Gratitude for Great Teachers

Introduction

Lucky is the best way I can describe my feelings about the people who nourished a relationship with me and took the time to teach me. The gifts I am sharing here include many of the same values that readers can relate to in their own experiences. My words may even help you form your own list of the teachers who made a difference in your life.

This installment includes six teacher heroes. I created my list on the fly without planning. I wanted to see where this winding road of gratitude would take me. I also gave myself a time limit in order to focus on the first ideas that came to mind. My goal was to draw attention to how my teachers continue to influence my approach to serving students. In my writing, you will notice that the terms coach and teacher are interchangeable as are many of the lessons I learned from both. Even without a lot of personal context, the themes that emerge here will sound familiar.

Most of all, I hope this blog entry encourages you to identify the memorable teachers in your life. Put your thoughts in a journal or a note and consider sending it to the person who made a difference in your life. If that person is no longer alive, send your sentiments to their next of kin. As a matter of reflecting, it is humbling to take stock and realize how an act of kindness or a person simply being themselves can have a lasting influence deserving of recognition.

One of the incredible forces of gratitude is that it establishes a truth that all parties enjoy re-living. This worthy investment of time, particularly in writing, takes on a life of its own.

High School graduation with my cousin Sarah

was special. For more than 20 years we attended

the same school (MSU graduates together too).

She put up with a lot. 

Six teachers who made the difference for me

I think it is best to start with a person who might least expect it since I was an absolute pain in the ass in junior high. Looking back, my eighth grade teacher Mrs. Nancy McGuire had patience and grace - traits she probably felt had escaped her by the time we crawled to the June finish line. Our rambunctious class seemed to have a foolproof mix of mischievous leadership, which included me, and enough followers to make it interesting. Junior high was full of pranks and feeling on top of the world, usually at someone else's expense.

As it turned out Mrs. McGuire's very sweet daughter was part of our class and that provided more insight into her students than she desired. Mrs. McGuire was special because even as a self-absorbed snot I never doubted whether she cared about me. Sure, all great teachers care, but the fact I knew she cared says a lot about her. Caring about my well-being was a tall order because I was mouthy and I persistently tried to hi-jack the class. I spent most of the school year acting out my frustration with a recurring knee injury and despite crutches for most of eighth grade I mastered walking that thin line of pushing adults to madness, but just short of trouble for me. It was an art really.

Hard-headed and full of excuses, I knew Mrs. McGuire cared even though I dared her to give up on me and I constantly pushed back. As a veteran teacher, I marvel at her ability to get through to me when my entire goal to wear her down seemed to be working. By the end of the year I relented and I was glad she stuck with me despite my angst and disrespect. That knowing the teacher cares about you quality was Mrs. McGuire's gift. I try to emulate her strength and make it my own. It is difficult sometimes to stay mindful and do my best to reach my students, especially the ones who push back.

My sons first baseball season

reminds me of my coach, Kyle Henry.

Kyle Henry was the best ball coach a kid could have. Sure, we were more Bad News Bears than All-stars, but it worked out beautifully. Even though I have always been competitive, I had a lot of fun learning from Kyle. He was the father of my best friend growing up and by default he was my ride to games and practices. I ate meals and watched WWF wrestling at his home. As a veteran teacher, his influence on how I try to relate to young people is notable. A natural, Kyle connected with me because he was a big kid with an even bigger heart. Kyle introduced me to a life lesson that was innate to him: Children are drawn to people with big hearts.

Kyle was a perfect fit at a critical time in my imperfect childhood. He was more than the coach - he became a regular fixture in my life, inviting me along for countless high school basketball games and even a few trips to Tiger Stadium in Detroit. We all need someone who is there for us without a trace of judgement. For me, that was Kyle Henry. He showed me that a big heart without an ego to match is a magnet for someone out there. I was his someone. I am grateful that he took an interest in me at a time when I needed the attention. My parents were divorced and it was a confusing time in my life. Kyle Henry has motivated me to see the good in all young people no matter what. After all, not every nine-year-old got a Kyle in their life when they needed one like I did.    

Mr. Warner apparently stuffed 84 

grapes into his mouth on a challenge.

(1987 Ionia High School yearbook)

Mr. Charles Warner was my high school chemistry teacher. Since I am not much of a science guy and normally looked for the easier path to earn my A's and B's in high school, he was facing an uphill battle for my affection. That battle lasted all of five minutes as his smile and goofy excitement about science fostered an atmosphere where learning trumped insecurity. That is a huge feat for a teacher and Mr. Warner had the it factor.

Tough to quantify, he had the capacity to draw students into his lessons with contagious enthusiasm. Immediately Mr. Warner came to mind as I began writing about great teachers in my life because he had the winning combination of high expectations, smiles and academic rigor. I learned about teaching in his science class and that realization came about five years into my career.

My desire to learn about a subject I initially had zero interest in taught me to keep an open mind. Let's face it, a great teacher can help students find the itch for learning just about anything. I remain mindful of the students who are not thrilled about their placement in the American Government class I teach and I try to channel Mr. Warner in my best attempts to win them over. His enthusiasm for teaching was inescapable. He was a pro and students loved him because he loved us back. An absolute pro.   

I credit my youth coaches for instilling  

the values I try to pass on each season. 

Sports have always been fun for me.

Coach Leipprandt was a math teacher in our high school and while I never had the opportunity to learn in his math class, he taught me a lot about life on the basketball court. A principled man, Coach had his unique ways to make sure we knew he cared about us. He would write these life lesson types of quotes on his classroom white board everyday and we would drop in to see the quote. I think it was a ploy for him to build relationships with us off the court and I have always admired his effort in that regard.

He confidently made the effort to build positive relationships with young people and for a grown man to model that to me was something I truly appreciate. Today, I want my students and players to know I care and I try to find my own Coach Leipprandt ways to demonstrate my interest in their lives.

Among his many qualities, I the incredible consistency in Coach's approach to building our team was praise-worthy. He demanded that we work hard and work together. Coach Leipprandt was trying to teach us how to think the game and glean the valuable lessons basketball can teach young men if they stop long enough to reflect. His humility and good intentions as a leader are remarkable qualities. Our team experience was never about him. It was always about us. Under his guidance, committing to hard work went from a challenge to something that defined me as a student-athlete. I credit Coach's consistency, high expectations and caring about me for excelling my maturity as an adolescent. We talk often and I appreciate his wisdom. For the past dozen years, I have been coaching JV boys basketball and on my best days, Coach Leipprandt coaches my teams through me. In fact, I usually call him before at least a couple big games each season.

I love this picture of me (overalls, right side) with my cousins.

When I was eight years old I needed Mrs. Pozega in school.

Ms. Joan Pozega was the best third grade teacher a child could have. She was kind. Her demeanor was warm and optimistic and as goofy as this may sound, I felt special in her class. I belonged. My parents were a few years into a nasty divorce and there was not a better teacher for me at that point in my life. I remember our Detroit Tiger World Series class party, being cast as the lead (Herbert the Ghost) in our Halloween play and watching my candidate Walter Mondale get crushed in our class election for US president.

My love for school dropped after third grade and if not for Ms. Pozega, third grade would have been the drop-off year. By the way, if you know Ms. Pozega, pass this blog post on to her. She was also a kindergarten teacher at Sts. Peter & Paul in Ionia. I have no idea if she is still a classroom teacher, but I would love to hear from her. She was talented and well-liked by everyone. She definitely has a gift for the profession.

Coach Walter with me and my kids. He

had a full page of notes from the game

he watched. I designed my next practice

based on those notes. 

Steve Walter taught me about discipline and working hard to be my best when I was in seventh grade. He was my basketball coach and I did not want to disappoint him. Beyond family, not wanting to disappoint someone says quite a bit about the prominent role of that person in one's life.

Concepts that would normally be reserved for high school level coaches were instilled in us early. Steve - the only coach I had that went by his first name even though I always called him, coach - had a knack for teaching us the why behind his coaching philosophy. In fact, his passion for the game surprised me as a youngster and despite missing my entire eighth grade season due to injury, I still fed off his passion from the sidelines.

I remember as a kid feeling like we were all part of some experiment to determine if we could ever figure him out. At some point it eventually clicked that what Coach loved was teaching and I did not arrive at that conclusion until I was a young adult. I am grateful now that he had such strong convictions about the correct way to play the game. He demanded that we play unselfishly with attention to the fundamentals we practiced every day. He pushed us and he cared about us.

Without even realizing it, he was helping me in my career as an educator. Steve taught me to respect authority better than anyone I had met to that point. He showed me the value of self-control. Under his leadership a culture of discipline gave me tremendous confidence. Certainly, his lessons took some time to carry over into other areas of my life, but I benefited in the long run. His approach helped all of us learn the valuable lesson that the gratification for practicing good habits is not instant. Many of the qualities that have carried me on a journey of personal fulfillment have origins that can be traced back to the lessons Coach instilled in our team.

Steve Walter achieved results with his brand of 1980's tough love, but it was his remarkable teaching ability that stands out to me today as I work with young people. As a grown man, one of the happiest moments in my professional career was having Coach in attendance as my team beat a more talented opponent on a last-second shot. (photo above)

Epilogue

Growing up in Ionia, Mich. with a large family gave me advantages. My family gave my life meaning and I was fortunate to grow up with a balance of accountability and the freedom to make mistakes. My mom, often unconventional in her methods, has shaped who I am more than any other person in my life. My values can be traced back to my grandparents, who were the glue for all of us. Together, my grandpa and grandma taught us how to be team players and they showed us how to love. My family helped me want to be my best. It was clear to me at an early age that values were something lived, not preached.

Between my family, my career teaching and my school experiences, I have always had special teachers take an interest in my life. I have a place reserved for all of these teachers in my heart. I keep space available for all the new teachers I will encounter down the road too.

That's me on my mom's lap (far right). My grandparents were 
incredible teachers to all of us. From the time I was a teenager 
I knew I wanted to grow up to be like my grandpa. 

My most memorable teachers usually met me at the intersection of my own vulnerability and challenging circumstances. I am grateful for the people who stepped up in my life when our paths crossed. Growing up with my family and my community has significantly influenced how I approach my career in education.

When it comes to the people who have helped me along the way, my list is long. In the ten minutes since I finished my tribute, I have already thought about my gratitude for Old Dawg Jerry Reams (baseball coach), Martha Sykes (fifth grade teacher), Darin Magley (basketball coach), Mitch Mercer (baseball coach), Sally Vandenburg (seventh grade teacher) or Dan Painter (high school phys ed teacher). There are more.  

No matter how much the teaching profession changes, there are few careers in the world where the opportunity to have a special place in the lives of others is so frequent. Great teaching and the impact of positive relationships will always be meaningful in our society. Maybe it's my place in life with an incredible wife and two young children or maybe it's due to where I am in my career, but I am happier just staying focused on why I chose to teach. The lessons passed on to me through my experience strengthens my resolve to advocate for our profession and remind people that investing in a great educational experience for children makes communities stronger. We will all suffer if we reduce teaching to poorly designed and inadequate measures of effectiveness. Most of all, I feel fortunate to have had so many special people support me and it motivates me to do my best.
    

Leave a comment below and share in a few sentences your gratitude for a teacher in your life. Maybe you know the people I am celebrating here and you would like to share your own thoughts. Regardless, let this be the start of something more.

Lessons from a Detroit Carcass

Detroit Southwestern High School, 1969; 

Yale 1973; Univ. of Michigan

School of Medicine - Neurosurgery 1977

The PHOTO ESSAY version of this content can be found by clicking HERE.

How Neglect Can Teach Detroit about Investing in Children

In a perverse way it is fitting to examine the remains of a high school whose mascot was a Prospector and whose most famous graduate is running for President of the United States. After all, prospectors explore in the name of advancement as evidenced by Detroit Southwestern graduate and presidential hopeful Dr. Ben Carson.

My expedition of the lifeless corpse reveals a different reality - one about about unforgivable failure and the absence of optimism that we expect schools to nurture.

The photographs of Detroit Southwestern High School included below were taken this summer, three years after the school closed. The school fell prey to scrappers around the same time the City of Detroit filed for bankruptcy. Once the heart of the neighborhood, Detroit Southwestern High School became a two-story symbol of failure in a broken city.

The sign in front of the shell that was Detroit Southwestern High School 

reminds me of Chernobyl - frozen in time. It reads, "Good Attendance 
Equals Good Grades"  How about no attendance? What does that equal?

The filthy soot of abandonment and the feculence of neglect cover the campus. Beyond the broken glass and empty door frames there are relics of life - grade scales on the wall, motivational posters about teamwork and notebooks with messy scribbling. Empty lockers and leaves dancing to the wind whistling through the hallways where boys and girls used to laugh made me feel hollow.

Detroit's 139-square miles includes more than 140 schools 

that have closed in the last decade. 

All over Detroit dozens of abandoned schools are windowless tombstones casting shadows that reach into the yards where Detroit kids imagine the future. When hopelessness claims chalk boards and school libraries, the community suffers. When a demoralizing sense of desperation takes root in children, the causalities are measured in lost opportunities and crime rates.

Kids on a playground in Detroit. Scrappers stole the swing-set chains.

Inside the schools that remain open, inadequate health and safety standards are a constant reminder to Detroit students that education has little value and their school may be left for dead, just like the others. The media-hyped comeback for the Motor City should also include a realistic accounting for the despair of Detroit children who have been suffering for too long. Thankfully DPS teachers are fighting for social justice and drawing national attention to this crisis.

Imagine the anguish for children who are tempted by messages that they are expendable. This week Ellen DeGeneres generously stepped up to help Spain Elementary School in Detroit with a half million dollar donation. She demonstrated that she understands Detroit children are important. Her actions deserve praise and I am hopeful it is a call to action for others to be heard in the political process. We need to speak out and encourage solutions for the hundreds of Detroit children who are being cast aside and deprived of a quality education.

If we fail to stand up to the injustice, more schools will become soulless shells serving as harbingers of a failed social contract.
 
Vandalized schools remind children that neglect is normal and abandonment is part of their fate. When the stench of failure hangs in the air, children facing tough odds do not care about assurances from politicians. They deserve action, not well wishes and comments about who deserves the blame.

In too many Detroit classrooms where ambition is supposed to meet academics, a revolving door of substitute teachers and high classroom sizes leads to lost opportunities.


A lack of educational resources and incomprehensibly poor special education services tells Detroit students that they are not worthy. School is merely another stop in a long line of confusing set-backs.

Meager access to twenty-first century technology hurts Detroit children. Students are at a disadvantage when educational needs become an afterthought because the priorities demand we tackle health and safety issues first.


Rodents, broken windows, mold, heating and cooling issues and unsafe playgrounds are proof to Detroit children that their needs have been forgotten by elected leaders. Worse yet, student success goes in the loss column when appointed officials balance budgets by trimming the "excess" - things like academic materials, improved technology, additional highly qualified teachers and adequate pay for professional educators.

Sure, a resilient plant can grow out of the hood of a car, 

but why should it have to?    

Hundreds of dedicated DPS teachers have joined community leaders and families as the last line of defense in the battle for Detroit's future as elected and appointed officials have shamefully failed to solve countless problems. These courageous Detroit teachers deserve credit for drawing national attention to government failure. 

The determination of Detroit teachers confronting injustice inspires people throughout Michigan. Beyond the professional contributions Detroit teachers have made to enrich lives, they have demonstrated that their collective call for action is born out of warranted concern. Their critics may frame their cries for help as an inconvenience, but DPS teachers refuse to back down in their effort to serve others.

Let me be clear that the photographs offered here represent failure on many levels but they do not represent the deplorable conditions within currently operating DPS schools. By examining photographs of Detroit Southwestern High School, a school that that was bustling with students for more than seven decades, we can gain insight to the education crisis facing Detroit. I hope my photography will help you see what is at stake for Detroit.

Improving Detroit schools and standing up for the children in our largest city is vital to the future of Michigan. The politics of choosing sides needs to be replaced with the politics of urgency and compassion. 

The discourse about how quality schools fit into our communities needs to include solutions regarding the massive educational inequity we see across Michigan. The conversation about making education a priority for Michigan in the future begins by working together to fix Detroit today.

Detroit is much more than a collection of photographs or front-page stories about lost hope or revitalization. The conflicting narratives are a reflection of the complexity of the Motor City. In order for Michigan to thrive, we must value education with action, not just political talking points.

My aim is not to tell you who or what Detroit is or can be, but to invite you into a conversation about the role education will play in the future of Michigan. In light of the Flint water crisis and the dreadful state of too many Michigan school districts, we need to work together to heal our state.

"Seek Knowledge. Think College." 
As if it is really that simple...  

From the dirt roads across rural Michigan to urban neighborhoods and every suburb and town in between, Michigan children deserve advocates who will invest in their future. Our leaders need to gain trust by putting children first and reaching out to people who suffer in silence. Detroit Public School teachers have provided all of us with a blueprint for that advocacy.

Turn down the volume on the noisy politics out of Lansing so you can hear the cries of Detroit children who deserve the promise of opportunity.
   

Detroit Southwestern High School

Home of the Prospectors

Photography By Nick Gregory

Hard fall, Detroit Southwestern High School

4 the kids, Detroit Southwestern High School

Im dead, Detroit Southwestern High School

Detroit vs You, Detroit Southwestern High School

Passing time, Detroit Southwestern High School

When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, Detroit Southwestern High School

Ghost, Detroit Southwestern High School

Auditorium, Detroit Southwestern High School

Class dismissed, Detroit Southwestern High School

No Excuses, Detroit Southwestern High School

We are what we repeatedly do ... Jalen Rose, NBA star.
Detroit Southwestern High School Class of 1991

Monday Notes: For we are all equally human, 
Detroit Southwestern High School

Schools out, Detroit Southwestern High School

Success, Detroit Southwestern High School

Detention, Detroit Southwestern High School

Lost and found -
The caged bird sings at Detroit Southwestern High School

Authors Note: If you like photography, check out this Pulitzer Prize winning photo essay by Manny Crisostomo set at Detroit Southwestern High School in 1988. Schools are the lifeline of our communities and his incredible work honors that fact.  


ABOUT THE AUTHOR of CIVICS ENGAGED: Nick Gregory has been a social studies and journalism teacher at Fenton High School since 2000 and he has been a National Writing Project Teacher consultant and a junior varsity basketball coach since 2003. Gregory is a Michigan Education Voice Fellow and he has exhibited photography related to Detroit and social justice causes since 2011. Gregory, who has a Masters degree in Educational Leadership, believes that building positive relationships helps students find their passion for learning. You can follow him on Twitter @CivicsEngaged.

Let Go or Be Dragged

The issues raised in this blog are not specifically motivated by the policies within my own school or within my district. I write about many topics that are often related to discussions with educators who do not work in my school district. This blog in no way is intended to reflect solely on any specific leaders or my place of employment. 

The calendar's shortest month is a teachers longest month. Sandwiched between Christmas break and spring break, the endless stream of dark February mornings can take a toll on our psyche. Hanging on and making the most of the learning experience until winter thaws requires a mindful approach.   

This magnet on our refrigerator at home serves as a daily
reminder that I always have a choice about my attitude. 
Sometimes the best thing we can do is to let go, 
hit the reset button and move forward. 

For me that means I "let go" of distractions at work and I focus with precision on the things that really matter. I began doing this out of necessity a few years ago and I am more fulfilled as a result.

Issues in which I have no control or influence never even make it to my inbox. And when it comes to influencing others I carefully assess how I can get the most bang for my buck.

This is not an act of defiance or me thumbing my nose at leadership. I am talking about intentionally hitting the reset button and refusing to accept survival mode. I avoid the litany of distractions that seem to surface at this time of the year. In February, efficiency and fun - often seen as opposing forces - are both at a premium.

Letting go of the following frustrations has made me a better teacher because I am more focused on the students I serve:

• Teacher evaluations - An inquisitive 13-year-old could see past the well-intentioned legislation and recognize that the words on paper do not match reality. In too many districts, teacher evaluations that could get to the heart of teacher growth and improved student learning have been an abysmal failure. Don't believe me? Ask teachers from different buildings and different school districts. If you really want to know, check in with teachers employed in schools where teachers are being laid off based on faulty evaluation protocols. Fixing this mess while sitting in the middle of it is impossible. Let go. For now. 

• Short-sighted "quick fixes" - School districts adopt ideas without input and then we pretend to be on board until things just kind of "drift away" and new ideas replace the old ones. We do a good job of meeting the minimum expectations, which flies in the face of what we are trying to teach our students. It is difficult to get a feel for what is really important if the communication is poor and the resources are stretched too thin. The status quo is easy. Respectful inquiry with an eye on progress simply does not thrive in group-think settings. Let go. 

• Frustrated Parents Playing the Blame Game - This is rare in my experience, but I know it can be a nightmare without support and guidance. When it happens I remind myself that doing right is more important than being right. These are opportunities to educate parents, and as teachers we are professionally equipped to educate and learn. Having witnessed some skillful administrators navigate these situations first-hand has helped me improve in this aspect of my craft. I am pro-active and empathetic and that defuses most conflicts. When difficult people require my attention in February I do my best to do what is right and I stay mindful of the fact that I am tired. Then I let go.  

• Administrators too busy to notice - I get frustrated that many of the good things that my colleagues do appear to be taken for granted by our leadership. It's not intentional and I have the ability to shine a light on the great things happening in education (Maybe my next blog will highlight some of my colleagues who inspire me?). In other words, I cannot afford to be too busy to notice. I am not even certain leadership is taking things for granted and I remind myself it could be a communication challenge more than a gratitude deficiency. A culture of creativity and empowerment is worth fostering and that does not require a specific job title to get it going. That's on me. It is energizing to offer genuine praise to others and I turn to gratitude and praising others when I get the winter blues. Time to let go of disappointment in school leaders.   

• Contract Negotiations - This is difficult because I have often felt the negotiation process is a direct reflection of how teachers are valued. Thankfully, how we are valued by students day to day has nothing to do with the employee contract and the hard work that goes into good faith negotiations. When I have strong feelings or animosity about school business I work very hard to consciously let go once I have taken some type of action.   

• Bad Days - How does it go? First Attempt In Learning = F.A.I.L.  So, if the bad day was due to a risk or trying something new then it probably wasn't a bad day after all. If the bad day was due to something else, it's normal with so many variables at play in teaching. I try to find the humor in those situations, especially in February when everyone seems a bit worn down. February is the time to take yourself less seriously and reach out to others and share experiences. It's also a time to focus on letting go. 

• Legislation out of Lansing - Pay attention. Engage. Be respectful. Speak up. Vote in every election. Repeat. 

Exploring should be part of our job description
as teachers. I decided I to create my own job 
description and it has made all the difference 
in my career.  Photo by me. 

Finding my niche 

I enjoy exploring different ways to express my ideas and elevate my voice. In the process I want to help others discover their voice. I am inspired by colleagues who live their passion as educators without falling victim to a culture of compliance.

Engaging in writing and photo-journalism projects gives me an outlet and connection to a greater purpose. I value exercising professional judgment about how I manage my time and I replace the mundane with creative outlets where I can have a broad impact. This has made my career more fulfilling and I am a better teacher for recognizing and walking away from the unimportant things that suck the life out of teachers. 

When I wrote about the crisis facing Detroit Public Schools and the failures of our state governor, the opportunity to share and discuss the topic was energizing. There is no substitute for dialogue in our profession. Writing about mentorship and mindfulness pushed me to articulate professional values that ultimately help students. Even this blog entry helps me prepare for handling the rest of February with an eye on improving.

The time dedicated to arbitrary "school business" that has nothing to do with student success has virtually disappeared. My writing and photography help me stay focused on students and building positive relationships. Basically, I devote most of my energy to honor why I teach and how I can promote learning as a meaningful experience. I am not interested in proving I can check off boxes.   

In a rut? Try Twitter. Endless ideas and connections that promote
collaboration. Look into #COLchat or #MichEd  as great places to start. 
You can connect with a new community of leaders and learners.
Twitter has been a useful tool for me.  Art by Liz Francis

With a nudge from the Michigan Educator Voice Fellowship, I turned to Twitter this year to build relationships and learn from other teachers. I regularly interact with educators in Twitter chats that support our profession. I explore education topics on a nation-wide scale and my interaction on Twitter has increased my motivation and confidence. My Twitter colleagues give my learning more meaning. They also raise my self-awareness about my need to improve. In terms of professional development, my Twitter community has helped me approach challenges with more creativity than my brick and mortar PD experiences.

Twitter has been a risk worth taking for me and my students. I post several tweets every week with our class hashtag (#fhsSS) to supplement our learning. Students regularly contribute and I get great feedback. An unplanned Twitter community grew out of our learning and we explore class topics on student terms. I love it. Twitter gives us a voice, a community of learners and access to loads of information. I have made room for new learning by letting go of old concerns and embracing an unplanned experience.

What it Means to Let Go  

As an educator, "letting go" simply means I have found a new place for the situations that were more likely to control me than the other way around. I am typically a glass-half-full kind of guy, but even I have to admit that life as a school employee has too much uncertainty without built-in incentives to take risks. I decided to write and execute my own job description and I make sure I build in some risk, laughter and time to reflect.

Moving forward together in our schools requires an honest 
evaluation of our priorities. In the absence of clear priorities 
we should simply create our own. Photo by me.

Teachers are not the only ones dealing with the prospect of getting worn out by moving targets and mandates that water down the culture of learning. For school administrators who battle being reduced to "middle management" tasking away at the day, it is difficult to keep up with education reform.

If we are not vigilant about recognizing our priorities, that sense of authenticity that makes our profession so great can fall victim to an institutional mindset. 

As a state, we need to change the way we address education policy. According to Education Trust-Midwest, Michigan is in the bottom 20% for funding equity and the bottom 10 % for reading levels among fourth grade students. The Michigan suspension rate for African-American students is the third highest in the nation and we have nearly 100,000 students attending schools led by state-appointed financial managers. It cannot be denied that we need to do better as a state.

The Common Core is a step in the right direction, and unfortunately the ideas coming out of Lansing have little to do with the principles behind the Common Core. Michigan has beefed up the teacher evaluation process and promoted policies that increase charter school enrollment. The problem with these priorities is that many school districts fail to carry out the new teacher evaluation expectations with any degree of consistency or emphasis on growth. Charter schools are not meeting student needs any better than their public school counterparts and there is a lack of trust in the state government to do what is best for Michigan children (Flint and Detroit come to mind most recently).

February is the perfect time to step back and decide where you want to 
put your energy. In the big picture, choose wisely what you let go of 
today in order to avoid being needlessly dragged. Photo by me

Educators can spend countless hours reading spread sheets intended to measure student growth, evaluate student data centers and check the box that indicates a learning target was appropriately provided. None of those "measures" help us adequately determine the value of a teacher, or the education provided to children.

When the teacher performance evaluations are shoddy, tracking data just for sake of doing it is futile. In some cases, administrators do not have the resources to actually carry out useful teacher evaluations that help teachers and students. In other places, high evaluation scores for everyone ensure the silent agreement keeps the district running smoothly - all the teachers get high scores and therefore do not complain.

All of that can be acknowledged and simultaneously let go ... for now.  Letting go, from time to time, is a healthy choice unless you wish to be dragged.
   

I will continue to advocate for children and raise concerns, but I have given myself permission to prioritize what's left on my plate and let go of most of it. My students benefit from my rational choice.

DISCLAIMER: This blog includes ideas and topics serving as a composite of issues from various sources. The issues raised in this blog are not specifically or solely motivated by the policies within the author's own school district.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nick Gregory has been a social studies and journalism teacher at Fenton High School in Michigan since 2000 and he has been a National Writing Project Teacher consultant and a junior varsity basketball coach since 2003. He has exhibited photography related to Detroit and social justice causes since 2011 and he loves to travel. Gregory, who has a Masters degree in Educational Leadership, believes that building positive relationships helps students grow their passion for learning. Gregory is a member of the Michigan Education Voice Fellowship.