What does this year hold....

I'm so excited for school to start!

We have been talking about our district's reconfiguration for years and we are now only days away from the first day of our new school, John Campbell Primary.

We have the most amazing teachers. We have the most amazing office staff and paraprofessionals. We have the most amazing support staff, specialists, and administrators.

Students, we cannot wait to see you! Hopefully you'll be able to attend our Back to School night on Aug. 27, from 5-6pm. Join the PTO ice cream social from 5:30-6:30. And parents, please join the PTO! We only have 2 parents that have volunteered to fill the open positions and they really need your help to help our students have an the best year possible.

See you soon!

"Viking pride starts here!

Things NOT TO SAY when interviewing for a teaching position....

I really enjoy hiring teachers. I've been very fortunate to have rich, deep candidate pools for most of my positions. However, sometimes the person we see when screening their paperwork isn't the same person who shows up for an interview. I'm amazed at how some dress, how some sit in the chair, or how their nerves get the best of them sometimes.

Here are some actual responses I've received during an interview over the past few years:

• This really isn't the grade I want to teach, but it's better than nothing.
• I remember you (pointing to another teacher on the interview team.) We interviewed for a similar position last year. Why did you get the job over me?
• I wanted to get into teaching because my last job was too stressful.
• Is the salary negotiable?
• I really didn't come prepared to answer most of these questions.
• When asked if he had any questions for us after the interview questions were finisned, he said, "No, but I have a comment. I was accused of spanking a 1st grader last year but it didn't happen. I appreciate you taking the time to interview me today. Thank you." He then packed up and left.

Can you add to this list?

What book are you reading?

When I lived in the Seattle area I had about a 50 minute commute. But now I literally live 2 minutes from work. I have seen many of our students over the summer. Once they get over the shock of seeing Mr. Darling in shorts, and bearded, and shopping, I always ask them, "What book are you reading?" Some have answers, some make excuses, and many parents squirm because they know the questions is directed at them as much as the kiddo. 

But I just realized that if any of them asked me the question, I would squirm as well. I have a lot of books I'm dabbling in, tons of blogs and articles I read daily, but I'm not really modeling my summer expectations for them. And no, Glad Monster, Sad Monster, Wemberly Worried, or Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed don't count. 

I'll do better. 

Day Two of Hattie's Visible Learning take aways....

There’s a difference between assigning complex text and teaching complex text. 

Learning is a social endeavor. 

Every student deserves a great teacher not by chance, but by design. -Doug Fisher

*Teacher modeling should capture students and let them in to the mind and thinking of the teacher. 

Effective school leaders must leverage their big-winner leadership practices to maximize their impact on learning and teaching 

Interviewing students: What is the learning target of the day? Are you being successful? How do you know?

When teachers SEE learning through the eyes of the student and when the students SEE themselves as their own teachers. 

We need students to arrive at school ready to work, not watch the teacher work. 

A key impact on student achievement is whether they make a friend during the first month of school

If kids had unions and voting powers, we wouldn’t be in the situation we are now

Teachers are the only person in the room who is paid to try something different. It’s their professional obligation. 

Imagine if doctors were paid for performance. They would refuse to take on difficult cases. Why would paying a teacher for performance work? They have zero control over their clientele. 

a culture of collaborative expertise can help every student achieve at least one year’s progress for one year’s input. 

"I’m not a fan of high achievement standards. I want high achievement standards. Parents don’t think schools are any good because their scores aren’t high. But teachers in those schools may actually be amazing teachers and obtaining more than a year’s growth in a year." John Hattie

Teaching is to DIE for: Diagnose, Interventions, Evaluate

87% of talking in the classroom is from the teacher. 

How many questions do children ask per day that they don’t know the answer to? They risk interrupting you. They risk the reaction of their peers.

The fate of students depends on the mind frames of students.  

Day 1 of Visible Learning with John Hattie

Here are a few of my key take-aways so far...

• Leaders: Promoting/participating in ts learning and development has the highest impact on student outcomes -0.84 effect size
• Imagine what your students would be willing to attempt if they knew they could not fail?
• Instead of “What did you learn today” ask “What kind of feedback did your teacher give you today?”
• What if you had your teachers change their "Learning Intentions" or "Learning Targets" to "Learning Promises?
• the best in the world still need coaches. Self-regulatory feedback/feedforward helps solve problems they didn't know they had
• Learning intentions should cover the goal of the lesson and should be mastery-related as opposed to performance-related.
• Just b/c you teach deeper learning doesn’t mean scores will be higher if those tests don’t require deeper thinking.
• Most gifted kids do not become gifted adults b/c they don’t learn how to struggle.
• Teacher collective efficacy is more powerful than anything a student brings to the classroom
• We show students where to look, not what to see.

Update

Attending the John Hattie Visible Learning Institute this week in San Antonio. Stay tuned for updates and some excited posts.