This past week I stopped to visit with a colleague who has been absent from work due to a health issue. Our conversation began with college football but eventually drifted to work. "I'm just trying to get caught up," he lamented (as he stared at his computer screen and what I imagined was an overflowing … Continue reading My Plan to Deal With Overwhelm
This week I took a break. I packed up some of my gear and headed into the mountains near Payson, Arizona for a two-night camping trip. October in the mountains in Arizona is true fall weather -- something I don't often experience in Phoenix. It was beautiful, with highs in the low seventies and lows … Continue reading Go Ahead and Take a Break
I am exhausted. I've spent the last week and a half trying to "catch-up" and put myself in a position where I feel like I am able to return to school after fall break and avoid feeling overwhelmed. I'm not caught up, but I'm not buried either. So how did I get myself into this … Continue reading Reading. Riting. Rithmetic.
A long time ago, I worked in the correspondence department of a mutual fund transfer company in Kansas City. It was a satisfying job. Each day I would boot up my computer and a list of projects (letters to write) would pop into my queue. One letter at a time, I would work my way … Continue reading You are More Than Your Profession
Whew. Today I can breathe. Fall break has arrived. I just finished the first quarter of my eleventh year at my current school and my ninth year as the principal. It doesn't seem possible. Truth be told, there always seem to be new challenges and in many ways, the job has become more difficult (maybe … Continue reading Tubas and Teaching
I considered titling this post "The Proverbial Death of an Educator," but decided that was likely a bit dramatic. I'd love to take just a few minutes of your time to explain why I believe (like many other things in life) we overcomplicate the educational process and in doing so, we overextend our educators. The … Continue reading The Essentialist’s Guide to Education
Over an education career that has spanned twenty years, I have had the good fortune to work, and learn, from many exceptional educators. Currently, I am blessed to be the principal at a school with amazing and dedicated teachers -- people who really care about our kids. There is no shortage of advice about skills … Continue reading 10 Things Great Teachers Do
Coming to school each day can become a hopeless task for some children unless they succeed at what they do. We teachers are the sentries against that hopelessness. — Robert DeBruyn As educators, we all bring our own memories and school experiences to our work and into our classrooms. Undoubtedly, those experiences are a wide variation of … Continue reading Sentries Against Hopelessness
One of the great things about working at a junior high school is that kids are generally pretty happy people -- and happiness is contagious. I find that when I am feeling stressed, or overwhelmed, a short walk across campus is often the cure. On these walks, I am typically greeted with a chorus of … Continue reading Kindness: We Can Do Better
Over the past four weeks, I have had the opportunity to be back in the classroom -- as a teacher. We are currently short-staffed, so I have been teaching a class called Academic Perseverance. The class focuses on social-emotional learning and executive functions, but there is significant latitude for creativity and pursuit of topics the … Continue reading What I’ve Learned From a Return to the Classroom
