I Am So Tired Of 'Nice'

I've heard it for years and years and years and years.

People use it like it's some magical quality that other people have and it makes them untouchable. Like they get a free pass from having to actually be relevant and push their organization forward. In my experience and opinion it's purely used as an excuse to protect people, to shield them from the work they should be engaging in, from the people who they are actually here to serve - THE KIDS!

I am so tired of nice.

If you work in education, you work with kids, which means you work for kids - and you should be nice. Nice is a prerequisite for the job. Whatever your role is in education you have a predetermined responsibility to act in such a way that's respectful, approachable, collegial and of course nice.

Just the other day I was talking with a former colleague about someone that we both use to work with. That person has retired within the past couple of years and I was inquiring about the new person. My former colleague said the new person is smart, innovative, super approachable and great to work with.

I made a comment about the other person who had retired, and that it was good to hear that someone was now in the job that was actually moving the organization forward with new ideas that were relevant.

And then it happened.

"Well.....they were really nice though."

They just described the new person as being smart and relevant, and then came the excuse for the old person. Why we do make excuses?

Why do we allow people to get away with not knowing, not moving, not pushing, not thinking, not doing what's best for the students that we serve. Why is it that being 'nice' can completely supercede actually being competent in your job?

They don't integrate technology into their classroom at all. But they're nice.

They don't bring any new ideas to the team or organization. But they're nice.

They clearly aren't qualified for the job. But they're nice.

They lead in fear and are always on the defensive. But they're nice.

They don't collaborate with others, attend conferences or have they developed a worldwide PLN on social media. But they're nice.

There is a profound amount of evidence that they or their department should be doing something else that is better for kids and teachers. But they're nice.

I am so tired of nice.

We have to hold people accountable for their lack of action with their jobs. These same people hold their students accountable for their behavior or lack of educational output in the classroom, yet they're not relevant themselves.

Please put kids first. Put your organization first. Recruit and hire the best people for your organization, and don't make the 'nice' excuse for those who aren't doing what's best for kids.

More - My #OneWord for 2018

Suffer. 

That was my #OneWord for 2017. I can remember the comments after publishing my blog post last December and making it public. 

“Interesting word Adam.”

“I’m ‘excited’ to follow your progress”

‘Hmmmmm, let’s see how this turns out”

It turned out great. Everyone should suffer on some level on a regular basis, let me tell you why.

My experience in 2017 and the suffering I wanted to endure and experience and share publicly has led me directly to my word for 2018 with new goals attached. The experiences I went through. The people I met. The thoughts I had in my brain. The highs and lows. It’s led me to a very profound realization.

I have more. You have more. We all have more. It’s inside of us, but it’s completely up to you if you’re going to go find it.

More energy. More pain. More smiles. More patience. More laughter. More races. More time for family. More time for me. One more step. One more committment. One more connection. One more minute reading. One more teacher to connect with. One more run to go on. More more more more more.

I have more - because I don’t know what tomorrow looks like. The capitalization of every single second has me fixated on my life and maximizing the potential that’s currently being stored in my body. For my family. For friends. For colleagues. For whoever has the tenacity, grit and desire to capture it and realize it’s fruition. It is up to you.

In 2017 when I thought I was done, I realized there was more inside me. When I was tired, exhausted, had sore muscles and wanted to sleep - I found more energy to expend. 

When I didn’t want to wake up day in and day out at 4am to train for another race, I developed the discipline to make it happen. 

When I was making dinner, doing laundry or cleaning the house and one of my kids wanted to play - I found a way to do them both,

When there were fires nearby and the air was filled with smoke, we put on masks and got our miles in anyway. We had more.

When I was busy at work, at home and with training. I found the time to fly across the country and surprise a friend with a visit to her school. I had more.

When I didn’t think there was time to write another book, send another sticker, collaborate with others from around the country or just simply do one more thing - I did. I had more.

2017 was the year of my marathon project. One marathon a month for the entire year, with December being a double back to back marathon that was an amazing experience. And a 24 hour race on New Years Eve. (happening in two days) If I can do more, you can do more too.

I challenge you in 2018 to do more. Find more to do. Focus more on a passion or challenge you’ve been avoiding. Do more in your personal life and less in your professional. Push yourself to new levels you’ve never achieved or even thought were possible. 

If you don’t try to do more, there’s no way you ever will. 

What’s your plan?

I’ll be doing more this year!

Go. Do. More. 

I Am So Tired Of No

No. You can't talk in the computer lab while you're working on your research project.

No. We've never done it that way before so you can't - stop asking.

No. It's a science fair, you can't build an iOS app instead.

No. The assignment was due yesterday so you can't turn it in today

No. You can't code right now, we're doing this math worksheet website.

No. You can't take your class outside for that lesson, it needs to happen in the classroom.

No. You can't change the art project, this is how it's supposed to look. 

No. We can't keep the Chromebooks on your desk during the day, they need to stay in the locker when they're not being used.

No. Technology is only used during 'tech' time, we're doing social studies right now.

I. Am. So. Tired. Of. No.

As educators we need to be in the yes business, and not just with our students, with our teachers too!

Of course you can code the Sphero during math time, it's a great way to learn angles.

Why is everyone so quiet, you know I like conversation in class which tells me you're learning from each other.

This is the basic template for our project today and I really want you all to add your own flavor as you work.

When you're done reading that chapter go design and print something on the 3D printer, that would be awesome!

I love that idea, moving all of your desks outside for the day and having a robot challenge with your class sounds amazing!

You want to switch classes today with your partner teacher to get a different perspective from their class, go for it!

Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes - of course Kindergarten students can do all of those things, let me know how it goes!

How many dreams are crushed when educators say no? 

How many missed opportunities cruise on by when we say no.

How many students stop thinking, tinkering, wondering, planning, collaborating, scheming, dreaming - when we say no. 

How many teachers feel deflated when their Principal says they can't, won't, shouldn't, that would be too noisy, that's not part of the plan, way to big of a mess, uhhhhhh no.

What does it matter to you? What are you afraid of? Why are you so fixated on no. Why is that the default response? 

Education today is almost completely different from the experience we had as kids, yet I see so many educators following down the same path with their current students/teachers and we live in a completely different world. 

Who cares if kids talk while they're in the computer lab, it's called conversation. 

Why can't kids go ahead during a lesson, why do they have to wait for you or the entire class. Code.org is the best example of differentiation. The teacher doesn't need to know how to code for their students to learn, and the entire class can be on a different level, it should be like that for everything!

Why can't kids keep their Chromebook on their desk during the day, it's the most important tool in the classroom and the more visible it is the more they're going to use it. My wife and I got a crockpot for our wedding and we used in once in five years. It was kept in a cupboard and I always forgot it was there. So I put it on the counter in our kitchen last winter and we used it fifteen times! The more visible the tools are the more possibility they're going to be used by kids.

Why do you tell kids 'shhhhhh' when they're walking in line, they have the right to talk with each other. The more you tell them to be quiet the more stress and management you need to deal with, it's easier if you let them talk. Why also do we make kids walk in straight lines, can we just have them 'move' to their next location as a group, try it and see what happens, it's a much more natural way to travel.

There are way too many things that happen in schools and they don't happen anywhere else in the world. You have a creative idea at work that will save your company money or make them a lot of money - the answer is yes. You have an idea that is 'outside the box' - kids are told no because it wasn't the teachers idea or it's perceived to be more or too much work, or we just don't do it that way, or that's not how we do it. That needs to change. When we say yes, we're making the attempt to connect and differentiate for all of our students, not trying to make all of our students the same and just one way.

No more no - educators need to be in the yes business. Tell kids yes and see what happens. Give them a longer leash. Give them a chance. Believe in their ideas, even though it wasn't yours. Our kids and teachers deserve it!

District Leaders Should Get Out of Their Office!

The post below was published on EdWeek the week of March 17th.

A few questions for district leaders... 

1. How many hours per week do you spend at school sites?

2. How many of those hours do you spend in classrooms when you visit school sites?

3. How many teachers do you know by name?

4. How many teachers know your name?

5. How many kids know your name?

Even at the district office, our students should know our names...

In July 2016, I've moved to the district office level and no longer work at a school as a principal. To make matters more complicated I work in a completely new district - most adults didn't know who I was, and certainly none of the students knew me. I've always believed that relationships come first, before solid relationships the work with curriculum, classroom design, thoughtful integration of technology and anything else really can't happen with fidelity.

Our students are our business...our bottom line...our revenue stream - they're the reason we work in education and just because we work in the central office doesn't mean we shouldn't know any of them, or any of them know us. We should break the myth that the central office is the ivory tower.

A couple of months into the job I was walking around one of our schools with another director who is a colleague. Classes were coming back from recess and headed to class. Out of nowhere a bunch of students start calling my name - "Adam - Adam - Adam!" Running towards me they all start talking super fast asking how I was, telling me about the robots they've been coding in class and it's been so much fun!

We leave with high-fives as they head back to class.

The question from my colleague was "Uh, how do those kids know you?"

In a district of more than 50 schools and over 30,000 kids, it was a surprise to my colleague that a group of students would know my name. However, the answer to me was so obvious. I don't build relationships out of my office, I do it by going into schools.  Actually,  I spend on average about three hours each week in my office. 

How? 

We have a team that includes two Teachers on Special Assignment and our awesome secretary. Even though I see them very little, we talk every day, throughout the day on numerous different communication channels which really enables us to work as a really strong team!

Those students who stopped to talk with me?

A few weeks ago I connected with their teacher and showed the class how to create accounts on Code.org and let them borrow my Sphero after we did a demo lesson with the entire class. A week later I went back and worked with small groups on the Sphero. They were so engaged with Sphero we worked together and wrote a Donors Choose grant so they could get their own.

In a large district the only way to scale the work we're trying to achieve is to build capacity and forge strong relationships. That capacity and those relationships cannot be forged from a district or central office. Boots on the ground, in the trenches and with the people is in my opinion the only way to scale in a deep and meaningful way.

Even if you work in a district of just a few schools, you're probably stretched more than most, wearing numerous hats across multiple departments - you still must build capacity and forge strong relationships. As district leaders, we should reinvent or at least re-define the district office level position so we can more thoughtfully integrate ourselves into the schools that we support. 

The following is how we can do it:

• Empower the people on my team to make decisions without including me first - have trust and you'll build capacity.
• We use Voxer all day long to stay updated on what the entire team is working on a learning. I can hear a message from them about a new project at a different school and then keep that information in my memory bank for potential use later on.
• Set up a Google Voice number. Any call to my office phone, automatically goes to my mobile phone and I also get an email and text transcription of the message simultaneously. I don't need to be at my desk to get my phone calls, they come to me wherever I am. And it's free.
• We share all information on Google Documents with my team.
• Talk out loud.  I've found the more that I talk out loud about what's on my mind, what I'm planning, or just ideas that are percolating - the entire organization benefits. People around you hear what's being said, they process and often times can offer a better idea and solution that wouldn't have come to fruition if I kept things to myself. Talk about the project you're working on, who knows what piece of information will benefit the organization. Blast what's on your mind, don't hoard that information for yourself.
• Make your office as boring as possible and put nothing there that you need to do your job. My office is virtual, I'm busy connecting with teachers and students and can access nearly everything I need from my iPhone. Set up your systems so anything can be accessed from the cloud.
• I don't get many emails because I don't send many emails. Email can takeover so much valuable productivity time. Don't initiate an email correspondence and you won't have to answer many. Call people, text, Voxer or show up in person.
• Don't just teach people - show them how to learn. It's very hard to build capacity with people if you make them wait for you to teach them something new. 

Your ChallengeThink about the schools you support. How often do you visit them? How many teachers do you know by name and how many know yours. And most importantly how many kids have you impacted in a thoughtful way so the next time they see you - they know your name!

If you're spending more time putting out fires, responding to emails, being tied to your desk with operational issues - it's time for a reboot. Reverse engineer your day and spend 95% of it at schools sites. Start this immediately, if you force yourself to make this change with a strong commitment, all you can do is improve. From there, figure out ways to stay connected to your office, your team and everything else that you need access to in order to do your job.

Please make a commitment - our schools will be stronger, relationships will be more developed, you'll build more capacity and I guarantee more students will know your name! Go be awesome for kids, they deserve it! 

Monday Motivation - Give Kids What They Deserve

It was a blast being interview by Vicki Davis for her new podcast, you can listen below!

Just Start Doing #CUE17 #KidsDeserveIt #tlap

There's too much planning going on.

Too many meetings about the plan.

Way too many conversations about what the plan can look like.

Too much looking at other peoples plans.

Who's going to do what and when for the plan.

We don't have enough money for the plan.

Let's start with the plan next year.

Can someone start a Google Doc for the plan.

Let's make sure we 'go slow to go fast' - What does that even mean?

There's too much planning for the meeting you're going to have after this meeting is over - you don't need another meeting.

We need to push on the gas pedal and shift into a higher gear.

You don't need a plan. Throw kids the keys to the car and let them drive.

Just. Start. Doing. 

Do you think Gandhi had a super well thought out plan when he decided to take on the British government? I highly doubt it.

Two guys started Instagram in the Mission District of San Francisco and sold it to Facebook eighteen months later for $1,000,000,000 - do you think they had a detailed plan for their photo app. Probably not.

When I was a Principal it seemed like a great idea to start a coding club on campus, here's what I did within an hour of having my idea.

I created a super simple Google Form (Name, teacher, why do you want to learn how to code)

Any student who submitted a response was invited to my coding club. I turned on the computers in our lab and we worked together as a group to help each other learn how to code. I didn't teach the kids how to code, I facilitated the learning process for them.

I didn't have the idea and then form a committee to talk further about 'next steps.' The club started two days after I had the original idea. Forget the plan, just start doing.

The before school coding club turned into Genius Hour in our upper grade classrooms, that turned into an App Development class co-facilitated by myself and a parent at school, which turned into our entire school going 1:1 with devices - this was five years ago.

When you have a 'just start' doing mentality, awesome ideas grow exponentially and spread like a wildfire on your campus.

We also decided our school needed a 3D printer. The day it arrived I called one of our 5th grade classrooms and asked the teacher to send up two students.

Me - "Ok, this 3D printer just arrived and I want you two to set it up. Here's the box, the company has a YouTube channel, let me know when it's ready to print."

Thirty minutes later my walkie talkie started chirping.....it was done.

Just start doing!

For years I've seen school leaders and district leaders order 'stuff' and have it sit in a closet until the staff was 'comfortable' and you guessed it - a meeting to plan how it would be used. Stop wasting so much time, stop overthinking it all, get over the fact that you don't know everything and that your school doesn't need you too, have the kids start doing.

If you want to start a Makerspace on your campus, grab some kids, cardboard, send an email to your community asking for old legos they don't want anymore - and start your Makerspace. It will take off from there, don't overthink it.

Don't fear the failure and loss - embrace what you'll learn and discover next time you try again - try again, try again, try again!

If kids aren't a part of this process, they need to be - this starts tomorrow!

Stop talking. Stop planning. Start doing. and Don't. Give. Up.

I believe in you. I know you can do it. I know you will be successful. I know you will figure it out. I know you will create amazing experiences for kids!

My #OneWord2017 - Suffer

For all of my ten plus years of blogging, this is my first #OneWord post. After reading so many inspiring and reflective blogs from educator friends I decided it was time for mine. 

I've already set a pretty large goal for 2017, in which I'm going to run twelve marathons this coming year, one each month. Maybe you're already wondering how my #OneWord and running a marathon every month in 2017 has any relevancy in education at all, let me explain.

I really hesitate to just focus on my work and career, and having actually taken a few steps back from blogging, social media and other 'career' enhancing endeavors that were taking a toll on my family and other passions of mine. I'm fanatical about running, eating well and taking care of my body and that really defines how I live, more than my work in education.

This brings me to my #OneWord choice for 2017........ SUFFER. 

When I run 26.2 miles I suffer. I'm able to see inside my body and find ideas, solutions and capacity I would not have been able to access if it wasn't for the suffer. Suffering for me brings clarity. I've run nine marathons in my life so far and I'm constantly forced to hone in on minute details that are swirling around in my brain. All other noise is pushed out - because I'm running a long way and only that which really matters gets revealed.

 For me it's really a form of mediation, sifting out the clutter to reveal the nuggets of goodness that have risen to the surface for more attention.

I've had the taste of it, and I want to suffer more. I want to find more clarity. I want to bring out what's really most important in my body and mind, so I can analyze it even deeper and reach my full capacity. Hard work and dedication has really been at the core of my life for a long time, and it's time to ramp it up a few notches.

Suffering this year will strengthen my body for sure, but also my work as an educator and author. It's those moments at mile 17, mile 25, those 4am training runs - that it all becomes crystal clear. I'm optimistic my #OneWord and goal for 2017 will have a delightful relationship together as I run throughout the year.

Come run with me if you're looking to suffer a bit and find something you didn't know was inside you, it's going to hurt but benefits are so worth it.

Carlsbad Marathon - January 15th

Iron Horse Trail Marathon - February 11th

Los Angeles Marathon - March 19th

San Luis Obispo Marathon - April 30th

Surfer’s Path Marathon - May 21st

Rock-n-Roll Marathon (Seattle) - June 18th

San Francisco Marathon - July 23rd

Santa Rosa Marathon - August 27th (At mile ten you run through a winery tasting room!)

Night Sweats Marathon - September - 9th (Night Marathon starting at 8pm, on trails in Marin Headlands!)

Lake Tahoe Marathon - October 15th (Lake Tahoe - amazing!)

November - TBD (Any suggestions?!)

California International Marathon - December 3rd