Reflectous Interruptous

First Trimester down and strapping on the helmet doesn't come close to what sums it up. Do I love the transition from teacher to administration? Absolutely! Do I love the pety issues that enter my office on a daily basis? The responsible answer to that would be, 'there are no pety issues.' The actual answer would be, 'we create problems for the sake of the existence of problems.'

One of the issues that looms when any new person steps in to the position of authority... trust. If I had to define where my staff stood after a trimester of working with me, it would have to be 'waiting to exhale'. While they see that I'm a principal who understands the teacher point of view (after spending 17 years in the classroom), they have experienced a former principal with an administrator point of view (who had 3 years of classroom experience) and they keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. One teacher summed it up for me in a conversation: "We like what you stand for and how you work with us, but we keep waiting to be stabbed in the back." So there's some work to be done. Trust is an issue of time,... or staff parties. Perhaps both.

"I heard that you're trying to cancel Halloween," came a comment from a parent in the community.
"What?" I couldn't believe that I had such power.
Having made some simple changes to the day to day operations of the school, one of them came with the way the parade for our Halloween celebration took place. My design needs some work because I failed to anticipate parents standing in the middle of the hall to snap pictures, instead of going to the gymnasium where ALL parents could take pictures. The hallway debacle led to a mish mash of confusion and came close to requiring the assistance of an NBTS (National Bureau of Transportation) agent to assess the flow of traffic. In the end though, every child had a chance to parade in front of their peers and eat an absurd amount of chocolate. How this turned into my cancellation of Halloween I have no idea, but if the parents continue to cause traffic violations,... so let it be written, so let it be done. Maybe I should run for political office next.

"Do you miss the classroom?" many people ask me.
I have to think about it for a few seconds, but the answer is, No. I don't miss the classroom, but I do miss the direct impact on kids. I miss the interaction with the select few that were in my room. I miss the direct connection to the families. As the principal, I get to know many more, but it's not on that deep level - at least not yet. After all, it's only been a few months.

What Comes Around

Trying to decide how to spend the remaining days of summer can be exhausting. When should I start the changing of the internal clock? When do I acknowledge a daily scheduled? When is it time to draft that back to school letter? When is it time to put away the T-shirts and shorts and pull out the dress slacks and shirts?

"I have this week! That's IT!" Kim announces as she slides into her morning coffee. The public school system begins back to school after Labor Day, while our private school system is on it's own to decide when it's best to hit the hallways and stuff the lockers once again. At Kim's school,... the teachers begin next Monday.

An awkwardness blankets our mornings in August as I relish the full month of freedom still to be enjoyed, while Kim begins full blown readiness. She mutters quite a bit about going back early, but deep down (usually by the bottom of her coffee cup), she is ready and excited to get started - as am I,... in another month.

There is some excitement coming in September - It's National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and Tate Publishing is kicking things off with a nationwide media blitz. More on what this will entail as information becomes known.

Short Thoughts are Simple to Process

Well,... I'm back. It took me a while to finally set down and process some thoughts since so much has been happening over the course of the past two months.

Where to begin? (Long, lingering pause while I stare out the window wondering what I'm doing sitting at a computer when summer is right outside).

I'll get back to you real soon - got to go!

Common Place Is Slowly Changing

"You know that thing you talked about the other day?" a little voice came from the seat behind me.

Our class was off on a field trip and to kill the time on our ten minute ride, I grabbed a small devotional book titled The Family's Man (for husbands and fathers). I thought a devotional would be just the ticket for a short, peaceful bus ride with the kids. I was wrong.

Putting my book down I glanced back behind me, "What thing and what day?" I was hoping to narrow it down before providing any sort of relevant response.

"The one where you talked about electric cars and how someday they would have power stations in place of gas stations," she spoke as if she were preparing to make a point.

"Yep. I remember that," I said, hoping to return to my devotional.

"Well, my dad said that you didn't know what you were talking about. And my sister had this book that's titled "What Idiots Say", or something like that. It said that electric cars would never take over and that's just what people think."

"Hmmmpp. Well I suppose everyone has an opinion on the topic," I really wanted to say more but I knew I shouldn't. Stupid job security.

"But I'm not saying you're an idiot," she shot back, probably realizing that she had indeed called me an idiot. "I'm just saying what my dad said and that it said it in a book too."

"I think I'll go back to my reading now," I needed to desperately find a little peace. The only problem was I had now spent most of my time listening to a little girl explain to me that her dad disputes the use of electric cars in the future and finds me to be an idiot for even suggesting it to my students.

Join the Fight - Day 4

There's a name tag epidemic in our country that must be addressed! You see it when you go to a convention, you see it at some church services, you see it in business, and you see it in schools - name tags that identify who you are.

Now I'm not opposed to the whole idea of taking away a formal greeting in place of slapping a sticky note to ones body or clipping of a badge. Although when som

eone's wearing a name tag you seldom stop to introduce yourself and ask who they are, because that would seem to 19th Century.

I'm opposed to placement. Case in point,... just this morning. I have my students in the library attending the Book Fair, where a number of volunteers (mainly moms) come to lend a hand. I have a brief interaction with a mom, whom I've not seen before, and I glance at her tag to catch a last name, while she's looking at two boys trying to jot down the name o

f a book.

I'm thinking that perhaps if I can get her last name I may know her

ch

ild(ren). As I glance back to her face, I notice this look of disgust (because her attention is no longer on the boys),... she "apparently" feels that I was staring at an inappropriate area. Hello! If you would slap the sticker on a different body part then perhaps neither of us would have this uncomfortable moment!

I'm starting my own personal crusade that will last for the remainder of the year, ...month, ....week, ...day, ... in the moment, or until a lawsuit is filed. This name tag placement has

gotten out of control and I intend to bring it to the front of societal concerns. I'm thinking there's global warming and name tag placement, ... what Summit do I attend?

I need to rethink my photo and throw in a butt-double. No comments needed.

Day 2 and going strong! Dreams ALIVE PEOPLE! Dreams ALIVE!

Day 3 and

you can sense a movement afoot!

It's Day 4 already and the exhaustion is setting in,... not to mention the obliques are beginning to feel the burn every time I have to twist around to grab my key for something. Don't know how much longer I'll be able to sustain such a grueling pace for societal norming.

Foto Friday

Whoodle Pose and Profile

The 21st Century Classroom.

This is the title given to our classrooms in district that have a smartboard, sound system, and various other little technology gadgets. I thought I had a 21st Century room by simply being a teacher in the 21st Century, but I must be wrong. So then the question becomes,... what century

classroom do I have?

Could it be the 19th Century? If so, then that would be me up front next to my student who appears to presenting his/her career project using power point and an inkwell.

Could it be that I'm teaching in an early 20th Century room? If so, that would mean that these two girls are in my class and we've apparently formed some club that dabbles in iron works.

Perhaps I'm mid-20th Century,... a time when school was more civil, more disciplined, more school-like. I remember being taught how to sit with my hands folded,...

while wearing a suit coat and tie.

But this is not the classroom I have either! Today's class is all about movement within the room, comfortable clothing, and not having homework because it interferes with the after school travel sports schedule.

I'm getting the feeling that my issue isn't with being in the 21st Century in the United States,... after viewing a 21st Century classroom in the UK,

I think I need to rethink my century curiosity and go with location, location, location.

Let Them Be Free!

The Squeaker.

The FlaBurtz.

The Waaf.

The Puffer. The Fluffer. The Ole Gezzer Duffer.

The Bllllzzzzzztt.

The Tweeter.

The Squirtity Squeeter.

No matter the word, it all comes down to the same thing. A loud, unavoidable release of gas in the class. The kind of gas passing that would register on any given Richter Scale as a damaging menace to society. . . One gas passing that a bar full of truckers and bikers would be proud to call their own. The only problem was, we weren't in a bar and there were no truck drivers or bikers to be had (self excluded). We were in whole class reading. A typically quiet venue.

The natural order of things can go in two directions:

1.) You can ignore it, talk quickly and loudly hoping that no one raises their hand with the typical, "Did you hear that mini nuclear explosion? I think the fall out has swiped the hair clean from my arms!"

or

2.) You can acknowledge the little thunder rumple for the mover and shaker they are, dismiss them to take care of any unfinished business, and adjust the classroom back to some form of civility as you grasp the nearest industrial air-spray sanitizer around.

Another day in the life of a teacher.

The Missing Test

It's business as usual for a Friday in class with my students. Friday is usually assessment day.

"Is there anyone still working on their math test?" I have the students turn in their papers as they finish, rather than collecting them all at once. The good thing is I get a jump on correcting their papers, which usually allows me to return them before they leave for home. The bad thing is I have to keep track of who's still working and who's getting a bit edgy and ready to do something else.

No one responded to my questioning. This only means I need to say it again, in a different way, "Do I have everyone's paper?" I asserted my slower, louder voice in order to be understood clearly by the average 4th grade child.

The room begins to so signs of intelligent life as they become human bobble-heads one by one. At first glance you would have thought that each and every student was completed, but it's the silent stare that you have to have a keen eye out for,... and there it was. From a boy across the room,... a blank stare of confusion. As I locked in on him, I also took note that his desk was swiped clean of all papers.

"Did you turn in your paper?" I tried to coax an answer from him. His head gave a slight bob. "Did you just say yes?" I questioned further. His head gave a slight twist, side to side. "No?" I continued the dance as if it were leading somewhere. His head remained motionless this go 'round. What does that mean? Now he's not even giving me the non-verbals. Just the stare.

I decided years ago that when given the chance to stare, one should take it. And so it was on! The room was dead silent as I looked at him, him at me,... neither one of us knowing what good any of this would do. Finally the silence was broken with a tiny snickering voice, "Stop the madness!" came the plea.

"If you were your test, where would you be right now," I quietly probed him for one more response that I knew couldn't be answered with a 'yes' or 'no' bob of the head. I did realize that he could always resort to one of my favorite gestures, the shoulder shrug.

"It's in my desk," he answered as he opened up his desk and removed it from between two text books. "It's not done though."

I know, I know. How could a student take a test and then just put it in his desk and not finish it? Good question. It's also a question that they never answered when I was going through all of my teacher classes. They never teach you the crucial things such as, what do you do when one student throws up in class and starts a chain reaction? I don't think they want the new teachers to know about such things happening. This is where my years of experience pays off.

"Well, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you finish it and turn it in to me," I threw out a strong suggestion. "The rest of the class will move forward with Friday."

Resolve to....

Blood work ... back in the day that meant we were building a higher ramp to jump our bikes off of,... today (at middle age) it just means that your doctor is going to have hurtful things to say about your eating habits.

Lucky me, I had mine done right before the turn of the calendar and just in time to make a NEW New Years Resolution. Over the past decade I have pretty much given up on the tradition of making and then breaking of a resolution. I just resolved myself to the fact that I had little will-power to carry out whatever I had set before me as a personal challenge. Some years the resolution lasted for months, other years,.... days,... and yes, there were those years,... just to the end of my fleeting thought of a resolution.

I found that if I didn't resolve to make myself a better person and it just happened, then bonus for me and society. However, once the pledge was out there for just one other person to hear, the resolution became a one way street to disappointment. I was doomed - DOOMED!!

They say you should tell other people what you have chosen to change about yourself in order to gain support and help you to succeed. I say this works if the other person is a complete stranger who could care less - point in case,... a toll booth operator. These people are to resolution makers, what drive through windows have become for fast food - like 'fast food' confessional booth, you just roll on up, pay your tool, and,.. "I resolved to cut down on speeding through the I-Pass lanes to see if they'll actually send me a ticket!!" The professional toll-booth operator won't even flinch an eyelash as they change the red traffic signal to green and give you the go ahead on the rest of your day, the rest of your life. They won't even bring up the topic with you again. There's no judgment, no disappointment if you happen to slip, no expectations what so ever.

Now tell this same thing to a close friend and you've just bought yourself the monthly conversation of, "Well, how's the I-Pass resolution going? Oh,... that's a shame,... I thought this was the one resolution you could actually attain in your life. Especially when you consider the lack of actual time you spend on the tollways."

Now I realize by putting out there the fact that I had blood work leads some to guess what I might be resolving to do this year, but the facts are these: We are four days into the twenty-ten year and the results of my resolve can't be seen yet. Check back with me in another 185 days. That will give me time to think of reasons as to my short coming and may even lead to your new position as a toll-booth operator,... just hitting the button and giving me the green light go-a-head.