By Bing Parks A RAP LESSON My students’ favorite music genre is rap. We will analyze the messages in rap lyrics and discuss the impact of the rapper’s diction. Sometimes the students wonder why we are spending so much time on the lyrics and ask if they could just listen to the song and move on. They argue that they are just words, after all. So, one day I told them I was the best […]
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Replace Yourself: The surprising call that K-12 school leaders and fraternity guys have in common
I was in a fraternity in college. Yes, I’m aware that in 2023 that statement comes with a lot of baggage. However, for all the beauty – fellowship, service, and philanthropy – and the real brokenness I witnessed in Greek life, my fraternity was my first, authentic classroom for leadership lessons, and no experience was more instructive than recruitment. The recruitment process, also known as “Rush,” may be the most revealing undertaking of any fraternity […]
Maximizing Commitment in a Season of Change
By Anna H. Surratt A Season for Change There is a season for every activity under the heavens (Ecclesiastes 3:1) and we are in the throes of one of the most crucial seasons of our school year – the beginning of the year. As school leaders, we are setting the course for the year with purpose-driven goals, high expectations for faculty and staff, and deep hopes for positive student outcomes. If there is a time […]
Starting with the Finish Line in Mind
By Jenny Brady How to help your community prepare for endings at the beginning “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under Heaven.”1 Whether you recognize those words from the Byrds hit song or King Solomon’s original statement in Ecclesiastes, you have likely heard them thrown around in times of change. The truth in these words can be hard for many of us to swallow. As humans, we are not always […]
Perhaps You Were Designed for Such a Time as This
By Jon Eckert, Ed.D, and Bill Sterrett, Ph.D Educators are facing significant challenges and tremendous opportunities. Baylor’s Center for School Leadership (BCSL) exists to develop processes, improve schools, build networks among like-minded educators, and inspire school leaders to bring joy to their schools and classrooms across the world. In Esther 4:14, Mordecai enlists the help of Esther with this plea, “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise […]