The theme at my school this year is "I Believe." My principal asked me to create a presentation for the faculty sharing my core beliefs about my role in the school, our students, the teachers and myself. Thinking it would be easy, I agreed. Then I spent two weeks trying to decipher what I believe. It seemed so easy in the abstract. After all, I live my beliefs every day, or so I thought.
I realized that this request was more than just an exercise for welcoming back our teachers and kicking off the year's theme. The reflection made me truly look at what I believe and why I do the things I do.
After sharing my presentation with the staff, a funny thing happened. Suddenly teachers were coming to my office, just to talk. They began sharing their stories and looking at ways to implement our shared visions. I was no longer just the assistant principal. I was a person they knew and understood. The atmosphere became charged and excited.
I am not so naive to believe that this is due to what I believe. The change is from understanding the person behind the title. It is feeling a connection and sharing our visions of a future for our students. It also comes from the reflection that aligns our vision to our daily actions so we are able to "walk the talk."
I realized that this request was more than just an exercise for welcoming back our teachers and kicking off the year's theme. The reflection made me truly look at what I believe and why I do the things I do.
After sharing my presentation with the staff, a funny thing happened. Suddenly teachers were coming to my office, just to talk. They began sharing their stories and looking at ways to implement our shared visions. I was no longer just the assistant principal. I was a person they knew and understood. The atmosphere became charged and excited.
I am not so naive to believe that this is due to what I believe. The change is from understanding the person behind the title. It is feeling a connection and sharing our visions of a future for our students. It also comes from the reflection that aligns our vision to our daily actions so we are able to "walk the talk."
