Tag Archives: Coaching

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Engage, Inspire, Empower – End of Year reflections

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. “
– Maya Angelou

As I reflect on leadership, administration, public service, endings, and beginnings, I find the same connections between successful people and relationships. As social beings, we seek the benefits of friendship, mentorship, collegiality – in work, personally, in civic clubs, sports, and hobbies. The people are who/what “matter” insofar as leadership and change, and growth and progress are concerned.

On a personal level, I have the good fortune to serve in four school districts over the past 22 years. Each change allowed me to channel the excitement and possibility about the new beginnings I was about to “encounter”. It is always bittersweet to leave the many relationships I have had the privilege of building over the years in one place. I am confident that many of the relationships will sustain the transition and my departure. What is most exciting about leadership transition and change is that it allows for contributing in another community that has a rich history, strong continuity, and strong community ties.

It is an honor to have been selected to join learning organizations with the wonderful people with whom I have worked and led. My hope is always to meet/greet/start to build relationships with the people and then find out their needs and wants; and my hope is to be able to work together and lead in as collaborative manner as practical in the best interests of the students, faculty & staff, parents, members of the board, and the community in general. It is fantastic to have this opportunity for new beginnings!! Each new opportunity has provided a series of true leadership experiences and opportunities for learning and growth

“There are as many ways to recognize people as there are people to recognize.” -Eric Harvey

When we do employee survey work, “Recognition” is often the most neglected dimension by managers. For recognition to be appreciated, it must be timely and perceived as an earnest expression from a caring colleague. Get to know your coworkers as humans beings and understand how they prefer to be acknowledged, recognized and rewarded. Then catch them “doing things right” and do the needful with enthusiasm. Taking time for oneself, one’s family and one’s faith. Leadership involves balancing the many “pulls” in one’s life and enjoying all of the gifts that life has to offer. Each day is a gift – take care to not take for granted!! Here in DPS we have sustained a focus on The Leadership Challenge (Kouzes & Posner) and Encourage The Heart (recognition is part of this) is one of the five practices of exemplary leadership about which they write.

Essentially my whole focus is on EXCELLENCE – I have lived my life by this focus, I conduct my work by this focus. As a public school superintendent – a proud superintendent – my charge is to support student growth and learning every day – I am held to high standards by my school board, my staff, the students, the community – everyone. And I should be held accountable to very high standards, and my performance is measured – as it should be – according to established best practices and internationally accepted standards for leadership.

I also have had the honor of working for several years as a Sr. Educational Consultant for HUMANeX Ventures (Ventures for Excellence) as a practitioner scientist, researcher, trainer, and developer of leaders. In my roles (private and public) I work on helping others reach heights higher than they thought they could reach through scientifically validated highly predictive instruments and research and analyses used in selection and development of staff.

During my more than two decades of public educational leadership, teaching, and service, I value the coaching I have received through mentors and coaches powerfully dedicated to supporting my impact as a leader.As I read the news about “reforms” and legislation and philanthropic efforts toward impacting education, I state emphatically and publicly that selection of staff AND the development of staff will lead to excellence in our schools. Personal and professional connections lead to supportive relationships and culture.

As we approach the end of one calendar year and the beginning of another, I appreciate the opportunity to serve, reflect, and lead!

As we say in DPS109:

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

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Instructional Leadership from an Instructional Coach

One of the talented and amazing DPS109 iCoaches, Sue Ferdon, recently released a short, daily blog: Tech Tips and Tricks.

While Sue’s purpose is to support the growth and development of the teachers at her beloved South Park, I’m so proud of her leadership and her work that I want to share her tips with anyone and everyone who is preparing for the beginning of the school year.

Sue’s daily blog posts are intended to support an eager, excited, and justifiably nervous faculty in the transformation from “regular instruction” to 1:1 learning environments with modern instructional practices.

Please read her tips, please share them with others, and please join me in thanking Sue (and all of the iCoaches and principals) for beginning our awesome school year with “chunks” of expertise in support of our motto: Engage, Inspire, Empower!

If you also have tips and tricks, and links – please share in the comments!!

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From the Superintendent’s Desk: We’re ‘making our rounds’ in Deerfield schools

The majority of the article was originally published in the Deerfield Review April 23, 2014

The Deerfield Review asked if we would make regular contributions; as a result, we created a column, “From the Superintendent’s Desk.” The articles will be about 400 words – not too in depth, but a great opportunity to give the community highlights of our important initiatives. Our aim is to make monthly contributions! Our first article, linked here is reproduced here along with additional resources describing Instructional Rounds Since the publication of the article, we have also “made our rounds” at Wilmot School!

In an effort to communicate with the community on a broader scale, I am writing this column to stay connected! As brief background, I have been a middle school social studies teacher, a middle school associate principal, principal and assistant superintendent for personnel services. This is my second “superintendency” after having spent three years in District 79 in Norridge, Ill.

In DPS109, our motto is “Engage, Inspire, Empower” and that comes from our mission statement. Our aim with this news column is to share what’s happening from DPS109 so our community is better informed about the exciting work going on in our classrooms each and every day.

Something of interest that we are starting to implement this spring is called Instructional Rounds (IR). These are team visits to schools by administrators and teachers from across the school district. It’s based upon the medical rounds concept where teams of medical doctors and professionals “make their rounds” in the hospital checking on patients and collaborating on best methods for treatment.

Noted educational researcher Robert Marzano states: “…the primary purpose is for observing teachers to compare their own instructional practices with those of the teachers they observe. The chief benefit of this approach resides in the discussion that takes place among observing teachers at the end of the observation as well as in subsequent self-reflection” (ASCD 2011).

Under the leadership of Jeffrey Zoul, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, and members of the teacher leadership and administrative leadership teams, we are “making our rounds” in an effort to inform instruction.

An example comes from a recent inaugural rounds experience at Walden School. The school focus areas were on student engagement and questions teachers ask students and questions student ask each other. After 10, two person teams conducted four, 15 minute observations of teaching and learning — the equivalent of 10 hours worth of instruction — clear patterns emerged for discussion and review.

For example, observers noticed clear patterns where students were actively engaged in their classrooms (K-5 and specials areas) as evidenced by their questions, their behavior, and their work in class. The observers also noticed how technology tools were used across the board to aid teachers in the engagement of learning.

Through the Instructional Rounds process, scheduled for all of the schools this spring, we can continue the internal discussions around engagement, inspiration, and empowerment in support of student learning and teacher instruction.

To learn more about Instructional Rounds, here is a link to a 12-minute podcast with one of the authors of the original book.

More Resources (provided courtesy of Dr. Zoul)

Link to Book:

Link to Podcast:

http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news-impact/2013/12/harvard-edcast-making-the-rounds/

Links to Articles:

Teachers Observing Teachers: Instructional Rounds:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/instructional-rounds-ells-observations-elena-aguilar

Why Aren’t School Leaders More Like Doctors?

http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3754210

Supporting Teacher Growth with Instructional Rounds:

http://www.wholechildeducation.org/blog/supporting-teacher-growth-with-instructional-rounds

Using Rounds to Enhance Teacher Interaction and Self Reflection: The Marzano Protocol:

http://www.iobservation.com/files/Marzano-Protocol-Using_Rounds1009.pdf/

Through Rounds, our BIG 5, and commitment to growth and learning, we Engage, Inspire, Empower each and every day!