Laura K Spencer, Ed.D.

Category: Leadership

  • Relationships. Culture. Twitter. OY!

    Relationships. Culture. Twitter. OY!

    I was at a Women in Educational Leadership the other day, and one of the sessions presented by a local superintendent was on culture. She shared four essentials for creating a positive culture. They are:

    • Energize and Encourage People
    • Foster Connected Relationships and Teams
    • Provide Opportunities for People to Do Their Best Work
    • Empower and Enable People to Learn and Grow

    After she shared the categories, she had us walk around the room and get ideas from others as to ways in which to provide those essentials. That time to talk about our ideas, elaborate on them and create new ones together created our own positive culture. In those few moments with each other we were truly listening, engaging with each other and building a sense of connection.

    It’s what’s missing on Twitter. Lately, Twitter seems to be filled with dime store platitudes lacking any depth. If I could get a dime for every time someone says relationships are the key… the key to student engagement, the key to school culture, the key to learning gaps… without explaining just how to develop those relationships, I could pay off my student loans!

    So I’m sharing my notes from our walkabout and challenging everyone to add an item. Let’s not just talk relationships and culture. Let’s talk about the work we are/should/can do to create positive cultures that truly promote relationships.

    Four Essentials for Creating a Positive Culture

    Notes from my walkabout. Template provided by Supt Candace Singh

     

  • Teachers Are Tired of Robert Marzano – Teacher Habits Blog

    Marzano deserves our anger. But at this point, what he really deserves is to be ignored.
    — Read on teacherhabits.com/marzano/

    Sometimes it’s best just to share the words of others without adding any commentary. Enjoy the read.

  • Speak Up, Rinse, Repeat

    Speak Up, Rinse, Repeat

    From Adam Grant’s Originals book:

    When Harvard professor John Kotter studied change agents years ago, he found that they typically undercommunicated their visions by a factor of ten. On average, they spoke about the direction of the change ten times less often than their stakeholders needed to hear it. In one three-month period, employees might be exposed to 2.3 million words and numbers. On average during that period, the vision for change was expressed in only 13,400 words and numbers: a 30-minute speech, an hour-long meeting, a briefing, and a memo. Since more than 99 percent of the communication that employees encounter during those three months does not concern the vision, how can they be expected to understand it, let alone internalize it? The change agents don’t realize this, because they’re up to their ears in information about their vision. If we want people to accept our original ideas, we need to speak up about them, then rinse and repeat.

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    So then … how often are you speaking up, rinsing, and repeating?

    Can students articulate their individual learning goals and why they have them? What about their parents?

    Can the class as a whole articulate the vision and beliefs of the teacher? Do they know the overarching goals for the school year?

    Do teachers understand the vision and mission of the school, and their role in that vision and mission? What about the rest of the school staff?

    Do principals and district leadership understand the vision and mission of the district, and their role in that vision and mission?

    What steps are needed to make those answers all a resounding YES?

    What’s your “speak up, rinse, repeat” strategy?