TL;DR: Every school is different and has its own goals. We should be following research, but how do we sift through it to find what will help us meet our goals? Identify your values, focus on your strengths, and determine what will motivate the change. Different Schools, Different Goals I have an amazing job. I get the opportunity to travel … Read More
Tag Out
TL;DR: Instead of doing a walkthrough, administrators can do a tag out. This allows the teacher a chance to do a walkthrough in a room of one of their peers. With tag outs, educators get the time to learn from their peers. This provides them an opportunity to learn more than they might if they were being observed by an … Read More
Be a Leader Who Empowers Your Staff
TL;DR: Be a leader who empowers your staff by helping each teacher see their strengths and potential. Opening up classrooms to walkthroughs gives small groups of teachers on grade and subject-level teams the opportunity to discover the cool things their colleagues are doing. Walkthroughs can have a theme around literacy, student engagement, standards-based grading, or anything else your school is … Read More
It starts with grace, but it doesn’t end there.
Neither judgment nor grace requires knowing the full story. Empathy does. Focus on an empathetic lens, but know that empathy requires taking action. Empathy involves accountability; it involves expectations, but it also involves support, growth, reflection, and requires a relationship. Before you start reading this looking for answers to problems or solutions to struggles, let me be very honest with … Read More