We believe schools are responsible for ensuring that all children are prepared to attend college. This blog is for courageous teachers and tenacious principals who embrace that moral imperative, and who seek strategies to make that daring dream a reality.
I found professional inspiration in Rolling Stone Magazine. A few days ago I boarded a flight in Detroit that would take me across the country to San Diego. As I often do, I picked up some reading materials before my trip. One of the magazines I purchased was a “Special Collector’s Edition” of Rolling Stone focused on the “100 Greatest Songs of the Beatles.” In this magazine I found articles about each of the Beatles songs identified on their list. Each article summarized the story behind songs, in particular the process the Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr as if I had to tell you) participated in to write the music and lyrics for songs that many of us now consider at the very least iconic.
I read about collaboration. Not about collaboration between educators, but collaboration between a team of young men from England that were trying to put the right words and sounds in the right order. Each article I read told a story about how this team of young men gathered in the same place at the same time for a purpose. They collaborated with each other by saying and playing their ideas out loud. They were not afraid to try. They were not afraid to fail or let each other down. They trusted each other and listened to each other. The result was a lyric, verse or riff that was far better than what any of them could of composed individually.
I finished reading all of those articles about the Beatles and I got off that plane. I then joined a team that I recently was invited to join. This team met in a hotel room for a day and a half to talk about how to do something that has never been done before (at least not in the way we were hoping to do it). As we wrapped up our collaboration at the end of our first day I felt like we made music together. We brainstormed and filled the walls of our hotel room with sheets of chart paper that were full of our ideas and plans. We listened to each other and thought out loud. In the end, we left proud of what we accomplished. It felt like we came together at a moment in a time and created something that only the people in that hotel room could have created in the moments we shared.
Most of us have never had the opportunity to write a song. However, we probably participate in more “songwriting” experiences than you realize. Remember that you are an important part of a team. You belong to a Support Team or a Grade Level Team or a Special Class Team or a School Improvement Team. A team is a group of people that gets together in the same place at the same time for a common purpose. When you meet as a team, you have the opportunity to make music together. By sharing your ideas with each other and building on to each other’s thoughts, soon your team can develop something that is far better than what any individual could have established on their own. I think of it as the Music of Collaboration. Have you seized the opportunity lately to work on something together? During your team meetings, are you simply going through the motions and meeting because you are required to or are you using your time together to grow? Seize the moment in your next collaboration to brainstorm and build on each other’s ideas. Let the music start with you.
Julian Elementary is a No Excuses University School in California that exemplifies the word “exceptional”. We are so honored to be associated with this National School of Character. After watching this video, you’ll see why.
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
~President Barack Obama
What are we waiting for? Superman is not coming to save us. Neither is Batman, Spiderman or Wonder Woman. Let them worry about the Lex Luthors and Jokers out there. We can take care of ourselves. More importantly, we can take care of our students and our schools. We, as passionate educators, have all the superpower we need. We can make a positive difference in the life of every child we have the privilege of working with. Let’s get out of our own way.
The moon and the stars will never be in perfect alignment. Excuses are roadblocks that suppress momentum and impede progress. Let’s remove the roadblocks and give our students what they need and deserve.
Instead of blaming the system or the parents or the economy or the children, let’s get to work. Dr.Haim Ginott was not a superhero. He was a teacher, a child psychologist and psychotherapist. Dr. Ginott made an important realization that we need to keep in mind as we search for or wait for solutions:
“I’ve come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized.”
This past week was life changing for me. I didn’t think there was anything more that could motivate me to change the lives our our country’s neediest children, but there was. Last week I watched two episodes of Oprah focusing on the state of public education today. I knew all of the stats, was frustrated by all of the same things, and have aligned my personal work to changing education for the better. Even still, I had to ask myself the question, “Have you done everything you can? Have your really reached out to our country’s neediest neighborhoods?”. The answer to that question was NO. The No Excuses University Network of Schools is embedded in some of our country’s most challenging communities. From the children that it serves in the inner-city of Detroit, to the poverty stricken areas of Amarillo Texas, we are making a huge difference and there is no doubt in my mind about that. Be that as it may, I have been waiting for other needy communities to call me to get involved and they haven’t. I realize that being a willing advocate for change means nothing unless you are actively working to make that change. Because of this, we at the No Excuses University Network of Schools are reaching out like never before. Last Friday I put out the call to leaders in Newark, New Jersey and Chicago, Illinois. I’ve offered our services for free to begin changing the lives of children in our country’s neediest communities. There is just too much at stake for any of us to sit on the sidelines. If you did not catch the show, follow the link to find out more about how to get involved. As you read/watch, ask yourself the question: Have You Done Everything You Can?
My friend Martha sent me this link. This young man is something special. A model for others to follow, this is clearly just the beginning for Deonte Bridges.
Check out this recent article in the Chicago Tribune about a visit I made to Elgin Illinois. Great things are happening at our five No Excuses University Schools in the area!
“I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning…to the end.
He noted that first came her date of birth and spoke the following date with tears, but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.
For that dash represents all the time that she spent alive on earth and now only those who loved her know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own, the cars…the house…the cash. What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.
So think about this long and hard, are there things you’d like to change? For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough to consider what’s true and real and always try to understand the way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger and show appreciation more and love the people in our lives like we’ve never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile…remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.
So when your eulogy is being read with your life’s actions to rehash, would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?”
Poem by Linda Ellis
Inevitably, the dash in your 2009 – 2010 school year included a vast variety of experiences. If your year was like mine, you persevered through an array of moments that come in to focus now as the ups and downs of your life over the last 12 months. What did you do during that dash that you are most proud of? Be sure to take some time to reflect on your accomplishments and give yourself the opportunity to take pride in all that you’ve done over the last year to make a positive impact on the lives of the children you work with. It was time well spent! As you prepare for 2010 – 2011, what experiences will this upcoming dash include? How will you spend your dash in 2010 – 2011? What would be the ultimate dash for you? What would make the new school year an unparalleled success? We spend time with our students setting goals and defining success. Practice what you preach. Identify what you are working toward. Challenge yourself. Now…go get it! This sparkling new dash of yours is loaded with potential.
