True Confessions of an Infomercial Junkie!

Today marks the 50^th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  I obviously wasn’t around when this happened, but I distinctly remember one year there was a huge special on one of the TV stations about the details of the incident.  They had uncovered a new piece of film or something, so I have this childhood memory of watching like a 2 hour special that gave way more details than I wanted at the time.  I get this weird, surreal, sad feeling when I remember this day.  There are times in history that are so surreal and shocking that we distinctly remember through emotions rather than thoughts.  Today is one of those days for many.  Hopefully, it’s a reminder for us to make the most of every day, love our families, and appreciate the blessings of this life!

            Okay, so I have this terrible weakness, and it’s for infomercials.  I don’t tell a lot of people this, but I love infomercials!  Maybe it’s because they feed my 10-second attention span, but there’s just something about seeing all the incredible features of a product and then, to find out that I can own all that for just three easy payments of $49.99!  I’m hooked!  My wife thinks it’s the craziest thing.  I’ve watched this “Classic Country Music CD collection” infomercial at least 10 times.  I just love all those 10 second snippets of those classic country songs!  And don’t get me started on awesome products like Sham-Wow, Mighty Putty, and Magic Bullet!  There was a time when my colleagues at work would get me these products for Christmas!  I loved it!  Thankfully, although I love the infomercials, I usually don’t get out my credit card and place an order…usually….

            So what is it about those infomercials that make them so good?  Well, in my opinion, there are a lot of reasons, but probably the number one reason is the first 30 seconds of the commercial.  I mean, when you see a chain made out of links of Mighty Putty pulling a semi, how do you not keep watching?!  Or what about that gigantic spill of grape juice that disappears instantly when a Sham-Wow is placed over it?  It’s amazing!  Toss in an excited host talking about the features, and I’m hooked!

            What does this have to do with us?  Well, I would propose that we have a lot of similarities with the companies that pay to have these infomercials made.  Like them, we have a product to sell.  The key to our future success depends on whether or not people buy what we have to sell, and we have an audience that may or may not what to listen.  Think about it, it’s not like I block out time in my schedule to watch infomercials.  Usually, I’m just flipping through stations and I get hooked. 

            In fact, that hook is absolutely critical to the success of selling these products.  We know it must work because they keep coming up with more (wonderfully interesting) products.  Like I said earlier, those first 30 seconds are critical.  They make or break the infomercial. 

            Just like those infomercials, our lessons have a product to sell (the content), our future success is dependent on how well our students buy it, and we have an audience that may or may not want to listen.  Just like those infomercials, the key to success in selling our product, or one of the keys anyway, is a good “hook.”  I like to call it a hook because it conveys the idea of “hooking” our students, fishing, etc….If you remember the work of Madelyn Hunter, she called it the Anticipatory Set.  In either case, we’re talking about those first few minutes of a lesson that we use to get our students to buy in to what we’re teaching.

            So, what makes for a good hook?  Well first, I would say just having a good hook makes for a good hook.  I remember when I was in the classroom; there would be times I would just jump right into a lesson without providing any sort of introduction, anticipatory set, or hook.  It’s no wonder I had many students who struggled to master the content or were just plain bored.  How did this happen?  Well, a good hook starts in the planning stages of the lesson.  Good hooks don’t just happen.  Now, we can get so good at planning them that they don’t take much time or effort to create, but the bottom line is life in a school is so busy that if we don’t take the time to intentionally think about how we’ll hook our students, it won’t happen.

            Another piece of a good hook is purpose.  We’ve talked before about understanding the “why” before the “how” is taught.  A key element for students to be hooked on what you want to sell is they have to understand why they need it!  Just like that Mighty Putty infomercial where they showed the guy fixing his plumbing (and electric, and car, and roof) with Mighty Putty, a good hook demonstrates why what students are going to learn is so important.  Consequently, explaining or showing why an objective is important scores very well on the RISE rubric too!

            Sometimes a good hook leaves the students curious or wanting more.  Think about the “Classic Country Music Collection.”  When I hear just that 10 second cut of one of my favorite Johnny Cash songs, I want to hang around to hear more.  Sometimes we use the hook to wet our students’ appetites making them want to hang on for the “full meal” later in the lesson.

            Finally, most good hooks involve a level of excitement and energy that is more than what you see at other points in the lesson.  Think about the people they pick to do these infomercials.  They’re usually high energy people.  During the hook is one of those times our level of interest and excitement has to be high.  We can’t expect students to get excited about something we’re not excited about.  Even if we have to fake it, it’s critical that students see there’s reason to be excited about what they’re learning.

            So, if you’re watching TV this weekend and happen to run across a good infomercial, maybe watch it for a minute or two and see if you can pick up any pointers for your lessons!  Just don’t get that credit card out…

Lessons from the Deep

So at our November staff meeting we discussed the “educational sweet spot” of Formative Assessment.  We talked about how there’s almost nothing you can do to get more “bang for your buck” in the classroom than to frequently formatively assess your students, and make informed instructional decisions based on the formative assessment. 

            As I’ve been reflecting on this, I’ve been struck by how important it is that we don’t just formatively assess our students, but that we DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!  It kind of reminded me of the story of Captain Smith of the Titanic.  I’m sure you’ve all learned everything you need to know about the Titanic from Leo and Kate, but just in case you didn’t see it (like me!), the captain of the ship was a guy named E.J. Smith. 

            Now, if we wanted to do a study on the fixed mindset, Captain Smith would be a great place to look.  Unfortunately, his fixed mindset cost a lot of lives! One famous quote from the Captain shows this mindset perfectly.  In 1907, several years before the sinking of the Titanic, he proclaimed that he could not “imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder.  Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that.”  How ironic that he would become the captain of the most famous shipwreck in history?!  A lot can be learned from that.

            My point isn’t to specifically discuss Captain Smith’s fixed mindset; it’s to point out that when we get feedback, it’s important that we do something about it.  What we know from the night the Titanic sunk is that the Captain and his crew received numerous warnings about ice in the North Atlantic.  However, the Captain and crew choose to do nothing about the warnings.  We’ll never know if they had heeded the warnings if the ship would have been safe, but we do know that without doing anything with the information they were given, the results were deadly.

            I would propose that although no one will physically die if educators don’t use the data they get from formative assessments, it’s no less important that we do something about it.  When we get information or data from formative assessments, but don’t do anything about it, we’re not responding to the needs of our kids.  When we don’t respond appropriately to the needs of our kids, year after year, we don’t achieve our mission.  We don’t help them to acquire and apply the skills they need to reach their dreams, and to me, that is tragic!

            So, as we charge through this busy holiday season, don’t forget to not only give frequent formative assessments, but more importantly, do something about it.  I love how Doug Lemov puts it,

“Effective Check for Understanding equals gathering data constantly and acting immediately.  The second part is both harder to do and at least as important.  All the recognition in the world won’t help if it does not result in action.” 

Protecting What's Important

             

Recently, I saw this picture in an article about African Elephants.  Did you know that baby elephants are the largest land animal at birth, yet they are an easy target for predators?  They are born with very poor eyesight and are very clumsy, so they must rely on the group to survive.  One technique that is often used is what you see above.  The adults of the group form a circle around the babies providing a formative barrier from any outside attacks. 

            This week, I’ve been reflecting on the fact that effective teams understand what’s important and take the necessary steps to protect it.  In this case, the herd of elephants understands that the key to survival of their species is to be able to birth young, and raise them to adulthood.  Mothers of all species take great care in those first few days, months, and years of life to ensure that their young are well taken care of.  With these African Elephants, it’s a group effort. 

            So, what does this have to do with us?  If we want to be an effective team; if we want to thrive as a school (and it’s assumed we do!), then just like that herd of elephants, we have to understand what’s important and do our best to protect that!

            What is important for us here at Jefferson?  Well, we could probably talk all day about the things that are important and that need to be protected.  First, I would say our mission is important.  It’s our purpose; it’s what we’ve all agreed to do.  Our mission is to inspire and equip all students to continuously acquire and apply knowledge and skills while pursuing their dreams and enriching the lives of others.  How do we protect that mission?  We ensure that everything we do here at Jefferson aligns with that mission.  If it does not, we get rid of it or re-align it so it does.

            But on a practical, daily interaction level, what do we need to protect?  Well, as I reflected over the last week on this, one thing kept coming up in my mind: instructional time.  As educators we have been tasked with the tall order of the mission above.  We all know that students won’t be inspired and equipped without hard work.  The problem is our time with these kids is limited to 9:00am-3:40pm every day.  That’s just 6 hours and 40 minutes a day.  Take out time for lunch, recess, restroom breaks, etc. and we’re down to roughly 5.5 hours a day.  My point is our instructional time with our students is a precious commodity.  It’s one that must be managed carefully.  We must do everything we can do to protect our instructional time.  As an effective team we have to understand that the time we have instructing our students is vital to their success.  We must be stingy about what happens during those 5.5 hours a day!

            So, how do we do this?  Well, we each serve different roles in this protection of instructional time.  As an administrator, I need to ensure that programming doesn’t interfere with what you need to do with your students.  I’m going to be very honest with you; this has been a challenge for me this year.  There are so many great things going on, but everything is nothing!  If we try to do everything, we end up with nothing.  Interrupting the schedule for quality academic activities or saying no to some neat opportunities so that we keep the schedule set is a tough decision for me.  I apologize for the times when I’ve fallen out of balance one way or the other.  I know that’s frustrating, so I do my best to make good decisions with our time.  I think one thing that makes Jefferson special is the time we spend together as a school “family” doing things like Family Groups, our assemblies, etc.  Those are important activities for the kids, but as an administrator, I have to be careful in balancing that. 

            We’ve agreed to a master schedule.  It’s got some non-negotiable blocks in it like 90 minute reading block and it’s got some places for you to have autonomy with your time.  The key is that your instructional time is maximized.  That happens when we stick to our master schedule.  It happens when we’re careful with outside activities like extra recess.  It happens when we ensure that our transitions are “tight.”  One thing I’ve seen this week in many classrooms is teachers who have set up systems in their classrooms to ensure that the transitions are tight.  In some cases it’s as easy as an egg timer.  Other teachers are having contests with their kids.  Either way, making sure that the transition from one activity to the next happens as quickly as possible is a great way to protect instructional time.  There are some great ideas for tightening up transitions in Doug LeMov’s book Teach Like a Champion. 

            What I’m trying to say is we have great things going on here at Jefferson.  The instruction going on in your rooms is incredible!  Let’s work together, just like those elephants, to ensure that what’s important to us, in this case, instructional time, is protected.  Keep up the great work!