I’ve had the pleasure of getting into classes
throughout the building over the last few weeks to talk with our students about
a few simple, but essential concepts that are the foundation for being
successful. If Middle School is anything, it is a challenging period of time
for students. They are caught between being a young adult and being a little
kid. Other than infancy, there isn’t another period of time in which they are
going through more substantial change. This period is referred to as the “The
Wonder Years” for a reason. If you live with any of them you know exactly what
I am talking about.
So as we connect with students we want to outline a
few simple principles to help guide them and frame our expectations of them as
they make their way through this three year journey. We talk to them about the
importance of doing four things each day:
Be
Nice
Work
Hard
Think
Big
Be
Present
Be
Nice: All of us, students and adults, need to remember that
what we do and say to people matters. We all have the incredible power to make
or break someone’s day by how we treat them. With that power comes the
responsibility and the obligation to be a positive presence in our world: to
say hello to people, to hold doors, to lend a hand, to show empathy, to smile,
to give compliments, to exude positivity. I’d like to see a little more “Be
Nice” from our Presidential Candidates, but I’m not holding my breath. In the
end people will always remember how you made them feel. We all need to do a
better job here and work at being nice.
Work
Hard: Working hard is about giving your best – whatever
that is - all of the time. Things are not always easy and things don’t always
go as you planned. Sometimes you have to do things that you don’t want to do,
but we need to step up and do it anyway. Life is about continuing to grind in
the face of adversity. The harder we work, the less likely it is that we will
give in and quit when things get difficult. As adults we need to step back and
allow our kids to struggle. In the end it is their effort that matters most not their grades. Helping students learn what it
is to ‘work hard’ might be the most important gift we can give them.
Think
Big:
If anyone ever told you as a kid that you can be anything that you want to be in
life they were lying to you. It isn’t that simple. You CAN be anything that you want to be in life IF you work for it. As an 11, 12 or 13 year old no doors are closed
for our students yet. They can be anything that they want to be – a teacher,
doctor, professional athlete, musician, police officer….anything is possible,
but doing the right things along the way and putting in the effort are part of the
process. Being a nice kid who smiles and does their work is wonderful, but it isn’t
going to magically make your dreams come true. Thinking big is about having a dream, even one that at the moment might seem really distant. That dream can be achieved if
you believe and you work for it.
Be
Present: You have to show up and be on time for things in life
– school is no exception. Our students need to be here to be successful. There
is no substitute that can emulate the learning opportunities that take place
throughout the day in school. The other part of being present that is important
is students being invested in classes and the work that they are being asked to
do. We all need to be plugged into the moment with the people around us. Most
of us and our kids have schedules that are so crammed with stuff that we can’t
enjoy the ‘now’ because we are worried about what comes next. Right ‘now’
matters more than anything else. As adults we can’t give ‘being present’ lip
service. Many of us talk about how important school is and yet we allow our
kids to frequently sleep in or miss a few Fridays for different athletic
tournaments or blow off reading each night because we have our kids so over-scheduled.
We communicate what is important by what we focus on, where we spend our time
and what we allow. Collectively we need to help our kids be more present in
everything that they do. To make that happen, we all need to step back and
reevaluate how much “stuff” we have them involved in. You can’t be successful
if you are not present – physically and mentally. And of all the "things" on the list of "things" our students are involved in, we need to make sure school is on the top of that list.
None of this is overly complicated, it doesn't cost any money and we don't need superpowers to make it happen. It's an approach to life and a philosophy that is pretty simple, but effective. Each day: Be Nice, Work Hard, Think Big, Be Present. That’s what we should expect from ourselves, from others and from our students.
Continued Success,
Steve Dunham
sdunham@westgenesee.org
Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms
