Blog
Leading with an Equity Lens
As educational leaders, be you teachers or administrators, students or citizens, you know that what you do matters far more than what you say, and today is that call to action. We are outraged by the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and a...
Retire and Renew: Counting Down and Moving On
About this time of year, some of our colleagues begin counting down to retirement – not in days, weeks, or months - but in Board meetings. If you are one of these fortunate few, now that it’s November, it may be 7, 14, or (gasp) 28, but in any case, the end of your...
Why Educators should Encourage Independent Thinking
The MIT Technology Review (https://www.technologyreview.com/s/506466/given-tablets-but-no-teachers-ethiopian-children-teach-themselves/) reported on an intriguing experiment by the One Laptop Per Child organization. In Ethiopia, the researchers placed boxes full of...
Impressions on What Schools Could Be
Three years ago, I met Ted Dintersmith when I was an invited panelist at the screening of the terrific film he produced, Most Likely to Succeed. The film’s insights into the challenges, opportunities, potential, and fulfillment of inquiry driven project...
Stop, Look, and Listen – Parenting for Today’s Kids
The previous blog warned of the ramifications of overprotective parenting. However, minimal parenting can also lead to big problems so what is the perfect balance. An enormous body of research exists on parenting styles and one article I found particularly helpful...
Positive Parenting
Parenting is simultaneously one of life’s most daunting and rewarding challenges. As parents (and in our case grandparents), we second-guess decisions we made, try to strike the perfect balance between safety and risk, and long for a simpler time without...
Tips for First Time Administrators
Being a first-year administrator may be an intimidating introduction into the world of education far different from the classroom. On one hand, you don’t have papers to grade, but on the other hand, you also have no time as your day is a series of meetings, routine...
Student of Our Students: The Importance of Shadowing Students
As educators committed to improving student well-being and performance, we first must understand our students. The most effective way to be a student of our students is to become a student for a day. One of the greatest professional learnings for our Palo Alto...
Teaching Social and Emotional Skills
John Hattie is quoted as saying “A positive, caring, respectful environment is a prior condition to learning.” Regardless of how busy a teacher is, one cannot underestimate the importance of making the time for creating and cultivating a welcoming, positive classroom...
Summer Learning Loss and the Achievement Gap
For the past 31 years my wife has directed the Junior Senior Scholars summer camps at North Central College. Low-income, minority students spend five weeks on the college campus immersed in learning, activity, and exploration. Classes are taught by preservice...