A compelling case for encouraging personal networks in school

The students in our school deserve the same learning opportunities as anywhere else and learning networks can level the educational playing field for students, teachers and administrators.

To quote Richardson & Mancabelli (2011),

"Since the mid-1990's, the sum of human knowledge and two billion potential teaches are available to us online. These shifts have huge implications for the field of education, demanding that we reexamine the way we structure our classrooms and our work with students." (p. 86, Personal Learning Networks)

Our students are already engaged in social networks online and using the web for learning would be a natural next step. However, to keep them safe online, we need to first know how to use these networks ourselves, and we need to teach students how to use them well and ethically.

Publishing content online and using the network to connect with people around the world could be the most powerful way of learning yet.

And, if we wish to have even a semblance of control "when facing the avalanche of information in the modern world is to learn how to use learning networks." (p. 88, Ibid.)

Does this make sense?

What are we doing wrong?

In the last reflection, I spoke of the things we are doing right.

But, what are we doing wrong?

In following twitter, I found this blog entry, http://coopcatalyst.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/the-real-reason-kids-are-missing-from-school/ I got to thinking - is there a connection between absenteeism and actually registering at a school. Do we have less students for the same reason students don't attend, according to the cooperative catalyst, lack of connection to parents?

How do we connect to parents? The usual school connections are to call when students are absent or in trouble. As principal, I encourage teachers to call when the students are doing well also, but are we doing that? I can remember each time I have called parents to report good behaviour, or to compliment a student on an accomplishment. On the other hand, I cannot remember how many times I've had to call a parent with regards to misbehaviour.

Reflection can sometimes be a bitter pill. However, reflection can lead to change.

In Kouzes and Posner's The Leadership Challenge, we are called to "model the way". Therefore, I am putting a task on my calendar for the new year: to call one parent per week regarding an accomplishment his/her child has made at school. I will need to look for the positive. As model, I will also need to share with my staff. I can share in my weekly memo to staff. By sharing the story of the task, I am not only modelling the way, but holding myself accountable to the task.

Let's see where this endeavor takes us in the new year!

So, why don't we have more students?

In reflection, these past four months at school have been tumultuous to say the least. The September 30 student count rocked our world - we lost another 15 students. Our enrolment, like other rural schools in Alberta, has been in decline. However, this last set back was a shock to the system. We lost a full time equivalent certified teacher and had to ask another to work half time. Our school board was faced with many questions and our local community woke up to a reality that its school might have to close.

Since September, we've all had to make adjustments at the school. As principal, I've had to take on half time teaching of our grade 1 to 3 classroom. Grades have been grouped together to form three classrooms, and teachers have had to make hard curriculum choices with regards to what we are teaching in the classroom. While we continue to hold the same high standards for reading, writing, and mathematics, we find time to teach the scientific method and globalization. Teachers are responsible for a wide spectrum of academic outcomes and yet, we also find time to be creative, to play with our students. We find time to create art and music, build things, act, cook, coach sports, and dance with our students.

We really haven't changed a whole lot.

So, why don't we have more students?

School Wiki

I was wondering where and how to start getting my class networked.

I decided to create a school wiki, https://ecoleprovidence.wikispaces.com/  as a place for the staff to post information about our school, their classes, and to work on projects together. As manager of this wiki space, I will have to be committed to inviting my staff to join as members. We'll see how this goes. I know I have a lot to learn about creating and managing a wiki space, but I am counting on my network to provide me with the knowledge and feedback I need.

Very exciting!

The world of personal learning networks is getting very exciting. Yesterday, I went to a classroom site out of Snow Lake, Manitoba. Wow! Students are posting comments, publishing writing, and creating and publishing video. See for yourself: http://www.ideahive.org/ The video of "The Little Drummer Boy" has class and has been totally produced by one of the students. I think the teacher, Mr. Fisher, has done an excellent job of providing opportunities for his students to network. Not only has he provided the opportunity, but he has provided incentive to get them going and keep them active in the community.

I'm just wondering how to get started.

Networking

I've been having some fun with a twitter account and am intending to create a professional facebook page. Networking is fun this way, but time consuming. It takes no time at all to rack up an hour or two on the Internet, reading up on the following and following others. :-)

On Will Richardson's blog, I got caught up in the reflection on the "dirty work of education" and how the Knewton group is going to look after that for us, http://willrichardson.com/post/13920273224/the-dirty-work-of-education#disqus_thread This blog is quite interesting and brings up several ideas that surprise me. Even more intriguing are the comments on this blog. See for yourself.

Parent Engagement

I was encouraged by the participation in our last parent meeting. We discussed what we can do to promote our school and to live up to our vision of learning. I did not get a chance to demonstrate strategies learned in the classroom, but I was able to show a couple of videos. The first one showed a vision of K-12 students today, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8 and the other demonstrated an introduction to project based learning, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFySmS9_y_0 Both videos generated questions and discussion.

Today, I had a conversation with Bill Hoppins, a coordinator for a school leadership course I am taking. We also talked about parent engagement. I was asked what percentage of our parents are engaged and what does that engagement look like.

I was unable to give Bill a percentage, so we discussed how I could find out. We developed a rubric together of that the following criteria would be important to measure: support in the way of getting kids to school and doing work with them at home or at school, communication between home and school either face to face, phone calls, or notes in the agenda; and being an informed parent. We decided that we would use the measures we use in our outcomes based reporting with 4 being excellent, 3 being proficient, 2 being basic, and 1 being insufficient. Then I would give the rubric to each of the teachers and they would score the parents of their students. I could then take the 4s and 3s and count that as engagement. I would be able to come up with a percentage of parents that are engaged in their child's learning.

We could discuss how we could target those that fell short of the standard to increase parent engagement. All in all this was a very productive meeting. I will take this rubric to my next PLC and get my teachers to give me a percentage. We will discuss how we can make improvements in the new year.

This is the first time I've been able to see a connection between the data that we could collect and how we could use that data to improve a situation with relative ease. Before now, I've always thought this process to be quite complicated. Thank you, Bill for helping me see this in a simpler, more manageable way. :-)

What are you teaching our kids?

This Wednesday, I have invited parents to come and take part in a presentation entitled, "What are you teaching our kids? And Why?" I'm still debating as to how to introduce the topic.

I would like to let parents know that, as teachers, we are also learning how to motivate, increase achievement, and teach students to better apply and retain what they do learn.

We are teaching the students to be independent, critical thinkers who can confidently communicate and collaborate with each other. We are also teaching them to be ethical and moral citizens who will take care of the world we live in.

I'm hoping to show the parents some strategies I use in the classroom and with the teachers to illustrate how we are teaching their kids and in the process demonstrate the 'why' we are doing it.

If anyone out there has some ideas, feel free to send them my way. And stay tuned for a report on how it went.

Personal Learning Networks

In Richardson & Mancabelli's Personal Learning Networks 2011, we are being told that we need to change our way of looking at learning and teaching. Because our schools have opened up to the world through networks, "we now have two billion potential teachers, and soon, the sum of human knowledge will be at our fingertips." We can try to stem the tide by limiting our students' access to that world, but if we put a barrier in front of them, they will find a way around it. That characteristic of human nature has not changed.

The more I read and the more I study how the world is changing, the more I realize I know very little. I certainly do not feel technologically literate. So, what am I going to do about it? In the old adage, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em", I feel I must create my own personal learning network.

It is time to reach out beyond the walls of my school, my district to connect with other teachers and learners. It is important to be in control of my own learning. I don't think it will be easy. How do I actually connect with people that have the same learning goals as I do?

First, I believe that I need to know myself and what my learning goals actually are. It is also critical that I am confident in the principles I base my daily work in. If I cannot measure what I find out in the world against a vision of who I am or aspire to be, the choices become much more difficult. I have some ideas of how I want to go about this and what connections I would actually like to make.

Secondly, I need to know more about how to navigate the networks, how to establish a space of my own. I think this blog is a good start. I also have been reading Will Richardson's Wikis, Blogs, and Podcasts and Personal Learning Networks by Richardson and Mancabelli. I've also been following a few blogs and doing a little exploring.

Finally, it is a matter of just getting out there.

Learn by doing, right?

Learning using the Internet

I just watched a video posted on the Khan Academy website, a tribute to their free education using video. A man who never really succeeded in anything in high school, took a music degree because he felt he wasn't any good at anything else, went back to university after using the Khan Academy videos and after his first year in electrical engineering, is earning a 4.0 average, getting perfect scores on his exams. He says that the main reason for his achievement is that he could watch the videos 30 or 40 times. He says that he doesn't know of any teacher that would sit down beside him and explain the same concept that many times without becoming judgemental about his ability as a student.

Success story? This man says that the true impact of the Khan Academy's work in his life will be seen over the next 30 or 40 years.

So, I went to the Khan Academy's website after seeing a link on the Will Richardson blog and checked it out. Yes, it is free. The videos (ones I saw) were high quality. I checked out who was behind the website and who is on the team: high quality learned people with various degrees from recognized institutes and various life experiences. These were just the paid people. There are many others who volunteer as coaches, mentors, and contributors.

The set up allows participants to register as students, teachers or coaches, or principals of schools or other learning institutions as pilot projects. The learning is self-paced and if you need incentives, you can earn badges of learning, some are easy to get and others are very rare and involve copious amounts of work and research.

I checked out who could register and what the cost was: respectively, anyone and at no cost. If you are 13 years of age or older you can register yourself through Google or Facebook. If you are under 13, you need your parents to set up accounts for you.

After checking out this web site, I have so many questions. What implications does this have for our students? Can our students be presented with learning in this way as a differentiated mode of learning in our own schools? What kind of learning is this exactly? Could a 13 year old student get a degree in Mathematics through Khan academy? Are there other web sites like this? Should we be advocating our students to get on the Internet and learn what they need to know through organizations like this?

21rst Century Learning

Our grade 8 and 9 students are going to present some of their learning to our board of trustees. When I asked them if they'd like to take a road trip and show off and be taken out for lunch, they all yelled, "Boston Pizza!" You have to understand they come from a little town with two tiny restaurants. They are hungry for Boston Pizza!

Then, a lone voice asked, "What's the catch, Mrs. V?"

I told them that they would have to show our board of trustees what 21rst century learning looks like. They all had that confused look on their faces, until I explained, "you know, problem-solving and working together to solve problems."

Another asked, "Can we use the SmartBoard?" I said, "Sure."

Am I looking at this from the perspective of a 20th century teacher? These students all know that problem-solving is a skill they need to have to survive. They know that working together can make the problem easier to solve. And, it's much more fun, using a computer to do it. They also know that us 20th century people (like the board of trustees must also be) are still fascinated by the SmartBoard.

I could almost hear them say, "Piece of cake!"

Over the next two weeks, we'll be watching to see how this all unfolds. :-)

Evaluating the School Principal

Last year, I attended a Principal's meeting where we looked at the Principal Quality Practice Guideline: Promoting Successful School Leadership in Alberta.

Over the summer, I had more time than I do during the school year to reflect on my practice. When I look at relationship, I think I have a good handle on establishing rapport with students, staff and parents. However, looking at the leadership dimension - fostering effective relationships, the key word is effective. The guidelines state "The principal builds trust and fosters positive working relationships, on the basis of appropriate values and ethical foundations, within the school community -- students, teachers and other staff, parents, school council and others who have an interest in the school."

That's a tall order. How does one balance the needs of the stakeholders and remain true to oneself?

I think it's all in the principles one lives by. You cannot manage to juggle the needs of all of these people unless you already live it. One needs to always act with fairness, dignity and integrity. One has to demonstrate a sensitivity to and genuine caring for others and cultivate a climate of mutual respect. One must promote an inclusive school culture respecting and honouring diversity. One must demonstrate responsibility for all students and act in their best interests. One must model and promote open, inclusive dialogue. One must use effective communication, facilitation, and problem-solving skills. One must support the processes for improving relationships and deal with conflict within the school community. One must adhere to professional standards of conduct.

Of course, no one is perfect. And when a conflict does arise, a principal must go to the reason he or she is at school: the student. If in doubt about handling a certain situation, if one asks the question, "is this good for learning?" or "is this good for students?" and the answer is "yes", then the principal is on the right track.

Let's go back to the key word, "effective." If the relationship fosters learning and teaching for success, then I would consider it "effective."

Exit Cards

At the first staff meeting of the year, I had the staff fill out an exit card to:
1) get a feel for the temperature - positive or negative
2) see if they were hearing me
3) see if they were on the same page as I was, and
4) get to know them a bit better.

I gave them the exit cards at the beginning of the day and told them I was doing that so that they could think about it as the day went on and to take time to reflect on what we were doing. I mentioned that we do this with students when we want them to focus on the message we are giving.

I asked them to tell me 3 pieces of good news that they heard during the day, 2 ways in which staff plan to serve our students, and 1 life passion they have.

I think I learned a great deal: staff were generally positive and a few heard the same good news that I was trying to get across. I was encouraged to hear the principles by which we govern ourselves shining through loud and clear.

What will I do with these exit cards? I will refer to the cards from time to time to make sure I am living up to the good news I was spouting, that I am supporting the staff in the ways they intend to serve and that I ask them about their life passions. By having conversations with staff around these ideas, they will know that I hold their views in high esteem and that I support them in having a balance to their lives.

One piece of good news that I communicated was "I am in the right place at the right time!" and "You are in the right place at the right time!" Two of my staff members wrote the first bit down word for word. I found that extremely encouraging. This means that they are ready for whatever comes! I just need to be there to support them so that they continue to believe it.

Leading with dignity

A few years ago I attended Blueprints and the speaker was Loughlan Sofield. Br. Loughlan Sofield, S.T. is a Catholic brother, member of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, and leading consultant on ministry and personal development. He lectures and gives workshops around the world, has written several books on leadership and community and is the senior editor of Human Development magazine. His talks so intrigued me that I purchased his book, Building Community. In re-reading this book, I am struck by his view of leadership and how to build a culture of community.

Brother Sofield spoke upon the dynamics of forming a community, the stages of development of a cohesive community and what keeps them together. He says that "experiences determine beliefs. Beliefs produce emotions. Emotions influence behavior." If this is true, then I ask the question, what if your experiences of community have been mostly of a negative nature? Conversely, if your experiences of community have been, for the most part, positive, your beliefs will be positive and your resulting emotions would also be positive. Consequently, your behavior, too, then would be positive. What happens, however, when the chips are down?

We are talking about community as a noun describing a group of people with similar beliefs and culture. We are also talking about community as the type of culture itself. According to Brother Sofield, community is not the end result, but the way in which we live on our way to somewhere. "Effective Christian communities provide support, encouragement, growth, and comfort for their members." Community is a living entity enfolding the human person as they grow and develop into the person they are meant to be.

In a simple world, then, community would either create a people of hope or a people of cynicism and mistrust. Of course, it's not that simple. There are varying degrees of hope and the same of the absence of hope.

Personally, I have always been a person who looks at life through rose coloured glasses, not because I believe the world to be only of roses, but because I choose to look at life positively. Sometimes my family and colleagues shake their heads and ask, "How can you always be so naive?" It's not naivety, I say, but a way to look at life. My experiences from a child, growing up on a poor farm in a big family, going to church, playing hard and working hard, has given me this outlook. The community I experienced has created this person of hope.

What follows then? How does one build a culture of community? And when the chips are down, how does one lead?

...by modeling community: keeping a positive outlook, providing support where needed, showing people you value their work, encouraging the heart, sticking to your principles, standing up for those who cannot do so for themselves, having those hard conversations in a kind way.... in other words, by leading with dignity.

The first staff meeting!

A principal, at least this principal, wants to have a beginning staff meeting with just the right amount of information, discussion, activity, and engagement so that the staff isn't just sitting there thinking about the mountains of work they might have to do to get ready for the first day with students. What a tall order sometimes!

There are certain procedures we need to review each year. Going over the school's guiding principles is always a good idea. Modeling activities that you would like to see in the classroom is a way to present these guiding principles and any new ideas for engaging students. Finally, if there are any changes from the previous year to timetabling, discipline procedures, technology, and/or resources, there should be time to present, discuss, and answer questions. Sounds easy, doesn't it?!

In my experience, the staff meeting doesn't always go as planned, and I do tend to go over time. Therefore, I usually give a draft agenda to the staff the week before a meeting and invite staff items. The first staff meeting, however, is more critical, as I feel it is necessary to begin as I want to proceed. I usually begin thinking about this meeting's agenda in May and June, listing items that need to be addressed, then adding to it after much reflection regarding last year's meeting. Then, during the principals' meetings in August, I add still more as new and different topics arise. Once I have that list, I create a PowerPoint with the topic headings, cutting out what can be addressed in subsequent meetings. I interject video clips, hyperlinks to online resources, and provide time for discussion. I leave it for a day or two and then revisit the PowerPoint, cutting and revising. I am getting better at it.  :-)

One way to determine how the staff meeting went and to gather a bit of information about your staff is to have staff fill out an evaluation. I like to do the exit card.

This year my exit card reads: 3 pieces of good news I've heard today; 2 ways in which I plan to serve the students; and 1 personal life passion I have. It's best to hand this out at the beginning of the staff meeting: you won't forget to do it; and the staff can fill it out as we go along. I also have them sign and date it so that I know if and how I need to give support.

What do the rest of you principals do to spice up your staff meetings and, at the same time, make it all count? Please comment.

What kind of principal do I intend to be?

No one asks this type of question of themselves unless they hope to improve.

I believe I was better last year than the year before. I was better organized; I did more teaching, and I spent more time in the classrooms.

Where I felt less effective and/or efficient were in the areas of recording and reporting. I still need to spend more time in the classrooms too and I need to become better at teaching the classes I'm in charge of. It also does not need to be said, I could always improve the organization of my days.

How many of us take the time to sit down and reflect upon our practice? Sure we wonder how we could improve. We also wonder what went wrong when things don't turn out. We might even pause to think how we could do things better. What I'm talking about is actually dissecting the planning from beginning to end and taking the day to day and analyzing what it is that did go right and what went wrong, with using that analysis to gauge how you will change for the better.

An analysis of this sort does take time, but it has been in my experience that it is time well spent. Researchers like Whitaker, Sergiovanni, Dufour, Fink, Hargreaves, and many more all take the time to analyze how and why things happen the way they do and what is important in the big picture as well as the day to day. I also have found that when I take that time to think and reflect on the day's events, I am able to put on a perspective that assists me in returning to my guiding principles. As a result I am able to make sound decisions that are best for students and staff in the school.

Last year, I was getting better at reflection and analysis. However, it was not as methodical or as routine as I would like it to be. Therefore, this year, I intend to be a principal that reflects weekly and think about how we do things at our school. I plan to be a better recorder and communicator of expectations. I also will continue to hold staff and students accountable to our guiding principles. I also want to expand the circle of leadership within the school so that I have more time for this reflection and analysis. Hopefully at the end of this coming school year, I can look back and say, "Yes! We did it!"

These are the days!

At school, we are winding down and finishing up report cards, individual program plans, and meeting with parents regarding retention or promotion. We are cleaning out the closets and moving classrooms. We are recognizing the accomplishments of colleagues and students. We are looking forward to the summer holidays.

I think this might be my favorite time of year, especially when it goes well. It is also the time of year when people make changes in their lives, if it is applying for other jobs, moving to another town, or retiring: all that. In our school division, there has been several movements and changes this year and these changes hold much promise. People seem generally happy with what is going on.

However, there are some people that are being pushed beyond their comfort zone for one reason or another and are not taking it well. The key to smooth transitions is communication, I think. I know my staff sometimes wonder how it all comes together. I try to put the possibilities out there so that the surprises aren't too great. Some staff would like to see the big picture and others want the details. Some staff ask for the big picture, but when it is presented, they get scared - what does this mean for me?

I do get input from staff as much as I can, but there comes a time when an administrator has to make a decision for the good of the students in the school. In Todd Whitaker's book, What Great Principals Do Differently, he lists the "15 Things that Matter Most". I like his way of thinking!

1) It's People not Programs - in other words, hire great teachers and improve the ones you have.
2) Teachers are who matter most in the classroom. They set the stage and direct the learning.
3) Treat everyone with respect, every day, all the time.
4) As principals, we decide the tone of our schools.
5) Teachers do the best they know how; if we want them to do better, we must help them improve their skills and learn new ones.
6) Principals need to work diligently to hire the best teachers.
7) Keep standardized testing in perspective.
8) Focus on changing ineffective behaviour, not long held beliefs.
9) The students are what matter most: we need to focus on what is good for all students.
10) Base decisions on what your best teachers think.
11) Effective principals make the people who do the right thing feel comfortable.
12) Understand high achievers.
13) Make it cool to care!
14) The best teachers seldom need to do any emotional repairing in their classrooms, but are continually working to repair, just in case.
15) Set expectations at the beginning of the year.

One of the great things about working in a school is that it is cyclical - you can start over next year. You can make changes over the summer if you did not like how the last year turned out. There is a time when you can begin again. That is why I like this time of year. I begin thinking about how I can improve my practice and what changes I need to make to have a better year next year.

Helping others find their element!

Recognizing potential and creating opportunities for others will open doors. In Ken Robinson's The Element, he devotes a chapter to how people helped him. He cites mentorship as a key component in finding one's element.

Ken Robinson says:
Mentors connect with us in a variety of ways and remain with us for varying lengths of time. Some are with us for decades in an evolving role that might start as teacher/student and ultimately evolve into close friendship. Others enter our lives at a critical moment, stay with us long enough to make a pivotal difference, and then move on. Regardless, mentors tend to serve some or all of four roles for us...recognition....encouragement....facilitating....stretching.

Mentors serve an invaluable role in helping people get to the Element. It might be overstating things to suggest that the only way to reach the Element is with the help of a mentor, but it is only a mild overstatment. We all encounter multiple roadblocks and constraints on the journey toward finding what we feel we were meant to do. Without a knowledgeable guide to aide us in identifying our passions, to encourage our interests, to smooth our paths, and to push us to make the most of our capacities, the journey is considerably harder.

I am fortunate to work with a colleague that fits the bill of mentor, not just for me, but for other teachers, staff, and for the students in his classroom. He continually points out the good and holds us accountable for what we can do and for what he can see as the potential in each of us. Students who would have long ago quit, are still in school. Students who thought less of themselves are now leaders of other young people. Students who never thought they would graduate felt that he believes in them enough for them to try and succeed. Teachers who start out overwhelmed become focused. He sometimes talks about retirement, but I wonder what we will all do then?

CouldI fill that role?

Finding our Element

I know I've found my element.

When I walked into an elementary school 27 years ago for an interview for a Kindergarten teacher's assistant, I smelled the chalk, the books, I don't know, maybe the sweaty shoes on the rack at the door. I just knew that I had to get the job. I belonged in school.

I've always loved school. Maybe that's why I went back to get my education degree and then my masters in distance education. Learning and teaching is my element. Sometimes I don't know if I'm teaching or learning and it really doesn't make that much difference. :-)

Ken Robinson, in his book The Element talks about many people who found their element in spite of going to school. I certainly don't want to be that person that closes doors, or restrains a student from finding his/her element. It would be my pleasure to be that person that helps a students find their element and then help them make it happen. Because, according to Robinson, we are only truly happy when we are in our element.

Big Plans

This time of year, I seem to get more excited than at any other time. Yes, we are finishing up the school year, with only two months left to go. But, what's really exciting is the fact that I get to work on plans for next year!

Small school principals always have enrollment on the brain and it is difficult to budget when you have low enrollment. However, we also have the opportunity to work with staff to come up with new and different ways to attract students to our schools. We are always working on doing more with less.

One project I have the students interested in is a school garden. We are just waiting for the snow to melt completely and the yard to dry up so that we can get someone to help us get the plot ready. The students want to plant all sorts of vegetables and flowers. They also want to plan berries and fruit. I'm not sure how we are going to do all of this, but I already have some parents volunteering to bring rotor tillers. We also have some organizations and community members donating seed and a couple of trees for our garden. We just need to wait for the weather now.

The past few weeks I have been reading some of Ken Robinson's work and thinking of how we can broaden the opportunities for students to explore and discover their creative spirit. I've been talking to staff and students about what they would still like to learn. And, I've been thinking of ways in which I and my staff can be the inspiration for students so that they can find their passions. We also want to organize our teaching and learning so that they get the core and also be able to spend some time developing their God-given talents. One idea is to organize the timetable so that we can spend 1 afternoon a week "encouraging the spirit". That way if we have volunteers coming to help us, they only have to come to the school 1 day during the week. Also, this allows the students and staff more uninterrupted time to work on projects.

I would like to see the students grouped according to interest and ability, not age. That way, there can be more opportunities for mentorship, family atmosphere, and modeling by older and younger students. The older students would be more familiar with the tools and how things are done. On the other hand, the younger students are less intimidated by the media, are freer with their imaginations, and are more likely apt to take risks. This atmosphere could be beneficial for all.

Learning as I go

I've often joked with my students and staff that I'd rather be a student than a principal.

Now I find that I can be both.

Sections of the Teacher Quality Standard and Principal Quality Standard deals with being a lifelong learner. This is the best part of my job. I can learn as I go.

This year I am taking two leadership courses: one through the Northern Tier Leadership Group and one through my district principal's group. It's amazing how they dovetail one another. Just this last month, I've had the good fortune to be part of a classroom walkthrough at a colleague's school through our principal's group and the tools we are using in that group are enhancing the work we are doing with Northern Tier.

This last meeting I had with one of my Northern Tier leadership facilitators gave me the opportunity to reflect on what I have learned lately. I have not come to these learnings overnight. I would say that it is a culmination of what has been going on these last few months since I made a conscious decision to take time to reflect and write about what I am doing as leader. These are my key learnings so far:
1) Getting into the classrooms is key
2) Discussions about learning help me grow as a leader and give me the opportunities to let staff know what is important to me as leader
3) Staff meetings should be run like a lesson plan, with the essential ingredients: a beginning set, list of outcomes, connections to previous learnings, good questions, time for staff to come up with solutions, time for staff to think and share with each other, time for staff to reflect on what is being decided, a next steps plan, and closure.
4) Key messages need to come out of every important meeting and these messages need to go to all stakeholders
5) The professional development needs to come first, then the every day business.
6) My role as principal is to serve my students and staff.

I know I have much more to learn. I would, however, like to take this time to thank my administrators and my staff for supporting me in my own learning and allowing me to take opportunities to practice what I have learned. I would also like to thank two exemplary teachers that have facilitated my learning and growth this year: Bill Hoppins with Northern Tier Leadership and Shirley Styles with the principal's leadership group. I hope they don't mind me using their names here. I'm almost positive that there are others out there that are having the same learning experiences I am having as leader of instruction at my school.

It's because of the support of our district administrative team and the learning opportunities I have experienced these past two years, expecially in the last few months, that I have become more confident and happier in my role as principal.

Visioning

At our last staff meeting, I presented a powerpoint on promising practices. I began with a review of our school vision and the belief statement that best related to student learning and instructional practices. I also took some time to explain to staff what my vision for learning would look like.

It can be summed up here:

Vision of learning

Staff/students engaged,

working in their zone of proximal development,

happy to be at school,

reading at grade level,

being successful according to their abilities and

reaching for the AE standards.



Overview of the presentation:

- a connections piece, where staff could take some time to reflect upon an area they have worked on, what they found were surprises, lessons learned, and what they would do next. After some reflection, each staff member was able to share with others. I've done this activity before and the staff are starting to expect it as well as I'm seeing some continuity in the sharing.

I shared the area I had worked on - deliberately planning my day. Lesson learned - that not all things go as planned; unexpected results - I had more time to spend with the people in the school; my next step - to work on becoming a better teacher and supporter of learning in the school.

- reviewing our school vision and beliefs

- taking a look at the definition of promising practices, I let the staff know what I had been seeing in the area of promising practices, and I put out a couple of questions for reflection: if I were to ask your students what they are doing to become better readers, what would they say? and if I were to ask them why they were doing an activity, could they tell me?

- deciding that our key message to the students would be: Our principal is going to be visiting our classes and asking students what they know about becoming better readers.

We did exceed our time by about 20 minutes, and I didn't get a chance to do all of the activities we had planned, but the staff seemed relaxed, happy to be there, and excited to be doing this important work!

After the staff meeting, I made two posters with the summary of the vision and posted them in the common area and in the staff room, so that all entering the staff room would see it immediately as they go in.

I also included the summary of the vision in my staff memo for the next day. I plan to bring up this vision in any subsequent staff meetings.

Northern Tier Leadership

One of the facilitators of the Northern Tier Leadership course I am enrolled in, and a colleague and fellow administrator, came for a visit January 24. We sat and talked about the strengths of my school, my challenges, what I have been trying, my findings, and my next steps. It was extremely helpful to have two outside sets of eyes and ears. I felt quite comfortable with the arrangement of having another administrator come along, as we had worked together in a previous position.

I felt especially supported and affirmed in that meeting. Both visitors commented on the positive - how the school looked in appearance, how the students were engaged in learning, how the staff seemed to be at home with us popping in, and with my vision of learning for the school that I had voiced in our meeting. Our facilitator said he knew the moment I started talking like a leader: I sat up and announced how I saw learning progressing and what I was working for with the staff and students.

We talked about the upcoming staff meeting and my plans for presenting promising practices to the staff. I showed both my presentation powerpoint and was able to get some feedback from our facilitator. He told me that I should begin with my presentation and do the business afterword. Well, I thought I knew better and did the staff business first. Consequently, I wasn't able to spend the time on the presentation that I would have liked and I went over by about 20 minutes. I'll certainly take his advice next time.

I then went to my colleague's school and toured and talked with her and our facilitator again about leadership and learning. This time it was all about my colleague. I seemed to do a fair amount of talking too, but was assured that it was good feedback.

This whole learning experience was the best professional development I've done in a long time. It really helps to be in each other's schools, listening to other leaders and getting expert advice from those who are in the know.

I am grateful to my division for allowing me to take the time for this professional development. I will also say that this is probably the best professional development in building capacity for leadership, not just for principals and vice-principals, but for school staffs too.

Goals Update

The home office is quite organized! Wow!

Not only is it free of garbage and recycling, I can look around and choose to work on the projects that I have on the go. And I have a small table where I can spread out when I don't want to be on the computer. My scrapbooking, my leadership books, my files are all at my fingertips. Even my watercolour supplies are within reach. Now, I just have to make the time to actually pull these things out and work on and with them. :-)

My school office looks tidy, but there is still a lot of redundancy to clear through. I have been taking a bit of time each day to clear out files and to consolidate information in places easy to find and easy to access.

Next Monday, I shall have a couple of visitors from the Northern Tier Leadership group, one of the supervisors and a colleague. They will be going on a tour of the school and talking with me about by job as instructional leader in my school. I am getting quite excited and I plan to use this weekend to gather up the last of the materials I will need to work through this interview.

Just today, I sat for a few minutes at my desk and reflected - things are going quite well - I am beginning to have time to be in classrooms again and time to sit with staff when they need to show me something they are working on. It's awesome! I love that feeling!

Critical to Achieving Balance - Celebration!

Through appreciation and celebration we show people that they are significant and their contributions are vital to our overall success. Soumya Mitra, MC Corporation (The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes & Posner).

It seems we are often too busy to have fun and play games. However, if we don't take the time to celebrate, one will begin to wonder - what is this all for anyway. Why are we working so hard?

At school, we are working hard to differentiate instruction, provide reading interventions, and get through the curriculum. The students are working hard to stay caught up, learn new skills, and become better citizens. Isn't celebrating as a community a skill? I think so.

So how do we celebrate and still give credibility to the work that is being done. Kouzes & Posner state that the recognition has to be personal and celebration must be done in a spirit of community. They also state that "public celebrations of accomplishment build commitment, because they make people's actions visible to their peers and therefore difficult to deny or revoke." :-)

In order to create this spirit of community, we have to work on spirit building. Taking time to visit each others' classrooms, giving each other a high five at the completion of a project, and sharing success stories in the staff room are also about spirit building.

I've been working at making the staff room a place to share success stories instead of a place to complain, and I am in the process of looking for some meaningful posters to hang up in the room that would encourage more positive conversations. I may end up making some of my own so that they are more personal. I will also be asking the staff at the next staff meeting what ideas they have for making the staff room a positive place to hang out.

Ideas for celebrations include: assembly presentations, cupcake Fridays, honour roll and attendance certificates at half time as well as at the end of the year, fun activities planned by kids for kids, contests that involve the instructional focus, awards, and just applauding our accomplishments.

Short List of Goals

I don't usually share my goals - that way, if I don't accomplish them, no one knows but me. Isn't that silly?!

Now, being the educational leader that I am, I try to set a good example. :-)

In order to find motivation for achieving goals, one needs to share them with someone - otherwise there is less accountability. And, if one really wants to achieve a goal, all sorts of motivation is needed.

So, here goes:

Short term (next few weeks): Get organized to include balance: mental, spiritual, physical, social (mostly to clean out my offices at home and at work, and my work out room at home so that I can have the tools I will need to achieve balance close at hand and in some sort of order).

Mid-range (next year or two): Get healthy and fit again; that is, establish a fitness regimen and get eating healthier.

Long range (before I'm 60): Have a book ready to go to a publisher. I've been putting it off long enough. :-)

Now, according to Covey and Greff, if I keep these goals where I can see them, and do just one thing to get me closer each day, I will be successful.

If nothing else, it will give me something to blog about! :-)

Goal Setting vs New Year's Resolutions

Each year, I try to review my goals as opposed to setting New Year's resolutions. I find it more fulfilling to achieve a goal than to stick to a resolution.

I dig out my copy of Steven Covey's First Things First and an old guidance book entitled Holistic Learning: Success in the Classroom and in Life by Julius Greff. Covey goes into the philosophy of setting goals that would meet our physical, social, mental, and spiritual needs. Self-awareness, reflection and planning theoretically allow us to live and work, doing the important things versus the things that are emergent or wasting our time. Greff has a section devoted to the demonstration of how goal setting can be accomplished through brainstorming and short listing. I find both to be effective tools in reviewing and setting my own goals.

Because we have more than one role in life, it is important to find balance between them. For example, my role as principal is no less and no more important than my role as grandmother. However, at different times, each role pulls at me significantly more than the other. Still, a balance is needed if I am to meet all of my needs as a human being. It is in an attempt to find this balance, that I once again review my goals in life. :-)

New Beginnings

This past year, there have been several changes in our small school: declining enrollment and as a result, budget constraints; and the resignation of a well-known and well-liked teacher. We've also downsized our numbers of educational assistants in an effort to re-align resources and provide as much certified staffing as possible. I've also stepped back from a second school that I was principal of in an effort to become more of a help to the small school I'm in.

As I sit in my office at home, I am mentally preparing for a new timetable, new supervision schedule and a new way of working with students in transition or in need of special education. Sometimes it helps to just sit and reflect upon vision I have for the school.

First of all, the parents in the community have varying levels of commitment to the school. Some have a history in that they attended this school or had family attend the school at different times since its institution. Some have had good experiences and some have had bad experiences in the school. Secondly, in a community where there are fewer and fewer students to draw from and where there is an alternative school just down the road, it becomes quite problematic to keep the enrollment up. In addition, the school is a Catholic School, and this contributes a whole other set of factors to consider for parents looking to enroll their children. Other considerations include: class sizes, lack of resources, and fewer opportunities for competition.

I believe that our school has many strengths: our Catholicity, the caring and compassion we show each student regardless of race, ability or creed, the small class sizes, a successful Tiered reading program, an effective discipline procedure, strong competitive girls sports team, experts on staff in Maths & Sciences & the humanities, a FSL teacher, certified educational assistants, full day, every day Kindergarten, and the playschool right in our own building. We are still teaching Kindergarten to Grade 9. Our students and staff make up a family where we pray together every day, we do our best work, and we help each other do well.

So how do we get our community to see us as the school of choice? We try to get news out to the papers and the community in our newsletters; we invite the community in for our Christmas dinner and celebrations of learning; we promote the school whenever we get a chance. Is this enough? What else can we do?