Skip to main content

Questions to ponder for 2014: Can we resolve to be just a little bit better?

Incremental changes sustained over time can lead to monumental improvements. - The Kaizen Way

The problem with most goal-setting isn't that the ideas aren't ambitious enough, it's that we fail to acknowledge the steps towards improvement we've already taken. While sweeping and radical changes may capture the imagination, they tend to falter in the execution. And we lose our desire to stay the course when changes diverge too radically from our daily habits.

This year, let's resolve to sustain progress in a positive direction. Ask yourself the following and answer in the affirmative and I know you'll summon the courage to commit. These reflect some of what I'm committing myself to, and I hope I can enlist you likewise.

1. Personal: can I resolve to show more gratitude towards my colleagues by making sure that I make it a point to say "thank you" meaningfully once more daily?

2. Professional: can I resolve to communicate positively in a way that shows my awareness I am always an ambassador for my school, my district, and my profession?

3. Healthful: can I resolve to make one small positive change in my fitness regimen or nutrition routines that is something I'm confident I can do daily?

4. Analytical: can I find a way to use a new data set that illustrates something significant about student performance in a way I can convey vividly to others?

5. Adaptive: can I model for others how to respond to life's inevitable changes by embracing the unexpected where my first response is "Yes I can!" instead of "What now?"

Happy 2014! May all your best wishes for the new year find fulfillment through your efforts.
From http://visual.ly/top-10-new-years-resolutions?utm_campaign=website&utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why be a connected admin?

I'm at #NETA15, on Twitter at @yourNETA. Or as the morning keynote said, "We are with our fellow nerds." I am excited today to have the opportunity later this morning  to speak with @Mandery, @dougkittle, @bmowinkel, @mrbadura, @catlett11 and @chlor13 on being a connected administrator. (For the uninitiated, these are their Twitter handles.) Why connect, anyway? 1. It is where are our kids live. 2. It is where our parents have gone. 3. It is important for administrators to model tech use, not merely give lip service to it. We must project what we expect. 4. When we model tech use, we demonstrate the fundamentally important learner behavior of risk taking and we ensure our teachers know they are in a supportive tech environment that encourages pedagogical risk-taking to enhance learner engagement. 5. The less you use digital communication tools and the more you continue an over reliance on traditional communication platforms like hard copy mailings to parents, the

Comments to @norris160 teachers on technology integration

This morning Tech Director Noel Erskine and Network Administrator Jim McConnell hosted an ad hoc committee to engage in strategic planning and professional development preparation for further technology integration.  Here were some of the topics, areas of interest, and needs identified: Topics: Clickers Prezi Blogging with Google sites Google forms Google sites Advanced Google forms with self-grading quizzes Review game web sites. Sessions on web resources for specific curricular strands or grade levels Paperless classroom workflow and setup. Smartpen (Livescribe) Technology needs: More computer availability More Clickers One comment I would offer is in follow-up to Rick's comments about the need for more computers, which I think was widely re-affirmed. Dr. Brandt and Shari seemed ecstatic to learn that a cart of netbooks will be rolling their way soon. This summer we had the opportunity as members of the admin team to meet with Scott McLeod and discuss tech integration at

The eternally elusive mission: Thoughts for the new crew of Norris teachers

Welcome, teachers! Norris is a special place, and today marks the formal start of your employment with our school district.   The Jedi-mind trick you have to master, though, is the realization that this district will only remain special if you endeavor to make it so.  You have to perpetuate a legacy of great instruction because we have brought you in to replace people who established and sustained that over many years – or we brought you in to meet the growth needs of a burgeoning student population.   We need you at your best. We don't want you to settle in and settle for average outcomes from yourself or mere proficiency from your students.  Strive for more.   It is the commitment of classroom teachers and the combination of compassionate care for every learner coupled with rigorous academic expectations you uphold that helps us realize our mission. You should realize – you must realize - that the process starts with selection and you are not here by accident.  We do not