Feedback Shouldn’t be a Secret

Feedback shouldn’t be a secret whether it be in school or life. This isn’t anything profound but it really hit home this summer while watching my son play All Stars for baseball.

Long story short, he’s been a starter for the past two years and then this year he sat the bench. He was confused and he didn’t know why. In his mind, he gave 100% at practice and put in extra work on his hitting because he knew he’d been struggling. He constantly wondered what it took to get playing time. As I listened to him try to come to his own conclusions it made me wonder why the coach wasn’t talking to him. Why should he be left to wonder what it takes? Why should he be trying to figure out on his own what areas he needs to improve in? Shouldn’t his coach play a role?

The baseball field can be just like the classroom (or really, school in general). A student shouldn’t be left wondering what the target is they’re supposed to reach or coming to their own conclusion about how they are doing. Teachers need to be clear to their students on the goal their striving for and what they need to do to get there. Feedback should be given along the way to support the student in attaining the goal. It shouldn’t be a secret.

As a leader I also need to be able to give teachers feedback on how they are doing in order to help them improve. It shouldn't be a sign off at evaluation time with no feedback and support along the way. Feedback should be part of the process.

All that time my son spent wondering he could have been working, if he had received the feedback.

Don't keep it a secret.

The Hall of Fame

“If you don’t become a hall of fame baseball player, then become a hall of fame teacher, a hall of fame firefighter, a hall of fame dentist, a hall of fame carpenter…be in the hall of fame in whatever you do, “ Oscar Carillo, Director of Baseball, All Star Village, NY. 

This was from the opening ceremonies speech for a weeklong baseball tournament in Cooperstown, New York for my oldest son.  The location of the tourney and the speech by the director was no coincidence.  All Star Village is in the same place as the Baseball Hall of Fame; boys come from all over the country to play in this tournament throughout the summer.

This past week, 52 teams descended upon All Star Village with hopes to make it to the championship game.  Many of these boys, including my own, have hopes and dreams of one day becoming a professional baseball player, and like others that came before them, they want to be just like those who made it into the Hall of Fame. 

In reality, many of them won’t.  The likelihood is a small percentage.   This isn’t meant to deflate them or crush their dreams, but rather get them to see that they can have the same qualities that those in the hall of fame have.  It's not just for baseball.

When I think about my boys, I want them to grow up and always work to be the best they can be in wherever life takes them. I want them to work hard and keep striving to be in the hall of fame as...an author, a father, a construction worker, a police officer...anything. Not only do I want this for my boys, but for all of my kids at school too.  

Share the Positive

Why is it that we focus on the things that don’t go well? The mistakes. The mess ups. The bad things that happened? 

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I think about my own personal conversations with friends. Sometimes they probably think I don't like my job. They must think I’m miserable. 

But in reality, I’m not. I love what I do. 

Yes, some days are hard. Sometimes I’m exhausted by the time I leave. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love what I do. 

For some reason though when I go to share things with others, it seems like I focus just on the negative aspects. When I leave work at the end of the day I pick up the phone and share the things that didn't go well.  

I don’t think it’s just me. I hear it from others too. I'm not sure why it happen, but it does...with friends, with family, and with colleagues.  I am not saying to keep it all in and not share the mistakes and rough times. We all need someone to talk to and share the hard moments and tough times. 

Instead just make sure to also include the positive. Take time to reflect on things that went well. Share it with others. It’s my challenge to myself (and all of you too!). 

Just this past week....

- I worked with a student who’s making positive growth in behavior choices. 

- I watched some engaging lessons in classrooms. 

- I got to connect with our youngest students while subbing in TK. 

- I sat down and talked with a couple parents who are dedicating so much of their time to helping support our school. 

-  I had a chance to celebrate reading with students during lunch in my office. Talked books and ate pizza. 

- Made positive calls homes to recognize students based on recommendations from

staff. 

And those are just to name a few.  I know when I look back on each day I don't want to just think about the things that get me down.  I also want to reflect on the things that make me smile...because there are always many of them!

#OneWord - Strength

As soon as January hit, posts started popping up about people's one word for 2018.  To be honest, I just wasn't feeling it this year.  There wasn't a word that stood out in my mind.  Actually there we many words, and I didn't want to take the time to think about narrowing it down to just one.

After reading many blog posts from members of my PLN, I was inspired to write one of my own.  It's kind of like positive peer pressure.  I began to reflect on this past year, but more recently I thought about my time over holiday break.  I have made it a priority to be at my gym as much as I can over break and I have really enjoyed it.  On New Year's Day we made the gym a family event and took both kids. The boys dragged their feet and didn't want to go, but I think back now to the conversation in the car on the way home. Both boys talked about how much they enjoyed it, and although it was tough, they shared how good they felt now that they were done.

Reflecting on that day helped me come up with my one word for 2018.  Strength.

I want to make it a priority to work on my strength at the gym.  I go through ups and downs where I'll get to the gym for a couple of weeks and then I got MIA for the next two.  I want to make it a priority.  I want to build my physical strength which will also help with my emotional strength.  Working out clears my head, releases stress and helps maintain my emotional strength.  My emotional strength is needed as a mom and as a principal.

I want to focus on having strength to have tough conversations when needed.  I tend to be non confrontational in my professional and personal life, but sometimes those conversations are needed.  Conversations are needed to help us grow and learn.

I need strength to handle all the things our job throws at us throughout the year.  It seems when things are going well and no big issues are happening, bam, things change.  I want to have the strength to not let those things get me down; strength to keep going.

I need to have strength to come home after a long day and be there for my family just like I'm there all day for the school community.

For 2018, I'm focusing on strength; physically and emotionally.

Love of Reading

My son has had books in his hands since before preschool. He loved to look at books and (eventually) read them. At some point, things changed. I don't really know exactly when, but they did. He read, but it was only enough to get the "assignment" completed.

Read a chapter, write a summary.
Read for 20 minutes.
Read and record your book on the sheet.
Read, finish, take an AR quiz.

When summer or other vacations would roll around he wouldn't want to read. Typical responses would  include, "My teacher didn't say I had to," or "I already earned all my points."

But this year things are different. He's devouring books like crazy. Books I've recommended to him in the past and he never wanted to pick then up. He's reading in the car, reading between his brother's games and guess what, he's choosing to read over any type of electronics (which is huge!)!! Laying in bed tonight he said, "If I was sick let's say, and couldn't go to school tomorrow, I think I could finish my new book I just got today.”

What changed? What's different?

Maybe it's just him. Maybe it's something else. But I can sure say that his teacher has had a great impact. From day one he's come home excited about his classroom. His teacher has taken time to talk to him about books and find his interest. She recommends books to him and hooks him in by sharing something about the book. Every book he's read so far this year has been recommended by her. (You can tell she's a reader too!)

There's something to be said about the relationship between a child and their teacher. And I'm grateful for the time she's taken to build one with my son and to connect with him about books.

He's definitely developed a love for reading! ❤️

Overcoming My Failure with Home Visits

When  I became a principal I knew one of the things I wanted to do was make home visits.  I heard positive things about them, but never did one as a teacher.  My first year came and went, and I never scheduled one.  Fail.  My second year, I tried once with a hard to reach family and it didn’t work out.  Fail.  During my third year I attempted again for a child with high attendance issues.   Failed again.

Now in my fourth year, one might think I should just give up.  I recently read an article about Denver’s home visit program and it gave me that little push I needed to get going again.  I made a call to the mom of one of our students and set up a visit.  I shared with her that I just wanted to come by, bring a few books and connect with her child.  We set it up and I was so excited!  I couldn’t wait. As the date approached I had many thoughts running through my mind.  I was nervous, worried, and questioned if it would be successful.

I showed up to the apartment and after a few minutes of waiting, the student quickly spied me as I got out of my car and she ran over. She was so excited!  I will never forget that smile on her face. I sat on the floor with her and read books (mom joined us too!).

I did it! First home visit success. It was a chance for me to not only strengthen my relationship with the child, but build one with mom too.  I could have given up after previous attempt had failed, but I didn't. Thankful I didn't let the feeling of failure stop me.

I reflected on my experience that day and came up with a few lessons learned:

• Just because something doesn't work the first time (or second!), keep trying. If it's meant to be, you'll find a way.
• Take opportunities to build relationships however you can.
• A home visit doesn't have to be because you're concerned, it's a chance to connect, build relationships, and show you care.
• Don't judge someone because they're child comes to school late, they don't return calls, etc. You don't know their situation.
• Every parent cares. Just because they're not doing what you want, doesn't mean they're not doing their best.
• Spend that extra time with student living then and showing them you care. Take time to try and understand. We don't know what they come home to after school.

There is one more thing I didn’t mention about the home visit.  As I waited for them to arrive and before I went into their house I discovered that my location became the middle of a police chase. It was quite surreal.  As I drove off, the police activity was still in progress. I passed at least 6 officers on my way out. It appeared that they were still searching for the suspect. I include this not to scare anyone off from a home visit but because what stood out to me was the fact that with all the police activity, more students would be coming home shortly, if they weren't home already.

This made me sad for them and what they may have to experience.  It was also a reminder that our students deal with things that we are oblivious to or forget a lot of the time.  We are lucky enough that we have the opportunity to be a positive influence in their life.  I encourage you to do a home visit to know your students better  and to build stronger connections with them.  I have already scheduled my second one and can’t wait to keep doing this in the future.

Get Out and Play

As a principal, the one thing I can guarantee will make me smile is being with the kids.  And specifically, it's playing with the kids.  I try to get out and play with them on the playground every week.  Sometimes it's for selfish reasons.  If I'm having a rough day, a game of basketball will help improve it.  It clears my mind.  It makes me smile.

When adults take time to play with kids it builds relationships.  It shows them you care.

When adults play with kids, it can help model expectations and promote positive behavior.

Early this school year, there were some problems right away on the playground at lunch.  The meal duties were concerned that the kindergarteners and first graders were a little too aggressive out on the basketball court.  I quickly discovered that the situation wasn't because someone was trying to hurt another kid, but really it's because a couple kids knew how to play and the others were scrambling around just trying to grab the ball and run with it. 😀 So I hopped in, partly as the ref and partly as a player.

Yes, it was hot.  Yes, I was sweaty at the end. But guess what? The kids were learning the game.  The kids were having fun.  And I was having fun.  No problems on the court that day.  

Fast forward to the next day at lunch and one of the little first graders comes up to me with a big smile on his face and asks, "Hey Mrs. Peck.  Are you going to coach us again today?"

Melted my heart.  Made me smile.  Of course I was.

My challenge to principals, to teachers, to all staff working with children.  Get out and play.