Accountability and Action Toward a Shared Vision

I had a chance to watch this Ted Talk from forward-thinking educator Ada McKim titled, “Why our students need to learn more about the world“. In it, McKim makes the contention that we spend a lot of time talking about our past, but conversations about our present need to be more of a reality in today’s classrooms. McKim also talks about the idea of “Purpose Based Learning”, and said something that stuck with me:

“When our students critically engage with current events and issues, and collectively craft solutions purpose will follow. And if you cannot  find that in the curriculum, I will guarantee that you will find it in the school’s mission and vision statements.”

The last part (in bold) sparked a few thoughts in my head:

1. Who created the mission and vision statements for your school or district? (Hint…it should be built with your community, not in isolation.)
2. Would your students actually know what it is?
3. Where is it posted within your school?

Let’s talk about the first thought. If your “mission or vision statement” was not created by and with your community, it is something you are doing to people, not doing with people.  People are more likely to work towards a mission or vision statement if they have ownership in the creation.

To the second thought, if this is for the students, do the students a) have a say in it, and/or b) do they even know what it is?  Is the mission or vision statement made for the adults, or is it to serve the students? Too often, this is made for public relation purposes and little else. Not always, but far too often.

Finally, if this is to serve students, is it posted in places where students can see it and it promotes accountability to where we are going as a staff?  Would educators be comfortable with a student asking and pointing, “How does this fit in with this mission and vision statement?”, when it comes to things happening in classrooms?  If we cannot describe why in relation to the mission and vision statement, that what we are doing is important, is that a problem? Is this simply words on a piece of paper, or a website, or is this something we are truly aspiring to move towards?

By the way, if you make this FOR people, and you simply start posting it everywhere without getting community input, your mission and vision might as well be, “To ensure people continuously feel indignation towards leadership within their daily work.”  I have seen this practice done before with terrible results.

As Warren Bennis states:

Is your “vision and mission” simply words on paper, or something that drives you (and your community) to continuous positive action?  This might be a tough question, but one that needs to be answered.

• March 18, 2015 Confidence and Competence
• June 28, 2013 The Prophets In Your Land
• June 28, 2016 “…permeate every pore of the school”
• December 11, 2012 Create, Innovate, and Voice
• December 12, 2015 Innovation Is Not a One Time Event #InnovatorsMindset

from Connected Principals http://ift.tt/2v5LQoe

How To Have Killer Meetings That Get Results

I recently read Death by Meeting by Patrick Lencioni. This book is a must read for any leader who wants to improve the quality of meetings in his or her organization. Every team could benefit from the insights shared in this leadership fable. 

The problem with meetings is that they are often boring, and they don't usually get the desired results. There are a couple of reasons this happens. I'd like to share some of what I learned from Lencioni's book and encourage you to read it if you would like to have killer meetings instead of death by meetings.

Two Problems With Meetings

Major Problem #1 is Lack of Conflict. But not the bad kind of conflict. NOT personal conflict. It’s the kind we have in the plot of a movie or novel. There is a problem to be solved. It drives the meeting forward in a narrative fashion. There is a story. There will be conflict between the ‘characters’ in the meeting, but we want it to be constructive conflict around important issues directly related to the problem. Conflict will result in better decisions. There will be ideological differences. Leaders have to help to create some of the urgency needed for a plot to be interesting. If meetings lack conflict, they are boring. And they basically result in people ‘hanging out’ together instead of solving problems together. Lencioni suggests three ideas leaders can use to help get meaningful dialogue started.

Hook Example - “We have a real problem with apathy. 50% of our students failed at least one class last year. We are all dealing with bored, disengaged students. We don’t want to see students coast through school and pay the price later. We aim for excellence here, and we aren’t getting excellence out of all our students.”

Mining for Conflict - Confront issues that need to be addressed. Don’t avoid them.

Real-time Permission - Let others know the conflict is good. “I’m glad we are having this discussion, even though it may be a little uncomfortable and force us to rethink our work.”

Major Problem #2 is Lack of Contextual Structure. When different types/purposes for the meeting are all lumped together in “meeting stew” with no distinction, the meeting goes all over the place. People talk to fill up the time but not toward a goal or purpose. The dialogue isn’t leading to a decision.

Lencioni presents several types of meetings, but I found two of these to be particularly useful in our school setting.

Type #1 Tactical Meetings - Issues of immediate concern. Most routine meetings should be tactical. They are very structured and includes the following elements:

Lightning Round - A quick, around-the-table reporting session in which everyone indicates two or three priorities for the week. It should take each team member no more than one minute to quickly describe what is on their respective plates. It sets the tone for the meeting.

Progress Review - Reporting of critical information or metrics. What are the key areas of progress either ongoing or established at the previous meeting? Limit metrics to just 2 or 3. Limit discussion of underlying issues here.

Real-time agenda - Once the lightning round and progress review are complete, the agenda is set by what everyone is working on and how the group is performing against its goals, not based on the leader’s best guess 48 hours before the meeting. There must be disciplined spontaneity here. What are the next steps? “Should we develop a more effective question for the common assessment?” “What are we going to do this week about the increasing Ds and Fs in our classes?” Stay focused on tactical issues that must be addressed to ensure short-term objectives are not jeopardized. Any obstacles to tactical issues must be removed.

Possible Obstacles: 1. Temptation to set an agenda. 2. Spending too much time on the lightning round. 3. Discussion about long-term strategic issues. Team member will raise strategic issues that will take the focus off the short-term topics (aka - doing real work together). There is a different meeting for the strategic issues. Any strategic issues brought up are added to the list of topics for the next type of meeting.

Type #2 The Monthly Strategic - The most important and most fun type of meeting. The team debates, analyzes, and decides critical issues that will affect the school/team in fundamental ways. The hardest thing will be having enough time. Issues will have to be limited to only the most important. In this type of meeting, members need to know in advance what will be discussed. Members must come prepared. Decisions must be made with good information, data, research, etc. Decisions are not made on anecdotal information alone. This meeting decides the team’s larger strategic plan and where the team is headed next. Again, fear of conflict can cause these meetings to be ineffective.

Closing

Meetings don’t have to be a waste of time. They can actually save time, because our results are better when our meetings are better. We can be proactive. Alignment saves time because we pull together instead of pulling in a multitude of directions.

A few other notes…

The meeting should always focus on the people in the room. What are we (these people) going to do about the problem? If there is a need to partner with others in addressing the problem, invite them to the next meeting.

Meetings generate energy when…

1. Teams brag about wins
2. Relationships are strengthened
3. The path forward is clear
4. Accountability focuses on the people around the table

Question: What other ideas would you share to have killer meetings? I want to hear from you. Leave a comment below or share your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter.

        

Comments

• Comments

Related Stories

• Venting Doesn't Extinguish Anger, It Feeds It
• What's Most Valuable Attitude or Technique?
• Don't Wait To Be Excellent...Start. Right. Now.

 

from Connected Principals http://ift.tt/2h79Bac

Sharing the Ups and Downs of Learning

This is a question I ask administrators all of the time:

Have you learned anything new in the past three months?

Of course, everyone nods their head in enthusiastic agreement.

I then follow up with this question:

Could your staff tell me what new learning you have done in the past three months?

The response is not as enthusiastic and often a hard “no”.

As administrators and educators, it is imperative that if you are asking people to struggle and learn new things in pursuit of growth, that you not only do it along with them, but they see you doing it.  When you are in a position of authority, it is easy for you to try and share that other people need to “take risks”, but do they truly feel as comfortable if they don’t see you have a willingness to do the same?

I recently had the opportunity to listen to a very forward-thinking AND forward-moving (these things do not always happen in conjunction) superintendent talk to his staff.  Although he had shared with his staff things that he believed were necessary to be accomplished as a community, he also shared where he had fallen short and where he needed to grow. I watched as his staff seemingly had this release of pressure on themselves when the “leader” of the organization was saying that he was willing to push himself to get better and has experienced bumps along the way, but still was moving forward.

Recently reading a blog post from an educator, the teacher referred to themselves as a “recovering perfectionist”, and how their own need for perfection had held them back from trying new things in pursuit of better opportunities for themselves and their students.  Schools are meant to be “learning organizations”, not simply “knowing organizations”.  Believing that all of the growth needed has already happened and we are where we need to be is dangerous territory for any organization, but especially schools. The most backward districts and schools that I have seen are the ones that think they have arrived, while the best ones I have seen, believe they have a far and endless way to go.

If you are wanting the people you serve to move forward, they not only have to see that you are moving forward as well, but should see your ups and downs along the way. This empowers while giving permission for them to not seek perfection, but continuous growth.  Humility and confidence are crucial characteristics in a leader and it is important for them to be able to share to those they serve, where they are going, where they have stumbled, and how they are getting back up, and why it is crucial they have done so.

Learning is a messy process, which is what makes it so powerful. Do not hesitate to share the beauty of this process to those your serve.  It will only help them to embrace the same beautiful messiness of the learning in front of them.

 

• October 30, 2016 5 Terms We Need to Rethink in Education
• November 23, 2012 “The longer you wait…”
• October 22, 2016 Technology does not equal innovation, but using technology is often crucial to innovation.
• October 17, 2012 Honest, Clear Vision
• May 30, 2017 Who wants to change?

Source: George Couros

from Connected Principals http://ift.tt/2v3QsLs

How To Have Killer Meetings That Get Results

I recently read Death by Meeting by Patrick Lencioni. This book is a must read for any leader who wants to improve the quality of meetings in his or her organization. Every team could benefit from the insights shared in this leadership fable. 

The problem with meetings is that they are often boring, and they don't usually get the desired results. There are a couple of reasons this happens. I'd like to share some of what I learned from Lencioni's book and encourage you to read it if you would like to have killer meetings instead of death by meetings.

Two Problems With Meetings

Major Problem #1 is Lack of Conflict. But not the bad kind of conflict. NOT personal conflict. It’s the kind we have in the plot of a movie or novel. There is a problem to be solved. It drives the meeting forward in a narrative fashion. There is a story. There will be conflict between the ‘characters’ in the meeting, but we want it to be constructive conflict around important issues directly related to the problem. Conflict will result in better decisions. There will be ideological differences. Leaders have to help to create some of the urgency needed for a plot to be interesting. If meetings lack conflict, they are boring. And they basically result in people ‘hanging out’ together instead of solving problems together. Lencioni suggests three ideas leaders can use to help get meaningful dialogue started.

Hook Example - “We have a real problem with apathy. 50% of our students failed at least one class last year. We are all dealing with bored, disengaged students. We don’t want to see students coast through school and pay the price later. We aim for excellence here, and we aren’t getting excellence out of all our students.”

Mining for Conflict - Confront issues that need to be addressed. Don’t avoid them.

Real-time Permission - Let others know the conflict is good. “I’m glad we are having this discussion, even though it may be a little uncomfortable and force us to rethink our work.”

Major Problem #2 is Lack of Contextual Structure. When different types/purposes for the meeting are all lumped together in “meeting stew” with no distinction, the meeting goes all over the place. People talk to fill up the time but not toward a goal or purpose. The dialogue isn’t leading to a decision.

Lencioni presents several types of meetings, but I found two of these to be particularly useful in our school setting.

Type #1 Tactical Meetings - Issues of immediate concern. Most routine meetings should be tactical. They are very structured and includes the following elements:

Lightning Round - A quick, around-the-table reporting session in which everyone indicates two or three priorities for the week. It should take each team member no more than one minute to quickly describe what is on their respective plates. It sets the tone for the meeting.

Progress Review - Reporting of critical information or metrics. What are the key areas of progress either ongoing or established at the previous meeting? Limit metrics to just 2 or 3. Limit discussion of underlying issues here.

Real-time agenda - Once the lightning round and progress review are complete, the agenda is set by what everyone is working on and how the group is performing against its goals, not based on the leader’s best guess 48 hours before the meeting. There must be disciplined spontaneity here. What are the next steps? “Should we develop a more effective question for the common assessment?” “What are we going to do this week about the increasing Ds and Fs in our classes?” Stay focused on tactical issues that must be addressed to ensure short-term objectives are not jeopardized. Any obstacles to tactical issues must be removed.

Possible Obstacles: 1. Temptation to set an agenda. 2. Spending too much time on the lightning round. 3. Discussion about long-term strategic issues. Team member will raise strategic issues that will take the focus off the short-term topics (aka - doing real work together). There is a different meeting for the strategic issues. Any strategic issues brought up are added to the list of topics for the next type of meeting.

Type #2 The Monthly Strategic - The most important and most fun type of meeting. The team debates, analyzes, and decides critical issues that will affect the school/team in fundamental ways. The hardest thing will be having enough time. Issues will have to be limited to only the most important. In this type of meeting, members need to know in advance what will be discussed. Members must come prepared. Decisions must be made with good information, data, research, etc. Decisions are not made on anecdotal information alone. This meeting decides the team’s larger strategic plan and where the team is headed next. Again, fear of conflict can cause these meetings to be ineffective.

Closing

Meetings don’t have to be a waste of time. They can actually save time, because our results are better when our meetings are better. We can be proactive. Alignment saves time because we pull together instead of pulling in a multitude of directions.

A few other notes…

The meeting should always focus on the people in the room. What are we (these people) going to do about the problem? If there is a need to partner with others in addressing the problem, invite them to the next meeting.

Meetings generate energy when…

1. Teams brag about wins
2. Relationships are strengthened
3. The path forward is clear
4. Accountability focuses on the people around the table

Question: What other ideas would you share to have killer meetings? I want to hear from you. Leave a comment below or share your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter.

        

Comments

• Comments

Related Stories

• Venting Doesn't Extinguish Anger, It Feeds It
• What's Most Valuable Attitude or Technique?
• Don't Wait To Be Excellent...Start. Right. Now.

 

from Connected Principals http://ift.tt/2h79Bac

Sharing the Ups and Downs of Learning

This is a question I ask administrators all of the time:

Have you learned anything new in the past three months?

Of course, everyone nods their head in enthusiastic agreement.

I then follow up with this question:

Could your staff tell me what new learning you have done in the past three months?

The response is not as enthusiastic and often a hard “no”.

As administrators and educators, it is imperative that if you are asking people to struggle and learn new things in pursuit of growth, that you not only do it along with them, but they see you doing it.  When you are in a position of authority, it is easy for you to try and share that other people need to “take risks”, but do they truly feel as comfortable if they don’t see you have a willingness to do the same?

I recently had the opportunity to listen to a very forward-thinking AND forward-moving (these things do not always happen in conjunction) superintendent talk to his staff.  Although he had shared with his staff things that he believed were necessary to be accomplished as a community, he also shared where he had fallen short and where he needed to grow. I watched as his staff seemingly had this release of pressure on themselves when the “leader” of the organization was saying that he was willing to push himself to get better and has experienced bumps along the way, but still was moving forward.

Recently reading a blog post from an educator, the teacher referred to themselves as a “recovering perfectionist”, and how their own need for perfection had held them back from trying new things in pursuit of better opportunities for themselves and their students.  Schools are meant to be “learning organizations”, not simply “knowing organizations”.  Believing that all of the growth needed has already happened and we are where we need to be is dangerous territory for any organization, but especially schools. The most backward districts and schools that I have seen are the ones that think they have arrived, while the best ones I have seen, believe they have a far and endless way to go.

If you are wanting the people you serve to move forward, they not only have to see that you are moving forward as well, but should see your ups and downs along the way. This empowers while giving permission for them to not seek perfection, but continuous growth.  Humility and confidence are crucial characteristics in a leader and it is important for them to be able to share to those they serve, where they are going, where they have stumbled, and how they are getting back up, and why it is crucial they have done so.

Learning is a messy process, which is what makes it so powerful. Do not hesitate to share the beauty of this process to those your serve.  It will only help them to embrace the same beautiful messiness of the learning in front of them.

 

• October 30, 2016 5 Terms We Need to Rethink in Education
• November 23, 2012 “The longer you wait…”
• October 22, 2016 Technology does not equal innovation, but using technology is often crucial to innovation.
• October 17, 2012 Honest, Clear Vision
• May 30, 2017 Who wants to change?

from Connected Principals http://ift.tt/2vJHcu7

5 Questions to Ask Your Students To Start the School Year

Schools are about more than learning; they are about experience(s).  They help shape us in our present and future and those experiences stick with us long past our time as students.  Unfortunately, this can either shape us in a positive or negative manner.

I asked this question of educators recently:

In your time as a student in K-12, what made an impact on you. Not who, but what? What do you remember that influenced you today?

— George Couros (@gcouros) July 22, 2017

(I encourage you to look at the responses from the original tweet.)

What you will notice is that in a lot of the responses, what people experienced as a student in the K-12 system, has helped shaped people today, whether it was from a negative or positive experience:

I remember never feeling like I belonged. Hence, I graduated a year earlier. Today, my hope is that my Ss feel that they are seen and heard.

— Carolynn Sánchez (@a_bee_si) July 22, 2017

I wish I remembered…It’s why I work on making memorable experiences for my Ss…Daily!

— Laurie Lawver (@LaurieLawver) July 22, 2017

The lack of genuine interest. I make sure my students feel welcomed and loved every day!

— Tonya Coats (@TeacherCoats) July 22, 2017

Being told I wouldn’t do much after high school it’s lead me to be involved in edu today

— Jeremy Boeh (@jeremy_BAY) July 22, 2017

One day I class I finished an assignment first. I was so proud and happy to show my grade 3 teacher. She didn’t even look at it. +

— Monica G. (@mlvlatina) July 23, 2017

She told me to go sit down because her “smart” kids weren’t even done yet. I was hurt. That was the moment I knew for sure I would teach.

— Monica G. (@mlvlatina) July 23, 2017

The experiences we have in school are extremely important and shape much of what we do today. Personally, a lot of what I do today was shaped both negatively and positively by my experiences in school, as it was by many others.

Because we all know that this has such an impact on the lives of our students both during and after their time in school, it is important that we think about what we do each day. Your actions this year could be what a student not only remembers for the rest of their life but shapes them long past your time.

In a video I often share in workshops students come back to talk to an educator at the end of their career, and one student shares this thought with their former teacher:

““I will cherish the impact you have had on my life forever.” Student

It is an extremely important job and that quote from a student is a humbling reminder of what educators do.

But what we need to understand as educators is that a student’s input in their own experience is paramount. The best way to show students that their voice matters is by ensuring you give them the opportunity to be heard.

Because of this, here are five questions to think about asking your students as you start off this school year to help shape their experience with you.

1. What are the qualities that you look for in a teacher?

We are quick to share our expectations of our students to our students, but do we give them the opportunity to share their expectations of us?  If students have been in school for a few years, the teachers that they have connected with the most obviously have had some impact.  I am not saying that you should change your entire personality to suit each child, but I think that understanding what they have connected with in the past would make a difference.

When students look back at their education career, they should not only be able to name one teacher that had an impact.

2. What are you passionate about?

What I do not want people getting mixed up with here is that I am saying, “Ditch the curriculum and focus on your students’ passions only!”  Knowing what a student is passionate about not only helps you bridge connection to their learning, but it also helps you bridge connections to them as human beings.

Years ago, we did a school-wide “Identity Day” (led by our awesome Assistant Principal at the time, Cheryl Johnson), where all students and staff would share one thing that they were passionate about in a display that people would be able to walk around. This process really made a connection for me as I would watch teachers connect much of the curriculum to what piqued the interest of the students, which made it much more relevant to them.  For example, if I loved sports, could you bring that into mathematics instruction?  It also helped see the empowerment in the students when they were passionate about something they were sharing, which made for much better relationships with our community.

3. What is one BIG question you have for this year?

Jamie Casap states, “Don’t ask kids what they want to be when they grow up. Ask them what problem they want to solve.”  Whether this is tied to your course or not is entirely up to you, but giving students the opportunity to stoke their own problem-finding/problem-solving abilities in your classroom is one that will only empower students while stoking curiosity.

Will Richardson talks about how important curiosity is to future success:

The most “successful” (and you can define that just about any way you want) people moving forward will be the most curious. The ones who are constantly asking questions. The ones who are always wondering “What if?”

Don’t just ask this of your students at the beginning of the year.  Ask them throughout. Check their progress, see if their question has changed, or if there are any ways you can support them.  Empower students to be the leaders of today, not only tomorrow.

4. What are your strengths and how can we utilize them?

If you are challenging your students (as you should be), at some point you will find their weaknesses. Far too often, we place too much emphasis on that throughout the year. By starting with students asking by what they are strong at, it will let students know you value their gifts, and that you are not there to “fix them” but to help them get better.

According to Psychology Today, there is growing evidence that focusing on strengths leads to more confidence, creativity, and happier lives (amongst other things), but do our students feel that we are there to fix them or to unleash their talents and gifts.  This is not to say that weaknesses don’t matter, but when you start with strengths, and tap into them, students (like staff) feel that you are not trying to fix them, but just make them better.

5. What does success at the end of the year look like to you?

The hard thing about this question is that students will often say what they believe the adults want them to hear. Maybe adding something like “outside of your grades” (no student wants to do poorly in your class or curriculum, whether they are interested or not), might help them think about something deeper that will last with them past their time at school. How you define and characterize success, could be different from me, as it could be for your students. Find out what their important measures are for this year and help them get to that point.

My success is not defined by you, nor your success defined by me. Yet helping students clearly identify what it means to them and how they can get there, can help them significantly not only in the school year, but build important habits that go beyond school.  Many (including adults) learn to identify successes through the eyes of others and often compare themselves.  This practice is not helpful and can lead to feelings of inadequacy. If we decide our own measures of success, feel comfortable learning from the successes of others as well, it puts us on a constant path of growth, while learning to focus with “the end in mind.”  This is important skill at any age, but it does not hurt to start this with our students.

---

These are not THE five questions, but just some ideas that might help you shape the year with your students. Obviously teaching at different levels will give you different opportunities with students, but no matter what you teach, it is important to listen to your students at the beginning of the year and ask for feedback to move forward, not only after they have left your care.

I would love to know what questions you would suggest to start off the year with your students and why it is important. An important way we can serve our students is by getting to know what works for them and moving backward from there. This research into the children in front of you is crucial to help create a year that they will not forget, but that can make a tremendous impact on them moving forward.

• August 29, 2010 The Difference A School Made
• May 30, 2015 Fitting Into the Same Standardized Hole
• February 1, 2017 5 Arguments Against “Innovation in Education” and How You Might Respond
• March 13, 2013 5 Reasons Your Students Should Blog
• June 25, 2011 Continuous Learning

from Connected Principals http://ift.tt/2vJZAmz

The Education “Bat Signal”

When I first started teaching, I was blessed to have a grade level partner who shared everything with me.  As an educator, I was extremely lucky to work beside someone who had a lot of experience in education and was willing to share their knowledge and wisdom with a brand new teacher. I was also lucky to be in a school where someone was teaching the same grade level. Many schools to this day might have only one grade level or subject area teacher in the entire school, and the isolation of that could be extremely tough.

That being said, I look back at a lot of what I used to do as a first-year teacher and cringe.  This was not because I did not have the support of a great staff, but I was building experience.  Most of the great educators I know look back at their first year and feel the same way.  To be honest, it is part of the reason they are great educators.  They constantly learn and grow in the profession and continuously get better at their craft.  I hope ten years from now I look back on this time and see that I have grown as well.

The reason I am looking back at when I first started teaching was because of a conversation I recently had with a new teacher starting in the same grade level in which I started (grade four).  I talked about my experience teaching that grade level and shared that I loved what I did, but there are so many things that I have learned from that time,  What I did share is that he will look back on these years of teaching at some point in his career and feel the same way I do.  He will think, “I cannot believe I used to do that”, and for good reason.  I would be concerned if he didn’t.

That being said, he should be so much better a first-year teacher than I was.  I had access to an awesome teacher; he has access to thousands of awesome teachers through social media.  Simply looking up the hashtag #4thchat will give him access to both teachers that work at the same grade level, or ideas related to teaching that grade. Something tweeted to that hashtag doesn’t make it automatically good, and some filtering will be needed. Filtering through what is useful and what won’t help is not something we should only do online as well but in our face-to-face interactions.  Something being shared doesn’t automatically make it good but sometimes even bad ideas can be adapted to become great ideas. Joe Sanfelippo shared with me that “culture is not copied, but created”.  This also goes with what and how we teach.  You cannot simply carbon copy an idea for your students that someone else uses and ensure that it is 100% successful. Working backward from the point of your students often means iterations to even the best ideas.  Start with your students, not necessarily the strategy.

Looking through hashtags like #4thchat is not the only way to use this medium.  I often encourage people to find their hashtag and use it as a “Bat Signal”.  The main people who will keep an eye on #4thchat are other 4th grade teachers. #4thchat” will increase the opportunities that other educators that have a similar job will be able to share their wisdom, experience, and learning with you.  Who better to learn from than people that are doing your same job?  The best person to make you an amazing fourth-grade teacher is not me; it’s other fourth grade teachers.  Utilize their wisdom.

Here is something I believe and have shared often:

What I mean by this quote, is that teachers have access to other teachers in a way that I did not have even when I first started teaching in 1999.  In less than 20 years, so much has changed, and the opportunities as a first-year teacher and a 50th-year teacher are mind blowing.  It would be crazy to not take advantage of learning from the wisdom and experience of others in the same profession.  Find your “bat signal” and use it to learn from others.

• October 2, 2014 Isolation Is the Enemy of Innovation
• February 11, 2017 The Students are Paying Attention
• August 4, 2011 Brand You
• October 18, 2012 Let’s Figure This Out
• September 24, 2011 …and this is why teachers should have blogs

from Connected Principals http://ift.tt/2v962GE