By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker February 14, 2015 Have you ever been extremely hot, sweaty, and thirsty? Of course you have, and you would give almost anything for a cup of cold water. Many of our students are hot, sweaty, and thirsty. They labor under the burden of academic pressure, which
By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker January 02, 2015 I ran across this excellent article, The Secret to Raising Smart Kids,1 in Scientific American. It will take ten minutes or less to read and is well worth your time. After reading it, I sent the email below to my staff. I
By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker November 30, 2014 Do you have any mean parents? If not, you can skip this article. If so, read on. Ninety-nine percent of our parents are wonderful. They are supportive. When they have a concern, they know how to speak the truth in love. They assume
By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker August 16, 2014 You are probably having too many meetings, for too long, and with too many people. Consider a weekly meeting with five people that lasts one hour, held every week throughout the school year. Here is the math: 5 people x 1 hour = 5
By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker July 06, 2014 I do not make New Year’s resolutions; I make New School Year resolutions. I have never found New Year’s resolutions particularly helpful because my life revolves around the school year, not the calendar year. This makes summer an ideal time to
By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker April 19, 2014 When I was in undergraduate school, a classmate encouraged me to become a pastor. His encouragement stemmed from his assessment of my teaching gifts, which he considered at least adequate for pastoral ministry. He was kind but wrong. While I do have the
By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker April 19, 2014 If you are a leader or a teacher, you probably use PowerPoint or Apple’s Keynote. Nothing personal, but you are probably using them incorrectly and, in the process, boring your audience. I have. Not wishing to bore my audience, I have read
By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker March 29, 2014 It is hard to get people’s attention. Inboxes overflow with emails. Social media feeds compete for attention. Voice messages wait impatiently for a return call. Schedules are packed. In all of that noise, your emails can get lost or ignored. Here are
By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker March 23, 2014 Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. We create battles we do not need to fight. I avoided one such unnecessary skirmish recently after receiving a call from one of our elementary principals. She called about a clear violation of our dress code
By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker February 01, 2014 As school leaders, we have all been there. We receive an email something like this: “Dear Dr. Mosbacker, I would like to request a meeting this Tuesday. This meeting is regarding a series of concerning events that have happened with ‘name.’ I am
By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker January 26, 2014 Are you the master or the slave of your smartphone? Before you dismiss this question too quickly, take a few moments to consider it carefully. There is a short film titled I Forgot My Phone that captures the problem with uncomfortable accuracy. It
By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker January 18, 2014 Three Powerful Reasons for Getting Off Your Duff * Your physical health — sitting is more dangerous than you know * Your mental productivity * Your leadership and impact on those around you I got a big surprise the other day. I am disciplined when it comes