Things Leaders Should Not Say…

25 Friday Sep 2020

Posted by The Book Chamber in Actions, Authentic, Culture, Education, Intentions, Leader, Leadership, Mandates, Purpose, Relationships, Servant, Teachers, Value

≈ 10 Comments

Remember growing up and hearing… “Do as I say, not as I do?” If it was not heard in your house, then you probably heard it somewhere else. Maybe there is a need for it while you are young and learn to be more mature with age, but when did you really take notice of the fact that “Do as I say, not as I do” phrase quit carrying value?

Better yet, let me drop this phrase on you… “Because I said so…” Heard that lately? The same questions from above can be asked here as well. How about this one… “You signed up for this…” or “Well, this is the way we are going to do it, and if you don’t like it…” One more, “We have always done it this way…”

Let’s look at it from an organizational perspective with leadership…

What is going on if you are hearing that from leadership in your work environment? Questions that quickly come to mind… What does it say about the culture of your work environment, and what is it saying about them, as a leader, directly?

As for culture, I believe that it is set by the group as a whole but is determined and sometimes developed by the expectations of leadership. To start, let me say that I believe culture is learned behavior until an agent of change comes in, or there is a paradigm shift. Too often, we forget that our culture is what we make it, not always what is mandated. However, if leadership is not abiding in and with the same parameters of their own expectations, then a disconnect is easily seen. Once it is seen, that disconnect creates breaks that has a hard time healing.

As for why a leader would have to say the above statements, well… Often leaders will say they operate on a different set of “rules.” Really? Different roles, yes, but rules? Nothing brings resentment to the boiling point quicker than a leader asking someone to do something they are not willing to do themselves, or stating they do not have to follow certain rules because they are in a position of leadership.

Last thought… What we say as leaders matter, how we actively live what we speak out matters even more—any saying that limits the originality or the why of your culture shows a mindset that is unwilling to grow, resentment will build, and relationships will suffer.

If a leader is having to say comments like these mentioned above or any others that come to your mind, then odds are they are very close to losing the culture, the respect, and, most of all, their leadership. They might still be in “charge,” but it is truly by title only. It might be due to their insecurities, knowing they really do not understand how to be a leader.

It would be interesting to hear from readers as to what you think leaders should not say… I bet we could get a pretty good running thread…

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

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

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Are we grabbing our student’s attention?

18 Friday Sep 2020

Posted by The Book Chamber in Attention, coronavirus, COVID-19, Education, Leader, Leadership, Purpose, Relationships, Teachers

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Question of the day…

Outside of the fact that a student has to come to your classroom because you teach the class they “have to take,” would a student want to take your class?

I will pause to give you time to answer that…

First, we should state that you actually teach your subject. Ok, with that established, let’s discuss…

Walking around and listening and seeing how and what other teachers do is impressive to me. I have often said that if you can get a student wanting to come to your class, regardless of the subject, they will be better students in your topic. Outstanding teachers have a way of “grabbing a student’s attention.”

Most of the time, it has nothing to do with the subject matter. It could be the teacher’s personality, how they speak to students in the hallway, or their welcoming as students come to the door.

I know we always say, “Let’s make learning fun.” But do we do that? Much of that can be answered with the why students “want” to come to your class. What are you doing differently than other teachers? What are you saying to students? And the critical question might just be, how are you making your students feel?

I heard Josh McDowell, Christian author, and speaker, once say, “You can con a kid and kid a con, but you can’t con a kid.” Our students are much more intelligent than we give them credit for sometimes. It does not take them long to figure you out as a teacher or leader.

The challenge to reach students, especially in the middle of our school situation with the coronavirus pandemic, is getting harder and harder. We have to find ways to grab their attention.

Today and every day is a day that we all have another chance to do just that. Some gesture, some tidbit, some __ (you fill in the blank). It might be nothing more than standing a broom up in the middle of the hallway (see pic for today) and with no strings attached.

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

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

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Mowing your yard and a lesson of teaching…

04 Friday Sep 2020

Posted by The Book Chamber in Lesson Plans, Purpose, Reflection, Teachers

≈ 3 Comments

As I look for ideas to write on each week, I find myself trying to make connections with about anything and education or leadership. Listening, reading, watching, experiencing… all these things help with topics that roll around in my mind. So, as I was mowing our yard yesterday evening, I started thinking…

First, let me say I enjoy mowing. Call me weird or a glutton for punishment, that’s ok. I put my headphones on, listen to a book on tape, and go at it. For three to four hours, I am lost in my own reality.

Well, how does mowing work its way into a blog regarding education or leadership? Today, mowing works its way into understanding and being a model centered around quality teaching of a lesson in a classroom or any other endeavor that can use the analogy.

When you get ready to mow your yard, what is the first thing you do? Please do not say grumble… That defeats the purpose because you are going to do it anyway. To answer, you plan and prepare… mower gassed up, weed-eater gassed up with enough chord and backup, etc.

The same goes for teaching; you prepare in advance. Why would you not? There is nothing worse than running out of gas on the backside of the yard away from the shed and the gas tank. The walk to and from is terrible enough, but mentally having to admit defeat of not planning “gets all over you.”

When you actually start a lesson, it is like mowing the yard—the big picture, per se. You mow “over” everything you want to be cut. That is what we do when we teach. We cover the lesson as we would mow the yard.

Next, I get out the weed-eater and start trimming around all the trees, the flowerbeds, up under bushes, etc. That is what I compare walking around, asking for verbal responses, or spot-checking for understanding in a classroom looks like. Cleaning up areas that I could not get the mower too. Is that not what we do with our instruction? How do you check for understanding?

By now, most people are finished, but not me. I like going for that “real clean” look. I get the edger out and start cutting the clean edge to the brick of flowerbeds or the concrete to the driveway. Usually, this is where I come back to almost wrap the lesson up. This might be where I give a connection to history or society in general. With the case of math, an opportunity to show how it is used or why it is needed. A lot of this depends on what subject matter you teach.

Gatorade Break…

Well, surely by now, you are tired, me too. But we still have two more details to discuss—first, hedging. Now, I do not do this everytime I mow, because sometimes it does not need it. However, every so often, some of the bushes begin to overgrow, and stems start sticking up. That’s when I go in and do a “knock off” of the rough edges of the bushes. As a teacher, you know when you need to do just a little more with your instruction. There are times when “one more example” or “let’s look at this again” gets your lesson exactly where you want it.

Lastly, blowing everything clean. Yes, the last step. Outside of actually mowing, getting the blower out to just clean up the area allows me to begin to see the finished product. Same with a lesson. This is where you can actually discuss what I call “take-a-ways” from the lesson with your students. For me, this is the “good sigh” moment. Almost looks like you never did anything, to begin with—just a perfect clean picture.

The smell of success. Nothing like that “fresh-cut” smell of a yard. Now I know we cannot smell good teaching, but deep down, you “sense” your finished product. As I go and sit on the front or back porch with a glass of good sweet tea, I see and smell success. An accomplishment of a finished project that is what I think good quality lessons can be.

I am sure you can find your own analogy for the steps of what you believe quality teaching is… but there is something about mowing… Yes, a time to be in your own reality.

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

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

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Why you need to be an idealist educator right now…

21 Friday Aug 2020

Posted by The Book Chamber in Actions, Attitude, Change, coronavirus, covid19, Education, Educational Leadership, Effective, Idealist, Leader, Leadership, Purpose, Relationships, Teachers, Whole

≈ 3 Comments

Regardless of how long you have been in education, I believe you fall into one of three categories… Idealist, Contented, or Disheartened (I will discuss the last two at a later date).

If there was ever a time for a need of quality education and educators, it is now (really all the time for that matter). You ask, why do I say that? Well, for starters, look at where we are with teaching and all that is going on with the current pandemic. Learning is in the form of… Zoom, virtual, digital, distance, hybrid, traditional, non-traditional, etc…

So, why idealist?

An idealist teacher is going to focus on the student while at the same time threading the curriculum into the lesson. Students are in a class for a brief period of time, and we really do not know where their mind wanders off to or even where it has been. But to engage a student in an environment that is inviting, where they enjoy the setting, creates an opportunity for success for both the teacher and the student.

Idealist teachers have vision. They see what is on the side, and they help pull a student’s imagination to reality. Classroom instruction becomes an invitation to students instead of a demand. Students have the opportunity to be part of “something” and possibly experience a deeper understanding of not only the material being taught but, more importantly, themselves.

I also believe that idealist teaching enables a student to become an idealist learner. Where lessons can educate the whole child instead of “just learn this now” mentality. Idealist teachers teach growth of a student’s mind instead of force-feeding them information. Straight methods of lecture should not be the norm of teaching. Allow students to think out loud and draw from different perspectives.

Now, to those who say idealist teaching doesn’t work… You might possibly hear that idealist teachers are young and have little classroom experience. They try too hard to be “friends” of students. They allow things to go undisciplined. They are not concerned about the curriculum. They…

Well, my answer to that is… I know many educators who are not young and have many years of teaching experience who have the same “so-called” characteristics I stated above as why an idealist teaching does not work. Great teachers can exhibit mutual respect from relationships formed in the classroom. When it comes to being a quality educator, no one really cares about your age or your years of experience. Ultimately, the one concept that matters is can you, as a teacher, provide an education for a student that helps them succeed. Be that change agent for them.

Think on it this way… Are you the type of teacher that you would want your child to have as a teacher? Hello, maybe someone might have just had the OMG moment…

So, are you already an idealist teacher? If not, can you become one? Better yet, do you want to be one?

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

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

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