It is time for some March Madness! Yes, I am talking about basketball, not passing periods preceding the much anticipated Spring Break on the horizon. One of my favorite parts of March Madness is the competition. Watching teams, big and small, compete. As many of the athletes are playing for the last time, there is … Continue reading It Builds Character
Equip
Lessons from Someone Who Never Had A Chance to Win
I will admit, I am currently a Winter Olympics junkie. I know, I jump on the bandwagon of watching sports that I only really care about once every four years, but I love watching people do things remarkably well. These athletes are committed, driven even, to the sacrifice it takes to make an Olympic team. … Continue reading Lessons from Someone Who Never Had A Chance to Win
The Problems You Want
If I asked you to stop and make a list of the five biggest problems you are dealing with right now, what would you write? Go ahead and take some time to think about it, write down the five biggest personal or professional problems you are dealing with. What if I told you that with … Continue reading The Problems You Want
Empowered?
I listened to a podcast this week that gave a passionate message about empowering our students and staff to take control of their work and learning. While I appreciated the energy in the message, I have never liked the term empowerment. I feel the term gives the impression that those on the top have all … Continue reading Empowered?
Elephants
As I wrote last week, my #OneWord for 2018 is QUESTION. I want to spend time this year making sure I am asking myself the right questions. In that spirit, I am going to try to focus some of my blog posts this year around questions that come up during the week - questions that … Continue reading Elephants
Tension
I was flipping back through my journal this week and came across the sketch below. To be honest, I do not remember when I made this note, or what I was doing (or maybe not doing) that led to the sketch. Yet, it did provide me with an important reminder about growth. To improve and … Continue reading Tension
Build Up
If you are like me, you find it exhausting to scroll through social media. It is not because of the time it takes, but because of the overwhelming feeling of negativity expressed in this world. I just do not understand fighting negativity with more negativity. Unfortunately, there are people who I know personally, and have … Continue reading Build Up
My Best Interest
It has been a rough few weeks. Our school has suffered a great deal of tragedy...more than our fair share in a short time frame. In these times, I try to refer back to a core belief from Joshua Medcalf and Jamie Gilbert’s book Burn Your Goals. “Anything that happens to me today is … Continue reading My Best Interest
You have it all figured out…
This week, a colleague brought up a blog post that I had written a couple of weeks ago. She said he really appreciated the post and said, “you seem to have it all figured out.” The comment made me stop in the conversation. I corrected her and quickly said, I have nothing figured out. If … Continue reading You have it all figured out…
The Power of Reflection
A couple of years ago, I attended a conference and had the opportunity to sit in a session run by Kathy Nimmer (@Kathy_Nimmer) who was the teacher of the year for Indiana that year. The session was entitled: Emphasizing Reflective Practice: How Contemplation Can Foster Excellence. (I decided to attend this session because I believe … Continue reading The Power of Reflection
Leading and Learning 