Quarantine Blues

 I hate Covid-19.  For the past two weeks, I've been stuck at home due to the virus.  I don't have it, but my wife does.  She is over most of the symptoms now, but is still fatigued and sleeps about 16 hours a day.  And, from what I understand, that is a fairly mild case. 

Due to her illness and my close proximity (she is my wife), I am required to quarantine.  Which means I don't go anywhere.  The farthest I've been is Walmart to the Curbside Pickup.  The rest of the time has been spent at home.  I've realized over the last two weeks that I'm not cut out for working from home.  

When I first went into quarantine, I decided to try and follow my regular schedule:  Get up at 4 am, pray, read, then plan out the day, start work at 5:30 by listening to the two-way radio and helping when I could, work on admin tasks throughout the day, and then repeat the two-way radio gig from 2:00 to 5:30 pm.  That is my typical day at the office.  Needless to say, that lasted about three days.  I soon realized that I wasn't needed for the morning or the afternoon runs.  And, since much of what I do requires spending time with people and on campuses, I couldn't get a whole lot accomplished in those areas either.  

The second week, my alarm still went off at 4, but I wasn't getting up until 5.  I'd listen to the two-way while praying and planning and then try to accomplish a few things on the computer.  After a couple of hours, I was pretty much done.  Something I would need would be at the office and I couldn't get to it, so I would have to put the task aside.  I'd help my wife around the house, check e-mails periodically, field a few phone calls, and then be done.  That lasted another two days,  

Now, my alarm goes off at 4 and I get up at 8.  If I'm needed, someone will call.  I take my time going through the tasks of the day and do what I can at the kitchen table. After that, I spend time with my wife when she's not sleeping.  

Honestly, this has been a miserable experience.  I love to work and accomplish my goals and that has been extremely difficult during this quarantine.  When things were shut down in March, I was able to go to the office as our department was considered essential. I think that kept me sane.  People tell me they would love to be off all the time.  I find it exhausting.  

I guess I should be glad that no one in my family is seriously ill. Instead, I am just inconvenienced. 

On the bright side, I am only on quarantine for two more days.  And, the following Monday is Thanksgiving break.  At least I won' feel obligated to work over the holidays.  Not that I would get anything done anyway. 

Coronavirus- Shining a Light on School Support Services

Over the past few weeks in Texas, schools have been closed due to Coronavirus (Covid-19).  Campuses are virtually ghost towns, teachers go to classroom only when they have to, and students are working from home.  Yet there are a few people in districts who are not stopping.  In fact, a new light is illuminating their importance to the education system.

I'm talking about support services people (Transportation, Food Services, Custodial, Maintenance).  These folks usually fly under the radar.  We often forget they are even a part of the educational system. They are the epitome of "out of sight, out of mind." But, the work they do behind the scenes is essential and invaluable.  The coronavirus has shone a much needed light on their importance to school districts.  

In my district, bus drivers and monitors are now delivering meals and work to students daily.  As they run their route, they are bringing hope to families. Dressed in gloves, masks and maintaining social distance, they bring breakfast and lunch along their routes and let kids know they haven't been forgotten. 

We started with around 750 meals each day and are now up to over a 1000. Someone has to make those meals.  That's where Food Services comes in.  Every day, these men and women make over a thousand sandwiches, pack them with love in old-fashioned brown bags, and sort them for delivery to hungry kids.  They are at work before dawn, making sure the food for that day is ready to go.  Once that is done, they start preparing for the next day.  

As I am writing this, a young man is cleaning my office.  He is not only emptying trash and sweeping, but is doing the extra job of disinfecting work surfaces.  Custodial staff, like other support persons, often fly under the radar.  We don't notice them unless something is not done.  When they do their jobs well, we rarely know they are even there.  During this outbreak, their services are even more important.  Who know whether their disinfecting is keeping someone from contracting the virus.

Finally, I can't forget the district maintenance crews.  They are quietly keeping the buildings operational, doing summer projects, and ensuring that anything that breaks gets fixed expediently.  With them on the scene, students and teachers can return to stellar facilities ready to support learning.  

I hope that, once school resumes, we don't forget the invaluable work of our support people in school districts.  Without them, the district could not function effectively.  The coronavirus pandemic is just making this more obvious.

If you know someone who works in a support service in a school district, please take time to thank them (but remember to practice social distance when you do).  

New Year

 This holiday season,  I realized that I've strayed from some of my core principles.  One of the main ones is to focus on essentials and let everything else take a back seat.  In my work, I'm doing well on that, but not so much in my personal life.  At work, the essentials are discipline and morale.  I've been able to focus in those two and make some pretty impressive moves forward.  In my personal life, I realize that I've not truly developed essentials.  I've been flying without any real direction. 

For that reason, one of my main goals as I enter the new year is clarify the essentials in my personal life.  I cannot do the most important things if I don't know what they are.  So, this weekend, I will develop the essentials for my personal life so I can have a direction to go in.  Only then will I be able to make progress in the right direction instead of being scattered in a hundred different directions.

Bus Drivers: The invisible cog in the wheel

Bus drivers might be considered an invisible cog in the wheel of education (no pun intended).  They drop kids off in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon, but are usually not on campuses.   But, the bus driver has an impact that extends well beyond the walls of the bus.  For many, bus drivers are the first school related face a child sees in the morning and the last they see in the afternoon.  Their approach to kids can make or break a child's day.  It can also affect a campus as kids who get off the bus upset or wild carry that demeanor into the school. On the flip side, kids who leave the bus orderly and with a pleasant ride bring that calmness into the building.

Drivers often carry fifty or more students at a time and must both safely drive the bus and maintain order.  This is not an easy task and requires strong student management skills. Effective bus drivers have developed routines for their buses and built relationships with their kids.  Just like a classroom teacher, they teach the kids the expectations and routines early on in the year and reteach as needed. They know the kids by name, set up seating charts, have consistent rules and consequences, and hold kids accountable.  These drivers know the impact they have on students.

Another thing bus drivers see daily is where students live.  This gives them a glimpse into the lives of kids that other educators often do not.  If you are wondering why a student has suddenly started acting up, ask their bus driver. They may be able to give you a glimpse into the child's world that those at the school cannot.

For those on campuses, I encourage you to find the time to ride a bus at least one day a year.  Call your Transportation Director and ask how to set that up.  I promise that it will change your perspective on the role of the bus driver and may even help you see your students in a different light.

In Process Part 4 - New Position

As of July 24, 2019 I will officially be the new Director of Transportation for my school district.  This was not a position that I sought out, but one I do feel that I am supposed to be in.  While I won't be in the role by contract until the date above, I started several weeks back.  As I moved into the position, the first thing I knew I had to do was get to know the drivers.  I did this by riding bus routes twice a day for two weeks.  Since I am learning to drive a bus myself, I asked the drivers to tell me what they were doing in the different stages of the drive.  I not only learned their personalities, but I also learned a lot about driving a bus.

As the new director, I've been tasked with helping to reduce the number of discipline issues on the buses along with parent complaints as well as help build morale among the drivers.  Fortunately, I have a supervisor working for me who has been on the job for years and can help keep things running while I focus on these priorities and learn the various aspects of the transportation program.  I've also joined the state transportation organization and been to their conference and training.  It was quickly apparent that transportation people are a strong group who are willing to help a newbie like me.

As I transition into this position, I know it will be challenging.  It already is.  But, I know I'm where I need to be and will continue to make a difference in the lives of kids, albeit in a different way.

In Process Part 3

Please note:  This was written in June 2019, but I chose to wait to publish until July.

For the last several days, I've been sharing about a new opportunity that has opened for me.  It is far from anything I've ever done in the past.  Still, it feels right.  I will be using many of the skills I have acquired as an AP just in a different way.  While this is not the path I would have chosen for myself, it is the one I know I am supposed to be on.

They say that when you start something new, you have to leave other things behind.  I will miss the day to day action of the campus and interacting with teachers and students.  There will be opportunities to do this, but not in the same way.  I will, however, be able to impact many of these kids both directly, but more importantly, indirectly through the staff that I serve.  In this new position, I will be leading a group of people who interact directly with children and help start and end their day.  I have ultimate responsible for ensuring the safety of kids.  My work will indirectly impact social and emotional growth by increasing positive interactions with kids on a daily basis.  Interacting with parents to help their kids be successful will play a role in this position.  I must learn new skills, new systems, and be able to put new ideas and processes in place.  The learning curve for me feels like a wall.  But, I've climbed that wall before and I can do it again.  

In Process Part 2

Please note:  This was written in June 2019, but published in July of the same year.

Two days ago, I started writing about my progress in finding a Principal position at our district 4-6 campus.  I had interviewed twice for the same position and felt like both they went well.  In fact, I heard through the grapevine that my interview was excellent.  That made me feel even more confident.

Yesterday evening, I received a call to come to Central Office this morning at 7:30 am.  All night long, my mind kept going back to this thought:  "My life is about to drastically change tomorrow." Before I left the house, I completed a list of questions and requests for when I got the job such as, Would the district allow me to attend a New Principal Academy in July and when would I be able to meet with the outgoing principal?  I wanted to be as prepared as possible.  I sat down in the room with the Superintendent over Personnel and the Financial Director.  After greetings and a little small talk, the next words out of the Superintendent's mouth were, "You weren't chosen for the Principal's position."  Strangely, I felt a sense of relief rather than loss.  It felt as though I wasn't supposed to get the position.  Then she said, "But we have something else we would like you to apply for."  They then began to tell me about a position they had been working on for the last several months and provided an overview of the expectations.  While I won't go into details, I can say it would allow me to be over a large department that affects probably two-thirds of the children in the district.  They wanted me to apply for it.  After asking a number of questions, I left the meeting with a sense of both excitement and fear.  Excitement that district leaders thought enough of my skills to ask me to look into the position and fear because it is nothing that I ever done before (although it requires many of the skills I have developed in my current position.)  I don't have any idea if I will get it, but I was honored to even be asked to consider applying.

I spent much of the remainder of the day praying.  I called mentors and asked their thoughts.  I made lists of pros and cons.  And I reflected over the last several months as I've begun to feel it was time to move from my current position.  I remembered that, of all the positions I have had in education, only two have come from a formal interview.  The rest were because people knew me and offered the opportunity.  Also, I remembered thinking recently that it would be amazing if someone did the same thing again, particularly if I wasn't expecting it.  That is exactly what happened.

At this point, I am trusting that this the direction the God is leading me and that He has laid out the steps.  I'll do the application tomorrow and keep you posted.