I'm With the Band

Boy Bands.  You may think this is just a post for the ladies...NOT TRUE!  Everyone has heard of boy bands.  You probably have even sang along to a song of theirs.  I am talking about really good boy bands.  Not those "reality show brought five guys together" boy bands we see today, but REALLY good boy bands.  You could say boy bands started with the beginning of rock and roll, though I am not sure they were call boy bands.

 

(Could you guess them all?  If Mr. Swenson was here, he could get them!)

The 1970's brought another wave of young men getting together to sing and make it big. 

And the 1980's? NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK...need I say more?

Boy bands were taken to a whole new level in the 1990's and 2000's.

As you have taken this trip down memory lane, you may (again) be wondering where I am going with this post.

Bands are formed by a group of people coming together to share their talents.  They spend many hours together...whether in a studio or a tour bus...honing their craft.  They practice and practice, often into the night under the direction of a manager.  They may be asked to pick a skill by their manager they are not proficient in and attempt to master it.  In the 60's and 70's, it was a musical instrument and in the 80's and beyond, it was choreography and acting in videos.  Relationships were sometimes strong, but sometimes they were strained.  Hearts all over the land were crushed as these boy bands announced their break-up, but our hearts sang again when the one guy said he is going solo.  And then 20 years later, they all reunite on an "Unplugged" special on MTV or at the American Music Awards!

We can compare ourselves to boy bands.  As educators in this building, we are coming together to share our craft.  We support each other.  We may spend more hours with some of our colleagues than we do with our own families.  We may be asked to teach a class by the principal that is not our strong suit.  But we practice and practice until we get it right.  We may have students in our classes who have exhausted us and all the tricks we have in our toolbox.  We sometimes get upset with each other and the profession.  We may walk away for a bit and try a few things on our own, only to realize our colleagues can help make us a better teacher.  

Work together to come up with a great routine for the year.  All of you are very talented!  I am sure together you will come up with some killer dance moves...and don't forget to SING!  Sing notes of encouragement and praise for your fellow educators and students...and keep hanging tough!

Here is what started this whole blog...a little video sent to me that Mark Harming thought that I "would probably like".  I didn't like it...I LOVED IT!

Sitting in the Cockpit

I like movies.  In fact, I love movies.  One of my favorite actors is Tom Hanks.  I am not only a fan of really good, Oscar winning Tom Hanks ("Forrest Gump", "Philadelphia") but also funny Tom Hanks ("Bosom Buddies", "Bachelor Party").

My husband and I went to the movie "Sully" last night.

We all remember watching this plane in the Hudson River in January of 2009.  Then there was this friendly, trusting gray haired man on our televisions trying to grapple with the fact he was now a hero.  All 155 people on board that plane stepped out of the river and it is because of the thinking of the pilot of that plane, Chesley Sullenburg.  Directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Tom Hanks, this movie takes us to after the "Miracle on the Hudson" and through the NTSB investigation into the crash

The Captain is in charge.  His reactions and training affects what happens to the people on his plane.  What an awesome responsibility.  Being a leader...whether in a school, classroom or playing field...it is the same thing.  We are constantly thinking on our feet, making a thousand decisions each day.  Did you know the whole flight last 4 minutes?  That from the moment the birds hit the engines until the plane landed (and let's face it...it didn't crash.  He LANDED that plane!) in the Hudson River was 58 seconds.  Can you imagine the decisions he made in that short amount of time?  

The following blog post highlights what we can learn about leadership from this movie and more importantly the actions of this man.  He models the characteristics our students need to see each day.  They need to be able to see people doing the things Sully did in order to model them in their own lives: make decisions, take responsibility, and problem solve.

http://nesloneyflipped.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-pilot-is-last-off-kidsdeserveit.html

Here is a bonus article from Forbes:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rodgerdeanduncan/2016/09/09/what-the-movie-sully-can-teach-us-about-leadership/#15d0e4e4c500

Go see the movie.  It is Clint Eastwood's shortest movie at 96 minutes...and it is good.

Who is your person?

Do you have that person at work you consider "your person"?  It is the person you can go to when you are struggling with a concept...when you are having trouble reaching a kiddo...when you just need that pick me up, they know the right things to say (or sometimes NOT to say).  Whether we are in our first year of teaching or in our last year of teaching, we all need someone we can talk to within the walls of the school about our day.  We all need a teaching bestie.

As we stated before, you flourish best if you surround yourself with positive people and situations.  Jennifer Gonzalez wrote a short piece on finding your marigold when teaching.  Marigolds are awesome flowers.  They are pretty resilient, they keep pests out of your garden, their blooms last a LONG time, and they tend to make the flowers and plants around them grow and flourish.  Definitely sounds like the type of flower you surround your planters and garden with.  Imagine what you can do for your teaching if you find your marigold here!

http://www.cultofpedagogy.com/marigolds/?__prclt=y6oeg9Md

Network...don't hesitate to find that person that can help you flourish as a teacher.  And remember...we all have the opportunity to be a marigold for someone else!

Have a great week!