the wrong way?

(an email to colleagues)

Dear all,

If you can’t watch the video now, skip to the notes below and find time later on to watch.

Sometimes we are so driven by what we are doing in the moment, we don’t realize we are headed the wrong way.

Why do I share this, with four weeks of classes left for most of our students? Perhaps for a bit of humor, but also to remind us that we all want to be driving on the same road in the same direction.

At times, it is easy to know when you are not in the car, and often it is easy to know when you are not with the right person in the car. However, sometimes we may not realize we are driving the wrong way.

Here are some of my quick thoughts of when we, at ACS, could be driving the wrong way at this time of the school year:

• We are going the wrong way, even for a moment, when we speak to our students in sarcastic or demeaning tone.When adults use sarcasm to say things they don’t mean and mean things that they don’t literally say, they lose an opportunity to communicate effectively and to build positive relationships with kids. If you hear me in this manner, please correct me!
• When we worry about being right more than improving. Or, in other words, we think being is better than becoming; the very essence a learning community is that we are adapting…becoming better each day, even in late May.
• When we use data as the ends rather than evidence to support. Gathering data for its own sake is counterproductive and often results in our own “analysis paralysis.” The goal of using data to improve learning for all students should always be paramount.
• When we see June as an end to our responsibility to our students. I know our leadership team has stated this though recent emails, as it can become easy to look toward the finish line, the “end” of school. In our actions and words, let’s speak with students along the lines of when you return or as you continue to learn.
• When we decide not to go into the hallways, walkways and courtyards because of the chaos or we have too many things to complete before summer vacation. I fall prey to this behavior a lot; there are so many competing factors for our attention. However, the common times with students are the times where we separate ourselves as a school.

If any of these seems unreasonable or you are not sure how it pertains to our School, please let me know. I welcome the discussion! That being said, I value each of our commitment to what we are doing here and the above thoughts are all in the way towards “becoming” a successful school.