Timeout for Leadership-your one-minute leadership idea

Message from the Lead Dog Principal -Summer rant #3

Can you just look and act the part?

Is it that hard? 

Teachers clamor that they want to be treated as a professional.  I agree.  But with that treatment comes a responsibility to look and act like one.  If you are a follower of mine, you already know how I feel about this topic, however, maybe in my past articles I have tiptoed around it.  Yet, my blood tends to boil when I think about this topic.

Do teachers own a mirror?  If not, they should buy one.  And once they have this mirror, they should take a minute to look at it before they leave for school. Is this what teachers want their students and colleagues to see?  I hope so.  And if you think it does not matter, it does.  It says a great deal about the culture and climate of your school.  I have long given up the hope that neckties should be the standard operating procedure for men, but I still do not believe your work out tee shirt is appropriate.

For me, there is no reason that one has to wear shorts, shower / beach shoes, skin tight leggings, exposed bare midriffs or have some sort of contest as to how much bra strap should be shown.  And please stop.  I do not want to hear that these clothes allow one to relate to the students.  They don’t.  Relationships are not built upon the clothes that one wears.  As a matter of fact, one may relate more and be more of that role model when one is truly dressed professionally.

And please do not get me started about blue jeans.  What is this obsession with them?  Teachers will pay as a fundraiser to wear them or make up any reason to celebrate which requires the wearing of blue jeans. I especially enjoy seeing those blue jeans that are all faded and thread bare. ( I am being sarcastic here in case you missed it.)  Yet many teachers feel that it is OK to come into school and teach like that.

As one looks in that mirror, was one’s hair combed?  Teeth brushed?  Clothes clean?  Clothes ironed?   Don’t laugh because I have seen it all.

This is a topic that I am sick and tired of talking about, yet I do not want to give up.  Some people out there may still listen.

My next topic to rant about now is it necessary for teachers to walk around the school sipping one’s coffee?  Does one have to walk into the next parent conference late drinking one’s coffee?  Does one have to stand in front of the class teaching, drinking coffee?  Of course not.

These are the little things that go a long way in setting the tone of your building.  Apparently, this is where I have to face my disconnect with the new generation of teachers.  When I discuss my first book, EduKate Me:  A Survival Guide For All New School Employees, the new teachers tell me that yes, my book was good but they could not agree with me on my chapter about dress and carrying that cup of coffee around the building.  For these young teachers, it was just no big deal.

I disagree.  It is a big deal. I want those that disagree with me to think about it.  You are the teacher.  You are the role model.  You are the professional.   You are the adult. It is simple.  Look and act like a professional!  Try it.  You might just like it.