Traveling home from our weekly trip to Kroger, my wife, Kim, was telling me a story about her high school calculus teacher. The teacher was a joy before or after class, but during class...during class she was a terror.
She required that her students have a three ring binder, but if they snapped it close, oh was there the devil to pay.
The teacher would fill a chalkboard (remember those?) with a calculus proof. If she realized she'd made a mistake. She'd lambast the class. If, however, someone caught her mistake and brought it to her attention, that was met with a tirade that usually ended with, "and I guess you can just teach the class from now on!"
In short, the students couldn't win. My wife couldn't remember a single positive thing from the class. She could remember that the teacher was all smiles and pats on the back, but the classroom was a different story. Nobody wanted to go to calculus, and it wasn't because they hated math - and they didn't hate the teacher, but they hated the way they felt for that 80 minute class.
I got to thinking about Kim's story and thought about how frustrating that class must have been for the kids. There was no way to win because the teacher didn't set the kids up to win.
Part of a teacher's responsibility (not "job," but responsibility) is to set kids up for success, to help them find the win.
As a principal , the same responsibility exists, but it's to both the students AND the staff. If, as a leader, I'm one way in the hallway and another in my office, that lack of consistency is confusing and certainly not conducive to a learning environment that values risks and innovative learning.
Be the leader who helps others find the win and who highlights your student's and staff's moments of awesome in their day.
Comments