Seeing Is Believing in Leadership and Learning

Welcome to the launch of the 2019-20 school year! It's been a great start with the Welcome Back, New Teacher Trainings,  Professional Learning, and the Grand Island Senior High Academies-setting the stage for what is to be an amazing year in Grand Island Public Schools!  I can't help but keep thinking about this student and how he represents our moral imperative to ensure "Every Student, Every Day, a Success!"   This will take a collective effort from all of us and I'm excited about the chance to join you all and make a difference.

As you know, there is a ton of work and planning that goes into preparing for the new school year.  Data is analyzed, priorities established, professional learning takes place, and teams are meeting throughout the summer to support continuous school/district improvement and progress towards our strategic plan Key Results!  I want to share some quick blurbs to summarize key work that occurred over the summer.

May 31 Academic Summit: Campus Leaders and School Improvement Team members from each campus analyzed the 2018-19 continuous school improvement goals, data, and actions and designed the next steps for the 2019-20 school year. It was a great opportunity to dig into the data and begin to transition to the new year.

June 4th & 5th campus leaders engaged in leadership development throughout a 2-day Leadership Institute. According to research and studies by John Hattie, "instructional leadership not only matters: it is second only to teaching among school-related factors in its impact on student learning".  Throughout our two days, we studied the "Opportunity Myth", engaged in role-play, reflected on the impact of leadership actions, and dove into effective leadership practices.  Our principals are committed to setting the instructional vision and developing others through a system of support, professional learning, feedback, and coaching.  This year, you will notice your principal intentionally planning and protecting more time to conduct low-key observations and provide coaching/feedback to improve student learning-- the goal is to dedicate 50% of their time to this work. This may take some redesign of the organizational structures and systems of support through distributed leadership and maximizing the strengths of all staff.  It might feel a little "clunky" at first, so I encourage open conversations, reflection, and problem-solving together. Finding ways to balance operational management and instructional leadership responsibilities will take teamwork!  The ultimate mission is "Every Student, Every Day, A Success"!

July 22nd-23rd district and school leaders engaged in a book study, "The Culture Code" by Daniel Coyle during our two-day retreat. This book refers to some of the most successful organizations and highlights what makes them tick.  In the introduction, Coyle describes culture as a "set of living relationships working toward a shared goal. It's not something you are, It's something you do".  The three skills he defines as the roadmap to building a culture where expectations are exceeded include: build safety, be vulnerable, and establish a purpose. You may have picked up on how this book study is impacting the beginning of the year meetings.  Creating a feeling of belonging in your building and classrooms is clearly one of the most important factors of a positive culture.  Key actions include: overcommunicate your listening, be open about weaknesses, embrace the messenger, consider future connections, overdo thank yous, create collision-rich spaces, ensure all have a voice, model, provide specific feedback and of course, have fun.  These actions also have a direct connection to the classroom culture as you establish routines, expectations, and focus on pre-teaching and practicing skills with students.  More to come regarding skills 2 and 3 in future blogs!

During the months of June and July, a combined 302 teachers and instructional coaches spent approximately 4,212 hours engaged in curriculum writing.  The purpose of this work is to design curriculum and assessment guides for each course and grade level.  The work this summer encompassed revising assessments, research, review, the recommendation of resources and guidance for instructional pacing as well as professional learning for curriculum implementation.  The commitment and dedication to the work are extremely valuable and the teams are great resources and support at the building level. Thank you to all of our Task Force Members!  You make a difference!!


There were other happenings beyond this with building-level professional development, school leadership team meetings, etc...  Oh, I can't forget the Summer Institute (wow!  great response from the feedback)!  Thank you to L4L team for coordinating, organizing and leading the day!  We had amazing presenters-many of our own GIPS staff and over 350 attendees!

Whew!  I'm so thankful for the many opportunities that we have to grow professionally and I look forward to "Seeing" your learning implemented in the classroom-impacting our students and bringing joy to your teaching and their learning.  #GIPSSeeingisbelieving

Have an amazing 2019-20 school year!