Learning Forward Blog
Planning for hot fun in the summertime!
By Lisa Casto |
We are lucky to work in a field with beginnings and endings, and it’s always a joy to watch our kindergartner or senior students graduate and move to the next level. While summer may mean slower days and vacation for some, it is also a valuable time for professional learning. Recently as I was planning a mini four-day vacation for my husband and me, I realized that planning for that trip and for professional learning are much the same.
Lessons for summer learning
By Stephanie Hirsh |
If you haven’t already figured it out, I am a fan of the Common Core State Standards. I believe in their potential to increase equitable access to rigorous teaching and learning across the country. This does not mean that I am opposed to local decision making, in fact much the opposite.
Two common leadership mistakes that demotivate
By Mike Murphy |
Time after time, conversations with decision makers in successful organizations reveal the high value they place on the relationships they try to build among people. The focus on relationships is not to be taken lightly. Toxic relationships diminish capacity (Lewin and Regine, The Soul at Work, 1999). With multiple, increasingly complex initiatives, leaders in successful organizations generate their best work and results from the interactions they have with the people who work there. To create new solutions for challenging problems, they have to have these relationships to enlist the ability and creativity of the people in their schools.
4 lessons from China’s schools
By Stephanie Hirsh |
I was in China earlier this month to present a paper on professional development for the Third US-China State/Provincial Education Leaders Dialogue. A day of school visits preceded the dialogue, providing an opportunity to see teacher learning in action. While there were many takeaways from the experience, I want to focus on four key observations.
What is an authentic professional learning community?
By Shirley Hord |
Shirley Hord, Learning Forward’s scholar laureate, has focused her career on research about and practice of effective professional learning communities. Here she answers an educator’s question about professional learning communities.
Vision problems? Using context, process, and product to align your team’s work
By Denelle West |
It started with a simple statement: “We need a vision.” As the director of staff development for Gwinnett County Public Schools, I realized I was in trouble when similar sentiments echoed throughout our staff development team.
Are you learning forward or backward?
By Frederick Brown |
Followers of the Learning Forward blog know that we changed our name several years ago from the National Staff Development Council to Learning Forward. Later this year, we’ll reach the five-year anniversary of the new name. As I reflect on those years, I think about some of the learning I’ve seen in schools and districts that leads me to ask, “Are you learning forward or backward?”
Important lessons from a software giant
By Stephanie Hirsh |
The longer I serve in education, the more I realize I have so much to learn about learning and the kinds of cultures that make it central to the daily work of an organization. As part of our work with the PD Brain Trust on redesigning professional development, Learning Forward is looking outside of education to hear from learning leaders in other sectors. Last month, we had the opportunity to hear about SAS, a world leader in business analytics software.
Spread effective teaching from room to room
By Stephanie Hirsh |
When I was a local school board member, parents frequently asked for my advice on how to ensure their child got a particular teacher in a school. I knew how the game would be played after I reminded them this wasn’t the role of the school board: They would write the principal with their requests for the next year. The principal would respond to assure the parents that no matter which classroom their child was assigned, he or she would have a great year.
Breaking the school-improvement ritual
By Mike Murphy |
As a consultant and coach, I do a lot of my best thinking in the car or on the plane. I found myself doing just that a week ago, when I tuned into National Public Radio’s morning show. The moderator mentioned that playwrights often use a technique to hook their audiences. Simply put, they draw people into their plays by breaking a ritual or custom and letting the characters wrestle with the conflict that it produces. In the world of theater, this creates the “edge” that forms memories from the play or musical. Thus, in the theater, breaking the ritual is a good thing and it produces the intended result . . . drama and memories.
