LEADING THROUGH LISTENING

I love that quote, "When the going gets tough, QUIT!!" Unfortunately, for many individuals in our society this quote has become the reality for many reasons. In our schools, students are quick to give up on anything from small tasks, to athletic teams, to friendships because the challenge is greater than expected. Life is full of challenges as all adults know, but adults also have experienced the benefit of perseverance and survival. Our students have not all had the privilege to experience this joy and satisfaction yet. However, for some students they haven't experienced this because throughout their whole life they have been told that they can't succeed, or at least that is the perceived message that they are receiving. No educator would like to see children be unsuccessful, but at the same time many educators don't stop to think of the unintended consequences of our habitual language. I personally have never been one to go down the path most traveled. In fa...

'Tis the season where madness abounds!! We are crazed about college basketball, Spring is springing, snow day giveback days, our days are longer and our longest continuous stretch of school weeks without a vacation is in full swing. The reasons for anyone to go crazy at this time of year is bountiful. Throughout school, you can sense the tension increasing as we worry about time running out, state assessments on the horizon, AP exams coming in a few short weeks, and the biggest burden for many, graduation. For many of our seniors, the reality that their public education is coming to an end is becoming real. Also, for some of those young adults, the fear of the unknown and/or not knowing what they are doing after high school is even more frightening. These children, for the first time in their lives, will lose one of the greatest support systems and constants that we have to offer; the fear is real. From all of the craziness we develop stress. Our kids are stressed, parents are ...

One of the things that frustrates me most about human nature is the ability to get "stuck in a rut". By nature we are creatures of routine, comfort, and path of least resistance. However, as I reflect on my life (and I'm the sure this is the same for many), I have learned the most through moments of failure. Taking a chance on myself to attempt something that I never thought possible, or having a trusted adult encouraging me to take a leap into a world that was scary and foreign. The risk at leaving your comfort zone is tremendous. What if you fail? What if it exposes you to emotional lows? What if people laugh? What if ....? What if you SUCCEED!! In every experience there is success. Failure is always a sign of success because failure means you tried. Without trying, you can not fail. Without failure you can not grow. Without growing you can not LEARN!! Some will argue that learning can occur without failure. Perhaps this is true, but more often than not we never ge...

Almost on a daily basis, I come across situations where I find myself wondering if the people involved in the situation truly can't understand more than one perspective. One of the hot topics in education today is the concept of bias and social justice. Taking social justice out of the conversation, for today, bias is simply put the viewpoints that one holds regarding others or other things. We all have them and some are worse than others. For instance, I am bias toward Titleist ProV-1 #8 golf balls. I am convinced that is the only golf ball that I can play well with and no one can tell me different. Okay, that example is a little out there but they exist. In our schools, philosophy on homework, grades, discipline, and much more are all subject to our biases. The nice thing about bias is that we are able to admit and recognize that they exist which means that we can have growth producing conversations about those topics. The problem with bias is when ignorance enters the picture....