Author: billkralovec

Partizan To Final Four

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Last week Partizan defeated Maccabi Electra 3 games to 1 in a best-of-five quarterfinal series in the Euroleague Basketball playoffs. They now qualify for the Final Four tourney to be held in Paris in early May. Maccabi is from Tel Aviv, Israel and for those readers not knowledgeable about basketball, the Euroleague is the equivalent of the Champions League in soccer. It is the premier professional club basketball league in Europe.

Logo of Partizan Basketball Club

Above is the logo of club. On top it says шампиони which translated from the Serbian Cyrillic means champion. In the Serbian Latin alphabet, is reads a bit easier for English speakers – Šampioni. On the bottom, KK stands for košarkaški klub. Košarka is “basketball” in English. The name Partizan in the cyrillic script then follows. The team is named after Tito’s resistance army in World War II, hence the Red Star in the middle. The club was founded right after WWII in 1945 as part of a youth sports association in the People’s Army of Jugoslavia (JNA).

I’ve been thinking about the Euroleague and Partizan. I wonder how Partizan would do in America’s National Basketball Association (NBA) or in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). One point I want to make, the Euroleague should study the nba.com and espn.com web sites on how to market and cover its league. The Euroleague website really could do a lot more in promoting the teams and players. There is little in-depth information and commentary on the games or match-ups. They do not highlight star players at all. If I was running the Euroleague, I would make it a lot better. I know that basketball is not as popular in Europe and it needs to compete with soccer, but a David Stern-like commissioner could really raise its level of popularity and money earning. They need an American sense of marketing sports entertainment.

When I arrived to Serbia last year, I picked Red Star as my team. (note – I just read an article that describes how Red Star basketball is facing bankruptcy.) But this year, I have admired the Partizan basketball team and now am a big fan. Two of our students at the international school have parents on the management board and another two play for the youth teams. I have a connection to the team and hope they can win it all. Unlike most European countries, basketball is a bit more popular in Serbia than soccer, although the Serbian national soccer team is in this year’ s World Cup and Red Star won a Champions League title in 1991. This gives Partizan an advantage in that it has access to a big pool of good young players and the packed arenas with knowledgeable and rabid fans, makes them tough to beat at home. Other arenas are much quieter. Serbs are also tall, active, and tough generally as a culture and this also translates to good basketball teams.

Partizan plays an exciting, fundamentally sound style of basketball. A big factor is their coach, Duško Vujoševic. The guy began coaching at age 17 and spent most of his career in Italy. He must not have been much of a player. He is currently the coach of the national team of Montenegro besides Partizan.

Like all the Euroleague teams, Partizan does have several imported players and three start for Partizan. This also gives a good chance to compare Euroleague basketball to the NBA or NCAA. The type of American players that end up playing in Europe are those guys that had excellent university careers, but couldn’t stick with an NBA team. So considering they are a bit older than the current college players in the US and they had strong careers in the NCAA, I think that they would do well in the “March Madness’ tourney, but not so well in the NBA. The two Americans players for Partizan are 6-8 center Lawrence Roberts and 6 foot point guard Bo Maccalebb. Roberts used to play for Red Star so I have followed him for over a year. He was an All-American and the SEC Player of the Year for Mississippi State. Maccalebb was the Sun Belt Conference player of the year for the University of New Orleans. Both guys first played in Turkey or Greece before coming to Serbia. I would like to interview them to see how they like living in Belgrade. The other import is 6-11 Czech forward, Jan Vesely. He is very thin and more of a small forward than a power forward. The other two starters are Serbian. Dušan Kecman is a solid 6-5 shooting guard and Aleks Marić is a 6-11 center that is a force inside, averaging 17 points and 9 boards in Euroleague play this year. Marić is a Serb that grew up in Australia (many Serbs left during the war) and then had a good career at the University of Nebraska, being named to the All Big-12 team as a senior.

They also have a strong bench of young local talent. Slavko Vraneš  is a 7-6 giant Montenegrin. He played one game for the New York Knicks. He is a bit slow, but he takes up a lot of space near the basket. Aleksandar Rasić is a good back up point guard. Partizan puts a lot of effort into its youth program and they produce many great players. Unfortunately, many of them eventually leave for more money on other European club teams.

I’ll be watching the Final Four in Paris. Partizan faces some stiff competition with three giants of Euroleague basketball also qualifying for the final four. Barcelona (with Minnesota Timberwolf prospect Ricky Rubio), CKSA Moscow (last year’s runner up), and Athens Olympiacos (also in Final Four last year). The format is knock-out, just like the NCAA Final Four, and they play Olympiacos on May 7th. I don’t understand the delay, perhaps the national leagues are finishing first.

The World Cup Comes to Belgrade

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With the cup, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

This afternoon we went over to New Belgrade to see the World Cup Soccer trophy. FIFA is sponsoring a tour of the World Cup trophy and soccer “experience” literally around the world. Coca Cola is advertising big time with the tour. The trophy was in a large hall. There was a lot going on that was frightening for the young Kralovecs. Between two bands of African drummers, an electronic soccer carpet, aerobic dancers, etc. the experience was a bit overwhelming for them as you can see by the look on their faces.

Ollie Jumps Right In!

The workers were nice and they let us cut to the front because of the kids. We got our picture, free cokes, and then headed out. Serbia is in the World Cup and the country is excited for June. I can’t wait to watch the games. Thanks to Eric for letting me know it was in town.

Family Garden Fun

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We have lots of great times as a family in our garden (back yard in American English). Above is a video I took last Saturday morning. Yesterday Nadia, Ivana, and I started to plant in the garden. We planted tulip bulbs, freesias, and basil. We are expanding the garden this year and I’ll be hard at work with it over the holiday, which begins tomorrow evening!

Ollie Enjoys The Magnolia Bloom!
Two of the Magnolias bloomed in our yard. Ocean loves taking a flower each day and putting it in our garden. As some of you may know from my blogs I love trees and it is about the only thing I believe is sacred. The magnificent and ancient Magnolia! I love magnolias!!!
Ocean Loves Magnolias!

11th Anniversary of the NATO Bombing

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Last week Belgrade commemorated the 11th anniversary of the 1999 NATO bombing that began in March of that year. Most of the buildings and bridges destroyed have been repaired or replaced. There are two large buildings left from the bombing, however, that have not been repaired. The building above is the one that is not often photographed by tourists. The other building, the former defense ministry headquarters, is often photographed and discussed because it is closer to the central, downtown area. I guess more tourists see it than this one.

The building was the federal police headquarters. It is a huge building and there are three large holes where obvious bombs were dropped. The building is located on the same street as the defense ministry, Knez Milosa, but further from the downtown. It is not far from our house in Senjak, just to the other side of the main freeway going through Belgrade. I think it is good that at least one of these buildings remains destroyed. It is a physical memory that is striking. It is similar to the ruins of the national library that was destroyed by the Germans in World War II. I’ll blog about that sight next month as the anniversary of that event is coming up in April.

Entrepreneurs Sell Advertising On the Building

Recently, two large billboards have been erected on the building. I wonder how long these sites will remain? Serbia marked the occasion with a minute of silence at noon followed by the sounding of the air raid sirens.

ISB Easter Picnic

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We had a great time Saturday at the annual ISB Easter Picnic. Ocean is shown above with the Easter Bunny and his helper. It was a beautiful day and the volunteers from the PTSA and US Steel did a wonderful job in making it a fantastic and fun event. Despite the economic recession, US Steel still does have a significant presence at the school and it was nice for them to run this event for the kids.

Ollie Does the Obstacle Course

Owen’s Reading

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Owen, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Owen is really enjoying the teen spy Alex Rider book series. We read the first one, Stormbreaker, together and he is reading the second, Point Blanc. They are really reinvigorated his reading and writing in school. The books are basically James Bond novels with a teenage antagonist. Plenty of action and gadgets to hold young boys’ attention.

The weather is fantastic this week. Spring has sprung and I’ll try to get some photos today before the rain comes this weekend.

Gulf of Finland: Goodbye Estonia

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Sunday we had some time to kill as our flight out of Estonia didn’t leave until the evening. We went for a long walk around Tallinn and ended up at the Pirita Beach, just outside the city. As you can see, the Baltic Sea in mid-March is not quite ready for a picnic. Tallinn is 59 degrees north.

We had a nice time in Estonia. It was off the beaten path and I got to know a little known place in the world. The Estonians are very similar to the Finns and I think since there are only around 1 million of them, they develop some stronger ties to Finland. They have some definite animosity towards the Russians. We noticed this when we went souvenir shopping. I was looking for “babushkas”, those Russian dolls that have small ones inside each other. The Estonian gift shop vendor pointed out that those were Russian and not Estonian. The Russians had a market outside the Old Town and they were pushed out of the nice areas. I guess after the Russians occupied Estonia, there is still resentment. I wonder how the Russians living in Estonia get along in their daily lives. Do they learn Estonian?

The ISB Gang In Front of the Czar's Former Palace

I am not sure if I’ll ever get back there. It would be a nice place to live, although the long winters would be tough.

Transformational Leadershop – Fran Prolman

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Another workshop from the CEESA Conference. The big idea of the workshop is the leader changes as the followers also change. Both leader and participant raise to higher levels of motivation.

Dr. Fran Prolman Led the Workshop

 

Transformational Leadership can be categorized into three areas.

1) Relationship Building – Getting outside of ourselves and seeing their point of view.  

2) Taking a Risk – I can re-invent myself in my work. I can re-invent myself all the time. Always growing.

3) Creating a Culture – I can create a culture of learning, whether it be a hostile environment or nice environment.

Part I. Relationship Building

Fran likes to give us authors and book titles.  Margaret Wheatley “Turning to One Another” and “Leadership in a New Science” – Water will always finds its way to the ocean. It has the power to reshape granite. It will always finding a way to the ocean. It is a nice metaphor.  

Ways to build transformational leadership and collegiality:

Teaching is an isolating experience. The key is to get teachers to observe one another, sharing expertise at faculty meetings, asking for help,

A nice idea to do is to build collaborative team time built right into the schedule. 

Another good author is Susan Scott with her book Fierce Conversations.

Another good book is the “Fred Factor” by Mark Sanborn.   “How can I be the best Principal you have ever had?” In this book, he writes about the “B’s”

  • Be real
  • Be interested (It is not about me, it is about you as a transformational leader.) Fran Polman interviews people at cocktail parties. Does the person notice they do not know anything about? When this happens, the other person is now ready for a two-way relationship. Another example is when a student comes into your office between classes.
  • Be a better listener

When someone comes in an asks if they have a minute, I ask them what the topic is. Then I either go for it or ask them to set an appointment.

  • Be empathic – I want to see things through your lens. 1/3 of any group of adults are dealing with something really hard (illness, divorce) – they need support 1/3 they are healing from the abyss – 1/3 in a state of illusion
  • Be honest
  • Be helpful
  • Reinvent yourself regularly – Increase you Implementation Quotient – increase your capacity

What I am taking from this session in the three categories?

1) I am going to focus on taking the viewpoint of younger teachers.

2) I like the idea of postponing a conversation by setting an appointment, but first asking what the topic is.

This is a strength of mine.

Part II. Risk-Taking

Another good author is Carol Dweck and her book “Mind Set” defines two mindsets, the first being a performance goal versus a learning goal. The first mindset, the people will not take risks because of afraid of failure. An attribute of success after school is to take risks. Michael Fullan wrote in “Implementation Dip” that there will be a big descent after the implementation to the abyss of change and teachers will play out according to their personalities and maturity. When the group hits rock bottom, they begin to think about what exactly support systems they need to get back up to the top. This is “creative tension” is what cranks up the creativity. You as an inspirational leader work the hardest at the bottom to bring them to a higher level.  This also applies to new families to the school. It is a big change for them to entrust you with their child and they will struggle at first.  The time frame is 3 – 5 years

The degree to which the leader challenges assumptions, seeks feedback from others.

Eric Weihenmayer is a blind mountain climber who leads blind children to high peaks. He used to be a MS teacher, wrestling coach, and the only blind person ever to climb Mnt. Everest.

Another transformational leader is Ben Carson, who was raised in the ghettos of Detroit and a single mother with a third grade education. Her mother made him to read a book a week and write a report on it. He is the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at John Hopkins Hospital at age 32.  He believes in THINK BIG (talent, honesty, Insight, Nice, Knowledge) and then (Books, In-depth learning, God) His most recent book is “Take the Risk: Learning to Identify, Choose, and Live with Acceptable Risk. He uses this decision making process with

What am I taking away from this session?

1) Talk to the teachers about the Michael Fullan descent and ascent change before we do the 1:1 lap top program.

2) Seek feedback AND data from the staff regarding the schedule.

3) Go with the filming of teachers

I would say I am more conservative and less of a risk-taker.

John Lui “Earth’s Hope”

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I attended a talk by John Lui at the CEESA Educators’ Conference in Tallinn, Estonia.

Mr. Lui Shows Sediment Flow in a Creek

 

He gave a talk on his restoration of a highland wetland in Rwanda. Jarod Diamond gave the reason of the genocide was a fight over scarce resources. He was working at the head waters of the White Nile and Congo River, and environmental problems at that highland, it affects all the way down the river basins. All of these horrible events are caused by deforestation by humans.

He feels this is the “panda” of biome restoration. This is an extremely beautiful place with rare orchids, birdlife, volcanoes, lakes, etc. This is also a place that is coming out of genocide.

Plants are 80-90% water and when they are removed from a hillside, and the rain during the rainy season is not soaked up by the missing plants. This causes sedmintation, even mud slides,  which bury villages and kill villagers. No one ever talks about the cause of the mudslides on the news. The cause is deforestation. Another indicator of a degraded environment is when rivers do not flow the whole year. One thing they did in Ethiopia, they make the gullies meander to allow a slower flow and the water infiltrate the soil. This also raised the water table. This is a physical change to aid restoration. The other change is biological, with the planting of trees. The amount and percentage of biomatter is huge.

The determinate of ecosystems is the infiltration of rainfall water. He also feels that biodiversity is separate from the process of water retention. He says that we exist because of wilderness, and we need to nurture biodiversity for the possibilities. He also feels that we are not capable of making good decisions.

He commented on the Copenhagen Summit. Two accomplishments were the setting up a carbon-trading scheme and the second was REDD (Reduction of Carbon Emissions by reducing deforestation). He has been publically speaking for 5 years and it is always accepted by every crowd that has watched his presentations.

All cradles of civilization went through the same process. Cut down the trees, plant on slopes, leading to serious degradation of their environment. The wealth and power of a civilation leaves, but the peasant farmers stay for generation. One example is the Loess Plataue in China, the cradle of the Han people.

Idea of canopies, not only the tree canopy and the grass canopy. There is a microclimate under the trees AND under the grass.

You can click on the “Hope on a Changing Climate” link to see one of John’s movies. There is also a good website that will help educators use his ideas and work in their classrooms. The Environmental Education Media Project web site can help. His main web site is also full of more information.

In Colombia there is a project called Las Gaviotas. They used a pine species to improve the pH of the soil and they are no pruning. I’ll need to look it up.

Estonia: A Beautiful (and strange) Frozen Kingdom

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Besides learning how to be a better principal from the CEESA conference, I am also learning much about the host city, Tallinn, Estonia.

I wonder how many Americans have heard of Estonia, know where it is located, and a little of its history? I bet it would be about 1/3 of Americans who could answer those questions correctly.

It is the smallest and furthest north of the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania being the other two) with a population of 1.4 million. Tallinn, the capital, has a population of slightly over 400,000. It is slightly larger than Vermont and New Hampshire combined. As you can see from the snow above, Estonia is located 59 degrees north latitude. The Estonian ethnic group is not related to the two other Baltic states. The language and the looks of the people, make them very similar to the Finns. Finland is a two-hour ferry ride away, across the Baltic Sea.

For most of its history, Estonia has been under the control of a larger and more powerful country. The Swedes, Danes, Livonians, Germans, They have only been an independent country for 38 years. A short period between WWI and WWII and then again in 1992 after the Russians left. I am surprised that the Estonians kept their language and culture and ethnic identity alive during all of those years under the control of other nations. They did leave their marks however, and I see the beautiful Old Town arrchitecture of the Germans and the ugly block apartments left by the Russians.

The Narrow Streets of Old Town

It is an odd little place.For example, in the fridge in the hotel, there is a “good morning pickle.” Do Estonians eat pickles for breakfast? Two nights ago for St. Patricks day, we went out to an Irish Pub to celebrte the day. The band playing that night featured a lead singer that sang like Alvin and the Chipmunks and with a lead violinist with wild, hairspray, hair. For their last set, they brought out three girls playing white violins. I think they would be huge celebrities in the US. It was an original idea, I think they would be immensely popular world wide.

We spoke to the waitress last night at dinner. She was around 20 and was thinking of going to university. She said Estonia was a bad place for young people as there was not much opportunity to develop a career. She was looking to make a move to a larger city in Norway, Sweeden, or Finland.

The city is buried in snow which makes it even more beatuiful The Old Town is incredible. I’ll blog more about my impressions of Estonia.