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PERSONALIZED LEARNING
The New Jersey Department of Education has a pilot program around personalized student learning plans that uses the following definition: “A formalized plan and process that involves students... Visit...
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THE WORK OF INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES
A district office recently asked me to spend a day with principals and instructional coaches to examine their current coaching practices and establish a new job description and focus for their... Visit...
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OBSERVING STUDENTS....ASSESSING TEACHERS
I am busy preparing for a presentation I will be doing in July at the High Schools That Work Conference in Nashville, TN Here is the workshop descriptor: What can the principal do to make teacher......
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OPEN SCHOOL WITH A WOW!
When presenting at the Wow Academy for Pioneer RESA in GA. I met Julia Mashburn (principal) and Page Arnette (assistant principal) at Riverview Elementary School in Dawsonville, Georgia. They shared......
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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT/RESTITUTION
I was working in Turkey this week with a K-12 school staff examining teachers’ responses to student misbehaviors which were classified as minor, moderate, or major. (See earlier blog) One of the......
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STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
My current reading is Phillip Schlechty’s book Engaging Students: The Next Level of Working on the Work. I have just finished the first section on engagement. Schlechty defines student responses to......
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ENGAGING STUDENTS: TEACHERS' AND PRINCIPALS' WORK
In last week’s blog I shared ideas from Phillip Schlechty’s book Engaging Students: The Next Level of Working on the Work. Here is some additional thinking as I finished the book. “The primary... Visit...
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NEW INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES:GETTING IN THE CLASSROOM DOOR
How do new (and not so new) instructional coaches get into teachers’ classrooms and schedules? That question was posed to me when I recently worked with the 11th cadre of elementary reading coaches......
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A LOOK AT PRE-SERVICE AND STUDENT TEACHING
How are colleges presenting this to student teachers? That question was raised several times as I worked with newly selected mentors in Rochester, New York. (See previous blog on Rochester’s award......
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INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES' REQUESTS TO PRINCIPALS
I have written earlier blogs about the critical partnership necessary between instructional coaches and principals for effective teacher change that produces increased student achievement. Recently...
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FAILURE...MISTAKES AND LEARNING
This week I was working with a group of Arkansas educators examining the impacts of the Common Core Curriculum on their approach to teaching. We explored creativity and critical think skills as......
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LEADERS AND TEACHERS-FAILING THE WAY TO INNOVATION
Last week’s blog addressed the role of making mistakes as an important component of student learning. Students need to be comfortable knowing that failing is a step on the path to learning and... Visit...
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BACK TO SCHOOL/OPEN HOUSE
I just returned from Turkey having spent time with two schools’ leadership teams and teachers. On my last night’s dinner I was asked by a team of administrators what thoughts I had about having an......
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LOOKING AT LEARNING
While reading an article this week about “unschooling” I pondered how some of the statements made by students and parents provide thoughtful points as teachers plan for the start of the new school......
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COACHES USING STUDENT BEHAVIORS TO BEGIN COACHING EXPERIENCES
Those of you who have followed me on this blog or have been in my workshops know that I have been waiting for the release of my new book, Instructional Coaching with the End in Mind. Well, the long......
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RISK TAKING
According to an article in the Sacramento Bee, the principal at the Oak Ridge Elementary school, Doug Huscher, started his staff development day with this statement posted: How do we create a safe......
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ANOTHER LOOK AT COLLEGIALITY
I was visiting a friend who is a principal and found myself frequently alone as another “usual” school issue arose. As I often do, I began pursuing the book shelf for a distraction and a chance to......
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RAISED HANDS
Last week I was conducting a staff wide (K-12) professional development day on peer coaching. I had asked the principal to find a teacher who would volunteer to have his class taped so that I could......
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COACHING UPDATE
I had a request from a group of coaches to hold a Skype discussion. Several new coaches had been added to the team and wanted to touch base with me knowing that I had trained existing coaches over......
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LEADING IN CONFLICT
I just returned from the Jim Knight Instructional Coaching Conference at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. I had the opportunity to present and to be a panel member and... Visit...
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