"Ideas are meaningless... It's all about execution."
Today I assisted in day-long filming for our school's Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) program video. Our school's PBIS team has been working for months creating scripts, learning songs, rehearsing, and to get ready for today. It was a lot of work, but seeing the students' level of enthusiasm during the taping and hearing the students singing the songs made every second of planning worth it.
One of the teachers on the PBIS team stated that she was amazed that all of what we have accomplished resulted from of our conversations at the PBIS trainings we attended. Every aspect of our PBIS program we accomplished started out as an idea.
Through the various meetings we attended we came up with some great ideas! We had an idea to reward students with yellow tickets for showing the 3 R's: Ready, Respectful, and Responsible. We had an idea to get a large plush mascot for our school that classrooms could "win" for showing Ready, Respectful, and Responsible behavior. We had the idea to create a video showcasing our school's 3 R's and students showing the 3 R's in all areas of the school. We had the idea for students to create a song about the 3 R's for in the video.
We had so many ideas. However, we did not let our ideas stay ideas. We made ideas REALITY! Sure it took hard work and determination, (and sometimes frustration) but we did it. We made it happen. We could have come up with reasons why it wouldn't work. We could have worried about the minutia and not focused on the big picture. We could have quit at any time... but we didn't.
Every aspect of what we did started out as an idea. When the teacher spoke about everything we accomplished starting out as ideas, I immediately thought of the "dad-ism": "Ideas are meaningless... It's all about execution." Anyone can have an idea... you have to do something with it or it will always be just that - an idea.
Executing an idea could change the whole climate of your school. Executing an idea could make students excited about following school rules and showing school pride. Executing an idea could bring joy to your heart and remind you of why you got into this profession in the first place.
How many ideas do you have floating around your head or scribbled on stray pieces of paper? What would it take for you to do something with just one of your ideas? How much of an impact could executing that one idea have? Comment below, email me, tweet, or share on the School Counselor Blog Facebook Page!
Danielle is a K-12 Certified School Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, and blogger at School Counselor Blog, a place where school counselors share innovative ideas, creative lesson plans, and quality resources. Contact Danielle via email, follow her on twitter, and become a fan of the School Counselor Blog Facebook Page.
