There's More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Students writing their rough drafts outside, why not? 

I have heard the saying, "There's more than one way to skin a cat" my entire life, as I am sure many of you have. Some may ask why I'm writing about this on an educational blog, but to me it is an innovative approach in my leadership style. When we are trying to come up with ways to help our students or teachers, we must be creative in our decision making process. The most fearful phase that we can say is, "We've always done it this way." To me, there is ALWAYS room for improvement. Even our best procedures, plans, lessons, or projects can always be re-evaluated to make them better. Why not take the time to explore other options or solutions to problems? The world is changing and we must be open to change as well. We as leaders can't sit back on cruise control and not take an active role in the success of all students, because the students lose out in the end.

Just when I start to think that I have run out of options, or I have been told, "no" one too many times, this saying replays in my mind. There is always a solution to every problem, it might just look different to some people. The moral of the story is, NEVER GIVE UP! Keep fighting for what is best for kids, and you will always win in the end. When you think you are at your breaking point, be creative and open to alternative ways to reach the best end result.

Always remember, that there's more than one way to skin a cat!

When you have an open mind and heart
the possibilities are endless!


xoxo,

LMR

My Projects: Passion

When we hear the word PASSION, what thought comes to our minds? Wait, don't answer that, lol.

 I have been known to be passionate in many areas of my life, but my students and young people have always been the core of my passion. It is what gets me out of bed each and every day. Knowing that I have the ability to change a life, inspire our youth, help a student, or celebrate achievements is an extraordinary high that I get to feel almost on a daily basis. How many people can honestly say that? I am aware how truly blessed I am to be able to experience my passion in the form of my career and I don't take that for grated.  Is each day rainbows and butterflies, no, but there is so much more positive than negative!

Shouldn't it be our ultimate goal to focus on our young people's passions? If they haven't discovered their passions yet, isn't it our job to help inspire them to unlock their passions and talents. Once our student's talents have been identified, then isn't it our obligation to focus on them, encourage them, and support them during this monumental time? Is this a hard concept to grasp? Do you think Beethoven took four years of science, or did he focus on his talents and passion? I am not saying that general education doesn't hold bearing and isn't important, but I would also love to see more individualized and specialized learning experiences for our young people. Exposing and challenging students to find out how to relate their lives to their learning is imperative for student success. We must listen and encourage student voice and choice each day so they will be successful in the real world.

Two years ago when I was in the classroom, my students actually put their passions in motion and created PASSION projects. My students took this project and ran with it. They were incredible!  I saw everything from one student who presented on the ocean like she was on National Geographic to another student create a fish and chicken breading and compare it to a best selling brand. The sky was the limit and my students rose to the challenge. They exceeded all of my expectations, but I had to trust them and believe in them. I transformed from the teacher to a facilitator and a coach. They taught me so much during the process and the only thing that I would have done differently would have been to have started it the first day that I started teaching! Why didn't they teach me any of this in college? If I would have known how fufulling it was for my students and I, I would have done this from day one! To all of my fellow educators, this is just food for thought.

Now, ask yourself the following questions:
Are you passionate about your career path? If the answer is, no...why not? Don't we all deserve to experience passion?  Passion drives us to be better, if you haven't discovered you passion, go and find it. Once you find it, nurture it, love it, and own it! Go out and be passionate people!!!!

Peace, Love, & Passion,

L. Ragsdale

My Projects...I Love a Good Project

I love to have a project. Something that I can dive in head first into, obsess about, and not stop until I am satisfied with the end result. I pay attention to detail, water it with love, and demand extraordinary  results. It can be anything from a charity event, a baby shower for a friend, a kindness campaign or
A STUDENT!!!!

Each of my students that walked into my classroom I viewed as a project. A project to challenge myself to see if I could breakdown their walls and barriers, and ignite the passion for learning again. It wasn't always easy, actually it was hard as hell, but I knew that it was my duty, my passion, and my calling! I found out quickly that there is never going to be a cookie cutter approach to helping students see their potential or even helping them succeed. Every student is like a snowflake, similar, but extremely unique and that is how you approach each kid. What works for one, will NEVER work for another.

So how do you start this process with a group of "at-risk" students? It was simple, beat them at their own game. They hated school, so I hated school. They hated to read, so I hated to read. They hated me, so I hated them right back.

It sounds pretty funny, but it was true. I don't really like how the traditional school system is designed, I only read what I am interested in, and the first day of school, I kinda hated them too!

Honestly, it worked like a charm! I would ask them, who hated school? They of course all raised their hands, including myself. I always laughed any informed them, that they were not in school, they were actually in a super awesome learning environment with the center being them, learning, and
knowledge. I enlightened them that learning can occur anywhere, school is strictly a building to   house the learning that is taking place. I informed them that the ONLY thing that they actually own was their mind. No one could ever take away their knowledge...KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!!!! What high school student doesn't love power?

Why do you think 11th and 12th graders hated to read? Well maybe because recreational reading was destroyed at such an early age. They were required to read a boat load of books, take a multitude
of assessments, and what did they have to show for the countless hours of reading and testing? A pin with stickers on it for a personal pan pizza with one topping from Pizza Hut. Sounds like a rip off to me. That was my personal story that I told them of how I first started hating to read. Then I went into all of the terrifying reading stories that we all remember! Going in order, row by row reading a paragraph at a time. I strongly remember counting the people ahead of me, then the paragraphs, finding mine, and then reading it over and over making sure I wouldn't mess up any words and be
mortified in front of my entire class. God forbid if there was a word that I didn't know and you tried to bypass it and your teacher made you sound it out, that was a real confidence booster wasn't it? Or the good ole popcorn reading, where your teacher would randomly call on you to read the text and it felt like you were taking a bullet to the chest when your name was called and you had lost your place. You always knew that the teachers would discuss that in the teacher's lounge each day. I can hear it now, "I caught Leigh again, she was in the wrong spot again, her voice was shaking, and she didn't know three of her site words, can you believe that? She is such a poor reader, I wonder if her parents ever work with her at home?"

What were we really learning? How to hate reading out loud or reading in general? What is was like to be publicly humiliated during a time that you are desperately trying to figure out who you were in life? I am not sure the purpose, but those were some brutal memories for me and the funny part is, most of my students could relate completely.

They took it a step further. Instead of looking stupid, it was a lot "cooler" to act out and get booted from class. Being the bad kid was a lot easier than being the stupid kid. They knew the drill, they would sit in the hallway, miss more instruction and then repeat it the next day. We wonder why kids fall through the cracks, if they aren't in class, they aren't learning.

Once they realized that we had some of the same experiences it became a lot easier for them to let me in and realize that I wasn't some perfect freak, that was the ideal student. I struggled just like they did and life wasn't always easy.

More to come!

Leigh

In the Trenches...Tales from the Alternative School Part II

So after the pep talk with my dad, I decided to show up the next morning, as well as the morning after  that. I didn't leave for the next eight years. It wasn't an easy road, but it was so unbelievably worth it!

After the student wanted to kick my ass, she became my next project. She was never aware of that, but I was fancinated with the wall she had built so high around herself, her grit, and her actions. She was tough, I mean really tough, even all of my wannabe gangsters didn't want to mess with her. For some odd reason, I was never scared. I don't know if it was because I saw the hurt in her eyes, if I was just young and stupid, or if I knew that she needed me? Although we came from polar opposite pasts, I knew we crossed paths for a reason bigger than either one of us realized at the moment. How could I possibly help this damaged little girl?

I knew that I had to prove myself to her. She would never open up to me if she didn't trust me. I wracked my brain on ways to build trust. I finally decided to journal with her back and forth. Journaling for her became a place of release, however for me it was much different. I wasn't aware that people could actually live a life like hers and survive. Fair warning, the next paragraph that you are about to read is bone chilling.

Both of her parents were incarcerated for using, selling,  and manufacturing meth. She remembered small shacks all around her house, even one outside of her bedroom that they used to produce their poison. This isn't the bad part. When she was around the age of 9 or 10, her parents allowed men to use her body for their drugs. She remembered nights, where she was awoken by random drug heads touching her and eventually raping her. She didn't know how many there were, unbelievably some were from her own family. She was in and out of foster care for years, but usually ended up running away and sleeping in parks or wherever people would take her in. She had more grit and courage than I could ever imagine having. I couldn't even fathom waking up for school each day and facing the world, yet she did, with extreme personal courage. She woke up every day and put on her mask so she could hide from the pain and hurt that she felt. She proved to all of the teachers that said that she couldn't do it, that she could, and do it extremely well. She ended up graduating early. Once she set her mind to something, she wouldn't stop until she reached the end goal.

I like to think that I made her life a little bit better, but in all reality, she completely CHANGED mine. The stories that she told me, broke my heart, but that wasn't my role for her. She needed me to teach her a different way to live and I needed her to teach me about battles that my students face every single day. She made me a better teacher and person, and because of her, I NEVER assumed anything about any student that walked into my classroom.

xoxo,

LMR

If You Weren't My Teacher, I Would...

Two of my students during a Service Learning Project

My first few days at the alt school seemed like a blur. I think I was functioning in survival mode, and wondered each day what was in store for me. Would it be kids sneaking out the back to smoke cigarettes or the teacher next to me wanting to read my palm? I just never knew what to expect, which I of course enjoyed, and looked forward to each day. However, this day in particular left a permanent mark, to say the least.

I think it was day four and I thought I had it going my way, until I met Mandy. She was sixteen and tougher than any wannabe gangster we had in our program. The boys were scared of her and the girls wouldn't even look her way. That morning, I approached a table during breakfast. Of course, I said, "Good Morning" to each table. What happened next was something that I will NEVER forget. Mandy stood up and was nose to nose with me and said, "If you weren't my teacher, I would kick your ass." I knew at that moment I had two choices, go to the corner and cry like a baby in the fetal position, because I was terrified, or option number two. I chose the latter of the two and stood my ground. I locked my eyes with hers, and as we were nose to nose I quietly whispered, " I am a lot f#@&ing tougher than I look." She took a step back and sat back down. I walked off with conviction and confidence, but my heart was about to beat out of my chest. I went into my office, and replayed the situation over and over again in my head, questioning what I had just done.

The day seemed to drag on, until it was 3:00 p.m. I couldn't get to my car fast enough.  Once I pulled out of the parking lot, I started sobbing like a baby. For those of you who know me, know that doesn't EVER happen. So of course like most 23 year old girls, I did what we would all do, and called my mom. She was extremely sympathetic with my situation and immediately starting developing a plan of attack for me to resign or just quit. Just when I thought we had the perfect plan in place, I hear my dad in the background, yell, "Who are you talking to?" I begged her not to tell him, but then I heard her say, " It's Leigh, she is quitting her job, a girl said she was going to kick her ass today!" I knew what was coming next, and of course I was right. Next thing I hear is, "Mary, give me the damn phone!"

By the time that Buns got on the phone, I had dried my tears and knew that this conversation was going in a completely different direction. "Stinky*, what's going on?" I quickly told him the Reader's Digest version of the day' events and I will NEVER forget his response, " You are a RAGSDALE! No snotty-nosed kid is going to run off or intimidate a Ragsdale. When you go home, look in the mirror and tell yourself, that you are a RAGSDALE!"

For the next eight years I walked into that building with my head held high and never looked back. He was right. I could handle anything, because I was strong enough to do so. I think of this moment on my hard days, and it makes me smile and remember to toughen up!

*Stinky is one of many nicknames, given to me by my father*

My next post is when we visited the county jail! Stay tuned, it's a good one!

xoxo,

Leigh

In the Trenches...Tales from the Alternative School

My Grandparents
Principal George S. Pallo & Teacher Marie Pallo

As many of you know, my heart belongs to the "at risk" youth of the world (which aren't we all "at risk" of something?). I have always loved the underdog, as I admire their grit, gumption, and drive to survive. I can only assume that my passion comes from my late grandmother, Marie Pallo. I have heard countless stories of her "saving" kids and never giving up. Although I didn't have the opportunity to meet her, I feel that I am passing on her legacy, one child at a time.

I taught Alternative Education for eight glorious years in a rural school district, south of St. Louis. It honestly changed MY entire life. My students opened my eyes to a world that I never knew existed. They taught me acceptance, tolerance, patience, and many other street lessons that I needed to know. However, that came much later. First, I had to prove myself!!!

The FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL:

I remember being super excited for the first day of school, it was my first real job!!
I was a twenty something year old with ambitions out of this world. I was going to walk in and change lives, boy was I mistaken! I was way in over my head, to say the very least.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I looked like I had just stepped out of the pages of Vogue. I wore a tailored white shirt, pressed to perfection, a black puffy chiffon skirt, with strands of pearls and three inch heals that I could have run a marathon in. What I didn't realize, is that the school was located on the top of a bus garage, in the middle of nowhere and I quickly realized I was completely out of my league. The staff was cracking jokes about how many mice they had already killed and setting new traps. I HATE mice, they totally freak me out, so I was anxious and totally grossed out before I ever started! It smelled like stale cigarettes and diesel fuel, which I preferred over the thought of a mouse running across my shoe. What in the hell had I gotten myself into this time, kept running over and over in my mind. I was screwed to say the least.

When the first teacher greeted me, she said, " You won't wear that again, especially if you have to have it dry-cleaned. Who do you think you are, COCO Chanel?" Although I took that as a HUGE compliment, I knew that I was way in over my head, but it was too late to back out.

I took a deep breath, and walked into the common area where they all sat. They all looked like the kids out of Gangsta's paradise, but all white, with no diversity other than their clothing. They looked like they were going to eat me for breakfast, kill me, or just make my life a living hell, but as my dad always said, "God hates a coward!" and what they didn't realize, was that there was a new sheriff in town!


Until next time,

LMR

INVEST in People...NOT Programs

So many times in education and in other fields, we have an abundance of programs, initiatives, and new mandates that we have to fulfill in our line of work.  Sometimes it really sucks for multiple reasons; you don't know the, "why" so you feel as if you have no voice in the decision, or it has cycled around multiple times, so you wait for it to pass. We all know what I am talking about, if you have been in education for more than a split second.

The programs themselves mean nothing if we don't invest in the people that we are asking to carry out the tasks and that are in the trenches every day. We as leaders MUST believe in the people that we lead, so they will have faith in us as leaders. If we believe in PEOPLE, anything is possible.

The concept and struggle of "buy-in" can go to the waste side, if trust is established between the leadership team and your valued staff. Without the trust and support of our teachers, we have NOTHING!!! Those relationships must be established, nurtured, and valued. They must be based on trust, open communication, and respect. Again, relationships are at the center of any change that needs to occur. 

I was that teacher. If I didn't understand the purpose, didn't feel like my opinion was valued as a professional, or didn't feel supported or trusted by my leadership, I would nod my head yes, and then shut my door, and do whatever in the hell that I wanted. So, needless to say, "I get it!"

We as leaders need to provide our staff with the purpose of the changes, programs, or mandates through transparency, honesty, and open communication. If we fail to do so, we will not see the effective changes that we want to see, but resistance, resentment, and defiance. It is imperative to set the groundwork and pave the path to success and include our staff in the process. Inform them of changes, adjustments, or feedback so that all of us are batting for the same team at all times. Take time to listen to suggestions, improvements, and complaints, to make whatever it is BETTER!!!!

As always, KIDS must be the center of anything and everything that we do. They are the reason that we have jobs and they are the reason I get out of bed every morning. WE are in the business of KIDS, and they NEED us to show up every single day!

PEOPLE...They are PEOPLE, our PEOPLE, and we need to love each of them, every minute, of every day!

Happy Sunday Folks,

LMR