Rethinking the Structure of Your School

The structure of the school day can either support your learning program or be an impediment to its success. Too often we think of the school schedule, and other organizational arrangements, as merely a "fact of life." We take them for granted. But, in reality, they are useful tools for helping a school leader make their school a powerful place for learning. Here are a few things to consider.

• A common way to promote collaboration in elementary school is to locate classrooms of the same grade together. Teachers can work with one another, share materials and support the work. But in one elementary school I visited each wing contained a classroom from each grade level. This arrangement provided for interaction among the grades and eased grouping and regrouping for instruction.
• Many middle schools, and some high schools, organize teachers into instructional teams, a group of teachers who share students and have common planning time. Teams do not magically achieve results but when teachers use the majority of their common plan to work on curricular and instructional issues it can have a positive impact on student learning and school climate.
• Some large schools organize into schools-within-a-school. Teachers often have common planning and time to work on instructional improvement. There's real evidence that small schools can positively impact student learning and sustain positive relationships among students and with adults.
• One high school I visited in suburban Chicago reorganized departmental offices. Math and science teachers shared an office and their classrooms were adjacent. Similarly, language arts and social studies teachers shared an office and adjacent classrooms. The principal found that proximity created opportunities for teachers to learn from one another and to build relationships, relationships that led to interdisciplinary activities across content areas.

Too often the focus of a school's schedule is on the logistics of the day. More important is to take time to create a shared vision of what your schedule might achieve. Clarity about vision and purpose means that you can design a schedule to achieve that vision. Otherwise your schedule is merely a plan for the organization of students and teachers.

I'd enjoy hearing from you about the structure of your school and how you use structure to positively impact student learning.

Vision Letters - Setting the Course for the School Year

A friend and colleague, Barbara Blackburn, works with lots of teachers on ways to strengthen their instruction and assure that each student has a rigorous academic experience. One of her favorite tools is the Vision Letter. A Vision Letter is a way for a teacher, or principal, to think about the outcomes they want to achieve that school year. Barbara asks teachers to imagine it is the last day of school and that the year turned out to be their best ever. She then asks participants to draft an e-mail addressed to a colleague described everything that students accomplished, and ways the teacher supported student learning. Finally, she encourages people to share their letters with a colleague and to identify ways they can support one another so that this vision becomes a reality. At one school she had teachers put their letters into an envelope to be opened at the end of the school year.

You can learn more about Vision Letters in two books that Barbara and I wrote - Rigor in Your School: A Toolkit for Leaders and Rigorous Schools and Classrooms: Leading the Way. Both books have a whole collection of tools that principals can use with to build shared vision and promote collaboration.

Importance of Shared Vision

As another school year gets underway I'm reminded of how important the principal's vision is in setting the direction for their school. Often a vision is thought of as just words on paper, but a vision is a dynamic roadmap for strengthening a school. I often refer to it as a compass. A compass provides direction but can also help you to get back on track when events pull you away from your vision. A compass is always on target, pointing toward "true" north.

Here are four of my favorite resources on the importance of the principal's vision and how a principal can work with their faculty and community to create a shared vision.

• Southwest Educational Development Lab (SEDL) on the importance of vision. 
• Maryland Department of Education’s website on the importance of vision.  Read the material on the “Principal’s Role in Creating a Vision.” You may find the two exercises on identifying core beliefs and creating a shared vision useful as you develop your vision for your school. 
• Marzano Center - Setting the Direction for a School-Wide Vision 
• Association for Middle Level Education - Read an article that discusses Peter Senge's discussion of learning communities and building shared vision.

I'd enjoy learning about your personal vision for your school and how you work with your community to nurture and sustain that vision.

What Makes a Principal?

My current job at Eastern Michigan University is all about the preparation of school leaders. I really enjoy my work and watching students learn and grow. In my course on the principalship I'm often asked "what makes a principal?" I must admit that's a challenging question because I believe that leadership emerges when a principal has a clear vision for their school but at the same time recognizes the importance of developing shared vision; when a principal understands the importance of nurturing and developing teachers and other adults who work at their school; and when a principal has the skills to build consensus and help their school community chart a path forward that includes a "laser" like focus on improving the educational experience for students.

Now I'm not nieve. I understand there are a whole set of management duties and I recognize the political role of a school principal. But, I believe if these characteristics are present a principal can have a dramatically positive impact on their school.

I'm fascinated by the complex interplay between the personal characteristics of individuals and the contextual present in a school community. I recently read an article from 2009 from Educational Leadership that described three important roles of a principal---becoming an effective consultant to help identify actionable strategies for teachers; a mediator and consensus builder to facilitate and coach individual colleagues and groups; and a person who values relationships.

I'd enjoy hearing from you about what you think "makes a principal."

Importance of Vision

A couple weeks ago I was visiting Oregon GEAR UP schools and I was reminded of how important the principal's vision is in setting the direction for their school. Often a vision is thought of as just words on paper, but a vision is a dynamic roadmap for strengthening a school. I often refer to it as a compass. A compass provides direction but can also help you to get back on track when events pull you away from your vision. A compass is always on target, pointing toward "true" north.

Here are four of my favorite resources on the importance of the principal's vision and how a principal can work with their faculty and community to create a shared vision.

• Southwest Educational Development Lab (SEDL) on the importance of vision. 
• Maryland Department of Education’s website on the importance of vision.  Read the material on the “Principal’s Role in Creating a Vision.” You may find the two exercises on identifying core beliefs and creating a shared vision useful as you develop your vision for your school. 
• Marzano Center - Setting the Direction for a School-Wide Vision 
• Association for Middle Level Education - Read an article that discusses Peter Senge's discussion of learning communities and building shared vision.

We'd enjoy learning about your personal vision for your school and how you work with your community to nurture and sustain that vision.

Recommit to Your Personal Vision

The most effective principals possess a clear personal vision. They know themselves and their personal ethic. They also recognize the importance of vision to guide their work with teachers and other school personnel.

The frantic life of a school principal rarely provides time to step back and reflect on those beliefs that shape and guide your personal and professional life. The summer break can be a great time to stop, reflect, and identify those things that contribute to your personal vision for your school.

Preparing a written statement of personal vision provides an opportunity to think about the words you use, to consider their nuances, and to grapple with balancing multiple values and priorities. One principal I worked with described writing a vision statement as “the most challenging thing I ever wrote. But also the most valuable.”

A four-step process can be used to reflect on your own personal and professional life, and to identify those things of greatest value. These insights can be used to develop your personal vision.

Process for Developing a Personal Vision Statement Step 1:Think about your personal and professional life. Make a list of what you would like to achieve and the contributions you would like to make. Describe what it looks like and feels like. For example, hovering in a hot air balloon over your life, imagine it as successful as it might be---what would you see, what would you feel, what would you hear? Step 2:Consider the following things about what you have written---relationships, personal interests, and community. Examine each item in your list to ensure that it still fits. Step 3:Develop a list of values. Identify the most important values in your life. Once this is done, review the list and rank them from most to least important. Remove the least important. Re-rank if appropriate. Check for relevance with your earlier list. Eliminate any item that is not relevant. Step 4:Use the items from the first three steps to develop a statement of personal vision. Review and edit the statement as often as needed until you believe it accurately reflects who you are and what you want to be.

Clarity about one’s personal vision, or ethic, has been described as one of the most important things a leader can do. I hope you find this process helpful and would enjoy hearing from you about your personal vision.

Collaborative Tools

Recently in my principalship class I asked students to prepare a statement of their personal vision for their school. They shared the vision with a small work group and then had to present the vision during a simulation in class. One of the requirements was that they use one collaborative tool to gather feedback from the "faculty" in their simulated school.

We talked about the importance of this type of collaboration and how it signals the principal's investment in building shared ownership and vision.

Building a repertoire of collaborative tools that principals can use to work with teachers, staff, families and community is an important skill. I've put together a set of collaborative tools that are available on my website (www.ronwilliamson.com).

I'd enjoy hearing from you about other collaborative tools that you've used in your school.

Affirming the Importance of Vision

I’ve been traveling in and out of Portland, OR while working on an Oregon GEAR UP project. Whenever I can I like to wander into Powell’s bookstore. If you ever visit Portland you must find time to go to Powell’s. It’s an incredibly complete store carved out a series of inter-connected buildings in the Pearl district of Portland. If you like bookstores you are sure to like Powell’s. I could wander around for hours!

As I often do, I recently spent some time in the leadership section and found myself looking at several books about one’s personal vision. The start of the new school year is a natural time to stop and reflect on your personal vision for your own life and for your school.

The North Central Regional Lab identified a “clear, strong and collectively held vision” as one of the critical components of an effective school. It all starts with your ability to describe your own personal vision. In The Principalship from A to Z we devote an entire chapter to vision because of its importance (Chapter V).

There are lots of good books that describe one’s personal vision. The following examples reflect clear values and beliefs about life and work. They provide interesting insights into how other leaders articulate and actualize their personal vision.

Behar, Howard, (2007). It’s Not About the Coffee: Leadership Principles from a Life at Starbucks. New York: Penguin Group.

Kidder, Rushworth (2003). How Good People Make Tough Choices: Resolving the Dilemmas of Ethical Living. New York: Harper.

Pausch, Randy (2008). The Last Lecture. New York: Hyperion Press.

As always I would enjoy hearing from you about your vision for your school and how you nurture and sustain in especially during challenging times. I look forward to hearing from you.

Creating Your Personal Vision

Having a clear sense of vision or purpose for your school is important. Besides having your own personal vision you must work collaboratively with teachers, families, staff and students to develop a clear and compelling vision for your school.

It all begins with your personal vision. That vision consists of the most fundamental beliefs about life, about your work, and about relationships with people. I suggest you use a four-step process to develop your vision statement.

Step 1: Think about your personal and professional life. Describe what you would like to achieve and the contributions you would like to make. Think of it as something already accomplished. Describe what it looks like and feels like. For example, imagine hovering in a hot air balloon over your life. Imagine your life as successful as it might be---what would you see? what would you feel? what would you hear?

Step 2: Consider your self-image, relationships, personal interests, and community based on the things you wrote in step 1. Examine each item in your draft statement to be sure it still fits.

Step 3: Develop a list of values and identify those that are most important in your life. Once this is done, review the list and rank them from most to least important. Remove the least important. Re-rank if appropriate. Check for relevance with your earlier statement. Eliminate any item that is not relevant.

Step 4: Use the items from the first three steps to develop a statement about who you are. Review and edit the statement as often as needed until you believe it accurately reflects your vision.

Final Note: The job of a principal begins with vision. If you don't have a vision, or haven't revisited it recently, you won't have a clear direction when pressures mount. I suggest that you take the time to develop your own vision and to build shared vision for your school community.