Embedded Files
February 7, 2022 - “The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever” by Michael Bungay Stanier takes the reader through a set of questions that you can ask to improve how you help others grow and help yourself to become more effective and efficient. The basic takeaways from the book for me were that as leaders we typically move into problem-solving mode and make those we lead dependent upon us. By taking a step back and asking questions, we empower those we lead to solve their own problems and help the overall culture of our organization. I also appreciated one of the final points of the book that as leaders, we need to stay curious. Those in our organizations often have creative and effective plans and solutions and as leaders we need to get out of the way sometimes and let people work their magic. Below are the essential questions as well as reminders as to how we can support ourselves as we work through the questions with those we lead:
Seven essential questions:
The Kickstart Question: What’s on your mind?
The AWE Question: And what else?
The Focus Question: What’s the real challenge here for you?
The Foundation Question: What do you want?
The Lazy Question: How can I help?
The Strategic Question: If you’re saying yes to this, what are you saying no to?
The Learning Question: What was the most useful for you?
Keeping the conversation on track:
Ask an open-ended question and then be quiet and wait for an answer.
Stay away from the rhetorical question
Stay away from starting a question with “why” and stick with “what” and include a “you” somewhere as well.
Be comfortable with silence after a question
Actually listen to the answer.
Acknowledge the answers you get
You can use variations of all these questions in electronic communication.
January 21, 2022 - Soundtracks by Jon Acuff is an amusing and accessible book to help people be successful by curbing overthinking. He states that, "Overthinking is when what you think gets in the way of what you want.” (13) Soundtracks, according to Acuff, are the thoughts that are running through your head about yourself, your circumstances, and the world around you. Ultimately, you can choose to have a positive soundtrack or a negative or broken soundtrack. He references something called the “Ideometer effect…Your thoughts influence your actions. Your actions influence your thoughts.” (40) As I thought about that idea, I reflected on how our thoughts influence how we experience something by priming; has a shot ever hurt more because you were worried about it? Absolutely! On the other hand when we tell ourselves something is about to be no big deal, that is generally what comes to fruition. Acuff talks at length about how a broken soundtrack is not something that you can just silence or turn off and that you need to be intentional about turning down broken soundtracks and finding ways to replace the broken soundtracks with positive, affirming soundtracks. We all have certain "turn-downs" that we use, and as I reflected, some of mine were exercise, crossing things off my to-do list and then celebrating, playing a game, watching sports or TV, going to sit in a classroom, or find something quick and easy that I can cross my to-do list. As Acuff says on page 89, “You don’t think your way out of overthinking. You act your way out.” He talks about how there are amazing soundtracks all around you, and I reflected on many quotations from my reading that have created positive soundtracks for me. To get on the right track, ask yourself what soundtracks will help you achieve your goals and then figure out what actions you need to do to get there. Typically, these aren't big actions but small steps you can take and little things you can do on a daily basis. If you are stuck in a challenging situation and have a broken soundtrack on repeat, try and flip the soundtrack. Instead of being stuck on, "That will never work!" flip it to "How could that work?" When a challenging situation or event occurs you can either react with a generally negative emotional response or respond with action focused on solution-building. You determine what controls your emotions. Identify and acknowledge something negative and work towards a solution; anticipate that you are going to have some “L’s” in your life. How will you respond? Also keep in mind, you only have so much energy; are you going to put it towards the problem or the solution? Acuff wraps up his book talking about some strategies to help move past broken soundtracks by usingdaily affirmations. If you tell yourself something will be a certain way, that is typically what will happen. Another very helpful strategy is to have a physical symbol to remind you of your positive soundtrack. An effective symbol needs to be visible, personal, and simple. After reading about symbols, I took a few minutes to make a list of the symbols in my office which wound up being a very powerful and centering process for me.
October 15th, 2021 - Positive Intelligence is a book with the premise that our own minds are responsible for our success or failure and we determine whether an event is positive or negative. The author uses a metric called the Positive Intelligence Quotient which “is the percentage of time your mind works acting as your friend rather than your enemy." A sign of a high positive intelligence quotient is the ability to view all events as a gift or an opportunity. The author lebels the engine that generates this positive outlook as the Sage Perspective. This perspective is your reflective and thoughtful response to the world which consists of five components:
Empathy, Exploration, Innovation, Navigation, Activation
On the other end of the spectrum, there are your saboteurs. Your saboteurs are a part of your survival brain and are emotional defenses to help us reach adulthood. Understanding our saboteurs and listening for their voice is the first step to positivity. To recognize when your saboteurs are doing the talking in your head, you have to work on being in the moment and having a high Positive Intelligence Quotient.
The author has identified ten saboteurs through his research. The first and strongest saboteur to your positivity is the Judge. The Judge finds fault in yourself, others, and circumstances. Everyone has the judge as their main saboteur plus one other dominant saboteur depending on your values, personality, and upbringing. The other nine saboteurs and how they inhibit positivity are listed below:
Avoider - Avoids difficult and unpleasant situations and confrontation
Controller - Needs to take charge and feel in control to manage stress and anxiety
Hyper-Achiever - Dependent on constant performance and achievement for validation
Hyper-Rational - Process everything devoid of feelings from an analytic lens
Hyper-Vigilant - Worries about everything that could go wrong
Pleaser - Need to gain acceptance from those around you
Restless - Constantly in search of excitement or the next big thing; keeps you always busy and future focused
Stickler - Need for order, perfection, organization
Victim - Uses emotion and temperament as a way of gaining attention and affection
To combat the Saboteurs, there are a few techniques that the author suggests that will increase the amount of time you are looking at the world through a positive lens. The first is finding time daily to short mental exercises and practice being in the moment with only your senses called PQ Reps. By focusing on what you are tasting, touching, smelling, seeing, hearing, or feeling, you are able to be fully present physically. The PQ Reps help build a bridge to being able to be present mentally and emotionally. Some other techniques are listed below:
Three-gift technique: Come up with three scenarios where a supposedly bad situation can be turned into a gift or an opportunity
Visualize the Child: When you think of yourselves or others as a young child, you remind yourself that we are all worthy of unconditional caring.
Fascinated Anthropologist: Detach yourself from a situation try and understand motivation of others and yourself. This strategy can be especially helpful if paired with an assumption of postive intent in others.
Brainstorm as many ideas as possible when confronted with a challenge and keep the judge locked away. If we evaluate ideas as we brainstorm, we squelch our creativity.
Flash Forward - Picture yourself at the end of your life; from that vantage point what would you wish you had chosen?
This book had an immediate impact on my ability to be able to refocus myself and work through challenges with a solution-oriented focus. Being in the moment also has a tremendous impact on seeing a situation for what it is and not blowing something out of proportion. Labeling negative thoughts in my head from the judge has also had an impact on my patience with myself and with those around me.
August 27, 2021 - As I started this book, I immediately thought about the applications and implications for students and teachers. Dr. Milkman starts with the premise that we often look for quick solutions to problem solving as opposed to truly understanding what is causing a problem. If we understand what is causing a problem, then we can figure out specific strategies to solve the problem. One-size fits all solutions typically do not have a positive long-term impact. She then goes on to discuss how to get started with change and how to combat the typical barriers to change which her research has determined to be impulsivity, procrastination, forgetfulness, laziness, confidence, and conformity. She unpacks how each barrier impacts change and some strategies to overcome these barriers. Ultimately, we need to be vigilant to use change strategies long-term as opposed to using a strategy for a month and then assuming you no longer need a strategy. This book would be a great selection for a book study so that individual teachers can adapt and incorporate some of the solutions to barriers for change. This work was accessible yet grounded in research and could be a game-changer for those that take time to really reflect on how they might overcome their own barriers to change.
August 12, 2021 - I found this book based on a recommendation from The Smart Thinking Podcast by Ted Neitzke. He gave his listeners a summer reading list and I am of course dutifully working my way down the list. This book challenged many working assumptions I made about educators, research in education, the tools and means that we use as educatiors, and the purpose of education. Anytime a book challenges widespread assumptions, it creates the potential for long-term benefit and risk-taking. Below, I will share some notes that I tool while reading. While I am not in agreement with all of the ideas in the book, I do believe that some will inform som of my decisions moving forward, specifically in questioning why we do things certain ways and trying to move beyond doing things because that is how they have always been done.
Education outsources it expertise
Most academics are theorists who operate in a theoretical and abstract world
Expertise is only developed over years of experience and practice
Practitioners are able to develop mental models based on their years of experience within the context of what they do and where they do it
Solutions:
Prioritize the opinions of those who do and deal in the daily practice of education as opposed to academics and researchers
Use your veteran staff as they typically have the best mental models of how to improve teaching
Give educators agency over their own learning - they know what they need
Evidence and research often don’t translate to a specific educational context
Scientists usually begin with isolating variables to conduct research and experiments to see if a theory pans out. When they introduce more variables, it becomes difficult to see if their theory is working or not.
When educational research is conducted in one context, it is challenging for an educator in another context to answer the question, “what does this mean for me?”
If teachers are doing their own research in the context of their own classroom, the data becomes much more valid and useful. If we find ways to make this teacher-driven research readily available in a standard format, it will allow for it to be more widely accepted as valid.
The problem with grades and assessment - Grades and assessment are meaningful in school and getting those who care about academics to their next steps in life, but have little or no impact on life after school
The brain sees things and processes them according to the bias of the individual: we see things as we want them to be
To create grades, we take an abstract concept and find a way to make it concrete(reify), measurable and then rank our results
“Grading and modern assessment espouse a worldview where all human thoughts, skills, and qualities must be reified in order to be considered real, must be quantified in order to be understood, and must be ranked in order to be useful.” (42)
Education is most meaningful and impactful if focussed on helping students discover their passions, ask big questions, and develop personal agency (47)
If “the test” is important, it is incumbent to spend some time helping kids to do better on the test and transfer their learning to “the test,” but this goal is not the central focus of education.
Homework can be valuable for student learning if used properly
All teachers assign HW, but most cannot agree on why, what kind, or how much
All HW comes at an opportunity cost for kids and their families; if they are doing HW they are not doing other things at night or on the weekends that support their overall development
HW is not mandatory and there is no real research that supports HW will develop “study-skills, time management skills, and independent learning skills” (55). This assumption is a value judgement
HW completion measures obedience more so than anything else
There is very little transfer in the “better get used to it” mentality from school to real life. Educators create a negative attitude towards learning when they use rewards and punishments as a motivator for learning.
HW has a negative impact on learning for high school students after 60 minutes in one night
Kids and adults need time to pursue passions in the evening to reduce stress and support mental health and wellness
Suggestions:
Assign task-based HW that uses previous learning and stay away from complexity
Do not assign HW due to running out of time in class
Mindset in and of itself cannot increase student achievement
Since Carol Dweck’s book was published and popularized, many assumptions and exaggerations have been made that have not been proven to be as effective as once believed
We often read accounts of research as opposed to the research itself and then draw our own conclusions or do not truly understand the study
“Teachers...are the primary mediating factor that determines whether or not a tool will impact learning. Mindset, motivation, hope, joy, insportation, resilience, and grit have every chance to boost student learning - but only if they are meaningfully and practically filtered through the teacher.”(71)
Failure in a practice or learning state can foster growth - Failure in a performance state can cause serious problems that we are sometimes unable to recover from
Think of a brain surgeon or a rocket scientist - They can make a mistake with a model or in the former a cadaver, but a mistake in a real-life situation can be the difference between life and death.
Schools place too much emphasis on 21st century skills without a focus on transfer to different contexts
Transfer is the ability to apply skills learned in one domain to another
We need knowledge of the content being studied to apply a skill in that arena
People need a bridge between knowledge and skills when asked to apply it to a new context
Once you have a contextualized skill or concept, you then begin to automate that skill through practice within that context
When taking a skill to a new context, you sometimes need to unlearn what had previously been automated in a prior context
Ultimately, we need to explicitly teach kids how to learn in any situation with three steps:
Internalize relevant information
Synthesize facts to figure out what skills are needed for a specific context
Adapt skills to the new context
Kids need to know why and when to use a strategy - We need to model for our kids
In most cases, research shows that computers have a neutral impact on learning and there are just as many findings that demonstrate computers may impair learning outcomes as there are findings that demonstrate improvement of outcomes.
Kids are used to using technology for social media and passive consumption of media in general. When we ask them to use technology for learning, they often have difficulty staying focused using technology for this new purpose.
Three reasons that are debunked that we often use in support of technology:
We are throwing away the potential power of technology if we don’t use it
The world is full of computers and we need to use them to prepare kids
Teachers and students aren’t using technology the right way; nope - use is determined by the user, not the inventor
Three patterns that have developed to show positive outcomes for technology use:
If schools are closed, some learning through technology is better than no learning
Students with specific learning disabilities can use technology as scaffolding but be wary of allowing this practice for preference only as it makes it challenging for a student to learn how to learn
Use a computer simulation to practice a high risk or dangerous situation
In summation, we must move away from adopting new technology unless positive learning outcomes have been proved in a similar context
Rewarding behavior does not motivate learning - it is a tool of compliance for the teacher and undermines intrinsic motivation
Rewarded behavior stops when the rewards stop
Rewarded behavior doesn’t transfer from one environment to another
If rewards are decreased, expectations are not met ad performance crashes
If we want rewarded behavior to continue, we must constantly provided the reward
Students see that we reward what we value and then tend to value what they see rewarded
Rewards create an environment of competition and comparison - students don’t see importance in learning, only in being number one isn’t all that good - Example: student with a 4.0 GPA and a 22 on the ACT
We need to create “intrinsic motivation - where learning is powered not by rankings or rewards, but by a desire to contribute meaningfully through our humanity...intrinsic motivation emerges only when an activity or behavior feels like it makes sense - like it genuinely matters.”(115)
The three main organizational structures of the school day, the number of days and calendar organization, number and length of class periods, and start and end times of the school day are typically based on historical reasons with little regard for their impact on student learning.
The extended summer break is based on HVAC systems in buildings and the economics of the community. Kids have a summer slide and lose a considerable amount of learning over the summer. We can fix this with shorter breaks that occur more frequently and are more evenly distributed throughout the calendar year.
The 50-minute period was based on Carnegie units and was implemented for ease of organization. A schedule that focused on learning rhythms in the brain would increase learning output.
We have a three stage sleep cycle and go through multiple cycles a night. Teens tend to delay falling asleep which causes them to go through the sleep cycle less times. If we started school later for teens, they could sleep longer and better. Alas, sports, bussing, work schedules, daycare needs, and sleep patterns of younger learners drive most building schedules.
One of the biggest hurdles in public education is that most stakeholders would answer the question of what is the purpose of public education differently. In other organizations and institutions, when the purpose is clear, the “how” becomes evident. In education, we often start with the “how” without consensus of what our mission is as an institution.
The function of the school can be identified by the “Narrative” the school serves. A Narrative provides three components to explain the why…
Continuity - “organizes the past, present, and future into a coherent and consistent framework” (131)
Identity - Defines the role of individuals in the evolution of the world, past, present, and future
Social Organization - Organizes beliefs and principles for the broader good
Our current Narrative has turned into one of economics defining people by what they do for a living and measuring worth by possessions and wealth
Most educators do not recognize this Narrative which tends to lead to frustration and conflict.
This economic Narrative does not have to be our Narrative. During the founding of our nation, the Narrative was one of The Democratic Experiment concerned with maintaining a nation in the midst of more-established nations and the default to tyrannical rule.
Other possibilities for Narratives suggested by the author were ideas such as stewardship based on taking care of our plant, cultivation of ideas and knowledge based on the evolution of thought and process, or a focus on the tools and technology as the primary agent for informing our paradigm.
July 16, 2021
Love Your Enemies by Arthur C. Brooks
Intro/Chapter 1: Are You Sick of Fighting Yet?/The Culture of Contempt
Contempt for others promotes binary thinking (Good vs. Evil, Right vs. Wrong) and encourages dehumanization
Contempt for others makes finding common ground almost impossible
Love is the antidote to contempt - Four ways to demonstrate this type of love:
Show empathy when people are in distress
5:1 - positive comments:negative comments(10:1 for kids)
Keep in mind that contempt is never justified even when you disagree with someone
Learn from those who disagree with you
Chapter 2: Can You Afford to be Nice?
Research all points to nice people finishing first
Two ways to show nice:
Fake it until you feel it - It will eventually turn to really being nice
Smile
Show empathy with people by not trying to fix them; listen and restate their feelings so they know you are listening
Practice gratitude
Chapter 3: Love Lessons for Leaders
We are currently in a dignity crisis
If you don’t feel valued, you lose hope. You then want immediate change including a savior and a scapegoat. Coercive leaders are born out of this dignity crisis and perceived need for extreme change.
We need authoritative leaders who establish a vision and expectations and then empower people through encouragement and trust.
Chapter 4: How Can I Love My Enemies if they are Immoral?
5 types of morality:
Fairness
Redistributive or meritocratic
Compassion
Teach to fish or provide food
Respect for authority
Loyalty to the tribe
Purity
Typically, liberals and conservatives share the first two types of morality as their why while liberals do not typically agree that the last three are signs of being moral.
Focus on the moral values we have in common (Why over What)
Listen to and interact with those who have a different moral foundation
Be open to change based on experience and reflection
Stay in the “middle” as much as you can - there is not one “right” for all
Chapter 5: The Power and Peril of Identity
“We use identity as a shortcut to a sense of community and belonging” (110)
Meeting face to face gives marginalized people humanity and makes stereotypes seem less important
Bonding Identity (stay within similarly-minded people) vs. Bridging Identity (Bringing people together to focus on what we have in common)
“That’s the secret for overcoming division and the culture of contempt that is permeating our country today. It’s easy to have contempt for the ‘other’...It’s much harder to have contempt for real people with names and faces and human stories. When we encounter one another as individuals and tell our stories, we overwhelm contempt with something more powerful: love.” (128)
Chapter 6: Tell Me a Story
People learn best when told a story - more data won’t change a belief
Oxytocin is the chemical that creates the feeling of connection/love and is released/produced through human stories
1 > 1,000,000
When we become anonymous, we open ourselves up to dehumanization and the deindividuation of our own behavior - we must police ourselves
Social media makes it easy to be anonymous - watch out!
Chapter 7: Is Competition Our Problem?
Some conclusions about competition to keep it positive:
We must face worthy opponents
We must win within the rules
All competitors must agree on the rules
Competition creates admiration and connection
In economics, fair competition has created prosperity and accessibility for most Americans
Competition of ideas brings the best ideas to the top and teaches us to learn how to defend our perspective
Work to understand and engage as opposed to despise and ostracize
“Iron sharpens iron ideologically” (172)
Be grateful for those who disagree with you
Chapter 8: Please disagree with me
According to Aristotle the highest form of friendship is one where you assume good intention and have a shared sense of virtue and truth - allows for disagreement between friends
Disagree with others better, not less
Make sure you have friends you can disagree with respectfully
“No one is ever insulted into agreement” (189)
Insults only harden hearts and opinions
Never assume someone else’s why
Do not weaponize your values.
Conclusion: Five Rules to Subvert the Culture of Contempt
Refuse to be used by the powerful - be more wary of leaders that have your same ideology
Active rebellion - call out contempt on your side of the aisle first
Have a circle that includes people who are not like-minded and go places you normally would not go
Stay away from using contempt - No insults, no mockery
Respond to contempt directed at you with warm-heartedness and good humor
Disagree better - “Disagreement helps us innovate, improve, correct, and find the truth.”
Tune out - Disconnect from unproductive debates
July 7, 2021
As a part of some English/ Language Arts curriculum revisions, I participated in a book study with our English Department as we consider how we might include the use of more mentor texts and work towards common assessment. In our school, it is imperative that students cover the same learning objectives as they may switch teachers at the mid-point of the class. Roberts lays out ways that teachers can find some common ground teaching both whole-class texts while also creating space for independent reading. Her focus is skill-based in teaching reading to kids.
If teachers focus on using the different texts to teach and reteach important reading strategies and skills to help students first understand and then move towards analysis and inferential thinking students will grow into sophisticated readers who actually enjoy reading. Too often, we focus just on the piece of literature or prose itself as opposed to using the text as a vehicle for teaching skills that students can transfer to other texts. Start with classroom-based formative assessment and simple teacher-created diagnostic tools to gain insight as to the target skills that the particular group of students needs to work on. Then, use a combination of read-alouds and mini-lessons to model and work on learning objectives while reading whole-class texts. It is important to move through the whole-class text in a few weeks as opposed to spending an entire grading period on one book as students will lose interest. Find space to create opportunities for students to show and share their thinking while reading through spoken and written formative and summative assessments. Roberts goes on in detail to talk about "teacher-friendly" ways that a teacher can structure units and expectations that provide authentic opportunities for students to digest and interpret what they are reading without overwhelming either the kids or the teacher. Finally, it is important to thread the same skills and strategies into students' independent reading so that they have opportunities to practice and apply what they have learned to high-interest texts.
June 7, 2021
Dr. Brown's work is widely known and published in the United States and abroad. On the advice of a colleague, I listened to a few episodes of her podcast and then decided that I wanted to know more. Dr. Brown is a researcher in the field of Psychology and this book shared many of her perspectives on effective leadership. The main point that I took away from Brown's book is that leaders in strong organizations operate with courage and model vulnerability for all in their organization. Brown discusses vulnerability as showing up and putting in the hard work everyday with no certainty
regarding the outcome. To truly be vulnerable, those within the organization must trust their leader and their leader must trust those within the organization. A big part of trust in an organization is knowing the culture, specifically spending time on and addressing your staff's fears and feelings. Without giving people within your organization the space and comfort level to share how they truly feel about their job and the organization and without a leader reciprocating that communication, leaders become managers who often have employees that struggle to take risks and have poor communication. Through her book, Dr. Brown shares many strategies and frameworks for leaders to use to establish a positive and productive climate. One such concept I appreciate was the idea of moving from needing to be right to wanting to get it right (page 92). The main difference is that wanting to get it right means learning together with your team to identify issues using curiosity and questioning as opposed to just being expected to be the source of knowledge and always have the solution to every issue. This type of mindset creates a "grow together" mentality that helps everyone in the organization to take ownership and be a leader.
Another concept that Dr. Brown discussed at length is how to develop empathy while avoiding shame. If a leader is always assuming positive intent of those with whom they interact it much easier to be supportive to foster growth as opposed to simply being critical. If we give or receive difficult feedback, we need to "make space for people to feel the way they feel" (page 202). People who work in high functioning organizations feel like they belong and are able to make mistakes, seek assistance, and have room to grow. People in organizations without a sense of empathy and belonging feel like they should know how everything works, be able to predict how things will to turn out, and subsequently are ashamed when something doesn't go well. As I was reading this section of the book, I thought often of my lawn at home. I have a large field behind my house that is full of dandelions in the spring. Invariably, the spring winds often spread the dandelions into my lawn and it takes hours of work to pull the dandelions to keep my yard from being over-run. I have learned that it is too daunting to pull all of the dandelions in one day and that even as I pull a bucket-full of weeds from the grass, there are often more waiting to grow into their place in a few days. I could go heavy on the chemicals to try and kill the dandelions, but that often leads to patches of dead grass which defeats the purpose of maintaining my lawn. Instead, I am patient with myself and my lawn. I cannot control the dandelion seeds blowing into my years. Ultimately, I need to put the work in every day and at the end of the day, reframe my focus on the grass as opposed to the dandelions. My lawn looks good, and I know it looks good so I allow myself to focus on the positive while still being aware of what needs attention. Educators are driven to create the best outcomes they can for their students and their schools. As a leader, I need to help our staff refocus on the grass that is growing instead of letting the dandelions derail passion and progress. We can all recognize that there will be challenges and we will come to work everyday to do what we can together to work through those challenges. Sometimes not everything can be fixed immediately or at all so we must support our staff with empathy and do what we can to step in their shoes and learn together how to work towards getting it right.
November 20, 2020
Ta-Nehisi Coates book entitled “Between the World and Me” was both a challenging and important read. As schools try and create culturally responsive environments for their students, trying to understand the perspectives of all members of the school community has never been more important. The book is a letter to Coates’ adolescent son trying to help him understand the implications of what it means to be black in America. The premise of Coates work is that race is a construct of those who have benefitted from the American Dream and it is used to continue to promote the American Dream regardless of the cost. Throughout his work, he refers to those who have benefited as the “Dreamers.” The America we live in today has been built on the shoulders of many who have not had a choice in the matter since slave ships first began carrying cargoes of kidnapped Africans across the Atlantic Ocean over 400 years ago. Coates shares how even though slavery has been outlawed for generations, black Americans still often pay the ultimate price for the American Dream with their lives and bodies. You do not need to do much research to see the high dropout rate, incarceration rate, and violent victimization rate of African American males compared to all other American males. Sadly, the news stories he references of the deaths of African Americans when the book was published in 2015 seem to continue to replicate themselves today. According to Coates, to be black in America means always looking over your shoulder and around the corner. A misinterpreted word or action can mean paying the ultimate price. This same level of fear and trepidation is something that those who are not black do not need to think about and most cannot fathom. Sometimes it does not matter what you do or say as a black man or woman in America; sometimes the only thing that matters is the color of your skin.
As I said at the beginning of this reflection, this book was challenging to read. It made me re-evaluate many assumptions that govern my day-to-day experience as a middle-class American. So much of what I take for granted and enjoy in my life is a privilege that some in this country do not have based on factors that they cannot control and cannot change. If we want to truly include all Americans, we need to be honest and open first with ourselves and then work to build understanding as to what it means to be a marginalized people in this country.
The first thing I realized when I began reading this book is that it is not for the faint of heart and it took a few restarts on this book to get past some of Goggins’ abrasive language choices. David Goggins always gives you an honest and raw account of his experiences and his thoughts. He is intense because his experiences have been intense and that is the way he writes his combination memoir and plan for the reader to take control of their life. His upbringing included countless stories of neighborhood violence, poverty, and dealing with an alcoholic and abusive father.
His central theme always comes back to being a survivor and taking responsibility for your life regardless of the hand you are dealt. His message reminded me of a similar message from my experiences with Challenge Day that we have had the privilege to bring to the Kaukauna Area School District over the years. Challenge Day encourages participants to admit and experience their vulnerability to build inner strength through abandoning what cannot be controlled and leaving victimhood behind. A victim continues to allow others to have control over his or her life by giving up control of their emotions to those around them. A survivor gets back up off the canvas and controls what he or she can control starting with emotions regardless of what is going on around him or her.
Goggins gives the reader ten different challenges that are woven into the stories of his youth and his later experiences of putting himself through some of the most challenging physical and mental situations in elite military training and extreme physical competitions such as ultra marathons, ultra triathlons, and breaking the world 24-hour pull-up record. What resonated with me through all these challenges was that Goggins was almost never successful the first time around and yet he persevered. He was disappointed when he failed and as hard as it was, he unpacked his failure to understand what he did well and where he went wrong and then tried again...and again...and again until he got it right. One of the strategies he talked about was his accountability mirror. He put post-it notes on his mirror with all his “insecurities, dreams, and goals” (73) so then he had to face his reality every day no matter how challenging it could be. While I think we are often our own worst critics, we rarely have the courage to do something about what we see to be our shortcomings and areas for growth.
Other steps he talked about included the following:
Do something challenging every day to make hard change sustainable (101)
Surpass the expectations of your teacher, boss, or supervisor at every opportunity (129)
Visualize how you will overcome obstacles to succeed (162)
Keep all of the times that you have overcome obstacles close at hand to be used as a source of strength and inspiration (193)
Blow past previous self-imposed boundaries by pushing yourself an extra five or ten percent every day, especially when you are exhausted and full of self-doubt (231)
Write down your schedule for each day that details when you are making time for the important things in your life and conversely, let go of those things that do not positively impact you (264)
Always keep pushing yourself to new horizons and outside of your comfort zone, especially when you think you have “made it” or have it all figured out (295)
Ultimately, what I took from this book was that we build our character and values by how we respond to what happens around us. No one else will empower us because it is not their job to do so, it is our own.
Authentic Confidence was a fun and rewarding read as the author is a parent in our district and the book will be part of our 2020-2021 KASD growth framework as we try and refine and better ourselves as leaders. Mr. Fauske pulls from the music world with ease to capture what makes those that are succesful tick. He develops three types of confidence that impact leaders and their organizations: under confidence, over confidence, and authentic confidence. Authentic confidence can be achieved when we recognize our strengths and areas for growth and work within ourselves and our organization focus on honing our strengths and growing. Mr. Fauske outlines different stages that his clients and those he has studied have passed through in their journey. First, leaders must understand their significance and understand what they bring to the organization that is important. Leaders can then build their competence by focusing on their growth in a specific area by working with a mentor and studying leaders who were skilled in the area in which they wish to grow. Leaders must then find their unique contribution to the organization and the larger world. Keep in mind that since a leader's true contribution is unique it might be frightening to others and can be met with resistance. All of the great leaders and influencers in the world have had their detractors and critics and it is not about proving the detractors and naysayers wrong but making your contribution to the world because it is important. If you are in leadership for recognition, praise, and reward then you will never be satisfied.
Next, the leader must work to leverage their strengths. A leader cannot leverage strengths before they make themselves vulnerable to those they lead and go on a growth journey with those in their organization. When a leader demonstrates both his or her skill as well as his or her weaknesses those in the organization begin to trust. Finally, Mr. Fauske discusses the last stage of confidence being that of empathy. At the empathy stage, "it is no longer about what you can create, but what you help others create." (153) Ultimately the true leader makes everyone around them better and cultivates leadership in others. At some point, all leaders move on from their organization and organizations themselves will come and go. As we work to lead others and make our work meaningful, the leadership we give others to empower them to make a difference in their lives and the lives of others is our legacy.
I was able to gain a new understanding for the kids I work with and even some of the younger staff members in our building through this book. I had the opportunity to hear the author speak last year and that is what led me to this book. Elmore starts by defining Generation Z: typically, they were born during or after the year 2000 and the generation is known for the following characteristics:
They are private and prefer to learn alone and often keep their personal lives separate from their parents and caregivers.
They are known for having a high degree of anxiety due to the constant input from social media that causes them to question their place in the world.
They are restless in that their identity and lifestyle is fluid and in a constant state of flux due to their continuing exposure to the world on social media.
They are the most technologically savvy generation to date as personal devices have always been a part of their lives. They are easily able to "figure out" new technology and make it do what they want.
They are nurtured by their caregivers who have cleared their kids path forward from struggle and negativity.
They are entrepreneurial in that the traditional ideas of paying their dues to earn success through long-term loyalty and work has given way to finding quicker fixes and faster ways to solve the problem in front of them without waiting for permission.
They are more inclusive and accepting of those that are different than they are due to culture, ethnicity, skin color, and gender or sexual orientation.
Keep in mind that the above generalizations are just that: generalizations. There are always outliers and exceptions for any group of people, but to write about a generation to help leaders help today's youth, generalizations are necessary. Generation Z mostly lives in a digital world that is foreign to the adults in their lives. As parents and educators, we have little control over what type of input they have from outside and that scares us...quite a bit! Due to this lack of control in such a large part of our kids' world we tend to over control the controllable things in their lives. Kids are scheduled from the moment they wake up until the moment they fall asleep. This loss of control has helped contribute to learned helplessness and anxiety in some cases; kids don't have practice problem-solving outside of their digital world and are often at a loss for what to do when they don't know what to do.
To help our kids, Elmore outlines nine challenges that our kids face and how we might help them overcome those challenges:
Empowerment without Wisdom
Kids today have more resources than ever before, but often lack the maturity to use that power wisely
Our kids are biologically and cognitively advanced but emotionally and socially behind. Due to our fear as parents and educators, we have sanded the edges off for our kids and have not allowed them to develop any callouses.
We need to give kids first-hand experiences to accompany all of the knowledge they have at their fingertips. These experiences must include opportunities to struggle and fail so they are prepared for challenges as adults. The struggles and challenges should be developmentally appropriate and grow confidence and problem-solving skills.
Stimulation without Ownership
Kids in Generation Z have their lives scripted for them by parents, teachers, and supervisors. They do not have the opportunity to problem solve, take responsibility and risks for what they are asked to do. By making everything prescriptive, they take no ownership of their lives and feel more anxious and adrift.
We need to create opportunities for Generation Z to practice metacognition, or help them be aware of their own thought process as they problem solve. We need to give them an opportunity to meet an outcome or challenge that is important to them and have them determine how it will get done.
To foster metacognition, have kids PROVE themselves (p. 109)
P - Kids work on a real-world Problem
R - Students need to learn together through Relationships with peers and mentors. They are not told what to do, but given coaching and mentoring.
O - Kids have Ownership when they determine what is next.
V- Kids engage when their learning includes Visuals such as images, metaphors, and stories.
E - Students engage in Experiential and project-based learning.
Encourage students to take healthy risks, develop ownership, and find rewards through empathic thinking. If they are solving a real problem, they will care more and be more passionate.
Privilege without Responsibility
As life has gotten easier with modern conveniences and technology, we have moved further from survival mode and our sense of entitlement has grown.
Kids have developed the following mindset:
Our world is full of speed, so slow is bad
Our world is full of convenience, so hard is bad
Our world is full of entertainment, so boring is bad
Our world is full of nurture, so risk is bad
Our world is full of entitlement, so labor is bad
When we do things for kids that they can do themselves, we are sabotaging their maturity and leadership development
Kids who are entitled show less grit, less gratitude, and are constantly disappointed so they are less happy and fulfilled
To combat entitlement:
Kids need to learn to earn so they understand the value of what they have
We need to train kids to be grateful
Do not compare what you have with what others have
Do not have unrealistic expectations
Kids need to learn that with rights come responsibility
Focus on bettering themselves, serving others, and pursuing worthwhile goals.
Involvement without Boundaries
Kids today are over-committed and overwhelmed. They are bombarded with messages all day of what they should be doing and we have trained them to think that if a little is good, then more is better. The constant expectation and pressure to perform and be involved has created the most anxiety ridden generation in our country’s history.
To help kids create boundaries, we can do four things:
Create down time
Help kids learn how to be in the moment and do away with multi-tasking
We need to help kids be more active to reduce stress
We need to give kids coping mechanisms for stress and recognize that their stress is real and very different than what Millennials experienced as kids
Individualism without Perspective
“Every student...now seem(s) to live in a world centered around themselves-thanks to their smartphones.” (pages 167-168). Kids create their own reality and identity based on their technology. Because of a lack of interaction and exposure to the impact of their decisions and statements, kids just assume their opinions are unique and they know more than anyone else. Kids are the center of the universe they have created and therefore take longer to develop empathy and understand their place in the world.
“Students appear to be numb to others’ needs, and preoccupied with their own. It’s a vicious cycle: we feel we have to look out for ourselves since no one else is looking out for us, deepening our self-nurtured state.” - Pamela Paul, New York Times, 2010.
Because kids mostly create their own world, they are rarely pushed to consider other perspectives and opinions and are not used to being uncomfortable.
To help kids, consider having them explore their virtues and values and think about what is important for their eulogy, not just their resume. We also need to train kids to move beyond “Us vs. Them” thinking to “We” thinking; what do we have in common?
Accessibility without Accountability
Because social media has surrounded us with like-minded voices our views are rarely challenged. Kids assume that if other people in their social media world “like” something, that it must be good and moral. Young people have lost their sense of right and wrong as absolutes as we have focused on individualism and fluidity. We as adults are nervous about offending or excluding others, and so the concept of right and wrong based on common morals and values has developed into a sliding scale.
“The greatest way we can develop ethics and, in essence, a moral compass in young people is to create environments where they can work things out themselves practically.” (Page 203)
Six filters to help kids make moral decisions:
Keep others in mind not just me.
Keep the future in mind not just today.
Keep the truth in mind not just expediency.
Keep respect in mind not just results.
Keep justice in mind not just pleasure.
Keep honor in mind not just gains.
“As kids mature, they have to learn and follow rules, so to speak the lexicon and learn to please the teacher and later the boss...If we want to enjoy the benefits of all our society offers us, we must pay a price to do so.” (Page 189)
Fluidity without Integrity
Kids’s identities are like water. They transfer in and out of different vessels depending on the community they are in and have little shape themselves outside of the context of the vessel they are in.
Neo-tribalism - Kids get their identities from many different sources based on their interests as opposed to one institution or group
“Each kid is now handed a connection to the world and its information (and often misinformation). Once they log in, they are asked to decide their interests and prompted to find people who share them.” (Page 215)
“True purpose lies in what we do for others, not ourselves.” (Page 220)
To build integrity in our youth, we could create rites of passage for them where they are tested and prepared for the adult world. They should have to earn the rites of adulthood if they are going to accept any of the responsibility that goes along with being an adult.
Opportunity without Resilience
Kids have been robbed of grit as they have not been allowed to fail at things and problem-solve for themselves. Kids need to fall, fail, have problems with other kids and adults, have hard jobs, and learn to figure out how to problem-solve on their own. If they are not given this opportunity, they will develop learned helplessness and will cease trying because they do not think their effort is worth anything.
Once kids learn that effort can lead to success, they are more likely to show more effort and take ownership of their path.
“Kids who give up have endured chronic stressors with no adult who offers them hope. They often feel they are alone and that there’s no hope or help available. Kids who grow stronger, however, experience periodical stressors yet have adults who encourage them to continue. They learn they can change their reality.”
Ways to develop grit:
Instill a growth mindset - we can always change our reality and grow
Provide them with hope - specific feedback that about their improvement that is tied to their effort
Give them ownership of their learning - solve real-world problems
Consumption without Reflection
“Many have made their way critically through our educational process without ever learning to think critically or evaluate the worth and meaning of their experiences.” (pg. 55)
People often react based on a gut feeling and then find facts to fit their emotional response - this type of reaction is especially prevalent in teenagers due to their brain development.
Social media has made adolescents reliant on “likes” from many that they do not know personally to reinforce their posts and actions. Often social media consumers have no connection to the values of those who are influencing their posts and decisions. We need to make sure that as parents and leaders that we are not leaving the education of their values up to strangers.
To foster reflection we must give kids real-world problems to solve that are important to them. If they are searching for a solution as opposed to answering questions, they will reflect on the value of what they are doing.
This book takes a look at personal growth and had many applications on both my personal and professional life. Each chapter is organized around a myth or lie that the author told himself over the years that governed his personal and professional life. The idea was unpacked and then each chapter finished with three ideas or principles that the reader could use to create change. Many of the concepts resonated with me, and I will highlight a few here that relate to what we do in schools with our kids.
One of the myths he debunks is "I did something wrong, so I am something wrong." Hollis discusses how being wrong and doing something wrong are parts of our humanity and those moments, while not always comfortable are not moments to be avoided. He states "Learning from those times when you were wrong is what ultimately builds character." (49) He goes on to state that our mistakes only define us if we let them. This idea of control over how we portray our mistakes is significant in our path towards learning and our development of a Growth Mindset (see Carol
Dweck's work for more information on a Growth Mindset.). To combat internalizing mistakes, Hollis suggests that being open and sharing when you make a mistake will help develop empathy both with others for you and the empathy that you have for others. He talks about finding a model who has gone through the same growing pains and made similar mistakes so you can see how they were able to come out on the other side. Finally, he talked in this section about being willing to ask for help. It can be scary to ask for help, especially when you are in a leadership role and feel that others expect you should be able to do it all. Asking for help will mitigate the consequences of mistakes and help encourage growth and team - you don't have to do it all alone.
Another area of this book that resonated with me was his chapter debunking the myth that "Everyone is thinking about what I'm doing." We often put ourselves in the middle of the universe on a personal and professional level. Says Hollis, "We believe on some unconscious level that the entire operations will come crashing down if the contributions we've been making aren't available once we're gone. It gives us a sense of self-worth." (57) This idea really gets at how seriously we take ourselves. I have always tried to not take myself very seriously while still taking my roles as an educator, parent, and spouse very seriously. Hollis also relates this concept to careful consideration of whose feedback we decide matters to us. If someone you respect, love, or emulate gives you feedback, it is worthwhile to strongly consider their feedback. If on the other hand, people who don't understand the situation, don't know who you are, or truly don't care about the people involved in a situation should not be given much consideration. When you construct your own self-worth and image based on feedback from others, you are giving them control of you and your emotions. Choose your circle wisely and surround yourself with people who will make you the best version of yourself. It is okay to be challenged by the people in your inner circle because they care about you and whatever situation you are working through.
Overall, this book reminded me that we do not need to be perfect, and on some days we might not even be good. If we keep an open internal dialogue and evaluate our choices and their impact through an ongoing process of reflection we can continue to learn, grow, and work towards fulfillment.
Any fan of college basketball and sports in general will recognize John Wooden's name. He built the most successful dynasty in college sports at UCLA with his men's basketball teams winning ten NCAA national championships in twelve years including a stretch of 88 straight victories and four undefeated seasons. No other team in any college sport has had that record of success before or since he retired from coaching after the 1975 season. As I was born the year after he retired from coaching, I never had the opportunity to watch a single second of his teams play and I wanted to learn how he was able to maintain such a high level of excellence for such an extended period of time. At the core of Coach Wooden's success was his leadership pyramid. Many of the components of the pyramid come from lessons learned from his own father as well as trial and error and as a player in high school and college. Coach Wooden also drew upon his experiences as a high school English teacher and coach when completing his Pyramid of Success.
The pyramid pictured at left is a recipe for success and he goes into great detail explaining each block of the pyramid with a myriad of examples from his long experience as a coach and leader. Throughout the book, he often draws parallels between the sports and business worlds. As I reflected on all of the coaches, teachers, and mentors that have shaped my life, I was amazed at the many ideas that Coach Wooden described that I had already heard and taken to heart. Of the most significant lessons in the book, the first that resonated with me was that as a leader, the first thing you can do to be succesful is lead
by example. The only way people will trust you is if you are constantly "walking your talk." If you aspire to hold those in your organization to a high behavioral or moral standard and then are not consistently following the expectations for those under your leadership, you will be unable to influence others and undermine the success of the entire organization. Said Coach Wooden, "Your own person example is one of the most powerful leadership tools you possess. Put it to good use: Be what you want your team to become." (98)
Another area of focus that Coach Wooden discussed at length was patience and calm. For those under your leadership to truly grow, they need to take risks and fail. As long as the failure is not from a lack of preparation or effort, failure is the most effective teaching tool at your disposal. Having patience when those in your charge fail encourages them to continue to take new risks as they improve their skills and talents to help the organization or team be more successful. Remaining calm goes hand in hand with patience and is a necessary component of a strong leader. Things will not go as planned and situations that you had not predicted or prepared for will occur. The test in leadership is not in avoiding these situations, but instead in showing those you lead how to calmly problem-solve and help your organization navigate stormy and uncharted waters. It is easy when things are going well and you are not challenged - character is defined in those moments that test you and those around you.
Another area of the book that resonated with me is the focus on controlling what you can control and keeping an eye out for details. Of all things that we can control, Coach Wooden discussed time as one of the most significant areas to consider. Time is the same for all people, regardless of their wealth or talent, and how one chooses to use his or her time is the difference between good and great. Coach Wooden had all of his practices and meetings scripted down to the minute. Players and coaches knew exactly what they were going to do during each moment to make for an efficient use of time. If an activity did not help his team achieve the level of performance expected, than that activity was discarded. In addition to the careful consideration of time, Coach Wooden discussed the careful consideration of details. He viewed large accomplishments as simply a series of small accomplishments made possible by hard work and attention to detail. On the first day of practice, Coach Wooden started his first team meeting teaching his players how to put on their socks. He reasoned that if a player had socks on incorrectly, it could lead to blisters and discomfort and might negatively impact the rest of their play. Imagine Coach Wooden teaching Bill Walton and Lewis Alcindor Jr. (later know as Kareem Abdul Jabbar) how to put their socks on, but that is exactly what he did! The small details in any organization are the foundation for special!
One of the other concepts that I felt was crucial to Coach Wooden's success was his emphasis on team before the individual. While the team was made up of individuals, no one existed in a vacuum and as he said, "it took ten hands to score a basket." Someone had to rebound, set a screen or a pick, pass the ball, or otherwise occupy a defender so that the one shooting the basket would have the greatest opportunity for success. He made sure that everyone on his team and associated with his team at the university knew their role, value, and importance to the team's success. He often made sure to praise his role players publicly while reserving praise of his star players for private moments. The star receives praise from outside of the organization and knows his or her value while the role player does not get that same limelight and needs his praise to continue to put the needs of the team first.
The final concept that spoke to me was Coach Wooden's emphasis on effort. He wanted all of his players and coaches to give a full effort every time they stepped onto a court, into a meeting, or into a classroom. He wanted their focus on their effort here and now, and not on the test or game to follow another day. If everyone was focused on effort, the end result would take care of itself. And while Coach Wooden makes no bones about his desire to win, winning was not the goal. The goal was always maximum effort and commitment.
As part of our professional development as a district administrative team, each year we complete a book study together that we then discuss each month at our monthly team meetings. For the 2019-2020 school year, we read the book pictured on the left, "Coherence" by Michael Fullan and Joanne Quinn (2016). The authors focus on how educational systems can create systems to support positive change in educational outcomes for all students. To create systemic change, it is necessary for leaders to develop "consistency of purpose, policy, and practice." (1)
To develop this consistency, all leaders must foster a shared understanding of the work at hand and continuously co-create meaning among all educators within a system. To develop coherence, Fullan and Quinn lay out four "drivers" or main components that must be in place for continuous and successful change and growth. As depicted in their image above, the four drivers are focusing direction, cultivating collaborative cultures, deepening learning, and securing accountability.
The first component of focusing direction consists of leaders deciding on a few goals that will be most impactful of results. Schools need to find ways for those that are going to be responsible for the change to see what the organization will look like after the change is in place. Everyone within the organization needs to have ownership of the process and develop clarity together. As I read this section, I reflected on the last two major changes to the building schedule at Kaukauna High School. Five years ago, we moved from a traditional semester schedule to a trimester schedule and then this past year we added an intervention and enrichment period to the schedule as well. Both of these changes came about through the grass roots efforts of teachers who bought into the idea that we could do better and they wanted to be a part of the process. Our staff was able to see what the trimester schedule looked like in other buildings and ways in which it was successful. They completed research and learned how the trimester and an intervention period (known as Flex Time at KHS) might work in our school. We developed our own common language and ways to measure the efficacy of the new schedule. Finally, the staff also made sure that there was a common understanding that the focusing direction phase was never truly done as ongoing discussion and conversation is necessary to evaluate and adjust plans.
The second driver or component to coherence is creating a collaborative culture. To bring about change, leadership needs to exist throughout the organization. If leadership only exists at the top, then change is short-lived based on the longevity of the specific leaders in a school or district. On the other hand, if the practitioners with their "boots on the ground" own the change, they will lead and plan from within. Practitioners will be committed to change succeeding and will be willing to take risks and put the time in together to make change possible and sustainable. It is well documented that the most effective professional development is peer-led as peers have the most respect and empathy for those that are going through the same daily struggles, successes, and challenges on a daily basis. As leaders, Fullan and Quinn point out it is important for us learn and at times, struggle along with those that we lead. This type of vulnerability builds connection that will help teachers understand that we are all on the same page. This collective learning creates "deep collaborative experiences that are tied to daily work, spent designing and assessing learning...and...can dramatically energize teachers and increase results." (63) In short if we are learning and growing together, we will do what is necessary as a system to achieve successful implementation of any change.
The third driver is the process of deepening learning for all within the system. To accomplish deep learning, Fullan and Quinn talk about the intersection of pedagogical knowledge and digital learning to create new ways to engage leaders and learners in a system. First of all, the goals must be crystal clear to all those tasked with improvement and fostering change; if stakeholders do not know what might be at the other end of the tunnel, why would they navigate a sometimes dark and treacherous passage? Once the goal is clear, then practitioners must be given the tools and understanding to learn how to proceed together. The technological tools can be used to support sound pedagogy in the classroom to create learning environments that are positive for kids. Staff must learn how to use tools to connect with kids where they are in their learning journey to foster individual student growth. If staff feel like they have a thorough understanding of what they are being asked to do, their confidence and problem-solving abilities will soar as they guide their students.
The final driver for successful change in a school or district is securing accountability. Fullan and Quinn discuss both internal and external accountability. Internal accountability is for "insiders" and external accountability is for the public. Only when the other drivers are present and stakeholders own change do they begin to hold themselves accountable for the results of the change. To simplify the idea of internal accountability, think about in this way: If those responsible for the change are asking themselves the question, "is this an example of my best effort" and the answer is yes, then they are holding themselves accountable. Once those within the organization hold themselves accountable, they are more likely to embrace the validity and integrity of internal and external data. Only when internal accountability is present, can an organization start to think about external accountability measures. Examples of external accountability measures in Wisconsin are standardized test scores such as the results from the ACT, Aspire, Forward, and AP tests. External measurements of climate data might include surveys such as the Youth Risk Behavior Survey or school-wide wellness screening. In successful schools, once the internal accountability is present, it is generally reflected in the external accountability measures. One point to keep in mind that to foster true growth in a school setting, the students must also have internal accountability.
My final takeaway from this book is that as leaders we need to be change facilitators and to do so we need to be fully immersed in that change. We need to be doing the work every day alongside those we lead toward change while growing and developing together. We also need to keep in mind that change is not a destination, but a constant of any large organization. As employment demands continue to change for our students, how we prepare them for the world they will lead needs to be adaptable. As educators, we need to own this responsibility. We also must trust all those stakeholders in our institutions to take on the leadership of this change. As a leader, sometimes that means letting go and stepping aside and utilizing the experts from within.
Burn Your Goals - By Joshua Medcalf and Jamie Gilbert
I started this book with a bit of trepidation as I have always been goal-oriented and being faced with a potential paradigm shift is always a bit uncomfortable. After reading the book, many of my personal and professional beliefs remain intact and in most cases are reinforced.
The most significant takeaway from this book was the need to focus on what you can control and that the one thing you have the most control over is how you spend your time. Other areas that I reflected on while reading that I can control are studying and learning about my craft, how I talk with others, my preparation, my own emotions and opinions, my effort and attitude, and being grateful for what I have. Focusing on what I can control can keep me focused on the process of improvement and move away from finding value (positive or negative) on an outcome over which I have no direct control. The book did a thorough job of encouraging me to reflect on what I do not control and try and let go of some of those factors. While I can create conditions to help staff and students prepare for standardized tests, I can’t control test scores; only students opportunity for success. As a school, we cannot control student grades. We can provide support, encouragement, specialized instruction, and scaffolding, but ultimately students need to take ownership of their learning and their performance on classroom-based instruction. I also cannot control other people’s emotions or opinions. This last area can be a specifically challenging area to let go of as people can be critical and it is easy to let critical, hurtful comments or actions impact my own self-worth and emotions. If I can work through my emotional response and focus on what I can do to remedy or improve a situation, I am empowering myself for action.
Another significant takeaway for me from this book had to do with how we handle adversity. The authors suggest taking a mindset that, “anything that happens to me today is in my best interest. It is an opportunity to learn and grow.” When presented with a challenge, the default for many is often to reflect on what the limitations are in a situation and that type of mindset can easily lead to failure. Instead, we could consider what we can do in a moment and then we are no longer fearful from a sense of helplessness. I can think of no better example of this concept than the story of Apollo 13. For those that don’t know the story, the manned spacecraft was scheduled to land on the moon in 1970. The craft became disabled en route to the moon and was unable to make a lunar landing. Additionally, a leak in the spacecraft threatened the astronauts’ oxygen level and their ability to safely return home. On the ground, the engineers did not panic and did not focus on things that they could not control or what the astronauts did not have available to them to fix the spacecraft. Instead, they assembled all the materials that the astronauts had available to them and came up with a solution to safely return the astronauts home. The engineers and astronauts had a “can do” attitude, focused on their controllables, and were able to succeed.
The final idea in the book that resonated with me as a central theme was the idea to take action as you are able. If you wait to have all of the resources you think you might need or wait for the perfect conditions to work towards your dream, you will always be waiting. Use what you have in front of you and work hard to start to make changes. If we are focused on a goal, we sometimes get bogged down with inactivity, if we are on a mission to achieve a dream, we are always moving forward.
If you would like a sometimes poignant and often amusing look at the world of a 21st century elementary principal, I encourage you to pick up this book. It is full of some laugh out loud anecdotes and talks in detail about some of the daily responsibilities of an administrator at the elementary level. Mr. Brooks keeps it light throughout and this book definitely added a bit of levity to my professional reading. If you would like more of Mr. Brooks, he is a Youtube star with over 130,000 followers.
Duering the 2019-2020 school year, our KHS Administrative team is read Simon Sinek's "Leaders Eat Last." We read a chapter a week and then discussed each Monday how we can apply our reading to our practice. Overall, the book talks about how it is our job as leaders to take care of those we lead. People in an organization need to feel protected so that they can take risks. They need to believe that what they do on a day to day basis has impact on the world so then they will be intrinsically motivated to perform.
According to Sinek's research, there are certain chemicals in the body that govern our actions. Endorphins are chemicals that make us feel good and the body uses them during times of physical exertion to mask pain. Endorphins often give people what is known as the runner's high and developed to help encourage early man to go out and hunt to provide for the sustenance of all. Dopamine is another chemical that helps us feel good when we accomplish something on the short-term. It is the reason why people like myself keep long to-do lists and feel good when it is finished. It also is responsible for the feeling of pride I have when I just finished shoveling the driveway or mowing the lawn (depending on the time of year). Dopamine is our bodies' way of encouraging us to finish everything that we need to do on the day-to-day to survive. It is another short-term feeling that does not last past the task at hand. Dopamine gives you a feeling of accomplishment, but not fulfillment. Serotonin is the "leadership chemical" according to Sinek. It creates a feeling of pride "when we perceive that others like or respect us. It makes us feel strong and confident." (57) Serotonin gives us a positive feeling when we receive recognition from those that we respect and admire and it gives us the confidence to lead through positive reinforcement. Oxytocin is the chemical in our body responsible for "the feeling of friendship, love, or deep trust." (59) Oxytocin is the longest lasting chemical and can only be released through human connection and gives us our sense of belonging and safety. The way to build oxytocin in our bodies is through giving to others, especially those that we care about. The last chemical that Sinek talks about is cortisol. Cortisol is the stress chemical in our bodies. It is there from early man to warn us of danger and heighten our senses to get us through those difficult circumstances. The problem with our high-stress jobs and lives, is that our bodies are not intended to always run with high levels of cortisol and it can physiologically impact how our bodies function. Higher levels of oxytocin in our body help to limit the need to produce more cortisol. To boil this idea down to leadership, the more comfortable people are in an organization or a family, the less need the body has to produce cortisol. If people feel trust and empathy and are supported, they will work to be successful. And if people are intrinsically motivated to work because they are fulfilled and believe that what they are doing as a professional goes beyond making money to making a difference, then you have a recipe for lasting positive change.
In the 2018-2019 school year, our administrative team read the following books:
Here are some other books that have had influence in my philosophy and leadership over the years....
Carol Dweck's work on growth mindset continues to influence my day to day interactions.
This book was one of the first leadership books I read and helped me to develop empathy and conflict resolution skills.
This was one of the first deep dives I took on the development of the brain and how important it is to consider how we teach.
One of the most successful coaches of all time shared his lessons about playing your role and expectations.
I read both this and Gordon's book entitled "The Energy Bus." Both focus on how to improve culture in your organization.
I learned the importance of relevance and ownership to help students and staff with developing internal motivation.
This was one of the first books I delved into that helped me understand the different types of thinking and learning.
This book helped our administrative team to learn how to work with the different types of educators in our building depending on the lens they looked through.
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