Over the past three or four years, I’ve wondered if my voice in education really matters. As a principal, my voice has impact within the building where I am and it has impact, to some extent, in the school community where I am. But, really, does it matter? Since I began my career as a…
Rethinking Homework by Cathy Vatterott discusses the place homework has in school life. She explores the beliefs behind homework and then looks at strategies for assisting students with completing homework. I especially found the first portion of the book very helpful. The discussion about the beliefs about homework (p10-24) provided some good information that I…
Originally posted at Ed Administrators2.0 The Speed of Trust by Stephen M. R. Covey is a must read for anyone who is involved with the change process. The book outlines how trust is the foundation for all the relationships. Whether it is in business or in our personal lives, trust binds all that we do…
This post is coming from that feeling one sometimes gets when one knows that something just has to happen. It’s all kind of names – guiding voice, spirit, … – something I’ve been listening more go lately because, really, following my head hasn’t really been working all that well. It is a bit rambling –…
Today I get to watch my daughter play hockey. She’s a goalie. Anyone who hasn’t played that position doesn’t really understand the position. It’s lonely at times, with a great deal of pressure. As I watched her today, it’s amazing how much she has improved from the beginning of the season. Heck, how much she…
Yesterday, as I scanned through my twitter feed, I came across this post by Lisa Noble – @nobleknits2 – about her experience with social networks and her own personal experience. It is a great example of how social media can have a powerful influence on lives. However, Lisa’s final few paragraphs at the end had me pondering.…
Today, I was involved in a chat on Twitter. It’s nothing new, I join them all the time but it became clear to me that not everyone who follows you or is on twitter understands the breadth and depth of conversations that take place since not everyone is at the same stage in its use or…
This weekend the Sr. Girls basketball team played in another tournament final. We didn’t win. Now, many people who watched made comments like “Well, you had the chances, the ball just didn’t drop” or “You just couldn’t find your groove” or similar things. These statements are true – on the surface. However, as the coach/leader, I’ve…
So often when we talk about schools, students, parents and teachers, we discuss things in arm-lengths type of way. We discuss how they need to have richer and more meaningful learning experiences, how we need to provide them with the opportunities to use the technological tools in authentic learning experiences. What we don’t discuss is…
I’ve been following the discussion about EdCamps over the past few months – even thinking about organizing one in our area/province. The one thing I continue to be impressed with is that the people who attend make comments like I recently went to the EdCampYEG with two fellow staff members. Well worth the 2 hr.…