Redefining the word consequences

I have often written about discipline and consequences many times before. And those that have read my story know my own journey with discipline. In fact, I documented much of the journey in my book Learning to Listen.

I know we all remember the good old days when apparently suspensions where handed out left right and centre and the hallways were somehow better and yet if we all think hard about it, many of the problems we talk about it still happened. I mean, I still remember students smoking, yelling at teachers, and even being chased home because of bullies.

Behaviour has always been hard to combat. We, as educators and administrators, are not the parents, and though the education act says we are, we really aren’t, and so it is time to start to rethink what the word consequence means.

When I have these types of conversations, I come back to the word discipline. When the root word is disciple, which is to teach. The whole purpose is to have the behaviour not to happen again. So, how do we start rethinking consequences.

The first step is to have open and clear communication. As an admin, this means communication to staff, students, and parents. Constantly talking about expectations, being on the same page, and being vigilant means that the students in our presence start to learn those expectations.

The next component is modeling behaviour. As adults and I am so guilty of this, i forget that my own frustrations and behaviour affect those around me. How I handle stress or situations is how my young students will learn and model conflict. We also have to remember that the students we serve are still just that students. Even those in high school and thus do need to be taught and retaught how to behave. Looking at current brain research shows that young brains dont fully form until 25, and the ways in which we help them handle situations will form how they deal with conflict as adults. Basically, how we are teaching students will be their road map for the rest of their lives (no pressure 😀). But in all seriousness, it does put some thoughts into the world.

The next step is communication and “consequences.” I am a firm believer in progressive discipline. I grew up with being spanked and grounded and had strict punishments to my mistakes, but I also grew up with a mother who explained many things to me. And though I had the harsher punishments, I often still made the same mistake. It wasn’t until natural consequences happened that I learned. And so I now turn to this thinking. For me, having parents on board is my first step to communication and consequences. In most situations, just talking to parents and explaining the situation is enough to stop the behaviour. Where it is not, then we have other conversations with parents about the next steps. Notice that in all of these parents are at the centre. Whether this is teacher conversations or me as an admin, I always need to have parents involved in the discussions. Often, these next consequences included losing privileges (e.g., school activities, missing outdoor lunch, or in person conversations with caregivers).

Love to hear your thoughts.

Humility

This word has been on my mind for quite some time. Over the course of the year, I know my Principal has constantly reminded me that leadership requires humility but what does that look like.

What do I mean by being humble? Being humble is first recognizing that you as a person are not everything. Humble is about staying curious, when others speak, never putting yourself at the center of the discussion or the problem, and always being ready to say sorry if something goes amiss.

I am fortunate to have an amazing mentor. As I watch her daily I notice how she interacts with the educators in the building, the parents, and the students. In every conversation, she could easily assert her positional authority but instead, she always has time for people, she sits with curiosity and though she knows where the conversation is going she asks questions and often rephrases remarks in order to stay connected to the conversations. She is a master of defusing egos, emotions, and really anything that comes her way; which is always helpful in a middle school. Where I sometimes get frustrated at where the conversations are or what is happening, she can always stay come and centre the person’s feelings. She often reminds me to stay humble and understanding as I talk to others. But being Humble is really this. You cannot form any trusting relationship where you don’t ask questions and make the other person feel special. If you don’t allow the time for connection then the relationship is doomed to fail. So the first move of any Administrator is being curious about the space, the people, and the subject matter that is around you. Unless what you are seeing is harmful to those in your environment, you have time to invite people into conversations and listen to what is happening around you.

This goes to the next part of being humble. Never centring yourself in the conversation. This I do find hard at times; often because one’s own feelings can get in the way. As an Admin part of your job is navigating everyone’s feelings and problems. In fact, it is one of the many reasons the job can be hard. Allowing a person to vent, discuss or even talk to you, means that you must be present with them and not stray towards personal anecdotal or your own emotions. Allowing the space for others to express their thoughts, helps build the trust between you and the person talking. Being humble in conversations also means that you may not have all the answers. In fact, you probably don’t but that is okay because in most cases you don’t need to react right away and you do have time to find the answers, if needed. Though as I write this I am often reminded of a phrase that my wife says to me, ” Often Jon, I don’t want you to solve the problem, I just need you to be present with me and allow me to feel.” Being humble and recognizing that others’ feelings are vital to any conversation.

The final component is recognizing when you are wrong and the willingness to apologize. Often when I observe my mentor she isn’t in the wrong but is always willing to say Sorry. This often diffuses the situation and allows for more questions and conversations. But if you are not willing to recognize that there was any wrong or potential wrongdoing in your actions then you are once again doomed before you start. We are not experts and just because you were given positional authority doesn’t mean you have all the answers or will be faultless in decision-making. Recognizing one’s own faults or problems is an asset and keeps you humble in your practice.

I am by far no expert but the more I think about successful leadership the more I keep thinking about being humble. As an Admin, or any leadership role for that matter, it is very easy to get wrapped up in the positional power and responsibilities that you have been entrusted with but staying humble allows you to ground yourself in the humanity around you. It makes you reflective, it makes you realize that you are nothing without the people around you. More importantly, it helps you continue to build relationships which will only strength the culture and climate that you are leading in.

I would love to hear your thoughts on humility and leadership.

Power

For a bit now I have been thinking about the similarities between being a teacher and being an Administrator. I know for some there is such a disconnect but to be fair and honest, there really isn’t. In my most recent reflections, I have been thinking about Power and more importantly how I wield it and how I share it.

We all have some kind of power in our lives, depending on the circle in which we situate ourselves. In some circles, we have more and in others, we have less. For myself, I recognize that in the majority, if not all, of my circles I will always hold the power. So this continually makes me think about how it is wielded, how it is perceived, and more importantly, how it is used.

When I was a classroom teacher, I had power and even though I often shared my power I still held it in the classroom. This is innate in the ways in which the system is built. I was the one to give grades, I was the adult in the room and just the sheer idea of educator and student gives any teacher power. But I always tried to reflect on the ways in which I shared my authority and also ways in which to make students feel part of the process and decision-making. For example, going gradeless and feedback-based assessment allowed me to have students part of the learning processes. It gave them control in sharing opinions and ideas in order to help them through one of the most powerful processes a teacher has, report cards. I also tried to ensure students had a choice in how they would like to be assessed or even in the projects they wanted to do. Students created maps of the classroom and often designed how it was to look. There was free seating choice and one of the best things I did was allow free dialogue about how I was teaching and also how events unfolded in the classroom; through our community circles. But now I am an administrator.

So now I continue to reflect: How am I sharing authority and power? Who has the power in my school? How is it being wielded?

I know as an administrator I have even more positional authority then I had as a teacher. I also know that when I was a teacher, I have come across many admins that misused this power and would often lord it over teachers; this was never a great environment to work in. So the question is always around me: What is Power? Who has it? Who is wielding it? How is it being used?

Now ultimately, though I am the one reflecting it isn’t really me who can answer if the use of my power is shared but I can talk about what I am doing to help understand where it stands. The first is allowing voices in the schools to be heard. This is both teachers, students and parents. There are many different ways but one is that we have an open door policy at the school. Teachers, Students and Parents can come by or phone in at any time to talk to us. As an Admin team we have also sent out surveys to ask about the school and also to ask for feedback. We then action or at the very least communicate the feedback to various groups so that it isn’t just asking and never actioning. We also have various committees to also help with advice and direction of the learning at the school.

Another move that I have tried to do is ensure that I am not the only one making a decision. This has been one of the hardest things to remember. Sometimes as a teacher we are so use to just making split second decisons for the classroom but now I need to remember to slow down, reflect, evaluate and gather all the information to make the best decison possible. Part of that is seeking the advice of those around me. This includes everyone in the building. Ensuring that all are involved allows me to help share power and authority.

I am still fairly new at being an admin so would love to hear anything else others have to offer. I know for myself I am always questioning the power that I have and how it is percieved. I try to stay humble with it and remember that my first role as an admin is to serve and to serve you must stay humble and reflective.

Building a Classroom Community

In my Math Part One Class that I teach at OISE, we have been having a great conversation about climate and classroom community. As teachers, we all have our own ways, and we all build these communities, but there are many similarities to the ones that see as great. Just thought I would share some of the ones that I thought have been key components of the community.

Collaborators: I know this seems like an obvious one to be thinking about, but it often isn’t one that I see too often. Now I also know during this time with COVID it is harder to have collaboration as we can’t be less than 6 feet away from each other but collaboration is a key component of a healthy and vibrant classroom. For me, it fosters idea sharing, willingness to listen, risk-taking, and friendships. I often start my year off with a collaboration task like building/ designing our classroom and solving puzzles to get into the classroom or community circles.

Risk Takers:

For me, this was and still is one of the number one things that I think about when building a classroom community. Kids need to know that what they are doing is going to be hard, and that is okay. How do I try something new and still know that failing is fine? Or how do I do something new and be okay not doing what everyone else is doing? Students need opportunities to take risks and be outside of their comfort zone, but they also need opportunities to talk about these frustrations and know they are not alone. Talking about taking risks and feelings will also help students communicate and learn how to take risks safely and comfortably, but risk-taking is essential to learning.

Accountability:

This component seems to be a regular component of the classrooms that I visit. The ones that have their students accountable to themselves for the learning and accountable to the classroom community.

What pieces do you think need to be added?

Fueling Change

It has been a huge learning curve as I enter a new phase of my professional life but it has also been some of the most rewarding.

Lately I have been pondering how do we sustain and fuel change. As a classroom teacher/leader I have always been thinking of this but it has always been through the lens of iniatives or even just conversations. I knew that change from a teacher stand point was through keeping my practise consistent and showing others through my work. Now that I don’t have a classroom I have been left pondering what do I do now?

My current Principal has been amazing and she made a statement that has left me thinking.

Fueling change is much like building a fire. You start it but in order to sustain it, you must keep fueling it, stoking it and even breathing life into it or it will fade and loose power.

As a leader now I have to think about what does fueling look like? What does true sustainability mean? How does one continue to breathe life into the work you do?

As I sit with this thought a couple of things comtinue to make me reflect.and think. One is once again my relationships I have with my staff. Do I continue to create spaces that my staff feel welcome to challenge, talk, collaborate and share with me as a leader. Do I also create spaces that they feel like they can collaborate, challenge, share and lead in the school? All of this in my opinion is vital to a healthly and sustainable culture. I also know that some of my staff read my work so hopefully they know these are not empty ponderings.

I also think about the type of conversations I am having. Does my talk model the walk I want? Am I consistent with my messaging. Now this is something I am very conscience of as I know at times I often will waiver. I need to remember to keep consistent the messaging I am communicating and if change is needed then consultation needs to happen.

The final thing I have been thinking about is the support I give. I was talking with Rolland Chidiac and Chris Cluff and they reminded me of support and that not all leadership or sustainability should look the same. I am reminded like my classroom, my school will need different voices and different supports and though it may not show leadership like the board may want all teachers are and can be leaders, so what am I doing to create those opportunities. Do I listen to the needs of my staff or do I continue to barge in and solve the matter or give what I think is needed versus what is being asked of me?

I also think that a missing piece is that like a fire, sustainability may wan but if fueled right or with the right encouragement the fire can easily be roaring properly. Build a solid foundation and supports and feed the process then sustainability can be found.

I am still reflecting on this but I would love to hear what other have to think and say on this topic. How do you fuel/sustain change?

Fueling Change

It has been a huge learning curve as I enter a new phase of my professional life, but it has also been some of the most rewarding.

Lately, I have been pondering how we sustain and fuel change. As a classroom teacher/leader, I have always been thinking of this, but it has always been through the lens of initiatives or even just conversations. I knew that change from a teacher standpoint was through keeping my practice consistent and showing others through my work. Now that I don’t have a classroom, I have been left pondering. What do I do now?

My current principal has been amazing, and she made a statement that has left me thinking.

Fueling change is much like building a fire. You start it, but in order to sustain it, you must keep fueling it, stoking it, and even breathing life into it, or it will fade and lose power.

As a leader, now I have to think about what does fueling looks like? What does true sustainability mean? How does one continue to breathe life into the work you do?

As I sit with this thought, a couple of things continue to make me reflect and think. One is once again the relationships I have with my staff. Do I continue to create spaces that my staff feel welcome to challenge, talk, collaborate, and share with me as a leader. Do I also create spaces that they feel like they can collaborate, challenge, share, and lead in the school? All of this, in my opinion, is vital to a healthly and sustainable culture. I also know that some of my staff read my work, so hopefully, they know these are not empty ponderings.

I also think about the type of conversations I am having. Does my talk model the walk I want? Am I consistent with my messaging. Now this is something I am very conscience of as I know at times I often will waiver. I need to remember to keep consistent the messaging I am communicating and if change is needed then consultation needs to happen.

The final thing I have been thinking about is the support I give. I was talking with Rolland Chidiac and Chris Cluff, and they reminded me of support and that not all leadership or sustainability should look the same. I am reminded like my classroom, my school will need different voices and different supports and though it may not show leadership like the board may want all teachers are and can be leaders, so what am I doing to create those opportunities. Do I listen to the needs of my staff, or do I continue to barge in and solve the matter or give what I think is needed versus what is being asked of me?

I also think that a missing piece is that like a fire, sustainability may wain, but if fueled right or with the right encouragement, the fire can easily be roaring properly. Build a solid foundation and support and feed the process, and then sustainability can be found.

I am still reflecting on this, but I would love to hear what others have to think and say on this topic. How do you fuel/sustain change?

Why?

As many of know, my daughter has a learning disability.  Now this in itself is not anything special or alert nor really is this what I want to draw your attention too. I mean a lot of kids have learning disabilities and many students struggle in school for various reasons. However, what I am more concerned about is how much, as a parent, I have to fight for what my daughter needs in the classroom. The funny part is that I am not alone in this battle. almost every parent I talk to that has children in a school system comment on the difficulties that they have with teachers following IEPs or even accommodating students with various learning styles. As a parent I am frustrated but as an educator, I ask myself why is this?

Since Izzy (my daughter) has been in school I have really begun to question the role that our education plays for children. What is its purpose? What does it do? Why is it here? Most importantly I wonder why we continue to teach the way we have always taught, just because that is the way we were taught.

I feel like this is what happens with our students with special needs. Not all the time and not with every teacher but it seems like more often than not we continue to teach these particular students like every other student.

Differentiating for our students is just one of those things that makes me wonder and ponder. In today’s world, we know a lot more about the ways we learn and how we learn. We know that everyone is different and more importantly, we know that the world needs these different skills and to be honest they need these skills more now than ever before. So why is it that we continue to teach each child the exact same way?

I know that teaching is hard. Balancing all the learning styles, behaviours and curriculum can be and is overwhelming but the problem is our student’s don’t all learn the same way.

As an educator, I realize that the world looks completely different than when I grew up.  My perfect dream is that each child learns what they want and how they want. I want them to question, inquire and have fun learning. Basically, each child is on their own Individual Education Plan (IEP). None the less we often create IEPs to centre our own practise instead of the learning style, needs and strategies to help our children close the Gaps.

The IEPs that we write need to focus on our students specific learning needs and specific strategies that will help them understand what to do next. For example, thinking mathematics, if a child isnt at grade 5 level we need to think about the why and also the big ideas. The specifics shouldnt be a grade 3 expectation but what we are going to build on for that child to move forward. So that might be, building fact fluency though learning doubles, fives and tens or it maybe learning how repeated addition is connected to multiplication. Thinking about language it should focus on the lagging skills instead of a generic expectation.

Now I know the program in which we write has drop down menus but these can be changed and should be changed. Our students and parents deserve a working document that is fluid and built on child strengths and specific next steps.

This wont happen over night but as you think about next year, question how you will a) know your students and b) be able to think of specific strategies to allow our students to succeed the best way they can.

What do your students see?

I have been contemplating the idea of mathematical Indentities lately and more importantly how do our students see or percieve themselves as mathematicians. I was passing a construction site around our house and it reminded me more about how students see themselves in a math class. Now this particular site just had a chainlink fench up and my kids could see everything. They asked about which digger did what? What that person was doing? And what was this here or there? There was so many questions (as 4 and 7 year olds tend to have) but then I thought about some of the other construction sites that I have seen before with full up fenced in areas or some with just small windows where kids and adults have to peer in.

This got me thinking about the classroom. Do our students have opportunities to see the full construction, from the foundation and up or do we put up complete barriers or small windows into the process. Unfortunately we know that data shows that certain students have full barriers and many only see the small windows into the process. And though we may think as educators we provide a barrier and bias free classroom, it unfortunately isn’t. However, I do believe that there are things we can do.

The first: start with self reflection and personal learning. There is so much power wrapped up in our identities as teachers. We have influence over many things in our classroom and we are clearly not bias free. So sit back and just look at yoir practise through a lens of your students.

Bring culturally relevant, responsive and sustaining pedagogy into our classroom is a must. Students have to be seen and heard in our classrooms. Question the ways in which you groups students, question who talks the most, question if you allow space for students to bring in relevant news and topics for discussion, question who is centred in the curriculum you teach; basically question everything and think who does this serve and why.

Finally, as math classes go, who does the thinking in the classroom? If we are thinking about what do our students see? Do they see themselves as thinkers or is it you as the educator doing the thinking. Do students have opportunities to talk, make conjectures and/or debate mathematics? Do they have the opportunity to bring in other ways of knowing and doing mathematics? All of these questions are important to think about when asking ourselves what do our students see.

The classroom as we know it cannot continue to centre us as teachers. Students need to know they belong and that they are part of the space they occupy. Just as my kids looked through a partial space in a construction fence so do many of our students. Lets open up that space and allow them to fully inquire and build the spaces they occupy together with us.

Relationships

I have been listening to Dr. Sheldon Akins podcast leading Equity for the better part of a year now and if you haven’t listened I highly recommend that you do. As I listen I am constantly hearing about relationships and if you have been reading my blog posts you know that relationships have been a key message for me but I really want to sit back for a minute and think about the word and how we form them.

The reason for this is that I know when you speak to many teachers relationships are a must and many of us would say this is my strength. To be honest I always felt that this was for me too but the longer I teach and the more my own kids go to school the more I question what relationships mean and how are they formed.

For many of us, we know that it is essential but I speak for myself here, at times my relationship building has been performative at best. I would spend time saying hi or doing warm-up activities but did I truly invest in meaningful discussion with students or care about them the same way I do my own kids. Now, maybe this is me being hard on myself but I do know that when my own kids come back from school on the first day of school they already have made assumptions about their teachers and for better or worse that becomes their lived realities.

So what can we do as educators to build relationships? I think the first step is to realize that relationships don’t just happen on the first day or even the first week. They take time and they take effort to sustain. relationships will also ebb and flow. There will be ups and downs and during those down moments, it is important to realize how you can repair and sustain the healthy parts you created. And during the ups is when you start to bank all the great relationship moments for when the downs come. The second part to remember is that we all build relationships in our own way. How I interact with students is going to be completely different than yours and that is okay but for me, the most important way is to remember that you are working towards a relationship/connection and not just something you do because your Admin has said we need to build relationships.

True relationships are critical for a healthy classroom. When behaviours occur it is often because of a breakdown in relationships or communication. But it is relationships that will bring everything back to reality. Without them, you cannot talk to students sustainably, and often resort to compliance and control. So as we are in full swing mode of school, I would encourage you to reflect on how you are building and sustaining relationships with your students, your peers and the whole school community. Is it just a performative job action or is there meaning and intent behind what you are doing? If you also have any great ways you love to build relationships pop that in the comments too, I am sure the community here would love to have some ideas.

My New Journey but same story

I know I seem to start off every post with I haven’t been writing much but to be fair it has been a whirlwind of a year for many of us. I started my school year as a Math resource teacher but it quickly evolved into a journey of becoming an administrator and for the last 2 months I have had the privledge of being a VP at a middle school in Peel.

Now those that have known me for some time may laugh because I think I have said numerous times I would never become an administrator. I just didn’t see myself in that role. Sure I saw myself as a leader and an influencer but not as an administrator. I always said that was for someone else and I never saw my personality fitting.

We often talk about windows and mirrors for our students but we also need windows and mirrors for ourselves and though I saw some representation ethnicity wise, I didn’t see me and who I was in those roles and so I never thought I would fit in.

It wasn’t until I was in the resource role that I realized how much impact an admin had on a school climate and culture. Yes it was one school but that one school has the ability to affect many students and teachers. I was able to notice how change can be constructed and how change can be implemented. It was this that started me thinking more of being in this role.

My journey as a teacher has been well documented throughout this blog but now that I start my newest adventure I cannot help but see how really it is a continuation of my teaching. The more I taught the more I learned that relationships were the foundation of any practise and any lesson. Building community and setting the tone began with me first knowing who I taught and more importantly who everyone is/are in the classroom. This still holds true to being an admin.

I was recently asked to do an acting role for the last 2 months of school. I will not lie and say it hasn’t been challenging but the fundalmental thing that has kept me alive is the relationships that I have formed. As an Admin you often see the worst of staff and students. You often get called to talk to students who are struggling to comply and teachers often only talk to you when they themselves are struggling or cannot handle a situation. All of this seems logical especially if you set up a system that honours the professionalism of your staff. Even in the hardest moments I have had to harness my own self reg and remember to listen and have compassion in every situation. I am constantly reminded about Izzy and the learning that I have done with her. I am constantly reminded that if progress is to be made it is with the heart first and then the mind. Did this always work? No but over time it is the relationships that have made progress forward not me just telling things. More importantly when I make mistakes it is my relationships that allow me to recover. This goes for students and staff. Failing is only natural but if I didnt spend the time building relationships asking for forgiveness is a lot harder.

This post may not be as coherent as I would like but I felt I needed to process some of the newness I experienced these last two months. I have been asked, “you sure this is what you want?” And quite frankly, yes. When I see/hear students tell me I am making a difference I know it is based on relationships and I also know this is why being an Admin is special. I may not always see the successes everyday but I do feel the impact when listening to students. Is there always things to improve, yes but I do feel that because I have been learning and reflecting on relationships, listening and self reg I have a great start to leadership.

My place is to serve and those I serve are in my building and the staff who teach them. My journey so far has me reflecting on how I am listening, how I actioning andhow am I uplifting the voices in the building. All of which were important as a teacher but now have huge impact on school climate.