Category Archives: Leadership

The Crucial Connection: School Leadership Impact on Teacher Retention and Student Achievement

Leadership

School leadership is often described as the compass that guides the ship of education. Effective leadership not only influences the daily operations of a school but plays a pivotal role in determining teacher retention and student achievement. In this blog post, we’ll explore the crucial connection between school leadership, teacher retention, and student achievement.

A Motivated Workforce

Effective school leaders are adept at creating a positive and supportive work environment for their staff. When teachers feel valued, supported, and motivated, they are more likely to remain in their positions. Retaining experienced teachers is essential for building a strong educational foundation. Experienced educators bring knowledge, expertise, and stability to the school community. When leaders invest in their teachers, it pays off in terms of reduced turnover and enhanced student outcomes.

Professional Development Opportunities

Great school leaders understand the importance of ongoing professional development. They provide teachers with opportunities to grow and improve their skills. By investing in their staff’s professional growth, they not only retain talent but also help them become more effective educators. When teachers feel that they are growing professionally, they are more likely to stay and contribute to the school’s success.

Supportive and Collaborative School Culture

A school’s culture is a reflection of its leadership. Effective leaders foster a collaborative culture where teachers work together, share ideas, and learn from one another. A supportive and collaborative school culture fosters an environment where teachers are encouraged to innovate and adapt their teaching methods. This, in turn, benefits students by providing them with a more engaging and effective learning experience.

Clear Communication and Vision

School leaders must communicate a clear vision for the school and involve teachers in shaping that vision. When teachers understand the school’s goals and their role in achieving them, they feel a greater sense of purpose. This clear communication aligns the efforts of teachers, leading to improved student outcomes.

Data-Driven Decision-Making

Effective school leaders use data to inform their decisions and make continuous improvements. They work closely with teachers to assess student performance and identify areas for growth. When leaders and teachers collaborate on data analysis, it not only helps to identify areas that need attention but also empowers teachers to make adjustments to their teaching methods. This data-driven approach is crucial for enhancing student achievement.

Empowering Teacher Leadership

Empowering teacher leadership within the school is another way in which school leadership can impact teacher retention and student achievement. When teachers are given opportunities to lead, whether through curriculum development, mentorship, or decision-making committees, they become more invested in the school’s success. This sense of ownership and responsibility often leads to greater job satisfaction and increased teacher retention.

In the intricate web of education, school leadership is the thread that ties teacher retention and student achievement together. Effective leadership creates a positive work environment, promotes professional development, nurtures a supportive school culture, communicates a clear vision, uses data to make informed decisions, and empowers teacher leadership. When school leaders excel in these areas, they set the stage for increased teacher retention and improved student achievement.

Therefore, investing in strong and effective school leadership is not just an investment in the school itself but an investment in the future of its students. It’s a reminder that leadership isn’t just about making decisions; it’s about creating an environment where teachers can flourish, and in turn, guide students toward success.

A Tale of Two Realities: Where Men Thrive and Women Do All They Can to Simply Survive

Leadership, , , , ,

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of woke culture, it was the age of suppression, it was the epoch of making America great again, it was the epoch of controlling American ovaries. The seemingly season of light, overshadowed by the inevitable season of darkness. Where hope was a distant wish and despair was the cruel reality.

Where the whole world was before us, but we had to get there with half the pay. A time where we, the women were all going straight the other way: to hospital beds, to fill our anxiety medication, to inject ourselves with hormones to be able to birth a human being while balancing a career and unrealistic expectations set by a society designed by men, for men. 

Carlin, a political cartoonist from Peru, illustrated a comic representing the
obstacles working women face while men sprint ahead, 2019.

The graphic above went viral when Mahindra, a Mumbai based billionaire shared the illustration on Twitter, posting “I salute every working woman & acknowledge that their successes have required a much greater amount of effort than their male counterparts” (Mahindra, 2019). The illustration resonated with so many due to the clear depiction of the barriers women face when choosing to have a successful career.

Bugid and England explored a barrier women face in the workforce: The Motherhood Penalty. This outlines the thought that motherhood negatively affects women who desire to have a career while raising their children. As Carlin demonstrated in his viral cartoon, the penalty suggest that women with children lose work experience at the expense of raising their children while taking care of the family and household duties. Over the past three decades, that has become increasingly common in the United States, as birthrates have declined for women in their twenties and jumped for women in their late thirties and early forties, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau. The trend has pushed the median age of U.S. women giving birth from 27 to 30, the highest on record (Minchillo, 2022).

This results in potentially longer maternity leaves as older, new mothers will take longer to return to work after having an extended period of recovery from childbirth, yet federally funded maternity leaves in America are non-existent (Bryant, 2020). The Motherhood Penalty also reveals that working mothers are less productive at work due to the exhaustion of child raising and they are often inclined to elect out of high paying jobs for lower paying jobs that are more flexible or “mother friendly” (Budig & England, 2001).

The rate of attrition at which women are burning out is alarming. It is clearly evident that after the Covid-19 Pandemic and “The Great Resignation” in education, women are electing to give up their dreams of simultaneously being a mother and a professional. As a society, it is our obligation to support women as valuable members of our economy. Michelle Obama said it best when she shared, “No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half its citizens.”

It is up to us to ensure that this period is not like any other periods, that even its nosiest authorities will not overcome in silencing the far better things that we’ll do, the far better things that we, as women have ever known.

Reference:

Bryant, M. (2020). Maternity leave: US policy is worst on list of the world’s richest countries. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/27/maternity-leave-us-policy-worst-worlds-richest-countries

Budig, M. J., & England, P. (2001). The wage penalty for motherhood. American Sociological Review, 66(2), 204–225. https://ezproxy.latech.edu:2089/10.2307/2657415.

Dickens, C. & Dunn, H. (1921) A Tale of Two Cities . New York, Cosmopolitan Book Corporation.

Mahindra, A. [@anandmahindra] (2019, Feb. 5). I’ve been helping to baby-sit my year old grandson this past week & it’s brought home to me the stark[Tweet]. Twitter.

Minchillo, J. (2022). Motherhood deferred: U.S. median age for giving birth hits 30. Decisions by college-educated women to invest in their educations and careers so they could be better off financially when they had children have contributed to the shift toward older motherhood. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/motherhood-deferred-us-median-age-giving-birth-hits-30-rcna27827

What the heck is STEM?

Assessment, Instruction, Leadership, Professional Learning, School Improvement, , ,

By Michelle Murray

Perhaps you feel you have an answer to the question posed, “What is heck STEM?”.  Well guess what, you are not alone! As a former STEM consultant, I made an income from schools who had their own definition of STEM  as well. Some schools created a committee that was in charge of compiling relevant data, creating and administering surveys to their constituents, and preparing proposals to ask donors for funds for a Maker Space or something similar all with the goal of adapting this once hot educational buzzword “STEM” into their curriculum and hopefully school culture. As an outsider to any particular school, I always found it interesting that there is normally a fundamental difference per school in how STEM was defined.

Public schools, on the other hand, often sought to fill a gap, raise test scores, or apply for a grant that dictated what that definition of STEM was. However, state to state and sometimes even county to county, there is still a different understanding of what STEM is and the best way to implement STEM. Usually schools attempting to fill some sort of curricular gap with a new STEM curriculum had other underlying issues that they hoped the alleged magic of STEM would resolve. With that, sorting out what those issues were instead of throwing the idea of STEM at the problem became the norm and oftentimes did not solve the issue. This was often another reason why schools hired me. 

“The implementation of STEM can differ according to the school, district, or county.”

– friendly stem consultant

In 2018, the National Science and Technology Council created a report driven by their Committee for STEM education. This report’s intention is based on a vision for a future where all Americans will have lifelong access to high-quality STEM education and the United States will be the global leader in STEM literacy, innovation, and employment (National Science and Technology Council, 2018). While I have not found any evidence that this report is commonly used when schools implement STEM, the report did share important key factors when developing STEM such as increasing diversity and equity in STEM and the use of technology as a classroom tool.

Additionally, the federal five year strategy for STEM implementation was introduced in the report and how best to prepare the STEM workforce for the future. 

I found myself thinking about this lack of consistency and the expected outcomes of STEM implementation in South Florida schools. I wanted to answer the following questions; could consistency somehow play a part in how schools implement STEM successfully and be a contributing factor to the growth in STEM fields in the US? Similar to common core standards, should STEM be its own mandatory vertically aligned standard, perhaps, or should it continue to be woven in as just an option for schools to adapt?

Lastly, are we as teachers planning our STEM lessons using different STEM curricular goals thus resulting in inconsistent student outcomes statewide or nationwide? How do we accurately measure the results equitably given the different ways we understand and implement STEM?

Not to mention STEM has now evolved over the years as people such as myself study STEM implementation and recognize that STEM needs to evolve as education evolves. Some examples of this evolution: i-STEM (Integrative STEM), D-STEM (Diversity in STEM), STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) and STREAM (Adding the reading or research to STEAM) to name a few. 

As schools look to define their STEM programs, I think it’s important to look at existing programs as a guide based on your schools goals. I also suggest a pace that makes sense for all stakeholders at your school, and lastly STEM seekers should develop a true sense of why you’re implementing STEM in the first place. This will help frame the hard work ahead but I caution you humble educator, due to technology evolving and the need for the workforce to catch up to neighboring countries coupled with the lack of a mandatory baseline STEM curriculum framework, in the end you may find yourself still asking, What the heck is STEM anyway?

 References

National Science & Technology Council. 2019. Charting a Course for Success:America’s Strategy for STEM Education. https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2019/05/f62/STEM-Education-Strategic-Plan-2018.pdf

Florida Department of Education. 2022. Defining STEM. https://www.fldoe.org/academics/standards/subject-areas/math-science/stem/defining-stem.stml

Recommended Citation Carmichael, Courtney C., “A State-by-State Policy Analysis of STEM Education for K-12 Public Schools” (2017). Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs). 2297. https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2297

A New Special Education Educator and a New Classroom

Instruction, Leadership, Professional Learning, School Improvement, Uncategorized, , ,
Preventing Teacher Burnout: 7 Tips for School Leaders | TUIO

Imagine: You are fresh out of college with a teaching degree and certifications from a university that prepared you for life in the classroom before a pandemic. You are so excited about your first year of teaching; you take the first job opportunity. You answered all the questions correctly presented by an administrator but asked little to no questions about how they will support you and their knowledge of special education. You assume that since you see their school-wide positive behavior reinforcement and vision, the administration is supportive and will guide you through your new environment. A few weeks pass, you are given the keys to your new classroom and an assistant or two to decorate the plain white walls and begin lesson planning along with attending a variety of training, but you still don’t even know where the resource room is located. You begin the school year applying instructional and classroom management strategies that you were taught in college. A few months passed, and you had a groove going. Then, suddenly, a nationwide school closing happens due to a pandemic. Since this is the first pandemic for all, no one had answers to how to engage students, especially students with disabilities, create a Zoom or Google call, teach through screen share, and more. After students receive the technology provided by the state, you begin to get frustrated with the incompletion of assignments, lack of attendance, and lack of support from the administration. Parents are struggling on the other side of the screen with your students who are non-verbal, lack the motor skills to hold a mouse or touch a screen, require movement breaks, maladaptive behaviors, and more. Teaching from home has allowed you to pick up more hours with your second job to make ends meet because of inflation. Let’s be honest having a little bit of freedom during the day is nice, but it begins to get repetitive and boring. You feel isolated as an educator and begin to lose that drive you had. Fast forward to summer, and you are anxiously waiting for the announcement if you will be back in the building or continue virtually. You receive an email from your administration; you will continue virtually with new and difficult guidelines to meet with no insight and how to get there. You start the school year while still working your “side hustles” because your teacher pay is not enough to afford your tiny one-bedroom and car payments. You begin the school year still collecting insufficient data from half of your students who choose to show up. A month has passed, and you still haven’t heard from some families by zoom, email, call, or text. Finally, teachers can return to the building, but students are still learning at home. Feeling a little more confident you can use the calendar and other supplemental materials in the classroom, but it’s still not engaging students. Your administration has yet to provide strategies that you could be using from the classroom over zoom with your students with disabilities. Luckily, you taught yourself how to make interactive PowerPoints. You receive an email from your administration that students can return in two weeks. You get that feeling of excitement again that you haven’t had in a while. Your students return with more maladaptive behaviors and show regression academically, socially, emotionally, and independently. Now, you are in the position to make up for lost skills and have your students acquire new skills because they are eligible for state testing. You attend meetings hosted by your administrator reminding you of deadlines but still offering no tools. You begin doing more work for your students outside of school, and your career has slowly absorbed your workplace and home. You become physically and mentally drained from your classroom’s physical behaviors and lack of structure. You begin to give up on this career with no one to lean on. You see on social media how teachers are making more doing less intensive jobs like a virtual assistants. You put in your two weeks by winter, and you’re free along with 50% of special education educators who leave within the first few years (Boe et al., 2008). Two weeks passed, you began questioning your decision to leave the field. You feel guilty for leaving your students, but your mental health is more important. Eventually, someone less qualified with a general education degree, temporary license, and unaware of the prior scenario takes your special education position. The less qualified teacher is married with no children, and their household is a dual income. The less qualified teacher struggles more than you do because students lose over 54 days of instruction when their teacher leaves mid-year (Jones, 2020). With only a few differentiated instructional strategies, this new teacher relies on your aids to show her the way and has to make up for the regression lost during the pandemic and your 54 days (Jones, 2020). At first, the new classroom is overwhelming for the teacher, but she is passionate and driven. The first week is chaotic but still no sign of administration checking in. She requested a few days off for a fake medical emergency but only to sit at home to teach herself how to manage and teach a variety of students with disabilities because the administration had no tools to offer. She comes back with a new schedule, new ideas, and a caring heart. The students do not make gains as they would have with you, but there are some gains, and the new teacher is trying her hardest. How could losing a qualified special education teacher and student regression be avoided?

Jones, A. E. (2020). Retaining Special Education Teachers: The Relationship Between School Leadership and Special Education Teacher Retention in a Low-Income School (Order No. 28090280). Available from Education Database. (2449480535). http://lynn-lang.student.lynn.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/retaining-special-education-teachers-relationship/docview/2449480535/se-2?accountid=36334

Boe, E. E., Cook, L. H., & Sunderland, R. J. (2008). Teacher turnover: Examining exit attrition, teaching area transfer, and school migration. Exceptional Children, 75, 7–31. 

Adulting on the Spectrum: What Works?

Instruction, Leadership, Professional Learning, Research, School Improvement

Several studies have shown that many individuals on the autism spectrum achieve limited independence in adulthood. Data also shows that they are usually unemployed or underemployed after aging out of high school and are less likely to participate in post-secondary education or employment. This disadvantage causes social isolation and the need for ongoing support in daily activities. The range of the autism spectrum varies with those at the higher functioning end, often leading to reasonably independent lives, employment, and/or completing secondary academic programs. Special classes for individuals on the autism spectrum taught within a secondary special education program provide the best opportunity for maximum inclusion in the community as adults. Several qualitative findings have identified interventions that support this idea.

My first-hand experience also supports that notion. I was the owner-operator of an adult day program. We provided pre-vocational training to adults with disabilities. Most of our participants had recently aged out of high school (ages 22+). While participants in our program came from various educational settings, it was evident in those who had prior pre-vocational training. Our program consisted of supported employment, pre-employment curriculum, occupational skills acquisition training, social skills training, independent living skills training, and executive functioning skills training. Implementation varied from role-playing, computer-based programs, one-on-one practice, group activities, community-based instruction, video modeling, and dramatic play. Because many of our participants had just come from a secondary educational setting, our program functioned as an extension that led to gainful employment, skills maintenance and enhancement, and/or productive daily engagement of community inclusion.

Being an adult on the autism spectrum and actively engaged in the community is the goal. Several factors play an essential role in assuring successful inclusion. Fong (2021) identifies the effectiveness of employment-related interventions on the employment outcomes of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). He identifies Project SEARCH Plus ASD Supports (PS-ASD) model and Virtual Reality Job Interview Training (VR-JIT) to improve employment rates for individuals with ASD. The PS‐ASD intervention consists of community‐integrated business settings, classroom instruction at a business, and internship experiences. PS‐ASD is a collaborative model between students with autism, their family members, a local community rehabilitation program, and a vocational rehabilitation agency. It adds additional components to include specific strategies and staff expertise specific to autism based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Virtual Reality Job Interview Training (VR‐JIT) consists of a digital job interview simulation with a human resources representative from a department store accessible through a computer or using wearable virtual reality headsets. Tsiopela (2017) introduces a pre-vocational skills laboratory (PVS-Lab), a web-based learning environment supporting students on the autism spectrum to develop pre-vocational and employment skills. The new research framework aims to improve performance and pre-vocational skills development of students with ASD, emphasizing the interrelation between performance, behavior, and stress-emotional situations.

Knowing that there are proven interventions readily available to improve the outcomes of adults on the autism spectrum, why isn’t the use of those programs mandated? Knüppel (2019) notes that young adults without regular productive and engaging daytime activity had more behavioral difficulties and comorbidities than young adults with daytime activity. There is an imperative need to increase independence in adulthood, employment rates, and participation in post-secondary education for individuals on the autism spectrum. This improvement will decrease social isolation and the need for ongoing support in daily activities.

Citations

Fong, C. J., Taylor, J., Berdyyeva, A., McClelland, A. M., Murphy, K. M., & Westbrook, J. D. (2021). Interventions for improving employment outcomes for persons with autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review update. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 17(3)http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1185

Knüppel, A., Gry Kjærsdam Telléus, Jakobsen, H., & Lauritsen, M. B. (2019). Characteristics of Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder Performing Different Daytime Activities. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49(2), 542-555. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3730-7

NCH Healthcare System. “NCH Welcomes Project Search.” YouTube, NCH Healthcare System, 1 Oct. 2018, https://youtu.be/oH4737RsQy4.

Tsiopela, D., & Jimoyiannis, A. (2017). Pre-vocational skills laboratory: designing interventions to improve employment skills for students with autism spectrum disorders. Universal Access in the Information Society, 16(3), 609-627. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10209-016-0488-6

Let’s Talk About COVID-19 and Why Teachers Are Important During Times of Uncertainty

Instruction, Leadership, Professional Learning, School Improvement, Uncategorized, , ,

Let’s Talk About Sex COVID-19 and Why Is Sex Education Still Taboo in the U.S.? Teachers Are Important During Times of Uncertainty by Angela Holliday My dissertation topic is Let’s Talk About Sex! Why Is Sex Education Still Taboo in the U.S.? Considering what’s going on in the world however, it doesn’t really seem important right now. COVID-19 has caused job loss, supply shortage, fear, anger, hoarding, and death. With this grim picture though, there have also been acts of kindness, generosity, sharing, and dedication by many, including teachers. Therefore, I’d like to focus on the importance of teachers during times of uncertainty, and why we need them now more than ever. Ava Parker, President of Palm Beach State College, said at the 2017 LCAN Achieve Palm Beach County Florida Chamber Learners to Earners Summit “education is everybody’s business” and as such, I have made it mine.

I still remember the names of the teachers who made a difference in my life. Two teachers, Mr. Norde and Mr. Sweeney, were huge in helping me understand Algebra I. Mr. Norde and Mr. Sweeney left an indelible mark even though I’m sure I didn’t show my appreciation at the time. Their words of encouragement allowed me to believe I could do it. They found ways, where my parents had failed, to explain math problems in a way that made sense. I still appreciate their time and ingenuity to this day. A perfect example of this was when “a student who faced hardships told a researcher that the greatest thing a teacher can do is to care and to understand” (Zakrzewski, 2012). If not, “the kid will say, ‘Oh, they’re giving up on me, so I might as well give up on myself’ (Zakrzewski, 2012).”

I mention my teachers because in times of uncertainty or self-doubt, seeing a familiar face or hearing encouraging words from a teacher, even if virtually, can offer stability and encouragement. The students need their teachers to be the faces and voices they knew in school. The students need their teachers to have expectations of them while also understanding things are different now. The students need their teachers to push them but also to pause when they see them struggling. The students need their teachers to laugh with them but also to allow them time for silence when there’s nothing left to give. Recently, a student asked their teacher if she thought they’d see one another in August. She was honest and said she didn’t know, but she couldn’t wait for the day she sees them again.

What does education look like moving forward? In their article, 3 Ways the Coronavirus Pandemic Could Reshape Education, Gloria Tam and Gloria El-Azar examined how education changed very quickly, with its first change being how millions around the world are educated. The old, lecture-based approach to education was ushered out by COVID-19 which became a catalyst for educational institutions around the globe to search for “innovative solutions in a relatively short period of time” (Tam et. al, 2020). Second, the rapid change prompted much needed innovation to the educational system. Within the past few weeks, there have been a multitude of stakeholders coming “together to utilize digital platforms as a temporary solution to the crisis” (Tam et. al, 2020). Lastly and probably the most unfortunate change, with the digital divide, the equality gap could widen. In Palm Beach County alone, the school district needed as many as 11,000 laptops for students to learn at home during the coronavirus pandemic (Palmbeachpost.com, 2020).

Time takes time and we will wait to see what changes continue to take place in education.

Parker, Ava (2017). Local College Access Networks Achieve Palm Beach County. Florida Chamber Learners to Earners Summit, 2017. Retrieved from: http://floridacollegeaccess.org/local-college-access-networks/

Isger, Sona (2020, March 3). Coronavirus Florida: 11,000 Laptops Sought for PBC Students to Study from Home. Palm Beach Post, 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20200323/coronavirus-florida-11000-laptops-sought-for-pbc-students-to-study-from-home

Tam, Gloria & El-Azar, D. (2020, March 13). 3 Ways the Coronavirus Pandemic Could Reshape Education. World Economic Forum, 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/3-ways-coronavirus-is-reshaping-education-and-what-changes-might-be-here-to-stay/

Zakrzewski, Vicki. (2012, September 18). Four Ways Teachers Can Show They Care: Research Suggests Caring Relationships with Teachers Help Students Do Better in School and Act More Kindly Toward Others. Greater Good Magazine Science Center at UC Berkeley, 2012. Retrieved from: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/caring_teacher_student_relationship

Remote Digital Learning: A New Reality

Instruction, Leadership, Professional Learning, Uncategorized, , ,

Entering into the second week of March 2020, several memes circulated the internet via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to name a few about this particular week having to spring forward an hour due to daylight savings time,  a Friday the 13th and a full moon to end the week. The memes were quite funny, at the time. As an educator, we call this a “Just make it through the week” type of week. After one more week, we would be on Spring Break resting, relaxing or maybe evening traveling on a cruise that we have pinched our pennies for. 

Prior to spring break would be the end of a grading period.  This would also be the beginning of the high stakes testing season for FSA, AICE, AP, and EOCs.   We have prepared all year for this final upcoming term. The aforementioned assessments are the opportunities for students to prove what they have learned.  This would put teacher instruction to the test to see if students are able to retain the knowledge from the standards that were taught and assessed throughout the year.  These tests are the tests to determine if students are on track for graduation. Little did we know what was yet to come. 

On Friday, March 13, 2020, the Superintendent of Schools announced that students would be dismissed for an early spring break due to the spread of a new virus; COVID-19, set to return back to school Monday, March 30, 2020.  Later that same evening Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference announcing the close schools until April 15 at the very earliest.  

With this sudden news, we were faced with a new reality in education.  What does education look like moving forward? What plan does the state have in place? Is there an emergency Instructional Continuity Plan in a vault ready to be unveiled during a pandemic or other major events that would force school closures?  The answer to the latter is No. Yes, you heard it here… the answer is No.  

As an administrator, my role as an instructional leader has taken on a whole new meaning.  Questions spewing left and right about how to make instruction meaningful when schools are closed.  Teachers are prohibited from entering the campus, only to be told they can enter the campus in small groups; no more than 10 for a maximum of 30 minutes.   Administrators enter into think tank sessions to build and facilitate what learning will look like while staying in line with the newly created District Continuity plan.   What is it that we are responsible for? How do we support our teachers and keep them calm while ensuring that all students are enrolled and adhere to the guidelines that we have set forth?  

To launch an instant remote digital learning plan takes a team that is willing to work countless hours, collaborate with principals, and leaders at similar schools.  Guess what? The plan will never be perfect and you need to be willing to accept that fact. We are assuming parents have the technology needed at home. We are assuming that only one device will be enough.  We are assuming families have internet access. We are assuming that a parent will be at home to assist students. We are assuming students can advocate for themselves and will sit for their scheduled class on time and be an active participant in their learning.  We are assuming that all teachers are technologically savvy to embrace this new remote digital learning world while supporting their students who may or may not have an IEP/504 plan and parents. There are a lot of assumptions being made here that simply is not the reality. 

As teachers were scouring the internet for resources on how to transition,  so was I. On Friday, March, 20, famed Principal Kafele led a Facebook Live for first-year administrators and their role during this pandemic.  I must say, while I am not a first-year administrator, I definitely participated since this was my first experience with a pandemic. In fact, I’m not sure how many administrators can say they have experienced a pandemic in their lifetime.

Moving forward, what have I learned about this new reality of remote digital learning during this process as well as from Principal Kafele?  I have learned the following:

  • Be a support and a calm for teachers
    • Strive to find answers and support their ideas.  Believe it or not, teachers can be quite innovative during these times
    • Check on their well being and their families
    • Provide resources relevant to their work
  • Be clear about the systems we have in place, however, be flexible.  There isn’t a need to lead with an iron fist
    • Identify systems in place
    • Identify personnel that can be used to relieve the burden on teachers, think clerical, support staff, language facilitators, etc.
  • Kids need food→ be a resource for this or provide resources
    • Many kids only eat two meals a day and it’s breakfast and lunch received from the school 
  • Technology
    • Have a plan to provide devices to families who do not have a device in a home
  • Balance
    • Self-care is imperative
      • You can’t lead if you are worn out and overworked
  • Consistent but meaningful communication
    • Information overload will cause parents, students, and staff to tune out
  • Document and save
    • Save your files, notes, steps, to create a plan to reflect upon

Moving forward, when the dust settles, what are the next steps?  Do we begin to integrate a pandemic plan as a part of our required yearly Emergency Crisis Response Plans? Would we have required practice “drills” for a pandemic?  Do we provide ongoing professional development on remote digital learning and the resources that a school district may have in place to support?     

Would our new reality resemble something similar to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s plan for continuing education?  UNC at Charlotte has an entire department dedicated to continuing education in the event of a disruption of school due to a pandemic, natural disaster, or unsafe conditions on the campus.  Information regarding UNC at Charlotte can be found here

Academic Phrases

AICE- Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education

AP- Advanced Placement

EOC- End of Course Exam (Geometry and Algebra)

FSA – Florida Standards Assessment

IEP- Individual Education plan504- 504 plan; temporary accommodations

References:

[This week has daylight savings time, a full moon and Friday the 13th]. (2020.). Retrieved from https://www.mixdexhq.com/education/ is-the-week-of-march-8-the-perfect-storm-for-teachers/

[Teachers realizing its]. (2020). Retrieved from https://makeameme.org/meme/teachers-realizing-its

University of North Carolina at Charlotte. (n.d.). INSTRUCTIONAL CONTINUITY PLANNING – GENERAL. Retrieved from https://teaching.uncc.edu/about-ctl/instructional-continuity-planning/general#Preparedness


Quaran-teen: Providing Social Emotional Learning Support Online

Instruction, Leadership, Professional Learning, , ,

Social and Emotional Learning approaches provide a foundation for the classroom environment that are both safe and positive for learning, as well as enhancing students’ ability to succeed in school, careers, and life. School is one of the main places where students learn social and emotional skills. Educators daily serve students with different Social Emotional Learning techniques when engaging in learning, behaving positively, performing academically, and deepening their relationships. Now more than ever, educators need to support their students through social-emotional supports.

What can educators do to support teenagers in getting through these difficult times of being quarantined and learning online?

Based on Durlak et al., 2015, an effective SEL program incorporates the acronym SAFE: Sequenced: connected and coordinated sets of activities to foster skills development; Active: forms of learning to help students master new skills by participating; Focused: emphasis on developing personal and social skills; and Explicit: targeting specific social and emotional skills. Some of the top ways to incorporate SEL techniques within an educator’s new virtual instructional continuity plans are to be intentional. Being intentional is extremely hard when changing an entire way of teaching in the classroom to online, but extremely important. 

Remember this is not a hurricane day. It is not a holiday break. It is a quarantine.

Much of the following comes from CASEL’s Playbook. The areas of focus daily within virtual lessons are Getting Started & LessonPlanning, Welcoming Ritual, Explicit SEL Lesson and Engaging Practices/Activities, and Optimistic Closure/Message. 

Getting Started & Lesson Planning: The educator needs to be systematic when introducing students to their new virtual classroom and lessons. Educators not only need to explain to students how to use different features in their virtual classroom, but also set expectations with students in all resources that will be used. Lesson plans must include the social or personal skill underlying their content taught. The teacher modeling everything helps teenagers see how things should be done.

Welcoming Ritual: Every new day and meeting a welcoming ritual should be the opening. Welcoming rituals help the students and teacher to get to know each other (builds relationships), establish safety and predictability, and creates a sense of belonging by allowing people to connect right off the bat. Virtual Welcoming Rituals can be done through the chatbox or by unmuting the microphone and having participants share verbally.

Explicit SEL Lesson and Engaging Practices/Activities: Explicit instruction teaches a specific SEL Skill, provides an opportunity to practice and apply the SEL Skill, and reinforces self-reflection. Engaging practices are brain-compatible strategies that foster relationships, cultural responsiveness, empowerment and collaboration, intentionally build opportunities for brain breaks that provide space for integrating new information and long-term memory, and foster active and engaged participation to support teenagers with making their meaning of the content.

Optimistic Closure/Message: These closure messages provide positive closure to the virtual class lesson, reinforce what students learned, and creates momentum towards taking action in positive ways. These can include reflection questions on how the group functioned, reflection questions for students to make connections to their own lives’ and experiences, or an inspirational word/phrase based on the message the teacher is incorporating. 

One can only hope that every person quarantined is aware and positively working on their social-emotional capacity. Being quarantined is hard for adults to understand, let alone children. Our teenagers have it the hardest as they are missing out on memories they have been told about their whole lives, such as prom, graduation, and just the practice of being in class with their peers. Educators need to ensure that we are supporting our teenagers and incorporating SEL supports within their virtual classroom.

More SEL Resources:

CASEL: Secondary Guide

Podcast: How to Handle Coronavirus Anxiety | Special Edition

Corona Virus Sanity Guide

Handbook of Social and Emotional Learning Research and Practice

References

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2015). 2015 CASEL guide: Effective social and emotional learning programs—Middle and high school edition. Retrieved from http://secondaryguide.casel.org/ 

Durlak, J. A. (Ed.). (2015). Handbook of social and emotional learning: Research and practice. Guilford Publications. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=gBPpCQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=andbook+of+Social+and+Emotional+Learning+Research+and+Practice&ots=AW6jK2Pvgd&sig=C

Change is in the Air

Instruction, Leadership, Professional Learning, Uncategorized

By Jason Cascio

Change is in the air.  Can you smell it?  Whether we like it or not, summer and our vacations are becoming fast memories as we make room for back-to-school activities and new fall routines.  Social media confirms a quarterly shift in seasons, from Facebook posts of exciting new classes and sporting events, to the sad, yet proud, goodbyes from parents sending their kids off to college.  Kierkegaard tells us that life can only be understood backwards but must be lived forward (1855).  It’s tempting for us to hold onto what was lost, and perhaps, naively embrace new beginnings.  Yet, Kierkegaard suggests we lead lives beyond the confines of our inflection points.  Perhaps, we honor our pasts as we continue to grow forward. What do you think?

For me, September marks the end of a hectic fiscal work year which was accompanied by unexpected personal goodbyes.  While I’m glad to turn the page to a new chapter in my life, I’m intrigued by life’s transitions and paradoxical feelings of loss and gain, and joy and blue.  Dan Millman’s book on personal development, In Way of the Peaceful Warrior, reminded me that “the secret of change is to focus your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”  He reinforces Kierkegaard’s philosophy and relates it to our collective development.  

Change Management Guru and Author, William Bridges, distinguishes transitions from changes, in that changesare results of external events whereas transitions are internal experiences for how we respond the change.  He elaborates that, “change is situational; transition is psychological. It’s not those events but rather the inner reorientation or self-redefinition that you have to go through in order to incorporate any of those changes into your life.  Without a transition, a change is just rearranging the furniture. And unless transition happens, the change won’t work, because it doesn’t ‘take.’” Regardless of our season or stage of life, reframing how we view change and transition may help us as transformational leaders.  Here’s a handy diagram of Bridges’ views of change management:

If we can positively harness change, why wouldn’t we seek out incrementally more ways to transform our lives?  Technology could be used as a benevolent change agent, or tool, for us to use as transformational leaders.  Why not incorporate it into our living repertoire to promote healthy change and transitions?  I think of this often when I’m taking off from West Palm to Seattle, shooting up 40,000 feet at 400 miles an hour.  Ok, in that scenario it’s hard not to think of the speed of change around us, the opportunities it creates for our development, and how ‘living forward’ with my South Florida peeps was transforming my life and that of others on the other side of the country. In all seriousness, looking at change from this metaphorical altitude provides a whole new perspective. I’d love to hear your thoughts on change, technology, and our collective development.  

Bridges, William (2004). Transitions:  Making Sense of Life’s Changes (2nd ed.). Da Capo Press.

Millman, D. (2006). Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives by Dan Millman, (2nd ed.) H J Kramer, Inc., Tiburon, California, New World Library, Novato, California. 

The Minority Report: Looking Through Different Lenses By Reginald L. Browne, Doctoral Candidate, Lynn University 2019

Instruction, Leadership, School Improvement

The movie, Minority Report, released in 2002 was a fast-paced science fiction film starring Tom Cruise as John Anderton, Chief of PreCrime. This film focused on police using psychic technology to identify, arrest and convict murderers before they commit their crime. “PreCogs”, (i.e., psychic technology) were three twins that could see into the future through imagery. Based on their imagery they could see murders committed in the future and if all three twins agree on the crime committed, the name of the murderer would be shared with the special PreCrime unit for their arrest. Although well intended, the Minority Report was perceived to be infallible until John Anderton himself was identified by PreCrime as a future murderer of a man he had not yet encountered. As he avoids capture, while simultaneously attempting to prove his innocence, the movie challenges the audience. Do individuals have free will or is one’s future predetermined? Can an individual be profiled a murder? While this movie was science fiction, it has relevance to violence that is occurring today within our nation’s schools.

Take the questions, can an active shooter in our schools be predicted? Can the active shooter in a school setting be identified before an event occurs? Can the experts in school safety, Secret Service, and community point to predictors of a school shooter? Like in the Minority Report, there may be clues. There are indicators. We don’t have “PreCogs” (psychic technology) but we do have predictive tools from the Secret Service such as Threat Assessment, which assesses the propensity of future violent acts on school campuses. However, for a threat assessment to be initiated, first, a student must do something that would cause the school to raise concerns. This may be too late. We also have Everly & Bienvenu (2018) seven school shooter profile characteristics: male (active or recent student); anger and revenge; awkward and avoidant, isolation; copycat killing; dysfunctional family of origin; easy access to weapons (either from home or family member); and uses media to express frustration and anger (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/when-disaster-strikes-inside-disaster-psychology/201803/profiling-school-shooters). These two indicators point to one crucial determinant: violence from within. In Minority Report, the “PreCogs” were able to obtain information about the future of an individual through remote viewing or sensing and to project or see a distant or unseen target and know what will happen.  Everly & Bienvenu (2018) shooter profile characteristics are able to project characteristics of potential individuals who have the ability to murder or traumatize others because of inborn, psychological features.

There is an underlying message in Minority Report and the School Shooter Profile; and this message is, the seed of destruction and harm is within the psychic of the perpetrator (i.e., the individual). The perpetrator can be any student attending any school across America. So, this should be our nation’s focus. Thus, capitalizing upon violence from within as a focal point, I draw your attention to the inner connection a child has with their school as a potential intervention method to rid our schools of mass murders. A former supervisor once said to me, “a child wants to know three things from a school employee: Can I trust you? Are you committed? Will you keep me safe?” I believe all of these relate to the emotional and psychosocial connection all students seek within our schools. Yes, the brain is a social organ that seeks connections to learn and school leaders must capitalize on that fact. Learning is a social process involving the brain that takes place in collaboration with others and schools have the capacity to fundamentally change the way the brain functions (Cozolino, 2014; Hippel, 2014). However in addition to teaching and preparing students, and engaging students for their futures, students also want relationships of trust, support, communication and commitment to their personal growth and development from their teachers. While teachers are knowledge-based and academically trained, students are sociably astute and collective sponges of all that surrounds them (i.e., bullying, gossip, threats, ‘weird students’, ‘packing students’;, homeless students, alcoholics, etc.). Students are the pathways to the school’s happenings.

In the current climate of our schools, we may need to revisit how we engage students in school, from the classroom, security guard, to PE coach and school administrators. Are we connecting with students? Are we available to listen to students? Do students see teachers and administrators as trustworthy, supporters and ‘go-to’ individuals when they see or hear something that needs to be shared for the protection of others? The school is a village, however, the attitude of the villagers can plant seeds of despair or healing and recovery. These villagers, teachers and students, can identify those with internal violence before an event rather than after the event.

Moore (2009) wrote of the importance of creating school cultures of trust and respect. He addressed the effects of emotional intelligence and the possible direct impact for both administrators and students. Of critical importance is the fact that emotions can be intense, disruptive, de-motivating, motivating, exhilarating, positive, and negative, and they can challenge the leadership, rationalization and abilities of any individual. Hence, if in-born psychological features surface within an individual and show through their outward emotions, red flags should become obvious. Palmer (2003) stated that emotions are not simply what individuals feel but are a source of information (p.6). With emotional information, administrators and teachers can build trust and cooperation, show empathy and openness to students, show social awareness, grow collaboration, and show proficiency in talking about issues and solving problems with students, and most importantly divert crises before they occur. Effective administrators and teachers possess the ability to understand and “manage moods and emotions in self and in others” (George, 2000, p.1027). If these mechanisms are in effect for both teachers and students, the violence from within is more likely to be identified before the event (school shooting) rather than after the event.