A View from the Now-Retired Principal's Seat

I don't often get frustrated.  Colleagues tell me I am usually a calm person.  Parents in my school report to me they appreciate my "can do" spirit.  I've been told I am normally a "glass half-full" optimist. Yet, now I am angry.   I am angry at what I consider to be the state's plan to erode the trust between schools and the communities we serve. Results from our recent and new state assessment were released to the media last week, and the scores were damning.  In fact, the state department of education "expected" the results to be lower than previous tests.   (I strongly recommend you read what our superintendent, Dr. Steve Matthews, wrote about how the Michigan Department of Education released state test scores without first giving data to schools or school districts.  Please read his article here .) What caught my attention first was that only 12% of our 4th graders in the entire state "passed" or scored profici...

Let's journey back to the winter of 1993 when I first started teaching, and I was living 7 hours away from my parents.  The phone conversation with my mother went something like this: "David, you're doing what!?" "Mom, it's fine.  I've just decided to block off the kitchen and bedroom and sleep on the sofa." "And why do you think that's a good idea?  You just graduated from college.  How bad can it be?" "I know.  It's just that I can't afford to heat my entire apartment.  This old house must not be insulated very well because last month's heat bill was horrible.  I just can't afford it.  I'm even wearing a stocking cap to sleep.  It keeps me warmer." "Well, clearly you need to work harder so you can move somewhere and not freeze to death." ------------------------------------------------------- Fortunately I did work harder.  I moved to teach in Michigan, got married, and earned two...

How do you rank schools?  In the last several weeks, I've had three separate questions from parents that have gone something like the following: "Mr. Ascher, I was looking on this website (fill in the blank with a variety of choices) and it showed that your school was ranked 7 out of 10 possible stars.  Why is that?  I think your school should be ranked higher." The number of websites that allegedly ranks schools is shocking to me. Actually, I probably shouldn't be shocked.  With the advent of social media and the internet, anyone can create websites or posts on anything.  Realtor and parenting sites encourage their users to leave comments.  I've even heard of some sites where students can leave comments on their guest teachers.  Some sites use metrics that "supposedly" measure schools.  Many of these sites, however, are for-profit sites.  In other words, they make money through advertising dollars. In Michigan, wh...

Regular readers of this blog would not be surprised to hear me say, "Parents are the very first teachers kids have."  As the parents of two teenagers, my wife and I are faced with this statement on a regular basis.  Now, we have entered new territory--driving. Our eldest, Jennifer, is taking driver's education classes and practicing driving behind the wheel.  I can't help but reflect on what I have taught her since she was an infant.  You probably do the same as your children grow and mature.   Remember crawling and walking?  What about teaching how to play  "hide and seek" or "peek-a-boo?"  Our kids learned how to use fingers to feed themselves, and then we helped them graduate to spoons and forks.  I remember teaching how to tie shoes, work a zipper, and button a jacket.  Brushing and flossing teeth were challenging, but we always made that fun.  Of course, I taught our girls how to ride a bike, throw and catch a ball, and how t...

When our daughters, who are now teenagers, were younger, I used to "help" them clean their rooms.  Actually, I cleaned their rooms.  When they were 3-4 years old, my wife would keep them occupied while I organized toys, put away laundry, and put books back on the shelves.  When the rooms were in "tip top" shape, I would beam with pride at how nice the rooms looked and think about being such a great parent. Oh how wrong was I... It's interesting to me that even now now our daughters just haven't mastered how to clean their rooms.  Their tolerance for dirty laundry on the floor, books all over the place except on shelves, and just general "stuff" everywhere is remarkable to me.  Didn't I teach them to keep a nice and tidy room? In reality, I taught them that someone else will clean-up their messes for them. What I've learned about working with young people is that doing everything for our children is not always best.  Kids need to lea...

Each week flowers are placed in our church by a person or family honoring or memorializing a special event.  Last week, a beautiful bouquet was present in the honor of Mr. and Mrs. Troudeaut's 65th wedding anniversary, That's 65 years! While it's not uncommon to have flowers placed for 50 years of marriage, anything over 60 is extra-special. The Troudeaut's are sweet people and friends of our family.  They've watched and cheered our girls as they grow up.  I asked Mrs. Troudeaut if she knew when they got married that their marriage would last 65 years. "David, I never put a year on how long we would be married, but I knew our love would never end." Mr. Troudeaut chimed in with, "Not all of those years have been easy either.  There have been ups and downs, but we've worked through everything--together." What great statements to apply to learning. When students come to school, I don't want them to think they are...

I am not a super-shopper, but have you been grocery shopping lately?  I'm not going to bore you with the details, but what happened to a 1/2 gallon of ice cream?  What happened to a full bag of potato chips?  Is it me, or have the prices gone up while the quantity has decreased on my favorite junk foods?  We are clearly paying the same (or more) to get less product in order to save costs for the businesses. As a consumer,  I understand why the company made the decision.  Consumers notice their wallets more than what is in their grocery bags.  Therefore, it's a good business decision to put a little less product in a bag and then charge the same amount.  Maybe the consumers won't notice?  As an ice cream lover, I will still pay to purchase even 1.75 quarts of chocolate ice cream.  I suppose it's a small price to pay for a guilty pleasure because there are days when I really "want" ice cream. Education, however, is a different produc...

Have you ever heard the radio commercial for the store that claims to have every possible battery?  I'm not even sure of the name of the company, but I do recall the commercial was catchy.  In the commercial a customer enters the store and starts asking  for several obscure types of batteries.  The salesperson replies in every instance, "Yep..got that!"  It's a cute concept that one store could have every possible battery. In my home I have a box of batteries.  We keep the regulars on-hand.  You might have a box or drawer in your home that includes a few AA, AAA, D, C, or 9 volt batteries.  I also know that there are some sizes of batteries that exist that I don't have.  I'm even wise enough about batteries that I don't know all of the types of batteries that possibly exist.  But, batteries are important. As a building principal I get to talk with many parents and families about their student.  I've learned from my experience t...

People who know me understand how much I love my wife.  Without getting all "mushy," she really is the best thing that has ever happened to me.  Kim works at a local Fortune 500 company, and lately her hours have been very, very long.  In fact, she's been leaving our house at 5:30 in the morning and not getting home until after 8 at night.  About two weeks ago, I sent flowers to her at her office.  There was really no reason other than to let her know how much I love her and I knew she was working long hours.  I commented to a friend that I had sent Kim flowers, and my friend replied, "The best time to send flowers is when you don't need to!" I thought that was a neat response, and it got me thinking about other times it's best to do something. Here is my random list.  Each response ends with, "... is when you don't need to ." The best time to go to the doctor The best time to compliment a co-worker The best time to exercise The ...

I spent the summer before I was hired as a teacher working at a bakery.  It was one of those bakeries that used lots real butter, made cookies that were big enough to share between two people, and was frequented by everyone from college students to politicians.  While most of my time was spent washing dishes, I did have the opportunity to work the front counter. The owner of this bakery had a storied career.  He had been extremely successful in the bakery business for a long, long time, but through some unfortunate personal situations he was essentially starting over with a little bakery making and selling a very high quality product.  He and I spent quite a bit of time together, and I was a good listener. One afternoon just before closing time I started combining trays of cookies in the showcase that had not been sold.  The day had been slow, and I didn't expect that to change in the less than an hour we had left before we closed.  I was basically "...