TO DO:

• Please let me know if you have any private counseling/mental health serviced occurring at your building.  Particularly, I’m interested in learning if any private (fee based) counseling services are given to your students within your building – either during the school day or outside of it; either paid by you or costs paid by parent/guardian. Please send me a quick email by Wednesday of next week as to whether or not this is currently occurring.  Thanks!

THIS AND THAT:

• The Future Ready goal at REALMS is connected to “high quality student work.”  Specifically, they want students to create complex work (higher order thinking, multiple perspectives, transfer of knowledge), demonstrate craftsmanship (work that is accurate and beautiful), and create authentic work (original thinking and voice, connected to real world issues, and meaningful to the community beyond the school).  Please take a few minutes to see one example of how Roger and his staff made their SDP real for REALMS students.
• An article found in “ideas.ted.com” spoke of the comparison between being a great leader and music.  One point the author, Jim Crupi, made a comment regarding his belief around “get[ting] the right players around you” – which is not a new concept for any of you I’m sure.  However, I thought the author’s personal story regarding his hiring practice was worth passing along as we come into, we hope, the hiring season: “When I used to hire people for my organization, I was always reviewing a pile of resumes. Of course, by the time the resumes got to me they were all good — everyone was equally qualified. So I always asked these final candidates just two questions. First: Tell me about your life. I wanted to hear people talk about who they were, and what formed them. The second question: Rank, in order of importance, the five most important things in your life. Some people would say money, faith, family, etc.; others faith, family, money, etc. Everybody had a different answer. But their stories and answers gave me a clue to their character. I really listened and watched their behavioral response. Once the interview was over and they left the room, I’d ask myself one question: If I’m in a boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and the boat is in trouble, who do I want in that boat with me? Those are the people I’d hire. They were the people who had the character I could count on when things got tough. Every organization has tough moments. You want people working with you whom you can count on when the tough moments come. I always chose character and attitude over skill, and that insured I always had the right people in the boat.”

REMINDERS:

• See you all at the Job Fair in Redmond on Monday afternoon.  Don’t forget to bring some business cards to hand out to potential teaching candidates.
• I will be traveling to visit a school next Thursday (4/13) as part of some work with AdvanceEd accreditation.  Feel free to call me on my cell if you need anything.  Cell service may be spotty at times so leave a message if I don’t answer.