LEADING THROUGH LISTENING

Not only does the month of May signify the home stretch for those of us in education, it signifies the most stress filled time for our high school students. The SAT exam is coming up followed closely by the ever demanding Advanced Placement (AP) exams and final exams. More than ever our high school students are expected to be completing college level and AP courses prior to leaving high school and for some, the burden may become Advanced Pressure more so than Advanced Placement. During this time of testing for our students who we generally may classify as strong, bright, mature, and yes, advanced; we may forget that they are still kids just like everyone else. They may be a tad more intelligent than the average student on a bell curve, but they are only 17 or so and have all of the worries and stresses that come with being a teenager. As educators and leaders, we need to keep this in mind through the coming weeks and help our students not only prepare, but manage the stresses of th...

'Tis the season where students and staff alike enjoy a nice night out, maybe a nice dinner, and an evening of sharing laughs and smiles dancing. This is also the season where our traditional model of schooling has forever promoted the "cool" and "not cool" groups in our schools. Recently, our school had the opportunity to listen to former NFL and Syracuse University quarterback Don McPherson speak of this topic. The concept that our schools have a box of popularity and that if we don't fit into that box, or that perception, then we are an outcast. I would like to take this opportunity to promote the concept of togetherness and support for all members of our communities. Each of us has a story to tell, none of us have anyone that knows 100% of our story. Too often we make judgments of others based on their appearance, maybe past history, or worse yet a rumor. While we have made great strides in public schools to reduce bullying, it still occurs and it sti...

 I often wonder why it is that people are afraid of failure? Beyond that, educators in general seem to be so afraid of failure. Almost every educator recognizes when something doesn't make sense and needs to be changed, but are reluctant to try something different because what if it doesn't work? That would make us failures!! In conjunction with that, every educated and worldly adult knows that we have learned life's lessons through failure. By making mistakes and not giving up. So I ask the question, is failure final? Well, I would argue that clearly in life it is not. We are able to make mistakes and are provided opportunities to correct our mistakes, learn from them, and move on with life. Often times, the feeling of success that accompanies our learning experiences and/or corrected mistakes is a rejuvenation of life in general. In education, failure has long meant that we are not good enough. Most educators never struggled with school and may not realize what it mea...

Welcome to this first blog post as I venture out into a new world of social media! Needless to say, this is somewhat stressful as it is a new experience. Ironically, as I put the page together I found myself asking, "WHY has it taken me so long to make this leap?" Then I thought, WHY are human beings, and more specifically those of us in education, afraid of asking WHY? As teachers, we ask our students WHY all the time. It's second nature to ask a student to explain their thoughts and push their thinking to go deeper. However as colleagues, we often view the word WHY as an attempt to weaken our sense of being. When we question WHY certain practices exist, WHY policies are enacted the way they are enacted, and WHY decisions were made, the word has almost universally a negative connotation. If it is okay for us to question our students in this manner for the pure sake of understanding the students' thought better, why as colleagues can we not do the same. After all,...