Reading “What Leading with Optimism Really Looks Like” in Harvard Business Review, written by Shawn Achor and Michelle Gielan, and thinking about how to keep staff morale up during this time of isolation and challenge. The coronavirus shutdown of schools presents a crisis for educational leaders. Teachers have to move …
I first heard Austin Kleon speak on the Stacking Benjamins podcast. I was drawn to his comments in the 04/10/2019 show that the gig economy can be stifling to a person’s creativity, and artistic people shouldn’t feel pressured to sell everything we make. Cynically, I thought to myself how the …
In his recent blog post, Thomas Martellone takes a methodical walk through the debate around data in education, and provides an excellent primer along with a rational argument. Basically, the concept is that data are useful, but get a bad rap because they are touted as the end all and …
I like reading about innovative hiring & recruitment tactics because I see hiring as one of the greatest responsibilities of a manager and one of the most terrifying. We don’t hire so often in schools that it can ever become a routine, yet there’s an enormous amount riding on every …
I just read Justin Tarte’s post “Your passion can be your worst enemy…” and I couldn’t agree more! I know the feeling so well of being in a faculty meeting, presenting an idea, and wondering why it’s not taking off; I’ve been in that position plenty of times before. He …
Recently, there have been reports about another grade-schooler suspended for pointing his fingers like a gun (see the Ohio Dispatch story). I often dismiss these stories because (as anyone in education knows, with horror) the media “coverage” is usually one side of the story, or less. Schools often won’t comment due …
Even before there was a state law, my school took on bullying. We treated it as harassment, holding out the spectre of serious legal consequences if cruelty continued or for any retaliation. I argued, then as now, that school is a civil right, and anyone interfering with that is stealing …
In my lifespan, there has been a clear wall dividing the business world from the public sector. These parameters are usually fenced off by the rewards attributed for work in each context. Business work is often painted as more driven: the effort input corresponds directly with the reward outcome. Government work, frankly, …