Thank You Teachers!

Its that time of year again to say thanks to our teachers.  I personally want to thank any teacher I have worked with in the last 12 years.  Making the decision to teach was the second best thing to happen to me in my life.  With all that the profession has put up with recently I have often asked what would influence a person's decision to choose teaching as a career?

I can't answer that for every person I can only answer that for myself and hope others feel the same way.  I began working with kids when I had just graduated high school and began working at Emery Brother's Skating Rink.  I learned quickly how to get kids to follow rules and how to get them to follow me.  I really enjoyed it but not because I loved to skate, but because the kids made it fun.  When I took my Job at Mt. Vernon Township High School I was in pure Heaven.  I was teaching my favorite thing to think about and I was given the opportunity to grow individuals.  I remember getting my first paycheck.  I looked at it and remembered that I would actually be getting paid to do this.  I completely forgot that I was going to get paid.  Don't tell anyone but I would do it for free.  It is that rewarding.

I'm often asked what the most difficult part of being a principal is.  I have my standard, politically correct answer but I actually have a real answer.  My real answer is customer service.  Schools are expected to keep their customers happy.  There has been a shift in the last 15 years or so that when someone is angry, we should appease them or we are running a bad school and cheating their kids.  My friends, I can tell you that schools are the last place to satisfy customers.  I'm not saying that I am rude to people or anything like that.  I'm saying that the institution of school is in part there to help grow our communities that reflect our values.  In doing this we have to hold a group to a standard that is fair and benefits all.  Too often we are asked to take care of individuals and the rights of the many should be overlooked.  This is what is hard about being a principal, the dying value of community.

Community is not just a good television show.  It is and should be a way of life.  I catch a lot of criticism for expecting my students to act as a unit.  It is imperative that we do.  They will grow up and contribute to our society and we need this "old fashioned" value to be taught.  Why is it wrong to expect people to help each other, and not just when someone has suffered a tragedy but just because it is the right thing to do?  We should be celebrating this idea in our schools but for some it is a slight on people's children.  Why do I stay in education?  Because we need people to stand up for the right values.  Because I am needed by my kids I will take the slams, the criticism, and abuse because if I cave who will do what we have been doing?

Teachers, you are in the right place and doing the right thing.  Who could do it better than those who believe in real values and passing them on to our students?  Keep your head up and press on.  Fight the good fight. 

I Did Learn Something at SIUC

As I mentioned in an earlier post I check my news feeds daily. I will admit that some days I am busy enough to do a headline scan and on other days I actually get a chance to read. Never the less, I am noticing a trend in the news that I actually learned about in college. I took a really interesting class at Southern called Politics of Journalism. It could have been a great class but the instructor was not very engaging but I did pick up a few things. One of those things: thematic vs. episodic news coverage.

Episodic coverage is the covering of news events that seem to be unrelated and provide little back story and rarely get followed up. Thematic coverage is a little different. Thematic news coverage tends to follow similar events like it is part of a tv show. Ultimately, these events prompt policy makers to act based on public perception of what ever problem is being thematically coved.

The thematic coverage of the past few months have obviously been guns and kids since the Sandy Hook tragedy. Any story that can be ran is either about guns, kids, or both at the same time. I see tons of mainstream news coverage of kids behaving violently. I have posted some of these articles on my Facebook wall because it has really struck me. Any story about juvenile crime is fair game these days. I get a little frustrated because I am in the kid business and I hate to see them portrayed in a negative light. We school types are doing the best we can.

Can this be helpful or hurtful? I am going to be non-committal and say both. Continued coverage of teen troubles will make the conservative types frightened and wonder, "What is wrong with kids these days?" and ask "Where are these kids parents?" The more liberal types will begin to question the system and devise ways to change institutions to create the desired outcome. The fact is both of these things need to happen. We too often are asked to pick side rather than bring what we have to the table. There is simply too much at stake to play politics or point fingers. Thanks to the news coverage, new conversations are happening. They may be uncomfortable but they need to be held.

I have often said if we want to fix our societal ills we must fix our families. Don't let the news discourage you, let it inspire you. In my post, Lead With the Positive I dreamed about a day that I would look at the news and see positive stories to start my day. Now my new dream, to see positive thematic coverage.