Like Mr Jensen did in the clip below, the greatest gift for our students is to bring out the best in every individual and help them find their hidden talent. We all have Clint sitting in our class. For you, it may be Jack, Johnny, Amy, Claire or one of the many others who…
In my own personal attempt to install some better life habits post-Coronavirus, I’m trying to listen to podcasts as I drive rather than the mind-numbing, yet transportive, qualities of talkback sporting radio. Yesterday, I found myself listening to Brene Brown’s new podcast “Unlocking Us” and her interview with Professor Harriet Lerner about apologies. One statement that…
I live in a country town in South West Victoria and it’s an exciting time in our house! No, and it’s not just because my 4 kids and my wife will be returning to school this week. Although I must say, returning to school is pretty exciting. The excitement comes for another reason. At some…
Hey Graduate teacher, how is your first year of teaching going? I imagine it isn’t how you anticipated. To be fair, no-one thought 2020 would play out like this. Your first year of teaching though, never really is as you expect. It doesn’t take long before you realise that perhaps some things were missing from…
Recently, we arranged some chats for Teachers, Assistant Principals and Principals across Australia – and we were delighted to provide an opportunity for them to just talk. No agenda. No obligation. To prime that conversation, we sent out three separate White Papers for each group. Today, we’d like to provide them for you too as…
Good Will Hunting is a rather cool movie about the impact one teacher can have on young people at risk. Towards the end, there’s an iconic scene that anyone who has seen the movie will remember. It’s become known as the “It’s not your fault scene” In it, Sean (played by Robin Williams) speaks to Will (Matt Damon)…
I’ve personally had several calls and conversations lately from School Leaders looking to lift their heads from the daily challenges of the current circumstances and to instead plan for the future. The theme in those conversations was clear. They’re looking to get their collective Executive Leadership Team on the same page and then they’re…
I live in an apartment block. Some people have dogs, some people have cats. We have a cat. Our cat belongs here. He is the boss, the ruler, the king. We are his servants. If he decides he wants to use my office chair as his day bed, I am back to using a dining chair. If he…
At the moment I am reading a book titled ‘Untamed’ by Glennon Doyle. As the title suggests, the stories in here are all connected to the taming and untaming we experience in our life. We are tamed. As Glennon shares, like a cheetah that is raised with a labrador, we are tamed. In one of…
Famed American domestic organisation guru Marie Kondo says we shouldn’t keep anything in our wardrobes that doesn’t bring joy. If it doesn’t bring joy, it’s thanked for its time with us and discarded. It poses an interesting metaphorical question for Principals. If your school was a wardrobe, what needs to be thanked and discarded? Before…
I really enjoyed this typically dramatic David Attenborough clip of what happens to a Barnacle Goose chick in its formative days. It’s actually quite the decent metaphor for what educators are going through at the moment. Click here to check out the “leap of faith” that this Barnacle Goose makes. You’ve all leapt into terrifying…
I was chatting with one of our members of The Inner Circle program last week and at the end of our session she said something that stuck with me. She said “You know what? It’s just nice to have somebody to talk to at the moment.” I took that personally. And so, we’ve created opportunities…
‘Why do I feel so alone? I am seeing my students and colleagues online almost every day, I have never attended so many zoom meetings in my life and now, more than ever, I am spending more time with my family and those I live with? What is wrong with me?’ Loneliness is a funny thing.…
It’s possible that it was actually a bit of fun for you … while it lasted. There were videos played in the media of teachers dancing for students, of online mental health programs, of parents completing hands-on maths sessions with their kids. There was love out there for our teachers. But, I’ve seen a shift…
It’s evident that schools and the entire education community have managed to stand up to the challenge of remote schooling. I know it hasn’t been easy, but I do hope that it is becoming a little more comfortable. I am sure that now there are a few less sleepless nights than a few weeks ago.…
NSW has recently released guidelines explaining how many hours a day parents should be expecting their child to engage in learning from home. We can all now breathe a sigh of relief – ahhhhh. Finally, it is clear, black and white, right in front of us. And to be honest, it is also quite realistic…
As you may have seen in my Newsletter last week, it’s time to get excited about teaching again. It’s time to again focus on what we know is great teaching, building fun and engaging lessons and also how to keep growing as an educator. I’d like to take this moment to introduce to you (if…
I would like to congratulate all of our teachers and school leaders for exceeding the expectations of remote learning. In my opinion, you are doing an amazing job during unprecedented times. There have been some amazing stories in the news, on social media, and through the many conversations that I have been having with schools. …
Teaching the whole curriculum is hard enough when we have all our students in the classroom, face-to-face each day, learning in our familiar surroundings. At the moment though, this isn’t the case, however, it doesn’t mean that learning becomes less important. We know learning matters, including social-emotional learning, which now, more than ever, is an…
I’m sure that you managed to catch Amy’s newsletter on Wednesday but if you didn’t, it’s worth the read. I’d also like to extend a massive ‘thanks’ to the hundreds of participants who joined us from all over Australia, and even internationally for our ‘Shutdown Brunch PL Series’. There is no doubt that it’s been…
We hear it routinely being asked in schools. How can we make learning fun? But just occasionally, the learning isn’t as important as the fun. We want to thank the 189 teachers who chose fun for themselves on Thursday evening and attended “A Trivia Night For Trapped Teachers”. There were so many laughs … mostly driven…
On Friday, we completed our Shutdown Brunch PL Series. We loved it! And we were so heartened by the amazing response to them. That there would be so many Teachers and School Leaders out there investing in themselves at a time when they’re so focused in others speaks volumes to your professionalism. We’d like to…
It’s time to get excited. There are opportunities in all of this, we just have to find them. After watching the chaos unfold around what school for Term 2, 2020 will look like, there is some reassurance in knowing we are all moving to online learning. Gone is the uncertainty of what it will look…
I was interviewed on The Project last week and the content of that interview really doesn’t matter right now. The process of the interview alone spoke to me loudly about how to tackle the communication imperative facing School Leaders in the current great Coronavirus interruption. Waleed Aly is a really good bloke and fascinating…
Honestly, if I get one more email telling me their business or school has had to “pivot” due to Coronavirus … I may explode. If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that “pivot” will be on the first post Covid-19 bingo card for those absurd corporate words that weasel their way into our…
