robjacobs's Blog

I would be interested if anyone is going to try to put these ideas into use on some goal, project, plan, etc. this coming school year.

I for one will be trying to use these ideas to help develop a better PLC system and a better discipline system at my site this year.

Get off the floor and get back in your seat please! Sit up straight! No talking!

In attempting to influence behavior using the physical space, what kind of message do you suppose we are sending with asking students to sit for 12-13 years, for 180 days a year, for 6 hours a day while sitting in...

A plastic classroom chair

or

An ergonomic designed desk chair

Which would you rather spend the next 12 to 13 years sitting in?

@Kimberly. I think there are more than we might imagine. Sometimes it is the small things that make a big difference.

P.S I love how you are sharing your ideas on your blog. I think you are on the right track and your students are really going to benefit.

The church idea reminded me of what I did last year with my staff. I had seen the principal hold meetings in our multi-purpose room with poor results. The teachers sat at long tables that all faced the same direction, must like a classroom. This allowed them to sit in their cliques or just with their grade level.

I facilitated a meeting and removed the tables and just used chairs. I placed the chairs in a semi-circle (arc) that allowed all teachers to see each other and didn't allow them to sit in cliques or grade levels.

The discussion that followed was very rich and interesting. We discussed school issues as a school and not as grade levels, or cliques.

As "Influencers' we need to get creative and think more about what we are doing at our school to influence social capital (bridging or bonding). Focusing on behaviors such as these I feel will produce a great benefit for our staffs', schools, parents, communities, and districts.

I wonder if we think creatively about social capital and the two types of social capital that Clay Shirky describes in his book Here Comes Everybody, we might make some new headway.

One type is Bonding Capital: This is an increase in the depth of connections and trust within a relatively homogenous group. This could be viewed as all teachers at a school, all teachers in a district, all principals, etc. Really, however you want to define homogenous.

So, how might we find or create more authentic opportunities for building bonding capital? (This could take many forms if we are creative. Trips, meetings outside of school, interactive staff meetings, social events, etc.)

The other type is Bridging Capital: This is an increase in connections among relatively heterogenous groups. This might be teachers and principals, educators and business people, educators and the community, etc.

So, how might we find or create opportunities for building bridging capital among these groups?

Further, if we increased our bonding and bridging social capital, how might this impact your school and your district?

In what ways could we develop or create more opportunities to build greater social capital?

What shape might this take at your school or district?

Is there a place for technology in the process?

Who might you attempt to build social capital with? Which type of social capital is most needed at your school or district?

Okay Scott, that's exactly what I meant ;-0.

My idea on steroids. Of course, it is all about the specific behaviors. Thanks for making me look so good!

As August approaches, we here in California begin to get antsy thinking about our schools Academic Performance Index scores, and if we made our NCLB Annual Yearly Performance goals. Superintendents, obviously place a big emphasis on such scores. Naturally this rolls down hill to the principals, who also ruminate over the results.

pg. 208- "...it is important to remember that behavior is the one thing people have under their control. Results often vary with changes in the market and other external variables. Consequently, influence masters continually observe and reward behaviors that support valued process." NOT THE SCORES!

This in another one of those Big Elephants in the room. We focus on scores, but do not focus on results. Even our goals are often result based. What if they were more behavior based?

For example.. "Raise math scores 10% or 10 points." might be changed to "Improve our math instructional program, which will be evidenced by a 10% increase."

The emphasis is on the behaviors to improve the instructional program. That is what teachers have control over. They can't take the test. They can't make the student learn or pay attention. They can control their teaching and their methods.

Focus on behavior (teaching, improving instructional programs, etc) not scores.

I think NQ might make an interesting area to question job applicants. Might make an interesting part of a teacher evaluation or a metric for PLC effectiveness.

Scott, somewhere up there, Gordon McKenzie, author of Orbiting the Giant Hairball is looking down and smiling on this.

He was the former Hallmark creative guru that wrote about how all Kindergarten students think they are artists and the numbers go down from there.

Sadly, too many of us don't think we have any good ideas. We don't share. Void of new fresh ideas, we recycle the same P.C. ideas and get very little change or innovation.

David clearly points out the disconnect in what we expect from students and what we expect from our staff.

Skip, doesn't this conversation remind of the point Clay Shirky made in Here Comes Everybody. He was talking about Scribes and how the end came for them via the printing press. They didn't know, and they actually argued against the printing press. Sort or like teachers arguing against virtual education. It's already here, it already happened. So, figure out how to be a part of it or fade away. That's the choice, whether teachers, unions, etc. agree or support it.

That train has left the station.

David, no doubt about the poverty issue. I actually grew up on the same street my current school in on. What about that other elephant called teaching and teachers.

I work at what is known in California as a Program Improvement School. In other words, we don't have the scores the state thinks we should have. One of the outcomes of this is that we are always receiving grant money. In fact, my job exists because of a grant designed to reduce class size across all grade levels (K-6), ensure staff development, teacher quality, attendance improvement, parental involvement, and, of course, increased scores.

I don't think we are going to make it. I am not, of course, supposed to talk about it, but it is a reality. Way too many issues. I am sure most of you could imagine what they are.

These are the "elephants" that we ignore as we talk about every thing else. It's like complaining about the windows letting the rain in the house, but we don't have a roof. Fixing the windows isn't going to keep the rain out.

Yep, Taboo subjects. How can we ever hope to influence anything, when everybody knows we are fixing windows while ignoring the missing roof. If we can't talk about what we all know to be true, then how do we expect to change behavior.

Frustrating!

Has anyone noticed that the number of post looks similar to the Long Tail Power Laws. The biggest poster Dean, has twice as many posts as the next highest. Then the tail fall of to a fifth as many. We are watching the building of a long tail in our forum.

Greg, great question. I can sum it up like this. A teacher who participated in the classroom walkthrough training. (paraphrased)

After the training, "This sounds interesting."

After conducting the walkthroughs, "Wow that was awesome. I learned so much more than I though I would. Seeing the other classrooms is a great learning tool."

After the debrief, "We need to figure out ways to keep this going. When do we do it again. We need to have all the teachers do it. How can I help."

Sounds good -- I learned something -- I want to make this part of what I do and share with others.

So, I agree with your three layer model. That's when it sticks

Pg 112- "Participants mistakenly assume that knowing the leadership content and doing it are one and the same. Of course, they aren't the same at all, so participants usually return to the office and apply only a fraction of what they studied. When leaders and training designers combine too much motivation with too few opportunities to improve ability, they don't produce change; they create resentment and depression."

In other words...

Information without Application leads to Frustration.

There are only three staff development sessions I have been a part of that have truly stuck.

1. Apple One-to-One Training.
We learned about the program and then instantly applied it on a project. For example, we were taught iMovie and then instantly put into groups to make our own iMovie. We showed our iMovies to the group and then debriefed on the process. The training lasted for a week, not just one day.

2. Math Acamdemy
We learned math concepts and lessons from college math professors from Cal-State Fullerton. The following week, we brought in volunteer students, taught them the lessons, and then debriefed later that day. We meet several times throughout the year to receive further training and share ideas. We were observed in action several times throughout the year. The academy lasted 3 weeks, with 4 or 5 follow up meeting through the year.

3. Classroom Walkthroughs
We learned about the concept, techniques, and format, then went and conducted them. We debriefed that same day. We set up opportunities throughout the year to continue to practice the skill. It was not a one shot deal. We continued to refine our practice and debrief. This spanned at least 7 days through the year.

The common theme was putting the knowledge into action immediately or very soon after the training. We debriefed about the process and shared ideas and questions. We were provided opportunities to touch base throughout the year with follow up training. We scheduled opportunities to apply what we had learned. We did not leave it to chance. We took the time necessary for proper learning to occur, it wasn't crammed into one day!

Mark-
I too am uneasy. At the book points out, change comes from "deliberate practice." Most staff development I have been a part of simply share information. We look at a Power Point presentation, flip through some handouts, take a few articles back with, and expect change.

The current way staff development is conducted is, obviously, not working. I am helping to plan for the coming year and I want to have staff development that is focused on, and only, our priorities for the year. But, unless there is some practice involved, hearing a simple lecture is not going to change anything, certainly not any behavior.

Hey everybody. I have enjoyed this discussion group very much so far. Scott, thanks for putting this together.

I will have to catch up with everybody in Chapter 5, as I am off to Mexico!!

Adios, Hasta La Vista!

One of the ideas Kotter points out in his book on change is the need for some sort of emotional or "in your face" moment that increases the urgency for the change. This isn't always easy to do. Most teacher don't look at test scores, jump up and we have got to do something. Most of the goals schools write are similarly uninspiring. We need to think of something that hits teachers right between the eyes to get the necessary urgency to move toward the change. I call it "lighting the fuse" or "igniting the rocket"

Coming up with the idea is the hard part. I admit to not having very many good ideas in this area. We are so focused on data and scores that we tend to fall back on this information as the source of urgency, but it is not a good source. There is no emotion or soul to it. The trick is to be creative. I have taken teachers to visit other schools, I have made video of teachers and students sharing their feelings, and I have invited speakers to share. None of these have been that great.

So, I ask...I what ways could we increase the urgency to affect the necessary behavior to enact the change we desire?

David, I was having this same conversation today. My school is establishing a Technology Club and one of the goals is to send student into classroom where technology is not frequently used to demonstrate their projects and to help teacher when they want to use technology. The goal is to use "viral marketing" with the other students to show them what they could be doing and to show teachers what is possible.

So, we expect and hope that student will influence teacher behavior.

I was fortunate enough today to take a "field trip" to a high school where we acted the part of the student and the teacher demonstrated the use and power of technology in the classroom. In this case he was using a Promethean Board and the Active Vote system. We had just spent the morning listening to the director of educational technology in this district explain the power of technology to engage students. Interesting, not nearly as profound and eye-opening as the "field trip."

We can create profound vicarious experiences. We just have to start asking ourselves, "In what ways could I create vicarious experiences for_______" We need to get creative. We need to start asking the question and having the dialogue.

I realized how powerful the vicarious experience was, not from reading about in the book, but by participating in one. My behavior was influenced on the issue of vicarious experiences. We can influence others too.

Our school has started a change process that will include a needed change in culture. As part of this endeavor, we used "field trips" as part of the process. We took teachers to another school that was similar in demographics and size. We toured the school, talked with teachers and administrators, and watched instruction take place in the classroom.

The discussion that took place afterward was very powerful. Teachers hadn't just been told what could happen...they saw it. It was real. We have since sent almost every teacher at our site to other schools to see success in person and in real time.

This was the most powerful change experience I have seen in my time in education.

I think the real power of the Influencer is that it is not a long list of point to remember, but rather tools for helping us do better what we do everyday. Influence others through our relationships and personal interactions.

Kathy, your timing is amazing. I was in an administrator training course today and the mentioned the QBQ book. I read it a while ago and loved. I think than gets back to what we are talking about here. A great lever for influencing behavior is the questions we ask. Thanks for the resources.

Kathy, ORID sounds very interesting. Thanks for sharing that. In California we use a technique call Cognitive Coaching. Bottom line, get people thinking about what they do and why they are doing it through questions. I love a book title, "Change Your Questions, Change Your Life." I like that!

Is there a website or resources for ORID?

Skip, I have worked with teacher very much like you describe above. One of the things that made a difference was the questions the leadership asked of them to influence their behavior. Asking questions like, "What ways are you using technology in your teaching?" Or, "In what ways are you using research proven instruction?" We found most teacher don't like having bad answers or no answer to the questions. Their behavior began to change to meet the demands of the questions we were forcing on them. Not easy to do though!

In my role in helping to improve a Program Improvement school I have spent the last year watching what the teachers, students, and parents at my school. I have sought to target change through systems, but I think the real change will come in influencing changes in behavior. When I was still in the classroom I absolutely thought I was an influencer. Both to students and my peers, especially in the areas of technology, creative thinking techniques, and use the use of thinking models (i.e Six Thinking Hats, Thinker Keys, etc.)

In my role out of the classroom I am focusing more on influencing behavior because it's impact is more lasting. When behavior changes, we change the way we talk about a subject, the way we think about the subject, and the way we approach the subject. This is far more impacting than just providing facts and information to people. So I think I am an influencer.

Just last night I was listening to a radio story about how California is still going to spend multiple millions of dollars to help seniors in high school get tutoring for the high school exit exam (CAHSE)even after much research about how we can tell in 4th grade who is likely to fail. Why don't we start in 4th grade instead of waiting until students get to their senior year in high school to help them. Why are we waiting 8 years after they need the help to give it?

I was struck by the concept of an Influence Strategy. I imagine there are multiple ways to approach this in education. Initially I thought of how different leadership would be if they used an Influence Strategy to focus on vital behaviors and not abstract goals like, "raise test scores."

Secondly, staff and professional development might look different if, instead of just showing how, they also focused on the behavior to put the new training or information into use. How often I have seen teachers learn new strategies, but never implement them.

I also wondered..

What behaviors have you identified that drive performance in your organization?

Do you have an Influence Strategy? In what ways could you develop an Influence Strategy?

How might your organizational leadership be impacted if the focus was more squarely placed on behaviors that get results and not the results themselves?

Does your organization spend the time to clearly identify vital behaviors and then teach or coach them across the organization?

How would or organization benefit if vital behaviors were taught and embedded into your culture?

How is a vital behavior different from knowledge or information?

How would a vital behavior focus change your staff development or professional training?

Dan, I have been considering the University of La Verne for my Ed.D. What did you think of the program? I guess we are the few in group 5 who live in the Pacific time zone!

Hello from Orange County California where I work as a Program Specialist (school improvement) for an elementary school district. Very happy to join the group and looking forward to sharing ideas and views.