… true power in classroom teaching and school leadership comes from recognizing that power is cultivated when shared. Relationships in our schools are often defined by who is in charge. The majority of people observing a typical classroom setting would likely conclude that a teacher is in charge. The majority of people walking into a…
Category: Teacher
Teach and Serve | Vol. 9, No. 10 | Fight the System | August 30, 2023
Because we typically trust the people with whom we have created said systems, we have trust in the systems themselves. Because we often venerate those who came before us in our institutions, we tend to venerate the systems they created right along with them. We sometimes talk about “human systems” – the architecture of people…
Teach and Serve | Vol. 9, No. 3 | Painting | August 23, 2023
The work of an educator is wonderful, to be sure, but it can feel Sisyphean. I have been a high school teacher and administrator for over three decades. Before I was an administrator and my responsibilities required me to work during the summers, I would always find a temporary position with the school to make…
Teach and Serve | Vol. 9, No. 2 | I am a Teacher | August 16, 2023
The names of those who have practiced my profession ring like a hall of fame for humanity – Clara Barton, Booker T. Washington, Buddha, Confucius, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Anne Sullivan, Moses, Saint Mother Teresa and Jesus. I have presented this poem many times, but the beginning of the school year cries out for its repetition….
Teach and Serve | Vol. 9, No. 1 | Soundtrack + Star Trek | August, 9, 2023
As I thought about this week’s Teach and Serve, the music I was considering for the soundtrack of this year was pushed from my mind as recent music filled my ears and my heart: the music from, perhaps you guessed it, a Star Trek episode. I have been a Star Trek fan for almost as…
The Vault, No. 23 | You Changed My Life
The Vault presents prior posts from Teach & Serve. You Changed My Life Mid-May in schools is rife with many emotions. Teachers and administrators are ready to bid the year farewell and to get to summer vacation. Mid-May brings with it the promise that an opportunity for rest and recharging is not far away. Certainly…
The Vault, No. 22 | You Can Succeed
The Vault presents prior posts from Teach & Serve. You Can Succeed Any way we look at the calendar, we must inevitably reach one conclusion: things are winding down on the school year. It is a time of anticipation. A break is coming. We can almost taste it. But it can be a time of…
The Vault, No. 21 | Dissenting Opinions
The Vault presents prior posts from Teach & Serve. Dissenting Opinions When decisions must be made, good leaders determine what to do based on each individual case, weighing the opinions of others as appropriate, considering precedent if necessary, proceeding confidently into each new area. Good leaders make decisions because decision making is part of the…
The Vault, No. 20 | Pride
The Vault presents prior posts from Teach & Serve. Pride Pride. Effective Leaders must have a healthy amount of pride and they must have a substantial ego to go along with it. One does not become a leader without a relatively robust opinion of oneself. The slings and arrows with which one inevitably contends means…
The Vault, No. 19 | Guys? And Other Difficult Adjustments
The Vault presents prior posts from Teach & Serve. Guys? And Other Difficult Adjustments I am a high school principal. My school’s website tells me so. This year, however, I have been so very happy to have been assigned two English classes (to be fair, I asked, cajoled, demanded to be assigned them). Long before…