How I became a teacher

 

One of my students recently asked me about the biggest influences on my teaching career. While I have been lucky to have had tremendous mentors, I often think that my path to becoming a teacher had a profound influence on who I am today.

I started my career as an assistant basketball coach for a Division II college. During this time, I learned how to build a program that would attract players to come to our university. At a small school, you do not often get the best players, so you learn to become an expert teacher. I really learned during my coaching career the importance of motivation and inspiring people.

My next stop was working for Domino’s Pizza. I still remember my dad saying, “You went to college to make pizzas?” Domino’s taught me the importance of taking care of the people who work for you so that they can take care of the customers. Feedback is the breakfast of champions, and it was my job to search for the feedback. We had a company slogan that still sticks with me today: “If you are not getting better, you are getting worse.” That provided the mindset of continual improvement.

When I moved from job to job, I thought I was wasting my life away. Now I realize that my past jobs brought me skills and perspectives that have helped me at my new job. Even though I started my teaching career later than most, these past experiences gave me a unique perspective that was helpful.

My point is that most of us do not know what we want in our younger years. College should be about exploring these opportunities and not about building a resume. Take some classes that you might be interested in, do an internship, but do not feel that you must stay in one field. You should not continue to date someone you do not like so do not continue to do a job you are not enthusiastic about.

When you find the job that you love, the way I love teaching, all the skills from the other jobs will give you an edge over those who have just the experience in that one field. The challenge is to be patient with yourself as you find a place that you are passionate about.

Do You Want to be our New Principal

 

Our current principal has decided to leave his position to become president of a school in Florida. Our national search committee has been asking stakeholders what they want in a principal. Here is my reply.

I am looking for a person who wants to be the principal of our school. If they come from another institution, I want them to be so impressed with our school when they visit that they will want to spend the next 20 years here. I do not want someone who has applied to 10 schools and is just looking for the title.

The candidate does not need to be the most qualified now. Instead, I want a person who will be at their best five years from now, someone who has a growth mindset and will grow as the school grows.

They will transition our school into a learning community where everyone from the custodian to the principal will be encouraged to grow in their jobs, where professional development becomes a way of life. It is easy to look good at our school; we need someone who will push us to be great.

We need someone who has a vision for the school and can articulate that vision in a motivating and inspiring fashion. Teachers become teachers to make the world a better place, but sometimes we forget why we joined the profession. I want a leader who focuses on why we do things rather than what we do.

Our school has leaders who sometimes worry just about their division. Athletics might worry about athletics, academics worry about academics, department chairs worry about their departments. We need someone who brings us together so we focus on what is best for our school. When you get this type of constructive collaboration, you can move from good to great.

We need a leader who realizes that the teachers are the face of the school, so this leader's daily behaviors should show that they care and value the teachers. When teachers feel cared for and valued, they provide that same environment for their students.

I want a person who does not think of character as a soft skill but as an important skill, who will push character development into our curriculum and make it part of our discussion—and who values well-being in the same way we value grades.