What are you doing this Summer? Is it the Summer of "You?"

Blogging Principals!

Should principals blog?

"Innovative educators know that when a school leader has a blog the school is on the road to preparing students for the 21st century."

"What if we all tried to dream big about what we can imagine schools could be where we lived?" ~Chris Lehmann Principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA

Principal Larkins shares technology blogs educators should follow.

The Principal of Change
"Get to know the kids. If you build a relationship with them FIRST, then you will make your life a lot easier."

The Starfish Story: An Oldie but a Goodie

Crayon Beats Calculator - Creativity As The Insurance CEO's Answer To Growing Complexity

“The effects of rising complexity call for CEOs and their teams to lead with bold creativity, to connect with customers in imaginative ways and redesign operations for speed and flexibility.”


Who ya gonna call? Art teachers?

IBM study...1541CEO's...creativity is believed to rank above rigor, management discipline, integrity and vision in a company’s ability to remain ahead.

 

Creativity is Like Porn?

Now that I have your attention, "Creativity is something that many consider hard to define, but you know it when you see it."
 

Innovation = Creativity on Speed

"Creativity should not be thought of as a random event. While some see creative people as lacking discipline and rigor, if a viable product, service or model is the outcome, this characterization does not hold up. The most creative people operate iteratively versus once and done."

Arts Integration, 21st Century Learning from Maryland, to Mississippi, to Milan, Italy!

"It can't be the arts and academics...the arts ARE academics...the arts are just as important as every other subject."

"Principles for the Development of a Complete Mind:
Study the science of art. Study the art of science.

Develop your senses - especially learn how to see.

Realise that everything connects to everything else."
-Leonardo DaVinci

During the summer of 2009, K-8 teachers attended a five-day workshop where Dance, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, and Creative Writing are examined as distinct disciplines and used as a means to access other content areas through arts integration. Teachers worked in teams that consisted of teaching artists, Anne Arundel County teachers, other Maryland school system teachers and international teachers. These teams then created lessons and arts integrated units, developed residency plans and strategies for arts integration, and worked with Master Teaching Artists in each of the disciplines. 120 participants attended this years program.

Teaching in Mind

"It is what teachers think, what teachers believe and what teachers do at the level of the classroom that ultimately shapes the kind of learning that young people get." Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan

I found this book through a tweet and just ordered it.

Ricky Trione, Blind Artist, Encourages Students to "Choose their Battles" and be Creative!

http://www.articlealley.com/video_712606_36.html

Saving arts education : Other Life Columns : The Buffalo News

Saving arts education : Other Life Columns : The Buffalo News

Ricky Trione, Blind Artist: Character Education

Learn more about Ricky at the following link:
Ricky Trione, Blind Artist: Character Education
My amazing friend, Ricky Trione, painted "Paige's Sunflowers" to represent my two daughters and me. This is a beautiful gift from a truly inspirational man which I will always cherish.

Fifty Bizarre U.S. Laws. Really?

I better not wear a fake mustache to church in my state of Alabama!
http://www.divinecaroline.com/22323/99603-i-m-arrest-what-fifty-bizarre

Try the Sketchcasting Experiment

Linking Teacher Pay to Test Scores?

Study: N.Y. teacher performance pay program flops...

From the Washington Post:
Just the other day we heard that a program in Chicago that attempted to link teacher pay with student standardized test scores wasn’t working, at least not in the first two years.
A 2009 analysis of a major program in Texas that also linked teacher pay to student achievement gains on tests showed no evidence of success. The multi-year Texas Educator Excellence Grant involved teachers at about 1,000 campuses, with a total of more than 140,000 students in lower-income neighborhoods. It was discontinued because of “design problems.”
Now, a paper prepared by two Columbia University researchers for a recent education conference at Harvard University said that the New York City Bonus Program, which attempts to raise student achievement by paying teachers for it, was -- you guessed -- also unsuccessful.

Performance pay linked to test scores creates incentives for teachers to essentially do the wrong thing: Obsess on teaching kids how to do well on the tests -- in math and reading -- while giving short shrift to other vital subjects. So even if this scheme were to "work," it wouldn't really be working.

DO YOU AGREE?

READ MORE AT:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/no-child-left-behind/ny-teacher-performance-pay-pro.html?wprss=answer-sheet