Listening to John Spencer’s podcast (Seven Reasons to Geek Out on Educational Theory) today made me nostalgic for my grad school days and the deep dives into theory. I always geeked out on theory, both as an undergrad and in … Continue reading Which learning is forever?
Courage: mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty Courage is the willingness to put your self on the line knowing that you might fail. Ego: the self especially as contrasted with another self or … Continue reading Courage vs Ego: Am I good enough?
As I completed my yearly self-imposed reading challenge, I thought it made sense to share a few of my favorites with others. Using GoodReads to log my completed books, the 5 star ratings are helpful, but rarely feel right. When I started writing this set of reviews, they had a similarly traditional feel, but still didn’t feel right. I had to look for inspiration elsewhere and luckily, my three-year-old niece provided. This Christmas, while opening her presents, she exclaimed, “I love my feelings! I love my heart!” I think this is the little kid equivalent of tears of joy. Using … Continue reading “I love my feelings!” books of 2019
Inspired by Daniel Bauer’s blog post A Powerful Way to Close out the Year, I thought I’d give it a try and write my own year in review using his framework. His first tip says to start with what matters most – my family, my school, me – and it felt like a good place to start. My family Just over a year ago, I hit a low point in terms of work-life balance and it affected my family most. I spent the last day before winter break from school stressed about the balance of working, coaching, and trying to … Continue reading 2019: My Year in Review
On Monday, I take another step on a journey as a different type of educational leader in a leadership program. In preparation for the work with our group, we were asked to read a few books, one of which is … Continue reading Somewhere between art and science is wisdom
In other words, error in extremis – extremely pure, extremely persistent, or extremely peculiar – becomes insanity. Madness is radical wrongness. Like all equations, this one is reversible. If madness is radical wrongness, being wrong is minor madness. Kathryn Schulz, … Continue reading The Madness of Being Wrong(ed)
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Last week, I had the opportunity to go on an overnight field trip with our fifth graders. As part of the trip, we studied the local pond to see if the water was healthy or not. In order to determine … Continue reading Determining the health of a classroom ecosystem
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This week, James Clear posted a short story about Jeff Bezos in his newsletter. “I very frequently get the question: ‘What’s going to change in the next 10 years?’ And that is a very interesting question; it’s a very common … Continue reading What isn’t going to change? A reflection on successful, innovative coaching
Each school year, I visit each classroom to introduce, or reintroduce myself to every student. As an administrator, I rarely miss the classroom, but I do miss the personal bond you develop spending 5-7 hours a day with a child. … Continue reading I am human: practicing empathy
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20 years ago… I received an unexpected gift from a teacher. I could never fully repay her, but this week I realized I could provide at least a small repayment to let her know how meaningful that gift was. I … Continue reading An Unexpected Gift
