One of the things you learn as a school administrator is all parents believe they are doing a good job.

Everyone thinks they’re raising their child(ren) to be productive and useful members of society.

Nobody gets up in the morning, looks in the mirror, and says “I am a horrible parent (and very likely a despicable human being).”

Personally, I can’t say this.  Because if I wasn’t an excellent parent I wouldn’t be the proud owner of a “#1 Dad” mug (and I don’t even drink coffee).

When things go terribly wrong with kids (see:  The Evil Spawn about 2017), all parents rationalize their role in the situation.

By rationalize, I mean blame someone else.

It’s never the parents’ fault because they didn’t raise their kids to act in whatever bad way they are acting (crime spree, 57 tattoos, 114 earrings, money laundering, etc.)

So it becomes the schools’ fault.

Or the coaches’.

Or the teachers’.

Or the principals’.

Or the school boards’.

Later in life it can even be the State Policemen’s, probation officers’, or the judges’ fault (I’ve encouraged The Evil Spawn to start saving for a good lawyer).

It’s never bad parenting (which is nice because it takes me off the hook for what is surely to be a rather tragic and sad year in 2017).

While we all think we’re good parents, some are obviously better than others.

If you work in a school you’ve probably accrued the 6th sense necessary to spot some of the less than great parents.

If you’re really good, you can spot them from a distance (which means several aisles over).

They turn up in the school office.  At the movie theater.  Or in the easiest place on earth to see a bad parent in captivity… Wal-mart.

There is just something in the way they carry themselves or a certain tone in their voices as they yell empty threats toward disrespectful children.

I like to think I have this skill.

I also think I may have spotted the worst case of bad parenting in recent memory.

It’s so bad, I didn’t feel comfortable posting a picture.

If you want to see it and have a strong stomach CLICK HERE (scroll down for picture).

I could be wrong (it happens frequently), but time will tell.

We will know if these young ladies (12 and 14) have been affected by bad parenting by the time they go to college.

Or rehab.

Or wherever reality TV stars go once fame has left them.

Comments: 7
Tags: bad parenting, Kardashians, Wal-mart

Once a teacher, always a teacher.

When you teach, you get more than a paycheck.

You get special powers.

The most sacred of all of these powers is the ability to correct a child with a “look”.

Any child.

Any time.

Any where.

Restaurants, movie theaters, ballgames, and church are just a few of the places where this gift comes in handy.

If I have to explain this concept (or the “look”), you have never been alone in a classroom of 25+ students (please feel free to replace the word “students” with something more descriptive).

Having the gift also means you have the innate ability to judge others on their parenting skills (I’m not proud of this and I’m not saying it is right… I’m just saying it happens).

The other day I heard a parent say to their child “Your behavior is not acceptable!”

I wanted to say (although you will be proud of me for biting my tongue…) “His behavior is completely acceptable or else he wouldn’t do it.”

And that is teaching and parenting in a sentence.

Most kids do exactly what is expected of them.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

Discipline is the gift that keeps on giving.

Comments: 9
Tags: discipline of children, Parents, Teachers

When I was a kid if your teacher wanted to speak to parents there were two choices.

The dreaded parent-teacher conference or pin a note to your shirt.

Both simple, but effective.

The conference was the most stressful.

Not for the teacher or my parents, but for me (I get it… I’m not working up to my potential).

The note pinned to the chest wasn’t as bad.  In fact, there was at least a 50/50 chance it contained good news (class party, holiday program, possibly the teacher’s impending retirement).

The note did have a slight downside.  It was a golden opportunity for the teacher to stab you in the name of good communication.

This didn’t seem fair to me, but it was hard to argue when I had tears in my eyes and blood on my shirt (or vice versa).

Somewhere along the way, these tried and true methods weren’t good enough.

Teachers started using the telephone (back when phones were attached to the wall).

Nothing ruins dinner (or supper) like a phone call from your teacher.

Actually, that’s not true.  Nothing ruins dinner (or supper) like a spanking after a phone call from your teacher (I wouldn’t personally know, but there might have been a yardstick involved).

As times have changed, so have the communication methods of teachers and schools.

In the last ten years email has been the tool of choice.

School districts also begun to use parent notification services to contact hundreds or even thousands of people at one time (examples are Alert Now, School Reach, and School Messenger).

A well-run school has always prided itself on keeping open lines of communication with its parents and stakeholders.

Now, that’s all changed.

There is still communication, but the school no longer controls it.

A year ago, I thought Twitter was going to be how information would be passed along.

Now, I’m not so sure.

I think it may be Facebook (but this theory is only good for about 3 seconds… which is how long it will take for some punk kid to invent something better than Facebook).

In the last month I’ve been amazed how quickly news is shared on Facebook.

An incident (good or bad) can happen at school and the Facebook world knows about it before the school can contact parents.

It used to be when you called a family their response was “Thanks for letting us know.”

Now it’s “Yeah, we saw that on Facebook 20 minutes ago.”

This is going to present a whole new set of challenges to school districts.

We are no longer controlling our message/news to our communities.

Our communities are controlling it.

I’m not sure where this new type of communication will lead schools, but I know where I’m going.

Facebook.

At least until something better comes along.

Follow PrincipalsPage (or his alter ego Michael Smith) on Facebook (if you can’t beat them, join them).

Comments: 4
Tags: Alert Now, Facebook, parent teacher conference, School Messenger, School Reach, Twitter

Having a job is a good thing (especially in this day and age).

Going to college was better. 

This is true for lots of reasons.

Starting with… you could make your own schedule in college.

No work hours to follow.  No contract to abide by.  No one to evaluate you (unless you count the professors).

College was great.

Don’t want to get up early?  Schedule classes in the afternoon.

Want to be done early?  Schedule all of your classes in the morning.

Obsessive about The Price is Right and Hogan’s Heroes (guilty as charged)?  Don’t schedule anything from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.

Want to be back in the dorm before MTV’s Remote Control comes on?

Just fake a disease or a head injury and leave class a little early.

College was great.

At work you have a dress code.  In college your fashion choice was shorts or sweatpants.

And you accessorized with a t-shirt (up until the late 90’s when this changed to the ever popular hoodie).

No ironing the night before.

No attempting to pick out a shirt and tie that almost match.

No living under society’s expectations of wearing socks that match.

At college, you slept in every day.  All you had to do was be up 2 1/2 minutes before class started (if you could run fast).

College was great.

At work you have bosses.

At college you had advisors (who invariably messed up your schedule).

Life seemed complicated in college, but in retrospect it really wasn’t.

College was great.

In college food was provided for you.  Swipe a card and it was all you could eat (which explains the Freshman 15… or 40).

No trips to the grocery store.  No cooking.  No cleaning up the kitchen (not that I know about any of these).

A long day in college was 4 classes in one day.

A long day at work is everyday.

College was the first opportunity to put some space between you and your parents.

Work (if you choose education) involves being around everyone’s parents.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the number one reason college was better than work.

I didn’t have to shave.

Not for days.  Or weeks.  Or even months.

Being in the grown up work world means I have to shave every day.

And I think that is easily the worst part of being an adult.

If I only knew then what I know now, I would have been far more appreciative of my time in college.

But like most people, I took it for granted.

I never really appreciated the fact I could control my own schedule, dress like a slob, and have someone else prepare my food.

And most importantly, not have to scrape my face every morning with a sharp piece of metal.

It was the 80’s after all… and stubble was cool.

And if you ask me, it still is (although I realize no one has asked me).

Comments: 6
Tags: college, freshman 15, Greenville College, Hogan's Heroes, hoodies, MTV, Remote Control, shaving, The Price is Right

The idea for this blog came to me after reading a comment left on an entry called “Perception”.

It got me thinking why educators and schools are sometimes the last to know they may not be as perfect as they want to believe.

I’m not judging, I’m just saying. 

This is an easy trap.

It can happen to administrators, teachers, custodians, cooks, school boards, parents, athletes, students and entire school districts (is there anyone I didn’t insult???).

Most of us like to believe we are self-motivated (if this was true, I wouldn’t need an alarm clock… or a scale).

And most of us are motivated.

Up to a point.

Then not so much.

The point our self-motivation fails us is when things get really hard.

It’s difficult to do things that are uncomfortable (or new).

I think this is one of the reasons it’s taken so long for technology to be taught by classroom teachers.

It can be hard (ie: new).  And confusing.  Even worse, it opens up the possibility the teacher may not be the smartest person in the classroom.

Many of us also believe the organization in which we are members is far greater than it actually is.

If you are involved with a group of people who are consistently telling each other they are great, you start to believe it.

None of us want to think we need to continually improve, but we do.

We all need help to accomplish great things.  To do our best.  To do things we could have never imagined.

It’s impossible to push ourselves to our limits (if that was the case the Marines wouldn’t need Sergeants).

Most of us think we are working as hard as possible.

We believe we are improving on a daily basis and giving at least a 110% effort (except on Fridays and days before holidays… those don’t count).

The truth is we probably aren’t.

That’s where we need help.

Other people (or outsiders) can recognize areas in which we need to improve.

That’s why we need coaches, bosses, mentors, and professional development.

We may not want people telling us we aren’t as great as we think we are, but it’s definitely what we need.

Comments: 13
Tags: alarm clocks, Marines, mentors, professional development, school administrators

I’ve steered clear of the following blog topic for the last three years (how time flies when you are blogging).

No, not the discussion on whether or not Seinfeld is the best TV show of all-time ( it is… BJ and the Bear comes in a close second).

Tenure.

This seems to be the hottest of all education topics.

Hotter than testing, the perceived worthlessness of administrators (I said perceived… because all of us are worth our weight in… well, in something), or the lack of parental support.

Tenure trumps them all.

Just saying the word can provoke a heated discussion (and get you beaten up in a Teacher’s Lounge near you…).

You are either for it, or against it.

It’s hard to find someone who rides the fence on this issue (much like Dancing With the Stars… some love it and some find it as enjoyable as abdominal cramps).

To me that’s the problem.

Those of us with tenure (yes, I am a proud owner (or not) of what could be construed as a lifetime teaching job) absolutely love the idea.

And what’s not to love.

Tenured teachers have jobs (very important in this day and age).  If that wasn’t enough, they (evil administrators) can’t fire those tenured teachers.

And as an added bonus, our raises are based on the number of years we have taught and has nothing to do with productivity.

It’s a little piece of heaven.

I’m not saying this is right.  I’m not saying it’s wrong.

I’m just saying it’s our system.

Then there is the anti-tenure crowd.

This is a rather large and angry group which includes pretty much everyone else in the free world (and most people in Cuba).

Anyone who doesn’t have tenure (99.999999% of all humans) believes it is the dumbest idea since New Coke (which incidentally, I enjoyed).

These people think far too many teachers who attain tenure end up going through the motions while cashing an ever increasing paycheck.

I’m not saying they are right.

I’m not saying they are wrong.

I am saying tenure is woven into the fabric of our educational system.

Some states are considering passing No Tenure Laws (way to be a leader Florida… and I’m crossing my fingers you don’t send us another Bush for The White House…).

Tenure has never seemed very American to me.

I’ve always thought our country was built on the idea that if you work hard and pay your dues (figure of speech… not Union) it’s possible to make your fortune and climb the ladder of success.

If you think like I do (and for your sake, I pray you don’t), tenure may be holding good teachers back.

They aren’t granted the opportunity to be judged financially on the great work they do.

They are lumped in with all teachers, good and bad. 

Those who work 12 hour days and those who hardly work at all.

I think that’s a shame.

Tenure doesn’t help our best and brightest.

It doesn’t promote working harder, thinking outside the box (which is the dumbest phrase since… Where’s the Beef?), or going above and beyond.

Unfortunately, it’s major purpose seems to be protecting older teachers from vindictive administrators and school boards.

This is important, but is it reason enough to keep tenure in 2010?

The title of this blog comes from The Soup Nazi.  My hero.  My mentor.  My compadre (at least he will be after I learn Spanish).

Comments: 12
Tags: BJ and the Bear, Dancing With the Stars, Florida, Seinfeld, Soup Nazi, Teachers, tenure, Wendy's, Where's the Beef

This blog carries many burdens. 

The main one is I can’t leave my house without NOT being recognized.

Thankfully, I’m getting used to this awkward and uncomfortable feeling (for the last time people… I look just like the cartoon… it’s just not that complicated).

Another is I constantly receive emails from people who want me to promote their products.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I will NOT schlep for your company.

I hope that’s clear enough.

No exceptions.

Unless you send me free stuff.

I have standards (I wear XL t-shirts in case you were wondering… and as it turns out, my standards are actually relatively low).

I just don’t feel comfortable capitalizing on the PrincipalsPage.com name (again, XL… and I’m still looking for a book and a movie deal… I have my fingers crossed that I will be played by one of the greatest actors of our generation, Mr. Morgan Freeman).

Until I get my big break (i.e. paid), I will continue passing on educationally related items that I believe will benefit the readers of this blog (and more importantly, students).

Today (or whenever you read this…), I want to share a new TV series about the food served by schools. 

It’s Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.

Sounds boring, but it isn’t.

Once you start watching, it’s hard to look away.

It’s like a car wreck.

If you watch just one TV series about lunch ladies… this is it.

His website describes the series (much better than I could) as being about how families eat, what kids get at school and why the diet of processed food and snacks is causing so many health and obesity problems.

The series was filmed in Huntington, West Virginia.

Jamie’s challenge was to see if he could get a whole community cooking again.

He worked with the school lunch ladies and local families to get everyone back in the kitchen and making tasty meals with fresh ingredients – no packets, no cheating. He’s started a Food Revolution: to get people all over America to reconnect with their food and change the way they eat.

Please take a few minutes and watch episodes 1 – 3 (you can watch the entire series on Hulu.com… which is free TV on the internet… welcome to 2010).

If you agree with the concept (and you will… unless you hate small children) click on the Food Revolution Badge and sign the petition in support of healthier school lunches.

Mr. Oliver hopes to collect enough signatures so the White House will allow him to deliver the petition to President Obama.

If enough people sign in support, he just might get the right people to listen.

Like the First Lady Michelle Obama.

And if she’s happy, everyone’s happy (at least that’s how it works at my house).

Enjoy (and prepare yourself to be shocked and disgusted) the first three episodes (and don’t forget to watch the rest on ABC or Hulu.com).

Episode #1

Episode #2

Episode #3

I was kidding about Morgan Freeman playing me in a movie… he’s way too tall.

Comments: 8
Tags: First Lady, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, Michelle Obama, Morgan Freeman, president Obama, PrincipalsPage.com

It’s possible I’m not going to win the Father of the Year Award anytime soon.

Or ever.

Actually it’s not just possible, it’s pretty much a mortal lock.

It’s not because I call my daughter “The Evil Spawn” in a moderately well-read blog (although that certainly doesn’t help my cause).

It’s because I coach her basketball team.

One would think this would put me in the finals for the Father of the Year competition.

Actually coaching 3rd grade girls in anything should at least get me in the Fast Past line to Heaven (this would be a Walt Disney World/Religious reference… so it’s painfully obvious I’m so not a good person).

I’m trying to do the right thing.  I spend time with the Spawn.  I’ve taught her how to dribble.  I’ve taught her how to shoot.  She’s even scored several baskets (always followed by a slightly creepy celebratory dance she evidently learned from her mother’s side of the family).

I don’t mean to brag, but we’ve won most of our games (4-1 baby!!!).

It seems to me things are going pretty well.

Except there’s one small problem.

Or maybe it’s a big problem.  I’m really not fit to decide at this point.

When I coach her, I only see her mistakes.

And there are lots of them.

Again, I’m not really fit to decide this either (in fact, I really shouldn’t be around children).

I could write an entire blog about her inability to fight through a screen or be in good rebounding position, but then I would really look like an idiot (if you’ve never coached basketball please disregard this sentence as it probably makes absolute no sense… other than I’m an idiot part).

I expect her to play basketball like she’s taking a spelling test (stay with me… I have a point here).  I expect her to play an entire game and not make any mistakes.  None.  Zip.  Nadda.  And whatever the Spanish word for Zero is.

In my mind she should get everything correct just like I want her to do on a spelling test (I didn’t say it was a good point, I just said I had a point).

On the other hand, I recognize when her teammates make mistakes.  And that’s okay because they are trying.

As long as they try and do their best, what more can I ask?

Her?  Different story.

I’m not sure, but this may be a little something I like to call a “Double-Standard”.

By now, you are probably on board with my theory about not winning Father of the Year.

That’s okay because you would be right.  And just so my readers feel good about themselves, I’m about to reinforce this theory.

At our last game, we started the 4th quarter down by 6 points.  That’s not a big deficit unless you’ve seen 3rd grade girls play basketball.  Then you would realize it’s like being behind by 427 points.

Occasionally, our team struggles with “scoring” (as all 3rd graders do).

Basically the game was over.

But as luck would have it, our team battled back (in spite of my daughter… again, I only see her mistakes… I may have some issues and be in dire need of counseling).

With 37 seconds left we were down by 2 points, but we got the ball back.

I called a timeout.

This was the perfect opportunity to put all of my years of coaching knowledge to work.

I could diagram a play and we would win the game.

Too bad the girls were so excited they wanted to talk instead of listen.  Turns out during a timeout with 3rd grade girls, everybody has a story.  Or they are thirsty.  Or they need their shoes tied.  Or ponytails fixed.  Or they want to wave at mom and dad.  Or they need to use the restroom (who can’t hold it for 37 seconds???).

They want to do anything but listen to my ingenious explanation of the play that will win the game.

But this didn’t stop me.  I set up a play (or at least some controlled mayhem…). 

There were two girls I was comfortable taking the last shot.  Both are not related to me (the Evil Spawn is so writing a paper in high school titled “Bad Dad”). 

So what happens?

The play doesn’t work (who’s surprised?… not me).

But something odd happened.

The Evil Spawn evidently stay calmed and used her head (maybe we aren’t related???).

The Spawn scored to tie the game and send it to overtime (which we win!!!).

The crowd goes crazy.

A creepy dance ensues.

And I don’t remember any of it.

I didn’t even know she hit the last shot.  I have no recollection of it.  I thought another girl made the basket.

I was so focused on her not making a mistake.

It was only after the game when I realized she did something wonderful.  It occurred to me when other parents (no doubt better people than me) where high-fiving and congratulating her on the big shot at the buzzer.

Oh, it gets worse.

I not only missed the game-tying shot, I missed all of the shots she made.

Evidently, she was our leading scorer.  I had no idea.

I guess I don’t remember anything.  Except her mistakes.

I haven’t read the book “Good Dad/Bad Dad” (pictured above), but I probably should.

Comments: 6
Tags: 3rd Graders, Bad Dad, basketball, Evil Spawn/Daughter, Father of the Year, Good Dad, Heavan, Walt Disney World

Why does it take schools so long to change?

Why do I feel the need to write so many blogs about change?

The answer to the first question is we’ve been allowed to rest on our laurels.  Question number two, I’m either obsessive compulsive or just weird.  Could go either way.

Whatever it is, you have to admit it’s like pulling teeth to get a new idea implemented in education.

Educators growl like frightened cats when they hear the word Change (yes, this is an excuse to use a wacky animal picture in a blog).

Everyone seems to believe that we should teach our students in the same ways we were taught 20 or 30 years ago (I know, I’m dating myself).

Worse, we continue to teach the subject matter we were taught.  To compound the problem, we use the same techniques we learned during student teaching
(can anyone say chalkboard, overhead, and worksheets?).

I’m here to propose some changes.  Again.

Big changes.

So go ahead and growl, hiss, and spit.

Get over it, because as always, we are here for the kids.

Now take a moment to compose yourselves.  And stop crying.  It’s sad.  And pathetic (plus, you don’t want to drip tears on your keyboard).

When I’m done please feel free to tell me what you think. Just keep the cursing to a minimum.

Here we go.

One, we need to get rid of penmanship, keyboarding, memorizing state capitals, and cutback on spelling.

And that’s just a start.

Am I crazy?

Possibly, but more likely I’m just slightly paranoid with some anger issues (it’s all about the proper medication).  But that’s a whole different subject.

Penmanship is rarely used by most adults.  Unless they are signing their name, so spending hundreds of hours teaching children how to make the perfect “Q” in cursive could be a waste of time.

We don’t have time to teach students a skill they will one day use in writing thank you notes.  If they need to produce such a note they can print them (by hand or a computer… I really don’t care).

Keyboarding?  Haven’t we progressed past the point of controlling our students by making them sit straight up and down with both feet on the floor while they type?

I don’t know of any former students who have computer skills and weren’t hired for a job because they didn’t type fast enough or use the proper technique.

Last time I checked, most elementary students know their way around a keyboard.

Let’s just agree the “Home Row” isn’t life or death.  Enough with typing “asdf gh jkl; fall gall hall lass” a thousand times.

Stop with the memorizing state capitals.  I’ve said it before and I will say it again, it was fun in the 1950’s, it can be Googled in 2010.  If you find yourself desperately needing to know the capital of Delaware… look it up.  There’s no need to spend the entire 4th grade year forcing students to learn where Montpelier and Salem are located. 

Lastly, what’s with all the time on spelling?

Do we really need to know how to spell in this day and age?

Can’t we just come close when we are typing and then let the computer correct us?  During the typing of this blog, I misspelled 12 words.  Maybe it’s my keyboarding skills, maybe I’m just stupid.

Either way, it took me 1.3 seconds to fix them.

This is just a start.  I haven’t even gotten to the Periodic Table, poetry, and our obsession with dictionary skills.

Once, we get these things out of the curriculum, schools will have time to address skills needed in this century.

Like foreign language starting in elementary school.

Not as an elective, but mandatory (might I suggest Chinese?).

And computers, computers, computers.  We can’t keep pushing technology skills to the background because Grandma the 3rd grade teacher is afraid her students might break the printer or download a song.

Why is it that it’s embarrassing when we don’t know math, history, science when we stand in front of our students, but it’s okay to be clueless about technology (in the interest of full disclosure I stole this from someone on Twitter and I’m also on steroids so I can blog faster…).

As Ben Franklin said, “When you’re finished changing, you’re finished”.

And I don’t think any of us employed by a school should be done.

Comments: 53
Tags: Ben Franklin, change, foriegn language, Google, keyboarding, Montpelier, Salem, state capitals, Twitter

Too many of us overparent. 

We all want our kids to crawl first, walk first, speak first, read first, be the best athlete, finish first in everything, play a musical instrument, have the lead in the school play, win a pageant, be named the best-looking and funniest, finish in the top 1 in their class, and have 857 trophies (none that say “Participation”) in their bedroom.

Our society has come to believe we can control our children’s futures by controlling every aspect of their childhood.

Raising a child isn’t a competition.  It isn’t about winning and losing.  It’s about preparing kids who have the ability to make their own decisions when they enter adulthood.

To learn how to make good decisions, they have to experience what happens when they make a bad one.

A high number of activities, tutors, traveling teams, does not indicate future success in life.

We are failing our kids.

Not by failing to provide them opportunities, but by providing them far too many.

To be a good parent we need to give our children the gift of failure.

It’s okay to strike out.

The world won’t end if you’re cut from the basketball team.

You don’t have to play 75 summer softball games as a 3rd grader to be successful in life.

Eating school lunch is fine.  Mom doesn’t have to bring fast food to school.

C’s on your report card aren’t the end of the world (if you did your best).

Not being the most popular person in high school isn’t a bad thing.  It’s probably a good thing.

Being first isn’t nearly as important as being a gracious winner.  And even more importantly, a gracious loser.

We do everything in our power to keep our kids from feeling badly.

We try to protect them from:  teachers, illnesses, bad grades, tap water, demanding coaches, criticism, and high expectations.

If they fail, we feel like we’ve failed.

Except that’s not true.

We are holding them back by pushing them forward too quickly.

Parents want 3 year olds to act 5.  And 5 year olds to act 10.  And 10 year olds to act 16.

It’s too much, too fast.

They need a childhood.

They need some free time.

Kids should ride their bikes, eat dirt, drink out of a garden hose, get yelled at by coaches, pick their own teams, and solve their own disagreements.

They need mom, dad, their stepparents, and grandparents to allow them to find out what happens when you turn in a late assignment.

And it’s not having mom call and blame the teacher.

And it’s not the end of the world.

This TIME Magazine article explains this concept much better than I can.  The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting.

Comments: 12
Tags: helicopter parents, overparenting, Time Magazine, traveling teams