Educational leadership in the age of online learning

As remote-work orders stretch into another month, new concerns about its long term-feasibility are being raised. Fatigue is one salient issue, but many are more concerned that continuous growth and development will stagnate in a world that lacks in-person contact.

The education industry in particular is among the most affected here in the United States, and questions about meaningful development are top of mind for teachers and educational leaders alike. How can remote learning practices be improved before students return to school? Is it still possible to improve practice as an educator while working from home?

How to disaster-proof your business and your life, part 3

How to disaster-proof your resilience, with Brian Wallace, founder, NowSourcing

Wallace is a straight-shooter, so I knew that there would be instant value in our conversation. While he acknowledges the catastrophic economic impact of COVID-19, he maintains that we were already due for a market correction and reality check. The US economy had experienced 129 consecutive months of growth, and we had foolishly come to take growth for granted.

Now that we have entered this correction, Wallace says, to survive and thrive moving forward, people must ask themselves, “How good are you at delivering what you said you would do?” More and more, people will want to see concrete value for their dollars. Those that can deliver it will rise to the top.

5 Areas Where Teachers Need Support Right Now, Part II

A critical, “non-academic” area that teachers must master is their ability to teach and support students’ social-emotional needs and development, while growing their mindset and confidence to succeed. Let’s focus on the latter, our mindsets and the role they play in our success.

In her bestselling book Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success, Stanford Professor Carol Dweck talks about people’s mindsets with regards to their ability to perform new tasks. She describes people who stay squarely in their comfort zones and others that venture well beyond them. Dweck labeled these mindsets as “fixed” and “growth,” respectively.

5 areas where teachers can support students in learning, Part I

For new teachers, the process of getting ready for the school year can draw mixed emotions. On the one hand, it is exciting to don your creativity cap and consider new ways to make school and learning exciting. At the same time, there can be some nervousness associated with your preparation, particularly when you’re not sure what the new year will even look like, as in whether it will include in-person instruction, remote learning or some blended variation.

Make no mistake, this is by far the most uncertain start to the school year that any of us have ever experienced. We don’t know what form school will take in a couple of months and we must figure out how to close academic gaps that were created by the pandemic; deal with issues of mindset (student and teacher); provide opportunities for social-emotional learning; and be prepared for the residual (if not current) effects of trauma and more. All while still managing our classrooms effectively and providing our students with engaging instruction that is differentiated to ensure that all learners’ needs are met.

Why principals should “loop” students back in

One of the big questions facing school leaders right now is what things will look like when the new school year begins. No one fully knows whether teachers and students will be able to fully or partially return to their classrooms and, even for those who can enjoy “business as usual,” the atmosphere at school is likely to be filled with uncertainty, unease, and lots of distancing.

While it can be difficult to build and maintain a learning atmosphere under such conditions, it may be even more challenging for teachers to develop the nurturing relationships that are so critical to student development, particularly after having endured so much uncertainty already in the previous half year. To expect teachers to connect with their charges and be able to support them during the formative first weeks may be too tall an order for many and could set students up for an even more challenging year.

The 4 R's of a Successful Summer

Summer is now fully upon us. School is out and many of us have planned or will soon get around to planning summer vacations with family and friends.

The relaxed days of late June, July, and August present all of us with some special opportunities that I like to think of as summertime “r’s.”

Review – Summer is a great time to take a step back and reflect upon your professional practice. Were you successful in meeting your goals? If not, what stopped you?
Resolve and revise – Set new goals over the summer. (Need help with goals setting? Grab a FREE copy of my Clear Targets Action Sheet here.) Also, be sure to review your personal mission statement and core values. (You can grab a values list here.) Much can happen in a year, in terms of shaping your direction and principles. Use these months to make new commitments while also revising your existing purpose and value documents.

How to Help Your People Become Unconsciously Competent

We all want our people to do good, competent work. We also want them to work quickly, without having to think extensively each time about what it is that they’re doing. In other words, we want them to develop to a level of unconscious competence.

Researchers have identified four stages that people progress through as they develop their skills in various areas. Initially (stage 1,) individuals are unaware of how little they know about their knowledge or skill deficits. They are unconscious of the scope of their incompetence and are consequently unlikely to take meaningful action to increase their capacity.

How to disaster-proof your business and your life, part II

In my last post, I shared insights from a group of leaders about how to position ourselves and our businesses for coronavirus and “disaster-proof” our lives moving forward. This post follows along the same theme and highlights the insights of some powerful coaches.

How to Disaster-Proof Your Communication with Lila Smith, communication expert

As Smith sees it, COVID has confronted us with our core values. We have been forced to “check in” with ourselves and reassess our past behaviors as we consider life moving forward. What is it that is most important to us and should be performed and engaged with more in the future? And what have we been doing that hasn’t served us and should be scaled back as we begin to emerge from quarantine?

How to disaster-proof your business and your life

For most of us, the coronavirus pandemic has been the single greatest disruption we have experienced. As traumatic and unsettling as Sept. 11 and the Great Recession were, they were limited in their scope and direct impact. By contrast, this pandemic has affected the globe on many levels and remains a scourge that we are ill-prepared to contend with.

In response to this pandemic, I conducted a series of conversations with leading thinkers, business experts and LinkedIn influencers. I wanted to learn what we could have done (and should now be doing moving forward) to get ourselves ready -- mentally and with our businesses and learning -- to better position ourselves for this (and future) disruption.

The respondent focuses were wide-ranging but could, to a large degree, be boiled down to a handful of key areas.

Think positively. There’s a better day right around the corner.
Add value, early and often.
Continually work on making meaningful connections and building relationships.
Learn to ask the right questions.
Understand your clients’ wants and needs, even better than they do.
Plan for disruption before you need to.
Keep reading and learning.

Naphtali HoffJune 1, 2020Impactful Coaching & ConsultingComment

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How to disaster-proof your resilience, with Brian Wallace, founder, NowSourcing

How to Disaster-Proof Your Communication with Lila Smith, communication expert