MRVED Update - December 15, 2021

MRVED Business

MELT Registration

MELT Registration opened on Monday. Over 3/4 of MRVED teachers have already registered! We have already had to close sessions, so if you haven't registered yet, be sure to do it now! Registration closes December 22nd at 4:00.

MELT Brochure

MELT Registration Link

Resources

Bias Based Bullying Resources

The University of Minnesota conducted a study on bias-based bullying, using both the Minnesota Student Survey and qualitative interviews and focus groups of Minnesota students, parents, and school staff. The study was seeking to understand both the scope of BBB in Minnesota's schools and the related individual and structural protective factors. They have produced a number of factsheets for school administrators and for teachers and staff. Please share this information with your school colleagues. For more information on bullying prevention and intervention, see the Minnesota Department Of Education’s Ensuring Safe and Supportive Schools resources.

Book Study

The Power of Positive Leadership - Chapter 11&12 & Wrap-Up

First off, thank you for reading along with my reflections of The Power of Positive Leadership by Jon Gordon. My hope is that you have learned as much, if not more than I have while reading this book.

Chapter 11 talks about positive leaders having grit. If you are familiar with Angela Duckworth's research on grit, you will fully understand this chapter. If not, and you need a refresher, here is a short TED talk she did about grit. Bottom line is, positive leaders find a way to get it done, no matter what! They battle through adversity, critics, failure, and self-doubt.

I'm not going to expound on some of these quotes from the chapter, but just leave them here for you to ponder.

"If you don't love it, you'll never be great at it." (Gordon, 172)

"Fear is draining, but love is sustaining." (Gordon, 172)

"It (failure) doesn't define you; it refines you." (Gordon, 173)

"Don't let praise go to your head and don't let critics into your head." (Gordon, 176)

One part of this chapter that really hit home for me, was the part Gordon talks about not letting the results get in your way. Even if the numbers, wins, etc... don't show it, he says "keep doing things the right way...Trust the process." (Gordon, 175) Again, this is something I preach to my baseball teams. I coach JV baseball, and I fully believe that my job is to get my players ready to play varsity baseball. This may mean playing players in positions they aren't comfortable with. Stealing a player that might get thrown out. We are putting them in multiple different situations to see how they react. We may lose some games because of it, but I preach to my players, "trust the process". We need to do things the right way and good will come to us.

Chapter 12 is the finale to the book. It basically sums up all the other chapters with stories of positive leaders. You can read it on your own :-)

Conclusion

I hope this book was life-changing for some of you. Jon Gordon provides so many useful strategies to help make you a positive leader. Throughout the book, I was blown away by the mind-blowing quotes that made me stop and reflect on my own leadership qualities. My hope is that by reading this book I can become better at everything I do. From being a coach, teacher, teammate, father, and husband. This book will stick with me for a really long time! If I ever feel like I am becoming an energy vampire, I'm pulling this book out and reviewing my highlights in it. If you didn't buy this book, I HIGHLY recommend getting it and reading it over winter break. Better yet, buy 2 books, keep one for yourself and give one to a friend! If you liked this book study, you are going to LOVE the next one.

Row the Boat - Preview

Since I enjoyed reading Jon Gordon's book The Power of Positive Leadership so much, I decided to dive into another of his books that he co-wrote with PJ Fleck, Row the Boat. Much like The Power of Positive Leadership, this will be my 2nd journey through this book. Row the Boat is such a quick and easy read, however, my plan is to take my time through it and do a lot of reflection. PJ Fleck will also be our keynote speaker in April! I hope you can join me on the journey as we start the next book study on January 12th, 2022. Let's Row the Boat together!!