Where there were deserts I saw fountains (Patti Smith)

Photo by Mario Calvo on Unsplash

First day back (for Term Two) and it's always like the holidays haven't happened, right!

Today has been a lovely blur of action - problem solving/ listening/ receiving questions/ emergency relief teaching/ supervising French listening tests/ investigations/ receiving questions/ phone calls/ conversations/ complaints/ emails/ receiving questions/ decisions/ meetings/ restorative conversations...

Like I said - as if the holidays haven't happened.

But that's as it should be because we should live in the moment as much as possible.

Groucho Marx's amazing quote again comes to mind:

I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.

A bit of grin and bear it, a bit of come and share it (Ian Dury)

Things to do while on holiday part 56:

Catch up on some TED talks! Here are some must watches to get you started...

You're welcome, we can spare it!

It’s a beautiful world when we dance in the light (Noel Gallagher)

Five reasons why I feel no guilt taking holidays

A beautiful woman plays ball on a North Island beach with her dog called Jerry

As a teacher, over the years I have heard a lot of bleating and horse manure about my holidays.

Wah wah, cry me a river.

Here are five reasons why it's good to howl at the moon after 10 weeks of work.

1 Holidays  allow me to regain some energy. Being a teacher is exhausting. Leading a school is demanding. Yes, the old, recharge-the-batteries excuse. Thank you very much.

2 It's good to pause. Get some context. Establish some perspective and keep it fresh.

3 Sleep is good for my health. During term time I'm usually in bed and asleep between 9 and 9.30pm. I wake at 4.50am. Why? Because I'm cream crackered by 9 and I need to get to school early each day to prepare. These are old habits. 

4 Projects. During holidays these habits shift to later to bed and later to rise. Mental labours are replaced by physical labours as I take on projects around the house and land, but, curiously, I'm nowhere near as tired!

5 Time to meet the wife. As you know, she's a nurse, and, in the past when the kids were growing up, during the week, we were often like ships in the night. Holidays are important family times. In the past it was going places with the family. These days it's going to them to do projects (see number 4).

Okay! Outta my way, I'm off to Palmerston North to do some painting for our youngest.  See y'all in two weeks time.

Through the mirror of my mind, time after time, I see reflections of you and me (The Supremes)

Photo by Kevin Noble on Unsplash

Reflective practitioner (I am a).

I see that description on CVs that come my way (actually, I think it's probably on mine), but what does it mean?

For many, it means analysing an incident and changing something as a consequence.

Wikipedia have a pithy description: Stepping back from the action permits critical reflection on a sequence of events. 

For me, it means writing these posts on my blog, in an attempt to be BTB (better than before); my reflections are much more haphazard and of the moment.

As that Wikipedia article also indicates: The emergence in more recent years of blogging has been seen as another form of reflection on experience in a technological age.

Wahoo. I'm cutting edge!

I've noticed I spend a lot more time reflecting on experience as I go on (there's a lot more to reflect on for a start).

I've spent some of this week helping out our young Head of English. She's brand new to the role and feeling her way.

Takes me back to my dream team English departments over the last 34 years of teaching. I've been in and lead some doozies.

Of recent times, honourable mentions to the mighty earth shaking Woodford House team (2013-2016), and the King John School's rock steady crew (Essex 2004-2006).

Apart from me, they all had equally passionate, funny, and dedicated teachers. Some of the other teams I have been associated with have had individual superstars but lacked cohesion.

Reflecting on that, I put it down to individual personalities and strengths.

After all, teams are all about relationships and communication. Being in one and leading one. Relationships and communication. Full stop.

Curiously, of my senior management teams the King John School was large and had disparate personalities but somehow coalesced well.

In my current role I have a great management team made up of a Junior Lead Teacher, three Community Administrators from the Brethren community and me. 

The mix of personalities, strengths and skills is widespread but effective. Within the school there is no professional leadership team as such because the flat management structure doesn't allow for one. This hasn't been a problem or concern.

Not sure what to make of that - some distance and reflection required!

I'm gonna learn to dance if it takes me all night and day (Chuck Berry)

Photo by Geran de Klerk on Unsplash

Exciting news!!!

One term into our appraisal process for the year and we've managed to complete pretty much all of the interim interviews to check that all teachers have their goals set and are now engaged in their personal inquiry linked to their goals.

Sounds a little complicated when I write it like that and not wildly exciting, but it's nicely straightforward in reality and important man!

Remember: Your focus determines your reality (Qui Gon-Jinn).

Simply put, it's all about targeting ways of improving learning via improving individual teaching practices.

I like the following chart from Dan Rockwell via his Leadership Freak blog where he cites Bob Proctor.

In our context, personal change begins with a 'what if...' and a good idea. But good ideas aren’t enough.

According to Bob:

You have a 10% chance of making change if you say, “That’s a good idea.”

You have a 25% chance of making change if you say, “”I’ll do it.”

You have a 40% chance of making change if you set a time to do it.

You have a 50% chance of making change if you plan HOW to do it.

You have a 60% chance of making change if you make a commitment.

You have a 95% chance of making change if you set a specific time to share your progress with someone.

That's SUPER encouraging. 

Next step for me after these first term interviews is setting times to have teachers share their goal and inquiry progress.

The reasons why no one likes us!

Photo by Colin Rex on Unsplash

While painting the horse float during this Easter weekend, my wife (a nurse) and I discussed a range of stimulating subjects. Along the way we spit balled reasons why we our professions are so disrespected.

Here I modestly present our theories regarding why the teaching and nursing professions have never been valued as they should be (and therefore why skinflint governments don't pay up). 

As my wife is never wrong, you should sit up straight and pay attention:

1 The if-you-can't-teach... myth. This perverse notion has, at its core, the idea that if you don't quite have the chops then you can teach others. Think of tennis or golf coaches or music critics - very few, if any, were stars in their own right.

2 The old uniforms. Cartoon shorthand for teachers is a pompous old git wearing a batman cape and mortar board and nurses: a stout women in a heavily starched nun-like white outfit with an origami headpiece - you know what I mean. This bizarre get up has no relationship to reality but it makes us a figure of fun and therefore, something that can't be taken seriously. 

3 It's not a real job. Anyone can do it. Unlike say doctors, chemists, pilots, and computer software engineers, the popular perspective on teachers and nurses by older generations (okay - our fathers) was and is that taking on life in a service career is akin to dressing up and playing house.

4 There's no money in it so, why, you know, would anyone want to do a lowly perceived job for crap money. Instead - become a professional sportsperson and earn quadrillions. The altruistic impulse to battle it out in an under-resourced environment like a school or a hospital seems glamorous in comparison huh.

5 We're always on holiday. It cheeses people off. So teachers are lazy and should work harder. And be grateful for the allowance they get.

6 Glorified nannies. At heart, teachers look after children and that generalised stigma applies to nurses as well. They look after us when we're sick - like our mums do. These stereotypes persist deep in the psyche.

7 Teachers are trendy lefties: long haired, bearded, pipe smoking, sandals wearing tree huggers. That image has legs. 

And so the perceptions continue. Perceptions are hideous blue meanies - hard to battle, and the poor pay continues, unless you happen to live in Finland that is. Ah, Finland...

Bottom line: So, because we're not valued, is it any wonder that NZ is desperately short of attracting men and women to nursing or teaching?