Divergent

My friends often mock me for my reading selections, seeing as I rarely read beyond of the YA (Young Adult) section of the store.  I love Harry Potter, The Maze Runner, Divergent, and more fantasy/sci-fi adventures.  The latter, Divergent, was just made into a movie that debuted recently.  While I was watching it (sitting behind a row of 13-year old girls, who were sitting behind a row of 13-year old boys…birthday party), I was struck by the repeated message to “trust the test”.  In the story teens are sorted - not by a hat, but - with another type of test that determines where and how they will spend the remainder of their lives.

Diabolical, eh?  Yes – it turns out that it is a part of a government conspiracy to wipe out citizens capable of divergent thoughts and incapable of being easily controlled.  The teens are terrified of the test and its results, but they know that it is of upmost importance in determining their ultimate destinies due to predictive nature. 

  

But our heroine IS capable of thinking differently, and therefore she is a threat.  And – surprise, surprise…the test does not work on her.

Hmmmmm…

Trust the all-important test that will steer you towards your ultimate destiny.  But, what about people for whom the test DOES NOT WORK?  How do we handle them? 

Educators?  Please – take a minute to figure out a way to log on and comment because I would love to hear your answers.

WILL #17

What I Learned Lately (WILL 13/14 #16) by Dr. Josh Garcia

3/16/2014
@Garciaj9Josh

“Standing Next To a Mountain”

As we enter the spring with gusto, I feel like we are standing in front of mountain. There is a pile of initiatives that are standing right in front of us and it feels like we are trying to push a boulder up that mountain. I often hear how much there needs to be done and how many new things are being added. I am not sure what is new or what is just renamed? We have done standards, now we have different standards called the “common core”. We have done standardized testing, now we have new ones. We have come to recognize these test scores are essential to our perceived future success as schools, but not necessarily essential to the success of our society. We are constantly bombarded by negative messages of how bad our American education system is. Most of legislative conversations in today’s politics are based on adults outcomes and struggle to connect to the students we serve.

This week, I become clearer that pushing the boulder is not the best work. For me the mountain has unfortunately remained the same. It is big, it is daunting and it is real. We still have a mountain of prejudice in our system. Now more than ever, we must renew our commitment to eliminating prejudice in our schools and society. We must identify and prioritize our work, focusing on only work that continues to dismantle the framework of segregation. We must work to support initiatives and systems that don’t restrict student rights by adult perceptions. We must identify multiple measures to demonstrate mastery not as gate keepers but rather keys to access and success. We must remove our egos, it doesn’t have to be our original idea for us to believe in its mission. We must create a manifesto for our students. One that articulates what we the adults will do for every child, every day. This manifesto must be so clear that we can hold each other and ourselves accountable when we don’t live it. We must study our current practices to unfold why we still have segregation. Is it based on learner skills or because of our adult beliefs? We must recognize that segregation in society is about power and those who are in power are not going to give that up easily.

Let us tell our children that education is the most important thing and we are renewing our
commitment to each and all of them. Let us run towards our students’ pain and recognize their pain is only our pain that we have run from. Today, is the day that you find your fierce urgency to save our children. Today, we must become a part of co-conspiracy to help each child reach our shared definition of success. Today, may be a good day to stop trying to push the boulder up the mountain. Today, may be a good day to begin to tear down the mountain…

Finally from, “Unknown”
“You can do this! We can do this!”

Cross-posted: http://edge.ascd.org/_What-I-Learned-Lately-WILL-1314-17/blog/6563440/127586.html

Journey of Choice

I have the privilege of speaking with several principal interns regularly. Last week, one of these principal interns asked me about the different leadership positions I've served in. Then she asked, "Knowing what you know now, would you have taken different steps in your career?" My response came surprisingly easy, "No. I have accepted positions because they leveraged my strength to make a difference for kids, while allowing me to grow and learn from amazing leaders."

Leadership is a journey of choice, and I was reminded of that this week as I proudly reflected on the difference I've made during my leadership journey so far. I'm privileged to make a difference for students on a daily basis as I continue my journey of learning and leading.

Cross-posted: http://edge.ascd.org/_Journey-of-Choice/blog/6563342/127586.html

Revitalization Without Revolution

As an aspiring leader, I have thought often about who to look to for inspiration. I was told early on that an aspiring leader always has to have an example to emulate. There are many leadership examples that an educator can follow, but I have recently been following the leadership of Pope Francis. He has come into the position of Pope and helped to bring a new sense of excitement and possibility to an ancient institution.

As a leader in the public school system, an institution that is prone to tradition and slow to change, I am often frustrated by what I cannot seem to do. In looking for inspiration to overcome my frustration, Pope Francis provides a good example of what a leader can do within an organization. He has not made any radical changes since becoming pope, but his demeanor, his humility, and his willingness to embrace others has energized many Catholics. This is a good reminder of what a leader can do to bring change when dramatic action may not be possible.

In all of my reading about him, I found that there were three pieces of leadership advice that I think are especially applicable to any educational leader

• Know who you are, the good and the bad. And find the courage not just to be yourself, but to be the best version of yourself. These are the foundations of self-leadership, and all leadership starts with self-leadership because you can’t lead the rest of us if you can’t lead yourself.

This belief about leadership is especially important in the classroom. A leader must first know themself: what they can accept, what they must challenge, what they can are willing to risk everything for. It is only then that they can answer the situations that arise. In education, a leader is constantly asked to compromise, and if they do not know themself, they will struggle to know when to stop.

More importantly, if a leader tries to be something they are not, it will come across as inauthentic. Many times we underestimate the abilities of others (especially our students) to see through our act and truly know who we are. The challenges of working in a school are real and if a leader does not lead from a place that is their own, they will not be able to sustain the energy needed to succeed. They will back down, they will doubt, and they will burn out. We must be first confident in who we are before we can be confident in what we believe and what we do.

• [Much of his leadership is due to] the Jesuits’ yearslong training, much of which revolves around self-examination and working among the people they seek to lead. It’s “dirty-footed leadership” with a focus on understanding other people and their circumstances and putting their needs ahead of one’s own.

To lead people, they need to know that you understand their situation and put their needs ahead of your own. They need to know that you are part of the struggle and that you will be there for them throughout. If people believe that you are selfish or do not understand where they are coming from, they will not follow you. They may do what you tell them to do, because you are an authority figure, but you will not have authority.

This further connects to how decisions about leadership should be made within our schools. Leaders should have applicable experience working closely with our communities. This is the most important way to build critical early support  and credibility as we look to improve our schools. Leaders must be creditable along with being knowledgable.

• Commit to yourself deeply, including your frailties, and come to some peaceful acceptance of yourself and your calling to lead. Then, commit to ‘get over yourself’ to serve a purpose greater than self.”

When leading change, leaders wish to seem like they have all of the answers. In the classroom, having all of the answers is the way to quickly gain authority with students. The reality is that no leader or teacher knows everything, and to portray that to those that we lead will not support growth in our classroom or our schools. If students are to grow and schools are to change, people must see that learning is part of the process at all levels. Leaders must model the behaviors that they want. In the classroom, students must know that even the teacher has to look up an answer and that is acceptable and encouraged. By admitting frailties, but not allowing them to limit their actions, leader demonstrate that everyone can succeed in spite of their limitations.

Often what we want is revolutionary change. We want to remake an institution instantly to address the issues that we see. As with any institution, change is slow, reform is may be stifled and instantaneous revolutions might be anything but instant and revolutionary. Yet while revolution may be far off, revitalization can happen today. As I look at what Pope Francis has done, I see a leader that knows his limitations, but still moves forward, and that is often what we must recognize in our schools. While we may be limited, we are far from stopped.

Cross Posted at: http://edge.ascd.org/_Revitalization-Without-Revolution/blog/6563164/127586.html

Works Cited:

Huppke, R. (2013, Nov 04). Lessons in leadership from pope francis. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-11-04/business/ct-biz-1104-work-advice-huppke-20131104_1_leadership-style-first-jesuit-pope-jorge-mario-bergoglio

WILL #16

What I Learned Lately (WILL 13/14 #16) by Dr. Josh Garcia

2/26/2014
@Garciaj9Josh

“The Monster under My Bed”

At this time of year, I often find myself cold, tired, and a little down.  Naturally my mind and body wants to retreat in order to cope.  My mind and body work together to do very little.  For me, little to no exercise, never enough sleep and always a pull towards a perceived warm fire or hot meal are the desired state.  These short term fixes to the day to day challenges never fill my bucket.  The more I attempt to sleep, the more “restfulness” eludes me.  Over the years, I have come to better understand my restless mind and soul.  For me this awareness is similar to the monster under my bed as a little kid.  Perceived to always to be there, but never really sure because I was afraid to look.

In the past few weeks, I have relived a few days as a student.  My first day I was a 5^th grader, the second an 8^th grader and the third a 9^th grader.  Personally, these were difficult grades for me the first time around.  I go into trouble, I was disengaged and I felt lost with the unknown.  From bell to bell I did my best this second time around.  Each of these days I worked to complete every assignment, live the respective schedule, unplug, be a part of the class and tried to fit in.  For me entering these days once again reminded me of the monster that lies under the bed, full of perceptions that I had made my reality.

The monster under my bed is my friend.  He reminds me of the obvious, my fears are my own and created by my own reality.  In most of the classes that I attended, I got what I put into them.  However, some of my teachers were going to make sure that I didn’t settle for anything less than my best.  They were relentless, they had an organized plan, which they orchestrated with nimbleness and artistry.  They were clear on what they expected from me and my fellow students.  I was asked to explain, defend and cite my work.  I had to take notes and organize my thoughts in a structured manner, which was the same in other classes.  It reminded me of the same tempo and structure of my college wrestling and rugby practices.  We learned basic routines for stretching, warming up and moving through drills so that we could focus on the content/skill and not lose time.  In some classes, I was told I needed to stretch my muscles and mind, that we need to pick it up a notch, which we did.  I was never given “the answer” by these teachers aka “mind coaches”, only told to clarify my thinking with my neighbor, and asked where I could find the answer/s and why I thought I might need help.  At the end of each lesson, I was tired and I was fresh.  I knew I worked, I knew I learned and it felt great.  I was not alone in these feelings.  My other students were bright eyed and wanted more.  It was like we were all addicted to learning.  I was amazed that my presence as the new kid didn’t change the flow, we all knew what we were there to do, individuallly and collectively got better.  Not some of us, but all of us.

In my other classes, we did very little talking or engaging.  The class was stopped if more than one

person talked at a time, it felt like only one person could be fully engaged at once.  The lessons were jam packed with the teacher explaining the content and how they wanted us to give the answer, which was often given to us if we waited long enough.  The students had rules/norms to make it worse.  They would ask low level questions so we didn’t have to do anything, it was a filibuster approach that was masterfully orchestrated and implemented.  They knew and even told me, “If we wait long enough, “X” will just tell us the answer”.  The same students who were alive earlier or later in the day with energy and curiosity appeared in a comma like state.  In these classes there was no note taking, very little writing and a lot of worksheets with a one or two word answers.  As a student you could feel it when you walked in the room, cold, tired and a constant state of grey.  Fortunately, this environment was the exception and not the norm. As I write this, I am reminded on how cruel the truth can often be, however the living in delusion is not more consoling.

Over these days, I learned that I do better when I am worked.  Our students can be challenged and trained for hours on end.  That is why they stay after school for practices, performances and extended learning opportunities with great zeal.  Our students can work harder than they do in their classes (they told me).  We have talent in our classroom seats, we have talent in many of our teachers/“mind coaches”.  We need to build better mental work outs for our students in all of our classes.  A mental workout with timed intervals, activities that are connected, routines that stretch our muscles need to be relentlessly practiced.  Some of us call these high yield or leveraged strategies, done with such fidelity that the students lead them with ease.  We need to stop believing that going slower or stopping is going to engage more.  This has to be matched with an environment that promotes self-competition on a daily basis.  This can create a new phenomenon of group consciousness, which can be responsible for not only individual growth but collective impacts across our system.  We have too much competing with another group or class when it comes to learning and not enough clarity on what it means to compete with yourself the “student”.  Match this with some the mind coaches/teachers that I had this past few days, the ones who were talking us up, cheering us on, and individual pushing us for more and I know we can create the inspiration that we dream about daily.  As school and community leaders, we must foster a belief system in all students, every day and in every class.  We must define these principles with clarity and relentlessly uphold them for the sake of unity and good order of our society, even though we may know that others do not believe it to be truth.

The monster under my bed is there to remind me of who I am and when I am at my best or not...  The monster is not here to provide fear, unless we should fear ourselves.  The monster is just a mirror and when I look down, I see the “me” that needs to be worked.  Over the years, the Monster has become my friend.  Have you talked to your monster?

Finally from Shana Abe, The Smoke Thief
“All that effort,” he mused, “merely to avoid me. How gratifying.”

Cross-Posted: http://edge.ascd.org/_What-I-Learned-Lately-WILL-1314-16/blog/6563012/127586.html