Thrivapy: Live, Learn, Have Fun

IMAGE SOURCE PAGE:  http://interview.officialtips.com/useful-tips/boost-up-job-satisfaction-level-of-employees.html A recent article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy  highlights the findings from two reports concerning a rise in job dissatisfaction among nonprofit employees. Among the findings: 70% of those surveyed said their work was either disappointing or somewhat fulfilling. 25% said they were considering looking for a job outside of the nonprofit arena. 40% said that the factors they ranked as most essential are not on display at their nonprofits:—“respect, trust, and support by management” as well as a sense that their organization has “a compelling mission.” About 50% said they felt recognition and reward for their hard work and outstanding performance were essential. 60% of workers in Washington and 65% in New York said hard work was not valued at their organization. Pay cuts that many nonprofit workers have taken may be exacting a cost in employee satisfaction:

T he Sunday Rendezvous is my weekly summary of posts I wrote as well as other items I bookmarked this week. October 24 - 30 My Posts School Leadership Maxims Now on Google+ Embracing Frustration Finding Opportunities Will Your School Survive The Zombie Apocalypse? Other Items Control Your Feelings by the Leadership Freak The Art of Innovation by Guy Kawasaki 10 Secrets of Successful Leaders  How to Increase Your Likability Can Learning Be Engaging AND Rigorous?

Image source: http//themetapicture.com/the-zombie-apocalypse/ O k, I thought I would have some fun and write a Halloween themed post.  Since it appears a zombie apocalypse is inevitable, I assume you have been preparing your school for this cataclysmic event. No, you haven't? Well, here are a few tips to help you and your school survive a walking dead Armageddon. Special note before I offer a few suggestions : It is assumed that in the search for brains, schools will be prime stalking grounds for zombies.  If your school is not developing brains enough to be considered a zombie buffet, you have other issues with which to deal. Now for a few suggestions... One of the first breakdowns during the zombie apocalypse is the breakdown of civilization and basic humanity.  At this point, your school's character development and virtues program allows your school to avoid those pitfalls and work together. As the world around the school erodes, leadership is needed.  In

T he difficult economic climate presents many challenges for schools and school leaders.  While tough times may cause decision paralysis in some, the more effective leaders will find the opportunities created by these challenges and act upon them. One way school leaders, especially private and independent school leaders, can capitalize on lean times is to critically examine their schools, identify the core elements that speak loudest to your mission, and refocus operations on maintaining those programs while working to improve current programs that are less "mission obvious." When the economy was strong, many schools, "made hay while the sun was shining."  The resulting growth likely added programs, people, and infrastructure at an unprecedented pace.  Now that growth has most likely slowed (or stopped), school leaders can catch their collective breaths and use this time wisely.  Examining your school and its operations to find hidden opportunities can help di

Image found at http://black-frames.net/i-rdcs9 T alk to any teacher and you will find a diverse assortment of adjectives they use to describe their work.  Among those terms, you are likely to hear "frustrating" used at some point.  For some, frustration is among the more negative (or at least less welcomed) aspects of teaching.  On the other hand, your frustration may also indicate an important part of good teaching: you care. Consider a few scenarios.  In each, frustration (at least some degree of it) emerges.  For each, examine the situation by asking these questions: At whom is the teacher's frustration directed? Why is it directed there? What can the frustrated person do to relieve frustration? Scenario 1:  An "A" student receives a "C" on his exam. Scenario 2:  You are experiencing technical issues when trying to set up a presentation. Scenario 3:  Standardized test scores for the year are not as good as you had hoped. Scenari

For those with any interest in my professional work, I have joined Google+.  As I am just now trying it out, I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions as to how best leverage Google+ to share my work, develop my professional network, and continue to learn from all of you. I think you can find me by doing a Google+ search for Troy Roddy.  As I find a link to my profile, I will post that also. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

School Leadership Maxims A s a school leader, you constantly make decisions that have an impact on the operation of your school.  Over time, you may notice a set of guiding principles emerge.  These constitute your school leadership maxims.  Your school leadership maxims emerge from the combination of many factors; among which the most influential are your beliefs, experiences, vision, and mission. Beliefs More than just statements, beliefs must represent conditions of willingness to take action.  Beliefs are only as powerful as they are accepted as true.  Whether based on current research or personal observation, what you believe about school leadership should have a significant impact on your actions as a school leader. Experiences Eventually, we come to understand what works for us and what doesn't by experience.  As one of my professors told us, "There is no substitute for on-the-job training."  Experiences shape our maxims as we encounter new variables to

T he Sunday Rendezvous is my weekly summary of posts I wrote as well as other items I bookmarked this week. October 17 - 23, 2011 My posts I wrote three posts this week. The first, Commitment or Condition? ,  suggests that if you have conditions placed on whether or not you actually follow through on a plan, then you are likely not really committed to that plan. In the second, I speak of a Difference Between Good and Bad Ideas . Finally, I finished my three-part series on leading changes in schools by exploring how to Overcome Faith-Based Beliefs (note to readers:  I'm NOT referring to religious or spiritual beliefs). Other items of interest Independent School Management (ISM) produces some very good free .pdf documents .  It is worth giving a look through. Student Assessment services has an interesting student survey that measures middle and upper school students' school readiness . Nice blog post by UCEA about school leadership. Daniel Pink reviewed a

T his is the third part of a series of posts in which I offer some suggestions to school leaders about leading changes in schools.  In the first part , I described a major challenge of leading change as overcoming previous beliefs.  I went on to suggest that beliefs are built upon two general platforms: evidence and faith.  In the second part of this series , I wrote about overcoming evidence-based beliefs.  In this post, I provide some ideas about how to overcome faith-based beliefs. The term "faith-based" is often associated with religious beliefs. For the purposes of this series, I am NOT referring to faith-based in any religious sense. In this conversation, I use the term "faith-based" to represent beliefs whose foundations are not based on any published research, experience, or observation.  Beliefs about teaching and learning that are based more on intuition, culture, and tradition would be considered faith-based.  To clarify even further, you are lik

W e are familiar with this story. An average person is put through unusual trials.  Throughout these trials, the person is challenged and triumphs by virtuously employing the talents and gifts provided.  When the person emerges, a transformation has taken place and the person assumes life anew.  We call these people heroes. The truly great heroes are those who are repeatedly challenged and yet continue to find a way to triumph without compromising their ethics. Ideas are similar to these people.  Good ideas survive, and often thrive or get better, by being challenged.  They emerge stronger by being put to the test.  Good ideas are heroic. Bad ideas do not survive challenges.  They are abandoned.  They fade into oblivion only to be viewed as passing fads. In schools, we still employ ideas that have well established roots.  They are ideas about learning that have survived the trials and challenges of time and are still considered good ideas (for example, Socratic method).  Ot

C ommitment does not require conditions.  As a school leader, you can usually spot the difference in the language they use.  Listen for the words "if" or "but" because that normally reveals condition not commitment.  For example: "I would communicate better with parents IF I had more time." "I want to be more attentive to individual needs BUT I teach too many students." As a school leader, you seek and need commitment from your team.  One way to help move from condition to commitment is to change the "if" or "but" to "AND."  This tests commitment.  After making the change, start a follow up sentence with "Therefore..."  If the "Therefore" sentence includes a solution, you are building commitment.  If the "Therefore" sentence includes eliminating the difficult task, there is no commitment. "I would communicate better with parents AND I do not have much time.  Therefore, I ne

William H. Jackson depiction of one of the six rendezvous held at the Green River / Horse Creek site (1833, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40) Image Source Page: http://www.fhbpb.com/Rendezvous.htm T he Sunday Rendezvous is a post in which I bring together a number of items I either bookmarked, wrote, or found during the week.  Primarily a way for me to reflect on what I found interesting or useful this week; I also hope you find a few nuggets of wisdom in this weekly collection.   Sunday Rendezvous:  October 9 - 16, 2011   My Posts   I wrote two posts this week.    The first was a short post suggesting 2 Questions Every School Leader Should Ask Themselves Daily .   The second was the second part of a three post series on leading changes - Leading Changes: Overcoming Evidence-Based Beliefs .   Other Items Providing Support... Questions to Consider Before Becoming an Instructional Coach What Kinds of Spport Do New Principals Want? Deconstructing "What W

I n my recent post, Leading Changes: Sometimes It IS About Being Wrong, I suggested that school leaders face the challenge of allowing others the opportunity to accept that a previously held belief about teaching and learning may no longer be the right belief.  I also suggest that they foundation for those previously held beliefs (evidence or faith) are important in determining how leaders effectively work to overcome that challenge.  This post speaks of strategies to overcome evidence-based beliefs. For the sake of this discussion, let's begin with defining what constitutes evidence.  In order for a belief to be based on evidence, there needs to exist some form of research based data.  In the context being discussed, we can accept two possible paths by which the teacher gathered the data - reading published research performed by others or self-observed results from one's own experiences. Potential problems with evidence based on published research Published research, wh

A t the end of the day, ask yourself: What did I do today to help a colleague get better? What did I do today to make myself a better leader? No answer?  Bad day.  Take a mulligan.  Get some rest and try again tomorrow. Got an answer?  Congratulations.  Go get some rest.  You deserve it (and you need to do it again tomorrow).

L eading change is hard.  Sometimes, though, school leaders think the hard part is finding the better option. It's not.  Using technology to connect us, finding ideas is very simple. Some leaders believe creating an original idea is the hard part of leading change. It is certainly more difficult than trying an idea found through your PLN, but still not insurmountable.  Besides, is your idea truly original or did you simply not do any real researching of other ideas before you began? In my experience the hardest part is not in finding the better idea or even articulating that idea to your team.  It is the first roadblock that tests your change effort's ability to survive.  It is NOT convincing others that your idea is right. It is: Allowing those who were most convinced of the older way to accept that they might be wrong. You may be saying, "Wait, it doesn't need to be about right and wrong; just different." Ok, I accept that, but sometimes it

S tudents.  How do teachers know they are present? Sure, you can take attendance.  How else?  I asked a few students this question.  Here is what they said. "Teachers know I am present..." when I ask good questions when I give good answers when I do really good work when I contribute to the class They also said: when I am a distraction to the class when I do not have my work done when I am unprepared to participate After reading these responses, you may notice that they fall into one of two broad categories.  Teachers know students are present when students are either: actively engaged in the class completely disengaged in the class. Now, apply the same test to teachers.  How do your students know you are present?  How does your administrator know you are present?   Administrators, how do teachers know you are present?  How do students know you are present? For teachers and administrators, a similar approach to engagin