Inspired Impact

"When students feel connected at school, they are more likely to attend school regularly, stay in school longer, and have higher grades and test scores." (www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth, July 2009).  Great teachers strive to connect with and be the champion for every student in their class, but this is a challenge for even the very best teachers.  How can we as building administrators share in the work to ensure that all students feel connected and have a champion? When I was a sophomore in high school, my writing teacher attended one of my basketball games.  She was far from a sports enthusiast so I was surprised to see her in the stands.  Following the game, she wrote me a note congratulating me on the win.  I was pretty shy then and for the first time in her class, I felt like she saw me.  It wasn't an especially large gesture on her part, but it most definitely had in impact.  I recall working harder than I ever had in her class.  She...

I was reading MLK quotes looking for one to include in my weekly updates for staff and came across this one: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Each day on Twitter, I see educators sharing their work and exuding passion.  I often think about how lucky their students or staff are to have such passionate, dedicated educators.  Back in July, at the National Principals Conference, I met so many inspiring educators who were eager to share and connect with like-minded people.  I left feeling invigorated and so assured that I had chosen the right work or "found my calling."  But there's more to it than passion.  Educators need to know and deeply understand how they are making a contribution to others and why their work matters.  Chip and Dan Heath shared In The Power of Moments that, "people who expressed high levels of excitement about their work were still poor performers if they lacked a sense of purp...

Breaking the Script By Jordan Hoffman Chip and Dan Heath wrote, "If you're going to create memorable moments for your customers, you've got to break the script."   Part of what makes a snow day special is that it breaks the script of a typical school week.  We don't expect to get a random day off in the middle of the week. And there's an element of surprise when the phone rings with the recognizable school district main line calling, "This is the Natick Public Schools calling with an important message.  Due to the impending storm, school will be cancelled on Thursday, January 5th." While this particular break in the script is dependent on weather, school leaders can intentionally break the script to create a memorable moments for students and staff. Breaking the script needs to be random, surprising and spontaneous in order to have an impact.  Teachers expect that when I pop into the classroom with an ipad or computer in hand that I wil...