Be the Culture

“Thank you for smiling at me. It made me feel more calm and confident while I was presenting.” This is what an incredibly talented high school student said to me during her robotics presentation this week.

Never underestimate the power of a small move like smiling. Even when learners seem confident and like they’re thriving, small moves like smiling can assure others that we are happy to see them and appreciate their presence.

This past week I had a few moments with students that served as bright spots in my week. One that stands out was the opportunity to hear from kids during our monthly principals meeting. A leadership group comprised of roughly thirty 5th and 6th grade students joined us for a meet and greet and then observed the first 20 minutes of our meeting to see leadership in action.

Their questions during the meet and greet impressed me. It also reminded me that our students are always watching us and learning from what we model. Here were some of their takeaways from those pre-meeting Q/A conversations:

• A leader isn’t always in charge, but they must always be a role model.
• Even if you aren’t calm on the inside; leaders show calmness.
• Disagreements are part of every meeting.  Great leaders move forward to do what’s best for the team.
• It’s okay to ask for help.

Here were some of their takeaways after observing a portion of our meeting:

• Our leaders strive to involve students in school.
• Your meeting was FUN, interactive, and open.
• It was conversation-driven and positive.
• You could hear laughter!
• It felt like you were all friends.

This brought me so much joy for so many reasons. The start, we work hard to ensure our meetings fuel connection, curiosity, and productivity. We genuinely enjoying students and genuinely enjoy each other, and it was affirming to see that students noticed how we model effective teaching practices in this space.

But above all else, students can already see that these jobs are challenging. They don’t need to be reminded. But what they do need to see is that these jobs are also incredibly rewarding, fun, and collaborative.

Because we need more people interested in working in our schools. Not less. We need more people who are interested in creating a better world inside of school than the world that exists outside of school. In doing so, we can show kids what’s possible, what the world could can be, and in turn, they can go out and create a better world for all of us.

So, this is your sign to engage in more conversations with students and to co-creating the school experience we’ve all dream of together.

And in case you need a signier sign, this is your reminder to model what you wish to see in every planned and unplanned interaction.

This is how we change the conversation, our schools, our communities, and ultimately this world.

Be the culture you are trying to create. Lead yourself first.