Category Archives: Leadership

This means listening. This means talking. This means communicating. One of the things I adore most about living the life of an educational leader is August. I love the start of the year rituals. I love opening faculty meetings. I … Continue reading →

Should we talk about issues? Yes, we should. In the time honored tradition of fixing the barn door after the cow has come home, I present a post about politics and the classroom the day after the US presidential election. … Continue reading →

…the horror of education … is ALWAYS met by ordinary folks doing extraordinary things. It is Halloween Week. This is the 13th installment of this volume of the blog. These are two signs of mystic and dreadful portent. EEk! This … Continue reading →

If you have hired well, terrific. If you have not, oh boy. I watched the first three seasons of the shocking, smash hit Succession and hung in until it got to be just a bit much for me. It seems … Continue reading →

… the hard things typically involve disappointing others or letting others down. These are the hardest things for me. I liked to be liked. This may be my most defining characteristic. In my personal life and in my professional life, … Continue reading →

…the goal was simply to have fun… I have served on many, many committees in my 30 plus years in education, some compulsory (new teacher cohorts), some formal (task forces, department chair teams, focus groups), and some informal (collections of … Continue reading →

Cell phones. Students should be allowed to have them on their persons in school. This past spring, as I was sitting with faculty members for end of year conversations, I was asked, point blank, where I stood on cell phones … Continue reading →

When a relationship is broken, the educational professional must go to work. “It’s all about relationships.” I have heard that the work we do in education revolves entirely around the relationships we have with students and parents and colleagues. I … Continue reading →

I do not have subpoena power. I cannot keep a teacher at the school. I believe there was a time, and I fully acknowledge that I am not immune to romanticizing the past, when a school administrator could count on … Continue reading →

Teachers and administrators are first responders too. 23 years ago, the term first responders became an unfortunate part of the cultural vernacular.  As the pandemic played out, “first responders” entered the zeitgeist once again. People venerate first responders – those … Continue reading →