Upcoming concerns/challenges

As we face another school year, what concerns do you have? Are there any specific challenges you are going to have to face this year or in the coming years?

What are your thoughts on teacher supervision and evaluation?

Do you rely primarily on formal or informal data? For those of you in North Carolina, how do you feel about the new evaluation tool? Any concerns, excitement, etc?

In the News-Accountability and Trust

Robert Whipple believes it is important for managers need to hold employees accountable for meeting commitments. This sounds simple, but in the messy world it can be a conundrum. Th ereason? People have a tendency to justify their actions based on their personal rationalization. To the manager it may seem a lame excuse, but to the employee, there was no way the commitment could have been made. The technology for holding people accountable begins with the notion that it is expected behavior. Still, the manager needs to do this in a way that follows the Golden Rule. There is a fine art to holding people accountable and still maintaining trust with not only the employees in question but also their peers. What techniques do you use to manage accountability without trashing trust? Click the title to read the accompanying article or offer your own thoughts on the topic.

In the News- check it out!

Check out this article. Funds may be cut from three major change initiatives- Race to the Top, Teacher Incentive Fund, and Public Charter Schools. What do you think?

Change initiatives

I was just curious what change initiatives people either have done or might be looking to implement in the near future. For example, we have something called TITAN period at Trask, where students spend 20 minutes per day in either tutoring (if needed) or enrichment. Also, our Responsiveness to Intervention team is working on scheduling and continuity right now. Anyone have any experience iwth RtI in high schools? I would love to have a good discussion about change initiatives.

Benchmarks and success measurements

How do you measure student success in your school or classroom? Do you use benchmarks? If so, how often? Is it uniform across the school or district? Do you have specific procedures to help students who may be performing below par on a benchmark? If so, what are they? If not, do you have any suggestions for incorporating them? Sorry for the many questions, but I think this is an important topic in need of attention to detail.

Courage and creativity for change

How do you orchestrate and manage change to ensure buy-in and success? Is your procedure different at home or in your personal life than what it is at work? It would be great if you could provide some specific examples.

Classroom management

Two small words, yet such a powerful measure of teachers everywhere. In your opinion, what do you feel are the main strategies for effective classroom management?

Leadership quotes and motivation

Anyone have any quotes related to leadership that you would like to share? I have two:
"If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall in the ditch."

— Jesus Christ

"Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry."

— Winston Churchill

Any thoughts?

Goals

76% of students in NC think it is important to set high goals and 79% say they work hard to reach their goals. How do you help students achieve their goals? How often do you set goals? How often do you achieve them?

How has No Child Left Behind impacted you or your school?

As we all know, the mandate of No Child Left Behind impacts schools in many ways. How has it affected you or your school? Have you seen any positives as a result? Negatives? Indifference? Which component(s) do you think has or will have the most lasting impact on our school systems?

Change

What is the biggest change that you would like to see made at your place of work? To dig a little deeper, think about what you could do to help influence this change if you knew there could be no negative repercussions to your actions. What would you do if you could do anything?

Data! How do you use it?

We talk quite frequently about the importance of having or analyzing data. Could you tell me some specific examples of times when you have used data to drive instruction or make a change at your school or in your county?

How do you describe a leader?

Please list or describe essential traits which you believe every strong leader must possess. To me, the number one essential skill for a leader to have is powerful communication! What do you think?

Do you have a book, article or movie to share?

If you have read a book/article or watched a movie that really motivated you or that you think future educational leaders should stay away from, please share it with everyone. All comments are welcome and appreciated!