Exploring possible solutions

As our school continues to work on school improvement for next year, we have reached a time to explore possible solutions. This past week we met again in small groups to begin brainstorming ideas to address one of our areas of improvements… hallways!

I asked the staff to reach out to friends, relatives, Google and social media outlets to see what other schools were doing to address issues in the hallways. I led the discussion by saying, “We are not the only Middle School in the country. There have to be answers to our questions somewhere.”

When exploring possible solutions there is no better place than your PLN on Twitter! I placed a very generic Tweet to help me to see what was going on at other schools. Fortunately, @Teacher2Teacher, picked up the Tweet and asked if it would be OK to share the question on their community. Of course I agreed and very shortly the ideas came flowing into my Twitter notifications.

Know that none of us have it all figured out. We’re all learning everyday. Surround yourself with positivity and always keep an open mind and heart. ~ Teacher Emily Francis

I received dozens of ideas that schools are using throughout the country. Some schools are playing music in the hallways with one actually having kids play drums. Other schools pride themselves on having staff in the hallways greeting students with high fives and fist bumps. Everyone chimed in that presence in the hallways (both admin and teachers), and clearly defined rules are the keys to success!

Just like that you can explore possible scenarios with a click of the mouse (or thumb). Be sure to include Teacher2teacher!

Spike Cook, Ed.D., Principal, Lakeside Middle School, Millville, NJ. In addition to being a Principal, Dr. Cook published two books through Corwin Press (Connected Leadership:It’s Just a Click AwayBreaking Out of Isolation: Becoming a Connected School Leader). He is the co-host of the popular PrincipaPLN podcast and his blog, Insights Into Learning, was recognized as a finalist for Best Administrator Blog by the EduBlog Awards. Spike earned his Doctorate from Rowan University and is featured in their Alumni Spotlight. Connect with @drspikecook via Twitter.

 

Reverse Brainstorming: How can the problem get worse?

Photo by Mathieu Stern on Unsplash

A few months ago Margaret Keefer, a Professional Development Specialist in our district lead us through a Reverse Brainstorming Activity for our Professional Learning Communities. She asked us to list all the things we could do to allow ineffective PLCs in our district.

At first I was puzzled by the request. I was thinking to myself, “You want us to say how we can continue to allow ineffective PLCs?” So I began to write as many ideas as I could think of and when we shared out I could see how this information would eventually work to help the process! The ideas we listed ended up informing our solutions!

What can we do to allow ______ to continually be ineffective at our school/district? ~ Reverse Brainstorming prompt

A few weeks later we were planning for our School Improvement Process for next year and we needed an idea to get staff thinking about improving our hallways. Beth Benfer, Professional Development Specialist and I immediately thought of the Reverse Brainstorming activity. We then developed this prompt, “What can we do to continue to allow ineffective hallway behaviors at our school?”

We did this activity with about 100 staff members from from teachers to paraprofessionals, secretaries to guidance and administration. The feedback from the process was very insightful. Staff members were able to be honest (and vulnerable) by listing all the things we could do to basically make the hallways worse. The activity was a good starting point for us.

So if you are looking for something that would create good discussion and get you started on solving a problem in your classroom, school or district try a Reverse Brainstorming Activity. Here are some suggested ways to implement the activity:

  • Identify your problem or issue
  • Develop a prompt that would allow the problem to get worse
  • Have everyone write down individually as many ideas as possible
  • After 3 minutes have each person share one idea at a time. If someone else has that idea they can either piggy back off the idea or share another one
  • Take the ideas and reverse them into solutions or actions to eventually solve the problem

Spike Cook, Ed.D., Principal, Lakeside Middle School, Millville, NJ. In addition to being a Principal, Dr. Cook published two books through Corwin Press (Connected Leadership:It’s Just a Click AwayBreaking Out of Isolation: Becoming a Connected School Leader). He is the co-host of the popular PrincipaPLN podcast and his blog, Insights Into Learning, was recognized as a finalist for Best Administrator Blog by the EduBlog Awards. Spike earned his Doctorate from Rowan University and is featured in their Alumni Spotlight. Connect with @drspikecook via Twitter.

What is your One Thing?

I was recently talking with the Transformative Principal Podcast host Jethro Jones and he recommended reading The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller. He recommended that I read The One Thing to help me personally and professionally. I am very grateful for his recommendation!

Personally, the One Thing requires you to answer a seemingly easy question, “What’s the one thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?” The beauty of this question is that it is not very easy. Thankfully, the book assists you with a process of determining that One Thing and then putting it into motion.

For me, I analyzed my morning routine. I have been keeping a Gratitude Journal and mediating for about a year and a half. This routine has helped me in many ways and I have been very dedicated to keeping this going. According to Gary Keller, it takes about 66 days to create and implement new habits. Here I thought I was being disciplined, but if you read the One Thing you will learn that discipline is a bit of a myth. In all honesty I had one thing going but what was leading up to that one thing (the Gratitude Journal/Mediation) was not helping.

Like many people today, when I woke up I was immediately going on my phone. At first it was to check some messages and then 30 minutes later I have checked email, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Then I would be rushing to get into the shower and afterwards speeding through my Gratitude/Mediation. This was not working for me.

What’s the one thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

I decided to cut out my phone from the morning routine and get out the door for a walk. I love walking (really wish I could run but that is another story) and I felt that if I got out of the door and started walking everything else would be easier. I wouldn’t end the day looking at my step count only to be disappointed. I wouldn’t waste time in the morning on the various social media apps. I would have already accomplished something and that would make everything else easier and unnecessary.

I am only a few days into implementing the One Thing in my personal life. I have many days to go to get to the “sweet spot” of 66 days. Yet, I can already see changes!

Professionally, I implemented the One Thing into our School Improvement Plan for next year. I will be following up on a post about this shortly. In the meantime, be sure to check out the One Thing and be ready to get extraordinary results!

Spike Cook, Ed.D., Principal, Lakeside Middle School, Millville, NJ. In addition to being a Principal, Dr. Cook published two books through Corwin Press (Connected Leadership:It’s Just a Click Away; Breaking Out of Isolation: Becoming a Connected School Leader). He is the co-host of the popular PrincipaPLN podcast and his blog, Insights Into Learning, was recognized as a finalist for Best Administrator Blog by the EduBlog Awards. Spike earned his Doctorate from Rowan University and is featured in their Alumni Spotlight. Connect with @drspikecook via Twitter.