"I Learn, You Learn, We Learn" Blog

Check out this jam-packed list of FREE webinars offered by Discovery Educator Network. Get ready for back to school with a visit to one , a few or all of the sessions listed below.

All sessions begin at 11 AM ET. Register Here. It’s free and easy.

Digital Storytelling Week
8/3/09
Thinking Outside the Slide: Creating non-linear PowerPoint presentations and learning centers with Discovery Education Media
8/4/09
Digital Storytelling Made Easy: Using Discovery Education Content with Animoto and PhotoStory
8/5/09
Director’s Cut: Discovery Education Media and MovieMaker (PC)
8/6/09
Director’s Cut: Discovery Education Media and iMovie (Mac)

Leadership Week
8/10/09
The Information Society is HERE: Are our schools up to the task? with Dr. Scott McLeod
8/11/09
Policies, Safety and Social Networking
8/12/09
Web 2.0 for Administrators and Others: Schools, Tools, and the 21st Century
8/13/09
Data Driven Decisions with Discovery Education Assessment

Science Week
8/17/09
Myth Busted: Easy Ways to Integrate Digital Media into Your Science Classroom
8/18/09
Getting Your Hands Dirty with Discovery Education Science
8/19/09
Differentiating Instruction with the Discovery Education Science Assessment Manager
8/20/09
More and Muir Tech Tips for Going Green

Web 2.0 Week
8/24/09
Get Your Glog On! The DE streaming Builders and Glogster
8/25/09
The Thread that Ties it All Together: Discovery Education Content and Voicethread
8/26/09
Two Roundtrip Tickets to Anywhere in the World: Designing Virtual Field Trips with Discovery Education Media and Google Earth
8/27/09
Learning Through the Funnies: Mixing Discovery Education Content with Free Comic Tools

Enroll today.

Because I am in the Historical Capitol of the US, it seems fitting for me to share with you this inspirational movie from Simple Truths. Enjoy.

Personal Growth

“It is one of the paradoxes of success that the things and ways which got you there are seldom those things that keep you there.”~ Charles Handy

“For everything you gain, you lose something.”~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Most of us plateau when we lose the tension between where we are and where we ought to be.”~ John Gardiner

“It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from followers.”~ Warren Bennis & Bert Nanus

Ken Blanchard…the best selling author of The One Minute Manager said this:

“Every once in a while a small book comes along that deals with a profound subject in a simple, elegant way.

A Peacock in a Land of Penguins is that book!”

Follow Perry as he makes his journey from the Land of Learning to the Land of the Penguins and ultimately the Land of Opportunity. This story echoes one that is unfolding each and every day in organizations all across the country – how to build a corporate culture of creativity and capture the talent, energy and commitment of all employees.

To watch the short inspirational movie , visit http://www.perrythepeacock.com/ 

From SimpleTruths.com

Mark Sanborn’s new book, The Encore, effect is truly an encore to his previous releases: The Fred Factor and You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader. It is scheduled to be available to the general public tomorrow.   While on vacation a few weeks ago, I decided to take the preview copy (see previous blog at  http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/tstandhart/2008/08/23/something-new-and-remarkable-is-coming/ )to the beach and begin reading. A few hours later I finished up with a sunburn (because I don’t tan and I wasn’t paying attention) and more of Mark’s remarkable wisdom for leaders, and people in general, in any profession. It would be easy for me to highlight each of the chapter in the book, but that would spoil it for all you Mark Sanborn fans. So I’ll just give you a little peek at what you can expect.   One of the reasons why I like Mark’s book so much as he provides simple, attainable steps in his books supplemented by real life stories. The Fred Factor is about the real Fred the postman and the quality and caring he puts into his profession. In You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader, Mark’s Six Principals of Leadership are followed by stories of real people like Andrea, the office aide in a school who was a true leader.  In In The Encore Effect, Mark starts off by saying there is no silver bullet to success by just reading what he writes about; you learn by applying his lessons and discovering how they work for you. He talks about how the group The Eagles: John Wood, a Microsoft millionaire; and Sammy Koenigsberg, a produce farmer in Matthews, NC use Marks lessons to “give encore performances” and become truly remarkable in their profession.   I am a teacher of Family & Consumer Science, a course in which students learn life skills; including leadership and self actualization skills. My students will benefit tremendously through what Mark writes in his book. Mark’s Pyramid of Possibility will be a poster in my room for my students to focus on while learning about his 6 areas to become “remarkable” people.  Not only will my students benefit, his lessons inspire me and will my colleagues as well. Although many teachers have heard some of his lessons previously, it doesn’t hurt any of us to hear these again: “ You have to reach those you teach”, “ Give feedback and encourage” ,“Engage your audience.” For anyone who wants to move from the ordinary to extraordinary, Mark’s new book is for you. Once you read it, you’ll want to go back often to tap into the number of ways you can become a “remarkable” person.  

As you know, some of the posts I add to this site are about leadership and what it is to be an effective leader. In many of my posts I refer to Mark Sanborn.  About a month and a half ago, I received an email from one of Mark’s associates asking if I would read his new book and post a review on my blog.  I can’t tell you how thrilled I was  when I read the email. I couldn’t't respond quick enough with an excited “YES”.

Mark’s new book The Encore Effect will be coming out the first week of September. For those of you who are familiar with Mark’s previous work, The Fred Factor and You Don’t Need a Title to Be A Leader, you will not be disappointed with his new read.  Both of these books can be easily applied to any role in education whether you are a teacher, administrator, para-professional or on the custodial staff. If you are not familiar with his books, it’s a good time to become familiar with his work.  

Look for a review of The Encore Effect sometime next week.

” In my 63 years on this earth, I have come to realize the difference in success or failure is not chance, but choice. Because when adversity strikes, it’s not what happens to us, but how we react to what happens that will determine our destiny.” ~ Mac Anderson of Simple Truths

Every once in a while I like to view and be inspired by these short movie clips. Here’s one called Finish Strong . View the movie at http://www.finishstrongmovie.com/

Thank you , Mark Sanborn, for these 10 lessons.

Visit Mark’s Leadership Lesson’s Archive to add more to your thoughts and collections.

These are lessons I either learned early (thankfully) or I wish I had learned earlier (regrettably).~ Mark

1. The responsibility and service of leadership always outweigh the recognition and status.

2. Responsibility is rewarding, but it isn’t about rewards

3. Anyone can lead but not everyone should lead. If you don’t have your heart in it, you’ll be mediocre at best.

4. Leadership doesn’t make a difference; leadership makes the difference, personally and organizationally.

5. Anything the leader does that benefits only him- or herself was done out of ambition; leadership done right benefits others as well.

6. Consensus building is harder but far more powerful than control.

7. Your impact will rarely be bigger than your vision.

8. People draw big conclusions for little gestures and interactions.

9. As John Maxwell says, “It shouldn’t be lonely at the top.” If it is, you’ve done something wrong getting to the top.

10. I learned from the autobiography of John Ashcroft that as a leader more people will befriend you than be your friend. Understanding the difference is critical.

11. The best way to gain cooperation is by asking, “How can I help you?”

12. Leaders make time for what’s important.

Tomorrow approximately 60 DEN STAR Educators will converge on Discovery Headquarters in Silver Spring, MD.  If the week turns about to be anything like last year, it is going to be fantastic! What’s different this year is this particular week’s participants are associated with each state’s DEN Leadership Council. I imagine the week’s festivities will focus on how we can play more of a leader role within our schools, district’s and state by focusing on technology integration and 21st century skills in our schools.

I have always been interested in the qualities of being a good leader. I’ve poked around reading various books and articles on the subject though what I’ve learned from it all is not really rocket science. I have and continue to believe communication, caring relationships, hard work, integrity and trust are key to being a good leader.  Knowing this, I continue to soak up the expert’s wisdom about the subject if only to experience increased motivation from the monotony and difficulty we sometimes experience in our workplace. Sometimes it’s refreshing to hear a great speaker who can really get your juices going or read an author who seems to really care about what it takes to be a leader.

With that in mind, I thought it would be appropriate to share some of the Leadership Blogs I follow and some of the authors and speakers I enjoy.

Blogs I follow:

• LeaderTalk
• Leading Together @ TIE
• Non-Profit Leadership Innovation and Change
• The Practice of Leadership
• Dangerously Irrelevant

Authors of Interest: ( You can check out some of their books on my GoodReads Book Shelf in the left hand column of my blog)

• Mark Sanborn
• Pat Lencioni
• John Maxwell
• Jim Collins
• Cal Ripkin
• John Wooden

Last but not least, I keep coming back to a simple book I read a few years ago by Mark Sanborn called  You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader.  When I think about the DEN STARs, I think about this book. As many of us who are in education experience often, it is hard to be “considered” a leader without the title of principal or another type of administrator. Mark provides many ways of how non-titled people can make a difference; just as we are in the DEN.

Have a great week. I can’t wait to report back on what Discovery has in store for us.

Scott McLeod of Dangerously Irrelevant started Leadership Day a year ago.  Although he has earmarked July 4 as the official day to blog about leadership and technology, I hope that many of you continue to blog about it on a daily basis. As you can see, I missed the 4th. I’m sure it won’t matter because this is not something that only needs one day a year generate awareness.

Scott brings attention to the leaders of our K-12 schools and what they are doing to promote, improve and integrate the use of technology to assist our students in succeeding in school and in their future.

Although technology integration and use is not one of the major agenda items of many of our school leaders, it should be recognized as an important catalyst to the success of those major items like literacy, differentiated learning, improving test scores, etc…  It cannot be dealt with separately, in a vacuum, or as an after-thought. It must be systemically integrated into the design and construction of a school’s major initiatives just as it should be seamlessly used as a tool  within  the curriculum.

Scott asks the question, “How can we help our leaders with the task of using digital technology to increase student learning and 21st century outcomes?”   I wish I had the answer, but  I don’t. But, collectively, all of us might.  I have ideas. You have ideas. Teachers have ideas. Students have ideas. The community and business partners have ideas.  Administrators who have had success with technology and everything that goes along with it have ideas. Together, if leaders were willing to listen, I believe we can help.  Yes, this is Scott’s idea – to provide a collaborative of sharing and learning. However, it will only make a difference if our administrators are willing to be open to listening to those who have the knowledge and experience of understanding and utilizing the technology in our educational settings. 

Along with Scott’s plea to help our leaders understand the use of digital technologies, I would like to up the anti just a bit – how can we encourage our administrators to read our posts, listen to ideas and have conversations with those who can help? 

Post your comments here or at http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2008/06/calling-all-blo.html. Don’t wait until next July 4th, though.  Any day in any way is welcome.

Tags: leadershipday2008, schooltechleadership

I seem to be fixed on a quote in my last post - “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results” ~ Milton Friedman

I wonder how many times we’ve made this mistake in K-12? I think I can guess with certainty it is many more times than I would like to know about.  How many programs have been purchased and implemented in just math and reading only to be moved to the wayside because the original intentions of the program weren’t working?

  I recently joined a summer online book club hosted by Scott McLeod of Dangerously Irrelevant.  We are reading Influencer: The Power to Change Anything.  Just by reading the introduction and chapter one I am amazed at how seemingly stuck I am on the power of behaviors. The message coming out loud and clear on our book  discussion board site is it is necessary to identify and focus on changing  “vital behaviors” if you want to influence or make a change in anything you want to do.   When districts implement new programs, why can’t there be evaluation of results coupled with behaviors of all stake holders involved before tossing the program or stating it doesn’t work?

Stay tuned …………………………….

Here’s a little inspirational video ditty to show to your team or just get to get your own leadership juices flowing.  http://www.changeisgoodmovie.com/ It was originally posted on “Dangerously Irrelevant” on June 3.  Thanks Scott.

Charisma

“How can you have charisma? Be more concerned about making others feel good about themselves than you are making them feel good about you.” ~ Dan Reiland

“There is no personal charm so great as the charm of a cheerful temperament.” ~Henry Van Dyke

“Charisma is a sparkle in people that money can’t buy. It’s an invisible energy with visible effects.” ~ Marianne Williamson

Education

“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” ~ John Dewey

“Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.” ~ Chinese Proverb

“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” ~Albert Einstein

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” ~Alvin Toffler

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” ~ William Butler Yeats

Apologizing

“Never ruin an apology with an excuse.” ~ Kimberly Johnson

“An apology is the superglue of life. It can repair just about anything.” ~Lynn Johnston

“Right actions in the future are the best apologies for bad actions in the past.” ~ Tryon Edwards

 “When you realize you’ve made a mistake, make amends immediately. It’s easier to eat crow while it’s still warm.” ~ Dan Heist