The opening address was delivered by a Kansas Teacher of the Year, Karen Tritt, from Shawnee Mission. She had us do an exercise whereby we could only use seven word phrases to describe various things. First we had to describe ourselves. I wrote:
“Believes positive relationships key to successful learning.”
Then we had to describe our school:
“Wise, caring staff helping students achieve potential.”
I could also have written:
“Strong team working together towards amazing results.”
At first, I thought it was a bit silly, limiting us to just seven words. But the more I did it, the more I saw Ms. Tritt’s point: we take communication for granted. Endless conversations, email, text messages, phone calls, we are a very talkative society. Limiting yourself to just seven words makes you really think about your message.
“Maybe I should write seven words perspectives!”
In another session called, “Hands On team Building Activities To Use With Staff and Students” presented by expert Joe Coles, we practiced several “ice breaking” activities designed to help people see the value in themselves and in others. One activity involved being handed three note cards with a positive adjective on each card. We then walked around the room looking at the cards others received and trading cards until we got three words we felt described ourselves. Then we had to explain to the group our choices.
I chose “caring,” “entertaining,” and “unique.” I explained how before I became an elementary school principal, I wasn’t all that comfortable with giving or receiving hugs, but in the first ten minutes in my new building, I was hugged several times. Now giving and getting hugs is one of my favorite things, and I can thank my job for making me overall a more caring person.
The entertaining and “unique” go hand in hand, as I have yet to meet another principal with a background of a director/actor/singer/writer. I don’t know how entertaining I actually am, but I do enjoy putting on a good show.
Finally, the day ended with a reunion of sorts. The keynote address was delivered by none other than my old friend Kevin Honeycutt. During my two years teaching in Inman, I had the pleasure of working as his assistant director. We broke with tradition and began to produce movies instead of plays, and Mr. Parker still shows the movies we made to his tech classes.
Kevin spoke about “Making Connections That Matter” and blew us away with stories of teachers he has met in his national travels who use technology in the classroom to produce life-changing lessons. He told us of a girl who became a much better in English class once the teacher helped her publish a book of poetry, using a free online resource. When the student saw the actual book, she was flooded with pride, until she opened it and saw all the spelling errors.
“From that moment, she paid attention to her English teacher about spelling and grammar,” Kevin explained. “After she fixed all her mistakes, she resubmitted the text and now has a book she can be proud to show her friends and family.”
And that was just one story. His session ended too soon, and overall, so did the retreat. I left feeling energized and hopeful and full of ideas. I am already enrolled in the “iConnect iLearn ‘un’Conference” this summer, with Kevin Honeycutt and host of other educational gurus.
The best part of the day was the “retreat” from the day-to-day grind and the looming challenges which lay ahead. We all need to recharge every now and then, and I am thankful for the Spring Retreat.
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