A couple of weeks ago, I rushed into a local retail store because I needed an outfit for an event that evening. I glanced at my watch as I walked through the door. It was 6:30 p.m. The store closed at 7:00 p.m. Plenty of time, I thought. Within ten minutes, I had found an …
This is my 20th year in education, and before I stepped into my first leadership role, I kept returning to a question that I share in my book The Leader Inside: "Lauren, what type of leader do you want to be?" My answer was simple: "The type of leader I always needed." When I think …
Continue reading Turning Classroom Observation into Dynamic Hubs Where Learning Comes Alive
For much of my time as a student, learning often felt like the consumption of information. Read the chapter. Listen to the lesson. Take notes. Study for the test. Repeat. Can you relate? To be clear, knowledge matters. Learners need background knowledge. They need vocabulary. They need the foundational literacy skills of reading, writing, speaking, …
Have you ever felt like your days are moving from one item to the next? Meeting to meeting. Task to task. Conversation to conversation. I am going to assume that no matter what field you are in, this happens. There are times when I feel fully present, savoring the moments and appreciating what is unfolding …
As the end of my 20th year in education approaches quickly, I have been reflecting on how extremely grateful I am for all of the moments and people who have contributed to my path and what has led me to this time. When I reflect on the journey, I don’t only think about the big …
“The right conversation, at the right moment, can change everything.” — Charles Duhigg, Supercommunicators Recently, I started reading Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg. It’s been sitting in my “to be read” pile for a few months. In some cases, I consider myself a “slow reader.” What I mean by that is I can read several books …
What do you want your department and faculty meetings to feel like? Have you ever sat in a meeting that felt like a list of updates? Are those updates important? Yes. And sometimes there is no choice but to deliver information in that format. But it’s not always as impactful long term. I’ve never fully …
What anchors your learning? If you read my writing regularly, you may notice that I appreciate books, podcasts, articles, videos, and other mediums to learn, expand, and grow my thinking. You may also notice that I believe deeply in the power of mentorship. In my book, The Leader Inside, I write about mentorship as the …
I come to this space every week to reflect on my learning. There are times I wonder what I will write about. Some weeks feel clearer than others, and some take a little more time to unfold. I’ve come to realize that it often has less to do with what is around me and more …
Who recognized a gift in you that you could not yet see in yourself? Not the accomplished version of you.Not the leader you have grown into.Not the title you hold today. But the earlier version.The person you were. Take a moment. Really take a moment.Picture that person. Because someone did. There’s a quote by Dr. …
Empower. Collaborate. Connect. 