Leader-to-Leader

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Leader-to-Leader

• Lee Meadows
• Director, Alabama LASER

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Leader-to-Leader

• Changing Their Minds without Losing Yours!

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From Deep Inside

• Whats tough about leading change?

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The Challenge

• In the face of Floridas adoption, what are your
  most strategic leadership moves for the next 3
  months?
• Example ideas (to stir our thinking)?

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Leading Inquiry Reforms

• Lees Unique Expertise

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Science Teacher Educator

• UT Masters ( reform)
• UGA Ph.D. ( reform)
• UAB School of Education ( reform)

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Reformer
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Classroom Teacher

• Sabbatical as 9th grade regular teacher
• Do-it-yourself inquiry during first semester
• Active Physics Chem during second semester

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Leading Change

• Successful Strategies

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Advocate Inquiry

• Thinking Skills
• My kids cant think
• Teamwork
• Kids today have zero social skills
• Info Management
• Students cant read
• Problem Solving
• Kids today arent ready for the real world

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Inquiry the NSES

• www.nap.edu/bookstore, then Search All Titles for
  Inquiry (or later master web site)
• Best resource for inquiry theory
• Open book

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Lead to Exemplary Curriculum

• Has it been through an RD process?
• NSF-label
• Is it guided inquiry?
• Open-ended is scary!
• Other key features
• PBL
• Cooperative learning
• Relevance/Science Literacy

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Resources

• http//www.dpo.uab.edu/lmeadows/rescutting.html
• Links to exemplary curriculum (elementary,
  middle, and high)
• Links to elementary inquiry assessments
• 5 Essential Features book
• Alternative Pathway Google search Lee Meadows
  UAB

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Reflecting on the Challenge
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Attend to the Obvious

• Materials
• purchase, storage, management, replenishment
• Professional Development
• Support Teacher Change
• Assessment Changes
• Aligning assessment with instruction

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Avoid an Inquiry Ghetto

• Tech-prep only
• Gifted only
• Special needs students only
• Average students only
• Not for ESOL

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The Human Factor

• Take care of yourself
• What good is a burned out (or dead!) leader?
• Listen to your teachers
• Except for the resistors
• Think long term, but communicate crisis
• Workforce development AND literacy through
  science
• Use CBAMs Stages of Concern

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Reflecting on the Challenge
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CBAMs Stages of Concern

• Awareness
• Whats inquiry? Why should I use it?
• Information
• How do I prep to use inquiry? I dont know enough
  science? Whats exemplary curriculum?
• Management
• All my time is going to studying the teacher
  guide and managing stuff!
• Routine Use Refocusing

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Nurture Leaders

• Innovators
• The ed fad of the week
• Leaders
• Trusted trustworthy
• Early Majority
• Follow the leader
• Late Majority
• Looks like a resistor
• Resistors
• The black holes of reform

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Dont Solve Their Dilemmas

• High-stakes tests vs. inquiry
• Students lack of process skills vs. prep for life
  work
• Lack of material funding vs. our poor workforce

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Questions?
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Taking it Home
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The Challenge

• In the face of Floridas adoption, what are your
  most strategic leadership moves for the next 3
  months?

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The Bottom Line

• Leadership is tough
• Leadership is the missing link in educational
  reform
• Leaders need a support network, and that may not
  be possible from the people you lead
• Leadership is deeply rewarding

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• Its About Time (888.698.8463)
• Middle school earth science
• High school physics, chemistry, and earth science
• Materials kits
• Professional Development
• Alabama LASER (205.934.8347)
• Strategic planning
• Reform coaching