Celebrate the Right Outcomes

We need to pay attention to what we celebrate. We must first decide what we want our outcomes to be. For example, I have a goal to read 100 books that will help me be a better leader. The outcome I want is to be a better leader. The 100 books is just a means. If I only celebrate completing the 100 books I miss entirely whether I am a better leader or not.

The outcome for students we desire is to be better learners and better people. If we only measure and celebrate when students complete classroom and/or homework assignments, we may miss whether they are learning or not. The assignments may help achieve the ultimate goal but it's important to never take the focus off the ultimate goal.

Staying Focused on Goals

Starting a group, even if only 2 people, that meets weekly can help us to stay focused on our goals. At these weekly meetings we can ask each other the following two questions:

1. What will you do next?
2. By when will you do it?

A Treasure Is Found---Again!

I had heard about the famous little red book called It Works. The author of this little treasure requested that his name be omitted because he feels the greatest good comes from helping others without expecting anything in return. The book is only 28 pages long--28 pages filled with wisdom. I knew I had bought it at one time but thought I had lost it somewhere because it was so small. Then today I found it inside another book--A Message From Garcia--by Charles Patrick Garcia. Apparently I had tucked it inside this book because Charles Garcia had recommended it.

This anonymous author says there are 3 rules for accomplishing our goals (wants):

1. Read the list of wants 3 times a day--morning, noon, and night
2. Think of what you want as often as possible
3. Do not talk to anyone about your plan except to the Great Power within you which will unfold to your Objective Mind the method of accomplishment

This little treasure can be found at Amazon.

"Unexamined Wallpaper"

Richard Elmore coined the phrase "unexamined wallpaper." In other words, certain ways of doing things have become such a part of the school or classroom culture that it is not questioned whether it helps to achieve important goals.

This reminds me of the story of the woman who always cut off part of the roast before putting it in the pan. Someone finally asked her why she did that. She said that she didn't know but her mother had always done it. The mother said she had only done it because her mother had. When the grandmother was asked why she did it she replied that the roast was too big for the pan she had.

An educator must continually ask himself what the ultimate goal is and if what he is doing--even if has become the way of doing things around here--helps to achieve that goal.