FUN!

Dr. William Glasser states that one of our basic needs is to have fun. This is just as important for teachers as it is for students.

When I was at Jackson Elementary our principal at the time, Ernie Nix, showed us the film FISH Philosophy about Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, Washington. They had learned at this market the importance of fun in the workplace. There is also a book Fish! Catch the Energy written by the owner of the market, John Yokoyama.

Principals can do a lot to make the school a place of fun for the teachers. It starts with the attitude. With the right attitude the principal will think of ways to make a teacher's day and be there to provide undivided, caring attention. This is especially important for those teachers who are irreplaceables.

Recruiting and Retaining the "Irreplaceables" Is the Goal

Our school can become a quality school if we hire AND keep the best teachers. The best teachers are "irreplaceables"--the SUPERSTARS. The #2 irreplaceable is the teacher who influences his/her classroom by continually striving to be the best possible teacher while the #1 irreplaceable has a positive impact on the entire school in addition to the classroom. The #1 irreplaceable is like the #4 missionary Hartman Rector, Jr. describes in his book Already to Harvest. He is not only successful but everyone around him is, too. He thinks of things that have never been tried before. He has tunnel vision--always thinking of ways he can teach with greater effectiveness. He is bold, but not overbearing. He is enthusiastic, but not fanatical.

The next group of teachers is the "solids"--those who are hardworking and dependable but haven't reached the irreplaceable level, yet. The third group of teachers is what we can call the "replacements"--those who are not very good and those who are negative forces.

To recruit and retain the irreplaceables we need to understand what motivates them--achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and personal growth. Principals need to find ways to support the irreplaceables in these areas such as making sure that no matter how tight the budget may be monies need to be available for professional development. Also, they need to be recognized for the work they are doing. If irreplaceables don't receive these motivators that support their professionalism they will be the first to leave.

Two sources for this information:

• Already to Harvest by Hartman Rector, Jr.
• Six Types of Teachers by Douglas J. Fiore and Todd Whitaker

Who Is More Important Than What

Who is a more important variable than what. In other words, it's always people, not programs that determine the quality of a school. Therefore, focusing on recruiting, hiring, and retaining the best people will pay greater dividends than focusing on what new program to implement.

The best people are mavericks and want to leave their mark. They are eccentric--rebels, radicals, and revolutionaries--who walk down unconventional paths. These people are willing to leave the safe harbor.

"It is always from the minority acting in ways different from what the majority would prescribe that the majority in the end learns to do better," advises Friedrich August von Hayek.


Ideas based on the works of:

• What Great Principals Do Differently by Todd Whitaker
• High-Velocity Cultural Change by Price Pritchett
• My Years As a Hispanic Youth Advocate by Barbara Lovejoy

Bring In A New Breed

It's hard to improve a school culture without a new breed. A new breed can expose people to new ways of thinking and working. Therefore, when hiring new people it's advantageous to bring on people who are better than the people who left. In other words, the new teacher hired should be the best teacher in the school with the goal being that the school will become more like the new teacher.

When hiring this new breed look for those who will not only be excellent in the classroom but will also have a profound influence on the whole school. Also, focus on talents. Those who have the talent to love students, are bright minded, have a positive attitude, have a congenial personality, have a great work ethic, and have leadership skills will learn the needed skills and eventually in the long run outperform those who are resting on experience and credential laurels.


These thoughts are taken from the following works:

1. What Great Principals Do Differently by Todd Whitaker
2. High-Velocity Culture Change by Price Pritchett and Ron Pound

High Expectations for Whom?

I was reading a book What Great Principals Do Differently by Todd Whitaker that gave me some food for thought. He said that almost all teachers, whether they are effective or not, have high expectations of students. He said that it is the same for principals concerning teachers. What separates effective teachers and principals from those who are less effective is that they also have even higher expectations for themselves.

Educators who have high expectations for themselves would constantly be learning and growing by doing such things as:

• Attending conferences, seminars, and workshops to learn and to network with others who want to do quality work
• Finding a mentor and participate in cognitive coaching
• Reading books and articles
• Keeping a reflection journal to determine what went well and what could be improved
• Participating in action research projects
• Etc.

In other words, the teacher who had high expectations would be to be the head learner in the classroom and the principal who had high expectations would be to be the head learner in the school.

Giving Effective Teachers the Opportunity to Be Effective

I read something this morning in the book The Quality School by Dr. William Glasser that really struck me. He was commenting on why magnet schools are successful--and I would add charter schools. He said the power of innovation is not that it increases the number of effective people, but that it gives effective people a better chance to demonstrate their effectiveness. He went on to say that effective teachers are effective in any school setting but they can be even more effective if they are in a setting where they are managed in the way they manage their students.

Being True to One's Core

For educators who truly want to make a difference it is critical that he or she act from one's own core rather than external mandates. To know one's core I would suggest that each educator buy a journal and then take the necessary time to answer the following questions:

• Why did I become an educator?
• What do I stand for as an educator?
• What do I think is important in education?
• What are the gifts that I bring to my work?
• What do I want my legacy as an educator to be?
• What can I do to remember my own heart?
• What do I value most?
• What do my strong interests and passions tell me about my purpose in life?
• What opinions do I have about education that I passionately care about?
• What is my vision of a quality school? What would I specifically be doing in such a school?
• What behaviors would I never engage in if I were in a quality school?
• What kinds of things would I say to all the different stakeholders in a quality school?

Ideas for these questions came from the book Inspiriting Quality in Your School by Robert A. Sullo and Failure Is Not An Option by Alan Blankstein.