Creating Mission Statements
There are two very easy approaches that
involve students in creating Mission
Statements.
If you are going to be creating class
(grade level or department) Mission
Statements, you can get a quick,
narrated PowerPoint review by clicking
below.
Affinity Diagram
Mind Mapping
If you would like to share your Mission,
Vision or Values with others, please
send them to me. In the very near
future there will be a
RESOURCES page on
this site.
The opening paragraph from last month's update remains a powerful reminder for us.
In describing a leader, W. Edwards
Deming says that a leader understands
how the work of the group fits into the
aims of the company and its constancy of
purpose. He tries to create for
everybody, interest, challenge and joy
in work. He teaches them cooperation, he
works by cooperation. He tries to
optimize the education, skills and
abilities of everyone - helps them to
improve. He's coach and counsel,
not judge.
© 2011
Robert G. Hoglund / Bob Hoglund, Inc.
A friend and colleague of mine, Don
Bryant, Principal of Fort Myers Middle
Academy in Fort Myers, FL, asks three
questions as a test of true leadership.
-
Is anybody following?
-
Are you getting favorable
results?
-
Are you creating new leaders?
I am also posting
this short TIP on my blog. Your
comments are welcome!
Bob's Blog
We Don't
"Give" People Choices
Teachers often
talk about “empowering students to make
choices”.
From the viewpoint of Choice Theory,
everyone has power and freedom.
Therefore, we cannot empower anyone
and we do not “give” children choices.
They already have the choices
available to them and the power within them.
We
can help people to recognize this power, and teach them that they
can use it to make choices for themselves
that are appropriate and beneficial.
Educators and
parents tell me that they “give” their
children choices.
What that really means is they are
attempting to point out acceptable choices
for the classroom or home.
However, children, like adults,
already have almost unlimited choices
available to them.
The challenge lies in helping them to
learn to choose actions that will provide
long-term positive results.
To illustrate this
point, I’ll use a behavior that might be
seen in school or at home.
Teacher/Parent:
Stop that!
You know you can’t fight at school
(home)!
Of course they
can, they just did!
They have that choice available!
I am NOT condoning the fighting; I am
saying that this point illustrates the fact
that we do not “give” choices.
Our job as
educators and parents is to help children
realize that they are internally motivated
and it is in their best interest to learn
how to make the choices that help them be
successful, happy and productive.
Bob Hoglund
Start the Year
with a Mission Statement
School and Classroom Mission Statements
provide the opportunity for teachers and
students to find commonalities in what they
want to accomplish this school year.
They may include how they would like
things to be, academic goals, how they want
to be treated, etc.
Two methods to develop the Mission Statement
are an Affinity Diagram and Mind Mapping.
In both cases, the focus is on the
“ideal” or “quality” school or classroom.
PowerPoint Videos:
6 minutes
5 Minutes
Avoiding the End-of-Year
Let Down!
Stategies for April and
May
April and May, are the months that many
students (and a few teachers) like to
“coast” through.
Instead, they can be the ideal time
to review this year’s processes and prepare
for the next school year.
Use these months as the time to implement
some of the tools and strategies that you
haven’t felt like you had time for with the
emphasis on State Tests.
Challenge yourself and your students
Five Examples
- Practicing the questioning
process with your students.
- Having students analyze their
own data.
- Helping students write PDSAs,
and/or SMART Goals with Action Plans.
- Using a quality tool or two.
- Conduct some class meetings.
Class Meetings are one way to help
students reflect and plan.
The following is an example of an end-of-year class meeting:
Define:
1.
What is the purpose of school?
2.
Why do we take tests like (Insert your state test initials here)?
3.
Knowing that we are still supposed to be learning, what should the last
few months of school be like?
Personalize:
1.
What learning/grades/test scores do you want to have?
2.
Were you happy with your results this year?
3.
What are the best parts of school for you?
4.
What are some things you would like to change about school?
5.
How do you want to be treated in the last months of school?
Challenge:
1.
What are some things you can do to be ready for the beginning of school?
2.
What goals will you set for next year?
3.
What can we all do to get along and be productive the last couple of
months?
What are some of your
strategies to keep the focus on learning the
last few months of school?
Share your strategies
Evaluating
the Results May Be In Order
“However beautiful
the strategy, you should occasionally look
at the results.”
Sir Winston Churchill
This article was in
the Arizona Republic 2/11/2010
West Warwick, R.I.
46 Truants Suspended; Cut Classes for Free
Breakfast
Dozens of students from a Rhode Island
high school who skipped classes for a free
breakfast at Denny’s got grand slammed with
suspensions.
Officials at West Warwick High School
tell the
Providence Journal that 46 students went
to Denny’s in Warwick on February 9th
to take advantage of a free “Grand Slam“
breakfast. Assistant
Principal Paula Santos got wind of the
outing and drove to the restaurant to tell
the students to go to school.
Principal
Karen Tarasevich says students who
immediately went back were dismissed with a
suspension mark on their records.
Those who didn’t return got two-day
suspensions.
Tarasevich says she cracked down
because last year students did the same
thing, and one was involved in a car crash
as he returned to school.
Bob’s comments:
This is one of those things that some
administrators do that is contradictory.
If being in school is important, why
tell students that they must stay out two
days?
Is there any evidence that the two
days away from school consequence changes
behavior?
Is there any possibility of classroom
learning when the students are at home?
Finally, is it easier or more likely
for a student to drive, and possibly be in
an accident, when they are at home on a
two-day suspension or when they are in class
at school?
Teaching to the Test
I often hear teachers lament that they
feel compelled to “teach to the test”.
If the test is a representation of
the expected learning outcomes, why would
one do otherwise?
I am not suggesting that that a State
Standardized Test carries the same magnitude
as a football game or schools play
performance.
Like most educators, I do not believe
that a state test should be the sole
criteria for a school grade or ranking.
Nor am I suggesting that one should
only teach the information that is expected to be on the test.
Rather, I am proposing that it makes
sense to prepare students as thoroughly as
possible for an assessment that will have
great impact on their academic placement for
the following year.
However,
holding on to the negative perception can
limit motivation and performance.
In order to change to a more helpful
perception, consider these analogies.
State Standardized Tests require
specific preparation, much in the same way a
football game or a school play requires
practice.
Consider the following analogies.
A football coach teaches to a weekly
test.
Basic skills are drilled and
practiced regularly.
Depending on the week’s opponent,
some basic fundamentals are reinforced, and
then previous (learning) plays are adapted,
new plays are added, and the strategy of the
week is emphasized.
The purpose is to prepare for the
challenges presented by the specific
opponent the team will be facing.
For a school play, the drama teacher
and choral director always teach with the
final performance in mind.
Rehearsals are determined by scenes,
lines and and/or songs and then broken into
tasks (Action Plans).
Instruction and the differentiation
of instruction are then based on the
(learning) progress of the student
performers. Again, coaching is directed to
the specific outcomes desired in the final
performance.
The groundwork required for high
achievement on standardized tests is similar
to the above examples.
The more students know about the
format of the test, the more skills and
knowledge they acquire that is specific to
the test, and the more time they have to
practice these skills, the better chance
they have of being successful.
It is essential
for teachers to provide instruction on basic
skills, design practice to reinforce
previous learning, and add new knowledge.
On-going assessments must take place to
gauge the effectiveness of the instructional
strategies being used and adjustments must
be made as needed. Providing students with
the specific skills and knowledge needed to
perform well on a high stakes assessment is
not just “teaching to the test”.
It is a game plan for success, and to
do otherwise would be a disservice to
students.
The Five S’s
| Five Steps To Be More Organized! |
 |
 |
In all of my workshops, as part of the
introductions I ask several questions.
One of these is, “What qualities do you see
in others that you would like to develop
more fully in yourself?”
The most common answers from the
participants are organization and
time-management.
Both of these are often at the top of the
New Year’s Resolutions list, yet they
continue to be difficult to attain. One
common reason for not following through on
goals and resolutions is that people don’t
write manageable action steps.
Additionally, not allowing enough time to
reach the goal can be overwhelming.
Keeping the ancient proverb of “the journey
of 1000 miles begins with a single step” in
mind can help keep your expectations
reasonable. Another way of thinking
about it is that you cannot lose 10 pounds
by tomorrow.
Taking small, manageable steps helps
to make the total goal more easily
attainable.
The Five S’s provide a strategy for using
small, simple steps to get, and stay,
organized.
Choose a room, an office, a desk or filing
cabinet, a garage, laundry room, workspace,
etc., rather than attempting to do
everything all at once. There will be
overlap between some of the categories.
| Japanese |
English |
Meaning |
| Seiri |
Sort |
Keep the the things that you use, discard or store what you don't use. |
| Seiso |
Shine |
Clean, clean, clean. |
| Seiton |
Straighten |
A place for everything and everything in its place. |
| Seitetsu |
Systematize |
The processes you develop to maintain the first 3 S's. |
| Shitsuke |
Sustain |
Discipline & Follow-Through / Using the process that you created. |
Sort:
This first stage is to go through everything
and decide what you use regularly, sometimes
and not at all. The not at all
category items should either be discarded,
given away, or at least stored in a manner
or place where it is out of the way.
What is left will be handled by one of the
other S’s.
Shine:
Clean everything! If possible, remove
items from shelves and bookcases.
Straighten:
Decide what goes together and the best place
for each item, file, tool, etc., and put
them there. Use labels, if necessary,
to help keep things in their places and easy
to access.
Systematize:
How will you keep things sorted, shined, and
straightened? Will there be a few
minutes daily? Once a week? Once
a month? How will you evaluate the
effectiveness of your system?
Sustain:
This stage is the discipline that is
required to follow-through on your system
processes. What is the standard of
organization, cleanliness, etc.? How
long does it really take to keep things in
order?
Consistent evaluation of the process and
results, and looking for improvements is the
key to sustaining your efforts for a more
organized year.
