“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence.” ~ Abigail Adams

Do you ever get a song stuck in your head? Does it play over and over and over again? Does it play when you are awake and even when you are asleep? This phenomenon happened to me this week.

I used this video of a group of darling kindergarteners singing “Never Stop Learning” in a professional learning opportunity with a group of teacher. Up until last weekend I had never heard of this song by Theresa Jennings.

Since I could not get the song out of my head, I did a little more research on the song. I learned that it is the finale song of the children’s musical Education Rocks! The revue is a thought-provoking rock ballad with a powerful message that we should always keep learning, no matter how old we are – just as the refrain suggests: 

“Never stop learning. Never stop growing.

Never stop seeking the brightest star.

Never stop moving from where you are.

Never stop trying. Never stop reaching.

Never stop doing what you can do.

Never stop growing your whole life through (always).”

My love of learning, love of musical theater, and the fact that Learning is Growing is the name of my blog makes this a pretty special song. This trio is probably the reason this song plays over and over, and yes and over – in my mind. WOW! Now my blog has a theme song!

It was once okay for educators to feel like they had the answers. Maybe they didn’t have to keep learning. As a young child I loved to play school in my basement classroom. I would carry around old “teacher’s manuals” that my teachers would give to me. I loved having the answers within my reach. When in doubt, I could always turn to my trusty manual to provide the answer to any problem. As a beginning teacher, I gravitated back to the manuals. The worksheets. The answers. How else would I know if students really understood?

Luckily, my love of learning transformed my teaching. I was able to move to a student-centered approach. The reader and writer workshop methods prevailed. Literature circles created a buzz in my classroom. Hands on science and math approaches were the norm. I felt empowered learning right along with my students. Together we discovered how to read like a writer, write like an author, think like a mathematician and discover like a scientist.

I left the classroom in 2000, right at the onset of No Child Left Behind. In the past 13 years I watched classroom teachers lose their spark and gravitate to having to have the answers. They feel obligated to make sure their students can choose the right answer from the 4 multiple choice possibilities on a state exam. They work hard. They want what is best for kids. They are caring and compassionate - yet a multiple choice test hangs over their heads like a black cloud. It seems as though it is about the answers. 

In reality it is 2013. Information is growing at speeds to fast to even comprehend. There is no way we can keep up. There is no way we can have the answers. As educators we need to let go of the fact that we can’t hold all the answers. Education is not about the answers. It is our jobs to create a sense of wonder and learning within our students. In order to do so, we have to find that sense of wonder and continuous learning ourselves. Pam Allyn, author of Be Core Ready, suggests we as educators have to “change the paradigm from teacher as leader to teacher as co-traveler.” I love that phrase – let’s co-travel with students and fellow educators as we navigate teaching and learning in the 21st century! Let’s bring back a sense of inquiry and wonder.

John P. Kotter, author of Leading Change, not only provides insight on the development of leadership skills, but also clarifies five mental habits successful leaders (and in this case all educators) will need to support lifelong learning. The five habits serve as a road map as we co-travel on the road of lifelong learning!

I thought I’d curate a few quotes for each of Kotter’s five mental habits. Perhaps they will help you reflect on your own learning journey!

I love quotes. In the past I collected them in notebooks. I especially remember vividly copying all the wonder quotes on my high school graduation cards into the special notebooks – that I still have today – but never use. Now I have the Internet! Quotes have always  provided me with an opportunity to reflect, to learn, to grow. If I need inspiration to persist in my dreams, I look up quotes. If I am struggling with something, I find quotes to conquer those thoughts and move on.

Kotter’s 5 mental habits successful leaders will need to support lifelong learning include: 

• Risk taking: Willingness to push oneself out of comfort zones

• “Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.” – Brian Tracy
• “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch
• “Be fearful of mediocrity.” – Jonathan Ellery

• Humble self-reflection: Honest assessment of successes and failures, especially the later 
  • “A failure teaches you that something can’t be done—that way.” – Thomas Edison
  • Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement. – Henry Ford
  • “Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit. – Conrad Hilton
  • “Failure is success we learn from.” – Malcolm Forbes
  • “There are now secrets to success. It is the result of preparation and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell

• Solicitation of opinions: Aggressive collection of information and ideas from others
  • “When we put our heads together, when we trade, borrow and acquire ideas from each other, we all win.” – Dr. Gene R. Carter, ASCD Executive Director and CEO
  • “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller
  • “Collaboration allows teachers to capture each other’s fund of collective intelligence.” –Mike Schmoker, Results
  • No one person, no one alliance, no one nation, no one of us is as smart as all of us thinking together. — James Stavridis

• Careful listening: Propensity to listen to others
  • “The word listen contains the same letters as the word silent.” – Alfred Brendel
  • “The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.” – Peter Drucker
  • “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand. They listen with the intent to reply. – Stephen R. Covey

• Openness to new ideas: Willingness to view life with an open mind
  • “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned, so that we have the life that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell
  • “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try. – Dr. Seuss
  • “When you exhaust all the possibilities remember this: You haven’t! – Thomas Edison

Do you have a favorite quote that would fit in one of these 5 habits for lifelong learning? I would love to hear your ideas!

Never stop learning. Never stop growing.

I have become obsessed with learning more about Close Reading. I have been reading everything I can get my hands on to understand this strategy and be able to assist teachers with this shift in thinking.

I have devoted much of the last 20 years to the study of literacy.  I am not sure I should admit this, but up until the onset of the Common Core I had never heard of the specific strategy of Close Reading. Timothy Shanahan states in a PPT presentation it has been around for a quite long time. A closer look at the strategy reveals I have used parts of the process with students, but not in its entirety.

Knowing that this strategy is something the teachers I work with should know about, I set out to develop a few resources to assist in their efforts. The materials I have developed are based on the works of Timothy Shanahan, Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, Diane Lapp and Beth Burke.

It should be noted that NOT every reading should be a CLOSE READING. As educators we need to make sure we are setting a purpose for our teaching and student learning. When the purpose is, as Douglas Fisher states, “to really focus on what the author had to say, what the author’s purpose was, what the words mean, and what the structure of the text tells us – the Close Reading strategy can be used.”

Close Readings can be done in a variety of settings with both literature and informational text. At the elementary level consider incorporating into your shared reading and interactive read alouds. A Close Reading lesson will not doubt spread across several days. The strategy would become too lengthy for elementary students to accomplish in one sitting. The text that is used should be short, complex and worthy of a close read. When choosing text keep these 4 areas in mind, yet remember to keep your Close Reading focused. Each of these do not (or should not) be focused on in one Close Reading sequence.

• Language:
  • Word choice
  • Vocabulary
  • Reading complexity
• Narrative/Author’s Stance
  • Who is telling the article or story?
  • How are they telling the story or information?
  • What format is the story or article in?
• Context
  • Historical context of document, information, or story
  • Author’s background
• Syntax
  • The order the words appear
  • Repeated phrases
  •  Style of writing (formal, informal, format, etc…)

The resources I found helpful in my journey thus far include:

• Timothy Shanahan blogs at Shanahan on Literacy. I used information found in his July 2012 post Planning for Close Reading.
• A Close Look at Close Reading: Scaffolding Students with Complex Text (Beth Burke) served as a guide for the lesson template I developed. The text-dependent question stems on page 11, 12, and 13 will be used to introduce this concept to teachers. They will come in handy when pre-planning Close Reading lessons on the template below!
• The book Text Complexity by Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey and Diane Lapp deepened my understanding of Close Reading, especially pages 106-132.
• Much of the information I have found has been geared to the secondary classroom setting. Close Reading In Elementary Schools by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey guided my understanding of this strategy in the elementary classroom. The article can be found in the November 2012 Reading Teacher Journal.
• Kevin Hodgson’s Prezi title Close Reading of Text also served as an organized review of the strategy including the works of Shanahan and Fisher.

A special thanks to my good friend, Fran McVeigh (@franmcveigh), author of the blog Resource-Full. She continues to push my thinking in this journey. Visit her blog! Her most recent post:Common Core: Are You Allowed To Make Connections in a Close Reading provides insight into a frequent question about Close Reading.

The following forms reflect my current thinking on The Moves (or Steps), Pre-Planning and The Close Reading Lesson Format. They are a synthesis of my research in this area. They have gone through several revisions up to this point and I assume they will continue to transform!  I welcome comments, feedback and questions!

The Moves - This document provides the basic steps or moves of the Close Reading strategy. It was developed to be an overview/easy reference sheet for teachers.

Close Reading (Pre-Planning Guide and Lesson Format) – This document was developed as a tool to pre-plan a Close Reading lesson and provide guidance as they implement the lesson with students.

I would love to hear your thoughts on these two tools! 

I am a learner. Everyday I strive to learn something new. Today my new learning came from @twahlert when I attended a session she did on Transitional and Transformational Technology - two ways that student engagement can be measured with technology.

As she describes on her website:

• Transitional: A transitional level of student engagement with technology means that students are performing a traditional task, but using technology to complete the task.
• Transformational: A transformational level of student engagement means that students are using technology in a way that transform the learning process for the students and requires higher-order thinking.

In her session she introduced three websites participants could explore. These sites can have students engaged in either manner, depending on the learning outcomes.

The sites we could explore included:

• Collaborize Classroom® - a free online collaborative education platform that allows students and teachers to transcend the boundaries of their physical classroom to engage in an online collaborative learning environment.
• Side Vibe  – a site that gives teachers the ability to turn any Web page into an online activity to enhance student critical thinking, online learning, while improving teacher and student productivity.
• Vialogues - a discussion platform that proves that videos are both powerful teaching resources and the ultimate conversation starters. Vialogues provides a space for users to hold meaningful and dynamic time-stamped discussions about videos.

I learn by doing. I jumped at the chance to explore one of these sites.  I chose to review Vialogues and immediately thought of many uses for this discussion platform, especially with the adult learners I am privileged to work with each day. The possibilities for students are endless as well!

As I mentioned in my last post (Professional Growth via Twitter Chats) I am currently reading the book High-Impact Instruction by Jim Knight. Jim has included a variety of QR codes in his book. These codes link readers to videos Jim has on the Teaching Channel.

I have uploaded one of Jim’s videos into Vialogues to help extend the our dialogue and collaboration about the book High-Impact Instruction. If you want to give this a try, go to the Vialogue titled “The Wraparound Learning Experience.” Watch Sandi Silbernagel describe how she assesses whether student are engaged, strategically compliant or noncompliant. (A side note: The Teaching Channel video was not supported by Vialogues. Luckily I found the same video on YouTube!)

During our upcoming #educoach chat (Wednesday, February 20 at 9:00 PM CST) that I co-moderate with @principalj and @shiraleibowitz we will be discussing chapters 5 and 6 of High-Impact Learning. This video is referenced on page 129 at the beginning of Part II. As you watch try using the Vialogue to record your thinking about the examples of student engagement you are seeing played out in the 2nd grade classroom.

Join me in giving Vialogues a try!

I started reading a new book over the weekend in preparation for a virtual book study with fellow #educoach colleagues which begins Wednesday, February 6th. Our weekly Twitter chat (Wednesdays at 9:00 CST) will focus on the book High-Impact Instruction by fellow #educoach participant Jim Knight. This study marks the second book by Jim Knight the group has read and discussed together. The first being Unmistakable Impact in July of 2012.

Book studies have been a popular part of #educoach. As I started reading High-Impact Instruction this afternoon thoughts went to our last book study of Visible Learning for Teachers by John Hattie and in particular to one participant, Maureen Devlin, aka @lookforsun. Maureen brings the important and valued teacher’s voice to #educoach. During the chat on Visible Learning for Teachers Maureen posted frequent reflections on her blog Teach Children Well. Not only were her ongoing reflections appreciated by participants, her professional growth throughout the study was amazing to witness. She, just as other #educoach participants and teachers alike, have a desire to be excellent.

Yet, Knight poses an important questions on page 3 of High-Impact Instruction:

If teachers desire to be excellent, then why, some might ask, does it seem some are no longer interested in that quest? Why aren’t more teachers excited about the opportunity to learn? 

He goes on to state:

One reason why many teachers aren’t striving to be their best is that poorly designed professional learning can actually inhibit growth by de-professionalizing teachers, treating them like workers on an assembly line rather than professionals doing emotionally complicated knowledge work. 

Not only did this cause me to reflect upon the work I currently do as an instructional coach/professional development provider and my own visions of an aspiring principal (which I’ll reflect on in another post), but I also thought about the popularity of Twitter chats and specifically how they pertain to my own professional growth.

Armies of like-minded educators take part in Twitter chats weekly. Twitter’s beloved Jerry Blumegarten aka @cybraryman1 works diligently to keep up on all the educational chats on Twitter.

What makes Twitter chats so popular? I can only answer that question as it pertains to me in my quest for professional learning using Jim Knight’s thoughts from High-Impact Instruction as a guide to my reflection. I welcome the thoughts of others.

• Jim states that High-Impact Instruction is a toolkit for “teachers who know that it matters ‘more than life” to strive for personal bests.”  Learning and growing from others whether personally or through extensive reading have always been a part of my life. Over the course of the past few years, Twitter and Twitter chats have grown to be a staple in my quest. To be in the company of educators wanting to improve the quality of their craft is inspiring and extremely motivating. 
• Twitter chats are developed so that everyone has a voice. When I first participated in Twitter chats I found it hard to follow the conversation. Tweets were random thoughts from people I did not know.  When I realized that chats are mini chats within the larger context, I gained a new understanding of how to take a more active role. I felt more at ease to jump in and share with the other participants.  Many chats use the structure of Q1 (Question 1) and A1 (Answer 1). At times I struggle with this format yet have come to appreciate it especially if it still leads to free-form dialogue and not just question/answer. I gain a lot of great ideas through Twitter and the various chats, but it is my dialogue and collaboration with others that turns the knowing into doing.
• Twitter chats level the playing field. Jim mentions (p. 6) that the “Partnership Approach” positions teachers as thinkers who can make their own decisions. He goes on to state,
  

“that we should treat others the way we want to be treated ourselves. If someone was helping us improve the way we do our work, we would likely want to have some choice in the matter, to have our ideas listened to, and to reflect on and apply the new knowledge to our lives.” (p. 6)

Chats are usually filled with individuals from a variety of roles in the area of education. Perhaps it is the fact that we are reading and responding to the direct words/thoughts of an individual that allows us to remove our roles and concentrate on the  dialogue. Everyone is positioned as an equal. There is no top-down approach to the learning. For example, key researchers in the area of Instructional Coaching (@jimknight99 and @stevebarkly) frequent the #educoach Twitter chat. They join the chat as equals and true partners in the learning. They add the same amount of depth to the dialogue as any other participant. 

• The meaningful and supportive conversations I had through Twitter chats has led to my own growth as an educator. I am reminded of a quote from Margaret Mead:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever does.” 

My growth as an educator happens each day. It comes from the teachers, administrators and students I work with as instructional coach and from the educators I connect with globally.  Building a positive climate that fosters trust, continued learning, reflection and innovation is my passion. I have immersed myself in the world of social media in order to gain a global perspective of education and an understanding of the potential learning for 21st century classrooms. For me, #educoach, #iaedchat, #edfocus, #elemchat, #satchat etc… are all places I can turn to share ideas, problem solve and continually improve as an educator.

I look forward to my continued growth as I read High-Impact Instruction. I can tell from the overview it is a comprehensive guide to quality instruction. Many of the ideas are familiar, since I have completed Level 1 and 2 of Jim Knight’s Train the Trainer model for Instructional Coaching. I know as a reader I am going to appreciate the key features of the book including:

• Turing Ideas into Action – for students, teachers, coaches and principals
• What It Looks Like including additional online resources
• Going Deeper complete with extended resources to explore – or as I would call it … a visit to Amazon.
• QR Codes with links to videos
• Checklists to clarify the implementation of the high-impact instructional strategies

But, equally important in my journey through this book will be the dialogue with my #educoach friends through our Wednesday night chat (9:00 PM CST). We are going to encourage participants to reflect through blogging at ConnectEduCoach taking the lead from Maureen who brought Visible Learning for Teachers (J. Hattie) to life.

Join us!

How’s the blogging going? What was your last post about? These were questions a good friend and supporter of my work asked of me last weekend. I had to admit my last post was January 1, 2013 and that was a pre-generated year in review post from WordPress.com. No deep thinking in that post – only a click of a button.

I have wrestled with his question. My blog is about 2 and a half years old (130 weeks). During that time span I’ve written a total of 108 posts. Many times writing one blog post a week. I have gone from a reluctant writer to one that isn’t afraid to post my thoughts to the world. But why the month absence?

I could say “lack of time,” but I WON’T. The whole notion of “I don’t have time,” is actually a blog post I have been writing in my head. I could say, “there’s nothing to write about,” but that isn’t the truth either. Writing material and inspiration points are all around me. I do think of blog post ideas often, but my words haven’t landed on a page.

I am simply going to say … I took a hiatus and now I am back. A young 7th grade writer and fellow blogger stands out as my major inspiration to return to blogging right now.  Elise, who blogs at The Right Stuff by Elise, posted THREE posts last Sunday night a few more since then!

I had the privilege of helping Elise and 110 of her fellow 5th graders with a blogging project two years ago. One post I wrote about this project is There Ain’t No Stopping them Now. Last year, as Elise moved to middle school, she wanted to continue blogging. She has a passion for poetry. A blog seemed like the likely venue to sel-publish her works. I met with Elise and her mom (who is a friend and fellow teacher) and together we set up Elise’s blog. She has been writing ever since. Writing for herself. Writing to share her ideas with the world. Real writing! I tweet out her posts from time to time and love observing her interactions with people who leave her comments! It is evident that she appreciates and uses their feedback as she grows as a writer.

Within her three posts last Sunday night came two poems and one narrative piece – a new genre she is starting to explore. He post entitled Hope was just the push I needed to get back to blogging. Elise writes,

“Think about this and ask yourself, is what you’re doing now going to lead you to the next river to cross? Or another mountain to climb? Or is what you’re doing now leading you down a road, of which has no end.”

Hmmm! Great question (by a 7th grader none the less!). I have other writing projects in the works, and I haven’t written much lately. How is that going to lead to the next river to cross or mountain to climb? No time, like the present to get back on the road! Thanks, Elise, your insight has caused me to get back on the writing path! There’s no perfect time, only NOW.

]]> http://learningisgrowing.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/inspiration-to-write/feed/ 2 kmp444 Screen shot 2013-01-28 at 10.46.59 AM http://learningisgrowing.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/inspiration-to-write/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LearningIsGrowing/~3/m3hmN1GsSEE/ http://learningisgrowing.wordpress.com/2013/01/01/2012-in-review/#comments Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:21:14 +0000 Kathy Perret http://learningisgrowing.wordpress.com/?p=4104 Continue reading →]]> The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 55,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 13 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

Many know the story of the young reindeer named Rudolph. He lived in a community made up of many other reindeer – all of whom would laugh and call him names. They never let Rudolph join in any reindeer games. But, Rudolph was fortunate. A strong leader came to his rescue. This jolly individual helped identify Rudolph’s strengths. One strength in particular glowed. Once the others noticed the good in this illuminating trait, they assured him he MATTERED and that he’d go done in history!

Whether we work with children or adults we can all learn from Rudolph’s story and Santa’s strength-based leadership tactics. Rudolph’s life story changed because Santa found a way to turn what others saw as a weakness into a strength.

Perhaps Santa read Tom Rath’s book Strengths-Based Leadership. The key findings from the research done for the book, as noted on the Strength’s website, include:

“The most effective leaders are always investing in strengths. In the workplace, when an organization’s leadership fails to focus on individuals’ strengths, the odds of an employee being engaged are a dismal 1 in 11 (9%). But when an organization’s leadership focuses on the strengths of its employees, the odds soar to almost 3 in 4 (73%). When leaders focus on and invest in their employees’ strengths, the odds of each person being engaged goes up eightfold.” (T. Roth)

• Santa knew the night was foggy. He needed to invest in Rudolph’s strengths in order for them to accomplish their job. In doing so, Rudolph’s life and even the lives of the other reindeer changed forever. Not only did Rudolph go “down in history” but so did Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen.

How will the lives of our students and teachers in our schools change if we invest in their strengths? Roth found that when leaders invested in their employees’ strengths, the odds of each person being engaged went up eightfold. Student and staff engagement is critical. Two approaches come to mind.

One is to develop the strengths of a building leadership team on a particular approach that will be implemented at the school level in the future. These individuals can become the ambassadors to the approach and later help train their fellow colleagues. We all become more engaged when we see that what we are involved in has been successful. Having a school based leadership team learn and implement an approach prior to the full staff allows the team to have first hand accounts of its success with students and plans for how to overcome pitfalls.

Another way to build upon educators strengths is the #edcamp model sweeping the world. #Edcamps are usually held on a Saturday, but I have also read where school-based professional development in some areas have embraced this form of learning. This model allows all participants to have a voice and learn from each other. I have participated in several EdCamps. It is empowering to watch this strength-based professional learning model unfold.

“The most effective leaders surround themselves with the right people and then maximize their team. While the best leaders are not well-rounded, the best teams are. Strong, cohesive teams have a representation of strengths in each of these four domains: executing, influencing, relationship building, and strategic thinking.” (T. Roth)

• Because of Santa’s actions, the team’s perspective of Rudolph’s bright nose changed and the reindeer became a much stronger, well-rounded team. How do you identify the strengths of those around you? Do you see people or students fitting into the 4 domains that Roth explains – executing, influencing, relationship building or strategic thinking? Can one of these areas actually be someone’s weakness that we guide to a strength? Everyone can be a leader. I’m reminded of a 3rd grader I had the pleasure of working with a few years ago.

This student was considerably below his peers in the area of reading. Behavior issues compounded his struggles. His teacher and I worked together in helping him change his perceptions. One thing we did was to have a talk with the student privately. His behavior was not only getting in the way academically but socially as well. We shared with the student that he possessed leadership characteristics. Leaders can lead or influence negatively or positively. We all agreed (the student included) that his current behaviors were influencing others in a negative way. With a few small changes, we helped guide the student to turn this weakness into a strength. We told the child that he would become the class line leader. This position was meant for those that could be trusted. It was a position that set the example for all that follow throughout their daily travels in the school. If students were guided in a positive way to their destination, it set the tone for the whole classes behavior and the learning that could transpire. For instance, if students were led to an assembly in a quiet and polite manner, those characteristics formed how students sat at the assembly. If students were led to music class by a strong leader, the class would be more engaged in the music class.

Within several weeks negative behavior situations subsided, he became more engaged in the instruction and he began making steady progress. When I visited his intervention session he was excited to share his learning and show me what he did as a good reader! Just the simple smiles we continued to exchange in the halls or classroom setting proved to me this approach helped make a difference in his life. I’m happy to report that his reading reached grade level expectations and his teacher said he became a positive role model for other in the classroom.

“The most effective leaders understand their followers’ needs. People follow leaders for very specific reasons. When we asked thousands of followers, they were able to describe exactly what they need from a leader with remarkable clarity: trust, compassion, stability, and hope.” (T. Roth)

• Santa embodied the leadership traits of trust, compassion, stability and hope in the Rudolph story above. Both children and Santa’s staff followed him because he understood their needs. Children around the world were counting on his arrival. They trusted he would visit. He wasn’t about to let a foggy night get in his way. He didn’t want to let them down. He showed compassion for Rudolph and gave him stability and hope by helping to turn what others thought was a weakness into a strength.

I am reminded of a book entitled When Life Meets Leadership (B. Wright, E. Smith-Bright, L. Howell, and J. Fujii). I have been fortunate to work with two of the authors personally. The book jacket describes the book as…

“Leading in life and leading in your profession require the same powerful framework, a balance of People, Purpose, Passion and Perseverance. The framework is simple by design, and with deeper understanding, these four central themes can work together to enrich your life and help you embrace your leadership potential. People with Purpose applying Passion to achieve Perseverance will reach their Potential in life.“

These four areas people, purpose, passion and perseverance work in tandem with Roth’s characteristics of trust, compassion, stability, and hope. I had the pleasure of having one of the authors of When Life Meets Leadership for a principal. Bill Wright was a principal that understood the needs of his followers. I personally saw how he weaved building trusting relationships with people to provide the hope needed by guiding our school to develop a strong purpose. His passion for education and the needs of the students and staff provided us the stability we needed to move forward. He compassion for doing whatever it takes to achieve that purpose led the way. I learned a great deal from Dr. Wright as a teacher on his staff, through our lasting friendship and in his book. His influence has made a lasting impact on the type of leader I have become. I am honored that he is one of my references as I search for an elementary principal position.

Next time you listen to the story of Rudolph perhaps you will reflect upon your own leadership traits and the characteristics of leader who have influenced you. Providing life changing leadership is possible, especially if we build upon each individuals’ strengths.

Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking. 

~Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown

On Friday, November 27, 2012, I woke to the NBC Today Show’s clip of the NYPD officer who came to the aid of a homeless man in New York City by buying him a pair of boots with his own money. This random act of kindness happened to be caught on camera and the photo quickly went viral. Could this publicized, heart-warming story be just what we need this holiday season? Will this random act of kindness cause a ripple effect in paying it forward? Just think of the happiness that could spread if we each did one random act of kindness each day?

How can our students become involved?

Look no further than the COMMON CORE! Maureen Connolly addressed Common Core and Service Learning in the September 2012 issue of ASCD’s Educational Leadership. She states:

Service learning helps students meet high-level academic standards and provides practical opportunities for students to develop character by working together to apply their learning for the common good of their school, local, and/or global community.

Real world, rigorous tasks can be aligned to the common core. This document from the Peace Corps shows:

Teachers can foster connections between service learning and the academic curriculum by:

• Focusing on relevant global issues. Help students identify issues they could address that relate to the content they are learning.
• Focusing on relevant service activities. Help students design service activities that aid in the development of essential skills and knowledge from curricular objectives.

On November 12, 2012 America’s Promise Alliance held a webinar entitled Connecting Common Core Standards to Service Learning. You can listen to the record session here. This webinar featured Maureen Connolly, author of the ASCD Educational Leadership article mentioned above.

Are you looking for a way to get your students involved? The Global Collaboration Network Wiki has a section for Random Acts of Christmas Kindness. Be sure to check out the link to Light ‘em Up: 100 Ways to Light Up You Community with Kindness.

Some other links of interest:

• What is your Contribution – a blog post from my archives that focuses on Project Based Learning, Service Learning and Inquiry Based Learning
• The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation – Check out all the ideas, resources, and especially the educators section!
• The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation Facebook Page
• Learning to Give – Philanthropy Education Resources that Teach Giving and Civic Engagement. Check out all the lesson and themed unit ideas!
• Generation ON – A global youth service movement igniting the power of all kids to make their mark on the world. Be A Joy Maker project is taking place Nov. 19 – Dec. 18, 2012.
• The Random Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar
• Volunteer on Demand – Provides ideas how you can make a difference in 15 minutes, 30 minutes or even on vacation!
• There are several Pinterest Boards devoted to Random Acts of Kindness. Here is a set of pins on the subject.

What can you do to spread Random Acts of Kindness? Here are some “You’ve Been RAK’ed” cards to help get you started. Yet, no card is necessarily needed when doing a Random Act of Kindness!

What will you do today?

Go out and spread some cheer! Let’s keep making the world a better place! Pay it forward!  

I recently stumbled upon a Stephen Covey video on YouTube entitled Carry Your Own Weather via a tweet from someone attending a 7-Habits of Highly Effective People workshop. The video caused me to reflect on my own “weather” and the “weather” we create for others around us.

The video asks us to think about how we feel on a grey, rainy, melancholy day. Do we use the weather as an excuse for feeling gloomy ourselves? Does this mood cause our day to take a downward spiral – where everything seems to go wrong? How does this day compare to days when the weather outside is sunny and beautiful? Covey goes on to ask us to carry our “weather” within ourselves. We can decide to be consistent in our lives no matter the weather or how people treat us.

If you follow any of Covey’s work, this explains Habit #1 – Be Proactive. We have the power to choose how we feel and react to the various stimuli in our lives such as the weather. Covey tells us:

“Your life doesn’t just “happen.” Whether you know it or not, it is carefully designed by you. The choices, after all, are yours. You choose happiness. You choose sadness. You choose decisiveness. You choose ambivalence. You choose success. You choose failure. You choose courage. You choose fear. Just remember that every moment, every situation, provides a new choice. And in doing so, it gives you a perfect opportunity to do things differently to produce more positive results.”

This hit home as I work to bridge my own “Knowing / Doing Gap” as I wrote about in my last post. I can choose how I feel about exercise and healthy eating. Does feeling sore because I’m lifting more weight cause me to complain or feel good that more muscles are developing in my body? Does the thought of working out each day cause to want to avoid it or take an active role? Does avoiding tempting, unhealthy foods cause be to feel slighted or thrilled that the toxins are not entering my body? The choice is indeed mine!

As educators, the choice is ours as well. We choose how we react to situations all around us. We choose the expectations we have for our students. Framing our minds to the positive can make all the difference. Students are always going to come to us with unique needs. Some will be living in poverty, some will be learning English as a second language, some will have challenges with learning, some will carry heavy social/emotional needs, some will have parents who chose not to engage in their children’s education, and the list can go on and on. We set the course for ourselves and these students in the way we frame each situation. If we see these as challenges or even hindrances to our time and efforts we can possibly expect many road blocks along the way. If we are open to framing these situations as opportunities for us to learn and grow as educators perhaps we will produce more positive results.

Many educators can pinpoint a favorite teacher. What qualities did that teacher have that you admired? Chances are many of our favorite teachers where the ones who portrayed positive, proactive characteristics. Were they teachers that could find brightness in any situation? The teachers whose passions for teaching came shining though? The teachers who portrayed an enthusiasm for students everyday? The teachers who didn’t stop learning and who shared their own learning with students often? The teachers who cared? It is our choice to be that teacher for our current students.

The choice is ours. We can choose who we are and how we react to the stimuli all around us – both in our personal and professional lives. One of my favorite quotes is from Haim Ginott. It can apply to our professional and personal lives.

I have come to a frightening conclusion. 
I am the decisive element in the classroom.
It is my personal approach that creates the climate.
It is my daily mood that makes the weather.
As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous.
I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.
I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.
In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis
will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or de-humanized.

(Created with Haiku Deck – my new favorite FREE iPad App for creating images!)

To begin I feel I must submit a disclaimer to this post. I have read a few blog posts on the Knowing – Doing Gap and I am aware of the book by this same title by Jeffry Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton yet, the thoughts in this post are my own and are based on my own experiences.

Many of my blog posts relate everyday experiences to education. This post is no different. I have spent the last five weeks emerged in bridging the gap between knowing and doing in my personal life. It is time for me to reflect on this journey, assess my progress and once again make links to my own professional life.

Five weeks ago I hired a personal trainer. The journey has opened my mind to transforming my lifestyle. I have known how to live a healthy life for a long time. I have read a lot on the subject, taught nutrition to 4th and 5th graders, and have talked about changing my lifestyle for a long time. I came to the realization I was talking the talk, but not really walking the walk.  I knew how to live a healthy life, I just wasn’t doing it. I was stuck in the middle of the “Knowning/Doing Gap.”

I’m not saying I lived a totally unhealthy life. Healthy foods were part of my everyday diet and I would exercise, but inconsistently. When life, mainly my professional life, got busy I’d tend to gravitate toward unhealthy, quick choices and would be known for getting in less daily exercise.

Just as the picture above depicts, I am on the uphill climb between knowing how to live a healthy life and actually doing it on a consistent basis. The bi-weekly check in with my trainer have been the key to my success thus far. I have not reached the arch’s keystone, or the central stone at the top of an arch. Once I do, I know that I will be well on my way to full-fledged “doing” even without the support of my guide on the side.

But there is more to it than reaching that point. At the keystone, I see this current journey becoming a lifestyle change. I will be moving into the “doing” part, yet I must remember there is still more to come on this journey. Look closely at the picture above. Do you see the reflection of the bridge? I see this as the second leg to my journey. Once at the “doing” stage I will be able to implement this process without much thought or external support, yet another uphill path will be in the road ahead. I can’t get too comfortable in the journey, as a new one will be about to begin. What is in store for the “newer, healthier me?” Right now, I’m unsure but I do know the spirit of change is an ongoing cycle. You are never “there.”

So what lessons have I learned along the way? How are these connected to the field of education?

• Understanding that I needed a coach to guide my efforts was the first big step. I have been on this journey many times, but always thought I could do it myself. I knew that eating healthy and getting exercise were keys to living healthy. Yet, with each attempt, frustration and back sliding seemed to take hold. I would do well to a point, but lose steam. It was difficult to “go it alone.” Committing to the coaching process in my personal life took understanding that I would make greater strides with the assistance of someone who had a better understanding of this process than I did. Letting go of the fear that I was going to be judged took courage. Realizing that my trainer is my guide on the side, offering valuable information to help me become successful in my endeavors was key. I draw from her expertise and experiences. I am no longer alone in the process.
  • The same holds true for the instructional coaching process. It takes courage to commit to a coaching relationship. Teaching has been a private act for many. Many of us spent most of our time in this profession behind our closed doors and in isolation. Opening classroom doors and your mind to a guide on the side is the first step in a successful journey. An instructional coach can play a key role in classroom. You do not have to “go it alone.”
• Once I signed up for the journey (right now a total of 16 weeks) – perhaps longer, I knew I needed to be coach-able. I had to listen and learn from my trainer. I had to ask questions and be willing to listen to answers, even if they weren’t what I wanted to hear. I had to implement the guidelines, no matter how difficult they were or how much I wanted to resort to past habits. The more I implement, the closer I get to the “doing” or lifestyle stage. I continually remind myself – I can have “excuses” or “results” but I can’t have both.
  • Being coach-able allows for the real learning to take place in the instructional coaching process as well. A coaching relationship can form in many ways. Do you have an instructional coach in your building or perhaps a mentor teacher you look up to? Could your administrator play the role of a coach? Have you sought them out? Coaches, no matter who the person may be, can offer support in your learning journey. When the learning of both the teacher and coach is focused on results, students WIN.
• Data is becoming my friend. Data is ever-present in my professional life and I assist teachers and principals with the use of data. Now throughout my personal journey I am gathering data on a daily basis. Some of the data is more summative in nature such as the pounds and inches lost. Other data takes on a more formative nature. Each day I record my food intake and exercise. This data is used by my trainer and I to set goals. When set backs occur, the data helps guide next steps and changes in the process. One hurdle I am overcoming is adding more and more exercise to my daily routine. My daily record serves as a reminder of my goals and helps me monitor my progress.
  • Data is ever-present in schools. At times it has been said we suffer from the DRIP Syndrome. (Data Rich Information Poor). Merely collecting data is not enough. The data must be used to inform next steps. What data do you collect from your students? How does it guide meeting each student’s individual needs? How do you involve your students in the goal setting process? How do they use their own data to monitor their progress?
• Coaching is a two-way street. Not only have I learned from my personal trainer, but I know she has learned from me as well. We both bring knowledge to the table. We share healthy life style techniques, good food option and continue to build a friendship along the way. She is someone I trust. I know I can look to her for non-judgmental advice. She constantly builds on my successes – even if that means adding more weight to my lifting routine. Together we set goals that are measurable and obtainable.
  • The instructional coaching process is built on a what Jim Knight describes as a partnership. The principles of this partnership are: Equity, Choice, Voice, Reflection, Dialogue and Praxis. These principles allow for trusting relationships to form. Both parties (teacher and coach) are viewed learners and share their learning along the way.

I feel I’m finally well on my way to bridging the “Knowing vs. Doing Gap” in my personal life. I am eating healthier on a consistent basis and exercise is becoming more of routine. This past weekend I ENJOYED two 4 mile walks in area parks. The changing of the seasons in Iowa is beautiful. A reminder that change happens all around and within us.

Personal photo from my walk on Sunday, October 7, 2012.