We don’t need our teachers to be the most talented, the most innovative, or the most tech savvy. We need them to care about kids… care about their craft… work well with their colleagues… and come to work every day, excited about making a difference.
When your career is over, you will not remember the lessons, the curriculum maps, or the test scores… you will remember the kids and the colleagues. It’s the people that matter.
I don’t think there are many people who wake up with a goal of doing a poor job at work. Most people are doing the best job they know how. It is the leader’s job to take people where they are… and give them the tools, resources, training, and encouragement they need to grow.
One of my definitions of good school culture goes like this: Administrators give teachers the benefit of the doubt… and teachers give administrators the benefit of the doubt.
Teaching standards—without first showing students what you want them to be able to know and do—is like asking kids to complete a jigsaw puzzle, but you won’t show them the picture on the cover of the box. #atplc
Virtual learning is requiring educators to embrace new teaching tools. The best way for administrators to support adult learning is to ensure every teacher is on a job-alike collaborative team, with frequent collaboration time to learn together. #atplc#learntogether
We often learn the most from mistakes. This is why assessment used in a formative way—to inform next steps in teaching and learning—is so powerful. If we assess kids, but then don’t allow them to revise and try again, then we wasted the power & benefit of the mistakes. #atplc