Reflections

I worry that some of the hot topics in education are getting confused. It's as if we are throwing everything that anyone has criticized into a box and have decided they all go together. Yes, there are some things that connect to each other but some do not. I also worry that our children are watching what we post on social media and take our opinions seriously. They see when we bash each other or put down each other's ideas. No, we don't always have to agree. But, we should be able to debate without using name calling or negative language. We're supposed to be the adults, the role models. I worry that some think state tests are the biggest thing to worry about in our schools right now.   They're not. Some of the biggest needs in our school involve social-emotional health of students, poverty, accepting diversity, allowing students to find their voice, and making sure what we teach to our students is relevant and engaging. It's about helping our students, as a...

I generally dislike surprises. The fear of the unknown or what might or might not happen generally makes me nervous. Without a doubt, yesterday will mark the one time an incredible surprise came my way and it didn't make me nervous. Since being selected for Middle School Principal of the Year by SAANYS , the generosity and kindness of people has been steady and amazing. I've gotten the sweetest notes from people all over and flowers upon flowers to boot. (My office looks beautiful!) Yesterday, my entire school pulled off a surprise that I could have never anticipated. Mind you, my son attends my school and even HE didn't speak a word of it to me. Somehow, someway, the secretaries in my office led a highly secretive, synchronous plan to corral 276 or so children into our cafeteria for an assembly of congratulations. One of them had the idea to add cake for 300 to the event. The back wall of the cafeteria was lined with this banner. The event began with songs b...

I was born two months too early back in 1970. My mother tells me that few expected me to live and if I did, she was told, I would likely have significant intellectual disabilities. My mother and grandmother refused to believe that prediction. In high school, I can remember meeting with my guidance counselor. He was trying to convince me to sign up for the military as he didn't think I was college material. You just never know what can be. Late last week, three of my eighth grade girls came to tell me thank you for an awesome event at school. Out of all the students in the school, it had not occurred to me that they would enjoy the event and be brave enough to say what they really thought. We spent some time talking, openly, about how they felt about a variety of topics. I was touched by their honesty. You just never know what will matter to someone. How about my friend the new middle school principal? He spent ten years at the high school level and only two of those years...

I often find inspiration for my posts from my school and members of my PLN...especially Peter DeWitt. He recently posed the question: What If You Only Had Five Minutes to Inspire a Teacher? . This post made me think. These days, inspiration can be a scarce commodity to find.  Especially this time of year and especially in the state of NY. I spent some time in multiple conversations with teachers this week. Many times it was to talk about instruction. Sometimes, it was to talk about culture, students or just small talk. I'm not sure anything I said inspired them. I did have one honest teacher tell me he thought I was a bit...shall we say...cheesy in some of the stuff I read and share. I took it as a compliment. In reflecting on inspiration, I began to think of the things THEY do that inspire me. I work with a team of teachers that were never given the opportunity to pick their next principal when the position became vacant. I was just assigned to them. For most relation...

A collaborative post, written by Lisa Meade and Vicki Day We are two passionate principals leading learning in two fabulous schools. We both have had great experiences in our classrooms, one as a music teacher and the other as a special education teacher.  We both believe, and still do, that we needed to reach out and help more students, so we took the journey to becoming lead learners of an elementary school and a middle school.  The journey for both of us may have been different, but one common thread we are finding is that we are two passionate women in a very male dominated arena of education. During the wonderful Valentine 2/14/2015 #satchat on Twitter, the topic was about Missing Voice in #EdTech. It was moderated by Rafranz Davis , author of The Missing Voices in Ed Tech: Bringing Diversity Into EdTech . This sparked interest in us, not only with diversity in our students, students of race, but also diversity in leadership and gender.  We have presented to...

I don't typically miss a lot of work due to illness. I've been lucky. Today, I woke up with a myriad of symptoms that kept me from going to work. I always feel guilty when I miss work. Yes, I am one of those weird ones. I enjoy my job and feel fortunate to work in a career I decided at age 8 to become a part of. Over the last couple of weeks, I've become more aware of how precious our health really is. Someone I really admire has been given some difficult (health related) news. She's not someone who would consider me a friend. Yet, I've always looked up to her within our educational circles. What she is dealing with doesn't make sense to me or seem remotely possible. As I think about how she might be feeling, it makes me wonder and think about the bigger picture in all of this, for all of us. She's an incredibly strong and powerful force whom I know will fight back against this diagnosis with an incredible might. Her story has me thinking about the kin...