Originally posted by J. Bevacqua on Figuring It Out I get a little skeptical and wary of schools (and those that work within them - including myself sometimes) that espouse “academic excellence” as an organizational value. I wonder if the “academic excellence” mantra has become the equivalent to the “good job” or “excellent effort” of teacher feedback to students. Nice...
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by phalinn As a student, I had a specific notion of what a principal should be and in my head they were similar to the “Wizard of Oz”; a person that hid behind the curtain but had all of the knowledge in the world. I would...
cc licensed ( BY SD ) flickr photo shared by kaktuslampan “Attuning yourself to others—exiting your own perspective and entering theirs—is essential to moving others. One smart, easy, and effective way to get inside people’s heads is to climb into their chairs.” Dan Pink Sitting in Eric Sheninger’s session yesterday at ASCD, he asked the question,...
You do not call leadership. Leadership calls you…(here). Leadership draws you into a familiar place, (“Here I am again.”) You know this space well. It shows up time and time again, often when you least expect it. In fact, you have been here so many times, I’m certain you know the feeling by heart. ...
Some describe four ”Cs” of essential skills for this 21st century – traits such as: Critical thinking, Collaboration, Communication, and Creativity. Some list five or six ”Cs.” Five: Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Communication, and Character. Six: the list above plus cultural competency. Other people and organizations talk about seven ”Cs.” Here is one version of seven “Cs”: Communication Connection Collaboration/Cooperation Creation/Contribution Community Continual Learning Culture All of those C-words are...
As a school division, we are deep into developing blogs as portfolios with our students. To do this with approximately 10,000 students is a major undertaking but the work is important and I really believe that students should have a space to share and reflect on the work. This should not be unique, but...
The following question in the context of a conversation connected to class size was posed to me via Twitter and the blog of @danhaesler and warrants a response longer than 140 characters. “A poor lesson in front of 40 kids will still be a poor lesson in front of 20″. Could a great lesson...
Below is a summary of how connected educators volunteered “on a tweet” to stream into our school and provide a LIVE professional development opportunity for the Knapp staff. As school leaders, it’s our responsibility to expose our learning communities to new ways of supporting each other, including resources that are both physical and human....
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Tawheed Manzoor “You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” –The Matrix I...
We designated the month of February to be our Luna love month. Knowing that February is the start of the testing pressure and push, we wanted to remind our teachers that we appreciate them, all their hard work, and that we were all in this together. We came up with a few different ideas...
Lately, I have been struggling through a bit of a sophomore slump — if you will. I am over half-way through my second year as a junior high school principal, and I must admit that, at times, I find the experience overwhelming. I have struggled with time management, difficult decisions, district meetings, a new...
Do you remember your first day as an administrator? I certainly do. I was one of two rookies VPs placed at a brand new school. This was a dynamic school with an affluent population combined with an academic drive in French Immersion. This was a school that had a varied teacher population ranging from...
As we come to the end of the 2013 National Lutheran Schools Week, we look back on a week of activities, spirit days, service projects, and excitement to realize that one of the great things about Lutheran schools is that we know how to have fun. It was evident that the students here at...
Teacher-led PD = the most meaningful and collaborative PD available in education today. This morning, we held our bi-weekly Tech Tuesday for staff. The topic was on Skype in the Classroom. Two local district educators, Glenn Yetter (@CoachYetter) and Brett Baker (@Bakerbg), Skyped into our before school meeting to teach us about the benefits...
As we already know, a gap exists between what we know and what we do. Successful educators work to narrow this gap between new ideas and implementation. However, I believe the size of this gap does not necessarily indicate one’s success. Some educators are terrific at executing what all they know how. The problem...
I assume you are one of the millions that are as inspired as I am by “Caine’s Arcade,” the endearing story of a boy who created his dream from the ground up – out of cardboard. Every time I watch these videos, I flash back to my own childhood, where I fashioned tents out...
flickr image via Scarto In teaching and learning, whether we’re jumping off a cliff, or jumping off a curb, the important thing is that we’re jumping off something. I’ve never been one to make a lot of resolutions for a new year, but this year I will make at least one. I’m actually thinking...
This post originally appeared on the “Education is My Life” site, which has several offerings aggregated by A.J. Juliani. I don’t remember much about what I learned in elementary school, but I do remember how much I cared about my teachers, and inversely, how much they cared about me. The teachers that meant the most...
At my school, I simply call myself a helper. I often say to students and parents, there are many helpers in our school. This universal concept implies safety, community and support. Moreover, it offers understandable, common sch india viagra oolwide language for elementary students. When students acknowledge me as a helper, it goes right...
“The robbed that smiles steals something from the thief.” William Shakespeare I snapped the photo above this morning as our students, staff and parents sorted through the proceeds from our annual holiday food and toy drive in preparation for delivery to some of our families and our friends at the fire service....
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