WOW! I am so inspired this morning. Last night, I Skyped with Shawn Blankenship (DMS_Principal), of Dibble Middle School in Oklahoma. First, it was so much fun to see the excitement on a principal's face--for two reasons. First he was excited about his students' learning. Second, he was a proud of how his teachers made that happen. His role--help students and teachers succeed. One of the main roles I believe principals hold is that of removing barriers of success. I saw that last night.
Most of the call, however, focused on the stories of his teachers--the ways they helped students believe in themselves, the ways they held students to high expectations (the common answer to a request for help from a student? Problem-solve! LOVE IT!), how they support students and scaffold learning, all the real-life applications for students. I could keep going but instead, I've asked him to see if his teachers would like to guest blog for me. I sure hope so, because we would all learn from them!
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As a teacher at Dibble Middle School (@mrsbeck25), I can say our success as a staff and the improvements our students have made is a direct reflection of our leader! Shawn is a true leader in every sense of the word and is able to affect his teacher and motivate us to be the best we can be and except the best from each student. He has transformed our school and my career!! I look forward to blogging with you soon!! I hope this post will give credit to a principal who does his job well and for the right reasons: a love for students and their educational success!
ReplyDeleteI also teach under the leadership of Shawn Blankenship. I consider myself a very fortunate man. I can honestly say that I have never had such an effective leader whose excitement student and teacher success is contagiouis. The thing that I want to say is the I am close to retirement and old enough to be Shawn's father, but he has treated me as a young man and encouraged me to learn new things in my teaching. Once he introduced me to technologies I could use, I was hooked. Now I use technology in my teaching and use my normal teaching techniques. Shawn has seen an "old dog learn new tricks." I am looking forward to blogging with you soon. I want to share with you what I have learned as an older teacher!!
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