Out of My League

Tomorrow is the longest day of the year. The Friday before spring break.

I remember being a kid in elementary school and watching the clock. The day before spring break was the longest day of the year. The second hand traveled sssslllloooowwww. The big hand on the whatever. The small hand on the whatever. Didn’t matter. The second hand wouldn’t budge.

I will arrive at school tomorrow morning about 7:15. Not that I will be watching the clock. But, I know it will ttttiiiicccckkkk ever so slowly… sssssslllllloooooowwwwwwllllllyyyyyy.

The problem is… at 3:15 tomorrow… time will begin accelerating… faster than 9.8 m/sec/sec. Crazy fast until it screams back to a crawl nine days later.

Call me crazy…

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Larry Lezotte. He is a pioneer in the effective schools movement. Enjoy!

Interview with Dr. Lezotte

I am reminded of a cartoon used regularly on the Monty Python Flying Circus Show. You probably remember it if you ever watched the show. A head peeled back and something was inserted. I feel like my head has been peeled back and stuff shoved in… here is some of what we discussed:

     Leadership                                                         

Schein & Bass Organizational Culture

     Senge’s Double-Loop Learning Model            Good to Great

 and much more…

 The application of all of this material to what we do in schools. Can’t wait for tomorrow.

Today, Ground Hogs Day, at the Bicknell house… was just another day… nothing special.

I remember December of 1988 pretty well. I was graduating from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor’s degree. The doctoral candidates were getting ready to file across the stage. Dr. Alfred Hurley was speaking to the group and and the end he said, “Welcome to the world of scholarly thinkers.” I had a thought about that then… what have I been doing? Dr. Hurley had obviously never taken Dr. Lott’s anatomy or physiology class!

Fast forward to August of 1993. I was graduating from the University of North Texas with a Master’s Degree. As the doctoral candidates were preparing to file across the stage, Dr. Alfred Hurley was speaking to them and said, “Welcome to the world of scholarly thinkers.” Again, I wondered… what have I been doing? Dr. Hurley hadn’t been in my cardiovascular exercise physiology class.

Fast forward to today. I started a residency for my doctorate. I’m starting to understand what Dr. Hurley was speaking about on both of those occasions. This program in it’s design is very rigorous. The drop out rate for most doctoral programs is around 50%. My group of five, we are committed to finishing this work in three years.

Welcome to the world of scholarly thinkers… kinda scary.

My cohort…

     Greg Bicknell (me)

     Angie Bicknell (my beautiful and extremely intelligent wife)

     Phyllis Scott

     Sharon Brodin

     Cheryl Schwaebler

Pencil in February 2011 for our commencement exercises… only about 1096 days… done before you know it.

Let’s do some math…

     Groundhogs Day is observed on February 2nd.

     Valentines Day is observed on February 14th.

My friend and mentor in this area, Jeff Clark, has done some math that we need to review now:

     Groundhogs Day = February 2nd

     February 2nd = X

     Valentines Day = February 14th

     February 14th = Y

I’m not sure of Jeff’s actual beliefs on the matter, but my understanding of them is that Valentines Day is a made up holiday. In today’s modern era it’s a day created/sustained/maintained/promoted by florists, greeting card companies, and candy manufacturers to make more money. I neglect to mention the fine jewelry industry. Lump them in with the previous group. They all want to pad the bottom line. The ladies in our lives have fallen for this modern day fleecing of America. They continue to believe.

Time for more math…

     if Feburary 2nd is = 1 day… thus X = 1

     if February 14th is = 1 day… thus Y = 1

     so…

    if X=1 and Y=1 then X must equal Y (X=Y)

Thus the logical thing for the ladies in our lives is as follows…

     If you want a nice dinner cooked at home on Valentines… we expect the same on Groundhogs.

     If you want a meal out on Valentines… we expect the same on Groundhogs.

   If you want jewelry on Valentines… we know what causes jewelry… now don’t we.

 We need to unite on this gentlemen.

Unite to bring equal rights to men…

In honor of Martin Luther King… here is the speech that many remember…

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

I am a fan of music. My father before me was a fan of music. He said their were two kinds… country… and… western. I like to think I’m a little more open than that. I played trombone in my middle school band. I don’t know many (if any) really good rock bands that have a trombone in them.

I like all kinds of music. My favorite genre would be music from the 80’s. We have a satellite dish and we get Sirius music stations. My wife and I love “The Big 80’s” station. It rocks. Our kids don’t like it so much… but they don’t have much taste when it comes to great/classic music. I like to say that I grew up in the 80’s. I went to high school in the 80’s. Music then was awesome. The Cars, Blondie, Hall & Oates, Duran Duran, Culture Club (yes… I like Culture Club), Billy Joel, Rick Springfield, Michael Jackson (when he looked like Michael Jackson), Van Halen, Foreigner, Pat Benatar, Men At Work, AC/DC, The Outfield, and then, all of the Hair Bands of the late 80’s.

Who hasn’t stood at the side of the gym/cafe at a dance playing air guitar and looking for a girl to dance with? Okay… really just looking for a girl because we were all too scared to dance. Well, David Gibson wasn’t. There was the dream I had of dancing with Miriam Holmes… but I digress…. on to Guitar Hero.

I think that playing Guitar Hero is ruining future garage band lead guitarists. You get to listen to some great music. You get to play along on the guitar with some great artists. Yet, you really aren’t playing along. You are pushing five colored keys on the neck of the guitar and strumming a switch on the body. It’s really not like playing a guitar. It’s like playing a video game to some rocking music. My two pre-teens (11 & 12) are pretty good at the game. Oh, how I wish they had real guitars that they would spend the time with. Real guitars to make real music. Real guitars that they can use to entertain themselves and their friends. I’m not opposed to the game… I’m just opposed to it taking away real opportunity to learn music and to play music.

I think the writers of the code for this game are pissed because they were the guys always standing on the side of the gym waiting to dance. Or wanting to dance. They never got to. They are getting even. They are getting even by ruining the future musical careers of guitarists.

Maybe I’m wrong… maybe I’m not… but I have to go… it’s my turn.

How do you get staff members to work in cooperative groups?

How do you get staff members to work in groups outside of their grade?

How do you get staff members to try new things?

How do you get staff members to work outside of their comfort zones?

How do you get staff members to work outside of their area of specialization?

Most of all, how do you help your staff have fun?

I think you challenge them!

I think you find a way(s) to engage them!

I don’t have the answers… but what I do have gives me better questions.

This is the end of my first year as a building principal. I have worked on large campuses with many administrators and many teachers. This is my first rodeo with a small campus and no other administrators. I have struggled to find ways to engage my staff in pursuit of doing the above.

Our school district calendar changed this year due to a new state law saying all schools must start the same week. Our fall semester in past years had ended before the Christmas break. Now it ends in January. I decided to have somewhat of a modified scavenger hunt. I divided the teachers into groups of three based on a mug they chose at our last faculty meeting. No mug on each team was alike.

 I was disappointed by a couple of my staff. They really didn’t want to participate. They said all the right things. Family comes first. Students come second. I get that. I respect that. But, there is nothing wrong with having a little fun and getting to know those you work with better. Nothing wrong witha  little competition. I digress.

Once the teams were divided I gave them a task. Then added more tasks as we went along… here they are:

Subject: Let the Games Begin - Competition #1

We all need more margin in our lives… if that doesn’t make sense I can explain later…

We are having a team competition… you have been placed on one of thirteen teams. You are   competing for the fabulous award at the end… (we are working out the details… but it is worth playing for).

Each team will earn points (each competition is will have a point value assigned to it).

Competition #1

Do the impossible… the note card that was in your mug… cut a hole in it that you can crawl through… the card must not be taped in any way. This is worth 100 points… style points can be added!

Subject: Let the Games Continue - Competition #2

I am impressed by the group for your competitive play… very impressed…

If you have not completed competition #1… fear not… it is never too late… but here is #2

A – design a team logo (I am using the term logo loosely) that includes a piece of each members name (one letter is enough)

B –  a 1953 penny

Subject: Let the Games Continue - Competition #3

Pick ‘em… you can choose to do three (minimum) out of the five… choose wisely…

1 – Picture of all group members with Santa… (together with the same Santa)

2 – Create a wiki for your class… (each group member would have to do it)

3 – A picture book of your team (minimum 25 photos – digital are best)

4 – Recreation of the Beatles “Abbey Road” album cover. (Submitted digitally – if you do not know what this is you really need to listen to some good music)

5 – Picture of your team (whole group or individual members) with a firefighter in full bunker gear. (All must pose with a firefighter – you just do not have to be at the same place at the same time.

I have three boys. Two of them in school. I love the days they come home from school so excited about something they learned that they do it at home. The keep working on it. Why? That should be your question? That should be what you look for in every lesson. Why do they want to continue working on it? How do I design lessons that make that happen?

 You know… only one team can win the award… but… I think everyone who is participating is a winner.

I’m not sure if I ever believed in Santa Claus.

I’m not sure if I have stopped believing in Santa Claus.

One of my administrative interns, who uses the term ‘crack smoker’ way too much, let a cat out of the bag the other day to her 6 year old. One of my kindergarten teachers has guest readers come every Friday. One Friday Zorro came in full regalia: mask ,boots, and sword. He read a great story. I have proof he was there… see my blog about Zorro. Zorro, much like Superman, can’t make a living out of fighting crime and can’t make a living out of reading stories to little kids. He has to moonlight, or in this case, daylight, as a high school assistant principal. You see, many of the same qualities that are required of a Zorro or a Superman are required of a high school assistant principal. My intern’s daughter just happens to be in that class.

I digress. My intern saw Zorro at a high school sporting event sans the Zorro attire. She tells her sweet little angelic daughter… “see that bald guy over there… that’s the Zorro that came and read to your class!” Which makes me wonder… has she already killed off the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny and Santa with her daughter?

I believe in Santa Claus. I believe in the goodness of what Santa stands for. (Truthfully, the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny freak me out.) Should we encourage our children to believe in these things as well? I think we should. We should all have wonder and amazement somewhere in our lives. We should all have that secret belief that goodness exists. We should take whatever avenue is available to make the world a better place. If believing in Santa (and the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny) are the way to do that, then so be it.

Wonder and amazement are good. Two of the reasons to love elementary school.