On a recent cross of the Atlantic flight I read an article in British Airways Business Life addressing, “How persuasion words and labels can have seemingly imperceptible influences on us.” It was written by Steve Martin, the author of, Yes! 50 Secrets from the Science of Persuasion. Martin shares examples that I found interesting: People consider […]

I was able to attend two sessions that Andy Hargreaves presented at the recent IB Africa, Europe, and Middle East Conference in The Hague. Hargreaves identified five important interrelated focus points drawn from his book “The Global Fourth Way: The Quest for Educational Excellence”: Inspiration: there needs to be a shared vision/dream for the future… […]

While reading an Education Week Blog by Jill Berkowicz and Ann Myers, The Importance of Challenging Our Comfort Zone   (August 6),  I was reminded of the need for school leaders, instructional coaches and teachers to create environments where staffs and students are comfortable with discomfort. Berkowicz and Meyers explore the need for school leaders to be […]

Recently I was conversing with several educators from the same district’s central office team. They shared with me that last spring a decision was made to send all central office staff into the schools six weeks before the state testing date to work with students around common reading skill deficiencies. Teachers identified the students with […]

I just wrapped up a two day return to Joplin, Missouri with a chance to work with all of their building administrators in joint sessions with their instructional coaches. We examined longer term and “this next year” school improvement plans. We identified the student behaviors needed to reach critical achievement goals and the teacher behaviors […]

 In many of my presentations I discuss two beliefs behind my work in schools: Teaching is a team sport and Teaching needs to be a public act. Both of these beliefs reinforce the need for schools to have a culture of coaching that defines staff relationships. This week I was in Rochester, NY providing a […]