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We Dare You: Make 3 Shifts to Authentic Feedback for Learning

May 4, 2023

In our last blog, we explored “Two Truths and a Lie” hoping to break the ice of educator evaluation. Now that we have broken the ice, we challenge you to a game of truth or dare, with a bit of a spin on the rules…to take the dare, the truth must be uncovered first. The […]

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Two Truths and a Lie: Let’s Break the Ice of Educator Evaluation

April 6, 2023

You probably have engaged in the game Two Truths and a Lie as a team icebreaker and we wanted to try our own version… see if you can spot the lie among the truths regarding educator evaluation: Statement A = Truth Since 2010 school districts in over 44 states and D.C. have been implementing educator […]

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Recharge and Charge Ahead

June 25, 2021

Summer is here for most of our readers–a welcomed time to catch your breath, sip some lemonade, enjoy the sunshine, and relax. You have earned it. This year, we experienced the incredible highs and lows alongside the teams we coach. Each month in our blogs, we worked to capture those moments and identify their ahas, […]

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What’s Cookin’ for Student Success?

April 9, 2021

(Part 1 of a 2-part blog series) If you are as old as the two of us, you remember the book, If You Don’t Feed the Teachers, They Eat the Students! Though written 20 years ago, Dr. Neila Conner’s message is still as pertinent today as it was then: “Successful schools only survive when there […]

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Spring Forward, Forward March: Seeds and Steps Have an Impact

February 28, 2021

(A humble thanks to the highly effective principals who inspired us this month in Suffield, New Milford, North Branford, Hartford, Bethany, and Region 1 Public Schools.) The day when many of us turn the clocks is approaching and we couldn’t be happier. For us, it is not about the loss of an hour of sleep, […]

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Creating Moments to Create Connection

January 28, 2021

On January 20th, we were glued to our TVs. We were awed. We felt inspired and connected to something bigger than ourselves…to where we are headed, to each other, and to the people on our screens. We marveled at how the inauguration planners and participants achieved this outcome in a month of chaos and tragedy. […]

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Lighting the Way: Creating Anywhere, Anytime Learning

December 16, 2020

Many thanks to our inspirations for this months’ blog: Hartford High School, North Branford Intermediate, Kent Center School, Housatonic Valley Regional High School, Suffield High School, Sarah Noble Intermediate And the child-inspired The Ninth Night of Hanukkah in celebration of the “shamash.” Last week, I (Amy) probably joined thousands who tried to hang holiday lights […]

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Finding Balance: Responding to How We Really Are

November 10, 2020

The zodiac offers us a perfect metaphor these days. The heat and light from the sun are waning as it is leaving the sign of Libra, moving away from the sign of balance between the head and the heart and harmony represented by scales.  Each of our coaching conversations are bookended with, “How are you?” […]

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Fair Winds and Following Seas: Feedback for Stress, Feedback for Efficacy

October 5, 2020

“A fair wind and a following sea together create the very best conditions to get where you want to go.”  2020 has been a tumultuous sea and we are definitely not on a pleasure cruise…more like a three-hour tour that goes on forever. We have all missed our learners. The connection we experience with their […]

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Linking Learning and SEL: Make Connections to Make Meaning

August 27, 2020

This week, we lost one of our heroes, Sir Ken Robinson. He believed, “the purpose of education is to help young people understand the world around them and engage in the world within them” and that instruction in our schools must enable students to develop the competencies to achieve these goals. The current world around us […]

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Oh! The Places We are Trying to Go!

July 27, 2020

Educators are furiously working to finalize reopening plans for different scenarios–imagining how to address everchanging physical and logistical needs. In last month’s blog, we reminded you to find time to “fill your buckets” to ready yourselves to fill others’ buckets when schools reopen. But, this has proven really difficult for many who are now forgoing […]

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Readying for Reopening: 21 R’s for Summer Planning

June 24, 2020

Summer is finally here! But, this summer is like none other as the school year has been like none other, and we now find ourselves preparing for a highly uncertain upcoming year. So the question is, “How can we use our valuable summer months to ready ourselves for what is ahead?”  Hopefully, at some point […]

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