Often in my presentations with teachers, instructional coaches and leaders, I focus on the belief that our real goal is teaching how to learn our content rather than teaching our content. Instrumental music teachers know they can’t teach you to play the instrument, they can teach you how to learn to play. If the young […]

A Mindshift blog, How to Help Kids Find Their Aspirations, introduced me to the Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations (an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to studying, promoting, and putting into practice the conditions that foster student aspirations in schools and learning communities around the world). They define aspiration as the ability to set goals for the […]

Dan Meyer’s blog is one of my favorites to follow. His thinking about learning and teaching math frequently provides concrete examples for my work with focusing on student learning behaviors.  In his recent blog, he links to the video of a keynote address that he delivered at the 2014 Computer-Using Educators annual conference in Palm Springs. In the keynote […]

I just completed a retreat weekend with an organization/team that labeled themselves as dysfunctional. I decided I would use a Friday night after dinner presentation to set the stage for a Saturday facilitation where they would examine their current practices and decide on what commitments for change they were willing to make.  I began the […]

I have had the pleasure during the past two years to work with academic coaches and their principals in Valdosta City Schools, Georgia under the leadership of Scarlet Correll Brown, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning. The group is continually re-examining the impact of their coaching design, approach, and skills on teaching and learning. In […]

I just returned from presenting at and attending the European Council of International Schools Leadership Conference in Vienna. My session was on Instructional Coaching. I had the opportunity to attend Andy Hargreaves keynote where he discussed several elements of teaching that for me point to the value of coaching from peers, instructional coaches, and administrators. […]