Dads are So Important

Take a couple minutes to watch the video above.  I chose to share this video because I work with many students that do not have a positive male role model in their life.  Some of them had a dad that is in the home but not present, some of them have a dad that is in and out of the home, and others of them do not know their dad because their dad made choices that took them from their life.

Here are some of the comments that were made by the dads in this video:

• How did you learn to be a dad, even if your dad was not there for you?
• I do what I wish was there for me
• I learned on my own how to be a dad
• Do things with your heart
• I don't want to be like me biological father... I want to be there.
• You don't have to have a good dad to be a good dad.
• You don't have to have good surroundings to be a good day
• Being a good dad is about choices you make to be a good dad
• Emotion is a strength, not a weakness

Here are some of the comments that were made by the children in this video:

• How do you know your dad loves you?
• Son, hold my hand
• Stay next to me until we cross
• Be nice to people and be kind
• He says it 24/7 & he is not afraid to show it either
• Hugging, kissing, I love you stuff
• He takes me everywhere he goes

As a public school administrator I cannot stress enough the value and importance the relationship a child has with their dad.  As you can see from the video the simplest of approaches is often the best approach... be present, show emotion, ask questions, show you care.  If you had a great dad in your life, then you have a great example to follow.  If you did not have a great dad in your life then you need to be the dad that you would want to have.

We all have two shots at the parent/ child relationship.  The first shot is the relationship with our parents. The second shot is the relationship we have with the children in our lives.

What will you do with your second shot?  Don't waste it, there is too much at stake.

Why I became a principal-- Students First

People ask me this question from time to time. As an educator I believe that thinking about the why is important.  Thinking about the why keeps you grounded to your true self and motivations.  So here is why I became a principal.

I began my professional career in the athletic world as a athletic trainer.  During the early years as a athletic trainer I worked with athletes in NCAA Div 1, minor league baseball, hockey, and arena football.  I traveled all across America with the various sports teams and athletes.  After a few years of this life I decided to work at the high school level as an athletic trainer.  This move was the start of something big... I just didn't know it yet.

For seven years I worked to develop an athletic training program that made my mentor proud and served the athletes of A&M Consolidated High School well.  Everyday was a new day with new challenges both in the classroom and in the competition areas but after a while I began to feel a calling to work with students in a different capacity.  I felt a need to help students that did not have the support that many students that competed in athletics experienced.

Growing up in a single parent household situation, bouncing between my mother and my father over the years, I could relate to students in a way other educators could not. I always had a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food in my stomach but I knew the hurt and instability that came with being raised in a broken home.  My mother was poor, just a kid herself when she became a mother and my father had his struggles with substance abuse in his early years.  Both of my parents had multiple marriages and divorces during my childhood.

I knew that I could take my life experiences and help students that struggle in life because of similar situations. Becoming a principal put me into a position in life to make a difference for many students.

Since becoming a principal I have experienced many ups and downs in working with students.  Not all  students end up in my office because they come from a difficult home situation, but sadly the vast majority have a background similar to mine.  I would like to say that I am able to make the connections and relationships with the students on the first go around but if you work in schools you know that it is not that easy.  Many of them have trust issues because the adults in their lives have violated that trust.  These issues spill over into the schoolhouse.

Being a principal allows me to continue to work with these students.  Some of them come around and some of them choose to continue down their current path.  I know that I can reach them but it takes time, patience, trust, and more patience.  How can I continue to help students that do not want to help themselves you ask?  I see myself in many of my students...I just give them what I needed at their age: accountability, trust, respect, expectations.

Why are you in education?  It is worth thinking about from time to time, I promise.

School Transformation. Why is Transformation Necessary?

This year I was given an opportunity to be a member of the Principal's Vision Institute (PVI).  The personal growth that I have already experienced this year has been amazing.  As a part of the PVI approximately 50 school principals, K-12, meet for two days and complete thought provoking activities and conversations. The activities and conversations that we are constantly engaged in revolves around school transformation.  School transformation is about what we are doing currently and moving toward what we want schools to look like for our students.

My mind is repeatedly stretched around the possibilities of what could be in our school.  It is not that our school is not doing or that our learners are not performing at high levels.  It is more of what aren't we doing that we need to be doing to help prepare our learners for the world that awaits.  With all the change in the digital world and given the fact that there are jobs out there now that did not even exist 10 years, 5 years, even 2 years ago I cannot imagine what jobs will be in the marketplace 7 years from now when my current 5th graders are graduating high school and either going into the workforce or enrolling in college.

Given that we will not know what the future jobs will be until they arrive we (educators) need to prepare our learners on how to collaborate, problem solve, communicate, troubleshoot, and think critically.  To prepare students for these future jobs we have to think outside of the traditional desks and rows with the sit and get, drill and kill learning model that anyone who attended school in the last 100 years have experienced.

School transformation is a process that takes time and lots of conversation.  I am committed to helping create a school that today's learners need in order to be successful for tomorrow.  Are you?

Exciting Times for Education

We are living in exciting times in the world of education.  I know what you are probably thinking... how is it exciting, it is school for crying out loud!?  The excitement comes from all of the energy radiating off like-minded educators that recognize the need to change how education looks today. The Texas Association of School Administrators Midwinter Conference is winding down in Austin tomorrow morning but the energy from the attendees is building.  Check out the tweets that are associated with #TASA15 or #Midwinter15 

It is apparent to me that education administrators recognize that we need to change how we teach and learn in schools.  The industrialized approach with a one-size-fits-all attitude toward educating today's learner is so last century and we need to leave it there.  As educators we have a morale imperative to prepare learners for the world of tomorrow.  Employers need employees that can problem-solve, collaborate, create, develop, and envision the possibilities more than ever before.  Are we creating this type of employee from our current education system?  The overwhelming consensus appears to be no.  So what will we do about it?  That is the question.

I challenge anyone that just so happens to come across this blog to think about what can you do differently in your current role --administrator, teacher, parent, student-- to help prepare learners for the world of tomorrow.  It takes a village to raise a child and we all have to hold each other accountable for preparing for tomorrow.