Blogs on Leadership

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Todd FinleyJanuary 31, 2012

Start with Courage

In 1969, RAND political analyst Daniel Ellsberg risked espionage charges by photocopying secret Pentagon Papers that documented how U.S. presidents lied to the American public about military escalation plans in Vietnam and lied about its chances of success. In the documentary The Most Dangerous Man in America, a reporter interviews Ellsberg after the famous whistleblower gave himself up to the authorities for leaking boxes of information to media:

REPORTER: Dr. Ellsberg, do you have any concern about the possibility of going to prison for this?

DANIEL ELLSBERG: Wouldn't you go to prison to help end this war?

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Margaret ReganJanuary 10, 2012

Becoming a master teacher takes continuous effort. To avoid the loss of enthusiasm or static practice, teachers need to focus on their own professional development. Notably, the single most significant indicator of student success is an excellent teacher; nevertheless, no one can be professionally developed without his or her consent. To remain vitalized, teachers need to spend time outside the classroom with other dedicated individuals. The educational mandates from state, federal and local legislators are not targeted at improving teaching and learning. Although many are well-intentioned initiatives to assist school success, they are not sufficient for improving teaching excellence throughout an entire professional career.

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Nicholas ProvenzanoJanuary 9, 2012

One of the easiest things for any tech person to forget is the presence of non-instructional types in the building. There's so much great technology out there for school administrators, but tech support often overlooks them because their job focus is helping classroom instruction. There is tremendous value in reaching out to on-site administrators and seeing what they need. Here are some of the benefits to thinking about your administrators when it comes to tech support.

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Lori CullenJanuary 6, 2012

To kick off 2012, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on what I have learned about leadership and being a principal. I am always learning; however, here are the key lessons that I want to remember and apply to this year. Not in any particular order, here are the ways I hope to become a great leader and great principal.

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Dale StephensDecember 16, 2011

I'm not just a college dropout. I chose to leave school in fifth grade to become an unschooler -- the self-directed form of homeschooler. While my peers sat in class during middle and high school, I found mentors, organized collaborative learning groups, took college courses, lived in France, helped build a library and generally directed my own education.

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David MarkusNovember 30, 2011

The year is 2006.

Superintendent Peter Gorman of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District in North Carolina is visiting Cochrane Middle School, a struggling school in a high-poverty community in east Charlotte. Known for his no-nonsense determination to turn around the district's failing schools, Gorman minces no words in describing Cochrane: "This may be the worst school I have ever seen."

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Lisa Michelle DabbsNovember 17, 2011

A few weeks ago while discussing a topic for the next new teacher chat on Twitter, a pre-service teacher sent me a private tweet. She asked if I knew the best way a principal should work to support new teachers on their campus. I responded by saying that I thought it would make a perfect topic for an upcoming chat. As a result, our November 2 chat topic was "How should a principal support a new teacher?"

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Ken KayOctober 26, 2011

In some ways we have saved the toughest challenge for last. Don't get me wrong. Transforming professional development, curriculum, instruction and assessment to create 21st century outcomes for your students will all be very challenging. But here's the final challenge in this series:

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Ken KayOctober 16, 2011

Welcome back to our series on becoming a 21st century school or district. For the earlier installments of this series, please scroll to the bottom of this page.

We have covered a lot of ground since we started this 7 step series. We have talked about embracing the 4Cs (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity) and embedding them in professional development (step 4), and curriculum and assessment (step 5). But, the goals of your initiative can't be accomplished if your teachers aren't supported in making them happen in the classroom for each and every student.

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Eric BrunsellOctober 7, 2011

When I heard the news about Steve Jobs' passing, it never crossed my mind to write about him. It is tragic when someone's life is cut so short. But I didn't know him; I only know his public life. I do admire people that persevere, people that are dedicated, passionate and live life fully. But I am not into hero-worshipping or canonizing industry titans.

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