Great summer

As usual I have spent most of the summer reading and preparing for the upcoming school year. The first week of summer was spent running summer school and getting students back on track and recovering the credit they may have lost somewhere along the way. My wife finished her administrative masters degree that she has worked on so hard these past two years. We celebrated by taking a mini vacation to the mountains of Virginia. We also got to spend a few days with my son and his wife. The great thing about that is getting to see the Grandkids. In a short two weeks we will be in full swing again. Oh my how time flies.

Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports ( PBIS)

Our high school began the implementation process this past summer to introduce Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS) to our high school. We were lucky to have a few teachers and administrators that had some experience with PBIS at other schools.
We were looking at reducing discipline issues in the school, improving the school climate for teachers, staff, and students, as well as having those struggling with academics get back on track. 
We identified students that were in need and at the same time went about getting a team buy in from the students so that implementation would be easy. We had guest speakers, trips to businesses, as well as reward days. All of these assisted our students and staff in believing we could have a better place both to learn and to work. 
As a member of the PBIS team, I felt as though we were unified at every corner. We looked for innovative ways to work with those students that were having difficulty. The most telling sign was the fact that we reduced the number of classroom incidents and that students were finally getting that it was ok to disagree with a teacher and to learn that there are productive and alternate means to solve a disagreement. Office referrals were down as well as suspensions. 
All in all I see a more productive student body that is now willing and able to take responsibility for their own actions...

In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Enough is enough

Over the past few weeks I have grown concerned about the actions of students when they are outside of school. In our community we have had several shootings that have put everyone on edge and for now things have decreased. Our police chief is looking at ways to be more proactive and also to work closely with the school to understand why there has been an uptake of violence. 
We as leaders need to be vigilant in reminding students that they should do the right thing and that violence is not an alternative. One shot, one misstep, and dead is dead. I hope these young folks have been listening because we have been listening to you. You are our future and we do believe in you, even when you may have doubt or uncertainty about yourself. 

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Book Review- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

I have no issue telling anyone that I am an avid and very active reader. I have an eclectic selection that I gather knowledge from and one can ever tell exactly what I am reading. I have recently read a book by Daniel Kahneman that he aptly named "Thinking, Fast and Slow". The book was mainly based on collaborative work he did with Amos Tversky over a 30 year period. The dramatic way of looking at exactly how we think garnered Kahneman the Nobel Prize in Economic Science in 2002 even though he is a psychologist by trade. His theories are that we have two main lines of thinking that we utilize on a daily basis. System 1 focuses on those decisions that can be made instantly, and primarily without thinking. System 2 recruits more in depth analysis by taking time to analyze a situation or a problem. You would be using System 2 if, for instance, you were doing a multi-step multiplication problem. I have often said to colleagues when questioned about the book that it is a novel that requires you to think about thinking. I feel that as an educational leader we are constantly looking at new and innovative ways to stimulate our classrooms and staff so that we can implement instructional programs that are conducive to students learning and staff professional growth. I see this as essential and this book assists those in leadership positions to maximize their collaborative capabilities. I highly recommend this as a spring break read or as one for the summer. JAD

Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs is good for him.

- Maya Angelou

Discipline

Most young people have had a discipline issue while they were students in school. Some have more issues that others but one thing among these students that is a constant is how the discipline should be given out. I have heard my fair share of complaints from parents, students, and other teachers over the years about what works and what doesn't. I have made a short and concise list of what I think works and if effectively implemented. 

They are:
1. Be Fair
2. Be Timely
3. Be Consistent

Think about them and see if you think that they would help you wade through the write-up avalanche that we all get this time of the year. 

Everything I needed to know...

Everything I needed to know I learned from my mother. I learned how to say hi and please. I learned that you should treat others as you would want to be treated. I learned that I wouldn't jump off a bridge if my friend said to do so. I learned that if you put kids from different backgrounds in a sandbox that they would play together and for the most part they would play nice. I learned to be home before dark, to brush my teeth after every meal, and to be nice to my siblings. I learned how to say thank you and mean it. I learned how to be respectful to all adults, even if I had to bite my tongue and even if I thought what they were saying wasn't making good sense to me. I learned to look both ways before I crossed the street. This advice has saved me more than once. I learned that life is full of good and bad people and it was best to hang around those that were good. I am sure I have missed some things but these are the ones that echo most in me even when I do things today. I am forever grateful and in her debt forever.

PS: I have instilled those same life lessons in my children. I learned that was important too...

“When you know better you do better.” 
― Maya Angelou

Being positive in the workplace

I have always believed that if you loved what you were doing that the positive feeling you exuded had the tendency to be infectious. I believe that more today than in any other part of my life. I enjoy turning a bad situation into a good one, a bad day into a good day with the students in my school.

Often a smile or a kind word helps them get through their day.  I do understand that there are some students that do not want my help. That has never been a deterrence to me in attempting them to enable them to look at their glass as half full.

I believe as leaders it is incumbent of us to do the right thing in all situations and to set a positive example for the students we lead.

They need to know that we care and even if our day hasn't been the best that we are going to put a smile on our face and make the best of whatever  the day has in store for us.


"A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron." -- Horace Mann