The Power of Choice Rule #3--Ignore it if you dare

The Power of Choice Rule #3—Ignore it if you dare

So thus far, we’ve talked about The Power of Choice in two rules; It’s yours and It’s always there. No matter what, you have a choice. Easy or painful, joyful or excruciating; it’s always there and within your reach. I use the word “Power” to describe choices because that is exactly what you have in your hands at the crossroads of a decision!

Much like any other power you have, the way you choose to wield it or not, can have huge implications on you and your future. With this rule, I say Ignore it if you Dare. I put it that way, not to scare or frighten you, but to highlight to you the importance and impact of our choices. (And sometimes the lack there of!) We’ve all heard it from time to time that the worst decision you can make is no decision at all. And that is more times than not, true. Not taking action or initiative will gain you nothing in the end. You only have the ability to lose something when you don’t make your choice. And do you know what you will lose when you don’t make a decision? Power. You give away your power over your decisions and your future actions, with your current lack of decision and action. 

So again I say, with the power of your choices at hand, you can ignore that power, if you dare.

Take control of the power you have. Make the choices that will prove to be beneficial for you, your career, your family and your health. Take the opportunity given to you and squeeze every little drop of power you can out of the situation and turn it in to electricity to run your life for a while. Use that power and continue to drive yourself to do things you never thought you could. All with the power you have and what you can unleash with the power of your choices.

The Power of Choice Rule 2--It's always there.

The Power of Choice Rule 2--It's always there.

In my last post, I kind of tipped my hand to this installment when I went in on the phrase "It is what it is." However, I will still go with it here in Rule 2--It's always there.

Yes you always have a choice. In each instance we have in our educational and every day lives, we have the ability to make a choice. It is always in our hands, no matter the situation. The only time we do not have a choice or the opportunity to make a choice, is when we give that power away.

The power of the choice is key; if you hold on to it, if you secure that power, no one can take it from you. You have to give it to them. And yes, we do this from time to time, when we enter into contractual agreements with employers or businesses. I will use myself for this example; I have entered into a contractual agreement with my satellite provider. Effectively, I have give up my ability to choose my provider of cable. My company has the ability, while I'm under contract, to reassign my local channels and add or take away channels from my lineup without consulting me. Now, if I CHOOSE to nullify that contract and not sign the coming year's contract, I take back that power of choice! So I will reiterate; the power of choice is always there. It's up to you to seize that power, and take control of your direction both personally and professionally.

The Power of Choice-Rule 1

The Power of Choice
Rule 1: It's Yours!

The Power of Choice, it's not a new concept, but one I want to highlight for you. You have the opportunity with your decisions to positively or negatively effect your every day life and your future.

The greatest thing about choice is that it is always in your hands. It is always there, and no one can take it away from you. Yes, you can give it away, but there again--it's your choice!

Now to speak to this a little more, I must speak out against one of the most over used, and annoying sayings in pop culture:

"It is what it is." 

Oh my goodness does that saying drive me nuts. If you say, or accept this saying, you have given your power of choice away. You always have a choice, it's there. Sometimes it's a simple fix like, you don't like the offerings at lunch. Simple fix: Pack your own. But there's always a choice in bigger situations as well, don't like the way your boss speaks to you or treats you? Big fix: explore your options and make your move. It's tough and it's scary, but you have the choice!

Big or little, every day or life changing--your decisions are just that: YOURS. Seize the opportunity and take advantage of every situation presented to you to better yourself and better your life.

Spoiled Kids

I was filling up with gas the other day and this younger, college aged girl with her girlfriend pull into the stall across from me. I'm driving our Tahoe, which is not even close to being new, but is still a nice vehicle and more than gets the job done. Meanwhile, the young ladies across from me are in a newer hard top, Mercedes coupe convertible. My first inclination was to scoff at them and roll my eyes. Oh here's another spoiled "rich kid", going to their expensive private school and spending daddy's money. And for whatever reason, I had a flash to a John Cusack movie, 2012. In one scene of the movie, it was discussed that aRussian billionaire paid a billion Euros per seat for him and his family. Cusack's character responds in the same fashion I did to the girl in the coupe, to which the rich guy rebuts; if you could you would do it for your family wouldn't you?

So this brings me to my point; in our schools and classrooms, let's spoil our kids! Every day, give them everything you can! I believe that education and opportunities are areas where no kid should know want. You have everything that each child needs every day. You are the one with the smile, with the hug, with the fist bump, with the knowledge and the ability to provide experiences and relationships! Give it to them, give it ALL to them, every chance you get, every single day. Yes some days are going to be tough, but giving everything you have that day may just be the one day that one kid needs it the most!

The thing to remember here is you! You have the choice, you are the one with the ability to make the difference and make the choice to be mediocre or to help your kids' rises be meteoric!! You choose.

Choose your culture.

The Curve

Ahh the curveball. The hook, the bender, the deuce...goes by man names, but pending on it's use and placement, it can be a devastating pitch for either the hitter or the pitcher. In education, we talk about being ready for the curveball, as there is always going to be something that catches you off guard on any given day.

However, just like in baseball, how you handle the curve is huge! I believe that a lot of success or failure in handling the curve lays in the preparation before the curve even has a chance of being thrown.

There are a few things that can happen with a curve ball; You can be taken completely off guard, you can be "sitting" on it (ready and waiting) or you can be prepared in your approach and not get fooled.

What can make this pitch so devastating for hitters is when it is thrown, and thrown well, when the hitter is not expecting it. This comes in the classroom when you think you have the best, most thoroughly planned lesson and then "it" happens. We all know the "it" and whatever it may be, it completely derails the lesson and you've struck out for the day/period.

If you are "sitting" on it, or waiting for the curve to come, it is an easy pitch to hit a very long way. Same can be said in the classroom, if you know that there is a spot coming where an awkward question or mishap can happen, it is greatly satisfying to turn that curveball into a teachable moment and hit the homerun.

And, it what is my favorite response, is being well prepared and not getting fooled when the curve comes. Ok, bare with me here through the baseball talk. If you are well prepared for the situation, you know that there is a chance that the curve is coming, but you're not going to put all your thoughts to that one pitch. You have your approach at the plate, and its to be ready for whatever comes your way of sorts. You are ready to handle the fast ball, ready to drive it back up the middle or even a little the other way. This gives you the ability to keep your weight and hands back to be ready to drive the off speed pitch. Ok, I'm back; in the classroom you know that the lesson is solid and you have formative checks in place and you have a healthy amount of activities for that one kid that seems to fly through everything and get all the answers right, and you know where the possible pitfalls could come, but you're expecting the lesson to sail with no issues. But you're ready if something makes the lesson go sideways.

 So, you have the ability to choose how you handle the curve. You have the opportunity to handle it like an old pro, or flounder like a rookie. It's all in your personal preparation. Choose your culture of your classroom or school or district and be prepared for the curve, be ready to crush it and have everyone else sit back in awe of your prepared approach to your day and culture .

Opening Day

This past week was Opening Day in Major League Baseball, and it is a holiday of sorts for some folks, including yours truly. Opening Day for baseball is likened to New Year's Day, its a blank slate, a new start, everyone's 0-0 and everyone has the same chance to make it to the World Series.

To me, this is just like the first day of school each fall! Every kid, every classroom, every school is getting a fresh start, a clean page to write their history for the coming year.

However, as with all feel good stories, this one has a 'but' too. But each year, prognosticators analyze and predict who has made the best moves over the off season, who has the best staff, who are the best players, who is the best coach, and who has introduced the hottest new food items for the coming year. Having all of those factors in hand, they make their predictions for the coming season and before the first pitch is even thrown, most of the teams' fans feel their team has been eliminated from the playoffs.

We do the exact same thing in our schools every year. We hear the stories from the teacher our upcoming students had the year before. Or if its "that kid", we already know the m.o. before they set foot in our classrooms. These are the kids that will be in the principal's office in the first week, just because they've already earned it with what they did last year. If this were the case for teachers, someone would be on an improvement plan the first week, when that new, experimental lesson bombs--simply based on their carryover performance.

But is this what we want our classrooms and schools to be built upon? NO! Each of our kids and teachers, (and yes, even parents) should receive that fresh start every year. They should have the ability to make you go wow with their progress, regardless of where they finished the year before. Each of us has the opportunity to choose how we welcome our kids and staff into the new school year. What do you choose to carry over from the year before? What do you choose to see those first days and weeks of the school year? You have the ability to choose your culture, for your school and classroom.

We're talking baseball...

For the life of me, I can't believe that I missed this connection, and for so long too!

Baseball. Baseball!!!

My entire life, baseball has been there. One of my favorite memories as a child, was walking down the stairs, through a tunnel, and having the huge major league field open up to me. Granted, it was turf, but the green of the Metrodome turf was awesome. There my heros, Kirby, Hrby, Bruno & TK all came to life. It was awesome. This was the reason why people came over  to watch baseball during the playoffs in the fall at what we affectionately called, The Mini Dome. Well that and beer.

But for me at that age, it was baseball. Throughout my life, baseball was there. I was called to play it through grade school and middle school, and then I got all high and mighty and decided I wanted to play golf instead, moron. However, I was there with my dad and brothers in St. Cloud in 1995, when our high school won the state tournament, and it was phenomenal. Less on that later.

As I grew up, baseball was always pulling at me to have it be a part of my life. I worked in baseball as an umpire for a long time, and even went to "school" to be a professional. I worked a couple summers in a collegiate wooden bat league that used professional rules, but was still a bunch of college kids playing baseball over the summer. All in all, it was fun, but not meant to be.

But let's get back to the point here...baseball and education.

One thing I remember from umpire school was Bruce Fremming telling us that if a player gets a hit one out of three at bats, they will be in the hall of fame. But, if one of you guys gets one in three calls right here, you'll never work above rec league! And BOOM there it is: Failure!

Baseball is a game of failure. You're going to fail waaaaaaay more than you succeed. It's so funny, every single stat that I can think of, it is a battle of your successes against your failures. And every single time, failure dominates! Pitchers give up runs & runs, they walk people and those two together equals their WHIP and ERAs (Just a note for non baseball geeks, the closer to zero that you are the better there. Just for reference, Cory Kluber led both categories in 2017 with an ERA of 2.25 & WHIP of .869, which directly is linked to him winning the Cy Young. Obviously.)

In education, we like to look at our successes, and glow and brag on them all day long. But how did you get there? The first time you got on a bike, you couldn't ride it without falling, or training wheels. It took some failures. It took some finding your footing, finding your style and discovering what worked and what absolutely crashed and burned. But you had to go through the process. If any of you are doubting what you're doing in education, stop right there. Because I guarantee two things; one you're expanding your profession by reaching out for new/different ideas and voices, simply by reading this blog. And two, by reaching out, outside of your own world, I can tell that you love your students, "Your Kids", and because of that failure will not be the end point for you, but a spring board that will carry you and your kids beyond whatever y'all thought possible.

Just know that you are going to fail, but at the same time, you are going to be just fine. You've got a whole lot of people that are here for you as a support, and you are the greatest support system any one of your students will ever have or need. This idea that failure is ok is nothing new, but it is something that we must embrace in our classrooms and schools to see its true effects and fruits. If you do not look the failure in the eye and tell it that you will not be beaten down by it, then it will do just that and there is where your doubt creeps in and starts to destroy your spirit. Choose to stand up to fear and failure, choose to take on the challenge and make great things happen for you and your kids. Choose the culture you wish to have in your school or classroom. 

A post from Madi Melbye

I love everyone in this world that is kind. Kids all over the world are sweet and kind. Please let your true talent shine, thank you.

Thank you, I am finished.
Madi

Something profound...

Over the years, I have tried to write. I've written papers for school, I have written newspaper articles as a teacher, coach and administrator, and tried blogging as a hobby to give me something to do. Heck one time I wrote an online article previewing an upcoming season for the Twins. Today, I can't imagine needing to find something to "fill my time". I wanted to write, but couldn't find my platform.

In my last couple years in the classroom, I tried to start a classroom blog, but the lack of internet and smartphones being in their infancy meant that not many of my students would be able to access and I wouldn't be able to fully utilize the blog. Oh and it was blocked at school for the kids. Nonetheless, the itch to write and get ideas "out there" and "find my voice" was persistent over the years. My wife Susan and I are both administrators, both elementary principals and obviously married parents of three very active little girls. We started blogging together earlier this school year, but she did a fantastic job and has found her voice as "Not Your Typical Principal". She is more active on Twitter & Voxer, but you will find her thoughts online too: https://notyourtypicalprincipal.blogspot.com/

My problem was I always thought I needed my message to be something profound and transcendent for the masses. In the past year, my interactions and conversations on Twitter, Voxer & Facebook have convinced me otherwise. I started to understand that small thoughts, really could have a profound effect. Even if that effect was for one person, that may just have been the moment they needed that one idea/thought/feeling/affirmation. I could be the one that provided what was needed for that person for that day.

Which brings me to one of the coolest/best connections that I've made on Twitter & Voxer. Ryan Sheehy from California has his book "Be the One for Kids" coming out today and I am ecstatic for him and his family. Ryan and I have had a handful of conversations, but we just get it with each other, and he has been a great confidant. Ryan was the one that nudged me again to start blogging, and helping me understand that along the way, I would find my voice and find a way to connect. So Ryan, thank you sir!

So there's post #1, and I hope that it will be the first of many to come.