It appears that more than in the past, current political happenings and the actions of the President find their way into our minds and our blog. As local school leaders, can you allow yourself to say what you don't mean or something that is totally untrue? Can you be flippant and forgiven? Can you surround yourself with chaos and deem yourself successful? These privileges of the POTUS do not find their way into local leadership arenas. Nor should they. But, beware, they may be finding…

When the President Trump uses the words "hell" and "cesspool", encourages scouts to boo a previous president (who was a Boy Scout), expresses disdain for his Attorney General and his defeated opponent, and relies on hyperbole as if it were truth, what is he teaching? When he asserts that he is being presidential, what does that mean? What are the Boy Scouts and other young people learning about behaviors that are acceptable from those with power and influence? These are the ones we use…

You don't need to be a mathematician to examine if algebra is important. School leaders come from a variety of the disciplines taught in classrooms. We, ourselves, are from the social studies and special education backgrounds in which we began as teachers. But it doesn't take an expert in mathematics to understand the educational value of algebra in high school. And it doesn't take an expert in policy to understand that the arguments for eliminating algebra as a required subject is an…

How much do educators know and understand about creating graduates who are career ready? What are the skills and knowledge students need for a career over the next forty years? Are our minds full of traditional careers and not thinking about the careers that today's students will be entering? The issue of career ready is one that applies to all students. College is not an end in itself ... at least for most of us. Georgetown University's Center for Education and the Workforce reports…

Higher standards and expectations are expected to facilitate the preparation for college and career.  As educators, we are familiar with what being prepared for college means. Students have to be prepared as skilled readers and writers, adept at mathematical thinking, able to function in an environment that expects them to be independently responsible for their learning, and have a level of maturity that supports the decisions they are asked to make. Students have to know how to live…

As educators most of our actions and observations are based on words. We communicate with them and focus on what we believe they mean and represent. Words can mean different things to different people in different situations. Words matter. The actions that accompany those words matter also. Beginning with the manner in which students are greeted at the door as they enter schools, we impact the state of mind they will bring to their learning. Some students are met with metal detectors…

No words can express the need for models for minority children better than those of SCOTUS Justice Sonia Sotomayor:

"When a young person, even a gifted one, grows up without proximate living examples of what she may aspire to become---whether lawyer, scientist, artist, or leader in any realm - her goal remains abstract.  Such models appear in books or on the news, however inspiring or revered, are ultimately too remote to be real, let alone influential. But a role model in the…

One of my earliest school memories is from the third grade. I call it 'The Kickball Incident' and I still remember it like it was yesterday, not the seven years ago it really was.

I have an autism spectrum disorder (at the time my diagnosis was Asperger syndrome). One of the things I have trouble with is understanding things when there's no logical explanation given or when someone repeats themselves instead of trying to explain in a different way.…