See the Shore

Florence Chadwick was determined to be the first to swim from Catalina Island to mainland California.  This wasn’t the equivalent of taking a lap in a pool.  This was a 26 mile swim through the Pacific Ocean.  The year was 1952 and young Florence had a goal.  She was determined to reach it.  She already had great success at long distance swimming as she was the first woman to swim the English Channel…both ways!  So, off she went on this pursuit.  The weather was chilly and the fog was so thick that she could barely make out the safety boats that were on each side of her.  Fifteen hours later, she was still swimming.  Lactic acid has overtaken her muscles and she began to beg to be taken out of the water.  Get this – from one of the rescue boats, her Mom told her to stay tough because she was getting close.  Now, the perfect ending for this would be that she overcame her fatigue, set her mind on the goal and became the first to swim across this chasm.  That isn’t what happened.  She quit swimming due to physical and emotional exhaustion.  The rescue workers pulled her out of the water.  The next day, she discovered that she was only a half mile away from the shore when she quit.  Her comment about this speaks volumes – “If I could have seen the shore instead of the fog, I would have made it.” Forever, she had to ask herself, “What if…?”

After you set goals, you never want to get to “game day” and ask yourself any question that begins with these words – “What if”.  Sadder words may never have be spoken. You need to do everything you possibly can to reach your goals. If not, they are just cutesy-dutsey idle talk designed to appease.  In the education world, our game days are summative assessments like unit tests, final exams, and yes, the ISTEP.  Once you reach the dates of these exams, it is far too late get your kids ready.  The real difference isn’t made on game days.  The real difference is made on days leading up to game days.  It is the preparation.  It is the constant reflection of evaluating how effective the preparation is.  It is the informal assessments.  It is the formative assessments.  It is taking a professional and honest look at the data and seeing what you need to change. It is about working tirelessly to reach the goals you have set well in advance of the big day.  To reach goals, all of these need to take place.  You will also need to fight through some foggy days when it would be easier to take your eyes off of goal.  You have some big games days coming up.  We have some big days coming up.  Make a decision right now that you will keep swimming with your eyes on the shore and not on the fog.  Don’t get to game days and ask yourself, “What if?”

Being Purpose-Driven

“What on Earth am I here for?”  Ever ask yourself this question?   “What is it that I am supposed to be doing?”  Has that thought ever popped in your head?  Most people, if required to be honest, would answer in the affirmative to these questions.  Let’s set something straight from the start – you are not an accident!  You are here for a purpose.  About a decade ago, I read Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life.  What I found from this 40 day journey is that there are reasons we were created.  We were created by someone else and for someone else.  We are here for a purpose; perhaps a purpose that extends far beyond our time here on the third rock from the sun.  It is a blueprint for a lifestyle based on purpose and not on culture while challenging conventional thought.  If you live your life with a purpose, several benefits begin to happen. Your stress level will decrease (I am still working on that), you will be able to focus your energy, and simplify your decisions. One principle that I learned is to never confuse activity with productivity.  If you want to have an impact, focus on the purpose. Prune away the activities that have no purpose.  Sure, you can be busy without a purpose, but what’s the point?  Throughout history, people who have made the most difference were the most focused on the purpose.  That includes the greatest teachers ever.

What does a “Purpose Drive School” look like?  For us, it is preparing kids for the next level, to facilitate growth in each student no matter where they begin while providing an incredible educational experience.  The school should be a place where kids want to be and are challenged every single day.  Those schools are easy to manage when there is clarity of purpose.  That purpose governs the way we teach, the ways we interact, the example that we set, and the manner in which we conduct ourselves.  There is less fuzziness between what is right and wrong.  There is more integrity.  The purpose sets the standards and defines the expectations.  Purpose Driven schools have a common goal within its walls.  They deliver a quality education because quality is defined by the purpose.  When high performing teachers plan lessons, they ask themselves, “What is the purpose of this lesson?”  When quality teachers assign work, they precede this with “What is the purpose of this assignment?”  Ideally, a “Purpose Driven School” will be almost self-governing because it is based on high principles.  Let me be succinct – we are well on our way to being the type of school that I have described above.  That is because we have the ability to “walk the talk.” As we enter our second semester, let’s focus on providing all that we can for these kids.  Let’s focus on the purpose for each and every one of them.  In doing so, we will make a difference.

Resolutions

Okay, here we are more than a week into the New Year.  What is/was your New Year’s Resolution(s)?  According to Newsweek (which has discontinued its print version much to my chagrin as a loyal subscriber for over 30 years), the top ten New year’s Resolutions are:  losing weight, reducing debt, making more time for yourself, saving for a financial emergency (unlike the mindset of Congress), reducing personal spending (again, see Congress as a poor example), exercising more, eating better, spending more time with your family, reducing stress, and having more fun.  Do any of these match your list?  Statistically, 89% of Americans make New Year’s Resolutions.  However, only 46% are successful at achieving their resolutions six months later.  Less than half of all those making resolutions in the chill of a winter night still are holding true as we move into summer.  Why is that?  Lack of focus on what you’re trying to reach, failure to write the goal down and keep it visible, and not monitoring your progress along the way. (sounds a little like Marzano’s learning goals, huh?) Of course, there is this little matter call willpower.  I hope you are still chasing your resolutions.  Beat the odds.

As we begin the final five months of the school year, there are some big events down the road.  One of those, of course, is the state testing that begins in early March.  Our push to reach our school goal became more visible this week with daily announcements, trivia questions, signage outside of every classroom, and many more planned events.  Now is the time to make and keep resolutions relative to our school goal.  Really, that time was in August, but this time period fits the theme much better…call it writer’s privilege.  Making a resolution is about making a firm decision to do or not do something.  It is about sharpness and clarity.  Reaching our goal will take willpower on the part of everyone in the building.  We will need to focus on what we are trying to reach every single day.  We will need to write the goal down.  Evidence of this is outside of every classroom.  In your classroom, post your short and long-term goals.  Refer to them daily in your lessons.  Monitor progress toward them on a regular basis with informal and formative assessments.  Use that data to adjust your instruction.  Have your kids chart their progress regularly. Let your team know what the goal is.  Let each kids know that they play a vital part in reaching the goal.  Make them understand that anything less than their best effort on a daily basis is unacceptable.  Set the example for your kids.  Show them that hard work does pay off.  We just missed our goal last year.  I, for one, resolve to reach it this year.  How about you?

The Island of Misfit Toys

Preface:  Last week, I wrote about holding on to what you have.  The events of last Friday in Newtown, Connecticut made that even more clear.  This was a senseless tragedy.  Senseless.  Christmas in Connecticut will have a different feel this year.  There are gifts under the tree that already have names on them that will not be received.  There will be empty chairs at the family table.  Moms and Dads will mourn the loss of their children.  Spouses will not have their soul mate to share the holiday with.  Other family members will be numb as they wander aimlessly trying to figure out the mind of a murderer.  I thought of our school and how we have been spared devastation of this time.  I pray daily for God to surround us all with a hedge of protection as I am sure others do.  As we weep for those in Connecticut, let’s remember that this season comes with a promise unlike any others.  Follow that light that shone so brilliantly centuries ago.  You may not find the answer to this event, but you will find peace.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer came to our black and white television set in 1964.  This Christmas classic was shown once a year with no encore performance, no VCR or DVD or purchase possible.  In the kid world, you had one shot at seeing this before Santa came and trust me, every single kid from Mildred Merkely Elementary saw this as an event to not be missed.  My Mom was slick as snot on a doorknob on this night, she would make the most vegetable-laden meal ever made with liver as the entrée followed by a glass of 1% milk that you could swim in – all which had to be consumed before the four of us could stretch out in front of the 19 inch Zenith console that weighed approximately 725 pounds.  Anyway, this video had plenty of memorable characters including Sam the Snowman, Clarice, The Humble Bumble (Abominable Snowman), Yukon Cornelius,  Hermie (later to be a dentist), the boss Elf (who worked off season at Amish Acres), and, of course, Santa himself.  You know the story – Rudolph gets bullied beyond belief by the group of adolescent reindeer, leaves home with Hermie who is blasted by many for his goal in life, and meets up with an explorer who somehow exists on hamhocks and guitar strings.  Not how you remember it?  While on their journey to find their independence together (oxymoron), they land on The Island of Misfit Toys.  This is the place where all of the unwanted toys go.  There is a boat that won’t float, a cowboy who rides an ostrich, a squirt gun that shoots jelly, a bird that swims, and a “Charlie” in the box, among others.  They are just left there…forgotten.  They have defects and no one wants them. No one loves them. They are perceived as not being able to bring joy to the any good girl or boy.  That is, until Rudolph leads the sleigh to the island where Santa finds homes for all of the toys where they will be loved.  Once again proving that the greatest of these is love…

When our (there is that pronoun again) building opened and I gave my first staff presentation, I included this statement about the kids: “There will be kids here that you just don’t like.  I don’t care if you like them or not.  BUT, you better love them.” I still stand by that statement.  We have kids here that don’t seem to fit in.  We have kids here who don’t dress to the nines.  We have kids here who feel alone.  There are kids here that don’t feel loved.  There are kids here that are hungry. There are kids here whose parent is incarcerated. Some of these kids feel like they are on The Island of Misfit Toys and see no hope of getting off of it.  Maybe they see our school as a safe haven where they are accepted.  Maybe they see our school as a place where their concerns are addressed. Maybe they see our school as a place where they will get the one guaranteed meal of the day.  Maybe they see our school as a place to fit in on a team or as a club member.  The common thread here is that our school can be that place for them.  Every human being has value and that value needs to be accentuated.  Find the good in kids and then find ways for them to demonstrate that.  Is that a tough task?  You bet it is.  It is well worth the investment.