Saturday, February 22, 2014

Stating the Obvious | Connected Principals

Stating the Obvious | Connected Principals:



Stating the Obvious



Spending a lot of time at conferences, I have heard the question, “What do we do with kids that are so distracted by their devices in the classroom?”  My initial thoughts is that in a world where there are so many amazing things and easy ways to connect, kids are not always simply distracted, but sometimes they are just bored.  There is often pushback to that idea from many participants.
Then I observe and state the obvious.
If adults are sitting through any opportunity that they find boring, many adults are quick to grab their phones, go to their computers, check email, text family, head to Facebook, read Tweets, and so on.  When they are bored, they look 


6 Quick Leadership Takeaways From A Flight Through The Fog
Two weeks ago I attended the NASSP Ignite Conference in Dallas, Texas. On my flight home, the pilot informed us that we would encounter heavy fog at the Tulsa airport. As we began descending, we were shrouded in it. I kept looking out the windows, and all I could see was the faint blinking lights on the plane’s wing. Then for just an instant, I caught sight of land, and with a thud, the plane’s w

FEB 19

5 Reasons Your Portfolio Should be Online
“My prediction is that in the next ten years, resumes will be less common, and your online presence will become what your resume is today, at all types and sizes of companies.” Dan Schawbel, 2011 Having a conversation with teachers and administrators, I asked how many of them still had “paper portfolios”. Surprisingly, it was over half of the room, and many of them had developed it in university,

FEB 18

Are you busy busy, busy?
This post is cross posted from Technically yours, Teamann. Busy is the new black. Ask anyone how they are doing and what do response do you get? “Stressed!” “Overwhelmed!” “Can’t keep up!” “Tired!” Can you imagine what would happen if you just answered that question with a “Inbox zero, task list completed, actually have time for an extra nap this week…”? It would stop traffic! Many times busyness

FEB 17

Redefining Honors in High School Starts With a Good Grilled Cheese Sandwich
This article was co-authored by Brian and his colleague Ellen Hume-Howard, the Curriculum Director of the Sanborn Regional School District The Need For Change: Brian’s “Uh-Huh Moment” Photo taken from www.closetcooking.com I was watching a cooking competition on the Food Network the other day. The contestants were asked to create the “ultimate grilled cheese sandwich” for a panel of judges to sa

FEB 16

3 Things We Should Stop Doing in Professional Development
Spending the last week in Oslo, Norway, with the visionary Ann Michaelsen and other school leaders here, I have really thought about the way that we deliver professional development, and to be honest, some of the practices that either don’t make sense anymore, or we have to rethink.  Although this is focused mainly on what we do as adults in our time together, many of these lessons have applicati
The Lego Movie: Making Education Reform Simple
I’m not much of a movie guy, but I did see The Lego Movie last weekend. My son left with a list of new toys he wants, and I left thinking about the educational metaphor I just watched. If you have not seen the movie, don’t fret; I won’t give up any information you haven’t already gotten from reading reviews or hearing others rave about it. First, movie background: President Business is the powerf