End-of-Year Letter to Educators

Dear Educators,

Evan and I honor your hard work and dedication to your students throughout the 2017-2018 school year!  We both know you faced many challenges and dealt with each one, always keeping your students at the center.  You are the unsung heroes of our country, teaching new generations to read, write, think creatively, innovate, and problem solve.  We want you to know the depth of our respect for your diligence, for the classroom communities you worked all year to build, and for the support you’ve offered each child!  Now it’s time to take a deep breath, relax, and use your short break to care for your wellbeing and to continue to reflect and learn.

Evan and I believe that balance is the key to utilizing free time well.  Some of you will take classes relating to your discipline, others already have stacks of professional books on night tables and desks for summer reading.  All terrific goals! However, we both urge you to set aside time to read for pleasure, to do what you love—long walks, hiking, relaxing on a beach, catching up on missed movies, spending time with family and friends.  Though teaching is one part of your life, it can be all-consuming during the year.  So, yes, do continue to learn!  But also reserve time to do what you love and find difficult to fit into your daily teaching schedule.

#teachersdeserveit

We wish you a joyful summer break!

Evan Robb and Laura Robb

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Reach Every Reader!

By: Laura Robb

“Comprehension” is a word that teachers use all the time: Jake’s comprehension is weak; Talia can’t comprehend nonfiction; David comprehends everything he reads.  Comprehension refers to what readers understand in a text while comprehending is the process readers use to develop comprehension.  It’s helpful to confer with students to discover their comprehending process and feelings toward reading.  Analyzing students’ writing about reading also provides teachers with a window into students’ thinking and level of understanding.

        There are many levels to assessing students’ understanding of a text.  Proficient and advanced readers automatically do the following while reading.

  •      Interact with the text by conversing with the author: raising questions, predicting, and commenting.
  •      Connect parts of the text to their experiences and background knowledge.
  •      Connect information and narrative elements within a text.
  •      Use context clues to figure out the meaning of difficult words.
  •      Transfer what they learned and understood to other learning situations.

Recall of Information

A common sense belief I always share with teachers is that it’s pointless to ask students to read and reread a text at their frustration level.  Recall implies that the learner is able to decode the text, understand, and then remember the information. That will happen when the student has enough background knowledge and the text is close to his or her instructional reading level.  Valentina’s story illustrates how frustration reading affects students.

Conferring: A Snapshot of Valentina

Before administering an Informal Reading Inventory (IRI) to Valentina, a sixth grader, we spent time chatting about her interests.  Valentina loved playing basketball, texting friends, and hanging out with them.  When I asked her how she felt about reading, she volunteered this statement: “I hate reading. I suck at it.” Her reasons were candid, logical, and on point.  Reading three years below grade level, her ELA and content teachers required Valentina to read and reread grade-level texts.  Her words reveal her feelings about these tasks: “If I have to read again and again and can’t understand it, what’s the point?” She shrugged and added, “ They [her teachers] get mad when I write nothing about reading. I can’t write if I get nothing [from the reading].”

After completing and analyzing Valentina’s IRI, I suggested two actions that could improve her reading:

  1. Have her read and learn from material at her instructional reading level—preferably books she chose.  Then involve her in meaningful book discussions with a partner or small group who discuss questions they compose.
  2.  Accelerate her reading stamina and achievement by teaching her how to self-select books for independent reading because often students like Valentina select difficult books to save face with peers.

Volume Matters

Researchers agree that volume in reading matters.  First, volume can develop a student’s personal reading life which means he or she chooses to read at home.  In addition, volume can enlarge a student’s vocabulary and background knowledge, build fluency, and develop a deep and lasting love of reading.

There are school districts that require students read grade-level texts even if they can’t comprehend them.  Often these students listen to a book on tape or the teacher reads the book aloud to the class.  The problem here is that students aren’t reading and that’s why they slide backward.  Continuing on this trajectory will not support the Valentina’s of this world and will increase the number of students who don’t read and dislike reading.

Reflecting on Valentina’s Story

Fortunately for Valentina, her ELA teacher, received permission from the principal to abandon the district requirement of every student in a grade level, complex text.  Valentina could choose from alternate books her teacher suggested for each unit of study.  She began to self-select books for independent reading and read them.  In the past, Valentina was an ace at fake reading during free choice independent reading time.  Adjustments in her ELA class are definitely a positive step toward supporting Valentina’s reading life, but many questions remain:

  •      Would her content teachers find materials she could read and learn from?
  •      Were enlarging classroom libraries a top priority?
  •      What kind of feedback did Valentina receive from her teachers to increase her efficacy and self-confidence?
  •      How often did teachers confer with students like Valentina to continue to monitor, support, and celebrate her progress?
  •      What kinds of direct instruction in all classes did Valentina (and other students) need to practice and internalize what good readers do?

Closing Thoughts

We all want our students to love reading.  Alas, roadblocks such as limited or no class libraries and a lack of alternative texts and materials for striving readers derail our wants. Yes, it’s heartening to observe ELA teachers and school administrators adjust instruction.  However, until teachers in all subjects have access to books and materials that meet the instructional needs of their students, progress will remain slow.  We need to bring common sense back to our teaching practices and ensure that we reach every reader in our classrooms and support them on their journey to developing a personal reading life.

Check out Laura’s website!

Follow Laura on Twitter @LRobbTeacher

We recommend Differentiating Reading Instruction by Laura!

reading

 

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It’s Hard To Burnout If You Have Never Been On Fire

Evan Robb

 

It’s better to burn out than to fade away- Neil Young

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I have always been fond of Neil Young’s quote.  I have never had any interest in fading away and by seeking out this blog, you probably feel the same.  Burnout is an overused expression in our field and often an excuse for less than stellar work.  There is an old saying that speaks truth:  It’s hard to burn out if you have never been on fire.

Students deserve our best.  In this post, I am going to rant a little about a few peeves I have with people who seem to constantly be burnt out, and I’ll wrap it up with some ideas on how to turn some negative behaviors around.

Recently I went on a cruise.  Yes, I had a great time. However, one aspect I noticed was how upbeat and energetic all the crew members were, even though they all were far from home, worked very long days, and most were not highly paid.  The crew was professional: well dressed, mannerly, and customer focused.  As Laura, my wife, and I left the boat we wondered why some staff in schools are so different.  It is not easy to answer, but I believe the answer is found in the culture of the school and what the leader is willing to tolerate.

  • Have you ever had a staff member come up to you or be in your presence to announce 179 days left after the first day of school?
  • Or, do you have a staff member who always states how many days until Friday?
  • What about your perpetually tired staff member whose lack of energy is freely communicated?  You know, the person who says, “I’m so tired” when you ask them how their day is going.
  • Finally, the person who gripes how cold it is during winter and then complains about the heat in late spring.

Here are a few tips you can use to bring passion to those who have rarely been on fire.

  • Tell them to stop.  Yes, this is blunt. But a school will never become a great place for all students if some staff are allowed to wallow in their personal misery.  I actually had a staff member years ago who made the 179 days left claim;  I told the staff member to stop and never to reference the countdown in front of me.  This was an awkward encounter, but my point was heard and it stopped.
  • Always be positive!  The principal sets the tone.  It is a mistake to join into T.G.I.F conversations.  If you join in, staff assumes permission has been given to speak this way.
  • Set the tone for your school, model the behaviors you want to see.
  • Do not let yourself go down the rabbit hole called negativity.  It is always present and there are always people in the hole who will be happy to see you there. Misery loves company.
  • Never hire a person who appears burnt out in an interview.  How a person presents himself or herself in an interview is the best you’re gonna get!

Students deserve the best!  Join me and take a stand to bring energy and positivity to your school.  Do not tolerate negative people.  Negative people hurt the culture of your school and negative people harm students.  Recognize and support the many positive people on your team.  And realize your positive staff has long known who the negative staff members are, most will appreciate you helping those staff find some passion and energy for the work they do!

 

Let this phrase guide you:  What the leader permits communicates to others what the leader will tolerate.  Every day people ask me how I am doing, and everyone who asks gets a big smile from me and hears, “I’m doing great!”  Students and staff deserve my best. Join me!

Follow me on Facebook! 

Let’s connect on Linkedin

Check out my book, The Principal’s Leadership Sourcebook, Scholastic

Also, Laura and I have a podcast channel, The Robb Review Podcast!

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Leading Schools in Disruptive Times: How to Survive Hyper-Change

New Albany HS Principal, NASSP Digital Principal, co-author, speaker, teacher, learner. Dwight Carter visits The Robb Review!

You would be hard pressed to talk to a teacher, secretary, or school administrator who would say we are not experiencing some disruptive times in education.

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Since 2008, public perception of educators, in general, has been less than favorable. Expectations have increased exponentially, yet funding education initiatives have not grown at the same pace. One might say we face one disruption after another, yet we continue to find ways to meet the needs of our students, engage parents, respond to community desires, and do what is best for all stakeholders.

 

I recently co-authored a book with my mentor and good friend Mark White, titled, Leading Schools in Disruptive Times: How to Survive Hyper Change. As the political and social climate in our nation has changed, the release of this book could not have come at a better time.

 

We explore seven disruptions educators are facing today; we define what we mean by disruption, disruptive event, and hyper change.

Understanding these working definitions give greater depth to each disruption described:  

  • Disruption- any invention or societal shift that gradually changes how schools operate.
  • Disruptive Event- an incident based on a disruption that suddenly changes how schools operate.
  • Hyper change- changes that stacked on top of changes in new areas that might not have existed a decade ago.

 

With that in mind, we describe seven disruptions school leaders face today:

 

  1. Student Safety- School safety has taken on a whole new meaning since Columbine. Greater measures are in place to identify students who do not feel a sense of belonging and society continues to grapple with how to reduce and eliminate school shootings. Schools are asked to provide in-depth mental health supports while focusing on the academic progress and achievement of students.
  2. Accelerating Technology –Technology has become cheaper, smaller, faster, and more accessible than ever before and school leaders must find ways to integrate its use in schools.
  3. Reform Efforts – Unfunded and rapidly changing mandates that include new ways of assessing student learning to more complex evaluation systems leaves school leaders scrambling to keep up.
  4. Generational Challenges- Millennials are entering the teaching ranks that are led by Gen X’ers and Boomers. Without an adaptive mindset, this could negatively impact overall student achievement if not handled properly.
  5. Global Readiness – Skill development is far more important than content absorption, so school leaders have to work with stakeholders to define what success looks like in their schools and identify the key skills they want to students to develop.
  6. Complex Diversity Issues- Race, gender, immigration, and sexual identity are topics that create more diversity challenges for today’s school leaders.
  7. Demand for Transparency- Information is accessible 24/7 and stakeholders demand that school leaders find ways to keep them informed about student performance, provide report card data, and immediately provide safety updates at a moments notice. It’s become a societal expectation.

 

This may seem overwhelming, and it is. However, we introduce a framework school leaders can use when confronted with a disruption that we call CAT Framework: Cope, Adjust, Transform. We share stories from 21st school leaders and educators who have faced one or more of these disruptions, what they learned, and what they would do differently in the future. Through their stories, the reader can reflect on their daily work using the guided questions and CAT Framework activities at the end of each chapter.

 

In such a time as this, “It’s often the administrator’s voice that must resonate. In dark times, it must be a ray of light that others may follow. Now more than ever, administrators must be visible and plugged in with their students and staff.”

 

Be Great,

Dwight Carter

Effectiveness Coach: The Dynamix Team Welcomes a New Face (August 1, 2018)
Twitter: @Dwight_Carter
LinkedIn: Dwight Carter

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