I don’t think about it, I just do it.” My Commitment to High School Redesign

Written by: Sabrina Fentie

The other day, as we were driving back from Grande Prairie, an advertisement came on the radio. As most children do, my kids have “lange Ohren” and asked, “why do people always want so much money?” as well as, “why do people think money makes them happy?”. Our conversation led to topics about school and the purpose of school. Layne responded that he knows that I know everything, but loves to go to school because he gets to meet a lot of different people. Everybody knows something different and everyone gets to share their ideas, and then he learns more. The more he learns, the more ideas he gets. These statements melted my heart.

Rewind to a few weeks back when I casually asked some of our high school students about why they think they go to high school. Some of their answers:

• It is mandatory, my parents force me and I wouldn’t have a future without it.

• I’d be bored all day at home.

• I don’t think about school, I just do it.

As hurtful as these answers were to hear, they were not shocking to me. I’ve asked staff, as well as the students I’ve coached, “What is your why?”. As a staff, it is for personal self-reflection. However, I have had discussions with students about it. The number of students who say, “I don’t think about it, I just do it.” is staggering.

http://www.smosh.com/articles/6-failed-predictions-about-21st-century-school

This is not what schools are meant to look like. I have much hope for the continued growth and future of education.

Jessie gave me a lot to think about. I have been reading and still trying to process everything that was said about high school redesign.

What do I want to commit to?

A school that is welcoming, caring, respectful and safe.

This morning a family came to tour the school. They had recently moved to the community. It made me very proud to hear that our school gets recommended over and over again. This comment often follows with, “I hear you guys really care about every child here.” (Kudos to our staff and the District).

A school that involves home and the community.

This year our Catholic Women’s League has so generously donated their time to be in the school preparing our food for our Nutrition Program. We also have private music lessons during the school day available to our students.

A school that is built on meaningful relationships.

Our goal, as a staff, is that every student has 5 positive adult role models in their life (not including their parents) that they can go to talk to, to seek help, etc.

A school that has a flexible learning environment, where staff are continuously learning and engaging in professional development, where assessment practices are used to inform learning and learning never ends.

As the year continues, I commit to continuous reflection to help make the school the best version it can be.

Sabrina Fentie

Principal

St. Thomas More Catholic School
Fairview, Alberta

Some thoughts on HS redesign

I have heard it said, “If you’re not uncomfortable, you’re not changing and growing.”  So I figured I would challenge myself two times over… blogging – never have I ever blogged before. Annnd then – let’s just add a topic I’m unfamiliar with – high school redesign! 🙂  But I really listened to Jessie’s presentation on HS redesign and I just wanted to share a couple of things that resonated with me.

I feel the concept of HS redesign emulates a primary/elementary approach but with bigger kiddos. I know that it’s different and that may be a simplistic view, but when Jessie was presenting, I was making connections to my elementary world (Grade 1 and admin in an elementary school).  I love the fluidity of long blocks of time with students.  The family/pod system is a wonderful way to collaborate, work on PBL and inquiry based learning. I know what it’s like to have MY kids all day – not having to worry about bells, packing up to move on to the next class and worry about being late for math, or social or whatever is next on the schedule. The fluidity and flow of good teaching and working on big projects that encompass many subjects and outcomes is what happens in an elementary classroom. Imagine the amazing work that can happen in HS! Oh the collaboration! I would love to see it in action sometime!

The word relationships kept popping up during the presentation and conversations. We all understand the importance of relationships. In elementary, we are with our kids a lot – pretty much all day. We see them and know them.   HS teachers see and know their students too.  With the pod/family system, it’s an opportunity to see and know those kids on a deeper level. It’s so important for kids to feel like they belong. To know that they’re loved and seen as important. That they matter. I love the idea of looping up with the kids for another year too. I’ve done that a couple of times and it is amazing!

Those are the big ideas I connected with (flexibility and relationships) – and I am excited to learn more! What were some connections you all came up with? What resonated with you?

We Want You!!!

This last session was extremely challenging and exciting!   We were put through an exercise and asked to explore how to hire a teacher with the right skill set for the position being advertised.  Truthfully, I thought the exercise would be an easy one. The challenge was to see this through the eyes of a potential employer versus the employee. It became clear the first step to success is making that resume stand out. Every candidate has strengths and when placed in a paper pile one must be creative in their presentation. Our group had very similar thoughts on certain resumés after a quick read and others we debated about the need to put them through to the next hypothetical level of the interview process.  All the resumes were very different and potential candidates approached selling their strengths in different ways. The exercise was a useful learning tool. This process led into the conversation of how a teacher can have a fantastic resume and struggle in the interview process. As an administrator these factors play into finding the right teacher for the position at hand. I have attached a video that I found which provides a bit of humour on the interview process. Please click on the underlined I am the person for the job! link:).

I am the person for the job!

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

The video made me laugh of course but it made me reflect on the fact there are 2 things are happening during an interview. A district is trying to attract the best teachers to deliver the best possible education for our children. The teacher is trying to find the opportunity to teach and guide children within their practice. Years ago my mentor teacher taught me to make sure the job I apply for is one I really want! That advice has rang true! This video clip really sent a message. We have to be clear and able to recognize who and what skill we are looking for within our hires. We need to build an educational team of strong and energetic Teachers to guide our young minds we are honoured to teach every day in our Catholic School District! 

R&R (Recruiting and Retaining) amazing teachers and a dash of gratefulness

I have a confession to make…. I am fascinated with all things R&R!
The recruiting process : Getting the best people on your team because “great teachers = great schools”.  Henri shared with us the “pre game” and the job fair madness. I couldn’t help but wonder about how can we be more attractive? How can we get the best people? How can our profile stand out? I think we have a lot to offer ! Perhaps it’s the Thanksgiving spirit speaking, but I feel very fortunate to be part of the GPCSD community. The article we read this month “ How high-achieving countries develop great teachers” confirmed what I already thought about our district – we are on the ball. We offer support to first year teachers with mentorship both in school and with lead teachers. We have in school PD days dedicated to collaborating and learning. We even offer this Leadership Academy to support teachers that would like to one day be part of the leadership team. These and many more are what should make our school district attractive enough for R&R.    

Hiring the Best to Work for the Best

Several things piqued my interested during this session on Recruiting and Retaining a High Quality Teaching Staff. While reading the article, “How High-Achieving Countries Develop Great Teacher”, I noticed the author highlighted several methods that can be used to develop great teachers. They are: Universal high-quality teacher education, equitable and competitive salaries, mentoring for beginners, extensive opportunities for ongoing professional learning, and teacher involvement in curriculum. It filled me with pride to know that our school district also believes in these factors and provides these opportunities. This is why we continue to achieve our goals and have teacher retention of 84% compared to the provincial, which is 60%.

I decided to pick this session’s topic to write about because I feel very passionate about supporting new teachers. I want to know how to support them, help them be successful, and develop into life-long learners. Our district supports new teachers through coaching, mentorship, and evaluation. The hiring process takes time and often starts well before their first interview. This is especially true for the students that do their practicums in our school district. Often having to hire many teachers and wanting the best pick of the crop this can be challenging.

Early steps in the hiring process should ensure an understanding of the school district’s needs. Once this has been accomplished a plan for hiring should be developed and include a process for short listing candidates, conducting interviews and preparing to sell your district and be ready for any questions candidates may have. Once an offer has been made a smooth transition and start to the school year should be managed through a mentor, district career coaches and the principle. Keeping in mind that no teacher is truly hired until they have their continuous contract the probationary period should be well supervised to weed out any future employee issues. When continuous contacts are given out make sure the teacher meets all TQS, because I hear that hiring a bad teacher can create years of entertainment!

I had two quotes that I left our meeting with stuck in my head. One was from the book “What Great Principals do Differently”, it is “Great principals never forget that it is people, not programs, who determine the quality of a school”. The other one that really interested me was from one of our coach’s when he said, “I have learned more in 13 months than I have in 13 years by being a coach”. I worry that as I step into more leadership roles that I am not experienced enough, might not have all the answers, and don’t know all the latest techniques and research areas. I want to be the best leader I can be. However, it hit me that this is okay, as long as you are a life long learner and continue to learn. Keep your classroom doors open. You might be a mentor teacher and mentor most of the time but you will be surprised in what you can learn.

What have you recently learned? What did you change in your classroom because of it?

I’m not a ’10’, but together we ARE!

During our Leadership session tonight we explored the 8 Leadership Quality Standards. At this time we were given the opportunity to evaluate ourselves and discuss with our colleagues about our own strengths and weaknesses within these 8 domains. It was a powerful conversation at our tables.

I noticed a trend coming amongst the conversations we were having. We all had our strengths and weaknesses within the domains but we always compared the weaknesses to another person in our career or life that was an exemplary example to us. We always say that ‘teachers are lifelong learners’. With that being instilled in our brains, we always find ways to improve on something we are doing. It was a powerful thing to share our weaknesses and plans on moving forward to improve our practices.

Providing the best leadership for a school cannot be done alone. The best message I took from our meeting was: the overlapping theme of sharing/ collaborating/ understanding. We need to look within our schools and utilize our strengths. I can never be a ‘10’ across the board in my self-reflective evaluation. But, with the support of my amazing staff, we are a ‘10’ together in many areas. As an administrator we should look at evaluating our practices by the strengths and weaknesses we share together. Utilize our strengths in the right roles and use the knowledge within our staff to build capacity within us.

I look forward to becoming a ’10’ someday!

Embodying Visionary Leadership

There were many great conversations that took place at our last leadership meeting. I have to say that I had a hard time picking just one topic to comment on. The one that stood out for me was based on the topic of the School Leader Standards of ‘Embodying Visionary Leadership’. At my table we thoroughly discussed these standards, (so much that we were always falling behind the rest of the class!).

Embodying Visionary Leadership

After we read and discussed some of the standards, some of the people in my group, myself included, really thought about what this truly meant. Does this mean that a school leader has to possess all the tools to be an effective leader? Or can a leader know their staff/colleagues well enough to know who is the right person for the right job? We talked about the personal experience with administration and came up with times where ‘as a staff’ you need to divide and conquer leadership in different areas. I believe after the discussion, everyone talked about what they felt their strengths were and what they need to continue to work on. Going through the standards is a good reflective piece to understand where you sit and what you need to work on.

Challenge (If you choose to accept…)

Looking at the points under the standard of ‘Embodying Visionary Leadership’ in the next few weeks;

1. Rate yourself (you don’t have to tell anybody)
2. Come up with a way you can improve as a person, as a leader, as a visionary based on one of the points.
3. Put your words into action.
4. Comment: what can you personally tell the group that worked for you? What didn’t work for you?  

Setting the Standard for Leaders

Tonight in our second Leadership Academy session, we discussed the eight competencies of the Leadership Quality Standard

1. Fostering Effective Relationships
2. Embodying Visionary Leadership
3. Leading a Learning Community
4. Providing Instructional Leadership
5. Supporting the Application of Foundational Knowledge about First Nations, Metis, and Inuit
6. Developing and Facilitating Leadership
7. Managing School Operations and Resources
8. Understanding and Responding to Larger Societal Context.

We began discussing these competencies with the other people at our tables. Our group had a really great mix of experienced administration, school leaders, and teachers who are stepping into the leadership world (aka. me) and all of us looking to make education in our district the best it can be.

It was interesting to see that we all had something to bring to the table. Even if we hadn’t walked in the shoes of an administrator, we still had experiences that related to each of the competencies. Karl encouraged us to compare the teacher and leader standards so I have decided to reflect on how both teachers and administrators are responsible for upholding these important standards for several of the competences.

Of course we know that the first competency for both is “Fostering Effective Relationships”. We now know that nothing can truly be accomplished until relationships are established with our students, parents, teachers, administrators, and the community. Many of the standards in this section were essentially the same, with leaders being the facilitators and models for teachers in their schools. In our table group, we discussed ways that we have seen leaders establish positive relationships. We also discussed dealing with conflict, and how that piece becomes easier if you already have a good working relationship with the person. We also discussed the new standard of establishing mutual trust with First Nations, Metis, and Inuit parents / guardians / Elders / knowledge keepers / local leaders / and community members and its importance in our schools. Some people in the room had recently been to a professional development session on this topic just this week, while others are hoping to seek out more information on how to establish these relationships.

Another competency we discussed was “Leading a Learning Community”. Coincidentally the second competency for teachers is “Engaging in Career Long Learning”. Leading and learning go hand in hand. We discussed how lifelong learning is key in this profession and that it can sometimes be easy to slip into the rutt of doing “what works” – especially if you are not consistently being evaluated. This then brought up some great discussions about evaluations and how to authentically evaluate teachers, not just seeing the superstar lesson. The term “high expectations” stood out to me as something both teachers and administrators need to have. If you have high expectations in your classroom, your students will rise up and meet them – the same goes when leading a school. If you clearly communicate the expectation of shared responsibility for students, collaboration, and lifelong learning from the very start, and you provide your staff with consistency and support, they will rise to the occasion.  One of my favourite Ted Talks is “Every Kid Needs a Champion” by Rita Pearson. In her classroom she set that level of high expectation by having her students believe they were the best class in the school and it was their job to show others how its done. I personally tried this with my class and like Rita said “You say it long enough, it starts to be a part of you.” Administration in a way are the champions for the teachers, students, and parents – not an easy task but a very important role that requires promoting and modelling these expectations for the learning community.

This was a very eye opening night of learning and I already feel a new sense of confidence in my abilities. For me, Leadership Academy is about stepping outside my comfort zone to think critically about who I am as a leader, and deciding what I need to work on to become a better one.

If I was Queen of the Universe…

“What did you learn today?”
I want my students to have a quick and easy answer to this question if they are asked.

Especially if they are asked by their parents. If they have nothing to say I haven’t done my job.

Hopefully, their response will be enthusiastic and filled with all sorts of wonderful detail.
“Well mom, today I learned how what to look for when identifying shitty websites from credible websites.”
“Mom, Did you know Lady Macbeth was psychoooooooo…….?
“Dad, I learned about ritualistic sacrifice in a modern day society and how if societies live rigidly to the rules established generations ago social and political systems will cease to progress….” (I wish).

So,
What did I learn at our supper meeting?

If a principal’s main objective is to make conditions THE most conducive to learning as possible so that teachers can do their job as successfully as possible.

How do you do that?

One way is by building trust.

Teaching is an emotional profession. Every day we interact with dozens (and if you teach HS some terms you can TEACH over 100 students a term). This can be draining and emotionally taxing. Trusting those “in power” not to judge us when the emotional taxation has drained us of all emotional dividends.

Trust is tricky because it can be fluid; it can be a bond that is strong one year, but because of circumstance or event it can weaken significantly. A leader attempts to build trust in a group of people, just to have the dynamic of that group change with the shuffling, addition and subtraction of staff. Trust, by nature, comes from consistency over time. So if your staff continually morphs, and in some cases, it morphs severely, the attempt at that consistency over time is limited. So then, what do you do? Do you build a reputation among those “old guard” teachers who have been there over the years? Or do you concentrate all your efforts on “newer” teachers who are most often more receptive to change?

Personally, I believe one REALLY effective way to build trust among a school teaching team (notice I didn’t say staff) is to build leadership capacity. This doesn’t, of course, mean to give MORE responsibility to individuals, but rather CHANGE the responsibility. One of the top ten behaviours for building trust (according to Todd Whitaker) is to “involve others.” Teachers, just like students (if not more so) like to feel as though they are an expert invaluable to the learning of the group.

How can we make teachers feel invaluable?

Now, I have never had to “build the board” or build a schedule, so I have no idea how feasible this would be but

If I were Queen of the Univ…

Errrr , if I were a school administrator (and keep in mind I am just talking from my experience in a High School environment) one way I could free up some “admin time” for other teachers to take on leadership roles, is to take on a wee teaching load. One class, one class each term. CALM? Religious Studies (unless we can show how we can cover our RS outcomes in English or Social Studies….which we can, by the way)? An option course? So that some teachers can take on an instructional leadership role and meet and work with other teachers while an “administrator” is alleviating a wee bit of the teaching load?
Or
What if during assemblies could I create capacity for 2-3 teachers to meet while the rest of the school is at assembly? These teachers can then participate in online PD (archived Webinars, discussion forums) and become an “expert” in some area (Socratic Discussion, Inquiry Learning, etc). These instructional leaders can then lead mini staff PD sessions at the beginning of each staff meeting (staff-meeting should be a time for PD and not merely a time reviewing what can be shared on an email)

and
could different schools coordinate in building this leadership capacity? I know for certain that any teacher who strives to improve their craft through continuous learning would be open to opportunities such as these.

If a teaching team can view themselves as intrinsic to the school they will undoubtedly be open to collaboration and change and consider themselves as not only as “learners” but as “leaders” as well.
In our district older teachers (experienced) remember the era where teacher leadership means an administrator position or curriculum coordinator. Over the years there has been a redefining of “teacher leadership” away from a formal title to one that involves participation in professional learning communities, mentoring new teachers, and collaboration. This shift in view seems to me to be a more successful and inclusive of building leadership capacity ensuring ownership of school’s instructional mission resulting in trust among the group.
Administration (be it school or district) must invite, not merely ask for volunteers via email, teachers from the district to become involved with district incentives (new jr/sr high school committee, alternative education committee, high school redesign committee etc.) that are based on directives from the Alberta Department of Education again creating ownership in the district. New teachers are enthusiastic, involved, and open to becoming a collaborative and effective member of a professional learning community. Some of the experienced teachers view the leadership climate as being demanding and illogical regarding their present work reality and are more reluctant to participate fully in the opportunity for professional development.
Because I am emotionally invested in my school and have over twenty years experience, I view “leadership” as a logical and integral part of my profession. Collaboration is intrinsic to effective teaching. If all teachers viewed leadership as inherent than there would be less likelihood of teachers teaching in isolation and only passively part of the school culture (Lambert 1998).

Therefore

what I can do to increase my leadership capacity and build trust among my colleagues is to engage more frequently in collegial discussion with my peers. I would like to find a way to encourage the experienced teachers at my school to be a part of school improvement by actively engaging in professional learning. The steps I can take in improving my own leadership qualities are inspired by the list given by Searby & Shaddix (2008):

• Leaders ask the right, tough questions.
• Leaders can set the tone for meetings and discussions with their energy level, attitudes, and encouragement.
• Leaders are mentors, one-on-one, to others. 4. Leaders anticipate needs and meet them without being asked.
•  Leaders support other leaders emotionally and professionally.
• Leaders establish their own credibility through competence.
• Leaders learn what they need to know and are willing to share it.
• Leaders interpret reality for others.
• Leaders always ask, “What is our purpose?”
• Leaders ask the question, “Is this consistent with our values and beliefs?”

As well,

I can ask questions of my colleagues regarding their present teaching practice and help set a more collegial and optimistic tone during professional development days as well as in the informal setting of the staffroom….

…a Herculean feat some days.

By working on my own leadership skills, I may be able to improve the leadership climate at my school. As an administrator, it would be a powerful thing to invite teachers in to observe and participate in a class I am teaching, even if it is only an elective course.

Now THAT would build trust.
“come on in and see ME teach.”

So,
what did I learn from our supper meeting….
Trust is an important component in the development of a strong school team. Trust can be built and cultivated by creating leadership capacity in teachers.
Now,
How do we do this?

 

Lambert, Linda. (1998). How to Build Leadership. Educational Leadership. 55(7). Retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com.une.idm.oclc.org/docview/224851999/D374BC4B13FE412CPQ/2/accounted=12756

Searby, L. & Shaddix, L. (2008). Growing Teacher Leaders in a Culture of Excellence.
The Professional Educator, 32(1). https://elearn.une.edu/webapps/
blackboard/execute/displayLearningUnit?course_id=_33198_1&content_id=_
1027464_1&framesetWrapped=true

 

Trust Me, It Is All In The Relationship

Building a Culture of Relational Trust Within our Schools

Our March Leadership Academy session was based on fostering effective relationships which centred around the concept of building a culture of relational trust within our schools.  We had the honour of St. Joe’s principal Roger Lauck, as a guest speaker.   He shared his experiences and expertise which has created successful relationships with staff, students and parents within his school community. He humbly explained that building relationships with staff creates an environment strengthened through collaboration and trust.

We broke into collaborative groups where we shared our experiences and knowledge surrounding the topic of building relationships and trust within our schools.  Our discussions were focused around two articles from: The 13 Behaviours of a High Trust Leader, by: Stephen M.R. Covey,  and Building Trusting Relationships For School Improvement, by: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory and one reading from Todd Whitaker’s book: What Great Principals Do Differently, Chapter 5, Treat Everyone with Respect, Every Day, All the Time.  Although, each group shared a variety of  ideas it was clear that the same key words continued to surface; communication (genuinely listening and respectful exchanges), collaboration (staff/teachers and staff/teachers, staff/teachers and students, staff/teachers and community and  principal with them all), also, kindness (in our words and actions).

This session allowed me to reflect on my current practices as both a teacher and as an administrator. How can I be a better principal and teacher, as well as, help the students meet their potential?   Am I capable of helping  those around me to succeed and to make them feel safe and secure within the school community?  How can I better support my staff, students and parents?

The answer to these questions is found in the foundation of building trust within your people.  This requires me to think constructively about how best to organize and work with our staff students and parents.  The foundation is based on a continued diet of communication, collaboration and kindness.  Relational trust is what connects individuals and allows students to advance academically, trust, also supports their personal well being.

As leaders in Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools we find the need to transition from principals who, trust in power, to those who have discovered, the power to trust.   We must build trusting relationships together.