Recharging the Mission: A Superintendent's Trip Back to the Classroom

 

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."

                - John F. Kennedy

I have been in school administration for a decade now, but I have always considered myself a teacher.  Even though I haven't had a classroom during that time, I feel as though my job is still to teach.  The only difference is I am teaching adults instead of children.  Being in a room with people who have the same vision and different perspectives while exchanging thoughts and ideas is the most enjoyable part of the job.  

There comes a point in every superintendent's life where you realize something unsettling:  you spend a lot of time talking about classrooms without actually being in one.

This isn't by design, it just happens.  One day you are swimming in lesson plans and lunch duty, and the next you are knee deep in budgets, board reports, and a meeting about why the AC unit in the library has once again chosen violence.

Somewhere along the way, we get so concerned with "leading" the school, we lose sight of "living" school.  So, in what can be described as either a bold act of leadership or a complete and utter lapse of judgement, I've decided to fix that.

I am going back to the classroom.

A Quick Reality Check

I know what you're thinking:  Man, that's risky.  

Because teaching is difficult.  While my passion for teaching is as strong as ever, a decade outside of that arena could present some issues.  Managing adult personalities is surprisingly similar to managing students, but not identical.  The game has changed.  The students have changed.  The definition of paying attention has changed.

Students today are navigating a completely different landscape (social media pressure, FOMO, access to copious information, and disinformation, right in their pocket).  There is more competing for a kid's attention today. With their attention being pulled in a hundred different ways, earning it is not automatic.  You have to work for it every single minute.

I fully expect to be humbled.  Probably within the first five minutes.

Why Do This?

At some time or another, every leader has to reconnect with their "why."  Mine has always been simple, it is the students.  Not policies, not budgets, not the 72 emails I get before 8 a.m. every morning.  Students.

There is no better way to recharge your purpose than to be in the space where it actually happens.  To see what works, what doesn't, and what makes students lean in or say "Wow!"  It is hard to lead with "why" if you haven't visited it lately.

What Are You Going to Do?

Creativity, innovation, and novelty are tools, when correctly applied, can supercharge a student's educational experience.  How can we take something mundane, twist it, and make it exciting and interesting?  

With that in mind, I tried to think of a way to build connections between science, math, and literacy.  How can I highlight how each of those topics are in service of each other?  I thought back to my college days when I took a class called Logic.  I noticed that it had a course code for Philosophy AND Mathematics.  I found that interesting.  How can they take a social studies class and make it a math class at the same time?  

Once I was in the class, I learned how thought, reasoning, scientific reasoning, and mathematical reasoning and how that reasoning is communicated through language are all connected.  By exploring those connections, my understanding of each of those subjects grew deeper.

I felt like this was the perfect approach for a high school kid.  Take topics with which they are already familiar, and present them in a way that they have never seen.  So, I wrote a course for Logic at the high school level and DESE approved it.

What Do You Hope to Learn?

First, I'd like to remember what it feels like to plan a lesson that looks amazing on paper, and then watch it fall apart in real time.  I know that sounds crazy, but there is something about making those on-the-fly adjustments that makes teaching fun.  The excitement of uncertainty may be why I gravitated toward administration.

Second, I want to experience the pace and pressure our teachers manage every single day.  It is one thing to know how difficult it is, it is another thing to live it.

Finally, I want to reconnect with the magic of the classroom.  The unpredictable moments when a student says something insightful, funny, or completely unrelated but somehow still perfect.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

A few things come to mind:

• I may overestimate how "interesting" this subject is and be immediately voted "Most Boring Teacher"
• Technology may betray me at a critical moment.  If you've never been humbled by a lack of internet, you haven't lived.
• Students may discover that the Superintendent does not, in fact, know everything.  Which would be bad for my brand.

But, that is kind of the point.

Growth doesn't happen in comfort.  It happens when you are not entirely sure of what you are doing, but you are doing it anyway.  

 The Big Picture

This isn't about proving anything.  It isn't about saying, "Look, I've still got it!" It is about staying grounded.  It is about remembering that every decision I make at the district level will eventually land in front of a student.  If I'm going to ask our teachers to give it their best every day, then I would be well served to step back into their world. Also, I'm doing this for me.  I love teaching and I am not ready to be completely done with it.

There is a quote that is attributed to William Butler Yeats:  "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."  I'm not sure how many fires I'll light, but I can promise that I will give it my best and gain a renewed appreciation for every teacher in this district.  Probably after the first class period.

Sometimes, the best way to move forward as a leader, is to go back to where it all started.

Now, I need to find a teacher who can show me how to take attendance without breaking something.