Whether it’s a thorn or a dam, an obstacle can stop progress. As a leader, it falls on your shoulders to remove obstacles. Here are 4...
Continue reading...Impact on Learning
John Dewey and Thinking
“We only think when we are confronted with problems.” – John Dewey Yes and no. Yes, our thinking is pushed into strategic cognition when confronted with...
Continue reading...Literacy Program Macro Red Flag
You don’t need test scores to evaluate the effectiveness of your k-12 literacy programs. Simply look at your middle schools. Do they need to double block...
Continue reading...Persist in Doing
Yesterday’s post focused on the permission to struggle, but why is that important to learning? Ralph Waldo Emerson gave an explanation some time ago: “That which...
Continue reading...Permission to Struggle
For teams, it’s the fringe of conflict where creativity is found. For individuals, it’s in the struggle where learning occurs. However, no one wants to be...
Continue reading...Goal-Setting with Students
We know goal-setting is linked to higher achievement in students. Yet many schools I talk to have no structures in place to facilitate systemic goal-setting among...
Continue reading...Results and Decisions
School A: We bought xyz math program, and our scores went up 18% compared to last year! School B: We also bought xyz math program, but...
Continue reading...Collaboration and Co-Learning
Collaboration is the co-laboring toward a common end result. Yet, part of the work in schools is learning work. The work of learning together can unite...
Continue reading...Questions that Build Instructional Systems
Managing the curriculum and instruction is different than leading curricular development or leading instructional change. Listen to these 18 Questions in 8 Minutes Consider these questions...
Continue reading...Example of a Data Dashboard
I speak often of smart data, AB testing, and data dashboards. Here’s one example from a school I work with. You’ll notice the data is neither...
Continue reading...Improve, Not Prove
There’s a secret to continuous innovation cycles. Instead of seeking to prove, seek to improve. It’s a tempting trap to seek data that proves what you’re...
Continue reading...When You Know The Impact…
You might just try a little harder. In 2007, researchers published a study of the work patterns of hotel maids. They were interested in seeing the...
Continue reading...Education, Teachers, Skinner
Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten. – BF Skinner Sometimes it’s a great way to show appreciation to teachers by...
Continue reading...What Type of Feedback Do Teachers Want?
In my research, which included 3,500 walk-throughs across three school districts, I learned there are four main types of feedback to give to teachers: Descriptive Feedback...
Continue reading...What do kids like?
A friend of mine was hosting a Twitter chat this weekend and asked, “Kids don’t learn from teachers they don’t like – what are some ways...
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