Just Keep Asking...Questions - S. Gonzales

In the book Hacking Leadership, the authors make a bold charge to instructional leaders, “If we are going to understand what teaching and learning feel like in a school, we must engage in it on some level by being present in classrooms” (Sanfrelippo and Sinanis, 2016). That was my goal. Get out of my office, emails, meetings, and never-ending to-do list, and get into a classroom to interact with kids. Mr. Frye was the first to generously open his door and his heart to let me do just that.

Last week I had the opportunity to co-teach with Mr. Frye or @therealmrfrye and his Multimedia Communications class. Mr. Frye shared with me the introductory lesson for the day. This one lesson, for one class, for one day was extremely thorough. We went back and forth on a google doc and met for about two hours before the lesson. He tolerated my never-ending questions both personally and professionally, and I got a first-hand look at all the cool things students had done both in and out of class with Mr. Frye over the past 12 years. It was an awesome reminder that teachers plan like this for multiple classes for multiple days to meet the needs of all kids. It was a reminder that the work our teachers do every single day is exhausting and insightful and extraordinary.

During the lesson, Mr. Frye let me totally engage with the students. When the kids walked in, they shook my hand and greeted me warmly. They gave me insight into their lives as students and as individuals. They let me ask them questions and they thought deeply not only about the content but about themselves. I asked them to use one word to describe themselves. Words ranged from “outgoing” to “bored.” And it reminded me that kids are still kids. Their responses echoed what I heard years ago when I was in the classroom, as well as just yesterday what I heard from my own teenage son. It was interesting to me to see that our kids have not changed much, but the world sure has changed.

And those changes in the world is what Mr. Frye brings to his classroom. He teaches students science, English, math, personal well-being, psychology and many other things. But most of all he teaches students to be curious. He lets the students express themselves in a way that isn’t filled with pressure and unrealistic expectations. The students have the freedom to be who they are in a time when being a senior in high school elicits way more questions than answers when lessons require more questions than answers and trying to figure out life after high school has an abundance of questions that do not contain one single answer. Mr. Frye makes it safe for students to ask those questions, and he is isn’t afraid to not have the answers. In fact, he asks kids more questions in response to their questions. And the kids don’t get frustrated. In fact, they ask more questions to which Mr. Frye replies, “What do you think?” Allowing for curiosity and developing a sense of “there is no one who is going to give you the answer” is one of the most valuable takeaways I brought back with me after that lesson. Because that is the real world. That is what happens when you leave high school. If you are brave enough, you will live a life where you continually ask questions instead of living to give or be given the “right answers.”

And that is the lesson I learned. To keep asking questions. To keep pushing boundaries. To keep asking “why” and then “why” again. Being a leader, like Mr. Frye, requires reflection, action and most of all asking questions. Thanks, Mr. Frye, I’ll keep the questions coming.