I AM...

Last night, Kristin and I rented the movie Divergent. I haven’t had the pleasure of reading the book yet, but have heard some good things from people about the movie. Thus we decided to give it a try. Here is the quick and dirty synopsis. Set in the future, post-war Chicago, the citizens of the city are all divided up into factions. Everyone has to fit into one of the factions. If not, they’re faction-less (homeless) and do not live a decent, fulfilling life. Young adults in the city take an aptitude test to give them guidance on which faction to choose to join. The test, in rare situations, can also be inconclusive. That means the subject is unable to be categorized into a faction and they are labelled “Divergent”. To the governing body of the city, “divergents” are unpredictable and dangerous...DUN, DUN, DUN…

Obviously the author, Veronica Roth, is making an analogy for life. I also think it makes a great analogy of leadership. Leaders cannot simply be classified into a single faction, but instead need to dynamic, diverse, and to steal the title, Divergent.

There are five different factions in the movie, so I am going to talk about five different parts of myself as an educational leader that I see.

1. I AM A DIFFERENCE MAKER. A quick shout out to my favorite band, NEEDTOBREATHE (here is a link to their song Difference Maker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2LtB9KLf98). As an educator, I make a difference in families' lives, students' lives, and their futures. Whether we like it or not, we have the power to make peoples' lives better or worse. I, for one, want to attack everyday with the attitude that I am going to make peoples’ lives better. This leads into...

2. I AM THE MASTER OF MY ATTITUDE. There is the analogy that I have heard from many people, you can be either a thermometer or a thermostat. Thermometers simply tell what the current temperature is at. Thermostats control the temperature and set what it is going to be.

3. I AM A LEARNER. If I put off an air that I know it all, I am kidding myself and being close minded. As an educator, I love the atmosphere of school and have always enjoyed being a student. I hope to continually grow.

4. I AM A MODEL. Looking above, if I am not demonstrating learning habits for students and other staff alike, I am not being effective. I want to model curiosity and a drive for knowledge.

5. I AM LAST. There’s a recent billboard campaign about "I am second." I’m going to go a step further and say "I am last". In a classroom full of students, I am literally the most insignificant person in the room, in my opinion. It doesn't matter the slightest if I understand the material. It is all about students and families and making their educational experience spectacular.

Thanks. God bless.