Top Posts of 2019

Well, another year of writing has passed, and it was a big one as 2019 marked ten years since I began my blogging journey. To still be churning out posts on a weekly basis is quite the accomplishment for a guy who never wrote nor intended to write for a public audience. For me, the push I needed came from Ken Royal, who, after hearing what we were doing at New Milford High School and then visiting, stated unequivocally that I had to share our story. Well, after begrudgingly agreeing to pen some guest posts for him, I built up my confidence and launched my blog in March of 2019. After that, the rest is history.

Blogging has certainly changed over the past ten years. Back in the day, a typical post would garner numerous comments. They would also serve as a catalyst for vibrant Twitter conversations. Another change has come in the form of developing unique topics or spins on what is already out in cyberspace. For me, in particular, I have experienced a great deal of difficulty trying to determine what I want to write about in that I want each piece to either add to existing conversations or be an entirely new take. Often ideas pop into my head when I am sleeping, and I immediately wake up to type them into a note file I have on my iPhone. However, the best ideas for blog posts I get come from coaching in schools. Here I get to experience firsthand how many of the ideas that are talked about on social media and at conferences are successfully implemented into practice.

Without further ado, here are my top posts of 2019.

The Pedagogy of Blended Learning

Blended instruction is what the teacher does with technology. Blended learning is where students use tech to have control over path, place, and pace. There should always a focus first and foremost on ensuring that sound pedagogical design serves as a foundation. In this post, I pull on extensive observations and work with schools to identify instructional strategies, essential elements, most successful models, and effective technology solutions that work to create pedagogically sound blended learning experiences.

The Problem with Zeros

To say that this post generated some buzz on Twitter would be quite the understatement. Punishing learners with zeros destroys both morale and a love of learning by digging a hole that many cannot recover from (nor do they have any aspirations to do so). They also create a mirage in terms of what was actually learned. If a grade does not reflect learning, then what’s the point? We owe it to our students to pave a better path forward. 

The Future of Work

Change is not only on our doorstep, but it is about to kick the darn door in. The future of work requires new skills, and it is up to K-12 education to lead the charge in this area. Skills are not enough, in my opinion. Yes, we want learners to have the requisite skills to meet the needs and demands inherent in the 4th Industrial Revolution. More importantly, it is our duty and the role of education to ensure that they are competent. Empowering our learners to think critically and solve real-world problems is paramount.

The Two Most Important Questions to Ask to Determine if Learning is Taking Place

Keep it simple stupid. Are kids thinking? How are kids applying their thinking in relevant ways? This post explores how the Rigor Relevance Framework can be used as a practical way to determine the answers to both of these questions by looking at the level of questioning and the tasks that kids are engaged in. 

Digital Leadership: Leading Change from Where You Are

Leading change is about identifying intended outcomes, applying an innovative lens, and arriving at outcomes in better, more effective ways no matter your position or title. The Pillars of Digital Leadership represents a framework for all educators to initiate and sustain innovative change that aligns with the core work that already serves as the foundation for every school or district learning culture. The premise is to do what we already do better by working smarter, not harder.

Here's to an amazing 2020 everyone. Thanks for all that you do for kids.  

Mitigating #EdTech Issues in the Classroom

With all the promise that educational technology holds, several pitfalls are always on the minds of educators. The top two issues that commonly come up in my talks with educators are the technology (Internet, hardware, devices, apps) not working or off-task behavior on the part of students.  While there are some serious challenges that can derail any lesson, there are some strategic ways to mitigate them ground in instructional design. Here are some of the most commonly implemented strategies, which I will describe in more detail in this post.

• Classroom Management
• Pedagogically sound lessons
• Monitoring
• Accountability for learning
• Feedback
• Assessment

Classroom Management

It is tough to argue the fact that many learners will quickly go off and remain off task if a classroom is not managed effectively. The key above all else is to build positive relationships with kids. One great way to do this is to co-construct rules with them as well as ramifications if they are not followed or broken. Addressing issues immediately as they arise, re-directing adverse behaviors, and utilizing positive reinforcement at opportune times all aid in creating a classroom conducive to learning.

Pedagogically Sound Lessons

If you are a reader of this blog, then you know that this is one area that I focus on extensively with my writing. Instructional design is one of the best deterrents to off-task behavior. If a student, or adult for that matter, is bored, then we better accept what might happen. It is critical to get kids so immersed in their learning that they don’t think about surfing the web aimlessly, texting their friends, or accessing social media. Sound pedagogy consists of effective instructional strategies that involve all learners, a focus on higher-order thinking skills, scaffolding techniques, construction of new knowledge, and relevant application of thinking. Mitigating edtech related issues rests on authentically engaging as many learners as possible.

Image credit

Monitoring

If kids are given a task to complete on a device, whether independently, in cooperative groups, or as a part of many different blended learning models, sitting or standing in the same place in the front of the room might lead to unintended consequences. During situations like this is when I commonly observe kids focused on anything but the learning at hand. It is vital to move about the room to not only look at what is on a learner’s screen but to also be in a position to either re-direct any off-task behavior or provide needed guidance. 

Accountability for learning

When I say accountability, I am not talking about grades. I can go on and on about the fact that many grading practices are outdated, ineffective, and do not adequately reflect what a student has learned. What I am referring to are specific strategies that keep kids focused on the task at hand while ensuring that his or her part in the learning process is completed. Some ways to accomplish this include assigning equitable roles to each individual student in a cooperative group, handing in an assignment, developing performance tasks where a product is created, or using digital tools in a way where every student can report out using his/her real name.

Feedback

Continuous feedback is essential on so many levels. It helps to justify a grade, establishes criteria for improvement, provides motivation for the next assessment, reinforces good work, and serves a catalyst for reflection. Blended learning strategies lend themselves to providing continuous feedback during class time, which in turn helps to keep kids on task. Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be just a teacher to teacher pathway. Creating opportunities for learners to give each other peer feedback is just as valuable.

Assessment

I would be remised if I didn’t include this strategy.  Assessment determines whether learning occurred, what learning occurred, and if the learning relates to stated targets, standards, and objectives. For many learners knowing that they will ultimately be assessed based on the activities and tasks they have engaged in increases attentive behavior. A variety of strategies beyond traditional tests can be used, such as performance-based activities, portfolios, and rubrics.

The reality is that no matter how well you implement the above strategies, the chances are that a few students might still go off task.  I am a realist. It is extremely challenging, no matter how great the lesson is, to engage each and every learner. What I do know is that the strategies listed above will help to mitigate common issues that arise when technology is utilized in the classroom. So, what did I miss? Please share any other successful strategies that you have successfully implemented.

Model What You Preach: Pedagogy at the Heart of Professional Learning

When I began speaking ten years ago, almost all of my keynotes and presentations consisted of me just speaking at the audience. I was still a high school principal and not a trained speaker and presenter. Thus, I basically just shared what my teachers and students were doing at New Milford High School (NJ) and the evidence that showed how our implementations of innovative ideas were improving student outcomes as well as teaching, learning, and leadership practices. Basically, I felt very comfortable delivering a lecture and talking at people for up to an hour and sometimes more. I even received validation and praise, which only led to me becoming even more comfortable with both my preparation and delivery.

My style remained unchanged for a few years until I began to receive excellent feedback, some of which was critical, that pushed me to rethink how I planned and organized my presentations. Part of this shift came when I started to facilitate workshops that consisted of anywhere from a half-day to multiple days. The bottom line is that I had to go back to my teacher roots and view the adults as learners in a classroom. If the expectation is for teachers and administrators to leave a learning experience with practical, ready to use strategies, then anyone who is leading the professional learning should incorporate a mix of modeling, hands-on activities, and performance tasks (i.e., developing assessments, creating an action plan, learning how to use edtech tools, etc.) in settings that emulate a classroom or school.

Now, I still enjoy the opportunity to keynote. Over the years, I have tried really hard to combine varying emotions, and evidence-based practices all weaved into a coherent story that leaves attendees with tangible action steps. However, this type of presentation doesn’t really emulate what we want to see take place in classrooms or online spaces. Its primary purpose is to articulate why we need to either rethink our practice or embrace new ideas. So, what am I trying to get at? The “why” gets people fired up, but the “how” actually empowers educators to transform their practice. The latter is where anyone who talks the talk relishes the opportunity to walk the walk in the form facilitating professional learning that is not only reflective of what educators in the trenches face.

It all comes down to the importance and power of modeling. When you think about the most impactful presentations and workshops, what they typically have in common is a facilitator who models to a certain extent the pedagogy, instructional strategies, and conditions that a teacher or administrator will experience. I try really hard to do this. For example, in virtually every workshop on digital pedagogy, I outline the following strategies that are tried and true:

• Anticipatory set
• Do-Now
• Review of prior learning
• Checking for understanding
• Guided and independent practice
• Monitoring
• Application of learning
• Assessment
• Feedback
• Closure

With all of the above items, I either model the practice or show a specific example from one of my former teachers or one of the many classrooms I work in as a coach. In other cases, I give the participants time to discuss and then use a digital tool to respond. With longer presentations and workshops, opportunities are provided to create lessons, activities, action plans, and assessments, or learn how to use specific technology resources. Learning happens with the right combination of content, instruction, time to apply to practice what has been learned, feedback, and reflection.

Recently I was facilitating a session that was set up as a cooperative learning activity using the jigsaw method, which is described below.

The jigsaw technique is a method of organizing classroom activity that makes students dependent on each other to succeed. It breaks everyone into groups and breaks assignments into pieces that the group assembles to complete the (jigsaw) puzzle. Just as in a jigsaw puzzle, each piece — each learner’s part — is essential for the completion and full understanding of the final product.

The participants were broken up into four different groups, where each had a specific task to complete. Roles were assigned within each group, a timeframe for completion was established, and accountability structures were put in place. For the latter, I used the tool Lino where each group was assigned a different colored digital Post-It in order to report on their responses to a specific question. The combination of sound pedagogy with the purposeful use of technology replicated what the teachers and students alike could experience in the classroom. Below you can see what the participants created.

Pedagogy should be at the heart of all professional learning, in my opinion. It is hard for some people to change if they don’t experience firsthand what the change looks and feels like. It is hard to accomplish the goal of transforming practice with just a keynote or breakout session. If you lead the learning regardless of your position, take the time to model what you believe in or preach. In the end, if we can’t do this, then maybe we shouldn’t be leading the learning after all.

A Good Plan Requires Great Execution

When we think about change, more often than not, a plan is developed, implemented, and evaluated with the goal being improvement. The journey to improve is a process that requires various strategies that are aligned to a specific focus as outlined in a mission statement or vision document that describes the why. Most schools, districts, and organizations have both. The details on how to achieve both the mission and vision come to fruition in the form of desired goals and outcomes supported by specific measures and targets. The final piece to a good plan is the results. No matter how good a plan for change and improvement is, the proof is in the pudding. Here is where execution comes into play.

For the updated edition of Digital Leadership, I created the image above, which outlines the critical elements of a sound strategic plan. In a previous post, I focused on the essential questions as a means to ensure efficacy when time and resources are needed to get the change or improvement process going. While these are undoubtedly important, it is incumbent upon all involved to always think about how the plan will unfold in relation to mission, vision, goals, desired outcomes, and results. 

Mission and Vision

These two planning elements are often used interchangeably or mistaken for one another. Schools, districts, and organizations summarize their goals and objectives under the guise of each of these. Both of these serve different purposes but are often confused with each other. While a mission statement describes what the institution wants to do now, a vision statement outlines what they want to be in the future. Consider this from Glenn Smith:

Mission answers the question, “Why do we exist?” Vision answers the question, “What will the future look like as we fulfill our mission? What will be different?” While mission is about today, vision is about the future, what we will become.

The mission statement outlines the motivation for helping all learners succeed with their education. It provides a basis for how the resulting strategic plan will be developed and implemented. The mission provides the starting point of the journey while the vision adds clarity as to how to arrive at the preferred destination. Both are pretty much pointless without action.

Desired Outcomes and Goals

The plan is all about meeting the unique and diverse needs of learners today, first and foremost. As society continues to change, so should our strategies that align with the vision and help make the mission a reality. Each desired outcome and goal provide a building block to help transform your school or district in a way that best prepares learners now and in the future. The University of Kansas outlines three types of objectives that can be referenced to develop outcomes and goals:

1. Process - These provide the groundwork or implementation necessary to achieve everything specified in the plan.
2. Behavioral - These look at changing the behaviors of people (what they are doing and saying) and the products (or results) of their behaviors.
3. Community-level outcomes - These are often the product or result of behavior change in many people. They are focused on change at the school or district level instead of on an individual level.

The concept of a Return on Instruction (ROI) and the innovative change process can significantly assist in the development of desired outcomes and goals. Once established, following the SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timed) protocol will go a long way to ensuring success.

Measures and Targets

The only way to determine if outcomes and goals have been achieved is through the development of specific criteria by which to measure and analyze progress. After these are in place, accountability structures have to be aligned to each. If not, then the chances of success in terms of scalable improvement diminish. How you hold yourself or others in the case of schools and districts accountable for meeting determined measures and targets are not for me or other outsiders to dictate. However, executing any plan in a way that leads to efficacy requires this commitment.  

Results

Success doesn’t come by way of just words, but instead through actions that lead to tangible results. While talk gets the mission, vision, goals, desired outcomes, measures, and targets in place, it’s the qualitative and quantitative evidence that will determine if the plan is a success or not. Great execution of a plan might never achieve the exact results you had hoped for. The key, however, is to determine if they can clearly show in some way that the mission and vision have become a reality.

As the plan is constructed and the time nears for execution consider the following to stay on track:

• Clear expectations and communication are vital.
• Consensus is important.
• Benchmarks help pave the way.
• Accountability is the glue that holds everything together.
• Results either articulate success or provide an opportunity to reflect and start anew.

Planning for change takes time. Executing a plan takes even more time. In both cases, patience, diligence, and commitment will be necessary. A good plan becomes great when it is executed in a manner that leads to evidence that the mission and vision are more than just words, but reality.

Vet What You Buy

Teaching is tough. It might very well be one of the most challenging jobs on the planet when you consider the time that is put in both in and out of school. I, for one, would spend hours planning and grading in the evening, at night, and on weekends. The workload might have been exhausting, but I never second-guessed my career choice. As the years have passed, it seems like expectations and workload of teachers keeps increasing. What has resulted is a pursuit of ways to work smarter, not harder, while still improving outcomes for all learners. In the schools I have the honor of coaching in, I see more and more evidence of co-planning and sharing of resources both within the school and across the district as a means to lessen the load. I also see plenty of investments in materials from Teachers Pay Teachers. Herein lies the point of this post.

Let me be extremely clear. I am all for teachers selling lesson plans, assessments, support materials, and other resources to their peers. Pay for those who dedicate their lives to other people’s kids is totally inadequate not only in the United States but in other countries as well. I also feel that if the purchasing of quality resources can help lessen the burden of a teacher, then go for it. If something an educator created is pedagogically-sound, then, by all means, let’s get it in the hands of as many teachers as possible while making some cash in the process. Now here comes the rub. It is incumbent upon both teachers and administrators to ensure that what is being purchased and used with kids is actually good.

Image Credit

Now I am not saying there aren’t sound resources available on the site. However, I do question a great deal of what I see being used in classrooms across the country. Quite frankly, it’s not very good. Here is where educators have to be critical observers and consumers when something is purchased to support or enhance the curriculum in the classroom. Below you will see one of many examples that fall into the category of a resource that is not pedagogically sound. The assumption was that it was a rubric. You be the judge as to whether or not this is a quality resource that clearly conveys to the student or teacher what was learned.

When you think about a rubric, there have to be clear indicators as to what the student was able to demonstrate on their way to master a concept or standard. Let’s take a minute to process what a rubric really is and the role that it plays in assessment:

Rubrics are explicit schemes for classifying products or behaviors into categories that vary along a continuum. They can be used to classify virtually any product or behavior, such as essays, research reports, portfolios, works of art, recitals, oral presentations, performances, and group activities. Judgments can be self-assessments by students, or judgments can be made by others, such as faculty, other students, or field-work supervisors. Rubrics can be used to provide formative feedback to students, to grade students, and/or to assess programs.

There are no such categories in the example above, just the arbitrary awarding of points with no succinct rhyme or reasons. For example, what are the success criteria that justify the score? How does the number for each item or total score reflect what a student has really learned? Where is the connection to the standard(s) or concept? To put it bluntly, this is not a rubric, should not be advertised as such, and does not represent a pedagogically-sound way to assess students. Hence, the question must be raised as to why it was not only purchased but also used in numerous classrooms. In addition to “rubrics,” I also see a lot of worksheets. Again, I don’t have a problem with this. The issue arises when all, or the majority of the questions, are multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank at the lowest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy (i.e., recall, knowledge).

I have said my piece and will now provide a practical course forward. The burden of responsibility doesn’t just fall on teachers and administrators where purchased resources are used in class, but even more so on the creator and seller. Buyers need to vet what they purchase to make sure it is a quality resource. Creators need to be cognizant of what they put up for sale. In both cases, the litmus test should be whether or not the resource type (and there are tons of options) aligns with good pedagogy, what the research says about effective teaching and learning, and sound instructional design.

My post doesn’t just refer to just sites like Teachers Pay Teachers, but also a wide range of materials from a variety of sources. To assist with the vetting process, I suggest you take a look at the Digital Instructional Materials: Acquisitions Policies for States site from SETDA. Here you will find so many resources that can be used to make the best decision and help ensure that you get your bang for your buck.

In the end, it is incumbent upon all educators to vet what they plan to buy (or use if it is a free resource), as we owe this to our learners.

The Stages of Innovative Change

Change isn't coming as it is already on our doorstep. Granted, this has been the case for thousands of years thanks to either discoveries such as fire and cultivated crops or inventions that led to the creation of electricity, manufacturing, and expeditious travel. No organization or system in any field is impervious to this fact when one looks at a myriad of disruptive forces at play in society. In the case of education, the choice is to either adapt or evolve in ways that lead to improved outcomes aligned to teaching, learning, and leadership. Just because something worked in the past doesn't necessarily mean it is still an effective strategy now.

The desire or imperative to change depends on a combination of perspective, culture, and achievement. Neither is more important than the other, in my opinion, but all are informed in some way or another by results. Hence the pursuit of innovative practices to usher in needed change. More often than not, there is a will to innovate through the pursuit of new and different practices that aim to improve what our learners and we do inherent in our respective position. Just because we try something different doesn't mean that we or the practice is actually innovative. This is proven or disproven by a tangible result in the form of qualitative or quantitative evidence. To debate this fact takes away from the real power that innovation can have in education.

Now let's focus more on the process of innovative change. It begins with one person and his or her actions to move the needle on a specific practice. As I always say, don't expect others to do what you have not or have been unwilling to do yourself. Now don't get me wrong, this is a fantastic and needed start. However, change in the context of an entire school, district, organization, or system relies on moving the masses so that all learners, staff, or stakeholders benefit. Herein lies both the challenge and the opportunity inherent in the process. In Digital Leadership (2nd Edition), I provided the following image that highlights six common stages that schools work through in order to successfully implement innovative change that impacts the entire culture.

Status Quo

The rationale that leads to both a conversation and a need for change begins here. It is here where the most dangerous phrase in education typically rears its ugly head – That's the way we have always done it (TTWWADI). What results is either a sense of comfort (i.e., high test scores) or fear (what if we try something different and it doesn't work). In both cases, the pursuit of innovative practices either stops or never even begins. Acknowledging that the status quo is holding your system back and that something has to be done differently to improve outcomes gets the ball rolling.

Struggle

News flash – many people don't like change as the status quo presents cover from failure. With any new idea or strategy, there will always be a sense of personal and collaborative struggle. It's the latter that the majority of our energy has to focus on. Moving towards systematic transformation requires an understanding that the journey is rarely easy and seamless. The struggle is also defined by what seems like never-ending challenges such as time, money, support, infrastructure, inadequate professional learning, mindset, and colleagues who fill either the role of antagonist or naysayer. The struggle is real people, and to scale change, you must be prepared upfront.

Dissonance

The stage is characterized by a lack of agreement typically defined by inconsistencies between the beliefs one holds or between one's actions and one's beliefs. Dwight Mihalicz provides this great synopsis on the importance of this stage.

Discord is all around us. And conflict in organizations is nothing new. Why is conflict so pervasive in most organizations, to the extent that some organizations are dysfunctional by any definition? And yet employees tolerate the conditions. This has to do with the concept of dissonance. Dissonance has less to do with conflict and more to do with understanding how and when conflict incites change, and what needs to take place for change to happen seamlessly. 

Dissonance only comes into play when the system breaks down unpredictably and doesn't work. In this state, people are no longer willing to put up with it because there is now unpredictability with results causing discomfort, prompting the desire to change.

The main takeaway here is to embrace dissonance and use it as the fuel for innovative ideas.

Innovative Idea(s)

The foundation is now set for the stage where an innovative idea or strategy can be discussed, implemented, sustained, and evaluated for success based on a tangible result. When developing or presenting an innovative idea, keep these questions in mind:

• Why will it improve what you or your learners do as well as the culture? 
• How do you (or will) know it has led to an improvement? 
• How do others determine if it has led to an improvement? 
• What is needed to scale the effort(s)? 

Assimilation

In this stage, the innovative idea becomes absorbed into the very fabric of a school or district's cultural DNA. It isn't about one educator, classroom, or isolated practice. The idea takes form and is both embraced and implemented at scale. The key point here is while it is great to experience success at the individual level, real change that impacts the majority is assimilated across all aspects of teaching, learning, and leadership.

New Status Quo

The final stage is what the end goal of any innovative change effort should be, and that is the creation of a new status quo. It is at this point where you can hear and see through multifaceted evidence that new and different has actually led to a better result. What this ultimately looks and feels like will vary from school to school or system to system, but the fact remains that the change effort has been embraced and sustained.   

Innovation is a collective endeavor geared at not only individual but, more importantly, system improvement.  Research can be used to inform and influence the process but does not need to drive it. What is important is to show how innovative practices can, and will, improve our work.  Evidence that illustrates efficacy helps move innovation from an isolated practice focusing on small pockets to scalable change that impacts an entire culture. Start small, but think and plan for big while referring to the stages presented above. 

Innovate with a purpose, but make sure the venture extends well beyond an individual level. In the end, it's not about how much you innovate in education, but the resulting impact of the changes on the collective. 

Great Leaders Embrace Multiple Styles

We have all heard the saying don’t put all your eggs in one basket. It represents a sound piece of advice for any leader, especially in the field of education.  The reason being is that a person in a position of power or influence should not concentrate all efforts in one area since initiating and sustaining change requires a dynamic mashup of strategies. The bottom line here is that if all of your resources and energy focus on just one thing, the chances of empowering the masses to embrace new ways of thinking or initiatives will be severely hampered.

As styles go, they are numerous, and in many cases, we, or others, often place us in one or another. This can be both good or bad, depending on perspective. Different people respond to different styles. What works for one might not for another and vice versa. Hence the imperative not to conform to one specific style. This is not to say that a leader can’t or shouldn’t excel in a particular style. However, a convergence of styles separates generalists from specialists when it comes to leadership. In terms of the successful implementation of innovative ideas, those who embrace a more general mindset get better results. Consider this perspective from Ideas for Leaders:

The core reason that generalists inspire and create greater innovation is their courage to make mistakes; this courage, in turn, is explained by the knowledge that they have skills that can be applied elsewhere. This is a major advantage for generalists. Innovation is risky. An additional factor contributing to the innovation success of generalists is that they have a perspective that allows them to look beyond assumptions and ‘think outside the box.’ As a result, the innovation they push is original and impactful.

Moving from Specialist to Generalist

Below are some common styles prevalent in leadership today.

Managerial

Whether we like it or not, management plays a pivotal role in leadership. Mark Miller provides this insight:

Great leaders ultimately must rely on a holistic approach to leadership—they must be both a visionary and a manager. They must know the strategy and the big-picture and know how to put it to work and ensure it gets done. They must inspire and connect to people individually. Great leaders are managers because they understand the specific ways that work needs to get done to be efficient and effective. Great managers are leaders because they take the tasks that need to get done and know how their talents fit and, more importantly, how to bring out the talents of others to gain even greater results.

Managing might not be flashy, but it certainly helps achieve results. Important aspects include establishing rules, meeting goals, having efficient operations, improving performance, setting priorities, and executing the strategic plan.  The truth is the best leaders and managers are interchangeable. Too often, however, people are one or the other. These leaders will miss vital tasks that ultimately drive team success.

Instructional

Successful schools and districts have leaders who prioritize instructional strategies that lead to improved learning outcomes. They possess keen insight and knowledge on both traditional and innovative pedagogical techniques that empower learners to think critically, construct new knowledge, and apply what has been learned in a variety of ways.  Instructional leaders roll up their sleeves and make the time to get into the trenches. Getting in classrooms and providing timely feedback to teachers is prioritized. Additionally, they engage in ongoing learning conversations with fellow administrators while seeking out the best professional development opportunities for staff.

Inspirational

Virtually everyone either wants or likes to work with a leader who inspires. These people not only help to establish a shared vision and plan for action but more importantly, they create an environment that motivates and empowers people to be their best.  Inspiring leaders take this a step further by demonstrating passion and commitment to the implementation of all aspects of the vision and resulting strategic plan for improvement. He or she talks the talk, walks the walk, and motivates everyone else to do the same. Eric Garton provides this take:

Inspiring leaders are those who use their unique combination of strengths to motivate individuals and teams to take on bold missions – and hold them accountable for results. And they unlock higher performance through empowerment, not command and control. Leaders who both inspire people and generate results find ways to constructively disrupt established behaviors to help employees break out of culture-weakening routines.

In the end, it is actions that ultimately inspire, not pie in the sky, and fluffy talk.

Transformational

Transformational leadership is based on a theory where a leader works with teams of educators to identify needed change, creating a vision to guide the change through innovative ideas, and executing the change in tandem with committed members of a school, district, or organization. It is a collaborative responsibility for taking action to reach future-oriented goals while meeting the intellectual, emotional, and physical needs of each student. Transformational leaders consistently make observations, listen intently, leverage a growth mindset, and, most importantly, take action to improve the organization.

Image credit

Great leaders don’t pigeonhole themselves into one specific style. They openly embrace the benefits and rewards of being a generalist through convergence. In the end, leadership is not about telling people what to do but instead taking them where they need to be. It is challenging to accomplish this goal if all of the eggs are placed in the same basket.

How to Improve Checks for Understanding

A great deal of time is spent developing and providing feedback on lessons with the goal being student learning. Regardless of the terminology that is used, virtually every plan follows a format to help achieve this outcome. As I have discussed previously, the anticipatory set at the beginning and closure at the end are critical strategies that can assist any teacher or administrator in determining the efficacy of a lesson. More importantly, both serve the needs of learners in terms of overreaching purpose. As much as these elements are critical to effective instructional design, what’s more vital are continuous checks to determine if students understand.

Image credit

Checking for understanding consists of specific points during the lesson or task when the teacher checks to see if the students understand the concept or steps and how to enact them to achieve the target. It clarifies the purpose of the learning, can be leveraged as a mechanism for feedback and can provide valuable information that can be used to modify the lesson. Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey offer the following thoughts on why this strategy is pivotal to lesson success:

Checking for understanding is an important step in the teaching and learning process. The background knowledge that students bring into the classroom influences how they understand the material you share and the lessons or learning opportunities you provide. Unless you check for understanding, it is difficult to know exactly what students are getting out of the lesson. In fact, checking for understanding is part of a formative assessment system in which teachers identify learning goals, provide students feedback, and then plan instruction based on students' errors and misconceptions. Hattie and Timperley (2007) identified these phases as feed-up, feedback, and feed-forward. Note that checking for understanding is an important link between feed-up and the feedback students receive as well as the future lessons teachers plan.

Why does checking for understanding matter so much? Consider this from Dylan William:

"Does the teacher find out whether students have understood something when they [students] are still in the class, when there is time to do something about it?" 

Now let's talk about some sound strategies. Formative assessment at the end of the lesson is a no-brainer. This can be incorporated as a part of a closure, monitoring during cooperative learning or individual work, independent practice (worksheet questions, problem-set, writing task), or through the use of technology. One of my favorite edtech tools to accomplish this, where higher levels of thinking can be measured, is Formative. While all of these are great options to determine whether or not learning has occurred by the end of a class, I want to focus on some simple and easy to implement ideas that can help check for understanding throughout a lesson.

Questions, questions, and more questions are a rule of thumb. Asking, working with, and answering questions is at the heart of facilitating learning. Learning must be an active process. Asking a question is an action. In my role as I coach, I almost always see teachers asking questions. The key here, though, is to make sure that they are focused not just on the recall of knowledge and facts, but whether kids genuinely understand the concept being addressed. 

Image credit

Posing verbal questions to students throughout a lesson goes without saying and should be done consistently. Some students will raise their hands while others will be randomly called upon. In other cases, a few might be selected to go to the board and solve problems while the others watch. However, how does one know if all the kids actually understand? Below are three easy to implement strategies to improve checks for understanding in ways that ensure all kids have the opportunity to respond to verbal questions:

• Provide each student with access to an individual dry-erase whiteboard to respond.
• Purchase desks or tables that have a dry-erase surface
• Use available technology. Some of my favorite tools include Pear Deck, Nearpod, and Padlet, where the teacher can see each individual student's response. They also cater to the answering or open-ended questions.  Then there are game-based options such as Kahoot, Quizizz, QuizWhizzer, and Gimkit. Other tools such as Menitmeter and AnswerGarden, allow for whole-class participation in a more informal manner. If there is not equitable access to technology, then Plickers is your best bet.  

The above strategies represent three practical options to improve checks for understanding that involve all learners. Therein lies the key point of this post. All means all. 

Insecure Leaders Point Blame Everywhere but Themselves

There are many opinions as to what constitutes effective leadership, something that I have written about extensively over the years. However, my perspective is just from one lens. I often pose a question on what is it that great leaders do in the workshops I facilitate, and many consistent characteristics emerge. Some of the top responses where there is consensus include communicate, listen, innovate, have a vision, risk-taking, and focus on relationships. It is tough to argue that any of these are not necessary when it comes to successfully implementing change. Success, however, lies in a leader's confidence and execution to move people where they need to be through empowerment.

Great leaders who empower those they work with are confident. Poor ones are insecure. Lolly Daskal wrote a fascinating article highlighting the characteristics that embody the insecure leader. She identified the following seven characteristics:

• Shying away from challenges
• Positioning yourself to look good
• Aversion to helping others grow
• Disrespect for others
• Being a know-it-all
• Staying behind a closed door
• Refusing to handle conflicts

After reading the article, I reflected on a story that an educator recently shared with me. The gist of it was about a statement that was made by his principal, where a shot was taken at the predecessor. During a meeting with the staff to open up the new school year a statement was made something to this effect (disclosure – I am not using the real name), "I am not going to throw many things up against the wall like Mr. Smith did and see what sticks." Not a very motivational way to open up the school year, in my opinion. What was more troubling was how the statement made the educator and his colleagues feel as the consensus was that the statement portrayed the principal's lack of ability to implement his own agenda. Comments like this that either place blame or undermine previous administrators bring to light leadership insecurities.

A confident leader would not have made a statement like that. The story above falls into the know-it-all and disrespect category. Here are som of Daskal's thoughts.

Insecure leaders are petrified of coming across as insignificant or incompetent, so they overcompensate by pretending they know it all. They rarely ask questions--and when they do, they almost never wait for the answer.

When you're insecure, you work hard to gain respect for yourself--sometimes even by belittling others to put yourself ahead. If you feel inadequate, disrespecting others can help elevate your own status. 

The bottom line here is that insecure leaders point blame everywhere but themselves. If change doesn't stick or is not embraced by staff, the insecure leader then passes the blame to others both internally and externally.  Needless to say, this is not healthy for school culture. How a leader deals with a lack of confidence speaks volumes about his or her ability to inspire, motivate, and empower staff as well as to lead sustainable change. There are practical ways to build confidence. The Vantage Consulting blog highlights the following dispositions that leaders should practice to accomplish a confidence boost:

• Courage
• Humility
• Teachableness
• Clarity
• Engaging conflict
• Being a facilitator of others' success 

When it is all said and done, the buck stops with the leader. Confident leaders help to build the confidence of the staff. When times get tough, it's easy to point the blame elsewhere. Real leaders own their culture, for better or for worse. If it is the latter, then they take the needed actions to get the ship right.

Don't Forget Closure

There are many pedagogical techniques that run the gambit when it comes to instruction and learning. In a previous post, I discussed the importance of opening lessons with a bang, using an anticipatory set. Whether you call it a set, hook, or bell ringer is not the issue. What is, though, is the value the strategy has as part of a comprehensive lesson. Here’s why:

The anticipatory set is used to prepare learners for the lesson or task by setting their minds for instruction or learning. This is achieved by asking a question, adding a relevant context, or making statements to pique interest, create mental images, review information, and initiate the learning process. A good do-now activity can accomplish this.

While the opening moments with students are crucial, so are the final minutes. Think about this for a second. What’s the point of an objective or learning target, whether stated, on the board, or students have the opportunity to later discover for themselves, if there is no opportunity at the end to determine if it was met or reflected upon? Closure matters, yet virtually every lesson I observe in schools across the country are missing the crucial component. Here’s why. Learning increases when lessons are concluded in a manner that helps students organize and remember the point of the lesson. Closure draws attention to the end of the lesson, helps students organize their learning, reinforces the significant aspects of the lesson, allows students to practice what is learned, and provides an opportunity for feedback, review, and reflective thinking.

Kathy Ganske provides this take.

As in a puzzle, an effective lesson has many pieces that must fit together. We typically give considerable thought to how we initiate lessons: activate or build background knowledge, teach essential vocabulary, engage learners, and set a purpose for the lesson. And we carefully select tasks or activities and texts for use during the lesson. But closure is often given short shrift or omitted entirely. We need to be sure we plan time to cycle back to the what, why, and how of students’ learning to help them actively synthesize the parts into a whole. Lesson closure provides space for students to digest and assimilate their learning and to realize why it all matters. Closure is a component of planning and teaching that we can't afford to leave out.

A Google search will turn up a slew of ideas on how to close lessons. I prefer to keep it simple. First, make sure it is planned for and that at least three to five minutes are set-aside at the end of every period or block. Second, consider the following questions that students should answer or reflect upon in relation to the objective or learning target.

• What exactly did I learn?
• Why did we learn this?
• How will I use what was learned today outside of school, and how does it connect to the real world?

Whether exit tickets, journals, whiteboards, or technology are used doesn’t really matter. What does is that closure is prioritized.

The Blueprint for a Great Story

Storytelling has quickly become a vital leadership tool in the digital age, something that I have written extensively about in Digital Leadership. Social media and a variety of other technologies allow for the mash-up of text, hyperlinks, audio, images, and video to craft compelling narratives that showcase all that is great in education. The tools we now have available allow for the creation of supercharged stories that can be shared with a vast audience near and far. For these reasons, it is crucial for educators to become the storyteller-in-chief to not only share but, more importantly, to celebrate the work that is done in schools across the globe.

So, what makes a great story? There are many pieces of advice out there that one can peruse through a Google search. However, I believe the image below captures the essence of what not only makes a good story but one that also effectively conveys a powerful message that caters to your stakeholders or a specific group you are targeting.

Image Credit

Let’s take a look at each of these elements that together create a blueprint for a great story.

Audience

It is essential to know for whom you are writing. Depending on your position, this will vary, of course. I like this point from Crystaline Randazzo:

But the truth is you have to give people the kind of content they want in order to keep their attention. And in order to give them what they want, you need to get to know them better. Once you start giving your target audience content they want, they are more inclined to engage with your other content.

Knowing what your audience cares about or is interested in is key, but it is equally as important to listen and understand what they want to hear and how they want to engage in the story. The act of listening will allow you to create a message that has more meaning. Consider their goals and priorities, not just yours. Doing some research on who you are trying to reach and why will also go a long way to crafting an impactful story.

Subtlety 

How you tell a story will make or break it. No one likes bragging — even those who humblebrag stick out like a sore thumb. The key to a great story in education is to make sure the message resonates in a way that doesn’t turn the audience off. To avoid this, make sure you follow the golden rule, which is “show, not tell” from multiple perspectives. Subtleness creates the conditions for more two-way dialogue

Inspiration

It goes without saying that for a story to be remembered and have an impact, it should be inspirational. Tapping into emotions is part art and part science that dramatically impacts not only a connection to the message but also more of a willingness to share it. An article in Scientific American sums it up nicely:

Stories stimulating positive emotions are more widely shared than those eliciting negative feelings, and content that produces greater emotional arousal (making your heart race) is more likely to go viral. This means that content that makes readers or viewers feel a positive emotion like awe or wonder is more likely to take off online than content that makes people feel sad or angry.

Truth

It is easy in today’s digital world to vet anything, including the content, ideas, points, and strategies inherent in any story. Honesty is a virtue, and a lack thereof will discredit both the message and the person conveying it. In other cases, many stories in education just share a positive outcome or point. While this definitely caters to a particular audience, being truthful about the journey and the challenges that are overcome along the will only strengthen the narrative. Substance and results matter in education, and stories should convey as such. 

Promise

In BrandED, we discuss the importance of delivering on a promise to those we serve, most notably our learners. We define this as a compelling core connection to the value educators, school, or district guarantees to their community.  It’s about benefits, not features, that have a unique value and that work to develop pivotal connections with your target audience. So, what does this really mean? Below is an excellent synopsis from Emotive Brand that I have edited slightly:

A contemporary promise articulates an idea that goes beyond the rational benefits that worked in the past and extols a higher-order emotional reward. It’s not a slogan, logo, or headline. It is not, by definition, a public statement (though it can be as long as you and the work truly live up to it). Indeed, its uniqueness and differentiating power comes not from what it says, but how it transforms the way you or your school creates strong and meaningful connections with people.

What the above statement conveys is the blueprint of a great story and how the promise establishes and sustains relationships. The best way to integrate this is to dive into your vision and think about how you can combine mission, goals, personality, values, and results in a deliverable story for stakeholders. 

As you begin to embrace or improve in your role as storyteller-in-chief, I hope this blueprint helps. In the words of the America Press Institute:

A good story is about something the audience decides is interesting or important. A great story often does both by using storytelling to make important news, information, ideas, and events interesting. A good story, however, does more than inform or amplify. It adds value to the topic.

You build relationships by making good stories great. 

Where is Your Learning Culture?

There are many factors that inhibit change. In some cases, comfort is the enemy of growth. We teach the way we were taught or lead the way we were led. Now I am not saying that this is bad per se, but the bottom line is whether or not the practice is effective. The same could be said for the status quo. Doing what we have always done might seem like a sound path forward if the results you are judged on are good or increasing. Herein lies one of the most prominent challenges schools and educators face, and that is perceived success based on traditional metrics and methodologies. 

Achievement is great, but it is one piece of the puzzle. How the structure and function of a learning culture lead to improvements in achievement and outcomes is where change efforts should be focused. This leads to the point of my post. Where is your learning culture? Think about this question in the context of the world where your learners will need to thrive and survive. Will they have not just the skills, but the competencies to succeed in a world that is in constant flux? 

New jobs and fields require learners to be both dynamic thinkers and doers where they have the competence to think in complex ways and to readily apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired. Even when confronted with perplexing unknowns, learners can use extensive experience and expertise to create solutions and take action that further develops their skills and knowledge. As I have written in the past, we are well into the 4th Industrial Revolution characterized by automation, advanced robotics, artificial intelligence, and disruptive innovation. Seismic shifts in the society and the world of work compel us to take a critical lens to our practice, as improvement is a never-ending endeavor.

So how do we begin to transform culture? The journey starts with being honest about where you are in order to chart a path forward to get to the place you want to be. Reflection is a powerful tool for growth. Take a look at the image below and reflect on it for a minute or two.

Image credit: Awaken Group Revolutions

Where does the culture of your school fit into these categories, and why? Think about what needs to happen to make needed shifts to practice that aligns with the 4th Industrial Revolution. Success, in terms of achievement only, can, at times, be a mirage. A learning culture should best prepare kids to meet the demands inherent in the new world of work. The first leg of the process is being honest about where you are.