Difficult Conversations

Now into my third year as an administrator I am finding that I often have difficult conversations with people. Sometimes people that I speak with get very emotional and "lose it" so to speak. I have found that these conversations are no fun, are often unexpected, and one has to think quickly on their feet.

In these conversations, I have to fight the urge to engage in an escalating argument with an upset person, especially when I don't agree. I do believe that the key is to listen to others point of view and to allow the person to vent their concerns. Also, one should allow upset individuals to express their views and ask what they expect from you.  Once you do this, your point of view or stance can be expressed. It is vital at this stage to anticipate questions by the party to eliminate the possibility of bringing emotion back into the conversation.

As a leader one should listen before speaking and then think about what you are going to say before you say it. No one likes these conversations and often they are very difficult because emotion becomes involved. In my opinion, the key is to remove the emotion as much as possible. While this is hard, it is a part of the process that is necessary to resolve others concerns. The other very important technique is to listen to the others point of view and allow them to fully express their views.

A reflective conversation is the best type of conversation. One where you are allowed to think without emotion. Once you remove emtion, then you can engage in productive communication that works to resolve the other parties concerns. By allowing the person to express their views I find that it tends to de-escalte tension and resolves much of the emotion. This often produces a way to resolve the source of frustrations for the individual or individuals that you are talking to.

National Center for Educational Statistics

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nces.ed.gov

No Grades on Homework and Cheating is Okay?!!!

I have just seen a report about this on the news. A school district north of Dallas, Plano ISD, is running a pilot program that states students will not have grades on homework assigned by teaches and if a student cheats they can make it up at a later date.

While I understand the ideology behind the move, I don't agree. Many teachers are now required to provide students with at least a 50 on assignments and grading periods regardless of whether the student earned this grade or not. This has been done to in an effort to "ensure success" of students even when students fail. 

How are we helping these students? We teach them that there is always a second chance when there often isn't when they are older. We teach them that there aren't consequences to inappropriate actions at school. In essence, we are teaching them that it is okay to cheat as long as you don't get caught and that there is always a second chance.

When you consider that many individuals that thought it was okay to cheat on their taxes are now sitting in jail and don't have a second chance, this ideology may need to be reconsidered. How are we helping our students by not expecting students to do homework? I believe that we are creating a culture of apathy by not preparing students at a young age how to be responsible. This will carry over into our workforce and create multiple problems in the social sector of our country.

As concerned as we are about a public schools failing, why would we encourage this type of practice that would promote less accountability of our students when our accountability standards as educators are raising?

The Beginning of the New Role in Education

This week I have started my new role in education as an assistant principal. I have learned that it is very difficult to start during the middle of the year. I seem to be playing catch up every day that I go to work and I get farther behind each day.

I spent a full day of work at the school my first day and set up all the systems that I will need in place to communicate with various stakeholders. I also setup my calendar and met with my administrative team. The second and third day I will be in a "systems thinking" training that delves into works by Peter Senge who wrote a book called "The 5th Discipline."

This systems training uses archetypes that can utilized to help one to balance the various demanding responsibilities that can be placed on administrators. This training is very new to me and actually has a card system in place to help remember various situational archetypes and how to turn a negative system into a positive system.

This week I have learned how to enter discipline referrals, enter various information for student behavior, and sync a calendar with the district admin and campus admin. The admin team also divided up the responsibilities of who we appraise. I plan to try to meet with all the faculty and redesign the school website as quickly as possible which are just a couple of my numerous responsibilities. Hopefully, I can get caught up and get ahead of the game soon. Time will tell.