Turning Negative Heat Into Positive Energy! Dr. John Draper For a copy of this presentation go to

Bubba got a cell phone... There’s 100’s of ‘em!

“There is a perfectly logical reason for every stupid thing that anyone does, because no one does anything that they think is stupid.” Rebecca Draper (Mom)

Use this template... When you plan change When you meet resistance When change is stalled When you need an employee to change

What would you like to change at your school? I want teachers to... I want students to... I want parents to... Write down one or two change items

Take a few minutes and share your change item with your table You get about 1 minute each!

No involvement— No ownership! No engagement— No commitment! No input— No output!

We are schizophrenics! Rider—logical, analytical Elephant—emotional, powerful Clocky! The Happiness Hypothesis

Successful change must address three factors... Mind—Is there a good reason? Does it make sense? Is there a first step? Is there a goal? Heart—Is it inspiring? Do you care? Will it make things better? Can we do it? Environment—Are there obstacles? Can we make it simpler? Can we make it automatic?

Switch by Chip and Dan Heath Direct the Rider—the thinking part— resistance is often a lack of clarity Motivate the Elephant—the emotions—laziness is often exhaustion, you need Elephant emotion to keep going Clear the Path—the environment—a people problem is often a situation problem, eliminate the road-blocks

Think about yourself You have a preferred “change style” Rider—logical, analyzer, critical, wary, subject to over think, big picture Elephant—emotional, loyal, traditional, easy-going, stubborn, defender of status quo, now focus Which are you?

Direct the Rider Motivate the Elephant Clear the Path

Direct the Rider Find the Bright Spots Script the Critical Moves Point to the Destination

As I share, you write down your ideas for each required change facet!

Direct the Rider... Find the Bright Spots Avoid our tendency to see negative and reach for punishment solution Superstars, Backbones and Mediocres (Todd Whitaker) Clone your superstars!

“Bright Spots” is counter-intuitive... Your son brings home a report card with 1 A 4 B’s 1 F What do you talk about?

Middle school Assistant Principal with 1400 students! Much of my time dealing with??? Tardies!!

Direct the Rider... Find the Bright Spots Found teachers who had few or no tardies and asked how they did it! Then engaged all teachers in a discussion on tardy problem, suggestions, ideas for improvement, lot of listening and recording Agreed on definition of tardy!

Direct the Rider... Script the Critical Moves Use Tardy definition (eliminate decision paralysis) Put Pre-Assignment on Board Start class on the bell

Direct the Rider... Point to the Destination Disney employee language Every Child a Graduate Educator tendency is to over analyze, discuss, review, research and use education-ese language

I administered three Reading diagnostics: CWT, Assessment of Comprehension, and Monster Test. Using the CWT, I identified my classes’ average as grade level 1.5 in September. My goal is to increase my students’ word identification to a class average of 3.0. Upon analyzing the results of the Assessment of Comprehension, I identified my classes’ average as a 41% in September. My goal is to increase my students’ comprehension to a class average of 80%. Using the Monster Test, I identified my classes’ average scores as Semiphonetic/Phonetic. My goal is to increase my students’ phonics and spelling skills to Transitional. 1 st Grade Teach for America Teacher

Crystal Jones, TFA, Atlanta, 2003, 1 st Grade Class By the end of this year, you are going to be... Third Graders!

Direct the Rider... Point to the Destination First instinct is to use data Data first is a loser! Strong beginning, strong ending, let the middle work itself out

Direct the Rider Motivate the Elephant Clear the Path

Direct the Rider Find the Bright Spots Script the Critical Moves Point to the Destination Motivate the Elephant Find the Feeling Shrink the Change Grow your People

As I share, you write down your ideas for each required change facet!

Some of my people just won’t follow through What looks like laziness is often exhaustion Cookies, radishes, and a puzzle

Most change efforts are killed by Elephants! Analyze—Think—Change See—Feel—Change

Find the Feeling! Every Child a Graduate!

Motivate the Elephant... Find the Feeling Emotion motivates the elephant How we treat the “one” reflects our love for the Teacher No-Heart goes for a home visit Not a budget but an Education Plan

Motivate the Elephant... Shrink the Change Door-to-door Aluminum Siding Salesman Dave Ramsey, pay smallest debt first! Great Coaches Master this Art of small, early successes

Motivate the Elephant... Grow Your People! Homewood High Football game—behind 2 touchdowns Crystal Jones, TFA, did not call her 1 st graders students—they were Scholars! Develop an identity—“Don’t Mess with Texas” Campaign

Don’t Mess With Texas!

Motivate the Elephant... Grow your People Develop the Growth Mind Set Set an expectation of failure Molly Howard, Georgia principal of Jefferson County High, grading system of A, B, C, and NY! (NASSP 2008 Principal of Year)

Direct the Rider Motivate the Elephant Clear the Path

As I share, you write down your ideas for each required change facet! Clear the Path!

Direct the Rider Find the Bright Spots Script the Critical Moves Point to the Destination Motivate the Elephant Find the Feeling Shrink the Change Grow your People Clear the Path Tweak the Environment Build Habits Rally the Herd

My people are just stubborn! What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem Movie popcorn and bucket size

Clear the Path... Tweak the Environment Big buckets, big plates Automatic coffee, Clocky, running outfit laid out Move away from the computer, silence notification Design it so the right thing is the easiest thing to do (RTET)

Clear the Path... Build Habits Action triggers—preload Six parent phone calls per grading period Six home visits per semester

Clear the Path... Rally the Herd Principal Natalie Elder, Hardy Elementary School, Chattanooga, TN, Opening Day Routine Right Thing the Regular Thing RTRT Your job is not to work hard—it is to be efficient with things and effective with people!

Direct the Rider Find the Bright Spots Script the Critical Moves Point to the Destination Motivate the Elephant Find the Feeling Shrink the Change Grow your People Clear the Path Tweak the Environment Build Habits Rally the Herd

People don’t see the need to change! Find the feeling Show the problem with not changing Tweak the environment so change occurs without feeling

That’s not the way we do it around here. Build identity Find a bright spot Focus on your Superstars

My people are stuck in the old patterns. Create habits Set an action trigger Preload a decision Develop a new routine Ambiguity is the enemy—script the critical moves

People simply aren’t motivated to change! Elephant problem... Revitalize new identity Create a destination postcard Lower the bar Use peer pressure

I know what to do, I just can’t get it done! Elephant problem... Set up some easy, small wins Clear the path Set up teams!

People were excited, but now we have stalled. Build habits... action without effort Celebrate victories... 6 out of 10 students are graduates! Teach growth mindset... failure is not final, it doesn’t have to be exactly right at first

Somebody Said It Couldn’t Be Done!

Turning Negative Heat Into Positive Energy! Please send comments or suggestions to For copy of this presentation go to

West Virginia Dept of Ed A-F Grading System A Conversation with Dr. John Draper National School Public Relations Association

The WVDE Grading Plan using Proficiency, Growth, Participation and Graduation Rate... and forced into a Stanine Scoring Design

F D C B A

The A-F Plan (influencing others)  Forces the scores into a Bell Curve—for every A there must be at least one F  Contains a ‘catch 22’ clause—if scores improve they make it harder... to guarantee that some will always fail  A school could be 100% proficient and still make an F... If growth scores are low  If participation rate is below 95% you drop a letter grade, if below 90% you fail

Grades based on Stanines...  Scores of 88, 89, 90, 91, and 92 would be, on the curve...  92-A  91-B  90-C  89-D  88-F

That’s unaddressed in A-F! How much more does it take to educate a Free/Reduced student to the same level as Regular Ed students?

It needs work! SES is not measured Everybody knows it takes more time, effort and resources to educator poorer children

Turning Negative Heat Into Positive Energy! Please send comments or suggestions to For copy of this presentation go to