It is nearing the end of September, and the work remains difficult. As I’ve written several times since the start of this school year, our district is implementing lots of change. Lots. via GIPHY We have gone from a four-building district to a two-building district, meaning new grade levels and new staff are housed under … [Read more…]
As our school district embarks on “Systems Coaching 2.0” (not the official name, but rather one given by our instructional coaching staff), I am recognizing inevitable resistance. The resistance is showing up in multiple forms, including passive resistance, outright “This is ridiculous,” comments, refusal to participate in conversations, angry looks and angry exchanges. While I … [Read more…]
After a week of multiple conversations with teacher teams expressing frustration over a myriad of concerns, I am convinced, more than ever, that one of our Professional Learning Community norms, as suggested by Solution Tree and adopted by many of our teams, needs to be revisited and reflected upon: Be solution-oriented and forward thinking. The … [Read more…]
So. Many. Thoughts. Mostly Unconnected. Challenges and Connections This week has brought a variety of challenges, and has been a reminder of why it’s so important to maintain an arsenal of positivity. In an April 4 post about Gratitude, I wrote, “Maintaining a positive mindset is tough to do during challenging times, all the more … [Read more…]