Blogs on Leadership

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.

Welcome back to the "7 Steps for Becoming a 21st Century School or District." As you will recall, in Step 1 you developed a list of the student outcomes that your students will need to become 21st century citizens and workers. Now, in Step 2, we want you to use that list to start a community conversation around your 21st century education vision. Although your list may contain other skills, for the purposes of this "7 Steps" series we are going to simplify and use the 4C's:

Teachers around the world are gearing up for the new school year -- but the experience is going to be vastly different for new teachers. Where an experienced teacher has the knowledge of what worked and what didn't, a new teacher is going to be bombarded with tons of new info and the need to process it! Not to mention, they will be preparing for the most important piece of all: their classroom instruction.

Teachers around the world are gearing up for the new school year -- but the experience is going to be vastly different for new teachers. Where an experienced teacher has the knowledge of what worked and what didn't, a new teacher is going to be bombarded with tons of new info and the need to process it! Not to mention, they will be preparing for the most important piece of all: their classroom instruction.

I've been teaching for nearly 10 years and I still get butterflies in my stomach the day before classes start. I can only imagine what my new students must be feeling as they come to school. The first day really sets the tone for the rest of the school year and I want these new students to feel welcomed and comfortable the minute they walk into my room. Here are four easy tips to create an awesome first day experience.