Tag: Instructional Climate
At a distance without norms
In a building, we can walk through classrooms. In the hallways, we can be visible and hold conversations. At bus duty, we can high five and talk to our community. At a distance, we can’t. At least not yet. At a distance without norms, it’s hard to know how to do what we know we…
Summer Slide Starting Early
Several op-ed articles have been published warning of the impact of an early summer slide due to the current educational shutdown. They often posit that a whole generation of students will be lesser-educated due to large scale losses in learning. Summer slide is a peculiar thing. If a student “loses” learning after 8 weeks of…
Changing Teachers vs Changing Leaders
If you Google the phrase “changing teachers,” it will return 472,000,000 results. If you Google “changing school leaders,” it will return 658,000,000 results. Most of the web content related to the search for “changing teachers” deals with ways to make teachers change. Most of the web content related to the search for “changing school leaders”…
Imagine Classrooms That Are Filled With…
Imagine classrooms that are filled with students who: Choose to be in that classroom for a specific purpose. Laugh and cry as their creations inspire, compel, and challenge each other to do more – to do better. Work alone on their own pathways at their own pace. Work together creating connections that enrich their lives.…
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 we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased.” ___…
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 embarrassed about a struggle. No one deserves to be shamed for a struggle. The struggle is not moral or ethical or worthy of any type of judgment. It’s merely…
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 that build instructional systems: What are this school’s predominant instructional practices? Who will be responsible for formative classroom visits? What leading and lagging indicators am I monitoring each month?…
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 highlighting the long-term value of their/our work. The process, the intangible, the unmeasurable aspects of education often far outweigh the concrete. It’s usually these things that attract teachers to…
Engines, Grease, and Climate
Three metaphors: Engine = school culture Grease = school climate Pipes = communication The thing about Porsche and BMW fans…they love their engines. Engines make the car. Their power and their efficiency is something special. No engine can run without grease. The fluids keep the engine running. The pipes, hoses, and conduits keep the fluids…
Three Factors of Instructional Climate
In yesterday’s post, the instructional climate was compared to the soil of a garden. How do you impact the instructional climate? Focus on three areas: Improving the effectiveness of school leadership. Making student learning visible – celebrating student success. Collective teacher efficacy.