Do You Have The Guts To Stop The Grinding?

Empty Dance Floor

  by  county marquees 

Today, I'm sending out a cyber pat-on-the-back to Middleton (RI) High School Principal Gail Abromitis and her staff for having the guts to do the right thing in the face of 400 angry students.

According to the Providence Journal, Abromitis shut down the homecoming dance after students refused to adhere to a 'no grinding' dance policy.  For those of you who have not seen a high school dance lately let me just tell you that they can be a torrid affair.  Here's a rather mild 'how to grind' video I found on YouTube.  Imagine a dance floor full of teenagers doing the same thing (only with more enthusiasm - if I can use that as a euphemism for nastier). Walking through a dance floor trying to separate individuals and groups (yes they do this as a group) from dancing like this always left me feeling a bit dirty and longing for the the 80s kickstep that was in vogue when I was dancing to Tears for Fears and The Alarm.

The school announced a ban on this type of dancing prior to the dance. When the students refused to comply, the principal stopped the music to remind students of the rule.  She even enlisted the help of the senior class president to calm things down.  Unfortunately, things turned from nasty to dangerous.  The Journal reports that a mob mentality developed among the students who began spewing profanities at the principal.  At this, Abromitis activated the emergency call system and sent students home.

Sometimes sitting at the big desk means making unpopular decisions.  Kudos to Abromitis for doing the right thing.  

Sometimes You're the Jackass

KKy

The other night I was driving down a two lane, tree covered road.  No streetlights, no moon, it was dark.  Because there was occasional traffic coming from the other direction I kept switching between my high and low beams. 

Someone comes around a sharp bend and blinds me with his high beams.  You’ve been there – completely blinded by the light (I hear a song there) trying to navigate the turn at 45 MPH. 

Jackass! Alone in the car, I direct the name toward my window knowing full-well that he can’t hear me but the utterance makes me feel better.  As I continue on down the road, I switch the high beams back on … or so I thought.

Turns out I had my high beams on the entire time.  I realize that I was the jackass. 

It happens.

Happens on the road, happens at home, and happens at work.

Can’t do anything about when it happens on the road but at home or at work I can admit my ‘jackassedness,’ apologize, and attempt to do better in the future.

Photo credit- Kyle Martin

Ted Tuesday: The Journey Across the High Wire

With enough Passion, Tenacity, and Character you can do anything.

Ted Tuesday: Feats of Memory

Watch the video and then I'll share how I used the memory techniques to to remember everything on my grocery list.




Ok, so we're at indoor soccer practice and my wife says to me, "you'll have to stop at the store on the way home."  Of course, I have no paper to make a list but I remembered the ridiculous story used in this video.  "I can do this" I say to myself.   Lisa, my wife, says, "We need milk cereal, Benadryl, and shower curtains for the bathrooms."

Here's my story - and I know I should be able to remember 4 items without any problems but the years are adding up.  I walk out my door to go to work and see Cookie Monster sitting on a horse hold two boxes of cereal.  I jump in the truck and John Travolta is sitting in the passenger seat holding a gallon of milk.  He sneezes and spills the milk all over the place.  Brittany Spears opens the door and hands him some Benadryl for his allergies wearing nothing but two shower curtains.  

 So Josh is right - stupid stories help you memorize things.  Who knew?  

Friday Distraction: It's the Weekend - Try Something

Hey it's the weekend ... why not try something new?

For Father's Day, as noted in a previous post, the kids got me a surf kayak.  A surf kayak is designed for pulling of surfboard like moves from a seated position.  If you've never seen a surf kayak in action check out this YouTube video.  Now, there's somethings you should know about surf kayaks.

1) They're not made for beginners,
2) They're not made for people over two-hundred pounds.

Both of these items apply to me.  So, why you might ask, would I want to get my fat butt on a surf kayak?  Because it looks fun.

Plain and simple - it looks fun.  I see people all the time surfing or paddling around with the dolphins.  Looked like a great time to me and I got tired of watching from the beach.  Sure I could have asked for a 'beginners' kayak and let my skill out grow it in a month.  Or I could jump right in with an aggressive machine and hope my skills caught up with my ride.  I chose the latter.  Hopefully, I'll be riding high in a couple of weeks.  The first session didn't go all that well (let's say I've never been that nervous in the water) but the second went much better.  By session 5 I figure I'll be riding waves more and climbing back on less.

Which brings me full-circle to my original point.  Try something new this weekend.  Climb, bike, walk, camp, shoot a goal, or blog your way into adventure.  If you need me, I'll be coughing on sea water as I try to master something new.

 

Have a great weekend.

 

Ted Tuesday: How Great Leaders Inspire

This will change the way you think about leadership.  Simply one of the most powerful talks I've heard.

A Story of Crashing Garage Doors: A Father's Day Lesson

Sometimes a good day can go bad.

Take yesterday, Father's Day, as an example.  Like most fathers of young children, I got to spend the day with my kids.  Here's a picture of us on the beach.

Good looking kids, right?  And we had a great day yesterday.  Early morning hugs and breakfast.  A trip to an estate sale, haircuts, and then off to beach where I was presented with my 'big' gift - a surf kayak.  (Kids got a big laugh because, as a complete novice 'surf kayaker' dad made a fool of himself in the water.) After the beach we headed to my in-laws house to give grandpa some father's day love then we went back to the house for a 'Father's Day Fiesta' dinner of tacos and other Tex-Mex fair. 

Here's where the day turns ... I opened the garage door to put the boogie boards and my new kayak away and somehow the door flexes and the entire thing comes off the track and winds up precariously suspended only a few feet above my head.  Basically the entire door came crashing down around me. Can you guess who's going to miss the Fiesta? 

Now I'm stuck inside an already over crowded garage trying to take this door apart so I can rebuild it.  Long-story-short, I successfully get it down and in two hours rebuild the thing so it operates correctly.  I go back inside to call my dad and mid-call my wife shouts for me, "Scott you need to come look at this ... the carpet is soaked."  Sorry dad, another crisis I'll have to call you back," I say into the phone as I run downstairs.

The air conditioner drain has broken and instead of expelling water out of the house it is letting it flow in between the exterior and interior walls.  And it looks like its been at it for a while.  I do a quick assessment but tell my wife there's no way to fix it tonight and it's have to wait until after work tomorrow. 

A good day gone bad?

Not really.  Sure I would have rather not had the garage door crash around me - and my back has been reminding me of that all day.  I sure as hell would rather not have to fix a drain pipe - I hate anything plumbing related - but the day was still fantastic. 

Then I got to thinking about work.  A lot of days are like that for administrators.  When I was school based, I remember greeting students in the morning - a great start to the day - then having to deal with 20 referrals throughout the rest of the day.  Now, as an HR pro, I hear great news about a teacher in the morning only to hear that another has made a career ending mistake in the afternoon.  Good days gone bad?

Not really, everyday that we're here we touch and influence the future.  As educators our work is always optimistic, always full of promise.  Press through the problems, there'll be plenty more tomorrow and remember to always keep your glass half full. 

That's the lesson I (re)learned on Father's Day.