I believe that we expect our schools to do too much. If an organization is to be successful it must focus on its primary mission and continuously increase its staff’s expertise in the core competencies of its business. In 21st century education, I believe that this boils down to three areas. The Foundation Trinity, which is the intellectual infrastructure of a high performing instructional machine. The Fundamental 5, which is the “blocking and tackling” of expert instruction. And the purposeful integration of bootleg technology in our classrooms. Bootleg technology will change education. As teachers, we can either provide the blueprint for its effective use, or we can be replaced by it. I for one would prefer to rule the tool, instead of being ruled by it. A number of you in the LYS Nation are now using your own bootleg technology devices to follow Twitter. If you haven’t done so yet, we want you to join us. To let you see what you are missing, here are the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of January 1, 2012, as tabulated by the accountants at Price Waterhouse. 1. Second semester begins. Time to do challenging work. (By @blitzkrieg607) 2. Working to communicate that rigor can exist without high failure rates. Embrace the Fundamental 5. It is not paint by numbers instruction. (By @blitzkrieg607) 3. Great start to 2012 – did a radio interview today. The Fundamental 5 is the real deal! 4. BRILLIANT: College students listen to a lot of lectures—but research shows there are better ways to learn. (By @anniemurphypaul) 5. MFMS is better thanks to the LYS training. RT @LYSNation Great start to 2012 – worked with 90 new LYSers at Marble Falls MS today! (By @principalschu) 6. Great start to 2012 – did 2 newspaper interviews today. Inquiring minds want to know about the LYS Nation! 7. Love the Fundamental Five Book!! A must read and recipe for success! Happy 2012 to all of you and see you soon. (By @janet_wright) 8. @LYSNation I especially love the explanation of “knowing/doing gap”!! All schools need to share with educators!! (By @janet_wright) 9. BRILLIANT: IQ, long thought to be largely unchangeable after early childhood, can in fact be raised. (By @anniemurphypaul) 10. Unemployment rate with college degree, 4.1%; without a high school diploma,13.8%. (By @FareedZakaria) Think. Work. Achieve. Your turn…

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/4ydqd4t
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation
• Get the Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan App at the App Store – Fun 5 Plans
• Confirmed 2012 Presentations: Oklahoma Association of Elementary School Principal’s Mid-Winter Conference; Region 16 ESC Leadership Academy (Keynote Address); NASSP Conference; NASB Conference