Going Back to Work

     Going back to work... There's more here than meets the eye. First, the new school year starts for me in two days, so I will be going back to work in the most traditional and obvious sense very soon. Second, I have taken a hiatus from posting here for some time but I will be returning the blog to record, reflect and share ideas, so this will be a different kind of work for me. Third, I have committed to take better care of me physically, emotionally and intellectually than ever before, and that is yet another kind of work.
     Allow me to make a confession. I love summertime as much as anyone else in education and I often find myself clinging to the last days of July, wishing they would pass by just a little more slowly. Don't get me wrong. I love being a high school principal and that's what I am meant to be doing right now. It's a tough job, though, and a job that requires a great deal of emotional and physical energy. Summer provides me the time I need to recharge to get ready to hit the ground running when the new school year arrives so I covet my summer days and nights. As I mentioned, my summer ends shortly and that time for me will be here in less than 48 hours. Gasp!
     Every year, though, something interesting happens a few days before I return to school, and it happened again this weekend. I woke up this morning completely energized and entirely ready for the year. Just like that, I'm recharged and ready again. Well, sort of... In truth, I never fully disconnect from the previous year and I never really keep the upcoming year at arm's length. While I don't spend hours during any given summer day reflecting or thinking ahead, I do spend mental energy doing both at least a few minutes each day. I read books, articles, blogs, tweets and more. I jot down ideas for calendar items, themes for the year, points of emphasis for the year, and topics for assemblies, faculty meetings, new-teacher in-service and more as they come to me, but I often don't dwell on them. Instead, I let these ideas swirl around, largely unsupervised, in my mind all summer and then - I promise it happens every year - I wake up one morning and I have concrete ideas and energy to spare. That morning was this morning, and I've spent a significant amount of time today thinking and preparing mentally for this week, the following week, the week the kids return and beyond. Let the record show that I am ready to go back to work.
     At least one of you has noticed (you know who you are and you may indeed be the last of your kind) that I have not posted here for quite a while. Most of the mental energy it takes to write has been devoted to a creative writing project. I won't bore you with the details here right now, but it has taken much of my spare time and creative energies. I'm only a fraction of the way through it, so don't expect any announcements any time soon. Nevertheless, I have been thinking for a few months now that returning to my blog might be a good idea. I think it will be healthy for me. I like (read need) to hash out ideas in writing and I certainly will be exploring new ideas and new perspectives in my professional life in the coming weeks, months and years. Additionally, my hope is that some of the things I share here will be helpful to you, too. My goal will be to blog and continue writing creatively, and that's going to require a lot of energy. Let the record show that I am ready to go back to work.
     As I wrap up a successful tenure at one school and begin a new chapter in my life at another school, I already know that the new job will require me to be at the top of my game. To prepare for that challenge, I have worked hard this summer (and the past several months, actually) to make sure that I am in the best shape possible physically, mentally and intellectually. I have devoted serious time and energy to taking care of my body, my mind and my soul recently. I can say without hesitation that I am in the best overall shape I can remember. In fact, I'm pretty sure my overall health right now is better than it ever has been. I am not finished, though. My commitment is to continue to improve. Why now? I know I have a responsibility to my new team, my new kids, and my new community, while I still have an ongoing responsibility to myself, my family and my friends. This is going to take a lot of effort. Let the record show, however, that I am ready to go back to work.
     I realize this post borders on reflective rambling so I am thankful you are still reading. The next post, though, will be substantive and will touch on each of these aforementioned ideas as I talk more about my new position, the new challenges it will present me, and - most importantly - how this new chapter will require a new improved version of me. I hope you will follow along as I share this and many other reflections and ideas, some of which I've been considering for quite a while and some of which I am sure will surprise me along the way.

The No Complaining Rule: A Great Principle for a School Setting

I recently read a great little book called The No Complaining Rule by Jon Gordon. Gordon's book is written as a parable of sorts much like another of my favorites, The Ice Cream Maker by Subir Chowdhury.

The premise of the book, as you can guess from the title and the info on the cover, is that complaining in the workplace can lead to negativity in the workplace. Gordon offers a number of strategies for dealing with complainers and complaining. The genius of the book for me lies with two crucial strategies, one of which we've all heard before and one I haven't heard:

First, one should not register a complaint without offering a solution to the problem. This strategy helps prevent mindless complaining. After all, mindless complaining is what leads to negativity. No surprise here. Many of us surely have heard this advice.

Second, and perhaps most important, one should register a complaint only with someone who is in a position to solve the problem. Simple and brilliant. Why didn't someone else articulate this sooner?

For those of us in education, if teachers followed these two simple rules, mindless griping and complaining would cease because teachers would approach only department chairs and administration with complaints and with solutions for the problem(s). The same applies for administration. Administrators should be bound by this rule as well so as to reduce negativity and foster problem-solving at every level.

For those interested in implementing the principles found in The No Complaining Rule, Gordon offers No Complaining Rule Tools including free downloadable posters for the workplace and other printable resources.

If there are complainers in your school, and I'd bet my curriculum budget that there are, you should take a look at this book. It's a quick and easy read with profound advice and simple strategies for reducing negativity in your school or office. If you don't read this book, don't complain to me about negativity in your school.

Getting the Job Description Right When Creating a Position

This is the time of year when educational leaders look ahead to the next school year to determine whose contracts need to be renewed or non-renewed, which personnel need to be reassigned and which positions need to be cut altogether. Often there are needs that need to be met in a school and, for whatever reason, there is no faculty or staff person currently in place to meet those needs. In such a situation, a position may need to be created so someone can be hired to meet those needs.

When creating a position, several steps need to be taken to help ensure the success of the person selected to fill the position. First, a position should be created only if there is a need that needs to be met and if that need cannot be met efficiently by another member of the team. The void created by the lack of the position should be well-documented.

Second, a thorough and detailed job description must be created and the job description must outline several things. The job description should include the job title and should outline a general explanation of the position, basic job functions as well as detailed job functions; it also should delineate clearly where in the chain of command the new position falls. The basic and detailed job functions should match up with the documented, un-met needs of the school or organization.

Perhaps the most important part of creating a new position and a quality job description for that position is this: Create a job description based on needs that must be met and not based on the skill set of a person that needs a job or needs to be reassigned. In other words, a school or organization may very well get itself into trouble by creating a job description to match a person rather than creating a job description for a position that will make the organization better and more efficient. If you're asking the question Can we create a position and job description to match his or her skill set? then you may be setting yourself and the organization up for disappointment.

What We Learned from Annette Breaux 4.0

This is the fourth and final post in a series of reflections on our visit with Annette Breaux.

As I boarded an airplane this morning for a curriculum mapping conference led by Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs, I made sure to notice the affect and mood of the pilot. Much to my relief, the pilot smiled and seemed to be having a good day. As I buckled my seat belt and checked to be sure my seat back and tray table were in the upright-and-locked position, I thought about something Annette Breaux said to us. Annette compared teachers before class to pilots before flights. Their moods can determine how the rest of the day will go for the people under their care and protection. Who wants to hear a pilot moan and groan and talk about how bad he feels and how rotten his life is? Who wants to hear that from a teacher? Even if the pilot is having a rough go of it, I want him to fake it, smile at me and say "Welcome aboard!" As a student, I'd feel the same way about my teacher.

I am quite sure teachers feel the same way about administrators. Just as a plane full of people will feel uncomfortable with a gloom-and-doom pilot, a building full of teachers will feel uncomfortable with a moody, negative administrator. The mood of an administrator can energize or zap the morale of a faculty just like a pilot might if he complained to passengers as they boarded a plane.

Thanks, Annette, for the analogy and thanks for the great advice you passed along during your visit with us earlier this month.

What We Learned from Annette Breaux 3.0

This is the third post in a series of reflections on our visit with Annette Breaux.

Annette Breaux stressed the importance of attitude for teachers. Most teachers, thankfully, are happy to see kids every day. As a result, teachers generally smile and act happy to see their students each day or each period. However, as Annette pointed out, teachers have lives outside of school and with those lives come trials, difficulties, sleepless nights and the like. Teachers' attitudes before, during and after class affect students either positively or negatively. Teachers must not allow their personal lives and their difficulties at home to affect their students in a negative way. Therefore, Annette argued, teachers should fake it when necessary. On the days when teachers are tired, distracted, not fired up to be at school, they should smile and pretend to be happy to the best of their abilities. Obviously, teachers can't fake a state of mind indefinitely and that isn't what Annette Breaux meant. What she meant was teachers should smile and act happy so as not to adversely affect their students rather than pouting and complaining. Students are sharp and they'll pick up on negative vibes from teachers. Teachers must be cognisant of this fact. Besides, Annette posited, it's hard to be angry or irritated while smiling; smile, smile, smile.

This advice, in my opinion, is doubly important for administrators. This has been a week of weeks and, frankly, I'm exhausted. However, I can't let my students or my teachers know when I'm tired or when I need a break. As an administrator, I never know when a student, a parent or a teacher needs to confide in me, seek advice, find strength in my leadership or use my shoulder to lean or cry upon. Therefore, I can't afford to be tired or moody at school. I can't let my guard down for a minute. My fatigue or mood could affect a teacher who, in turn might affect a student. My fatigue or mood could affect a student who, in turn, might give a teacher a hard time. If the administrator can't be free of mood swings and signs of fatigue at school, how can the teachers be expected to keep personal and professional feelings separate.

My challenge to educational leaders is this: take Annette Breaux's advice (Fake it!) for teachers and apply it to your own life. Don't allow your fatigue or your issues outside of school to affect those around you. The ripple effect of a moody, grumpy or edgy administrator can have significant influence on campus. When you feel like you're not going to make it, fake it! Smile, smile, smile.

What We Learned from Annette Breaux 2.0

This is the second post in a series of reflections on our visit with Annette Breaux.

One of the most poignant things Annette discussed was the tendency to play the blame game regarding students. Using a very clever series of illustrations, Annette showed a high school discussing a student who lacks skills to be successful in high school. The high school blames the middle school. The middle school then blames the elementary school. The elementary school blames the kindergarten and pre-k. They, in turn blame the parents. You get the idea. I'd be willing to bet you have heard a conversation like this in your office, in your workroom, etc.

Quite often validity can be found in such statements. When we find ourselves with a student or students like the one mentioned above, seeking the root of the cause of the deficiencies can be a legitimate and productive endeavor. However, expending great amounts of energy placing blame almost certainly will not be the most productive use of resources. We must remember not to lose the student in the search for why the student is deficient.

When it comes to the student, I have always believed and Annette argued, we must meet the student where he/she is and move forward from there. At whatever level of skill we find a student upon receiving them at our school or in our division, we must assess their skill level and work to move forward. For example, if we inherit an entire class section of Algebra I students who seem to lack basic math skills, we can spend only so much time trying to pinpoint where the students got off-track. What we need to do with this class section is move them forward as much as possible and at a realistic pace from whatever level at which we find them. We can't thrust upon them coursework with which they'll be unsuccessful because we don't have the patience to bring them up to speed. The inherent danger, and indeed the challenge, with such an approach lies with our ability to move them ahead to a level of readiness and preparedness at which they will be successful in the next course in the sequence (Algebra II builds on Algebra I, Spanish II builds on Spanish I, etc.).

This philosophical approach to dealing with kids behind the curve applies to teachers and educational leaders alike. Teachers must move beyond, or get over, the fact the kids are behind schedule and get down to the business of teaching them and moving them forward. Administrators have more of a responsibility to seek out possible causes for any deficiencies than do teachers. However, administrators must keep in focus the question that should drive student-related decisions: what's best for kids? What is best for kids is for teachers and administrators to meet kids where they are and help them move ahead, to progress, to grow academically.

The Importance of Getting Back in the Classroom

I vividly remember sitting through education classes in college wondering how long it had been since my professors had been in a real classroom (with kids, not college students) teaching real lessons. For me, there existed a disconnect between the professors and me because I knew they were teaching me practices they had used decades ago and hadn't used since. Even as an undergrad I recognized the importance of educational leaders being in the classroom not just for observation but to stay sharp, current and credible.

After teaching for nine years, I became an administrator but I remained in the classroom part time. Once I moved out of the part-time-teacher-and-part-time-administrator role and into the role of full time administrator, I missed the classroom and I missed instruction. The desire to get back in the classroom as a teacher and not just as an observer remains strong today. I'll be making my first foray back into the classroom (for this school year) this week and I'm looking forward to it.

I believe the next generation of educational leaders must never forget the classrooms from which they came and I believe those in non-teaching leadership positions should make an effort to get back into the classroom as often as possible. Educational leaders teaching in classrooms create win-win-win situations for the kids, for the classroom teachers and for themselves.

First, kids are fascinated when the principal, dean or head of school steps into the classroom and teaches. Kids often have no idea that the best administrators once were classroom teachers in a former life. Regardless of the subject, teaching classes allows educational leaders to be seen by students as an expert in a content area, to earn a new level of respect and admiration with the kids and to relate to kids in a new way and in a new setting. It is not uncommon for students to request return visits from administrators who do guest lectures because the students are so intrigued and, therefore, engaged.

Second, teachers can identify with teachers. It is extremely difficult to follow an educational leader if that leader cannot be visualized by teachers as an excellent teacher earlier in his or her educational career. Teaching in the classroom gives educational leaders a chance to earn some credit with teachers. Furthermore, teaching in the classroom gives educational leaders the opportunity to model best practices in the classroom for young, inexperienced or struggling teachers. It's one thing to sit behind a desk and talk about pedagogy but it's quite another to get in the classroom and model pedagogy and classroom management.

Third, non-teaching educational leaders need to get back in the classroom to teach in order to be reminded of what their faculty see and do on a daily basis. Educational leaders need to see firsthand how kids have changed since they, the leaders, left the classroom years ago. Educational leaders need to experience the challenges of reaching today's digital natives who simply are wired differently than kids even ten or fifteen years ago. Educational leaders need to teach so they don't lose sight of what they should be empowering teachers to do day in and day out. Furthermore, teaching in the classroom requires the non-teaching educational leader to brush up on content he or she probably hasn't studied in years. Everyone could use a refresher once in a while.

For those administrators who are bold, daring and willing to get outside their comfort zones, I recommend teaching not only in your content area but also in classrooms outside your content area. Last year, I taught several times in my colleague's AP European History class. What a great experience for me! That was a logical choice for me because of my background in European history. However, because I have a passion for photography, I taught an AP Physics class about light and lenses last year, too. We even created a camera obscura with the class.

I challenge all educational leaders who are no longer teaching to get back in the classroom and teach ASAP.

The Importance of a Job Description

In the world of education, as in the business world, administrators must assess the needs of the organization and make decisions about how best to meet those needs. Many times, administrators with vision meet organizational needs by creating new positions and by hiring new personnel. Perhaps an HR position needs to be created to manage the increasing number of employees, employee needs and future hires. Perhaps an Academic Dean must be hired to vertically align curriculum and begin the process of teaching across the curriculum. There exist countless needs waiting to be met in many schools and districts. Visionary leaders and administrators can meet those needs by creating new positions or by shuffling responsibilities so needs are met by current employees.

As John Maxwell points out in his book The Difference Maker, change must be managed. It is one thing to make a change but, to be effective, leaders and administrators must manage the change they institute. One of the simplest ways to manage the change of creating a new position or of shuffling responsibilities assigned to current positions within an organization is to create detailed job descriptions for new and for redefined positions.

A Venn diagram perfectly illustrates the need for accurate job descriptions for new and altered positions. Let the circle on the left represent a position that has existed in the organization for some time. Let the circle on the right represent a new position created by a visionary leader to meet needs that have arisen within the organization. The area inside the circle on the left and the area inside the circle on the right represent the responsibilities of each position as perceived by the employee holding that position. Without clear job descriptions for each position, the circles overlap and responsibilities are confused. The resulting confusion stems from two (or more) people trying to do the same job or trying to fulfill the same responsibilities. Conversely, responsibilities and tasks can be overlooked or forgotten altogether because each employee believes the other has it covered.

Once job descriptions have been written, they should be given to each employee in the department, within the office, etc. In other words, if a position is created on the administrative team, all members of the team should be provided with the job description for the new position.

Furthermore, written job descriptions can contribute to the long-term stability of the organization. Without written job descriptions for each position in the organization, turnover of personnel and changes in leadership will lead to disorganization, confusion and inefficiency. Whether creating new positions or redefining pre-existing positions, written job descriptions are a must.