Twittering Away

I love to read and write. I have a deep appreciation for the written word. There's beauty in well crafted, lyrical writing that stimulates your thinking. The library has always been a sanctuary for me. Over the years I have collected a personal library of well over 1,000 hardcover books. With all of that in mind, you can imagine how I feel about how our society has evolved (devolved?) into one in which the currency of expression is often spent in bumper sticker philosophies, sound bites, social media posts, and newspapers sporting large headlines, big graphics and small amounts of text.

Are we too busy to invest the time in engaging with books and essays? Have we become afflicted by a waning attention span that precludes us from committing the energy and effort to embrace anything beyond five minutes worth of reading? Is that why a rapidly growing number of people are a twitter about "twitter" expressions that top out at a brief 140 characters?

I have reluctantly opened a twitter account and begun spouting these short statements out into the world well beyond my computer keyboard. It's been a challenge. Brevity has not been a companion of mine but the self-discipline required of condensing thoughts has offered some benefits. It reminds me of the process whereby fractions are methodically reduced to their lowest terms in a process which shrinks the values at each step. The confines of 140 characters has prompted me to carefully examine what I want to convey to others - though I confess to occasionally linking a tweet to a lengthier extension of the point rendered in the actual tweet.

Although the twitter account was started to provide yet another venue for communicating with the public in an expansive strategy that also includes our district website, traditional hard copy newsletters, facebook, a mass "blast" of the School News Notifier that is instantly pushed through lists of email addresses and phones calls, I suspect that I signed on to twitter a bit out of a fear of being perceived as old fashioned. But, I am old experienced - with distant memories of the world before the Internet. I recall mimeograph machine produced newsletters without any color except a purplish blue(Google mimeograph since I imagine that few of you might know what it is); tangled telephone cords of real landlines; and unpacking Radio Shack's TRS 80 computers as well as Commodore VIC 20 computers (with all of 5K of RAM memory).

All of this leaves me in wonder of what the present five year old kindergarten learners will encounter on their journey into the future.

Sorry, there was no way for me to fit this reflection into a mere 140 characters.

You can follow me on twitter - http://twitter.com/mmugits

Service Orientation In Education

Our school district will soon begin preparations for an operating budget for the 2012/13 school year. Investments will be analyzed and revenue will be examined. The resulting figures will seek a balance between the needs of learners and the financial capacity of taxpayers. The community will consider the merits and value of the subsequent funding strategy at the annual budget vote in May.

We actually work at promoting the budget each and every day of school. It's ultimately about perceptions and beliefs constructed around the ongoing dynamics of interactions between and among members of the school staff and learners, as viewed by voters. People may vote on numbers as a product but budgets pass on relationships as a service. Few people are inspired by graphs and charts. It's the stream of narratives that reflect care, compassion, commitment and constancy of purpose which prompt feelings that really matter.

Think of education and consider how Harry Beckwith, author of Selling the Invisible, points out the significant differences between selling a product and selling a service. At Green Island we focus on selling the service.

Beckwith states:"A product is tangible. You can see it and touch it. A service, by contrast, is intangible. In fact, a service does not even exist when you buy one. A service is a promise. You’re selling the promise that you will do something at a future date. This means that what you are really selling is your honesty.

The products we buy are built miles away by people we have never met. So we rarely take product failures personally. The services we use, by contrast, are usually provided by people we have met or at least spoken to. When that person fails to do what he/she promised, we often take it personally.

In most professional services you are not really selling expertise – because your expertise is assumed, and because your prospects cannot intelligently evaluate your expertise anyway. Instead, you are selling a relationship. And, in most cases, that is where you need the most work. Doctors too often believe that they are selling technical proficiency as the measure of their worth, but patients more often view the relationship side as more critical. How many times have you heard someone describe a doctor with reference to his/her bedside manner as opposed to their perceived technical proficiency?

When many prospects choose a service firm, they are not buying the firm’s credentials. These prospects buy the firms personality. Most people describe their experience of interaction with a service firm on the basis of feelings. Service businesses are about relationships. Relationships are about feelings. In service marketing and selling, the logical reasons you should win the business – your competence, your excellence, your talent, - just pay the entry fees. Winning is a matter of feelings, and feelings are about personalities."

"Above all," Beckwith concludes, "sell hope."

We are presenting a case at the Heatly School that our staff can work cooperatively to advance opportunities for learners and craft the conditions and means for them to pursue their dreams, whatever direction they take. Isn't that what our stakeholders invest in? Not the achievement levels, but what these achievement levels can do. It's not what education "is," it's what education "does." In the end, education is a service, not a product.

Remember: It's About Caring

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the 'Peanuts' comic strip.
You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just think about them and reflect.
Read the e-mail straight through and you'll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.

4 Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.

These are not second-rate achievers.

They are the best in their fields.

But the applause dies.

Awards tarnish.

Achievements are forgotten.

Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List two teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier? The lesson:

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the
most credentials, the most money or the most awards.

They simply are the ones who care the most.

Remember: People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.

DRIP, DRIP, DRIP

The advent of greater and more efficient technology has changed the way in which we interact with data. Let's take a look at what Theodore Levitt said about data in his book, The Marketing Imagination.

"The difference between data and information is that while data are crudely aggregated collections of raw facts, information represents the selective organization and imaginative interpretation of those facts. Information represents the imposition of order, categories, and ideas on the collected data."

We can now easily collect, store, and retrieve incredible amounts of data. Schools are immersed in data. Personal data is acquired upon enrollment. From that point on there is a steady stream flowing from telephone numbers, height and weight, medical reference points, test scores - virtually anything and everything that can possibly be measured. While the continuous improvement in technology places data at our fingertips - it's still data. It's inert and almost useless until and unless it is converted into information that can be strategically applied to make a difference and leverage progress. In other words, schools can suffer from being DRIP: Data Rich, Information Poor.

I recently joined several teachers from Heatly at a regional workshop to learn about taking advantage of the new testing program we have acquired from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). Our school has already experienced the first of three different assessment periods. The first round of tests serve as a baseline, a platform to use to project and measure progress of each individual.

We were able to review test data and begin converting it into information that can be incorporated into instructional strategies. The figures reveal where each learner is on a spectrum of skills within the curriculum. From that point, we can determine what specific skills the learner is now prepared to engage. The information enables teachers to form temporary learning groups predicated on skills rather than the average of their overall achievement.

Too often when learning groups are formed they are ability grouped based on the grade equivalent measure of a subject. For example, two different fifth grade learners may receive the same achievement level on a test in reading. Let's say that they score a 5.6, or 5th grade sixth month. On that basis they would be perceived as similar learners and organized into a group with other learners of approximately the same score. However, when you examine the separate elements that comprise the overall reading test you might discover that one learner was high in comprehension but low in vocabulary, while the other is just the opposite, low in comprehension and high in vocabulary. On the whole, they register identical scores but in reality they have vastly different needs. Furthermore, such grouping is often static rather than dynamic. That is, once they are assigned a group they remain at that level. So, the one who needs help in vocabulary is in the same group with someone who excels in vocabulary.

Skill grouping is predicated on specific skill deficiencies. Learners are arranged and rearranged according to needs, receiving instruction in common areas of need. Once that skill is mastered they exit the group and become assigned to the next skill in the scope and sequence of the curriculum.

This constant diagnosis, prescription, intervention, and assessment represents a complicated juggling act for the teacher. Coordination of the logistics can be taxing, but opportunities for success abound.

In addition, we also obtain projections for progress that are predicated on the achievement levels and skill attainment of the learners resulting from their tests this fall. The projections point toward where the individual is expected to score when they are administered a similar test (the questions are all different) this coming spring. This metric allows us to set goals and monitor progress toward reaching the goals.

Collecting purposeful data and converting it into meaningful strategies that inform instruction will move us away from the paralysis of DRIP, DRIP, DRIP Data Rich, Information Poor.

 

A Grain Of Sand

There are various metaphors that seek to describe the impact of teachers. Often, these expressions speak of the ripples that spread from a pebble tossed in the pond, or blossoming flowers, or trees with expansive reach into the sky. However, there are innumerable pebbles and ponds, countless fields of flowers, and many thick forests of trees, while the public considers the ranks of truly great teachers as far less in number, easier to count, and much thinner in breadth.

Actually, remarkable teachers are more numerous than one can calculate. The difference in perception may be attributed to the rather lengthy period of time between the act of teaching and the impact of teaching. That is, we are not likely to experience the effect of the greatly skilled teacher in a sudden and immediate sense, moments after the lesson is finished. Instead, we will more probably realize the benefit when confronted with a challenge or new experience long after the textbooks close and the classroom door is shut. It's when we stretch ourselves in some form or fashion and achieve success that we reflect on the words or acts of a teacher that provided the leverage needed to reach our objectives and solve our problems.

Think of sand. There are untold billions and billions of grains of sand here, there, and virtually everywhere. In fact, there's so much sand we take it for granted and overlook any benefits that might accrue from sand - in a manner much like many people view teachers.

Now think of pearls. Natural pearls, not cultured pearls. These exquisite items are valued for their beauty and may fetch a considerable amount of money. Like most anything else, supply and demand determine pricing. The fewer there is of a product or service, the more it generally costs.

What a contrast, sand and pearls. Sand is ubiquitous, while natural pearls are relatively rare.

Now, let's compare the two with a different perspective. How is a pearl created? ­"The formation of a natural pearl begins when a foreign substance slips into the oyster between the mantle and the shell, which irritate­s the mantle. It's kind of like the oyster getting a splinter. The oyster's natural reaction is to cover up that irritant to protect itself. The man­tle covers the irritant with layers of the same nacre substance that is used to create the shell. This eventually forms a pearl."
(http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/zoology/marine-life/question630.htm)

That source of the irritation that eventually results in the pearl is often a grain of sand. Substitute the word "teacher" for "leader" in the following quote by Ronald Heifitz and Riley Sinder in The Josey-Bass Reader on Educational Leadership, and you may see the influence of teachers in a much better light. “A leader’s vision is the grain of sand in the oyster, not the pearl.” (Ronald Heifitz and Riley Sinder)

Teachers, though nearly as plentiful as grains of sand, and I suspect viewed by many learners at some point as irritants, provide the stimulation that significantly contributes to producing future successes - we just don't understand the potential impact at the point we receive the service. Each child has the possibility of making a future as valuable as the pearl. It is the child who can make the pearl, it is the teacher who advances the process. 

  

Lesson Plans And Dreams

Eric Clark, author of The Want Makers, quotes Charles Revlon, founder of Revlon Cosmetics, as saying, “In the laboratory I make cosmetics, in the store I sell dreams.”

David Bangs and Andi Axman, who collaborated on, A Crash Course in Marketing, offer the following perception; "Recognize that people don’t buy products and services. They buy solutions to their problems or seek satisfaction of their wants and needs." Furthermore, the authors continue to explain the difference between product development and consumer motives with the following explanations:

"You don’t buy oil or natural gas – you buy heat;

You don’t buy circus tickets – you buy thrills;

You don’t buy paper – you buy the news;

You don’t buy glasses – you buy vision."

Mike Mugits claims that great teachers think, "When I design the lesson plan I create an instructional path, but when I teach I help learners grow and invent their future."

Dignity For All

I attended a conference yesterday that focused on the upcoming Dignity for All Students Act. This state legislation, which takes effect on July 1, 2012, is intended to reduce harassment and discrimination through a systemic approach that promotes an understanding of diversity, tolerance, respect, and acceptance.
The legislation (called DASA) protects against all forms of harassment, particularly those based on a student’s actual or perceived race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, gender or sex.
This challenge grows more difficult each day that students are exposed to the uncivil behaviors evidenced by adults in the form of some radio and TV talk shows that spew anger and hate. It appears that unbridled contempt between adversaries plays out in the media in all too frequent news stories.
The virtual anonymity of social media, emails, texting, and instant messaging has spawned negative exchanges among students that would often not happen in face-to-face interactions. We are experiencing disagreements in school that have been fueled by nasty arguments occurring through social media off school hours and out of school. 
Our school will certainly and sincerely address this growing concern, but this is not a problem confined to the educational arena. This sad commentary is ultimately a reflection on our society and we must all contribute to a solution.
Finally, I can't help but see the irony in the fact that well intended bills like DASA are often crafted by some politicians who themselves fall short of setting constructive examples of civility, courtesy, tolerance, and respect. I suspect the upcoming presidential campaign will unfortunately serve as an illustration of this dilemma in action.