Reflections

If I'm entirely honest, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had heard about this organization on Twitter but wasn't sure what it stood for. I liked what I read about it online but wondered if it would really meet my expectations in person. Fortunately, my expectations were never met. They were, in fact, exceeded. Nearly 40 educators were in attendance. Most were teachers. Some were administrators. All were educators.  As the room began to fill and introductions were made, it began to feel different. Over a period of two packed days of professional development, we talked about using our voice to impact change in our classrooms, schools and beyond. It wasn't a surface level discussion but rather included specific tools and strategies for storytelling, writing and meeting with policy makers.   As I met incredible educators from across New York State, I listened to their stories and compared their experiences to mine. In all cases, the physical details of our sto...

A recent Finding Common Ground post by Peter DeWitt entitled “ You Know What Really Sucks About School ?” caught my eye. In the post, he shared an observation he made between a parent and a child. Both were lamenting the return to school. Dr. DeWitt was asking readers to imagine what it would be like if that wasn’t our normal now. You know what else really sucks about school? Misinformation. There is misinformation about the “ragged” state of our schools. Parents are led to believe that our students are not improving and that the only way to measure teacher effectiveness is to hold teachers and principals more accountable. This year, a teacher’s evaluation will be based on two parts : observation and state test scores (or a Student Learning Objective tied to tests). Each part will be 50%. The observation process will be more complicated this year than it has ever been. Independent observers are now required on top of principal evaluations of his/her teachers. In addition, only...

In just a few weeks, I'll welcome back my team to school. Many of them have already been in to prepare classrooms, finish up summer curriculum, and provide input into some district committee work.  There's a certain sense of calmness in starting year four with a group you so very much admire. I'm thankful for that. Our students start the second week of September. Each year, there is a welcome back assembly for the entire school. Over the last few weeks, I've been telling myself that I need to use this first assembly to really provide our students with a message that sticks.  What are the most important words to be said? Earlier this summer, I read an awesome piece by Kari Kampakis . The article, 10 Truths Middle Schoolers Should Know , was written to the adolescent learner. It's a list of encouragement that I found helpful as a Principal and a Mom. I've decided to take the ideas from that article and use it to frame the welcome back assembly. The idea ...

It's just about 4am and for some reason my mind has decided this is a good time to wake up. Outside my bedroom window, I can hear the wind and a light rain. I love the sound of rain through an open window and begin to think about how comforting that is. I could get up, turn on a light or two or maybe even make coffee. But, I decide to do none of those. At least for a few minutes. I know why I've woken early today and yesterday and the day before that. I'm watching August pass by and beginning to worry about everything that has yet to be done. Teachers return September 1st and students on September 8th. I always feel such a responsibility to have so much completed before the return. It's an unrealistic worry as I am certain, with some part of my mind, that we will be more than ready to welcome everyone back and hit the ground running in September. So I begin to talk myself out of this worry. What is it about summer that causes us to create the biggest of organization...

On a recent long drive back from Western NY, I found some time to think about impressions. I had just finished a day of co-leading professional development with an administrative group and was reflecting on what I felt went well and what areas (of mine) that need improvement. I think that kind of self-reflection is normal in all of us. I've had the fortunate opportunity to present to different groups on different topics. Each time, I over prepare and worry about how the event will go. I think that's because I don't see myself as a presenter. I'm a principal and a Mom with a story and I know good ideas when I see them. So, I love to share what I've learned along the way as it has been shared with me. I found myself thinking about the group, as a whole, and the impressions they gave. When you are given the opportunity to spend an entire day with a group, you formulate impressions. My impressions of this particular group were all positive. I found the group to ...