I was in a squirrel trap...

(My fear about using the following analogy and giving you a glimpse into my messed up head will scare you away, but it's worth taking that risk because I was scared away from education today.)

I am an outdoorsman.  I love the outdoors; it is a supreme release for me and something my heart and body uses as medicine.  On occasion, I will "harvest" animals.  In regular city folk talk you'd say that I shoot and kill poor defenseless animals.  I started my hunting hobby by hunting squirrels with a close buddy.  Don't cringe too much, but YES I do skin, freeze, cook, and eat the squirrels that I harvest.  One way I go about hunting squirrels is by using a trap very similar to the one in the picture.  I have found that squirrels are absolutely addicted to bird seed.  I mean to the point that I think that squirrels have BSA (Bird Seed Anonymous) Meetings somewhere in the tree tops.  "Hello my name is Squire the Squirrel and I'm a Seed-aholic!"  I have trapped as many as three squirrels in one day by using bird seed as my bait.  I won't go into any further squirrel trapping details since it is so close to dinner time.  However, I felt like this analogy was perfect for what I suffered through today.

I was chosen to be on the 2013 Math Textbook Adoption Committee for my district.  I was honored to be considered valuable enough to be placed on such a prestigious committee, but I'm not sure that whoever placed me on it understands my background.  I taught for 6 years at a WONDERFUL inquiry-based school that chose not to use textbooks.  I was allowed to write my own pacing guide and make instructional decisions based on the needs of my students, not the textbook page we were required to complete.

As I sat in the 4 presentations, each an hour long, trying to practice the skills I am picking up from my current book, "The Lost Art of Listening," I could not help but to feel more and more paranoid that the doors in the room were going to shut and a loud voice was going to say in a slow country twang, "look -er boys, we got us her -notha one!"  As each presenter (all apparently self-professing former teachers...clever) pitched their product as the best thing since they aligned sliced bread with the Common Core back in 2012 (gotta feed students brain food now), I started looking around for the bird seed.

The more the presenters talked, the more I realized how we continue to move further and further away from rigorous and RELEVANT instruction and fall deeper into the quick-fix curriculum trap.  We have taken the same thing that students did in 1920 and dressed it up in a pretty cover, added an iPad app, some differentiated instruction, a few Tier 3 interventions, aligned it with the CCSS, sprinkle in some higher order thinking questions and called it innovative.  Mr. Winkle would still feel comfortable!  We fork over thousands of dollars for curriculum that doesn't meet the needs of this year's students and probably won't meet next year's needs either.  We supplement with PD.  We buy supplemental resources.  We groan and grunt as, yet again, another program doesn't work.  We're trapped again until the next adoption.

I am new to my school district.  It is an amazing place, filled with amazing educators.  I honestly feel that we are moving in the right direction by implementing data teams and the PLC model.  I know that we HAVE to adopt a textbook, and since we will fork out a ton of money; we will HAVE to use it with fidelity across the district.  I just get so skiddish about the use of textbooks as curriculum.  I honestly feel that the kids should set the curriculum.  The kids interests should guide how we use the standards, ESPECIALLY in math and language arts.  It's hard to solve real world problems when you must be on page 107 by Thursday.  I understand that some teachers need that guide.  However, why don't we put our money into teaching those teachers how to make informed decisions about their students' needs rather than buying books that will, AT BEST, be used as dust collectors on shelves, book bag weights, or desk filler-uppers.  We have already placed a significant amount of money into training for data teams and PLC's.

I could ramble on forever about this, what are your thoughts about the squirrel trap we are in?

Sharpening the Knife...

As I was preparing mashed potatoes for Christmas dinner I found that my trusty Buck "Silver Creek" Filet Knife was struggling to cut the potatoes needed for my dish.  Two things crossed my mind: 1. Dang this knife is too dull to cut through potatoes...sorry knife.  2. Dang this knife has been through a lot (the skinning and butchering of multiple deer, wild hogs and other assorted game, TONS of vegetable chopping, and a few other miscellaneous chores that I could conger up during its life span and I let it become dull due to my neglect.

A few Christmases ago I received a Lansky Knife Sharpening Kit so I could theoretically keep my hunting knives sharp and ready (I guess you can see how well I've done in practice).  I busted out the kit on the 26th and went to sharpening my knife.  The kit is designed to start out using a very course stone that begins that process of sanding down the blade and imperfections it may have.  You progressively move towards a very smooth stones that, lacking for better words, polishes the blade making it razor sharp.  It took me an hour or so before the blade was restored to factory sharpness.  I can now, set the knife on a potato and, after applying the weight of my hand, slice the potato in two pieces.

As I meticulously rubbed the various stones on the knife blade in the required "W" formation, I had plenty of time to think.  There are very few things that I have respect for more than a sharp knife.  I take for granted the art a knife can create (delicious cuts of food, a wood carving, etc) and the chaos it can generate (bloody fingers or even death).  The majority of a knife's life is spent sitting in a drawer waiting to be used, however a knife's job is to cut and cut well.  When it doesn't cut, and cut well, it is useless; simply a piece of stainless steel with a handle.    If I would have taken the time and energy to sharpen my knife on a semi-regular basis, I would have never had to struggle through cutting something as easy as a potato.  I allowed the knife to become useless.  This made me think about the great quote by President Lincoln, “If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.”

I am currently in the process, as I have been for the past 2 months, of structuring my goals for 2013.  These goals are an opportunity for me to sharpen myself.  All the goals that I have are very un-glorious and lack spunk and excitement.  However, I feel confident that if I can conquer the specific, measurable, attainable, reasonable, and timely (SMART) goals I have set, my knife will be sharp and ready for use.

The sharpening part is dull, meticulous, and often times boring, but when the time comes for use, it will be well worth it!

My 2013 Goals broken down into categories (I'll update, add, and modify):

Spiritual:

• I will read the Gospels in their entirety at least 3 times by the end of 2013 striving to learn more about Jesus Christ's life, ministry, and leadership.
• I will memorize and meditate on the "Sermon on the Mount" from Matthew 5-7 by the end of 2013.  Averaging about 3 verses per week.
• I will read 4 books centered around Jesus by the end of the 2013.  Averaging roughly 1 book per 3 months.  (Christ Plays in 10,000 Places by Eugene Petersen, The Jesus You Thought You Knew by John MacArthur, and 2 others TBD)

Physical

• I will run 600 total miles (50 miles per month), log at least 244 activities (about 19 per month), and participate in at least 6 running races of any distance by the end of 2013.

Family

• I will read a bible story using the book given to us by the Dickenson family to my daughter at least three times a week before bedtime totaling about 150 reads in 2013.

Professional Learning (still have work to do)

School Leadership (Still have work to do)

Please share your comments!

That Friday morning, those kids taught me...

It all started out in typical Friday fashion.  I was determined to have my ever growing to-do list chopped down by the end of the day.  As a million thoughts rushed through my head, I hurried quickly back to my office to peck out some response emails, review a bus video, and set the plans for a future PLC, I was handed a small pink sticky note with a name and a number written on it.  I was told that a lady had called and asked for an administrator to call her back; no other details were given.  I grumbled under my breath as I walked the final few paces to my office, plopped down in my chair, and stuck the note on my desk.  I resisted the urge to trudge through my to-do list, lifted the phone, dialed the number, and began to listen to the caller on the other end of the line.

The voice on the other end was gentle, yet it was easy to distinguish that hint of brokenheartedness that is felt rather than heard.  The lady kindly introduced herself and, without knowing how to cordially lead us in, quickly plunged into the issue at hand.  The lady on the phone was a concerned grandmother that was worried about her granddaughter.  She began her story with a little background information about her little girl.  She talked about how her girl had always loved school and seemed to really enjoy learning.  She talked about how much she loved her and how she was her life.  Her next word ate at my core.  It's not that the word itself is bad.  Granted it shows contrast, yet it usually goes unnoticed in conversations.  Not this time.  Not in this conversation.  When this grandmother muttered the word "but," everything changed.  Right after she said it, she had to apologize because she had begun to cry.  She didn't have to tell me that she was crying, I could hear it in the trembling of her voice.  I could feel the heavy heart from her words and occasional sobs.  She illustrated for me a story of a little girl that has been constantly picked on for something that she can't even help.  For a very common skin condition.  She told me that her granddaughter had become the "cheese" of the infamous "cheese-touch" from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.  She sobbed to me that her granddaughter  who once loved school, who once couldn't wait to get to bed so she could wake up the next day, had to be pried out of the car on this typical Friday.  That same girl who hung on the words that were spoken in class by her teachers and peers, cried herself to sleep at night because of the punch line she had become.  As she talked, my head hung low, but not lower than my heart.

I concluded the phone call in a typical administrator fashion, but my heart hurt.  There are times that you go through the motions; you follow policy, procedure, and protocol.  You don't think, you just act.  Then there are times that you're human.  You feel, you hurt, you hope.  After that call, I was human, humiliatingly human.

After hanging up the phone, I took a minute to get my thoughts together then called the little girl into my office.  Other than the, "I don't think I did anything to get called to the office" look she gave me when she turned the corner in my office, her attitude was not what I was expecting.  The little girl I locked eyes with was surprisingly chipper for someone who had to be dragged out of the car previously that morning.  She merrily talked about her morning and how she liked her substitute, but misses her teacher when she's gone.  After the formalities of introduction subsided, I asked her about some of the things her grandmother informed me about.  She told an identical tale of being picked on since 1st grade.  She told me the whys and hows and whats.  Enraged at this point, I asked for the whos.  Who in God's Holy name could be bullying such a sweet child...I thought to myself.  I was going to deal with that bully or few bullies.  I anxiously anticipated her answer, but was humbled by her response.  This sweet little girl, with pain in her eyes, gazed at me and said, "Mr. Richards, it feels like half of the entire grade picks on me."  I didn't think my heart could drop much lower than when I was on the phone with the grandmother, but believe you me, it did.  I am known to be able to throw out a pretty good poker face.  Very few things shake me, but there is no way that that little girl couldn't see the hurt in her eyes mirrored in mine.  However, what happened next was the most amazing thing.  Without even thinking, possibly in the same breath, she used that word...that same word that changed everything in the conversation with her grandmother.  That same word that will again...change everything..."but!"  "But Mr. Richards," the look in her eyes returning to the sparkle she displayed at the outset of our meeting, "there are some students in my class that never pick on me."  "They've even stood up for me."  She went on and on about the times they've helped her and how they make her happy and not sad like the other kids.

As she talked I zoned out.  This was too much for me to process.  Here is a girl who has been bullied for years, and all she can really talk about is the people that have come by her side.  I asked for the students names and called them to my office.  When the group arrived, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting the students that showed up.  I'm not sure if the ingrained Hollywood image of heroes and heroines just has me messed up, but this was the rag-taggiest group of kids ever.  Honestly, and this is sad for me to say, I'm not sure if I had ever even seen a few of the kids before that fateful Friday morning.  I asked them all to sit down and gently shut my door.  The lone boy in the room joyfully asked, "are we in trouble?!"  I honestly didn't know how to respond.  I sat down in my desk chair and stared face to face with six children.  Six snaggle-toothed, pig-tail braided, breakfast stained shirt, crumb wearing kids...and I never felt more humbled.  Here were six children, all under the age of 10, and five of them were heroes to one little girl.  I am never at a loss for words, but I was then.  I simply said, "thank you."  After being asked why, I went into further details.  I'm not sure what all I said to them, but I hope my heart came out as I said thank you.

They later left my office with smiles and headed back to class.  I called each of their parents and thanked them for having them at Wood Elementary.  Each parent was grateful for the call, but none more grateful than I was for having the opportunity to make the call.  On that Friday morning, I sat face-to-face with five heroes.  Five students that were willing to go against the grain.  Five unassuming students that have made a huge mark on one child's life, and one administrators life, simply because they were willing to do what was right.  That Friday morning, those kids taught me...

The POWER of Home Visits...

My first 6 years of teaching was spent at wonderful charter school named Carolina School for Inquiry in northern Columbia, SC.  One of the things that the school prided themselves in was that each teacher did everything they could to visit every child in their class.  My colleagues and I would schedule visits together and get as many done in one day as possible.  I remember one day where I drove over 200 miles zig-zagging  across the Capital City.  Columbia is not a huge place, but our attendance zone was huge, and I had a ton of students to see.  Despite the driving in a truck that only gets 12 miles to the gallon, the days that I did home visits were some of the best days I had in my teaching career.

Today I took two 4th grade teachers with me on a home visit to see a student in their class that they were worried about.  The student wasn't home when we got there and never came while we were there, but we had the immense pleasure of speaking with his grandmother.  When she opened the door, she wasn't sure what to make of the visit, but after we explained why we were there, she welcomed us with open arms.  She continuously commenting on how great it was that we came and saw her.

After leaving the visit, the teachers were informed, relieved, and excited.  It made me start thinking and reflecting about the power that a simple home visit has on the classroom all the way to school culture and community views of the district as a whole.

7 Rationales behind The POWER of Home Visits...
*not in any particular order.

Team Building - As soon as that doorbell rings, there is a very interesting team that is forged.  Student, family, teacher, admins, district personnel, etc. (YES...even people not on the visit can benefit!)  KNOW that everyone is willing to meeting in the middle and/or go out of their way to make the educational experience a successful one for everyone.

Teacher's Understanding - The teacher is afforded an opportunity to assess the home life of a child.  Not in a judgmental manner, but in a way that will benefit the child.  If the teacher observes an impoverished environment they will be able to plan, act, and react accordingly.  The teacher will also be given the opportunity to meet the persons that make up the household.  It may be a nuclear family, or it may be a very eclectic family made up of aunties, or cousins, or family friends, or any other combination.  Regardless, this information will help the teacher connect to and relate with the student.  The teacher may also discover hidden talents, interests, skills, and/or accomplishments the child has that would not otherwise be shared.  All of these will assist as the teacher strives to make the learning engagements more relevant.

Parent's Understanding - Many times parents will pass their baggage of poor school experiences off to their children.  When a parent sees a teacher uncomfortably out of their confines of the classroom, it levels the playing field.  The parent can view the teacher as a person, as a regular, good ole' human being.  The lines of communication can be opened that would otherwise be closed.  Trust can be built!

Student's Understanding - I once heard it said that "you can't teach 'em until you can convince you care!"  I know it's cliche-ish, but dag gum it's so true.  A home visit is a very "un-mushy" and "un-Hollywood" way to say, "I care and I'm here for you!"  The times that I jumped on trampolines, played X-Box, Wii, checked out family pictures, ate Grandma's home-made fried chicken and collard greens, listened to a impromptu piano concert, at popsicles on the back porch, helped clean a fish tank, and so many other things that I did on home visits were in a sense uncomfortable for me, but the students understood that language.

School Culture - Students, teachers and admins have a very big role to play in the building of a positive and quality school culture.  I just struggle in understanding how a culture could be bad in a school that values students enough to take time out of their busy schedules to visit students and their families on their turf.  Conversations begin to change from, "blame blame blame" to "let's work together as a full team to figure this out."  Students are valued, parents are valued, teachers are empowered, admins are supported...sounds like a solid recipe to me!

The poverty stuff makes sense - Dr. Pawloski from the Francis Marion University Center of Excellence came to Lexington County School District 2 to talk with the employees about honoring students of poverty.  However, she surprisingly did not define poverty using the income scale, but instead simply said that poverty is a condition in which a child is missing something of importance or a basic need (think Maslow).  This can possibly \ include even children from filthy rich families.  A home visit can help assess the needs the children are having met on a daily basis, but also identify needs that are going unmet that may hinder academic performance.  Again we have more information that can be used to better make the curriculum relevant to the needs of the individual child.

Improves reputation - When teachers are willing to go out of their way...they look good, the schools looks good, the district looks good...HECK even the state department of education looks good!

FUN - Home visits are just fun.  You get to see students in their element...in their environment...dong what they do!

I'm sure I'm missing some more reasons on why home visits are so powerful, if I did please add what you think in the comment section!

Chore doer vs. Leader

I was reading last night and reflecting on this past week. I have realized in my short time doing the admin gig, that there is a huge difference between completing the admin chores and leading the people. Many people are more than capable of completing the admin chores. I think that's why so many people make very unsuccessful attempts at administering schools. Teachers and other school building personnel can easily pick out admins that are poor at the chores and correctly think "I could easily complete those chores." However, great chore completing principals are not always great leaders of the people they serve. This lack of leadership from an admin causes distress among their followers; maybe even more stress than a completely incompetent admin would cause. At least one that is poor at the chores and at leadership has an excuse to be bad (bless their hearts)! On the contrary, an admin that humbly displays an ability to lead the people they serve is not necessarily bound by their personal chore completing ability. The ability is a plus, but not mandatory, because great leaders delegate. Efficient and effective delegation empowers, not burdens, followers, as well as frees time for the leader. Furthermore, great leaders also bestow many intangibles (communication, empathy, sympathy, vision, discipline, etc.) that further empower followers, even in the midst of difficult circumstances, further deepening the roots of the organization.

Situational Awareness

My wife is off at bible study and my baby is in bed, so this is finally a perfect time to blog.

Today was our first early release day of the year, which in my district means "Cohort Day". All of the APs in the district met together and were led by Dr. Lindsey from the University of South Carolina. She is a veteran of the schools and has served in a plethora of capacities from teacher all the way to Deputy State Superintendent. On top of all that she is personal and fun to interact with. Needless to say, she is someone you want to listen to.

During her presentation, she reviewed the 21 Traits of Effective Leaders from Marzano. After her review, she handed us all a sheet with each trait listed and asked us to circle 2 strong traits and 2 weak traits. Situational awareness was the first thing I picked as a weakness because of the daily feeling of things running 1,000 mph while I'm only moving at 10 mph.

I remember feeling the same thing as a new teacher. I remember the day when I realized that I could actually do this and be good at it. I remember thinking, "man, I knew what they were going to do before it happened." I was glad to see that moment. Now, I wonder how long it will take for me to feel the same about my job as an admin. When will it all slow down a little? When will I get my frame of reference? When will I be aware of the situation so I can be proactive rather than reactive?

I can't wait for that day to arrive!

Respect for reading...

Picture linkI am in the midst of this awful turmoil in my life. I lay in bed awake at night, my mind rolls as I drive in my truck, my thoughts wonder during bland conversations, my stomach tightens at the thought of my issue, my distress quickens my tempo as I run in the wee morning hours.

I just can't seem to shake my fear that students are being force fed reading skills (main idea, details, inferencing, cause & effect, etc.) without ever being guided and scaffolded into a love of reading. Now my utopian view does reach a level of realism in the fact that I understand that not all students will LOVE to read in the end. However, if we don't balance the scales of skills and love of reading, we may be in more serious trouble than we already are.

I have always been drawn to the beautiful game of basketball! As I was starting out my very short career in rec league basketball as a 5 year old playing with 6 and 7 year olds, I was placed on Coach Mike's team. Coach Mike was the park supervisor and possessed a love for the game equal to mine today. Coach Mike knew, however, that a love to basketball must be accompanied with an understanding and ability to execute the skills. During practice, we practiced defense and dribbling with both hands and proper shooting form and passing, but we ALWAYS got to play and play hard and have fun. Through this, even as very young boys, we learned to love and respect the game. We were taught both HOW to play basketball and to PLAY basketball. Even these days, as a 30 year old wannabe, I find myself bouncing the ball off the house, cutting around a pick to the top of the key, catching and releasing the ball in fluid motion in order to practice. I respect the game!

I fear that students these days are crammed with reading skills that have no meaning. They're forced to read and respond to canned questions, forfeiting their chances to truly interact with text. They read snippets of some of the best children's literature ever written from the pages of a reading basil only to answer comprehension questions at the end of the section, complete a vocabulary quiz, and write poorly connected spelling words in alphabetical order. Never is the child taught to savor the story or struggle with the character or criticize the author's writing style. Granted, an understanding and ability to utilize the skills of reading is needed for this to take place. However, isn't a love for reading equally needed?

A respect for reading will only be fostered in children when we balance teaching them HOW to read with teaching them to READ! One canNOT be done without the other!