The Monthly Recharge - January 2019, A miracle has occurred and ______ problem has been magically solved overnight. We're observing _____ as a result, and it is blowing our minds.
Leadership+Design


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Plan your professional learning adventures with L+D in 2019. 


Design Studio
NEW DATE THIS FALL - STAY TUNED!
Washington, DC

Designing for Student Civic Engagement

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Design Studio
April 19, 2019
Tacoma, WA

Equity and Inclusion Action Lab




Design Studio
May 16 and 17
Indian Wells, CA

Human Centered Design for Admissions Professionals 
(with AISAP)




Wonder Women
June 24-27, 2019
Oakland, CA 

Uncovering your Superpowers and Leadership Presence


L+D Board of Directors

Ryan Baum
VP of Strategy
Jump Associates, CA

Matt Glendinning  (Secretary)
Head of School
Moses Brown School,  RI

Trudy Hall (Board Chair)
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Forest Ridge School, WA
 
Brett Jacobsen (Vice Chair)
Head of School
Mount Vernon Presbyterian , GA
 
Barbara Kraus-Blackney (Treasurer)
Executive Director
Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools (ADVIS), PA 

Brenda Leaks
Head of School
Seattle Girls School, WA

Karan Merry
Retired Head of School
Brooklyn, NY

Jeanette Moore
CFO
The San Francisco School, CA

Natalie Nixon
Founder
Figure 8 Consulting, PA

Kaleb Rashad
Principal
High Tech High School, CA
 
Carla Robbins Silver (ex-officio)
Executive Director
Leadership+Design, CA

Matthew Stuart
Head of School
Caedmon School, NY

Brad Weaver
Head of School
Sonoma Country Day School, CA

L+D Fellows
2018-19

Paul Chung
RIPL Designer
McGillis School, UT

Michael Ecker
Principal
Calaveras, Middle School, CA

Kristen Erickson
History Department Chair and Art Gallery Director
Greenwich Academy, CT

Jon Freer
Director of Technology and Innovative Teaching
Solebury School, PA

Rhonda Hewer
Learning Services Consultant
Waterloo Region District School Board, Ontario, Canada

Louise Lindsay
Innovation Coach
Knoxville Jewish Day School, TN

Sonja McKay
Teacher
Exploris School, NC

Stephanie Mendrala
Director of Professional Development
STEM School Highlands Ranch, CO

Ingrid Moore
Director of Lower School
The Steward School, VA

Brian Mull
Innovation and Learning Design Coordinator
Trinity Episcopal School, NOLA

Hannah Nelson
Science Teacher and Academic Dean
Watershed School, CO

Gwenyth Nicholson
8th Grade Humanities Teacher
Saco Middle School, ME

Bobby Pollicino
Upper School Principal
Bullis School, MD

Sara Slogesky
K-12 Social Studies Curriculum Specialist
Capital Region Education Council Magnet Schools, CT


The Miracle of Tidying Up School
Carla Silver, Head L+Doer
Leadership+Design

I haven't read The Life-Changing Habit of Tidying Up - although I do own it. From what I have read about it, I'm pretty sure I would be a big fan. I'm also certain that it offers many more humane, kind and empathetic methods for what I do everyday - heartlessly and haphazardly get rid of crap.  Or should I say, "stuff?" Whatever. It's in the eye of the beholder. At the rate I fill extra large hefty lawn bags full of art projects, broken toys, plastic souvenirs from family vacations as well as school and professional sporting events, unfinished friendship bracelets, cardboard cities, and school work, I feel like I should hold an honorary trash collector's license, much less feel capable at "tidying up." The day winter vacation ends and the kids go back to school: that is when I am at my most relentless.

One final hypothesis about this book (that I have not read)  is that it isn't really about keeping a clean desk or a tidy house, it's about being able to make clear choices about what to keep and what to throw away -  in life. Whether we are talking about personal and work habits, relationships, possessions, or ideas and perspectives, we all carry around a lot more than what really serves us, brings us joy, feels relevant, and really matters in the here and now.

Schools are no exception. In fact, I would actually consider schools - as an industry -  to be hoarders - of curriculum, pedagogy, calendar, and mindsets about student learning. Faulkner, Steinbeck, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald  - can't get rid of those guys. That Latin text book from 1989 - it has a few good translations. Keep. AP courses - how will our students ever get into *name brand college* without them? Three months of summer - our teachers and students need time to rest and recover and our families need time to take overseas vacations.  Lectures and exams - our students will need to know how to do these when they go to college because that is what colleges do - especially *name brand college*. I could go on, but I think I've made my point. At what point do we keep hoarding all of these elements of education or make the choice to tidy up and make clear and intentional decisions about what is really important, relevant, joyful, and meaningful?

School leaders can get cluttered too - with the stories they tell themselves and their own personal narratives about how they need to serve their school communities, make decisions, and their strengths and weaknesses. "Nobody takes me seriously." - Better hold onto that idea.  "I need to be decisive." - A little old school, but that's what leaders do. "I solve the problems - for my school and all of my direct reports." - I can be the hero. What are the stories that leaders can tell themselves that actually serve them and help them to be more capable in mobilizing change and empower others to do work that matters? What stories inhibit success and are no longer useful? Hoarders.

This month, in our year of Mad-Lib style newsletter articles, we asked our writers to complete the following prompt that we like to call the Miracle Question: A miracle has occurred and ________ problem has been magically solved overnight.  We're observing ___________ as a result, and it's blowing our minds. For me, the miracle would be that we have applied the KonMari method described in The Life-Changing Habit of Tidying Up (or at least the version I have in my head)  to school and to school leadership. We have systematically explored what we possess and what we store in our syllabi, our personal narratives, our curriculum and our pedagogy, and we ask ourselves,"Is this serving me and my students now?" "When was the last time I really used this?" "Where am I not making space for solutions, practices, and learning experiences that could be more elegant and relevant?" "Is this bringing me and my community joy?" The real miracle would be that we have tidied up school.  There would be space for growth. My mind would be blown.

In the natural word, there are eco-cycles that organic systems go through - starting with gestation and moving through birth, maturity and finally creative destruction.   Liberating Structures - a set of practices that are helpful when teams are trying to make progress through challenges  uses a tool called "Ecocycle Planning" to help organizations and teams apply this natural phenomenon in their own work, helping them to identify where certain practices, products, activities and services are in their various ecological stages. Creative destruction is part of any healthy eco-cycle.  To make space for new growth and allow new seeds to germinate, other plants must die or be repurposed and turned to mulch. Ecosystems depend on these cycles. It's nature's way of Tidying Up. When nature hoards, we end up with forest fires. When schools hoard, we end up with fires of a different kind.

Take a look below at the miracles our amazing writers - all L+D Fellows - have identified.  Thanks Michael Ecker, Rhonda Hewer and Hannah Nelson. You are all miracle workers! Speaking of the L+D Fellowship, it's almost time to open up the applications for this year.  We start taking applications February 1 and the deadline is March 15. Also coming up, Equity and Inclusion Action Lab in Seattle with NWAIS (you don't have to be a NWAIS member to attend).  Wonder Women! is filling, so register soon if you want to join us - this year we are back in Oakland, CA at Head-Royce School. Lastly, we opened up registration for a new adventure last week - L+D TruthSeeking Pods.  If you are interested, email me  or Ryan  and we can send you a registration link. We only have a couple of spaces left! Apparently there are a lot of school leaders seeking truth because those spots were snatched up lickity split.

May 2019 bring you many wonderful adventures, hopefully some with L+D!

Warmly,

Carla Silver


Busy as a Badge
Hannah Nelson, Science Teacher and Academic Dean, Watershed School
They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.  
 - Andy Warhol

It was three years ago today that a giant meteor pulsed through the universe, sending the rotation of planet earth into disarray-- our days became longer. Overachievers around the world were ecstatic, exclaiming: "A miracle has occurred!" The age old problem of having only 24 hours in a day had been magically solved overnight. While we all at one point had wished for "more hours in the day", we are now observing massive burnout as a result, and it is blowing our minds. How could getting exactly what we asked for backfire so dramatically?

At first, it seemed like a dream come true. People actually had time to finish projects, get enough sleep, and learn to play an instrument. It wasn't very long before people began taking on more tasks and more projects. Like gases in an ever growing container, our list of tasks expanded to fill the time that we had. Instead of giving ourselves more time to relax and enjoy life or using the time to relish in 'process', we quickly returned to valuing final products.

Having more time should have allowed us all to relax, pursue our dreams, or at least, the classic American Dream " to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative". But with a new normal, the unspoken need or perception of status, financial security, and ownership crept back in. More time did not erase the fact that where you went to school, where you work, how much money you make, where you live, what kind of car you drive, still matters in our society. Just like with weighted and elevated GPAs, our expectations, or room for achievement increased so we continued to push ourselves to do more, do better, be better. We invested in the latest gizmos to help us stay organized, work more efficiently, and multitask like never before. But none of that helped. As quickly as the meteor raced through our atmosphere, people began to burnout. Now we must ask ourselves, is this drive to succeed causing us to prioritize doing rather than being ?

In our society today, so many of us unknowingly wear busy as a badge. When people ask us how we are, how often is the response "so busy" or "tired"? Why do we fill up our time with tasks and projects? Why don't we leave time for ourselves to be open to new possibilities and opportunities? What pushes us to fill every waking hour of our days, and the days of our children? Why are we pushing ourselves into what is now being called Burnout Syndrome, or BS?

In an effort to counteract BS, social scientists have been studying members of the recent movement CALL: Chill And Love Life, whose followers are focused on doing less and being more. They encourage people to leave open space in their day for curiosity, exploration, and relaxation. Initial surveys show that people who take time to enjoy process, explore unscheduled opportunities, and re-invest in personal (rather than societal) values show increased health, reduced stress and anxiety, and a general sense of elevated happiness. During the survey one member stated: "Maybe the number of hours in our day isn't the problem. Maybe the problem is our constant drive to do more and the prioritization of product over process and doing over being. We may never return to a 24 hour day but we can all learn to chill and love life."
The Opportunities of Relevance
Michael Ecker, Principal, Calaveras Middle School
Deep in a predawn slumber, a dream overtakes me. Classrooms across the country have rethought what it means to do school. A miracle has occurred and the relevance problem has been magically solved overnight.  In every classroom and in every school, we're observing students solving local and global problems AND becoming MORE prepared for life after school. It's blowing our minds.

Oh man, I wish, and for reasons that are both personal and professional. Yet, I think that this dream can be a reality.

Not too long ago, I lost my grandfather.  For our family, it was the loss of our patriarch.  He flew P51's well enough to become an Ace.  Below is an iconic picture of him getting out of his aircraft on the morning of his 21st birthday having just shot down his fifth Nazi plane. I am lucky enough to have shared many special moments with my grandfather where he shared stories and talked about what he had learned from his experiences.  On several occasions, he shared that his involvement in a common effort had shown him the benefit of spending a portion of one's life in the service of others. He felt that others would benefit from such an experience. He believed we would be a better. country and world if for just one year of a person's life they served their country--not necessarily in the military--but focused on making the world a better place.



I have always loved the prospect of this and in remembering the words of my grandfather, I think we can do even better. AND I think it will be much more likely than attempting to find the political capital needed to implement a year of service in the United States.  Instead, we should ask ourselves "what is school for?" In this answer, consider whether we could recreate the experience of going to school as a life of service. This would indeed be a miracle.  This could be the greatest win-win in American history by aligning the learning experience with schools with the problem solving skills our world needs most.

The way we currently judge success in American schools are data points on an island.  Test scores like state assessments, the ACT, and the SAT provide data points that fail to tell a story large enough to foretell long term success in college or career. Studies have shown that standardized tests are only able to predict success in 1 in 4 college applicants while the US Department of Education said that in 2015 only 59% of college students completed their 4 year degree in 5 years .  

Well intended lawmakers and educators have turned to standardized testing as a way to improve educational outcomes, but are missing far more concerning data than a gap in content knowledge. Engagement rates in American Schools, as noted by Gallup Surveys should drive us to question the school experience for the American child.  Since nothing drives learning like curiosity, we should see this as a giant red flag. We can maximize the impact of our teachers with learning experiences that inspire our students to want to learn more.

Secondly, we should reconsider the narrow way we measure student achievement.  In the current iteration, we tend to a manufactured way for students to engage with problem solving. We spend tons of money for texts filled with fake problems in a world with a surplus of problems. This leaves opportunities for those inclined to align systems of learning with systems of doing. This is not to say measuring content knowledge is not important. Just that in isolation, it tends to lack in purpose and relevance. As a start, we should couple it with the other deeper learning competencies .  

There is a miracle that lay in front of us, if we only choose to walk the path.  The win is that we can make use of the surplus of problems that already exist in our communities.  We would be helping improve our communities AND better prepare our students for long term success in school and out. This would allow them to learn soft skills that would greatly improve their outcomes and ours . It would also mean that communities and business leaders might start seeing partnerships with schools as more than charity or a way to make a buck.

Our schools could immediately begin making our communities better and schools, as we should, would be treated like our best hope for continuing to make our world a better place.  We can build the leaders of tomorrow by empowering the leaders of today.

While working in schools, I often think of my grandfather on whose shoulders I stand.  He did his part to improve our world for those that would come next. Here is our opportunity to take our responsibility seriously and do right by those on whose shoulders we all stand and for the children we serve.  Join me in realizing the miracle of doing the work that matters most.
The Role of Resistance in Change
Rhonda Hewer,  Learning Services Consultant,
Waterloo Region District School Board, Ontario
Several months ago, chemists perfected what was expected to be a revolutionary movement in the educational industry. A serum had been produced that would obliterate any form of resistance to change. A pilot test took place by pouring a gallon of the serum into a district's school water supply. The scientists' hypothesis was proven correct. All educators dropped any form of resistance to change and not only complied with new reforms but approached them with enthusiasm. It could be called a miracle if it had not taken 10 years to perfect the formula.

With this new found conformity, district leaders pushed proven practice and research out to the system. Educators willingly implemented the changes with no push back or debate. There was a harmony amid the education world in the form of 100% compliance. Surprisingly, soon after this utopia had been developed, it began to crack. The solution to diminish resistance seemed to have created new problems.

Since all teaching strategies changed, effective practices of the past were lost. The proverbial pendulum began to swing too far in one direction. The new strategies were not intended to be stand-alones but rather to build on existing effective structures. As a result, students were beginning to experience significant gaps in their learning.

Another side effect was the lack of innovation that began to take place. The previous innovators and early adapters were no longer early or innovative since the entire population was adopting the same practices. This deflated the innovators and early adapters resulting in a loss of creativity in their teaching practice.

100% compliance and 0% resistance alleviated debates among the educators and district leaders. Without debates, educators stopped thinking critically about their practice. Natural leaders became wall flowers and school cultures became one of compliance instead of an innovative learning environment.

In imagining a world where educators would implement change and students would be exposed to leading edge practice, the importance of the role of the resistor was not considered. Instead of schools becoming collaborative institutions of innovation, creativity, and critical thinking, the opposite occurred and it is blowing our mind! Maybe abolishing resistance wasn't the solution.

But why does resistance play such an important role in innovation? Humans are born with an innate instinct to preserve the status quo. From the dawn of time it was in our best interest to challenge change in the name of survival. It is then arguably in our very nature to resist change. If the change is not successful it could threaten our very existence. As Seth Godin states in his podcast Shun the Non-Believers , resistors are the guardians of the status quo. They are our risk analysts and their voice is vital in any change initiative.



For starters, their critical skepticism may produce some ideas or concerns that were not considered. This is especially important when implementing complex ideas or dealing with situations that have an unknown answer.

Second, they remind us of the effective components that have already been implemented and should continue to be practiced. So instead of reinventing the wheel, how can we enhance the wheel?

Third, they tend to have a significant influence on other educators. In these situations, it may prove to be more productive to work with resistors to merge existing and new practices rather than disregard their comments.

Leaders who surround themselves with only like-minded or "yes" people limit their own learning and progress by preventing different perspectives to surface. An effective leader will create a learning culture that welcomes debates from those that want to maintain the status quo and supports new ideas and breakthroughs from those who want to disturb the status quo.




               

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