Leadership and Managemnt

Being a leader is a often a dance between leading and managing. Seth Godin's analogy of the balcony and the dance floor is useful in helping define the roles needed by a leader.

Connecting with Learners

Relationships are at the heart of learning and this article certainly illustrates this. We recently held interviews for teaching positions and one of the questions was about what you would do if you realised that a child was not reaching potential in your class. This article, by Lisa Medoff, is full of fantastic ideas that are centred on improving the relationship with the child. The child the author references has ADHD but I believe the suggestions would work with most learners.

Click here for the full article.

• Ask the student to help you figure out what he needs and how you can help him. 
• Frame new strategies as experiments, not decrees.
• Teach students how to question and challenge in a manner that will get them heard.
• Rather than trying to clamp down on off-task behaviours, use them to get to know students better. 
• Share stories with students about your own struggles.
• Make deals with students about behaviours that you both want to change. 
• Try as hard as you can to limit negativity in your interactions with a challenging student.
• Have students teach you something. 
• Take a beat to stop and acknowledge that a student may have the right answer even though it is different from what you were expecting.
• If a student seems to be off-task or is having trouble getting started, don't assume he hasn't been paying attention; 
• Allow students to work just outside the classroom door.
• Be patient. 

Building Relationships Means Having Empathy

I have the long held belief that relationships are at the heart of learning. Building, sustaining and nourishing those relationships requires energy and hard work. Here are some blog posts from Edutopia about empathy which provide ideas to do just that.

Difficult Converations

One area of my own leadership that I know needs constant is the skill of having difficult conversations. This is tricky and requires a lot of thought, planning and role play in order for me to be fully prepared. I have worked with Joan Dalton in a Learning Talk webinar and she has written many resources for this topic. Susan Scott's 'Fierce Conversations' is another fantastic resource. I haven't heard Viviane Robinson speak but this is a link to a shared powerpoint that has some wonderful tips and strategies. I will certainly look out for her in the future.

Relationships are the Heart of Great Teaching

If I were to sum up teaching in one word it would be relationships. They are at the centre of all learning for both children and adults. This is a heartwarming TED talk by Rita Pierson who shares her passion for teaching and the important role we have as educators.

When thinking about modern, innovative learning we need to consider relationships and how can what we are doing enhance the relationships were are building.

• Why are we changing groups every three weeks?
• How can flexible groupings be used to strengthen relationships?
• Will some children work better with a particular teacher?
• Does the child need to see things from a different perspective to make the learning clearer?
• Would the child be best with their 'home room' teacher and not move elsewhere?