Category Archives: Appreciation

Tweet Your Appreciation for Teachers This Week

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This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. My school is going to try something new. We will draw students’ names every day this week. When they come down to the office, they will be asked to share what they appreciate about one of their teachers.

Their responses will be shared on our school’s Twitter feed. It is embedded on our school’s homepage for everyone to see. Parents and community members will be encouraged to respond to the students’ comments, as well as share their own positive messages about our teaching staff.

This activity has the potential to be very successful because it is authentic, has a large audience, and the positive affirmations from the students are shared out quickly. The icing on the cake is it involves reading and writing. How are you recognizing teachers this week? Would there be a way to utilize social media to amplify your messages? Please share any ideas you have in the comments.

In Praise of Nonsense and Nonfiction

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In the wake of the Common Core and the call to read more complex texts, I fear that some genres and titles may get lost in the shuffle. I believe our more light-hearted texts such as the ones I list below should stand side-by-side with the nonfiction titles in our classroom libraries. Here is a post I recently wrote on my school’s blog about some of my favorites.

I recently shared with a group of parents some of my favorite books for reading aloud to kids. Because it can be hard to decide where to start if you have not read aloud to your child before, I thought I would recommend two types of books, nonsense and nonfiction. Both genres are high interest and fun to read.

Nonsense

Stuck by Oliver Jeffers

This picture book is about a boy who gets his kite stuck in a tree. He starts throwing items at the tree to get his kite down, but instead they also get stuck in the tree. The boy continues to find new things to throw, which get larger and more strange with each page. This is an enjoyable book to predict with your child what will happen next.

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

The bear has lost his hat. He asks many of his animal friends if they have seen it, but they have not. One animal is not being truthful, though, and soon the bear realizes who the guilty party is. The ending is very funny and allows for the reader to determine what really happened.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

This anthology of poems is a classic. It may have been around when you were in school. Some of the poems use nonsense words even in the title, such as “Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too”. Kids (and adults) at any age level love hearing these poems over and over. That makes this book a great choice for families with more than two kids to read to and not a lot of time.

I Must Have Bobo! and I’ll Save You Bobo! by Eileen & Marc Rosenthal

Bobo the monkey is a favorite stuffed animal of the main character. Unfortunately, Earl the cat is also very fond of Bobo. He works hard to steal him away from his owner at any opportunity. The facial expressions of Earl are hilarious. The illustrator also does a nice job of giving you clues about what that cat is up to before it happens.

Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin

Ever wanted to host a dragon party? Then you must have tacos! Just don’t bring any spicy salsa. This everybody book gives the reader step-by-step instructions for feeding and entertaining dragons. Of course, someone didn’t check the label on the salsa, which contains jalapenos. Can you guess what might happen next?

Nonfiction

Meet the Dogs of Bedlam Farm by Jon Katz

The author describes his four dogs and their jobs on his family farm. Rose, Izzie, Freida and Lenore all fulfill different roles, like guard dog. But what does Lenore do? This question is asked throughout the text, as her job is not as clearly defined, but it is just as important as the others.

The Whispering Cloth: A Refugee’s Story by Pegi Deitz Shea

Although this story would be found in the fiction section, it is based on the many stories of the Hmong people’s journey from Southeast Asia to the U.S. It is told in two different settings: The present time as Little Mai patiently waits for an opportunity to leave her refugee camp for America, and the past which details the hardships she encountered up to now.

Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki

Similar to the last title, this book describes the internment camps the Japanese Americans were sequestered to during World War II. To pass the time, the prisoners create a baseball field and start to play games. Their sense of purpose and community helped keep their hopes up during this dark period in America.

Testing the Ice by Sharon Robinson

Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball. Now retired, his daughter tells the story of her family wanting to ice skate on the frozen pond. The author shows a different and yet familiar side of Jackie, one who is deathly afraid of water, but goes out to test the ice in spite of his fears. This biography is a profile in courage.

Dreams: Listen to Our Voices by Regie Routman and 5th graders from Denver, Colorado

Immigrant students from Mexico share their aspirations, with guidance from Regie Routman, an expert in literacy instruction. Some of their stories are funny, some are sad. What all the students’ stories have in common: they are real, and they are full of hope. It is a very inspiring read.

My (Somewhat) Successful Attempt at Disconnecting

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During my spring break, I vowed to stay offline for two whole days. 48 hours. No Twitter, blogging, emails, or even web access. My goal was to be in the dark and yet see the light. I had felt lately that my online connections were not as purposeful as they had been in the past. It seemed like I was checking my feeds more often than I was checking in with myself.

My wife and I scheduled a vacation during the break. This was the perfect opportunity to pull the plug. It helped that the vacation site we picked did not allow cell phones in any of the public areas. If I wanted to take full advantage of the amenities, I had no choice but to focus on the face-to-face interactions that maybe I was neglecting beforehand.

Day 1

When we dropped the kids off at my parents, we left without leaving the car seats. Talk about not being present! Fortunately, we were only 30 minutes away from each other. While I waited for my parents, I sneaked a few peeks at my Twitter feed on my smart phone because I wasn’t technically “on vacation”, but quickly caught myself and shut it off. Instead, I listened to an interesting interview on the radio about the paper industry in Wisconsin. It is being directly affected by the digital influx we have all experienced. (“Paper Cuts” is an ongoing investigation by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; I highly recommend you check it out here). Had my eyes been glued to a screen, I probably would have missed this relevant and important conversation with this reporter.

Day 2

I almost felt a sense of freedom. There was more time than I knew what to do with. I had no purpose, other than to have no purpose. The most in-depth conversation my wife and I had was whether an animal we spotted out our window was or was not a muskrat.

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The only way we knew how to find the answer was to Google “muskrat” for an image.

Muskrat it was!

Day 3

Although I wasn’t necessarily missing being connected, I was curious about what kind of interactions may be waiting for me online. We checked out and headed for a Starbucks. Once offsite, I felt good about becoming connected again. I discovered several conversations and was tempted to jump in right away. However, I chose to let them sit and not feel rushed to respond immediately. Whatever it was, it could wait.

Besides the brief disconnection, I have made other modifications to be more purposeful in my actions. No longer is an iPhone or iPad also serving as an alarm clock. I went out and bought a real alarm clock. If someone needs to get a hold of me, they can call me on my landline. I am also making a concerted effort to use paper and pencil when taking notes, instead of feeling obligated to tap-tap-tap them into a productivity app. The Moleskine/Evernote Smart Notebook has helped me bridge the print and digital divide.

After the connection hiatus, I have felt more present for my family and for myself. It helped me remember that my purpose for connecting online was to learn and to share, directed by me and not by a notification (I have shut those off, thank you). If you are feeling the same way, I highly recommend taking a break from all things connected and see what you may have been missing.

Twitter Is Like a Radio

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I will be presenting with fellow principals Jessica Johnson and Curt Rees on Monday, February 4 at the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators (AWSA) Elementary Principals Conference. The topic: The Why and How of Twitter.

Here is a video I prepared explaining how to use Twitter as an educator:

 

It is critical that we explore why and how we use social media (or any new concept) first. Setting the purpose makes learning the basics much more relevant and engaging. See Simon Sinek's Start With Why for more on this thinking.

The three of us plus Jay Posick were also featured in ASCD Express recently about using Twitter to cultivate a personal learning network (PLN). I can attest to the growth I have experienced with Jessica, Curt, Jay and the rest of my colleagues being a part of my collaborative learning community.

 

The Principal as a Coach

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Last year I wrote a post titled “Getting Started with Student-Centered Coaching”. It was a reflection after sitting down with each one of my teachers for 1/2 hour twice during the year. The interventionists and principals in my district had recently received training from Diane Sweeney, author of Student-Centered Coaching. Me being the go-getter, I had to dive right in and try it out. During these sessions, I focused on asking predetermined questions to a) get to know my teachers better (I was new to the building), and b) provide some reflective guidance for staff to help them consider their own practices.

I remember feeling exhausted after two full days of concurrent coaching sessions. Don’t get me wrong; I did enjoy listening to each teacher’s plan for the year with their students. I think I felt this way because I may have been doing a bit more of the mental work, in terms of preparing for the sessions and directing the conversations.

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(Image retrieved from langwitches.org)

This year, I made a few changes. First, I finished reading Student-Centered Coaching. There was some good information about how coaches can vary the way they work with staff based on a variety of factors, such as gender or what generation they came from. For example, females prefer to face who they are talking to, while males prefer to sit side-by-side. Having an almost all female staff, I made the switch. Also, I attempted to differentiate the way I listened and complemented the baby boomers, who prefer recognition, and the millennials, who seek meaning in their work. Just making a few environmental shifts in my approach seemed to improve our conversations.

Another noted change is the way the coaching sessions were facilitated. I still had my list of four to five questions to use. The difference was I only used them to keep conversation going as needed. Last year, I read the list as a script, which was helpful as I was new to coaching. This year, I still had the questions to the side but gave the teacher more control over the conversation. In fact, my first question I asked most of my staff was, “Is there anything in particular you would like to focus on?”. The majority of the time, the teacher eagerly accepted this invitation. And before we knew it, our 1/2 hour was up.

One additional change from last year to this year is approaching my role as a coach as more of a learner. My questions were not rhetorical or prescribed; very often I asked teachers to tell me more about what they were sharing because I truly did not have the answer and wanted to learn more. One of the sessions ended with the teacher showing me how to use a behavior management tool on the iPad. Who’s coaching who?

With this year’s coaching sessions completed and time to reflect, I am impressed with how independent my staff is with regard to their instructional focus and how they are innovating in the classroom. They are willing to set the bar high for the expected student outcomes. If their students don’t hit the mark, it won’t be for lack of effort or not implementing best practices. That we developed these goals and plans together puts us on the same team: a group focused on helping students achieve their learning goals and experience success.

Three Characteristics of a Winning Team

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The San Antonio Spurs are one of the most successful basketball teams in the NBA and one of the respected organizations in all of professional sports. They are having another successful season, currently 15-4, with their latest victim being my home state’s Milwaukee Bucks. I have noticed three characteristics of the Spurs that could be found in other successful organizations.

Focusing on What Matters

Recently, the San Antonio Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich incurred a team fine of $250,000 for sitting four of their five starters during a regular season game. While I am not necessarily agreeing with the coach’s decision, as I am sure there were some disappointed fans, it is a clear example of what it means to focus on what matters. Regarding the fine, the coach probably knew he might get in trouble for his decision. He still went through with it. My guess is he felt his players’ current health and future success in the playoffs were more important than ticket sales and television revenues.

Open and Honest Conversations

A comment was made two years ago by Spurs’ future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, after being asked by the press if his coach was pleased with their win that night.

“Absolutely not. What did they score? Like 70-something points,” said Duncan. “That’s 70-something reasons for him to complain.”

(Retrieved from: http://www.48minutesofhell.com/san-antonio-spurs-95-portland-trail-blazers-78-at-long-last-48-minutes-of-hell)

The quote speaks volumes about the relationship Tim Duncan has with his coach. They can have an honest exchange of words while maintaining a level of respect. Each person knows where the other stands. This quote also shows a sense of humor among the team, probably developed from many years of working together and establishing strong relationships.

Humility

Gregg Popovich is the longest tenured coach of any professional sport team (16 seasons). How has he lasted this long? One reason is his ability to give credit to his players. The quote below speaks loudly about his character and leadership.

“He (Tim Duncan) doesn’t really even talk to me anymore. Half the things I say he doesn’t even hear…Time to go!”

(Retrieved from: http://www.slamonline.com/online/media/slam-tv/2012/11/gregg-popovich-discusses-his-marriage-to-tim-duncan-video/)

In his own witty way, Gregg Popovich acknowledged that the players on the court are the people who make a difference. He comes across like he is just along for the ride, even though that is not entirely true.

These characteristics have prompted questions in my own mind:

  • As a principal, am I advocating on behalf of my teachers? Are they getting enough time to collaborate and rejuvenate? Am I successfully filtering out the “administrivia” so they can focus on instruction and learning?
  • Is my building focusing on what matters? Is our purpose (student learning) a priority over outcomes (test scores, report cards) mostly beyond our control?
  • Do I allow and even seek out an open and honest dialogue with my staff and families?
  • Are the people who are doing the heavy lifting getting the credit?

Where is your organization at in building and sustaining a winning team? Please share in the comments.

Most Memorable Blog Posts of the Year

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With it being Thanksgiving weekend, I thought it appropriate to share my appreciation for some of the posts I remember most from the past year. About a year ago, I began my own blog. My first post was a simple copy and paste of an email exchange I had with an author. Since then, I have posted 81 times. In all of my efforts, I aspire to write something as thought-provoking, reflective and meaningful as these bloggers have in the following posts.

They aren’t listed in any kind of order. I feel uncomfortable saying one post is better than another, as they all brought a unique perspective to my current thinking. Nor am I saying that these are necessarily the best posts of the year, although you could make a case for any one of them. There are too many bloggers out there that I have yet to discover. As well, not all of these posts were written this year (my post, my rules). What they all have in common is a) I still remember what they wrote, and b) I liked them so much that I bookmarked each one for future reference and shared them with other educators.

Eight Things Skilled Teachers Think, Say, and Do by Larry Ferlazzo

When I shared this article (not technically a blog post but again, my rules) with my staff via Pinterest, they responded very positively. A couple of colleagues even asked, “Does he write more about this?” Larry is a prodigious blogger and author who still manages to teach in the classroom. I probably bookmark his posts more than any other educator.

Reflecting on My iPad Grant Thus Far…A Story of Celebrating Failure by Jenny Magiera

I like this phrase, “celebrating failure”. Jenny, a teacher and Apple Distinguished Educator in Chicago, deeply and honestly reflects on her initial implementation steps when she receives a $20,000 iPad grant for her classroom.

Reducing Instruction, Increasing Engagement by Peter Johnston

Alright, if I had to pick one post and say, “You must read this”, I would have to go with Peter Johnston’s entry on Stenhouse’s Blogstitute this past summer. He manages to address best instructional practices, student engagement, technology, Common Core standards and at-risk behaviors all in one post. And he uses evidence from his own study to back up his assertions. You could take this post along with Richard Allington’s ASCD article “Every Child, Every Day” and facilitate an entire year of professional conversations in your school based on what they have written.

The Power of the Principal by Peter DeWitt

Peter is an elementary principal and a regular blogger for Education Week. He is a great representative for all administrators, touching on many different topics that relate to our challenging and often-challenged profession. In this post, Peter deftly responds to the question “Do Schools Need Principals?”.

Educators: Keep Using Your Brain, Don’t Eat It by Curt Rees

Curt is a principal in Wisconsin like myself. His writing is always thought-provoking and many times humorous. In this post, he compares the unfortunate life cycle of the sea squirt to how some educators lose their drive to stay current in effective pedagogy. I appreciate his candor and his ability to make connections between the new and the known.

The Importance of Read Aloud (at home and school) by Jessica Johnson

Jessica is another Wisconsin principal and truly a learner. Her blog clearly showcases an educator willing to consider new practices and replace outdated ones. As a principal, she also walks the walk. Jessica promotes No Office Days and gets into her school’s classrooms regularly to try out and model new instructional strategies. In this post, she summarizes our discussion about reading aloud to kids when they already know how to read.

The Role of Principals as Reader Leaders by Alyson Beecher, Donalyn Miller

I would be hard pressed to come up with two other educators as good as Alyson and Donalyn in promoting best reading practices. I regularly rely on their posts for suggestions in my own school. This entry provides great ideas for principals and other instructional leaders to promote a love for reading in their schools.

A Plea to Teachers with iPads: Make Your Teaching Visible by Justin Reich

What Justin did here is give permission to teachers to bypass the normal research and publication process about the effects of an educational tool and just share what they have found to be best practices. Mobile technology is still pretty new to schools. Justin recognizes that we don’t have time to wait around for quantitative evidence of their effectiveness. Is it working? Great! Now share.

Scrapbook is Not a Verb by Miss Night

Miss Night, kindergarten teacher and co-moderator of #kinderchat, provides an excellent “unhow-to” guide for using Evernote to develop digital portfolios for students. My guess is she writes like she speaks, which makes her posts so easy to read. I appreciate Miss Night’s sense of humor in addition to her sound teaching practices.

Why Blog? by Christopher Smeaton

I recently co-presented at an administrator conference about leveraging Web 2.0 tools for better home-school communications. I chose Chris’ post here to share with principals considering starting their own blog. It provides a great rationale for why all educators should be writing for an audience, namely their colleagues and their community.

When We Admit Our Faults or When Math Blows Up In Your Face by Pernille Ripp

It takes a little courage to blog about your general experiences as an educator for all the world to see. But to write about when a lesson doesn’t go well? Strong stuff. I could have picked many of Pernille’s posts to highlight here, but I chose this one because of its honesty. Mrs. Ripp could teach in my school any day.

work/life dilemma by Phil Griffins

Phil has joined me in a blogathon (#blogathon) this month, where we attempt to post once a day in November. To say it has been a challenge is an understatement. On the flip side I think we have both grown as writers. In his most recent post, Phil reflects on his decision to either go to an annual parade with his kids or attend edcampNJ. He makes the right choice.

Making Fruit Tarts by Regie Routman

Regie compares her twenty years mastering this baking skill to the growth model teachers should follow to become master educators. She is a prolific writer who doesn’t get too caught up in the current initiatives. Regie stays grounded in best practices because they never go out of style. My only wish is she would post more, but I will take what I can get.

What’s the Big Deal About Blogging? by Tom Whitby

All of the Edublog nominations on the right side of his page are not surprising as I read his posts. He is an expert in the field who is also willing to share his ideas with honesty and humility; in other words, a life long learner. This post very much typifies what it means to be a reflective practitioner.

Being Present

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If you had one guess about where this photo was taken, what it would be?

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Hint: It was not at a school, but couldn’t it be? It is a great example of what a vision and mission could look like in any educational setting. In fact, I plan to share it with my Leadership Team in the near future.

It was captured this weekend in Appleton, Wisconsin. My family was celebrating both of my kids’ birthdays. Activities that interested our four- and six-year-old include pizza and arcade games, an indoor water park, bunk beds in the hotel, and playing with new toys until they passed out.

To be as present as I could be for my family, I made it a point to not check my smart phone very much. In fact, it was used mostly as a GPS device on the way to our destination and back. The only reading device I brought with me was of the paper variety (and a good one at that: 11/22/63 by Stephen King). Email was purposefully ignored. Whatever the message was, it could wait.

The phrase “Filling the Well” seems to be used often by writers and artists. My understanding is it is the process of removing outside distractions from one’s life in order to allow the mind to have new experiences and appreciate the world around us. Whole retreats and other events are hosted for this type of creative renewal.

Teachers and principals are also artists in a sense. We try to connect the known to the new and translate the complex into the concrete for our students. One of the best ways we can fill our wells and teach with consistent success and creativity is to be present as much as we can in our daily lives. For me, this means having a life outside of school and taking part in experiences that make me a more well-rounded person.

Now, I am as guilty as anyone for getting sucked into the Twitter vortex for time unending. I need periodic reminders to put down the device du jour and pay attention to what matters at the moment. Even this weekend, I checked my feed a few times and found some interesting articles and posts. But instead of reading them at that moment, I took advantage of a 21st century tool by saving those articles and posts to Instapaper to read later.

If I hadn’t been present this weekend, I may have missed a lot of important things. Like the bald eagle sitting in the middle of a barren corn field, spotted as we drove to our destination. Or the opportunity to show my kids how to use their new telescope and view the crescent moon tonight. Or even the great mission statement I took a photo of at Chuck E. Cheese’s.

Why I Became a Principal

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I have been asked why I became an elementary school principal, by educators in the classroom and by prospective administrators curious about my position. Here are a few reasons off the top of my head:

1. I Didn’t Have to Leave the Classroom

When I began teaching, I fully intended to end my educational career as a teacher. That is, until my principal read aloud in my classroom. Watching him share his favorite literature with my students, interacting with them not as the authority figure but rather as a knowledgeable and caring adult, opened my eyes to the concept that a principal isn’t necessarily a suit sitting behind a desk. It was an “Ah ha” moment for me, probably similar to when students see their teacher at Wal-Mart and realize he or she doesn’t live at school. I am proud to say that I continue this practice of reading aloud to students on a regular basis.

2. I Had Some Great Principals

I am very fortunate to have had three terrific administrators to work for, as an intern, as a teacher, and as an assistant principal. All three had a unique way of leading, which helped me determine what kind of principal I wanted to be. What did they all had in common?

  • They put students first.
  • They made decisions based on what was best for student learning.
  • They didn’t lose their cool when problems came up.
  • They always had time to listen.
  • They were honest and forthright. I knew where I stood with them at all times.

I definitely was not the perfect staff member; I made several mistakes along the way toward my current position. However, they allowed me to deal with those situations and help reflect upon how I could have done things differently, rather than step in and try to prevent struggles. I was allowed to learn from my mistakes.

3. I Was a Good Teacher

One of my former administrators once asked me, “What type of teacher is most suited for the principalship?” I didn’t know, I said. “The best teacher in the building,” he replied. At first, I questioned this logic. Why would a great teacher step out of the classroom and give up the opportunity to make an impact on kids? As I found out, I continue to make a difference. I do this by falling back on what I know great teaching looks like. I use this knowledge to guide my staff on the path of constant growth.

I believe I was successful as a teacher, and I became better every year. This gives me the experience, validity and respect to observe in any classroom and determine the effectiveness of the instruction. If I wasn’t a good teacher, how could I ever possibly be an instructional leader in my school? If you are a teacher, I encourage you to find out what your principal did before his or her current position. You may be surprised. Most if not all administrators do not let their teaching licenses expire. Many continue to teach, even if it isn’t always in the classroom.

4. It Is a Challenge

I am not saying that teaching is any less challenging. It is just a different type of challenge. Instead of keeping 25 students focused on the activity for the day, I am expected to help that one student who doesn’t want to participate to turn it around and get back into class.

One of the first ways I experienced this new kind of challenge was when I participated in building and district committees. These activities gave me the opportunity to see what it was like to lead an initiative and work with teachers on buy-in for an upcoming change. I found that I enjoyed collaborating with adults in this capacity, even if it was sometimes a struggle. The success we achieved together validated the effort and made the process that much more rewarding.

5. It Is a Change

One colleague of mine described entering the principalship as taking on an entirely new profession. This is very true in many ways. For example, no longer are you beholden to the almighty school schedule. For the most part, I am able to allocate time that I feel best benefits my students and aligns with my building’s goals.

I started to feel the urge to venture out into new territory in the latter part of my teaching career. I was very happy in the classroom, don’t get me wrong.  At the same time I saw the opportunity to become a building administrator as a way to make a positive impact on student learning in a broader sense.  I am able to be a part of more learning endeavors and participate in the entire school experience with everyone in the building.

For current principals, what would you add to this list? For prospective principals, how are you learning more about this great profession? Please share in the comments.

Time to Breathe

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Yesterday I wrote about a writing activity I have used with staff called List, Jot, Write Long. It helped us think about our beliefs about instruction, and move toward developing individual and team goals. This morning, I actually presented this information to my teachers during our all staff gathering. Here was the agenda:

I felt like I was as prepared as I could be. Or so I thought. I shared visual samples of what the Individual Professional Development Plan could look like. An example of a SMART goal was distributed as well as presented on the whiteboard. We confirmed the due date for these goals to be submitted to me (within a month).

As one might guess, the problem I ran into was changing too much at one time. I threw two new things at them today: 1) Connect your individual goals to a team goal, and 2) Do it in the context of a professional learning community. Expecting staff to make two shifts at one time is not realistic, especially when we have state assessments and other initiatives breathing down our backs.

If I think back to my days as a teacher, I knew not to differentiate more than one piece of my instruction. Otherwise I would potentially lose my students due to too many choices and lack of focus (Content + Process = Product). For example, I could differentiate the process I used to present the content through visual, auditory and kinesthetic means, but that meant my content and product needed to stay the same.

So why didn’t I follow what I knew to be best instruction? Maybe I am also feeling the pressure of getting information delivered without a lot of time and resources. Nevertheless, as I came back from our staff gathering I reflected on how it could have been better. I touched base with a few teachers and asked, “What are your thoughts after today?” The general consensus was that it was good information and they understood what is expected of them. It was just a matter of finding time to look over all the materials.

I appreciate that my staff is so honest with me. It shows that we have a good level of trust, that they know I am looking out for their best interests and vice versa. Around the same time, the former principal at my school stopped by to drop off some documents. Always willing to lend an ear, he listened to my concerns about all this information being delivered to staff without enough time to truly integrate it with integrity. His response: Give them more time.

Brilliant! And why didn’t I think of that? Maybe because I was too mired in the conflict itself and needed another perspective. At any rate, I developed a plan that extended the due dates as well as bring in subs to give grade level teams substantial time to collaborate. When I sent out the new plan, staff responded immediately with “Thank you!” and “I appreciate you understanding”.  The fact that my teachers didn’t say much until I asked them speaks volumes about their character and their willingness to follow their principal into new territory despite their uncertainties.

I think any public educator can make the claim that we are being inundated with initiatives like we have never seen before. I don’t believe this to be hyberbole; has their ever been a time before the present when standards (CCSS), teacher evaluations (value-added) and instruction (RtI) are all being overhauled at the same time? We as leaders need to recognize this, for our staff and ourselves, before leading change. All of these initiatives are truly secondary to the energy and well-being of the educators who work with our students every day. In spite of whatever comes our way, we need to build in time to breathe so we don’t become overwhelmed or forget why we entered this profession in the first place.