Cain's Corner

The CULTURE Club This morning two leaders that have influenced and inspired me tremendously, Dr. Tony Sinanis and Joe Sanfelippo moderated a #HackingLeadership chat on Twitter focused on School Culture. I missed participating in the chat live, as I slept in getting some much needed rest after a busy week. Reading the great questions and responses, I tweeted out some thoughts and felt I should expand upon them on my blog. First, if you don't own Tony and Joe's "Hacking Leadership" book I highly recommend it. Both Tony and Joe are MUST follows on Twitter. Two amazing leaders and people. Second, I would go out and get both culture books that Todd Whitaker and Steve Gruenert have written. I am the type that likes books that have practical application ideas that I can utilize to support my school. Gruenert and Whitaker's School Culture Typography assessment from "School Culture Rewired" is something I recommend every school complete. You have to know...

Chances are you have no idea who the person in the picture above is. I didn't. My 12 and 9 year old are fully aware of who this person is and where they DISCOVERED him. Noelle and Carson taught me a very important lesson about DISCOVERY and how students today learn.  The picture is of Jake Paul. According to my 9-year old son he is a famous "youtuber" who makes music and prank videos. He apparently according to my son was also on a Disney Channel TV show. When I looked at his YouTube Channel I found that he had over 11 million subscribers. Instagram, nearly 10 million followers. Twitter, 2.4 million followers. As I began to DISCOVER Jake Paul on my own I learned that he became famous on the Vine App, with 5.3 million followers with over 2 billion plays on the App. This is someone with an enormous following that I had absolutely no idea about.  I had no clue who Jake Paul was. Carson just told me his motto is "it's everyday bro". When you think a...

I had the opportunity this past week to get a preview of the forthcoming release of the new vision for Jeffco Public Schools where my children attend school. New Superintendent Dr. Jason Glass shared a glimpse into the vision --- one that's transformational and innovative. His recent blog post was about the need to innovate at the Micro Level --- the classroom -- where individual students experience learning. https://advancejeffco.blog/2017/09/29/micro-innovation/ How do we create a culture of innovation within our schools sites to foster innovation at the classroom level? School leaders must establish an environment that values and rewards innovation. We must challenge the status quo, create a culture of creativity (for adult and student learners), and develop a workplace that's nimble and adaptable to change. How do get there? First, the school leader must model innovation. Steve Jobs once said "innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. Principals mus...

Last night my wife and I received the biggest scare of our lives. Our youngest son Austin began having a seizure in bed around 9:20pm. Our daughter Noelle was coming back into our room after using the restroom and noticed Austin shaking and began to scream. The seizure lasted about 5 minutes and Austin was incoherent for most of our car ride over to Children’s Hospital South where he was seen. Unfortunately, we don’t know what caused the seizure. That unknown for me is freightening. The doctors ruled out meningitis and we are scheduling follow up appointments and testing. He will need an EEG done and possibly a MRI. Hopefully we can get some answers soon. Austin’s brother and sister (Carson and Noelle) were up when we got home around 11:30 last night, scared and concerned for their brother. I’m sure today will be tough for them at school. I am grateful for their teachers and principal over at their school (Leawood) who are so kind and caring. Austin also goes to their school part t...

Parent Engagement vs. Parent Involvement Today on Facebook, Shawna Fritzler posted a question about Parent Engagement vs. Parent Involvement. Rather than respond via a lengthy Facebook reply, I decided to blog about it. Many school and district leaders are doing amazing things with both Engagement and Involvement. Others, struggle as they ultimately there is confusion as to what the difference is between engagement and involvement.  Simply, parent involvement is often more "doing to", whereas engagement is "doing with". With involvement, schools tend to lead with their mouth. This leads to communication but not true connection. Every school or district communicates, some better than others. Very few connect. Engagement, on the opposite side, has schools leading with their ears. These schools listen, learn, then lead together. Engagement focused schools and districts listen to parents and community members. A genuine partnership is formed when we elicit in...

My Birthday Reflection Today is my 39th Birthday. There are two great days in a person's life. The day they were born and the day they discovered why. Two plus years ago when I began my school leadership journey, I truly discovered my why.  Discovering why I was born changed my life. I want that for you, the reader. I want that for every person I am privileged to serve throughout my career in Education. Principal Kafele speaks of this as your leadership purpose. A person without a purpose is like a word without a definition - meaningless. Why do you get up in the morning and come to a school or district level position? What drives you to do the important work we do in our schools and districts each and every day?  Your purpose is who you are as the leader of a school, department, or school district. It is the very foundation of which your passion is built. Your passion to quote my friend Brad Jordan aka Scarface is Deeply Rooted within YOU. Discovering your purpos...

Turning Doubt It Results The first 9 years of my education career, I was a Physical Education teacher. Over those 9 years I had the opportunity to write curriculum for an entire district, to develop an innovative system working with the Center of Assessment to share high quality assessment to support Student Learning Objectives (SLO's), to serve on local and state committees to write policy to support physical activity and health in schools. All this work and my experiences as a Physical Education teacher prepared me for taking the next step in my career, becoming a school leader. I wanted to make a difference for more people, to add value to more lives. Going back to school to get my principal's license and Master's Degree in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies was the road to that dream. What I did not expect as I began on my new path was the stigma associated with being a Physical Education teacher.  As my Principal Internship ended in May of 2016 and I...