Best Part of Your Day?

It was cold. It was going on hour three of recess duty, and I was thankful for the hand warmers inside my mittens. I try not to think about all the things that I could be doing instead of recess duty, but we were short a few staff. Our teachers deserve a chance to eat their lunch and catch their breath for a minute. I try to make the most of the moments.

As the kids came running down the ramp to the playground I turned to a third grade student. As she came closer I called out, “Anayelli, what is the best part of your day so far? And you can’t say talking to me.”

This is a question many of my students have heard me ask. She looked thoughtfully past her slightly worn Hello Kitty mask and up at me into the bright snowy day. “Well, probably just the chance to learn,” she sighed.

“Yeah,” I tearfully managed, “that is pretty great.”

“Probably, just the chance to learn.” Third Grade. Nine months into a global pandemic. Three months into a hybrid learning model of in person and remote learning. Four hours into her day with one teacher, a smaller group of students, and no “special” classes.

Later that day, we were in contact with law enforcement as her non-custodial mother came to pick her and her brother up. We had not heard from Dad to give us permission to release the kids. We were able to work through the situation without further incident and the kids made it home. They made it back to school to try again the next day.

“Probably, just the chance to learn.”

Love, Care, and Support

As an elementary school in the Eagle County School District, we are fortunate to have the opportunity to teach in-person four days a week. We are blessed to have the chance to work with teachers under the same roof and students who can stomp snow off their shoes as they come into the building. I can’t imagine this leadership work in a remote-only environment. Regardless, we are charged with creating a supportive culture of achievement for each of our students. A culture where love, care, and support are doled out in equal doses. A culture where students feel the firm foundation under their feet and the supportive guidance, to try, again. As AVID principals, we are tasked with creating a culture that fosters both a positive and safe learning environment along with high expectations for all.

“Probably, just the chance to learn.”

Stop reading for a second. Indulge me and close your eyes and think about your students. Each of them. How many children’s names and faces can you come up with? Don’t just count your frequent flyers and discipline referrals. Envision each classroom. Picture each student or at least their mask and eyes. Picture each Zoom screen and the faces blinking back at you. How many kids can you name?

Personally, I fail this test miserably. Forty percent of names? Maybe? But I do get most of the faces. And students definitely know who I am. We recognize each other with ease at Ridley’s Super Market on a Saturday. Masks and all.

How about our staff? Can we name them all? Their spouses or significant others? Their children’s names? Do they have pets? Cat person or dog person? Can we identify where our people are in this present state of things? Do we even give ourselves an opportunity to know?

“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” This oft-repeated truism could not be more true now and must continue to be a part of our post-pandemic thinking. We must ask ourselves, “Do my people, my students, my community know that I care?” Knowing students by name and knowing a bit about our staff can be a first step to exemplify that love, care, and support. It is a cultural catalyst that can help solidify a shaky foundation or further strengthen a strong one.

Knowing your students can often begin the process of cultivating a culture of achievement. But what does that mean? Many of us discuss culture as paramount to our school’s success, but what are we actually doing, to elevate it? I worry that my focus on school culture can sometimes devolve into the similar attention I pay to my fitness. Sure, “work out more” would be beneficial, but those weights are so heavy.

Fortunately, since you are reading this, we have the benefit of having AVID as our proverbial professional trainer. We can access our AVID support and resources to help boost our cultural motivation.

Gradual Release of Responsibility: Are We Having Fun Yet?

Growing up, my brother and I loved to ski. My mother did not, but my folks were determined to do family stuff together. And thus, well, we went. Often, she would ask, “Are we having fun yet?” She clearly was not.

Are we having fun yet? Many of our teachers may be echoing my mother’s sentiments; they are not having even Type II fun. In many places, they have all but become the one room schoolhouse teacher, counselor, nurse, specialist, and cheerleader. Couple the strain and uncertainty brought on by COVID-19 with the needs our students bring with them in even an ideal year, and we are setting ourselves up for burnout. So how do we further stabilize and improve our school’s culture? How do we ensure that our leadership sets the vision and tone of high expectations? How do we build on our AVID Schoolwide culture? What’s the answer? Gradual Release of Responsibility.

Many of us are familiar with this instructional idea. AVID Reading for Disciplinary Literacy: A Schoolwide Approach builds off of this concept. When students (in this case, staff) are provided structures and guidance to address a challenge (e.g., difficult academic text or math problem; or, for staff, school culture) then they can move to an ever growing level of independence. In elementary parlance, “I Do, We Do, You Do.” I believe that as principals, we must take the lead to bolster our school’s culture. That it is up to us to “sharpen the saw” and expand our skill sets. It is up to us to further explore the AVID tools and resources that can bring about the school culture we want to see. We are in the “I Do” mode of this model. We may just need to have fun for everyone.

Principal leadership was an isolating endeavor before social distancing was even a phrase. I encourage you to pursue AVID networking opportunities to renew leadership connections. The Leadership Networking event back on December 3rd was an amazing opportunity to rejuvenate with like-minded professionals. The Solution Snapshots offered regionally are another great way to connect and engage with colleagues. Compel yourself to take a deeper dive into MyAVID and explore some articles, tools, and resources that you have yet to uncover. And it is never too early to begin thinking about summer professional development, whether in-person at Summer Institute or virtual at an AVID DigitalXP™ event. We must further develop our skills, abilities, and strategies before we can gradually and strategically release them to our staff and students.

Redefined Culture of Achievement

My email signature includes an image of a Rubik’s Cube. And not just your traditional model. We are talking about the 4x4x4 variety. That image describes much of our work this year: a daily puzzle to unscramble what keeps getting more complicated and jumbled even as we strive to find the solution. Every twist and rotation must be just right to bring some organization to the fray. Our short- and long-term school culture depends on us making enough right moves.  

But it dawned on me that we are in a school year not metaphorically made of straws and a camel, but rather more of a game of Jenga; continually pulling supports away while potentially piling more weight on top. There are never enough right moves. The very nature of the exercise reveals that it is never sustainable. We can keep pulling a support away, one wooden block at a time. We can ever so gingerly place them one atop another. But try as we might, eventually, regardless of how delicately we try and place it… Every time, it does not end well.  

We must protect our teachers. A dysregulated adult has no ability to address the needs of a dysregulated student. As principals, we can’t be the ones to make the burden bigger. Our jobs must be to help lighten the load. We must have the patience to only practice a release of responsibility when it is appropriate to do so. If it all topples, then we are in a much tougher spot than just having to pick up the wooden pieces.

Gypsum Elementary has periodically been recognized for academic growth and achievement. We have earned both state and national honors. Ultimately, that may occur again, but that is not our primary focus this year. Our 20–21 Post-Pandemic Goals are:

• Health and Safety:

-We prioritize the health and wellness of our students, staff and families.

• Social and Emotional Wellness:

-We prioritize the social and emotional health and wellness of our students, staff and families.

• Culture of Achievement:

-We focus on the Hearts and Minds of our learners and their hierarchy of needs.

As measured by:

A school culture and environment where students and their families feel safe, cared for, academically challenged, and supported.

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We must recalibrate and redefine our Schools’ Culture of Achievement. We must embrace post-pandemic thinking and prioritize our students and the culture of our school community. We will come out of this current reality. Our school culture is the foundation from which we will build.

Along with the Rubik’s Cube image, you will find the following phrase on every email I send:

These are ALL Our kids

                 Each and Every One

                                   Now more than EVER