childhood memories

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It is clear that our schools play a central role in developing self-actualizing behaviors in children in keeping with our goal of preparing learners to thrive in adulthood. If we ever get it right, we will find just the right mix of curricula and lessons and collaboration designed to produce highly competent and confident young adults who are aware of their place in the world and their purpose in it. Still, no matter how well we do, these rich experiences will never happen in schools alone. Aspiring to such lofty heights for learning will require a wider reach for school systems and grander expectations around school-community partnerships.  One way to envision such a shift in the industry is to view our local communities not as…

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As a long-time teacher, school leader, and parent, I can personally and professionally attest to the fragility of the human spirit. That’s because I have been there, along with you and the rest of us. One minute we believe we can change the world and the next minute we are ready to give up on it. The thin veil of self-confidence that envelopes each of us, and our children in particular, brings into question the propriety and opportunity we have as educators in the words that we use and the actions that we take. For just a moment, let us all think back as far as we can remember, for it is there among memories pieced together that we might recall the first time someone…

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Kids Learning, Discussion

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It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad. You know what I mean. We’ve all seen those black-and-white photos of students from the 1800s sitting quietly in rows, silent, and in fear of reprisal like something out of a Dickens novel. And there on the wall, if you look closely, are the classroom rules for all to see and heed: Be silent during class. Do not talk unless it is absolutely necessary. I’m not kidding. This was actually a common rule in most classrooms. As someone who prefers to honor our history and not belittle it, I point this out only to say that we have come a long way as educators and as school systems. Still, as we stumble and explore better methods…

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leadership, education

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The intrinsic sense that all people are connected to each other and to some grand opera is what some might call “spiritual.” I say this only to make this assertion: Across all generations and cultures there has been a common quest to uncover that mysterious thing within ourselves that is hard to define and yet defines us nonetheless. This thing evolves within us over time and speaks to us through an inner voice that shapes our core beliefs and our actions. We cannot deny it, even if we are not sure from where it derives. Whatever we call this connection between things, between every single thing, it has not yet been adequately explained yet by scientists. It is an equation yet unsolved. Still, scientists, philosophers,…

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advice for graduates

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To provide a glimmer of hope that what is possible in our schools is actually possible, even probable, let us back go back twenty or thirty years ago and celebrate how far we have come as an industry. Let us be reminded how much better we are now at planning rigorous lessons, inspiring higher-order questions, and requiring a greater distribution of student responses. This growth in instructional best practices is evident among our teachers, but also among our leaders. Our school principals and assistant principals are much better equipped today than ever before in observing teachers, providing meaningful feedback, reviewing academic data, and making instructional decisions around facilities, scheduling, hiring, and professional development. We have a long way to go (we always do), but don’t…

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Kids Learning, Discussion

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It seems that all of our emphasis in schools on improving reading scores has created a sense that reading is an end unto itself. In fact, let’s be clear that no one reads simply to check off some list that they have read something (except, of course, in school). Reading as a life skill is never really an end game, as much as curiosity is, or knowledge-seeking is. We all read for a reason, even if it is pure escapism into a salacious romance novel or a page-turning thriller. The idea of reading practice as we assign it in school sounds logical. The more that struggling readers read, the better readers they will become. They might even grow to like reading, to be less reluctant.…

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Student freedom

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The secret recipe for all successful ventures is three parts innovation, two parts resourcefulness, and at least one part sheer trust and will. What’s true for the successes of innovative companies like Apple and Pixar is true for public schools. The rise of these corporate giants from intriguing concept to tepid interest to universal rejection to dogged determination to faithful execution and unimaginable comeback are blueprints for those hoping to push our school systems to incredible heights. In one form or another, such ventures operate in ways that those inside and those outside the system find purposeful and meaningful. In a highly compelling manner, the system itself is both self-actualized and self-actualizing at the same time. What results is an experience that is both profitable…

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There has never been a great orator who didn’t first learn to speak, just as there has never been an accomplished musician who didn’t first learn to play an instrument, and there has never been a gifted writer who didn’t first learn her letters. This is a simple way of saying that there is no shortcut to confidence, credibility, and wisdom. I have come to discover through a few successes in my career and through many, many mistakes that (no matter our titles) we are not really leading if no one is following us, and that no one will follow us for long if we don’t know what the heck we’re talking about. Even as we preach the values of teacher leadership, most of our…

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Instructional rigor, accountable talk

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The daily dance around student engagement and lesson planning has been made much too complex in recent years, and I’m not sure why. We have countless definitions of what engagement is and what it is not, and we have varied opinions on how we should rate this concept when we observe a classroom lesson. Let’s be clear that true engagement is a highly advanced instructional skill and is much easier said than done. Still, I don’t think the definition itself is as complex as we are making it out to be. For me, I prefer to think of student engagement as synonymous with “thinking” and even “learning,” with a nod to things like student interest, choice, and real-world application. The real caution here is that…

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Tribute to teachers, landscape

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Along a hillside, alone and unplugged So I heard that cars can drive themselves, And that a metal voice will ship groceries to my door. I sit along this hillside, and I wonder if these machines will one day Provide me the pinch of sun I see through the crooked clouds, Or the trill of the wind along an unspoiled path, Or the shortness of fall’s first breath upon my lungs. Among the rugged weeds I spot a patch of flowers, And I hear the unbroken song of leaping waves along the shore. I am alone and unplugged, and pleased to know that there is no such machine yet That can paint a vibrant rainbow across the blue-gray sky, Nor offer the numb solitude of…

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