Principals Are People Too

I was recently challenged to participate in this Principals Are People Too blog topic- and I am thankful for that challenge.

I must have been a very frustrating child for my parents to raise.  (Thank goodness they never gave up on me!)  I have a tendency to be a bit contrary at times.  For example, growing up in Indiana, I was well aware of John Mellencamp (garage back days) earlier than many of my raised out-of-state college friends...so, naturally, when the whole John "Cougar" Mellencamp craze came about, I was done.  Everyone else loves a book- please don't tell  me that I have to read it....it makes me put it on hold.  And yes, I do realize how ridiculous this all is- I missed out on The Fault in Our Stars for six months because of this.  So, you can imagine my reaction when everyone in my PLN kept telling me that I need to blog.  Ummmm, "No thanks."  "I'm good." " I'm too busy." "No one wants to hear/read what I have to say."    Fear? Shyness?  Probably. But a large part of my resistance was me just being contrary.  Or maybe there are so many Must Do items in life that when there comes a time that I actually have a choice, I choose "No."  I wonder how many of our students do the same?  They feel a loss of control in other areas, so they seize the little they can control.

But here's the thing- once I try one of the things that I have been so resistent to, I tend to LOVE it!  Twitter, Voxer, EdCamps.... all examples of new things that came my way and that I have become a strong advocate of.  What I have learned (hey, I'm a slow learner) is that people are not encouraging me to try these new things because they want me to fail. Indeed, it is the exact opposite.  I am important enough that they want me to succeed!  This is certainly the case for my Voxer Family.   I cannot imagine life without their daily dose of humor, reality, advice, honesty...  So when the challenge was extended to write a blog post on the topic of Principals Are People Too, I just couldn't allow that contrary, Just Say No side of me come out to play.

Principals are people too.  Indeed we are. As much as I try to present the image of Calm and Collected, sometimes I lose that cool.  While I don't have a problem seeking help in learning new things, I sometimes struggle to share the load.  I need to be better at saying "Yes, thank you!" when someone offers a helping hand.  I need to do a better job of allowing myself to focus on things beyond my job.  When you are married to another educator, it is very easy to talk shop ALL the time.  I need to learn to shut that down.  I need to find more balance in my life.  This is a message that I have shared with staff, encouraging them to take the entire weekend and focus solely on themselves and family.  Yet I don't follow my own advice nearly as often as I should.   My Voxer Family has helped me with this realization.  They remind me that it will all be there tomorrow- but my children, my family, my friends may not be.

So, I am going to say good-bye for now.  I will be back- and it won't take 10 months for my post to appear.  But in the meantime, I have an evening planned with some very special people.