Let me first say that I have a first class faculty/staff! They have supported me and my craziness from day one. I cannot brag on them enough. However, they also know that I am always pushing for continued improvement and growth. The data I collected from my “temperature check”, indicated that we needed to focus on eliminating two main deficiencies: pockets of negativity and small clicks throughout the building.
My first charge was to create a family atmosphere and promote a positive message throughout our school. I took advantage of a PD day (with no students) to set up that initial meeting with my faculty/staff. After everyone had arrived that day, I announced for everyone to come to the school library. As they arrived to the library, I had snacks in the back of the room and upbeat music playing. We opened the meeting with some positive talk. Next, we played a T.V. sitcom trivia game, in which I handed out small prizes. Our "normal" meetings were NOT set up this way. I front loaded this particular meeting with as much positive as possible. I wanted my faculty/staff to feel the positive energy from the greeting at the door, music, food, competition, and laughter. As we got past all the "fluff" and into the “nitty gritty” of the meeting, I wanted everyone to begin to ask themselves: What if my class was this way? What if I greeted students every class with a smile? What if I played upbeat music during transitions? What if I took the time to focus on the positive things going on in my student’s lives? What if…the person standing in front of my students was positive, upbeat, and encouraging every day? The following was the ultimate challenge to my faculty/staff:
· Be positive and respectful!
· Be present!
· Have fun!
Be Positive and Respectful
Let’s get something wrapped around our heads. The average teacher will interact with 25-50 students per day (multiple times), 15-25 colleagues, and a few parents. This means the average teacher has well over 250 human interactions at work each day. This should mean that we have 250 opportunities to make someone’s day! How do we do this? We have to intentionally choose to be positive and respectful during every interaction!
You chose your attitude! Only you can decide what kind of attitude you are going to approach your day with. Personal issues, whether it be family, sickness, financial, or any other challenges can make you subconsciously choose a negative attitude…which effects how you approach your day. That’s why it is so important to not let your circumstances effect your dispositions. The challenge for my faculty/staff, was to start making a conscious decision every day to come to school with a positive attitude! As professionals, we must leave our personal issues in the car, and not carry them through the school doors. Our issues cannot become our student’s burdens. Students deserve the best of us every single day! As far as addressing a desired level of respect, it’s really simple. We are professional educators, and we have a duty to model the respect we expect from others. Let’s face it, sometimes our jobs get stressful and overwhelming. During these times, it is easy to lose our composure. In moments like this, it is important to ensure we are being respectful and professional. I will get more into this when we discuss our expectations.
Be Present
Being present simply means being 100% focused and engaged! Teachers…your students need you…they need all of you! I encourage my teachers to set aside distractions. Setting aside distractions and giving 100% of your time, energy, attention, and focus to someone is one way of showing respect. It also goes a long way to build positive/strong relationships! Personally, I sometimes struggle with this. When I’m in the middle of something and someone walks in to my office, I struggle to stop and give them my full attention. It’s not that I’m trying to be rude. I am just a task driven person, and want to finish before I focus on something else. I used to think I could listen and continue to work. However, I have realized that they deserve better than that! At that moment, they need and deserve my time and full attention. If I expect my teachers to be fully engaged with their students, I need to be fully engaged when they come to me.
Have Fun
When I tell my faculty/staff to have fun, I don’t mean for them to “goof off” all the time. I merely mean for them to approach their teaching with passion and creativity! In the book Move Your Bus, Ron Clark states, “Where did we get the idea that growing up should equate to serious, somber, joyless environments?” Teachers need to know that they can be serious about their work without taking themselves so serious. It’s OK to smile, laugh, move, sing, dance, and play...as long as it enhances your standards based lessons! I ask this question often, “Would you want to be a student in your classroom?”
Upcoming
I had originally planned to discuss “expectations” in this blog. However, I think I may need to pause here, to give time to process everything we discussed so far. The next section is a “biggy”, and probably deserves its own post! Until then, Wilds Out! (Tribute to the late Kobe Bryant!)