If your school is like mine, your pay is tied to your years of teaching experience. I’m 11 years in, so I’m on the 11th pay scale step at my school. I’m not writing today to critique this method of teacher pay determination. I’m certain that there are better ways to determine how much a […]
School Level
“You’re My Favorite Teacher”
This is the worst compliment that a teacher can pay attention to. Favorite isn’t the goal — greatness is. There can only be one favorite teacher in a child’s heart, but there can be dozens of great teachers. If you’re in a position of school culture-building (and all of us are), then you need to […]
How to Improve School Cultures, Part 6: Think Like a Gardener, Work Like a Carpenter
Culture transcends strategy. –Ryan Holiday, Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue There are no quick fixes for better school cultures. You don’t bring in a consultant or a training program and then there we go, all better. School cultures emerge constantly from the complex interplay of skills, leadership, meetings, arguments, and PD. We […]
How to Improve School Cultures, Part 5: Simple, In-House PD
In an article for HaYidion, a principal at a Jewish day school in Houston describes his recent experiment in shadowing a student for a whole day. Among other benefits, he explains that this “day in the life” exercise gave him greater empathy for students, credibility with students, and insight into effective instruction. It got me […]
How to Improve School Cultures, Part 4b: A Case Study in Earnest and Amicable Argument as PD
Last time, I laid out the case for argument as a means to radically enriching school cultures. You’ll want to read that post before this one. So: arguments make for rich school cultures — not just arguments in our classrooms, but arguments in our meetings. But what does this actually look like? Thankfully, there’s a […]