Hurdles and Failures

As a swimmer at Kalamazoo College, I spent a lot of time looking up at others in the pool and in the rankings. Coach Bob Kent, our fearless leader, always reminded us that if we were going to win championships we needed to recruit people better than ourselves. During four years of competitive intercollegiate swimming, I knew the feeling well of earning the second place trophy. We consistently looked up at the end of League Meet standings and their stood Hope College right above us. During that time we recruited individuals far more talented than I and with the help of Brian, Brett, and many others that came after me, the team not only eventually won the League Meet but also placed 2nd and 3rd in the Nation. During that time of my life I was not a leader, not a star, but simply a contributor who watched greatness bloom around me. It was an important lesson in life that we may not be the solution but we can find and invest in others who will be.

Coach Kent's philosophy has permeated many facets of my life. As a recruiter and leader in school districts, during the hiring process more often than not I will look for the recruit with the highest ceiling. One who may not be as experienced as other candidates in the field but has potential for greatness. In order for us to grow as an organization we need talented people who can do things we simply can't. As I look at the teams I work with, I am proud of the fact that the individuals who comprise these teams are simply better than me at most things, and I consider myself to be a pretty talented individual. 

The second component of Coach Kent's philosophy was one of trust. Coach trusted the individuals that once they were their that they would do the work necessary to become successful. As a leader I've worked to bring this practice into my career and my life. Once, Carolyn one of our building instructional assistance remarked that I was "hands on without micromanaging." Simply I knew and understood the details of her work and her world yet gave her space and trust to make the decisions and adjustments necessary to be successful in her work. When you invest in quality people and let them become leaders in their work, they will create better products than you can ever imagine. Annually we see that by giving staff the simple aspects of trust, space, time, and faith they create unique solutions that improve our organization and our world.

These sentiments are wonderful and positive until we reach the point when struggles arise that the individual cannot overcome independently. As leaders we often preach that we should embrace that we need to "Fail = First Attempt In Learning" in order to succeed. However, when we say that we often are believing that it's ok to hit a hurdle. It's acceptable to have moments and times when you hit a barrier and it takes 2, 3, or 4 opportunities to be successful. What we don't frequently mean is that its ok for something to entirely fall apart and not reach hundreds or thousands of students and families successfully. As leaders thats when we step in and try to create solutions for success. 

At work, we often joke that I am not focused on the details. The reality is that I trust my people to figure out the specifics and develop solutions that work and are meaningful to them. In truth, when I am working on the specific minute components of an operation it usually is a red flag that I don't trust someone/something or the experienced has fallen apart to the point where I feel that I need to personally go in and fix it. 

Beginning in late July, we began preparing to roll out key resources to our students and teachers. We have been excited about these resources as we see them being key to making a significant impact on how we engage children in learning, provide differentiated instructional resources, and allow them to create unique products. We were excited about how the tool would provide us with more control over the resource as it was implemented. We noted to the vendor some concerns we had about how the tool needed to roll out, but accepted the vendors plan as a necessary step to implementation of a key resource. As you may expect from the title of the column, it didn't work. Like so many previous hurdles, I chose to follow my typical pattern of solutions. 

First, assign more people and resources to the task. When people are struggling I want to give them supports. This started as a three person operation, then four, then five, then six. Before I knew it, I was working on the project 14-18 hours a day. Another administrator was working equivalent hours on the same project. Our kids were in working on the project. Our kids friends were in working on the project. Staff members were showing up to work at 6:30 in the morning to work on the project and back working on it via google docs at 9pm at night. Teachers, principals, non-departmental administrators were working on the project. Good people who saw value were working to make a difference but the barrier still stood.

Second, change the parameters of the project. As leaders we look for silver linings in order to get some successes. Getting the old version of the resource out to students so that some could begin utilizing it was our first win. Getting students who weren't dependent on the new tool but would be new to the program was our second win. We celebrated both. 

Third, seek outside help and don't be afraid to go as far up the chain as possible. We have been speaking with the vendor on an ongoing basis. We have expressed our disappointment and at times frustration with the process. The challenge is that we believe at our core, their product is the best resource for our learning environment. We have sought technical assistance and human assistance only becoming frustrated when their is a communicated lack of understanding regarding the resource. To paraphrase from the movie Spies Like Us:

General Sline: When we commissioned the Schmectel Corporation to research this precise event sequence scenario, it was determined that the continual stockpiling and development of our instructional resources was becoming self-defeating. An instructional resource unused is a useless instructional resource.

The reality is, I am not sure if these challenges are simply a hurdles or represent a complete and total failure. I know that each day that passes we adversely impact the tools our students and teachers have to implement learning. I am cautious about how many more resources I can ask to be thrown at the situation. I've seen each member of my team get sick over the last month. I've seen them fall, get back up, and ride forward again. I've looked at the mirror and seen a face that I am no longer comfortable with. One that's changed from the relaxed patience of Yoda to the jittery and impulsive Han Solo. I see exhaustion and frustration on the hands of our team and the teams we serve. These are not faces I'm comfortable with but they are those of reality. Yet through all of this, those within the team and those we serve, although frustrated they remain supportive. They express patience and optimism even in the face of a dour current reality.

This we we will try some different tactics. We will reach out in new ways with new pushes. We will continue to throw even more resources at the challenge, ones from far beyond my anticipated level of reach and hope that it makes a difference. The reality is, as a leader and a person my biggest struggle may be that I can't tell the difference between a hurdle that can be overcome and a failure that requires us to go back to the drawing board.

Iridescent

Digital Leadership - Developing Capacities to Make A Difference for Today

It was May of 2011, and 94 year-old Grandma Bernice had a problem. She was disappointed that she could no longer read the Chicago Tribune because the font was too small. A bright, intelligent former teacher and school librarian, she was sad that she couldn't keep up with the stories in print. She had tried computers and for a while had made them work but over time it became too complicated. And then, the iPad 2 appeared. With cellular service in tow, she could with two touches to the screen be on the Chicago Tribune and reading an article. By pinching her fingers back and forth she could enlarge the article and read her item of interest. It was magic!
When technology works well, we no longer notice it. It's just there. What we notice is the change in our pattern of behaviors to access the technology. Each day there are so many new things that impact the learning world, shared documents and calendars, collaborative editing, pictures and videos integrated into writing, social media, and wearables. If we see them for the technology, as leaders its overwhelming. However, if we see it for the learning, the scary mountain of technology falls away and the paths of opportunity unfold.
As leaders, it is our role to help our staff, students, parents, families, and community members find the path. In this journey, if we can provide clarity to the learning task, the necessary technology will define itself. For example, if the writing process is the curriculum objective and editing is the learning target, a tool such as Google Docs is terrific. In Google Docs, students and teachers can see the changes that they have made through version history. Peer editors can be added to the group through shared documents, their contributions documented in the version history. Parents can be invited in as collaborators or observers through the sharing process. By defining the learning target one becomes able to define the appropriate tool to fit the needs.
As leaders, it is our role to invest in others. So often, we try to be the expert, the one driving the train. However, we are only as good as the members of our team. Leaders need to utilize their strengths of identifying where we are going while also investing in and learning from others on the journey. Using the Google Docs example, as a leader, one may need to ask the team what tool makes sense and learn from the team how to use it. In this journey, the team does not only include other members of the instructional staff but also the students. Frequently our children are the experts in the tool teaching us adults how to use it while we are experts in establishing and developing the appropriate instructional challenge to help the students grow. It is common within our classrooms and our buildings for students names to be listed on the board with different digital tools they are the experts in. Students become resources for other students and adults within the building. From ages 6 to 14 they are the "geniuses" in our tech support program.
As leaders, we need to go on the journey also. While we don't need to know every tool, like all members of the school community we need to grow our capacity and integrate tools each day a little better than the previous day. This may be as simple as using a shared document for a meeting agenda, emailing out a notice for a meeting, or texting a thank you to a staff member. Integrating technology into our daily practice may seem challenging at first, but over time the tools will becomes seamless in our practice. By doing little digital actions, we show we are not simply a digital leader, but a learning leader.

Digital Tools For Everyday Life

Look Who's Coming to Bat

We were like them once. Full of energy, passion, and laughter. Entering with a nervousness yet feeling we would make a difference. That first day we entered, overdressed for the occasion, nervous about who we might meet, moments of anxiety hiding a well of enthusiasm that we would change the world. We were all like them, know we would become leaders and difference makers. Knowing we would be great, just waiting for our first chance at bat. We were all Archibald "Moonlight" Graham ready to conquer the world.

Young Archibald "Moonlight" Graham

Like "Moonlight" none of us are sure of the adventure before us. We know it's beginning and that we have something important to offer. This month, throughout the nation, new teachers are lining up everywhere. They are entering their rooms, setting up their spaces, learning with new colleagues, preparing themselves to make a difference in the world. Within each of them, just like us, someone sees a unique talent to make the difference in the world. We think it will be the difference in the life of a child, a parent, a colleague, or a mentor. Someone sees the opportunity in them to change lives, we just need to open the door and give the chance to make it happen.

Moonlight Graham - Baseball-Reference.com

The adventure begins. Our young fireballers come to make a difference in the world. What that difference will be exactly? None of us can be exactly sure. It is our job to support, encourage, and provide the support necessary so when they come to bat, their hit makes a difference.

Archibald's Decision

The Real Life of "Moonlight" Graham

Education is different. The Revolution Has Begun.

I wonder how the story will be told ten years from now. Will it be the story of how grand legislation changed the course of history? A story of how brave business leaders and politicians came together in office meetings and despite political unrest and disorderly teachers pushed through tough standards and difficult assessments. Will it be the story of how communities came together and found each other? A story of teachers, principals, and leaders connecting with other colleagues, sharing, and caring about each others successes and challenges.

Education is different now. The children aren't different, but education is. Each day, parents send us curious children. Each bearing the weight of challenges of home life and school life on their shoulders. Each with hopes and dreams. Each wanting to grow and learn. Each wanting to connect with others in the classroom hoping that they will be friends. Our students, at their very core, are no different than we were. Sure they know more. They have had access to a world of information through the internet, television, video, radio, and books to a level that we never had. They are more persistent, hitting challenges within their games and seeking solutions, "cheats, walk-throughs, & lets' play videos" on the internet. But at their core, they are the same curious, interested, loving, and silly boys and girls that walked through our doors 10, 20, or 40 years ago.

Education is different now. Learning isn't different, but education is. When students make connections to the learning experience, they become interested in it. Investment grows, interactions increase, and the likelihood of being able to remember the content, concepts and skills to apply in the real world increases. When children are engaged in the learning, not simply observing the teacher or completing the worksheet, they retain more. The more they work collaboratively with adults and other students, the more likely the experiences will have a stickiness to it. Sure, technology has opened doors for us to do this more frequently. It has given us access to all the resources in the world and the capacity to make professional grade products. But at the core, meaningful learning isn't different than it was 10, 20, or 40 years ago.

Education is different now. Standards and assessments related to the standards are different. With the Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards there is a level of collective national drive to push content, concepts, and tests to all students as never before in history. Children have become very aware of instructional standards and concepts. They know that ISAT, PARCC, and SmarterBalance are coming and they they will spend over 20 hours this year on State tests that they will not use the results in their classroom. Tests are part of their lives. Some meaningful, impacting what they are learning and how they go about. Some disconnected, entities  of the "State." Our children are good children and most of them try to do well regardless. Our children have learned that many of the "State" tests will label them... Below, Meets, Exceeds, & Warning. They approach the assessments like we approached the Presidential Fitness test in the 80's, an obligation that must be done if it can't be avoided. Politicians and business leaders indicate that only through tough standards and assessment can we drive innovation and skills forward but has this ever really worked. Did it work when the standards movements began in the 80's? With the tough tests of the 90's? No Child Left Behind of the last decade? Our economy has moved forward, our innovation has moved forward, yet these leaders would have us believe that schools have become progressively worse even though it is they who have been tinkering with it for more than 30 years.

Education is different now. The revolution has begun. It started about five years ago. Teachers discovered Facebook. Many liked connecting with their friends and started sharing ideas. Then Pinterest came around. While they were looking for photos of wedding dresses, birthday cakes, and the perfect bag, they discovered activities, crafts, and learning projects that advanced their practice. Then, Twitter happened. Short, easy, and come whenever you like. 140 character bursts of ideas. It started with that's a cool idea and oh, I want to read that article. Then the two-way dialogue happen, the chats. Conversations between experts in the field and the classroom teacher next door. People brainstorming about ideas at the core of learning. The attitude welcoming, supportive, and encouraging. Whether its #ntchat (new teacher chat), #nt2t chat (new teachers to twitter chat), #satchat (saturday chat), #iledchat (Illinois Ed Chat - one of my favorites), kinder chat (kindergarten chat), #elachat (English-Language Arts Chat) or the hundreds of others, teachers, principals, and leaders are coming together. Like the gathers of Plato's time, the salons of the 18th and 19th centuries, and the New York City stoops, we are social creatures that want to talk, interact, share, and become better people. Instructional practices are changing daily based on learnings educators from New Zealand, British Columbia, Virginia, and Deerfield, Illinois are sharing. Dialogues are reshaping learning opportunities because someone from Arlington Heights chatted with someone from Baraboo, Wisconsin. The leadership and learning in East Alton, Illinois is shaping the work of thousands of students hundreds of miles north of them.

Education is different now. When I entered the classroom nineteen years ago, my support network was a couple of science teachers in the building and my principal. One learned the ropes and discovered possibilities from an expert group of three-five people. Occasionally one attended classes for a semester or a week-long workshop each of which you paid for out of pocket. Now our support group is literally thousands of individuals in a PLN (personal learning network). Have a question, tweet it out. People like @jedipadmaster, @mssackstein, and @stumpteacher will send you ideas, thoughts, and supports. Education is moving from independent practice to collective reflection, sharing, and growth. Our very nature of being social and wanting to be social is driving the change. Creating knowledge and experiences beyond the boundaries of our classrooms.

Education is different now because the revolution has begun. Five to ten years from now, politicians may claim, if it is convenient and in their interests, that it was standards and assessments that moved the profession forward. Twenty years from now, sociologists will look closer and discover the reason education changed: the revolution has begun because interested people went out and found each other. Each day, the conversations and ideas inch us forward. Our "Tweeps" are becoming that support network not to clamor against the government or advertise the latest product, but rather to find, share, discover, connect, and learn. We have some interesting roads ahead, but we will discover, just like Plato and Socrates when we share our thoughts we expand our horizons. It is a great time to be in education.

Socrates - Dust in the Wind