Category Archives: Leadership

The Ms. Alice Files

Posted on September 24, 2011 by sutterlearn

As I struggled to find my legs in this new role of Instructional Coach, I remembered Ms. Alice.  Ms. Alice was a teacher who retired from my building after forty-years, the year before I started teaching.  Unannounced or introduced, she … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Teachers | Leave a comment

Learn and Serve

Posted on September 1, 2011 by sutterlearn

It’s been almost three months since I’ve written here.  To be honest, I needed that time to step away from the intense schedule I’ve run for the previous nine years.  Quite literally, I have been a formal student, full-time employee, … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Teachers | 4 Comments

Chasing Squirrels and Dreams

Posted on June 8, 2011 by sutterlearn

I’ve lost count of how many people have tried the derail my dreams and ambitions throughout life.  Perhaps it’s because I never kept count of them, but I’m sure I can keep it on both hands if I counted those … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Parenting | 11 Comments

Eating Our Young Is Naïve

Posted on April 17, 2011 by sutterlearn

During my undergraduate studies, I heard people speak of how public education is a profession that “eats our young”.  While I wasn’t sure how this could be much different than the challenges and rituals rookie employees might face in other … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Teachers | 3 Comments

I Get Merit Pay!

Posted on April 1, 2011 by sutterlearn

For a while I’ve been in limbo about merit pay for teachers, or providing bonuses to enhance teacher salaries based on their professional performance or students’ achievement.  I thought I was leaning toward this being a good thing, given my … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Politics, School Reform, Students, Teachers | 1 Comment

Higher-Order Thinking

Posted on March 28, 2011 by sutterlearn

Stick with me on this, as it may be a little complicated and long, but one of the more profound realizations I’ve had since becoming enmeshed in public education! Around 1956 psychologist Benjamin Bloom unleashed his “taxonomy” of escalating thought-process … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Politics, School Reform, Teachers | 1 Comment

Playground Politics

Posted on March 20, 2011 by sutterlearn

Again it played out on television, this time with a backdrop of Libya.  It could have been Iraq or Afghanistan, perhaps even Vietnam years before.  Either way, we’ve seen it, teachers more than most.  The journalist is surrounded by adrenaline-pumped … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Parenting, Politics, Students, Teachers | 2 Comments

Teaching Peace, Reaping Rewards

Posted on March 19, 2011 by sutterlearn

When we were children, my siblings and I would tease when we couldn’t locate our mother.  Before the tethered leash of cellular phones, if mom wasn’t around we would all assume she was, “off at some peacemaking conference”.  Mom may … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Teachers, Technology | Leave a comment

Super-Boogeyman: Still Scary, But Nothing New

Posted on March 13, 2011 by sutterlearn

A few months ago, I wrote a piece for a different blog about the documentary “Waiting for Superman” in which I forecasted how educators should see this movie upon its release to be part of the conversation that I felt … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Politics, School Reform, Students, Teachers | Leave a comment

Inputs to Outputs = Process

Posted on March 6, 2011 by sutterlearn

It is probably frivolous to create any extra ink about teachers’ rights or the plight this profession faces politically right now.  You would think there can’t be a rock large enough that someone living beneath still believes teachers make too … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Politics, School Reform | Leave a comment