Category Archives: Coaching

Reflecting on Transitioning

I was recently asked to write a reflection and advice for fellow school principals on the topic of transitioning away from the principalship…with a focus on encouragement and not “get out while you can,” which is what so many of … Continue reading

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Book Review: On Your Mark

The district I serve in moved to “standards-based report cards” a few years before I arrived in 2007 and I can honestly say they have created heartburn and lively debate three times each year.  These have been revised and re-aligned … Continue reading

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I Get to Go to School

As I was feeling exhausted, frustrated, and futile the other day, I asked myself why I go to work.  In such desperate moments I can easily find myself answering first with many of the things I don’t go there for.  … Continue reading

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Hey Stripes! Nice job.

For over 35 years, I avoided any interest in sports whatsoever. I literally would not stay in a room where a ball game was playing on a TV.  It just wasn’t part of me and I wasn’t missing out on … Continue reading

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Intentionality vs. Accountability

Generally, I find deep learning occurs through questioning, when I pose content in the form of inquiry it encourages students to reflect on what they know and engage in sense-making of the questions.  Sometimes though, we must provide specific evidence, … Continue reading

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Book Review: Dispositions

Art Costa is one of the originators of the Cognitive Coaching practices that I’ve trained in for helping people move their thinking, so it was clear that when he put out a book all about Dispositions, I was dying to … Continue reading

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Book Review: The Power of Positive Deviance

Here’s another book that I read, two pages at a time for more than a year.  I found it while researching for my own work on collaborative professional learning.  Positive Deviance is the concept of coaching a community (social or … Continue reading

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Book Review: Man’s Search for Meaning

I came across this book in a pile of freebies in a staff room last December, fifty-five years after Viktor Frankl first published it!  I’d heard the title for sure along the way, but the small print of “A new … Continue reading

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Moving Leadership Along, Teacher Leadership Series Finale

In our work as cross-district teacher leaders, we have explored leadership and its many dimensions. Leadership in education has morphed over the past sixty years from institutions with a principal as manager and social pillar (Newsome, 1949) to more recent … Continue reading

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Servant Leadership, Teacher Leadership Series #4

In his book, Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power & Greatness, Robert Greenleaf defines the servant leadership that is the final, critical trait we have found among effective teacher leaders, underlying the first three attributes of … Continue reading

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