It was bound to happen

Well, I almost made it through the year without making a stupid mistake for which I need to apologize. I won’t go into details because, basically, it wasn’t one of my better moments. Needless to say, it was just something that fell out of my mouth without me thinking about it.

As an administrator, I’ve made a few major faux pas that have required me to go back and apologize. It isn’t always easy but it’s necessary since that is one thing I tell the students. Admitting a mistake is the path to healing and bringing closure to a situation. It’s something that has worked for me in my personal and professional life and has allowed me to learn and grow instead of stagnating. It’s through our mistakes that we learn and it’s through our learning that we grow and improve.

Over the past 5 years where I’ve been at the same school, I’ve learned to think more and say less and it’s a key to me improving at what I do. As I move on to a new school I hope to have learned enough hard lessons that things like this are part of my past. The way I look at it, if I can make all these mistakes in one place and then move on to apply my learning in a new situation the grief and stress I’ve been through will be well worth it.

As an educational leader I’ve grown sooooo much at my present location. Circumstances and personality have combined to put me in situations where I’ve made mistakes and then had to humbly seek forgiveness, not that I’ve always received it but, I’ve learned, that’s not my problem. People who want to hold on will hold on no matter what I do and will find something to hold on to if I don’t give them a good enough reason.

The past few years have been very hard on me and sometimes it seems that I was losing my mind as I worked through so many different situations. I’ve been in the perfect training ground as a principal, dealing with many different things that few of my colleagues in other, larger schools haven’t had to work through with their staff, students and community. Having said that, I’ve come to see that one of my great gifts is the ability to move change along, do the hard things and put things in place so that they can move forward. Many people won’t/don’t see that but as I reflect on what’s passed, I am aware that I’ve been able to stay the course despite what has been going on.

So, with this last faux pas under my belt, I look forward to what lay ahead knowing that my experiences will give me a great wealth to draw from and all these mistakes will be useful as I enter a new stage in my career. I’m confident that what is to come will be a positive change and allow me to grow as a leader in so many ways. I look forward to working with teachers on the technology side, helping them with integrating different tools into what they do and enhancing their strategies to reach even more students.

And now some rest. I’m physically and emotionally exhausted. I need to spend time with my family, surrounding myself with my children and soaking in their energy and love, rejuvenating my spirit and soul. Although we can learn from the past, it can’t be undone or changed so, as I left the school, I left behind all those things that I’ve carried with me for the time I’ve been there. What’s done is done. Stay tuned as, once again, I get myself back in line and begin to do some of the things I enjoy and share them with you. It’s been a while.