Everyday Leadership

I work at a school where all participants are viewed as leaders.  Each of us, in different ways, contribute to making the school a vibrant place every day.  Each of us, students and staff alike, in our daily way, offer our gifts and leadership to the school.  Our individual contribution makes a difference and together we do great things.

One of the great leaders in our school is Mr. Kevin, the head of our school's building and grounds.  He is in charge of the campus facilities.  He oversees the upkeep of our building.  The work he does in this regard has helped our school be a beautiful place to work and learn.  What he does for the school though, is so much more.  I see Mr. Kevin at so many school events.  He is probably here earlier than all of us and often is one of the last to leave.  He is here on Saturdays.  He notices the small things as well as the big things.  He jokes with staff and students.  He goes into classrooms and works with students as they need support.  I have heard that during his time here, he has also gone in to substitute when the school was desperate for substitute teachers.  He does what is needed--for any of us.  Where there is a need, Mr. Kevin is there to fill it or find a way.  He is a person who makes a difference in what he does in a quiet and daily way.  He has made an impact on others in ways that he is probably not even aware.

We are all leaders.  Each of us have the opportunity to make a difference in our daily interactions.  On my way to school, I stop for coffee at a local drive-through and recognize the leadership offered by the woman who greets me with a smile, ask how I am doing and takes special care to make sure my order is correct.  Leadership greets me as I work with fellow administrators and teachers, each of us planning in a daily way to offer strong instruction, loving interactions and an environment that allows each member of our community to learn and to grow.  Leadership continues in my interactions with my family in the evening as kindnesses are offered and support is given, sometimes when weariness would be the preferred response.  Every day, all day long we are offered choices that allow us to lead in ways that make a difference.  And sometimes that difference has a huge impact on another.  Sometimes we may never know the impact we made.  And on rare occasions we are offered a glimpse of that impact.

Early in my career my life was changed by what was then called the Bay Area Writing Project.  As a young teacher, I travelled from Ohio to Berkeley one summer to learn about writing and how I teach writing.  The next school year I had the most fun I have ever had in exposing my students to writing and creating a room where a joy in writing was had by all.  Several years ago, I was visiting my home town and was in a local diner.  A young man saw me, came up to me and gave me a huge hug.  He was a former student and as we talked he told me that he was currently in college. And he wanted me to know what a difference I made for him.  He told me that I taught him how to write as a fifth grader in a way that impacted him in middle school and high school.  He told me my writing class set him up for the success he was then experiencing in college.   I think about that experience of finding out that I made a difference.  I felt gratitude in knowing that I made a difference for him that first year after my Berkeley experience.  Those who taught me made a difference.  My student will make a difference.  And the ripple continues.

We never know the impact we have on others.  And sometimes we get to know.  Below is a link to a short Ted Talk (six minutes) that talks about everyday leadership and making a difference.   What can you do to make a difference in the lives you meet today?

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for dedicating space and time for teachers and teachers of literacy to come together to share ideas, practice and life experience.

Dear Nancie...I love you and we disagree...

March 19, 2015

Dear Nancie,

I love you, Nancie Atwell.  You were one of my first mentors from afar that taught me about writing and inspired me on my path to be a writing teacher and a teacher of teachers.  I remember hearing about Writers’ Workshop from you and from other early workshop advocates when I spent the summer in Berkeley, Calefornia in the early 1980’s learning at one of the first National Writing Projects.  I remember how this learning changed my teaching and thinking about literacy learning forever.  I remember how “choice” in writing formed my thinking and how thinking about myself as a writer became critical in my own understanding of what it meant to be a teacher of writing.  I remember learning about poetry from your books, and back then, when I was afraid of the genre, your generous lessons, taught me, not only how to teach poetry, but how to write and read and love this genre.   I thank you, as one of my mentors, for this inspiration.  I celebrate with you as you are honored for a much-deserved award as a teacher and as a leader in our field.

Yesterday I watched a video of an interview you had on CNN when you said, when asked whether you would counsel a young person into our profession, that you did not think this was the time for young, innovative, creative people to enter into our profession unless they would go into a private school, because schools in the private sector did not have the constraints of the Common Core Learning Standards and the assessments that go along with those standards.  

I respectfully disagree with you, Nancie.  Now, more than ever we NEED, our children NEEDS, young, creative men and women to go into the public sector of education. We need young adults who are passionate and who have a deep belief system about the power of education that is built on choice and the motivation to love reading and writing that grows from reading and writing in many ways across a school year.  We need young leaders who believe that literacy is a pathway to liberty and that want to mentor our children as they grow competently and confidently on their pathway to becoming literate adults.

I understand.  The Common Core Learning Standards are weighted down by an evaluation process that unfairly assesses teachers.  Assessment is often too often and high stakes enough that pressure seems insurmountable. I worry about the stress that both teacher and child endure in preparing for “the test”.  The flaws in this system are many.

And I choose to work in this system to cause change so that an unbalanced movement toward “one-size-fits-all” and “one-test-measures-all” can be rectified and brought back to a place of balance.  So that schools can be a place where the love of learning is nurtured and all students can be recognized as unique individuals. 

The writing and reading that you speak about in your school is a lovely model that is a beacon to all of us who love all that you have had to offer in the area of reading and writing.  I must say, I see teachers and classes in many contexts through my current educational roles, and literacy and workshop is being nurtured in public schools across the country, despite "the test". Today I worked with teachers as we looked at information texts for second graders and had a deep and rich discussion about ways to develop this kind of writing for students.  We talked about the motivation for some as they wrote non-fiction texts and how narrative texts motivate others.  We spent the afternoon delving into poetry.  Teachers were writing poetry and learning about themselves as writers as well as developing their teacher of writing toolbox so that they could motivate young writers to create poetry of their own.  I witness this kind of passionate work for students almost daily.  I am privileged to be a part of working with many teachers—teachers teaching pre-school through graduate school, all passionate about literacy and all with a deep desire to create environments and instruction where their students also ignite in passion around literacy. 

These same teachers muddle through the demands of an assessment system that measures and names “success” in a way that is, at times, trivial and demeaning to both child and adult.  They do it because they know there is nothing trivial and demeaning when it comes to educating a child.

Nancie, we are not on different ends of a continuum here.  We both believe in the importance of literacy and choice.  And we see fatal flaws in the assessment system our schools and politicians have created that do not nurture learning or the child.  Your answer to young people who might heed the call to education is to stay away from the public sector because of this pressure.  My answer, actually my plea, is to enter in.  We need young, innovative, creative teachers to step up to the plate and help lead. We need their ideas, we need their passion and most especially we need their courage to help us create schools of balance, schools where all children learn and love learning, schools that celebrate and measure learning in meaningful ways for the students and the school community.

I am so glad you won this award to put the spotlight on instruction that is best for children.  You are a role model for all of us.  Well done, Nancie.  Thank you for all that you have done for education, in the private and the public sector alike.

Sincerely,

Deborah Bussewitz

Deborah Bussewitz

Below is the link to the CNN Nancie Atwell interview referred to in my letter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR_qW6IuXv0

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for dedicating space and time for teachers and teachers of literacy to come together to share ideas, practice and life experience.

PLAY-TITUDE #15: GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY!

I have always been a very hands on “get your hands dirty” kind of leader.  When I was a school leader getting my hands dirty was part of leading with passion and joy.  If there was work that needed to get done, I was in the midst of it, working side by side with teachers and staff to create what was wanted or needed.  If a student was in crisis, I most often was there, working with the team to bring the child out of crisis to be able to reenter into learning.  I wasn’t afraid (in fact I liked) getting my hands dirty.  That was work play for me in many ways, working with and in the midst to get to another place.  Working in this way always gave me a sense of accomplishment.  And it brought me joy.  I knew that I was making a difference for students, for staff and for our school community.  I empowered others to make a difference as we dug in together.

Today I am not talking about that kind of getting your hands dirty.  I am talking the literal version of getting your hands dirty.  One way to play is to literally dig in and get in the mess.  I do this when I plant flowers in the spring—digging into the dirt to create a bed or a container of beauty.  Fun.  Sweat mixed with earth as I create a colorful flower bed of summer enjoyment.  This play is awaiting me as the warm weather nears.

As a child, I made mud pies in my backyard with my siblings.  When my children were growing, they spent days on end in the creek behind our house squishing mud between their toes and fingers as they built cities in the islands within the stream.  Getting dirty is fun. 

The other day, I was working with a five year old and at the end of our work time he had a five minute play time during which he wanted to dig into Playdoh.  He built and invited me in.   He built a dog and spelled it for me as the green squished under his nails.  I rolled out a snake and he responded that snake started with an S.  His getting his hands dirty was fun and it was learning—maybe more so than the lesson that preceded it.  Lots of good things happen when you get your hands in the dirt.

Once I sat at a potter’s wheel slowly turning the clay to make a bowl.  I positioned the clay as it moved under my hands.  Slippery and mucky, the clay slid through my fingers and under my hand as I turned the wheel, changing from from a chunk of earth to an earthen bowl—something useful…something beautiful.   My dirty hands worked to create a vessel of beauty.

Create with dirt, learn with dirt, build with dirt, have fun with dirt.  Dig in and enjoy!

PLAY-TITUDE #15:  Fun is in the mess.  Dig in and get your hands nice and dirty!

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for dedicating space and time for writers and teachers of writing to come together to share ideas, practice and life experience.

TIS THE SEASON

I have been in a lot of classrooms and have worked with teachers in small groups as schools are beginning to gear up for the April NYS ELA test.  These are a few of my observations...

• Anxious children, twisting hair and tapping pencils on their desks as they write short and extended responses and do multiple choice questions; 
•  A teacher unknowingly raising student anxiety as she keeps assuring the students to do their best and that will be good enough;
• Teachers crying because of the anxiety they are feeling about multiple changes and feeling a lack of success because of their lack of focus;
• Good teachers fearful for their jobs;
• Principals pushing easy answers so that children can do well on a test.

Now, of course, this is not true for all teachers and all principals—I can also easily name confident and supportive educators, choosing good instruction and a community environment that supports the whole child as a pathway toward the April test day.  But, I am seeing more and more teachers and students feeling on edge and anxious because of the test.  Does this level of anxiety promote success?

I remember when I was in graduate school.  It was my first and intro class to Reading Theory.  We had a final exam and for weeks before the exam, the professor emphasized the importance of this exam and how it would contribute to our success in graduate school as we prepared to be literacy specialists.  She raised our levels of anxiety and awareness with these weekly reminders.  I studied and have always been an excellent student.  I knew the materials and I was a good writer.  The test was timed and the questions covered the scope of our semester class and the books that supported the class.  I prepared nightly to succeed on the test.  And each day I got a little bit more anxious.  I started to believe that I wouldn’t succeed.  By the day of the test I was a mess.  I wasn’t sleeping at night and when I was awake, I would study some more.  I felt that the outcome of this one test would affect the career I was so anxiously embracing. 

On the day of the test, I went to school ready but tired.  Knowing the material but anxious about my ability to show my knowledge.  I got my exam and looked at the questions and began to race through the test to finish.  I would get to a question I knew and I couldn’t express the concepts that I had labored over to understand.  I would be asked a factual question—facts that were stored in my brain—and I couldn’t recall them.  I froze.  And I failed.  

After the test the professor met with me because I had been, throughout the rest of the semester, one of her top students.  She wanted to know what happened.  I told her and she allowed me to take the exam again, in a different circumstance for which I got an A.  This event is a pivotal moment in my learning and understanding of what happens when we try to perform with anxiety.

I have taken this learning with me as I became an educator.  As a teacher I worked to buffer my students from anxiety so they could perform in an optimal way.  I did yoga with them.  I created many moments of celebration.  I played videos for them showing what great learners they were.  And I told them how proud I was of them as they worked to perform their best--doing this throughout the year, not separate for a four week test preparation.  This stance, coupled with good instruction that allowed the students to know how to write and read, allowed students to show what they knew.

Regie Routman wrote a blog article last year entitled To Raise Achievement Let's Celebrate Teachers before We Evaluate Them.  As a principal, I always viewed myself as a buffer to teachers.  I worked to lower their anxiety because I knew that if they were anxious, it would often transfer to student anxiety.  I did this by creating celebrations of what we were doing well.    And now, as a staff developer, there are moments that I feel a bit more of a counselor and a cheerleader of all of the good that is being done.  Celebrations help. 

 

We want our students to succeed.  Anxiety isn’t the way to success.  Celebrations help create success Let’s celebrate our successes on the pathway to success!  This is good for adults and children alike.