A WOW EXPERIENCE

Many of you have been in presentations where I have shared my thinking on the power of WOW or read my book, Wow… Adding Pizza to Teaching and Learning. I wrote that book because so many teachers shared their experiences with wowing students and administrators shared how they wow their staffs. I love watching the faces as folks describe the wow experience that they provided. It often appears that they receive a wow from watching a class or staff experience the wow.

The following letter from Judith Elmore, a reading teacher in Fairfax County, VA , reminded me of how contagious WOW experiences can be.

Dear Stephen,

I just got back from taking my younger daughter to look at High Point University in High Point, NC, and I had to share our experience! From the personalized parking space (Welcome to Catherine Elmore, Virginia in lights!) to the tour in golf carts with blankets, past the kiosks where the students can pick up snacks and drinks between classes, to the refurbished and new dorms with free laundry facilities, to the concierge desk (handles dry-cleaning and wake-up calls), past the Starbucks, the hammocks, the flat screen TVs in every lounge, the study rooms with AV equipment, the live music each day at lunch, to the President’s Office where he came out to chat with the tour group (as he does with every tour group…) which is across the hall from the Office of WOW…we were WOW’ed for sure! I’m attaching two articles you might enjoy!

See you in March at our meeting!

Judi Elmore
Reading Teacher
Woodley Hills Elementary School

Check out the articles Judi sent!

High Point University Hires Director of 'WOW!'

Roger Clodfelter, Director of WOW

HPU Featured in New Book on Customer Service

TRAINING INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES

I recently received the note below from Tammy O’Donnell regarding her plan to train reading coaches. Having worked with Tammy on several projects, I was sure that she’d have some insights that would be helpful when training instructional coaches.
My questions and Tammy’s answers follow.

Dear Steve:

Today I have been working on a professional development piece to use with our district's eight reading coaches in January and was reminded that I have been meaning to let you know how I have been using a couple of products with your name on them. Coaching Skills for Successful Teaching, 1996, along with the 2005 product published by the School Improvement Network, Instructional Coaching: School-Based Staff Development for Improved Teacher and Student Learning, are working very well in tandem and the sessions have been extremely well received by my coaches here in DeSoto.

Thanks again for your vision and leadership in the area of instructional coaching.

Tammy O'Donnell
Director of Instructional Services
School District of DeSoto County, Florida


What do you see as the most important “understandings” to be shared with new coaches?

It took a couple of years (and I have the scars to show on my hard noggin) to "allow" myself to give permission for the coaches to work on trust for one semester or longer. I have to assure them that it's OK not to expect to do a lot of formal coaching until January (January- if they are known quantity from the faculty or a school across town. If they come from Missouri or Alaska, I really do allow a year for the trust to develop).

Initially, when we won a Just Read grant in 2003, we felt the pressure to hurry into the coaching model due to the pressure of achieving results -- or else. This just did not work well, so we have applied "lessons learned" including: Go slowly now, so you can go fast later.

What are the first skills for new coaches to be practicing and internalizing?

We work really hard on the open and closed-ended questions with new coaches. For a long time we do this. I use many of your materials from the coaching manual. I build a transition from the open-ended questions to the reflective prompts that I draw from Teachscape's CWT (Classroom Walkthrough) training, also. We are attempting to build reflective practice into the culture of our schools, so I use the training with principals and assistant principals, then coaches and new teachers' mentors.

I have found a great way to use one of your articles from the manuals: "Empowering Questions for Teacher Conference." I have them take the article out of their binders and use a color-coding system as they read it, marking the questions as follows:

Green: I am willing to begin using this question with no hesitation. It fits my personality and leadership style.

Yellow: Haven't used it but I am willing to try with caution or some modification to fit my style.

Pink (red): This is so not me that I would not use this question in any format.

Lavender: Marks any other points of interest.

I find that the group of new coaches have a useful "product" to take away from the training. The "green lights" are validated for them, and they have some yellow ones to add to their bag of tricks. Some of our personal favorites are the "magic wand" and "hiring your replacement."


What are the indicators that coaches have the initial skills and are ready for more complex strategies? What kind of training do you see as most appropriate for your more experienced coaches?

This year I have tried to organize the materials from the video series and sort them by "new coach" and "veteran coach" and maybe another category for principals to experience. I am very pleased to find pockets of common topics to be used with all the coaches within the SIN/Video Journal program. Having you, Joellen and Jim Knight--plus the capacity to see real coaches in action on the DVDs is just what the doctor ordered. What I hope to develop over the next few months is a package including something like a five-year professional development component that provides differentiated experiences for the various "ages and stages" of our coaches. I just believe that this should be in place for those who are entrusted with developing the coaches in future. Hopefully, I will have something to share with you within a few months.

I was so excited when the video materials came out that I shared with the coaches at their first meeting an overview of the program and asked that the whole group select the topics they would most likely want to learn about. The two topics that topped the list were Facets of Developing Coaches, Seeing Effective Coaches at Work, and Working with the Principal. So I am presenting these topics at our monthly meetings for all the coaches. Then I use some different segments with the beginners--that is a work in progress but I find that the two series work well together. Then there are portions of the training that the coaches insisted that I use with their principals. So I will plan to do that after the dreaded FCAT because life as we know it revolves around the testing season.

I often find that the relationship and teamwork of coaches and principals can greatly increase the impact of coaches on teaching and learning at a school? What have you experienced? How do you build that into the training of coaches?

I am really struggling with that--see answer above. The one thing that cannot be negotiated is the triangle of trust (first session with new coaches every year).

I am learning so much from using the series this year--and nor surprisingly, when they share around the circle, the one "prominent/most promising/successful" school has the greatest amount of effective practice to share. And it is so obvious that they work as a team with administration in the building. The others are benefitting from hearing their reports, and hopefully the exchange of information across schools will impact the schools where the relationship and teamwork with administration is not as fully developed. So much, as you know, depends on the instructional leadership at the school. And from a district level, it is such a delicate matter to support but not intervene. I have a long way to go on that one!

Is there an email that reader could use to contact you directly?
Yes, please use: odonnell3215@earthlink.net

SAIL PROGRAM-Students Actively Involved in Learning

I have had several opportunities over the past two years to meet with the staff and administrators at Cypress Ridge Elementary School in Lake County, Florida. My interest in teacher teams who share student accountability was peaked by the schools’ SAIL program so I asked principal, Rob McCue, and his staff to share some explanation and experiences.

Please tell me about Cypress Ridge Elementary School and the SAIL program.

Cypress Ridge Elementary School is a math, science, and technology magnet school. Since the schools conception it has always had a team oriented approach to decision making and teaching strategies. The SAIL program (Students Actively Involved in Learning) features teaching teams, parents, and students that make a commitment to one another to stay together for three years in either a K - 2 or 3 - 5 model. The SAIL team is comprised of three teachers that specialize in reading, math, or language arts/writing. The students rotate between the three teachers switching classrooms to receive instruction in the three core areas. Each teacher has a designated homeroom assignment and is responsible for their social studies and science instruction.

What are the benefits to the SAIL program?

The teachers work closely together planning appropriate curriculum sequences to meet the needs of students at all three grade levels. The close scrutiny of the standards and skills for each grade level creates a unique and comprehensive understanding of subject area for the individual teachers. A teacher’s concentration on a specific subject creates a strong level of expertise with an understanding of where students start and where they should be in order to successfully move forward in their acquisition of skills. SAIL teachers know each child’s achievement level throughout the year as well as where to begin the following year. Teachers also know the content they have taught and are able to build upon that each year. There is a smooth transition between the grade levels.
SAIL teachers understand that traditional classroom and curriculum control is given up and responsibilities are shared. Each member of the team must fully trust the other members to teach the curriculum and standards of their respective subjects and meet the needs of the students within the group.
The students who join a SAIL team are welcomed by three caring teachers who are concentrating on providing the best possible educational environment. The classrooms may be different in style but have a similar commitment to excellence. The classes have a common set of rules and share many of the same procedures. The students move smoothly through the day interacting comfortably with each other and the adults that serve them. Students have consistency working with three teachers, and camaraderie staying with their peers for three years. There is no anxiety at the beginning of the next school year.
The parents have the support and input of three teachers during their child’s educational journey. All three teachers meet often with parents to discuss class work and student progress. The communication between parents and teachers becomes open, honest and straight forward over the years. Parents feel a comfort in knowing that their child has the same teachers for three years and like their children there is no anxiety at the beginning of the next year. We become a family with strong parent support and confidence in their child’s educational program.
Our parents are required by the school to spend 10 hours doing volunteer work. SAIL parents benefit from their time in school by experiencing not only their own child’s class and grade level but getting a sneak peek at what is to come. Parent volunteers can see the relationship of skills by working in three classrooms on three different grade levels. There is a comfort and disarming of fears as they look into the window of their child’s future and more clearly see how the system works and how skills build on one another. Over three years the teachers have an opportunity to create a positive parental force for education.


One special note from my time with the staff at Cypress Ridge…. While the staff consist of teachers who were original founders of the school 11 years ago, teachers who have been there for 5 or 6 years, and new folks who joined the staff this year, the beliefs and values of the school are similar. While principals have changed, and new staff joined, the embedded belief in collegiality to serve students is constant.

LEARNING IN LIVE EVENTS

Happy New Year to all readers! Here is hoping that all of you are seeing 2008 as a great year of learning for yourself and the educators and students that many of you serve.

During the holidays, an article in the ASCD SmartBrief (This is a daily email with news from the education world. Click the link and choose ASCD Smart Brief under Education for a free subscription.) caught my attention as it mentioned students at Hartford High School in Wisconsin. I have had the pleasure of working with staff there on several occasions exploring their work with mentoring and peer coaching.

The story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal mentioned a project where DECA (a student marketing club) students at Oconomowoc and Hartford high schools planned Christmas for 230 preK-4th grade students at Hopkins Street Elementary School in Milwaukee where 97% of the students are eligible for free or reduced lunch.

In earlier blogs, I explored an expanded definition of student achievement (Nov 11) to include Life Skills and Community Responsibility and I wrote about the power of Live Event Learning (Nov 18). This Christmas Project illustrates how students can be given the opportunity to experience, practice, and internalize the aptitude, attitude, and skills important to fulfilling and productive futures.

My finding is that the key to successful Live Events is to find something that will make an emotional connection with the students.Then, trust that the natural curiosity and critical thinking of the students will push the learning into areas that were not initially planned by the teacher. Here is where teachers need to take some risk, allowing the event to take on a "life of it's own". The teacher is facilitating, teaching needed skills as the need arises (just in time learning), and debriefing or making conscious the learning or insights students are gaining along the way.

As you read through the following quotes from the article, consider where parts of the academic curriculum along with life skills and citizenship responsibility are being practiced .

"One student 'adopted' nine kids because she decided she didn't want anything for herself for Christmas and would use the money that would have been spent on her to buy things for them."

The families of the suburban students also got involved, with parents, many through their businesses, donating money to buy more gifts and snacks for Friday's holiday party at Hopkins, 1503 W. Hopkins St.

Other local businesses got into the spirit of the project and also made donations. The Oconomowoc Student Council donated $1,400.

Even use of the bus that will transport the gifts, food, high school students and one volunteer dad playing Santa to Milwaukee has been donated.

Staff at Hopkins identified seven families of students in particular need this holiday season, and those families have been the focus of special attention by the high school students and their families." 1


Very often, Live Event Learning activities create ongoing learning opportunities. Consider the following statements from Maurice Turner, the principal at Hopkins Street Elementary:

"I'm hoping this will not be the end of it; we would like to continue a relationship with that city. Many of our children have never been outside the boundaries of their neighborhood, much less outside the city limits. But I'd like them to go visit Oconomowoc sometime and see what it's like."

Can you imagine the learning opportunities leading up to that trip, the day of the trip, following the trip? For students and staff at all the schools?
For parents and community members from both schools?

Do you have an example of Live Event Learning you'd like to share here... drop me a note and I'll follow up.



1 Bearing Gifts, Teens will traverse afar-Youths living in suburbs will enrich yule at inner-city school
By Amy Rinard, Posted: Dec. 19, 2007, Milwaukee Journal Sentinal Online