(L) 1994 (R) 2018 24 | January | 2019 Intellectually, I have known that part of the work of being a principal is being very, very flexible. Typically I frame that concept as being ready to change my schedule or my plan as needs dictate but I often think about it in those parameters:…
Tag: Teaching Topic
A Journal of the First Year | Eleven
(L) 1994 (R) 2018 It is my intention to share some reflections on the highs, the lows, the excitement, the routine, the successes, the failures and everything in between which I experience the course of the next 10 – 12 months, my first months as a full-time principal of a high school. Writing this journal…
Teach & Serve IV, No. 11 | Lane Eight
Teach & Serve IV, No. 11 Lane Eight October 17, 2018 Know their hopes and their fears. Know their weakness and their strengths. Know who they are and what they do. I was blessed to work with a talented administrator and friend for 20 years. He was the Dean of Students (the man in charge…
Teach & Serve III, No. 38 – The Competency Trap
Teach & Serve III, No. 38 – The Competency Trap May 2, 2018 At a minimum, professionals want to be regarded as at least competent in what they do, right? However, doing well in tasks that we do not desire, especially in roles we do not want to perpetually have, creates the conditions for the…
Teach & Serve III, No. 20 – TRANSPARENCY #oneword2018
Teach & Serve III, No. 21 – TRANSPARENCY #oneword2018 January 3, 2018 Leaders who operate from a perspective of transparency take the guesswork out of followership and take the guess work out of who they are… It is easy to know who a transparent leader is. She is not hiding anything. I love the concept of…
Teach & Serve III, No. 10 – Proceed with Caution
Teach & Serve III, No. 10 Proceed with Caution October 11, 2017 While I may believe I never treated a student in the manner this student described, she/he felt treated negatively by me, felt I did not care, felt I was a negative force and a bad teacher. This is a hard one. I was…
Teach & Serve III, No. 9 – Who’s in Trouble?
Teach & Serve III, No. 9 Who’s in Trouble? October 4, 2017 Give me leaders who understand this, leaders who know that the buck (and everything else) does stop with them. Give me leaders who say: “I get it. I will take it.” In my years as an administrator, one of the teams on which…
Teach & Serve III, No. 7 – Intimidation
Teach & Serve III, No. 7 Intimidation September 20, 2017 I do not want to follow a leader who thinks that the best way to engender loyalty is to intimidate those being led. And I won’t. I have written about this anecdote before, but I had cause to consider it anew this week. When I…
Teach & Serve III, No. 5 – Embrace the Expectations of Leadership
Teach & Serve III, No. 5 Embrace the Expectations of Leadership September 6, 2017 Give me leaders who understand this, leaders who know that the buck (and everything else) does stop with them. Give me leaders who say: “I get it. I will take it.” Let us begin this blog with a statement which, I…
Teach & Serve III, No. 4 – Optimism Can Be a Choice… and It Should Be
Teach & Serve III, No. 4 Optimism Can Be a Choice… and It Should Be August 30, 2017 Our work is with kids. Our work is for the future. What could be better – or inspire more optimism – than that? We work with kids. Let us never forget that we work with kids….