The Gardner’s Job
One of the Habitudes in our series is called, “The Gardener’s Job.” It simply reminds leaders that in the same way a gardener understands her primary job is to cultivate the soil and grow the plants in her garden, leaders must see their primary job as growing the people under their care. It isn’t just about doing a program or distributing
Student Engagement, Student Success (Part II)
These two elements always go together. If we don’t engage students, we have little hope they’ll succeed in our schools, our teams or even our homes. If we don’t know how to pass on values to live by -- we can’t expect these kids to do anything but wander when they become adults. We must engage students with the issues that
Student Engagement, Student Success (Part I)
Last year I had an invigorating day with faculty at a university near Dallas. During our time together, we discussed two themes that preoccupy school administrators as much as any: 1. Student Engagement 2. Student Success In our morning session, one instructor shared a note he’d recently received from a student. The young man had decided to drop out of school. Here’s what
Emotional Health at an All Time Low in Students
Earlier this month, I spoke at an event and a student made this statement during a Q&A time: “I know more than my teachers do about technology -- I think I’ll do just fine when I graduate and move into my job.” I paused before responding to his statement. He was self-assured and I didn’t want to rain in on his
Generation iY
Those of you who know me, recognize the title above. I’ve been calling the latter half of Generation Y (or the Millennials): iY for more than two years now. I do this because of the impact of the “I” world -- the Internet world, full of iTunes, iPhones, iMacs, iMovies, iChat, iPods, and now iPads. This new batch of kids, born