Where's The PROOF?

L.E.A.P PART 3: Provide Proof

As educators, we all must see ourselves as leaders.  We should intentionally set out to inspire our students to dream more, learn more, do more and most importantly become more.  This is the last concept of Radical Leadership: Providing Proof!

As shared by author Steve Farber:

Provide Proof

Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner have shown that credibility is the foundation of leadership, and they go on to define credibility behaviorally as DWYSYWD: Do What You Say You Will Do. If it’s true that leaders lead by their own example, it follows then that Extreme Leaders lead by their own extreme example. You have to put your skin in the game, put yourself and your reputation at risk. You have to prove yourself through significant, observable, daily action. It’s insanely easy to talk a good game. (How many buzzwords per minute can you crank out?) Do you say you love your team? Prove it! Do you say we need to be bold and inventive for our customers? Prove it! Do you tell your folks that they’re “your most important asset”? Prove it and prove it again in every action that you take.

The minute you say the words, “I can’t do that in this organization” or “they won’t let me,” your credibility as an Extreme Leader is shot. On the other hand, when you are absolutely convinced that you can change your organization, family or community for the better, you have to prove it through the radical courage of your own action. As British management guru, Charles Handy, says in The Hungry Spirit, “If we want to see more of the good news than the bad we will have to do it for ourselves. It is no good waiting for some unidentified ‘they’ to fix our world for us.” Gandhi said it this way: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” And you already know how Nike says it.

I believe the dancing guy embodies a true leader because he doesn't worry about people not responding to the music as he does...he just goes out and does it.  Amazing!  Here's to an outstanding week where I wish that all of you can have PROOF moments that show the students and co-workers around you what is vital to you and the job you do on a daily basis.

Week of March 21-25, 2016

Monday, March 21

• Reading PD: K/1 10-11; 4th-6th 11-12; and 2nd/3rd 12:15-1:15; Please bring HW with you
• Women's History Month Program at 2:30; have students packed bring things with them for dismissal
• IS Planning Block 6 at 3:30 in the Cafe
• Board Meeting at 5:00 in the Music Room

Tuesday, March 22

• K Awards Program in Theater from 8-9
• 1st Grade Awards Program in Theater from 9-10
• 2nd Grade Awards Program in Theater from 10-11
• Arts PLC at 1:45
• Department Chair Mtg at 3:30 in Small Group Room

Wednesday, March 23

• Hill, Grunden and Jones at UNC-P Job Fair
• 8:00-3rd grade
  9:00-4th grade
  10:00-5th/6th grade
• Vertical PLCs:K/1 10-11; 4th-6th 11-12; and 2nd/3rd 12:15-1:15

Thursday, March 24

• Staff Jean Day
• EC PLC at Noon
• Penny War Announcement Pep Rally at 2:30
• IS Block 6 Lesson Plans Due

Friday, March 25

• Beginning of Spring Break

Have you got the audacity?

L.E.A.P Part III:

This is taken, again, from Steve Farber's article on taking the LEAP to create a more productive culture.  Hope you Enjoy!

Inspire Audacity

Audacity is, “A bold and blatant disregard for normal constraints.” But audacity also has mixed connotations. Here’s the way Webster’s New World Thesaurus brakes it down:

audacity n. 1. [Courage] — Syn. daring, boldness, valor; see courage 2. [Impudence] — Syn. impertinence, temerity, brazenness, insolence

Love-inspired audacity is courageous, not impudent. (Literally-the word, courage, has at its root the word, cor, which means heart). The Extreme Leader, then, is courageously audacious in his or her actions and approach.

Carly Fiorina, the controversial former CEO of Hewlett Packard said, “A leader’s greatest obligation is to make possible an environment … where people can aspire to change the world.” That’s an audacious statement of purpose for any leader, and it’s exactly the question that I pose here for the Extreme Leader: “How are you/we going to change the world?” Choose your scope: World (with a capital W) or world (with a small w). Can you make the connection between the work that you do and its potential impact on the entire World? Great. Be bold about it. Henry Ford said, “The horse will disappear from the highways.” Audacious. If you’re not going to change the World, then what about the world of your customers, your company, your co-workers?

Week of March 14-18, 2016

Monday, March 14

• Grade due at 8:00 AM
• Literacy PD K/1:10-11; 4th, 5th & 6th: 11-12; and 2nd/3rd: 12:15-1:15
• SIT Mtg at 3:30

Tuesday, March 15

• Awards Forms Due
• Progress Monitoring Red Students
• Arts PLC at 1:45
• Nigerian Presentation at 2:30 (All students seated in lobby by 2:30)

Wednesday, March 16

• Progress Monitoring Red Students
• Math Vertical PLCs K/1: 10-11; 4th, 5th & 6th: 11-12; and 2nd/3rd: 12:15-1:15
• Beginning Teacher Mtg in Falls Room at 3:40
• Whole School Mtg. with Angela Romanowski at 3:30 in cafe
• TCEA Lottery at 5PM

Thursday, March 17

• Fayetteville State Job Fair: Hill & Caine
• Early Release at 11:45
• Arts Integration Night K-2 6:00-7:00 and 3-6 7:30-8:30

Friday, March 18

• Early release at 11:45

Practices for Arts Integration Night

Monday 3/14: 1:45-2:45 PM

• Kindergarten: Nelson (1st half hour)
• 1st grade: Morrison
• 2nd grade: Payton
• 3rd grade: Nelson (2nd half hour)
• 4th grade: Gibson with Scriven; Mac with Kline
• 5th/6th grade: Brownlee

Wednesday 3/16: 1:45-2:45 PM

• Kindergarten: Scriven
• 1st grade: Nelson
• 2nd grade: Brownlee
• 3rd grade: Morrison/Payton
• 4th grade: off
• 5th/6th grade: Kline

Generate ENERGY!

L.E.A.P Part II

Last week I shared the concepts that are behind the L.E.A.P Leadership movement found in The Radical Leap by Steve Farber.  This week, lets focus on Generate Energy.

Steve Farber writes: Energy is not abstract or metaphysical; it’s real, tangible, palpable. You know when you have it and you know when you don’t; you know when you have to drag yourself out of bed in the morning, and when you have to use the law of gravity to slide your slack, lifeless body off the mattress and smack on the floor.

I can tell within — and I’m being generous here — 30 seconds of walking into the reception area of a company whether the place is energetic, exciting and scintillating, or a morgue populated by zombied paycheck-collectors.

It’s not an accident, either way. Someone is creating that environment, and if it’s your place of employment, that someone may well be you.

Here’s a good question to ask yourself: “Do I generate more energy when I walk into a room, or when I walk out of it?”

Energy is what keeps us coming back to work day after day without waning in passion or enthusiasm. It comes, in part, from what John Chambers called the “higher purpose.” A CEO survey conducted in 2001 by Accenture and The Conference Board said, “Many CEOs observe that people want to feel a passion for the company’s work, to become part of a higher purpose than business results alone.” The Extreme Leader’s job is to help define and redefine, day after day, what that higher purpose is.

Michael Cunningham in his novel, The Hours, said, “If you shout loud enough, for long enough, a crowd will gather to see what all the noise is about. It’s the nature of crowds. They don’t stay long, unless you give them reason.”

I started this blog, a few years ago, because I wanted to share and remind my staff of our purpose in our community and in the lives of those we work with on a daily basis.  The title Purpose Driven Educator comes from the idea that I do what I do everyday (including Saturdays and Sundays) because I was created to better students' lives by leading teachers to give their very best on a daily basis.  I have a purpose and that drives me through the BAD days.  Thank goodness that every now and then a former student I taught or a teacher I worked with tells me about the impact I had on them and what they are doing to positively impact their communities.

As I shared last Monday, no one can make you happy.  Don't get me wrong...people can help create an environment that makes happiness easier to experience.  But it is up to you to be happy.  Working in a complex environment like a school in challenging but it should also be one that has a positive and energized environment.  Some learning environment can have an "energy" about them but it is one that is negative and laced with drama.  That one has an energy that can be seen in the televised reality shows that populate TV programming.  That energy distracts from our purpose and leaves those who have ENERGY some times zapped of their positive energy.  

I like the question Farber asks us to ask of ourselves: “Do I generate more energy when I walk into a room, or when I walk out of it?”

If you generate more walking out of it than walking in maybe it's time to reevaluate what your purpose is in doing that daily work you do. 

Week of March 7-11, 2016

Monday, March 7

• Literacy PD
• K/1: 10-11; 4th, 5th and 6th: 11-12; 2nd/3rd: 12:15-1:15
• Committee Mtg at 3:30 in Cafe

Tuesday, March 8

• Pre-School Visit to K Classes: 9:45-10:45
• Arts PLC at 1:45
• Progress Monitoring Yellow Students

Wednesday, March 9

• End of 2nd Trimester
• Progress Monitoring Yellow Students
• PLC
• K/1: 10-11
• 4th, 5th and 6th: 11-12
• 2nd/3rd: 12:15-1:15
• IS Block 5: WCL/ Drama at 1:45

Thursday, March 10

• EC PLC at Noon
• IS Block 5: Music/ Visual Art at 1:45
• Parent Informational Mtg at 5PM

Friday, March 11

• K/1 Lucky for Data Meeting: 10-11
• 4th, 5th and 6th Lucky for Data Meeting: 11-12
• 2nd/3rd Lucky for Data Meeting 12:15-1:15
• Open Enrollment Closes

Reminders:

• Observations for all Career Teachers/ Arts Teachers Begin This Week
• Peer Observations Need to Be Completed 
• All Grades Need to Be Updated and Posted Each Week