Working on the Work

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Working on the Work

• Franklin County Schools
• North Carolina

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Why WOW?
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Why now?
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So that Franklin County Schools Can Go From Good
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To great!
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In his new book Good to Great, Jim Collins
describes the characteristics that cause a
company to go from good to great.
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Collins illustrates one trait that distinguishes
Great companies from Good companies by citing an
essayby Isaiah Berlin in which the author uses
the parable of the Hedgehogand the Fox.
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In the parable, the fox tries all sorts of ways
to catch the hedgehog,
while the hedgehog spends his days waddling along
minding his own business.
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One day, the hedgehog is so engrossed in his own
affairsthat he wanders right intothe path of
the fox, who hasbeen lying in wait.
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Will he never learn?

• The fox licks his lips and prepares to pounce on
  the hedgehog, but the hedgehog curls up and
  becomes a sphere of sharp spikes.

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This same scene is played out each day, and
despite the fact that the fox is known for his
cunning tricks, the hedgehog always wins.
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In this essay, Isaiah Berlin uses the parable to
illustrate his idea that the world is made up of
two types of people hedgehogs and foxes.
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Isaiah Berlin
Foxes pursue many ends at the same time and see
the world inall its complexity. They are
scattered or diffused, moving on many levels,
never integrating their thinkinginto one overall
concept orunifying vision.
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Hedgehogs, on the other hand, simplify the
complex world into a single organizing idea, a
basic principle or concept that unifies and
guides everything
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It doesnt matter how complex the world, a
hedgehog reduces all challenges and dilemmas to
simple hedgehog ideas. For a hedgehog, anything
that does not somehow relate to the hedgehog idea
holds no relevance
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hedgehogs understand that the essence of
profound insight is simplicity. Isaiah
Berlin
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So what do hedgehogs and foxes have to do with
good and great companies,not to mention Franklin
County Schools and WOW?
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Jim Collins found that those who turned good
companies into great ones were hedgehogs.

• They used their hedgehognessto focus on a
  crystallized, unifying Hedgehog Concept that
  became almost a mantra.

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The unifying Hedgehog Concept for Franklin County
isWOW Working on the Work
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Good to Great.
WOW will help take Franklin County Schools from
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WOW provides a disciplined framework for thinking
and talking about the quality of work teachers
create for students. Providing high quality work
becomes the crystallized Hedgehog Concept -- the
core business of Franklin County Schools.
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The core business of our schools is to ensure
that every student, every day, is provided
challenging, interesting, and satisfying work.
Phillip Schlechty
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• WOW gives Franklin County educators
• a unified vocabulary,
• a unified design tool,
• a unified goal

This is what makes it a Hedgehog Concept.
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WOW is about

• Increasing the level of authentic engagement in
  the classroom

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and.

• Ensuring that students are motivated to
  participate in, respond to, and benefit from, a
  variety of instructional modes

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WOW is also

• What a teacher does to and with the work they
  provide to students, rather than with the
  products of student work

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WOW is not about

• Just increasing the level of classroom activity
• Adding a new instructional program
• Making incompetent teachers competent

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WOW is a minds on experience!

• The work teachers give studentsmust be
  intellectually challenging and demanding.

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It must be authentically engaging
to the vast majority of students for whom the
work is intended
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and it must call on students to acquire
knowledge and skills they value as a condition of
the successful completion of the work.
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WOW is the scaffoldingon which to hang

• Whole Faculty Study Groups
• Healthy Active Children
• Guided Reading
• K-5 Portfolios
• K-12 Writing Plan
• School Wide Behavior Management
• Math Science Initiative

• Math Study Groups
• Technology Training
• College Board Initiative
• Making Middle Schools Work
• Classroom Management
• Differentiated Instruction
• Reading First

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Through the ten Standards, WOW pulls together all
the Professional Development trainings in which a
Franklin County teacher participates.
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Product Focus
Clear and Compelling Product Standards
Authenticity
Content and Organization of Knowledge
Protection from Adverse Consequences
Choice
ENGAGEMENT
Novelty and Variety
Affirmation of Performance
Affiliation
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According to Phillip Schlechty, Attention
to the Standards is simply a means of increasing
the number of students who are authentically
engaged
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A reminder of what is meant by authentic
learning

• Students are authentically engaged in the work
  they are persistent and committed to the work
  that teachers have provided because it is
• Interesting
• Challenging
• Satisfying

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Students know the workwill have real and
meaningful consequences for themthey perceive
the task as real.
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If the task, activity, or work in which
students are involved has inherent value or
meaning to them, they are authentically engaged.
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The critical result of student engagement is
that students learn what is important for them to
learn.
Phillip Schlechty
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Authentic engagement is NOT

• Ritual engagement
• (e.g. reading a book to pass a test or to
  earn good grades to get into college)

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Nor is it

• Passive compliance
• (e.g. student exerts just enough effort to
  avoid negative consequences)

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Nor is it

• Retreatism
• (e.g. student totally disengages from task,
  but does not disrupt others)

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Nor is it

• Rebellion
• (e.g. student refuses to do assigned task and
  disrupts others)

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Most students in the highly engaged classroom
are authentically engaged most of the time, and
all students are authentically engaged some of
the time
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The highly engaged classroom is onethat has
little or no rebellion, limited retreatism, and
limited passive compliance.
Phillip Schlechty
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You may be asking, How can a teacher
authentically engage students, which is its core
business and Hedgehog mantra?
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The ten WOW Standards can be applied to
virtually every Professional Development training
in which Franklin County teachers participate.
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How do I go about incorporating the strategies
Ive learned from all of the trainings Ive taken
with the WOW Standards? What should the lesson
look like?
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Look at this exemplar designed by a 4th grade
teacher about the Rainforest
 
10 Standards
 
1.
Content and Substance The exemplar lesson falls
within the curriculum for fourth grade and is
also an interesting and engaging adventure for
students.   2. Organization of Knowledge Lessons
were planned for 30-45 minutes daily. Students
used a variety of graphic organizers such as KWL
charts and Venn Diagrams. Rubrics were used as
an evaluation tool.   3. Product Focus Students
have both an individual and group grade that will
be completed throughout the lesson. The
information from the projects will be compiled
into a power point presentation.



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4. Clear and Compelling Product
Standards Students will have a checklist and
timelines of expectations and deadlines. Class
created rubrics will be used to evaluate the
individual projects. Ongoing conferences about
the individual and group projects will be
conducted.   5. Protection from Adverse
Consequences and Initial Failure Students will
follow a timeline and established criteria for
the project to meet rubric guidelines. Student
progress towards meeting the deadlines and
criteria will be monitored by the teacher. 6.
Affirmation of Performance Students will showcase
their individual projects in class. The projects
will be shown to the Second Grade on the
Rainforest Day. Additionally, a slide show
presentation will be constructed.
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7. Affiliation Students will present their work
and knowledge to Second Grade classes on the
Rainforest Day. Each member of the classroom
will have individual responsibilities and a role
for the presentations.   8. Novelty and
Variety Students will create dioramas, plays,
posters, scrapbooks, and research. A guest
speaker, Mr. Bill Lord, will also talk about his
experiences in the tropical rainforests.   9.
Choice Students will select from five project
topics for their individual assessments.   10.
Authenticity Students will be involved in
collaboration with younger students and the
simulation of being in the Amazon Rainforest.
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The pieces are all coming together
Professional Development
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Professional Development
WOW
Good Schools
System at large(Finance,Transportation, etc.)
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With hedgehog-like focus on the quality of work
we give students
The puzzle pieces will all be in place!
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Professional Development

WOW

System at large (Finance,
Transportation, etc.)
Good Schools


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GreatSchools !
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The preceding presentation was based on the work
completed by Flagler County Schools, Florida.

• Franklin County Schools gratefully acknowledges
  their work and support as our schools go from
  good to great!