ORLANDO, Fla. – Principals and teachers should work together to create a joyful atmosphere for learning, says Salome Thomas-EL, a principal at Thomas Edison Charter School in Wilmington, Del. During a presentation at ISTELive 26, Thomas-EL discussed the importance of a culture of positivity.
“We know that social emotional learning is so important for our young people,” said Thomas-EL, “but it also helps to create positive and engaging cultures in our school, which we know our students need. We need them knocking the door down to get in – and not knocking the door down to get out [of school.]”
Thomas-EL, the author of “Meet Their Needs and They’ll Succeed: Transforming Students’ Lives Through Positive Relationships,” emphasized the importance of servant leadership in schools. Thomas-EL has also written several other books drawing on his decades of experience as an educator. In the beginning of his teaching career, which started in 1987, the hardest challenge he faced as a teacher was losing students to violence.
“There’s no teacher certification program that will ever prepare you to walk into a classroom and see an empty chair that an 11- or 12-year-old child will never sit in again,” Thomas-EL said. “There’s nothing that prepared you for that. And I said to myself, ‘I’ve got to find a way to teach these students that they could choose the behavior, but they can’t choose the consequences.’”
Thomas-EL started a program that taught students at Roberts Vaux Middle School in Philadelphia how to play chess. The chess team easily beat other middle schools, but Thomas-EL wanted his students to face more challenges. He decided to pit the team against high school teams in order to teach growth.
“It’s not about the winning,” Thomas-EL said, “it’s about the lesson in the struggle and the frustration. How do we overcome those battles when we’re trying to build resilient young people? We don’t want to teach them how to become successful. We want to give them the tools to overcome those struggles.”
Under Thomas-EL’s leadership as chess coach, the team was crowned National Chess Champions eight times. The program attracted national attention, including $20,000 in funding from actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In addition to chess, Thomas-EL relies on a framework of “Four C’s” to build student connection:
- Crazy – Educators should be crazy about their students.
- Curious – Educators should be curious about their students’ lives outside of the classroom.
- Consistent – Educators should model consistency and responsibility.
- Culture – Educators should create a positive environment for learning.
Thomas-EL emphasized that teaching is one of the most important professions, and encouraged teachers to remember why they entered the classroom in the first place. After 10 years of teaching, Thomas-El became a principal and eventually earned a doctorate in educational leadership and administration from Wilmington University of Delaware. Throughout his career, Thomas-EL always tried to keep students as his primary focus.
“Choosing joy and impact over compliance becomes important, not just checking the box, but truly helping young people, because you know you are okay with planting a tree whose shade you may never enjoy,” Thomas-EL said.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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