TL;DR: Reflecting back and remembering this year allows these challenging times to empower us in the future. View this past year with a growth mindset. Take your new skills into the next school year. A few years back, our principal bought everyone on staff the book Mindset by Carol Dweck. This book is one that many will refer to as … Read More
Great Leaders Know When to Get Off Their Soapbox
TL;DR: We all have a soapbox. It may be more important to get off the soapbox than to constantly stand on the soapbox and announce our good intentions. The “Knowing-Doing Gap” is created when school staff know the jargon, but fail to change their practice. Eduspeak is one of the main barriers to supporting more students and transforming teaching and … Read More
The Gift of Listening: Supporting Our LGBTQ+ Students
TL;DR: Teach through an equity lens and reflect to make sure all students are feeling supported. Some questions to ponder include how are: How do you support your LGBTQ+ students and colleagues? How are you an ally? What kind of materials are you using in your classroom that include all gender identities and sexual orientations? Other questions for school leaders … Read More
Teaching During a Pandemic: We are #BETTER! (Part 3)
TL;DR: Teaching during a pandemic began with feeling lost. Experiencing this year has led to a renewed hope for the future. Transitioning back to in-person learning after virtual learning for so long was a challenge at first. We are better after having taught during the pandemic. Lessons learned from this time are shared. My Purpose My purpose in blogging is to … Read More
Reflecting at the End of the Year
TL;DR: Teaching from home has been challenging to not be able to “see” our students. There were frustrations from the perspectives of a teacher, student, and parent in the past 180 days. It is important to reflect on the past year and a half: in-class instruction cannot be replaced by virtual, students preferred to be in class, students had diverse … Read More