Skip to main content

Just Do Right

Earlier this week, Jennifer Hogan  posted a listing of motivational video clips for school leaders and teachers. I am always collecting good clips for future use. Music and video clips sometimes say what I am feeling, in part, but can't put into words.

One of the best clips was by Maya Angelou.
(click Maya's name or see clip below...does not show on mobile version)





I've watched it at least 10 times over the week. One of the parts that most resonates with me at this time is the following:

Pick up the battle, take it up...
This is your life. This is your world...
You make your own choices...

Try it.
See.
So pick it up.

Pick up the battle and make it a better world.
Just where you are.
Yes, and it can be better. And it must be better.
But it is up to us.

The clip doesn't make me think of all the little things I'll likely be consumed with once school starts. It makes me think of the most important things...things that are not things at all, but people.

Our people are our very own kids, students, parents, families, staff, faculty, and communities.

These are the very same people that hope we do indeed do our part to make the world, even just our part of the world, a little bit better.

Think of the impact we could all have if we "just do right".

Comments

  1. I often say her quote to my students, "When you know better, you gotta do better." Thanks for sharing, Lisa. Sounds like you are going to have a wonderful year!
    Jennifer
    #compelledtribe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jennifer, thank you so much for your reading and support all the better. I love the quote you note above. There's something about the #compelledtribe that is bringing me such hope for the new year. :)

      Delete
  2. Thanks for sharing Lisa... you are truly helping us all on this journey of teaching AND learning! Keep up the wonderful efforts and enjoy the days and weeks ahead of making that difference!
    Craig

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The group keeps me hopeful and focused. Thank you for starting #compelledtribe

      Delete
  3. Thanks for sharing Lisa! Awesome words of advice-Just do right! I think I will be sharing with my teachers tomorrow as I go to work!
    Jarred

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Such a pay it forward kind of idea...started with Jennifer, then to me, now to you. Let's keep it going! :) All the best,
      L

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Something about March

Our work in school leadership can often come in waves. Some days you are happily swimming to shore while other days you might feel as though it is taking all of your energy to stay above the water.  The latter is often what March feels like.  There is something about March that has always felt like a difficult month for me, at least personally, as an educator. Maybe it's the impact of a long winter, access to less sunshine, or the absence of any scheduled downtime in the month. It's also the point where we are able to look back on a school year and see how much we have accomplished but at the same turn how much there is still to do.  But, the difference is the proverbial finish line that June brings. We all know, whether we like it or not, what we planned or were even assigned to accomplish this year is now connected to an imaginary stopwatch that is counting down that time. We can see the end to the year and that can be stressful.  What about all the things still le...

Growth Mindset

This will be a quick post likely full of errors and incomplete sentences. But, I feel a pressing need to get these thoughts to paper while: a) I have time  and b) I can still remember the pieces I want to connect I was given a great opportunity to work with Dr. Shawn Hunziker today. We've conducted some online book studies around Mindset by Carol Dweck. This past winter, we were invited to give a keynote to CSE Chairpersons ( BIG TIME for us) and that led to today's session with CNYSEA's Summer Institute .  On my way to the session, I was rehearsing notes (as I always do, see previous post ). At a stop sign near the venue where the conference was held, I pulled up in back of a car and noticed the neatest license plate: NEVRQT* I think that's how it was spelled. I tried to grab a picture but realized how creepy that would look and did not reshoot the blurry image I captured. When I arrived at the conference, I immediately told my partner, Sh...

My one word: Courage

I am part of an amazing voxer group of MS Principals and Jay Posick became a recent member of that group. Talk about a man with the right mindset. Recently, he posted a link about a one word challenge and it got me thinking. I've been struggling with the idea of a "new year" and the (self-imposed) push to set some resolutions. I don't like the idea of setting resolutions. They feel too artificial for me. Maybe that's because I've failed at them before. But, what I can commit and buy into is this idea of one word . I think my word is COURAGE.  It's funny when I typed out that sentence, I couldn't get around the phrase "I think". The way I crafted that sentence speaks to why I have chosen the word courage to help guide me in this new year. I need courage to continue to take risks and nurture creative ideas. I need courage to finally do some things I have been postponing (some for just 30 years or so) and set to accomplishing them or...