I have always been intrigued by John Hattie’s work on what influences student achievement. Hattie and his Visible Learning team have compiled information from tens of thousands of studies which include research on millions of students. Hattie recently released an updated list of the most profound influencers of student achievement earlier this month. Here is … Continue reading Belief
Equip
The Truth
I introduced a friend and a colleague to each other this past week through email. The correspondence was a short letter introducing one to the other. One replied to the introductory email saying that my words were “too kind.” I responded, that the truth is never too kind. The problem with the truth is that … Continue reading The Truth
Teach to Learn
I had a conversation with a parent a couple of weeks ago and it has stuck with me. I am, as I am sure many of you are as well, constantly questioning whether I have made the right decisions or have handled things in an appropriate manner. The more I have thought about this conversation, … Continue reading Teach to Learn
Disciplined
It is the first full week of August, and that brings about the third week of the school year at our high school. I enjoy getting past the early days and first few weeks of school. Everyone is finally settling in and classes are really beginning to move. As I have reflected on the first … Continue reading Disciplined
Fruition
The Fruits of the Spirit from Galatians 5 are ideals that I memorized long ago as a child. Galatians 5:22 and 23 share the Fruits of the Spirit as: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are character skills that I know my parents intentionally tried to instill in my brother … Continue reading Fruition
Plus, Minus, Equal
I read a book last summer that shared an anecdote that has stuck with me this year. The book, Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday, shared a training philosophy from mixed martial arts legend Ken Shamrock. The idea: Plus, Minus, Equal. Even though it was shared as a training philosophy it has had great … Continue reading Plus, Minus, Equal
Retain Hope
In my post last week, I shared my thoughts on what I felt are the real responsibilities of my job. While the focus of the post was around building culture, and working towards improvement, I had a conversation with a student this week that made me rethink about what I wrote. While I still believe … Continue reading Retain Hope
My Job
I had the opportunity to take part in mock interviews for aspiring administrators this past weekend. I enjoyed the time getting a chance to talk to, and support, those who are willing to take on leadership roles in our schools. As I reflected on my time in those interviews, there was one question that seemed … Continue reading My Job
Leverage
I came across one of my favorite quotes this week from Marianne Williamson: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and … Continue reading Leverage
What You See
I saw the follow video recently and it instantly made me think about our schools: If your reaction was like mine, your thoughts went to the expectations, personas, and biases we place on our students. We often say things in education like “I believe all students can achieve at a high level”, but then our … Continue reading What You See
Leading and Learning 