These are my notes from Mark Mcleod‘s keynote address at the Oklahoma Association of Elementary School Principals (OAESP) mid-winter conference on January 19, 2012, in Oklahoma City. The conference is sponsored and organized by the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration (CCOSA). Mark’s official website is www.markmcleodpresentations.com. MY THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS ARE IN ALL CAPS.
Information about Mark is listed on the Education Speakers Group website and Nuts and Bolts Symposium website. This is a PDF of the same handout we were provided for today’s keynote by Mark.
I want you to be on fire for your job, which is one of the most important jobs in the world
There are a lot of adult educators who are struggling, who need your help
it’s a great day to be an encourager and not a discourager
– it’s a great day to become a better person
Let’s take this day and embrace it to the fullest
A great day to be a positive force is a negative society
#1 thing young kids are looking for: positive adult role models
– you
I’ve been doing this full time for 8 years now
Think of this activity:
– make a list on a piece of paper of the qualities you want from the kids and adults you work with which you want to see / encourage / support
What is the #1 quality you want from your students
– #1 quality isn’t smarts: it’s a positive attitude and good behavior in the classroom
– know what I wanted from my teachers as a principal
– It was always harder
educators around the world want students to treat me with unconditional respect, and to respect each other
– to get along with each
#3 reason: students motivated to learn
– we’ve got to make sure we are motivated
– when I hire teachers, I look for teachers who are MOTIVATED to be the best they can be
The only person I have a chance to control is myself
I am beneath everyone in this room, but I do have a passion
– if you’re going to be in the teaching profession for 30 years, you might as well be on fire
– we have got to have a super positive attitude
– I didn’t have that when I started teaching
It’s ok to be in school improvement mode, but don’t just stay there
– we must always ask: can I reach one more adult, can I reach one more student
– we have a chance to embrace the day and make the world a better place
Every day we need to look in the mirror and ask if we are treating everyone with unconditional respect
– whatever has become habit in your life is what you do
– that is why we have to have the best habits
“If the butt starts getting numb, the brain is going dumb” – Marsha Tate
Most important thing to me is that the learning sticks
You have got to be willing to take a risk as a successful educational leader
You don’t learn how to teach in college
– it is all on the job training
MY THOUGHT: HERE’S A LOUD INDICTMENT OF TYPICAL TEACHER EDUCATION / TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS
Often we make things too complicated
– fear of embarrassment and fear of failure are the reasons many kids don’t participate in class, AND the reason many classroom teachers won’t try something new in the classroom
The environment for success is key
– what relationships have been developed in your school culture
if we can help create a risk-free environment where students will feel safe taking risks, they will participate far more
Best way to increase student achievement: Increase the quality of instruction
– discipline referrals will go down, test scores will go up
My handout is long, because I’d always rather give you MORE rather than less
Please write down these goals:
– help each person in this “relight your fire” (get the fire back)
– the passion to change the world, unconditional love for everyone
It’s so easy in education to lose your fire
“The Energy Bus” by Jon Jordon
No educator in the nation would tell you they started out wanting to become a screamer, be in survival mode, be an energy vampire
You can’t give away something you don’t have
Great teachers are always looking for opportunities to encourage others and build relationships (with students and other teachers)
– #1 goal is relight your fire
#2 goal: fill up an imaginary toolbox for success
In college you don’t have to have a bell activity, a bathroom plan, and more… but in public education you do
– we want you to fill up with toolbox strategies today to take back right away
bathroom procedure: Yes with a qualifier
– you can go to the restroom after you finish problems 1 through 5
#3 goal: I want educators to network and share
Some of the most effective teachers I’ve ever seen are 1st year teachers
– engagement in the classroom
#4 have fun at this conference
Most effective teachers create an environment where the students do the majority of the work
I have found the better I meet my needs in my personal life, the better I can meet my student needs: have patience
Willard Harley: “His Needs, and Her Needs”
– you have an emotional bank deposit with every person, and you’re either making deposits or withdrawals
What is your spouse’s love language?
support and appreciation = the main thing teachers want from their administrator
Do you know the #1 thing all students need? Unconditional LOVE
the key to relationships is loading up the emotional bank account deposits
with students
– go to their extracurricular activities
– recognize each student’s birthday
– give students jobs in the classroom
– positive parent contact
– verbal praise
– noticing them and commenting or questioning them about it in a supportive way
– calling them by name
– stickers
with adults:
– food
– being there
– ask about family
If you prove that you care for someone through your actions, they will be much more likely to be on board with you
Effective teachers have some signal when they want eyes-on attention from students
– a bell
– repeated claps
– time – out
– ring, ring – hello
If the kids say “oooo” because you have used disrespect or sarcasm, the kids are thinking “you’re just like us, that’s how we treat each other”
– don’t take the low road
– choose to meet disrespect with respect, anger with love… these are the decisions we must make
Learning will be on fire in your classrooms when teachers get the environment right for learning
students can make emotional bank account deposits
– often though that is not their habit
Get the “Cha Ching” going in your classroom
– I taught this to students, we brainstormed on butcher paper
If you think about it, making 100% on the state test is not as important as making deposits
– self-contained teachers particularly have this opportunity
going out of your way on purpose to make emotional deposits and build relationships with others
[THIS IS WHEN WE TOOK OUR MORNING BREAK]
Giveaways Mark used:
– bell with stickers
– tshirts
Talk with students all the time about CHOICES
– everything is a choice, plus you choose the attitude you are going to have every day
sometimes bad things just happen, and we are in a situation when we say, “I did not deserve that.”
– so sometimes we have to force ourselves to have a positive attitude
Positive relationships and the emotional bank account: these are keys in our toolbox
variety and classroom management
– if you don’t have the classroom management right, you won’t want or be able to take your kids to the lab for experiments
24 days to form a habit
– Harry Wong: first weeks of school, procedures, procedures, procedures,
– something always becomes a habit/procedure in the classroom
MY COMMENT: THIS IS ABOUT NORMALIZATION, AND BUILDING A CULTURE
You can re-teach procedures at any time of the year, but the start of the year is the best time to do that
Environment for success: all about relationships and classroom management
– always better to be proactive instead of reactive
Add the words: Room setup
– can determine if your workshop or class is effective or ineffective
– if you don’t work the room, the room will work you
– I don’t prefer round tables, scattered rectangular tables are my favorite to prevent people from keeping their backs to you all day as as presenter
Working the classroom is like working a traffic light (Henry Wong again)
– if you stay at the front of the room, automatically you will have zones or layers created in the classroom
– the farther you are from a student, the more likely they are not going to be participating
College professors don’t have to ‘work the classroom’ like we do in PK-12 education
proximity and positive words are big motivators for student engagement
you have got to monitor as you teach
– assessments must be done in the classroom
As a principal I told teachers I was doing “specific skill observation”
– I was looking for a specific skill
1st one: Traffic Light, work the room
I would be in a teacher’s classroom at least 30 times during the semester
– If I only go in there twice a year,
Do you know teachers like to
#1 motivator after the relationship is SUCCESS with both kids and adults
sometimes teachers don’t get the right strategies in college
– specific skill observation was one of the best things we ever did at my school
Effective teaching is a lifestyle
– getting the correct habits in the toolbox is the most important thing
Here are the strategies that my teachers knew how to use with students for engagement:
– evil eye
– evil eye with signal
– proximity
– proximity with touch
– proximity with note
– whisper technique
– delayed referral
– send on referral
– role play
– bell activity
Comments from participants on most important elements
– building trust within your building
Instead of just asking students “Why?” kick up short answer questions with this kind of script: “I like your answer, tell me why you chose that answer”
#1 predictor of student achievement is the teacher (it’s not the smart board, the common core standards, etc)
you’ve got to fight all disrespect with respect every time
The Five Love languages by Gary Chapman is a great book, and there are other books specifically for adults with children and teen
Love language 1: Acts of Service
Love Language 2: Words of Affirmation
– most men speak this love language
Words have SO MUCH power
– we have got to be careful, say the right words, and do the right thing so we make deposits instead of withdrawals
Love Language 3: Gifts
– if your wife’s love language is gifts, you better get her a huge diamond
Love Language 4: Quality Time
– people that want you to be their BFF
– how do you identify these students: they get to your door early each morning, they are looking for adult role models they want to be with
This is where gang membership starts I think: people are looking for something
Our relationships with everyone is key
if I don’t spend quality time with my spouse, there is a snake somewhere who will
– often when we run into problems with relationships, we are speaking the wrong love language
Love Language 5: Physical Touch
Assignment: Identify your dominant love language (how can people make the biggest deposit for you)
– there is a profile that goes with the book
– when you do the profile with the book you get a pretty good idea
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