Teacher Apprecation
It is teacher appreciation week! I felt it was appropriate to take some time this week and write about why I, personally, appreciate teachers. I am not going to address the common, visible things we...
View ArticleA Year of Learning
I had in interesting conversation with my oldest son a few weeks ago. He was frustrated with himself and he made a comment about not wanting to work to get better. I talked to him about practice and...
View ArticleFind Your Passion
“I think it’s imperative to follow your heart and choose a profession you’re passionate about, and if you haven’t found that ‘spark’ yet, if you’re not sure what you want to do with your lives – be...
View ArticleA Letter to Our Students: What a Year It Has Been!
WHAT A YEAR IT HAS BEEN! It has been a great honor to serve as your principal this school year. The year seems to have gone by fast but it has been filled with many great successes for Southport...
View ArticleSummer Book #1: Creating Self Regulated Learners
My goal this summer is to read a book a week for a little personal summer professional development. I will blog about each of these reads over the next few weeks. I do not simply want to write a...
View ArticleSummer Book #2: The Anatomy of Peace
I recently read The Anatomy of Peace by the Arbinger Institute. I previously read the first book in this series, Leadership and Self Deception, earlier this year and it is also one of the summer...
View ArticleSummer Book #3: Learn Like A Pirate
The third book I completed reading in my summer professional development series was: Learn Like a Pirate by Paul Solarz (@PaulSolarz).I read Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess (@burgessdave) a couple...
View ArticleSummer Book #4: The Power of Habit
I finished my fourth summer professional development reading last week. I read the The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg based on a recommendation from a...
View ArticleSummer Book #5: Solving 25 Problems in Unit Design
Fifth up on my summer professional development reading docket was Solving 25 Problems in Unit Design by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins. I have read other work on “backwards design” by these authors and...
View ArticleSummer Book #6: The Glass Castle
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls was my sixth summer professional development reading. Although it was not on my original summer reading list, a teacher in my building gave it to me at the end of...
View Article8 Books, 1 Summer, 1 Big Idea – OWN IT!
I had a goal to read eight books this summer, one a week, for professional growth. I tried to balance the books between books that I felt would help me grow instructionally and books that would help...
View ArticleI Want My Kids To Fail!
Yes, you read the title correctly. Here are my four kids. I love them all dearly, and I want them to fail! Ok, take a deep breath, lower your heart rate, and let me explain why. I want my kids to be...
View ArticleThe Cards You’re Dealt
This past week, while my wife was at an evening event at her school, I had a great evening with my kids. I put together a few puzzles with my youngest son, played a couple of rounds of...
View ArticleAll the Small Things
I was reminded multiple times this week how the little things make the biggest difference. As I was running one morning before school, a rock somehow got into my shoe. It only took about 15 or 20...
View ArticleRunning Downhill
What would it be like if we started choosing to believe everything that happened to us is in our best interest and an opportunity to learn and grow? -Josh Medcalf and Jamie Gilbert (Burn Your Goals) I...
View ArticleAsk Yourself These Questions
I asked my staff a couple of questions at this years opening day meeting that have continued to be on my mind for the past month. As part of our opening day meeting, I asked my staff to discuss and...
View ArticleTeach Like Someone’s Life Depends On It
This may be one of my shortest posts, but if you really think about the questions I ask while you are reading – it will change every interaction you have during the school day. A few weeks ago, I read...
View ArticleAre You Part of the Change?
I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago about what I want my own kids to get out of school. I discussed the following three big ideas: I want my kids to be loved and cared for on a daily basis. I want my...
View ArticleYou Are What You Think
I have written about time, probably because I struggle with the balance of life and school. So, to help prioritize and put first things first, I tried to make a list of what matters most. I wanted to...
View ArticleYou have it all figured out…
This week, a colleague brought up a blog post that I had written a couple of weeks ago. He said he really appreciated the post and said, “you seem to have it all figured out.” I immediately stopped...
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