Interview Season is coming to a close in my neck of the woods. Despite the anxiety and hard work that goes into preparing to make that impression that, in turn, lands you a job, there is something genuinely refreshing about the process. We craft our resumes to give strangers a look into our work. We write our cover letters to answer the question, "Why do I fit in your organization?" Answering questions in interviews requires, not only a thorough understanding of your own business, but the ability to think and reflect on your feet. And shouldn't we be able to do all this any way? Explain ourselves and our place? Know, think, reflect?
Near the end of a recent interview, really after the bulk of the "tough stuff," I was asked a great, great question.
"In your time in administration, what three lessons have you taken regarding leadership? What three things have you learned?"
Wow. Excellent.
This is what I told the committee:
First, people can do it. They are capable. Despite resistance of many kinds, we can all change for the better. The catch is understanding what will motivate. Does talking about improving student achievement motivate? Does talking about the root of the change- state policy, district planning, etc.- motivate? If a leader knows his people, he should be able to motivate for positive change.
Second, we need to be aware of how much progress our constituents have made. And we need to be aware of how much they even know or understand about our initiatives. It may be that the K-8 staff "gets" using data and has been for years because of the state testing program, but the high school on the other hand doesn't. A one-size-fits-all approach at a faculty meeting isn't going to work. I'm also mindful that not all stay as wired as I do- they may have heard one thing from the local paper, one thing from the neighbor-educator, and something else entirely from the faculty room. Don't assume that they have the full story just because you do.
Third, climate is often leader-dependent. Simply put, f the principal mopes around during the annual budget development, the faculty worries. If the principal is positive and optimistic, the faculty brightens up. As leaders, we need to be conscious of the face we show our people.
So, what do you think? How did I do? What are your three lessons learned from leadership?
21st Century Skills
Morning,
I just read a nice post that summarizes the idea of 21st Century Skills nicely. I think many people automatically think computers when the term is brought up. This article did a nice job reminding me that there is so much more to the skills than just tech.
Consider:
21st century skills have been defined in many ways and include the following:
- critical thinking
- problem solving
- collaboration
- leadership
- agility and adaptability
- initiative and entrepreneurialism
- effective oral and written communication
- accessing and analyzing information
- curiosity and imagination
How much of this is embedded in what you already do in the classroom? Where would you do more? Also:
Costa and Kallick have defined 16 habits of mind necessary for success. These are:
- persistence and perseverance
- managing impulsivity and thinking before acting
- listening with understanding and empathy – being able to perceive another’s point of view
- thinking flexibly and being able to change perspectives
- metacognition – being aware of your own thoughts and actions and how they affect others
- striving for accuracy and precision
- questioning and problem posing
- applying past knowledge to novel situations – using what you have learnt
- thinking and communicating with clarity and precision
- gathering data through all the senses
- creating, imagining and innovating
- responding with wonderment and awe
- taking responsible risks – living on the edge of your competence
- humor – being able to laugh at yourself
- thinking independently and being able to learn from others and work together
- learning from experience
Much of that reminds me of the Common Core expectations. It’s worth 5 minutes to read the full post here.
The Effect of Good Teachers
The Effect of Good Teachers
How about this: the effects of a good or excellent teacher include lower teen pregnancy rates, greater college matriculation, and greater lifetime earnings as an adult.
Those facts come from a study that tracked 2.5 million students over 20 years. I don’t think we can really argue with the sample size. The study was done by economists from Harvard and Columbia. They find that if an excellent teacher replaces an average teacher anywhere between 4th and 8th grade, the student will earn $4600 more in his or her life and be slightly more likely to attend college.
Modest right? But in a class of 25 students that is $115,000 more in the economy. Multiply that by a 30 year career and you’ve added $3.4 million. And the numbers work from worst to average as well- the same things happen when a poor teacher is removed and an average teacher added. Certainly significant, makes me want to digress to talking about rural teacher recruitment and retention.
So here’s the part that may start debate. The researchers used “value-added” ratings to separate excellent, average, and poor teachers. A value-added rating “measures an individual teacher’s impact on student test scores.” Yep, what they are saying is that better teachers lead to higher standardized test scores, which lead to college and earnings. The opposition would tell you that VA scores are unreliable, invalid, and unfair. That it is too difficult to measure the effect of one teacher on a class’s test scores with all the variables needed to be taken into account (poverty, ELL, SwD, maybe even prior teachers, etc.).
But VA scores are coming to NY, they are a part of the new teacher evaluation system. NYC already uses it. Check out the formula:
Crazy, right? So, what are the takeaways? I don’t think any of us doubt a good or excellent teacher has a lasting effect. I wonder if having a string of excellent teachers continues to add to the effects (earnings, college attendance, etc.). I wonder about the emphasis on standardized tests as well, especially in NY. What do you think?
Read more at The New York Times.
Let Them Play
From the “News You Knew” file: Time magazine had a short article on the benefits of letting kids get in an hour of physical activity each day. It’s worth a look: it’s brief, research-based, and it makes sense…
Just a few quotes:
“…the studies showed that the more physical activity the children had, the higher their scores in school, particularly in the basic subjects of math, English and reading.”
“Being more active, says Singh, may improve blood flow to the brain, which provides more oxygen to cells involved in learning and attention. Exercise also boosts levels of certain hormones that can improve mood and fight stress, both of which can also provide a better learning environment for children.”
“Shorter periods of activity that break up the hours-long school day may be just as effective as a single session, and may make it easier to work in physical education into school curricula.”
What Do You Make?
Hey Teachers,
Taylor Mali has the best, most inspiring answer for the question: as a teacher, what do you make?
I hope you all take three minutes to watch it. I found it on Teachingchannel.org (which is linked over there on the right).
Just a little pick-me-up…
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