To Learn Twice

As school leaders, we often have those around us approach us with requests that are difficult to meet. Many times, the first instinctive response we reach for in those difficult situations brought to us by a student, parent, or colleague is: “no.” That answer is safe, easy,  and  doesn’t require us to extend beyond our comfort zone. I heard once that the secret to helping others is by trying to get to “yes.” That doesn’t mean that the answer will be “yes,” but the trick is to figure out what it would take to get there  and  be open to walking down that path. Once you open the conversation up, you must listen carefully  and  find the good points. In nearly every difficult conversation, even those where you strongly disagree, there is usually some good idea. Looking for good points could get you closer to “yes.” It might not be what was asked for at the start, but working to “yes” gets you further than ending with “no.”

Almost everyone is done for the summer, or soon will be, and I believe this is your best time to grow through reflection because you actually have some time you can dedicate to the process. I have long practiced “ Currere ” as a method for structured reflection on a project or a school year. Here is a quick way to break down a school year using Currere by asking four simple questions: What was my experience last year? What do I want to do next year? How am I feeling about current abilities and skills? What is my path forward to a successful year next year? The trick to taking action on what you learn from reflection is verbalizing what you are going to do next year. Speak your plans out loud and listen to what you are saying. As told in the recent “ Rationally Speaking ” podcast, you don’t have to explain your plans to anyone but yourself, but you do have to say them out loud - even if you just speak to a rubber duck . You will then help yourself build a better plan. The r...

Last week the Illinois House passed new legislation that would mandate that cursive is taught in schools across Illinois. This comes during the same time that they cannot pass a budget, for two years running . This got me thinking of the question "at what cost does cursive come at?" So I have attempted to estimate and cost it out. The two major variables for hard costs are materials and professional development. Handwritten cursive requires consumable workbooks. A common set of materials for teaching cursive, which typically occurs in 3rd grade, is the  Zaner-Bloser Handwriting series , which comes at a cost of $11.69 per student. According to the Illinois Report Card  we have averaged 152,545 third graders each year over the past five years. This gives you a cost of student materials of $1,783,246 for the first year,   and for every year after that . Many schools haven't been teaching cursive for a while, so we would have to coach up our teachers, modify dail...