Category Archives: Choice

Guard Your Attention…

24 Friday Feb 2023

Posted by in Actions, Attention, Choice, Deciding, Decisions, Importance, Intentional, Leader, Leadership

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Scrolling through my Twitter feed the other day, I noticed a post regarding “guard your attention.” The post stated that television screens are beginning to appear in elevators showing the latest news worldwide. It went on to say that it was mostly bad news being offered and that if we don’t guard our attention, we can become consumed by the negativity surrounding everything of such nature.

As I thought about that and what all went along with it, I wondered how much of what I do “gets” my attention. Like all those bad snacks I enjoy, especially late at night, what I put into my stomach is as unhealthy as what I put into my mind and, ultimately, my heart. When my mind and heart get distracted, it can threaten everything and everyone around me. The world and society are ready to tear us down.

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For me, guarding my attention is not giving in to wanting to shift focus. How do you do that? Well, it continues to be a work in progress. That’s why we guard. The first line of defense is just a matter of saying NO, not going there.

Our attention is a limited resource, per se, especially in leadership. We only have so much we can pay attention to. But we continue to give it away to trivial matters that bear no fruit for our lives. Often I think about guarding our attention like managing money. When I allocate my attention, what kind of return do I get? Is it something that will profit me or something that could cause financial hardships or ruin? I like having money in my pocket, so I must make certain my attention is on what can strengthen my account.

Do we even realize how much is out there; the voices, the visuals, the… it can wear you out, and it does. It’s like silly putty and the stretch man toy; pulled in all directions and gets bent out of shape. If we do not guard our attention, it will be a hostile takeover of our minds. Let’s do what we need to set the boundary and draw the line in the sand that guards our attention and tells everyone and everything, “You shall not pass” (think Gandalf in LOTR).

Let’s go fight the good fight of leadership. Someone has to…

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2023 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… Twitter @thebookchamber or follow the blog directly.

Are You, As A Teacher, An Advocate For Our Profession?

24 Tuesday Jan 2023

Posted by in Actions, Advocate, Appreciation, Attitude, Choice, Education, Educational Leadership, Effective, Emotion, Encouragement, Future, Leader, Leadership, Passion, Teacher Shortage, Teachers, Value

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Question for the week… With there being a teacher shortage, are you, as a teacher, an advocate for our profession?

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First, let me say that I enjoy being an educator. For those who know me, I hope you can say that my passion for education and educational leadership is very high. With that being said, I also know that there are times when teaching can wear you down. The list of items that go to this is endless, but that might be a topic for a future blog. Anyway…

I enjoy seeing teachers who are passionate about their jobs. But how many teachers do we see and hear who are not? That bothers me. For example, a future teacher recently told me that a high school teacher asked what she wanted to do. When she said she wanted to be a teacher, the actual teacher told her, “Good luck with that.” Why would they say that?

For the most part, society does not help advocate the teaching profession. Society will quickly tell us what is wrong with our profession and how we can do it better. I have always said that we are in trouble when we allow non-educators to make educational decisions. If we do not see ourselves as advocates for education, we leave the door open to the outside to determine our standing.

Teachers who are advocates see the end goal of education. They see growing students to become productive citizens in society. They look beyond students being “test scores” and provide an environment that is welcoming and conducive to learning. This is what passion for being an educator is about. It’s about telling success stories that are positive and uplifting. But, as we know, it’s only the negative stories that travel at a great speed…

Take this from one of my go-to “old heads” of education… “There is nothing ever printed or said about the positive aspects of teaching-with those in the profession being the most negative. The intrinsic values are rarely voiced. Being a teacher is the most valuable profession a young person can pursue, but most never hear many positive aspects that make it appealing!!! Just my humble opinion!!!”

I’ll go on and say this, if you are a teacher who cannot speak positively and advocate for our profession, please leave the profession and let those who want to be educators set ablaze the way that will light the way for many others. Yes, there are things wrong with education, just like any other business, but I get sick of hearing the statement, “You signed up for this.” That’s just bad leadership all the way around. These negative nay-sayers teachers are a disease to the profession and will create sores that fester and affect everyone around.

By nature, passionate people inspire. Why not do that for future educators? As I said in last week’s blog The Lengthening of the Teacher Shortage… Is there an end?, “We must give those who are even remotely thinking about becoming an educator a reason to be one. However, if our future teachers are in our schools today, and they are, how do you think they look at the teaching profession when they see us and what we do? It’s a question worth asking and, more importantly, answering… We must give teachers hope, for we are the only model future teachers see.”

Educators today have a choice, do we promote our profession, or do we sever the connection and let society or even other teachers determine our value? Do we love teaching to the point where we believe all children should be afforded equal learning opportunities? Or will we be defined by negative comments made by some in our profession who see teaching as a lonely, lowly job?

Punt that, I’m choosing to be an advocate and a leader of the profession that I love.

Let’s go fight the good fight of leadership. Someone has to…

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2023 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… Twitter @thebookchamber or follow the blog directly.

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The price of gas is high, but so are the snacks…

13 Friday May 2022

Posted by in Actions, Choice, Consistency, Decisions, Focus, Leader, Leadership, Purpose, Teachers

≈ 2 Comments

price_gauge_arm_leg_bothThe other day I stopped by a tote’sem (that’s what we called them growing up… gas station/convenience store) to get a snack. While waiting in line at the counter getting my Dr. Pepper and spicy peanuts, someone in front of me was complaining about gas prices. I agree; I also complain about gas prices, but what I noticed was that they were buying four sodas, four candy bars, and two bags of chips… their total was $21.76. Do you want to guess how much gas they bought? $5 worth. The guy told the clerk, “Can’t afford to buy much gas; it’s just too expensive.” I’m not sure what type of vehicle they were driving, but I thought they would need to buy gas again in about 30 miles or so. Now, I have no idea what the guy’s story is/was, but several thoughts ran through my mind. Should the guy have spent more on gas and less on snacks? He could have gone through a drive-through and possibly eaten for less. What was more important to him, and what was he focused on? Like I said, I’m not sure what the story is/was.

Never to miss an opportunity for a connection to educational leadership, I thought about how one’s actions tell a story; they always do. When it comes to being an educator, what do our actions say about us? When others watch us, what do they think our story as an educator is? Do they know, or do they make assumptions? Our students, do they see consistency in us as we teach and interact? Where do they see us placing our value; the snacks or the gas?

As I look back on this past year, I would hope that my students see consistency in me as an educator. I would hope that they know the value I place on education and the future it can afford them. I hope they know that I value them as a person more than a student. When our focus is on the “right thing,” and the student knows this, it seems to transcend over into other areas of their lives. Obviously, we can see some students who do not focus on the “right thing” and maybe a few teachers as well. But, nonetheless, our focus says much about who we are.

Given the option of spending money on snacks or gas seems rather trivial. I know what I would choose. My choice doesn’t make me more or less of a person, but I believe it shows many things. Let’s hope what others see is true for us and why we are in education to begin with.

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2022 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… Twitter @thebookchamber or follow the blog directly.

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Being a #girldad and Women Sports Equality

25 Friday Mar 2022

Posted by in Advantage, Agenda, Choice, Expectations, Future, Honest, Humility, Influence, Intentions, Opinions, Power, Value

≈ 2 Comments

I’m a #girldad and very proud to be one. I love Breana with all of my heart and then some (ya’ll know what I mean). However…

In recent events, the NCAA allowed Lia Thomas, swimming for the University of Pennsylvania, to swim in the NCAA D-1 Women’s National Swimming Championships. HE won the 500-yard freestyle event… you see, Lia was biologically born as a male… and there lies the issue. Interestingly, Thomas competed for the men’s swimming team at the University of Pennsylvania for three years before transitioning, undergoing hormone therapy, then switching to compete for the women’s team in 2020. Thomas finished the 500-yard freestyle final in 4 minutes, 33.24 seconds, just over a second faster than second-place finisher Emma Weyant (University of Virginia), while Olympian Erica Sullivan (University of Texas) touched the wall next to take third place. Title IX was established to promote and advocate for equality in women sports, but it seems that is no longer the case. 

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Breana played tennis in high school and is a pretty good tennis player (she takes after her mom). They played mixed doubles, but she never had to compete in singles against a boy. Girls played against girls, and boys played against boys. As a #girldad, I’m proud of Breana’s effort in competing. However, as the future begins to change, how would I go back and explain to her that she had to compete against males. At some point, right is right, and wrong is wrong… but that seems to get lost in translation. Some will say it becomes relative, but then…. whose relativeness do we believe? 

I’m not sure where society took a wrong turn, but I don’t think it was when I was growing up. If it was, we didn’t know about it. How do we tell our children not to cheat, stay honest and honorable, while others will literally try to change their gender or call themselves what they are not in order to compete? In the spirit of “political correctness,” I’m sure this becomes an obtuse thought. However, when we tell our girls not to compete, we stifle or limit their competitiveness nature in order to take a stance. 

If we see this now, where will it be later on? We say, “It cannot get worse,” but then something more asinine happens. When we say, “The audacity of…,’ the gravity of the situation does not carry the weight. I will say I admire the actual girls who swam in the meet. I also admire that they spoke out about it afterwards. I wish one of them had won. But then we know they actually did even though no trophy or medal was given. 

My daughter is now grown but still plays league tennis. As a #girldad, I’m passionate about and for women sports. For all the future girl athletes, I wish for them the opportunity to be able to compete at their level. But it needs to be at their level. We can get into the science of it, we can get into the biology of it, we can… get into it. In the end, how one is born is what they are. Allowing a male to compete with females does not create a venue of equality. 

It seems equality is no longer equal. However, to quote Gavroche in Les Misérables, “Here is the thing about equality, everyone’s equal when they’re dead.”

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2022 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… Twitter @thebookchamber or follow the blog directly.

Want to share this leadership thought with others? Click on one of the social media sharing buttons below and help spread the good…