The quotes below are from a book titled: Leading for Powerful Learning: A Guide for Instructional Leaders by Angela Breidenstein, Kevin Fahey, Carl Glickman and Frances Hensley (2012) from Teachers College Press. This is a good book for any and all formal and informal school leaders who 1) want to be part of schools that [...]
I really believe that tomorrow belongs to those that can collaborate and create in concert. I don’t believe that for an effective collaboration to exist that everyone will have the same high level of commitment to every decision or action. Yet, I do believe that as people work together there are times when a individual [...]
How a leader shows up matters. What a leader believes matters. The leader’s ‘frame’ makes a difference. Diana Whitney, Amanda Trosten-Bloom and Kae Rader in their book: Appreciative Leadership help leaders to develop their skills and attitudes related to helping to bring about positive systemic change. The following four attributes are those common to leaders [...]
Think about how you can work better with others. Then work better with others. Collaboration is a good thing! Here is what some other people think about collaboration: 1. “It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” – Charles Darwin 2. [...]
Influential leaders are effective communicators! Knowing your audience is a basic pillar for successful communicators. When a superintendent wants to connect directly with students – it may be time to be creative. Anthony Habra is a superintendent of Rudyard Area Schools in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Rudyard is a district of 900 students. Tony wanted to [...]
I am a gardener. I spend time with seeds and the dynamics of seeds. I have learned some thing s about seeds. Not all seeds planted will germinate. Not all that germinate will survive. Not all of the eatable food that may be produced will be eaten by humans – ground hogs, deer, rabbits, racoons,etc. [...]
In our families, at work, in our communities, in the state and/or nation and globally there are issues. Will have enough food, water, energy, educational opportunities? Will our family, work place, and the people of our community, state, nation and world be able to be part of positive change? Can the future be an improvement [...]
Ron Heifetz, Alexander Grashow, and Marty Linsky in their book The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World (2009, Harvard Business Press) write about adaptive leadership. Their definition: Adaptive leadership is the practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive (page 14) sounds like the kind of [...]
For optimal learning to transpire schools must be safe places. As leaders we are responsible for “safety” above other missions. How do you feel about being responsible for school safety as it relates to bullying and specifically – cyber-bullying? Let’s think about what schools can do to be intentional about being environments safe from bullying. [...]
When people gather whether it is to help: a school district that wants to figure out how best to use their technology resources, a state or region wanting to improve the environmental quality of its ground water, or nonprofit wanting to effectively reduce bullying among young people across the nation – the people coming together [...]
When I see young people – I see potential! Currently there are too many students that are left behind. Dropouts, underachievers, and minimal learners are all too common. The current system for educating society’s youth is broken: Broken if we agree that there is student potential that is not being tapped. Yet, there are those [...]
In an interview some weeks ago with Weekend Edition Saturday‘s host Scott Simon, Gates went on to say. “The goal is to help teachers be better,” Gates said. “And when we run personnel systems where we want to be frank with employees about where they need to improve, having [evaluations] publicly available is not conducive [...]
Technology is an asset when it comes to schools meeting the challenge of insuring that more students learn at higher levels. Whether you are a formal or informal leader in schools I believe it is important for you to know what you value when it comes to technology and learning. Then it is important to [...]
Bullying is potentially brutal. So, when the topic of Bullying is presented in a documentary movie the movie cannot be made without tackling the ugly facts and patterns of this serious issue. The movie Bully is not a ‘sugar coated’ covering of the topic. It is a serious movie about a serious topic! My wife [...]
What follows is a section of Levinson and Grieder’s book: Following Through:A Revolutionary New Model for Finishing Whatever You Start p. 35 & 36 (2007). I am fascinated by their example of how a squirrel’s brain is ‘hard wired’ to accomplish certain very specific tasks. Mr. Squirrel collects acorns for the winter because he’s pre-programmed [...]
As I reflecting upon being in India I am reading and thinking about Gandhi and his contributions to India and to the world. Gandhi talks about the importance of connectedness between and among people. He says, “Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal [...]
Over 4 years ago this short video first appeared. I saw it during that first year and I am showing it now, some four years later with a few questions. Has much changed for school aged learners? Are there more opportunities for ‘engagement’ with each other by way of technology? Is it common throughout the [...]
Are the issues of poverty, the lack of English as a first language and the fact that a student is labeled as a Special Education Student reasons why we, in America have many school systems that are experiencing static or regressive achievement results? Does it matter how educators approach the reality of today’s students? Can [...]
What does it take to be a leader? Here’s a young student’s perspective, mentioned in Patti Ruffing’s post, Mush!. The concepts are unique; see if you agree with her. A musher is someone who drives a dog sled. To drive a sled, a musher needs to have leaders on the team. Leaders are the dogs [...]
The leadership authors and researchers, Kouzes and Posner wanted to learn about the behavioral dimensions admired leaders earned. Kouzes and Posner asked people to give them specific examples of what the leaders they admired the most did to gain their respect, trust, and a willingness to be influenced. How did they behave that help them [...]
The CEO of Discovery Education, Bill Goodwyn, just weighed in on his thoughts about Apple’s entry into the digital textbook world. He makes some fantastic points in the post and it’s well worth reading in its entirety. Just to whet your appetite though, here’s a taste: My hope is that the proliferation of digital textbooks [...]
How might all individual students be served if schools, families and communities were to strengthen a shared commitment directed toward the goal of: Schools should be places where all students can and do learn? a student who was highly stimulated with language, social, emotional, nutritional and physical opportunity from ages of 0 to five, a [...]
That title gets me thinking. I am betting when you watch the video you will be thinking about: The need for courageous leadership Education taken as a given Disengagement by students and teachers An age of networks Students having access to powerful tools of learning Shifting some roles Becoming learners together Transformation, flexibility, celebrating Start [...]
It’s all a matter of framing. The language we choose leads to the way we think about and approach things as well as work through the realities of our lives. If we frame situations as problems then we tend to look at trying to solve them. If we frame situations as opportunities then we tend [...]
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