Networking

Legislators – at all levels – are notorious for mandates that are unfunded and ill-defined. While at a first blush, this can be frustrating, it is also liberating. We, at our district and site levels, have the opportunity to shape implementation of these mandates to meet the needs of our communities. And it is a lot of work. Just as we want our students to collaborate with their peers to meet real world challenges, so should we.

This week was all about networking: Q-Comp Leadership Network, Teacher Development and Evaluation (TDE) Community of Practice, and the District 287 Teaching and Learning Network. Internally we networked this week as well when we brought together our Innovation Coaches from each site, our parent representatives, and representatives from the Minnetonka Foundation. In all of these instances I walked out with greater clarity around my next steps, and possibilities for improving processes.

Student learning goals are one component of teachers’ evaluation in the recently enacted teacher evaluation law. At the Q-Comp Leadership Network, my colleague from Edina shared the rubric that they are using to evaluate teachers’ student learning goals. Rather than focusing on just the results, they will take into consideration the implementation of the strategies being used to meet the goal as well as reflections on the implementation. By including both the implementation of and reflections on the learning, they are recognizing the complexity of student learning. Similarly, at the TDE Community of Practice, my colleague from Anoka Hennepin shared a rubric that they are using to evaluate student learning goals as well. They, too, recognize and value that goal setting has many facets. Principals will consider five components of the student learning goal: determining needs, creating goals, planning instructional strategies to meet the goal, monitoring student progress, and reflecting on the goal. These two rubrics will be great conversation starters when our TDE committee meets again in November.

It’s also been pretty awesome to watch the internal networking of our Innovation Coaches. After some initial brainstorming in person, the conversation around our innovation efforts has continued in their Schoology group. They’re having fun as they decide how to further the culture of innovation in Minnetonka.

Every meeting we attend is an opportunity for different experiences to collide. As our networks expand, so do our perspectives.  And our loads are a little lighter as a result. 

Moths and Cockroaches

On the way home from work the other day, I caught the tail end of an interview on NPR. The interviewee was discussing moths and cockroaches. Curious about the context of this topic, I tuned in. He was saying that moths fly to the light while cockroaches scurry from the light and look for dark places. It turns out that he was discussing stage actors. The interviewee believed that actors tend to be one or the other. He, as the director or teacher (I never did find out which), sometimes had to literally move an actor into the spotlight. It was the only way an actor could become the lead. And it started me thinking: is this true in all walks of life? Are we either moths or a cockroaches? Are we instinctually drawn to either light or darkness? And can a cockroach become a moth?

I think we all know individuals who tend to be attracted to possibilities. They have an aura of optimism. Their glasses tend to have a rosy tint. And, when their idealism is tempered with realism, they attract others to them.

On the contrary, we probably also know individuals who dash into dark corners when the spotlight shines. They congregate and multiply. And, as is true for the cockroach, the attraction to darkness is a survival mechanism. In the light they are vulnerable and exposed. Simply shining more and brighter light makes them retreat faster. Perhaps dimming the light, and understanding the fears that are sending them into sinister places, will make the world more hospitable.

How is "Establishing a Culture of Learning" like a refrigerator? 

During Minnetonka Public Schools’ New Teacher Orientation, I asked teachers to compare this Charlotte Danielson concept to an appliance. The one that stayed with me was an analogy of buying a refrigerator. The teachers explained that taking the time to set up expectations at the beginning of the year was like investing in a top-of-the-line refrigerator. It’s expensive. And worth it. Everything has a place and gets the treatment it needs to stay fresh. It doesn’t take long, in a bad refrigerator, for things to start to stink and pretty soon you’re spending time with the repairman. In the end, it’s more expensive and is wasteful.

As teachers, we know the importance of setting up expectations for our kids on that first day of class. Equally important is taking the time to set up expectations for adult behavior when working in teams or committees. It can be tempting to simply adopt norms from previous years or committees. The danger is that there isn’t any ownership.

Learning Forward, the National Staff Development Council, suggests two means of creating norms (Richardson, 1999). The first is documenting current practices. Of course this suggests that the current practices are working! The second method is for each member to submit ideal behaviors for the group. While it is tempting to list behaviors that disrupt meetings, it is far better to identify behaviors to embrace than to identify behaviors to avoid.

Setting the norms is the easy part. Enforcing them is the challenge. Kathryn Blumsack, an educational consultant from Maryland who specializes in team development, said, “If you don’t call attention to the fact that a norm has been violated, in effect you’re creating a second set of norms. For example, a common norm is expecting everyone to be on time. If you don’t point out when someone violates that norm, then, in effect, you’re saying that it’s really not important to be on time.” Finding a way to do this in light, humorous ways is far preferable than shaming. You’ll need a norm around this as well.

Invest in the top-of-the-line refrigerator. Establish the culture for learning in your teams.

Richardson, Joan. Norms put the ‘Golden Rule’ into practice. Tools for Schools, August/September 1999.