Interesting Times!

Tuesday, 1 May 2007

One of my colleagues has had a go at me about the blog and I would welcome some feedback...

The colleague, who I hold in high regard, wanted me to know how cross she was because her school wasn't on the blog as a brilliant place. I explained that the blog is a diary of places I have been and my reflections on the time I spend with colleagues and young people. It isn't and can vever be a comprehensive account of the best of Leeds... I simply hadn't been to her school recently.

She also wanted to know whay I was so positive about schools, colleagues and children since her understanding of the schools and the colleagues I had visited was very different. Again I explained that being positive is a state of mind and that if you look for brilliant you very often find it. It is also important to praise in public and to criticise in private.

However my colleague said that this undermines the real value of my comments and my feedback because if everyone is brilliant, talented, gorgeous and wonderful what's special about that. I can of course see what she means and I have had this conversation with other colleagues before... but can you ever be too positive!

I would welcome your feedback to help me further improve the blog.
Chris

6 comments:

Oaf said...: Chris

You are unfailingly positive and do name a lot of people as being brilliant, talented, gorgeous and wonderful. My view is that this is right in a blog read by all kinds of people (including oafs - or is it oaves?)
You can hardly go visit a school or have a team meeting and then come back and say they are rubbish. This would be bad form and I doubt you would get any further invites. As you say, praise in public and criticise behind closed doors.

To vary the tone of this blog, you could have the occasional feature called "The dark side of Chris" where you explore things in general that are not brilliant or that don't make you happy, such as
mobile phones in restaurants or people who stick chewing gum under tables.

Thanks for your previous advice about happiness being found with good company and laughter. I now realise my prediliction for pies, beer and treacle with dumplings has been a poor substitute for quality social interaction. It has also led to snide remarks from Mrs Oaf and my headteacher about general portliness.

Oaf; 1 May 2007 at 12:03
Chris Edwards said...: Hi Oaf,
I love the idea of 'The Dark Side of Chris' and I'll work on it.
THANKS
Chris; 1 May 2007 at 15:39
Anonymous said...: Hi,

yes you do have tendancy to use brilliant,wonderful and fantastic a lot. Some might say that you are overly positive.

However, as teachers or an agency in education we have to look for the positives, the good amongst the bad.

Continue to heap praise because fundamentally because it raises morale and self esteem.

You could try this line in a blog though ;what makes this place unique is ..... and genuinely pick out one thing that is tryuly special.

personally i think the person who complained has too much time on their hands, which you think I did too, back to marking and applying for jobs....; 1 May 2007 at 20:33
Chris Edwards said...: Thanks for the reminder and the advice.
Chris; 2 May 2007 at 09:11
Anonymous said...: I think it is ridiculous to complain that a particular school hasn't been included in a list. Neither was mine, but then you haven't visited us recently...

Your positivity is understood and expected. I actually think you have toned it down a little over the past couple of years.

I find the blog interesting although I skim the bits when you simply laud your colleagues. I do find it useful to know what has been going on around the city. I think Meanwood's achievements are amazing!; 3 May 2007 at 00:10
Chris Edwards said...: I think I have just got older and wiser but I am grateful for the feedback.
THANKS
Chris; 7 May 2007 at 19:04

Brilliant Quotes!

“I must accept life unconditionally. Most people ask for happiness on condition. Happiness can only be felt if you don't set any condition.”
Margaret Lee Runbeck

“Happiness is not in our circumstances but in ourselves. It is not something we see, like a rainbow, or feel, like the heat of a fire. Happiness is something we are.”
John B. Sheerin

“Most true happiness comes from one's inner life, from the disposition of the mind and soul. Admittedly, a good inner life is difficult to achieve, especially in these trying times. It takes reflection and contemplation and self-discipline.”
William L Shirer

“The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase: If you pursue happiness you'll never find it.”
C.P. Snow

“Doubly rich is the man still boyish enough to play, laugh and sing as he carries and emanates sunshine along a friendly road.”
Charles R. Wiers

"Faith is not a shelter against difficulties, but belief in the face of all contradictions."
Paul Tournier

"Convictions are the mainsprings of action, the driving powers of life. What a man lives are his convictions."
Francis C. Kelley

"To do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger; but jump in, and scramble through as well as we can."
Sydney Smith

"It is often just as sacred to laugh as it is to pray"
Charles R. Swindoll

"Things never go so well that one should have no fear; and never so ill that one should have no hope"
Turkish proverb

"Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself"
Chinese proverb

"Don't bother to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself."
William Faulkner

"In times of change, learners will inherit the earth,while the learned will find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists"
Eric Hoffer

"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."
John Lennon

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."
Robert F. Kennedy

"The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems."
Mahatma Gandhi

"Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way."
Abraham Lincoln

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
Martin Luther King Jr.

"There is nothing in life so difficult that it cannot be overcome. This faith can move mountains. It can change people. It can change the world."
Norman Vincent Peale

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."
Albert Einstein

"Life isn't measured by the number of breaths we take but the moments that take our breath away."
Anonymous

"Patience and perseverence have a magical affect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish."
John Quincy Adams

"Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and woman to win them."
Ralph Waldo Emerson