My Turn - Be More Dog!

I am ready. I am motivated. I am inspired. It's my time. Time to "Be More Dog"!

If you have seen a common thread with the reference to "Be More Dog" then you are reading the work of The Compelled Tribe. We are writers. More importantly, we are educators. And even more important than that, we are educators that are committed to reflecting about our work through sharing of our experiences and being transparent in our success AND our failures.

So, what does it mean to "Be More Dog"? Well, start with this quick video. Recently I was able to share with this video among other "stuff" along side of Jennifer Hogan, my Compelled Tribe colleague, as we were presenting to educators about the craft of blogging, reflecting and sharing while at the NASSP Ignite Conference back in February.

Now that you have watched the video and had a moment to soak it in, here is how I will "Be More Dog" in the months ahead:

• I will own my professional development as I continue to support my teachers in their work with their students. As I challenge myself to this growth I will encourage others to come along with me and show them them the amazing results that can be gained by committing to this learning.

• I will dive deeper into relationships with stakeholders and ensure that I am purposeful in my interactions. I will demonstrate how those relationships support the work that we do. These relationships will catapult us to great things. 

• I will not allow others to negatively impact my spirit. I will share my work as I proudly talk about my story and my schools story. I will wear my passion on my sleeve and I will demonstrate through my actions what our teachers and students bring to their school every day of every week.

• I will share my failures with my colleagues as I make them and not after I make them. If I stumble, I will pick myself up. I will learn and I will be better for it. If I ask others to do just that, I will do the same myself. I will model.

• I will live each day do the fullest with my teachers, my students, my community and my family. I will find balance in what I do. There are 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week. I will be purposeful and I will be present. I owe that to those that I spend my life with.

To me, "Be More Dog" means to get out of routine. It means that we must explore the paths that we are on and determine if there are opportunities out there that we are missing. Eyes open. Hearts beating. Confidence coming through. Who we are is a great thing to be but imagine if we take the passion of this cat and explore the options of being more dog.

Find Your Tribe

We come together in Professional Learning Communities, Data Teams and PLN's to plan and prepare for instruction. We do this both face-to-face and in an online setting. Encouraging and supporting educators in a collaborative process along with ongoing applicable professional development has been essential to our field. These components make us better.

Innovators are an essential. Researchers in the field of education have shaped the way in which we teach and learn and how we drive instruction. It is the work of John Hattie and his research on Effect Size along with the beliefs of Malcolm Gladwell in his work with the Tipping Point coupled with the studies of Growth Mindset by Carol Dweck, that provide educators with an unlimited supply of knowledge, best practice and insight into how to best deliver education.

With that, we also know that teaching and learning does not happen in a vacuum. There are no isolated moments. Reaching each individual learner can not be done within a silo. To be effective and to make academic progress, we must be able and willing to come together in the spirit of the tribe.

As you forge ahead through these months of teaching and learning, keep the following in mind:

• Tribes are there to support the work that you do and the work you need to do. 
• Tribes model that asking for help does not indicate a weakness, rather your desire to develop an undiscovered strength.
• Tribes drive collaboration. And, it is intended to keep you and those you work with moving towards both individual and collective success. 
• Tribes cultivate innovators. You are an innovator because you strive to refine your craft. You chose to be the best.
• Tribes keep you accountable. Be both the teacher and the student. 
• To lead we have to learn. Tribes foster both.

Find your tribe and work toward the goals in which you have established. Know that it is a journey, as the research says, and it will take time. Remember your purpose. Stay true to what's best for students, for teachers and for the learning process. We are better together.

We All Start Somewhere.

This is a guest post by Abbey Obrist, an eighth grader at Weaver Middle School in Hilliard, OH.  

Abby has an insightful take on practice and how we can each learn from our experiences. In fact, she is embracing our work at WMS as we talk Growth Mindset to our teachers, to our students and to our community. 

Our motto this year as a community of learners is when we are faced with a task we feel we can't accomplish, we simply add, "Yet". Abby is a great example of living by this motto and displays her talents through her writing and sharing of ideas.

We All Start Somewhere

My fanart for a webcomic called Homestuck by Andrew Hussie
 Lyrics are from The Bird and the Worm by Owl City

Just like the title says, we all start somewhere.  Art is like learning to ride a bike or starting to learn to play an instrument.  You're not going to be the best at first.  You have to practice and practice and practice.  Sure, it may seem hard but if you keep working at it you'll be able to make a semi-quality sketch in about a minute.  I had always loved art but didn't really start drawing until two years ago.  I look back on my old art and cringe but at the time I thought it was good then.  That's what kept me drawing.  The encouragement from myself and others helped me keep practicing and wanting to get better.  You are not going to start out magically being able to draw.  If you keep working you can get better.  I often think about how much I've improved in just two years.  But like I said, I only improved because I tried and practiced.

Enough about me.  Let's focus on you.  You're wanting to start drawing.  "How do I get good?" you ask me and other artists.  Practice.  If you're starting out, here's a list of things that are okay to do.

1. Use references.  It is okay to use references. Use them as much as you want.  Now this doesn't mean just go ahead and copy the work. Use it as a reference though. Use it to help draw the pose, feet, hand, whatever you need it for.  
2. Find artists you like. Is there an artist you like? Love, love, love their style? Try it out. Find a couple artists you like and try it out. Mix and match different things and bam you got your art style. Do not just go and completely steal another artists style.  It's okay to draw alike or similar to them but do not just go and steal their style. It'll take a bit to finally find it though. In fact, I use what feels like 500 different styles all throughout my sketchbook. 
3. P r a c t i c e.  Practice is key. Art will not just come easily to you. Especially if you're not very familiar with it. Like learning violin. You're not just going to become Lindsey Stirling or David Wong. You have to start as a beginner like everybody else and practice.  
4. Nothing is set in stone. Your style is not permanent and there is always room to improve. Change your style up and try different or new ones every once in a while. You can always revert back to your original style if need be. Like I said, I feel like I have so many different art styles and that's okay. That will come in handy too. Something may look better in one style than it does the other style.  

There you have it. I could probably go on and on about tips and tricks but I don't have that kind of time. I feel like I've said practice and style way too many times but they're important words when it comes to art. Congratulations if you made it to the end of my rambling about starting to draw. I'm sure there'll be more in the future so stay tuned.  

Don't Overlook the Obvious

Too often we go on a search for what "best practice" truly is. We read the latest books, filter through articles and scour the educational landscape of presenters to deliver that "silver bullet". We share the responsibility at times and forget the role that we have spent so much time working to define. Too often we forget that the Instructional Leader title is not intended to be for the administrator alone.

If you know me, and how I lead, you know that I firmly believe in all that is out there in the educational landscape. There are some amazing resources and nationally known educational leaders out there. I am a huge fan of Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess and have created a focus for the year around passion for my entire building. In addition, both Rick Wormeli and Ken O'Conner have provided a wealth of information in regards to assessments and grading. We are transforming how we do both (assess and grade) each day. And of course, Todd Whitaker. We are "great" thanks to his sound advice for teachers and leaders. All of the above mentioned are out of this world. I would, and do, buy their books and pay to see them present.

So how can we have the best of both worlds? Many leaders in public education tend to go outside to gather professional development to bring to the inside. We gather up groups of people and herd them through PD sessions believing that this exercise alone will increase student engagement, student achievement and improve performance. If we are not going to the outside to bring in presenters it is the building administrator that stands in the front of the room and holds the keys to the knowledge. Sounds eerily similar to a classroom that we are all way to familiar with. A classroom many are moving away from.

Through the reading I had done, the presenters I had heard and the conversations over time, it become obvious. Through working with my teachers, I would help create an undetermined number of Instructional Leaders WITHIN the staff. This was not passing the responsibility, but shifting who owns it.

Yes, share the role and build leaders within. We have done this before through the use of Team Meetings and Data Teams but this was different. Today, like many of those other days, I was able to see instructional leaders in just a little different light. The obvious leaders were right in front of me. They had read the books, heard the wisdom and had done their homework. Simply, they taught each other. They used their resources, including each other, and accomplished more in a day than any PD session could have generated. The pictures in this post are from a day of Science PD just today. Teachers from three middle schools along with a district academic coach, work for hours creating, learning, planning, organizing and preparing instructional opportunities for kids. They worked tirelessly. They left exhausted.

And what was my role as the building Instructional Leader? It was simple - I gave them the time, the space and opportunity to grow. And, of course, some chocolate.