Think Like a Champion

In education and in life being successful can be difficult.  Many people quit on themselves or "settle" because they don't believe or it seems too difficult. The path is never smooth. I want young people to understand how much mental toughness plays a part in being successful. I have spent my life studying successful people--adopting traits along the way.  One common trait I have always noticed successful people possessing is a "never die, no excuses, I can do anything attitude".  They think like champions.

Mohammed Ali once explained he called himself the greatest before he knew it was true. You see it in sports and business. Now if we could get more students thinking like champions...that would be something! It's an inner belief, requiring perseverance, that you can achieve anything if you are willing to work at it. I saw a quote the other day, "You can't achieve million dollar dreams with minimum wage effort." This is so true. Impatience and taking short cuts will not get it done. Good things can happen but you can't rely on luck happening to you--make your own luck. 

Breaking down how a champion thinks is simple but very few people follow through. You have to be willing to be different. Study your schoolwork when friends are going out, shooting extra baskets in the gym when others play video games and taking care of your body when others poison their own to fit in or be cool.  This does not mean you can't fit in or that you must be aloof. It just means you have your priorities set and you are not willing to compromise them. When you are the one out working everybody else your chances of success increase. Whether it is being accepted to your dream university, acquiring your dream job (like I did) or simply passing that difficult class--thinking like a champion will get you there. 

It requires supreme self confidence-even if you fail once in awhile...which you will. It takes relentless hard work--don't quit...it's not supposed to be easy. Finally, you must be committed to your goal even when the people around you are not. If you can put yourself into this mindset and sustain it--you just might have a chance to achieve your goals. 

Champions understand the old saying: There is someone, somewhere who is out working you right now AND when you meet them, they will defeat you. So please be tough, believe in yourself and think like a champion!

Under The Dome Interview

Here is the interview students did with me on our school performance data. The interview was conducted about a month ago by two seniors, Tommy and Clark, who have created the student news program, Under the Dome, totally on their own using some of our Red House Project broadcasting equipment. I love their creativity and initiative!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPOqS8rZALs&feature=youtu.be

The Sheepdog Mentality

After the Sparks Middle School tragedy I found myself, like many of you, searching for answers. Why did this happen? Were there warning signs? Could it have been prevented? How can we make sure this doesn't happen at our school? All valid questions that may never be answered. One thing I do know is having a school full of sheepdog-minded staff can help.

The first time I heard this concept I was sitting in a school safety training with school police Sergeant Ray Price and Deputy Chief Jason Trevino (who were both at the time school police officers when I worked at Reed High and would drag me to every safety training they could find). The training was Bulletproof Mind presented by Ret Lt Col Dave Grossman. I was the only administrator among a room full of law enforcement officers. Grossman stated there are 3 types of people: the sheep (general mass), the wolves (the bad guys), and the sheep dogs (protectors of the sheep). Grossman explained we need more well trained sheepdogs to protect the sheep from the increased amount of wolves.  He encouraged police to train harder and more frequently. He wanted them to train in pressure situations and to carry their fire arm off duty to protect the innocent.

If you think about the traits of a sheepdog, they have to be proactive, observant, well trained and able to react quickly when needed to protect the herd. I would argue all staff members in a school need to develop these skills to the best of their individual ability. It is not a some of the time mindset...it is all of the time. I am not saying we be vigilantes or police officers. We all have different roles when it comes to school safety preparedness (administrators, teachers, secretaries, counselors, custodians) but we all must be aware of the safety procedures along with taking the drills serious every time.  One role may be as simple as your presence in the hallways during passing time.  Awareness of our roles and responsibilities is very important. We need to know who to report to when potential risks and other issues arise. We need to establish strong relationships built on communication with our students.  Having the ability to read body language is also very important.  As a school we've got to study what has happened other places, ask questions, and modify our policies and procedures.

It is easy for many of us working in a school to fall into a sheep mentality, relying on one or two sheepdogs to protect us while we go about our day. That's not enough. What if the sheepdog is pulled out of the building for a meeting? If we share this same awareness collectively in our school--we will be better prepared to protect our students and less likely to "freeze up" or panic.  If something were to happen, panic would inevitable set in (which is natural) but the level would be decreased because you would be prepared for what to do--keeping you focused on the tasks you have been trained to complete.

You just never know when you'll encounter a wolf, especially if they are dressed in sheep's clothing. Wolves attack the weak and stay away from resistance.  If you study school shootings you will find this trend to be true. The more staff we have thinking like a sheepdog the less chance a wolf will strike our herd.

Complacency is the Enemy

Over the past two months I have been fine tooth combing our School Performance Framework (SPF) or in layman's terms, our school rating. There are actually two rating systems, the State of Nevada's report and the Washoe County School District's report. The state report supersedes the district report meaning no matter what your district score is, it cannot be higher than the states. For example, you could have enough points to be a 4 Star school on the district rating but if the state has you at 3...you are a 3 Star school. Both ratings are chalk full of various statistics tied to a point scale ultimately determining a star rating ranging from 1 to 5.

So here we sit with a 4 Star rating for the second year in a row. What does it mean and where do we go from here. Areas to celebrate are: 

-We graduate 87% of our students-3rd year in a row

-50% of our students on IEP graduate with a regular diploma-district is 27%

-11th grade performance on the AP Exam is up from 79% to 85%

-49% of our graduates have an Honors or Advanced diploma

-We also saw gains in our first time proficiency test pass rates in science

Last month I spent a day with a group of staff analyzing our data. From that work session we were able to identify 3 key areas to focus on:

-Our sophomore students are struggling to pass their core classes. 10th graders typically pick up an academic class in place of their Freshmen Seminar support class, which they take in 9th grade. We suspect we have some sophomores who could benefit from additional support. Based on district data, only 43% of our sophomores passed ALL their core classes. Perhaps a Sophomore Success class is in order for certain students as well as an inquiry into the causes of the failures, (tests, homework, etc...).

-College Readiness is measured by Advanced Placement participation and performance. We score pretty high on performance (39% of graduates pass at least 1 AP test), but our district score suggests we need participation by more students. To address this issue, we added AP Pyschology this year and will be adding AP Geography and Computer Science next year. We want to incrementally provide more AP choices throughout our school day for students ready for the challenge.

-Finally, we want to continue to support our special populations of English Language Learners (ELL), special education students and students receiving Free and Reduced Lunch. We also want to be mindful of how specific demographic groups are performing. For example, we graduated 72% of our Hispanic students last year-down from 78% the year before. Right now though, only 48% of our Hispanic students are on pace to graduate-based on credits. This means these students need to catch up and may be part of our sophomore struggles. We are using a graduation initiative grant of over $55,000 to provide proficiency test after school support along with credit recovery options. We have hired a bilingual parent involvement staff person. Finally, we are continually modifying and improving how we provide special education supports at Reno High.

Make no mistake, we are a great school with a strong tradition of educational excellence. The challenge ahead is to be forward thinking and proactive about our work. The goal is to constantly improve. For me, it's not about the stars, it's about the students. Our urgency must be to self-assess and improve year to year. With a school like ours it is important to remind ourselves...complacency is the enemy! 

Dare to Be Different

It has never been said better than how my mentor and predesessor put it to our student body for 10 years. He dared them to be different...to create their own path in school. He wanted students to know it is cool to be smart at Reno High and that message continues to resonate with our students today. You know you have made your mark as a leader when the culture you helped establish self sustains itself when you are gone. Hiring an amazing staff and having great parents doesn't hurt either.

 I marvel everyday as I witness random acts of kindness. I see students picking up trash, opening doors and supporting each other at extracurricular events. The positive culture of our school can be felt as soon as you enter the building. I hear it from substitute teachers, community members and even our superintendent. You typically hear about teenagers getting positive attention from peers for negative behaviors like class disruptions, bullying, foul language and confrontation in the hallways. The days of class clowns and bullies ruling the school has been gone a long time.  Status and popularity from peers is earned through academic achievement, volunteerism and school spirit. The students police themselves. The upperclassmen teach the pups...and I've been at Reno High long enough to see this happen year after year. It's called tradition and it is very powerful.

I thank my predesessor for establishing the tone for Reno High School. He always dared the students to be different. It's not only ok to try hard in school...it's the cool thing to do. So let's not forget our tradition and our past. Let's support each other and always remember what makes us special. Work hard, be a good person and always...always believe in yourself.

Don't Worry...Be Happy!

I am reading this book titled the Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor. In the book, Achor suggests happiness contributes greatly to success, not the other way around. He refutes the notion that once someone is successful, they then become happy. If you are unhappy, depressed, stressed out or indifferent--how can you muster the energy and passion to be successful? Happiness activates motivation and creativity.  I find I am most happy when I maintain balance between home and work. If I am able to spend time with my family, work-out and maybe sneak in a little Sports Center once in awhile--I'm good to go! I come to work with energy, new ideas and genuine excitement.

If you think about the successful individuals and organizations you know, most likely there is a positive energy. People do not reach their potential by being stressed and afraid to fail. When I think about our teachers and our students--I don't want them to be afraid to fail--I want them to be brave. My son's second grade teacher discussed the need for her students to be brave at parent night and her comments struck a chord with me.

There is so much pressure on teachers and students these days. We can't let the pressure get to us. We  have to be brave--not afraid to fail. Most importantly we need to understand its alright to laugh and have fun at school.  If we are happy, we will have the motivation and energy to work harder. Sounds like a recipe for success to me.

Here's a challenge for you. Everyday this week try to make three people smile. This might seem easy but how often do we actually do it? Think about it...and don't worry...be happy!

The Challenges of Shifting the Paradigm in Education

Earlier this week I shared a video by Sir Ken Robinson with our staff. In the video Robinson highlights the fact schools in America were originally created in the time of the Industrial Revolution. His example is schools today still run like factories. We group students by age, not ability. We are run by bells and we segment ourselves by departments, as we mass produce students who must pass standardized tests...and if they can't...they are deemed "not smart". Robinson asks the question, "Why do we do that?" Are we not alienating many smart kids who think they aren't simply because of what a test said?  I often ask myself those same questions as I continuously think about how we can improve our current educational system. When you are inspired to try new approaches, the challenge becomes when and how?

Our challenges include: construction projects at our school, implementing Common Core State Standards, creating detailed family engagement plans, having our school go through Accreditation, writing and implementing graduation initiative grants along with dissecting our 4 Star Rating on our district and state performance reports.  Don't forget tests, tests and more tests! At the same time we can't forget the most important challenges, which are making sure our teachers are supported with the time and resources they need and ensuring all of our students have the best opportunity to succeed. Oh...and yes...we are a school and we should have some fun once in awhile!

If you look at the broader challenges, there is little autonomy for principals to change the industrial structure of schools. Building lay-outs, budget restrictions, age requirements and standardized test regulation really do handcuff us. We can't make excuses though. I remember how revolutionary it was when we shifted to a 7 period day. We had to receive special permission but we made it happen through hard work and determination.  Now most of the high schools in the area are adopting the model due to our success.

The mandates and red tape will probably always be a challenge. So how do we shift the paradigm of education when these challenges exist?

Well... I do believe the shift to Common Core encourages divergent thinking, which is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. Close reading strategies, argumentative writing and increased opportunities for students to discuss text are a few examples where divergent thinking can take place.  Those are the skills I believe our kids need to be successful--creative problem solvers.  I can't speak to the assessments because they aren't here yet.   So we start with Common Core.  We then take steps in supporting cross curricular lessons, service learning projects, student internships, and growing our technology Signature Program. I think along the way we continue to stretch our minds and research innovative ways to educate our students. Who knows what we will discover!

So let's do what Sir Ken Robinson suggests and "wake our kids up". Let's make school a place where students "feel truly alive". Let's not worry about what we can't change but focus on what we can. 
Then when I am king of the world, I will give principals the autonomy to use their budgets as needed, structure the school day to fit their needs and rid themselves of those factory bells!

http://youtu.be/zDZFcDGpL4U 

Blog Entry 2-Professional Growth Plans & PLC Wednesdays

We are presented with many new initiatives in education all the time. Most of them have acronyms.  How do we keep them straight you ask! To keep the ship pointed in the right direction during this "perfect storm" of education reform it is important to prioritize, keep things simple and become really strong in a few critical areas. Two of these areas are the PGP's and the PLC's.

The PGP...

One major component to the new evaluation system for teachers is the Professional Growth Plan (PGP). These plans are developed annually but can stretch over multiple years depending on the scope of the goals(s).  The two major rules for a strong PGP are: First, the goal should center on new learning for the individual teacher. Second, the goal should impact the students in a positive way. For many departments, teachers are already involved in the Common Core Task Project which is new information and beneficial to the students as we increase rigor. Streamlining the work teachers are doing in Common Core with their professional growth plans is a natural fit.  Our district has also set aside $1.7 million in professional development resources around Common Core.  Seems like a priority to me! From what I've learned recently about the Smarter Balance Assessments and Common Core implemenation, it's not going away so we better make it our focus.

The PLC...

The work involved with the PGP should be the same work happening in our weekly departmental Professional Learning Communities (PLC) held on early release Wednesdays. What better way to enhance collaboration around best practices then to have a departmental or small group PGP goal shared among colleagues? PLC's should not be business meetings. The purpose of a functional PLC is to discuss instructional practices, share student progress (MAP data, common assessments, student work) and discuss intervention strategies. New learning is welcomed during PLC time! How about a book club where chapters are divided up and taught by the members of the group? Teachers could also pilot a strategy through a series of shared lessons and common assessments. Go to a conference or take a class then apply the strategies to your daily work and share with colleagues. Focus a departmental PGP goal around the work already happening with the CCSS (Common Core State Standards) implementation. 

Laser focus...

There is no doubt our teacher work extremely hard. I'd say too hard at times because they care about the students so much! The key is to support these amazing teachers with time and resources. Make their jobs easier so they can focus solely on teaching and learning.  Common Core isn't going away and the assessments are coming. Focus our PGP's and PLC's around this work. If we can do these well, the students will benefit greatly. 

Blog Entry 1-The Rallying Call for 2013-2014

I don't know about you but some of my best ideas, reflections, plans and goals come to me at around 3am. I'm usually exhausted physically and mentally and no doubt I scheduled a work-out for 5:30am! It was the Tuesday morning the week after graduation. I had just taken my first NISL (National Institute of School Leaders) class the day before. The class was 8am to 4pm and I was exhausted having just completed my first year as principal. Somehow through my fatigue I could not get some of the ideas from this class out of my head. Questions like how do we educate students in the Digital Age? What barriers are we encountering as educators and how can we solve them? How can I be a better instructional leader by supporting teachers while guiding us into this uncertain future of education? What jobs will our students be applying for in the coming years and have those jobs even been invented yet? My mind is going a million miles an hour as I begin the summer.  It was a wonderful year, better than I could have hoped. I listened and observed. I asked questions and tried to make the best decisions I could. There were unexpected barriers and minor hiccups but through the support of our amazing students, staff and parents we had an outstanding year.  I go back to one of my questions...the one about how can I be a better instructional leader during a time of rapid change, technological advances, fewer resources and higher expectations. Well...at 3am a blog seemed to be an idea. An educational blog with opinions, reflections, insights, resources, articles and videos intended to peak your interest and spurn your creativity. This blog is intended to be thought provoking, challenge our thinking and narrow our focus on how we approach the challenges of being educators in today's world.

During my NISL class we talked about a study conducted on college and career readiness. They interviewed the business sector white collar companies, blue collar companies and the green collar or military looking for what skills/traits they are looking for from a potential employee. Almost across the board they were looking for the 3 C's (communication, collaboration and creativity). It's not enough, they said, to be able to successfully complete the job. They are looking for individuals who can not only do their job but invent new ways to do to their job in more efficient ways.

The discussion then moved to the statement that AVERAGE is gone. Average jobs are rapidly being replaced by computers. If an algorithm can be created for a machine to complete a task...that task will no longer be a source of employment for one of our students in the future. Our kids must be ready to compete in an economy where "average" jobs won't exist anymore. For example, I went to my bank recently to deposit a check. I drove up to the ATM machine and my son asked me why there wasn't a bank teller at the window. I had to explain to him that the ATM machine can now do what a bank teller can do. 

So the challenge becomes how do we ready our students for an uncertain future with an uncertain economy and uncertain careers in the midst of a digital revolution? Phew! That was a mouthful! I believe as educators we do need to embrace technology and learn new and creative ways to use it in our classrooms. Utilizing online resources, teacher websites and video lessons can only help students and parents connect to the classroom away from school. With our Red House Project Signature Program focusing on digital technology we are building capacity at Reno High School with both our staff and students. This is a great resource! 

The second way we can support our students is to continue learning and implementing the Common Core State Standards. Increased emphasis on depth of knowledge, problem solving, composing evidence-based arguments, creative thinking, and student cognitive engagement will help our students become independent learners-which supports what the business world is looking for.

Finally, focusing on technology and the CCSS are all well and good but the single most important thing we can do for our students is to provide the very best Tier 1 differentiated instruction possible. Providing a classroom that concentrates on the whole student and their personal growth is where we do our best work. We do a wonderful job at Reno High establishing rapport with our students by creating a safe and respectful learning environment. Our staff gets to know their students and their families. We are progressing in evaluating diagnostic data on our students so we can develop strategic grouping, differentiated lessons and engagement strategies. The work in our PLC's are progressing also. Our departments are moving forward with common assessments, sharing best practices and reviewing various student assessments in order to make remediation/acceleration adjustments to their instruction.  The challenge for all of us is to continually improve. I think cross departmental PLC's is a great way to share best practices and to discuss common students and their progress. I will be sharing our demographic data over the past 10 years with our staff in August. This data shows that our students have changed over the years. We have a new clientele with differing skills during a time of increased rigor and high stakes testing. That fact alone is why concentrating on strong Tier 1 differentiation will be our rallying call. I have the utmost respect and faith in our teaching staff. They are professional, they care and they are multi-talented. I have no doubt they will take on these new challenges (like they always do) with passion, focus and urgency.