Lead Learners Update 12.12.11

Happy Holidays!
Lead Learners 12.12.11 - 12.23.11

“The test of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there. James Buchanan

Calendar of Events

12.12 Administrative Problem Solve Meeting

Gifted and Talented Educational Advisory Council Meeting (5:45 - 8:00)

12.13 Secondary Cadre

LSTvisit-High School (some C & I admin will adjusts schedule due to cadre conflict)

12.16 Elementary Cadre

12.19 Instructional Rounds at Heights

Board Meeting

12.22 Winter break starts (work day for Central Office)

Leadership for Focused Learning

As we continue to mature in leading schools through cycles of improvement, I had the privilege to discover how our talented leaders make learning explicit and focused.  The following are some examples:

Start Cadre planning by connecting to the overarching school goal

(Probe:  Our school goal stated we will design concept based units aligned with ICC, so, how will (...) help us reach this goal?)

Translate school goals into a concise one-page document or an image

• Use TOA explicitly to clarify your learning target
• Use UBD to show the big idea and learning sequence
• Use a “road map” image to point out progress toward the final goal

Probe:  How do we know our teachers are crystal clear about our learning targets (not learning topics)?  How do we know if we are there or not there? How do they know if they are there or not there?

Start each PL planning with evidence (not just feelings or opinions)

Probe: What did we see teachers do during PL days? What do we see in the classrooms?

What questions are raised consistently? What success or struggles do we hear or see when we work with teachers?

Plan both long-term and short-term goals (to avoid fragmentation)

Probe:  Looking down the next three months with the number of PL and staff learning sessions, what learning outcomes can reasonably be accomplished (charted out)?  How do we scaffold learning toward those outcomes?

Challenge your staff

Probe: I challenge you to write one PBL unit for this trimester to increase rigor and relevance in your teaching? or I challenge you to change one aspect of your grading practice to see how it motivated student learning? (This practice has been amazingly successful as we see multiple problem-based units being produced at the school.)

Celebrate with Evidence

For every piece of new learning, reinforce it with at least three to five pieces of evidence-based celebration through newsletter quotes, video sharing and peer reviews.

District Theory of Action and UBD

As we talk about cycles of improvement, the district should model best practice - make learning targets clear and monitor our success based on evidence.  Here is our first draft of TOA (for professional development). Here is the UBD plan drafted by the Oversight Committee.  Thanks to Kathy Miller, who volunteered to revise this version based on the Oversight Committee input. We will continue to process and revise them as a team when we meet in future Oversight, admin or cadre meetings.

Leadership Celebration Hunt

January 9th is our next admin learning day.  As we strive to become a high level professional learning community, we will engage the administrative team by doing and reflecting the “real work”.  Please bring one Cadre or any PL facilitation guide and/or related artifacts (protocol, video) to this meeting.  We will design a process to celebrate and reflect your work and plan for your next professional learning step.  We will also ask you for feedback in using the learning modules.  They are only a starter.  We know we have plenty of room for improvement.

Questions from the Cadres

The cadre brainstormed a lot of questions regarding how to lead this year's professional learning. Bill and Ying answered all the DIII questions and some of the DII questions that are DIII in nature. The rest of the DII questions, as we examined them, probably can be answered by the building leadership teams. All teams have matured over time so some questions may have been resolved. Click here to see the Q/A. If the administrative team feels strongly that some of the DII questions need to be answered with staff input, we will be happy to do so. Let us know how we can access cadre members for this task.

News from the Technology Office

Starting on December 8th, Angela, Sheri, and I will be launching a new technology related newsletter and website: Random Bytes.  A PDF will be sent during the first week of each month,and the website will be updated weekly.  The link to the website is http://ccsdrandombytes.blogspot.com  Please encourage your staff to view the newsletter and check up on the website.

Attendance at our after school digital literacy professional learning has been down a bit this year.  We sent out a flier at the start of the year, but I’m wondering if it got lost in the start of school shuffle.  Here is a link to that flier that contains all of the information for the offerings.  Please encourage your staff to have another look at these sessions.

Curriculum Matters by Bill Poock

On December 5th, K-4 teachers participated in the process of identifying power standards as part of our work to support the work centered on creating common formative assessments.  All teachers were included in the process, which was such an important decision.  Each teacher had equal voice in the process to sift through our Iowa Common Core state standards to make decisions about which ones were “priority” or power standards.  Our work is not finished yet.  We have to now convene a “second round” group in order to finalize the list of power standards at each grade level.  (More information to come)  At some point in the future, it will be necessary to participate in vertical alignment discussions (K-12) for Literacy so that we can ensure a guaranteed and viable curriculum for all students.

Here is an email excerpt from a special education teacher about the day’s work:

“To be honest, for someone who at the start of the day kept thinking, “Oh, let’s get this over with (big groan and eye rolls)”  as I didn’t see any relevance to me and perceived it as yet another hoop jumping activity.  I have to tell you how wrong I was in my thinking.  I LOVED this morning.  It was so enlightening and beneficial and rich in conversations.  I learned so much just listening to my table team and while the passion made your heart race, it was SO AMAZING for me to see.  I want every student in the world to have the opportunity to be educated by that passion so evident in the room.  My only concern would be making sure we don’t water down our power standards because it isn’t easy to access or it means another or different way of assessing.  Today, there were times I was guilty of that too--putting limits on what children can learn; putting them in a box instead of holding them up to soar.”

Student Services

Monday, December 5th, provided the first opportunity for all district special education teachers to meet together.  The session began with a video entitled, “You have made a difference”.  The video was a collaborative effort of all building media specialists (providing pictures of each special education teacher’s hands), Ernie Cox, Creek Media Specialist, and Megan Brunscheen, GWAEA consultant.  The message, You have made a difference, You have shaped our minds, You have changed the world one child at a time...reminded each of the us of the important work we do.  Teachers made connections from the building learning to the development of Individual Education Plans.  There was a lot of positive energy in the room!  

LETRS Training
4 district special education teachers, 2 Title One teachers and 1 Strategist attended two days of LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) training.  The professional development responds to the need for high-quality literacy educators at all levels. Developed by literacy expert Louisa C. Moats, Ed.D. LETRS provides the deep foundational knowledge necessary to understand how students learn to read, write, and spell—and why some of them struggle. My favorite quote of the two days...

Teachers not---programs---teach students to read.

Lead Learners Update 11.28.11

CCSD Lead Learners Update

November 28 - December 9, 2011

"We cannot predict the future, but we can create it."

Jim Collins

Calendar of events

11/28 Elementary Cadre

11/29 Secondary Cadre

11/30 LST visits Point

12/2 AIW site visits for Crest and PHS (PM)

12/5 PL Day

12/6 Mentor Forum (4:00 @ GWAEA)

12/8 GT Academy (GT team)

12/9 Media Council (AM)

Focused Leadership

Dick and I had an opportunity to talk about the issue of “focus” while we were at the IASB convention.  His question was, “What is the definition of focus when so many things are interconnected?”  This triggered additional thoughts in me throughout the day as I went to various workshops (Doug Reeves on Board Leadership; Integrating Technology, Standards-based Grading, etc.)  I am sharing some of my thoughts/learning here:

What is an initiative?

According to Doug Reeves, initiatives are teaching practices you try to improve to help students succeed.  A school should not have more than a half dozen foci.

So, what are our focused initiatives in CCSD?

CCSD has been focusing on the following three initiatives in the past few years:

1. Concept-based Unit Design
2. Assessment For Learning
3. Writing (a maintenance goal)

At the school level, these above foci are translated into a variety of formats.  Some schools added instructional strategies (i.e. Math or reading instructional strategies) in their school goals.

Progress monitoring on school initiatives

Reeves’s message has been extremely consistent on high implementation (80-90%).  He uses two terms: Effect Data and Cause Data to illustrate his point.  Effect Data means “How well did students learn?”  Cause Data means, “What did/will adults do to make learning happen?”  Successful schools monitor both sets of data frequently (suggested 4-5 week cycles).

So what about the elements in one big goal? Are they separate initiatives?

The challenge, as raised by Dick, on how we stay focused when so many things are interconnected still remains.  For example, a school may not be very successful in quality unit design if teachers do not understand the interrelationships among all elements (EU, EQ, conceptual lens, learning targets, aligned assessment, etc.) under the same goal - concept-based unit design.  Once each element is introduced, it will take many cycles of implementation and reflection to help teachers master such complex goal.  Pacing is another interesting issue.   If we aim at one element per year (rather than the whole idea of unit design), it will take the next 7 to 8 years to introduce one goal.  Most teachers will be frustrated with such slow pacing as they will not be able to see the effect on students.  To narrow the “Knowing and Doing Gap”, teachers need to integrate (cluster) those elements in real work - designing a unit, teach the lessons, reflect on student learning while trying to improve the element he/she is still trying to improve.

Many leaders in CCSD have been engaging staff in such "Cycles" of learning. Here are some examples:

Example #1 of a cycle:

Week 1: Each teacher brings a unit to PL and briefly reviews the EQ and EU, conceptual lens and learning targets (maintenance).  Focus learning: Student Self Assessment and Linking to EU.

Week 2: Bring a self assessment experience to peer coach and set personal goals for next week.

Week 3: Peer coaches observe each other and give feedback on “student self assessment” based on TPP.

Week 4: Bring student data back in teams and discuss results of student learning (Allow two PL/collaboration sessions to finish discussion).  Quickly review TPP and set personal focus for the following weeks.

Example #2 of a cycle:

Week 1: Each teacher brings a unit to PL.  Quickly review the EQ and EU, conceptual lens and learning targets (maintenance).  Focus PL: Power standard and assessment alignment.

Week 2: Bring a unit to apply week 1 learning.   Probe: What do we want our students understand, know and be able to do (team brainstorm and discuss, relating to EU, EQ, Lens and Targets); day two: continue to build the assessment (Assuming you have two collaborative periods to use in a week).

Week 3: Continue work time.  Probe: “Is the assessment aligned with EU?  What cognitive level are we assessing?”  Bring student work back next week (or by ___ day).

Week 4 or 5: Bring student work/data back in teams and discuss results of student learning.  Probes: Did students learn what we wanted them to learn?  What do they understand/know/able to do?  What misconceptions/errors/missing skills exist among students?  What instructional adjustments should we make? Are they aligned with EU?

Example # 3 of a Cycle

Establish trimester cycles for all teams with clear expectations of unit design and AFL.  Have teams design their mini cycles but support them with protocols and probing questions similar to the probes listed above.

What about protocols?  Are they initiatives?

Protocols are not initiatives.  They are not “teaching practices” to be improved.  They are structured conversations to help staff learn, process information, reflect, set goals and actions.  They are leadership tools to help build a culture of high level learning among adults. Examples of protocols are:

• Tuning Protocol
• Analyzing Student Work
• Lesson Study (Multiple sets of protocols)
• IPI (data collection, analysis and reflective  protocols)
• AIW (data collection, analysis and reflective protocols)
• Other types of protocols created by researchers such as Bruce Wellman and other practitioners
• PLC (PLC is a complex and sophisticated framework that guide teams toward high performing goals. I listed PLC under this category because it may involve many sets of protocols and activities that engage staff in continuous improvement cycles.)

What about other “other things” we are doing? Are they initiatives?

Many “other things” are important and require attention and time.  Those are not initiatives, but our professional responsibilities.   Mentor/induction, staff evaluation, PLP, discipline, school spirit, parental communication, just to name a few.  In a school with positive culture, these "professional responsibilities" are carried out with high quality because the established norms, structures and distributive leaders will maintain and reinforce best practice. If these professional responsibilities are not carried out well and are confused with school initiatives, it will create fragmentation and frustration among staff. However, by protecting staff learning time on focused initiatives, school leaders can begin to build a positive school culture.

What about digital learning? How can we add one more initiative to our plate?

The Digital Learning Vision team has been “pondering” about this question for the past two years. Dick and I had a brief conversation about this topic and our conclusion: We must embed digital learning in our PL context!  It is easy to say, “Computer is just a tool to enhance teaching and learning.”  The fact is, it will take time to share, explore, apply and reflect. We recognize the daunting challenge, but are excited about the unlimited possibilities.  It is through doing the work that makes us 21st century thinkers!  I am positive that we will thrive from this challenge as we engage in multiple “Cycles” of improvement with talented leaders throughout the world.

Lead Learners Update 11.14.11

CCSD Lead Learners Update

November 14 - 25, 2011

Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.    Peter Drucker


Calendar of events
11.14    Admin Learning canceled
11.15    LST visit Creek
11.21    Admin Learning (12:30 - 2:30); Board Meeting 
11.23    No School (Parent Teacher Conference)
11.28 and 29 Cadre meetings
Happy Thanksgiving!

What is the "Cycle"? by Ying Ying Chen

In the most recent cadre leadership meeting, I witnessed how each school's team pursues their school improvement process. I wish I could capture all the rich conversations.  As I gain more knowledge about using technology, maybe I will be able to do a better job.  For now, here are the insights I gained from the various teams:

1. Begin with the end in mind - many teams used the concept of UBD to help the leadership teams operationalize their school action plans; Some clarify the "look fors", others use the analogy of "road trip" and "checkpoints" to define the next level work.
2. Assess needs and current reality - Some teams had the team members assess their knowledge based on their current practice.  This gives them a base for the next level work.
3. Learning by doing - Some teams had all the teacher leaders try out the focused learning (design units, unpack standards, practice AFL and reflect on student work) and bring their reflections back. They use this experience to design PD for their staff.
4. Reflect on school culture - Some teams reflected on the last collaborative learning session and brainstormed ideas and strategies to promote high level collaboration (ie. Peer observation, analyze student work, etc.)

The work is never easy, but I have certainly witnessed passion and diverse talents among our wonderful leaders!  One of our district improvement SMART goals is about implementing best practice.  Our foci are: 

• Designing quality conceptual based units (Currently, we are using a check sheet as our "success criteria".)
• Implementing AFL strategies aligned with our AFL Teacher Practice Profile

Our new learning from October 3, (how to design standard-based unit, clear learning targets, rigorous assessments and applying AFL to engage students) reinforces the same SMART goal to a deeper level.  It takes great leadership effort at the building level to integrate and deepen learning without losing the overarching focus.  

Student Services by Cheryl Kiburz
December 5-PL Day-All special education teachers will meet in the afternoon on December 5th from 2:30-3:45 PM in the Prairie Point Presentation Room.  The purpose of the meeting will be to prepare for the I-STAR data collection process which will occur on the February 13th PL day from 2:30-3:45 PM.  Please communicate the December 5th date/time/location with your special education staff.  Thanks so much for your cooperation and support in allowing your special education staff to attend these sessions!

Ahlers Law Firm, Des Moines, IA, met with special education directors on Friday, October 28th.  The attorneys reminded district employees to think very very carefully about what is put in an email about a student.  Emails can be part of the request for records as well as text messages, even if a personal phone is used.  Also, a reminder that calendars (web-based) can become part of a public record as well as voicemails.  A review of district policies with teachers regarding social network, etc. was recommended.   

Conversations/Observations-In the next few weeks I will be scheduling conversations/observations with administrators centered around the vision for special education supports/services .  It is a joy to be in the buildings observing teachers, special education and general education, and paraeducators working collaboratively in meeting the needs of our students.

Curriculum Matters by Bill Poock
    This fall season of professional learning has been one of the most exciting, challenging, and rewarding times of my entire career.  As I grow into my position as curriculum coordinator, I am aware that collectively, we have moved mountains in regards to the shift in the way in which we provide the service of professional learning.  We have shifted teachers’ perceptions about Central Office staff and the role we play in ensuring that teachers have more ownership, responsibility, and accountability in their own learning.
    One of the expressions that I’ve heard tossed around the past few months is “we learn by doing.”  Learning by doing is the simple definition of the word “praxis.”  I’m intrigued by this word and how we encourage our teachers to take a risk and learn by doing.  In the latest issue of JSD, the flagship journal from Learning Forward (formerly known as the National Staff Development Council, or NSDC), the editors offer 12 principles of adult learning.  One of the main principles is that of “praxis.”  They define it as:  “Learners have opportunities to learn through action with reflection as an integral part of each task.”
    For me, this explanation has profound implications for our work as we continue on our journey of developing common formative assessments and “doing the cycle”.  The most important parts of this explanation are 1) there needs to be some action, and 2) reflection is integral.  As you promote more “learning by doing” with your teachers as you ask them to engage in meaningful applications for learning, please think about ways in which you can encourage the art of reflection.  Too often, reflection is the piece of our learning that is sacrificed for good intentions...usually the “time” factor.  It is vital that teachers reflect upon their own practice AFTER learning through action.  This, I believe, will help teachers become the reflective practitioners we want them to be.

Best Practice in Action (From the Teaching Channel)