Simple vs Easy-Not Necessarily the Same

Simple:  easy to understand, deal with, use, etc.:  

Easy: not hard or difficult; requiring no great labor or effort; free from pain, discomfort, worry, or care

Simple and easy are two words that are used interchangeably.  They are not the same.  It is often possible for something to be simple, but not easy.  For example, it's simple to dig a six foot hole with a shovel.  Just push the shovel in the ground, remove the dirt, and repeat.  It's not easy, though.  Give it a try if you don't believe me.  Getting into shape is simple.  Basically, it requires eating the right foods and getting sufficient exercise.  But, again, it is not easy.  It requires knowledge, drive, and often a lifestyle change to accomplish. 

In education, much of what we do is simple.  For example, teaching, at its core, is a fairly simple process.  Determine what students need to learn and why.  Develop lesson plans. Teach.  Let students practice the new learning. Assess.  Reteach if necessary.  Yet, while the basic process is simple, it is not easy. Besides having the content knowledge and planning the lesson out in detail, the effective teacher must also know their students well enough to make the lesson connect with them.  Activities must be differentiated for the various levels of students in the room. Classroom management strategies must be employed when necessary. They must be prepared for potential problems and concerns and be able to make multiple minute adjustments throughout the lesson cycle.  These examples just touch the surface of all that goes into a great lesson.  Simple. In many ways, yes.  But, definitely not easy.

Detours

Sometimes, the detours off the planned routes in life lead to the best destinations.

I was thinking this week about high school back in the early 80's.  It was my senior year. I was on the academic track and enrolled in upper level courses including Chemistry 2, Physics, and Calculus.  It became apparent around October that Calculus was not working out.  I was failing and the material just didn't make sense.  After counseling with my parents and the teacher, we decided it was best that I finish the semester and then find another course.  I was devastated.  Here I was, on track to graduate with honors and I needed higher level classes to get me there.  (By the way, I barely missed honors status, probably due to that Calculus course).

So, after dropping Calculus at the semester (which I passed by a hair, I'm proud to say), I was stuck with what to take.  My teacher recommended a computer programming course, but I chose Basics of Typing instead.  Looking back, this may have been the most beneficial choice of my entire high school career.  I can't tell you the last time I used Calculus.  I can tell you that I type almost every day.  It is a foundational skill required in almost everything I do.   And, since developing a repetitive motion disorder that affects the legibility of my writing, it is about the only way I can effectively communicate on paper.

If someone would have told me thirty-one years ago that this one choice would affect my everyday life as it has, I would have laughed.  Yet, sometimes, it is the little detours off the planned route that have the greatest impact on our lives.

A Twist on Lesson Planning

Lesson plans are a foundational tool for classroom instruction and a road map for where the lesson is going. Without a plan, developing a strong, cohesive lesson is difficult if not impossible. With over 15 years of classroom experience, I've seen a number of different lesson planning methods.  Very few of these involved collaboration, with most either created by a department chair or done in isolation by the teacher.  

Earlier this summer, my principal came back from a workshop with a new lesson planning strategy.  In the past, the department chair had written lesson plans. These were then followed by the respective grade level teachers.  It put a lot of pressure on the chair, but very little on the teachers.  Under our new lesson planning strategy, we are sharing the wealth and the struggle. 

Below is a simple outline of the strategy:

1) Lesson planning duties for the week are divided into 6 categories

     a)  Standards explanation for each subject (in kid friendly terms            and integrated as often as possible)

     b) Small group instruction resources (including spiraled review)

     c)  Vocabulary terms and strategies 

     d)  Hands-on Engagement activities

     e)  Higher order thinking questions

     f)  Formative and summative assessment strategies

2) Each group member is responsible for a separate category each week.  Their work is posted to a Dropbox folder.  

3)  During grade level meetings, each teacher presents their piece to the group, allowing for questions and discussion. 

4)  Using teaching manuals, post-its, tablets, etc., members take notes during the meeting to help them write their day-to-day lesson plans.  

5)  At the close of the meeting, responsibilities for the following week are given out. 

6) Back in class, teachers write individual lesson plans using the resources that have been placed in the Dropbox. They can modify and enrich the material to fit the specific needs of their group in order to differentiate instruction.

Since it is only two weeks into the school year, it is difficult to determine how well this method is working.  However, I've noticed some interesting features of the meetings. First, teachers have admitted to being challenged by this new format.  The rest of the group has encouraged and accepted their efforts.  Second, teachers have had meaningful dialogue about both the content and effective teaching strategies. Third, leaders are beginning to emerge from within the teams. Finally, teachers are holding each other accountable for getting their piece of the task complete.  

While the implied purpose of this process is to help teachers develop stronger, more cohesive lessons, I expect some longer term results as well.  I expect teachers to begin discussing what has worked, and what hasn't, and for this to lead to more effective lesson delivery.  As teachers continually rotate through different assignments, I expect them to grow in their ability to connect each part of the lesson to the standards.  Ultimately, I expect true professional learning communities (PLCs) to develop that will impact instructional practice across the campus.  It has been said that the "experts" are already in the building.  As a campus, we are putting this into practice as we implement this new lesson planning strategy.  

More to come as the year progresses.  

Excuses (or making soup)

A man went to his neighbor to enquire about borrowing a tool and was told he couldn't use it. When the man asked why, the neighbor told him, "I'm making soup."  "What does making soup have to do with my borrowing a tool?" the man asked. "When it comes to excuses," the neighbor replied, "one is as good any."  

As educators, we have to be wary about making excuses, especially regarding student achievement. While there are multiple reasons why students do poorly, many of which are out of our control, we can't afford to use these as excuses.  Instead, we need to focus on those factors that we can control.  

In a recent conversation with a teacher, we were discussing what can be done to increase student success.  The point kept arising, "But these kids come to us...." (fill in the blank) and "But, we have to ....." (fill in the blank). The blanks include hungry and tired, little parental support, raising themselves, three grades behind, lacking social skills, give too many tests, complete too much paperwork, etc.  Sadly, we have no control over most of these "but" factors.  They are issues that are out of our hands.  We can't ignore them, but we also can't afford to use them as excuses.  

Instead, we need to focus on improving and changing what is within our control.  We don't have much control over what happens outside the school or what mandates come from the state, "but" we do have control over what occurs within the classroom and the school.  For example, if students are hungry, feed them.  If they are behind, identify gaps and find creative ways to fill them.  If they have few social skills, teach them and give opportunity to practice.  Create a classroom and school culture that shouts, "This is a safe place to learn."  Teach engaging lessons. Give students opportunity to serve and lead.  Develop positive relationships with students and parents. Differentiate.  Work together with and learn from other educators.  Act as a parent, if necessary. The list goes on and on. 

 In Alcoholics Anonymous, they start each meeting with the Serenity Prayer: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference."  It might serve us well to adopt this prayer as we seek to serve students amidst so many issues that are beyond our control.  

I'm as guilty as any of making excuses.  It is the path of least resistance.  However, as educators, when we make excuses, we disempower ourselves and do a disservice to our students. Instead of excuses, we need to recognize the factors that are within our control and focus on doing these to the best of our ability and in a way that will be in the best interest of students. No more making soup.  

Getting Things Done

"Procrastination is attitude's natural assassin. There's nothing so fatiguing as an uncompleted task." - William James

I don't know about you, but I tend to be a natural procrastinator.  Thankfully, I've gotten better over the last few years, but summer seems to bring the procrastination monster back to rear it's ugly head.  In this post, I plan on covering a few strategies I've learned for fighting procrastination and getting more done. 

1) Eat that frog!*  - "If the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning is eat a live frog, then nothing worse can happen for the rest of the day." - Mark Twain.  Basically, "eat that frog" means tackle the most important or difficult task of the day first thing in the morning. Get it out of the way.  If you do this, you build momentum and everything else seems simple. You will tend to be more energetic and focused on your other tasks. If you don't, then this most difficult task will lie just beneath the surface, haunting you and draining your energy as you work on less important items. 

* Brian Tracy wrote a book by the same title.  Great read!

2) Prioritize - How do you know what is the most important task of the day? My system is simple. At the end of each day, I make a list of the things that I need to accomplish and transfer it to a notecard (So 20th century, right?).  I then number each task in order of importance.  At the start of each day, I work on task number 1 until I get it done.  Then, I move on to task number 2, and so on. At the end of the day, I rewrite the list and change/add items as necessary.  It is said that you should make the list right before bed so your brain will work on it as you sleep.  Don't know if that's true, but doing it the night before saves time in the morning.  (I have to add a disclaimer to this one: As a school administrator, there are so many distractions during the course of the day, it is often to hard to focus on one thing for an extended time.  In this case, either find a time to close your door and remain undisturbed except for emergencies or discipline yourself to return to the list immediately after dealing with other situations.)

3) Use five minutes wisely - This has been one of the greatest tools I have found to help get things accomplished. Distractions are common in education. There can be a lot of waiting for students, teachers, parents, etc.  I try to use the intervals while I'm waiting to complete productive tasks. For example, while waiting for a student to arrive in my office, I will spend a few minutes working on one of the tasks on my list. When I was teaching, I would grade papers at odd times, such as while waiting for my car to get fixed. I might not get a lot accomplished in these short intervals, but by the end of the day, each of these short intervals will have added up.

4) Piggyback (success begets success) - Sometimes, it is possible to get bogged down in a task and feel like nothing is being accomplished.  This often happens when I am working on new projects that require creative thinking.  When I get bogged down, instead of trying to plow through, I'll stop and do something I know I can be successful at. For example, at home, I may mow the lawn.  This is simple enough and it allows my mind to think more clearly.  At work, I may do a few walk throughs.  This gets me out of the office and also lets me see good things happening in the building.  With a success under my belt, I can return to the initial task with renewed vigor. 

5) Calendar/timer - "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." -Parkinson's Law.  Writing things on a daily calendar has a magical quality about it. For some reason, putting things on a calendar and setting a specific time frame to work on them helps with focus.  I will also set a timer for the amount of time to work on one task.  In this way, I know that during this one specific time, I will focus on this one task and, when the timer goes off, I can move to something else.  Often, I will finish during the allotted time.  

  

6) Get up early - I've found I can accomplish more between five and seven AM than during the rest of the day combined.  Part of this is because I'm fresh and part is because of the lack of distractions.  It takes some discipline (and summer has not helped), but the reward is worth it.  

These are just a few of the strategies I've used to beat procrastination and accomplish more.  Please feel free to add others that have worked for you.

What are you reading?

We've all heard the adage, "Readers are leaders."  While I agree with this in principle, I know it is not always true.  Many avid readers are not necessarily leaders. However, I have found very few strong leaders, especially in education, who are not readers.  So, I would propose changing this to: "Leaders are readers."

With that in mind, I'm always looking to see what other leaders are reading.  So, what are YOU reading?  Please add your list to the comments and let's share the knowledge.

Below is I'm currently reading and why.  

Books

1) What Great Principals Do Differently - Todd Whitaker (@toddwhitaker)  

    I bought this book at the TASSP conference and started it that evening.  Right now, I'm about halfway through.  I also got the opportunity to hear Todd Whitaker speak on Thursday.  As a new administrator, I look forward to gain wisdom from those who've been there already.  Who better than Todd Whitaker to learn from.

2) Dealing with Difficult Teachers - Todd Whitaker.

    This was Todd Whitaker's first book and, while it is several years old, it contains great strategies for dealing with those difficult members of the school staff.  Learning lots to apply in Year 2 of my admin journey.

3) The Fundamental Five - Sean Cain (@lysnation) and Mike Laird.

    As a campus, we are implementing the Fundamental Five next year so I am rereading it in preparation for leading this initiative.










4) Wonder - R. J. Palacio

       This is a YA fiction book I'm reading because I was asked to facilitate a kids book club this summer at our public library.  Wonder(ful) read that can help kids realize the importance of judging someone from the heart rather than the outside appearance. Looking forward to discussing with the group.

Periodicals

1) Educational Leadership

      This is the journal of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (@ASCD).  A must read for any educator, whether supervisor or not. The last issue was on Professional Learning Revisited.  Loved the article about edcamps. 

Twitter/Zite/Paper.li/blogs

 1) Twitter - I am on Twitter probably more than I need to be.  I regularly following links shared by others and grow professionally because of this practice. I also share links with others as I seek to add to the professional community.

2) Zite is an app that creates a personalized online journal for its users. I regularly skim through my Zite pages to gather useful articles, blogs posts, etc which I then either post on Twitter or save to Pocket.

3) paper.li is site the allows you to create an online newspaper based on your areas of interest.  The only real work involved is in setting it up. After that, it populates itself every 24 hours. Others can also subscribe to your paper.  My paper.li page is called "Mr. Q's Daily News."  Every day, I look forward to the new learning I gain from the multiple education, tech, and leadership articles I find there.  You can also follow other people paper.li creations
. 

4) Blogs - I love to read blogs for the variety of ideas that are presented.  A great place to find educational blogs is cybraryman.com by Jerry Blumengarten (@cybraryman).  

That's my list.  It may look like a lot, but since I do most of my reading in the morning before work and at night before retiring, it doesn't take too much time.  My goal is a chapter a day, plus at least three articles/blogs.

So, once again, what are YOU reading?  I look forward to seeing your list in the comments below.  

A Gentle Answer

"A gentle answer turns away wrath,
But a harsh word stirs up anger."  Proverbs 15:1 (The Bible)

Communication matters.  The words you use, your tone of voice, even your posture makes a difference in how the message is received.  When someone comes to you agitated or angry, it is possible to alleviate that anger by speaking respectfully to the person and listening to their response.  King Solomon put it this way, "A gentle answer turns away wrath." 

Every day, I have children and adults come into my office angry or agitated.  I have a choice in this situation.  I can join in their anger and lash out at them or I can choose to listen and then answer them calmly and respectfully. This doesn't mean that I agree with them or that I'm not going to honor their requests.  It also doesn't mean that I'm going to withhold disciplinary action.  It does mean that I am going to answer them with dignity and respect.  In doing so, there is a greater chance that the person will leave my office calmer than when they entered, even if they did not get what they wanted.  

The flip side of this is also true.  It is possible to throw fuel on the fires of anger by our response.  If someone is angry and we respond in kind, it only exacerbates the situation.  Both parties end up in worse shape than when the situation started.  This afternoon, I watched from a distance as an adult, already agitated, was reprimanding a child about their behavior.  The child stood there angrily and then went and sat down.  A few moments later, the same adult approached this child again, stirring up an already tense situation.  In the end, both of them were angry, neither got what they wanted, and I had to step in to try and calm things down. 

I'm not proud of this, but I have been guilty of using harsh words in many situations.  In fact, this seems to be the path of least resistance.  Answering gently, on the other hand, takes practice and a concerted effort.

As educators, we have to remember that we work with children, most of whom still do not have full control of their emotions.  We also have to remember that we are the adults.  These children are looking to us to teach them how to act and respond in various situations.  Some may not have positive role models at home to give them this guidance.  The way we talk to others, both children and adults, is leaving an impression.  We get to choose whether we will use a gentle answer to help calm a tense situation or a harsh word to make it even worse.  Which choice will you make?

Please see Gentle vs Harsh a ShowMe lesson I created on this concept.  Please forgive the simplicity.  It is my first effort on ShowMe.