No, I’m not trying to be funny or facetious. I’m just reminding myself of how easily it is to forget how important our relationships are in our personal and professional lives.
Yesterday a Tweet came across my timeline from one of my Springfield Public Schools colleagues, Dr. Jason Anderson @jandersonsps. His tweet said “Having the right instrument is important, but we don’t congratulate the piano after the recital. Keep the focus on the performer.”
I’m not sure if that is an original quote by Dr. J or if he borrowed it from someone else. Regardless, it had me pondering on the subject most of the day and reflecting back to a previous post.
The “performer” can be many different people in our lives – wives, husbands, children, co-workers, students, teachers, staff, and parents.
As we approach the beginning of the 2012 – 2013 school year (first day of school here is 36 days away) remember that we can have the most up-to-date technology or the latest and greatest ideas (flipped class, DI, PBL, etc.), but without having genuine relationships with all involved none of it will work.
In Todd Whitaker’s book “What Great Principals Do Differently” this is one of the first items he addresses. “It’s people, not programs.”
So, Admin get out of your office and connect with your staff, students, and families. Be visible before school greeting everyone that crosses your path. Visit classrooms, be in the halls between classes, get in the lunchroom and visit with the students, don’t just supervise after school events – connect with the families.
Teachers – make it a point to speak to every student every day and find a way to connect to them all. Go out of your way to connect to new staff and make a connection with colleagues of different subjects and grade levels that you rarely interact.
Thank you Jason for the reminder to keep the focus on the performer a.k.a. those most important to us.
I would guess tweeps on Twitter would be even more understanding of the value of creating personal relationships since so many of us strive to do that while connecting to people with similar passions. I know that I have become much more understanding of how learning is built on trust and relationships.
I think your advice is great, we need to be making connections with individuals, not teaching classes.
Thanks for the comment William.
Yes, we must do a better job of connecting with all of our students. Many times we focus on the top and bottom groups, leaving out the middle, or evening “ignoring” certain students so as not to cause disruptions or problems.
Once we make connections and form relationships everything else is easy.
I agree. We just covered motivation in my leadership class and when it comes to our students we have to remember Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I would say that most of our students have their survival and security needs met, but for middle schoolers the need to belong and be respected is especially important. By trying to connect with a student we may just be meeting one of those needs so that they can really focus on their fulfillment need through learning.
I also wanted to share a thought provoking video I was required to watch for my leadership class. It shows the relationship that needs to happen between the leader and the “first follower”.
Thank you for the comment Jennifer.
You are right on target with our population, but as you know and pointed out, there are still many students that “need” us in different ways.
Love the video you shared and how that relates to Leadership and the “first follower.” It really is thought provoking.
I need to brush up on my dancing
Excellent topic! Building relationships is definitely a main focus of mine. Thank you for reminding us to focus on the performer, not the instrument.
Thanks for the comment Alison. I appreciate it very much.
Glad to have you on board!!
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