Entry #10: Nothing is more rewarding
than seeing teachers expand their horizons


During the two weeks we got out for Christmas, I worked six days, writing an equity grant (which we learned today has been funded), catching up on evaluation entries, beginning a long string of individual letters to be mailed to staff members' homes, and letters to students who were successful at BCMS in the last month.

Being a Type A personality, I enjoyed the chance to finally see the bottom of my in-box. However, my secretary did not enjoy the height of the stack in my outbox when she returned on January 3! By the way, good secretaries are wonderful, and our school wouldn't be where it is today without our support staff. They quietly go about doing their best at their jobs, and they sure do take care of me!

January 3 brought a very rewarding experience. I met with representatives from our faculty and parents to begin writing our Consolidated Plan (long-range planning tied to several budgets that includes goals and activities for the school). We do the plan every two years, and I had memories of our last planning process. Change seemed very hard, and you could feel the tension thick in the air as we looked for solutions. This time around has been so different. Following our needs assessment, we have been able to talk about the issues at hand without making them personal. Most of us have been able to focus on student achievement -- not all "teacher-wants." I'm proud of us for moving in that direction.

Speaking of moving, I spent a few days with the Galef Institute in Santa Monica, California during the past two weeks, serving on their National Advisory Board for a CSRD model for middle schools. I also served on a statewide Principals' Advisory Board to develop a "Principals of Excellence Network" for "high flying principals" in Kentucky. I also received a call from U. S. Education Secretary Riley's Office, asking Barren County Middle School (as well as Jefferson Middle School in Champaign, IL) to be a part of his Town Meeting satellite broadcast on February 15, 2000, which will focus on "powerful middle schools."

All of these opportunities are intellectually stimulating, and I do feel honored to be a part of them. On the other hand, they can't be more rewarding than the conversation I had with one of my teachers on Tuesday.

We have a group of seventh graders this year who are difficult to motivate. We wonder sometimes if they have ever been expected to turn in homework on time, and our teachers are constantly searching for new ideas to help them feel connected to school. On Tuesday, a teacher came into my office, very calmly, and said, "I can't find another way to motivate my students."

She was teaching the writing of feature articles to all her language arts classes, and the students just didn't seem to care. Feature articles are one of the choices for required entries in the Kentucky-mandated seventh grade writing portfolio for assessment and accountability, so we can understand why she was feeling the pressure.

We began brainstorming options. Had she considered putting them into groups around their strong intelligence, with regard to the multiple intelligences? She had allowed them to brainstorm their topics. What about just dropping the whole thing right now? We collaborated at length. When we had finished, the teacher had a new repertoire of ideas and she planned to continue feature articles. But the conversation hadn't ended.

"I've seen real growth today," I told her. "Just think. Last year at this time, you wouldn't have been worried about the 15 non-motivated students you have; you would have just been concerned about those you were trying to pull from the apprentice level to the proficient level. Now, you want to help them all to learn, using many different strategies."

The teacher stopped and smiled. "I guess you're right," she said. "Now, I want them all to find a way to succeed."

There's no amount of money worth moments like that in education, whether we're working with teachers or students.


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