Tag: leadership

a new adventure awaits…

Posted on by Teach2Connect

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.”–Helen Keller

I have grown accustomed to and welcome change as part of the stretching and growing of life. In all of the places my adventures have taken me, roots have grown quickly and attachments made. In the last six years of this journey, I have been saturated with the culture and customs of the Deep South. I have learned more about leadership, history, compassion, and perspective than I ever thought possible. These experiences have deepened my convictions in some areas and changed my mind in others. The South provided me a place to heal, to grow, to stitch together my heart, and build life-long relationships, both personally and professionally.

In the last year, my values and goals have continued to clarify. Physical separation from my extended family has taken its toll on my heart. Even while engaging in incredible leadership experiences through the pandemic and loving so much of my life and work in Atlanta, the yearning for home has won out. Through counsel, discernment, and beautiful twist of providence, I have the opportunity to go home and continue my learning and leadership journey.

In July of this year, I will take the helm of the Lower School at Sandy Spring Friends School. A school I have admired from afar for many years for its mission and commitment to progressive education, diversity and belonging, and incredible campus committed to creation stewardship. The opportunity to learn and grow with a new community all the while renewing my proximity to my beloved family is a gift I simply couldn’t have imagined.

simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, stewardship

A more formal set of thoughts of gratitude for my southern adventure will come in due course. There is too much good work to be done before moving along (no lame ducks, here.) But as for now, I celebrate this bittersweet announcement with joy and thankfulness.

Leadership Lessons with Ted

Posted on by Teach2Connect

If you haven’t yet checked out the comedic stylings of Jason Sudekis and company in the incredible show, Ted Lasso, please stop everything and watch! Not only has this show provided “spit milk through your nose” level laughter, but there are also some serious takeaways for leaders. While Brené Brown cataloged quite a bit in her Unlocking Us Interview, here are just a few lessons I learned from Ted.

Ted: I’m not exactly sure what y’all’s smallest unit of measurement is over here, but that’s about how much headway I made.

Change takes time and often the teeniest steps feel laborious. Being a change maker can’t always been measured in immediate results. Nuance matters.

Hey, takin’ on a challenge is a lot like ridin’ a horse. If you’re comfortable while you’re doin’ it, you’re probably doin’ it wrong.

Change and challenge force us to lean into situations of discomfort. While we we want to provide spaces for psychological safety, we have to model healthy risks for our teams and for our students. I had a former boss once give me counsel, “if you’ve made everyone happy, you’re doing it wrong.”

You beating yourself up is like Woody Allen playing the clarinet. I don’t want to hear it.

Being the leader can be lonely and hard. While we make concerted efforts to provide affirmation and emotional support for our teachers and students, it is not a regular part of our receiving list. I also tend to be someone who wears my heart on the outside–I consider this a positive trait, but it does mean that I might self-flagellate just a little more than the next gal. Beating ourselves up doesn’t help us move forward.

for the love of meghan markle, do not blow that whistle again…

The one gave me quite the chuckle, but…as leaders we need to know when to call uncle. If we keep blowing our whistle and not getting results, we need to look for a new path, a fresh perspective, or a new set of rules.

be curious, not judgmental…ted lasso or maybe walt whitman?!

They say this quote is attributed to Walt Whitman, but I’ll happily attach it to Ted. Regardless, this is perhaps the most profound scene in the first season of the series. I won’t give it away because I really think you should watch the show. (If you must google-it’s the darts scene.) It is so easy to be quick to judge, no matter the scenario, but I’ve found that curiosity makes fantastic inroads for understanding another person or tackling a problem. Leadership + Design uses the phrase ‘be more curious than certain’ which I steal regularly. I am not the expert, but I will always be in pursuit of learning.

Ted Lasso has a persistent optimism that is both realistic and visionary. If our circumstances in the last eight months have taught us nothing (ha!), they have certainly taught us that optimism that is balanced with practicality and curiosity is going to get us through these turbulent times. Oh, and shortbread doesn’t hurt either.

Ted Lasso' Renewed for Season 2 at Apple TV+ — Jason Sudeikis Comedy | TVLine
Ted has your back.

Ed Camp Rocks!

Posted on by Teach2Connect

This weekend I had the pleasure of spending my Saturday with engaging, intellectual, and fun teachers from the greater Philadelphia area at Ed Camp Philly. It was such a total blast and my brain had a good stimulating experience, which it desperately needed. This conference is an “un-conference” where the sessions are developed by the participants as they register. I attended sessions on web 2.0 resource sharing for elementary teachers, re-thinking space-time-purpose, “Things that Suck”, Global Ed Connections for elem, and the super fun “Smackdown”.

I gained a new resource, a new connection, or a new idea from each of the sessions. The best part of the day was following the back channel chat via twitter. I absolutely love twitter and really feel it made such a huge difference in my information collection. It was also so cool to meet many people I follow via twitter and blogs in the flesh! They are real people too!

The Things That Suck session was such a great intellectual debate. A topic is thrown out such as Homework or Discipline Policy and teachers head to either the Rocks or Sucks side of the room. An passionately charged discourse commences on the topic. It was a perfect model for debating important issues in a safe space. The realization that the room was filled with idealistic, progressive teachers made certain topics more conversations of commiseration than debate. It was fantastic and it revolved completely around issues worth debating not just complaining!

Here are some resource suggestions compiled from the day:

Gmail + Trick: Add +moniker of some kind. They will go right to your inbox.
All is all it was worth driving 6.5 hours in 24 hours and getting little sleep. It was just the kind of intellectual refreshment I needed to get me pumped for my new role as a Technology Facilitator. I feel like that is what I am now. Rock on.