2016 what happened to term 1?!

This is my first entry on this blog for 2016..it seems crazy to say this..but there have just not been enough hours in the day! I am considering making a case for why we need a day extended out to include 30 hours...just not sure who I write to about this!

in stopping for a minute to think about life, the universe and everything education...I am reflecting on challenges I am encountering so far this year...the question being which one to reflect on first!

My choice to move schools... from a school that was finally in a good place after a few years of struggle...to a school on a 1 yr ero review with an LSM and a huge amount of challenges... seemed rational as a decision. I still believe it is a rational choice ( though there are the odd moments when I wake up wondering when they will come for me with the little white van and those special jackets with arms that tie at the back!!) however it is a choice that has now generated hundreds of other choices that need to be solved- from creating a school curriculum to raising PCK in our teachers and dealing with daily life for our students.
How to tackle those choices and how to ensure that within the daily craziness of life that we are staying focused on the big picture? This is seemingly simple, yet so amazingly complex when you stop to look more closely.
So my aim this year when blogging is to try and keep myself focused on the big picture- again this may be challenging as every stakeholder has a different lens on the big picture.
! As a leadership team we are focused on the strategic goals and how to implement these so we achieve our targets. ERO are focused on student achievement ( and rightly so- it is very possibly the worst in NZ) however they don't see the implications that are inherent in focusing on achievement when many of our learners have been so failed by the school that they aren't 'school ready'- they have no language for themselves as learners and building this language takes time...we know it will be what raises achievement..but will it do so fast enough for ERO? Parents and our community are focused on the whole child, socially, emotionally and academically- with the biggest issue for them being regaining trust with a school that has let them down for so long and without this trust we can't forge strong home school partnerships that are focused on learning. then we have what is essentially a brand new staff ( 17 of the 20 teachers are brand new to the school) again relational trust is a huge influence on supporting these teachers- until we have trust we can't engage in open to learning conversations and without that we can't raise PCK and move forward to address achievement through effective classroom programmes. On top of PCK raising for staff we have thrown them into the deep end by going 1:1 for all year 5-8 students- exciting and with all the inherent possibilities for personalisation and differentiation of learning- but a pedagogical nightmare for some of our teachers that requires huge levels of support.
Finally we have our beautiful students- so desperate to learn and like there parents for many the school has failed and disengaged them, so we need to build relationships with a new shared language for learning at our school that all our learners can own.

so having worked out the challenges we now need to work out what we will do to address them- as a leadership team we took various areas and have put them into a continuum marked out of 10- this was our way of looking at all the areas we have to shift and then reflecting on where we are ( given that 10 would be a highly functioning school) and working out what tiny step will take us to the next point on the continuum. This is proving really great as a stop and evaluate tool that we use on a weekly basis with formal evaluation every few weeks.
an example of a few of the aspects we evaluate on our continuum are

Planning

8/3
30/3

8/3

To get to 6 we need to:

• link in the assessment for learning data,
• differentiate and link this to specific LI/ SC so the LI matches the task

30/3

A closer and sustained  analysis through weekly feedback by SLT/MLT showed that a 6 was overly optimistic. We need to work with teams more on how to link data with groupings, texts and LI and SC’s.

To get to a 5 we need to

• Co-plan using TKI reading teacher notes & CSI to scaffold appropriate reading lesson structure and LI and SC  (These meetings are scheduled throughout the end of term 1 and the first half of term 2).
• Evidence visible in modelling books (what is actually happening in teaching sessions matches what is in the planning)  Lit team tracking
• students able to talk about their learning and whether they are being successful as evidence of triangulation between planning, learning and student ownership.  SLT-to ask every students

Pedagogy

8/3
30/3

8/3

To move to a 3 we need to:

• Support teachers to get guided reading into place
• Ensure all teachers are able to administer assessment tools in reading
• Support teachers to make links between reading PLD and writing  

30/3

We have made progress with guided reading in place in all classes but need to align assessment data with planning and teaching. Making links between reading PLD and writing is not happening.

To move to a 3 or 4 we need to:

• Put in place a supported model for planning guided reading with teachers
• Have all teachers meeting the expectation for elearning occurring in reading, writing and maths
• Encourage teachers to tap into student voice to make programmes more engaging
• A one pager of what a reading lesson should look like

Elearning

L/C/S pedagogy

Basic skills need to become routine in Y5-Y8 classes

8/3
30/3

8/3

Progress made:

• Teachers using teacher dashboard to support learners with renaming/filing work
• Some teachers creating differentiated reading digital learning objects (DLOs) for learners that support specific learning intentions (building the create/show what you know culture)
• Most 1:1 classes are using Class Google Sites for students to access learning (digital-home)
• Y4 using pods of Chromebooks since Wk 8 T1 (using Class site - Reading Hub)

30/3

To move forward we need to:

• Continued modelling and co-teaching in class to build eLearning capabilities in teachers (e.g. CyberSmart lessons, Reading, Writing, Maths)
• Further work with teachers using Class sites as a hub for students to access target resources
• Providing feedback/next steps via commenting - all 1:1 teachers
• Support Y1-4 with iPads - using Explain Everything to develop targeted resources and capture student voice

• Class blogs for teachers ready to take that next step in making learning visible (and connecting with whanau in an authentic setting)
• Learn/Create/Share pedagogy introduced across the school

Professional Inquiry

Plg- what is collaboration ?

Alma Harris  Disciplined collaboration

The concepts that are delved into are very similar to many other researchers findings I have read and also the day spent recently with Roween Higgie at the EAAPA leadership day Leading from within

The 3 key ideas are

Implementation

Innovation

Impact

They promote 7 tests for evaluating how disciplined your collaboration is.. I wonder how well we rate against these as a team? and across teams as a school?

7 tests

Clarity of focus

Consistent and creative use of data

Collaboration with purpose

Communication of intent and outcomes

Capacity building through engagement and involvement of others

Coherent action

Change in practice


Distributed Leadership

Leading from within

Day away from craziness of daily work focusing on leading change from within, facilitated by the awesome Roween higgie from education group... So I know there will be lots to think about.

Competences for leaders

Centre for creative leadership calls our role "middle leaders- we operate up and down the organisational hierarchy, as well as across functions and silos. To achieve results we must effectively manage people and processes "

http://www.ccl.org/leadership/CCLSearchResults.aspx?q=educational%20leadership%20research#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=educational%20leadership%20research&gsc.page=1

Our leadership roles are highly complex

Who are the senior/ middle leaders in our school?

Principal, DP and AP form the SLT

DP and AP have teams of teachers they work closely with to support.

Specifically within my team structure I believe that we have a strong PLCommunity which supports , extends and pushes each other.

What are similarities and differences between the two?

Our school is very small so the amount of middle leaders is small on paper. But in practice we have experts who step up and share and support each other

Our definition of a middle leader is ?

Leadership that gets results by dan goleman

http://www.slideshare.net/mobile/BagusWahyudi/leadership-that-get-result

I currently utilise affiliative, democratic and coaching most naturally. Authoritative is an area I am trying to build on in my leadership and pacesetting is something I have previously has to work on in order to ensure I don't run ahead

Authoritative leaders are clear about the bigger picture, stand firm in face of challenge but these leaders need to ensure they have people on the bus

Coercive leadership is appropriate when there is a process and accountability to be complied with- this is not the time to ask if people want to do things a different way.

Democratic gets buy in

Coaching helps change

Affiliative keeps everyone working in the same direction and keeps the passion running

Pacesetting can be positive or negative

Jan hill - leadership competencies

 This is about self awareness- my feelings, thoughts, actions. Knowing how people respond to this, then being able to manage this. For instance a couple of weeks ago I was feeling very stressed, I knew this and I knew it couldn't get out as my team need me to be strong for them...so I made sure to stay calm and keep my mouth shut if I was feeling a bit off so I wouldn't reveal impatience....this ended up being futile as my team knew instantly that I was not ok...as my quietness gave me away...since this I have been pondering how to handle the fact that if I seem off it freaks my team out...yet I'm still human 

Social competence is about how well I know and can facilitate the supports around my team to be there for them and know when each person may need support and what is the best way to offer this support

Relationships are fundamental to a string healthy school. Our role as middle leaders is to build these relationships, which can be very complex

Responsive leaders are reflective continual, adaptive leaders.  On this aspect I am always pushing the edge of research and seeking ideas that have a high proven impact that will enhance and support our students to achieve

We have to be good at evaluating new ideas and research to our context and seeing how this might impact and be integrated into our school.

The multiplier leader has influence. If we as leaders are influencers we are at the wave leading the change. Then there are people climbing the wave. They want to make the pedagogical shift, they believe and they are trying. Then there is the people who are under the wave or even in a tree at the side who really do not want to do this...the naysayers. Our role as leaders is to know how and when to use our influence..or that of others in order to help everyone to get up the wave...providing the wave is going in a direction that has been agreed on as a place we wish to go as we believe in it for our learners

In my practice as a leader this year I am working lots within how I use my influence and adapt this to people at such varying points on the wave.

Timperley says there are 3 key ways to create dissonance...which is the trigger for change

Theory...use research to prompt challenge to thinking

Alternative practice...observing others who are doing this already

Data...data is no negotiable....it is a blunt trigger for a conversation 

Taking a stand

Managers do things right and leaders do the right thing...having a moral compass

But this can be very difficult to align with how others perceive the same issue...so as leaders we need to do double checks on our thinking around these issues...go to the code of ethics...check with fellow leader to ensure we have our thinking around a situation...and always make sure we have evidence to support our thinking on an issue

Using a coaching model to see how we could extend our ability to take a stand

Resilience

What skills, knowledge, and habits do it have to support this?

What can I let go off that is holding this back?

How can I use my and other peoples talents more effectively?

Resilience as a leader, teachers, person?

Thinking and acting systematically

Whenever we think of a change, how we think and act is important 

Seeing the big picture

Adapting to meet needs

Being a systems player and maker in terms of generating systems

Carrying out review

Giving up the need to constantly please

During review how methodical are we, do we create dissonance around it? In numeracy review it is being very methodical...looking at what we have in place, what works, what doesn't and what innovations we have that are showing good data

Look at the work 'the principal' by Michael full an 

You look at how to seed a germ in your school:) the germ takes and spreads 

Facilitation

What we do in our roles as leaders is either directive or self directive 

The key to success is the building of self directed learning skills in our teachers

Ask the right question

Build capability and evaluative skills in our teachers

Fronting issues is a key part of this role of facilitator...using a range of tools to front issues as they come along

Use either of these frameworks to use as a frame to address issues

Desc script

Describe, effect, specify, consequences 

DQAP

Describe, question, articulate, problem solve

With either of these

Ask permission to talk first, make sure you have the time for the conversation, be careful of body language and tone of voice, don't make assumptions or blame

These conversations are not about blame but rather about change 

Use a solutions focused approach to timing issues so people take control

Rowen calls this flipping

Instead of totally empty sympathy

Flip the negative conversation into a positive e.g how would you feel tomorrow if you could tick of some of these

Then ensure you use their words in the conversations

Thinking about all the competencies, choose one you feel you need to work on first

Facilitation is the one that aligns with one of my goals for this year and is an area I struggle with sometimes. I need to use the DQAP frame and pre script for addressing certain issues in the school

A leaders role in team development

The leadership experience, Richard daft 2001

Forming

Storming

Norming

Performing

A norm is a custom, a rule, a pattern or a habit of a team

Positive norms

Ask questions that challenge and promote discussion ( strictly data and achievement focused). 

Support each other

Share and build our expertise and capabilities 

High trust that allow us to be more open to growth

Fun and work together

Negative norms

Quieter members not actively encouraged to participate in team, more dominant voices occasionally carried away

When tired sometimes edge towards blame which is negative

Two small steps I can take to strengthen or change one of these norms ?

Characteristic of an effective team

The team is clear about what it wants to achieve- student achievement is central focus

Ground rules are established for how the group works together- clear expectations for how we will all work together

Job descriptions, roles should be up to date and transparent

Trus or personal trustworthiness?

Onora oneill ted talk https://www.ted.com/talks/onora_o_neill_what_we_don_t_understand_about_trust?language=en

We can't make people trust us we have to focus on building our own personal trustworthiness

Honesty

Transparency

Reliability

Competence 

As a leader I need to ensure I am addressing issues for team members in a fair way that builds trust

Reflecting on my deliberate acts of leadership

As the end of the year moves closer I am reflecting on my progress for my appraisal process. One aspect of this is to identify my deliberate acts of leadership this year...not the ones that align with my goals...but rather all the other day to day acts that demonstrate my progress towards the professional standards.
This is a tricky process on many levels. Firstly the word 'deliberate'! I think that often in education the world around us shifts and changes daily at such a rate that it can be hard to say that an act was totally 'deliberate'  as this implies far more time to reflect than we often have available in our leadership roles. In many cases it is more a case of making a choice based on needs that can be long term and equally can be based on a sudden need arising for my school, students or teachers. Secondly, by identifying my deliberate acts..it goes totally against the grain of my English 'stiff upper lip, no bragging' upbringing! So it is quite hard to state...yes I did this well...much easier to confidently state a list of things I need to work on!
But for the sake of building my own reflective abilities I am going to practice stating clearly and confidently ( without too much self mocking!) my deliberate acts of leadership:)
Here we go..

Developed ( in collaboration with staff)

•  Student Speak Literacy progressions for Reading and Writing and built teacher capabilities to use these in class as part of students daily reflective language of learning

• School wide Writing process which is being used currently and undergoing a process of adaptation for different year levels so the students and teachers own this. 

• MBS maths planning, teaching and learning web site to allow for clearer understanding of how maths is taught for parents, as a planning tool for overworked teachers and importantly to allow individualized education for students MBS Maths

• An agreed set of evidence that will be collected by MBS teachers in order to inform the process of making a reliable and valid Overall teacher Judgement

• A deeper understanding of Teaching as Inquiry with my teachers and a development plan for building this capability over the next year

Researched areas required for PLD and ran staff meetings in

• Moderation- what this means, why it's important and what it means for us as a school: This need arose out of the analysis of the mid year data and was identified a a need by both leadership and staff
• Moderation in the 3 standards areas, how we collect and use the evidence in order to inform us on our students progress against the standards
• Reading- the importance of modelling books as a record of learning and teaching and how these form a key part of our evidence
• ALiM and ALL- disseminating the knowledge gained from our teachers leading this and from the inquiry teams in order to support development of best practice across the school and to build the capabilities of our two lead teachers in their roles.

Built teacher capabilities and collaboration in the following school wide areas-

• Analysing the school wide data prior to presentation to our BoT in order to gain insights from our teachers on what the trends in data show. Thereby leading to a clearer understanding for all stakeholders on what the needs of our school are. This will lead to our board being able to set a realistic budget, aligned with the strategic plan and importantly the actual needs of our teachers with regard to the context of their students and their own PLD needs in order to create success for all
• Using teachers expert knowledge of their learners to inform class lists for 2015- this was done in a very long and heated ( you could clearly see how passionately teachers care about their students education) staff meeting with chart paper and all pupils names cut u ready for teachers to create classes with the best mix of learners

Liaised with our BoT in order to -

• Give them a clearer understanding of what lies behind the data they get presented. This clarity for the board will hopefully create better understanding of what is actually required in order to create the environment that will lead to the achievement of the strategic plan goals and allow more realism of expectations
• Create and continually update an action plan of what is happening within our school in order to meet our strategic goals, especially in student achievement
• Support the board to make a jump into using google in order to allow more collaboration and streamline the systems with an existing school system tool

Organised and ran school wide events -

• NZ Fact-a-thon- teachers created questions for each year level and students where sponsored to learn these. The money raised will go towards refitting our audio systems in the hall
• School Production- Our amazing dance teacher was the creative force behind this and I got the joy of the behind the scenes organisation ( staging, lighting, stands, tickets, PTA programs, timelines etc). It was hugely successful and a testimony to how well MBS values the creative arts
• Junior poetry competition and senior speech competitions

Reflected continually on challenging situations and how to best resolve these for all parties using skills that involved..

• Building my ability to use the ladder of inference in order to remove my personal gut response to situations and try to find a way to support the parties involved to come to a solution that worked for them
• Using open to learning conversations in order to coach colleagues and help them to identify how to resolve a situation or develop their ability to reflect on their practice
• Repressed personal aims and feelings in order to build stronger working relationships with colleagues
• Always try hard to reflect on how other people perceive a situation in order to support their progress and ensure I am putting in the required scaffolds of support to enable them to meet their goals

Ok that has made a start....now for the list of things I need to work on.....only joking.....there isn't enough room:)

CAAP plan and the difficulty of reliable OTJ's

Recently whilst constructing the mid-year mathematics report to the board, I discovered a blip in the data from a cohort group. It seemed fairly anomalous and investigation found that it was based on the difficulty for teachers and leaders to ensure consistency of OTJ's schoolwide.
Despite a reasonable start on how to gather evidence for making OTJ's, we still have a long way to go as a community of educators to ensure that this most abstract and tricky process can be made as authentic and valid as possible.
Our journey at MBS began with supporting teachers to understand how to analyse the schoolwide data and how this is only one part of the overall puzzle we have to put together in order to see where a students levels lie.
This year we are running both an ALiM and an ALL contract and an off shoot of these very valuable programs, has been the need for me to develop a CAAP plan ( Curriculum Action and Achievement Plan).
This is still an ongoing process of revision, feedback and more revision. However it has started to generate a document which aims to support all stakeholders within our school and wider community, see what a child achieving at a certain level, will 'look' like. Using the National Standards and also the ELLP, and numeracy progressions in order to build up a big picture of the skills and abilities a child will display. This is the start to building  a deeper understanding of what a child who isn't achieving will look like, and also the structures we have in place for the different tiers of intervention.
As a school, we have spent a lot of time looking at moderation within writing and have constructed a more shared understanding of what each level of writing will look like. We have also focused a lot on the collection and analysis of mathematical assessment in order to feed this into effective planning.
However we now need to use all these areas we have been working in and start to feed what we know around maths and reading in order to see how we can deepen our understanding of how to make valid OTJ's within these areas. In order to align our abilities as a staff so that by the end of the year we are able to make reliable OTJ's on a students work, in any of the 3 areas and for students at all levels in our school.

PLG group and the multiplier effect

Last term I joined a professional learning group facilitated by Maggie Ogram from Osprey Consulting.
The reasons for this are two fold:
First I knew that as I am relatively new to educational leadership and for that matter also to education itself- I have only been qualified as a teacher for 4 years!- that I need to ensure that I am double checking myself continually. Luckily I am an over achieving autodidact, who thrives on learning new things and I always research a concept or finding to ensure that what I am doing is pedagogically sound, and also proven to be effective. However I am keenly aware of what I don't know and so this PLG gives me an opportunity to collaborate in areas about which I may be unsure.
Secondly I knew that as my fellow DP was leaving, I would be loosing a very important professional relationship- the person whom I can bounce ideas off, have heated discussions with about practice and research ( not quite arguments as we have total respect for each other! but definitely good sound constructive conversations that lead to shared understandings) and who generally acted as a coach and mentor in one. So I knew that within the current structure of our school, I wouldn't be able to find that relationship for a while ( however approachable I ensure I am with other staff, it does seem that once one hits management level that people won't argue with you! and I need people to have a good argument/conversation with!) so the PLG has given me a forum with which to share ideas, bounce good conversations around and generally given me a group of coaches of which we are all equal and can all contribute valid points.
This last term we have looked at Certain readings in order to stimulate conversations in areas we all agreed we needed to work.
The first reading was around the kind of leader we are:



This is an excellent from a very interesting and thought provoking book

The ideas in this give a great reference point from which to set a series of leadership goals and I am finding that having these pinned to my wall above my lonely little desk in the dungeon office are helping to keep me connected with what is important to focus on