If there is one thing we know for certain heading into a new school year, it is this: It is completely unpredictable. All around the world, there are variations of…
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The longer I live, the more I notice how valuable it is to do one simple thing: be kind. – When someone does a good job, tell them. – When…
My son Tucker seems to be growing up too fast. He’s eight years old and playing in soccer, lacrosse, and basketball leagues. He’s reading, playing video games, and always wants…
I often get asked to do short design sprints with leadership teams and teaching teams. One of the major areas to focus on is having people talk about REAL problems,…
James Clear recently shared this and I immediately started to think about our current situation. How many of us have been spending time in Zone 3 this past year? How…
Note: The following is an extended excerpt from my upcoming book, Empathy Every Day: How to Listen, Learn, and Lead with Empathy. It is filled with 366 daily stories, vignettes,…
It is a simple question, but one that leads to all kinds of reactions: “Did you ask the teachers?” Often times in a search for innovative ideas and programs, we…
Blockbuster was doing everything right. They had a fantastic business. It was booming and growing each year. They would tweak something here or there. Improve customer service. Move to DVDs…
I’ve got that feeling. My stomach is in knots. My head keeps spinning. Running scenarios through my mind. But most of all, I’m anxious and a bit scared. I left…
Three different schools, in three different states, in a matter of two weeks. I got the same question. “How can I use Flipgrid in my class?” “Have you tried this…
Let me try to paint this picture. We were sitting in our school conference room on a Skype call with a Norwegian company, First Scandinavian, who creates and runs Newton…
In 1915 Albert Einstein sent a letter to his son, Albert. Einstein was living with his second wife and had not seen either of his two sons for quite some time….
When my students were doing the 20% Project (Genius Hour) in my class we had an “Epic Fail Board” (inspired by a number of people) where they would pin up…
One of my favorite writers (and thinkers) in the world, Shane Parrish, recently wrote a post titled, “What’s Staying the Same?”. In this post, he flips the questions we all…
When I started on this writing journey seven years ago, there were a couple of things I knew for sure. I wanted to share experiences through writing. Something different was…
I distinctly remember the moment I wanted to become a teacher. There was nothing fancy or profound about the moment, but instead, there was a feeling I had. I was…
As I sit here writing this my brother is on a respirator in a hospital room. He hasn’t been able to breathe completely on his own or wake up fully…
I want to tell you a story. During the mid 19th century the city of Chicago was in crisis. The elevation of the growing metropolis was not much higher than…
My good friend (and co-author) John Spencer, shared this on Twitter a few days ago: Teaching is an exhausting gig. It’s okay to take a break in the summer. Read…
A few years ago I wrote an article about 7 things people might NOT Know About Teachers. I re-read it this week and couldn’t believe it. All of these things…
I sensed the anticipation as soon as I entered the classroom. Groups of students were huddled together flipping through notes and documentation. A few were going back and forth about…
I had to share this story. Last week I had the opportunity to take a group of students from our High School to the Franklin Institute. It was the first…
Let’s be honest. Being a teacher and school leader can be overwhelming. There is so much to do (not enough time), so much to learn (where do we even start),…
My colleague and I looked each other on Tuesday of this week. She had a look in her eyes of pure exhaustion. I could sense a call for help, but…
“We are a school on an audacious mission. And our ‘why’ drives the teaching and learning here at Mount Vernon Presbyterian School (MVPS),” said Bo Adams in a recent interview…
Daniel Coyle, the author of The Talent Code, recently looked at a study on feedback from teachers. This study showed that one simple phrase could boost student effort by 40%. I was shocked…
You may have missed it along the way, but your class has a story. You might have been caught up in the everyday grind, or overwhelmed, or possibly just enjoying…
Sir Ken Robinson, author of The Element, has famously said: “Whether or not you discover your talents and passions is partly a matter of opportunity. If you’ve never been sailing,…
Eat your heart out, Rembrandt. pic.twitter.com/hN42zJ3NPJ — Harriett Gilbert (@HarriettSG) December 7, 2014 This photo went viral a few years ago, as people from around the world shared how it…
My daughter is in 2nd grade. She loves learning (seriously, she comes home every day excited about Flat Stanley, moving to multiplication, a piece of art she made, or something…
Let’s be honest. Being a teacher and school leader can be overwhelming. There is so much to do (not enough time), so much to learn (where do we even start),…
Imagine you’ve been in education for 7, 11, 15 or even 25 years. In each of those years, you have grown as a professional, learned new technologies, shifted with the…
Let’s start with the beginning. I’m an idea guy. That is, I have a lot of ideas. As a teacher I would constantly improvise, come up with new projects, lesson…
I came across a story about Tracy Musser, a bus driver in Penn Manor school district. I couldn’t help but smile as I read about Tracy (who never liked to…
A few years ago a colleague of mine shared a slide deck with me that completely transformed my perspective on leadership and building culture. I was new to a leadership…
The crowd roared. Everyone stood up and clapped with deep enthusiasm. I saw a couple in front of us crying. I looked at my wife and smiled wide. “Amazing,” she…
A week ago at this time my family and I were packing our bags to head home from Disney World. As the kids played in the pool, my wife and I…
My grandmom is wise. And at 91 years old, she’s still as curious as ever. Yesterday we were having a discussion about the work we are doing in my school…
For some of my friends, it seems so simple. They can go to work, hang out with their family, spend time with their friends on the weekends, have a vacation…
The Millennial Generation is said to start with those born in 1980 and ends with those born in 1995. If those dates hold up, then I’m a proud member of…
When my students were doing the 20% Project (Genius Hour) in my class we had an “Epic Failure Board” (inspired by a number of people) where they would pin up…
My daughter had her first “lip sync” performance tonight at a school event. Her and a bunch of first-grade friends had been practicing a routine for “Call Me Maybe” for…
This post originally appeared on Edsurge. My daughter is six years old. She loves Snapchat. She’s been using the app for the past two years, and it is her favorite…
A few years ago I was lucky enough to teach the book, Things Fall Apart, to my 10th grade English class. It’s a great book…but that’s not why I was…
When I heard the news that Phil Schlechty had passed away it was sudden and I felt sadness. I’ve never met Phil but I’ve been deeply impacted by his work…
Equity. It means many different things to many different people in many different situations. To me, equity is everything in education. I believe education is the bridge to opportunity and…
I’ve been around a lot of 1:1 initiatives in schools. As a teacher, I was around when Classrooms for the Future started, and when my former district went 1:1 laptops…
Usually, when I write a blog post it is because I want to dig deeper into a topic and explore its merit. The post then becomes my way of explaining…
Note: This is the first post in a four-part series. You can read the second, third, and fourth articles in the series here. The year was 2007. I was a relatively…
I recently had the opportunity to Keynote the University of Pennsylvania Literacy Network’s Winter Symposium. Penn Literacy Network founder Mort Botel (who was also a former President of the International Reading…
It’s fall. The mornings are cool, the nights are brisk, and the days pop with color. It reminds me, always, of football. I played for seven years and then coached…
My daughter lowered her eyes, looked at me, and said, “I can’t do it.” I looked back and asked her again to put one foot on the board, push off with…
The police were on strike, yet we were still walking through the streets of Tembisa. It was the middle of July, but it wasn’t hot. We were in the southern…
A young man was restless in his studies. He couldn’t stay focused on school work, and found himself consistently skipping classes, missing due dates, and working on projects that meant…
Ahh, in service. Whether it is at the beginning of the school year, end of the school year, or smack dab in the middle of the school year…it seems like…
“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” ― Steve Jobs There are moments of…
In 1915 Albert Einstein sent a letter to his son, Albert. Einstein was living with his second wife, and had not seen either of his two sons for quite some time….
I am by habit a bibliophile. I read at least 25 pages of a book per day which usually turns in to 40-60 books per year. I’ve written a few…
My first season as a head football coach, our team had gone undefeated leading up to the final game of the season. We had a heck of a team with…
