The Power of Words

I have recently read two articles that both reinforce the true power of the words spoken (or written) to a child and how even years later they can make a lasting impression on a person's life. Our superintendent sent us an article entitled, "From Jail to Harvard: Why Teachers Change the World" by Dr. Adam Saenz, who is a former student in our school district. In this article, Saenz shares that he had many odds against him and his success as a student, but in his darkest days he found two letters from former teachers that encouraged him and made him believe in himself. They spoke of his intelligence, wisdom, and good heart which led him to begin his college career which ended up with a PhD at Harvard University.
The other article was from the perspective of a parent, written by Kylene Beers when her daughter started Kindergarten and oh how she loved her Kindergarten teacher because of her loving ways and kind words; almost to the point where Kylene felt she had been replaced.
Ironically, the pastor of my church began a series this past Sunday on "Power Lines" in the Bible in which a simple line or phrase can make such an impact on someone's life. I bet we can all recall something that was said to us as a child that made us feel so proud or good about ourselves. In the same token, unfortunately many of us can remember something that was said to us as a child that hurt us to our core and we will never forget it.
What does this say to us as educators? Choose your words wisely... you never know whose life you might change! We must always think to ourselves, "Would I want someone to say that to my child?"

(If you would like to read the two articles listed above, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-saenz/from-jail-to-harvard-why-_b_1747252.html
and http://kylenebeers.com/blog/2012/08/20/why-i-hated-merediths-first-grade-teacher-an-open-letter-to-americas-teachers/)

I am the Variable!

I am currently reading What Great Principals Do Differently by Todd Whitaker. I highly recommmend this book to all principals, assistant principals, or aspiring principals! As I was reading on the airplane coming from beautiful Jackson Hole, Wyoming, I had a true revelation! Chapter 4 of the book is entitled, "Who is the Variable?" Of course Whitaker acknowledges that the variable for success in the classroom is the teacher, but he goes on to say that "effective principals viewed themselves as responsible for all aspects of their school". He goes on to state that "they believed they were responsible for making their school the best it could be". What a tremendous responsibility for school leaders! As human beings it comes naturally to place the blame on someone else. However, Whitaker challenges all stakeholders in the school setting to take a look in the mirror and ask ourselves, "Who is the variable?" in order to make significant gains in student achievement and to provide a positive, nurturing climate for not only our students, but everyone who works in and enters the building. Not only should we all have high expectations for our students, but we should have even higher expectations for ourselves. My hope for this upcoming school year is that my staff and I continue to look in the mirror and tell ourselves that we are the variable and we want nothing but the best for our students!

Reflection

One of the things I love about being in my building by myself in the summer is that it gives me an opportunity to reflect on the previous school year and begin to focus on goals and priorities for the coming year. As I pulled out my team leader notes from last summer's meeting, I began to reflect on goals we set for ourselves and the progress made toward achieving them. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in myself that we didn't follow through on some of the things we set out to do to the extent that I had hoped. I then asked myself, "why"? Of course when human nature kicked in I began to place blame on some of the people I had "delegated" responsibility to in order to accomplish these goals. Then, when common sense and reality kicked in, it hit me like a brick wall that I am the leader on this campus. If goals were not achieved or carried through to the extent we intended, it is ultimately my responsibility! I did not do my part in follow through and perhaps did not make my intentions and expectations clear to all stakeholders in order to make these goals a priority.
It's time to ask myself the question, "What then, will I do differently in 2012-2013 to empower the people in my school to make great things happen for kids?" The first thing that comes to mind is to lead by example. If I expect my teachers and students to be lifelong learners, I must set the example and seek opportunities for professional growth consistently throughout the year. The second way is to complete "formative assessments" throughout the year. Just as teachers are expected to have checkpoints throughout a unit of study, if I have delegated responsibility to someone on my campus to take the lead, I must continuously assess the level of implementation and provide timely feedback. The third strategy is to provide my staff with the tools they need for implementation. One of the goals we established for last year was to implement opportunities for students to bring their own electronic devices to school to enhance the integration of technology in our classrooms. There were very small pockets of implementation, and as I reflect on why more teachers did not embrace this concept it dawns on me that we did not provide enough support. This is such a new concept for many of us who are digital immigrants and did not grow up with technology at our finger tips. Teachers need to be exposed to a variety of ideas for ways to implement this kind of technology in a valuable, meaningful way.
Time during the school year is such a commodity and does not often allow me this kind of time for reflection. (As you can see, my last post was September of 2011!) However, I intend to make time for self-reflection, professional growth, on-going assessments of implementation, and looking for ways to empower my teachers in 2012-2013!