LEADING THROUGH LISTENING

 There is no doubt that the pandemic has had some kind of effect on everyone and every group. However, it can be argued that the Class of 2022 has been impacted more than any group of students during their high school experience. Yes, their ninth-grade year was what we would consider a traditional school year for these students, but is ninth grade really a normal year for kids? First-year of high school, new places, new people, new opportunities. There is not much about a kid's first year of high school that feels normal and simple. Then, for this group of students, little did anyone know that the next 3 years of their high school experience would be impacted in some way due to the pandemic. This group of students has had to spend the rest of their high school lives adapting, adjusting, and showing real-life skills that many adults are still trying to figure out. Between the sudden switch to remote learning that had never been done by any secondary school on a large scale basis bef

If I had a nickel for every time I have had a conversation post-COVID where somehow the topic of common sense arose, I may have been able to retire and pay off college loans before the age of 30. It feels as if everywhere you turn, people are talking about a general lack of common sense existing in our society today. Common sense has always been tricky because it can mean something different to different people, but still, one should expect that there are general guidelines in society that you would hope we all learned throughout the course of growing up. The more this topic comes up, the more I reflect on it and then watch people's actions. Lately, I've begun to wonder, is it common sense that we have wandered off the path or is it common DECENCY? You can say that they are one and the same, but not totally. For example, not touching a hot stove burner or putting a paper clip in an outlet is common sense, but not common decency. However, holding the door for a stranger at the s

This week I have decided to recycle an oldie but a goodie post and dedicate my blog to the game that I love and hate the most, golf!! Thanks to a recent outing with a colleague, I got my game into the best shape it's been in for years AND got this awesome idea for a blog post. While we spent the afternoon laughing, high-fiving for good shots, and talking to ourselves after poor shots, there was one constant about the game: Regardless of a good shot or bad shot, the mumbling was always, "Don't overthink it!" Almost everyone knows that sports, especially golf, are mentally grueling and the more you think while playing usually the worse the outcome. So why do we continue to overthink things? Is education any different right now in this time of uncertainty and change? Maybe, just maybe the adults don't always have the perfect answer because we overthink it, but collaboratively with our students, I know the right answers will be found. More than ever, our students have