Reflections

Near the beginning of the school year, our outstanding Athletic Director asked me about the possibility of our district forming a Unified Sports team. I don't remember much of the conversation after that except it was a YES and we had recruited a team of adults to act as coaches within days. Unified Sports allows students with disabilities (athletes)  to play alongside peers without disabilities (partners). Unified Sports is about breaking down stereotypes around students with disabilities. Part of creating a Unified Sports Basketball Team is the creation of a Youth Activation Committee (YAC). The YAC group does all of the behind the scenes work to promote and support the team. Our coaches outfitted this group in red t-shirts so they were easily found on game and activity days. These kids led fundraisers, held sign ups, stood up for students and coordinated social media updates. We were overwhelmed early on with starting a team, learning the fundamentals of the program, securin...

Sometimes, our work in schools (teacher, leaders, support staff, etc.) can become very overwhelming. I think that's even more true as we near the end of a school year. I call it the "finish line" syndrome. We see the end and know that we still haven't accomplished a, b or c and we feel responsible for that. We begin to worry about some of our students and what the summer or next year might bring for them. There's a tendency to have one foot still in this year and another in the year ahead. That's dangerous footing. This year still deserves our focus. We know pieces about next year but the uncertainty of some of it can add to our angst about this year ending. Sometimes, things aren't always what they seem. You'll hear one side of a conversation or an interaction and jump to conclusions about the actual conversation before you've heard all sides. Sometimes, you catch yourself wondering if you are indeed on the right path. You second guess decis...

I made time yesterday to watch Joe Mazza's Tedex YouthBHS talk. He's one of those people I follow on twitter. Always thinking to myself about how put together he has it (does he ever stop coming up with new ideas?!).  I assumed, from far away, he had so much figured out. I learned, after watching the video, that he's on the same bumpy journey I am on...that most of us are on, in fact. In the spirit of his 10 assumptions , I offer some of mine. These are life lessons told to me at an early age that have turned out to be false. It's misleading advice that I wish I knew was wrong way back when. I've believed some of it until very recently. I won't go into each assumption here as the details around some of them are still too personal, to close to the heart, too much. I'll simply let the absurdity of each assumption speak for itself. In no particular order... 1.  Your weight determines what people think of you. 2.  Quiet girls are more accepted than obno...

I think we assume that policy makers know how we feel. I recently learned that writing letters (to legislators) does matter and sharing your opinion is paramount. I have asked my staff to join me in writing letters to our legislators about the proposed changes to APPR.  One of the letters recently shared with me is below. It is written by one of the newest members of our teaching team at Corinth Middle School. He was my first hire, three short years ago, as the new Middle School Principal. I am proud and honored to share his letter, with his permission, as a guest post. I think the argument he makes about the state tests is a strong one and well worth consideration and thoughtful discussion. Letter to Legislator by Drew McEvoy, ELA 8 Teacher, Corinth Middle School I'm mostly okay with a process that takes something as subjective and qualitative as teacher effectiveness and reduces it to one simple, quantifiable number; I accept it because within that process lies the ...

Last night, I was tearing through the mall with my son and mother in tow. I was on a mission to accomplish the things on my list. I was hyperfocused on where I was going but then I heard, "Lisa, Lisa...hey Lisa.". I looked around and met a familiar face. It was an amazing teacher I worked with when I was a teacher in Fort Edward, NY. She wanted to tell me congratulations on the principal award and she went on to say she watched the speech on you tube. "Thanks for sticking up for all of us." I thanked her and told her I had been given advice to make the two minutes count. I wanted to use the time to say what needed to be said. Who knows when anyone anywhere would (be forced to) listen to anything I might say? I spent two days in an amazing workshop with Rick Wormeli (more to come on that in another post). The theme throughout his time with us was to act ethically. Act ethically . Stand up for kids. Jump in the pit with them. Here are two quotes from his prese...

Friday night, I had the incredible honor of attending the SAANYS Awards Dinner for 2015. In that room, there were many award winners and even more people that deserved awards we hadn't even created yet. In the hours leading up to the event, I grew nervous and doubtful. I imagined I hadn't really been chosen for the award and they would change it all last minute. I reached out to some dear friends for input. I wondered what I could possibly say in the 2-3 minutes allotted each award winner. One of my inner circle friends from my PLN suggested I use the time to say something that mattered to me. It was great advice. I sat down to write the "speech" and decided to let my heart tell my pen what to write. I am not very good at getting this much attention nor the idea that so many people would do so much to be there that evening but as the night began, my mind began to understand. This was about MY SCHOOL. This was about all of the other AWESOME educators out there tha...

I gave him three minutes to say whatever he wanted to say to me without my being upset or responding. He looked at me like I was crazy. "Now, come on. I know you're upset with all of this. Say what you're thinking. Anything. I promise I won't react poorly to anything you say." He paused for a moment. He looked at me and just when I thought he would tell me how much he despised me or my efforts... He just said, "Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to come to school everyday and have these same conversations?". I responded that was a fair question. And then I said, "Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to come to school everyday and have this conversation?" Puzzled, he looked up at me. He went on to ask both the guidance counselor and I why we cared so much about him. He seemed to admit that he was hoping we would grow tired of the conversations, day after day, and just leave him alone. It was an honest conversation w...

A few weeks ago, a teacher in Denver gave her students post it notes with a phrase at the top: I wish my teacher knew . What she learned surprised her. In my #MiddleLeaders voxer group, one of our principals took that idea and gave each of her teachers a sheet with "I wish my principal knew" at the top. She used that activity to learn more about her staff and their thoughts. Some of what she heard was quite surprising. This week, May 4-8, will be Teacher Appreciation Week all across the United States. During the same week, specifically on May 7, the New York State Education Department is convening a Learning Summit to review the proposed APPR changes for educators in NY. (You can learn more about the summit here .)  At a time when I should be focusing my efforts on celebrating my teachers, I find myself frustrated by the current political climate around education in our state. So much of the work that building leaders are doing day to day with teachers is being tarnished ...