TL;DR: Leading during complexity and uncertainty is becoming a norm for those in education. Skinny plans, reflection stems, and scenario planning are three proven strategies for school teams during uncertain times. During a crisis, you discover your own strengths and weaknesses as a leader. Leading during the COVID-19 crisis has been an unprecedented challenge for teachers, administrators, and superintendents. Traditional … Read More
3 Tips for High Quality Student Conferences
TL;DR: Make student conferences a part of your unit arc. Give high quality feedback outside of your conferences. Invite students to lead and give them ownership in conversations about their grade. These tips can support the regularity, efficiency and effectiveness, and student ownership of conferences. For the last half of my teaching career, weekly student conferencing has been a staple … Read More
Find Success During This Pandemic
TL;DR: Find success during this pandemic by accepting that things are not normal, prioritizing self-care, and extending grace. Self-care is not a myth. You need to allow yourself to unwind and turn school off for a while. We all need to extend grace to ourselves, to our students, and to our families. An Elevated Level of Stress One of the … Read More
Ham It Up to Build Relationships with Your Students
TL;DR: Build relationships with students by not being afraid to look goofy or silly in front of them. Some strategies to build relationships with students include using movie quotes or current popular songs, telling jokes, dancing, and more. When I graduated from college, I did not know what I was going to do. To be honest, I wanted to be … Read More
It’s TIME to REDEFINE What REST Means for YOU!
TL;DR: Consider what rest looks like for you; what do you consider relaxing? Be proactive with setting aside time for rest every day. Rest with intention by reconnecting from within, embracing your inner joy, simplifying your priorities, and trust in the timing. Whenever I heard the word rest, I immediately always felt jealous. An immediate “that must be nice” thought … Read More
