Mr. Zerwas Teaches Here
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The Body – Bill Bryson
What a fascinating book… offering all sorts of insight into what is known and unknown about the human body. In addition to lots of somewhat technical, scientific, and medical information about different parts of the body, Bryson also shares several engaging and funny stories. My favorite was about an emergency appendectomy on a US submarine…
Thank you, Del Oro… and Goodbye for now
I met Morgan (now my wife of almost 18 years) at Cal Poly. She had just graduated high school and as we were getting to know each other, she would often tell these fond stories of what seemed to me like a mythical place. She claimed to have gone to a high school where students…
An Invitation for Outsiders & Insiders
Many people have pointed out that one way of looking at the prophet Jonah is as a classic nationalist. You could say he believes in Israel. Israel should be first. He is with the chosen children of God, not the gentiles, and definitely not the Ninevites. Now, his nationalism… maybe it’s the subtle kind. He’s…
Attempted Escape
Yesterday was the first of my two-part sermon series on the Book of Jonah. This is a story about Jonah, and it’s a story about Israel, and it’s a story about me. And one thing that’s true for all of us, is that the call of God is often clear. It’s often as clear as…
Initiative Fatigue
“Really?!? Another thing? We are barely started with the last thing and the thing before that. I can’t even remember the main focus of the thing from last month. Is this one going to stick or is it going to be soon forgotten like last year’s thing? How can we have 50 things that we…
In case of emergency
I reviewed a few different emergency scenarios this week and talked with a group of educators about what we should do in different situations. One of the scenarios dealt with a shooting and the other with a student leaving campus during the school day and dying in a car accident. These are horrific situations. Here’s…
Confidentiality
I talked with a group of teachers about two tough confidentiality issues this week. One involved a teacher who shared a story with her neighbor about a rough student. She included names and identifying details. The neighbor then shared the story on Facebook. It quickly turned into quite a disaster. The other issue involved an…
Relationships Matter
As part of the administrative credential program that I have been working my way through for several months, we’ve had the opportunity to read several case studies and scenarios dealing with students, staff, and parents. What’s interesting about these scenarios is the massive range of situations that you could potentially find yourself in as a…
California Ed Code 48907
I know. It’s a catchy title for a blog post. California Educational Code 48907 has to do with students’ freedom of speech rights. Here’s an excerpt: “Pupils of the public schools, including charter schools, shall have the right to exercise freedom of speech and of the press including, but not limited to, the use of…
Racial Bias in Parent Communication
Several months ago I completed a quick online test from Project Implicit that was designed to measure implicit stereotyping and biases. The process was really thought-provoking and it led to several good conversations with colleagues about how we interact with students. One thing that I hadn’t considered at the time was how dramatically an educator’s…
Understanding vs. Appreciating
I read a case study this week that ended up leading to some great discussion with a few colleagues. The study told the story of a 13 year old Vietnamese boy named Khoi who had lived with his mother in Seattle for the last 8 months. Khoi was suspended from school for 5 days for…
Cultural Mindfulness
In a Forbes article from 2015 called Why You Need Cultural Intelligence, folks from the IESE Business School explain the concept of cultural intelligence as a sort of x-factor that has the potential to “drive up innovation and creativity” as it allows someone to integrate different perspectives across cultural barriers. They talk about the immense…
The Engagement Continuum
The focus this week has been on engaging parents and families. Part of the conversation that has been sticking with me is the distinction between parent participation, parent involvement and parent engagement. When you think about the words participation, involvement, and engagement as they relate to relationships, they have a very different connotation. I don’t…
Keeping it Local
Last week I found myself carefully exploring the details of the LCFF (Local Control Funding Formula) and the LCAP (Local Control Accountability Plan). How’s that for an engaging hook for a blog post? The formula itself is somewhat interesting, as there are several variables in play that impact how much money is allotted to each…
What’s your passion?
We talked about the makings of a great leaders this week. The discussion started with an examination of James Kouzes and Barry Posner’s list of “Ten Truths About Leadership.” The truths they list are helpful but not surprising. They mention things like believing in yourself, building credibility, developing relationships, sticking to you values, etc. As…
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Mr. Zerwas Teaches Here 