What do you think of when you
think of the word bossy? Who do you think of when you think of
the word bossy?
Last year, I read the book Lean In by the COO of
Facebook Sheryl Sandberg. It’s a
powerful book about women and leadership.
In it, Sheryl discusses how success and likeability are positively
correlated for men. The research
actually shows that as men become more successful people like them more but as
women become more successful both men and women like them less.
Sheryl Sandberg is now on a new mission to ban the word
bossy as a descriptor of girls. She says, “We call our little girls bossy. Go to a playground; little girls get
called bossy all the time-a word that’s almost never used for boys- and that
leads directly to the problems women face in the workforce.” I thought about this and she’s
right. I don’t think I ever call
boys bossy but friends at school called Carys bossy just last week.
Why does this matter?
Research shows that by middle school, girls are less interested in
leading than boys. “A 2008 survey
by the Girl Scouts of nearly 4,000 boys and girls found that girls between the
ages of 8 and 17 avoid leadership roles for fear they will be labeled “bossy”
or disliked by their peers” (Sandberg & Chavez, 2014). The good news is this does not appear
to be true at Cooper. We actually
have more girls on Lighthouse and in leadership roles than boys.
We need all of our young people to lead. As Anna Maria Chavez, the CEO of the
Girl Scouts says, “When we talk about investing in girls, we’re not saying to
divest from boys. It’s about
ensuring that we have every capable person prepared to lead” (2014). We expect boys to be assertive and
confident but when girls do the same, they are labeled bossy and this
ultimately undermines girls’ ability to view themselves as a leader. What do you think?
If you would like to learn more, I encourage you to read the
following articles.
Big Rocks:
Happy Birthday Terry Taylor!!!
Student Perception Surveys:
We have completed the 5th Grade Perception
Surveys and have a few 6th Grade Perception Surveys to finish. We will take Backiel, Lorenz, Kimball,
Tanner, and Gates students this week.
Thank you for all of your flexibility throughout this process!
Teacher Perception Surveys:
Now it’s time for you to evaluate us! We will be sending out links this
week. There was some debate among
the Upper Elementary principals about whether to send links to all staff
members or just the ones we are evaluating. Terry and I voted to send the links to all staff. There are two questions-one about
observations and one about actionable feedback-that may not be applicable to
the principal who is not doing your evaluation but just do your best. Thank you so much in advance for your
time and feedback. We encourage
you to give us specific feedback so that we may improve our practice!
Triad Concert:
Our Cooper vocalists have been hard at work. The Triad Concert is Tuesday, March 11
at pm. Karen has sent out an email
proposing a special music schedule on Tuesday for extra practice. She will have the first rehearsal from
9:30-10:30 in the café with Backiel, Webster, Kimball, Mansour, Kopacko, and
Daraskavich. The second rehearsal
will be in the café from 1:30-2:30 for Lietz, Erickson, Lorenz, McGlinch,
Martin, and Spence.
Schedule for the Week of March 10, 2014
Sunday: Happy Birthday Terry!
Monday: Finish Student Perception Surveys
Sarah is the proud mommy of
an 8 year old!! Where does time
go?
Tuesday: IST 8:00
Principal PD-Sarah 7:45-10:45
-Terry
12:30-3:30
Clubs 3:45-4:45
Variety Show Practice 3:45
Triad Concert
Wednesday: EPT 8:00
Bus Meetings 10:40-11:10
Planning Team 3:45
Sports Club
Thursday: Extended Staff Meeting 3:45-4:45 (Moving and LIM)
Bill Roberts from AXA
Equitable will be in the building.
No Tennis Club
Friday: Peace and Quiet
Saturday: Michigan Reading Association Conference (Sarah and
Sally)
The author of Wonder
is the Key Note Speaker! So
excited!
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