Principal's Corner

Word of the Month: Caring

Mission:  To successfully develop intellectually curious, self-confident, and self-reliant young people for the betterment of a future global society. 

As part of the dean's meeting earlier this week we went to Titan and JCA and took part in classroom observations with a focus on EL students. Our objective was to see the classroom environment and instruction through their eyes. This was very eye opening for me. How often do we take the time to see how our students experience the classroom, and our schools? 

The observations made me think about empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. That is a statement that is a lot easier said than done. In the classroom, on the playground, around our school, it is easy for us to think about why someone chose one action over another and think we are correct. If were to remove ourselves and think about the other person and what they were feeling and experiencing, we may come to a very different conclusion. 

I urge you to lead with empathy. I am definitely working on this. This by no means signifies we lower our standards. It means we check the way we communicate with each other, our students, parents and the words we use. Can we state our message using words that encourage rather than discourage? Can we provide each other time to formulate our thoughts rather than cut each other off? Yes, I know we can.  These next few weeks are going to go by very quickly because we are all very busy before Winter break. Let's remember to stop and breathe and not sweat the little things. In the end we are all here for the same reason, our scholars.

Here is a short article on Leading with Empathy: 

https://www.progressivewomensleadership.com/leading-empathy-important-ever/   

"Empathy is about standing in someone else's shoes, feeling with his or her hear, seeing with his or her eyes. Not only is empathy hard to outsource and automate, but it makes the world a better place."

                                                                                                                                                                              -Daniel H. Pink