Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Touchy-Feely Crap

You read that correctly.

Tumwater High Principal Scott Seaman (green shirt, right) knows how to get his staff meetings off to a great start. And this morning, on Day 2 of the AWSP New Principals' and Assistant Principals' Workshop, he cut to the chase about those often dreaded meetings: Make people do touchy-feely crap. Because, as Scott astutely observed, "nobody likes to do touchy-feely crap."

What better way, then, to break down barriers and get people out of their comfort zone?

Touchy-feely crap, of course!

Scott and his assistant principal, Penny Therrein, spent about an hour this morning helping new administrators think about ways to better engage staff and encourage teamwork by leading them in some really fun (and appropriate) "touchy-feely crap" exercises. And man, were they a hit! Three of the myriad offered this morning: eyeball tag and good ol' musical chairs.

Eyeball tag (photo at right) is as simple as this: Everyone at the table looks at the ground. On the count of the leader, everyone looks up and must look at someone else. If that same person you are looking at is also looking at you, you're out. This encourages people to meet others and also breaks the ice.

With musical chairs (below), one seat is removed from the table or group, then one person stands in the middle and calls out something they did recently. In today's example, the theme was "something I did this summer." Examples today included "I moved!" or "I went camping!" If you did that activity this summer, you scrambled to change seats. Last one standing calls the next activity. The game can be called off at any time -- but you should allow enough exchanges for everyone to get to know a little bit more about each other in a fun way.

Mosquito/salmon/bear. A Pacific Northwest take on the old "rock/paper/scissors" game, participants do their best impressions of mosquitoes, bears and salmon to beat out other players. You know the order: salmon beats mosquito, bear beats salmon, etc. Have people pair off, then work in teams of fours. Work until one half the group is challenging the other (salmon team beats mosquitoes at right).

Above all else, Scott and Penny encouraged new administrators to have fun and engage others (adults and kids alike). In fact, Scott and his staff have a school motto, "Go Big! Make It Happen!" which is printed on shirts and on other materials at school.

Scott also shared some of his "keys to loving the [principalship]":
  1. Never say, "At my old school..." Instead, show others you are committed to your new school.
  2. Assume the best in others. Wouldn't you want the same treatment?
  3. Treat everyone like professionals (with respect). From the kitchen staff to your teachers and custodial staff. "Treat them like professionals, because that's what they are," Seaman told participants.
  4. Be visible. Interact with kids, parents. If you're on the phone when the bell rings, excuse yourself to get out into the hallways and make a connection with your students.
  5. Apologize. A leader who can't say 'sorry' is doomed.
We'll post Scott's complete list to our Web site (with his permission, of course). You can e-mail him if you're interested in learning more, too.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Hello My Name Is...

This morning, about 60 new principals and assistant principals from around the state gathered at North Thurston High in Lacey for AWSP's workshop for new administrators. Some are already administrators that are simply in new schools; others are completely new to the principalship. There were individuals from P-4 schools and teams, like the all-new administrator crew from Kent-Meridian High School in the Kent School District. Rural. Urban Suburban. Big. Small. In-between.

To get things started, AWSP's Executive Director Gary Kipp asked everyone to visualize the room as the state of Washington, then asked participants to stand in the approximate areas of their schools (like the group from southwest Washington, at right). This gave everyone a sense of who may be close by, in a neighboring district, in the ESD, or way across the state. It was a great icebreaker that helped put people more at ease with all of the new faces and helped them better connect with people who they might someday call upon for advice.

Dr. Harvey Alvy, an associate professor of educational leadership at Eastern Washington University, was the day's first presenter. A co-author of the popular New Principal's Fieldbook, Alvy began by focusing on the challenges of being a new administrator. His comments focused on the importance of interpersonal communication, underscoring the value of a principal's interaction not only with students, but with adults, as well. With so much to do at the start of the school year, he cautioned, don't forget about the adults in your quest to make things right for the students. His guiding quote for the day:
"Human relations is essential to the effectiveness of this job."
In our last post, we asked what advice you for your best "back-to-school advice" for new administrators. Today, in keeping with Dr. Alvy's theme, we want to know: As an administrator, what do you do to get to know or reconnect with staff at the start of the new school year?

Friday, July 27, 2007

Mr. P's Blog: To Blog....

Mr. P's Blog: To Blog....

This is a link to DeGrazia Elementary School (AZ) Principal Steve Poling's blog. He's responding to questions from principals about blogging. Thought readers of The Comp Book might also appreciate his thoughts. Steve is also a contributor on Ed LeaderWeb.

Summer Clearance Time

If you've taken a trip to your local Target or grocery store lately, then you know what's lurking around the corner: the start of school.

Want a beach towel? Be prepared to dig in the bargain bins, because the summer fun displays are about as fleeting as your tan, with stores now sporting rows upon rows of fresh Pink Pearls and pristine Pee-Chees.

At AWSP, the pace began quickening in the last week or so in preparation for next week's New Principals and Assistant Principals Workshop and our annual membership recruitment drive in August. This also means most of our members are headed back to their offices to begin the process of preparing for the new school year. Which leads us to today's question:

What's your best "back to school" advice for new administrators? Maybe you were a new administrator last year. What do you wish you could have done differently? Or maybe you're a seasoned veteran of the profession. What's your secret to back-to-school success? We'd like to hear from you.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

More Help for Principals

Yesterday, AWSP learned that it will continue its work with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction as the provider of individualized principal leadership support to administrators whose schools are in the state's School Improvement Assistance Program.

Bob Mc Mullen, AWSP's director of high school programs, has been leading this effort for the Association -- an effort that at times means several days on the road touring the state. During these site visits, he meets one-on-one with principals for 90 minutes about their individual needs as school leaders. This has been one of the more popular, though labor intensive aspects of the program. For the cohort principals, participation in the program means not only putting your school under a public microscope, but your own leadership, too.

Each principal is teamed with a mentor and participates in a "360" evaluation of their skills, meaning the administrator is systematically evaluated based on survey data gathered from a variety of sources (parents, staff, teachers, etc.). This data guides their leadership training as school leaders for the duration of their stay in the program. For some participants, some who may be geographically bound, access to this kind of individualized professional development is invaluable.

The initiative began in 2003 with a small cohort of schools that did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress under the new No Child Left Behind Act. Fast forward to this year, and the program is now working with its seventh cohort of schools, which is set to include 15 schools (a cross-section of elementary, middle, high school and alternative schools). Another five may be added before the school year begins.

To qualify for School Improvement assistance, schools must receive federal dollars. And while it's currently a volunteer program, the State Board of Education is thinking about changing that.

What do you think about this model of professional development for principals? Should it be expanded?

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

WA Math 2.0

A consultant reviewing the state's math standards may have said it best last week: it's time for an upgrade.

That's the sentiment offered by Linda Plattner of the independent, Maryland-based educational research firm Strategic Teaching. Speaking before the State Board of Education (SBE), last week, Plattner delivered the draft report on our state's math standards. Given that about 40 percent of Washington's high school students still haven't passed the math WASL, some may have hoped the independent review would indicate the standards are too high.

Quite the contrary, per the new report.

According to the Associated Press' coverage of last week's SBE meeting, the independent reviewers from Strategic Teaching in Maryland found that compared to other high-achieving states and countries, Washington is actually not expecting enough from students when it comes to math.

The state is "on the right path" according to the report, but that adjustments must be made to help prepare students for post-high school success:
"If mathematics is the gateway to student success in higher education and the workplace, Washington is getting too few of its students to and through the door," the report concluded.
In a nutshell, the report suggests Washington state's standards place too great an emphasis on conceptual math and not enough on the mechanics. For example, the report found the standards often require student "understanding" rather than demonstrate they can actually use math to "calculate, estimate or solve" a problem (page 3 of the executive summary).

The researchers make seven recommendations (again, page 3, executive summary) to clarify what is to be expected of students and offers greater guidance to educators about what to teach and when to introduce different math content.

The initial document is being discussed at various SBE meetings around the state this week. AWSP has encouraged its members to attend and voice their concerns about the math issue.

What do you think about the report? Did you participate in any of the focus groups?

Monday, July 23, 2007

Inside the Costume: Mascots Gone Wild!

"So this is what it's like to be Superman," I thought.

Glancing at the array of foam and fur heads on the floor of the Nicholson Pavilion dance studio last Thursday, I started to feel like I had stumbled across some weird cult. Some underground ring of mute, theatrically dressed aliens. ("I've discovered a secret society!")

It was actually just Mascot Training at AWSP's CheerLeadership Camp.

It was incredibly fun to watch the six students from Adna, Eisenhower, Kennewick, Quincy, Mt. Rainier and Toledo high schools assume the roles of Captain Scallywag, The Mighty Cadet, Louie the Lion. Jack the Jackrabbit, Ajax the Ram and Chief Ike, respectively. I'm going to keep their real identities a secret because, apparently, that's part of the fun of being a mascot -- not having anyone know who you might be. Although in the case of the Adna H.S. Pirate (left), senior Jeremy Hubbell admits it doesn't take a lot of detective work to figure it out; the school only has about 200 students.

Heather Meier, a mascot trainer for the National Cheerleaders Association, said some of the participants were a little reluctant, shy even, when she first met them on day one of the camp. But once they donned their gear, it's like they were "completely different people."

Mascots have slowly gained new ground in schools, serving as both cheerleaders and P.R. ambassadors. Professional sports team mascots, like the infamous San Diego Chicken or, more locally, Squatch, the Sonics' mascot, have elevated the role. During last week's training, the mascots not only learned cheer techniques with their cheer squads, but also participate in special mascot classes and leadership training - finding ways to engage students and create a welcoming school culture.

In their mascot classes, they had specific coaching in creating skits and learning pantomime. If you want to be a mascot, mime moves are HUGE. Literally. Performing in front of an audience at a basketball or football game requires exaggerated movements and grand gestures. Some of the more patented moves? Pretending to take a shower, walking on hot sand, putting out fires, moving like a robot and, of course, sword fighting. It also helps if you can dance, and the four guys and two girls who were in class last week did a great job of keeping the beat, despite the heat.

Let's talk about the heat for a moment. Adding the costumes to the mix makes it a pretty sweaty operation. Some of the big giant heads have little fans in them to keep the mascots cool. It works... For about five minutes. Staff encourages them to keep hydrated and has them work without the costume most of the time. (Attention Gatorade marketing department...) The visibility can be poor in some of the costumes, too, so some mascots have an escort, usually another member of the cheer squad, to help them navigate a crowd.

Oh, and there's Do's and Don'ts for being a mascot: Do develop a personality for your mascot. But don't ever, EVER take your head off in public.

Meier, herself a cheer and mascot coach for a school in California, said Washington state's CheerLeadership camps are among the more sought-after among NCA staff because of the specific focus on leadership training and not just cheer technique. She's even thinking about sending her students up here next year, provided funding is available.

And, as in the academic world, there are standards for mascots. After performing a skit, the students were evaluated on various skills they had to incorporate into their performances. The students also critiqued one another and really seemed to enjoy hamming it up even for one another. They hope to start a blog this fall to keep their conversations going about being a mascot and help encourage other students to create mascots for their schools.

All in all, it was a fun day, and a great example of AWSP's Student Leadership office providing students with another fun way to engage in school.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Mascot Camp

Tomorrow, I'm off to the campus of Central Washington University in Ellensburg to sit in on a special training session just for high school mascots. This is a first for our Student Leadership program, which is hosting event in conjunction with our annual CheerLeadership Camp. Nearly 600 students from all over the state are attending this week's session on cheer technique and leadership training.

Although just six students registered for the mascot class, it will be interesting to be a part of the training, led by a member of the National Cheerleadership Association (who, I believe, was herself a former NCAA mascot). This goes beyond fun dance moves and chants. In recent years, mascots have become prominent reps for schools, taking on more of a leadership role. (Did you know, for example, that WSU's own Butch the Cougar won Capital One's National Mascot of the Year? Or that there is a Mascot Hall of Fame? The 2007 Mascot of the Year, MSU's Sparty, is at right.)

Professional sports teams have always relied on their mascots to be goodwill ambassadors. Why not middle and high schools?

The goal of this week's training, according to Susan Fortin, AWSP's director of student leadership programs, is to help these students develop their own leadership skills and find ways to be a positive force at school. Hope to have some photos of the students posted to the site tomorrow or early next week.

Best Schools for the Buck?

The financial magazine Forbes is out with a new ranking of school districts in the U.S.; per-pupil spending from property taxes is the primary focus. (It is Forbes, after all.)

"Best and Worst School Districts for the Buck" focuses on 775 counties that had the highest property tax rates and populations greater than 65,000. That yielded 97 counties where more than 50 percent of per-pupil spending comes from property taxes. Graduation rates and SAT scores were also used as indicators of the school's success.

Critics like Chester E. Finn, Jr. of the Fordham Foundation chided the study's obvious disregard for factors like wealth or parental education that can greatly affect a school -- or student's -- success. (In an e-mail to the Washington Post, Finn called the analysis " just plain dumb.") The study also raises the age-old debate as to whether more money means better schools. According to Forbes writer Christina Settimi's article:
Winners in this rating system are counties whose schools deliver high performance at low cost. The losers spend a lot of money and have little to show for it.
In looking down the list, there were no Washington state districts; most hailed from the east coast or the south. But then, our state dedicates nearly half of its biennial operating budget to education. As local readers may know, property taxes here are supposed to cover local district needs, and can be adjusted through levies.

So is this sort of research helpful or hurtful to the ongoing debate over school funding in America? Or is it just interesting fodder for education bloggers?

Aside: In addition to the full listing of all 97 districts, Forbes includes a slide show with Google maps of the "10 best and 10 worst districts for the buck." (I guess I was expecting actual photos of schools or the communities, not maps.) Interestingly, this same feature also showcases other Forbes slide shows like "The World's Top-Earning Models." For the record, Giselle Bundchen led the list at a cool $33 million. Compare that with Alexandria City, VA, which came in last in the school rankings and spends $11,404 per pupil. Lipstick versus pencils?

Again, it's Forbes.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

How Do Great Leaders Get That Way?

Do you know someone who exemplifies outstanding educational leadership? Who mentored you or served as a role model for others? Who typifies the very word "leadership"?

How'd they get that way?

Last week in the Seattle P-I, guest writer and professional accredited coach Maureen Moriarty asks that very question (though slightly more eloquently). In "Workplace Coach: Becoming a great leader depends on skill, not talent," she makes the case that great leaders are not born, but rather made through ongoing professional development and continuous improvement. Her premise: though it may come easier for some than others, leadership is something most people -- even the best of the best -- must continue to work on.
Personal traits like integrity and character are more on the born, not made, side, as well as drive and cognitive/problem-solving ability. However, without experience, training and mentoring, personal traits are not enough. No one is born with a natural ability to effectively lead. Traits like business acumen, coaching/mentoring skills, persuasiveness and emotional intelligence are learned and developed, often over a lifetime.
Moriarty goes on to provide a telling list of characteristics found in most successful leaders today (they are adaptable, they encourage feedback). Although the column may be aimed at the traditional business environment, each of the traits she describes are very applicable to K-12 educational leadership roles.