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.