see words that stand out? Can you draw some inferences or make some predictions based on the graphic you see below?



I've seen lots of word clouds recently. They aren't graphic organizers, but an analysis of words spoken or written by particular people at specific times or in certain places. A word cloud is a visual analysis which reveals some pretty interesting information. In fact, I just viewed one on the internet today that I found fascinating. It was a word cloud made from the last 8 State of the Nation addresses by George W. Bush. It, of course, looks much different than the one above. Below is the copy that was originally published at this website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7813432.stm.

I made mine today from all of my blog entries to date. I found it very interesting to look at. The words that stand out represent those words used the most often. I love this use of technology. It is a visual way of representing thinking which I find very thought provoking. We could probably learn much about our world (and history) through using it. As a teacher, I could think of lots of ways to use it across all of the content areas.

If you would like to play with this cool tool or look at lots of fascinating Wordle graphics, I urge you to go to the Wordle website. Click on my wordle below, and it will take you there. It is a completely free website. You can even name and post your wordle to the website. For teachers, writers, or armchair linguists of any kind, I think that Wordle is a very cool tool! Enjoy! The website is http://www.wordle.net/.

Resolutions in the Shower

This morning I started contemplating again several things...it always happens when I'm in the shower where I don't have pencil and paper handy! So I must rely on my memory (which many of you know is not all that good). Several thoughts came to mind that I want to write about. First, I want to put forth one of my New Year's Resolutions for 2009. On a second post for later today or tomorrow, I want to write about the four concepts identified by Cynthia Coburn and Richard Elmore that relate to moving schools. The two subjects are actually related, and one led to the other in my somewhat logical thinking process. So let me share with you the one resolution that I've decided to focus on this year. No doubt, you've seen and heard others talking about a revolution in presentation style. Books like Presentation Zen and Slideology have been bestsellers. I want to be part of that revolution! So here I am ... declaring it to the world ... down with boring presentations! I never want to be accused again of doing a boring powerpoint presentation!

I've been admiring the simplicity and appeal of some of Jim Knight's newer presentations. (Not that they haven't always been good!) He has been studying and learning from some great masters in the field. He just had a great blog post with his thoughts a few days ago (12/29) that you might want to read. The link to his last post is http://tinyurl.com/93nggd.

Anyway, one of my resolutions for this year - 2009 - is to work on improving my presentation style. I want to shift my focus in my presentations away from the "powerpoint" to the meaning and message as Garr Reynolds and Nancy Duarte speak about. It requires time and energy I am finding, but it also really helps to get to the fine points of the message. So, as I was thinking about an upcoming meeting that needs to be very focused, I am endeavoring to begin this transformation. There are practical considerations...

• Where can I get good visuals?
• What is an efficient way to organize and plan?
• How do I organize my materials?

I'm hoping that the books I'm reading and the blogs I'm frequenting will help with those questions. I'm also going to seek the help of my online communities. These are the technical aspects of this change that I can get answers for rather easily if I make the time and effort to find them.

I'm more concerned about adaptive challenges that I am going to face, which I haven't completely figured out. These will take more time, and this is where you, my readers, come in. I am convinced that this is where I need to spend my time...

• What exactly is my message?
• How can I get teachers and school personnel to buy in to this message?
• How does a presentation become a call to action?

Heifietz and Linsky talk about adaptive challenges a lot in their book, Leadership on the Line. Solving adaptive challenges takes collaboration, dialogue, deep reflection, and time. I think about one of the beginning activities we do in the Instructional Coaching Institute which is to think about a change that has been managed successfully versus one that has not. In the institute, we talk about and have a dialogue about what it takes to make real and meaningful change occur. Knowing that change is a process, and a spiraling process, I am going to focus on these questions. Because change takes time, I'm going to check in periodically with this post and reflect about either my success or lack of success. I will take stock of where I am in this process of change. I guess I could call it my own little action research project!

Happy New Year to everyone! I would love to hear about your resolutions related to change for this year. The prognosis for successful change when it comes to resolutions is really minimal according to social scientists and surveys. Keeping in mind Prochaska's model of change can help us understand why that may seem so. Thinking about January 1 as a marker in the process can help us to think logically about making a habit permanent. So let today be the first mark in the change process for me!

Leverage and Influence

As a professional developer in schools I'm finding myself ask two questions more and more often...

• LEVERAGE - What or who can I leverage to make change occur in a more effective and efficient manner?
• INFLUENCE - How do I influence these leverage points to create the necessary catalyst for effective change in the system?

I'm finding that in some of my more difficult schools and districts, it is actually finding the leverage points. I've finally conceptualized the full meaning of leverage - I visualize it as a light swtch or the old stick shift in my '68 VW bug. I remember back to high school science when we studied the simple machines. A lever is a machine that makes work easier and more powerful. Since there are so many factors and the work could be endless in many schools, it is critical to find those switches that are going to make the work more manageable. So a question that came to mind as I was in the shower this morning is this...How do we find the leverage points in a school building or system if none are obvious? And I guess there would be a follow-up question...Is it possible to be in a school or district where there are NO leverage points? As I am mentally and verbally processing my way through this question, I'm very quickly coming to the answer to my own question. Of course, there can be schools that are so dysfunctional that there are no leverage points. As I continue to puzzle over this, I then begin to see our job as beginning at the beginning. Do we then begin to work on developing those levers?

The question for the funders of such programs (because they all cost money) and for researchers is how do they see this happening? Just how far do we go? Can we make that kind of impact from the outside? Many secondary schools in our country are in tremendous difficulty. They are holding their doors shut with shoe strings (literally) and moving hundreds of kids so slowly through metal detectors that 2nd hour in all practicality is the first hour of the day.

Related to leverage, is the idea of influence. As a professional developer and instructional coach my job is to begin to influence what is happening instructionally in a school. Although I have not yet read The Influencer by Kerry Patterson, et. al., I am very hopeful to gain insight into these questions. I hope that my next post will have some reflections and insights to this dilemma. In the mean time, I would love to hear your reactions to what I'm thinking. Those of you who have worked in school reform efforts, how have you processed your way through all of this? I'm on my much needed Christmas Break for the next few weeks, and besides enjoying my family and friends, I plan to ponder these ideas and read this book that is the subject of a book study group this month and next.

ON ANOTHER NOTE...Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to all of my friends and colleagues. I so appreciate the opportunity to learn and grow with you. May you have some time to enjoy relaxation and regeneration for a few short weeks as we move into a very exciting and change-filled new year. Blessings to all of you.