I Don’t Know Very Much

I know less every day.

I say this with sincerity, because everything I learn exposes other things that I don’t know — new questions, new unknowns, new explorations. As Superintendent, this provides that ‘fire-in-my-belly’ for me to push ahead.

The opportunities to learn are limitless. There is no finish line.

Does increased knowledge translate into having wisdom? Are people who know lots of stuff necessarily wise?

Wisdom requires more than knowing a collection of stuff.

WISDOM results when one’s knowledge is blended with HUMILITY, REFLECTION and GROWTH.

  • Humility provides the mindset to truly understand your learning journey;
  • Reflection results when you process context and previous learning into your new learning; and
  • Growth happens when the knowledge you learn broadens your understanding.

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Reflections from 2021-2022 – HOPE Paves the Path to Success

As we enter the month of June we also enter the end of another school year — a year that for me was a bit of a paradox. I am feeling both exhausted but also inspired by where we’ve come and where we are heading.

As I thought about what I should include in my year-end post, I wanted to focus on big things — those things that made a positive difference.

By focusing on the events that show a way forward, we see the HOPE that is needed to climb the mountains in front of us. And we climbed quite a few mountains this past year. We should be proud of the extraordinary work that has happened and also excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.

I’m going to talk about a few of them. So, let’s get started …

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Six Types of Courage

The Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz

When I think of the word COURAGE I sometimes think about the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz — although, truthfully, I never thought that was an appropriate name. He was certainly fearful and skittish, but he wasn’t a coward. He showed what it took to be brave when he travelled to Oz in search of the courage he believed he was lacking.

Spoiler Alert: The Lion always had it.

I have previously blogged about courage (The Necessity of Courage, Sept 2020), but I wanted to share some additional thoughts on the concept. As a reminder, here are a couple of points that I emphasized in my previous post:

Having Fear isn’t the Same as Lacking Courage

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.

Ambrose Redmoon

It Takes Courage to Lead Change

You build your ‘courage muscle’ daily, by being courageous in little things. Just do right.

Maya Angelou

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