Ed Leadership Archives - Leading, Learning, Questioning

Ed Leadership

In college, I had a professor who would read PowerPoint slide shows to us about the benefits of engaging instruction for students. The irony was not lost on me. It’s rare that a class is a perfect match for you as a learner, but I learned a great deal of what not to do throughout that course.

For all the innovation out there in education today, there’s still a lot more whole group lecturing about how we should differentiate and individualize our instruction for the students we serve than I’m comfortable with. Professional development that ignores best instructional practices is insulting to teachers and detrimental to leader credibility.

I understand part of the hesitation on the part of leaders. Differentiation in a classroom is an incredibly complicated, albeit rewarding, undertaking. There aren’t a lot of options out there for differentiated professional development, and creating something from the ground up seems like a monumental undertaking. So, we often opt for a standard delivery of a new idea. When we do that, we rob those in the room of the opportunity to experience something innovative. Sure, everyone hears the same content. But as Dave Burgess often reminds educators, “What good is covering content if people aren’t listening?” Professional development can’t just wash over you; you have to internalize it, wrestle with it, consider how to make it your own. It’s high time we stop measuring professional development in terms of seat time. That’s a measure of compliance, not learning. As George Couros reminds us, “Compliance does not foster innovation. In fact, demanding conformity does quite the opposite.”

Professional development that ignores best instructional practices is insulting to teachers.

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Exploring Another Way

I’m in my first year on the campus I serve, and for our last two campus professional development days, we set out to do something different. We knew we wanted our PD to challenge and support teachers on their self selected goals for the year, and we also knew that we wanted staff to have time to implement some of the new things they learned about. More than that, my principal and I (both new to the campus this year) didn’t want to come in and talk at people for an extended period of time for professional development.

We decided to run the majority of our time as an EdCamp (with a bit of scaffolding). In a traditional EdCamp, participants design the day when they arrive to meet their needs with conversations among those who take part in the EdCamp. It’s highly organic (which I really like), but it is a bit of an adjustment for many not familiar with the style of learning.

For our purposes, we added scaffolding to not overwhelm anyone on the first iteration. We took the teachers’ goals from the beginning of the year and teased out four common threads: Student engagement, Social emotional learning, Growth mindset, and EdTech. With these in mind, we created a schedule for the day that allowed teachers to grow in their self defined goals, but also pushed teachers to learn not simply with presentations, but primarily through conversations with each other about the topics at hand. Check out the schedules below:

October 10th schedule

February 20th schedule

We sent teachers out to these conversations with these instructions:

When you get to your session, here are a few reminders:

If there’s a video, be the one to get it playing.
Find someone to add notes in the Google Doc.
Help get the conversation started. (Yes, you! You’ll be great!)
Find out where everyone stands on the topic.
- Ask what experience people have with the topic.
- Ask what people want to learn about the topic.
Make sure everyone who wants to contribute gets a chance to participate.
Encourage the conversation. Be patient.
Don’t let a little wait time fool you into thinking the conversation is over.

Our teachers loved these two days. The best thing about that for me is that it wasn’t about us as leaders at all. We got out of the way and let the teachers connect with and learn from one another. In those conversations, they challenged one another and worked through tough conversations about the hard work that teaching really is.

Selfishly, it was an incredible way to get to know our teachers on a deeper level. That wasn’t the purpose, but what an important benefit it was for us. We received overwhelmingly positive feedback on the day, and even heard some frustration in October that we wouldn’t be able to revisit this style of learning until our time together in February.

Compliance never got me that reaction.

Offering Empowering Encouragement

Before launching the October PD day, I had a chance to put one other support in place. It was probably my favorite part of the entire experience.

The unstructured conversations needed a secret leader, a plant in the room. Someone who would keep the conversation moving and focused on the topic at hand. So for each of the sessions, I thought through our staff, selected a staff member or two who had a lot to offer in that conversation, and went and had a conversation. I got to share that I was excited about our new, somewhat risky (but hopefully really rewarding) PD that was coming up. But more than that, I got to share that I saw greatness in them. That they had something that needed to be passed along to others. They they were an integral part of the success of the upcoming day.

Those conversations are some of my favorite interactions I’ve had with our staff.

In the end, each EdCamp was a great day. But more than that, I hope it showed teachers that we were willing to practice what we preach, to do something that might not run perfectly (but would be better than the way we’ve always done it). That’s what the Innovator’s Mindset asks of all educators.

Regardless of your role on campus, where do you need to make sure your methods match your message? Do you notice anything that’s contradicting itself? How can you fix those inconsistencies?

And as much as you have control over it, how can you drive PD toward something that honors, rather than sells short, teachers who are giving so much to serve their students?

#IMMOOC

The Myth of Innovation Killers #IMMOOC

Posted on March 16, 2017by Aaron Hogan

I’ve been in several conversations lately that go something like this: “[THAT WHICH IS OUT OF MY CONTROL] is an innovation killer.”

Don’t get me wrong. I understand that there are real constraints and awful situations that educators find themselves in. I know that those happen more often than we’d like. But if we wait until our constraints disappear to begin innovating, we will forever miss the opportunity to create change.

Today, will I innovate, or will I let the excuses win?

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I have a hard time not seeing the “X is an innovation killer” message as a nicer way of saying innovation is too hard for me right now. As George Couros says, “Often, the biggest barrier to innovation is our own way of thinking.”

Nobody knows your situation like you do, so if it’s not the time to add something extra in life, I understand. But when it is time, remember that everyone who is poised to innovate has constraints and a choice. Don’t wait until the time is the constraints have disappeared. It won’t happen. You’ll always have constraints. You’ll always have the choice: Today, will I innovate, or will I let the excuses win?

As Seth Godin says, “Change almost never fails because it’s too early. It almost always fails because it’s too late.”

Click to tweet this image

I’ll be writing more about my own journey with innovation over the next few weeks as part of this MOOC (massive open online course) centered around George Couros’ book The Innovator’s Mindset. This week, we were challenged to write posts in under 200 words. Check out the #IMMOOC hashtag to see some conversation about innovation in education, and look for the #IMMOOCB1, #IMMOOCB2, and & #IMMOOCB3 for more of these short posts.

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#IMMOOC

Starting Innovative Change #IMMOOC

Posted on March 12, 2017by Aaron Hogan

I love the conversation around innovation in education. George Couros’ definition of innovation (something that is both new and better) allows for a wide interpretation of innovation in a time when many associate the term exclusively with tech-laden change.

When we get it right, being innovative often helps makes our work focus more on learning than on just getting school done well.

I don’t think anyone disagrees that being great at learning is much better than simply being great at school, but sometimes it’s tough to know just how to begin this kind of change. Here are three easy ways you can start this week:

1. Write down a few people you plan to learn from at school this week. Put it on your calendar. Make sure someone follows up with you.

2. Pick out something that is part of your routine and ask yourself why you do things that way.

3. Model the learning you want your students to develop. Force yourself to share not only what you are learning but also a little about what that process looks like for you.

Whatever you do, use the influence you have to make school a place of incredible learning.

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Ed Leadership

Capture the Moment: Using Twitter Moments in Education

Posted on February 19, 2017May 13, 2017by Aaron Hogan

When they originally appeared on Twitter, Twitter Moments were only for things of national or global importance. Stuff like celebrities making bad decisions, famous people tweeting foolishness (yes those first two are mostly the same, and yes they were still most of what moments were about), and also things like actual news (but only rarely).

Recent changes made by Twitter allow you to create them. If you’re sharing your learning on Twitter (which you should be) and you’re not using moments (many people aren’t), you’re missing out. This post will tackle what are Twitter Moments can be used for, why should you care, and how do you make them.

So, what’s a moment and why should I care?

A moment is a collection of tweets that you can gather together in an easy to share format.

Why is that useful? When so many educators are sharing their learning on Twitter, there is an ocean of greatness out there. It’s nice to put a few of the tweets that stand out to you in a single place for future reference and clean sharing at the moment.

Here are a couple of examples:

I had the privilege of attending EdCamp Navasota this weekend. It was fantastic. In a half day, I had so many conversations that challenged and supported me. It was amazing.

I had the opportunity to facilitate a conversation on blogging during the second session. We shared resources, stories, and struggles throughout our time together, and at the end, I created a moment to pull a few of the tweets together before they got swept away in the sea of other tweets that included the #EdCampNavasota hashtag.

Here’s the small moment I collected and shared:

Blogging resources and reflections #EdCampNavasota

It was great to have everything in one location for a quick share after the session, and I’m able to go back to those resources and pull from the intelligence of the entire room the next time someone asks me about blogging.

I also used a moment to capture the tweets that were sent to my campus hashtag (#CGcats) last week. A couple of weeks ago I heard the simple but genius idea that’s made a big difference in our staff tweets: Instead of telling them why it’s so great to share, reflect, and connect and hope they’ll be intrinsically motivated, just let them wear jeans on Thursday if they tweet three times about what they’re learning of what’s happening in their classroom (Thanks to Matt Arend, Amber Teamann, and Sanee Bell’s collective genius for this!).

We had a great response, but we have people at all levels of familiarity, excitement, and trepidation surrounding Twitter currently. This Twitter Moment is something that allowed me to share the tweets to everyone on campus as well as my PLN.

Check out this week at Cypress Grove! #CGcats

It’s great to have all this awesome from around our campus pulled together in one space, and I love that I can access this summary so easily in the future.

I also used moments to document big chunks of my experience at TCEA last week. Who hasn’t had that conference overload/exhaustion feeling before, right? It’s nice to be able to go back to those moments to reference all I learned in Austin over those three days. Here are links to those if you’re interested: TCEA Day 1, TCEA Day 2, & my blogging session.

How do I make a Twitter Moment?

I make my moments on my phone. Here’s how I walk through it:

First, click the wheel on your profile page. Then, click moments on the list that pops up. In the top right corner, click the plus to open a new moment. Add your tweets before clicking save and publish.

Unlike a tweet, there’s no need to get everything perfect the first time. Moments are editable and can even be unpublished if you need. You can also add tweets by clicking the carrot, clicking add to moment, and selecting the moment to add it to.

Capture Your Moment!

Think through this next week. What are those opportunities to capture a moment on Twitter? Will it be a Twitter chat? An event at school? An area of your learning where you know you’re growing? Something you’ve learned that you can pass along to a colleague?

Whatever it might be, don’t miss out on the opportunity to capture and celebrate things worth sharing!

What will you share?

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Ed Leadership

8 Big Ideas From #TCEA17

Posted on February 9, 2017February 10, 2017by Aaron Hogan

I made it back home from TCEA. As is often the case after a great conference full of amazing sessions and incredible educators, I’m just drowning in good ideas. Last year, I posted 10 Big Ideas From #TCEA16 after returning home, and I’m bringing back that style of post here.

I could probably go into a separate blog post on each of these ideas (and I very well may at some point), but for now, this is all about capturing and documenting my learning from the past three days (and sharing it out in case it’s beneficial for you). I hope the ideas challenge you and support you in your growth as you make your way through the spring semester.

While TCEA is a huge tech conference, these ideas aren’t dripping with EdTech implications. More than anything, they challenge me to make manageable changes and convict me where I haven’t done enough work to rethink “the way we’ve always done it” in our schools.

Without further ado, here are 8 sticky ideas from this year’s TCEA conference.

You cannot keep up with it all. But if you are connected, you have a much better chance of keeping up with much more. – Amber Teamann

Learning and fun are not antonyms. – Adam Bellow

When we do things, we do what’s best for kids. If you can tell me why it’s not best for kids, we won’t do it. Otherwise, we do it. – Todd Nesloney

‪If parents only know what’s going on in class because of our homework, we need to do better. – Alice Keeler

Being a workaholic is not a virtue. – Alice Keeler

If you want to teach students responsibility, give them a responsibility in class. Homework doesn’t teach that. – Alice Keeler

‪If you weren’t allowed to assign homework, how would you redesign your class? – Matt Miller

Giving people a chance to contribute is powerful. – Dean Shareski

It’s likely that you probably agree with some of these ideas and want to push back on some of the others. That’s great. The more we think critically about what it is we should be doing as educators, the better off we will be. I’m thankful for the opportunity to have come across so many educators who are doing so much to serve the students in their care as best they know how.

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Ed Leadership

Making the Most of TCEA #TCEA17

Posted on February 5, 2017February 5, 2017by Aaron Hogan

I’m headed to Austin, TX this week to be part of a huge EdTech conference called TCEA (that’s the Texas Computer Educators Association). Like most excellent education conferences these days, there is no shortage of valuable information to be learned at TCEA. In fact, quite the opposite is the problem. It’s very much the “drinking from a fire hose” experience. So much is great at so many turns that even in the short time I was there last year, I had to stop and put everything on hold one afternoon or risk not retaining everything as I floated in the sea of knowledge that engulfed the Austin Convention Center.

So, I’ve been thinking about my TCEA16 experience as I’m about to begin this year’s event, and there are a few reminders I had for myself. Maybe they’ll help you out, too.

In any case, if you are headed to the event (I hope you are; it’s amazing), I hope your week is packed full of interesting conversations, challenging new ideas, and the perfect mix of tips that will help you impact learning for the better the following week and leave you thinking and rethinking through the way you do your work for months to come.

Without further ado, here’s how I plan to tackle the week (or at least my three days there):

Tip #1 – Reconnect with someone

The best thing about #TCEA16 wasn’t the amazing speakers (who were absolutely awesome), the incredible opportunities to learn from others, or the guilt free time to invest in my own learning away from the day to day stresses that come with being an assistant principal. No, by far, the absolute best thing about being at TCEA last year was being with people there.

There are just so many phenomenal educators innovating across Texas (and the rest of the country and world for that matter) that missing out on this opportunity to find and reconnect with some of those folks is just something we can’t miss.

But not everyone goes into a conference like this expecting to see some familiar faces. That’s ok, and tip #2 will be perfect for you if you find yourself in that situation.

Tip #2 – Connect with someone new

Not only did I have the chance to reconnect with a few folks I’d met previously, but I also had the chance to meet an incredible group of people from my PLN face to face. I can remember it like it was yesterday. I walked into my first session, Angela Maiers was speaking, but three friends were sitting across the room. We saw each other, and although we had never been in the same room, we instantly knew each other. It was nothing short of amazing to be standing there with these people who I knew from our connections online (whether it be Twitter chats, Voxer groups, or their blogs).

In a few years in our connected, I think this will become more and more the norm. But for now, it’s still surprising and sort of incredible to little old introverted me. Needless to say, the kickoff of TCEA16 did not disappoint. I’m really pumped about this year’s event.

Beyond that, those faces that I didn’t know in the crowd soon turned into familiar faces as we worked through some of the same sessions together. Conversations sparked throughout the short time I attended last year, and I’m looking forward to this process continuing this year.

Get to know the people sitting next to you. In our connected world, they’re going to be your allies as you all move back to campus and begin the change process all across our country.

Tip #3 – Hang out in the Playgrounds

I don’t know that I can overstate how overwhelmingly huge TCEA is. When I went last year, it was the first really massive conference I had ever attended. Sure, I had annually attended College Board training (which was invaluable to my survival and success as a high school English teacher), but those events never brought the same size and scale as TCEA (900+ sessions are advertised at this point… That’s a lot of options…).

All those options bring me to tip #3. At some point (really, at many points) you will end up with too many options or shut out of your first few choices. My suggestion is to head to the YOUnited and YOUniverse Playgrounds.

It’s an area on the first floor that can always fit one more standing person, and there are often chairs you can putt up from nearby to join the conversations happening there. If the environment wasn’t enough, the folks who are sharing here are top notch. Kasey Bell, Alice Keeler, Shannon Miller, Todd Nesloney, Eric Sheninger, Adam Bellow, Dean Shareski, and many, many more incredible educators will be setting up shop in these informal environments. Take advantage of the unique opportunities that seemed to come up regularly here last year. If all else fails, head to the playground. You won’t be disappointed.

Tip #4 – Tweet your learning to the #TCEA17 hashtag

When you get into those sessions, start tweeting out your learning. It’s imperative that we get the word out about what will make a difference for students, and there’s no easier way to do that than by Tweeting it out. If you include the #TCEA17 hashtag, you’ll add to the collective knowledge that’s being shared out by the entire conference (or at least by those who are doing it right).

When you do that, not only are you sharing your learning with others, but you are also taking notes for yourself. I love that I can head over to Twitter and search for my username and last year’s hashtag and come up with all this information documented for me to revisit any time I like. It’s not something I need to reference all the time, but every now and then I’ll be looking for a quotation from the conference or a link to an article or a Google Drive folder and there it all is.

Bonus tip: If you come across great nuggets that you want to get noticed a little more, create a few images to Tweet out. Here’s a post that chronicles a few of the sticky ideas I came across last year.

Tip #5 -Recap your learning often

Going through the process of taking notes is good. Sharing those highlight ideas as Tweets is even better. But leaving all that raw material on the page or on social media will only take you so far.

At the end of each day (or sometimes even at a mid day break), you have to take time to brain dump all that learning down into some useable nuggets. Think of it this way: What’s going to fall on your to do list for next week, before spring break, this spring semester, or by next fall? Plan things out. Categorize them. Put reminders in your calendar so your phone will remind you of those great end of year ideas or that brilliant concept for something at the beginning of next year.

I failed to do this last year at TCEA, and I’m sure I missed out on opportunities to equip teachers in the process. I fixed that at a summer conference, and I’ve committed to doing this faithfully at each conference I’ve attended since then. It’s made a profound difference.

Tip #6 – Blog your learning

Don’t skip past this. The next one’s not any easier.

Once you’ve got that set of notes or Tweets and you’ve arranged your thoughts into a manageable timeline of implementation, take time to blog your ideas out.

Yes, I know that all the excuses are there:

I don’t have anything to say
I’m not a good writer
Other people will be sharing about this already
Will anyone read what I have to say?
What if someone doesn’t like what I have to say?
But I’ve never blogged before

Honestly, we could go on for a while with others, but the reality is that although blogging is scary, this sort of reflection is vital to your growth as an educator. John Dewey says that, “We do not learn from experience… We learn from reflecting on experience.” If we believe that (and I do), then it’s no enough to simply take notes and make a plan. If we want to learn (and why would we be at a conference like this if we didn’t?), we need to get busy doing this and doing it well. Here’s a link to the only blog reflection I really did from TCEA last year.

It doesn’t have to be great at first. Just write down where you’re at, what you’re learning, and what you’re trying. That’s it. You don’t have to do anything other than to share what you are learning. If you can do that (and, yes, you can do that), you are a blogger.

When you become a blogger, your risks go more public, but so does your learning. With the accountability that’s included of having yourself our there, you are more likely to get more done, and, in the process, others are going to learn from seeing your reflections. I highly recommend it.

If you’re still not confident you can make this happen, join me on Thursday morning in Room 13AB from 8:00-9:00am. My session, “How Blogging Improved My Practice,” is really not about me much at all. Instead, it’s about setting you and others like you up to confidently share your learning online for your benefit and that of others. Whether you join me for that hour or not, take time to blog your learning. You will not regret it!

Tip #7 – Become an expert at something useful

Finally, leave with an expertise you didn’t arrive at TCEA with. None of this experience is cheap in terms of time, energy, or cost incurred. Have something to show for it when you return home (and not just great personal learning for yourself). Go into TCEA knowing what those you serve need and with a plan to find it and package it well for them when you return. You get the chance to be the hero to them. Make it happen!

I hope you have a blast at the conference, and as odd as it seems, I hope to maybe run into someone who’s read this. It’ll help us both accomplish a goal and get better as educators in the process. Isn’t that what we’re all psyched up about doing this week anyway?

Ed Leadership

Why Do We Do That?

Posted on October 27, 2016by Aaron Hogan

I’ve got a little story for you.

It’s Christmas, and it’s the first time the family is having dinner away from the home they grew up in. The cook (not the matriarch of the family) is preparing the roast to cook, and the first thing he does is cut off the ends. He puts it in the pan, it cooks, it’s prepared to be served, and then comes the question. His mom asks, “Why did you cut off the ends?”

A little unsettled, he replies, “That’s what you always did when you cooked it, mom.”

She laughs, and he begins to get a little worried. After her laughter subsides, she shares why: “We only cut the ends off because we didn’t have a pan big enough to fit the whole roast.”

And just like that, the dreaded TTWADDI has reared his head.

blzufnecqaep5v7 — Credit goes to Amy Mayer (friEdTechnology) for this memorable image!

ANY SIGHTINGS AT YOUR SCHOOL?

Now think about your school. Why do we do things the way that we do them?

With some things, there are good reasons.

Maybe we do things that way because it’s best for kids or because it keeps people safe at school.

But with other things, I imagine that we don’t always have a great reason for what we’re doing. With many things, probably more than we’d like to admit, we’ve never even thought about why we’re doing what we’re doing.

I think it’s time that we start thinking seriously about what we’ve not thought about before.

What opportunities are we missing because we've never taken the time to look at why we do what we do?

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Typically I’m not one to make suggestions without offering solutions, but my goal is a bit different here. I want us to think of what we haven’t been thinking of. I want us to spend a bit of time exploring the gaps in conversations. Yes, eventually it’s important that we come to some conclusions, and I’m invested in that conversation as well. But I think it’s worth taking a step back from time to time and sharing a few ideas about what school could actually look like if we shook off the force of habit that has a strong hold on many of our practices.

So here are a few ideas I’m trying to rethink. I have some thoughts on solutions, but I’ll save those for another day.

Ideas I’m trying to rethink:

If we want our teachers to develop best instructional practices, why do we depend so heavily on whole group instruction for professional development?
If time out isn’t a good option for discipline in the classroom, why is ISS such a common consequence for behavior?
Why are we so hesitant to share our ideas with other educators? Why not connect more with others? Why not try to do that in new ways?
If we know that learning is often a messy, non-linear process, why is learning so often divided up into 6 or 7 or 8 period days?
If we know that learning happens at varying rates for various students, why are six weeks grading periods so commonly followed?

What are YOU going to rethink? What do we need to reconsider in education? What have we done the same way for too long?

Share your ideas in the comments!

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