Visiting Students

It's about the time of year when graduated students visit the school. Either they are on spring break from college or they've been away long enough to miss their favorite teachers. I'll admit that while I enjoy seeing them, I sometimes think of it as a disruption when they move from teacher to teacher to say hello. Despite that, I see the smiles on their faces and on the faces of their favorite teachers, and I usually give in. That connection is something that they are proud of and maybe in some small way, they are saying thanks or enjoying showing us what they are becoming. No matter what they did or didn't do when they were with us, most do grow up into adults and contribute in some way to the world.

Then there are the other ones. The ones that lose touch or had a bad experience with school. Maybe they hated high school and were truly happy to leave. I think I can understand that over the fear I have that maybe they are not proud of what they are doing or they are ashamed of where they are. This week I learned that an old friend of mine from high school died in a drug overdose. I hadn't seen or spoken to him in years but I did keep up with his younger brother because I had coached him. Part of me had to wonder where the difference in these brothers occurred. Was their relationship with someone that wanted better for them, or lack thereof, a contributing factor in how their lives turned out? The younger brother is now a teacher and coach. He still sends me questions about drills or workouts that he does with his team. It hurt to hear the pain in his voice this week at the loss of his brother, but I was happy that I could be on the other end of the phone to check on him.

Teachers wear a lot of hats, and this week has taught me that even when your students leave you, you still play a role in their lives. They know that you expected the best from them. Some never stop trying to work for your praise and acceptance. Others need you for guidance in their lives more than they needed your lessons. Thanks to all of you that stick with students well after they are gone and well after your paycheck obligated you to give them your time and attention. In some small way, you could be saving their lives.

My Heater

Disclaimer: As I write this week's blog, I need you to know that I woke up at 1:30 am to a cold house for the third time this week. My rambling/ranting may be exceptional this week, but I promise it leads somewhere. Stick with me. 

I moved to Greene County a little over four years ago. I liked the community and despite warnings that I would soon become a topic of the typical small-town gossip, I joined up to live in the place where I work. Erika and I found a great home that had been completely remodeled and after owning a 110-year-old house before, that appealed to me. New paint, new appliances, and a brand new heat and air unit. Four years later, I still think it was a good decision. My girls have friends here and I'm close to the school. The one bad thing has been my heating unit.

Every winter that I have lived in the house, the heater has failed in some way. Losing your heat usually happens when it's inconvenient. You had plans and it disrupts them. You worry about the cost or how it will impact your family and for me, it makes me sleep even less than I already do. Luckily, the cost hasn't been awful (yet). Most of the parts are under warranty and I'm just stuck paying labor for some guy to put it in. In the past, I've used the same company that installed the unit. They've been fairly responsive and understanding that I've grown increasingly perturbed. In three years, it continues to do the same thing, so I decided this winter to switch up and use the company that worked on one at my old house. Over the past 4-5 weeks, they have tried a lot of things.  I had to pay for a part that was out of warranty (a $500 bill) and when that still didn't solve the problem, I lost my patience with this thing. The repair guy has been honest that he cannot detect the true source of the problem and is just going to have to keep replacing a part at a time until we find it.

This heater reminds me of that one kid that struggles to behave, distracts others, demands attention but shows you just enough promise that you keep working with him. You make it through the semester after lots of calls to parents, conversations with him in the hall and referrals to administrators. Then next year he winds up right back on your roster again. Imagine that. Then imagine he was on your roster EVERY year of high school.

What that student and my heater have in common relates to the difference between being efficient and being effective. Being efficient means being good at doing something. When my heater works, it is efficient. When the repair guy replaces parts, he is efficient. When we stick to using strategies with that troubled kid, we are efficient teachers. What all of those have in common, however, is that none of them, in this case, are effective.

Note: It's 6:54 am and my heat just randomly cut back on. I hope to never repeat the string of profanity that erupted from my mouth. I'm fairly confident that I made up new curse words.

Being effective means doing what's important, not just what you're good at doing. Despite their efficiency, no one has been effective at taking the time to determine the true problem with my heater. And despite my consistency, I wasn't always effective at getting through to students that had issues in the classroom. To be effective, you have to take a step back and evaluate the problem differently. You can't just do what you've done over and over because it's all you know to do. Effective teaching requires hard reflection on your practice and changing it when it suits students, not you.

So the moral to the story is this: To be an effective teacher, don't be like my heater. You can't break down every year. You can't just mend things along the way and hope that it fixes you or your students. And you can't be effective until you can take a step back and identify the source of the issue.

Question: Does anyone know if it's an auto insurance claim or a homeowners insurance claim if you use your truck to run over your heating unit? Asking for a friend...

No Place Like Home

With this year's basketball season coming to an end at the Eastern Regional championships last week, I took some time to reflect on the impact of players, coaches, the school and the community during my time as principal at Greene Central. While many were disappointed that we did not emerge with a state championship, it's important to look on the impact students and teachers have had on our school and community through a game. Six years ago, the games were sparsely attended. Some of the regular attendees came just to heckle our players and coaches. I was determined to work on building a more positive atmosphere, but I quickly learned that those cultural aspects had to be taught. I remember putting up the Ram Pen sign to develop a student section and having to show YouTube videos of students at other high schools to our fans. We also focused on promoting the players and coaches doing good things in the community, especially in the elementary schools of Greene County. It was a full-fledged PR campaign designed to change the culture of the school and its outlook in the community. 

A year later we inherited a freshman class with Imajae Dodd, Donte Johnson, and Hysaan Hudson. These young men would grow to become key players on the court and in the change process. Their success helped make Greene Central basketball known throughout the state, but it also started putting fans in the stands cheering and supporting our boys. Students and adults stood in lines and moved their schedules to see them play and those elementary students looked to them as heroes. The tide had changed. 

Over the next few years, there would be people and events that would look to pull some of these young men away. A family issue caused Hudson to move for a short time, only to return home to the support that he needed. Dodd would be sought out at larger schools for more exposure, but ultimately, he felt that he belonged as a Ram. This year, the return to Greene County of our new head coach, Blue Edwards, cemented the idea that there's no place like home. In an era where high school students transfer schools, falsify addresses and even have parents give up custody of them to selfishly build a championship team, this home-grown group gave a community of blue-collar workers something to be proud of. 

It's about more than putting fans in the bleachers. It's about community support. It was at basketball games that I met graduates of Greene Central that had returned to the community and looked to offer something back. I met Greene Central's first African-American graduate, former NFL players, and Grammy nominees. All of these people remarked at how great it was to see the community rally around the school and how they wished it was that way when they were students. What was built on the maple floors of that small gym won't be broken. The culture has changed so much outside of those cinder block walls. And no matter where our students go, I hope that they get the chance to return one day to remember that there really is no place like home. 

Reading to Kids

Amidst a very full week, I had the opportunity to go read to a couple of classes at Greene County's Pre-K Center on Wednesday. This is Read Across America week and in all of the elementary schools in our district, you could see doors and hallways decorated with Dr. Suess themes. Our students also visited several schools to read and in every picture that I saw, the younger students were captivated.

The book that I read was about a little girl that wanted to be a scientist. So naturally, after the story was over, I asked everyone what they wanted to be when they grew up. I got a lot of great answers! Everything from a police officer, to a cowboy and an engineer. Every student was SO excited to tell me, and in typical four-year-old fashion, they were sometimes too excited to even get the words out. On my way back to school I had to stop and wonder where that passion had gone. High schoolers are not nearly as excited to tell you what they want to do with the rest of their lives. They work at it in their classes and talk about it with their counselors, but they don't tend to show the same passion for it that a Pre-K student does.

In the era of high-stakes testing, college debts of almost $100,000 and so much emphasis on competition for resources, have we forgotten to focus on fostering passion? In Angela Duckworth's book, Grit, she dedicates an entire chapter to passion. Passion for one's goals plus perseverance leads to success. I think somehow we missed that first part along the way. Please remember to take time to learn about what your students' goals are and help foster that passion. We will rely on these young people to be our police officers, engineers and maybe even a cowboy or two.

I'm Not Good at Everything

Sitting with the accreditation team last Friday, it was abundantly clear that I'm not good at everything. Some of their suggestions for improvement were made clear that they were my failure to implement. When you hear criticism like that, it's hard not to take it personally. Like anyone, I replayed the conversation over and over in my head. Self-doubt and thoughts of what I could have said (but probably shouldn't have) ran through my brain all weekend and into this week. It wasn't until I was giving some advice to a teacher, that I realized that there are just some things that I'm not good at, and that's ok. I chuckled in my head all week as I started to compile a list of Things I'm Not Good At Doing, here are some of my favorites.

I'm not good at letting things go
Maybe it's my Irish blood, but I feel like I have to fight things. Even when they are small and relatively pointless. The fake news about NC changing student grading scales this week brought that out in me. I just couldn't keep myself from trying to correct every human I came into contact with.

I'm not good at remembering meetings or events.
Many of you know this, especially if you didn't email me a reminder. If it doesn't go on my calendar, it's almost certain that I'll miss it. Even if it does, there's a good chance I'll get distracted. I almost always try to get people to remind me if I know it's important.

I don't treat my children like my students
I have much less patience with my own children than I do for students in the school. Maybe I take my long day out on them, or maybe my expectation is much higher for them. Either way, I catch myself being short with them too often.

I hate fruit
I know that it's good for me, but I really can't stand it. Except for apples, but don't cook those. At times I have exercised and eaten healthy to improve my health, but I just can't bring myself to eat fruit.

I don't sleep enough
I never have really. I sit up at night and over process things in my head. While I normally get 6 hours of sleep, there are days every week that I only get 3. Those days usually compound the effect of the other things that I'm not good at doing.

So here's the thing...I don't have to be good at everything. And neither do you. We are all human and we have different skills and abilities. None of us teach the exact same way. We have good days and bad days. But as long as we work toward improvement and we support one another, we almost always negate each other's deficits. Luckily, I work with some pretty awesome people. They remind me to let some things go. They help me get where I'm supposed to be. They say things that make me proud of my girls. And they remind me to take care of myself when they see me struggling.

Remember, this job is tough and at times, it can take a lot out of you. Take care of yourself and take care of one another. You don't have to be good at everything. You just have to be good for each other.