Reflections

This week was tougher than usual. I try to remind myself that weeks like this past week or other difficult events arrive as pulse checks. They are sent our way to remind us what a rough week feels like which only makes us appreciate the less rough weeks and positive events more. So many struggles on so many levels but it occurs to me in the quiet of this Sunday morning that this is the work. The work won't always easily come to us. Sometimes, we have to persevere for the resolution. It's a test to see what we're made of. Maybe as a leader, an educator, an ally, a daughter and a mother.   During these times, we are often misunderstood. Those that say things about our situations to others, but not directly to us, do so to get us off track. Others want to argue efforts or suggest ulterior motives.  Earlier this year, I was advised that I was the fifth or sixth (can't remember exact number used) Assistant Superintendent in a district in the last five years. He went on to ...

Guest Post by Erin McMahon, M.S.,  Board Certified Behavior Analyst, NYS Licensed Behavior Analyst I recently walked into a classroom and immediately dodged a series of flying wooden blocks. The student throwing them was too young to yet write their whole name, still sporting Velcro sneakers. I followed the student when they opened the door and fled the classroom and went into another room. “Hey (name withheld for privacy), what’s going on today?” I asked, kneeling on the floor near the student. “I’m not going back. My class is f---ing boring,” was the reply. A plan was made with the unwavering support of the classroom teacher, administrators, and school mental health professional. We contacted home and outside service providers. The next day was better. Each day since then has given everyone hope. There will be setbacks, but connections have been made. The plan didn’t happen overnight but the entire team invested in the student. Fast forward to students whom a...

After nearly 26 years in this field, I still feel like a novice.  As a teacher, I always wondered if I was doing my best. I moved into administration and realized the work I had been so quick to evaluate as a teacher was even harder to do as an administrator. I've had the honor of serving in positions in many different levels and know that each has its benefits. Still, each of it has its struggles. We are conditioned to believe that great leaders aren't supposed to admit that. Well, I've never considered myself a great leader. You'd think after over 10 years in administration, I'd have it figured out. But, I don't. If I am entirely honest, I sometimes feel like I am playing the role of Chris Gardner in this clip. I've arrived to the interview in the wrong clothes and don't look the part of the position. "He said you're smart. I like to think so. And you want to learn this business? Yes sir, I want to learn this business. Ha...

If we considered the odds, he wasn't supposed to "make it". He was an active, athletic youth who had little interest in schoolwork. He could easily do the work, especially math, but there wasn't a reason to excel at it. Over the course of his school years, he collected numerous behavior referrals.  In elementary school, teachers labeled him a smart mouth. I can still recall the memory of walking by his fourth grade classroom and seeing a desk in the air. It wasn't the student who had thrown it. It was his teacher, acting out of such frustration. In high school, things got tougher. People on the outside assumed he was too deep in trouble to stand for. He eventually dropped out of school. Since the age of 15, he had always been employed (had those soft skills that employers wanted but maybe schools didn't quantify at that time), so he worked. A year later, he decided to return to school. Imagine the bravery that took back in the late 1980s. The merit of...

"All still means all, right? Doesn't mean some of them , or the easier ones, or the ones with only great manners. Can't just mean the ones without difficult learning needs or who protest they can't stand our efforts. It means all. That all is so important to our work because once we let that all mean only some, we run the risk of failing students, some whom could be our very own children. We'd never let that be ok. So, how can we let it be ok for the kids with other parents? And, if we let it be ok, how do we decide which ones are worth saving and which are…" These are the words I wish I had said, as an Assistant Superintendent, as I considered a recent interaction. There were some recent conversations around specific students that were presenting with major defiance and beating us at launching more obstacles than we could appear to meet. But, the words didn’t come to me as eloquently. I reassured the person in my conversation that we were on the right tr...

I watched as she just stared at the present. This young lady, invited to an after school Christmas party for her and some of her classmates, was mesmerized by the bows and glitter. She took in every moment of all things beautiful. She methodically moved the packages on all sides and smiled at every turn. She said something about not wanting to unwrap it. It was all so pretty and she was looking to keep it in tact. She eventually relented and peeled away the papers. She smiled the biggest of smiles at every present found within. Her head lifted and she watched as the invited classmates had already enthusiastically opened their gifts. She smiled with them. She smiled for them.  She must have thanked the adults in the room at least ten times with her own quiet words and thankful glances.  It was in these moments that the adults gathered in that room were reminded of the true meaning of Christmas.  She prompted us to take in the memory before us without regard for all...

When I was still a teacher, many years ago, there was a book series for students where they could choose "their own adventure".  Readers would read to a certain point and then depending on what they thought the protagonist should do, they would skip ahead to certain pages and continue reading.  I remember them being wildly popular for some of my most voracious readers. My mind has been skipping back to thoughts of this series as I process recent conversations with colleagues in district and beyond. Some of these conversations are sound bytes from my current role and some are sound bytes from networking sessions outside my formal role. In some ways, the words blend together as I think about the collective work "of school" and evaluate my own contributions within. In my mind, I see our protagonist as the school leader, district leader, or even a teacher. Someone who is juggling way too much on one plate and works desperately to keep children at the center of the d...