Come Together Right Now

1
Come Together Right Now

• Creating Unity of Purpose for Quality Teaching
  and Learning

2
Learning Outcomes

• Participants will
• understand that creating unity of purpose is an
  intentional act that is embedded in the daily
  work of school.
• Have an awareness of how to assess their current
  state and to create a plan moving a school
  community toward a shared vision
• Work with strategies of how to clarify purpose
  and develop agreed upon processes.

3
Pair Share--Song Lyrics

• 1) Come together right now, over me.
• 2) Got to be a joker he just do what he
  please
• 3) Hold you in his armchair you can feel his
  disease
• 4) He roller coaster he got early warning
• 5) He got muddy water he one mojo filter
• --John Lennon

4
Pair Share

• Select a phase and discuss it with your partner.
  What does that phrase mean to you?
• How might it relate to change and leadership at
  your school?

5
Pair Share

• What exactly are you attempting to accomplish at
  your school?
• Each partner will have three minutes to
  articulate their vision.
• Partner A will start and talk for three minutes.
  I will signal when to switch. There is no
  discussion between partners. Simply listen to
  the other persons vision.

6
Dialogue Pair Share

• How is vision communicated to school personnel?
• How often? What conversations are occurring
  about what we are trying to accomplish?
• What is the role of accountability in creating
  our common goals?

7
Personal Reflection

• Was this easy to talk about? Why or why not?
  How did it feel to talk about your school?
• Are you really clear about what you and your
  staff are trying to accomplish? Do you really
  believe it is possible?
• Why do you think staff members are reluctant to
  work toward a common vision and goal?
• What frustrates you about your school?

8
Reflection Debrief

• What emerged for you as you did these activities?
• What have you learned about your schools vision
  and purpose?
• What leadership work do you need to do in order
  to effectively address vision, purpose and goals?

9
Lack of clarity around what is to be accomplished
is the biggest barrier to making the vision a
reality.
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Using behavioral descriptions to clarify purpose

• Improve learning for all students
• Becomes
• Each teacher commits to planning engaging
  lessons for all students using the district
  curriculum standards and by implementing agreed
  upon high yield instructional strategies from
  Marzanos Classrooms that Work book.

11
Pair Share

• With your partner, write one of your desired
  outcomes in a behavioral statement.
• As a leader, how might we engage others in
  writing these behavior outcomes of our mission
  and goals?

12
Culture Card

• Review expected behaviors for Waldorf-Astoria
  Hotel Chains all over the world.
• How might you use this model to create a culture
  card or flyer for your school?

13
Pillars of Organizational Wisdom

• Values--Self evident truths that drive
  organization.
• Example Students have the right to high
  expectations, consistent curriculum, and fair
  assessments. (again clarity in communication)
• How does the leader identify core values and
  beliefs and discuss them with staff?
• --Adapted from Doug Reeves,2002

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Pillars of Organizational Wisdom

• Evidence--What tells us that we are living out
  our values.
• Are there multiple indicators? Do we really find
  evidence for all underlying assumptions that
  drive our work?
• As a principal, how do I monitor and collect
  evidence to bring forward our current state of
  performance?
• ---Adapted from Doug Reeves, 2002

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Pillars of Organizational Wisdom

• Strategies--Specific actions by adults in the
  system.
• Strategies are not plans, goals, or good
  intentions, they are visible, observable
  behaviors.
• What are the behaviors that positively impact
  student learning? Where are those behaviors
  consistently observed? Where are they absent?
• --Adapted from Doug Reeves, 2002

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Observable Behaviors vs. Desired Behaviors

• Develop systems that monitor desired behaviors.
• Compare observable behaviors with desired
  behaviors.
• Use this as data to provide feedback and work
  with staff to continuously improve implementation
  of desired behaviors.

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Design Simple SystemsExample

• Desired behavior All teachers will clearly
  articulate the learning goals to all students.
  Students will be able to also articulate the
  learning goals.
• Data Collections System
• Walkthrough form to determine if observer
  understands the learning goal and ask students,
  What are you learning?
• Create simple tally sheet of positive responses
  or negative responses around each walkthrough.

18
Principals who desire significant changes in
teaching, learning, and relationships within
their schools begin by making significant changes
in what they think, say and do.--Dennis Sparks
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Communicate Often and in Varying Formats

• The specific organizational outcomes must be
  communicated and modeled to address both the
  heart and the mind.

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Metaphor--Create the following with your
partner.School improvement is like
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Communicating a Compelling Aspiration

• Its not just a picture of what could be, it is
  an appeal to our better selves, a call to become
  something more. It reminds us that the future
  does not just descend like a stage set, we
  construct the future from our own history,
  desires, and decisions.
• Rosabeth Kanter,1999

22
Inspirational Leadership

• What is inspiring about what we are to do? What
  kinds of things inspire us?
• What specifically do I need to think about and be
  learning in order to do my part in creating the
  vision of our school?

23
Inspiration

• Poems, music, videos and stories provide
  inspiration.
• Example Music used at beginning of
  presentation.
• Poem or story example

24
Modeling by Leaders

• Principals model what they expect from others.
• What leadership behaviors positively model
  engaging a school staff in improving teaching
  and learning for all students?

25
Reflective Conversations and Practice

• Model in daily exchanges with teachers.
• Craft good questions that deepen thinking around
  shared work.
• Take time to deeply listen to the responses from
  others.

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Reflective Practice

• Reflective questions may engage feelings as well
  as thoughts.
• Look at the questions you have been asked to
  reflect upon. How could you use some of these
  same questions with teachers?
• What other questions might you use to engage
  teachers?

27
Move to Action

• Principals must create situations that lead
  people to act, helping them do rather than talk
  about doing.
• ---Becky DuFour

28
Move to Action

• Once teachers are familiar with and practicing
  the changes, support will follow. Commitment
  follows competence.
• ---Michael Fullan

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Stay Connected to the Work

• Many initiatives unravel because, where there is
  support at the top, those at lower levels are
  left to resolve tensions, answer questions and
  fill gaps on their own.
• What must the leader consider in order to know
  when there are tensions and questions so that he
  or she can be proactive in addressing the issues?

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Having Hard Conversations

• What do you confront? What is the elephant in
  the room for your school?
• It is essential for the leader to ensure that
  poor or mediocre performance is not tolerated.
  It is a major factor in the erosion of trust and
  the closing down of shared accountability.

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Having Hard Conversations

• Candor means forthrightly discussing
  non-discussables that are barriers to effective
  teaching and student successeven when that
  discussion may generate conflict and tension.
• --Dennis Sparks

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Steps to Remember

• Create clarity of outcomes by defining them in
  behavioral terms
• Communicate often touching the heart and the mind
• Craft the art of reflective questioning and
  dialogue
• Monitor and seek evidence of desired behaviors

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Steps to Remember

• Provide feedback using data and evidence
• Inspire others using music, stories, poems, art,
  etc.
• Create action-oriented culture modeled by the
  leader
• Have courage and confront those not exemplifying
  desired behaviors
• Stay connected to the trenches

34
Learning Outcomes

• Participants will
• understand that creating unity of purpose is an
  intentional act that is embedded in the daily
  work of school.
• Have an awareness of how to assess their current
  state and to create a plan moving a school
  community toward a shared vision
• Work with strategies of how to clarify purpose
  and develop agreed upon processes.

35
Out of clutter, find simplicityfrom discord,
find harmony and in the middle of difficulty
lies opportunity.Albert Einstein