In the ever-evolving landscape of public education, stress and anxiety have become common companions in our professional journey. Yet, within these challenges lies a transformative opportunity for growth and satisfaction in our roles as leaders. The key? A commitment to self-reflection. There is something important that we forget about stress: we can overcome it. Regardless of the level of stress,…
I was planning on writing a response to a blog post about managing change in an organization, but I changed my mind. Instead, I want to merge the suggestions from the blog with a new perspective. Imagine a world where we focus on helping our staff learn instead of constantly worrying about managing change. It would be an incredible place…
Like many people, I struggle with balancing short-term, micro thinking and long-term, macro thinking. Micro-thinking focuses on the “here and now” tasks and getting things done, while macro-thinking takes a broader view and considers larger trends and patterns. Often, I find myself stuck in micro-thinking, stressing about efficiency and tactics to manage change and complete my to-do list. I believe…
3 Drivers For Transforming Education Systems One of my “go-to” newsletters is The Learn Letter by Eva Keiffenheim. As the name of the newsletter states, she is concerned with studying how people learn. In her latest issue, she shares insights that a group of learning researchers she worked with to help make sense of education. The research team came up with three…
I know I promised a simple explanation of two things in last week’s blog: a crypto digital wallet and a SMART contract. Well, things get messy sometimes. The more I research a SMART contract, the harder it is for me to come up with an easy explanation. So, I need another week to continue down the rabbit hole of SMART…
I worked with Dr. Coiner when I was the superintendent at Penn-Trafford School District. Dr. Coiner was an excellent learner-centered leader then (10 years ago) and is an even better leader now! This week I was catching up with Dr. Coiner and I asked her what advice would she give a new principal who was just starting their job. Her answer…
Future-focused superintendents create habits that lead to their success. Creating a “space” where educators take the time to think about their practice and the implications for their communities is a vital aspect of a future-focused superintendent. If you are not careful, you will find yourself “ping-ponging” from one activity or crisis to another throughout the day. The opposite of this…
A Few Years ago, I read Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography, Born to Run. I spend a lot of time in my vehicle and I listen to a lot of books on the Audible app. What was cool about this book is that Bruce narrates it…nice! He shared some nuggets of wisdom that stop and made me think. He describes himself as…
I am sharing an existential “bump in the road” that I am experiencing. Generally, I would not share my existential “issues”; however, this one (I feel) reflects a larger societal issue that deserves some reflection and directly impacts the work that we have undertaken together as education leaders. When we talk about changing (or transforming) schooling,education, or learning, we are…