When Your Disadvantages Prove to be an Advantage

New York Times archives

Why do we complain so much about defeat or disadvantage or difficulty?

It is absolutely true that we all benefit from overcoming challenges, therefore we should not shrink in the face of insurmountable odds and difficult tasks and we should be very leery when life is smooth, and peaceful and pleasant.

Two examples...

William Howard Taft

Theodore Roosevelt

William Howard Taft grew to be over 300 pounds and faced several bouts of illness while serving in the Philippines before returning to the US to work on Roosevelt's cabinet and eventually succeed him as President. His physical state deteriorated over years of indulgence and lack of physical exertion.
Teddy Roosevelt, on the other hand, was the picture of health and vitality who regularly took foreign ambassadors and reporters through the woods of Washington DC on rigorous hikes where the only rule was you must go straight over whatever was in your path.  He also was known to dabble in boxing and other combat sports.

So, how did these men start the race?

One of them was the picture of strength and youthful vigor standing over 6 ft tall,  strong and athletic  the quintessential high school quarterback who probably dated the head cheerleader.

The other was sickly as a youth, suffering frequent and severe asthma attacks that nearly led to death.

William Howard Taft is the first example, and Teddy Roosevelt the second.

The lesson here is that it was not the advantages or disadvantages of the hand that they were dealt, but how they responded to them that matters.  William Howard Taft, blessed with physical size, strength, and vitality, wasted away those physical gifts through a life of leisure and indulgence.

Teddy Roosevelt, through the mentorship of his father, attacked his weakness with vigor, dedicating himself to disciplined and rigorous exercise and strength training that helped shape him both physically and mentally.

The lessons are obvious. Encourage your students to do two things in honor of Presidents Taft and Roosevelt.

Don't fret because of difficulty or challenge, but embrace it and improve through disciplined effort.
Don't take for granted your strengths, but seek always to improve and build on the foundation you have been gifted.

What about you, do you have any examples of determination in the face of challenge?  I'm afraid we can all point out plenty of examples of failure in the face of great promise.

#finishstrong

Reference: The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Study Smarter

Here's a summary of research on effective study techniques alluded to by John Hattie at the Visible Learning Conference.  The big winners are:

Dunlosky and colleagues report that spreading out your studying over time and quizzing yourself on material before the big test are highly effective learning strategies. Both techniques have been shown to boost students’ performance across many different kinds of tests, and their effectiveness has been repeatedly demonstrated for students of all ages.

Teachers, parents, and students would be wise to focus on these strategies for learning instead of the less effective strategies like summarizing and highlighting.  Here's the full study:

Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology

6 Qualities of a Great Follower

Leadership is a popular topic.  I mean, who doesn't secretly or not-so-secretly want to be known as a great leader?  When we read the stories of the past, we all see ourselves as the one who would be sitting in the same seat as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, or Marie Curie.  But why so little love for the follower?  After all, each of these leaders would be nothing without a legion of faithful and gifted followers.

This summer I had the opportunity to join my son on a hike at Philmont Ranch in New Mexico.  We went on this journey with my son's boy scout troop.  There were 20 hikers total and I place myself squarely in the follower role.  I don't like, enjoy, nor have much knowledge about hiking and camping so I was looking to my leaders to make this a positive endurable experience.  During this 13 day journey of 75 miles where we ascended and descended 4000 feet I learned some lessons about how to  be a good follower.  I hope these will help you as you contemplate your critical role as a follower.

1.  Ask questions to become better informed

I was completely at the mercy of our lead navigator and guide.  At the outset, I wasn't clear about our daily direction or course and was not always given the information that I felt would help me attack each day with confidence.  The more I asked questions, the better I understood the overall scope of our trek and the daily expectations of the trail.  By asking questions, I helped our leaders see what was clear and ambiguous about our journey. I found the leader began to anticipate our questions as the adventure continued and provide the kind of information that we found helpful.  If I had continued in silence, all of us would have been less comfortable and informed.  Great followers ask questions to be informed and "in the know"

2.  Before a decision is made, give your open and honest opinions freely

There came several times during our hike that we had to make decisions about which trail to take or which activity we would attempt.  During those times I stated my preference or asked clarifying questions as did others.   Great followers offer their opinions with openness, honest, and respect.

3.  After the decision is made, enthusiastically embrace the decision and help make it successful

Unless the decision is not the decision you preferred!  Actually this last statement IS NOT a trait of a good follower.  Remember, you are the follower, not the leader.   The leaders is the decision maker and, if you want to be a great follower, from time to time you will need to invest your energy and enthusiasm in a decision that you did not wholeheartedly endorse.  A good follower will put his head down and make every effort to see this course through successfully.  Great followers implement decisions even those for which they disagree, as if it was their decision.

4.  Allow yourself to be influenced by the passions of your leader.

Did I mention that I don't like hiking and camping?   However, I noticed that most of the participants of this adventure were truly excited and enthusiastic about this opportunity so it got me wondering, "What is it about hiking and camping that entices these men so much?"  I tried to maintain a positive attitude (very challenging) and keep my grumbling and complaining to a minimum (didn't do so well there!).  In the end, I tasted a little of the feeling of accomplishment and sense of adventure that seems to drive these fellas.  I won't say that I'm planning a trek into the Sierras with a toothbrush and a space blanket, but at least I look back on our trip with some fondness for what we overcame and experienced.  Great followers allow themselves to be influenced by their leaders.

5.  Take initiative to take responsibilities

It's very easy to be a passive follower.  It's possible to only do what you are required to do or directly asked to do.  You won't really get any grief for this approach as no one is expecting more.  However, I noticed there was no shortage of tasks to be accomplished so I took it upon myself to learn how to put up and take down the bear bags (food and smellables that needed to be put up in bags 30-50 feet in the air so the bears wouldn't come visit our camp).   Doing this one small task made our camp set up and take down go a little smoother and it felt satisfying to contribute something beyond the minimum.  Great followers take initiative and learn new skills.

6.  Provide aid and assistance to your peers.

A leader can't be every where at all times.  Our daily hiking regimen meant that we were hiking in a single file line with 10 people back to back.  One one treacherous hike we were descending a narrow canyon trail that had some tricky spots.  One of our hikers was struggling and anxious on his way down.  He was assisted for a couple miles by a dad who took it upon himself to provide individual guidance, modeling, and encouragement.  This task could not have been done by the leader even if he wanted to since he was out front navigating our direction.  This follower (Mr. Warmbier below) provided the perfect assistance for our colleague and made the descent more effective and smooth for the whole squad.  Great followers help one another to strengthen our collective effort.

As we start the 2014-15 school year, it would be a good time to review the qualities of a follower that we embody.  Whether you are a teacher following lead teachers or a principal, whether you are a principal following a superintendent or cabinet, it would behoove us all to be great followers, which will encourage our leaders to be better leaders and make our organizations and schools stronger overall.  Just think what we can accomplish through the efforts of a legion of Stellar followers!  After all, you won't be able to see views like this without a little hardship, dedication, and teamwork!

Social Media Journey of Camarena Elementary

Incredible tools exist today that allow schools to build a stronger partnership with their community.  When we opened Camarena Elementary in July 2013 I was eager to utilize these tools to connect with our families, believing that vibrant two way communication would be critical to growing and developing a healthy school culture.  Though I didn't have a strategy at the outset, in retrospective there were several key steps that I took along the way to build our social media presence.

Step 1 Wordpress Blog. 
Six months before opening our school we created our school website and invited parents to connect and engage with us as we crafted our plan for opening day.  This proved to be an excellent way to communicate with our constituents before we had a physical building to call our own. After our first school year we have received over 1,000 comments and questions via the school website. The ease of posting and connecting on the Wordpress platform made for a simple way to stay connected.  Here's a screenshot of our first post:

Step 2 Expose staff to power of social tools. 
At our opening staff meeting last June, I asked the teachers to work together and post a picture on Twitter of a learning space around campus. This gave our teachers a chance to play with this tool. There was no concrete requirement that teachers actively join Twitter, but there was an expectation that they explore and experiment with various forms of social media.  The result was that we had about a dozen teachers who became consistent users of Twitter for professional learning.  Some started initially then pulled back because of the addicting nature of Twitter, however they saw the power of this resource for professional learning.  Here is one of those tweets from our first day:

Step 3 Create and broadcast a hashtag. 
We decided the #camlearns hashtag would be our coordinating tagline. This made it easy for us to share ideas and follow the thinking of one another. One teacher also created a Twitter list of Camarena teachers which was another way for us to follow the professional conversation and learning among peers.

Step 4 Combine #camlearns hashtag through Instagram and Wordpress via IFTTT.
People love to see their kids working at school. For parents who can't attend school regularly, we wanted to open the doors of our classrooms so that parents could connect with their kids. First, I created a photo blog on Wordpess, then used IFTTT to create a menu that connected every Instragram post using the #camlearns tag to simultaneously post to the Wordpress site.  Initially I was the only person who made posts, but as the year continued we saw more and more staff and parents postings.  For teacher appreciation day we posted pictures of teachers around campus and encouraged parents and students to take selfies with their teacher and post to twitter or instagram using the #camlearns hashtag and gradually we started to get more traction from the community.  At our final event of the year, a 5K color run, several families and staff contributed to the hashtag and community blog.

Step 5 Student Curated Twitter Account
Finally, I had started a school twitter account that was slow picking up followers so the last quarter of the year, I assigned a student to curate the account one week at a time. (with parent permission).  We had students from 1st grade to 6th sharing what they were learning and thinking about during the school day and started to gain some followers and retweets of our school Twitter account.  The kids caught on fast:

All of these attempts have slowly grown our social media life with our entire community.  I can't encourage you enough to jump in at some point by starting with your purpose.  What are you hoping to gain by investing your time in social media?  For me, the primary purpose is to connect our families and community with the daily work of students - to open a window to the hard work and accomplishments of students fall day long.  This helps break down the traditional isolation of the classroom.  Also, I want to tell our story of Camarena Elementary from the point of view of students, staff, and parents.  In this way we take control of the narrative that is told about Camarena Elementary.  Feel free to share your social media journey as well so we can add some new and fresh ideas to our plans for 2014-15

#communityoflearners

#multiplyjoy

Making Misconceptions Visible

Learning occurs when misconceptions are revealed, addressed and overcome.  For this to happen, teachers must be comfortable and patient to first surface those misconceptions then do the challenging work of probing student thinking to help guide them to their error and a path toward a clearer, more correct understanding.

At Camarena Elementary, teachers are embracing this approach by exposing student error front and center and questioning the student's faulty thinking, engaging in whole class dialogue to bridge the gap between current misconceptions and the target skill or concept.  I observed this a few weeks ago in Kirsten Mena's class where she masterfully accepted a student's erroneous thinking in math and led the class to gently and respectfully probe that wrong answer until the student in question finally raised his hand to state, "I respectfully disagree with myself..."  Brilliant!  This is far superior to simply correcting error and giving the student the right answer.  Comprehension and understanding are highly doubtful in that second example.

This exchange reminded me of an example in Bob Sutton's book Scaling Up Excellence.  He relayed a story of someone touring an engineers meeting at Google where there was vigorous debate about the merits of some particular course of action where higher level Google employees were questioning and being challenged by lower level engineers on this particular project.  In the end, the senior executive had been persuaded and he stated, "I now strongly disagree with myself".

From Google to Camarena Elementary, the environment where ideas are debated and challenged can only lead to more learning and deeper understanding.  When misconceptions are left unchallenged and left alone, students will remain in the dark and will have something worse than the wrong answer.  They will think that their wrong answer is actually the right answer and will go on practicing error in happy oblivion!  So, find those misconceptions, bring them into the light and lead your students to problem solve, probe, and reason until they are able to justify clearly and precisely the thinking you are pursuing.

What do you think?  How do you create an atmosphere of healthy debate and helpful critique?

What's the Main Idea? Bla Bla Bla

I have for years found the question, "What's the main idea?" unhelpful, inauthentic, and downright sinister and damaging.  OK, that might be a little over the top, so let me give you three details to prove my point! Actually, don't look for those details because you won't find them.  What I find is that authors don't write to make just one singular point. (unless they are writing nauseating textbooks sold for millions of dollars to school districts)

For example, is there a main idea in Romeo and Juliet?  There are themes a-plenty, but not a main idea with a singular purpose.  Sure, you could summarize the boo,  "Two confused teenagers (sorry redundant adjectives here) fall in love against family's wishes and end badly".  But, is that all that William Shakespeare was trying to get his readers to understand and appreciate?  Hardly!

So,  if we shouldn't ask about the main idea and supporting details, what should we ask?  Well, first of all it is important to know that articles and texts often make claims and back those claims with evidence and examples, therefore it is important for students to know the difference between a claim an evidence that backs up that claim.  As for how to get students invested in the author's intent,  Vicki Vinton wrote an excellent post about an Expeditionary Learning lesson on Esperanza Rising.  In the comments of that post, she posed the following question:

I’ve been finding that it really makes a difference if we ask kids what they think the writer wanted them to understand, versus what’s the main idea or the important details.

This questions causes the reader to consider that there is an actual human being directing the scope and purpose of the text, who might actually be trying to tell them something important, interesting, or even entertaining.  It also allows for a much richer discussion that will not simply contain that one perfect answer that is residing inside the questioner's head.  What do you think?  What are the questions you ask to get students to engage with a text and more completely understand what the author was trying to accomplish. In case my thinking was unclear, maybe this will help.

The main idea of this blog post was.

A.  Main idea is an illusion fostered by the Platonic school of philosophy
B.  Textbooks are written by robots
C.  Vicki Vinton - one smart lady
D.  Questions are kind of important

Feedback is a Gift, so Spread it Around

A colleague recently gave me some unsolicited, direct feedback about my poor facilitation skills, and I'm not gonna lie - It hurt!  Actually, I'm very grateful as it helped me reflect on behavior that I had NO IDEA was going on - and I consider myself a reflective fellow (he said, humbly").  However, this reminded me of a quote that Russ Roberts of Econtalk is fond of quoting from Richard Feynman, "The most important thing is not to fool yourself, and  you are very easy to fool."

As a Principal, I give a lot of feedback and getting a taste of that feedback makes me want to give direct and clear feedback to others more and more.  True professionals want to improve their craft and get better and they will only benefit from honest feedback provided in an environment that is safe and supportive.   I will definitely press forward to give clear, specific, and actionable feedback to others and gladly solicit that feedback for myself.  

From Chaos to Clarity

Chaos, multitasking, overwhelming, Television and Social Media, Inbox NOT Zero

7 open books, 17 open tabs on Chrome, 15 active windows on desktop

Open loops, indecision, Watching, Tweeting, Superficial

Divided Attention, Weeds, Choking, Distraction

Pruning, Cutting, Prioritizing, Eliminating

Choosing, Saying No, Humility

Audience of One

Totally Present

Clarity

Paying Attention

From In Search of Excellence by Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman

Assessment and Better Running Times

Thanks to the encouragement of a former colleague, Gavin Kelly, I took up running about 5 years ago and have enjoyed the many benefits to my physical and mental health because of that regimen.  About three years ago I ran my first Half Marathon and ran a respectable 1:57.  Being somewhat competitive and goal oriented, I set out to improve my time through training.  One of the tools I used was an app that could track my pace and speed as I ran.  When I first used this tool, it would blurt out my pace every mile as I ran and I quickly realized that this was completely destroying my running.  I was over emphasizing speed, enjoying my runs less, and losing some enthusiasm for running.  

Therefore I would turn off the alerts and simply run my prescribed distance and only check the rate at the end of a run.  The end result.  Three years later, I have continued to train regularly (approximately 3 times a week) and focused on the deliberate practice of short, fast runs during the week and long, slow runs on the weekend and my most recent Half Marathon time was right around 1:50.  

This got me thinking about the benefits and detriments of assessment during times of deliberate practice and the discussion that Doug Reeves started on antecedents of excellence in his book The Daily Disciplines of Leadership.  I'm more convinced now that when students are engaged in purposeful deliberate practice in many academic areas, assessment might actually get in the way of the usefulness of that deliberate practice.    When I ran, I DID have certain mile or time goals in mind, but I rarely focused on the speed and rate of my running.  

Once I got to the race, however, I turned that reminder back on and was able to modify my pace as I ran to reach my target race goal.  However, I was only able to monitor and adjust my rate because I had put in so many hours of relaxed running with less concern for time.   I think students will have more confidence and success on their summative assessments if they have logged in the prerequisite practice without the overemphasis on scoring and perfection.  My take away is that we need to be thoughtful and intentional about what we measure in students' deliberate practice so as to encourage the type of practice that will benefit their learning goals and maintain their interest and engagement in the work. 

Focus is What I'm Thinking About

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cnast/

 We've been thinking a lot about what our focus should be at Camarena. I have pushed "digital literacy" which failed to take hold because of its uncertain definition. Since getting input from our entire staff, I've been reading about critical thinking and habits of mind and want to take a stab at clarifying my thinking to this point.

 Could we have a focus on clear thinking?

 What do I mean by clear thinking?

 Thinking that begins with an inquiry - a question. That question is followed by observation and the ability to make sense of a problem. This searching includes the ability to listen empathetically to a variety of viewpoints and make associations with past ideas and interconnect concepts from different fields with the end result of being able to construct viable arguments around the question as well as critique the reasoning of others. After undergoing this discovery process, our students should communicate their thinking with clarity and precision. The final stage of clear thinking involves reflection and revision as necessary.

 Having said all that, it would be very challenging to focus on every aspect of this process.

Question
Observation
Make Sense of Problems
Listening Attentively
Association
Construct viable arguments
Critique others
Communicate with clarity and Precision
Reflection

 So, Where do we begin? It seems to me that we need to begin with the skill of inquiry. We need to become experts at asking great questions and teaching our students how to ask great questions.

Will such a focus allow us to go deep? 

Will this focus allow us to connect this skill to all content areas?

 Is this focus measurable?

 Is this focus worthy of our efforts?

We have slowly discovered that our most effective goal is to be best at certain things. We now try to get our people to help us work out what these things should be, how to define best objectively, and how to become best in our selected spheres. You would be surprised at how motivating this can be. James Brian Quinn quoted by Peters and Waterman in In Search of Excellence

Of course, this is one of the same conclusions that Jim Collins found a few years later in Good to Great. These companies decided they could be the best in the world at something and pursued it. Steps two and three are very important 2) Define best objectively and 3) Actually become best in our sphere. These are questions that deserve thought, reflection, and above all, action!

Flexibility in Organizations

I think an inflexible organization chart which assumes that anyone in a given position will perform exactly the same way his predecessor did is ridiculous. He won't. Therefore, the organization ought to shift and adjust and adapt to the fact that there's a new person on the spot Fletcher Byrom quoted in In Search of Excellence by Peters and Waterman

Peters and Waterman begin their study on excellent American companies by explaining why the rational leadership model of the past was no longer the most successful model in the late 20th century. Successful companies allowed individuals to make their personal mark on the organization instead of following a script from their predecessor. There are still remnants of the command and control model within ourselves and within our organization. Focusing on purpose and meaning will help us all get to the core of what needs to be done and allow us to pursue that path with the gifts and style that most suits us.

In Praise of Competition

By H.C. White Co. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
During the construction of the Panama Canal, several men held the position of Chief Engineer of this monumental project, some with excellent effect, others to disastrous results.  There was one, however, who stood above the rest, and that was George Goethals, the final Chief Engineer who led the project to completion over the final 7 years.

Mr. Goethals displayed many admirable leadership traits and some not so admirable.  I was intrigued by his use of competition to spur on his teams.  There were two ways in which he used competition to increase the quantity and quality of the work that was being attempted.  The first way was by simply noting the amount of cubic square feet of dirt removed by each steam shovel in their Canal Record, which was read by one and all who worked on the canal.  This simple public pronouncement of progress increased the amount of dirt removed tremendously.  Here's what one of the steam shovel operators commented about it's effect on him and his colleagues:

"We were going along doing what we thought was a fair day's work ... [but then] away we went like a pack of idiots trying to get records for ourselves."

I'll never forget a summer school PE class when I got the baton as  the anchor runner of my relay team.  We were in 2nd place, BUT, Ron Schwab was behind me in 3rd.  Ron Schwab was a cross between Arnold Schwarzeneger and Usain Bolt (slight exaggeration).  Nevertheless, I was afraid of Ron Schwab, so I ran and ran hard.  Somehow I avoided Ron Schwab until the finish line and passed the lead runner in the process to take  home first place for my team.  Competition made me run harder, with more determination, and therefore faster than  I would have run on my own.  There is  definitely a place for healthy competition.  When used strategically it allows individuals to perform with greater effort and intensity.  The same methods can be used to spur teams to work harder and give m ore concentrated effort.  

How do we know our students are learning?

Photo Credit

How do we know our students are learning?  

The answer to this question is one of the motives behind NCLB and it's a fair question every school and every teacher should be able to answer with confidence and evidence.

Alongside our first question you have to ask what's the best way to assess that learning in a way that is efficient, fair, and quantifiable.

So, here comes Common Core State Standards (CCSS).  And as the saying goes, "The best laid plans of mice and men..."

I recently sat with my colleague in Chula Vista to look at future assessments related to CCSS and  I left that meeting nauseous, depressed, unenlightened and dazed.  I fear that my trusty colleague who sees much good in CCSS will be proven right when he says, "I'm afraid we'll screw it up".

The horizon in terms of assessment appears more daunting and overwhelming than ever. While I appreciate and am a champion of high expectations and challenging standards for my students, I fear that common sense may not be a part of the CCSS assessment plan.

Since we have no control over the CCSS assessment plan, what should we do in the realm of formative, ongoing assessment (specifically for English Language Arts)?  We have to have an answer to that question so let's get started.   

1.   We need assessments that demonstrate what our students understand about content and their ability to express themselves.  
2.  We need assessments that allows students to demonstrate their ability to gather information from texts, synthesize that information with their background knowledge, and draw conclusions, make assertions, and state evidence-based opinions.
3.  We also need assessments that allow students to explore their curiosities.  Therefore, if students are curious about a certain subject, they should be able to prove  their ability to research that subject, to make judgments about that subject, and to synthesize their learning in a concise and clear manner.  
4.  What about discrete skills and what about content knowledge? Those things are important as well.  They need to be embedded within in the assessments we give. 
5. From a teacher's perspective these assessments also need to be efficient. You need to be able to gather information from a small amount of production in order to make that next instructional move. 

We must design formative assessments that will clearly help teachers discern the point at which students need more support.  Based on all of these criteria, it seems clear to me that students need to speak and write about what they are learning.  Formative assessment should spring from this logical progression of speaking to writing in ever more complex and sophisticated manners.   These speaking/writing assessments need to be short, frequent, and included in all content areas.

These are my thoughts.  What do you think?

Martin Haberman on Successful Teachers

"On the other hand, teachers - Share As Image

Every New Direction is Challenged by Culture

Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Essential Question

I've been reading "7 Men and the Secret of Their Greatness" by Eric  Metaxas and I noted in his treatment of Dietrich Bonhoeffer that Bonhoeffer pondered for years the question, "What is the church?".  This led him to write several books on the subject of Christian community, but more importantly make choices about his own actions that led him to fight the Nazi regime openly and subversively.  These actions eventually led to his imprisonment and hanging at the order of Hitler.  I was impressed by the fact that it was in seeking an answer to this question, that Dietrich Bonhoeffer came to clear conclusions about the proper role of Christianity in life, which underscores the power of a well crafted question and continuous and focused attention to its answer.

6 Lessons Learned from Opening a New School

It seems like a long, winding path finally came to an end as our community celebrated the first day of school this past Wednesday.  Actually it only seems like a long and winding path because it indeed WAS very long and very winding.  Here are a few thoughts on what was learned from opening  Camarena Elementary School this past Wednesday.

1.  We have definitely proved that you need to get the right people on the bus. - The teaching and support staff at Camarena are exceptional in every way.  They bring skill, dedication, and devotion to creating a great school for our community.  As the leader, I'm inspired and motivated to help build the culture that will support this dynamic staff and their lofty goals.

2.  Infrastructure is Invisible and Essential - We had some plumbing issues the first week - nasty plumbing issues!  Are there any other kind?  It reminded me of the critical importance of the infrastructure that we often only notice or appreciate when it doesn't work.  Our IT department installed a robust wireless system that will make it possible for us to connect all of our students with the information and experts that can enhance their learning continuously.  People like Barbara Uribe, Beth Hart, and Antwon Lincoln helped us prepare devices and plan our roll out for maximum impact on learning.  That is only a small segment of the army of people who helped get this school ready for 950 students on opening day.  There was the Human Resources Department that helped us hire our staff.  There was the purchasing department and the impressive Ann Pering who ordered materials, chased down vendors and kept track of PO#s and deliveries like an expert wedding planner.  And this is only a sampling of the countless folks who had a hand in this massive undertaking, and whether they were ordering and delivering textbooks or planting sod on the fields, they all had a contribution to the final product that our students are enjoying.

3.  Communication needs to be constant, varied - Our school website has successfully connected with many in our community to help them stay abreast of the changing dynamics of our school opening.  We gained visitors and viewers all summer until we peaked at 650 visitors and over 5,000 views on opening day.  Our communication is still FAR from perfect but it was important to use a variety of channels including website, phone, e-mail, and community forums to reach out to as many families as possible.

4.  Details matter, but don't sweat 'em too much - Wayne Kibbe, the building superintendent from Balfour Beatty really impressed me with his knowledge of and attention to details.  He left no stone unturned in getting our magnificent building and grounds ready.  As we approached the final hours of preparation, there came a moment when it was time to head home and leave well enough alone. It is possible to get too focused on minutia and lose sight of the big picture.  I have always love the expression that says you can put a dime so close to your face that it will block out the sun.

5.  Media attention is nice but I'm looking to make more substantial connections - Since we were a new school, we attracted attention from local media and it was gratifying for our community to get some positive press on the opening week.  However, my hope is that we will make far more connections of the type that will bring experts and fellow learners into our classroom through virtual tools and social media.

6.  Relationships First - My last 20 minutes with the staff at the end of 7 days of professional development focused on Teacher Student Relationship Quality.  That is the most important aspect of our work and the foundation for positive and productive learning for our students.  Our teachers value this highly and got off on the right note Wednesday morning with positive greetings.  My point was that we may not get everything right and probably didn't, but we must get that teacher/student relationship, and indeed the parent/school relationship right every time.

These are just a few of the lessons that I've learned from opening this new school.  I must say I'm a little glad to have the pomp and circumstance behind us so that we can now focus on the reason why we came together in the first place - to create a learning environment where every child can thrive and our neighborhood will be enhanced.  Looking forward to the next step in our journey here at Camarena Elementary.

8 Steps to Selecting a Dream Team of Teachers

Here are just a few of the many positive comments I heard after selecting 35 staff members in our unique interview process for Camarena Elementary.

"I felt like you really got to know my skills and abilities".

"I wanted to take the opportunity (sic) Dr. Winters and his team for putting together the most comprehensive interview process I have ever experienced. Thank you for interviewing me and congratulations on doing such a great job of putting together a solid hiring plan. Parents, you should know that your kids are in good hands. You can just tell that they know what they're doing!" (posted on school website)

"I felt like I was interviewing at Google".

So what was this interview process, you ask?  Here are the steps that we took to select those amazing teachers who now call Camarena Elementary home.

1.  Develop a Mission, Purpose, and Values
2.  Develop Criteria for the teachers who sill implement #1
3.  Review candidate narrative against #1
4.  Contact current Principal for direct reference
5.  Set up 15 minute observation for strong teachers before interview
6.  Ask candidates to prepare by sending references, reading iPad article, and sending in student work.
7.  Send interview questions for one on one session 4:00 the night before and notify them that they will have 20 minutes to answer all questions.
8.  Interview Day consists of group problem solving, writing task, and 20 minute interview.

1.  Develop a Mission, Purpose, and Values - This was developed through several iterations and conversations with prospective teachers and community parents.  That document is attached.

Camarena students and staff will 

1. be models of character demonstrating integrity, perseverance, and leadership as members of a community where they are valued for their individual strengths.
2. be voracious learners, inspired to explore and know the world around them. 
3. be clear thinkers through structured social learning, the interplay of ideas, deep reflection, and evidence based opinions.
4. be fully literate (including digital literacy) integrating their knowledge in all academic arenas.
5. be excellent collaborators and communicators who listen critically and empathetically to one another and speak with clarity and effectiveness enhanced by multimedia.  
6. explore their passions and interests every day, publish what they are learning, and create products that exemplify their unique talents and skills.
7. embrace technology to facilitate the acquisition of the best knowledge and information, the development of products and presentations, and to make connections with experts and co-learners anytime, anywhere.
8. embrace languages through a Dual Immersion program and foreign language opportunities.

Purpose: Just as Enrique Camarena inspired so many through his life of community service and self-sacrifice, Camarena Elementary will serve as an inspiration to the local, national, and international community as a pioneering school where all learners are engaged by pursuing their passions and interests in an atmosphere of innovation, teamwork, and joy.

Mission: To make Camarena the model neighborhood school for learning in the 21st century.

2.  Develop Criteria for the teachers who sill implement Mission, Purpose, and Values.  Here's what we came up with:

1. Inspiring and motivating teachers who differentiate instruction based on student needs and understand that learning is enhanced through quality relationships.
2. Skillful users of technology to accomplish learning goals and increase student engagement.  Evidence of incorporating technology in content consumption, deliberate practice, and content creation.
3. Experts at designing instruction around Understanding by Design (UBD) principles and essential questions and integrating material across content areas.
4. Evidence of instructional maturity.  Ability to inspire the love of learning in students through engaging instructional routines.  Embraces literacy and instills the love of literacy in students.  Understands how standards fit into the big picture of learning for authentic purposes. Not program dependent but able to THINK about and design quality instruction around the BEST content.
5. Eager team players who make those around them better by sharing their great ideas and absorbing the best ideas of their colleagues.
6. Not satisfied with the status quo.  Wants to be a part of something uniquely different and better than the current school model.  Knows that there is a better way and is eager to join with others to co-create a school that works for students.
7. Learners who can adapt to new environments, change, and fresh ideas.  Evidence of personal ambition to learn through any means - reading books, articles, web search, social networks, professional networks, experimentation, noticing, action research, etc.  
8. Skilled at engaging parents in the education of their children through two-way communication, empathy, personal outreach, and perseverance.
9. Affable - Fun to be around.  enjoys life and learning and students.  Laughs at jokes (especially very punny jokes)
10. People of the highest integrity and moral character.
11. Bilingual preferred or willing to learn another language
12. Experience, knowledge, and professional development in Dual Immersion Program and instruction

Actually we had to get rid of #9 since I guess I really can't require people to laugh at my jokes.  I should have known that since my wife and daughter won't do it and they're quite fond of me.

3.  Review candidate narrative against Listed Criteria

Many narratives were clearly written for a generic position. Those candidates were not the ones we were looking for.  If you didn't connect with the mission, purpose, and values, you weren't going to be right for Camarena.

4.  Contact current Principal for direct reference

I have interviewed candidates for many years and it was only until recently that I started calling the Principals before the interview.  This sure makes a lot of sense.  You begin to find out early who your top candidates will be and look a little carefully at those strong candidates to find qualities that will separate them from the field.

5.  Set up 15 minute observation for strong teachers before interview

This also proved to be very beneficial. I was able to see candidates in their own environment and with apologies to Malcolm Gladwell, you can tell in the blink of an eye a quality classroom when you walk into his/her room.  Culture has been established over nearly a year and big differences become apparent instantaneously.

6.  Ask candidates to prepare by sending references, reading iPad article, and sending in student work.

Some of our candidates rolled their eyes at the extra "work" that was being required, but this step helped to weed out candidates who were not serious and gave us nuggets of information to help separate the nearly 200 candidates that applied for our school. Of course, the content of your request should be based on the criteria you are seeking.

7.  Send interview questions for one-on-one session 4:00 PM the night before and notify them that they will have 20 minutes to answer all questions.

My belief is that the traditional interview of forcing someone to think on their feet with no preparation has limited benefit.  In their actual job, teachers almost always have plenty of time to prepare their lesson.  In fact, giving questions ahead of time presents a very different challenge of being succinct and to the point.  We had several candidates who went way too long on a couple questions and never got to the end of the interview.

8.  Interview Day consists of group problem solving, writing task, and 20 minute interview.

We organized each interview day into sets of four candidates.  All four came in at the designated time to have a 15 minute discussion on three different topics or tasks.  These sessions were invaluable in getting to know which of our candidates would be able to work together with their colleagues. Some groups actually started to bond in the hallway before the meeting.  Others said nothing to each other and came in cold.  Once the group session was over, three candidates went outside to write while the fourth candidate waited for his/her turn for the interview.   Our panels had discussions about candidates after every group session and each individual session.  I would share what I had heard from Principals and in my observations.  Panel members would also share what they knew of each candidate.

This process was extremely time consuming because of the sheer number of candidates, however every minute was worth it as the staff that we finally selected for this school was of the highest caliber.  In fact, you could make an extremely successful school from the top 30 candidates that we were not able to hire.

I highly recommend you consider some or all of these steps as you gear up for your next round of interviews.  What are your thoughts?