matching tracksuits

When I began working at Hughes nearly twenty years ago, one of the first things I had to learn was a number of different procedures and protocols. What does one do on hall duty in this spot? How many grades do I have to give during a quarter? Where do I take my students during a fire drill, and what paperwork do I need to complete once the drill is over? What is the procedure for afternoon dismissal? How do I handle late work? All of these things were already in place when I began, and while the new principal (who started the same year as I did) made a few tweaks in the program, he wasn't inventing out of a void: he was merely changing existing procedures.

Yet when founding a new school, none of that is in place. Last year we had to decide on all of those things and more. Then this year, moving to a brand new building, we had to re-invent most of it. Four weeks into the new school year and we've finally got most of this settled. Class changes follow certain guidelines and procedures. Lunch and recess play by rules that we're constantly adjusting to smooth transitions between the two.

No procedure has given us more grief, though, than afternoon dismissal. We have approximately 750 students that we have to get out of the building and into cars as quickly as we can while maintaining strict safety protocols to prevent any mishaps that might result in injury. The first time we ran the carline with all students in attendance, it took well over an hour to get everyone into cars and heading home. We have in place protocols now that have reduced that time. I thought of the tweak we're now implementing that has made things go so much faster, but it was a tweak that we had to implement carefully and thoughtfully. Run carelessly, our procedure could be problematic at best, but we've worked out an entire system of checks and redundant protocols that ensure everything will run smoothly for everyone. It's a whole system involving verbal communication, non-verbal communication in the form of color-coded signs and groupings, adults in specific and strategic locations to keep a careful eye on everything. Taken altogether, the new procedure has reduced the time to just over half an hour -- an acceptable time for a magnet school, which has no buses for students.

This is just a small version of what we have done as societies and cultures for millennia. Why do we drive on the left side of the road in most of the world? Why do we stop at red lights and go on green lights? Why do we implement this particular punishment for that particular crime? Indeed, why do we decide something is a crime -- or more strikingly, is a crime in some situations but not in others? Nothing novel about these thoughts -- college freshmen taking Sociology 101 cover these ideas in the first few lectures of the semester. Yet I've never been in a situation where I'm part of the creation of procedures that, in coming years, will be something that new hires must learn and master.

A-Day students began with a quick agenda check to make sure all students were caught up with their agendas. I've allowed students to work on their agendas without much input from me, but we will now begin regular agenda checks.

After completing the check, we finished our first SMART goal beginning with a look at three example goals. As with yesterday's work, students worked to identify the various SMART parts of the goals.

• I will raise my math grade from a C to a B by the end of the semester by completing all homework, asking two questions in class each week, and studying for 30 minutes after school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
• I will increase my reading level by one grade level by the end of the school year by reading 20 minutes every night and completing one book report each month.
• I will improve my science test scores from an average of 70% to at least 85% within the next two months by reviewing notes for 15 minutes each night and meeting with my teacher once a week for extra help.

We finished the day by pulling together all the elements of our SMART goal planning guide into a cohesive, comprehensive goal for the first quarter.

The sign that got me fussed at a little last year when people from the district came in for observations and noticed it. They didn't say anything to me; they spoke to my principal, who then spoke to me. They gave me $3,000 worth of books for the kids to have an in-class library -- a curated list, mind you -- and then expected me to make a spreadsheet listing them in my free time.

Had the district people had the nerve to speak to me about it directly, I would have suggested that they could come and help make these lists for all the teachers. It would certainly be a better use of their time for which they were getting paid a six-figure salary.

It was the end of the day, and it was relatively painful. Not really painful, but it was painful to think about what Thursday would be like. All the students will be there Thursday, all 800 of them, and the stress that dismissal caused today will only be amplified.

Since we are a charter school, we have no buses, so every child is a car rider. That means every child must be picked up by a car, which means that all those cars have to line up and then pick up the kid, one by one.

We have a system in place, but it’s not the best. It’s a new school and we are working out techniques as we go along. We try something, it doesn’t work, and then we go back and try something else.

Our dismissal technique yesterday was slower than today, so we are improving. But we still have only faced two grades at a time since we’re doing a staggered start: third and fourth grade came Monday; fifth and sixth grades came today; seventh and eighth grades will come tomorrow.

It’s only on Thursday that all grades will arrive and leave. The arriving is fine. The time between arrival and departure is fine. It’s the last step that needs the work.

Still, that means we have a lot of learning to do through tomorrow, when we only have 150 students.