Design Thinking / Innovation / Innovation / Inspiration / Leadership / Learning / Project Management / Space Configurations / Strategic Planning / Teamwork / The K12 School Experience in America Posted on:

Designing A Better World

In August 2019, over 2,200 schools will open doors to students in the state of Georgia. A small number of those schools will be brand new. None like this. Mount Vernon Presbyterian School opens the doors to a brand new Upper School (Grades 9-12) building after a year of construction and years of planning, dreaming, and designing. The building is the physical expression of the School’s mission and vision; innovative, flexible, and relational. Everything is on castors. All desks are stackable and nest-able. Writable walls move up and down allowing disciplinary classes to combine and become interdisciplinary or trans-disciplinary. Smart […]

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Collaborative Team Teaching / Teamwork Posted on:

Collaborative Team Teaching

Collaborative Team Teaching Amy Choi and Pam Ambler presented a compelling and highly useful workshop for team teaching pairs on the first day of pre-planning. As the Upper School scales collaborative team teaching up from Humanities 9 to Humanities 10 and several new inter/multi-disciplinary courses this year, the models and tools they provided will be key to our success. This workshop was the result of a grant that included elements of design thinking. Resources: Collaborative Team Teaching: Challenges and Rewards Team Teaching: Advantages and Disadvantages Team Teaching Benefits and Challenges

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Badging / Leadership Posted on:

Leadership Badge Series

Leadership Badge Series Here is a badge design I am experimenting with as a way to show appreciation and recognition for leadership. This badge does not have a ‘submit evidence’ but it is awarded by me or it has the ‘nominate a peer’ option. This is the first in a series of leadership badges I will design and issue. What do you think?

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Book Review / Leadership Posted on:

Great by Choice

Great by Choice In preparation for an upcoming executive team meeting, our team read chapter 2 of Jim Collins’ book ‘Great by Choice.’ The introduction was particularly fun to read as it compared two expedition team leaders – Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon, in their preparation and pursuit of being the first to reach the South Pole. ‘One leader led his team to victory and safety. The other led is team to defeat and death. What separated these two men? Some favorite quotes: ‘You don’t wait until you’re in an unexpected storm to discover that you need more strength and […]

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Entry / eportfolio / Faculty Meetings / Formative Assessment / Learning Measures / Learning Outcomes / Professional Learning Communities / Teamwork / Vertical Teams / Video Posted on:

Building Our Learning Measures

Building Our Learning Measures This morning, our monthly vertical team meeting focused on building our capacity with two of our ‘expanded learning measures’ – formative assessment and e-portfolios. Here is the agenda with some data added… Essential Questions What are the limitations of numerical grades as a single measure of learning? How will we develop our understanding of e-portfolios as an effective measure ‘for’ and ‘of’ learning? Desired Outcomes Vertical Teams collaborate to implement formative assessment and e-portfolios. Learning Opportunities In advance, read Edutopia article: 11 Essentials for Excellent Eportfolios Entry Ticket: Upon arrival, write on 3 separate post-it notes… […]

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Book Review / Coaching & Feedback / Instructional Rounds / Reflective Practice / Teamwork Posted on:

Thanks for the Feedback

Thanks for the Feedback Our team has recently discovered this fabulous book, recommended by Meredith Monk from Folio Collaborative. The authors outline the 3 types of feedback we all need and receive as human beings: appreciation, coaching, and evaluation. None of these concepts are new, but the clarification of each one, as well as the interconnectedness of them are providing important insights for us. Just the summary from Chapter 1 alone has given us great fodder for discussion and reflection. “Feedback” is really three different things, with different purposes: Appreciation – motivates and encourages. Coaching – helps increase knowledge, skill, […]

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Teamwork Posted on:

To the Prankster…

To the beloved colleague and prankster who pulled every other book out on my office shelf, I only have this to say… “I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom I can tell you I don’t have money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you put my books back in order now that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, […]

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Leadership Posted on:

Potpourri of Cool Stuff

Drones in action… via Alice Keeler… Making Instructional Webinar Videos via Mikey Canup… 6 Best Web Tools for Making Instructional Videos via Digital Promise… Educator Micro-Credentials (Badging) – Competency Based Recognition for Educators

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Delegation / Leadership Posted on:

4 Levels of Delegation

4 Levels of Delegation by Andy Stanley with Gavin Adams Notes from the Podcast Investigation “I just want you to go find out some things. Research. Gather info. Bring it back to me or our team. Don’t do anything about it yet. Informed Progress I have a project/task for you. I want to give you something to own, but we’re going to have regular conversations about it, so that I can stay updated and be available to help you through the process. Not to micro-manage, but understand your needs and how to help. Informed Results Fantastic opportunity to own, do it […]

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