leadership in high schools

Yes, there is a special lonely place that is inhabited by school officials – teachers and administrators.  We do not like to talk about it much as if to say that by not admitting it, it does not exist.  The cost of team work takes a toll on all of us because not always does everything run so smoothly in our schools.  People do not agree, people feel insulted where no insult was intended, communications are misread and ill feelings are bred.  Every once in a while, I have days like this.  I need an aspirin on those days, quiet and zone out time.  Time to replenish my energy for the next day. 

Everyone needs a voice and to be heard.   Schools run on a mixture of bureaucratic chain of command and consensual team work.  Common Ground has to be found in order to move forward on projects that are student centered and long term.  This takes a toll on leaders who have to justify every and all action knowing full well that someone will not be happy at the end of the day.  The army calls it collateral damage. 

We at the Hewes Center, have been at the heart of cultural change for five years now.  More and more collisions will take place as two programs Alternative and Special Education come together to best serve the needs of students.  This cultural change takes a toll on people – all we can do is prepare for it, plan for it and know that there will be collateral damage.  This is the cost of change.  There will be “asprin” days for all of us who work within schools – whether this cultural change starts with web 2.0 skills introduction, digital technology spread throughout all grade levels or a simple difference in opinion in how to meet the needs of 21st century students.  

“Culture does not change because we desire to change it.  Culture changes when the organization is transformed;  the culture reflects the realities of people working together everyday.” 

 -  Frances Hesselbein,  The key to Cultural Transformation, Leader to Leader (Spring, 1999) 

This is a class project I read about  which currently involves three countries Australia, China and Turkey.  The object of this exercise using a power point presentation is to have students select their favorite foods.  I thought of the universal appeal to all students for this kind of input which is both gratifying and immediate.  Food and and the development of epicurean tastes!  In addtion the ability to bridge a global area of interest.  I see the value of this exercise across several subject areas and an experiment that can be introduced to students of all age groups.   On coming across the blog post I was surprised that America is not yet a part of this experiment, so in an effort to join our teaching colleagues in Australia and share our  students passion for food with their global counterparts please check out this slideshare presentation.   

This is a power point presentation contained in the blog http://hawkesdale.globalstudent.org.au. However it is not always accessible.  You may also go to the actual slideshare presentation at http://lunchboxproject.wikispaces.com and add your own uniques features to this classroom project.  Whereas it is listed Kindergarten through 3rd grade you can easily adapt this project to any grade level with your own teacher input and creativity. 

If we could all collaborate on this expeiment I believe we shall expand the horizons of our web 2.0 reach as well as teach our students a variety of skills.