Day 9 (21 Days of Gratitude)

I have been off the grid for three days with the Thanksgiving holiday, but that is no excuse.  I will be back to blogging my gratitude each evening.

In my writing and discussions in the past, I have talked about my educational heroes, and how they have shaped my educational beliefs.  These people are incredibly important to me, but they do not even come close to my true hero.  Many of you who have known me for a number of years have heard me talk about the influence that he has had on me; the guy is tremendous.  Simply stated, my dad is the hardest working and most knowledgeable person I have ever seen.

Three generations of the Butler Boys: Dean, Dan, Nolan, and Mason
He has fixed my vehicles, catcher’s mitts, kitchen sinks, garage doors, and heaters more than I would like to admit.  A couple of years ago, I was having issues with my garage door, and to no surprise, I had to call him to save the day.  Afterwards, we spent about an hour talking in my driveway about the challenges of leadership.  My father worked at John Deere for more than 35 years, but I truly feel he would have lit the educational world on fire.  I was complaining about some recent struggles and he challenged my thinking by breaking out the big guns.  There are two phrases that he has said to me hundreds of times in the past thirty-five years: “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” and “Try your best and forget about the rest.”  These phrases are simple, but powerful.  We create our own luck through hard work, determination, and a relentless pursuit of excellence.  We can control certain things, and there are many more that we cannot; life is too short to focus on things beyond our control.  I encourage you to reflect on my father’s words when you are planning and working with people.  Take risks, give everything your best, have fun, and be nice.  I love my father and I hope you have someone in your life who pushes you the way he has pushed me.  I cannot adequately express the gratitude that I have for my dad in words; he is simply the best.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Best...

Image
Over the past couple of weeks I've been talking with a number of teachers, administrators, parents, and other members of the school community about what the best educators do differently than everyone else.  I know that there have been a number of books written on this topic including What Great Teachers do Differently by @ToddWhitaker.  This book has informed many of the thoughts within this post however; I will explain the six things that I feel the best educators do better than everyone else. The best educators invest more time into their work.   The best educators are not clock or contract watchers; they realize that their responsibility of educating students never stops, regardless of the time commitment.  The best educators are passionate about their students, the subject they teach, and most importantly in the connections that they make with their kids. The best have high expectations for students but even higher expectations for themselves. The best educators will not
Read more

Why Do I Lead?

Throughout the past year I have become interested in social media and using various tools to make connections with educators across the country and world.  Twitter has been a "game changing" professional development tool for me, as I have been able to consume, create, and share a number of resources with unbelievable people within my Professional Learning Network.  About eighteen months ago I heard a lot of buzz about Twitter as an educational tool, but refused to believe the hype because all I could think of when this was mentioned was Ashton Kutcher, Shaq, one million followers, and what these people had for dinner the night before.  Only when I gave Twitter a chance along with some educational chats (most notably #iaedchat) did I find the true power and the ability to connect with so many great minds.  Twitter has given me the ability to connect with my educational hero, Todd Whitaker: @toddwhitaker, and learn from some of the best in the business such as Jimmy Casas: @cas
Read more

Nike, Amazon, and Two Incredible Elementary Schools

Image
I'm an avid Nike shopper, and have literally invested thousands of dollars in shoes, clothing, and accessories over the years.  Nike has created a brand that I feel is top quality, visually attractive, and trend-setting.  When I see the swoosh on apparel, billboards, and TV commercials, I know what to expect.  Amazon is another company that gets it done consistently; I am impressed each time that I order from them.  Amazon has developed a name for themselves by focusing on unbelievable, user-friendly tools and customer service that is second to none.  What's stopping schools from creating similar brands?     Over the past six months I have spent a great deal of time listening to experts, reading blogs, participating in Twitter chats, and having face to face conversations about creating a brand for our schools.  After listening to @NMHS_Principal , @Joe_Mazza , @TonySinanis , @Joesanfelippofc and @casas_jimmy , I came to realize what an incredible opportunity we have
Read more