Blogs on Teacher Leadership

I know a vacation is coming when stacks of books next to my bed start growing. I've started to notice that building those stacks makes the final weeks of the year easier -- the visual reminder of the upcoming break.

"Jack tells me that lots of kids are doing way worse things, but you ignore them and pick on him."

"Are you saying Mandy is a liar?"

"As far as I know, three kids did the same thing, yet Ben was the only one punished! Is that fair!"

"Really? We have no problems with her at home."

In my last post, I promised readers a special post on a topic of great importance to me. Fighting cynicism is that topic. It is one of the most important issues for me and needs to be one of the most important goals for all schools. Cynicism can rot out a school the way termites rot out a wooden home. A cynic is someone who has given up hope that things can better. They are not realists or skeptics, who often ask hard questions or demonstrate care before accepting the first new thing that comes along. Cynicism is a plague that kills dreams. It sucks the life out of teachers and robs students of hope. No student deserves to have a teacher who has given up hope.

Like many of us committed to public education, I'm constantly searching for what's working and what can be replicated. This year I've discovered two essential ingredients for any successful school system to be effective. Think of these ingredients as the yeast and flour of any kind of bread -- obvious and essential -- and they must be used in combination with each other. I'll name these two staples as "The Destination" and "The Road Map."