Categories
Classroom Management General Leadership Technology Use

Classroom Management: How Do I Manage Technology Use?

            I have a love and hate relationship with technology.  Hate is probably too strong a word, but there are days that technology does not make my job easier.  I am not talking about the multiple uses for it in the classroom, I am talking about managing technology in general.

            Everyone of our students interacts with some sort of technology on a regular basis.  We may like to kid ourselves about the use of technology, but the reality is, our students are growing up in a digital age.  They have more computing power in one cell phone than the first moon launch did. ZME Science states that the Iphone 6’s clock is 32,600 times faster than the fastest computer used in the Apollo era computers and could perform instruction 120,000,000 times faster.  Used correctly, this is a powerful tool in the hands of our students.  Used incorrectly, we look at pictures of chemistry cats and play video games.

            My issues with technology have less to do with the use of it and more to do with the management.  With a background in physical and health education, I am not a fan of technology in the classroom.  However, I have used it effectively in many ways.  And yes, even I have had students pull a cell phone out in the middle of an active game or activity to check messages, which has given me pause.

            Advancements in technology have made our lives significantly easier.  I do like the appropriate use of technology.  Classroom management software, educational software, curriculum software, and the vast array of good programs out there allow me to more effectively present information.  If used properly it can be an amazing educational tool in your classroom.

            If we speak from a classroom management issue, it can become an absolute nightmare for a teacher.  Students, and adults, are addicted to technology.  We get that a hit of dopamine as we expect the reward of a social media message, text, or other “ping” from our device and we feel good about it.  We become dopamine addicted to social media and it eats up our time as is presented by Trevor Haynes a research technician in the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard University in a recent study.  We are in a struggle for time over technology in our classrooms.

            Our students are masters of using technology.  They know how to do the finger swipe from screen to screen to hide what they were seeing.  They have multiple screens open at any one time.  These are the students who think they can multi-task but really are distracted by social media, games, music, video or any other form of programming they can access.  It is inhibiting their relationships and there is even good research being presented that suggests that the cell phone that is turned off and stowed is impacting the students learning.  As suggested in a recent article on Edutopia.org, students who split their time between learning tasks and cell phone or Facebook performed poorly when compared to students who did not split their time.  With this information in mind, what can I do as a teacher to manage the technology use in the classroom?

            This is an easy answer if you have a clear technology policy in place for the school.  The school should have an agreed upon acceptable use policy for electronic devices in the school and classroom setting.  With an acceptable use policy, the students, teachers, and administrators can identify key behaviors, times, and places that are acceptable within the school.  In an era of cyber-bullying, online harassment, sharing of test information, and many other nefarious uses, this is not just prudent behavior for a school, it is necessary and even required.  There are many good examples of Acceptable Use Policies by schools, the following are some good examples as points of reference:

These are just some examples, found through searches on the internet, of good quality acceptable technology usage.  Are they perfect for every school?  Of course not.  You must address the individual issues within the school setting.  With a clear policy in place, the school and the teacher have a strong foundation for addressing appropriate internet and technology usage.

As the administrator, you must ensure that the teachers, students, and the parents are aware of the policy and the enforcement of the policy within the school setting.  You must ensure that teachers support his policy and fairly enforce it within the context of their setting.   I say fairly rather than equally because the ultimate usage of technology is up to the teacher.  Each teacher must make the decision of how they will manage technology in the classroom within the guidelines of the school.

As the classroom teacher, you must ultimately make the decision about how you will best utilize technology within the classroom in relation to student learning.  This includes cell phone use, laptop or computer use, and any other technology that is available.  You must also decide what is personally acceptable to you as an educator in an era where you may find yourself being videotaped, voice recorded, or pictures being taken of you without your permission.  Some of these are a decision that the school policy may resolve while others are decisions you must make yourself.

Focusing on acceptable use at the beginning of the year is the best time to resolve issues.  This is where involvement and buy in with the students is critical.  There are many methods a teacher could use to address the management of technology in the classroom.  However, the most critical is the decision of the comfort level of the teacher with technology use in the class setting.  Some questions that you might ask yourself before speaking with students are:

  • Will the students use technology in the classroom?  How?
  • Will the students use their own device or a school owned device?
  • Does the school require monitoring software on all computers?  What happens if a student does not have that software on the computer?
  • What is your comfort level with students using technology independently in the classroom?
  • Are students allowed to use social media in your classroom during instruction?
  • What is the consequence if a student uses technology inappropriately in the classroom?
  • How will a student know when it is acceptable to use technology for non-academic purposes and when it is not?

As the educator, you need to set clear expectations for the use of technology in the classroom.  However, we must also recognize that students will find ways to work around the rules and expectations we set.  This is especially true if we do not include them in the discussion and only dictate the rules to them.  Worse, if you outline one set of rules, and the teacher next door does something completely different, the students will be upset and work to disrupt the teacher who has set stricter expectations.  However, if you involve the students in this discussion on what is acceptable use, they will support the class expectations that are set, especially if they believe that they are responsible for its development and the usage is fair to the class setting.

Students want to know why they must follow a direction or rule.  Students are just like adults in that regard and knowing “why” is a fair request.  Providing the explanation as more than “because the school policy says so” or worse “because I say so” is critical.  So is allowing flexibility under the guidelines.  Consider how we use technology in the school as an adult.  We use it to communicate, check social media, email, set appointments, and many other uses.  If we tell students to not do these things, then do them ourselves, we create a natural conflict.  However, if we allow for appropriate use of technology in the classroom, we must teach the students what that looks like.

In addition to creating your own class expectation of technology and agreeing to it, one must also teach appropriate use.  Ideally, this is a school-wide instruction on how to use technology appropriately.  In this manner, consistent uses of technology can be shared school-wide.  However, absent this expectation, the teacher must provide this instruction.  Regardless, the teacher must provide at least minimal instruction on what the expectations are, and look like, within the classroom.  Model appropriate use.  Discuss it in class.  Allow them time to use technology appropriately.  Reinforce appropriate behavior.  And most importantly, respectfully address breaches of the class technology expectations.

This is not to say that we allow students free reign within our classroom to use technology as they see fit.  We must identify that this would be a problem.  Instead, it is to provide instruction and guidelines on technology use, especially as we technology in class or in professional settings.  The complex issues of cyber-bullying, online harassment, and abuse need direct instruction and clear guidelines.  However, copying information from sites or even plagiarism or using copyrighted material are not clear.  We must instruct on these topics, so our students understand rather than assuming what they know and finding ourselves addressing issues of academic honesty.

 From a purely management standpoint, it is recommended that the teacher uses some form of a sign, non-verbal image or signal to alert students when they might use technology freely.  Identify when students must use strict classroom expectations, and when they may have flexibility in its use.  Realize one very important point though, unless you have the ability to fully control the electronics devices in the classroom, you do not have full control of the management of the devices.  It is a hard reality, but a reality none the less.

Some teachers choose to require students to check in cell phones early in class and get them at the end.  Some teachers have a holding area for technology where items are stored.  Some teachers choose to allow students to use devices freely in class with minimal expectations.  There is nothing wrong with any of these options.  It depends on you, the educator or administrator, to determine acceptable levels of use.

As my background is in health and physical education, I can not highly stress the importance of breaks from technology.  Provide students with options to technology use or simply times for the students to have breaks.  Students do need to disengage from technology and have discussions that do not require electronic devices.  This is where a teacher can bring in Socratic Seminars or other discussion strategies to engage students without devices.

Finally, on can not address the issue of a technology use policy without addressing the consequences for violation of said policy within the school and classroom.  These must be reasonable, enforceable, and appropriate for the environment.  The students will need technology for use in their classrooms or simply for communication during the day.  To simply take the electronic devices as a consequence, while effective, results in the teacher or administration being responsible for damage to the device.  In addition, the student may have a legitimate need to use the device during the day and loss of it would create a hardship for the student and teachers.  That being said, there should be a consequence for the student who continues to violate the technology use policy.  That may mean checking the device into the office in the morning, or not bringing a laptop to school.  The more creative a school can get with this, and the more the student is responsible for the consequence and re-education of the use of the device, the more effective the consequence will be.  However, for this to be effective, consequences must be consistent and enforce the policy.  The greatest challenge the administrator will face is inconsistency within the school in this regard.

I would strongly urge anyone looking at technology use policies to do their research and step into this process with a reason for why you are doing it.  Do not simply exclude technology from your program.  Nor should you allow free reign of the use of technology with no restrictions.  Find the place where you are most comfortable and start there.  Review your plans, whether they are policies or classroom management within six months of implementation and ask “how is it working?”  Make adjustments as necessary as issues arise until the school is comfortable with the policy and management style.

All schools must face the issue of technology head on as it is not going away.  Determine what is your belief about the use of technology and form your documents and plans around that belief.  It can be a difficult process but ultimately sets your school up for success moving into the future.

Feel free to contact us here at International School Leadership and Teamwork about the management of technology in the classroom or other classroom management policies.

Categories
Uncategorized

Building Trust: Working with Local Staff

            “I want to help you, but I can’t” was what I was told.  I am not big on being told no, especially by someone I had a working relationship with.  I was the Head of Department, and what I was asking was both reasonable and something that I had asked before.  I was frustrated with this fellow employee.  However, what I learned helped me to understand the importance of learning the culture as we build trust within the school system.

            When I worked in the public-school system in the states, there were clear structures and order to things.  There were ways to get things done that were followed.  However, there were also ways to get things done that had nothing to do with structure and order.  The second version, which usually was faster, was based on who you knew and how you related to them.  If you had met people, and built positive relationships with them, they were more likely to help you out in time of need.  At many times in my career, my relationships with the security team, grounds team, maintenance staff, and others has come in very handy when things have not gone the way they should.

            While working in the states, it is easy to meet people and build rapport.  Everyone, for the most part, speaks English as a first language and communication is easy.  If we want to build trust, we need to start by speaking with people.  Hold a conversation, ask questions, listen to the answers, and try to be supportive as you are able within the context of your job.  Following through with what you say you will do is also critical.  This is highly simplified and very dependent upon your role as a leader.  The greater your leadership role, the more critical discussions, listening, setting standards, and follow through become as a matter of trust.  How about overseas though?

            Some people assume it is much more difficult to build relationships, rapport, and trust with local staff.  It can be.  Language is the number one barrier in most schools. We don’t speak the local language and struggle to connect with the local staff.  However, language is only one barrier.  We can learn the local language, or at least some of it to break down barriers.  But we will likely never be fluent in the local language.  While this will continue to be a barrier, we can work to build rapport and trust by making attempts to use some local language.  This is only one barrier, and in my opinion not as big as we might think.

            Our attitude towards the people we work alongside is far more important than just language.  If we treat the local culture as less than ours, we will never truly build rapport and positive relationships with the people we work with.  I have heard the phrase “ugly American” in many places I have worked and visited.  It is not a positive phrase and rightly given due to the actions of some Americans with a specific attitude living or visiting abroad.  We want to avoid treating others poorly just because we think we do things better in our country.  We are guests in another country and must respect that.  Even though we may not agree with what we observe, we need to work within their system to make changes rather than work within our context.

            Cultural context and expectations become much more important when working with locally hired staff.  If we attempt to do things according to our own cultural context we are likely to run into challenges as we do not do things according to the country we are working.  This can create cultural divisions and increase levels of distrust with the people we work with.  The appearance is that we are imposing our beliefs and values on a system that operates differently.  I have found a willingness to work within the cultural context of the country we reside is valued and increases the level of trust and willingness to work with one as a person. 

            The example I gave at the beginning was an actual example.  The staff member I worked with did want to work with me.  However, I was asking him something that needed to be asked in a different way.  The greatest gift he gave me that day was explaining to me how to ask for assistance for that issue and others in the future.  When I left the school, he shared with me, years later, that he appreciated that I knew how to work with him and his staff as many people did not learn how to do that.

            Building rapport with people you work with and building trust in any context is important and, in many cases, critical.  In my experience, speaking with people, taking time to listen, setting clear expectations and following through are the critical pieces for building trust in any culture.  However, once we leave the comfort of our own culture, we must recognize that there are different rules for how things happen and how these relationships develop.  We must be willing to step outside our own context and acknowledge that things work differently than we might know.  If we wish to build trust, we must be aware of our own lack of knowledge of the culture we work in, accept that we operate differently, then learn how to operate within the context of the country we are working.  Too often, we are quick to notice differences as faults.  In this case, acknowledging that our differences can be strengths if we are willing to be open and learn from those, we work with is the key.

            I hope as you work within your school setting that you build positive, healthy relationships with local staff.  Commit to learning more about them and how the structure of leadership works within their context so that you can be more effective in your leadership.  This will pay dividends in the long run towards building trust.  If you commit to this piece, and work within the leadership structure of the organization, this will increase trust between you and the staff you work with.

            Feel free to contact us if you are interested in our insight on this or any of the topics we write about.

Categories
Uncategorized

Volunteer teacher training in Honduras : From Data/Research to Practice.

Someone might ask you one day, how have you used data to make a difference in an educational setting?

I would like to share with you a recent example of an answer to this question from my practice.  

I am currently 18.75% finished with my doctorate in education via University of Illinois: Champaign-Urbana. My research for my doctorate so far has looked at high school graduation rates in Honduras and some of the reasons for low (estimated less than 50%) rates in comparison to the USA (estimated 84-85%).  One of the reasons consistently cited in research for low public high school graduation rates in Honduras is a lack of schools and teachers. 

Serendipitously, recently I was asked by Head of Operations & Partnerships at E2E: Ada-Cruz-Torres to get involved with teacher training as a volunteer with Educate2Envision (E2E), a non-profit organization whose goal is to “bring affordable and impactful secondary school education to rural/poor communities across Honduras.” Based on the data from my doctoral research and research of E2E as an award-winning NGO, I decided to say yes and get involved with volunteer training of E2E teachers in bilingual Spanish/English principles of Understanding by Design (UbD).   

We decided on UbD as a valuable training topic to help E2E teachers and learners articulate ‘big picture’ learning outcomes and plan backwards prior to implementing courses in entrepreneurship, leadership, community-building and other game-changing topics for Honduran youth.  Today was the first teacher training. 

I started at 7:45 am and drove 1 hour and 15 minutes from my apartment in Tegucigalpa, Honduras to Catarranas, Honduras a scenic, winding drive through hilly green countryside to deliver the first training on phase one Understanding by Design (UbD) to a group of young leaders.  We worked for 2 hours in a spacious office connected to the public library, where Educate2Envision‘s office is located. 

I gave the entire training in Spanish, which was a challenge but the participants were patient with my Spanish, which is advanced but not 100%.   The training involved 12 bright students.  We started with brief introductions and then discussed what their current classes typically look like and what they are learning.  The participants shared with me that they are learning many subjects including how to become leaders and how to teach other youth to become leaders in their communities. I asked them if they had ever used the UbD format to plan their lessons.   They said they had not. 

Based on this, we used leadership as a topic for designing our first UbD unit: Leadership.  We began with an introduction to key terms translated to Spanish, such as enduring understandings, transfer, topical understandings, essential questions and common misconceptions.   Then we planned a sample unit on leadership.  Working in groups of four, participants developed a 2 week plan for a leadership unit.  Along the way we shared ideas with each other focusing more on the process than the content.  By the end of the two hour session we had 3 first drafts of leadership units at Stage 1.  We took a photo and said thanks to each other, created a group chat on whatsapp for collaboration purposes and plan to meet again in a few weeks to continue planning more units together. 

Overall, this was a great volunteer experience from my point of view, it was nice to share the UbD format with a group of young leaders.  Hopefully the training will help with their curricular planning  and documentation, which in turn will engage more students in Honduras and ideally lead to an increase in high school graduation rates in Honduras.  When I started my doctorate program I did not think the research and data would lead to action so quickly.  Ultimately, a short conclusion can be framed in a brief essential question: Is research/data complete without action?

IMG_0770

Categories
Uncategorized

Collective Teacher Efficacy : Top effect size

According to John Hattie’s research in a 2017/2018 ranking, collective teacher efficacy (CTE) has the biggest positive impact on student learning. And the difference is quite large. CTE scored 1.57, with second place (self-reported grades) scoring 1.33, which represents an 18% increase in effect size. Why is this data important? Because this can shape where an educational administrator or policy maker puts their efforts when it comes time for staff professional development (PD). Ultimately we want to enact changes and policies that positively effect student learning. If we take Hattie’s research to be accurate, that CTE is by far the most effective way to increase student gains in the classroom, then we must ask ourselves, how do we increase CTE?

One way to begin is with education/PD. Not all teachers are aware of what CTE is. Collective teacher efficacy is defined as: “the collective belief of teachers in their ability to positively affect students.” Beliefs fall under the intangible core bottom line that at times is difficult to measure. Other bottom lines in education such as fiscal and academic have more quantitative data, money and percentages being much easier to use a traditional barometer. With the intangible core, or the culture of a school it may be much more difficult to put a number on. But now we have a number. 1.57: 18% greater than second place. With that data in mind it may require that we pay more attention to collective teacher efficacy in our schools.

Recently, in our March High School staff meeting at American School in Tegucigalpa we led a short (15 minute) teacher training on CTE that I share with you below in italics:

Objective : Understand the term  ‘collective efficacy’ and share instance/s that you have caused learning since our last faculty meeting.  

Collective Efficacy (4:18-5:07): The collective belief in teachers that they can positively effect student learning.  The believe that “I (the teacher) cause/d learning”.

Collective efficacy currently has highest effect on student learning according to John Hattie.

Group discourse strategy : Mix-Freeze-Pair-Share

  • 1-2 minutes: Write down a time that stands out for you in the last month of an example that you caused student learning.  
  • When signaled, freeze and pair with the nearest person.
  • Share your responses.
  • Mix, freeze and share again
  • * Can be used with music

(Adapted from this source)

Recap: Collective efficacy has the highest effect on student learning. Thank you all for causing learning.

It was rewarding to listen to teachers share successes with each other. Those a-ha moments that teachers live for, when a teacher sees the light go on in a learner’s mind from what they have planned. PD for teachers + sharing successes with one another are two ways to increase CTE. Questions remain regarding how to gauge the level of teacher collective efficacy at your given school. Here is a link to a Collective Efficacy (CE) scale from seminal author Megan Tschannen-Moran’s website that is one way to measure CE at your school.

Given the fact that teacher collective efficacy is the biggest difference maker in student performance it may behoove us as educational leaders to explicitly teach the concept to our staff, give time for our staff to share successes with one another and measure the current state of Teacher Collective Efficacy at our schools.

Categories
Uncategorized

The Job Search

It’s amazing how stressful it is to search for a leadership position.  Many of us have the same story where we start by searching for an admin position and we are open to searching for a position that we are currently in (ie. homeroom teacher, middle school math, counselor).  Having two options is comforting and feels like a safety net when it comes time to tell our current schools that we are not renewing our contracts. There is one big problem with this, more of our experience, and potentially our talents, are with the current position.  We are often interviewed and considered for a non-administration position (sometimes with the promise that we will be seriously considered for any future openings) or we are often told on paper or in person that we lack the amount of years of experience or skill sets that the school is looking for in a leadership position.  

So, what is the solution to this problem?  Just cut the cords and take the leap. Do not open yourself to get a position in the career that you have already had. Only apply for the leadership positions.  We need to be prepared for the rejection that is going to come our way as we search for the school that is willing to have faith in a new leader. We need to know that there will be many schools that will not even look our way when they see our CVs.  Some schools that we interview with will seem like the perfect fits, but they do not call us for a second or third interview. The interesting thing is that the majority of educational leaders in schools share the same story. Interview after interview of rejections.  You will find schools that you are sure will give you an interview and not even make it through the first round.

In some ways, I feel that this rejection piece serves a purpose.  After receiving several rejections, even within my own school, I started to ask more questions to the ones who had interviewed me for the positions.  “What were my strengths that you noticed?” “What were the growth areas or reasons why I was not chosen for the position?” I did not accept “We went a different direction.” I asked for details of how I can become a more well-rounded leader to be considered in the future.  One of the greatest gifts I received from the rejection was that of self-reflection. I realized that I had holes that needed to be filled with new learning and more practice.

Now, heading into a new round of applications, interviews, and hopefully my first leadership position, I feel a little more confident.  Yes, I felt quite stripped of my pride at the time of hearing that I did not get the second interview or the position, but now I am better prepared. I have learned new vocabulary for speaking about the way I coach others.  I have gone out of my way to better understand the complexities of curriculum and standards and how you create teacher buy-in and opportunities for teacher input to ensure success while implementing new curriculum. If I do not get the next interview, I will be asking questions to find out what I am missing or how I can improve myself in the process.

I am far from fully prepared for my first position, but I am more confident than ever that I have the capacity to continue to grow and learn in the new position and seek out opportunities to fill the holes to be a better leader.  

For all of you who have embarked on the journey of finding that first position or who are about to, know that you are not alone.  We will rise up from the rejections and find the right school to help build us to be the best leader that we can be.

Categories
Uncategorized

Classroom Management: Observing the Start of Class

          Routines are those things we regularly do.  The patterns of our life as it were.  The examples of patterns in our lives are endless.  Our morning routine of waking up and, for me at least, starting the water for coffee, checking my phone for social media, getting breakfast for my children, and getting ready for the day.  These consistencies allow me to start my day and get in the mindset for the work ahead.

          Classrooms are a series of expected routines that the student recognizes and is familiar with.  This routine brings stability and consistency to the student.  They know what to expect and they know what is likely to happen next.  A dramatic shift from the normal routine can cause significant behavioral shifts in the classroom.   Consider the impact of an unplanned fire alarm on the school day, or the week before a major break.  So, what routines should the administrator look for when observing?

          Let’s take a look at the start of the class rather than the entire lesson.  In this we will look at just Entering the Classroom to Starting the Class.  This is a significant time of transition and sets the tone for the entire class ahead.  For reference, I draw heavily from the work of Michael Grinder and Kendall Zoller especially in the areas of getting attention and connecting with the audience.

          The management of students entering the classroom is far more important than most people realize, especially during the beginning of the school year.  As the teacher, you are verbally and non-verbally setting the tone for the period of time you see them. 

There are a myriad of examples on YouTube and other social media about teachers doing all kinds of greetings and individual handshakes for their class.  I don’t know about you, but keeping track of 15 – 20 different greetings or handshakes per class is not going to happen for me.  So, my advice, do what comes natural for you or for your teachers.  Do not try to fake something that you are not.

As an observer, I want to see the teacher greeting students and interacting in a positive manner.  I like seeing teachers meeting students at the door, making eye contact, and greeting the students.  This serves as an initial greeting for your classroom and setting high expectations.  It also allows a first contact that is positive and if one is observant, an idea of where the student is at socially and emotionally for the day.  Each teacher will be different, but a positive greeting goes a long way towards connecting with students.  This sets a positive tone for the class and provides the teacher with some information about the students for the day.

As the students enter the classroom, it should be apparent that there is some sense of what to do next.  Do they hang their bags up?  Do they get their materials out?  Do they turn in work somewhere?  Is there some task accessible, that the student can begin work on and engage with the learning?  Does the teacher provide a written task on the board or projected on a screen describing the starting task or activity?

An entrance task limits down time, engages the student immediately with the subject, and sets a tone of importance for the class work.  All of this can be done without the teacher supervision, but it must be taught at the beginning of the school year and set as a routine.  An administrator walking in this class will see academic engagement and students on a task.  When the students are asked about the work, they should describe some version of expectation to get started immediately.

This is a time of significant transition for the class.  It is that moment where the students move from the passing period to the start of class.  This is where I draw on the work of Michael Grinder for Getting Their Attention.  I look for the following non-verbal and verbal cues when starting the class:

Teaching Space (non-verbal):  A teacher has a spot in the classroom where he or she teaches.  If you observe teachers, it is easy to spot but they may not realize that they are doing this.  Where do they stand to teach and give instructions?  Teachers always have a teaching space that they work from.  Do they come to that spot before beginning teaching?  If so, students engage quicker knowing that this spot is important for instruction.

          Freeze the Body (non-verbal): In preparation for the transition, the teacher, when in the teaching space, stops moving and freezes their body.  This is a non-verbal shift in the students mind that something is happening.  With practice, the teacher entering the teaching space and stopping will gain the attention of the class.  The caution is that this is a transitional state.  The teacher should not remain stationary for the entire class.  Just long enough to gain attention, using the Above – Pause – Whisper, as the verbal transition.  Then the teacher may continue with the discussion.

          Above Pause Whisper (verbal): When the teacher speaks to gain attention, how do they sound?  What is their volume level?  Great managers know that they need to speak ABOVE the volume of the class with a short attention getting word or phrase to interrupt what is happening in the class.  An immediate PAUSE and freezing the body, allows the class to re-focus on the instructor.  Then dropping the voice down to a near WHISPER verbally draws the class in to the instruction before moving to the next step which is instruction.

          Physical Cue (non-verbal):  At the beginning of the year, the teacher should combine the teaching space, frozen body, and above pause whisper with a non-verbal cue.  I like to place my right arm at 90 degrees at my elbow with my hand up and the left hand at my bellow button.  The idea being that this non-verbal cue replaces the verbal cues over time.  If I have done this correctly, I will start with a verbal and non-verbal cue, and slowly drop the verbal cues in favor of the recognized non-verbals only.  In this, my management becomes less verbal and more non-verbal and if done consistently, expected by the class.  Then, one can begin teaching.

          Written Instruction / Entrance Task (verbal and non-verbal):  At the beginning of class, we need to teach students how we expect them to start.  Writing an activity on the board, projected slide, or other method where everyone can see, allows the teacher and students to refer to it.  Initially, the teacher needs to teach this Entrance Task, the activity that students are expected to start once in the class.  However, over time, if consistent, the students will recognize this starting task and beginning to work on their own.  Or, if the teacher is providing instruction for the start of class, it is available for reference by the students and teacher.  This limits the need for the teacher to repeat instructions, instead they can simply non-verbally point at the instructions when the student say, “I don’t know what to do”.  It also allows our English Language Learners the opportunity to process the written word rather than navigating verbal instructions.

          When I am asked to observe the start of class, these are things I look for as the teacher begins class.  One can learn a lot about how the management of the class by observing the start of the class.  This significant period of transition is worth paying attention to, especially at the beginning of the school year.  Extra attention given at this portion of class will pay benefits throughout the class period.

          If you are serious about changing the classroom management style of your school, get out and visit the classrooms.  Use informal observations and create a checklist for behaviors and management skills you wish to see.  Provide feedback to your teachers about what you saw.  Have a conversation with the teacher, or teachers about what you observed and the strengths or challenges they seem to be having.  Encourage the teachers to observe other teachers who are successful at classroom management, or are demonstrating successful practices in their classroom.

          Shifting the culture of a school takes time, hard work, commitment, communication, and a willingness to commit the time to make the shift.  Keep in mind that small changes can make significant impacts in a classroom, and school.  Consistency across the school in teacher expectations has shown to have significant positive impacts in students behavior and academic behavior of students.  I encourage you to take the first steps towards making positive shifts in your school climate and classroom management practices.

For more information on the above topics, I recommend you view some of the hyperlinked videos below as a frame of reference.  Michael Grinder and Kendall Zoller are experts in the field of non-verbal communication and have provided some excellent resources for you to review in this field.

High Expectations (Michael Grinder)

I share this video as an example of how teachers can adjust how they stand to increase the non-verbal expectations.

Above, Pause, Whisper (Michael Grinder)

A description of the skill set of Above, Pause, Whisper.

Above, Pause, Whisper – Demonstration (Michael Grinder)

A demonstration of Above, Pause, Whisper with a group of teachers.

Exit and Entrance Directions (Michael Grinder)

Michael describes an Exit Direction for use with students.  This is easily modified to become an entrance direction at the beginning of class for students.

Digital Workshop: The Choreography of Presenting (Kendall Zoller)

Kendall Zoller shares his Choreography of Presenting in this video. While not specifically classroom based, it does provide us with a great deal of information as educators when we consider how we present information to the classroom.

Categories
Uncategorized

Vulnerability as a Strength in School Leadership

There may exist an old-school conception that educational leaders should not show vulnerability as it may display weakness, which could undermine one’s authority.  Think of Morgan Freeman’s first speech to his faculty as a new High School Principal in Lean on Me when he shouts ‘no one talks in my meetings, no one!’   This is a great movie, but times have changed in school leadership.  With the increase of desired traits such as emotional intelligence, self-awareness, transparency and authenticity, vulnerability may now be viewed not only as a strength but as a necessity.

This idea is succinctly reinforced in an article from Forbes: “Every leader has vulnerability. The greatest leaders have the self-awareness to recognize this fact. They also recognize that showing their vulnerability is a sign of courage and strength.”

The question that remains is when are appropriate times for a leader show vulnerability?  A short answer: To make those ever-important human connections.  Human connections between school leaders and teachers often gets pushed aside or ignored as we are consumed with results, paper work, deadlines, evaluations and testing.  Of course all of these are important for making a school run, but behind all of these processes are people.

This is summed up by this quote from Harvard Business Review: “Why is human connection missing at work? As leaders and employees, we are often taught to keep a distance and project a certain image. An image of confidence, competence and authority. We may disclose our vulnerability to a spouse or close friend behind closed doors at night but we would never show it elsewhere during the day, let alone at work.”

This stereotype is changing however and is one reason why AI may not be able to replace a strong/vulnerable leader: because AI cannot empathize as meaningfully or effectively as humans.  Ironically, AI’s weak spot may be that it doesn’t show weakness.  In the end, in education, we are humans working with other humans, none of us are perfect, all of us have weaknesses and all of us deserve forgiveness.  Taken from the same Harvard Business Review article : “Forgiveness doesn’t mean tolerance of error but rather a patient encouragement of growth.”  A strong educational leader not only recognizes their vulnerabilities, but forgives all stakeholders including themselves for the mistakes and shortcomings that come with being human while at the same time maintaining high expectations.  We are not perfect, but we can always work to be better, including our ability to show strength through vulnerability.

Categories
General Leadership

Teacher Care

            How do you take care of the mental and physical health of your teachers?  This is the question that came to my mind after reading the blog post titled, “We’re Constantly Talking on Students, What about the Teachers?”  This particular blog post is written based on a popular image going around about how a teacher checks in on the students.  The teacher obviously cares greatly about the students, as we all should.  We spend a great deal of time and money making sure students are physical and mentally well.  Do we do the same for our teachers?

            I would venture to guess that most schools and school groups are the same in their approach to teacher care.  The teachers have a set number of sick or well leave and a few personal days.  The teacher can take those when needed.  However, when the teacher is gone, he or she must still write lesson plans, prepare assessments, provide detailed notes that anyone could follow, and have a high level of confidence that some or all of the plan will not be followed.  For most of us, it is far easier to come is sick than it is to be out a day or two.  If you are lucky, your principal or partner teachers will tell you to go home and they will cover your class.

            What about the mental health and well being of teachers?  If a teacher is sick, there are outward symptoms and a chance of infection which they can be sent home for.  But those teachers quietly struggling with overwhelming stress, perhaps depression, feelings of inadequacy, lack of support for struggling students, or any number of other issues, they too often do not show any symptoms other than a tired teacher.  What do we do to help our fellow teachers who are mentally struggling and don’t feel that they are sick?  What can we as administrators do to support the staff we work with?  Here are three ideas to get you started.

            How well do you know your teachers?  Building positive relationships with teachers is the first step towards a healthy staff environment.  If you are seen as both the leader and someone that they know and can trust, the staff is more likely to be open and honest with you.  This will require a bit of a tough skin on the administrators’ part, because you may get some difficult feedback, but in the long run, the community is stronger.  Know the teachers you work with as more than names and subject areas.  Listen to their challenges and do what you can to alleviate known stressors to the extent you are able.  This is a good first step towards building a healthy school and caring for your staff.

            Trust the staff if they say that the need a day for sickness or mental health.  I have personally been told, when I said I needed a sick day, “I hope we can find a substitute for you.”  This made me questions whether I really needed to take a day as it would put stress on my fellow teachers.  They would have to cover my class.   This only adds to the teachers’ stress.  On the other hand, I was also told by a principal, “Take a mental health day and take care of yourself.”  That little bit of trust allowed me to care for myself to do my job better.  If you are willing to step into the classroom to take care of the students when a substitute can’t be found, the teachers’ level of support will also rise because they see you doing the same thing they may be asked to do.

            Tell staff members to go home and then support them when they do.  When teachers are coming in because they are sick, or you learn that they need a day off, tell them to take it.  Tell them to go home in the morning or midday when you learn of it.  This may be a challenge with sick leave days and coverage depending on the school or leadership.   We should not do things that will run us afoul of our leadership.  At the same time, one should be able to flex within the rules and contract language to support teachers.  Teachers who need a day to get healthy should feel that they can take it and be supported within the school policies.  This may mean working to provide cover for the teacher at last minute, including you doing the coverage.  This will help to bring the staff moral up when teachers know that you are willing to help and support them in difficult times. 

            All of the above is under the assumption of normal day to day stress and conditions.  In the event of an emergency, flu epidemic, inclement weather, or any other cause that significantly impacts the school, we must address these on a case by case basis and under the conditions.  For example, if a flu epidemic sends half of your teachers home for multiple days, you deal with it to ensure the safety of the students which may mean that class instruction is limited based on who you have available to you.  In an emergency when the teacher has to leave, we address it and cover for the teacher so that they can take care of the situations.  Again, a little support for teachers goes a long ways.

            One final point for administrators in schools where programs exist that students must be restrained on a regular basis.  Have a plan in place for student care and teacher care.  A teacher, who has actively restrained a student, should not go in front of a class without ensuring that he or she is ready to do so.  A restraint is a traumatic event and can be very physical even if done under the best of conditions.  The teacher will need time to come down from the event, collect themselves, complete reports about what happened, and prepare to go in front of the class.  Be very aware of how the teacher is doing and allow them space to process before they get put in front of students again.  The same goes for teachers dealing with fights, lifeguards, or anyone who is in a situation where they are dealing with a crisis.  Support them as needed including providing cover for classes so they can come back at their fullest.

            As administrators, we are responsible for both students and teachers.  Teaching is hard no matter how good you are.  Our students deserve our best so that we may take care of them.  Our teachers deserve to be treated as well so they can do the job we hired them to do which is be their best self in front of students.  Consider how you care for you teachers and continue to support them in the best possible ways.

Categories
Classroom Management

Classroom Management: First Things First

The first question the administration needs to ask itself is “why does classroom management matter to us?”  We can take a page from Simon Sinek and his book series including Start With Why (2009).  We need to know why we are going to address the behavior before we begin to tackle the classroom issues.  We often want to jump to the how we are going to do things and the what we are going to do before we have addressed the “why” question.

Each school is different and unique.  Each administrator has a reason for tackling the issue of improving classroom management with its teachers.  That reason may be a significant behavioral issue within the school.  There simply may be a desire to bring all teachers together with the same focus for classroom management.  Possibly, the goal is simply to improve school climate from good to great.  The first step is to identify why you are going to bring time, energy and resources to bear on classroom management.  Identifying you purpose for this will make it easier over time to remind your staff when you are discussing the how and why.

It is valuable to check your own beliefs, and that of the administrative team, about what the school values.  Undoubtedly, you have a discipline policy for the school that states some of these values and consequences for violating these rules.  But, what do you believe about the school climate?  Are there non-negotiables that the administration or school values and expects to be consistent across the school?  What about areas that you feel are not important to enforce?  Are these also identified?  Have you told your staff about the non-negotiables and how they are enforced?  What about the things you don’t feel are critical to the function of the school?  Those are as important to share with the staff.  I would strongly suggest that this is completed with a group of administrators and teachers for the best results.

Once you have set a baseline for expected behaviors, it is far easier to step into the teacher’s classroom to address specific behaviors, or general classroom management.  Not everything is critical in the school, but some things are.  Just like the teacher’s classroom.  Some teachers enjoy noisy teaching spaces while others expect near silence and both classes can be amazing and well managed.  Just like what the administrators’ value, teachers value different expectations class by class.  Your goal is to help teachers develop well managed classrooms that are highly effective, without your own personal biases impacting your decisions.

An administrator who can self-reflect and identify the why behind addressing classroom management issues within the school can clearly articulate this with the staff.  The removal of personal biases from the discipline and management process of the school, while difficult, is a key ingredient to moving forward.  The step helps to eliminate confusion among the teachers and the staff about key issues.  It also helps to clarify what is important for the staff and the students.  This process is not a simple one.  It is a lengthy reflective process that should be a key element in all important decisions in the school.  This is a valuable step in the process which will propel you forward to moving into the classroom with a clear sense of purpose and vision moving ahead.

Sinek, S. (2009). Start with why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action. New York, N.Y.: Portfolio.

Categories
Classroom Management

Why Good Classroom Management Matters

I have been thinking a lot about classroom management lately.  I have not been thinking about the discipline models, but the teacher’s management of their teaching space.  When I say classroom management, I am talking about everything that a teacher does from the moment a student walks in the door to when that student leaves to make the classroom run smoothly.  Classrooms where the educator is a master of management strategies are the classrooms where good things happen.

As an administrator, we want our teachers to understand the importance of structures, routines, patterns, and low-level discipline strategies in the classroom.  The teacher who manages the behaviors of students within the confines of the classroom makes our life easier.  There will be less referrals to the office.  There are less disruptions in the classroom.  The teacher has positive healthy relationships with students.  We want the teacher to feel empowered to manage students within the class knowing that we will support that teacher.

In contrast, we will be challenged by teachers who do not have good classroom management skills.  They struggle with maintaining positive, working relationships with students especially in difficult situations.  Their classes may struggle with completing work in a timely manner.  They may be challenged by maintaining good order in the classroom.  The management strategy of behavior may turn to sending students to the administration rather than addressing behavior in the classroom.

Once a teacher becomes accustomed to leaning on administration to address behavior, the students recognize this as an opportunity to get out of class.  Relationships may be damaged.  Behavior may escalate.  Students may not respect the administration and then, the administrator must decide how to respond to the teacher to address the management issues.  In a positive setting, we would identify this early and address it with mentoring, instruction, observation, and guidance.  We want our teachers to succeed and be strong academic teachers and have positive relationships with students in regular daily interactions.  Good classroom management strategies are necessary for teachers to be successful in their room.

We will need to address behaviors of students.  That is part of the job.  We will be required to deal with extreme behaviors by students and address those when they happen.  However, on a daily basis, we want our teachers to address as much in the class as possible and support them when needed.  It makes our job easier.  In the coming weeks, I will add my thoughts on how teacher can become good managers by identifying key areas of their classroom management plans and strategies.  I will also identify areas that administrators can support their teachers to become better managers of student behavior.

In future writings on this topic, I will draw from the works of Dr. Kendall Zoller, Michael Grinder, and others as a point of reference.  There is a wealth of great resources available for administrators and teachers regarding classroom management.   I look forward to sharing some of it with you.