April Showers

From a song my dad used to play on his record player.  It’s an oldie, but a goodie:

Though April showers may come your way,
They bring the flowers that bloom in May.
So if it's raining, have no regrets,
Because it isn't raining rain, you know, (It's raining violets,)
And where you see clouds upon the hills,
You soon will see crowds of daffodils,
So keep on looking for a blue bird, And list'ning for his song,
Whenever April showers come along.

We don’t really get much rain in this part of the province, certainly nothing like what I grew up with in my little hometown on the coast.  Still, the rain always brings a sense of cleansing for me:  the air seems fresher and the dust gets washed away.  I am amazed at how much things will have grown in my garden, once I take the time to put on my gum boots and rain jacket and go check (or wait until things dry out and do it in shorts and flip flops).  Everything seems to perk up a bit more after the rain.  

Of course, this also means I will be fielding phone calls all afternoon from parents asking if we will be cancelling soccer today...because of the rain.  Geez, as a kid who grew up in a temperate coastal rainforest, I can tell you that we would have never gone outside if our activities—soccer, track and field, baseball, fishing, bike riding—had to be cancelled because of the rain.  We always seemed to have a just a little bit more fun in the rain.

In fact, I have a feeling that we might have one of the most fun-filled practices of the year tonight.  :)

Growing Potatoes

I love a good metaphor.

And, this one has some great—pardon the pun—“nuggets” for us to reflect upon:

• Taking care of the land and nurturing it until it is ready to grow a crop of potatoes.  This is a long, planned and expensive process.  I can’t help but see this as a metaphor for a learner.  We have to create the conditions within, and for, each learner so that—when they are ready—we will be able to help them achieve success in their learning.  This is an important, life-long process.

• New technology is important but it is no substitute for good, sound decision making and preparation.  As a long-time teacher and advocate for integrating embedding technology into everyday classroom practice, I have always been one to champion the need for a warm body to help facilitate the learning process. 

• No amount of technology will ever take the human element out of the process.  See my comments above.

• Those who try to cheat the process and take short cuts are the ones that ultimately fail.  This makes me think about the motivation of the learner; there is always someone who will take the easy road.  Those people, however, are never the ones that stick with it, the do something for the love of doing it, that succeed in the end.  These are not the passionate people we want leading our youth.

• Nothing ever replaces hard work.  This sounds like something that my dad would say, and you know what?  He’s right.

• The idea that Mother Nature is in control, and that you need all of your effort and energy to get the most out of what she gives you.    Sometimes you may be fortunate enough to get a good year, but to plan yourself around getting a good year is foolish.  There are always things in life, events and experiences, good and bad, that shape the way we see things.  Sometimes we can control those things, but many times we cannot.  Our experience builds the resiliency needed to weather through these storms, and the wisdom to see the “big picture”.  Those blips on the radar—successes and challenges—will always be there and we would be foolish to use those blips to predict the future or, even worse, to build expectations for the future.

• “We recognize that there is a brotherhood of sorts among growers of potatoes, on the other hand, we also recognize the fact that we’re in total competition, one with another.”  This is a value statement.  One of my great mentors taught me to always put the District’s needs before the school’s needs.  He believed that we were “all in this together” and was a big picture kind of guy.  That’s an easy mantra to follow when the times are good, and much tougher when feel like we are fighting and scratching for every nickel and dime, but that’s what character is all about.  Isn’t it?

• “We have to work hard at it otherwise we have a product that no one wants to buy.”  See above.

Blogging: A How-To Post

I have had a few friends say “how do you go about doing it” enough times that I thought that I would post some instructions to help people get going—get blogging—on their own. 

Here we go:  Start by selecting one of the free blogging sites and set up an account.  I have selected Blogger.com, however, there are many others to choose from.  You will have to select some sort of name for your blog (ex. ePrincipal), so try to think up something somewhat creative.

 

 

 

You will have to create a new post.  Most of these sites are really easy to follow along, especially if you are used to common word processing software.

Pick a title for your post and type in the body, and then format it however you would in a document, bolding, itallicizing, etc. as you see fit.  If you want to add a picture or video, just click on the correct button (picture) and upload the file from your computer or the Internet.

You can preview your post to see what it looks like on the Internet (what others will see).  Once satisfied, hit the Publish button.  

If, after all of this, you find something that you want to change, you simply log back in, select the post that you want changed, and edit it.  Secret confession:  I have come back in to edit this article once already...

Finally, once up and running, there are some cool tools and features for you to explore.  For example, would you believe that my blog was viewed three times in Russia this week?  Or that more people viewed this blog from a phone than a computer in the last week?  See below for evidence:

Good luck out there!

97. Swings

Next on my list of 100 Things of Awesomeness, are swings.  Is there anything that makes you feel like spring more than watching children on the playground swings.  I mean, spring bulbs and blossoms are great; however, do they really connect with you the way that flying back and forth on a sturdy playground swing set does?  The way that the wind flows through your hair and that whoosh whips by your ear with each leg pump?  That little drop in your stomach every time the swing changes direction?

For me, swings are like time machines;  it takes only a few leg pumps back and forth for me to be transported back to my childhood where each swoosh down made me feel like I could fly.  Back to a time when anything was possible, and my imagination ruled the world (instead of the world ruling my imagination...).

I may need to head out and have myself a swing.  J

Battle of the Books

What a great event!  We did the school-wide Battle of the Books competition for our Intermediate students today and I was so impressed.  First, the students who entered the challenge did a super job reading the books, going to the study sessions at lunch and then getting up in front of the whole school to answer questions on those books.  Second, the rest of the school was an amazing audience today, staying quiet and polite while the questions were asked and the answers deliberated on, and then a very supportive crowd for every answer given.  Finally, I was so impressed with how many students--particularly boys--participated in this event.  Hats off to our Teacher-Librarian for organizing the battle of the Books, and for all of the time and energy that she put into keeping these kids focused and getting them prepared.  It was literally months of work.

It is great to see literacy embraced like a sporting event, and the participants treated like rocks stars by their peers.

Congratulations to all participants, and especially to the winners who are off to the District Finals in a few weeks time.  Way to go everyone!

You Don't Shovel the Wind

“Well, at least we don’t have to shovel the wind”.

That was the end comment in a conversation I had with a friend today, comparing the amount of snow we had to remove this winter and the incredible winds that we blowing this morning, and it really stuck with me.  Everyone else was complaining about the bitter winds blowing outside, and he had it all in perspective.

I see a big difference in people who view the world with a glass half full.  They are always able to get through their tough days—often with a laugh.  These are the people that roll with the punches, and who get back up after being knocked down.  These are the people who make an effort to see the big picture, and because of that have developed resiliency.  With resiliency, the small things stay small and don’t get you down.  With resiliency comes the balance needed to navigate through the challenges in lifer without being a reactor.

 

It reminds me of that priorities demonstration where you dump large, medium and small rocks into a glass container.  If you put the large ones in first (your big priorities:  family, health, etc), then the medium ones and then the small ones, they all fit.  But, if you dump the small ones in first, and put all of your energy into them, you won’t have room in the jar for everything else.