It is that time of year again—time to set resolutions for the New Year. Eating healthier? Using technology less? Exercising more? Those are the popular ones. However, this year I challenge you to consider a different type of resolution. My challenge to each and every one of you is to resolve to become more professionally fit.
Professional fitness does not refer to how many stairs you can climb throughout your building during the day or the number of steps you take during bus and lunch duty. Instead, professional fitness refers to your aptitude as a continual learner. Ignite ’15 Thought Leader Michael Fullan uses a key term in his book The Principal: Three Keys to Maximizing Impact: lead learner. Let’s face it … that is what we, as school administrators, are at our core. The best way for us to improve our schools is to “lead the school’s teachers in the process of learning to improve their teaching” (Fullan, 55), and that requires administrators who are committed to continual learning and improvement for themselves as well.
So, how does one get to be professionally fit? Here is a quick checklist of goals to improve your own professional fitness:
□ Develop a personal learning network
□ Collaborate with colleagues to reflect on current practices
□ Identify and research innovative programs that can be implemented in your own school
□ Connect with other leaders
□ Engage in your own professional learning
by Jared Wastler, assistant principal, Liberty High School, Eldersburg, MD, and Co-Founder of NASSP sponsored #APChat for assistant principals.
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