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Is it time for a messy conversation?
As humans, we tend to avoid confrontations. They make our pulse quicken and our sweat glands kick in, and they are all around uncomfortable. Our fear of messy conversations keeps us from challenging the status quo. Instead we admire problems and discuss theoretical solutions. The unfortunate truth: we need…
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3 Instructional Routines to Enhance Engagement
Over the last three weeks I have met with many of our teachers for our year-end meetings. While these meetings are often viewed simply as compliance tasks, I was blown away by the level of reflection shared by so many of the teachers with whom I had the privilege…
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The End of Marking Periods – My Takeaways
Two years ago, I joined the administrative team at Eyer Middle School. On my first day, principal Michael Kelly (@principalmkelly), filled me in on the work the school had done to improve grading and assessment practices. He shared some research with me, and as a self proclaimed book nerd,…
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Ed Leadership: Balancing Instructional Coach and Evaluator
One of my greatest challenges as a building administrator is balancing my passion for instructional coaching with my role as evaluator. Our teacher evaluation model, while weighted down with cumbersome mathematics and documentation, offers a valuable opportunity to interact with teachers on authentic work impacting their classrooms. Below are…
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Busting Buzzwords – Empowerment
There is no doubt empowerment is a buzzword in the education arena and beyond. It gets thrown around in leadership classes, interview tables, and administrative meetings. But where does empowerment come from? How do we empower the people in our organization?
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5 Things Your Art Teacher Wants You to Know
I am very excited to share the following guest blog post by art teacher, Anne Kukitz. As a classroom teacher, I often wondered, “What would an art teacher think about the artistic advice I am giving my students?” Below is Anne’s answer to that very question. Fact: Visuals are…
