Peak Immunity

Introduction

With Ash Wednesday two days away, the old Catholic in me is thinking about what I will do for Lent. Living in China during the COVID-19, I am thinking about how can I improve my immune system. Being on lockdown due to the quarantine, I am getting out of shape. One way to kill all these birds with one stone is by doing a 40 day fast/diet, which I am going to coin a "faset".

I have done numerous diets, fasts and lifestyle changes over the years but the one I have found to be the most effective can be found in this book. I learned about Dr. Luc De Schepper from an amazing Natriopath called Allison Vidotto, back in 2006. I had a disease called Candida that was causing me to have Chronic Fatigue Syndrom. I had to sleep each lunchtime in my classroom and was in bits. After over a year of doctor visits that did not help, this faset cured me in just over two weeks. As I start this I weigh 178 lbs. 

Week 1 - The Premise

The idea is to create the conditions in the body for peak immunity to be achieved. This is done by removing anything processed, with unnatural sugar, caffeine or anything that ferments. It incorporates the theory of food combining to create an optimal digestive system. The faset is extremely difficult and takes much planning and motivation to pull off. The results, however, are so good they are hard to describe. I hope to do that in Week 4. I am 178 lbs after Week 1. 

Week 2 - The Pain

If this is your first time to do this faset or you have not done it in years, the pain will be terrible. The body gets a shock as it runs out of caffeine, sugar and all the other junk you have been giving it. This usually happens about three days in. This time both my wife and I are doing the faset. She has not done it in about 6 years, but I have done it more recently. We both had a bad headache around day two when our brains realized the caffeine was not going to come. This just lasted about a day, but my wife then started getting pains in her back and her neck. Her neck is actually stiff and has been frozen in position for the past couple of days. My skin is bad and there are spots appearing on my back. This is a sign of the toxins leaving. All I can say during this time is, stick it out. As it is about to get a whole lot better. Towards the end of Week 2, I started to feel foggy, sores appeared in my mouth and I felt like a sore throat was coming on. I weighed 174.5 lbs. Each day I was getting about 1500 calories which puts me very much in a deficit of my usual 2000. I would also like to note that I discovered a negative reaction to potato during Week 2 so I cut them out. With the high levels of starch in potato, I am surprised they are not on the forbidden list below. 

Week 3 - The Food

Section 3 is taken directly from Full of Life by Dr. Luke De Schepper (p.164-167), as it is vital information to do the faset.

THE GOOD FOOD LIST

(It's a good idea to rotate foods to achieve variety and to eliminate allergies and sensitivities)
Fruits: Papaya, mango, kiwi, pineapple, banana, honeydew, melon, coconut, guava, grapefruit, berries and lemons. Eat in the morning at breakfast. Do not eat after meals. About 10% of patients will not be able to eat fruit at all because of the high fructose content (such as bananas) or because of high acidity (pineapples). CFIDS patients should eat fruit sparingly during the first four weeks of the program.
Juices: Water with lemon juice, fresh-squeezed vegetable juices, unsweetened cranberry juice, wheatgrass juice, fruit juices of allowed fruits (in moderation), coconut milk.
Grains: Brown rice, wild rice, millet, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, popcorn, corn tortillas, corn chips, "polenta", teff.
Brown Rice Derivatives: Mochi, brown rice syrup, rice cake, rice crackers, riz cous, creamy rice, "Rice and Shine", "Creamy Rice", brown rice cream (a hot cereal), rice dream beverages (almond, carob).
Beans and Legumes: All beans are allowed including garbanzos, hummus, lentils, black beans, pinto beans, etc. 
Meats: Chicken, turkey, veal, lamb and rabbit. 
Fish: The National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report on low-and high-risk seafood varieties. Tuna generally has low levels of environmental contaminants. Cod pollock and haddock are found in deep offshore waters, also making them low in chemical contaminants. Ocean-caught salmon is notorious for parasites and should be fully cooked to destroy worms and amoebas, but is otherwise free of contaminants. 
Canned tuna is rarely a cause of food-borne illness unless mishandled by food preparers. Beware of shrimp though because these scavengers of the sea are frequently mishandled in the store or in the home. As an extra precaution, consumers may want to reheat shrimp to destroy and possible bacteria or parasites. The greatest number of illnesses from finfish come from come from the tropical varieties, mahi-mahi, bluefish, barracuda, grouper and tropical snapper. 
Freshwater fish from the Great Lakes, such as whitefish, from Santa Monica Bay, from Puget Sound and Chesapeake Bay may carry undesirable levels of chemical contaminants. Swordfish can carry elevated mercury levels and should be avoided, especially by women of child-bearing age. 
The highest-risk seafoods are mollusks - oysters, clams and mussels - eaten raw. The intestines and viscera are the parts that we consume, and they contain all possible kinds of contamination, natural and man-made. 
Dairy: Goat's milk, goat's cheese, goat's yogurt, butter and eggs. For those with high cholesterol levels, butter and eggs should be eaten only on an occasional basis. When you do this and leave out sugar and other foods on the "no" list, you will decrease your LDL (bad cholesterol) and increase your HDL (good cholesterol).

Oils:
Olive oil: use only organic cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil. (So-called pure olive oil or virgin oil are second-rate)
Sunflower and safflower oils: chose the unrefined high-oleic varieties of these oils for cooking and baking.
Canola oil: the newest oil on the market is also the best. It contains linolenic acid, the Omega-3 fatty acid that reduces blood cholesterol levels and prevents clogging in the arteries. 
Other oils allowed are avocado, sesame and flaxseed oil. 
Nuts, seeds, nut butters and nut milks: (Store in freezer of refrigerator) All are allowed except peanut and pistachio products. No peanut butter! Nuts, seeds and nut butters should be eaten in moderate amounts, since they contain high amounts of calories, especially fats. For instance, one handful of cashews equals 750 calories. Keep in mind that roasted nuts are easier to digest than raw ones. 
Vegetables: Steam of stir-fry all vegetables, avoid eating them raw. It is all right to have lettuce with fresh tomatoes and avocadoes and salad dressing consisting of an allowed oil with lemon juice. Sundried tomatoes are also allowed. 

Seasonings, Spices, Herbs & Condiments
Quick Sip by Bernard Jenses (a tamari-like sauce)
Bragg's Liquid Aminos
Garlic, Onion, Sea salt (sparingly), dill, thyme, tarragon, rosemary, oregano, curry, basil, parsley, paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg, carob, etc. 

Beverages
Pau D'Arco tea, water, water with lemon juice, peppermint and spearmint tea (excellent for digestion), Uvi Ursa tea (great for urinary tract symptoms and to help strengthen the bladder).
Other herbal teas (without caffeine) to be used sparingly. Watch out for either dryness or mold content, if they are stored for long periods of time. 
Breads: Don't forget, bread has yeast and sugar, so you should avoid breads for the first four weeks of the eating program. Then incorporate them very slowly into your diet. Here are some breads you can choose:
Ponce whole rye (wheat and yeast free)
German sourbread (wheat and yeast free)
Rudolph's 100% rye bread with linseed (also wheat and yeast free)

THE FORBIDDEN FOOD LIST

Breads: including yeast-free wheat and rye breads. However, rice and corn breads, unleavened and ponce breads are fine.

Dairy products: except butter, eggs and goat’s milk, goats’ cheese and yogurt; other yogurts from cow’s milk is not allowed.

Mushrooms, wine, champagne, and beer or anything else that is fermented, such as miso and tofu.

Fruit: especially not apples, pears, and grapes; also no watermelon, cantaloupe, oranges, peaches, prunes, dates or dried fruits (too much sugar).

Wheat and Rye: in crackers, cereal breads, and pasta.

Salt: use sea salt if needed. Absolutely no sugar in any form; avoid Aspartame (NutraSweet, Sweet-N-Low), no honey, molasses or maple syrup.

No tea or coffee, not even a caffeine-free coffee, or herbal teas; exceptions are mentioned further. No fruit juices except the juice of allowed fruits; even then use them sparingly, and certainly do not use fruit juices when fasting.
No tomato or barbecue sauce (unless you make your own without peppers, sugar, vinegar, syrup).
Avoid raw and cold foods (except salads occasionally; more about salads is discussed later). Remember these foods decrease the strength of your digestive organ, the spleen-pancreas.
Absolutely no vinegar: in salad dressings, use mustard and mayonnaise.
No oatmeal, for at least four weeks.
No horseradish, peppers.
No canned foods or fried foods.
Avoid refrigerated left-overs, especially meat; freeze the leftovers and heat them up later (this is especially the rule for meats since they will become damp and moldy overnight).
Avoid ice in drinks.
(This section has been taken directly from p.164-166 of Full of Life.)

Week 4 - The Feeling

I am now in the fourth week of the faset and I am starting to feel great. I am back sleeping well, my energy is up and a niggling cough I have had for over a month has gone. From here on in I will just start to feel better.

Another thing that is recommended in the book is proper food combining. This is great for digestion and is especially helpful knowledge for anybody with digestive issues such as IBD, ulcerative colitis or stomach ulcers. As can be seen from the diagram below you should follow the following principles:

• Fruit should be eaten alone and on an empty stomach. Fruit should never be eaten after a meal as it digests much quicker than other foods. If it is eaten after meat for example which takes a long time to digest it gets stuck in the digestive tract and starts fermenting. 
• Protein should not be eaten with starch. Eg. Do not eat steak with chips.
• Vegetables can be easily digested with anything except fruit.  

Full of Life p.157

Week 5 - The Figuring Out

It is advised the on Week 5 you start to reintroduce foods every three days. This way you will see if you have any allergic reaction to the particular food. This may come in the form of an upset stomach, sore throat or evidence of a build-up of toxins. This also stops you from going crazy by going back on everything and getting sick. We reintroduced flour first so we could enjoy some bread, then three days later, which is today actually, we reintroduced cheese. Yum, cheese on toast. Next Tuesday we will reintroduce peanut butter and so on. 

People who suffer with Candida (yeast overgrowth, which leads to chronic fatigue), should start to eat large amounts of garlic oil capsules during the last two weeks. This kills off the remaining yeast in your stomach. Take about six capsules with each meal. I am at 173.4 lbs after Week 5.

Week 6 - 

During the final week of the fast, the body is operating at peak immunity. As new foods are introduced you get to see if you have any negative reactions to a specific food. For me, it became obvious that I have a reaction to potato. Being Irish, this is a death sentence:-)
Conclusion

Whatever diet or fast you pick be it paleo, vegan, vegetarian or this one, you will find that users share testimonies of their success. The common denominator in any of these diets is eating food in its purest form, be it meat, vegetables or rice. Each diet eliminates processed food. This particular faset is designed to build peak immunity, but you still receive the benefits as in any of the others. 

Agency in the Early Years

Introduction

This blog post documents the initiative taken by the early years teaching team at Xi'an Liangjiatan International School. Most of the team members along with me took part in professional development provided by Innovative Global Educators. During this PD we all got on the same page as to what are some best practices in early years education. We learned from some fabulous early years educators such as Anne VanDam and Fiona Zinn. The team also read the updated PYP documents to learn the philosophy behind student agency. The following paragraph is taken from The Learner, published by the International Baccalaureate Organisation. 

Agency in the Primary Years Program

When learners have agency, the role of the teacher and student changes; the relationship between a teacher and a student is viewed as a partnership. Students take initiative, express interest and wonderings, make choices and are aware of their learning goals. They are actively engaged and monitor and adjust their learning as needed. Students offer feedback to others and consult on decisions that affect them. In school, students take responsibility for their learning and collaborate with teachers and other students to plan, present and assess learning needs (2018).

The components of agency are voice, choice, and ownership. In the early stages of this process, the early years team surveyed students to determine their interests and give them choice in what they would be learning. Students were divided into multi-age groups according to the area of their interest. Part of the mission at XLIS is to create a sense of community. This weekly time helped to develop this sense of community. 

Teacher Agency

The most important factor for this time to take place was a willingness for the teaching team to try new things. It is important that teachers have agency also to implement new initiatives. For this to happen the timetable needed to be created in a way that allowed for two periods of uninterrupted teaching time for all six classes. This was planned at the end of the academic year. 

Evaluation

At the end of the school year I evaluated the effectiveness of the initiative by interviewing students and some of the staff who were involved. Below are some of their responses.

Students were asked if they liked agency time.
Student 1, "We go to other teacher's classrooms"

Student 2, "Because it is fun. I like to learn about the space and about the world". 

Student 3, "We can play and I can see my friends."

Student 4, "I can go to different classes and I can play. I can play with my friends."

Student 5, "A little bit, I like the cars."

Student 6, "Because you make things."

Student 7, "We can do different stuff. I don't like when we do not usually share."

Student 8, "Yes, because there's friends."

Student 9, "We can play with our friends."

Student 10, "So so."

Student 11, "We can go to different rooms and we can play different things."

Teachers were asked if the agency time was effective.

Teacher 1, "It has been interrupted by events too often like assemblies and sports day. Once a week has not been enough. We are trying to figure out how to align it to our curriculum. It is becoming a second curriculum. It has been good to mix the students with different teachers, they are able to interact with other students and teachers to learn from them. P1 and ECE now interact with each other."

Teacher 2, "What is nice about it is the different ages in one room. We asked the children where they would like to go and gave them different experiences at the start. They have the opportunity to experience different things. We have given the students choice over their learning and valued their choices."

Teacher 3, "The kids love it and try different activities. They meet different friends and build connections with the other classes."

Teacher 4, "It has been good to get the early years students together to collaborate. It has been good for the teachers to collaborate vertically also."

Conclusion

This year our early years team and I went to a REACH conference in Chengdu. REACH stands for Reggio Emilia in Asia for Children. We were very fortunate to learn from Claudia Giudici, president of Reggio Children. This conference further solidified for us the importance of play in the development of children and the value of agency. 

References

The learner (2018), International Baccalaureate Organization (UK) Ltd.

Innovative Global Educators - http://www.innovativeglobaled.org/home-0.html

Reggio Emelia in Asia for Children

Principal's Principles #3

Introduction

I am ready for the third installment in my Principal's Principles series. Here are some more lessons I have learned in the course of my short four years as a school principal. I hope somebody is finding them useful.

No Pally Pally

As a school leader, it is important to be constantly learning. We can learn from mentors but we can also learn from mistakes others make. One thing I have learned that was not beneficial to school culture was when a school leader forms a clique with a group of teachers. This is usually around a drinking group or equivalent. This kind of social group can leave staff feeling excluded and can lead to favoritism. It is important for a school leader to be inclusive when organizing social events. I also suggest finding a social circle outside of the school community, this may be a sports team or church community. Having a social support structure in place is very important. Organizations such as EARCOS or ACAMIS can provide a vital support network for school leaders.

Communication

One of the most important things you can do is learn to communicate as efficiently and clearly as possible. There is no formula for this but blogs, emails and meetings are all means to do this. In a previous post, I mentioned emotional intelligence. Growth in this, as well as leadership and management, are vital. When an issue comes to you it is important that you do not get excited or react out of anger. This will be particularly difficult if you are sick, under tress or in pain. You need to know yourself. Quite often time can solve a situation without you even getting involved. It is a skill to learn when to get involved and when not to. A young or insecure leader will make the mistake of rushing in to establish their position and control. It can be equally damaging for a leader to shy away from the necessary tough talks. It is very important that you get all the information on any situation before acting. Take the time to interview the students or teachers involved. We use a reflection sheet to allow students to reflect on an issue. This serves as a way to immediately document the issue, which can be very helpful, later when parents may need to come in. If you have access to security cameras, get the facts.

Student Reflection Sheet

Tough Talks

Never shy away from a tough talk when it is necessary. We practice restorative practices with both students and staff. If a relationship has been damaged or a school policy has been broken, it is important to be consistent with all staff. Minor incidents, of course, should be let go but leaders should be consistent with all staff and not shy away from though talks and the giving of feedback. If a staff member does not understand a policy or know what he has done wrong, he cannot make the change. 

Code of Ethics

It is a good idea to create a code of ethics with your staff. One thing we have done is putting the following in place. It provides the opportunity for staff to take care of disputes themselves without needing to bring everything to leadership. When a dispute between staff occurs ensure step one has taken place before getting involved. 
Step 1 - Staff members try to resolve the conflict by having a meeting and restorative conversation.
Step 2 - If the issue cannot be resolved the staff members make schedule a meeting with the principal. 
Step 3 - If the issue cannot be resolved the staff members schedule a meeting with the head of school. 

Big Announcements

Never announce something before it is official! Decisions can change. Do not make announcements before pen goes to paper. 

Parent-Teacher Disputes

When a parent emails you with an issue relating to a teacher. Ensure that you direct the parent to communicate with the teacher directly for all normal day to day issues first. Never jump the gun and ensure you investigate thoroughly before acting. I recommend you email the parent back immediately to say you are looking into the issue then speak to everybody involved directly before either responding yourself, or supporting the teacher to respond. It is very important that you support your teaching staff. If you hired the person, it is your job to ensure they succeed to the best of your ability. 

International School Community Reviews

If you are a school leader and you are making changes you will come up against resistance. You will have to make tough decisions that will not make everybody happy. Unless you are a people pleaser you can expect to have some bad reviews on the ISR site. Prepare for this in advance as it can hurt. You put years of your life into an organization and deal with things that teachers cannot even imagine. It hurts when you read a scathing review of yourself on this website. Getting feedback is very important. You should seek feedback, but from people who know you only. 

Gossip Up

Encourage your staff to "gossip up". We introduce this concept during orientation. What this means is that if a teacher has an issue encourage them to bring it up the ladder vertically rather than horizontally, meaning they discuss it with peers. It may take a long time to implement this into a school but it is important for teachers to repeatedly know that you are available to speak about things. 

Middle Leaders Professional Growth Program

Most schools have a solid process in place for teachers' professional growth. This is usually based on the work of Charlotte Danielson or James Stronge. However, an issue in many schools is that middle leaders are totally missed. It is important that these people have the opportunity to grow and receive feedback. They are in key positions and are often missed, particularly in developing international schools. There are lots of very good tools out there that form a great starting point for this. The Australian Standards for Principals contains some fabulous information on what school leaders should know, understand and do. It is a very good starting point for the development of your own tool. 

Single-Point Rubric

A single-point rubric is an excellent tool for self-assessment. It differs from a conventional rubric in that only one of the points is complete. Usually, only the middle point or meeting expectation is the one filled in and other points are left blank. The reason for this is so students can write their reflections in the below or above sections.

At my school, the IB learner profile attributes are our schoolwide learner outcomes (SLOs). This was some fabulous advice we received from ASC WASC during our visit last year. As part of our action plan, we are developing visible indicators of the SLOs. We will use these tools to assess how we are developing in the attributes. I decided to create a series of single-point rubrics to assess the learner profile attributes and would very much appreciate input into how they can be improved.

The ten learner profile attributes may be found here. I have noticed in practice that students, teachers, and parents presume they understand the meaning of the attributes by their own understanding of the name. For example, when we think of communicator, we think it means being able to talk to somebody. In fact when we read the definition carefully communicator encompasses: confidence, creativity, the ability to speak more than one language, as well as the ability to collaborate and listen.

I hope these rubrics are helpful to your community as you develop your understanding of the LP attributes. I highly recommend using the rubrics more than once to see if a student's self-assessment changes as they have more opportunities to engage with the particular attribute. I would also very much appreciate feedback into the language I have used in order to improve the coherence of the rubrics. Please leave your comments below and I will incorporate the changes. If anybody would like me to send the full document leave your email in the comments below and I will get them to you. 

3 Point Formative Assessment

On a professional development workshop by Marie Alcock (@mariealcock), I was recently introduced to the 3 Point Formative Assessment tool. It is so good, I just have to share it. The 3PFA incorporates two key elements of any unit, reflection and agency.

As the name would suggest, it contains three carefully planned parts.

Part 1 - Criteria/Learning Outcomes

The first part contains the learning outcomes that are being assessed. These may be knowledge, skills, attitudes or any part of the curriculum, you want the students to reflect on and make a plan to improve in. Below are some samples. This part of the assessment is usually assessed individually by the teacher with the student.

Sample courtesy of Jasmine Zhang, XLIS Visual Arts teacher

Part 2 - Reflection

This is the reflection part of the the assessment. Here the student has the opportunity to self assess where they are currently in relation to the learning outcome and decide what they need to learn.

Part 3 - Agency

Agency includes voice, choice and ownership. This part of the 3 point formative assessment tool allows students to chose how they will learn. The teacher provides a selection of learning engagements, for the student to choose from.

Sample courtesy of Kelley Phillips, XLIS P3 teacher

I hope this simple but effective formative assessment tool is useful. Keep learning!

Principal's Principles # 2

Leadership

To be a great school leader you need to develop in three areas: emotional intelligence, leadership and management. I am naturally a strong manager due to my logical-mathematical way of thinking. Leadership is an area I am developing in. The best way to develop as a leader is to identify mentors and learn from them. I am fortunate to be learning from some of the best, including John Ritter, John McBride and Brent Mutsch. This year Brent has been teaching me how to lead with the school mission at the heart of all I do. A simple way to put this into practice is at the end of each of your meetings ask the question, "What have we done today to further our school mission?" I do it as an exit ticket. 

Q2

If you are or want to be an excellent manager you need to live in Q2. One of the easiest ways to live in Q2 is to use an online calendar program or hire an experienced secretary. You need to schedule time for extremely important activities such as classroom observations, making next year's timetable, writing that newsletter piece. This way you are not bombarded with work at one time. This will be very beneficial for your relationships too as you will find yourself leaving work earlier as your important work is done in advance. Try to get things off your plate as soon as they come in, if you have the time.

Taken from: https://czarto.com/2012/04/24/four-quadrants-of-time/

Get Perspective

It is very important that you know your emotions. For example if you suffer from a chronic illness and come to work in pain, it is very important that you are mindful of this. Conflict can escalate quickly when our emotions are high or we are in pain. Getting perspective is also very important. You need to learn to know when others are struggling and gauge your approach accordingly. Ochan Powell once told me to listen for the emotion first, then the content. I am finding this advice to be golden.

Bullying

If you are starting out in a leadership role, I am sorry to say but you will most likely be bullied. This bullying will not be physical but more likely verbal and usually behind your back. Expect to hear things like he/she should not be in this job, he/she does not know what he/she is doing. This will be greatly reduced as you prove yourself by establishing a track record. Remember to fill the bank as was mentioned in my first post. This bullying will most likely not stop completely, but as you stay at a school you will notice the bullies come and GO! My friend Allison Vidotto once said to me when I was going through an intense period of bullying, "Ignore the naysayers, they are a small part of any great story".

Mentors

Identify mentors! You would not believe how many leaders know exactly what you are going through and are willing to help for free. You will learn more from one hour with an experienced Head of School than a week at a PTC course, and it will save you a lot of money. Find the mentors strengths and learn from them. You can also learn what a mentor's weakness is and learn from that too. In order to seek out mentors you need to be humble and ask for the help. I have found the EARCOS leadership conference to be a great place to find such people. To give a quick shout out to some of the other mentors I have learned from, Kristina Seitawan, Helen Teese, Dr. Noel Geoghegan and my current HOS, Lily Liu. 

Strong pedagogical leadership can transform a school and make the lives of many students and teachers a joy. Fight for this!

Principal's Principles # 1

I have been holding of on this blog post, seeing if I was going to "make it" or "survive" in the principal role. I guess if I don't start posting on this topic I never will. This is the start of a series of blog posts called Principal's Principles. The hope is to pass on knowledge being learned as a starting out principal.

Making Decisions

I believe that all decisions should be made according to the school policies. I have learned in the countries that I have worked in that not wavering or making exceptions is important. If you bend the rules once you will be expected to do it again. Making decisions under a time constraint is one of the biggest challenges you will face in leadership. In this case you need to gather as much evidence as you can from different sources as quickly as possible. You should then make your decision based on triangulating the evidence. If you are working in a Christian context, obviously you have another source to go to.

Filling the Bank (Deposits and Withdrawals)

We have to make tough decisions in leadership and often have to ask our staff to do things they may not want to do. It might be long term cover or working on a weekend. It is very important to, "fill the bank". This is done over a long period of time. Trust is built through every decision you make, every encouraging comment you give, every gift on a birthday, every pancake you bake. Fill the bank so that when you need to make a withdrawal, you are supported. Know that every negative comment, every gossip, every unprofessional act is a withdrawal.

Communicate

Communicate, communicate and communicate. As much open and honest communication as is appropriate. I believe this is best done by email. Never waste teachers' time with meetings that are not necessary. Each morning I send out an email with a list of upcoming events. If there is something that will really effect teachers such as a change to their routine, this needs to be communicated as far in advance as possible. An example of this would be a concert rehearsal. When teachers are well informed and part of what is happening, they are more supportive. We cannot spring things on teachers, unless you have a very full bank.

Face to Face Tough Talks

Do not shy away from or put off tough talks. If there is conflict you cannot put your head under the carpet and pretend it is not there. You need to address it and have the tough talk. An example of this would be two teachers who are having a disagreement. What to do here is meet with each individually, then set up a time where we meet together face to face. I like to use the philosophy of restorative practices to repair relationships with students and teachers alike. I would advise any school leader to learn more about this philosophy. I learned an excellent strategy from one of my staff members when dealing with an issue with a teacher who is also a parent. Have the teacher take off their "teacher hat" and put on their "parent hat" when having the discussion.

I hope this was useful. Part two will be coming soon, if there is interest.