Don't Pump the Brakes

When one becomes a teacher, there is an often told piece of advice given from veteran educators that encourages a new teacher to “not smile before Christmas.” The idea is that, if you show your students that you are happy and having fun, you are indirectly showing them that you are “weak.” I thought long and hard about what I was going to be like as a teacher, especially since I was very young and had little experience. Sure, I student taught during college and worked in Harlem the summer leading up to my first year, but this was different. For the first time, I was on my own.  Teaching an algebra class earlier in the year And there I was, in September, standing by myself in front of a class of freshman ready to learn. I was a recent college graduate, I just moved to Newark a few weeks prior, and, at 21 years old, was the youngest member of the faculty by over a year. As an extremely young, new and inexperienced teacher, it was initially a challenge to gain the r...

In recent times, in seems as though everyone talks about how complex and controversial education reform is and how many elements need to evolve for schools to become better. While many solutions put forward push for massive institutional change and heavy financial commitments, I ask, "How about a simple solution?"  This post is exactly that.  Let's start with an even simpler question: What science classes did you take in high school, and in what order? If you are with the overwhelming majority of people who graduated high school in the last few decades, you undoubtedly took Biology first, then Chemistry, followed by Physics, if you chose to take it. Most high schools in America, whether an elite private school in Westchester or a public SIG school in Chicago, offer these three science classes in that order. Perhaps the better question is, why do schools sequence science classes in the way that they do? Most people, myself included,...

This past April was one hell of a month. After surviving my first official graduate school residency at Seton Hall during the first weekend, I was looking forward to going to Boston with the East Side High School Student Council on the 11 th and 12 th . This was my third overnight trip with the group, and, having had  incredibly moving experiences the first two times around, I was extremely excited about this one. With the East Side High School Student Council at Harvard University In two days, we were able to visit four schools: Harvard , Boston College , Northeastern and Boston University . As was the case with previous trips, it was such an empowering weekend. Although I had a lot of great dialogue with the students during our two day venture throughout Boston, three specific conversations stick out: The first was at BC, when we were eating lunch. I was sitting across from a senior who recently moved to the United States from Ecuador seven months ago. We ...

During my senior year at Marist, I was very fortunate to receive great advice about life and leadership from many brilliant people. Taken with this, I developed a short list of important ideas and ideologies that I wrote down and kept in my desk as a sort of reminder. I read this list daily, and I strive to achieve all ten every single day. In addition to my  Three Laws of Success , I feel that this list will do just about anyone in just about any position vey well. I hope you enjoy. 1. Calm down and slow down! Rome wasn't built in a day. 2. Be a leader... today! 3. Keep a Positive Mental Attitude . 4. Doing what is popular is not always right; doing what is right is not always popular. 5. Do not take anything personal. 6. Do not ever let someone tell you that you cannot do something. Prove them wrong! 7. Play on your strengths; work on your weaknesses.  8. Embrace change. 9. Be Transformational: Worry about tomorrow more than today, today more than yesterday...

     No matter who you are or what type of company you work for, I believe that there are three general rules that you can apply (rather liberally) to get ahead in any organization. These are three laws that I have learned over the years, and have followed habitually with moderate success.  I also want to be clear that the following advice is neither original nor complex; contrarily, it is extremely simple, but inordinately powerful.       Rule #1: Show up. Life is about showing up. Take full advantage of every opportunity you are given, no matter how big or how small the chance seems to be. I promise that you would not believe how far “showing up” will get you. For me personally, no matter which organization I was with, it was always rather disconcerting to see the majority of people doing the bare minimum to get by. Seldom do these types of people see opportunities as pathways to their future. I can tell you countless stories abo...