by Donna Miller Fry (@fryed)
“We do not rise to the level of our goals, we fall to the level of our systems.” James Clear, Atomic Habits We’re great at dreaming up goals, aren’t we? High achieving educators probably have too many goals in mind most of the time! We are coached to write goals – SMART goals even – […]
How did you feel when you first learned that Pluto was being demoted? Pluto is no longer a planet in the solar system, and people are mad about this! We have an emotional connection to what we learned in school, and what we know to be true. It’s disruptive and disturbing when we find out […]
This is a series of posts on Transforming School Culture by Anthony Muhammad – On Audible and on Amazon. More from Dr. Muhammad on Twitter and on his website. In this book, Dr. Anthony Muhammad shares his research on four categories of teachers found in schools. In Chapter 6, he discusses “Fundamentalists”. Fundamentalists are the […]
As educators, we are relentless in our pursuit of understanding of how to enable learning to happen for our students. We consider pedagogical research and build a repertoire of approaches to meet the needs of all learners. Before implementing new approaches, we want “evidence” that the approach has proven to be effective. But how often […]
Creating the Conditions for Focused Professional Learning (Part 1) How do we create a learning organization when there is a power differential? If we want to create a learning organization, so it must be safe for everyone to talk. [Does your school district/division demand compliance? Is rank switched on or off?] This creates the challenge. […]
The Power of Networks for School Improvement Just because we work in groups doesn’t mean good things will happen. Not all group work is good work. What are some of the potential PERILS of learning networks and learning communities? Quality Control – Anything spreads. [We see this in our online Professional Learning Networks]. A bad […]
We struggle to make sense of the world. We swim in a sea of notifications, podcasts, new books to read, white papers, comments. My head hurts sometimes, just trying to make sense of what we are learning, and how it can be organized, documented, and shared with others. I used my learning time this morning […]
In schools systems, “enrolment” is data. The number of children in schools is the basis for funding and staffing allocations. From an operations perspective, it’s a critical piece of information. But enrolment is also about showing up and choosing to engage in learning. Is this how our students approach school? Fullan, Quinn and McEachen, 2018, […]
In 2018, why would students take conventional schooling seriously? According to Fullan, Quinn and McEachen (Deep Learning, 2018, p. 3), there is no reason for the majority of students to do so. The current school structure is oppressive to many young people. How many educators have experienced a school day from the place of […]
On December 13, 2017, we are looking at the importance of learning leadership with Assistant Principals in Western Region, NLESD. Below are some of the resources we will be using. Distinguished Professor Viviane Robinson – Does leadership affect education? from Educational Leadership on Vimeo. Ken Leithwood – Principal […]
