Adventures in Administration

http://goo.gl/h82Ycc Watching Wheel of Fortune  the other night with my parents and son, it happened to be an episode with University students.  "Keep Your Nose to the Grindstone" was one of the puzzles and none, I repeat, none of the contestants knew the phrase, let alone what it meant!  WOW!  Talk about Generation Gap.  This of course got me thinking about what that phrase meant as I attempted to explain to my 2nd grader what a grindstone was and what the phrase meant--and why on earth you would ever want to keep your nose on it! We talk a lot about the importance of hard work, grit, stamina, perseverance, stick-to-it-ness--call it what you wish--in our students.  There is much discussion about how  to teach this.  This was actually a feature not too long ago on NPR: Does Teaching Kids To Get 'Gritty' Help Them Get Ahead? by   TOVIA SMITH     March 17, 2014   Here's the thing, I see my son NOT being willing to work...

http://pixabay.com/p-63916/?no_redirect I have just finished a very full two days of learning.  First, I attended Lead 3.0 (#lead3).  It was my first time at this conference and all I can say is "WOW".  It was a solid two days of connecting, learning, and being inspired.  I had no idea what to expect and left with much to mull over, take back to share, and a to-do list a mile long.  As that conference wrapped up, I booked on down the freeway to Stanford University for an afternoon workshop on Design Thinking and Common Core at their d.school K-12 Lab(@k12lab).  This was a packed 3 hours that blew my mind. I came away knowing that I was at these two unrelated events in the same weekend not just because I am an #edunerd who loves learning, but also because I was meant to connect with some specific people. So this brings me to my title because I have to question if my vision for our school is cutting edge or bleeding edge.  Indulge me for a moment...

http://goo.gl/Xxk7h8 I will preface this post with the following information:we are still a few weeks away from Spring Break (yes, I tell the truth on that) so my edge might be a little sharper than usual.  With that said, here we go... This week's #slowchated topic is all about anger.  As I ruminated on question 3A (what makes you angry at your school/district) I jumped right down the rabbit hole and now I have to blog about it since 140 characters isn't enough to capture this one.   What makes me angry is the lack of equity from school to school in my county, this state, and our country and the lack of professional recognition for educators.  Schools are the very foundation and uniting fabric of our society.  Their success or failure determines the level of success or failure of our democracy, of our economy, and of our society.  Everyone wants their children to be educated, but not everyone is willing to put their money where it counts.  W...