One Headlight

The death of a Greene Central graduate, Travis Foyles, this week has impacted several students and teachers. Travis graduated last year, and while he wasn't perfect, he was incredibly likable. Travis was friendly with everyone. He was funny and always good spirited. The loss of someone like him can be tough on adults and students. His death reminded me when I lost a very good friend when I was 13. It 's a tough thing to process for a teenager. Around the same time I lost my friend, The Wallflowers released a song entitled One Headlight about the loss of the lead singer's friend. The loss of a friend is like driving home with one headlight. You're just hoping to make it through.

Travis had many friends that are still students. Among them was his girlfriend, a senior. I had the opportunity to speak with her and her family yesterday afternoon. Despite the tough time, they wanted to let me know how great the students of Greene Central had been. Many of them had visited the house and even stayed the night with her to make sure that she was ok. They were simply amazed at the show of support.

I spend a lot of time talking about instruction that leads to student success. Student learning is ultimately why we are here. Sometimes we do a good job with that and sometimes we struggle. Something that we do exceptionally well, that will never show up on any test, is growing good people. The events of this week highlight how great our school community can be. The 900 young adults that attend school here learn how to be good people from you and their families and you're doing a great job at that. While we may not ever be able to see it in scores, please keep working hard at teaching students the value of character education. We never know when they may need to help someone make it through a tough time.

"I Want to See Us Take More Risks"

Greene Central was visited this week by ECU's new head football coach, Scottie Montgomery. Coach Montgomery was well-dressed and very well-spoken. The guy certainly has charisma. Several of our staff members took the opportunity to meet the new coach, but none as important as Mrs. Eason.  

Mrs. Eason is a diehard ECU football fan. I introduced her to Coach Montgomery as his "biggest supporter and biggest critic." Just like in her classroom, Mrs. Eason wants everyone that she supports to perform at their very best and she does not settle for much less. When Coach Montgomery asked Mrs. Eason what she would like to see different from the team this upcoming season, she replied, "I want to see us take some risks on third down." Taking risks is sometimes what changes an average team into a winning team and it is a fair assessment of what was not happening for the Pirates this past season. The problem with risks is that you're either a hero or a loser for trying. 

The coach also took the opportunity to turn the question around and ask what Mrs. Eason was doing with any student that was failing her class. (He was looking to even out the pressure being placed on him) That's a fair question as well. Doing the same-old thing when a student fails to submit work for class, or study for tests or even attend regularly is comfortable and safe. When it looks like you just can't get a student to be successful, you're no different than a coach staring at 3rd down and a long way to go. You can call a conservative play and hope for the best, or you can take a risk and call something that no one sees coming. Taking the courage to step outside your comfort zone is tough to do. Your "risk" is lost time, effort, emotion and opportunity. Despite that, the gains are very tempting and probably have much more in common with why you chose to be a teacher. So this semester, when you have a student that is facing a 3rd and long situation, I want to see you take more risks. 

PS: (For Mrs. Eason): You didn't answer his question very well. Coach Montgomery chooses the best he can find in regards to talent and effort to be on his team when he makes that call at 3rd down. You, on the other hand, do not get that luxury. Despite that, I'd still bet that your record is better than his.

What We Really Assess

I have recently started reading a book that I really like. How Children Succeed by Paul Tough takes a look at what critical factors make or break students in school and in life. (I'm thinking of offering a book study in the spring!) The argument is that grit and character have more to do with success than cognitive ability. In the introduction, Tough discusses the GED program in America. It began in the 1950s as an acceleration program, not a way for dropouts to gain a diploma. The idea is not all too unfamiliar with some of the programs that are emerging now. If a student can show that they have the knowledge necessary to earn a diploma, they can bypass the traditional classes through a test and in a school and skip straight to the next stage of their life.

Studies quickly emerged to track students that took this option in the 1960s and 1970s. One in particular has followed a group for over 40 years. It compares life after school with GED graduates and traditional high school graduates.  Of the group, just 3% of the GED grads continued on to a four-year university compared to 46% of traditional graduates. The study concluded that when you examine all factors that define success (annual income, unemployment rate, divorce rate, use of illegal drugs, etc.) GED graduates look exactly like high school dropouts. How could that be? Their completion of the test proves that they are cognitively smarter than high school dropouts. The thing that they have in common is a lack of perseverance and a sense of delayed gratification. They have no grit.

The exams that students take this week will show us cognitive ability and content mastery. Some students will do well, some will not, and most will do just about what we thought they would do.  Despite how they perform, remember that they are still in the game. They still show up to work, and while they do not always perform day-to-day as we would hope, they come back and give us a shot at connecting with them tomorrow. That trait gives them a better shot at success after school than quitting ever will.

Teacher Leadership

A priest offered a nun a ride. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to revel her bare leg. The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg. The nun said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?"

The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg once again. The nun once again said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?" The priest apologized, "Sorry sister but the flesh is weak."

Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way.

On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, "Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory."

The moral of the story: If you are not well informed in your job, opportunities for advancement will pass right by you.


Today is the last day for Dawn Herring at Greene Central High School and I want to take the opportunity to celebrate everything that she has done for our school and the students within it. Dawn has an opportunity for advancement, and unlike the priest in the story, she is taking her shot. She will be moving on to Wayne County Schools to serve as the Assistant EC Director and while I hate to lose her expertise as a teacher and coach, I am happy for her.

Teacher leadership is sometimes a double-edged sword. Teachers that put themselves out there to do more to impact the school and grow professionally, often do decide to take opportunities to work and lead in other capacities. As a principal, you love what they do and you hate to see them move on, but at the same time it is amazing to watch a teacher grow. Make no mistake about it, I want teachers that want to grow. No matter what you are passionate about, grow in that area and don't be afraid to excel. Teacher leadership does more than improving classrooms or programs. It also inspires students and other teachers to do more themselves. Today I want to congratulate Ms. Herring and all other teacher leaders that are not afraid to step
up and take a shot at what matters to them. No matter if your leadership keeps you in the classroom or takes you out, your service is infectious.

What Do Teachers Do?

While I do not like the reason that we had to meet yesterday to discuss the low performing school status that is upon us, I did like many of the discussions and thoughtfulness that came as a result. Many of you have become quite adept at evaluation policy and understanding legislation concerning schools. I am proud that you understand what our school does for students and that many of you were more angry at the situation than worried or upset for yourselves. To be fair, it would be easy for you to simply not care. You could decide to wash your hands of the problem and switch schools or professions and walk away from the issue. But that's not what teachers do. Teachers fight the "I don't care" attitude. While that attitude is the bane of our existence, and is probably the #1 thing teachers complain about, it is 100% the reason that you are here.

Much like principals do not have an endless line of "blue data" teachers waiting at their door, no classroom consists of students that all walk in eager to learn and work each and every day. The human element within us all requires leadership, motivation and a personal connection to sustain or even begin hard work. That is where you come in. Any student in the digital age with enough personal drive and ambition can certainly learn anything that they want to know. Google and the Internet put knowledge at everyone's fingertips. So if all of the knowledge is already out there, why do we need people and places to give us knowledge? The truth is that we don't. What we need now and have needed always are people and places that inspire knowledge to want to be learned. And while your position calls you 'teachers' perhaps a more appropriate title would be 'hope dealers,' 'imagination builders' or simply 'inspirers.'

Any teacher that has been around long enough to have a student return to visit them is already aware of this. Students do not remember that fantastic lesson that you wrote on the Second National Bank or the cute rhyme you created to get them to learn the quadratic formula. They remember how you inspired them and challenged them to think. Teachers that grow students are the ones that battle apathy as it walks through the door and make students care. You turn on mental lightbulbs despite a student's best effort to cut the cord. Making a student care at any ability level will always be the deciding factor in establishing student growth on any subject. Despite any label placed upon us, know that you did your part in that arena. Keep growing and inspiring students to care and together we will take care of the rest.



I was reminded last night of this video, and while it was written from a student perspective in regards to frustration with standardized testing (likely a sentiment many of our students feel) I believe that it rings true for us as well.

Making Moves

Over the Thanksgiving break my family and I took the plunge and moved to Greene County. We have been wanting to move here for several months and the right opportunity presented itself so we went for it. (My house in Farmville still has not sold, so if you know anyone looking to buy I'd love you to tell them!) Growing up, my family moved about every four years and I grew to detest moving. It's not the heavy lifting I hate, but the process. Moving forces you to go through all of your old things and evaluate what you need to keep and what you should part with. It's time consuming and sometimes difficult to part with things that you know you have not seen or touched in years. Inevitably, you will end up in an argument with your spouse over an item or where something will or will not go in the new house.  While I hate the process, I have to admit that I am happy with the result. We love our new home and we are much better off having evaluated what we needed to keep and what we did not need. The process was messy but the end product was worth it.

The process did get me thinking about teaching. Teachers are notorious pack rats. We horde things that we think we will use later and things tend to sit around. Maybe a good clean out is good from time to time for us as well. But I'm not just talking about the physical things like old activities and lesson plan notebooks. What old practices do you still have that maybe need to be let go as well? Are there areas where you could clean out and move up?

I attended our District Literacy Framework Team meeting yesterday and we examined some common practices that we saw across all grade levels in our district. While most of the teaching practices had some very good things to offer, I also saw some things that commonly looked like teacher-centered instruction. The teacher was doing all the talking, and student engagement was low. These are old things that hang around in our practice. They are easy practices to keep, but we really know deep down that we should probably throw them out. Take some time to consider what you may be keeping in your practice that could use a good cleaning. Consider making a move up!

You're Faaannn-Tastic!

Yesterday I joined the other principals in the district in walking through math classrooms in several different schools so that we could look for mathematics practices at different levels. Math is a district priority this year and we are looking for some universal best-practices as they compare to research. I saw great teachers from the Early College all the way down to a Kindergarten classroom and I was really able to learn a lot from each. Despite the assignment of looking for math language and strategic questioning, I couldn't help but look for general teaching practice. I am a strong believer that you can teach anything to students of any age if your methods are engaging enough to capture their attention and interest.  Out of all of the classrooms, I think that the very best thing I saw yesterday was in the Kindergarten classroom. The teacher had a practice of having kids celebrate each other when they got a question right and celebrate themselves when they had mastered a concept as a group.  As each child answered a question correctly in front of the class, the whole class recited, "You're Faaannn-Tastic!" Each and every child walked back to their spot on the carpet with a smile and a glowing sense of accomplishment.

Certainly this classroom practice is too juvenile for our teenagers...or is it? Watch our successful athletes when they practice and compete. Leaders on the team often congratulate teammates when they do well and encourage them when they make mistakes. They do it in different ways, but what they are really saying is, "You're Faaannn-Tastic!" How many of us have this kind of culture in our classrooms? Sure, many of us encourage kids and praise them when they do well, but is it done by peers as well? Do we celebrate academic achievement publicly? If you have ever had the privilege of being recognized for your efforts at a staff meeting, just think about how it made you feel about your work and your willingness to continue to make a difference. If we did this in our classrooms, could it make an impact on student effort and in their grit toward things that are hard? I'm challenging you to work to build this kind of culture in your classrooms. Every one of your students learned this kind of practice in Kindergarten, so it shouldn't be hard to replicate. If you can build this in your class, you might just be Faaannn-Tastic too!