For Leaders

Thoughts for administrators, directors, coaches, and other leaders of gifted and talented programs.

Define Yourself By What You DON’T Do

OF COURSE they don’t have cheap carnival rides at Disneyland! What would be equally unacceptable in your gifted program?

100%s Are A Red Flag

Endless 100%s tell us one thing: we are aiming too low.

Red Flag Phrases

If you’re hearing these phrases around the school, you are certainly alienating the parents of your most advanced students.

PD Should Either Prepare or Debrief

Any whole-group talk should either lead into a classroom demonstration or debrief a classroom demonstration.

My #1 Rule For Professional Development

Does your PD solve a problem? Or does it just give more information?

The Best Critique of My PD

I was a very popular speaker, but then someone pointed out my big flaw.

Leading By Spreadsheet

You cannot make decisions by looking at a spreadsheet.

What Teachers Told Me What They Want

The message from teachers is pretty darn clear! They don’t need yet another differentiation framework.

The Keynote That Changed My Mind

A keynote presenter once told me, “Everyone should code!” But that person did not know how to code. Nor had they ever taught anyone to code.

Grade Level Standards Are A Requirement, Not A Goal

Imagine a restaurant with one goal: “Pass The Health Inspection!”
Imagine a school with one goal: “Meet Grade Level Standards!”

What’s Your Problem!?

If you haven’t taken the time to clearly define your problem, you will chase your tail adding more and more onto teachers’ plates.

How To Figure Out What Matters

Most of the things we do won’t matter next month. But a few will matter even in a few decades. How do we figure out what actually matters?

Our District Is Shutting Down The Gifted Program!

When you shut down your gifted program, parents will just move their very bright children to the neighboring district that kept their gifted program.

Want to improve? Work on your scales.

Professional musicians still practice scales. The best NBA player still practices dribbling. What is the core skill a teacher should hone every day of their career?

Time Will Tell You What’s Important

Things that have already stood the test of time are likely to continue standing the test of time. Old ideas in education are almost always better than new ideas, because they’ve been tested and filtered already for you.

How To Find Your Next PD Topic

You won’t find your next PD topic by reading a book, going to a conference, or browsing Twitter!

PD: Cookbooks vs Cooking Videos

I have lots of cookbooks. But I rarely use them. With a cookbook, I’m always a little unsure. Am I doing this right? Did the writer skip a step? Am I just bad at reading? Why are there no pictures? There’s so much room for confusion and misinterpretation. Heck, the writer could also be making […]

I Didn’t Need More Ideas

As a teacher, I’d start by grabbing new ideas. But I didn’t need more ideas. I already had too many!

How I Learned (Almost) Everything I Know

I didn’t learn by listening to speakers or reading books or going to conferences or by scrolling through lists of resources.

Who bends over backwards? And for whom?

Who runs the show? Support staff or teachers?

A Leader’s Job Isn’t Giving Presentations

If I were advising folks who are new to a leadership position in education, I’d give one piece of advice.

Grow Your Own Leaders

You don’t need to hire experts to fly in and do a one-day training. Look within your ranks for potential leaders. Equip them with resources and opportunities. Grow your own leaders.

You have a new gifted program! What do you do now?

You’ve been plunked into a new 1st through 8th-grade gifted pull-out program… what do you do?

Why I Stopped Giving Talks

I made my living talking about teaching. Here’s why I’m done with that!

The Parable of the Reading Posters

Why did these reading posters go from mandatory to illegal?

How to Find Ideas for Kindergarten and Primary?

How I would find great ideas for your most advanced primary students, whether they’re in kindergarten, first grade, or second grade.

Talk To Your Past Students

Are you ignoring the most cost-effective feedback about your program’s effectiveness? Talk to some past students!

“Priority” is Singular

You can only have one priority. Anything else is a cop-out.

Does Your Website Tell Your Story?

Make sure you’re maximizing the #1 place to tell a story: your program’s webpage.

Running A Gifted Program: Parent Nights

I’ve been to over a hundred parent nights and my main takeaway is this: use the time to build a community and get to know your parents’ needs. And stay away from PowerPoint!

Leaders Absorb Complexity and Pass on Simplicity

As leaders we have to constantly ask ourselves this question: Is this easy for me or is it easy for the people I’m leading? Very rarely is something easy for both parties.

PD Rule: Speak from Experience

The key to a great presentation? Only talk about things you have actually, personally done. Oh, and always start with your failure!

The Many Problems With That “Rethinking Giftedness” Video

In this “Rethinking Giftedness” video the filmmakers make a claim that gifted programs cause fixed mindsets. The three questions I immediately wondered were: Where is the research? How were the students in this video selected? Did they visit any great gifted programs? Let’s dig into it. Where Is The Research? The video and its accompanying […]