Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself (Richard Bach)

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Recently, I had to own a stuff-up due to my inexperience with certain protocols.

The roster had me on lunch duty. Part of that duty is to allow girls in year groups to enter the dining hall, check they've washed their hands and keep things moving. I checked in the hall a couple of times and thought it was okay to allow more girls in to get their lunch.

Wrong! 

There are two sittings for lunch and I'd failed to remember that the kitchen staff have to replenish the food for the second sitting.

I owned my gaffe and apologised to the chef. Mea culpa is a great expression. I told him I'd learn from my error. He was very good about it - realising I was new to the role. Next time I'll slow down and check with the kitchen staff rather than make any unilateral decisions.

Mistakes happen - it wasn't fatal. There was enough food for everyone luckily and I was cut some slack. Phew.

Being true to myself means learning from my errors/gaffes and being honest whenever they happen - I'm sure to make more. Everybody does.

Now that I've owned it, I can let it go.

It doesn't matter where you are coming from. All that matters is where you are going (Brian Tracy)

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I like the sentiment expressed in that quote above from Brian Tracy (no I'd not heard of him before either).

I'm enjoying meeting new students in my new school. Clean slate for them with me. 

I don't know who they are at the start - I have a few strategies to get to know them quickly though.

What matters is where they are headed next.

Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude (Zig Ziglar)

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It's a bit tortured sounding but the message from Zig is still clear. Attitude is the most important determiner.

Mohammed Ali's another who knew that well. As he put it: If my mind can conceive it, if my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it.

How is the air up there? (The La De Das)

I've been privileged to enjoy some great views from my classrooms during my career. 

The best would be from my classroom at Macleans College, looking over Eastern Beach, but my view of Te Mata Peak from Hastings Boys' was special too.

My current one (above) looking north-east towards Havelock North is not too shabby either. 

You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step (Martin Luther King Jr.)

My new workplace/home away from home.

Induction days are interesting events. I've run them and I've participated in them plenty of times.

I still remember my first one in January 1983 - New Plymouth Boys' High School. My face and right hand hurt from smiling so much and shaking so many hands.

I've found that it's always best to start the year at a new school, as opposed to joining a staff during the year. In my experience you may get 30 minutes, or you may get an hour, but you don't get a day with the other newbies.

That's the positive of the start of year induction, but there is a downside as well.

After a six-week holiday, my brain is never quite up to speed. That means my brain hurts from concentrating on people talking and assimilating key details. My teacher voice also takes a week or so to get back into the groove after a lengthy break. Yes, I know - first world problems.

My latest induction was no exception. Careful not to overload, a few speakers acknowledged how more details would come next week - that's always appreciated, but I still needed two Panadol.

Anyway - induction. Tick. Next up - two Teacher Only Days. Love it!

Real integrity

Mr. and Mrs. Truman

Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not (Oprah Winfrey).

All children start their school careers with sparkling imaginations, fertile minds and a willingness to take risks with what they think (Ken Robinson)

 

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