Authentic Leadership

 I haven't written a blog in a long time but due to a training I attended this morning, I feel compelled at the moment to do so.  This post was actually written about a year ago with some adjustments made today, here and there.   I am also making a commitment to write on a semi-regular basis.  My thoughts are better organized when I do - I'm a calmer, more balanced person when I write.  Would love if you shared in my experiences with me.  Maybe you can gain something.  Maybe not.  It is my hope that you do.   Ok.  So, here goes...  I had an interaction with a student today. A student whom I don't really know too well. Anyways, I'm speaking with this student whom I had to "discipline" the previous day.  That was the first time we had really had any interaction.  She made a poor choice.  In my communication with her, I made sure that I wasn't here to "judge" her for making said choice.   In my commun...

Back by popular demand (not really), I introduce to you... THE BRADEN BIN!!!! My name is Ben Braden.  Get it?   Ok, so I'm going to start with a blog that came up on my Twitter (@Mr_Braden) timeline recently.  I'm going to do this knowing full well that in doing so, I might rip a hole right through the space time continuum (I never knew that word was spelled like that).  It's a blog, similar to this one here, in which an Assistant Principal, similar to this one here, writes about things that have piqued his interest, similar to this one here.   So, without further ado, here are the things that I'm interested in right now.   Blog I'm Enjoying:    The 1-5-15 Bulletin Love the format of this blog.  It's quick, it's easy and it's educational.   Book I'm Reading: One of my New Year Resolutions, the only one I have actually stuck with, is to read more in 2018.  In an attempt to help me acco...

A poetic piece of literature about a young man who is also a doctor who probably would have found the cure to something or at least saved thousands of lives but finds out when he is 36 he has terminal cancer and only lives to 37. It's sad. Like, really sad. But it's also incredibly enlightening. Dr. Paul Kalanithi's memoir changed my life. Although the other day I got a little lightheaded and spiraled into a panic attack thinking this could be my last day on Earth and questioning whether or not I did it right.  Life, that is. That's what this book will do to you.  Not the panic attack thing, that part is on me, but this book will make you take a long, hard look at how you are livin'.  Will make you question your relationships and whether or not you are giving them the attention they deserve.  It will actually make you NOT roll your eyes the next time you hear l ive each day like it's your last or see a Carpe Diem tattoo next to that tribal on t...

This post is going to seem a little life coachie.  Don't get me wrong here, I'm not a life coach, never claimed to be, never want to be, never will be.  But, I have learned some things along my journey that I feel obligated to share.  I've got plenty of things that I am personally working on... -  Read more -  Eat less You know, those types of things.  Well, I got to thinking this morning because during a community circle I was participating in, the question that was proposed to the group was - If you could make everybody in society follow ONE rule, what rule would it be?   My buddy standing next to me whispered, "How many times do you think the GOLDEN RULE will be said before it gets to us?"  I said, "four".  The right answer was 8.  My answer - slow down .  Life is SO fast, I feel it is extremely important to "carpe diem" to "live for the day" to... Verb [ edit ] stop   and   smell   th...

The other parents at gymnastics might have looked at me a bit strange when right at this moment, I got a little teary eyed.  Ok, I cried. The song from Moana came on. Don’t judge me. The other parents don’t know we watched her go through 19 cycles of chemotherapy and that mop on her head is something she is incredibly proud of . The other parents don’t know that we’ve calmed her countless times as she woke up startled from anesthesia. The other parents don’t know that we’ve seen tubes and wires sticking from her little body. The other parents don’t know that we didn’t think she was going to make it through that first night after her first surgery to remove the tumor from her liver. The other parents don’t know that our little fighter is in remission. The other parents don’t know and not knowing isn’t a bad thing. The other parents know she’s just a normal girl.

As an educational leader, there are times throughout the day that I feel like if there were two or three of me, we could actually be getting some things done.  Whether it is responding to emails, attending meetings on and off campus, meeting with teachers or students and doing whatever else comes up throughout the day (I had to remove a dead cockroach from the staff bathroom last Tuesday), it becomes increasingly hard to attend to the task at hand. Maybe it's just me as I've struggled with attention issues my whole life but I have to think there must be other educators out there who feel the same way. You are in an ARD meeting, it's 2:00 pm and you know there's a parent phone call you HAVE to make before the bell rings and there's a teacher who needs your support with a student and the last time you checked your email, right before going to the ARD, you noticed Inbox  64 , and you just got a call on your radio that there's ANOTHER cockroach in the staff rest...

There's a Zen proverb that's been resonating with me lately... Essentially, what it means to me is similar to the "keep on keepin' on" mantra.  No matter where you are at in life, obstacles you may face, successes you may have, "chop wood, carry water" or "keep on keepin' on".   You see, a lot of people believe that the end result is what we are working toward, but is it?  Isn't it the work that leads you there the most rewarding and important part of your journey towards the end result or your, dare I say, enlightenment?   Are we ever in a place in life where we don't ask ourselves whether or not we will be there next year, or the year after?  Sometimes we have a choice in those matters and sometimes we are just along for the ride. Point is, be in the moment.  If you are chopping wood (so to speak) pay attention to the way the handle of the axe feels in your hand, the smell of freshly cut wood, the sound of the fib...

First, allow me to get this outta the way, real quick like.   I am, unabashedly, an Indiana University basketball fan to the core of my being.  I grew up in Indiana and in Indiana, if you were raised right, you were raised to be an IU fan.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of my lifetime, they haven't been that great.  I don't remember the national championship in 1987, I was only 4.   Recently they hired Archie Miller from Dayton University who is known for defense and toughness.  A "grind it out" culture if you will.  He gave an interview  ( here ) and in the interview, he mentioned something about culture that struck a chord with me this morning.   “The big thing is to create the first identity opportunity,” Miller said. “Not culture.” I stopped Miller there. Coaches  love  talking about culture – it might be the most popular buzzword in the profession today. What’s with the avoidance? “I think culture is earned...

I read an article today titled, Teen coke dealer turns down chance to avoid criminal record Think about that for a moment.   The judge offered the young man an opportunity to participate in a Restorative Justice "scheme" in which the boy turned down.  The opportunity to take part in this program, according to the article, would have spared him a sentence and a criminal record.   You see, when we dole out punishments, it keeps the offender in a passive role.  They are really never held accountable for their wrong - doing.  We think that if we reign down punishment on people they will suffer which means in the future they will be less likely to commit the same offense.  It's simply not true and that school of thought is not backed by evidence.   Now, while I do not know what this Restorative Justice "scheme" would have looked like, I do know that the young man would have been asked to take a more active role and would have had to likel...

To continue my little "guest post" series with my amazing first grade team, I bring you a beautifully written and well thought out post on Interactive Word Walls! A first grade teacher and the team leader was kind enough to take some time to put together the following post.  I hope you enjoy! My name is Luz Jasmine Arias (@Luzjasmine1) I graduated with my bachelors in Bilingual Education in 2010 and I received my Masters in Reading from Texas A&M Commerce in 2012.  I have been teaching at Barron Elementary for 6 years now and I absolutely love it.  Working with my students is my biggest blessing and I am so blessed to be able to do what I love to do!                                               Interactive Word Walls In the spring semester of 2016 our principal sent two teachers from each grade level to the Interactive Word Wall training wit...

One of my favorite questions to ask students is - "What do you want to be when you grow up?" It's simple It's old You might hear it on Sesame Street. It's not innovative But I am always taken aback when they don't have an answer for me.  Sometimes, they literally have NO IDEA.  I understand if it's a K-2 student, but in my opinion, students in 3rd grade and above need to, at least, have some idea. I wanted to be an NBA player when I was a kid.  In high school, I was a 6'3", slow, had a pretty good jump shot, could never dunk a basketball and, like my best friends to this day remind me, was never a real stud in the weight room.  It didn't take long before I realized the whole NBA thing wasn't going to pan out.  BUT, before I realized that, I had a goal.  I had something to shoot for.  I had a path, and while I didn't always stay on it, I knew where it was and I had people to help me get back on it. What do you think kids t...

This is the second installment of a little "guest blogger" series on this ol' blog. The wonderful information below is provided by a 1st grade teacher at my school, Tania Hiserote-Santiago (@Mrs_TSantiago).  Mrs. Santiago has been teaching for 7 years. This is her fifth year teaching in a first grade bilingual class. She taught 2 years in a second grade monolingual class in Houston prior to joining our school district. She recently got her GT certification by the state of Texas. She has served as a Science Curriculum writer and translator for the Writing curriculum as well! In order to work towards reaching her T-TESS goal, Mrs. Santiago knew it would be helpful if she could share resources with other teachers in our building who shared a similar goal. She created a Google Classroom to help her do just that.  Enjoy the post below and don't forget to follow her on Twitter! Why Google Classroom? Google Classroom offers many advantages for an educator seeki...

Our first grade team went out on a limb this year and tried some new things.  All in the name of figuring out and delivering on what students need to be successful.  I want to highlight what those teachers did and talk about some roadblocks they came across while implementing these new way of doing things. I asked if they would like to blog about their experiences and I heard.. I asked if they would like to write a post on my blog and they eagerly signed up! My first guest blogger is Kayla Casillas - @MrsCasillas_1st.  Mrs. Casillas is currently in her 6th year of teaching and this is her 3rd year teaching 1st.  Mrs. Casillas also taught ELA/SS in another district before joining ours! While the whole group decided to go with flexible grouping this year, Mrs. Casillas volunteered to write the following blog post.  I certainly hope you enjoy and learn something! This year in First Grade, our grade level has been using flexible grouping in...

Some kids come to us in the morning, not ready to learn.  Not ready to "do school".  They are upset, angry, tired, hungry, frustrated, etc. Does that surprise you? Probably not. What are you doing about it?  Morning work?  Have students sit at their desks, silently, and watch morning announcements? Do we expect the students who come to us in a state of mind not conducive to success at school to just, get it together?  I would argue the opposite of the "get it together" mindset.  We are educators and we educate more than just the academic side of our students lives.  We are also responsible for equipping our students to be socially and emotionally resilient.  Intentionally.  Like, actually TEACHING students how to be mindful of their feelings and what to do when they aren't 100%. At the elementary school I am fortunate enough to be the Assistant Principal at, we have had some teachers put Morning Circles into place.  The first p...

So, I've been thinking about this post a lot of the past few weeks.  It finally came together this morning when I was asked what my #OneWord2017 was.  Without further ado.... VICTORY We just came home from the hospital and my daughter's last round of chemo!  After 5 surgeries, 19 cycles and 106 administrations of some type of chemo drug, her tumor marker is finally normal and it has been normal for the past few months.  While we know we have a long way to go before we can breathe again, I consider this a victory and I hope that we will remain victorious in 2017. Did you know that Nike was the goddess of Victory in Greek mythology? I'm sure you know that Nike's slogan is "Just Do It" which brings me to my next point and one of my new year resolutions.... JUST DO IT.   Throughout this ordeal with our daughter A LOT of VERY well meaning people have told us, "Hey, if there is anything I can do, let me know." and others that have said "D...

What I'm Reading:   http://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Creating-Birds-of-a-Feather.pdf A great article on connecting with students whom may be difficult to connect with due to cultural differences.  But, how can you find similarities with students who are so different from you?  Read this article and find out! What I'm Watching - Alan Watts - Why Your Life is Not a Journey Alan Watts - Why Your Life Is Not A Journey from David Lindberg on Vimeo . An absolutely  beautiful rendition of Alan Watts speaking on enjoying the journey of life rather than focusing on the end point of everything you do.  Some very interesting and thought provoking points on education he makes in this video as well. What I'm Watching *Bonus! This has NOTHING to do with ANYTHING but what it does have to do with is placing a rubber chicken into a fan and it is totally worth watching... Guys, a 6 second video of a rubber chicken being "put" into a fan ha...

What I'm Reading:   Teaching the Teachers Some things that stuck out to me... I, in no way, was really prepared to be a teacher my first year.  Thankfully I had a great and supportive group around me at Isle of Hope elementary school in Savannah, GA!   I loved the part about how good teaching can erase some of the negative effects of poverty on children.  I couldn't agree more with that.  Unfortunately, recruiting and retaining "great" teachers at high poverty schools is very hard.  You have to have a desire to work with our kids and not all people have that.   That's ok.   I want to hire people who want to work with our students. Our students deserve that.  Traditional forms of Professional Development sucks.  Teachers, for the most part, HATE it.  Ok, when I was a teacher, for the most part, I HATED it.  But, then again, I wasn't the best student when I was in school.  I think it's just the way it i...

We had an appointment with the doc today to discuss options moving forward regarding Avery's fight against cancer.  Despite her 14th round of chemo, her cancer doesn't seem to be affected much by it.  Perhaps I can update you in a later post about all of that but before I do, I want to talk about love. Avery has a port and she HATES getting it accessed.  I hate having to hold her legs so she doesn't kick the nurses and I hate the fact that my wife has to hold her arms so she also doesn't hit the nurses while they are attempting to access her.  She screams until she can hardly breathe.  She cries until she can hardly cry.  Sometimes another nurse has to assist us in holding her down because she is doing everything in the power of her little body to stop us from "poking" her.  Anytime I've had to witness this, which isn't as often as my wife has, part of my soul is ripped from my body.  It's really hard being a father whose job it is to protect hi...