Project EIC Handout for Denton ISD School Board Meeting 4.17.12

“Project EIC”

Why do you do what you do?
Why are you a board member?

At the beginning of the school year, the
Denton ISD Educational Improvement
Committee set out to reinvent the EIC.
At the beginning of the school year, the Denton ISD Educational Improvement
Committee set out to reinvent the EIC.

www.facebook.com/cshadedentonisd 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2zqTYgcpfg

The goal of the EIC…
The goal of the EIC was the development of the District’s education goals. The
District’s planning process to improve student performance includes the
development of the District’s educational goals, the legal requirements for
the District and campus improvement plans, all pertinent federal planning
requirements, and administrative procedures. The Board shall approve the
process under which the educational goals are developed and shall ensure that
input is gathered from the District-level committee. BQ(LOCAL)

The EIC began by examining the Denton
ISD Board Goals. The EIC began by examining the Denton ISD Board Goals.


Then, each campus rep examined their campus Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) and matched
their campus WIGs to the Denton ISD Board Goals. Then, each campus rep examined their campus Wildly Important Goals (WIGs)
and matched their campus WIGs to the Denton ISD Board Goals. Afterwards,
the EIC reps identified trends, similar vocabulary, and common subject areas
that were identified across the district. See
http://www.dentonisd.org/51210829122928430/blank/browse.asp?A=383&B
MDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=111741.

4 areas “popped” out:
4 areas “popped” out: vision, climate, teaching and learning, and parent and
community involvement. However, there was 1 common thread: PLCs. See
http://www.dentonisd.org/51210829122928430/blank/browse.asp?A=383&B
MDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=111742.

Going back to the DuFours’ work on
PLCs in the book, Learning By Doing,
the EIC looked back at the basics of a
Going back to the DuFours’ work on PLCs in the book, Learning By Doing, the
PLC…
EIC looked back at the basics of a PLC…


Mission asks the question, “Why?”

Vision asks “What?”


Values attempt to clarify collective commitments.


Goals are what the organization hopes to achieve as a result of improvement
initiatives.

Then, the EIC reexamined the Denton ISD
Board Goals and found… Then, the EIC reexamined the Denton ISD Board Goals and found…


I read an excerpt from Igniting a Passion for Reading
that my wife, Tenille (YES, I.AM.THE.CAPTAIN!), a
4th grade Language Arts teacher at Pecan Creek ES,
I read an excerpt from Igniting a Passion for Reading that my wife, Tenille (YES,
shared with me…
I am the Captain!), a 4th grade Language Arts teacher at Pecan Creek ES, shared
with me…

From the book…


“I will never, ever, forget the difficulty I had in one of my schools at the annual
faculty meeting, during which the principal always announced to the teaching
staff the goals that had been set for us by the board of education for the
upcoming year. Good friends would harness me to my chair and duct-tape my
mouth shut at this yearly meeting for fear I would start a revolution and get
myself and multiple other people fired for insubordination. I’m sorry, but is
this not the most ridiculous thing you have ever heard? How motivated are
you to reach goals someone else is setting for you—and especially an entity
you do not even believe should exist? (But that’s for the book I’m still
threatening to write.) I never cared two hoots about their goals. I might have,
if I’d been a part of the process of crafting them, but I wasn’t. Apparently, my
input regarding the goals that my daily work would either achieve or fail to
achieve for our district was not viewed as a significant factor in their plan for
goal creation. Is it any wonder that so many of our schools are in such a mess?
One of my best friends and colleagues would regularly repeat this sentence in
our weekly team meeting: “The system is flawed.” I believe she may have
made a seriously important discovery.

I believe that goal setting can be tremendously motivating—when the people
setting the goals are the same people who will be working to make them
successful. We can use goal setting to build rapport with kids that will energize
and excite them—creating a kind of “catch the wave” mentality. I have found
that goal setting works if we set goals for ourselves right along with our
students, if we keep the goals visible and refer to them often, and if we show
the kids we really do care about how they’re progressing by talking with them
about their goals one-on-one.”

From Igniting a Passion for Reading: Successful Strategies for Building Lifetime
Readers by Steven L. Layne (Paperback - Nov 28, 2009)

What matters to you?
As in…what’s really important to you?


I began to think of my a school teacher’s perspective of goal setting, of a recent Facebook Fan
Page I built for my professional organization, of our students, of the future, and of…YOU. I began to think of my a school teacher’s perspective of goal setting, of a
recent Facebook Fan Page I built for my professional organization, of our
students, of the future, and of…YOU.


Then, I had an idea that I took to Dr. Braswell…
Then, I had an idea that I took to Dr. Braswell…

What if we had a “campaign”…
What if we had a “campaign”…

…and asked our stakeholders, beginning with our students, our students’
parents, our Denton ISD educators, our businesses, and our community
…and asked our stakeholders, beginning with our students, our students’
via social networking (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) and took online
polls; surveys; and specific, open-ended questions such as… parents, our Denton ISD educators, our businesses, and our community via
What is school for? What matters to you? Why are you here in Denton
ISD? Etc., etc., etc. social networking (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) and took online polls,
surveys, and specific, but open-ended questions such as… What is school for?
What matters to you? Why are you here in Denton ISD? Etc., etc., etc.


What if we kicked off the campaign with a video And what if we kicked off the campaign with a video…one where educators
where educators answered these same questions
answered these questions…

and put it out there on social networking sites, our
district webpage, TV, etc. to generate a buzz.

And put it out there on social networking sites, our district webpage, TV, etc.
to generate a buzz.
What is school for?

And told “our” story.


Something simple yet catchy, like the project Tenille and I did, called the 1
Word Project, which I shared with Savannah ES and Tenille created with her 4th
Note: The purpose of the next 2 videos is to graders…
demonstrate how a video might “look and feel”
to “market” this “campaign” to the masses.
Note: The purpose of the videos is to demonstrate how a video might look and
Focus on the format, not the content (although feel to “market” this “campaign” to the masses. Focus on the format, not the
this was a cool project)!
content (although this was a cool project)!

The idea is not to do a “1 Word Project”, but to tell a story set to music that
focuses on the people of Denton ISD telling “why they do what they do”
Note: The purpose of the next 2 videos is to (educators) or “what is important to them” (students, parents, community,
demonstrate how a video might “look and feel” businesses, educators)…
to “market” this “campaign” to the masses.

http://www.dentonisd.org/52552081283326403/site/default.asp


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ao5OFs3tH0&context=C4eb3ed9ADvjVQ
a1PpcFPmhKckkIHb2GGxzlcAhkAbM1W-ZjIFrB0=


Using traditional media for branding and communication does little to
encourage give-and-take between schools and the communities they serve.
While traditional media can deliver messages, receiving and responding to
feedback is almost impossible. This lack of responsiveness can make school
seem aloof and uncaring. Worse yet, traditional means for branding and
communication are inherently slow. By the time messages are crafted and
delivered, they are also outdated and unimportant. This lag in message
delivery runs contrary to the immediacy that defines communication in today’s
digital age.
Parents and teachers who have grown to expect open channels, instant
responses, and customized opportunities to participate—and who,
increasingly, will have grown up in social media spaces—will lose faith in
building that refuse to adapt. Instead of hiding from this new media ecology,
tomorrow’s best [leaders] will embrace transparency and portability that tools
like Twitter and Facebook enable, creating and managing multiple streams of
communication at once.

Sadly, parents and students often see schools as the same kinds of impersonal
places. Once easily recognizable neighborhood icons, principals are often too
busy to fully interact with their communities; high rates of transience in
teacher and student populations make it unlikely that parents will have long-
term relationships with faculty members; and standardized testing has created


a culture that turns students into nothing more than numbers. The result of
impersonality is a general sense of distrust between individuals and the
organizations that serve them. Breaking through distrust requires frequent,
open interactions between stakeholders—behaviors that social medial tools
enable and amplify.

Relationships between consumers and the businesses they support are
changing. New tools have enabled progressive companies to interact directly
and informally with customers in ways that were once impossible. They have
also enabled businesses to craft interesting and exciting messages that
entertain and capture attention. As a result, education’s stakeholders are
beginning to expect the same kinds of innovative messages from their schools.
The static communication patterns that we have come to rely on are seen as
standoffish and distant. Not only do these one-way messaging patters fall
short of the expectations of parents, students, younger staff members, and
community leaders, they are likely to be lost in the digital noise that our
communities are swimming in.
Being heard, then, requires bravery. We have to be willing to open ourselves
to criticism and to interact directly with important stakeholders in order to be
taken seriously. While doing so is definitely risky in a field as staid as
education, it carries tangible rewards in the form of stronger and more
meaningful relationships with the communities we serve.
The goodwill generated from two-way interactions in social media forums is
exponential, spreading beyond just the individuals you are interacting with.
That’s because in a social media world, each resolution is played out in front of
an audience. Every message has the potential to answer questions that others
haven’t asked. What’s more, every message is a tangible demonstration—a
mini-commercial, so to speak—of your commitment to service.

Branding, a term synonymous with marketing and business, is beginning to
find its niche in education. Brands promise value—essential for maintaining
support in difficult economic conditions—to specific audiences or stakeholder
groups. Brands are designed to stand out, to influence consumers, and to build
confidence in products. Sustaining a sense of trust is an integral component of
a brand’s ability to promise value. Successful brands open themselves up to
scrutiny, respond to criticism, and make every effort to own up to their
mistakes, and work to improve based on consumer feedback.
In education, schools are considered a brand, promising their communities the
academic preparation necessary to succeed. Many families choose to live in
townships with schools that have proven track records. Stakeholders become
convinced that their schools prepare students well and provide a quality return
on their investment of time, energy and resources. Schools can leverage this
brand presence for additional community investment in teacher quality,
curriculum, facilities, and professional development initiatives. The bottom
line is that schools actively building their brand are supported by their
communities, and that support translates into continued improvement and
success.

Developing positive relationships with important stakeholders in the new
digital space requires authenticity, bravery, and consistency. We worry about
parents and students using social media tools to complain about our decisions,
our programs, or our performance. More importantly, we worry about those

complaints being made in a public forum that anyone can view. Used to doing
damage control anytime negative messages about our buildings surface,
specifically creating forums that enable the easy sharing of negative message
runs contrary to our instincts. Avoiding social media tools, however, is far
riskier because they have been widely embraced beyond your buildings,
fundamentally changing the nature of communication in today’s world. Your
important stakeholders—teachers, parents, students, and community
leaders—“might not know it yet, and perhaps neither do you, but in just a few
years if you haven’t adopted social media in a signification way you risk
shutting out the best and most powerful communications channel we’ve ever
known, a channel that values authentic interactions…at its core.”

From Communicating and Connecting With Social Media (Essentials for
Principals) by William M. Ferriter (May 25, 2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc1o9FrYD7Y&list=PL809200BE55F6AFEE
&feature=plcp


http://www.ideo.com/

“In most organizations, big decisions are made by people with big titles. In
making those decisions, senior leaders seldom seek the advice of the rank and
file. That’s a problem on at least 3 counts. First, top-level decisions are often
compromised by executive hubris, positional biases, and incomplete data.
Second, it’s often those on the ground who are best placed to evaluate the
practical issues that will make or break a strategic move. And third, as the
business environment becomes more complex, the number of variables that
needs to be factored into key decisions will grow apace. Given all that,
companies need decision-making processes that are politically neutral, exploit
the organization’s collective wisdom, and encompass a broad range of views
and inputs.”

From What Matters Now: How to Win in a World of Relentless Change,
Ferocious Competition, and Unstoppable Innovation by Gary Hamel (Feb 1,
2012)

In order to change, you must... motivate the elephant, direct the rider, and
http://www.heathbrothers.com
/switch/chapterone.php shape the path.

The Heath Brothers use an analogy coined by University of Virginia
psychologist Jonathan Haidt in his book, The Happiness Hypothesis. Haidt says
that our emotional side is an Elephant and our rational side is its Rider.
Perched atop the Elephant, the Rider holds the reins and seems to be the
leader. But the Rider's control is precarious because the Rider is so small
relative to the Elephant. Anytime the six-ton Elephant and the Rider disagree
about which direction to go, the Rider is going to lose. He's completely
overmatched.

If you want to change things, you've got to appeal to both. The Rider provides
the planning and direction, and the Elephant provides the energy. Finally, you
must shape the path or provide direction for the elephant and its rider.

To change behavior, you've got to direct the Rider, motivate the Elephant, and
shape the Path. If you can do all three at once, dramatic change can happen
even if you don't have lots of power or resources behind you.

From Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and
Dan Heath (Feb 16, 2010)

What is school for?

Another good question to ask (aka “the miracle question”): You wake up in the
morning and your problems are solved. What is the first small sign that things
have changed?

From Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and
Dan Heath (Feb 16, 2010)

The Heath Brothers’ Checklist: Do You Have the Right “Critical Move”?


“While most of us aren’t entirely content with the way our organizations work,
neither are we outraged. We’re not incensed by the poisonous politicking, the
squandered creativity, the debilitating cynicism, the ignoble values, the ethical
shortcuts, the executive egomania, and the strategic myopia that infect our
organizations—or at least we’re not sufficiently incensed to cry, “Enough!” and
commit ourselves to something better.

We also seem disinclined to dream. Most of us have yet to be captivated by an
alluring vision of organizations that are impassioned, meritocratic, open,
boisterous, convivial, invigorating, and fun!”

From What Matters Now: How to Win in a World of Relentless Change,
Ferocious Competition, and Unstoppable Innovation by Gary Hamel (Feb 1,
2012)

We are only limited by our own creativity to take our message to the entire
community...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNic4wf8AYg


The idea of risk is so tied
to the idea of greatness –
you cannot be great
without risking yourself.

When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key
to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew
up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment,
and I told them they didn’t understand life.” John Lennon

Or email me at cshade@dentonisd.org.

For more information, visit
www.dentonisd.org/eic
or “Like”
www.facebook.com/cshade
dentonisd


Project EIC Handout for Denton ISD School Board Meeting 4.17.12

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Project EIC Handout for Denton ISD School Board Meeting 4.17.12