Lead Like a Pirate:Book Study

Chapter 9: Harness the Power of Teams

Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.  --John Maxwell

Chapter 9 takes the reader on a journey using the PLC framework.  Shelley Burgess highlights how she built a Site Leadership Team, which was composed of one member from each grade level.  She discusses how she gave each member of her team a voice.  Her voice was no louder than anyone else's in this leadership community.  TOGETHER this team made decisions about how they wanted their school to function.  Shelley describes her role as a "summarizer and synthesizer" of their thoughts and ideas.  Shelley shares in this chapter the "Ten Tips for Teams that Tick".  Basically these are the basic tenets of a high performing PLC.  She discusses this process as a turning point for her school.  She also discusses how the leadership teams continued to grow in the second year and how more staff members wanted to take on leadership roles.Finally, in this chapter Shelley talks about the specific parameters that school leadership teams should use as their guide within to work effectively.  Want to hear about them?  (Read the book!)

If YOUR school is struggling with TRUE PLCs or effective leadership meetings, this chapter alone is worth the cost of the book.  These clear ground rules will help teams to understand what their part in the process is and how they can be a asset to their teams. Leadership roles (again) do not have to come with a fancy title.  Leadership roles are all around you.  You just need a vision and a will to help your school succeed in something that will benefit your students.  For example, I was new to a campus a few years ago.  I saw that there was a core group of parents that volunteered within the school.  However, I noticed that most parents only stepped within our doors when they had a conference or a program that their child was in.  Getting programs such as Watch Dog Dads in place and our Reading Prize Posse became a goal for me.  Reaching out to the community and going into the community as the "Prize Posse" that "caught" our kids reading in their own homes helped parents to connect with our school.  This brought about a whole new group of parents joining the ranks of our volunteers.  I did not have a fancy title, but I did have a passion for bringing our teachers, school, parents, and community closer together.  It took some work, but the pay off was well worth it!

Chapter 10:Find the Magic in the People - Not the Programs

"Programs don't teach kids; teachers do, and teachers are capable of making magic happen for kids."

This chapter touches on the power of the teacher within our school system.  While some programs claim to be THE key to helping your students achieve great levels of success, the only proven difference in highly effective schools are highly effective teachers. Districts spend a lot of money ensuring that "programs" are taught with fidelity. This sometimes works beautifully.  It works when the teacher is given a tool that he/she is able to use as just that - a tool. Basically the authors contend that teachers alone make the difference not the programs.  Teachers are the magic.  Good teachers know they should be creating experiences for their students that help them to understand new information.   Great teachers are allowing their students to go deeper into their understanding of the standards -more than any program is designed to do.  Teaching is hard - no doubt.  Classroom management, engagement techniques, depth of content knowledge, precise use of effective instructional practices, wise use of resources, an understanding of assessment and how to use it, long term planning and short term adjustments, are just a few of the daily duties of the average teacher.  This is not an easy job!  But the exceptional few make that daily duty an experience that our students hold onto and remember for the future.

Chapter 11:Get the Right People on the Ship

"Your crew is essential to the survival of your building and the success of your students."

Chapter 11 delves into how to find the right people to be a part of your crew.  There are interview questions included in this chapter to ensure that the people you hire are able to think on their feet and have the passion to help carry your school to greatness.  The last question that these pirate leaders ask in an interview is deceptively simple, and yet tells a lot about a new hire:  "What is something that you've read recently that has influenced you as an educator?"  How would you answer that question?

Chapter 12: If It's Important... 

Make Time For It

"Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem.  We all have twenty-four hour days".  --Zig Ziglar

As the authors discuss in this chapter, what you make time for gets done.  Just setting goals and priorities does not mean that these goals will be accomplished.  Building in time for teams to collaborate, will yield teams that DO collaborate.  Building in time for professional learning communities, will guarantee that "time" is devoted to that endeavor.  "If you have an initiative or a project you want to accomplish, it isn't enough to tell people what to do."  You must show people why it is important enough to devote time to - and you must show them how they can fit it into their schedules.  

Ask yourself this...  Does your team invest time in what matters?  Does everyone have a purpose on your team?  What are you spending your time on that will bring about a positive change to your campus?

Lead Like a Pirate: Chapter 7 - Set Your Compass & Chapter 8 - Avoid the Blame Game

Set Your Compass

What is the most important work you are focused on right now as a school team to improve student learning?

In chapter 7, the authors (Beth Houf and Shelley Burgess) talk about the importance of knowing your school focus or instructional vision.  Do you know yours?  If you were to write down your school's focus, what would it be?  Would it be the same as your team mates? Would it be the same as your assistant principal?  Would it be the same as your principal?  Long term vision should be your driving force.  "You must be crystal clear about what you and your crew need to this year, this month, this week..."  The first step is finding your focus as a school.  Break down that vision into actionable steps that you and your team can focus on with intensity.  In my opinion, one of the hardest things to do once you have a focus is to-

"Stay the course and push toward your goal 

with unwavering commitment."

Why do I say that is THE most difficult part of setting your compass?  We get side tracked during the school year with what I call ---> "The FLUFF"  

ie. new ideas from trainings or conferences, innovative teaching practices we found on pinterest, a cool website we found with great ideas...  

We get so caught up in "doing" teaching that we put our focus to the side.  We don't follow our actionable steps and we don't accomplish our goal.  All those "fluffy" things CAN help our focus, but we can't let those things overtake or become more important than our focus. 

Chapter 7 helps school leaders reflect on focus.  Create it - if they don't already have one.  And charges the readers to STAY THE COURSE.  

A vision builds trust, collaboration, interdependence, motivation, and mutual responsibility for success.  Vision helps people make smart choices because their decisions are made with the end result in mind.  Vision allows us to act from a proactive stance moving toward what we want.  Vision empowers and excites us to reach for what we truly desire."

 --Ken Blanchard, Leading at a Higher Level

Chapter 8: Avoid the Blame Game 

"If only teachers would...

If only the principal would...

If the students weren't so...

If the parents would just...

If the district would stop making us..."

That is the blame game.  How many times have I heard in my teaching career these same words?  Maybe phrased slightly differently, but I have heard them.  We blame.  "It can't be us, so it must be THEM."  Blaming is a culture that is in every school.  We even blame the tests we give children.  I have heard, "That's not how the question was asked last year!  If I had known that, I would have taught it that way!"  Beth Houf and Shelley Burgess explain that blaming is toxic.  "It gets in the way of creating the kinds of schools where all people thrive."  Think about the time and energy we DO waste blaming teachers, administration, parents, or the district.  If we SAY we are a team, shouldn't we be acting like a team?  It is the old "us" vs. "them" mentality.  I know I have seen that mentality in schools in which I have taught.  "Our kids don't have the same background as their kids."  "Our kids are lower than their kids."  "Our kids don't have the same experiences as their kids."  How do we get out of this mentality?!?  

"Be relentless in seeking out and nurturing each person's greatness."

"Being a leader of a great team requires that you HIGHLY VALUE each individual member of your team."  Beth and Shelley encourage leaders to let go of blame.  Reject the excuses and embrace the question, "How can I lead my school to greatness using the team that I have?"  Every person has unique talents, knowledge and gifts to share.  It is YOUR job as a pirate leader to bring out the best in every member of your crew.  Invest the TIME in getting to know your crew.  This will build relationships of trust.  Perhaps, this will move your team and school forward with a JOLT of positive momentum.  

Reflect on this -

• Do you partake in the blame game?
• What will you do next time you hear the blame game spark a conversation?
• What do you see when you look at your team members?  Do you focus on their strengths?  Do you think about their flaws?  How will you shift your thinking?
• How will you build your team to one that is highly valuing each and every member?

***When I say TEAM, remember that you are a leader in WHATEVER capacity you serve. You do not need the title of principal or team leader to BE a leader on your campus.  Start to lead out this school year.  We NEED you!

Lead Like A Pirate: Chapters 5 & 6

Chapter 5: Transformation

"Pirate leaders want to make a significant difference, a notable contribution, and transform the lives of their students."

This chapter discusses the need for a clear vision for your school.  Where do see your school?  What is your reality?  What work needs to be done to make that vision your new reality?  Transformation begins with creating a culture that truly wants what is best for every student in your school.  In this chapter, the authors talk about changing from a teacher led school to a more learner (student) led school.  Small changes can and will bring about big results.  On page 58, the authors discuss Response to Intervention.  In my opinion, why ARE we STILL talking about RTI? Surely we all have a good understanding of what it is and how to strategically implement tiered intervention.  RIght? No wait, that is CLEARLY wrong.  I have worked in two states during my teaching career and clearly RTI is still very misunderstood.  I think we basically, need to start thinking about RTI in terms of PLCs and how we will respond when OUR kids aren't learning or need their learning to be pushed further.  So, THANK YOU Beth and Shelley!  It is time that we DO think through RTI and how we are intervening with our students - all our students.  These are tough conversations that HAVE to be had.  These are tough conversations that will take our schools from good to great.

"Provide an uncommon experience for your students, and they will reward you with an uncommon effort and attitude." - Dave Burgess

Transforming our leadership practices will cause your teams to think about tough questions. Continuing to do things they way we have always done things, will give us the SAME results.  So, where do we begin this transformative journey? I'm not sure where you would begin, but if it were me...

• Grow your leadership team.  Use key people to begin a movement.  Yes, a movement that creates a buzz of enthusiasm.  This enthusiasm will be "catching".  And when we all have that "buzz", we are going to do powerful things to save our students. We will know and understand our vision, our mission, and have a shared focus.  
• Create a master schedule that clearly defines tier 1,2, and 3 intervention times.  Get all parties that have a vested stake in your community of learners involved in helping to fill gaps.  
• Use your PLC time to focus. (Focus on the 4 PLC questions to push your teams.) Think about this... What do we expect our students to learn?  How will we know they are learning? How will we respond when they don’t learn? How will we respond if they already know it?  These are hard questions, but they must be answered in order to move forward.
• Planning: Make time for talking, listening, and creating interesting lessons that are relevant to your students. Create lessons that are helping your students MASTER the standards.  Plan for those students that don't understand concepts, those that mostly understand, and those that already understand.

Chapter 6: Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm moves the world. --Arthur Balfour

This chapter resonates with me.  "One difference between enthusiasm and passion is that you can't fake passion."  Sometimes you DO have to fake it, till you feel it.  Sometimes there are mandates that you just don't feel vested in.  We might get a new teaching initiative or a curriculum change that rocks our perfectly ordered world.  As the leadership team, it is our duty to sometimes FAKE that enthusiasm.  There really are good reasons for most things that are added to a teacher's plate.  Find out the WHY behind a new initiative.  Often finding out the WHY is a simple way to change the mindsets of others - including yourself.  If we bring information to our teams in way that shows that WE don't care, I promise you - your team won't care.  They won't buy in and you have just created more negativity.  

"Enthusiasm is often the missing element to engagement."  Think about this - As a fourth grade teacher, I was tasked to teach my students all the different ways that you can and should use commas.  Now, this is NOT groundbreaking exciting stuff here, but I promise you this, my kids LOVED commas.  We rapped with them.  We created "cup songs" with them. We made videos to teach our parents.  Heck, I even had a t-shirt that said, "You had me at the correct usage of you're."  I'm telling you.. my kids loved commas.  Enthusiasm goes a long way towards turning what could be a negative into a resounding positive.  I can assure you that by the time we finished our unit on commas, I was LOVING the whole comma gig. I can also tell you that I had to fake it, until I felt it.  

Your attitude is contagious.  Are you spreading the right message?  Whether you are a principal, a team leader, a guidance counselor, or a bus driver...  are you spreading the right message?  Will you spread enthusiasm?  How will this chapter change who you are and how you will NOW lead out?

Lead Like a Pirate; Chapter 4

Ask and Analyze

Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers. --Anthony Robbins

In this chapter, the authors (Beth Houf and Shelley Burgess) ask you to think about the questions that you need to ask of yourself and of your team in order to move forward. "Pirate leaders ask many thoughtful questions of themselves and of others, and they are skillful at analyzing all the data that comes at them."  Probing questions dig deep to get to the roots of any issue and as a team, your job then is to actively seek solutions.

Using John Maxwell's book, Good Leaders Ask Great Questions: Your Foundation for Successful Leadership, as a springboard the authors look at the 8 reasons that leaders ask intentional questions. "If we want to get out of ruts, engage students and staff members alike, spark innovation, and build a culture of inclusion and excitement - then we need to make sure we're asking the right types of questions."  Another quote that challenged my thinking was- "Good questions inform.  Great questions transform."  That is truth in my book!  

An example of a traditional question - "What strategies will you use to engage students in your lesson?"

An example of a transformed question - "What will you do during your lesson that will inspire students to bubble over with excitement when parents or friends ask them about what they did in school that day?"

An example of a traditional question - "What is the agenda for the next faculty meeting?"

An example of a transformed question - "How can we personalize professional development to create experiences that would get staff running into meetings, not out?"

After asking the questions, what do you do with the information?  We need to diagnose what's going on in our schools and in our classrooms.  We need to be able to determine whether our programs are working or not.  We need to USE or data.  "Asking, listening, analyzing, reflecting, and learning are all essential to your role as a leader."  

Ask yourself this... What kinds of questions do you ask your teams?  What do you do with that information?  How will we transform our schools and classrooms with this feedback? Are we actively a part of the process to create a better school, a dynamic school, a student centered school?  Ask yourself what YOU will do differently to engage the people around you.

My challenge to you is to think about some routine questions that you use with your team. How can you transform those questions to get better more meaningful answers, and finally DO SOMETHING with the information that you gather.  Make a change - no matter how small - to move your school from GOOD to GREAT! 

Lead Like a Pirate: Chapter 3 - Rapport

Rapport

Compass to Guide Your Teams to Greatness

If we want meaningful change, we have to make a connection to the heart before we can make a connection to the mind.  -- George Couros, The Innovators Mindset

In chapter 2, the authors discuss the importance of staff rapport.  Do not think that this is a small task that will not produce high yield results.  Pirate leaders make it a priority to build rapport and relationships.  "They do it with staff, parents, with students, with community members, with their colleagues, and with their administration.  They invest the time in getting to know people and determining their strengths and areas of growth potential."  Investing the time in getting to intimately know the people that matter in any organization will move mountains and garner TRUST in the stakeholders.  "Nothing leaders do matters without the trust of their teams."

As Stephen Covey states, "Without trust, we don't really collaborate; we merely coordinate or at best, cooperate.  It is trust that transforms a group of people into a team."  Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the PLC Institute in San Antonio, Texas.  (Great professional development by the way!)  During the Institute, teachers and administrators learned about the PLC process and how to go from good to great in our craft as teachers, leaders, and team members.  Every session talked about different aspects of the PLC process and how this process WILL grow your staff.  The focused message in every single session that I attended was that without RAPPORT and TRUST, high performing PLCs will not be possible.  To move schools forward teachers must become part of this process.  Teachers are the front line in education.  If we truly want what is best for ALL students, we have to unite on our campuses and share a vision that expects nothing less.  As I heard this past week, No mission statement says..  Some students will learn.  Our mission is for every child to make growth towards future ready skills and strategies. All means all - not most, or some- ALL.  How will we make that happen? Rapport is our first step.  

The old saying goes...  To gain trust , you must give trust.  The bottom line is rapport, relationship building and trust begins with you.  Are your ready to make a commitment to do the hard work?  Are you willing to listen with an open heart and an open mind?  "Real progress only comes from true commitment to a shared vision and through a culture built on trust."  How will you LEAD your team and help build rapport?  Lead Like a Pirate isn't about administrators being the one true leader on a campus.  Lead Like a Pirate challenges everyone to have a vested interest in their school and take the initiative to lead their teams and students to future greatness.

Staff retreats and socials will also help to create a rapport within our schools so that we are willing and able to have tough conversations in order to focus on student growth.  Teachers will have an opportunity to voice their ideas and ALL staff members will be part of the process of real change to help our students achieve at high levels.  "People, not programs, make a difference in children's lives."  We must lift up our people and create a real sense of buy-in because what WE  do matters. Our students deserve schools that work collaboratively and not "COBLABORATIVELY".  Just talking about ways to solve critical areas of need is NOT enough.  We must be ready to take action on the problems that we have within our schools.  

This year one of my goals is to build rapport on the schools that I serve.  Simply taking time to talk and more importantly listen will go a long way towards building rapport.  Technology (which is incredibly efficient) can not take the place of face to face interactions.  I would love to use technology in a different way this year.  It will be my goal to celebrate WSISD schools.  We should tell our school's story, not a state test or a letter on our building.  We should show our parents and community the powerful learning that is occurring every day within our schools.  What better way to celebrate what our schools are doing well than to share our success stories in photos and videos each day.  We will show the learning, the talk, and the artifacts that prove our students are having critical conversations and creating quality work that continuously pushes their thinking!?

Chapter 2 provides suggestions on what a school might do in order to begin the crucial conversations that create a sense of rapport and eventually trust.  The challenge for this week is to think about some procedures or practices to have in place that will help move your staff to a rapport rich campus.

As always, I invite you to share your thoughts, ideas, and artifacts here and in the Lead Like a Pirate Community on Twitter.  #LeadLAP

Lead Like a Pirate - Chapter 2: Immersion

Chapter 2: Immersion  

"Hope on its own doesn't create change.  Action does."

As an educator I have had an opportunity to work with several schools in numerous districts. I have seen well-intentioned leaders that focus on tasks that do not support long term goals and real change within their schools.  Like Shelley Burgess drives home in Chapter 2, "If you want to transform what is happening in your school or district, you have to immerse yourself in the work that has the highest impact on increasing student learning and building a rich, powerful and positive climate."

I have had an opportunity to work with high achieving, well functioning teams during my years as an educator.  What did those schools look like, sound like?  In those schools, teams had one goal in mind - student success.  Student success could be academic, but in these schools, we looked at the total child.  We took the time to find student strengths and used those strengths to build on their individual weaknesses.  Every child had an "I.E.P." in these schools.  We worked together to build a culture in which we ALL knew OUR students. We planned together.  We created interventions to support student growth together.  We met with vertical teams to better understand where OUR students had been and where OUR students were going.  As a staff, we understood the importance of early literacy instruction and put our strongest teachers in those roles to help our youngest students build a strong foundation.  We supported one another by creating transparent classrooms in which any teacher, administrator or parent was free to walk in at any time and leave feedback to help us grow in our craft.  I loved that environment.  The positives outweighed the hard work, and (yes, often the long hours) that it took to create this environment.  When negativity tried to creep in, we asked for solutions instead of "whining" about WHY our students could not perform as expected.  We adopted a culture of growth over grades and educated our parents on this concept.  All teachers in this type of environment had a VITAL leadership role.  Teachers led professional development, student groups/clubs, curriculum writing, social gatherings, etc. The leadership on these campuses was shared.  We all had an equal part in continuing the hard work that needed to be done.  PLCs were an important part of our campus culture. Our teachers led those PLCs and totally bought into the "brand" of our school.  If our PLC time was interrupted, we made time after school to continue our conversations because they were TOO IMPORTANT to not have.

I have also been on a campus where negativity was king.  Teachers often complained about not having time to do the things that had been identified as important for our students' success.  I heard excuses that our kids were somehow "different" from other kids at other schools.  Our kids were less motivated.  Our kids had terrible home lives and very little parent support.  In reality, our kids WERE far behind other kids in other schools within the same district.  The negativity was strong in this school.  The sad thing is that these teams didn't even recognize that they were being negative.  As a positive teacher coming from a high performing campus, I began to get sucked into that negativity.  I'm not going to lie. I started to feel that our kids were often unmotivated and unable to make the gains that they needed to in order to be academically successful.  I started to feel just like the teachers on my campus.  The teachers on my team often got to school just before their students and left as soon as they were able to.  Planning consisted of - Jenny "did" the math plan. I "did" the reading/writing plan. Mike "did" the science/social studies plan, and we would "get" them on the Sunday before we taught on Monday. Talk about a lack of immersion and a lack of focus on how to build a culture that REALLY puts our kids first.  Our kids were not making progress because WE were too focused on what our students couldn't do, how little time we had to "teach" all our standards, and how behind our kids were.  It was a vicious cycle.  All the efforts on this campus were simply towards SURVIVAL.  Oh, we had dreams too -  We might dream about the next year when we MIGHT get a group of students with a little more understanding of the standards, when we MIGHT get a group that was motivated, and that we MIGHT even have a group with parents that actually supported the education of their kids. Thank goodness THAT campus also had a new leader come on board.  Her leadership, drive, and positivity lifted me up immediately.  It was amazing the change the campus made when challenged to immerse themselves in quality team partnerships. When we became vested in our students and we took charge of OUR actions and immersed ourselves in the work that HAD to be done, we saw the MAGIC start to happen for our students. It was a pretty easy process for me to switch back to the leader that I had been on my high performing campus. I realized that I was part of the problem.  It was much more difficult for teachers with a fixed mindset that perpetually set up road blocks to hinder our growth as a campus.  Ultimately, those teachers found new places to spread their negativity on new campuses.  The biggest change I saw on my campus in the end was student growth and campus accountability for that growth.  Students were more committed to their own learning. They were engaged and we saw a marked decrease in student misbehavior.  It IS amazing when you sprinkle positivity on your campus, how the shared hard work becomes less daunting and manageable.

The challenge for Chapter 2 is to take the CALENDAR CHALLENGE.  Think about how you spend your time in school.  Are you part of a high functioning campus or is your school more like the campus that I described above?  Use a calendar (paper or online) and make a list for each day of something that you are going to immerse your team in that will bring about positive changes to your team and to your campus.  Think about ways that you can LEAD out for your team.  Think about how your positivity can change the mindset of those negative team mates.  Think about how you will immerse yourself in the work that has the highest impact on increasing student learning and building a rich, powerful and positive climate.  Anyone can be a leader.  You don't have to have an Instructional Lead title or an Operational Lead title to lead out.  You just have to have a willingness to do the hard work in a positive way that will transform the lives of the students you teach.    You have it in you! Do it!  And remember this, "Hope doesn't create change.  Action does."  

Think about these things and feel free to leave me a comment.  It gets really lonely writing a blog.  You wonder if you are doing a good job.  You wonder if anyone is really reading it.  Let me know!

A Little Summer Reading - Lead Like A Pirate

My goal in writing this blog is to get my team excited about the new 2017-18 school year. What better way to bring enthusiasm and excitement for a new beginning than to do a little professional reading! 

My first read of summer is Lead Like a Pirate by Shelley Burgess and Beth Houf.  This may be my first read of the summer, but it is fast becoming a favorite.  I am finding that this little treasure is hard to put down.  My plan is to do a book study of this gem and break down the book on this blog.  Hopefully, my thoughts will inspire other educators to pick it up and read it.  We all need a little inspiration over the summer.  We need that pick me up that spurs us onto our next great adventure with kids.  Praise for Lead Like a Pirate has been overwhelming. Edu-Giants such as Todd Whitaker, Todd Nesloney, and George Couros have endorsed this book.  The book reads like a personal story of how Beth and Shelley built and led their "crews" on a journey of self exploration to create a climate in which each crew member felt they were a valued and essential part of their ship.  The book is sprinkled with inspiration, encouragement, and advice to help bring out the leader in every educator.

In chapter one, readers are challenged to LEAD Like a Pirate. Specifically, the author's talk about PASSION in chapter one.  What is passion in education?  What does it sound like? What does it look like?  What are you passionate about and how will that help you lead others to find their passions?  In the book the authors discuss their passions.

I suppose that beginning with ME is always the right place to begin this study...  

My Passions

• I am passionate about a school's climate and culture.  I believe that a school should be a place where all stakeholders understand the impact of being positive, have a relentless sense of urgency on improving student achievement (of all kinds), and promotes a sense of shared responsibility.
• I am passionate that every school have a body of concerned people that BELIEVE that our students are worth our efforts.  I believe that our students are capable and WILL grow if we find our student's strengths and grow them.
• I believe in teachers and their ability to reach our students.  I believe that it is the teacher that matters, not the programs or the resources given.  It is the teacher that will grow our students.
• I am passionate about collaboration.  I truly believe that none of us alone have the answers, but all of us, together, will find the answers.
• I believe that as educators we all have strengths, and if we foster those strengths and create a new leadership hierarchy, we will do incredible work with our students.

My question to you is this...

• What are you passionate about in education?
• How will you use your powers of leadership to help our staff?
• Why is passion an important part of our school culture?
• How will you show your passion in the 2017-18 school year?
• Does your principal know your passions?

Please feel free to comment below.  I hope that you will join me on my pirate journey.  I look forward to learning to and with you as we travel the rocky waves in Lead Like a Pirate.