Social Issues Should be Part of the Curriculum

There's a lot of chances in my day to focus on negative things.  Things that just suck the life out of me and force me to question reality.  I can't browse through my news feed without being critical of what I see.  I can't go out in public without fielding complaints.  The roadblocks in my work seem to increase all the time.  I have lots of opportunities to be deflated. 

I was walking by a classroom last week and I heard what was music to my ears.  Students were arguing and questioning the teacher.  I know this might sound bad to most but I am a former social studies teacher and debating social issues was at the heart of many days in my classroom.  What was the issue, net neutrality.  Yes this has caused a ruckus all over the country and I was tired of the negativity I was seeing from it also.  So why is this music to my ears?  Introducing problems and conflict is the best way to teach middle and high school kids.

The most striking thing I heard was, "Why hasn't anyone told me about this?" and "Am I going to lose my internet?"  When they demand answers to questions that are important to them, you must seize the opportunity to teach.  It is truly difficult to engage students from a textbook or to force them into issues that are not relevant to them.  As educators we have to use these moments to build on and capture their attention.  For too long we have made them slaves to a textbook and demanded compliance over learning and growth.  Now to be fair, this is not really just the fault of less creative  teachers.  We have created a policy culture of demanding standardized test scores over true, empowering and enriching learning experiences.  We have all succumb to this culture and we share accountability for it.

I remarked to one of my teachers a few days ago during a post conference that I would love to teach now with the resources we have now.  It's not just the technology that fascinates me but the learning demands of the Millennial generation is truly unique.  I know they frustrate so many of us but I always look for opportunities for growth.  These kids are completely saturated with things that were not in existence when we were kids.  Do you remember ever having to consider what fake news was?  That's a no for me but now I am in a position to teach kids how to sort the good from the bad and because that is part of their reality, I see it as our duty.

Teaching social issues should be part of your curriculum.  Moan and groan if you want but we have certain realities we should face.  Otherwise, we will just be miserable that the cycle is continuing.  We have a unique duty and opportunity to lead this group into a better learning experience and also a better way to live. We can't prevent them from being saturated by the negative things of the world but we can teach them how to use the opportunities they get.  I'm pretty sure that's what schools are supposed to do.

Illinois Computing Educators-Southern Illinois Chapter will be hosting a Twitter Chat on social issues in the classroom.  Feel free to join us to talk about how you do this in your school.

The Christian Principal - The Son of a Carpenter (Part 4)

A buzz word I have heard over the last couple of years is "servant leader".   Administrators talk about being a servant leader to their kids, staffs and community to show they are invested in the well being of those around them and they are willing to serve to do so.  As a public school administrator, I would think that all of us exhibit the qualities of the servant leader but I would like to remind us of the servant nature of Christianity.  Service to others is implied in our faith.

Jesus Christ was not only the son of God but he was also the son of a carpenter.  There is a lot to be said about Joseph and what implications there are for all of us servant leaders.  On a personal note, I dislike the term "King of Kings" when referring to Christ.  I feel that God chose Joseph, as opposed to some more powerful man, to help further the lesson that we should be humble and be of service to God when we are called upon.  Joseph was given a huge task to father the son of God and accepted.  He could have left Mary by law but showed compassion to her.  This is the first example that God chose a perfect father figure for Jesus.  Joseph taught him his trade and was a righteous man.  Jesus even took on his mannerisms and attention to detail.  Joseph chose to walk in obedience of God despite the stigma it may have carried.  What an awesome example for the son of God.

How can we use this to guide us?  Lets look at this as a metaphor.  God sent the most precious thing he had to Earth and entrusted Joseph to lead and guide him.  Parents send their most precious things to us every day and expect us to lead and guide them.  Lets walk in obedience of God as Joseph did and lead and guide the best things we have in our communities.  Sounds like a simple metaphor but the example set for Jesus by Joseph is not a story to be overlooked.  This post could have easily been about the servant leadership of Christ and those stories are very abundant.  Often, it is the little known stories that can move us into the right direction and help us realize our purpose.

Let us review.  The Christian principal should make every effort to be compassionate, teach and practice forgiveness and set a Godly example for those who are under your care.  There are days that I fall short of this, but the pursuit of these things should carry on no matter what.  I felt strongly about writing these posts because there are great Christian men and women in our schools serving kids but feel that distinction does not belong in their school or is welcomed in their school.  I get complaints all the time that the problem with schools is that they are not allowed to pray and we don't swat them anymore.  Really, these are all excuses.  You may pray anytime and anywhere you want.  Principals can be Godly without pushing it on people.  We can be superheroes for God, hiding in plain sight as long as we are taking our faith with us everywhere we go.

Since posting the first in this series, I have gotten great feedback from fellow school administrators.  I even stumbled upon the Illinois Association of Christian Administrators.  Give these guys a look or a follow on Twitter.  I would like to thank my pastor, Robbey Smith, again for his support on this post.  He is a great example of servant leadership and Redemption Church is lucky to have him.  My hope is that I reassured some and maybe challenged the thinking of others.  I know it is my duty is to glorify God every day and I hope that I do this in my practice and example.

The Christian Principal - Forgiveness (Part 3)

Recently, Illinois schools entered the SB100 era of student discipline.  I was not happy with the process that took place for this new law to take effect but nevertheless we are now legally obligated to take a new approach to out of school suspensions.  Simply put, we now cannot suspend students for arbitrary reasons and we are encouraged to make restorative justice practices the norm in our schools.  This is not a transition for those of us who have been using restorative justice in our schools already.  Restorative justice in itself is  practicing a cornerstone of Christianity, forgiveness.

Any Christian knows this.  We are asked to forgive others as God has forgiven us.  To further the example think of the story of the unforgiving servant.  Jesus told the story of a king that wanted to settle the debts of his servants.  He showed mercy to one that owed a huge debt and forgave it.  That same servant went out and was not as kind to someone that owed him.  He began to choke him and demand payment for what was owed.  When the king found out that this man did not forgive someone after his act of forgiveness, he had him jailed and tortured until his debt was paid back.  The moral of the story is that God has forgiven the largest debt you will ever owe so you should forgive your neighbors in the same way.

I feel it is our job to not only forgive but to teach forgiveness.  There have been several times that I have forgiven a lunch detention or maybe even a day of ACR when the student makes an effort to repair the damages they have caused to property or people.  That's easy.  Teaching forgiveness is more difficult and it takes time and patience.  One day last week I spent an hour in my office with two young ladies that were on the verge of a physical fight.  I mediate these types of things lot.  It would be easy to dismiss them both as being disruptive and to punish them, but that rarely is the first or only step taken.  We first determine the facts of the situation, we then assign responsibility for each of their actions and then the fun part takes place.  We have a deep conversation on how we forgive each other and plan for the future.  Sure, some kids shrug it off just to get out of the office, but in some cases they cry, hug and apologize.  My goal is not to prevent a headache for me, it is to teach them how to forgive so we can avoid trouble in the future.

It may or may not be inappropriate to smile at sobbing students but these powerful moments are quite satisfying.  It gives you hope that they can forgive in the future just as God expects of us.  This is very difficult to explain to upset parents and for the sake of a greater conflict, I do not tell them that I am exercising my Christian beliefs to help their students.  I don't have to tell them that, I just have to behave as I am required to.  Even my holiest of parents will call seeking vengeance if they feel their child has been damaged and always take issue with me and my process.  Again, I will not apologize for it.  We are called to this work and if we are the Christians we say we are, then we must live out the word.

Not every administrator will be comfortable spending the time that I do to resolve conflicts.  If that's you, try one simple approach.  Every day is a blank slate for every kid.  That simple act of forgiveness on your part will be impactful enough.  Trust me, I know it can be difficult to do but it is worth it.  The last segment in this series is about the concept of being a servant leader and how it applies to Christianity.  The story of Joseph, the Earthly father of Jesus, will be the foundation of the post.

The Christian Principal - Compassion (Part 2)

Sometimes we feel that what our job requires of us is contrary to what we believe.  Many principals I speak to feel that their Christian values either do not belong in a school setting or are not welcome in a school setting.  The reality is that we probably are already setting a Christian example but we do not reveal it to others.  In this part of the series, I would like to look at the idea of compassion as not only a Christian value but also as a duty of the school principal who wants their leadership to reflect their beliefs.

My pastor directed me to the story of the Good Samaritan.  The story goes as follows.  A lawyer asks Jesus how to reach eternal life.  In that discussion the lawyer correctly answers that he must love his neighbor as himself.  He asked of Christ who is considered his neighbor and Jesus told this story.  A man was robbed and beaten within an inch of his life and left for dead.  A priest came upon him and moved to the other side of the road and went on by.  A Levite passed him by in the same way.  Then a Samaritan approached and took him up.  He dressed his wounds and put him in an inn to be cared for.  Jesus then asks the lawyer, which of these three was a neighbor to who.  The lawyer replied, "the one who had mercy on him."  The story highlights the idea that the priest and the Levite knew the law and customs but chose to live differently.  The Samaritan, who at the time were considered a lower class of people, ignored custom and did what was right.  He only saw a man in need, not his race or religion.

This is a great story to teach us that compassion outranks everything including our professional position.  The first two men might have been too afraid to help because of the way it might have looked or if it may have violated custom.  The Samaritan did not care.  This applies to us quite directly in that we should live out this part of our faith no matter what.  We all have kids hurting and struggling.  We can't simply walk by because we are afraid of the fallout or how it might look in the eyes of others.  It is our duty to God to show compassion and love these neighbors as we love ourselves.

Years ago I had a student that was a ward of the state and living in a shelter.  He had a troubled past and struggled in the school environment.  He was the typical at-risk kid that looked for love and acceptance in all the wrong ways.  He was constantly in trouble with his teachers and in detention and ACR on nearly a daily basis.  One time as he prepared to attack me, I had to take him to the floor (CPI method of course).  He had to be suspended because their are policies in place to protect staff and students.  Where I could show compassion is how I treated him regardless of his behavior.  I never kept score.  Everyday he would show up and I would greet him and joke with him like anybody else.  He was always confused by this.  One day he finally asked my why I was so nice to him when he was so bad to me.  My reply was, "that's just how I roll."  I'm sure he would have felt my real response would have been corny and awkward so I kept it simple.  He was moved out of that shelter a short while after that.  I am not sure where he landed.  The truth is that the principal's job is to keep the doors open and the lights on but the reality is we do a lot of healing too.  I have come to realize that helping kids like this gives the appearance that I ignore the "good" kids but doing my part to repair the broken is how I love my neighbor and honor God in my school building.  I will not ever apologize for it.

I'm sure there are many more examples of showing compassion in our daily routines.  What I am asking of you is to always be the good Samaritan.  Don't let doing what's right and just take a back seat to perception and stigma.  Kids are worth the risk.  In the next segment, I would like to look at how we use forgiveness in our profession to honor God.

I would like to thank all those who have given positive feedback to me since the first post in this series.  Disclaimer, I am in no way a Biblical scholar.  My goal is to open our eyes to living out faith while holding our title.  I hope it inspires someone.

The Christian Principal - Our Place in Public Education (Part 1)

My position can be very isolating at times.  I am a lone building principal without an assistant principal or other administrator for support.  That means there is a lot of information that I cannot discuss because of its sensitive nature.  You should not make personal friends with your staff so no blurred lines are created.  It can be frustrating and one of the most serious of topics never gets discussed.  Religion is side stepped a bunch and not because people in my community do not value it.  I think in most instances, people are scared to cross the dreaded line of separating church and state.  If they do, they run the risk of exposing beliefs that maybe are not shared or they may feel that they are ministering to those who do not welcome it.  For this series I want to shed some light on the relationship between education leaders and faith.  I am a Christian and I live out my faith every single day in front of the kids and do not mention a single Bible verse.

First off, yes there is separation of church and state.  That only means that you as a school administrator may not initiate, endorse or lead religious acts or rituals at school.  We are the "state" and cannot support religious activity.  We all went to graduate school and school prayer was covered in school law class.  While to me it is simple, many see this as a chilling climate to be a Christian or whatever you might be.  Others see it as that God is not welcome in schools and this is simply not true.  You can take your Bible to school, you just can't hit kids over the head with it.  Being a principal of faith is quite easy to do and I would like to explain how.

A central belief of ours should be that we are to show our faith though example.  Christianity is not signaled to others by the cross you might wear around your neck or the size of the Bible under your arm.  Your Christianity is evident in how you treat others.  You can be Christ-like in your position and you are very wise to do so.  My goal for the next three posts is to show other Christian administrators that it is okay to life out your faith and that your students will be better off if you do.  Faith does have a place in public education but it can't be an overt practice.  It has to be an unspoken level of conduct that honors God and supports kids.

In the next post I want to highlight how you can use and teach compassion as a way to honor our faith and glorify God.  If you incorporate this as a practice in your office and in your school building, you will not only be practicing a key Christian principle but you will also be creating better students.  I would like to encourage you to come along for the ride.

It would be a huge mistake to not thank Robbey Smith for his help exploring this topic.  Robbey is the Lead Pastor at Redemption Church in Johnston City, Illinois.  My family began attending Redemption a few years ago and it has been a wonderful experience.  It was easy to ask Robbey for his input because he embodies the leadership I hope to shed a light on in this series.

Take Healthy Risks

I am sending this blog post out to my students and any secondary student out there that happens to stumble upon it.

It is now October and much of my time has been spent helping students problem solve difficult situations.  These range from struggling in a class to struggling with other students.  After 16 years of teaching and working with junior high and high school students I finally have figured out what I wish my kids would do more of.  I want my kids to take more healthy risks when it comes to school and relationships.

It is normal for students in junior high and middle school to take many risks and push boundaries.  Often these are not healthy risks and they tend to do more harm than good.  So what is a healthy risk?  A healthy risk is one that has a positive upside no matter what the result.  A small example would be that time you gave up on an assignment because you didn’t know how to do it.  This can only have a negative result because you will not get a good grade on the assignment and you will hurt your overall grade in a class.  To take a healthy risk in this situation is to work at the assignment, even if you are confused.  Turning in that work communicates to the teacher that you need help.  Turning in no work sends an entirely wrong message.

Where I see the most unhealthy risks is in the social arena of school.  Making and keeping friends can be hard.  Finding where you fit in is hard too.  The reality is how you treat people is how you are remembered by these folks as you get older.  A good example of this could be whether or not to intervene when a fellow student is upset or struggling.  A frustrating discovery for me is that when something goes horribly wrong, I find out how many people knew about what was going on but no one stepped up to help or lend a hand.  I realize that it can be difficult to judge when it is appropriate to help but for a kid that is hurting, just asking if they are okay or how you can help goes a long way for them.  This is a healthy risk because you may gain a new friend or prevent something bad.  It may mean that they will return the favor down the road.

Take a look at what I consider to be healthy and unhealthy risks:

Healthy Positive Payoff	Unhealthy Negative Side Effects
Sit with someone new at lunch.	Helping to spread a rumor.
Compliment someone.	Dishonesty
Participate in an extra curricular sport or club.	Fighting
Give five minutes a day to help a student or teacher.	Making fun of someone or helping to make fun of someone.
Prevent an awkward situation for someone.	Use divisive words like “prep” and “skank”.

I ask all of you to RED every day - Resilient, Exceptional, and Dedicated.  This is easier to do than you think.  If you just put relationships first then you will be taking healthy risks and change the way you feel and how people see you.  Start taking risks today.  Healthy ones of course.

Embrace Your Toby Ziegler

I am a huge West Wing fan.  Not only because I love politics and this a perfect world to get caught up in, but also there are some great leadership themes that play out in the show.  Toby Ziegler is easily my favorite West Wing character next to President Bartlet.  In this clip the staff had a $10 bet that Toby would not be able to resist taking the President to task on a bad answer to a potential debate question.  I identify with Toby quite a bit.  He loves his country and is dedicated to his president to a level that makes him look like a jerk.  This is really the only way he knows to express his dedication and patriotism.  The joke in the show illustrates that they accept him for who he is and respect his outspokenness.

There is a leadership lesson here for new building principals.  As we enter the school year, our rookies will encounter teachers and staff members like Toby Ziegler.  I took my first administrative job when I was 31.  When you are close to the youngest on the whole staff and you are in charge, this tends to invite a Toby or two.  I will never forget mine.  He took me to task in our first faculty meeting.  I survived his questions and skepticism by staying in the middle of the road on my answers.  When I had time later to regroup, I had to make a choice.

I could do one of two things with this "difficult" teacher.  I could continue to label him as difficult, avoid him by avoiding difficult subjects and in turn become a weak principal for doing so.  The other option is what I chose.  I saw his perspective as a strength that I needed to draw from.  When you are a teacher, you are always seeking the passions and strengths of your students to help them get better.  As a principal, you should be doing this with your building staff.  When I began to spend time with him, I started to understand why he was so critical.  He had been there for more than 20 years.  He has seen people come and go he would be damned if he would see another out of town principal come around and mess it all up.  He didn't dislike me at all.  He loved his school and I hadn't yet shown to him that I was a part of his school.

New and aspiring principals, embrace your Toby Zieglers.  Find the strengths in your staffs and embrace them all.  If you take the genuine position that everyone has something to contribute and actually allow it to happen, you will be amazed at what your school will do.  I work with a great teaching staff at Central Junior High.  We share ownership of our decision making and and constructively disagree.  When I have to say no, it is respected as whats good for the school and not a power move.  If I have learned anything in ten years of being a principal it is that leadership is never about the upper hand, it is about relationships and what you do with them.

So newbies, how will you set the tone with your new staffs?  Will you avoid your Toby Zieglers or will you seek him out?  Do you plan on building your relationships with your staff or making sure they who the boss is?  If you go back to the clip, the boss initiated the joke.  This wasn't to  embarrass him but to see and confirm his passion.  Yes they laughed, but they know when push comes to shove Toby is loyal and dedicated to the group and the mission.  Isn't this what you want in your school staff?  Let me tell you, your progress potential is endless when each person is committed to each other.  If you want that kind of environment, you can't run from your Toby Zieglers.