Thrivapy: Live, Learn, Have Fun

The story you are about to read is true.  I know it is true because, well frankly, it is about me.  It takes place in the grocery store about 7-8 years ago, BC (Before Children).  My wife and I were doing our weekly shopping.  As we walked through the produce section, she noticed that cucumbers were on sale.  She asked me to pick a few out and put them in our basket. Now before you fall asleep, let me say that my grocery shopping “jobs” are very specific.  Push basket, get items I am asked to get, and make sure we do not leave anything off the grocery list.  This last “job” is the key to the story.  I am responsible for the list.  As such, I am given the privilege of handling a pen or pencil to cross items off the list.  Again, I am in charge of the list.  This is key! You see, cucumbers were NOT on our list.  For many people, this would be no big deal, but I guess I have some type of personality quirk.  As keeper of the list, I need to make sure that all items are present and accoun

End is Near cartoon found at: http://biblicaljoy.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/week-11-signs-of-the-end/  While I do not have any specific historical data to back up this claim, I have to imagine that for as long as formal education has existed, there has likely been those who would be considered "educational reformers."  Think about it.  I'm sure there are any number of people whom history has long forgotten that observed how students were being taught and said, "There has to be a better way."  Just as I am sure there have been reformers, the degree to which these reformers fell on a "radical change continuum" must also be extremely diverse. I do not necessarily consider myself a reformer, but I do reflect upon the nature of education, how it is part of our human experience, and the effect of leadership on these experiences.  I guess I am more of an educational philosopher than a reformer.  In this light, I offer a few reflections, theories, etc. on

One of my favorite movies to watch with my children is The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh .  In the film, there is a short piece in which Pooh covers himself in mud and "disguises" himself as a little black raincloud in order to get honey from the top of a honey tree.  Needless to say, Pooh's plan does not quite work as planned.  His "disguise" doesn't fool the bees and in order to get the honey, he eventually endures more difficulty than he probably may have if he had just been more direct. The same concept emerges sometimes in education.  In an effort to achieve great things, we (teachers, students, administrators, etc.) are tempted to try to avoid the potentially difficult tasks with a series of "little black rainclouds."  The desire to avoid confrontation and address challenges in a way that allows us to "get the honey without disturbing the bees" is strong.  Unfortunately, we are often left with a larger challenge, having onl

“Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit." Image Source Page: http://www.crossfitventura.com/ I was part of a conversation today during which a wise and respected colleague made a comment that I found quite fascinating.  He said: “People like to do things that are fun, but these activities are almost always fun because the person doing them is good at it.  Unfortunately, getting good at something takes time, effort, and work – which are usually NOT fun.” He was, among other things, implying that students face quite a interesting problem.  I know many of you will comment (either her or to yourself) that the teacher can make the learning interesting and fun – and I would agree with you.  The issue is not a lack of effort to engage students.  The issue that my friend was speaking of is that ultimately some learning requires a desire to learn and the willingness to work at something new.  Effort is essential and does not necessarily eliminate the enjo

  Norman Rockwell: The Golden Rule as found at http://www.sai.msu.su/cjackson/r/p-rockwel1.htm One of the easiest pieces of advice I remember getting as a child was “The Golden Rule.”  You probably know it.  Basically, “The Golden Rule” states something along the lines of, “Treat other as you would want to be treated” or “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  The curious thing about that advice is that as simple as it sounds, almost all (if not all) children fail to follow it at one point or another.  Therefore, I am left to believe that such advice, while sounding good, is virtually impossible to put into practice at all times. So I began thinking about some of the “Golden Rules” of education that I have heard over the years and found that many of them fall victim to the same issue – they are simple to say, easy to understand, but nearly impossible to employ without fail.  Here are a few “Educational Golden Rules” I have heard. “Teach every student as if he/she was y

In my last post, I reported on Dr. Robert Evans’ presentation about teachers moving from congeniality to collegiality .  In that post, I described how educators are very good at the personal piece of our relationships, but not so good at the “business” part.  That “business” part is the arena in which we need to be more open with conflict and are able to constructively disagree with each other about where we are and where we need to go.  In this post, I will examine the implications such a concept has on school leadership.  Dr. Evans’ ideas about these implications make up a portion of his new book, Seven Secrets of the Savvy School Leader: A Guide to Surviving and Thriving . The increased expectations on teachers over the last 30 years has had a equal effect on the leadership expected by administrators.  Unfortunately, as with all resources, there is an upper limit to the amount of leadership technique that can be packed into any one person.  One way leaders can address these increa

One of the more anxiety inducing issues educational leaders face is having to engage in potentially difficult conversations. At a recent conference, Dr. Robert Evans suggested that, as educators, we are very good at congeniality, but not so good at collegiality. When I heard this at a recent conference, I was not so sure I agreed with this idea. My initial response was to immediately want to defend the “collegiality” I see in schools, but after the explanation, it made plenty of sense and had tremendous implications for leadership. Dr. Evans provided a distinction between congeniality and collegiality based on the work of Roland Barth. Barth describes congeniality as being receptive, warm, supportive, giving nice responses, being helpful, etc. On the other hand, collegiality concerns talking about working with kids, how to do it, how to improve it, and how to disagree constructively about delivering lessons. It is this conversation, the disagreeing, that is often missing and thus m

Inspired by a presentation by Dr. Thomas Shields , I wanted to share some reflection points.  These points are based on what Dr. Shields described as “leadership as your story.” No one skill, trait, style or characteristic is essential to successful leadership Leadership is your narrative, a life story What does being authentic mean to you? Are you aware of your authentic leadership potential? Which people have had the greatest impact on you (positive or negative)? Which experiences do you find the greatest inspiration and/or passion for your leadership? I always enjoy feedback from readers.  Please feel free to leave comments and/or suggestions.

During today's VAIS Leadership Conference, I had the pleasure of participating in a presentation by Dr. Thomas Shields where he used Plato's cave allegory as the backdrop for talking about how leaders are those who go "back into the cave." Dr. Shields' example basically dealt with the fact that as leaders, we often have information about the reality of situations that our followers do not.  In this case, as in the case of Plato's cave allegory, the leader is one who goes back "into the cave" instead of running away with the knowledge of the truth.  By going back in, the leader commits himself or herself to guiding others to an understanding of that truth. In schools, we may be dealing with any number of contextual "caves" in which the manufactured truth is, in fact, a false reality.  These false realities may even be more pronounced in this environment of economic uncertainty - especially for private and independent schools. How do y