Reflections

I think being a parent helps me be a better leader. Yet, I think being a leader hurts me as a parent sometimes. Since becoming a Mom, it is easier to put myself in the shoes of some of the parents I interact with. When I do interact with a parent that is upset, I am usually able to remind myself that if I were in his or her shoes, I'd likely respond the same way with the information that I had about a particular situation. But, as a parent with a background in education, I can worry too much about my son and his school experience. In some cases, I bring more experience (that can inform my view) to some conversations when it comes to assessment, learning, instruction and more. I will get stuck on pieces of information and usually try to walk a fine line between being a Mom and being a leader. If I see something that is not reflective of current best practice, I'll want to fix it --- but sometimes it's not mine to fix. It's rarely easy and I am thankful for the  many...

Thankfully, I am inspired on a daily basis by members of my PLN. I've spent some time on and off this weekend catching up on new year's resolutions set by many of them as well as #oneword declarations. Last year, I wrote about my one word and it was COURAGE.   Wow, did I embrace that word or what this past year? I'd say leaving a district you've been a part of for over 10 years to jump into a brand new one is a testament of courage! For this year, my word is a bit more cryptic. I've chosen BALANCE. I need to find balance in my role in this incredible, new district. I want to be more deliberate about honoring what has been done well while helping to move forward in other areas. I want to positively contribute to supporting teachers, principals and most of all, students in our district.  I need to find balance as a Mom. It's hit me pretty hard that time has indeed been flying by all of these years. I'm having a hard time figuring out when it is ...

A collaborative post by Tony Sinanis and Lisa Meade When you look back on the order of events, it may not make much sense to those in our worlds. We were both successful principals leading amazing teams in our incredible schools. We worked with kids who were excited to come to school, with families who were proud  to share their children with us and educators who put kids at the center of every decision. We felt highly capable in our positions. The principalship allowed us to impact a myriad of decisions, shape the trajectory of a community and nurture a culture of learning for adults and students. We were inspired by the work of other principals in our PLN and kept raising the bar with new ideas and approaches in our buildings because we knew we had to model what we hoped for our in our communities… being learners first and teachers second! As we begin thinking about what 2017 has in store for us, we paused to think about where we both were a year ago when we were thinki...

I am always struck by how much a story sticks with me. Sure, I remember parts of the research and reasons why certain strategies are better to use than others. But, words from personal experience always stick with me. At a recent PD session with an incredible facilitator, the power of a story was there. He told the group about his own schooling story (I won't give it away here as it is not mine to tell) and it just didn't seem plausible. How could the boy in his story be the same man that stood before us? But, he was. He is. His story is what he brings to his work and gives it color and heart. I've written about parts of my own story before and the bias it can cause me to bring to my practice. But, it's not really a bias. It can become the context. As educators, we each bring different experiences to our practice. What we've been through impacts decisions we make in the future. What we've seen with our own eyes gives us hope for new similar situations. W...

I think it was third grade, maybe second. The older gentleman would pick me up from my classroom and walk me to speech therapy. My memory sees it as a space under a stairwell. He'd hold my chin and say the sounds over and over asking me to repeat them. SHHH....CHHHHH... He'd give me reminders about slowing down when I talk. I felt a bit of shame I couldn't get those sounds right and I couldn't --- no matter how hard I tried --- get my brain to slow down when I talked. Around that same time, I began to notice other students on the playground. They were students we didn't necessarily see all day but looked to be similar in age. I can't remember who talked to whom first but I met a girl named Pam. She was a student in a special education classroom ( I didn't realize that until many years later ) in the same building except I had no idea where that classroom was. Looking back, I am not sure anyone did. Somehow, she found out I could draw and I began to draw th...

I was in my former district for 10 years in various capacities. During those years, my favorite role was that of Middle School Principal. It's an experience I look back on often and recall with pure fondness. I learned so much during that time and with that team. As I spent more time there, my awareness and perception about our school grew and gained dimension. My appreciation for what we had deepened. I could find beauty, effort and celebration in so much. I grew skilled in articulating those positives. In my new role, in a much larger district, I serve as a newer member of the administrative team and often walk away from different meetings in different buildings truly amazed at what this district offers for students. I don't always get to articulate that as well as I should. It's all so new to me still so the time to fully process is longer.  Do we have areas we need to look at more closely for certain parts of our student population? Yes! Do we have areas of need...

Like many leaders, I consider myself a work in progress. Sure, there are a few skills I have that are well developed but there are others I have that are not . I have MANY needed areas of improvement. I am a highly reflective person (some would say too much so) and often think about interactions from the day and role play how I could have handled something better than I did. But I have this one bias that can sometimes keeps me from listening with an open mind. When I hear people talk about this topic and use it as an excuse not to expect more from a student, I briefly stop listening. I get frustrated. It's my own bias and something I am working on.  It has to do with setting limits. Limits due to poverty, perceived skill level, or even motivation. When we use generalizations about students as our main reasons for why a student is having difficulty, it is unfair. Still, overcoming limits can't just happen because we say it will. I am not naive enough to believe some limit...