Unveiling Your SuperHero Skills: Concious Competence

About a month ago in a protocol training an "aha" moment occurred for me. I had been thinking a lot about observations and conversations I had with several people. In every conversation and observation it is clear that the teacher knows where the students are, what they need to know to get there and what the plan is to get them there. Where the progress was happening most was when the student was made as equally aware of their own understanding, what strategies they need to use effectively to grow as learners, and had a goal or plan to move their own learning forward.

In the protocol training, the facilitator, Thomas VanSoelen, used a very simple protocol "Say, Say, Do" to help us build community. What was noted that after every round (each round becoming more difficult) we had to reflect and then identify the strategy(ies) we used to keep up with the facilitator's commands. The stop, reflect, identify, and share was similar to what I had observed where students were making the most progress. I couldn't really wrap my head around what it was, so I brought my wonderings to Thomas. It was there he explained the concept of Concious Competence.

Outside of the world of education it is desired that your learning or competence moves to the point of unconsious competence. What I was seeing and Thomas helped me to put into words was that in the world of education we are most powerful when we are purposefully taking what we do unconsciously with our competence and outwardly share... making where students are, what they need to know to get there and the plan/goal concisouly competent. Make what you know inwardly and make it known outwardly. It makes every move we make to push our student growth verbal/written at a point for student consumption and application.

In the next few weeks before the holiday and when we return and begin MOY assessments there are approximately eight weeks. That is about the same amount of time students have for summer break. One of the ways we can continue to be powerful in those weeks is when we are working with students both in small group and whole group instruction using techniques to share our knowledge in a way that students take that and apply to their own learning. These consciously competent conversations with a student or students can also be considered closely aligned wtih the cycle of intentional feedback (cycle indicating ongoing and provides for two-way communication).

During concsciously competent conversations are opportunities for specific and intentional goals to be set with our students. We know that when moving students from one reading level to the next, how that is done is as unique as the learner themselves. Those goals are also not just Reading specific, but can be cross curricular. When a student is aware of how a reading goal can be focused on in Science or Math or Writing, they support their own goal. When a team can see how a reading goal can be impacted in another content area, we are helping that student fortify their skills through out a day's instruction and capitalize on opportunity for exponential growth.

Recently at another campus there were charts shared focused on goals specific to certain DRA levels. It was a great tool to create more specificity with our readers and their goals that moved beyond them progressing to the next level. (Pictured below)

 As we close in on these next few weeks, and look toward our MOY goals for these kiddos how could the above goal starters help us to better identify individual goals, shared with our students, that can move our kiddos forward? How can we lean in and be concisously competent with our students in a powerful way that moves us forward in the next 8 weeks instead of mirroring the summer slide with a winter windfall?

Knowing when to let go...

I recently read a brief article from my ASCD Update about "The Art of the 'Mic Drop'."
It was a reflection from an assistant principal that was looking back on how he had coached/led his teachers this past year. It talked about his observations on how highly effective teams interact and what was his perceived role of administrative leadership in regards to those team interactions.

The over-arching idea was knowing when to step away and let teams "do their thing" and not interrupt ideas/actions for solving pressing issues. Through "dropping the mic" and walking away with the hope that it builds a culture where educators listen to understand rather than respond.

This summer you will be attending trainings, possibly reading books/blogs and reflecting on how you may change your approach for the upcoming year that will inspire you to try new things both as a team and as an individual educator. My hope is that John and I will provide you the supports to take the risks to step beyond "what we have always done."

John an I have many goals for ourselves moving forward into our second year as your instructional leaders. With those goals in mind we know we will:

• Work to be clear with teams about expectations and next steps.
• Be more available to support the work and purposeful in following up with teams on the progress.
• Provide tools for efficient collaboration, including agendas and data analysis platforms via digital systems that allow for virtual and/or face to face collaboration.

Putting some structures in place and at the same time stepping back and letting go provides that level of trust in you all, our team, to get it done without micromanagement. 

We are attempting to master the art of knowing when we need to be front and center with the mic and when we need to let go, get up and get out of the way... essentially 'drop the mic.'

What are some ways you would like to see us support you this upcoming year? How can we encourage you to take risks, find solutions and at the same time stay out of your way? 

How do you know you are growing as an educator?

I think I heard someone say as I walked in Monday morning... "Only ten more weeks."

Part of me was like, "Yes, I didn't die!" and part of me was like "No, I thought I would be better at this at this point in the year. I need more time to reach the goals I have set for myself!"

I could have let that defeat me. Instead, I decided I would not let the fact that I am not as far along as I would like to be in this new role as assistant principal be the determining factor of whether or not I am progressing toward success. Instead I am moving into a time where I am reflecting, reviewing and revising my goals. I am evaluating for myself what I have learned, how I have changed- for the better- and what I need to continue to work towards or abandon.

I think that is one of the beauties of the process with T-TESS. It creates a space for us to set goals, work toward those goals, monitor our progress (collect evidence), and reflect. It helps us measure and identify how we are growing as an educator. In this way, I believe it reminds us of how far we have come and shows us where we can journey next in our professional growth.

I came across the article "How to set smart goals that motivate you to action"  this week as I was thinking about where you all are in preparing for the end of year T-TESS conference. I love being challenged to grow, to set goals that may be almost unattainable but make me want to strive to try. We (John and I) look forward to meeting with you and learning more about the goals you have set for yourself for the upcoming year. Goals that grow you, excite you and most of all empower you as an educator.

We would love for you to share the process for how you are determining your goals for the upcoming year in the comments.