There have been many times in life that I have participated in doing something excellent. I have been on excellent week long bike rides. I have hiked in an excellent way. I have been involved with experiencing excellence in my personal relationships with people. I have seen excellence, and I feel like I can point to excellence when I see it, but the idea of creating excellence in schools and kids is a different tack on this topic.
I was recently asked to describe a time when I created something that was excellent, and my mind quickly felt blank. I thought of high school athletics and a play that I participated in high school, but I struggled to think of something in my adult life. This left me quite perplexed about the idea of creating excellence. I have only been in my principal role for a year, and I plan to stay there until I have created a model of excellence, but I'm in the middle of the process. Do I really have something in life that is completed excellence?
I feel as though my life is a long journey with excellent strand running through it. This includes my relationships with friends, my family life, my love for kids and their growth, my drive to stay healthy, and many other areas of learning intellectually. All of these avenues though are on-going. It is really hard for me, and I would imagine a lot of educators, to realize that there are excellent pieces in what we do everyday, and even though these moments are part of the system, we really need to celebrate the little pieces of excellence that we are creating. Without this celebration, we may lose the energy to be excellent.
What about you? Are you creating excellence? Are you experiencing excellence? Are you celebrating small successes?
I agree sometimes as educators we forget to celebrate the little successes that come along. The student who finally mastered long division or the student who finally learned to read. These are the little things that keep the energy and passion of teaching alive. I am hoping as the new AP at an Elementary school next year, that I will instill the power of celebrating successes whether they be big or small to keep my teachers' passion alive.
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