4 Essentials to Improving Your Educational Programs and Classes This Summer

Starbucks.  Southwest Airlines.  Facebook.  Kahn Academy.  All successful brands and companies that produce quality service, products and programs.  We assume these companies are good because of their names and what they have done.   More times than not, we go to get our coffee at Starbucks or reserve our flights with Southwest simply because we know what we are going to get.  We don’t question the how and why we get what we need with great businesses and programs; we just expect to get what we want and need.  The expectations that they have molded in each of us are built on the foundation and culture within their organizations.

 The same goes for successful educational programs.  Many times we take them for granted because each year we know what we are going to get.  From the inside of the building or classroom, sometimes our staff and students almost make it look too easy.  They make pride, tradition and success look routine.  In reality, all of those things are anything but easy to duplicate. 

Great educational programs are lot like the successful brands above.  They are built on basic principles that stand the test of time.  When I think of success, I think of the performing arts at Gahanna Lincoln High School.   While all of the programs (theatre, band, choir, orchestra) are successful in their own rights, they all have foundation built on the same principles:

Relationships Are Vital

Everyone in the department and program needs to work together, even if they have different individual styles and personalities.  To have a successful program at any level, you need to have a foundation built on relationships.  Your department needs to have the same goal in mind: all students, our students.  Don’t focus on grade levels, focus on students.  Relationships stand the test of time when everyone has the same overall goal to achieve.

Communication Must Include Everyone

To have successful programs you need efficient and effective communication techniques.  Everyone within the department needs to know what the rest of the staff is doing.  For effective communication you need strong relationships.  When you are thinking about your own program, remember to make building strong relationships a priority in order to help the flow of communication.  When you care about others in your program, you will communicate better because you want to make sure everyone is informed.  You won’t do it because you feel you have to communicate to everyone.  You will communicate to make sure the relationships inside your department and program remain strong so everyone can achieve the ultimate goal of helping others.

Structure Can't Take Days Off

Create a structure for the entire program for everyone to follow.  Surprisingly, more structure allows for others to be more creative and flexible in their instruction.  You would think it would be the opposite, but it isn’t.  The formulated structure of a program allows for staff to step outside of the normal routine and try different methods.  If they work, the rest of the staff in the program can also use the methods and make improvements on their end.  If it doesn’t work, other members of the program can add input and everyone knows the new attempt wasn’t successful and can help make improvements to either use it or not use it.  That is only possible when a solid structure exists and all members have a part in creating the structure.

Success Breeds Success

Successful programs have a healthy culture.  Many times, a healthy culture has the foundation of a solid structure.   Besides culture and structure, successful programs also have talent.  But talent alone doesn’t create success.  A mixture of culture, talent and structure creates success.  Winners win!  We know that’s the case.  But there is always a foundation to a winner’s success story and it focuses around culture.

When you are thinking about your classroom, your building, your district, or even your business, remember what great organizations or programs represent.  Visualize how you can make improvements in your organization or program by focusing on the characteristics discussed above.  Use the next couple of months to figure out how you and your team will help transform your programs or classroom to be the best it can be.   Build a culture to make success the norm and not the exception. 

5 Foolproof Professional Development Tips for the Educational Offseason

You hear the quote all the time from athletes around the world, “Champions are made in the offseason.”  For athletes, the offseason (or preseason) is when they get stronger, smarter, and better.  During the season itself, there usually isn’t enough time to put the required amount of work into the areas mentioned above.  They are simply too busy competing in games and matches.  While athletes practice and compete during their respective seasons, the offseason has always been known as the time where the expectations are to work and learn to prepare for the upcoming season.

If you think about it, the offseason for educators is the same as athletes.  While we may call it summer break and use a portion of the summer to relax and recharge, we also have an obligation to use it as a time to get stronger, smarter and better in our field.  With the help of social media, connected educators continue to grow during the school year.  But the summer is definitely a time when we don’t have so many things going on and can really focus on growing and getting better.

Follow the five tips below to have a strong offseason and help you improve as an educator:

 1. Create a Plan for What You Want to Accomplish this Offseason

We are all well aware of the research that states you have a better chance of accomplishing a goal when it is written down.  Be creative and plan a method of attack for your offseason.  Write it down.  What do you want to accomplish?  What do you want to learn more about?  Where do you want to get better?  Create a plan based on goals and efficiency.  Figure out what you need to do to get better and expand your learning.  If you want to read a certain number of books, then write it down which books you want to read and read them.  If you want to attend certain conferences, then plan for it. 

2. Focus on the “3 R’s”

These aren’t your traditional 3 R’s.  I’m talking about read, read and read.  Plan to read as many books as you want.  Learn how to use Flipboard and create magazines you can read each day to learn more about your passion.  Share what you are reading with others.  Use social media to share your thoughts about your readings.  Or share posts and articles you read via email with your colleagues.  When you read, visualize how you can use what you are reading to help your classroom and/or building.  Dedicate a portion of each day during your offseason to reading.  Last year I read The 5 Choices: The Path to Extraordinary Productivity by Kory Kogon to help improve my productivity during each day.  This summer I have already read The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable by Seth Godin, and Leadership and the Art of Struggle by Steven Snyder. 

3. Go to Conferences and EdCamps

Try to go to every conference and edcamp that you can.  The professional networking and opportunities to get better are limitless.  Whether the conferences are national or local, it doesn’t make a difference. They are opportunities to grow. 

My favorite form of professional development is participating in a couple of edcamps during the summer.  For example, this year I plan on participating in the international #EdCampLdr day on June 30^th where there will be edcamps around the world focusing on leadership (Ohio’s#EdCampLdrOH will be at Clark Hall in Gahanna, OH once again!).  Take advantage of the opportunity to attend edcamps to learn from others in a nontraditional academic setting that will enable you to personalize your own professional learning.

4. Try Something New

At times, during the school year, we tend to backoff from trying new things because there is always a learning curve that takes time.  Find a new site to explore.  Work with some different apps to see if they can help you grow.  Look into different social media accounts to see if they can help your professionally (Hint: Facebook isn’t what it used to be.  Many people are now using it to grow professionally).  Try using Voxer to connect with others around the world to see what they are doing to grow this offseason.

5. Make Goals for the Upcoming School Year

Use the offseason to create goals for your classroom and/or building.  If you already have goals for next year, figure out an action plan for how you will accomplish your goals.  Think of the different evidence you will collect to accomplish your goals.  The offseason is the time to pinpoint which data you will collect during the year and how you will use it.  Don’t forget to focus on what you want to improve for the upcoming school year and research what you can use to make that happen. 

While I am definitely a beach guy and love to hit the sand and surf during the summer, I also know my offseason is here.  Its time to get better at what I do.  Learn more, grow more, and help my school and district get better.  Professional growth is always available.  As educators, we have to want to get better.  We have to want to be the best we can be for our students.  What better time to do that than the offseason.  Remember, all men are created equal, some just work harder in the preseason.

What Everyone Needs to Know About Innovation

Have you ever wondered why educators are reluctant to make changes?  Whether it is changing instructional methods, changing educational mindsets, or changing what our classrooms look like each day, many educators stick to the same formula and don’t let go.  This mindset is ironic because we live in a world that is completely the opposite.  We live in a society where change occurs daily.  Yet as educators, we stick to what we are comfortable with everyday and avoid change. 

In my session “What Everyone Needs to Know About Innovation” at the 2016 Battelle for KidsConnect for Success Conference at the Ohio Union, we are going to change.  We will examine innovative educational practices and programs and break down how they originated and became successful.  Attendees will learn that creativity isn’t something that people are born with or inherit.  Creativity is a mindset that can change lives by building self-confidence and following certain protocols to create change. 

There are many resources available to help anyone become innovative.  We will examine resources such as George Couros’s (@gcouros) book TheInnovator’s Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent and Lead a Culture ofCreativity and The Art of Innovation by Tom Kelley to learn more about how to be creative and innovative and how easy creativity will come to you. 

Everyone wants to be great at what they do.  It all starts with confidence and a desire to be great.  Developing that confidence will fuel your creativity.  Using creativity to find ways to offer innovative instructional practices, programs, and mindsets in classrooms and buildings will get everyone a step closer to being a great educator.

Sometime before you attend my session “What Everyone Needs to Know About Innovation” on June 13^th, watch the video below and ask yourself, “What can I do differently to be a change agent and help people?” 

How To Tell If You Love What You Do

Anyone who is a connected educator knows, once you get started using different resources and tools to stay connected, it can be hard to stop.  Participating in Twitter chats, Voxer groups, utilizing Facebook and Instagram to connect, blogging, reading blog posts and education articles, attending conferences and attending EdCamps to name a few, all take time.  But like anything else in life, when we want to be good at something, we need to get involved, practice and devote the required amount of time necessary to be successful. 

When you invest the time, focus, passion and energy to be successful, you demonstrate to yourself and others what you value.  When I first became an administrator and began to invest time in learning more from others so I could improve, I can honestly say it became addicting.  I continue to spend hours upon hours investing my time in chats, reading blog posts, asking questions, and connecting with educators from around the world.

While my time management isn’t the best and the balance between my growth and personal life constantly needs adjusted, the people closest to me identify why I do what I do.  They see my passion and love for what I do.  They can see what I want to help my students and staff become.  Its not a question of whether I love what I do everyday.  For the people closest to me, the question is, “How can I love what I do?” or my kids say, “Whatever I do in my life, I want to love it as much as Dad loves what he does.”

As an educator, do you love what you do?  Your answers to the questions below may help determine if you do:

Is getting better a priority for you?

Do you want to get better?  Do you feel a need to get better?  If you love what you do, you make getting better a priority in your life.  In education, we not only want to get better for ourselves, we look to get better so others can be great.  We make getting better a priority in our lives because we love what we do.

Do you invest time to get better?

If you want to get better, as stated above, you have to put the time in.  If you love to workout, you find time to workout.  You plan for it each day.  You make the time.  If you want to be a better educator or a better leader, you need to invest the time to get better.

Are you consistently investing the time to get better?

If you love something, you consistently invest time to improve.  You don’t do it once and then wonder why you didn’t get better.  When I was younger, I used to be a pretty good golfer.  I practice and played everyday.  When I occasionally play now, I know I am not that player anymore.  Why should I expect to be?  I don’t consistently invest the time to be good.  If you love what you do, consistently invest time to grow as an educator.

Does getting better drive you in your craft?

People who love what they do are passionate about their craft.  People who love what they do have an enormous sense of pride about getting better and being the best.  People who love what they do know “why” they want to get better.  As Eric Thomas says, You need to have a “why” to love what you do.  Your “why” will drive your passion and pride.  When you have that drive and others see that drive, everyone knows you love what you do.  It’s not an act.  It’s genuine.

Do you enjoy helping others? Does it excite you?

When you love what you do, you know helping others get better only makes your field stronger.  In education, when we help students and staff, it makes culture of education in our buildings, districts, and learning network stronger.   When you love what you do, you give back to others.  At that point, people who love what they do realize it is not about them, it’s about others.

Do you reach out to others to get better?

People who love what they do have no problem asking others for help.  They know others can help them grow.  Successful people build a network to get better.  None of us can be the best in anything without help from others.  When you love what you do, you make it a point on a daily basis to let others help you grow.

Are you giving your craft everything you have to offer?

Loving what you do means you bring everything to the table each day.  As educators, it doesn’t matter what your job description or position is.  Our students, parents, and communities deserve our absolute best each day.  

Are you willing to change and encourage others to change when necessary?

You always here the line, “Change is scary,” or “People fear change.”  When you love what you do, you don’t fear change, but look forward to it.  When you love what you do, you invest the time to change and innovate to improve yourself and others.  When you love what you do, you realize change is a part of the process towards overall success.  You model change so others the people around you will change for the better.  When you love what you do, you help improve the culture by your willingness to change and visualize the benefits of doing it differently than before.

If we are going to make a difference in the education field, we need to love what we do.  I find it hard to believe that when people get into an amazing field like education, they don’t have some type of love or passion for the field and want to help students.  If you read these questions and don’t believe you love what you do, you have two choices: You can look to do something else with your life or you can find your “why” and invest the time to begin to love what you do again.  If you choose option one, don’t feel ashamed.  Go find your passion and what drives you.  If you choose the second option, as a fellow educator, I need you start today.  Please invest the time to get better and make it a priority to love what you do.  Not only do you owe it to yourself, but also you owe to all of the students’ lives you touch each day. 

What questions do you think people need to ask to know if they love what they do?