3-2-1: What good judgement requires, how to direct your attention, and the hidden path to happiness
3 Ideas From Me
I.
“The measure of a life is not what you consume, but what you contribute.
Spend less time owning, consuming, taking. Spend more time giving, creating, making.”
II.
“Everyone wants to be happy now, but it might be better to optimize for being satisfied later.
Perhaps the key to happiness is to not worry about being happy today, but rather to make choices that will leave your future self feeling satisfied with how you chose to live. Do you feel a sense of satisfaction with the choices you made? With the way you lived today? With the things you chose to focus on over the last year? Are you “happy” with the impact you are making?
Momentary happiness is hard to predict, but deep satisfaction is easier to control. It is on the other side of good choices, good habits, and meaningful impact.”
When you’re held to a different standard, defy expectations
Female leaders in K12 are held to a different standard, which sometimes forces female leaders to hold themselves to a higher standard, Superintendent Zandra Jo Galván acknowledges. Her answer: flip the switch, defy expectations.
“It’s never crowded when you go the extra mile,” Galván, superintendent of California’s Salinas Union High School District, tells host Amy Dujon on the latest episode of DA’s “A Good Lesson” podcast. “If you’re going to hold me to a different standard, or expect something different out of a woman, let me show others what’s possible.”
Aspiring female leaders often wait longer to apply for promotions, and are asked more questions and given more responsibilities once they become superintendents, Galván attests. “We have what it takes, yet we wait a long time to make sure everything is just right,” she adds.
What Generation Z Is Teaching School Leaders About Work
A few months ago, a young teacher sat across from me and said something that stopped me in my tracks. “I love teaching,” she said. “I just don’t want teaching to become my whole life.”
As a millennial school leader who entered the profession during an era when educators often wore exhaustion like a badge of honor, I initially found myself wrestling with her statement. Part of me wanted to respond with all the familiar talking points about sacrifice, commitment, and doing whatever it takes for kids.
Instead, I listened. And the more I listen to teachers from Generation Z, the more I realize they are forcing educational leaders to confront an uncomfortable question: “Have we confused dedication with depletion?”
Clarity During Uncertainty
You don’t need certainty to have clarity.
Uncertainty means you can’t predict the future. Clarity shapes your actions.
You can’t predict outcomes. You can choose direction.
Clarity During Uncertainty
Waiting for certainty is paralysis.
You don’t know why sales dropped 20%. One leader says, “Let’s wait until things become clearer.”
Another leader says, “Focus on retaining key customers. Let’s preserve cash. Keep our best people. Set up a team to evaluate this situation and to plan next steps.”
You can’t predict the storm. You can adjust the sails.
Clarity is more than setting direction. It’s also creating confidence.
What Excites and Scares Principals Walking Into New Jobs
The start of the school year can be a nervous time for everyone—a student starting middle school, a teacher fresh out of college, or a principal starting a new job at a different school.
For Katie Law, moving to the principalship of the 200-student Wyoming Indian High School after 18 years at Arapaho Charter School on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming is both daunting and exciting. In her new role, she’ll get to try out her successful strategies to reduce absenteeism and boost family engagement on a much larger canvas.
“It was a lot easier in a school of 60 with maybe 10 of them having some attendance issues to be able to kind of track down those 10 kids. Is that system that I had in place going to work in this school?” said Law.
15% of Texas Schools scored below a ‘C’ on the state accountability scores
The Texas Education Agency released accountability scores for all Texas schools Friday morning. The scores grade how well specific campuses and school districts as a whole perform academically and prepare students for college and to enter the workforce. Scores this year cover the 2025 – 2026 school year.
1,202 districts and 9,105 campuses were rated in 2026. 24% of both districts and campuses increased in rating compared to 2025. 585 campuses across Texas improved from below an A to an A rating in 2026. In total, 85% of campuses that received an A-F rating statewide achieved acceptable academic performance (C or above).