The Start of Grit

This week we welcomed 900 students into our halls along with ten new staff members to greet them. As we got going and I saw familiar student faces and it was great to see everyone back at work. At the grade level meetings I introduced students to our theme for the year of "teaching grit" and in my classroom visits this week I have already seen some of you expressing this quality to your students.

I'm going to address the topic of grit many times this year in the Principal Ramblings and if something strikes a chord with you and your course, I encourage you to use it as you wish with your classes. Perhaps this will be the first opportunity.

I follow several dozen people online, both written and video. My iPad is almost completely used for the consumption of material and ideas. One of my favorite to follow is a spoken word artist, Suli Breaks. Below is a poem he did that I believe introduces the quality of grit quite well. If you would like to see the performed version, click here. While it speaks of making success, I firmly believe that it also accurately defines great teaching. Great teachers are "gritty" and are some of the best at overcoming obstacles on the road to success. On behalf of everyone that leads a school, thanks for starting another school year...we could never do it without you.

There are two types of people in this world

Those who are inspired, and those who inspire.

Those who constantly long for,

And those who acquire.

“No idea is original,”

Yes there’s truth in this.

But a person who has the strength to implement the idea,

Always is.

Because there are those that have dreams and chase them.

And those who sleep, waiting to be awakened;

Unaware that we can make a difference in our existence

Through hard work, resilience and persistence.

Because a man that wishes to move mountains must realize

That he must first start by shoveling pebbles from its base.

And be aware that no matter how long it takes,

A man CAN move mountains.

And most of you will think that this is just a saying,

And a majority won’t believe me.

But when you get a couple of minutes on your PC,

Google Dashrath Manjhi.

Because a man CAN move mountains.

Success is a ladder.

And only a few of us will find it.

And even less of us will have the strength to climb it.

Afraid of the prospect of spending your whole life climbing.

But just remember, no matter what route you take,

It is always up to you to decide it.

Don’t let your success define you.

Let your success be defining.

Have you seen that picture on Facebook of that guy that is mining?

Why give up when you’re so close to the diamond?

People that change the world,

Do not let the world change them.

Because there are two types of people in this world;

Those who are amazed

And those who are amazing.

So which one are you?

Surreal

It all seems very surreal this time of year. With testing and senior activities going on it is very easy to get caught up in the events of closing out the year. We all work so hard during this time of year and it can be incredibly frustrating and emotionally taxing. As I write this, there are currently 10 seniors that still have something standing between them and a diploma. Every one of them can get there, and motivating them to do so is a top priority. I admit that I get caught up in the events of this time of year. I worry. I stress. Every day this week I have woken up before my 5:00 am alarm thinking of what needed to happen. This morning I decided to use that time to reflect on where we are and to see the big picture.

Every one of you has worked incredibly hard this year and has been essential to student success. I am consistently amazed by what you produce and what you can get students to accomplish. We have come a long way in the past ten months and it does all seem quite surreal to think back to last August. This year I have watched tremendous growth happen for students and teachers. Some of you work so hard at perfecting instruction in your classroom, just to make it look easy for 80-90 teenagers. I have seen students recognize the work of their teachers through photos, cards, gifts, hugs and a whispered "thank you." Those signs of respect will always be the greatest form of payment that any teacher will ever receive. No matter what programs are purchased, laws are passed, what tests are given, a teacher will always be the most impactful resource on every child's education. They are simply unparalleled.

With one week left until graduation, this will likely be my last blog submission for the year. I want to use it to thank each of you for your service, your time, your tears and your patience. Most especially, I want to thank Mr. Rackley and Mrs. Wegmann for their years of service to Greene Central and to the teaching profession. You will be missed by teachers and students alike. Every day that I would rather be fishing than working, I remember those of you that have put in decades of work beyond my own experience and I stand in awe of your accomplishments. You are simply amazing.

What is a Learner?

Last week I walked by Mrs. Eason's classroom and noticed that students were intensely paying attention to another student presenting. I couldn't help myself and had to see what was going on. Her 9th grade students were presenting speeches on the topic, "What is a Learner?" The first full speech that I had the opportunity to hear came from Hannah Faulkner. If there is anything I could compare her presentation to, it would be an evangelical preacher. I found myself wanting to shout "Amen" several times as she spoke. I asked for a copy of her speech so that I can share it with you. Here are a few excerpts:

"2,340. That's how many days you'll be in school from kindergarten to 12th grade. That's how long you have to plan the rest of your life."
"What is a Learner? Learners can often be overlooked, because they aren't always an A+ student...they work their way around [problems] and persevere."
"Now you probably expect me to list off a bunch of people who persevered to reach the top, but of what relevance are they to us? There's those people like Katie Eason, Rebecca Burris, Lillian Corbitt, Caroline Clark and Charlie Howell who are looked at as only teachers. But that's the thing, they are teachers. Without them, how would we develop into learners? They are the ones that can help us make something of ourselves."
"As a student, stay committed to molding into a learner and use every last minute of those 2,340 days. Whether it's the best times or the worst times, it's the only time you've got."

Here we have a student that is impacted in very very best way possible. She gets it, and that is 100% due to the support she has received from her teachers at Greene Central. As we begin testing for our students, it's nice to also know that while we can teach students to answer questions on our content, we are also teaching students to become real learners.

Going to College

This week Greene Early College held its graduation ceremony. I was asked by the graduating class to speak at their ceremony and proudly accepted. For this particular group of students, I was one of five principals that served at their school in five years. I joked in my message to them that they had probably been exposed to more leadership styles than most people twice their age. Despite that turnover, this group turned out to be one exceptional class of graduates from Greene County. Three students received full scholarships and the others assembled a collective scholarship offering of over $1.7 million. One student alone amassed $400,000 in offerings. That is pretty exceptional.

I strongly believe that the key ingredient in their success is an overwhelming quality that anyone quickly notices among this group. This group of students works together and celebrates each other.  I have honestly never seen another group of teenagers do this like they do it. The call each other a family and treat each other that way. They still have times of disagreement, but in that disagreement, they seek to find resolve. Maybe it's because they learned to depend on one another, or because they are such a small group and know each other so well. Whatever the reason, it is successful and I would love to learn how to replicate it.

At this point, most of our seniors know where they will be next year. They may have been accepted to a university or community college, and with those students, we were successful. This year we started the process of building a college-going culture and that is a long and arduous journey.  Next year, more students have selected honors, AP and community college classes than ever before and we will have the task of pulling them up to prepare them for those rigors. It will be tough, but I am already smiling because by simply making the choice to be there shows that they are beginning to think like college-bound students. If we can teach them to celebrate and support one another along the way, we can make them successful students, but more importantly, we will make them successful adults.

Teacher Appreciation

I hope by now that you have felt some appreciation from your students and colleagues this week. Teacher Appreciation Week is a great time to recognize those individuals that do a lot for students. Ironically, the qualities that teachers are often appreciated for may have little or nothing to do with instruction. Teachers are often appreciated for the relationships and expectations that they have for their students. Students appreciate the way that they make them feel as individuals much more than the knowledge they impart. I vividly remember loving a high school English teacher that taught me so much more than how to write. She set such high expectations for me as a student and as a young man. When I stepped out of line, she called me out quickly, sometimes even going to the point of taking off her shoe to throw at me! (Please do not follow her example on this!)

This job requires inspiration and many of us were inspired to work in education because of a teacher that we had in school. That person made us want to be like them. I am still inspired by many of you. I stand in awe of your positivity, your dedication and your relentless pursuit of achieving more from your students. Happy Teacher Appreciation Week and thank you for being an inspiration to students and adults alike.

Good Teaching is Like Pornography

A professor once told me that good teaching is like pornography; both are tough to define, but you definitely know it when you see it. We often want to simplify things so that they offer solutions for us in nice neat packages, but in arenas that rely on artful skill, it rarely works that way. Take the statue of David by Michelangelo for instance. Here is a fully nude man in an openly public place. If a person where to do that, it would be indecent and considered pornography, but because he is sculpted he becomes one of the greatest works ever and people take pictures with him. So where is the line between art and porn? It's tough to say and depends highly on the material and the audience.

Teaching is exactly the same; good teaching is anyway. It would be simple to say "just do this with your class and they will learn," but that will never hold true. Good teaching is highly dependent on the material and the audience. What works in one class, will bomb with another. What works one day, may fail tomorrow. The art is not in the execution of good teaching, but in recognizing what connects with the audience and delivering that. I recently visited Mrs. Lopez-Hodges's Spanish for Native Speakers II class and while I could only understand a little of what was being said during the observation, I knew that what I saw was good teaching. Students communicated with the teacher, responded to one another and through their mannerisms, I saw relationships, thinking, challenge and effort. I didn't need to understand it; I knew it, because I saw it.

Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week and I think that good teaching should not only be recognized by students, parents and administrators. Good teaching should be recognized by fellow teachers as well. If you have seen good teaching lately, let a fellow teacher know. It will mean a lot to them that a fellow artist has recognized great work.

Teacher Leadership

There is no doubt that I try to be a little liberal with how I choose to manage a school. There are some things that students and teachers do that I may not 100% agree with, but I try to recognize a human element to the organization. I believe that you can spend a lot of time focusing on managing that human element or your can spend that same amount of time improving instruction and student effectiveness. The fact is, I am always outnumbered. With almost 900 students and close to 70 staff members, I can never watch all the people, all the time. I rely heavily on teacher and student leadership to find an effective balance. Last week we met with student leaders and I wrote about what those students said to out board members. This week I want to discuss teacher leadership.

I recently saved an article that highlighted 7 habits of teacher leaders. The author identified the following:

1. Model lifelong learning

2. Engage in effective collaborative learning

3. Assume collective responsibility for student success

4. Support newer colleagues

5. Contribute to the schoolwide improvement agenda

6. Impact school system performance

7. Build relationships with policymakers

All of these attributes are necessary but they also require action. Most teachers, even new teachers, know what should be done. Taking the next step to actively do those things can be hard sometimes. But that's what makes a leader.

It's the time of year when we start doing summative evaluations and I wish that teacher leadership (Standard 1) was even more emphasized because it impacts so much of a school. In the spirit of preparing for those evaluations and preparing for a strong finish, take a few minutes to self-reflect on your contribution to those 7 habits. Where do you excel and where can you improve? When we have 70 teacher leaders, it greatly increases our odds of leading an effective school!