CONFIDENT!

 

During the summer, I typically take a couple of months away from writing and reflect on the school year that has passed. I find inspiration in looking back over the year to see the journey that was traveled and to see how far I have come. This summer, however, was very different. It was filled with twists and turns that I never imagined I would have to deal with as a school leader. There really was no time for reflection because of the rapid change that was constantly taking place. To be honest, I felt like a hamster on a wheel. My feet were moving, but I really wasn't getting anywhere. I could see where I wanted to go, but I wasn't making any progress forward. It was exhausting.

Now that school has started, I have finally had a small window to reflect on what was the most difficult summer months I have ever experienced in my professional career. A plan is in place to reopen school, but only time will tell how many times we will need to pivot and change course. The path in front of us is uncharted and none of us really know where it is going to lead us. There will be dead ends, backtracking, and fear of the unknown around every corner, but unlike the picture above, I'm not walking this path alone.

Like most educators, I have a desire to over plan and and try to see about multiple moves in front of me so I can change course at a moment's notice. You never know when you are going to hit a bump in the road and have to take a detour, so you plan for these moments so you can pivot gracefully. What happens though when the path in front of you is obscured by fog and impediments that don't allow you to plan this way? You are left to wander aimlessly. As a leader, that is a scary proposition because people are counting on you to lead the way with confidence and certainty. It is possible to lead with one or the other, but the safest bet is to have both. Unfortunately, in the times we are living in now, certainty is in short supply so all we are left with is confidence. Keeping that in mind, the challenge for all of us as we start this school year is to have a collective confidence in the following:

• Be CONFIDENT that this pandemic will pass and we will have grown so much as educators that our students will be the beneficiaries of the new strategies and teaching methods that we have learned.
• Be CONFIDENT even when you lack confidence. You are going to second guess yourself over and over again. It is natural, but you need to put the blinders on and keep moving forward.
• Be CONFIDENT that we will fail, but do so failing forward. We will learn from our past mistakes and be better because of it.
• Be CONFIDENT that you will have colleagues that you can lean on seek support from because they are going through the exact same pandemic. We are all in this together.
• Be CONFIDENT in your students. They are learning in spite of the fact that you are not being able to teach them the way you really want to.
• Be CONFIDENT that people are looking at you to provide leadership, grace, and consistency. Schools are essential to our democracy and people are looking to us to be a guiding force on our path to recovery.
• Be CONFIDENT that the kids that have entered your classroom want to be there because they need you now, more than ever.
• Be CONFIDENT and #OwnYourEpic. You are writing a new chapter in your story that will certainly be a page turner. Make your epic one that future generations will read and say to themselves, "WOW! That person certainly didn't waste a crisis to better themselves and those around them."

Ultimately, the time is now to not ask ourselves, "Where are we going?" Instead, the time is now to state, "I know exactly where I am going and it is forward!"

#Onward