This summer at the National Principals Conference, I had the opportunity to meet Jay Posick. I had been inspired by Jay for the past several years through social media and was excited to finally meet in person. During our time together, Jay gave me a wristband for the “Principals in Action” group. I’m a part of the group through social media and on Voxer along with principals across the country. The band was a nice souvenir from the conference and a reminder was written on the band to “Get out of the Office” and see the great things happening in classrooms.
I wore the band for the remainder of the summer and into the start of the school year. Then I was invited to a gathering with administrators. I’m probably known as the guy who gets excited about everything (Teaching like a pirate, Twitter chats, even my weekly blog). I’m sure it can be a bit much at times. I started thinking as I prepared to go to the event that I would get a few eye rolls for sporting my Principals in Action band. Another group and another thing I would be recommending to people. I just wanted to be another guy at the party, so I took my band off.
Once the band was off, it stayed off for quite a while. I thought about putting it back on, but then I felt like a fraud. Was I really a Principal in Action or just wearing a band to show that I had met with Ed Leaders at the conference? I certainly wasn’t living out the ideals of the group to be bold and courageous by taking my band off, for fear of a few eye rolls. I hesitated even writing this post, because it showed how easy it was to dampen my enthusiasm. Then I started thinking that it was less important that I took the band off and more important that I put the band back on. So, that’s what I did!
As educators, it can be intimidating to stand against the status quo, to put ourselves out there, and to take risks. Being out front can often lead to eye rolls or chuckles from others and sometimes you may be like me and take your band off. That’s okay. What’s important is that you try each day to be your best, find your courage, and put your band back on!
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.” – Coco Chanel
“Better to be a nerd than one of the herd!” – Mandy Hale
Jay Posick Lindsy Stumpenhorst
- Monday, October 22: Celebrate Monday Assembly 9:05 AM, IEP (Medellin) at Grant 2:45 PM, Intervention Cycle 1 Begins
- Tuesday, October 23: IEP (Trantham) at Randolph 8:15 AM, REED (Stromberg) 2:35 PM
- Wednesday, October 24: Furniture Committee 8:15 AM in the LMC
- Thursday, October 25: Staff Meeting 8:05 in the LMC, Picture Retakes in the morning in East Commons, PTA Meeting 7:00 PM
- Friday, October 26: School Improvement Meeting 9:00 – 12:00 (Team subbed out for morning), Jon to ABC Negotiations 1:30-3:30 PM, Monster Mash Dash 6:00-8:00 PM (This is a combination of our Annual Fun Run & Boo Bash events)
- Monday, October 29: Student of the Month Assembly (Responsibility) 9:05 AM
- Tuesday, October 30: Achievement Team (Trantham) 8:15 AM
- Wednesday, October 31: Halloween Parade for grades 1-4 at 3:15 PM
- Thursday, November 1: Staff Meeting 8:05 AM
The Spark of Learning 