Final Post of this Blog…. for now ….

“Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.”
– Mark Twain

Dear Readers of this blog – thank you for reading the various musings I have shared with you via this blog in 339 posts since 2013.

As you may know I’ve been a blogger since 2010, when I first became a superintendent of schools; and I have enjoyed each and every blog post, comment, conversation, experience, etc.

Over the past few years I have been blessed with the motivation to write, to share, to blog, to journal and to publish. My writing motivation is now moving more into the book publications realm than in the blogging realm.

With this final blog post (for now) I bid blogging a fond farewell (I may re-brand the blog or start a new medium for personal professional communication after July 1st, when my leadership journey takes me into a new venue in North Shore School District 112).

Thank you for supporting the blog and please consider reading one or more of my publications and sharing your feedback with me.

Thanks for your support and for your interest in my journey. Please continue to Engage, Inspire, Empower and do all you can for all students and members of your community.

ML


Below I’m sharing a recent blog post Nick Polyak and I penned for the American Association of School Administrators

“Leadership is the art of giving people a platform for spreading ideas that work.” –Seth Godin
 

Lead with Passion,Energy, Focus and Partnership

(Lead To Learn, Digital Consortium) Permanent link   All Posts

by Michael Lubelfeld, superintendent, Deerfield Public Schools, Ill., and Nick Polyak, superintendent, Leyden High School District 212, Ill.

polyak digital consortium fall 17The purpose of the AASA Digital Consortium is to support school district administrators as they scale successful models in support of engaging, effective learning experiences using digital media in order to be the leading national voice for digital innovation in our nation’s public schools.

We have often written about the power and value of professional associations. We are grateful to the coaching, guidance, mentorship, feedback and opportunities that these associations afford leaders in the practice of education.

As co-directors of the AASA Digital Consortium we have the honor of gathering with 40-50 superintendents and educational leaders from around the nation in support of leading digital innovation in our nation’s schools. Since 2014, the consortium has visited exemplar school districts from coast to coast (Maryland, California, North Carolina, Illinois and Washington, and our next visit in April 2018 will be to Missouri).

Typically, we engage with a team of superintendents and school leaders for two days of intense leading, learning, fellowship and calls to action. Key to the influence and success of the Digital Consortium are friends like Horace Mann, Discovery Education, Google, Google Chicago, Education Reimagined, McGraw Hill, Fuel Education, Rethink Education and other leaders in the edtech space.

lubelfeld digital consortium fall17

We work through exercises and planning under the powerful frameworks for leadership and change like the one found in Education Reimagined. We have worked with thought leaders from around North America as we support one another on the journey toward change management and maximized impact of digital transformation.

During our visits, tweets are shared under the #AASA_DigitalConsortium. Our challenge and charge as a group of leaders is to continue to lead with passion, energy, focus and partnership. As critical friends, we affirm that which is good and best, and we constructively critique that which can be made better.

AASA will feature blog posts from the various leadership consortia as part of its ongoing outreach and support of leadership and education. In addition, through partnerships with the Center for Digital Education and Discovery Education, for example, a number of case studies and white papers have been written by or about Digital Consortium leaders.

Mike Lubelfeld is the superintendent of Deerfield Public Schools in Deerfield, Ill. Nick Polyak is the superintendent of Leyden High School District 212 in Franklin Park, Ill. Lubelfeld and Polyak serve as co-chairs of AASA’s Digital Consortium and co-moderate  #Suptchat, a monthly, hour-long conversation via Twitter that engages superintendents and other school system leaders worldwide about the most critical issues in education. The program occurs on the first Wednesday of every month, beginning at 8 p.m. (ET). 

Unlearning Leader – Podcast Interview – EduTalk Radio

“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
– A.A. Milne

The Unlearning Leader: Leading Schools for Tomorrow Today is about how today’s leaders need to connect for success. The premise of this book is that we all need to unlearn. In order to change and prepare for tomorrow, the authors submit that much of what leaders have learned must be unlearned as we aim to create a new tomorrow for our nation’s children.

The learning purposes of this book include:

  • Energize people to think, act, and lead differently
  • Embody innovative mindsets
  • Model and share new ways of leading from within the organization
  • Put forth the power and positive impact and legacy for leadership
  • Unlearn old truths to lead in new ways
  • Leverage connection opportunities like #suptchat to lead and learn for tomorrow

The Unlearning Leader: Leading for Tomorrow’s Schools Today is a book that will make a difference. Unlearning implies relearning, and that relates to change. The once constant in education today is change. Leaders must know how people learn, communicate, and think. Nick and Mike are energetic, innovative, creative experts in promoting effective leadership that embraces today’s vastly different environment. This book is not an option – it is fundamental to building educational attitudes and behaviors that produce exceptional learners.
Jim Burgett, Author, Speaker, President of the Burgett Group, IL Supt of the Year


Please listen to a Podcast interview (below) with me and Nick Polyak (the authors) with

 

The Unlearning Leader: Schools for Tomorrow Today will include a series of unique elements, including:
(a) Reflection questions that will generate thought and conversation around each chapter;

(b) a unique end of chapter feature SUPTCHAT: Stop, Understand, Plan, Think –where suggested actions and reflected questions will help readers take action and connect with various Twitter chat communities

(c) a relationship between new learning and leading methods related to the five exemplary practices of leadership, evidence based practices from Kouzes & Posner

(d) Chapter Featurettes – guest commentary from successful educational leaders at the end of each chapter. This provides additional voices on the topics on unlearning.

More supports for teachers! (English, Spanish, French, German)

“Learn to listen and listen to learn.”
– Tom Izzo

This year we prepare for a myriad of changes.

I’m continuing with this series of blog posts descriptions of services, subscriptions, tools, programs, aids, SUPPORTS for learning that we are putting into place intentionally and deliberately to support teachers and students. Thanks to Dr. Jeff Zoul, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, as well as members of the DPS109 Leadership team, as well as iCoaches and teacher leaders, we have a PLAN to help teachers SUCCEED as they Engage, Inspire & Empower!

These tools are being shared in no particular order – the point/aim/goal is to share, celebrate, communicate, and publicize the many leaders and the many tools that will enable others to act – challenge the process, inspire a shared vision – and support improved teaching and learning! While company information and logos are shared it is not our intention to use this as “advertising” – we are simply sharing with whom we are partnering to support our mission. The name(s) of the people leading these services is provided – feel free to contact them with any questions or comments about the tools.

In some of the blog posts I will post multiple tools since some of the companies with whom we partner are sharing multiple tools. Many of these web based subscriptions will allow for 24/7 – school/home access! The possibilities are endless for our learning as we truly become a COMMUNITY of learners.

The content/subscription descriptions come directly from the company websites; and/or are heavily influencing the descriptions listed – website links to the source are listed in each section and sub-section.

(Kristen Paul and Chelsea Gray) Edmentum: Study Island:

This is a Standards mastery and test preparation program built specifically from state and Common Core standards for use with students in grades 3-8. Study Island includes Interactive lessons and activities that reinforce and reward learning achievement. Real-time progress monitoring that identifies student strengths and weaknesses. Study Island is ideal for self-paced, individualized learning or teacher-led, whole-class instruction. Teachers can easily guide students through the program, communicate expectations, and create class assignments. Students can work through questions using a standard test format, an interactive game format, printable worksheets, or a classroom response system.

http://www.studyisland.com/

(Svetlana Sutic) Edmentum: Reading Eggs/Reading Eggspress:

Reading Eggs is a comprehensive, online supplemental literacy programs for pre-K through 2nd grade readers. Grounded in extensive educational research, the programs build on and reinforce the five pillars of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

The Reading Eggs lessons provide plenty of practice in developing key reading skills and the interactive activities can be repeated as often as needed. Teachers can easily access resources like teaching notes, student worksheets, spelling worksheets, grammar demos, and big books for interactive whiteboards. The bright graphics and repetition work well with a wide range of students, and the songs and fun activities make Reading Eggs a rewarding activity, where students experience success as they learn to read.

Reading Eggspress builds on students’’ love of reading and develops reading comprehension skills for 2nd through 6th grade students. Reading Eggspress motivates and engages students with a wide range of learning resources, lessons, motivational games, e-books, and rewards. Students can take a diagnostic placement test to ensure they are working at a level that matches their reading ability, or teachers can move students to an appropriate level.

http://readingeggs.com/

(Rachel Aspinall) Edmentum: PLATO World Language Courses:

Help your students become proficient and fluent in the language of their choice, preparing them for professional success and personal fulfillment. Plato Courseware’s World Languages library features 14 semesters of highly interactive, graphically rich mobile-friendly language curriculum to prepare your students for success in the 21st Century World. Reinforce language learning with game-based practice, available on our World Language Mobile apps. These supplemental activities improve your students’ listening and reading, helping them associate the content in meaningful ways, and incorporate vocabulary and other language structures.

http://www.edmentum.com/products-services/plato-courseware

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