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!

Twitter, A Washing Machine, and a CW Connection

The Story…

This past weekend was an exciting one at the Simpson household!  With two young and active kids in Cole and Aubrey, the amount of laundry facing us each week seemed to be growing at an exponential level.  My wife and I had been saving up for over a year to purchase a new washer and dryer.  Our initial thinking was to wait until the Black Friday sales coming up this fall (I am always on the lookout for great deals!)  Unfortunately, our washing machine had different plans.  In an almost poetic whimper a week and half ago, our washing machine finally succumbed to the endless stream of grass stained pants and spaghetti covered shirts.  It was done.

Heading to a nearby store, we found a great deal on a new high efficiency Samsung washer and dryer.  The size of the the tub in the washing machine was huge!  I wasn’t even sure if we had enough clothes to fit inside of it!  Delivery was scheduled for Friday and the anticipation throughout the week grew!  I could hardly wait…my battle I routinely do with laundry was going to be changed forever.  The delivery came on Friday and the installers hooked up the washing machine…my life was forever a changing.

I scampered around the house gathering up every piece of dirty laundry!  I started my first load in this completely amazing and revolutionary home appliance…squeak…squeak…squeak.  Uh?  What was that?  From the depths of the inside of the washer, a constant and very annoying squeak was occurring.  “This can’t be right,” I said in despair as I felt like a toddler who had just dropped his brand new sucker.  After running several loads in the next 24 hours, I knew I needed help.

I didn’t call.  I didn’t email.  I turned to Twitter. 

@SamsungSupport just got brand new WA48H7200A and it squeaks. See video! Very annoying! Can you help?

From there, I exchanged in a twitter conversation during the next hour where they walked me through troubleshooting tip after tip.  It was very helpful and I never had to be on hold or wait for an email response.  The disappointing aspect of this twitter conversation was that nothing helped.  My washer was level.  The hoses were not rubbing against anything.  Samsung was sending me back to the store to order a replacement.

Then on Monday, my phone rang.  It was Samsung.  The store had notified them of my issue and the person on the phone said she was required to go through a series of trouble shooting steps.  Uh?  I said I had already done that with that Samsung and nothing worked.  She said there was not a record of that and it was a required step in order to get a replacement.  I quickly recounted how I had reached out on Twitter and went through the troubleshooting steps.  She was confused by what I was talking about…she finally said that their department does not connect with Samsung’s twitter support and the two systems do not talk with to each other.  The bottom line was I was still going to have to redo the troubleshooting with her in order to get the replacement.

I did offer a suggestion for her to take to her next team meeting in that their teams should create networks to communicate.  Her response, “Honestly Sir, you are the first person that has ever told me you have used Twitter to get support from Samsung.”

The CW Connection…

This story made me reflect on what we need to do for our students.  Although Samsung had things in place to meet the needs of its consumers, the systems weren’t really prepared to meet customers with where they were at in terms of comfort level in getting help.  They had a Twitter account to help, but it was not tied to anything official.

Simply stated, Samsung was not fully prepared to meet its customers where they were at with technology.

I think about our own students.  I think about my own son who is in kindergarten who can use a MacBook, iPad, and Chromebook. 

Our students are coming to us with expectations and experience using technology to personalize their learning…to achieve their individual potential.

I would ask what we can do as educators to make sure we meet the needs of all students where they are at in terms of using technology to enhance and personalize learning.  Every student is different with their comfort and experiences with technology, just as I was more comfortable with Twitter then calling an 800 number for help.

I am proud of the work our teachers are engaged into to deepen their own knowledge of how to support and embed technology into the art of their teaching.  We are 1:1 with teachers and iPads and I see them learning new ways to innovate every day!  Through the passage of the bond, we will be increasing the amount and variety of devices available to our students in the classroom.  

I see our teachers going to professional development sessions to learn more about using technology to enhance their instruction.  

I see our teachers sharing out resources with each other to learn more about new technology tools.  

I see our teachers spending time at “App lunches” learning about new apps for their iPad and how it can enhance the thinking of our students.

I see teachers empowered to meet the needs of our students.

Simply put, we have to!  If we aren’t prepared to meet our students where they are at and take their thinking to new levels using technology…we will lose them.

The Inspiration of an 11 Year Old

Sometimes on my blog, I do share the personal connection of my life with my professional life at CW.  I guess when I think about it, I do not know how to separate the two.

I am "all in" as Principal at CW.  I bring the same passion and love that I have as a father and husband to my work as a Principal.  In fact, I don't even like using the term work.  All 570 CW students are "my kids" during the day and I readily share my experiences with my own family with the students and staff of my CW family.

This past week was memorable for myself and many members of our CW Family.  On Wednesday and Thursday, our students simulated a Relay for Life during PE and ran over 900 miles combined.  They also raised over $6,000 dollars to support cancer research.

I spent an afternoon running with 3 different 6th grade PE classes.  It was great to see their energy and excitement as they used Chromebooks to digitally track the number of laps each student was running.  There was music playing and shouts of encouragement throughout the hour.

I had set a goal of running a mile with each class.  It was a great idea during the 1st PE class...I felt fine.  However, during the 3rd class, I had begun to question my goal.  Not wanting to let my students down, I was able to finish the mile with all three classes.

What I did not share with my students was that I was running for my mother-in-law.  This past December, she lost her battle to pancreatic cancer at the age of 59.  This is something that has been extremely difficult for our family.  I felt I had a purpose when running with our students...my own purpose.

During the Relay, a teacher shared with my how she had students complete a Visible Thinking Routine called a "step-inside" about putting themselves in the shoes of someone impacted by cancer.  Some of these writings were shared with me.  I was blown away at the maturity and sense of purpose of our students.  Their words in describing the emotions and purpose that the Relay meant for them helped me to realize that many of us had a "personal purpose" when running in the Relay.  There was one girl in particular...an 11 year old student who wrote with such depth and power about a relative who had battled cancer.  She had a sense of personal understanding of the need of for a Relay event! This "personal purpose" provided motivation and greater meaning for some of our students.

This connection to purpose has kept me thinking (that's probably why I am writing this blog post now.)  When we develop a purpose in ourselves and in our students...it leads to passion and motivation. Running in Relay for Life was not something our students felt like they had to do...they had a passion for it.  A PURPOSE!

I left school this week with an even greater passion to make sure all students feel connected to CW so that they feel their time at CW is filled with purpose and passion!

If you want to see a timeline of tweets from our Relay for Life, go to http://goo.gl/00gKKI

Leadership Defined

Over the weekend, I was having an important conversation with my 5 year old son, Cole.  It centered on the topic of being nice (mainly to his 2 year old sister, Aubrey).  As our conversation evolved, we kept on going back to what it meant to be nice.  At first it was hard to think about that being nice was simply saying more than being nice.  All of a sudden we started developing a list of actions of what being nice meant.  

Not pushing

Hugging

Helping color

Reading to Aubrey

The more I thought about this on Sunday and Monday, I started thinking about our 6th grade.  At the beginning of the year, we talked as a 6th grade family that we were the leaders of the building.  As 6th grade students, we help develop a Stand Up culture for our new 5th grade students.  It is our year to really find our leadership voice.

I connected the conversation I had with my son to the important actions our 6th graders would need to think about in continuing to cultivate their leadership.  My son started with a very concrete thought, "Nice meant to be nice."

In talking with some of our 6th grade students today, I posed the question, "Is a leader defined by a title?"  It was inspirational to see their young minds hard at work processing this question.  In one class, a girl started talking about what 6th graders at CW should be doing.  This was a great "aha" moment as we started to connect the concept to leadership to action.  Just because our students have the title of "6th grader" does not make them a leader.  Our students began to think deeply about how their actions develop, but also model leadership to others.

I had our students "step inside" what a 5th grade student is seeing and feeling right now.  I had them journey back into their year last year.  Believe it or not, our 5th graders are developing the actions to become 6th grade leaders at CW.  Some of our students remembered watching the actions of the 6th grade last year.

This powerful image helped to solidify the need of our 6th grade to lead through their actions.  Our 5th graders look up to them and see the messages their actions transmit.  If our 6th graders stop to pick up a piece a trash, or straighten their boots by their locker, or model the hard work of being a visible thinker...our 5th graders notice.  

Not only do our 5th graders notice...they aspire.  They aspire to continue the culture of leadership that is being developed every day by our 6th grade.

Today was a great reminder for our 6th grade that just by being in 6th grade does automatically qualify them as a leader.  It is their actions that demonstrate their leadership!

Retiring 21st Century Learning

Education is filled with buzzwords.  I know of no other profession inundated with what seems like the words upon words of lingo:  Common Core, Standardized testing, differentiation, personalized learning, and the ever quoted “21st century learning.”

21st century learning is a term that was almost a requirement to use at any job interview at the turn of the century.  I looked back at my first cover letter (from 2003) and I used the term 21st century learning.  I continued to use it and hear it in my teaching and during my time as an administrator.

In fact…I was on twitter last night and saw a tweet about 21st century learning!

My question is when will we move from this term and just call it learning?  We are in the year 2015…15 years into the 21st century.  Do we still have to create a special term that we think our students will need in 2015?  

CW was fortunate to have members of the Forest Hills Public Schools Foundation in our building today observing teachers learning how to use the online mapping tool, Stratalogica.  Our Foundation was generous in their financial support and purchased a school site license for this amazing tool.  

In talking with the Foundation representatives, I was reminded of what 21st century learning really meant.  Our students are entering a world that requires them to be adaptive, to think critically, to locate information, and work collaboratively.  In essence, this is what the term 21st century learning was meant to capture.  It meant moving away from memorization and focusing on the right answer.  It meant creating opportunities for students to authentically apply the information they were learning in a real world context.  It meant connecting the learning happening in PE with the learning happening in math and so forth.

I look at the work we are doing at CW in creating visible thinkers who can engage one another in discourse and document their thinking.  I see students who are applying what they learn in one subject to another.  I see students becoming thinkers who are able to adapt to challenges they face.  

I know there was a lot of buzz (well deserved) when the state abruptly changed from using the ACT to the SAT at the high school level as the test included in the Michigan Merit Exam.  There has been a lot of buzz at our level about the upcoming and new M-Step assessment.  Actually, there is always buzz regarding standardized assessment.  I do understand the need to look at new assessments and the implications they have on our students’ ability to select the college of their choice.  Changing assessments does add stress for our families (especially our high school juniors!). 

However, I wrote this to our staff this week and wanted to share it with our families:

While I do see the need for our students to practice the delivery format of the assessments, the work we do with Visible Thinking transcends any test.  Our students through, our culture of thinking, will do well no matter what the test is called.

At CW, we are creating thinkers…not test takers!!!!!!!

So I would like to officially retire the use of 21st century learning at CW.  At CW, we are creating a culture of thinking through a focus on visible thinking which pushes our students to engage in deeper learning.  I am excited that our students leaving CW will not only be ready for 7th grade, but they will be ready for life!