It's that time of the year again...

Every year it happens...

Every educator knows what it feels like...

Every student knows what it feels like...

Sometimes it's really hard to avoid...

It's so easy to do...

But as we all know, what's easy usually isn't what's best...

Summer is fast approaching and you can feel it as soon as you walk into any school across the globe. Educators have given it all they got and are ready for a much needed breathier and recharge. Students have pushed themselves academically and have grown more than they will ever know, but they too are ready and in need of a summer recharge. Summer is fast approaching...

It's simple if you ask me, and by simple I mean extremely difficult. But, in the face of difficulty we have the choice to persevere, or the choice to be overcome. The weather is turning warmer and the days are growing longer, and as it becomes more and more difficult to concentrate and stay focused, we are faced with our biggest challenge yet... the last few weeks before school lets out for summer.

It's this time of the year when great things are possible in classrooms all across the world. Most standardized testing is over, and now we have time to take risks and try new things in our classrooms that we have wanted to try all year but just never hard time to fit in. We now have the time to go more in depth with a topic we are really passionate about. More importantly, we now have just a short amount of time left to work with students most of us will never see again. The window of opportunity is closing quickly, and if you are not careful, that window will close before you know it.

Challenge...

I challenge you to dig deep and find the remaining fortitude and determination to push on and finish this year stronger than you started. I challenge you to make a connection with a student you have been unable to connect with all year long. I challenge you to try something new in your class or experiment with a different approach in an effort to learn and grow. I challenge you to do what so many struggle to do, and that's to end the year with higher expectations for both yourself and your students.

Remember, you only have a few weeks left, and it's during these next few weeks you will solidify what your students think of you as an educator. It is during the last few weeks of school that the great educators separate themselves from the good educators...

   

My thoughts on school leadership...

As a first year administrator I have had the opportunity to grow tremendously as a professional over the course of the school year. Despite all the learning, I believe there are many things going well at PBJHS, but we will always have room for continued growth and improvement.

Most recently, I have been afforded the opportunity to assume the role of principal for the 2012-2013 school year at PBJHS. I have both graciously and humbly accepted this opportunity, and I look forward to continued success and growth in the years to come.

As I begin the transition from assistant principal to principal, I am already seeing how the roles differ greatly. Furthermore, my interest in leadership has always been there, but I am even more intrigued as a result of these recent changes. By no means do I consider myself to be a proven or reputable voice on leadership, but I do have some observations and thoughts on the topic...

- sometimes the easiest and most straight forward decision becomes the most difficult and controversial in the blink of an eye...

- if your goal is to keep everyone happy and comfortable, you should plan on not getting much accomplished; progress and growth will require pulling and tugging... 

- you are surrounded by people with many strengths and viable attributes; help to create an environment where they can excel and share their strengths with others...

- there is a very fine line between helping and being supportive, and enabling and creating a group of people who are dependent upon others to get anything done; tread this line carefully...

- what you say is fine and dandy, but what you do is all that really matters...

- if you want to prevent and destroy any hope of having positive morale, you will have lots of meetings where nothing really gets accomplished... you will probably also have meetings about future meetings.

- making yourself available is a double edged sword... the more available you are, the easier you are to reach, which is both good and bad. Being available and visible are parts of leadership, and being available will always far outweigh not being available...

- if you don't appreciate and recognize the contributions of others, you will eventually fail, and you will most certainly never become a great leader...

- leadership will always be centered around relationships, and those that are able to master the relationships piece will be best positioned to be great leaders...

- leadership is about commitment, perseverance, self-reflection, and trust; commit yourself to doing whatever it takes, and trust yourself and others to be self-reflective learners who are always looking to grow...   


I am excited for the upcoming school year, and I am very optimistic about what we can continue doing for kids at PBJHS. What are your thoughts on school leadership? What am I missing on this list? What is a "must" for all school leaders?

Shifting the Monkey...

I just recently finished reading Todd Whitaker's newest book, "Shifting the Monkey: The art of protecting good people from liars, criers, and other slackers." For the record, I am a big fan of Todd and his work. He is also a pretty big deal on Twitter; he can be followed at @toddwhitaker.

This book is a quick read with a lot of practical and relevant advice for anyone in a leadership/management position. I also see great value in reading this book for anyone who works with other people both in your professional and/or personal lives.

The monkeys that Todd refers to in this book are referring to responsibilities and duties. The more monkeys you have, the more responsibilities and duties you have, and as such it's extremely important to keep track of how many monkeys you have, as well as how many monkeys you may be passing along to others...

As a leader or manager you are bound to work with a few employees who are more than willing to share their monkeys with you. Todd argues that when a leader or manager allows weak and under performing employees to "pass off" their monkeys, they will eventually become inundated with the responsibilities of others, thus never being able to do what they were originally hired to do. Additionally, a leader needs to protect his/her best performing employees, who because of their willingness and helpful nature, can get overwhelmed and discouraged when weak employees are allowed to "pass" their monkeys and ultimately get away with doing less.

The business of sharing and shifting monkeys to the backs of others can be quite devastating to any team or organization, and as such the monkeys need to be put in their place!

Though Todd did a great job of addressing many of the questions I had as I read along, I still find the practice of "shifting the monkeys" to be much easier said than done.

I have and continue to struggle with the fine line of being helpful or being too naive and taking on the responsibilities of others. Todd says that you should be helpful, but when you sense that someone is taking advantage of you, it's time to make sure the monkeys stay where they belong. Furthermore, it's in everyone's best interest to make sure the monkeys are evenly distributed. Without an even distribution of monkeys, members of any organization will begin to feel resentment toward each other, and ultimately the wrong kind of competition will emerge.

In your school or organization, how are you ensuring that the monkeys stay where they need to stay? How are you being a supportive leader or manager while also not taking on too much to the point that you can't accomplish any of your own responsibilities?

Final thought: If you take on the monkeys of too many of your weak and under performing employees, you ultimately end up passing along YOUR monkeys to your strongest employees who will eventually feel resentment toward both you and those under performing employees...  or you will work 24/7 and forgo any kind of personal life...

Taking the next step...

At our most recent administrator meeting, we really were able to be honest and open about the direction of our school district. We spoke about educational theory and philosophy, but we also talked about how it could look on the ground floor. Though there is no specific theme in this blog post, I wanted to share some of the ideas discussed at this meeting, as well as some other ideas that have been floating around in my head...

- When talking about interventions to help our students, we must have the discussion about the types and kinds of work we are assigning our students. The best interventions in the world will never help if the work being assigned is of poor quality and little relevancy to students...

- When we consider change and new initiatives, there is value in finding middle ground before any kind of complete overhaul. Getting some change will always be better than getting no change and an entrenched staff reluctant to consider any kind of change ever again...

- Any school or team that is interested in progressing will need dialogue between all stakeholders.

- When educators focus on "winning" against students, we all end up losing. We should never want to defeat a student to teach the student a lesson or teach the student who is boss. Focus on building relationships that can endure setbacks and struggles... remember, we are the adults, and as such we should be above "winning."

- The school or district that can master enthusiasm, empathy, and energy will be the most successful. Enthusiasm is a direct result of high energy, and having high energy is exactly what we need in schools to make a positive and long-lasting difference. Empathy is the piece that connects and strengthens the bond we have with each other. Empathy should never be confused with weakness... 

- If a teacher can't tell a student or parent why the student has a particular letter grade, there is no point to having the grade. Even worse, if the teacher doesn't know why the kid has a particular grade, the student will definitely have no idea. "Your child is struggling with the concepts in math," is not an appropriate response to, "why is my child failing math class?" Grades and assessments should provide both specific and useful information that helps to continue the learning process, not bring it to a screeching halt... 

- When you continue to do the same thing over and over and expect something different to miraculously happen you are going to get frustrated. When you get frustrated you tend to do even more of the same thing, which will result in you trying to tighten the reins even more. At this rate you will eventually lose all control over whatever it was you were trying to control. Wouldn't it just be easier and more productive to change, evolve, or modify what you are doing...?

- If you aren't willing to share your ideas and success stories with others, then you are telling your colleagues you aren't interested in their success. If you aren't interested in their success, then you aren't interested in the success of your school or district. When you share you aren't giving anything away, in fact, when you share, you are creating value for yourself and for your colleagues. Is that really a bad thing...?

What have you been thinking about lately? What ideas and thoughts would you like to contribute to the conversation...?