The Opportunity Atlas and the American Dream
October 6, 2018There is no American Dream without the possibility of upward economic mobility. Education is, at its core, about preparing young people to succeed in a life to which they aspire, which is almost always at least as fruitful, if not more so, than that of their parents. Today, that dream is more remote for more…
New Podcast: Reimagine Schools
October 5, 2018For those of you, and your team members, who enjoy audio podcasts in your professional learning, please share this 20 minute discussion I had with Dr. Greg Goin of Georgetown University (KY). Greg’s popular podcast, Reimagine Schools, has featured a long list of education rock-movers like Ted Dintersmith and Tony Wagner, so I am honored…
Accusers of Sexual Misconduct Can’t All Be Wrong (#MeToo)
October 1, 2018Like many of you, I was captivated by the testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. While we all have personal and political stakes in the outcome, I would hope that we can start to come to consensus on at least something with respect to the issue of sexual misconduct. In nearly…
Join Us for Cohort Two of the CAIS Strategic Change Accelerator!
September 27, 2018Strategic change is the new normal for schools as the marketplace of K-12 education becomes increasingly differentiated and customer-driven. For more than five years, the Canadian Association of Independent Schools has been leading the way in looking deeply into this future and helping schools start to make truly strategic changes. Last summer I partnered with…
What Are We Designing For?
September 26, 2018Design thinking is an appropriate rage. The routines embedded in DT push us to imagine and design solutions that we otherwise would have likely never encountered. But sometimes we gloss over that key word “design”. I see school teams rush to create solutions before they have a clear set of “design parameters”. Lacking clear design…
Use Free Edutopia Video Library!!
September 25, 2018You know I am a huge fan of Edutopia. They are the default site to visit if you are looking for ideas about what a deeper learning experience can be in your classroom or school. For five years I have been saying that many schools would transform themselves if teachers could just see what “it”…
Vertical Learning: An Easy Tool to Boost Student Engagement, via @Design39Campus and @Edutopia
September 24, 2018How might we create classrooms that engage students and give them greater ownership of their learning? So many of the teachers I interact with tell me, “I just need to see what ‘it’ looks like”. The growing library of short videos you can find at Edutopia provides just that. In just a few minutes, you…
Being Lighter
September 15, 2018An old friend who, way back in our 20’s, called me a pine nut-eating tree hugger and the like, posted on Facebook today this image, and the note that “learning how to let things go is my biggest lesson right now. It feels so much lighter.” She teaches kids with special learning needs, so you…
Do You Know Your NPS??
August 31, 2018As the diversity of learning options for families continues to explode, fewer families choose to go to their neighborhood school just because it is close. While I don’t have national data for ALL schools, I think we know that the most important driver of school selection is word-of-mouth. What we hear from our friends, family,…
Shovel Faster??
August 30, 2018There is one simple reason that coal-fired steam engines in trains and ships were rapidly replaced by oil-fired, then diesel, electric, and even nuclear power. No matter how fast you shovel, you can’t make that steam engine go any faster. This is my new favorite picture for K-12 educators. We reached the limit of effective…
The Simple Equation of Value-Strategy-Innovation
August 20, 2018Following the lead of my new friend, Seth Godin, short blogs are better. This picture really is worth 1,000 words. Schools that are increasingly faced with the challenge that their students can and might select another school to attend, must develop, communicate, and deliver a winning value proposition or face loss of enrollment, and the…
Schools and Malls
August 11, 2018A short post, inspired by the daily sharing of Seth Godin, who was kind enough to spend a half hour with me on the phone this week. (It is a pretty great day when your daughter texts, “Seth Godin made dinner for us; he’s really a great guy and is interested in what you are…
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