Happy Pi Day!

March 14 is Pi Day (3.14...). I remember buying pies for my grade 9 classes to eat when I was a mathematics teacher. It is so cool that the ratio of circumference to diameter is a constant and the number goes on forever - regardless of how large or small the circle. Last fall, I accompanied my school's debate team to McGill Unviersity in Montreal. My first year department head suggested I visit the Cafe Pi on Laurent Avenue. Bought a few souvenirs for my office and had my photo taken by the owner in front of his store.

From a former student - Quadratic Formula

I received an e-mail from Tim Calford, a former student from my summer 2012 on-line Honour Specialist Mathematics course with Queen's University. I am thrilled with how he has made mathematics interesting to learn and how he connects with students. We need more teachers such as Tim who so passionate about mathematics - look at the cap and the necklace - and Pi day is this Thursday!

Andy Hargreaves' 100 Quotes/100 Days - Some Good Ones!

Andy Hargreaves, Professor of Educational Leadership at Boston College, posts a daily quote on his Twitter account. https://twitter.com/HargreavesBC

100 Quotes/100 Days #89 The quality & morale of teachers is absolutely central to the well-being of students and their learning.

#88 Without optimism & self-belief among teachers, clssrms become wastelands of boredom & routine and schools deserts of lost opportunity.

100 Quotes in 100 Days #87 #Teachers who *believe* they can make a real difference in their students lives REALLY do.

100 Quotes in 100 Days #86 High performing organizations have cultures of creativity and risk. They encourage workers to innovate and play.

100 Quotes in 100 Days #78 #Teaching is an emotional practice: it activates, colors & expresses people’s feelings.

100 Quotes in 100 days #72 Courageous leadership is not fearless ldrshp. What makes you a leader is how you deal with your fears.

100 Quotes in 100 days #66 Don't raise the bar and narrow the gap, but narrow the gap to raise the bar.

100 quotes in 100 days #63 Blame and betrayal are the emotional enemies of improvement.

100 quotes in 100 days #56 *Every* learner has special needs.

100 quotes in 100 days #54 Ed leaders must have the will at times to release ldrship to the teachers the parents and the students

100 quotes in 100 days #46 Teaching is a never-ending story. The work is never over; the job is never done.

100 quotes in 100 days #45 #Teaching is a passionate profession.

#42 We will not achieve high performance in education if we replace teachers with machines or turn teachers into machines.

100 quotes in 100 days #37 On being: Arrogance is the conjoined twin of ignorance.

100 quotes in 100 days #35 On change: Improvement is about doing something better; #innovation is about doing something new.

100 quotes/100 days #24 You cannot understand the teacher or their teaching without understanding the person the teacher is.

100 quotes in 100 days #19 #Change is easy to propose, hard to implement & especially hard to sustain.

100 quotes in 100 days #14 Trust processes as well as people.

100 quotes in 100 days #9 Too many professional development initiatives are done to teachers – not for, with or by them

100 quotes in 100 days #8 Too often, shared visions really mean, “I have a vision; you share it!”

100 quotes in 100 days #4 On data: We are the drivers, not the driven.

100quotes in 100days #3 What we want for our students we should want for our teachers: learning, challenge, support, and respect.

In Celebration of School Secretaries

Love this quote from Todd Whitaker, Professor of Educational Leadership at Indiana University:

When the principal is gone no one cares, when a teacher is gone we call a sub, when the secretary is gone we need to shut down school!

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Comic for Eco/Environment Club!

Leadership Standards in Action: The School Principal as Servant Leader by Cade Brumley c2012 Rowman & Littlefield Education

Part 1: Principal as Servant Leader through 6 Performance Standards

Performance Standard 1: Visionary Leadership -develop, articulate, implement, steward vision of learning that is shared and supported by all stakeholders -mission, vision, values – all stakeholders can articulate -“Increased student learning requires coherence and continuity in the educational experience for students, which requires strong connections among educators throughout the school” (p. 32)

Performance Standard 2: Instructional Leadership -advocate, nurture, sustain school culture and instructional program conductive to student learning and staff professional growth -instruction sum of what students say and do – result of teachers’ efforts -every instructional decision seeks to achieve school’s vision – must rage war on ineffective instructional practices for betterment of students -use data to inform decisions, guide instruction, reports on progress -“Outstanding principals know that their primary role is to teach the teachers” (Whitaker) -literacy as a vehicle for whole school improvement -principals spend time in classrooms, give teachers constructive feedback and plans for improvement

Performance Standard 3: Organizational Leadership -manage organization, operation, resources – safe, efficient, effective learning environment -schools must be operationally sound for learning to be maximized – especially school safety for students and staff; support teachers with student discipline – ensure student understands expectations and consequences – restore or build relationships

Performance Standard 4: Collaborative Leadership -collaborate with faculty and community needs and interests -TEAM = together everyone achieves more -majority of principal’s time with relational – need to generate initial and strengthen existing relationships; need authentic relationships built on trust, sharing viewpoints, investing in people -get the right people on the bus and in the right seats; get the wrong people off the bus -principal facilitates and learns alongside staff; motivates; allows all voices heard; everyone feels valued -PLCs, job-embedded learning, observe other teachers

Performance Standard 5: Ethical Leadership -integrity, fairness, democratic -reflection-in-practice (during); reflection-of-practice (think after event); reflection-for-practice (improve future)

Performance Standard 6: Political Leadership -understand, respond, influence political, social, economic, legal, cultural context -decisions made in best interest of students -school culture: examine with critical lens, seek to establish new cultures that represent diversity, social justice, democracy -public relations: parents (expect education for child); community (tax money at work); businesses (future workers)


Part 2: Principal as Servant Leader through Laub’s Model Laub’s (1999) model defines Servant-Leadership as “an understanding and practice of leadership that places the good of those led over the self-interest of the leader”:

1.Servant leaders value people -trust & belief in people, serve others’ needs before own, non-judgemental listener -heart of school lies in its people -everyone has value, can contribute, use everyone’s strengths -not micromanager: professionals know what to do; provide support and resources – meet classroom needs and emotions; stand by teachers and support them when in trouble

2.Servant leaders develop people -provide opportunities for learning and growth, model appropriate behaviour, encourage and affirm others -“When we’re stagnant, we decay”; “If you start getting comfortable and feeling good about yourself, the school will go south on you quick”

3.Servant leaders build community -build strong personal relationships, work collaboratively, value differences of others -school as professional learning community -school is like a family; care deeply about each person -“we” not “I” -“collaborate with colleagues in planning, developing, and executing procedures that will result in pleasant learning environment, teaching environment, effective instruction, and genuine learning” -relationships with students: greet them by name, someone they can talk to, is open; students know principal cares about safety, well-being, getting a good education

4.Servant leaders display authenticity -being open and accountable to others, willingness to learn from others, maintain integrity and trust -principal integral part of team – facilitates, encourages, cheers, gently pushes and constantly uplifts others -don’t have all the answers; unless emergency situation, can wait to make decision; admit mistakes and apologize

5.Servant leaders provide leadership -envision future, take initiative, clarify goals -have vision, get other people to buy into vision; principal assumes ultimate responsibility -high expectations, understands teaching and learning, plans for improved learning, guards teaching and learning, collaborates with colleagues, shares leadership, recognizes achievements, honours culture of school, maintains sense of humour

6.Servant leaders share leadership -facilitate shared vision, shared power, release control, share status -decisions made as an admin team


Quotes:
-The principal is “all things to all people” (Fullan, 2001)
-“questions as curiosity in action, problems as opportunities for improvement, issues as possibilities for bringing people toward commonality” (p. 5)
-principal: “wisdom of a sage, vision of a CEO, intellect of a scholar, leadership of a point guard, compassion of a counsellor, moral strength of a nun, courage of a firefighter, craft knowledge of a surgeon, political savvy of a senator, toughness of a soldier, listening skills of a blind man, humility of a saint, collaborative skills of an entrepreneur, certitude of a civil rights activists, charisma of a stage performer, and the patience of Job” (p. 5-6)
-“Managing the daily operation of a school while providing the leadership necessary to guide the school to educational excellence in an extremely complex task in an extremely complex organizational environment” (p. 6)
-communication message: 55% nonverbal expression, 38% quality of speaker, 7% what speaker actually says

Transforming School Culture: How to Overcome Staff Division by Anthony Muhammad, c2009, Solution Tree

There are 2 goals to this book, with the ultimate aim to reach all students and to narrow the achievement gap:

* understand how school cultures operate from a political and sociological perspective

* how to shift school culture to create an atmosphere where change is tolerated and embraced

In his ethnographic study of 34 schools, Anthony Muhammad categorized 4 groups of teachers, which conveys the complexity of school change, due to differences in beliefs and expectations. Each group cares about students.

(1)Believers

-believe all students can learn, high expectations for student behaviour and achievement, connects with students, patient, flexible – e.g., differentiate instruction and assessment

-constant battle with Fundamentalists – but often do not stand up to beliefs with fundamentalists – passive rather than vocal

-like to join school improvement plan committee, curriculum initiatives

(2)Tweeners

-new to the school culture

-want to find school stability and how they fit into the school

-enthusiastic, willing to experiment, believed all students can learn but not sure how, want to please administrators

-Fundamentalists will communicate with Tweeners when they are vulnerable to sell their political views – can move Tweeners into camp of Fundamentalists

-provide PD and support for tweeners so they align with Believers

(3)Survivors

-small group of “burned out” teachers (2% in study) – trying to make it day-by-day – concerned with own mental and emotional well-being – no political agenda

-need to remove these teachers e.g., transfer to another school, terminate

(4)Fundamentalists

-maintain status quo of traditional schooling – opposed to change – most aggressive and vocal – conflict with school leaders – will debate, argue opposing views – will defame through intimidation, disrupt or interrupt or delay change process, distract through passive aggression – rolling eyes, not paying attention e.g., marking

-displeased with classroom walkthroughs, data, instructional and assessment practices – i.e., PD – believe students should sink or swim, little empathy to students unsuccessful

-work well in informal organization to “recruit” members – e.g., tweeners – in staff room, parking lot, conversations, hallways – ignore Believers – Fundamentalists will say they are speaking on behalf of the staff

- must challenge Fundamentalists head-on to move school forward

- Why do people resist change? What conditions motivate people to change? How can leaders create conditions to motivate acceptance of change? (p. 84-85)

-Level 1 Fundamentalists: need to know logical rationale for change – cannot assume they know rationale – e.g., data, empirical research of strategy or technique – can be easily converted

-Level 2 Fundamentalists: resist change since do not trust judgement or skills of leader – emotional need – leader must establish competence and character (e.g., do not make promises can’t keep, support people, take responsibility, humility, stay up to date with skills, trust, ethics, patience, maturity) may be past experiences with administrators

-Level 3 Fundamentalists: resist change since unsure if changes will cause more stress and not convinced change is for the better – give change implementation in increments and thoroughly prepare to take teachers through journey – use PLCs, learning through job-embedded; driven by data, research, context, collaboration

-Level 4 Fundamentalists: deeply ingrained for status quo as it defines them – school leader must closely monitor and force compliance to new direction; document teacher performance for improvement; place where least damage

Need school-wide focus on student learning and achievement – develop relationships with teachers – use PLCs for culture of collaboration

Look at school data and answer:

Who are our students; what strengths do they bring to the school? What needs do they bring to the school? How can we collectively enhance their lives?