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Reformation: Creating or Redefining Your Purpose Statements
Listen In our last article, we shared some of the mission statements, vision statements, and value lists for some of the top schools in the world. As we looked through these statements, we were really inspired to work on our own statements. Many, if not all, schools and districts have...
Reformation: Defining Your Purpose
Listen Have you ever asked a student, “Why are you here?” when they seem to be floundering in school? We want them to find a reason for attending school that is their own, something that will drive them forward when they are worn out or have lost their will to...
Technology and Education in the 21st Century By Debbie Thoreson
Listen As a teacher, I have often thought, “Seriously, why does this student think I’ll believe this is hard for him?” After all, I begin with the same historical texts as I have for nearly a decade; yet I notice each year there are more...
Student Reflections on Virtual and Hybrid Learning
Listen There is no question that this has been a very challenging year for teachers and administrators (OK, understatement doesn’t even begin to describe that statement). But, our students are facing these challenges without the benefit of maturity, life experience, or a college degree! Let’s not forget that...
Reformation: Embracing the Outdoors
Listen In this article, we’ll take a step away from our eleven leaders and reach a bit further out, because there are many schools around the world who have used the opportunity the pandemic has provided to be outdoors more. Pre-pandemic, many schools and districts in the U.S. added more...
Part 2: Reformation: Indoor Learning Environments
Listen In our last article, we discussed how the Ron Clark Academy, Wooranna Park Primary, and Fuji Yochien embrace and have designed environments that are used to fulfill their mission statements and pedagogy. Here are a few more leaders in this area. International School of Hellerup in Copenhagen The International...
Checking in on Mental Health
Listen We have written a lot about mental health in the last 6 months since the world seems to have gotten turned upside down, but that’s just how important of a topic it is! While most of this seems to have started with the COVID-19 pandemic back in March, the...
Reformation: Technology
Listen Perhaps the first and most obvious way schools are changing right now is in the area of technology. We are using it in ways we definitely never could have predicted!And that is very frustrating for so many teachers and students. However, when the pandemic dies down and we find...
The Reformation Age of Education
Listen We’ve known for some time that education was in need of a major overhaul. Many teachers and administrators have been ready for it for a long time. Some districts, a few states, and the occasional national leader have stepped up and championed the cause for change. But largely, our...
Answering "Why" in Professional Development
Listen Years ago, I was in a professional development meeting that tackled the topic of adding “essential questions” to each of our planned lessons. There was instruction on the language we should use, the structure of the questions themselves, and how to tie each question to state standards. Yet I...
Elementary Focus: Dolls for SEL and Social Studies
Listen There are few adults who spend any time with kids who haven’t heard of the “Toy Story” franchise. In one of the movies, the toys gather around a new playmate, Forky, created by the child who is the center of their world.The child in the movie makes this “doll”...
Education Podcasts, Part 2: What We Have Learned from Them
Listen We wanted to share some of what we have learned recently from the education podcasts we have been listening to. Principal Center Radio Douglas Fisher - The Distance Learning Playbook (Jul 31) Douglas Fisher’s has some great, practical tips on distance learning! He suggests that teachers should integrate synchronous...