In 40 years…
May 16, 2013A couple of days ago friends at Parish Episcopal School in Dallas reached out with an interesting request. For a publication this summer they were looking for short expressions of what their school, and somewhat by definition, schools in general, will look like in 40 years. This is what I jotted down for them. In…
Offense is Going to Win
May 14, 2013Unlike NFL championships, defense does not win in innovative environments. It just does not. Over time, offense wins. Education is undergoing dramatic evolution via innovation, possibly even mutation, in the words of Shoshona Zuboff and Jim Maxmin, where mutation is an evolution well outside the conventional frame. Defense is not a strategy against mutation.Defensive strategies…
Reminder of Bloom Inverted
May 13, 2013Today I had two comments from deep in my archive (all of a year ago) on my post about Flipping or Doubling Bloom’s Taxonomy, including this from Bree Berman, an instructional coach at Flint Hill School: Your focus on the “why” as primary made me think about how teachers view their students’ motivations. Frequently I…
The Zero-Base of Schools
May 11, 2013Two days ago I wrote a post about how zero-based strategic thinking will replace our outdated model of long-range strategic planning. As promised I will offer my view of what forms that zero base for any school. A zero-based approach tests every assumption against the absolute core of the mission. This approach is critical at…
Flash: Strategic Planning Dead. Zero-Based Strategic Thinking Lives!
May 9, 2013This is one to share with those at your school who are responsible for long-range planning. Traditional strategic planning at schools is dead. This passing is not really news, but what will rise to replace it has been a mystery. I think we have solved that mystery. The good news is we will have a more…
Join Me for Whipple Hill Webinar on School Change This Thursday
May 7, 2013I will be interviewed in a Google Hangout hosted by Whipple Hill this Thursday, 5/9, starting at 2 PM Eastern Time. Register here. Peter Baron of Whipple Hill has been following my journey around the country to visit more than 60 schools last fall, and the subsequent synthesis of the insights I gained from that…
“What If” Creating Critical Discussion Points
May 5, 2013Walmart is always looking at ways to reduce expenses, to find that fraction of a penny of cost reduction that will translate into millions of dollars of worldwide savings. They looked at how macaroni and cheese is packaged and challenged their principal suppliers to reduce the size of the cardboard box. The principal cost savings…
Don’t Miss Learning @ The Martin Conference, Pt. II
May 2, 2013This week I am highlighting reasons to come to the Martin Institute for Teaching Excellence Summer Conference in June. The Martin is leaping to the front of authentic educator professional development with a by-invitation-only line-up of national and international teaching leaders and rich, two-hour blocks of active learning…the death knell of sit-and-get conferences. Here are…
Don’t Miss Learning @The Martin Conference, Part I
May 1, 2013As I have posted before, the Martin Institute for Teaching Excellence is leaping to the front of authentic educator professional development this June with a by-invitation-only line-up of national and international teaching leaders and rich, two-hour blocks of active learning…the death knell of sit-and-get conferences. Here are a few reasons you will want to register:…
From the Mouths of Babes
April 30, 2013Tell me again why strategic planning takes a year, costs tens of thousands of dollars in consultant fees, and produces inside the box ideas? Another way? Read on! Yesterday I was happy to work with a group of faculty, staff, and trustees at Poughkeepsie Day School who are generating the schools updated strategic plan. On…
Learning in Maine at Remarkable Kieve-Wavus
April 28, 2013Every time I am in a new place of quiet beauty I thank God for waking early in the morning when the world is new, when the mist is still rising off the lake, two paddling loons trail V-ripple wakes across the shimmering reflection of the setting full moon. On a morning like this I…
Two Other Voices of Learning
April 26, 2013This very short post is why we can stop worrying about exactly what “it” is, that place where every great educator knows that real learning is taking place or about to take place or has the future potential to take place. This is what we work for. This from a friend who has taken her…
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