Feel The Burn

Early in my education (and parenting) career, I thought behavior management was like the old hot stove example.  If you touch a hot stove and burn your hand you won't do it again.  Right?  So therefore, logically, if you make the consequence (burn) strong enough for a student then they won't do it (touch the stove) again. Wrong.

For the last three years I have been in a position to provide those consequences to students.  I wanted them to "feel the burn" so to speak.  Each time the same student messed up, I would provide a stronger and stronger consequence - detention, in-school suspension, Saturday school, out of school suspension.  And each time I would think "this is going to do it; finally this big consequence will deter the student from doing this behavior again!".  I was so wrong.  It never did.  They kept doing the same behavior and kept getting the same old consequences.  Consequences do not change behavior!

{Now, for some, the consequences are a deterrent. Many students will not engage in misbehavior because they are so afraid of the consequence.  First and foremost, they want to do the right thing but also they don't want to get in trouble. So just having the code of conduct and threat of a suspension or even detention is enough for them to deter from certain behavior.}  

As we know from experience (yeah, it look me awhile) and as research supports, consequences to misbehavior are necessary but are not an effective means to change behavior.  Again, consequences are necessary.  Can you imagine our world without consequences to behavior?  Scary.  

So what do you do with the kids that touch the hot stove over and over again and keep getting burned. How do we change their behavior?  The answer is simple and no secret - especially in our world of education.  Relationships.

We are in the business of changing lives for the better.  Our job is to teach and coach the new student towards new behavior.  Behavior is learned which means it can taught.  But as James Comer said, "no significant learning can occur without a significant relationship".  The foundation to change in behavior is a positive, trusting relationship between the student and adult.

To conclude, there are students you may have a significant relationship with yet you are not seeing that change in behavior...yet.  Sometimes it takes years for a student to "get it".  Keep teaching 'em, coaching 'em, and loving 'em.  The fruits of your labor will produce.

http://www.pnas.org/content/113/19/5221.full.pdf

3 Leadership Lessons

A few hours ago, the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team beat the #1 seed and returning National Champions, Villanova Wildcats.  I often enjoy more listening to the coaches and players after a game than watching the actual game itself.  Here are three leadership lessons from the game and post-game quotes.

A great leader will...

1) ...learn from the best.  Senior, Nigel Hayes, made the game-winning basket.  He said that he learned the move from watching a clip of Michael Jordan.  Nigel clearly watched film on the best player ever (sorry LeBron fans) to become a better player.  Who are the great leaders in your life that you are watching and learning from?

2) ..ask for input from your support staff.  Coach Gard was faced with a difficult decision on whether or not to keep his guard and senior captain on the bench with four fouls or put him back into the game.  Coach Gard solicited input from his coaching staff on what they thought.  My friend and mentor +Dwight Carter taught me that, as a leader, there are "Me" decisions, "You" decisions, and "We" decisions.  Ultimately, the decision for Coach Gard was a "me" decision.  However, that doesn't mean you go at it alone.  He gathered input from his coaching staff to make the best informed decision.

3)  ...celebrate the wins. Senior, Zak Showalter, was so excited after the game that he nearly passed out!  Have you ever been that happy!?  What, how, and when an organization celebrates will immensely impact it's culture.  As a leader, if you want to improve your organization's culture, look first at what, how, and when you celebrate. Recognize and honor the accomplishments of others before self.

Long Term Gains, Not Wins and Losses

If you were the coach of Clemson football and your team just won the National Championship, beating the defending champions, undefeated, and arguably one of the best college football teams of all time, what would you tell your team after the game?

Among the things Dabo Swinney told his players in the locker room after the game was:

"Take this with you....when you walk down the aisle - be committed to being the best you can be.  When you take that job - do the common things in an uncommon way.  Take this moment - take this journey that you've been on and go apply it to the rest of your life.  And you are going to dominate life."

What a powerful message and unique leadership stand.  It is clear that Coach Swinney is not just in it for the football, wins and losses, and even championships.  He is in it to build young men for their future.  How critical is it for true leaders to make connections to others that continue to build them for the future?

In your interactions with others today, make those connections.  Help others to see that their successes and failures now play a role in shaping their future.  Be in it for the long term gains, not short terms wins and losses.

Guest Post: What is your WHY and PURPOSE as a teacher?

I would like to share with you a guest post from Cailin Sendelbach, one of our teachers at South.  As a district, we have recently been revisiting our WHY and our PURPOSE.  By sharing this with you, it is our hope that you may also reflect not just on your instructional practices but the bigger picture of why you are a teacher and what your purpose is with your students. 

A question came to my mind during break: What is the purpose of school? When I was in school, and even throughout my own short teaching career, I always believed that teachers were suppose to teach students what they needed to know to become successful young adults that could contribute to society once we completed our years of schooling. But is that really what teachers do?

After a lot of thought and soul searching, I realized that I AM meant to be a teacher—but I think I’m going about the actual job of teaching the wrong way.

I was always good at school; completing middle school with a 4.0 GPA, I figured that I was prepared for everything life was going to throw at me once I entered high school. Came to find out that they were teaching me how to make it through school with the highest grades possible. With the pressures of standardized tests and current-day teacher evaluations, this isn't difficult to see.

Being “academic” doesn't tell a student much about themselves. It tells them they're good at school—that’s it. They are able to figure out the system. What being "academic" doesn't indicate is whether students can hold healthy relationships in life, make rational decisions in a range of situations, manage money once they get a job, or selflessly give back to the community--all of which, I believe, have a far greater importance than being good at school.

So I started thinking about what the purpose of school should be. School should be a place where students can discover what they love. They should be able to ask questions that matter to them and pursue the answers themselves, with guidance from their peers and adults around them. They should discover what they are passionate about and realize that through those passions, they can make a difference in the community and world they live in. But I don’t believe students are learning these things—at least, they aren’t in my class to the extent that they should be, and I’m deeply ashamed of that.

I don’t want to teach students who are good at school. Instead, I want to create an environment that engages them as learners, fosters creativity, and puts responsibility for learning where it belongs—in the hands of my students. Instead of just rote learning of the science material that the state claims all students must know, I want to use that content to teach skills that will truly benefit my students’ futures. I want my classroom to be an environment that allows my students to get messy and build things; a place where my students learn how to learn and know how they learn best.

I want my students to be able to problem-solve, innovate, and understand the importance of failing repeatedly without thinking they “aren’t smart” or “can’t do it.”. I want my students to collaborate with each other, as well as virtually with students across the globe—which I already have a middle school science classroom in Maine that is willing to test-pilot this with me. Students need to be able to powerfully communicate their ideas and beliefs using  print, photography, and video—because this is their world, and I want them to be ready for it.

Instead of introducing each unit with notes that breaks down the concepts they need to know to pass the unit test, I’m going to introduce each unit with a real-world problem or issue that they can solve using the content they need to know. I’m ready to change the teaching paradigm and I’m not afraid to do jump in with both feet. I want to help mold leaders and world-changers in my classroom, not just "smart" kids that are good at school and understand how to work the system.

The area of science is far beyond just learning the concepts of how ocean currents move or how to connect a circuit or how the water cycle works. Science is taking your understanding of these concepts and using them to solve a common problem, to create new ideas and innovate new solutions. Each one of my students can make great changes in the world—but I haven’t given them the opportunity for them to see that power within themselves.

THIS is my purpose in the field of education. Not to educate students about science, but to use science to educate students about the world and their place in it.