Why do you want to be a leader?

I have made it a personal goal to blog about my experiences in the classroom, Ed leadership program, etc... at least once a week and so far I'm 2 for 2 in the last two weeks! 

It was another refreshing and inspiring weekend of learning and growing with my fellow cohort members at Grant Wood AEA. I think one of the things I have noticed in the 4 short months we have been together is how amazing it is to get together and discuss the positive and challenging aspects of our daily lives. The 13 other members of my cohort are truly amazing people and have all inspired me to continue trying to be the best version of myself that I can be. 

Throughout the weekend, we discussed a lot about leadership and during an online interview with Joe Mazza (University of Penn Graduate Program) he challenged us to answer the question "why do you want to be a leader?" It donned on me a little bit that while I feel as though I have attempted to answer this I really haven't answered it to its fullest extent at least at this point in my career. I am going to attempt to do that in the lines below.

I really truly believe that I can make a difference in the lives of everyone I come in contact with. I have never been one to settle and instead always constantly challenging the status quo, even when the status quo is working. While interviewing an administrator and friend who works at Central Intermediate School in Monmouth, IL she discussed the concept of continuous improvement that while we should celebrate the small successes "there is always something that we can get better at." This is really where my personal and professional philosophy exists on a daily basis. How can I continue to reflect and grow myself and my knowledge on a daily basis?

I was able to read a blog today where the post was titled "Why Would Anyone Want to be a School Leader" and it really put it into perspective some reasons why we are doing what we are doing. A couple of takeaways that I got from the post was that you must be willing to have tough conversations with your students and faculty but you also must be willing to fill your day with laughter. You need to be able to surround yourself with good people, those that will challenge you to continue to grow. 

As we move forward to another week of school I continue to challenge myself to seek new ways to reach and impact the students I am surrounded with on a daily basis. I also hope to continue to impact and inspire the faculty and staff around me to build a capacity for having a students-first mentality. A wise man once said that without students we would all be out of a job so doesn't it make sense to base all of our decisions around what is best for them? I also hope to be a light for our students even in their darkest times because everyone needs someone in their corner being their biggest cheerleader!

Thank you for all that you do to better yourself and the profession by reading blogs, actively engaging on twitter or any social media platform, and by growing your PLN. I have realized quickly in the two years I have been teaching that it is truly important to be the "lead learner" in my classroom and model to my students that learning and growing are important regardless the age or skill level you are. I hope to be able to model effectively as a future leader and admin in the future.

Until next time...Be A Light!

Refill Your Cup

It has definitely been a while since I lasted posted on this website. Sometimes even the best intentions go awry when life gets in the way. Since I last blogged September 2014 I have become engaged to my best friend Kristie and are getting married July 2016. The closer the day comes the more I feel how real all of it is becoming. 

The reason for the title of my blog post relates to a blog post I read today in my Ed Leadership class on Leadership & the Profession. The class is taught by Bettendorf HS Principal Jimmy Casas and I'm pretty sure our cohort could not be any more blessed to have such a passionate and inspiring educational leader to learn and grow from. The blog post was about the "4 Ways to Refill Your Cup" and it talked about how it's easy to get sucked into the daily grind of day to day things throughout the school day. Instead of getting stuck in a rut he said that you should "empty your cup, shift your focus, and dedicate your time and energy to filling the cup of those who you were relegated to serve- your students, your staff, and your community. When you fill the cup of others, your cup is filled."

This last statement is really the one that struck me throughout the entire post. Many of the things we talked about this weekend, our first of a three-weekend course, was about modeling excellence and I believe that when you fill the cup of others that is modeling excellence. If I am striving every day to serve those around me, my students, colleagues, admins, etc... then my cup will be overflowing with positives rather than the negative, pessimistic mindset that comes with only focusing on "the daily grind." Since starting my Master's Program through Drake University in ED Leadership in January I have become much more of a reflective learner and really believe that this program will set me up to having a mindset of always being the lead learner. It is my responsibility to model excellence in my classroom so that way my students clearly know the expectations I have for them.

I am going to make it a personal goal to blog once a week, either about something happening in my classroom, in our building, or just something that I read or heard in the education world throughout the week. It's been said that we are all geniuses, and the world needs our contribution. I wouldn't say I'm a genius in anything yet but I will continue to strive to contribute as much as I can.

Until next time,

Derek