Be BRAVE!

The annual NCSA Administrator Days just wrapped up and as always, I leave being inspired about the field of education and all of the exciting things that are yet to come. Of particular note this year was a presentation by Angela Maiers (@AngelaMaiers). If you haven't heard her speak, take a moment and watch this short video to see what the message is all about. I promise you that if you understand the message and take it to heart, it can and will change you. 

As I begin my 6th year as a principal, my takeaways from this message are pretty simple. They are not new ideas, but if practiced, can have a tremendous impact. If you are a teacher or an administrator, I challenge you this year to:

Be willing to cry and show emotion
You are not a robot. You are a human being with emotions that matter. Let people in so they can see your humanity. Don't cower and try to hide what makes you the person you are. Be brave and tell people how you are feeling. Resolve those issues that have been plaguing your school for a long time and have been impacting your climate and culture. Engage others in the process and go through the messy process together.

Be willing to put yourself out their and connect with others
I'll admit that this is difficult for me because I am a fairly guarded person. I have become a lot better because I choose to look for the best in people. You see, when you make the choice to find the best in others, the world opens up. I have met people all over the world through my PLN on Twitter and I am a better person because of it. I have participated in #edchat, #nebedchat, and a host of others to learn. Be willing to break down the silos of education and connect with others. Get a Twitter account, put your face out there, and do what you expect your students to do everyday. Be a lifelong learner.

Be willing to be goofy and corny
My good friends Mark Johnson (@mc_bossy) and Sam Stecher (@samuelstecher) wrote this amazing book called It Happens in the Hallway and have developed Mission Monday in an effort to engage students, parents, and teachers in improving school cultures. One of the main tenets of these missions is you have to be willing to be goofy and corny sometimes. As mentioned previous, you have to be willing to let people know that you are human and not a robot. You have to give high fives in the hallways, you need to ask students if they have been told how awesome they are, you need to create smile zones. Ultimately, you need to connect with kids who need to know that you are more than a teacher.

Be humble
My mother and father taught me not to brag. They taught me that there were a lot of people who helped make me the person I am today and to brag about my accomplishments did not honor them. It is pretty easy to take credit for things and tell others about all of the great things you have going on. It is difficult and unnatural to be humble and give the praise to someone else. We are not self-made people regardless of what many people say. Everyone, at some point in time, had somebody who made an impact (positive or negative) on them. Make sure you acknowledge those people before talking about how great you are.

As I enter this school year, this will be how I show how big my BRAVE is. How big is your BRAVE?