I tend to report along a timeline, at least when sorting out many pages of notes from a long days’ visit. Throw that out the window today. The story of this school wraps back on itself in several unique and powerful ways, all of which give me a greater sense of optimism for education in [...]
After more than 55 school visits in the last 11 weeks, I feel I am getting pretty good at reading how committed a faculty is to embracing change. At some schools, the vision of change is met with reluctance; at some with cautious optimism for the growth of bright lights. Then there are the schools [...]
My second full day at Presbyterian Day School in Memphis was just as eventful as the first; this mid-sized elementary school continued to surprised me with an array of truly leading edge programs in character education, global awareness, health and fitness, tailored learning in reading, curriculum development, an exceptional virtual social studies program, and more. [...]
I will make several reports from Presbyterian Day School and the Martin Institute for Teaching Excellence in Memphis; I visited for a day yesterday and will be back the week after Thanksgiving. We talk about revolutionary changes and evolutionary changes and sometimes those terms take on the meaning of time: rapid vs tepid. This is [...]
I made an “unofficial” stop in Huntsville to see colleagues at the Randolph School. We only had a couple of hours, but I have been talking about education innovation with Head Byron Hulsey and Assistant Head for Academic Affairs Jerry Beckman for several years, so we hit the ground running. We were also joined by [...]
If you want to fill up 12 sheets on yellow pad with detailed notes and your head with great ideas for how to elevate student engagement, spend three hours at Mt. Vernon Presbyterian in Atlanta. I was warned ahead of time that Head Dr. Brett Jacobsen would direct a fire hose at me, but I [...]
Two indicators that a school visit was overwhelming in terms of important lessons to share: 1) in going back over the camera roll I realized I was so busy I forgot to take but a couple of photos; I really apologize, since the Lovett School campus is gorgeous; 2) I almost got tired just reading [...]
We all know that turning an aircraft carrier is harder than turning a speedboat, but even large ships do turn, and they do so with someone calling the instructions, and a lot of critical pieces in the mechanics. With 2,700 students, Woodward Academy is one of the largest independent schools in the United States, the [...]
One of the emerging threads of this journey that defines schools that are making progress along the path of change is trimming away what is not critical and focusing on a core set of values. This post is about a great process of building change capability in the faculty and success with a new technology [...]
Ian Kelleher, Science Dept. Chair at St. Andrew's Episcopal in Potomac sent me this and I think it is very worth sharing, with Ian's approval. It is a template for a faculty poster conference, the second I have heard of on this trip (in addition to the big one next month with Albermarle County Public [...]