I’ve been reading an excellent book by Tim Elmore and Andrew McPeak, Marching Off the Map: Inspire Students to Navigate a Brand New World, and it has sparked a lot of thought. The first half of the book is what educators know intimately: the changing cultural trends in technology, relationships, politics, and information – and […]
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Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
The Trails Townhomes in Lower Lonsdale
A very exciting master planned community is coming to the growing Moodyville – Lower Lonsdale corridor in the fall of 2017. Wall Financial Group with IBI Architecture are bringing the first phase of their latest development, The Trails Lower Lonsdale. The Trails will consist of over 300 Duplex & Townhomes, both the traditional row home style as well as stacked homes.
Once completed, the site will be over 8.5 acres ideally located just blocks from the best of Lower Lonsdale, including Lonsdale Quay and the sea bus.
More information will be coming in the fall of 2017, register with us to today to be kept in the loop, including floor plans and pricing once they are available.
This is not an offering for sale. Such an offering can only be made after filing a disclosure statement. E.&O.E. This information is for marketing purposes only and is subject to change.
The post The Trails Townhomes in Lower Lonsdale appeared first on Vancouver New Condos.
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Monday, October 2, 2017
Apple Cranberry Crumble Bars
Apple Cranberry Crumble Bars are a sweet and crunchy treat that celebrates the fall season.
This is a guest post from my friends Jackie and Keith of the blog, Superman Cooks. Be sure to check out their stunning blog for recipes like this Dark Chocolate Torte and this Quick and Easy Pumpkin Bread.
The sight of vibrant red apples coloring the farmers’ market is a sure sign that fall has arrived. Despite the date on the calendar, there has yet to be that cool, crispness in the air that we associate with fall here on the east coast. Yet the apple trees seem to be flourishing.
The post Apple Cranberry Crumble Bars appeared first on My Baking Addiction.
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Sunday, October 1, 2017
4 Ways To Not Let Others Dim Your Light
I had a great conversation with a new principal with very big aspirations on how they were going to help their school move forward. Very quickly, she seemed to have detractors that were more focused on her than the hopes she had for where she would lead her school. To be clear, this wasn’t even people that were in her school, but outsiders. My advice to her was that the more greatness you strive for, the more people will come out of nowhere to hate on you.
The reality of our world is that people get threatened when other people shine their light on the world. This bothers me even more so when it is educators doing it to educators, as our jobs are to empower those we serve, not try to bring them down. If you are doing this to a colleague or peer, would you do it to a student? Would you do it to my daughter if she was in your classroom? In education, this is unacceptable.
Some people believe that if you shine bright, it somehow gives them less opportunity to find their own success. Instead of learning from what others do, they choose to find ways to undermine others. There is room for all to be successful, and although we all have different obstacles to overcome, some more daunting than others, I believe that we ultimately determine our own path and destination.
Frome one of my favourite pieces:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.” (Marianne Williamson, “A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles”)
So how do you deal with those trying to dim your light? Here are a few ways that I have learned from others that have helped me tremendously.
- Be kind, always. When being seemingly attacked, it is easy to want to attack back. Often when people are doing this, there are things that they are dealing with that may not be about you. It can be easy to attack immediately, but in the end, how does that make you look? I once heard from a comedian that if you continue to be nice to those that hate you, and they continue to be cruel while you are kind, everyone will see who is the mean one in the situation. People believe that attacking back shows strength, but being kind even while someone is going after you, shows strength on a totally different level.
- Ask questions. Not all criticisms are bad. People are sometimes genuinely trying to help out, and if we are not open to being challenged, we never grow. By showing humility and trying to learn from the criticism of others, it created a great opportunity to learn not only from success but from mistakes. By asking questions, you also can find common ground. That being said, if you find common ground and then people disagree with you still based on what you both believe, you start to realize that the criticism is less about the idea, and more about the person. Which leads to the next point.
- Move on and ignore. Time is the most precious currency we have, and how we spend it, is what leads anyone to be successful. Who you surround yourself with is often who you become. If you spend time with people constantly trying to deter you from your aspirations, you will spend more time being frustrated, and less time making things happen. This is not just during interactions, but when we dwell in our mind on the words and actions of others.
A favourite quote:
Give people a chance to share their thoughts, but don’t give them a chance to take away to deter you from your dreams. - Give back. If want to be empowered, empower others. Be the example. As stated earlier, there is room for all people to be successful, and I make it a personal rule to invest my time in people who are willing to invest in themselves. Although our work ethic, personal mindset, and what we do with what we have, are factors that lead to success, not one person I know has ever been successful totally on their own. People always help out, even in the smallest of ways, to help others achieve their goals and dreams. Our own legacies continue when they live in others. If you hate others try to bring people down, don’t just complain; be the opposite.
Success does not happen by accident, but by habit. We have to be intentional in our interactions not only with others but ourselves. It is okay to be hard on yourself and have high expectations, but that is much different from beating yourself up. It is normal to let the criticisms of others get to us, but do not let it stop you from doing something great.The world needs your light to shine.
The world needs your light to shine.
Source: George Couros
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Self-reflection, perhaps the most important component of teacher evaluation
A variety of teacher evaluation models and methods are used in schools around the world and teacher and school leader attitudes towards them differ considerably.
From the teacher perspective, perhaps the greatest concern regarding teacher evaluation systems is their fairness. In some schools teacher evaluation comprises an extensive list of things that the teacher will, in some way, be measured against by an evaluator. The trouble with such a list is that most evaluators are not able to spend enough time with the teacher to be able to reasonably evaluate the teacher on all of these performance standards. As a result, some schools have moved towards 360 degree evaluation models. Unfortunately, the extensive checkbox list still remain in the 360 models and many of the people participating in the evaluation do not see anywhere near enough of the teacher’s practice to provide fair judgement. Furthermore, there is the whole debate about using rating scales in teacher evaluations anyway but we’ll leave that one alone for now.
From the evaluator’s perspective, some understand the above concerns of the teacher but, for many, they are mandated to conduct the evaluation as required by the school leadership, the district, or education system. Moreover, an extensive checklist evaluation system can be onerous for the evaluator who goes out in search of the evidence to justify the judgement being made, then we come back to the amount of time that can be given to the process to avoid it being rushed.
Teacher evaluation is really about providing a platform for teacher growth and development not judgement. In this sense, a teaching professional should be doing most of the work in identifying the areas for improvement with the evaluator supporting and guiding them. If the evaluator is doing most of the work, then the teacher does not take enough responsibility for their own professional learning and development in line with the expectations of the school in which they work.
Evaluation should be driven by a teacher’s self-reflection first and foremost. Evaluators become essentially coaches clarifying what elements of better teaching practice may look like and support the teacher in identifying the steps needed to get there with the responsibility falling on the teacher to self-report progress made. Of course feedback is needed throughout the process.
A difficulty with self-evaluation is that the level to which a teacher will engage with the process will vary along with the amount of honest reflection that takes place. Evaluators have to support those who will be extremely hard on themselves regarding their ability and performance but may need to be tough in giving feedback to those that have significant blind spots in their practice and ignore major areas for development. The best evaluation models school’s can have is where teachers genuinely wish to seek feedback and are motivated to improve rather than afraid of the consequences.
In thinking about self-reflection in driving teacher improvement, a great tool is the Johari Window, which was developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingram in the mid 1950’s. Evaluation models that incorporate self-reflection and move outwards to seeking feedback from others should highlight to teachers that there are blind spots in their practice, things that they may be unaware that they do really well and other things that they may not know need improvement. Using a model like this, schools have the opportunity to develop greater trust in the teacher professional growth and evaluation process if they see that it it sincerely used as a tool for self-exploration to become a better teacher. There is always something we can improve upon.
The following video, from Norquest Associates, is a great introduction to the Johari Window and may be useful to weaving into beginning evaluation with self-reflection before others begin to offer feedback.
Connect with me @richard_bruford
Originally posted on the Ed Leader blog
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4 Ways To Not Let Others Dim Your Light
I had a great conversation with a new principal with very big aspirations on how they were going to help their school move forward. Very quickly, she seemed to have detractors that were more focused on her than the hopes she had for where she would lead her school. To be clear, this wasn’t even people that were in her school, but outsiders. My advice to her was that the more greatness you strive for, the more people will come out of nowhere to hate on you.
The reality of our world is that people get threatened when other people shine their light on the world. This bothers me even more so when it is educators doing it to educators, as our jobs are to empower those we serve, not try to bring them down. If you are doing this to a colleague or peer, would you do it to a student? Would you do it to my daughter if she was in your classroom? In education, this is unacceptable.
Some people believe that if you shine bright, it somehow gives them less opportunity to find their own success. Instead of learning from what others do, they choose to find ways to undermine others. There is room for all to be successful, and although we all have different obstacles to overcome, some more daunting than others, I believe that we ultimately determine our own path and destination.
Frome one of my favourite pieces:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.” (Marianne Williamson, “A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles”)
So how do you deal with those trying to dim your light? Here are a few ways that I have learned from others that have helped me tremendously.
- Be kind, always. When being seemingly attacked, it is easy to want to attack back. Often when people are doing this, there are things that they are dealing with that may not be about you. It can be easy to attack immediately, but in the end, how does that make you look? I once heard from a comedian that if you continue to be nice to those that hate you, and they continue to be cruel while you are kind, everyone will see who is the mean one in the situation. People believe that attacking back shows strength, but being kind even while someone is going after you, shows strength on a totally different level.
- Ask questions. Not all criticisms are bad. People are sometimes genuinely trying to help out, and if we are not open to being challenged, we never grow. By showing humility and trying to learn from the criticism of others, it created a great opportunity to learn not only from success but from mistakes. By asking questions, you also can find common ground. That being said, if you find common ground and then people disagree with you still based on what you both believe, you start to realize that the criticism is less about the idea, and more about the person. Which leads to the next point.
- Move on and ignore. Time is the most precious currency we have, and how we spend it, is what leads anyone to be successful. Who you surround yourself with is often who you become. If you spend time with people constantly trying to deter you from your aspirations, you will spend more time being frustrated, and less time making things happen. This is not just during interactions, but when we dwell in our mind on the words and actions of others.
A favourite quote:
Give people a chance to share their thoughts, but don’t give them a chance to take away to deter you from your dreams. - Give back. If want to be empowered, empower others. Be the example. As stated earlier, there is room for all people to be successful, and I make it a personal rule to invest my time in people who are willing to invest in themselves. Although our work ethic, personal mindset, and what we do with what we have, are factors that lead to success, not one person I know has ever been successful totally on their own. People always help out, even in the smallest of ways, to help others achieve their goals and dreams. Our own legacies continue when they live in others. If you hate others try to bring people down, don’t just complain; be the opposite.
Success does not happen by accident, but by habit. We have to be intentional in our interactions not only with others but ourselves. It is okay to be hard on yourself and have high expectations, but that is much different from beating yourself up. It is normal to let the criticisms of others get to us, but do not let it stop you from doing something great.The world needs your light to shine.
The world needs your light to shine.
from Connected Principals http://ift.tt/2fI3UiP
Changing the Way We Think About Leadership #EdWriteNow
When I reflect back on the professional opportunities I’ve been blessed with, I am so thankful to have many that rank way on up there. I can’t think of one, however, that had as much of a purpose as the one I experienced this summer. When Jeff Zoul and Joe Mazza initially reached out, about [...]
The post Changing the Way We Think About Leadership #EdWriteNow appeared first on Love, Learn, Lead.
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