Inspired Impact

Charlotte's Web, Harry Potter, Bridge to Terabithia ... what was the book that hooked you on reading?  Educators have an opportunity and a responsibility to make diverse books accessible to all students.  This year, we have taken some simple steps at my school to create a literacy-rich environment.  I hope you will share what you are doing in your school or classroom so we can all work toward matching students with the right books to igniting a love of reading. 1. Diversify Your Library:  Grace Lin, children's book author, said in her TEDx Talk, "Kids need books to be mirrors and kids also need books to be windows."  Students need to see themselves in the books we make available to them.  And they also need to see people who are different from them.   What better way to learn about empathy than through children's literature?   Click here for her TEDx Talk. 2. Stay Current: In order to put the right book in the hands of a reluctant reader, we as

Genius Day: Creating a Culture of Connectedness On Friday, February 16th, I greeted students outside of the school as usual.  But on this particular day, the day before February break, things were different.  Students were literally skipping into school.  I held my ipad and took video interviews of students to capture their excitement around the anticipation of Genius Day that would later be shared in an imovie slideshow. Genius Hour stems from a Google initiative where employees are allowed to spend 20% of their workweek on a pet project of their choice.  What Google found was that productivity and creativity for their employees increased drastically.  This idea has gained some momentum in schools where students across the country are being given 20% of their school day to explore their own passions.  This is an authentic way to get to know students on a more personal level and also put them in the driver's seat of their learning. Genius Day is a spin-off of Geniu

I can't think of an educator out there who doesn't want to be excellent.  And if I ever find one, trust me, I will do my best to talk them into another profession because kids deserve educators who strive to be the very best.  "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence."  Quoting Vince Lombardi on Super Bowl Sunday (Go Pats!) seemed appropriate as I think about the ways in which we can strive for excellence.  Here are five essential ways to grow as an educator. 1.  READ:  Students are expected to read daily. How can we expect less of ourselves or not model a love of reading?  This doesn't mean you have to read educational books all of the time.  Reading could mean online news articles, educational blogs, children's literature, or novels.  Don't have time to read?  Listen to a book on Audible or a podcast during your commute.  Here are a few of my recent, recommended reads: The Power of Moments by Dan Heat

"When students feel connected at school, they are more likely to attend school regularly, stay in school longer, and have higher grades and test scores." (www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth, July 2009).  Great teachers strive to connect with and be the champion for every student in their class, but this is a challenge for even the very best teachers.  How can we as building administrators share in the work to ensure that all students feel connected and have a champion? When I was a sophomore in high school, my writing teacher attended one of my basketball games.  She was far from a sports enthusiast so I was surprised to see her in the stands.  Following the game, she wrote me a note congratulating me on the win.  I was pretty shy then and for the first time in her class, I felt like she saw me.  It wasn't an especially large gesture on her part, but it most definitely had in impact.  I recall working harder than I ever had in her class.  She encouraged me to write a

I was reading MLK quotes looking for one to include in my weekly updates for staff and came across this one: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Each day on Twitter, I see educators sharing their work and exuding passion.  I often think about how lucky their students or staff are to have such passionate, dedicated educators.  Back in July, at the National Principals Conference, I met so many inspiring educators who were eager to share and connect with like-minded people.  I left feeling invigorated and so assured that I had chosen the right work or "found my calling."  But there's more to it than passion.  Educators need to know and deeply understand how they are making a contribution to others and why their work matters.  Chip and Dan Heath shared In The Power of Moments that, "people who expressed high levels of excitement about their work were still poor performers if they lacked a sense of purp

Breaking the Script By Jordan Hoffman Chip and Dan Heath wrote, "If you're going to create memorable moments for your customers, you've got to break the script."   Part of what makes a snow day special is that it breaks the script of a typical school week.  We don't expect to get a random day off in the middle of the week. And there's an element of surprise when the phone rings with the recognizable school district main line calling, "This is the Natick Public Schools calling with an important message.  Due to the impending storm, school will be cancelled on Thursday, January 5th." While this particular break in the script is dependent on weather, school leaders can intentionally break the script to create a memorable moments for students and staff. Breaking the script needs to be random, surprising and spontaneous in order to have an impact.  Teachers expect that when I pop into the classroom with an ipad or computer in hand that I wil