Take-aways from Kristen Schroeder's presentation and tonight's class:
*You have to know or get to know the “Personality of the School” *Assess the underlying motives behind transition conversations in 1:1 settings *Create an “urgency” *Key words from 1:1 transition interviews into a WORDLE and introduced at first staff meeting *“Never hit the breaks” ALWAYS MOVING FORWARD *YOU MUST Experience something different to be able to change belief systems and point of views *Experience-Beliefs-Actions-Results *Change the culture, Change the result
I now understand AMO's and that we are not held accountable until we (possibly) get back our waiver---Until then AYP!
I too liked her analogy about the car - great visual and made complete sense since we just finished discussing how to regulate the temperature in a building.
Ensuring Achievement, Inspiring Hope… I love the simplicity and focus of this mission statement! The timing of today’s presenter, Kristen Schroeder, was perfect considering that I spent the day at her school, Firgrove Elementary, listening to how they are proficiency scaling in 3rd grade in order to better structure their RTI. I appreciated hearing Kristen provide the background for what I saw today and how she strategically approached the situation at the building when she arrived. Knowing that this work is being done in our own district is impressive. It’s great to know that we have these resources right here in our backyard.
Sari I agree! So simple yet powerful. Something you can remember, and go back to for everything you do/change in a building. This was great advice I'll take away!
What an exciting evening! I enjoyed hearing how Firgrove made a turn around. Kristen Schroeder spoke to entering the environment and being thorough in your investigation to determine your plan of action. I have certainly made interviewing with my future staff a must do. I feel meeting them one on one and listening to create a wordle is BRILLIANT! Not only does the product allow them to feel valued and listened to, but it provides a graphic to measure the current reality. As a potential future leader, I would like to continue the process by having a conversation each year, creating a wordle, and placing them next to each other to see how the climate changes each year. I was extremely impressed with her ability to read what her staff needed, AND taking action! I valued how she realized the importance to model what that would look like in the classroom. I certainly see the significance in posting the 6 week goals in the staff room to create a collaborative community. I would like to bring this to my building this year. “Build contradictory experiences, current culture is not bad culture. It is simply a culture that won’t produce the new desired results.” Experience---> Beliefs --_-> Actions----> Results
My administrator has the wordle she created from her interviews hanging on the wall in her office, which she keeps on her mind. I was also impressed how Kristen was able to read her staff and plan her agenda accordingly. What a powerful skill; I wonder how much was nature or nurture.
“The current culture is not a bad culture. It’s simply a culture that won’t produce the new desired results.”-Kristen Schroeder’s mantra! This statement particularly resonated with me tonight as it sums up my current reality in the work that our staff is engaged in. Changing mindsets is probably the greatest challenge we have as instructional leaders in our buildings. Being able to listen for what is said, but especially what is NOT said when meeting with our staff members, will be key in forming our plans for how to make the cultural shifts necessary to move student instruction (and teacher learning) forward in our school!
Elissa you hit the nail. That is exactly how I felt listening to her! We may be working with outstanding educators, but if their mindset is not aligned the results won't come. - Melissa
The practical administration shared by Kristen was yet another great piece to the puzzle in building a culture of school improvement. In particular, I valued hearing about the steps she took: *interview the staff and listen to the things "not said" *Coffee talk with former principal *Identify the biggest obstacle *When school culture is significantly wounded, overcome beliefs by designing and facilitating NEW experiences that result in certain success, no matter how small - "one inch". *Practice the right things in the right ways I think these thoughts will fit nicely into my own leadership plan. Another Homerun presenter!
I just love Kristen! What a treat to be able to work with her last year! Like she said I spent the morning with her doing my job shadow, working on that project for Dr. Adrian's class. I was seriously surprised when she shared her motives for those 6 week goals. I had no idea, but it makes perfect sense that she was getting the staff to build on small success, which she successfully has done. One of the many things I appreciated about her work, was the building schedule she created, which really created time for us to have regular common planning time. (I miss that this year!) Like she said, she is a great cheerleader, and such a positive person, which I so appreciate and hope to be able to duplicate in my own building one day! I also love her persistence, and that she was able to meet with every one of her staff before school started. I think that is something I will want to do as well when I go to a new building, great way to get to know your staff, and start to form a picture of what has been happening, and giving people a voice... valuable time, well spent!
Lauralee I also liked what she said about being a positive cheerleader and meeting with each of her staff members before the year started. I especially like the extra effort she made to meet with the two reluctant ones. It just shows her dedication to the building and to getting Everyone's perspective.
Kristen was fabulous, I loved her enthusiasm and excitement. I loved how she thinks of herself as just "one big cheerleader". In looking at this course as a whole, I am so appreciative of the opportunity to 1. meet some pretty phenomenal people, but 2. get the perspectives we are getting. Kristen showed me at least what it looks like in great detail walking into a school with some pretty significant obstacles and how very intricately she tackled them, and how she prioritized them. For the visual learner such as myself, that is huge. The underlying issues, the mindsets of staff, really looking at the mission and comparing it to the daily practice (are we doing what we say we are doing?) those first steps are so important in changing results. I loved how she continued to say "design experiences to create success." What a powerful statement. Thank you Kristen!
I appreciate the statement "design experiences to create success" as well. Creating opportunities for staff and students to be successful generates a positive learning environment for all. It allows individuals the chance to celebrate the dedication and hard work it takes to achieve goals and affords all involved the opportunity to experience the excitement of attaining the goals.
It was so nice to hear Kristen share her ideas and the justification behind what she does in her building to create a responsive culture supporting student and staff success at Firgrove. The slide stating, “Love what you choose to do with your life.” is something that I truly believe in. In order to have personal and professional success you need to be happy with where you are at. Your happiness radiates outward and can inspire others, but on the other end of the spectrum if you are “just putting in your time…trying to make it through each day” then that is identifiable to the people who are around you. If at any time you lose that “love” for what you are doing you need to move on. I feel fortunate to “love” what I do! We have one of the greatest professions. We have been charged with the job to provide students opportunities to grow and develop so they can achieve amazing things. At times this responsibility may see overwhelming, but with great colleagues to learn and collaborate with we can move forward and create endless possibilities for our students.
Lori - I totally agree! Anytime I've been in a situation that is draining my happiness and personality I become someone I don't like -- so I move on. Every time I've moved on, it's been the best move I could have ever made for myself (and my family) and it becomes such a huge learning experience.
Once again we had an amazing guest speaker. Kristen provided practical ways to "break through" a difficult building culture and to show teachers that they can once again feel successful. I enjoy how she meet her staff members on their level, adjusting to take baby steps when needed, but also knowing that they needed to move forward and being willing to push them in that direction. I appreciated her honesty and self-awareness. Knowing that she is a "green" and being able to tell her staff that information gives them the lens from which to view her. I also liked that fact that she created lessons and strategies for her staff members to work with DOKs and CCSS. The most important take for me was knowing that sometimes you have to start with action and put development second.
“The current culture is not a bad culture. It’s simply a culture that won’t produce the new desired results.”-Kristen Schroeder’s This was the power for this session. These words are going to be used at work as we try to CCSS ify our instruction in TPS. I am not sure I will become a "turn-around junkie" as Kristen states she is....but, I so thrive on a challenge. Asking...why are we teaching this way, to these kids using these materials...is key to begin the Collegial vs congenial conversations that need to happen for KIDS. I also grooved on the idea of building contradictory experiences. Duh. So simple yet so counterintuitive. I am trying to think of how to do this in my current role. I am trying to think of experiences to provide that will change beliefs...change actions and get results. last, the idea of starting at the last problem..... DUH
Kristen offered so many strategies that will help us all start out on the right foot when we get our first jobs. Without a doubt, the one-on-one interviews can help us all learn so much about the personalities of our staff and the attitude in the building. I also thought it was clever that Kristen reviewed both teacher and parent surveys and sat through many meetings with the previous principal. Again, all good strategies to learn about the school culture and create a plan of attack to implement change. Limiting the mission statement to no more than five words makes so much sense. The mission statement should be short, concise, and something that both teachers and students can articulate with anybody at any given time, so condensing it down to five words makes that goal very attainable. Creating six week goals rather than annual goals is a great proactive approach to making staff and students feel more successful. That's a philosophy that we've adopted this year at Carson and it seems to coincide with the evaluation expectations that both we as teachers and our principals are currently experiencing.
I loved Kristin's perspective on her interviews the summer prior to her starting, looking for what wasn't being said. I also liked that she decided that SIP didn't need to be completely overhauled in her case, just actually used. Having a document that is actually workable for making the changes needed in our own building would be a great bonus. That does make the assumption that a team from the building put it together, and then also that the building agreed with it. However even if none of that happened, I think that you could use it and gain/regain buy in from the staff. Most of us have gone through SIP's in various forms as a teacher. From that perspective I think that if we could use one in existence rather than spending needing to spend a chunk of the first year creating one all would be in a better place. Doing this acknowledges the previous teams hard work, and allows you to move on to other priorities faster.
I also REALLY loved Kristin's idea about a mission statement only being FIVE words. Talk about some serious thought to boil it all down. Once you have it you now have something that you can easily place everywhere for all to see.
Thank you so much for your feedback! You have filled my bucket and given me some energy for this week! It was so much fun to hear about the great work that you are doing. Your future buildings are
I appreciate our guest speakers so much! They take time out of their busy schedules to meet with us on their own time. They are amazing!!
Take-Away's from Kristen's Presentation: -Interview staff and look for the hidden message...love that! -Be open and honest during conversations -Mission statement of 5 words or less...difficult task! Loved Ensuring Achievement, Inspiring Hope...goes right along with Kids at Hope Message -To overcome a belief system, you have to build contradictory experiences
"You must love what you do with your life, find the joy and happiness!" Find the positives in everything you do. We are teachers for a reason, we love to see students grow and learn. If you fall out of love with that, then you need to find something else because you won't be able to inspire and connect with students or foster the love of learning.
Change the Culture, Change the Game: The Breakthrough Strategy for Energizing Your Organization and Creating Accountability for Results Paperback – June 26, 2012 by Roger Connors (Author) › Visit Amazon's Roger Connors Page Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author Are you an author? Learn about Author Central
Elementary School Scheduling: Enhacing Instruction for Student Achievement Hardcover – June 6, 2008 by Robert Lynn Canady (Author), Michael Rettig (Author)
Take-aways from Kristen Schroeder's presentation and tonight's class:
ReplyDelete*You have to know or get to know the “Personality of the School”
*Assess the underlying motives behind transition conversations in 1:1 settings
*Create an “urgency”
*Key words from 1:1 transition interviews into a WORDLE and introduced at first staff meeting
*“Never hit the breaks” ALWAYS MOVING FORWARD
*YOU MUST Experience something different to be able to change belief systems and point of views
*Experience-Beliefs-Actions-Results
*Change the culture, Change the result
I now understand AMO's and that we are not held accountable until we (possibly) get back our waiver---Until then AYP!
I too liked her analogy about the car - great visual and made complete sense since we just finished discussing how to regulate the temperature in a building.
DeleteI also really liked the gas pedal analogy!
DeleteEnsuring Achievement, Inspiring Hope… I love the simplicity and focus of this mission statement! The timing of today’s presenter, Kristen Schroeder, was perfect considering that I spent the day at her school, Firgrove Elementary, listening to how they are proficiency scaling in 3rd grade in order to better structure their RTI. I appreciated hearing Kristen provide the background for what I saw today and how she strategically approached the situation at the building when she arrived. Knowing that this work is being done in our own district is impressive. It’s great to know that we have these resources right here in our backyard.
ReplyDeleteSari I agree! So simple yet powerful. Something you can remember, and go back to for everything you do/change in a building. This was great advice I'll take away!
DeleteWhat an exciting evening! I enjoyed hearing how Firgrove made a turn around. Kristen Schroeder spoke to entering the environment and being thorough in your investigation to determine your plan of action. I have certainly made interviewing with my future staff a must do. I feel meeting them one on one and listening to create a wordle is BRILLIANT! Not only does the product allow them to feel valued and listened to, but it provides a graphic to measure the current reality. As a potential future leader, I would like to continue the process by having a conversation each year, creating a wordle, and placing them next to each other to see how the climate changes each year. I was extremely impressed with her ability to read what her staff needed, AND taking action! I valued how she realized the importance to model what that would look like in the classroom. I certainly see the significance in posting the 6 week goals in the staff room to create a collaborative community. I would like to bring this to my building this year. “Build contradictory experiences, current culture is not bad culture. It is simply a culture that won’t produce the new desired results.”
ReplyDeleteExperience---> Beliefs --_-> Actions----> Results
My administrator has the wordle she created from her interviews hanging on the wall in her office, which she keeps on her mind.
DeleteI was also impressed how Kristen was able to read her staff and plan her agenda accordingly. What a powerful skill; I wonder how much was nature or nurture.
“The current culture is not a bad culture. It’s simply a culture that won’t produce the new desired results.”-Kristen Schroeder’s mantra! This statement particularly resonated with me tonight as it sums up my current reality in the work that our staff is engaged in. Changing mindsets is probably the greatest challenge we have as instructional leaders in our buildings. Being able to listen for what is said, but especially what is NOT said when meeting with our staff members, will be key in forming our plans for how to make the cultural shifts necessary to move student instruction (and teacher learning) forward in our school!
ReplyDeleteElissa you hit the nail. That is exactly how I felt listening to her! We may be working with outstanding educators, but if their mindset is not aligned the results won't come. - Melissa
DeleteThe practical administration shared by Kristen was yet another great piece to the puzzle in building a culture of school improvement. In particular, I valued hearing about the steps she took:
ReplyDelete*interview the staff and listen to the things "not said"
*Coffee talk with former principal
*Identify the biggest obstacle
*When school culture is significantly wounded, overcome beliefs by designing and facilitating NEW experiences that result in certain success, no matter how small - "one inch".
*Practice the right things in the right ways
I think these thoughts will fit nicely into my own leadership plan.
Another Homerun presenter!
I just love Kristen! What a treat to be able to work with her last year! Like she said I spent the morning with her doing my job shadow, working on that project for Dr. Adrian's class. I was seriously surprised when she shared her motives for those 6 week goals. I had no idea, but it makes perfect sense that she was getting the staff to build on small success, which she successfully has done. One of the many things I appreciated about her work, was the building schedule she created, which really created time for us to have regular common planning time. (I miss that this year!) Like she said, she is a great cheerleader, and such a positive person, which I so appreciate and hope to be able to duplicate in my own building one day! I also love her persistence, and that she was able to meet with every one of her staff before school started. I think that is something I will want to do as well when I go to a new building, great way to get to know your staff, and start to form a picture of what has been happening, and giving people a voice... valuable time, well spent!
ReplyDeleteLauralee I also liked what she said about being a positive cheerleader and meeting with each of her staff members before the year started. I especially like the extra effort she made to meet with the two reluctant ones. It just shows her dedication to the building and to getting Everyone's perspective.
DeleteKristen was fabulous, I loved her enthusiasm and excitement. I loved how she thinks of herself as just "one big cheerleader". In looking at this course as a whole, I am so appreciative of the opportunity to 1. meet some pretty phenomenal people, but 2. get the perspectives we are getting. Kristen showed me at least what it looks like in great detail walking into a school with some pretty significant obstacles and how very intricately she tackled them, and how she prioritized them. For the visual learner such as myself, that is huge. The underlying issues, the mindsets of staff, really looking at the mission and comparing it to the daily practice (are we doing what we say we are doing?) those first steps are so important in changing results. I loved how she continued to say "design experiences to create success." What a powerful statement. Thank you Kristen!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the statement "design experiences to create success" as well. Creating opportunities for staff and students to be successful generates a positive learning environment for all. It allows individuals the chance to celebrate the dedication and hard work it takes to achieve goals and affords all involved the opportunity to experience the excitement of attaining the goals.
DeleteIt was so nice to hear Kristen share her ideas and the justification behind what she does in her building to create a responsive culture supporting student and staff success at Firgrove.
ReplyDeleteThe slide stating, “Love what you choose to do with your life.” is something that I truly believe in. In order to have personal and professional success you need to be happy with where you are at. Your happiness radiates outward and can inspire others, but on the other end of the spectrum if you are “just putting in your time…trying to make it through each day” then that is identifiable to the people who are around you. If at any time you lose that “love” for what you are doing you need to move on. I feel fortunate to “love” what I do! We have one of the greatest professions. We have been charged with the job to provide students opportunities to grow and develop so they can achieve amazing things. At times this responsibility may see overwhelming, but with great colleagues to learn and collaborate with we can move forward and create endless possibilities for our students.
I agree......life is too short to not love what you do
DeleteLori - I totally agree! Anytime I've been in a situation that is draining my happiness and personality I become someone I don't like -- so I move on. Every time I've moved on, it's been the best move I could have ever made for myself (and my family) and it becomes such a huge learning experience.
DeleteOnce again we had an amazing guest speaker. Kristen provided practical ways to "break through" a difficult building culture and to show teachers that they can once again feel successful. I enjoy how she meet her staff members on their level, adjusting to take baby steps when needed, but also knowing that they needed to move forward and being willing to push them in that direction. I appreciated her honesty and self-awareness. Knowing that she is a "green" and being able to tell her staff that information gives them the lens from which to view her. I also liked that fact that she created lessons and strategies for her staff members to work with DOKs and CCSS. The most important take for me was knowing that sometimes you have to start with action and put development second.
ReplyDelete“The current culture is not a bad culture. It’s simply a culture that won’t produce the new desired results.”-Kristen Schroeder’s
ReplyDeleteThis was the power for this session. These words are going to be used at work as we try to CCSS ify our instruction in TPS.
I am not sure I will become a "turn-around junkie" as Kristen states she is....but, I so thrive on a challenge. Asking...why are we teaching this way, to these kids using these materials...is key to begin the Collegial vs congenial conversations that need to happen for KIDS.
I also grooved on the idea of building contradictory experiences. Duh. So simple yet so counterintuitive. I am trying to think of how to do this in my current role. I am trying to think of experiences to provide that will change beliefs...change actions and get results.
last, the idea of starting at the last problem..... DUH
Kristen offered so many strategies that will help us all start out on the right foot when we get our first jobs. Without a doubt, the one-on-one interviews can help us all learn so much about the personalities of our staff and the attitude in the building. I also thought it was clever that Kristen reviewed both teacher and parent surveys and sat through many meetings with the previous principal. Again, all good strategies to learn about the school culture and create a plan of attack to implement change. Limiting the mission statement to no more than five words makes so much sense. The mission statement should be short, concise, and something that both teachers and students can articulate with anybody at any given time, so condensing it down to five words makes that goal very attainable. Creating six week goals rather than annual goals is a great proactive approach to making staff and students feel more successful. That's a philosophy that we've adopted this year at Carson and it seems to coincide with the evaluation expectations that both we as teachers and our principals are currently experiencing.
ReplyDeleteI loved Kristin's perspective on her interviews the summer prior to her starting, looking for what wasn't being said. I also liked that she decided that SIP didn't need to be completely overhauled in her case, just actually used. Having a document that is actually workable for making the changes needed in our own building would be a great bonus. That does make the assumption that a team from the building put it together, and then also that the building agreed with it. However even if none of that happened, I think that you could use it and gain/regain buy in from the staff. Most of us have gone through SIP's in various forms as a teacher. From that perspective I think that if we could use one in existence rather than spending needing to spend a chunk of the first year creating one all would be in a better place. Doing this acknowledges the previous teams hard work, and allows you to move on to other priorities faster.
ReplyDeleteI also REALLY loved Kristin's idea about a mission statement only being FIVE words. Talk about some serious thought to boil it all down. Once you have it you now have something that you can easily place everywhere for all to see.
Thank you so much for your feedback! You have filled my bucket and given me some energy for this week! It was so much fun to hear about the great work that you are doing. Your future buildings are
ReplyDeletelucky to have you!
DeleteI appreciate our guest speakers so much! They take time out of their busy schedules to meet with us on their own time. They are amazing!!
ReplyDeleteTake-Away's from Kristen's Presentation:
-Interview staff and look for the hidden message...love that!
-Be open and honest during conversations
-Mission statement of 5 words or less...difficult task! Loved Ensuring Achievement, Inspiring Hope...goes right along with Kids at Hope Message
-To overcome a belief system, you have to build contradictory experiences
"You must love what you do with your life, find the joy and happiness!" Find the positives in everything you do. We are teachers for a reason, we love to see students grow and learn. If you fall out of love with that, then you need to find something else because you won't be able to inspire and connect with students or foster the love of learning.
Change the Culture, Change the Game: The Breakthrough Strategy for Energizing Your Organization and Creating Accountability for Results Paperback – June 26, 2012
ReplyDeleteby
Roger Connors (Author)
› Visit Amazon's Roger Connors Page
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author? Learn about Author Central
ReplyDeleteElementary School Scheduling: Enhacing Instruction for Student Achievement Hardcover – June 6, 2008
by Robert Lynn Canady (Author), Michael Rettig (Author)