Establishing a Culture of Safety

Establishing a Culture of Safety

Ever since a landmark study in the late 1990s (see Felitti and Anda, et al), we’ve become more and more aware of the prevalence and consequences of Adverse Childhood Experiences, also known as ACEs. The original list of studied events has grown from 10 (including...
The Magnifying Power of Self-Reflection

The Magnifying Power of Self-Reflection

If I were to tell you there’s one rather simple, replicable behavior that could lead to remarkable success in whatever venture you pursued, how would you respond? Would you reply by asking if I’m also offering to sell you a piece of the Brooklyn Bridge? Well, indeed...
Walk-throughs? Why?

Walk-throughs? Why?

When I was a newer principal, I was advised to get out of the office and into the classrooms of my school. “Go do walk-throughs,” my advisor said. “Lots of them. They’re a great tool.” Seemed like a good idea, but soon a problem arose. You never announce, “I’m going...
“They” – the most dangerous word in education?

“They” – the most dangerous word in education?

As I sat with a school’s leadership team recently, their plan to calibrate staff members’ mindsets and align team expectations called for a monthly staff “huddle,” a departure from their “no staff meetings” practice. The principal sat back and sighed. “It seems like a...
It’s more than relationships

It’s more than relationships

Relationships, relationships, relationships. We’ve heard this refrain from educators for a while now – learning starts with relationships. I had the good fortune to chat with two high school students recently about their experience with a particular teacher who had...
What do I focus on?

What do I focus on?

In a garden-variety classroom, there are about a million different things going on at any given moment. They’re all important, right? So what draws our attention? What do the best teachers focus on? The answer is so unambiguously obvious it might startle you:...