Teach & Serve II, No. 15 – Principle or Principal November 16, 2016 Excellent principals know when not to be principal When I was a kid (and I am sure I am not alone here), the spelling of “principal” was taught to me this way: “The principal is your ‘pal.’ That’s why when you spell the…
Tag: Teaching Topic
Teach & Serve II, No. 14 – Negative/Positive
Teach & Serve II, No. 14 – Negative/Positive November 9, 2016 Part of leadership is to put the positive in perspective while confronting the negative and sorting through it for truth. A good friend of mine said something very interesting to me a few weeks back: “The negative opinion can seem to be the more informed…
Teach & Serve II, No. 13 – Have a Mission
Teach & Serve II, No. 13 – Have a Mission November 2, 2016 There’s a good question for the day: why are you in education? Let’s bracket something we (hopefully!) know: our jobs working with students, their families, our colleagues and fellow teachers in education are really wonderful. We are lucky to have them; blessed to…
Teach & Serve II, No. 12 – Don’t Shut the Door on the Library
Teach & Serve II, No. 12 – Don’t Shut the Door on the Library October 26, 2016 My concern is … simple: will people develop a love of reading without the physicality of the activity and without its accompanying shrines? I am so proud of my sister. She has been a children’s librarian for almost…
Teach & Serve II, No. 11 – Failure Is an Option
Teach & Serve II, No. 11 – Failure Is an Option October 19, 2016 Failure, under the right circumstances, is good for us and good for our students. Apollo 13 is a wonderful movie. It has everything I love in film. It’s beautifully directed by Ron Howard, has a great cast featuring Tom Hanks, Gary Sinese, the Oscar…
Teach & Serve II, No. 10 – Leaders Should Hold Themselves to the Highest Standards
Teach & Serve II, No. 10 – Leaders Should Hold Themselves to the Highest Standards October 12, 2016 … we don’t meet these standards because we are being watched. We meet them because we know that meeting them makes us better leaders, more integrated leaders, more authentic leaders. I, like many, am fatigued by our current…
Teach & Serve II, No. 9 – You Don’t Get to Choose When the Crisis Hits
Teach & Serve II, No. 9 – You Don’t Get to Choose When the Crisis Hits October 5, 2016 As teachers and administrators we exist to do many things, one of those things is to provide stability in the face of crisis. I read comic books. I’ve read them since I was in the first grade and,…
Teach & Serve II, No. 8 – I Hope Our Students Are Better
Teach & Serve II, No. 8 – I Hope Our Students Are Better September 28, 2016 … the idea that somehow being less is really being more is dangerous. I do not understand. I do not understand the how or the when. How did it become a good thing to be less informed, less inquisitive, less prepared?…
Teach & Serve II, No. 7 – Don’t Waste a Good Laugh Being Too Professional
Teach & Serve II, No. 7 – Don’t Waste a Good Laugh Being Too Professional September 21, 2016 … how often are we wound tightly by the seriousness of our work? How often are we so taken with the gravity of the job that we forget to smile? How often, each and every day, do we…
Teach & Serve II, No. 6 – Right Place at the Right Time
Teach & Serve II, No. 6 – Right Place at the Right Time September 14, 2016 I just don’t know what having a 3.75 or a 4.00 does for you? Will it potentially get you into a better school? Sure it will. Potentially. Will it get you a scholarship? Same answer. Potentially. Should you work hard because,…