Category Archives: Teacher Leadership

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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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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#MIpubED Community Concerns

As March 2015 winds to a close, the #MIpubED Twitter chats have uncovered more questions than answers…such is learning.  In just a month we have discussed standards, high-stakes tests, and the creation of an online community where educators and their … Continue reading

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#MIpubED Community Chat

There is so much going on with public education these days that now is a perfect time to really connect educators with the community members we service (parents, business partners, academia, and basically anyone with a vested interest in our … 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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Self-Directedness, Teacher Leadership Series #3

The third key component of the leadership disposition is self-directedness. Self-directedness is a professional characteristic that includes self-correcting, self-managing, and self-governing behaviors.  Systems that nurture these traits are more effective than those that attempt to monitor and manage behaviors (Sanford, … Continue reading

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