Category Archives: Culture

An educational slide becoming a constant…?

01 Friday Oct 2021

Posted by in Circumstances, Connections, Culture, Decisions, Educational Leadership, Encouragement, Engagement, Leader, Leadership, Value

≈ 2 Comments

Let’s start today’s blog off with questions…

Is our society becoming incapable of understanding what education should be? Can society think in terms of what is good or bad for education? Has relativism taken over?

I’m a big fan of educational cartoons. One that I often use in my college class is the pic for today’s blog. Yes, it is dated, but the idea from 2010 has not changed any, I believe. Can you see the slide? Has society taken education out of the hands of educators?

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The most gloomy aspect of our educational slide is that the problem continues to feed itself. This past week, the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) released the 2020-2021 District and School-level Assessment Results, and in it was the 2020-21 Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) Executive Summary.

When I dove into the findings, the two areas that caught my attention were comparing the top ten and bottom ten schools of 2020-21 and preceding years of reported results. Guess what? Not much changes. While there is a resorting, per se, the top ten and the bottom ten are usually the same schools. Now, let me say that I acknowledge that the last quarter of the 2019 school year and the 2020-21 school year were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Just think, we have students who did not set foot in a school building for almost 18 months. However…

Now, here is the interesting part… If you take the map of Mississippi – Census Low Response Score that predicts the mail return rate of the 2020 census based on the return rate from the 2010 census, you will find that the top ten schools are primarily in communities with a high self-reporting census rate. The bottom ten schools are primarily in communities with a low self-reporting census rate. Connection, correlation, thoughts? Is it, or the lack of, leadership, money, teachers, students, parents, community buy-in? It has to be something, right? Is blame even the right word to use?

While each one of you, I’m sure, will have conclusions of your own, I suggest that no community wants their educational setting to be low-performing or in the bottom ten. Why would they? The money winning questions has to be, though, what has to change? What needs to happen? Talk about hitting your head against the wall enough times to make your head hurt and then saying you don’t have a headache… Maybe the better question is, why is it happening? For change to occur, hard questions must be asked, and answers must be found to say that we want a fair and equitable education for all. The notion of “the better we all do, the better we all do” works.

As educators, what we do and do not do matters. As for educational leaders, teachers, students, parents, community, the same is true. Remember, the slope of a slide only goes downward. Let’s find ways to help everyone climb and reach for what education should be… for all.

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

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2021 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on…

Twitter @thebookchamber

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“A Great Teacher” is what I want to be…

14 Friday May 2021

Posted by in Actions, Authentic, Character, Culture, Education, Educational Leadership, Effective, Encouragement, Engagement, Heart, Inspiration, Leader, Leadership, Legacy, Memories, Passion, Purpose, Reality, Reflection, Servant, Sincerity, Teacher Appreciation, Teachers, Value

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Do you ever wonder if you make a connection with your students? What will they remember about you? With teaching being as much about classroom psychology as it is knowing your subject matter, how students remember us lasts forever in their minds. In a previous blog Memories so thick…, I mentioned the idea of how educators/leaders can create an atmosphere where students make memories, but today, I wanted to take a different look at the same idea.

One of many joys I have as an educator is being able to adjunct teach at the college level. One of my running statements is that I try to “positively corrupt” future educators on how the educational world actually is. It’s harder than you think, by the way. And then there are those current teachers who are working on an advanced degree in education… more than anything else, I try to convey to them the much-needed characteristic of being a servant-leader.

With saying all of that, I have to be minded of the educator I am as well. In my own mind, I think I know what type of educator I am. However, the students throughout my career are the ones who can testify as to what type of educator I actually was.

I love how movie snippets that can say exactly what you are wanting to say, and I have one for us. I highly encourage you to watch the Emperor’s Club with Kevin Kline, if you have never seen it. I believe it should be required of all educators. There is one scene near the end of the movie that sends a message for the type of educator I hope I am and the type of educator I want to be. The message sent is what I wish all teachers/leaders in education would strive to become and be. Not only for themselves but for their students as well. I believe this one clip to be so powerful; I show it at the end of each semester to the class of future educators in hopes they will understand the passion I have for teaching and educational leadership.

Please take 2 minutes and 4 seconds to watch what I am talking about… Maybe get a tissue ready?

Emperors Club – “A Great Teacher” Clip

Here it is in print…

“A great teacher has little external history to record. His life goes over into other lives. These men are pillars in the intimate structure of our schools. They are more essential than its stones or beams, and they will continue to be a kindling force and a revealing power in our lives.” 

This is about as good as it gets for me. This is the type of teacher I hope I am. This is the type of teacher I want to be. I have been very fortunate to have some teachers and mentors like this and they have had an ever lasting influence in one way or another on my life. This is the type of teacher education needs, now more than ever. As we begin to wrap of this school year, make an effort to be this type of teacher. 

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

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2021 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on…

Twitter @thebookchamber

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

Genuine kindness – Where did it go?

29 Friday Jan 2021

Posted by in Appreciation, Conversations, Culture, Decisions, Kindness, Leader, Leadership, Mask, Message, Relationships, Value

≈ 6 Comments

Today’s world comes at us every morning with the dog-eat-dog mentality. I have to get what is mine. Yes, I will speak to you or nod your way, but to genuinely acknowledge where the other person felt kindness… not so much. Why? Where did society take a wrong turn, and genuine kindness got left behind.

A few thoughts before I get into my other thoughts…
One, I believe technology has really hurt society in this area. Yes, there are many good, quality aspects of technology… but ultimately, what I see has happened is people are now able to hide behind their keyboards and type what they wish they could say but are afraid of the ramifications. It is almost as if the keyboard is the mask of insecurity they wear.

Ok… enough. Get to the kindness…
I heard Billy Joel’s song the other day, “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” and there is one line in the song… “I can’t take it anymore.” Well, that is often how I feel. We cannot escape… The radio, the TV, the social media, the complainers, the _________.

Ok… the kindness…
Why can’t we just be kind? It might take some effort, but it beats not being kind. Where has that ever gotten anyone?

Kindness is never arrogant. Kindness is humility. Knowing no one is really any better. Find what works for individuals and build a relationship. Quit the “me!” Try having a true interest in others. Not what you can get from them, but what they can give. That’s genuine kindness.

Say thank you that shows value… yes, appreciation. We are so worried that we are not going to get the recognition we deserve. Who cares besides you? One day, someone is going to throw that plaque in the garbage anyway. Genuine kindness celebrates others and fosters success for them.

It does not take long to figure out when kindness is not in the air. It just doesn’t smell right. You know that smell… the smell of “stuff-upedness.”
It is very hard to have a connection with others when that odor is around. As soon as they walk in the door, they say, “You smell something?”

I truly believe genuine kindness helps people motivate themselves. And when that happens, empowerment is felt and seen. Trust and respect take on new definitions, and results are an after product instead of a grind.

Quick question… You want to know if your kindness is genuine? Quick answer with a question… Are others inspired because of you?

In the end, kindness puts others first. I’m talking about leadership here… Your leadership message is for others, not you. Genuine kindness has the ability to relate to others—more about them, less about you.

Genuine kindness – where did it go? It really never left. Maybe we just forgot it was there. Genuine kindness is good for you and good for others.

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

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2021 J Clay Norton

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Memories so thick…

16 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by in Culture, Effective, Engagement, Intentional, Leader, Leadership, Memories, Relationships, Teachers

≈ 1 Comment

We will start today with this thought…

The stronger the leadership, the stronger the following…

Thoughts?

In keeping with the theme of the fall season, let’s use a baseball connection since the World Series is about to be played real soon. How many of you have seen and can recall the movie Field of Dreams, remembering the classic line, “If you build it, they will come.”

However, there is a scene where this statement is made… “Memories will be so thick, they will have to brush them away from their faces.”

While a baseball theme can probably transcend into all sports, can it also transcend into the classroom? The correct answer is, yes.

What are we building, and what can we build, as educators, so our students will not only come but also have memories “so thick, they will have to brush them away from their faces?”

Memories exist, both good and bad, for all people. This is especially true for good memories – where students and others knew you cared for and actually offered a service for them. For this to take place, I believe it hinges on the amount of positive engagement you provide. When you build a classroom, educational setting, or anything with an enticing atmosphere and share that with all involved, you inspire others to “get on board,” and they will want to be part of the ride. They will come and will have memories…

But here is the catch…

Only teachers, educators, administrators, leaders everywhere who are engaged themselves can actively and effectively engage others.

When we have intentionality for creating a “culture” in our schools, where engagement fosters collective leadership for all, performance becomes top-notch, and yes, memories are made. Yes, memories, good memories… those when students will say, “You remember Mr. or Mrs. So and So’s class…”

Let’s give our students “something to talk about” so they can make memories that are thick. Build your environment to help others make memories. You might make a few memories along the way as well.

Better yet, let’s be the leader in all settings that creates this…

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

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2020 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts?  Follow me on…

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LinkedIn

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