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!

The Book on Leadership

I just finished John MacArthur's "The Book on Leadership".  As many of you know, John MacArthur is a very prominent American pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California.  This book was entirely based on the leadership principles observed through the interactions of the Apostle Paul.  Before you simply tune out thinking that this is a strictly "Christian" book (which in some ways it is), the leadership principles presented are universal.  The Apostle Paul is a very influential leader in a religious movement that is still being carried out today.  Just as Ghandi, Mother Theresa, and George Washington deserve merit for their qualities, I believe Paul deserves some love for his leadership as well.

Pastor MacArthur starts his book by discussing the amazing leadership influence that Paul demonstrated during a ship wreck.  He was not a leader, but instead a prisoner on this particular ship.  As the story goes and the storm grows, Paul becomes more than just a man in shackles, but a vocal leader that even the centurions begin to defer to.  After the shipwreck, all 200 some odd people on board are counted as alive and well thanks to the leadership qualities Paul executed.  


After the shipwreck commentary, Pastor MacArthur frames more leadership principles by analyzing Paul's second letter to the church in Corinth.  Many things were beginning to turn south in the church that Paul founded.  Paul was no longer in Corinth, but had moved forward to other missionary endeavors.  Paul, however, had a huge heart for the people of Corinth and  knew that with the right guidance, amazing things could happen.  His boldness, wisdom, and humility expressed in his letter refocused the church, quieted false prophets and naysayers, challenged reckless behavior, boldly restated the mission and vision of the church, and encouraged all involved.  Pretty impressive considering this was a letter, not face-to-face contact.  If all this was accomplished through a letter, imagine the influence if Paul was present in body!  His leadership was impressive.


The 26 Leadership Principles that John MacArthur gathered from Paul are:

1. A leader is trustworthy
2. A leader takes initiative
3. A leader uses good judgement
4. A leader speaks with authority
5. A leader strengthens others
6. A leader is enthusiastic and optimistic
7. A leader never compromises the absolutes
8. A leader focuses on objectives not obstacles
9. A leader empowers by example
10. A leader cultivates loyalty
11. A leader has empathy for others
12. A leader keeps a clear conscience
13. A leader is definite and decisive
14. A leader knows when to change his mind
15. A leader does not abuse his authority
16. A leader doesn't abdicate his role in the face of opposition
17. A leader is sure of his calling
18. A leader knows his own limitations
19. A leader is resilient
20. A leader is passionate
21. A leader is courageous
22. A leader is discerning
23. A leader is disciplined
24. A leader is energetic
25. A leader knows how to delegate
26. A leader is Christlike

Reflections:


I have to say that reading about each of these principles is humbling enough, but when you write them out so you can see them all at one time it is breathtaking.  After seeing all of these principles together, I am humbled knowing that these are the traits of a solid leader.  In my mind, I can picture a leader bestowing many of these traits.  That leader is someone that many will follow.  To reach this level will take much discipline and reflection.  I have a ton of work to do!  Hope you enjoy the book as much as I did!

Paul was a many of humble appearance.  Some say he was even possibly a hunchback.  Leaders of our day are usually where they are due to looks and surface level achievements.  However, true leadership stems from below the surface.  Scanning the list of principles proves that the majority of leadership is completed between the ears and inside the heart.  I will need to start in and continue to return these two places in order to effectively lead others.

Finally, Paul's boldness was evident throughout the entire book.  I quickly defer to others and shift blame and responsibility when the going gets tough.  Paul's boldness is a great example for me and my timidity. 

My reflections on "Mindset"

After hearing a lot about "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success" by Carol S. Dweck and participating in an intriguing #educoach, I had to read it for myself.  I majored in psychology in college, so books like this always catch my eye.

There is no way that I can summarize the book and do it the justice that Justin Tarte did in this blog post, so I will let him do his thing.

I did want to take time to reflect on what I gained from the book, please share what you thought!

3 reflections:

#1: A little bit of growth and a lotta bit of fixed: I would call myself a person of the growth mindset, but after reading this book, I can tell that I struggle to remove myself from the fixed mindset most of the time.  Fear of failure grips me, and I'm not sure why.  My parents were always that parents that were proud of me if I did my best no matter the grade on my report card.  I preach to my students EVERY day the importance of "failing successfully".  However, many times, I won't bet if there is a possibility that I won't win.  Even writing this post makes my stomach turn to think of all the times I could have done more, pushed harder, went further, but I was scared of not making it.  As I enter into my new role as assistant principal, I am glad that I have exposed this about myself.

#2: Fixed mindsets cannot be changed externally: I need to stop trying to "fix" my fixed minded students, friends, and family members.  There is nothing I can do to change their mind.  Only they can decide to change from the fixed mindset to the growth mindset.

#3: Understanding the presence of the fixed mindset helps: I had several discussions with people that the book did not teach how to un-coach the fixed mindset out of someone.  Looking at point #2, that is probably easy to infer.  However, I did feel that after reading the book I was able to pinpoint some areas where I have a fixed mindset which will help me move toward the growth mindset in the future.  Sometimes ignorance is bliss, but not in the case of the fixed mindset.  It helped me to know that there are just some people that ain't going to budge.  To me, understanding the presence of the fixed mindset is like naming someone's personality type: you cannot change it, but you can learn how to approach it!

I encourage you to check it out!