The Cardinal Way
Sharing the Stories of Southport High School
Leading and Learning: PEOPLE FIRST
The view from where you sit We tend to respond and listen to others with the general attitude we form over time towards those people. With this being true, I believe it is vital to consider our daily thoughts and emotions and how those impact our interactions with the people we serve. People appear smarter, more skilled, and having a higher work ethic when, things are going well, and we see them straightforwardly as people who are serving their purpose. As we interact with people, or hear things about them, we need to continually ask ourselves if we are regarding them as having similar hopes and needs as we wish for ourselves. Do we judge their actions in the same way that we judge our own, or do we see people as objects and their behavior as a threat, nuisance, or problem? When we get frustrated with people, we typically respond in a few different manners. We find ways to inflate others’ faults, we find ways to inflate our own morality in how we would handle similar situations, we inflate the value of an action and its impact on a situation in a negative way, and/or we blame others. When we have a view that we are somehow entitled, or superior, to those we lead, we can easily fall into these traps. This means we are not really seeing people as people at all, but rather as objects that can be used to get the results or outcomes we pursue. This means their wants, their needs, their desires all become secondary to our own. Our desires come first making others needs become less legitimate and inferior. This only leads us to inflate the value of things that justify putting our work and ideas on top and pushing others down. Success as a leader depends on freeing ourselves from these deceptions we see in people. When we see people as hardworking individuals who are giving their best and want to improve, we create an environment of openness,, trust and teamwork, where people work hard for the collective good, not for individual accomplishments. You must believe Is the glass half-full or half-empty?... When you run into a challenge, do you believe the people you serve “can” or “can’t” handle the situation? The answer to this question is key to understanding if you truly put people first. Our role as a leader (who operates out of love) is to help people believe that no matter what has happened in the past, they can accomplish difficult things. If we believe that those we serve can accomplish difficult tasks, and we are willing to struggle through the process with them, our impact can be long lasting. On the other hand, it is not surprising that a relationship based on low expectations, typically yields less than positive results. When we remove trust and belief in a person’s ability to accomplish great things, we create a culture where people do not believe they can accomplish difficult tasks and therefore, ultimately, they do not try. While this negative result is often not intentional on the leader’s part (and is often born out of frustration from behavior or effort) we need to understand the damage created by setting low achievement expectations by claiming that “people can’t, or won’t.” It takes allowing full autonomy in those we serve. It means we trust people to make decisions when we might be the one who holds the responsibility for the results. Jay Bilas in Toughness states, “Belief can be an incredibly powerful thing, especially when those around you believe in you. Belief is one of the characteristics that lead to toughness. How can you be truly tough unless you believe in yourself? How can you believe in yourself if those around you do not?” Do not be the parent that swoops in and fixes every problem for your child. Let them struggle; let them learn. Those who jump in quickly to solve difficult problems for people (in any capacity of life) show you what they believe about that person’s ability to solve the problem in the first place. If we remove the struggle, we remove the learning. If we remove the learning and solve problems for people who could solve the problem if given time, we ensure that our buildings will never be any better than the solutions we can come up with as an individual. Leadership is about turning over control and believing that people can accomplish the task at hand. In summary, the ideas that come from putting people first apply to many aspects of our lives: teaching, parenting, being a great spouse or a great friend, and ultimately leadership. When people feel valued and appreciated they always seem to do more than what is expected. If we start by valuing people first in our conversations and actions, we will become stronger as a leader. Spouting off advice, fixing problems for people, or belittling those around us is how people who put products before people operate. If we truly want to put those we serve first, we must be open to, and grateful for, every opportunity we have to work with people -- the good and the bad. Each opportunity is a way to build a better relationship with the students, teachers, staff members, or whoever else it is you are aiming to serve.
What it takes to #BeACardinal:
- Kim Roberts and the cast and crew of the spring play for efforts. If you did not catch the play on opening night, it will run at 3pm and 7pm on March 1,7, and 8. We hope you come out to one of those performances.
- Everyone for making the last two ISTEP days a success.
- Amy Boone and Julie Fierce for working their ISTEP magic over the past week!
Congratulations to:
- our orchestra students. All students and groups that performed this past weekend at ISSMA received a gold rating!
- Jessi Walpole and our dance team. They performed at Franklin County High School Dance invitational. The duet of Grace Nolan and Savannah Straub got 2nd place, the Jazz Team was 3rd place, and Hip Hop grouped placed 3rd.
Grateful Friday Challenge
Well, here we are at the end of another week… this one seemed more like a marathon with the ISTEP going on… Wait- ISTEP if we break it down is I- STEP… like I am walking, or MARCHING… Did you see what I did there? So, not only is it Friday...it is also the first day of March!
March promises madness (the good kind on hardwood) and the hope for spring weather (even though there is snow on the ground right now- which is honestly making me mad). Madness, snow, and putting a wrap on the current rounds of ISTEP testing. That sounds like we could use a little punny business.
So maybe today we could try to spread some joy, laughter, and puns. Our days provide us with an influx of funny stories that could be built into educational puns.
Here are a few I found to get your sense of humor rolling-
I was struggling to figure out how lightning works then it struck me.
Geology rocks, but Geography is where it's at!
I wondered why my geometry class was always tired. They were all out of shape.
A rule of grammar: double negatives are a no-no.
My math class started working on 2D shapes, but I lost interest. It was just too plane.
I make horrible science puns, but only periodically.
What happened when past, present, and future walked into a bar? It was tense!
The artist was great! He could always draw a crowd.
What other ones do you use? What else can you come up with? Share a pun or two with your classes or colleagues, email someone across the building a reason to smile… or if you have time MARCH on over and tell them something really punny in person!
March on...
With banners flying as we go! #FlyAsONE
BE A CARDINAL; CHANGE LIVES; PUT A MISSION INTO MOTION!
180 Days of Learning -- #CardsLearn
Michael Johnson
Sarah Gott-Helton
Student Leaders
ISTEP
Today, was the first day of ISTEP testing for the 2018-19 school year. Sophomores took the first tests of round one and juniors and seniors retesters began both round one and two of ISTEP. It was a great day for students to show what they have learned so far this school year!
Kim Roberts
Educational Humor
Southport High School
Email: bknight@perryschools.org
Website: http://perryschools.org/sh/
Location: 971 E Banta Rd, Indianapolis, IN, United States
Phone: 317-789-4800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SHSCardinals/
Twitter: @SHS_Cardinals