The Right Questions

The Right Questions

I continue to read and be inspired by The Innovator’s Mindset by George Couros (@gcouros).  This blog post will continue my reflection of his work and the connection to not only Central Woodlands, but to our education system across the world.

Innovation starts not by providing answers but by asking questions. #InnovatorsMindset

This proposition is interesting to think about more deeply and to tease out the implications it can have for us in education.  A few weeks ago, I was able to take several CW staff to the MACUL conference in Grand Rapids.  MACUL is the premier educational technology conference and always pushes our thinking in terms of how to meet the needs of students.

The keynote speaker at this year’s conference was Jaime Casap, a chief educational leader at Google.   I think about how some of his message resonated with this idea of asking questions.  Here are some tweets inspired by this theme:

@jcasap-Change conversation from, "who do you want to work for" to "what problem do you want to solve" ‪#edchat ‪#edtech

@davidsimpson512-Generation Z is global, social, visual, and technological… ‪#macul16 How do we meet their needs?

@davidsimpson512-We need to think about the questions we are asking our Ss? Are we making their thinking visible? Do we provide for ‪#deeperlearning? ‪#macul16

@davidsimpson512-How do we make all of our schools “passion based?” Maybe the first step is in asking our Ss the right questions! ‪#macul16

Asking questions is nothing new in our world.  In fact, renowned author, John Maxwell, even wrote a book called Good Leaders Ask Great Questions.   In his book, he argues “if you want to be successful and reach your leadership potential, you need to embrace asking questions as a lifestyle.”

If we really want to innovate in education, maybe we should start thinking more about how questions can drive purpose….questions can drive action…questions can drive innovation.

However, it has to be more than just questions that leaders ask.  It has to be more than just questions posed by thinkers in education.  It has to be more than questions asked by parents.  It has to be more than just questions asked by students.

I believe true innovation will occur when we create the opportunities for the intersection of these questions to truly reimagine what education can be in our world.  When groups of people with students having the loudest voice come to the table with questions, might we move from a neatly set table with preconceived notions of what a table should look like to something we haven’t even imagined?

Without asking questions, we fall into the trap of a fixed mindset for education.  We see something that has worked or that we feel comfortable with and we become static.  It is the same for our students as well.  They become comfortable with the “game of education” and will fall into the trap of negotiating this game on the surface, while simply falling in line with the system.

What if we give students an authentic voice?  Push them to ask questions?  Push them into deeper thinking about owning and personalizing their education?  Instead of creating an educational environment that is beholden to standards and rigidity,  let’s create an educational environment that has our students solving problems of the world as they develop a deeper learning and thinking approach.  I think sometimes we underestimate the thinking of our students.  However, by allowing them to innovate and ask questions, the synergy of ideas connected with questions coming from multiple voices will have the power to change the world!

Let’s start today.  Let’s begin to think differently about what education can be.  Let’s wake up on Monday morning and embrace the questions of our students.  Let’s push them to find their voice.  WE CAN DO THIS!

Blockbuster Video

Innovation

It’s been awhile since I have blogged!  Things have gotten pretty busy this year at CW and lots of things have been going on.  Much of my focus outside of my life at CW has been on finishing up my dissertation proposal.  I am scheduled to defend it in the coming weeks so I hope I begin to have more time to blog.

I am reading the book, The Innovator’s Mindset, by George Couros.  I have been able to hear Mr. Couros speak a number of times and am always left with a feeling of inspiration every time!  I plan on having my next couple of blog posts focus on my reflections from this book.

Awhile back, over 30 staff members from FHPS visited Bemis Elementary to deepen our learning on the concepts of Visible Thinking.  We are in our 3^rd year of creating a culture of thinking at CW and other schools in Forest Hills have started as well.  One thing the principal of Bemis mentioned to our group was his belief that if schools did not begin to focus on the thinking of students, they would no longer do well as students would not prepared for both the new standardized tests, but more importantly for the demands of the world in which are students will enter.

Basically, he was saying schools needed to INNOVATE by focusing on thinking otherwise, previously successful schools would begin to lag behind in terms of student outcomes. 

The first part of The Innovator’s Mindset reminded me of this.  In the book, Couros makes reference to a satirical video produced by The Onion, in which they take a fictional look at a Blockbuster Video museum.  The video is actually pretty funny and can be found at https://youtu.be/3TrPwOrf4sM

Blockbuster Video was in business not too many years ago and I am sure many of us can remember going there.  What happened?  They failed to innovate and they became obsolete against the likes of Netflix, iTunes, and Hulu.  They were comfortable with the status quo.  They were content.  They felt like they were “good.” 

As often is said, good is the enemy of great.  At CW, we have always been a good school.  Our students and parents have been happy with the education received.  Our test scores on the traditional assessments were good.  We were a reward school.  We were “good.”

But at CW, there exists a group of teachers who did not want to rest on just being good.  They weren’t satisfied with our students just doing well.  They begin to look at not what our students were learning, but how?  They saw students who were already beginning to play the game of education.  The game where students memorized the answers to demonstrate success, all the while not getting to deep learning or thinking.

We wanted more for our students at CW.  The innovation begin when we decided to seek out ways to transform into a Visible Thinking school where thinking is prized and celebrated like the A’s used to be when I went to school.  The goal was no longer the answer.  The goal was deep learning and thinking.

Being Present

“Becoming a great leader demands tremendous self-awareness.” – Jeff Jordan, former president of PayPal

At the end of each school year, I always ask my staff for things I should keeping doing, stop doing and start doing.  This is a great way to get actionable feedback so I can grow in my own leadership.  One theme that came across in the “Start Doing” section was to  “Slow down.”  This made me laugh, as I am very aware of my own mind going 100 mph.  When I walk down the halls, I know my mind is always thinking about my upcoming meeting, students I need to connect with, and the hundreds of other things that face a principal.  What I was not aware of was how apparent this was to those around me.  Hearing this from my teachers was a great wake-up call to do things differently.

Over the summer, I was looking back through my twitter account to reread some of the tweets I have retweeted or favorited throughout the past year.  In my busy life (as described above), I know I often see something on twitter that has meaning, but don’t always have the time to go back to it right away.  I came across a tweet from a colleague about “Happy People Do Differently.”  You can find the article at this link: http://goo.gl/0mz3AN. The abbreviated of the 10 things happy people do are:

1. Happy people find balance in their lives.

2. Happy people abide by the golden rule.

3. Happy people don’t sweat the small stuff.

4. Happy people take responsibility for their actions.

5. Happy people surround themselves with other happy people.

6. Happy people are honest with themselves and others. 

7. Happy people show signs of happiness.

8. Happy people are passionate.

9. Happy people see challenges as opportunities.

10. Happy people live in the present.

I read this article again and instantly made the connection to the feedback my staff had given me about slowing down.  I saw the connection about finding balance in my life when I am at school and living in the present.  What I believe my staff (and often my own family) was saying is to slow down and live in the present!  Even though I believed I was doing a fantastic job of multi-tasking in my professional life, I realize now I wasn’t always fully present.  During the summer, I knew I needed to focus on this…but how?

In my district, we are fortunate to have Debbie McFalone provide our administrative group with ongoing professional development.  In our August leadership session, Debbie told us about the book, The Mindful School Leader: Practices to Transform Your Leadership and School by Valerie Brown and Kirsten Olson.  I felt it was like Debbie was reading my mind…this is the book I needed.  I knew I wanted to be more present, but I honestly had no idea how to change.  For me, I could not simply flip the switch and instantly become a more present leader.  I needed something to get me there!

Once the book came in, I started reading and seeing the connections to the stories of educational leaders in book.  I am remember the feeling of exhaustion that one principal spoke about…the constant running around and feeling like there was always so much to do and not enough time to accomplish it.  I started to think about how this year would be an opportunity to become more self-aware, to practice a sense of mindfulness that gave every teacher and student a “present” leader.  The first thing I did was to share out my thinking of my professional goal with my staff.  Here is what I wrote to them:

My Goals:  I think it is important to share out my own professional goals for the year.  During the course of my first two years, my focus was on getting to know the CW culture, learning the dynamics of the principalship, and creating systems of communication for both staff and families.  I will continue my own growth in these areas; however, I am going to focus on more on this year at being a more mindful leader.  I am excited, as I have ordered the book, The Mindful School Leader: Practices to Transform Your Leadership and School.  In hearing feedback from all of you in last year’s survey, I feel a focus on mindfulness will help be a more “present” leader.  

During the start of this school year, I have taken actionable steps that have supported my goal of being more present.  Here are some suggestions that have already started to help me be a more present principal:

1. Create a workspace that supports the goal of being present.  In my office, I redesigned my space to allow for a separate workspace and a separate collaborative space.  I removed portions of my desk to create an open space between both areas to signal a connection to those who come into my office.  I created a collaborative space away from my desk, which requires me to physically stand and move to this area to meet with teachers, students, and families.  This physical act of moving helps to reinforce being present as I “leave” my work back at my desk in order to have my mind present for those in my office.

2. Practice S.T.O.P.  One of the first things I learned from my book was the importance of recognizing what is happening in the present moment; I have begun practicing a technique they describe with the acronym S.T.O.P. (pg. 36).

·      Stop.

·      Take a breath.

·      Observe, acknowledge, and allow what’s here.

·      Proceed and be present.

3. Download an App.  The beauty of technology is that even though it can be a cause for us not to be present, it can also serve as tool to support mindfulness.  There are lots of apps out there to help practice meditation and guided breathing.  I have started to “emotionally” check in when I get to school every day through my app.  Also, there are lots of guided meditations that have helped foster self-awareness on being present throughout the day.

I encourage all of us to take some time each day to think about how we can be more of a present…I know it is already paying dividends for me! 

Did I Get It Wrong?

Over the summer, I was working on some multiplication with my son.  Cole is a very competitive young man whether it is with baseball in the backyard, a game of cards, or on his math facts.  At times this competitiveness can be a good thing; however, sometimes it creates issues for Cole.  While giving an answer to math problem, he incorrectly answered the problem.  He quickly tried to "change" his answer once he discovered his answer was wrong.  After this, he was very worried whether he was wrong or right since he "changed" his answer.

I explained that his initial thinking was wrong, but that by making this mistake, he learned from it.  This was not good enough for a 6-year-old child focused solely on "being right."  Even at a young age, Cole was focused on the correct answer...that is what mattered to him.

At CW, we have seen this in many of our students!  Often times, students are so preoccupied with "being right."  They want to tell you that 2+2=4 because that is the "right" answer.  They were conditioned to raise their hand first to give the "right" answer.  Sometimes, we would see students even give up because the "right" answer did not come quick enough.

We believe there is a better way at CW.  We are now entering our 3rd year in creating a culture of thinking.  At CW, we focus on teaching for understanding, rather than for the sake of memorizing and repeating, so that knowledge can be applied to scenarios outside of the classroom. We expect students to dive deeper into their thinking of specific concepts. Our teachers model strategies to promote deep thinking, as well as share their own thinking with their students.

By utilizing thinking strategies in our instruction, we have discovered students are able to go beyond the knowledge level and push for application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation in their thinking. Moving beyond simply asking students to recall information; we have successfully found there are more opportunities for deep thinking to occur along with intellectual engagement permitting students to clarify their thinking. 

As both a Principal and a Dad, I will continue to push our students and my own children to become thinkers...celebrating the growth of their thinking along the way!