New shiny things are exciting, but take effort to maintain. The same is true for the excitement we experience from hearing a new message or seeing the latest and greatest gadget. It is also true for kids. Any coach will tell you that energy and morale are high on the first few days of practice and over time, those who experience the dissipation of novelty fail to continue with the same zeal. We have all seen it in the classroom when school starts. Students are eager to be there, they are organized, have work completed, etc. Then by the third quarter their work has changed into the 'average' of what they can produce.
So how do we maintain the energy and production that comes with the novelty of new experiences? One of the ways I did this last year was through the 'This Year I Will #TYIW initiative. Spurred on by the initiative of Adam Bellow, I along with several of my peers created a #TYIW artifact that was posted outside my door and their doors. It listed my goals for the year and was personalized for the world to see. It kept me accountable to accomplish my goals and follow through with what I said I would do.
This year to take it a step further, I am planning on hosting a #TYIW PARTY!!!! A party? Yes, a party...where guests are invited to spend the evening conversing, sharing quality time together, enjoying the last few days of summer, but most importantly, sharing their goals. The exit ticket, for the party will be get up in front of the group and share out what their goals are for the year. It is my hope that they will also spend some time and creating their 'artifact' to hang outside their room.
To take the first step, here is a look at my goals for the #TYIW. I hope you will challenge yourself to create you own. I would love to hear your thoughts on these goals as well.
This summer a colleague of mine, Karen Berreckman (@2ndCoz), shared with me a blogger that she follows on twitter, Pernille Ripp (@PernilleRipp). Recently she wrote a blog entitled 'Dear Administrators, Please Don't Forget About the Little Things'. Generally, I don't spend my limited time reading blogs when they are written by teachers who have not worked in administrative capacities. Even with my experiences as a quasi-administrator and my limited knowledge of all the things a real administrator deals with, I know that there are parts of their job that I don't have a clue about. Most of those that I have read have been little more than just a rant from a teacher who has an axe to grind. This one from Pernille Ripp was different.
The gist of the article was that as busy as principals are this time of year, it is vital for them to take care of the little things for teachers right now before student arrive. This paragraph below from her blog sums it up perfectly and made some connections for me as a guidance counselor and my work with students and teachers:
"Yes, I know it is not fun or exciting to think about those things that you promise teachers that you will do, like approving a form, emailing a parent, looking up that long lost order. But those little things? They make a big difference to us teachers. Those little things that you may not think deserves your limited time right now, those are the ones we need you to also take care of because those things add up to a whole lot of stress for us when left undone. In fact, some of those little things may be stopping us from fulfilling our big dreams, hopes, and wishes." (Copied from http://pernillesripp.com/2014/08/12/dear-administrators-please-dont-forget-about-the-little-things/)
There are so many big things we all come back to school after summer wanting to accomplish, and each day we perform 'small task triage' to work on the most pressing tasks. After reading that paragraph, I couldn't help but think about the large number of emails or messages I receive from students that I sometimes put off for a day or so until I have time to get to them. I also couldn't help but consider teachers requests such as scheduling concerns, rosters, etc. and how my 'small task triage' may be an obstacle to their implementation of big ideas in their classroom.
Reading Pernille's blog gave me a solid direction for my work yesterday and today as teachers came back to school. It was rewarding to fill those immediate needs of teachers in an almost immediate timeframe. Many of the staff here at Cozad Community Schools are working to implement big ideas and it is exciting to see those come to fruition as the small tasks are taken care of. Now that it is crunch time (a.ka. Prime Time), we have a great opportunity to complete the small things for fellow staff members and students. It is an empowering and positive way to start the school year by helping those big ideas set sail.
If you have a few moments take the time to watch this video of a former Navy seal who spoke at the University of Texas Commencement in May of 2014 (forward it to 4:36 to get to the heart of the message) or read this link on the 10 Life Lessons from a Navy Seal. Number one on the list is an illustration of the idea of taking care of the small things first. It gives us a sense of accomplishment and sets us on a course to accomplishing more.
This year I hope to remember that if I want to really change the world, I have to first take care of the small details to make a big difference.
With each school year comes the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and begin again. Over the past few days I have spent some time setting goals for myself and for our students for the 14-15 school year. What dawned on me is that even though it is a chance to wipe our slate clean of past projects, failed ventures, the stress of a long school year, etc, I believe that we should each take the time to fill our slates up with the messages and goals we want to showcase to the world.
At ISTE in Atlanta this summer, I had the opportunity to once again hear +Adam Bellow (@adambellow) speak. During his session he asked each of us to snap a selfie and use the hashtag of #TYIW (This Year I Will) and post something that we will challenge ourselves to accomplish professionally. If you have ever had the chance to hear Adam speak, you know how motivational he can be, but even more importantly you know how impacting his comments are. It is not surprising that his challenge was one of the things I am going to work on bringing back to our school.
In my mind the real power of this is not just writing down a goal. It is hidden power of social pressure. My artifact found at the top of this page is not one that I have hidden. I have it posted outside my office, posted above my desk, and I am sharing it via social media. My hope is that others in our school will do the same. Posting and sharing these goals publicly and permanently will allow us to hold each other accountable throughout the year and focused on what we said we would achieve.
I am choosing to fill my slate with several new initiatives this year. Fortunately, my Principal Mr. Beckenhauer (@B_Beckenhauer) and Superintendent Mr. Applegate (@applegate_joel) have given me the professional latitude to pursue many if not all of my professional goals. Without their support, the things I write on my 'clean slate' would be little more than just more scribbles. Just as important as having supportive leadership is to be surrounded by great teachers and I truly feel that I am surrounded by a World Class teaching staff who will be instrumental in helping me accomplish my goals.
Because I am pillar of moderation (read that with a sarcastic tone) I took this challenge to heart and created a large set of goals and initiatives I will work to accomplish this year for the benefit of our students. I am willing to share my large working document with anyone who wants to take the time to read it. So if you are interested in reading it, shoot me an email at dustin.favinger@cozadschools.net and I will share it with you. The document I am willing to share elaborates on each of these ideas that I am listing below.
Here are four of the things I will work to accomplish this school year:
Host an innovation week where students drive their own learning
Work to organize a school-wide day of service where students and staff volunteer in our community
Organize a college week with activities for students and staff to increase our college going rate
Continue to work on growing the ‘Genius Hour’ initiative for our students
If you see me out and about feel free to ask me about my progress in achieving these goals. Here is to a great school year!
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