Blog Posts

PERFECTING A PROMISING PRACTICE @SPOTLIGHT ON INNOVATION 2.0

11/27/2018

“Information is abundant: It’s common. What’s uncommon, and desperately needed in today’s education systems, is the innovator’s mindset.” -George Couros

My appreciative inquiry hat and focus on the positive has changed my vocabulary terminology from “problem of practice” to a “promising practice!” For the principal, one of the sacred times no matter how much time he or she is given, is the opportunity for professional learning at faculty/staff meetings. The opportunity to perfect the promising practice of ensuring our meetings are motivating, engaging, purposeful, relevant, and inspiring is the focus of this year’s Spotlight on Innovation 2.0 at the 93rd annual MEMSPA conference in December!

Attendees at our December conference can perfect a promising practice at the Spotlight on Innovation 2.0 event held on Thursday, December 6 from 12-3pm in the Exhibit Hall entryway area. The idea is for principals to have an opportunity to learn with and from each other. In one area, scheduled learning opportunities are presented with time set aside to play with the technology and get support from others in how to use it and implement it. In a separate area we will have a STEAM(Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) lab setup. Jason Gribble will be using Touch Cast and Green Screen technology to demonstrate how to make interesting and engaging video casts either for morning announcements or for a flipped meeting where staff can watch at home!
Two teacher-leaders, one elementary and the other middle school, who use innovative teaching materials directly with students will be on hand to allow principals to check out different innovative learning tools like 3d printers, OSO bot coding, Co-spaces VR Creation platforms, Makey Makey, Strawbees connectors and more! They will be available to answer questions and detail how they use these innovative tools with students in the classroom.
We have gathered some #innovativemindset principals like Jason Gribble, Mike Domagalski, Ben Gilpin, Allyson Apsey, Jon Wennstrom, Andy Fuehr, and Jeremy Zonts as presenters for our sessions. Here is the schedule:
12:00 PM-3 PM   Green Screens and Touch Cast-Jason Gribble
Jason will teach you how easy it is to create your own morning announcements or flipped meeting video casts using a green screen and cool Touchcast technology!
STEAM Makerspace-Nick Travis and Amy Farkas
Come play and learn about cool and innovative technology tools that focus on STEM and STEAM technology! Find out what Ozobots, Strawbees, Makey Makey, Bloxels builders are and how they can stretch your kids inner innovative and creative mindsets!

12:30 PM-1:15 PM   Low Tech Innovation-Ben Gilpin
Sharing strategies to increase participation during meetings (Fishbowl, Speed-Dating,Field Trip Meeting, Rising Tide, Huddles)
Twitter Challenge-Mike Domagalski
Intro and Pointers, then Twitter Challenge to use for Staff Meetings - Innovative Interactions in Collaboration

1:15 PM-2:00 PM   Flipgrid-Andy Fuehr
Flipgrid is a free tool that can help educators share knowledge, curate information, and amplify student voice.   Attendees will learn the basics and feel confident to begin their Flipgrid journey.
Goosechase-Jeremy Zonts
Scavenger hunts for the masses. Bold, crazy and highly addictive. Incredibly easy to use with all the power you could ever want!

2:00 PM-2:45 PM   Inspiring and Motivating Tips!-Allyson Appsey and Jonathon Wennstrom
Sharing ways to help inspire and motivate students and staff! They will discuss fun activities that leaders can implement in their schools and reignite the love of learning for kids and adults!

You will also get a ticket just for attending and a chance to win some cool prizes. Fill out your ticket, take it to the MEMSPA booth in the Exhibit Hall and enter your chance to win! Winners will need to be present in the Exhibit Hall to win. Drawing usually occurs around the 3pm time!

The most effective way that principals can promote an innovative mindset is to develop professional learning networks and be knowledgeable and effective users of technology both high tech and low tech. Spotlight on Innovation 2.0, taking place on Thursday, December 6 from 12-3PM at the entry to the Exhibit Hall, is the place for principals to develop their own learning networks, and develop a promising practice.

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LEADERSHIP MATTERS IS A GAME CHANGER!

10/30/2018

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“Leadership Matters is the most meaningful professional development I have experienced in 21 years of education. I am walking away with a toolkit full of strategies, a new sense of confidence in my leadership and connections that I know will be with me throughout my leadership journey.” -LM Cohort 9 participant

YOU are the CLO-Chief Learning Officer of your school, but you also must be the LL: the Lead Learner! With a growth mindset, the principal as learner and collaborator ensures robust and continuous learning for all. Rick Dufour has said, “Schools need leadership from principals who focus on advancing student and staff learning.” A 2009 study from the Wellington Ministry of Education titled School Leadership and Student Outcomes: Identifying What Works and Why concluded that the leadership activity that has the greatest impact on student learning is the promotion and participation in teacher learning. In fact, the effect size was .84, nearly double the .42 effect size of teacher evaluation and goal setting!

You get it! You ensure that you participate in teacher learning and find the resources to ensure that your teachers have relevant professional learning that match school goals for ensuring student achievement. Have you thought much about your own learning? Truth nine from Kouze and Posner’s book The Truth About Leadership is that “The Best Leaders are the Best Learners!”   Why not consider joining Cohort Ten of Leadership Matters? Here are five reasons why!

1.        Learning!   The days of the principalship focused on being just a manager are long gone. No longer is the work just about the 4 B’s-buildings, boilers,
books, and buses, but about building the learning and leading capacity, the motivation and influence of others as leading learners. The themes of Leadership Matters focus on courage and integrity, building a collaborative culture, intentionality, and reflection.   Learn the essential skills and strategies that a leading learner needs, to provide the right amount of accountability and support.
2.        Networking!   As a cohort group, you will learn with and from each other. A group of elementary, middle level, and high school administrators, teacher leaders, and aspiring administrators who hail from rural, suburban, and urban districts. This diversity allows for a cross-culture of different perspectives, ideas, and support that is varied and enhances the learning experience.
3.        Coaching! I call this a monthly gift! The job of a principal is lonely and there
is not always someone available who you trust to provide perspective, support and assist you in thinking through problems and brainstorming solutions. The program provides a one-hour coaching call each month with one of the learning facilitators.
4.        Resources! The books and articles used in the program are relevant to the
work! Learn essential protocols that you can apply to your work immediately. The facilitation methods during the learning episodes are engaging and can be used back at your school with your own staff.
5.        Caring! You are the number one cheerleader for your school and your
teachers and staff. It is time to do something for you! As a leader, it is imperative that you model the importance of learning and staying current! Registration for Leadership Matters includes attendance at MEMSPA’s Summer Leadership Institute next August on Mackinac Island at the Mission Point Resort!

Here are a few quotes of affirmation from your colleagues who participated in Leadership Matters, Cohort 9!

“In my 21 years of education and 13 years of administration, Leadership Matters has been the most useful professional development.”

“The Leadership Matters experience allowed me to add to my educator toolbox in a meaningful way. Guaranteed you’ll be a better administrator for those you serve through learning at Leadership Matters.”

“If you are a school administrator and you want to learn new ways to make an impact on your students and staff then you need to attend Leadership Matters. This experience is life changing! You will learn and share new ideas with colleagues from around Michigan. You will receive resources and ideas that you can implement on Monday after a weekend session!”

“This was amazing learning especially for a principal that was experiencing first-year leadership at the elementary level. The learning network that has been developed is priceless.”

"Learning from Derek and Debbie is always an experience and an honor. I firmly believe there is no better professional development opportunity that exists for educational leaders than Leadership Matters!"

Won’t you consider joining Debbie McFalone and me and become a member of cohort ten of Leadership Matters? Registration costs can be paid for with Title 2 Professional Learning dollars; school district funds and a reasonable monthly payment plan can be accessed as well. Principal’s need support! The work is more difficult than ever! Supporting learning is essential! Why not join the over 200 principals who have changed their game as Leadership Matters alumni? Become a part of Leadership Matters Cohort Ten! Click the link to register! Leadership Matters Registration

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CAUTION: CHILDREN AT PLAY!

10/1/2018

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“It is a happy talent to know how to play” -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

This September after Labor Day while you all were teaching procedures, practicing them with your kids, and doing the exhausting work of starting a school year right, I admit that I was on the first “fall-cation” I have ever had in my lifetime. My wife Dawn who is an educator decided to “rewire” last Spring, so we planned an RV “glamping” adventure hitting as many of the Michigan State Parks traveling the perimeter of our Great Lake State!

We had beautiful weather and had an incredible time of course, but I am writing to you about what I observed as I watched children and their parents at campgrounds. Was I impressed! Kids were playing! Not just biking and hiking, but creatively playing games they made up together, investigating nature and getting up close and personal to the best Mother Nature has to offer. The best thing was, I never saw a kid with a technology device!

I also observed involved, attentive parents and I had my eyes and ears open and on dads. I saw so many dads spending quality time with their little ones. Taking them down to the water, checking out the stars at night, just walking and talking hand and hand. Okay, I admit, I just walked my daughter down the aisle a year ago and I probably was a little nostalgic. But, I did go up to one dad that I observed and complimented him on the time he was spending with his daughter talking to her, observing things and just listening. I told him to stay present and enjoy every second as the time goes by so fast, as you all know!

A recent Los Angeles Times article by Melissa Healy captured the dilemma we face for not carving out time for kids to play. Most recent statistics show that children are spending over 2 ½ hours each day on a technology type device. Increased academic pressures have left over 30% of kindergartens without any recess. In 2013, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement on the “crucial role of recess in schools.” A consortium of educators, health professionals and early childhood advocates in a report titled “Crisis in the Kindergarten” called the loss of play for young ones, “a tragedy, both for the children themselves and for our nation and world.” A 2009 report from the Alliance for Childhood said, “Young kids in play-based kindergartens end up equally good or better at reading and other intellectual skills, and they are more likely to become well-adjusted healthy people.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics report declares that play is critical to children’s health and mental development. Harvard Medical School pediatrician, Dr. Michael Yogman states, “Whether it’s rough and tumble physical play, outdoor play or social or pretend play, kids derive important lessons from the chance to make things up as they go.” The pediatric report states that, “Play is not frivolous, it nurtures children’s ingenuity, cooperation and problem solving skills. Collaboration, negotiation, conflict resolution, self-advocacy, decision-making, a sense of agency, creativity, leadership, and increased physical activity are just some of the skills and benefits children gain through play.” Aren’t these the character traits and skills we are trying to nurture in our children for the future as they become career and college ready in the 21st century?

The academy goes on to say that when parents engage in play with their children, it deepens relationships and builds a bulwark against the toxic effects of all kinds of stress, including poverty. The decline of play is a special hazard for the roughly 1 in 5 children in the United States who live in poverty. These 14 million children need to develop the resilience that is nurtured with play. Instead, Harvard pediatrician, Yogman said, “they are disproportionately affected by some of the trends that are making play scarce, academic pressures at schools that need to improve test scores, outside play areas that are limited or unsafe, and parents who lack the time or energy to share in playtime.”

In large cities across the country, a program called Learning Landscapes has helped transform urban areas into active playscapes for children at places they frequent. At a bus stop in Philadelphia, on sidewalks in San Francisco, and in neighborhoods of Chicago, the initiative led by Temple University psychologist Kathy Hirsh-Pasek has installed giant movable blocks, lifesize human board games, and lights that invite a spontaneous game of hopscotch.

Need some more evidence about the importance of recess and play? Here are some bullet points gleaned from a Washington Post source that list some benefits children can gain from spending playtime outdoors:

Better school performance. Time spent in nature and increased fitness improve cognitive function.
More creativity. Outdoor play uses and nurtures the imagination.
Much higher levels of fitness. Kids are more active when they are outdoors.
More friends. Children who organize their own games and participate in unstructured group activities are less solitary and learn to interact with their peers.
Less depression and hyperactivity. Time in nature is soothing, improves mood and reduces stress. It can also increase kids’ attention span, because things move at a slower pace than they do on the screen.
Stronger bones. Exposure to natural light helps prevent vitamin D deficiency, making outdoorsy children less vulnerable to bone problems, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other health issues.
Improved eyesight. Time spent outdoors can help combat increasing diagnoses of nearsightedness.
Better sleep. Exposure to natural light, and lots of physical activity, help reset a child’s natural sleep rhythms.
A longer life span and healthier adult life. Active kids are more likely to grow into active adults.

This summer at the NAESP National Principals Conference, Daniel Pink shared from his book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing information about how we underestimate the power of breaks.   We as humans perform better after taking a break. One research study found that judges are more lenient on sentencing after taking a break. He told the principals in the room about the importance of recess and especially about taking breaks before any kind of test-taking activity! Here are his five tips about breaks:

1.    Something beats nothing.
2.    Moving beats stationary.
3.    Social beats solo.
4.   Outside beats inside.
5.   Fully detached beats semi-detached.

We are advocates for the children in our care. How are you ensuring that the children in your care are creatively nurturing their ability to grow and learn through play?

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Duck, Duck, GooseChase!

8/30/2018

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“Go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.” --Jimmy Carter

Cool title, eh? I harvested it from my principal friends Scott Panozzo and Jeremy Zonts who rocked the house at the MEMSPA Summer Institute’s Spotlight on Innovation 1.5! Their session on sharing the GooseChase Scavenger Hunt app had principals singing, dancing, leapfrogging, and collaboratively having some fun together as they fulfilled missions for points! I imagine there will be many school faculty and staff groups that will be trying out a GooseChase for the first time this fall!

If you haven’t participated in a GooseChase, the concept is simple. You create missions or use the mission bank to put teams to work fulfilling them for points. They can include photo/video, text, or GPS locational items. Teams can be formed in advance or chosen randomly and are sent out for a specified period of time to fulfill as many missions that they can accomplish. Each video capture is about 30 seconds and participants access the game via the GooseChase app in order to submit responses. Meanwhile, the facilitator can view and organize all submissions on the GooseChase web version on their laptop. Sharing the submissions and watching people laughing and having fun while learning is half the fun! These can be downloaded and shared by the way if you choose!

At Jeremy and Scott’s session I was not on a team participating, but was one of the “missions” to be accomplished! Dancing with Derek! As I watched principals work and learn together having fun, I soon realized the power of this tool and the innovative way it could transform learning in an engaging and collaborative fashion. I thought to myself how I might use it in my own work.

So I took a risk! Went out on a limb and created a GooseChase for the Greenville Public Schools administrative team that I work with! Their session was focused on district culture, so as a grand finale I had them write an acrostic poem describing the district culture, create a cheer about their culture, draw an emoji that described their culture, use their body in someway to spell culture, sing a song that depicts their culture, and see who could read the mission and vision of their district the fastest!
I learned a few things. First, it is easy to create your own missions, add images, create team names, etc. With a little bit of messing around, you can figure out on your own how to create missions and teams, set passwords, and start a game. I do suggest that you test out a game all the way to the end to see what the user sees if you have not ever participated. Be explicit in your teaching on how participants need to use the GooseChase app to download their photos, videos and text missions and access to passwords, and finding your game. You can access a description of how to play a GooseChase game here: Goosechase Onboarding

Some people may say that using innovative apps such as GooseChase are a passing fad. That may be, but I like to think of it as an opportunity to embed learning in a fun and engaging way while capturing information about the way people work and learn together. It is not the innovative app per se, but how you use it, deploy it, and what your purpose is. As a facilitator of learning, our modeling of taking a risk, trying out something new, and failing forward sets the stage for our learners(our teachers and students) that it is okay to as Jimmy Carter says, “Go out on a limb, because that is where the fruit is!”

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YES, THERE REALLY IS A KALAMAZOO!

6/19/2018

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The MEMSPA Summer Leadership Institute, “Literacy Integration: ‘Setting Our Compass for Success” is coming to my hometown of Kalamazoo this summer! You need to come for the learning and to come and find out that Yes, there really is a Kalamazoo! This Summer Leadership Institute has sessions that offer content matched to the needs of our MEMSPA leaders and teams! The Institute is an in-depth and practical learning opportunity for practicing and aspiring principals as well as teacher leaders. School leaders will leave with the knowledge and confidence to implement key concepts and new skills.

The MEMSPA Summer Institute is a dynamic opportunity to jumpstart your learning, networking, and planning for the new school year. Yes, I know, the last thing you want to think about right now, eh? But, you’re a planner, so get the dates on your calendar and get registered! Tuesday, July 31-Wednesday, August 1 at the Kalamazoo Radisson. Register here if you haven’t done so already! MEMSPA Summer Leadership Institute

Do you know an early career principal? Someone on the job for 1-3 years, or perhaps a brand new principal just hired? Then, send them on Monday, July 30 from 12-8pm for the Early Career Principal’s Workshop that Debbie McFalone and I facilitate. Our goal is to provide information to help new and beginning principals start strong and set the stage for a positive and productive year of leadership. Set Up For Success Pre Conference for Early Career Leaders

If you are bringing your family, there is a lot to do in Kalamazoo! We have many free opportunities for families and great eats! Save this Google Doc I created that lists great places to eat and fun family activities to participate in while you attend the MEMSPA Summer Institute at the Kalamazoo Radisson! YES! There Really Is A Kalamazoo!

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What about the father?

4/24/2018

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“Nobody appreciates daddy . . . Nobody ever says, “Hey, Daddy, thanks for knocking out this rent!” “Hey, Daddy, I sure love this hot water!” “Hey, Daddy, it’s easy to read with all this light!” Chris Rock, comedian

When my sister’s son was born, before I had kids of my own, I couldn’t contain my excitement and enthusiasm for visiting her and holding this precious bundle that I got to call nephew! My self-centered, egocentric brother-in-law was a bit miffed and couldn’t stand that everyone in the family was putting all the attention on the mom and the baby and loudly proclaimed: “What about the FATHER?”

At the time of course, we could have cared less about him, but despite his egotism, I have to admit that he was definitely right about something. A boy needs his father!

Whenever I had a long-term emotionally challenged situation with a young boy at school as a principal, 9 times out of 10 the father was absent or not involved. More and more it is becoming crystal clear, that boys not just in the United States, but in all countries are struggling with identity, a sense of purpose, and the skills to succeed in school and in life.

Warren Farrell, PhD, author of the book The Boy Crisis, Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It shares a blueprint for parents, teachers, and policymakers for what we can do to help our boys become happier, healthier men and fathers and leaders worthy of respect.

What Is The Boy Crisis?

It’s an education crisis. Worldwide, boys are 50 percent less likely than girls to meet basic proficiency in reading, math, and science.
It’s a mental health crisis. ADHD is on the rise. And as boys become young men, their suicide rates go from equal to girls to six times that of young women.
It’s a fathering crisis. Boys are growing up with less-involved fathers and are more likely to drop out of school, drink, do drugs, become delinquent, and end up in prison.
It’s a purpose crisis. Boys’ old sense of purpose--being a warrior, a leader, or a sole breadwinner--is fading. Many bright boys are experiencing a “purpose void, feeling alienated, withdrawn, and addicted to immediate gratification.

Farrell and his co-author John Gray lay out clear researched information about why our boy’s are in crisis and what we need to do about it. Consider that dad’s to be are twice as likely to prefer a daughter to a son. Today, young men between twenty-five and thirty-one are 66 percent more likely than their female counterparts to be living at home with their parents. In one generation, young men have gone from 61 percent of college degree recipients to a projected 39 percent; young women, from 39 percent to a projected 61 percent. This boy crisis affects our girls as well, as Farrell points out whenever only one sex wins, both sexes lose.

Farrell describes how less educated boys in the unemployment line creates the drop-out, left-out cycle.

The Drop-Out, Left-Out Cycle

In neighborhoods where marriage is scarce, fathers are scarce, and more than half of boys don’t finish high school. The boy drops out.
The less education a young man has, the more likely he is to be unemployed or underemployed. He’s left out of the workplace.
Women who desire children think of an uneducated young man as undesirable, and an unemployed man as “another child”--hardly marriage material. He’s left out of marriage and fathering.
Some of the women with whom he nonetheless has sex with become pregnant and raise children without him thus, we’re back to step one, the left-out dad and the drop-out son.

As our economy and jobs flips from muscle to mental, jobs require knowledge of the “internet of things.” Knowledge of coding, programming, physics and chemistry will be essential knowledge in the robotic and artificial intelligence job world. Boys need to have their mind developed in boy-friendly ways. The education boy crisis is real. Consider these facts:

Nationwide, girls make up 70 percent of valedictorians, while boys get 70 percent of D’s and F’s.
Boy’s IQ’s have dropped about 15 points since the 1980’s.

In the United States, by eighth grade, 41 percent of girls are at least “proficient” in writing, while only 20 percent of boys are.
Boys scored lower than girls in the sixty-three largest developed nations in which the PISA, a set of international standardized tests, was given.
Worldwide, boys are 50 percent more likely than girls to fail to meet basic proficiency in any of the three core subjects of reading, math, and science.

How Can Schools Help?

Create purpose and a concrete goal for a non academically inclined boy to use his mind. With a concrete goal to become a welder, comes motivation to study the necessary physics and chemistry necessary to become the well paid worker.
Increase vocational education.
Teach emphatic skills- communication skills and empathy training are essential to help boys make the transition from hero intelligence of the past to the emotional intelligence needed for our boys future.
Take notice that the boy crisis is real and is happening not only in the United States, but worldwide. Implement action plans to address it.

What about the father? For too long, we have ignored clear signs of distress with changes in our culture and the impact on the lives, health and happiness of our boys. We must take action to rectify the situation. Our future depends on it.

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WILL YOU FORGIVE ME?

3/20/2018

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“To err is human; to forgive, divine.”—Alexander Pope

Before Oprah went off the air with her show, I always hoped that she would do one with educators who could invite their first class of students that they taught, now all grown up. This would provide an opportunity for teachers to relieve the guilt harbored for years and apologize to them. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know what I was doing! But, my heart and my passion with doing what I thought was right was sincere! Will you forgive me?”

Likewise, as a principal I often dream about meeting the little ones who were challenging. Those I worked with and cared for just about every day and every hour. I want to find out how they are doing now as adults. It would give me the opportunity to tell them that I didn’t know everything going on with them, but I loved them and did the very best I knew how to do.

All of these kids come with names and I pray each and every day that they will forgive me and in their hearts know that I did everything I could and thought was right at the time. Just last Sunday, I learned something new and yes it was a 60 Minutes segment with Oprah! She highlighted trauma sensitivity and organizations that are doing training for health providers and educators. One of the simple strategies shared was instead of asking a child, “What’s wrong?’ Ask them “What happened?” This shift of not labeling the child through our language, assuming something is wrong, was enough for many kids to open up and actually share what was happening to them.

Goleman has shared with us that so many children present themselves in the classroom as if everything is alright. They look like they are listening, paying attention, and engaged. They know how to look like a learner, when in fact, the insides tell us a different story. Trauma, worry, a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness prevail.

Debbie and I in our Leadership Matters class and other sessions have shared a short film from the Cleveland Clinic called “Empathy: The Human Connection to Patient Care,” that asks health care professionals to walk in the shoes of patients as they experience their hospital stay. At last month’s Leadership Matters session, Debbie shared information about empathy vs sympathy and how we need to be empathic as we truly learn, “what happened” to each of the children before us. The video “Under the Surface,” asks educators to walk in the shoes of their students as they experience school. The insight that each of us in an organization comes to school with a story, is powerful. It helps us shape how we interact, how we understand, when actions don’t match past behaviors.

While legislators and outside interests keep focusing only on academic achievement as a measure for our success and blame us for failing children, we know we are saving their lives on a daily basis. What if, a child didn’t have a safe harbor? Food to eat? People surrounding them who love them, care for them and provide hope? While others keep hitting home the fact that schools are failing and that we have to get those darn test scores up, we know they are never going to go up unless we address the needs of our children, find out what happened, what their story is and how we can help. Our children are not a number, they are not a score, they are people with names.

My mission is to keep learning and applying what I have learned. Continue being a strong advocate for what educators do passionately each and every day as they change lives of children and make their future better and ever hopeful. I am ever hopeful, that as we learn new and better strategies to help us care for kids, we won’t have to think about those who keep us up at night in worry, knowing in our hearts that we did everything possible for them.

Cedric, Chandra, Tashumba, Betty, Shawn, Robert, Terronda, William, Ricky, Sabrina, Cooper, Matthew, just to name a few, will you forgive me?

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#HUSTLE KINDNESS!

2/20/2018

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"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind." -Henry James
Happy Random Acts of Kindness week! Well, RAK Week was actually celebrated last week February 11-18 but it is never too late to celebrate kindness! A principal friend of Debbie’s in East Grand Rapids, Linda Kehm who died of cancer in 2016 had a theme at her school called “Kindness Counts at Lakeside Elementary” that remains as a legacy theme to this day! Nice, huh?

One of our Leadership Matters Cohort 9 principals, David Anderson from Gibraltar Schools has a theme titled “Hustle Kindness!” Think of the definition not as slang, but as in to move or act energetically and rapidly or energetic activity; drive. In other words, the expectation is that every action, every event, every child experiences the kindness hustle! David shared with us that his son was born with the same syndrome and condition as the boy Auggie in the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio. His family and school family has used the book and the most recent movie release as an opportunity to inform, teach, and spread the importance of kindness, every child, every opportunity, every time!

If you haven’t seen the movie Wonder based on the book, it’s a must. Through different voices, it tells the story of a boy named “Auggie” who has Treacher Collins syndrome who tries to fit in. He has been homeschooled for several years and his parents decide to have him attend a private academy for middle school. Part of the syndrome presents a rare facial deformity that Auggie has to deal with both physically and emotionally, and socially. He is befriended by a young man at school who loves him unconditionally like his family. The principal scene with parents behaving badly is a can’t miss as you will definitely relate!

Last year, PARADE magazine paired with the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation to make 2017 the Year of Being Kind. Well, given all that happened in 2017 and continues to occur in our world of politics, it seems like we need to make every year the year of being kind. Lady Gaga stated: “Kindness is showing Love to someone else. I believe that kindness is the cure to violence and hatred around the world.” So let’s get our kind on!

Clearly you are aware of the research done on giving and receiving kindness and the medical benefits to be reaped. Our brains are wired for receiving endorphin highs from showing compassion toward others. An Oxford researcher, Oliver Scott Curry, recently analyzed more than 400 studies on kindness and released a report through Kindness.org on the benefits of being kind. The one act of kindness not only benefits you and the person receiving it, but those who witness it as well. A sort of domino effect through one simple act of kindness.

Over 4,500 educators have downloaded the free, Kindness in the Classroom social-emotional curriculum developed by the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. To access the curriculum you have to create a kindness profile that takes just a few minutes. Look for the tab labeled educators.
Kindness.org lists several ways to get started being kind, one act at a time!

Set a daily gratitude reminder
Share your favorite uplifting song
Compliment a stranger
Let someone go first
Pay it forward with coffee
Gift a kind book
Help someone carry their shopping bags

Tag someone to tell them “I’m here for you!”

Kindness for Kids, Schools, and Families

Be kind to a classmate
Read a book with a child
Play #ispykindness with a child
Ask kids or students what kindness means to them
Walk your kid to school

Many of you have implemented “buddy benches,” gratitude bulletin boards, and “Million Acts of Kindness” campaigns. I thought that together we could create a Kindness Resource Page filled with free resources. I took some of the resources provided by Parade and others that I have collected. Feel free to add to the resource list and “harvest” them to your heart's content! Remember, there are three things important in life! The first one is to be kind, the second one is to be kind, and the third one is to be kind!

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UBUNTU I Am Because We Are!

1/23/2018

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“One of the sayings in our country (South Africa), is Ubuntu- the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can’t be human all by yourself, and when you have the quality-Ubuntu-you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity. My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.”
--Bishop Desmond Tutu

You have heard it said before that the smartest person in the room, is the room. I would like to add to that to say that the smartest person in the room is ALWAYS the children in the room! One of my favorite news segments is On the Road by Steve Hartman on the CBS network. A particular December segment moved me. Last year was marked with division and racial strife, but two beautiful little girls taught us the true meaning of UBUNTU!
Jia and Zuri attend the same pre-school and are best friends. Beyond that they call themselves twins. They are both four years old, their birthdays are practically the same date, and they are physically similar. They insist on wearing identical outfits. To these two beautiful girls, being twins means, “Similarities.” according to their moms.
At a birthday party they both attended, an older child shared that they couldn’t be twins because they had different colored skin. Through tears, little Jia said, “"You don't know what you're talking about, we're twins because we share the same soul." Yes, you heard that right. The same SOUL. This is UBUNTU- I AM Because WE Are!

There are 12 aspects of Ubuntu that directly address what must be valued and implemented during times of broken or strained relationships among individuals or communities. The Spirit of Ubuntu is to be contrasted with vengeance. It dictates that a high value must be placed on the life of a human being, each of whom must be treated with dignity, compassion, humaneness and respect. Ubuntu finds worth in the shifting from confrontation to mediation and conciliation. It dictates good attitudes, shared concern while favoring the re-establishment of harmony within relationships by restoring dignity and being careful not to ruin one another. Restoration is favored over retributive justice, allowing for those who have done harm to be enlightened and led into change of behavior rather than punishment. Conflict is to be handled face to face encouraging differences to be resolved rather than victory being achieved especially for the most powerful. Finally, Ubuntu encourages dialogue and mutual tolerance

At our schools, this is exactly the culture that we are trying to build isn’t it? These are the values and beliefs we are trying to instill in our children through the adults in our buildings. What if we could be as smart as the children and know that we are one because “we share the same soul?”

Ubuntu Song
By Mark Hayes
I am me because of you, ubuntu, ubuntu.
And you are you because of me, ubuntu, ubuntu.
I need you and you need me, ubuntu, ubuntu.
We are one big family.
Ubuntu, ugamuntu, ngabanye abantu
I am human just like you.
But we have differences, it’s true.
I will see the best in you, and I know that
You will see the best in me.
I will guard your dignity, ubuntu, ubuntu.
We will live in harmony, ubuntu, ubuntu.
I will lift your spirits high, ubuntu, ubuntu.
wipe the teardrops from your eyes, ubuntu, ubuntu.
As a chorus we are strong, ubuntu, ubuntu,
when every one of us sings along, ubuntu, ubuntu.
So lift your voice and sing your part, ubuntu, ubuntu.
Let us hear what’s in your heart.

Mark Hayes was commissioned by Shawn Berry, artistic director of The Young Singers of the Palm Beaches in 2012 to write a song for their 2013 spring concert. Access their performance here: Ubuntu Song

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DADDY, CAN YOU SEE ME?

12/19/2017

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"Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens."
- Carl Jung

Each year at the MEMSPA Annual Conference I eagerly await Friday morning’s closing session. I draw on the speaker to inspire me and to awaken within me what I need to learn, reflect on, or think about to change my leadership to improve and get better. This year, my inspiration came from Brian Partin, President of NAESP. His reflection sharing was particularly poignant and shook me to my core, not to mention bringing on a few tears.

Brian started by telling about his younger years in elementary school. He and his brother were raised by their single parent mom who was working two jobs to ensure the boys had what they needed. At school, she took advantage of the free and reduced lunch program to assist the family in having money to put toward other necessities. At Brian’s school, those who paid for lunch got a green ticket and those who had free and reduced lunch got an orange ticket. Brian and his brother were embarrassed and didn’t want to be made fun of so they chose not to eat and get in the orange ticket line! When the school called home to tell their mom that the boys weren’t eating and why, she made a decision that spoke to me. She decided to get a third job to be able to pay the $4 per week extra so that Brian and his brother could get a green ticket and most importantly, eat! What sacrifice, what dedication, what love for her boys!

My principal brain thought thank goodness we don’t put kids in orange ticket and green ticket lines anymore. But then I remembered a recent story where a kid who wasn’t up to date on his lunch account had to get out of line and was given a sack with a sandwich and an apple and not allowed to eat the hot lunch provided for others. I thought about the schools that I visit and my own school when I was a principal. How are we still segregating children? As learners? As human beings? Who is getting an orange ticket? Who is getting a green ticket?

The second story that Brian told, brought me to tears as well as many in the room. He shared that his youngest daughter was born with Down’s Syndrome. They realized quickly that her eyesight was poor and fitted her with glasses early on that eventually she discarded either through sensory issues or she just plain wouldn’t wear them. She is getting close to teen years now and she was recently fitted with glasses that has brought new vision to her life- she can see clearly and in focus! One of the first things she said to Brian was, “Daddy, can you see me?” Brian told us that of course she was literally connecting her ability to see with the question but he pushed us to think deeper. What if what she was asking was, “Do you see me? Do you understand me? Do you know me? Do you get me?” Brian had us reflect and think about our own students and who might be out there asking the same question? “Can you see me?”

Daniel Goleman in his focus on Emotional Intelligence tells of children out in the seats that have developed such a propensity to compensate for the difficulties happening in their lives that we don’t see them. We just think they are doing fine and they really aren’t. Hattie in his analysis of adult language of questioning and interactions with children tells about students wearing microphones to record what they hear each day. The recordings are analyzed and data collected regarding what is shared with students? What level of questioning do they hear? What interactions do they have? This stunned me, but he shared that some kids spent their whole day at school and not a single person talked to them at all! “Can you see me?”

After this well deserved holiday break and rest, I challenge you to sit down and do some reflection and thinking. As you look at your school, the systems, the way kids are treated, segregation of learning, discipline procedures, etc. Who is getting an orange ticket? Who is getting a green ticket? As you think about your students and your staff. Who is asking, “Can you see me?”

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