Sunday, January 16, 2011

Please comment - What makes up your BEST TEACHER?

Please list the attributes of your best/favorite teacher (any teacher, K-12, college, graduate school)

Essence of Leadership: LISTEN

   Listen to others - hear them, learn from them, act on what you hear - Leaders build relationships, Relationships are built upon trust, Trust is built upon communication, Communication is built upon LISTENING
A Chinese Symbol for "To Listen"

Friday, January 14, 2011

Change


I'm very proud of the teachers at my school!

With 6+ months into our new experiences together, they are getting to know me, I am getting to know them. We are appreciating each other's unique contributions to our organization and our organization's mission! We are also heading into a several-year change period where we will realize and experience "turn over" and "change". As part of the preparation for this unprecedented change, several teachers are going to have new assignments next year. Instead of waiting until June to make these decisions, we shared the news today. What's exciting is that these outstanding professionals are embracing the change - some are nervous (very normal reaction to change), others are pondering the impacts; overall, everyone is committed to the mission of the organization and to that end, everyone will do what they do best and that is working together on behalf of the children we serve. I'm fortunate to work with the people at my school district!

We're on a journey and we're going to experience the thrills and challenges together. The image below is from http://cie.asu.edu/volume8/number19/images/fig2.jpg, and it is titled: Change Process Model for Teachers' Beliefs and Practices