Ignite Learning Blog

Improv for Educators by Stevie Ray How can a centuries-old art form help educators? Improvisation—or improv—is more than a form of comedy entertainment, it is […]

Dear Readers Student engagement in schools seems increasingly difficult to focus attention on learning, keeping parents and communities informed, and using technology to our advantage.  […]

As a long-time principal, I hear parents and community members saying, referring to our schools, “it was good enough for me, it is good enough […]

Traditions – Transitions – Transformation By William Sommers & Brandon Mergard “If you don’t like change, you’ll like irrelevance even less” General Eric Shinseki Many […]

Dear Learning Omnivores Heather Lageman and I are reading the book, “The Power of Mattering.”  Students need to know they matter, and they are smart.  […]

How Educational Leaders Can Transform Summer into a Season of Growth and Joy by Heather Lageman While we focus on preventing “summer slide” in student […]

Dear Learning Omnivores I hope this finds you getting some rest during the summer. I want to focus your attention that Heather Lageman posted call […]

Being in my 70s, I am having more trouble navigating the world of technology. Yes, technology has provided many positive changes.  The medical field, security, […]

While reading ‘Tomorrowmind’  by Kellerman & Seligman, we started thinking about how this relates to the Habits of Mind.  Assuming all past thinking processes will […]

“In the long run, the only sustainable source of competitive advantage is your organization’s ability to learn faster than your competition. “ PETER SENGE, The […]

(Surviving Chaos) I had two meetings scheduled on March 5th and then fly home to Austin, TX.  March 4th, the night before, snow started falling. […]

Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers People Do! Why? By William Sommers Emotional stress, among other factors, contributes to our physical and mental health. Robert Sapolsky wrote […]

This post below appeared on our website January 11, 2010 https://learningomnivores.com/rules/be-aware-of-bullies-and-bystanders-demonstrate-bravery/  The premise was that bullies, unless confronted, will continue their intimidation.  Additionally, bystanders can […]

“Change almost never fails because it’s too early. It almost always fails because it’s too late.” Seth Godin Michael Ayers, retired 3M leadership trainer, told […]

If you want to see chaos, watch a hurricane and the results when it comes ashore.  2025 promises to be more chaotic as funding, privatization, […]

Doom Loop or HOPE: Your Choice “Never deprive someone of hope. It may be all [they] has”. Jackson Brown This is an adaptation of a […]

“When the student is ready the teacher will appear” Tao Te Ching This has never been truer than in my life…being blessed by GIANTS who […]

“if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: I met Barbara at Mt. […]

“if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: Note:  I will reference Sheridan’s […]

Giant: Diane Zimmerman “if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: I met […]

Part Three – How Can Reverse the Trend? William Sommers & Janice Bradley Toxic leaders who focus on ‘Theory X’ management styles and/or  ‘command-and-control’ only, […]

“if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: Early in my leadership career […]

“if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: I have been blessed by […]

Why are talented people leaving education? Part Two – How Can We Make It Better? William Sommers & Janice Bradley In our beginning article we […]

Part One – What is going on? William Sommers & Janice Bradley There is an exodus of experienced teachers, leaders, and staff in education these […]

Elevating Leadership William Sommers, PhD Director of Stakeholder Centered Coaching for Educators In Stakeholder Centered Coaching (SCC) to be successful requires three elements: (I call […]

Giant #10 Andy Hargreaves “if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: I […]

Elevate Leadership (Give ‘em EL’) What are you waiting for? William Sommers, PhD Director of Stakeholder Centered Coaching for Educators   Leaders are leaving, political […]

Giant #9 Suzanne Bailey “if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: When […]

Giant #8: Jon Saphier “if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: In […]

Giant #7 Pat Wolfe “if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton:   […]

Giant #6 Michael Ayers “if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: I […]

When I have been asked, ‘what are your top three leadership books?’, my answer always includes, The Four-Fold Way: Walking Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, […]

“if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: Skip Olsen was my best […]

Since Shirley’s passing in 2019, I have been reflecting on her influence on my professional life.  Long before we ever met, in the 80s, I […]

Art: Giant #2 “if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: Another reason […]

“if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: The reason I am still […]

Disrupting the Teacher Opportunity Gap by Jon Saphier A Book for Educational Leaders This is a book about the complicated and multi-faceted work of improving […]

Learning Omnivores is Re-Igniting and Re-Uniting our Learning Opportunities with Stan Slap as our kick off presenter.  It promises to be thought provoking and informative. […]

Do you want to learn ways to deal with conflict.  I am doing a four, two-hour sessions for SWMetro288 on zoom, Tuesdays late February and […]

Bill’s Second Ten of Must Reads Wisdom of the Bullfrog – Admiral William McRaven Here are two quotes that really got my attention. “No Plan […]

Bill’s Top Ten Books of 2023 “Leaders are Readers” Richard Sheridan Chief Joy Officer CAVEAT:  These books are in no particular order of preference.  They […]

“It Is Not the Strongest of the Species that Survives but the Most Adaptable” Charles Darwin Objective The 5 3 1 WHY Resilience project was […]

Reciprocal Learning Student & Principal The following essay is a conversation and comparison of three “Habits of Mind” between a high school student and a […]

Joellen Killion, Bill Sommers, and Ann Delehant share their current thinking, skills, and activities from years of experience.  Check it out.

Conversations with Chris A dear colleague has passed.  Morrie Schwartz in his book, ‘Tuesdays with Morrie,’ says ‘death ends a life, not a relationship.’ My […]

Great administrators and teachers are emotionally intelligent and connect with their students and colleagues. They understand that positive relationships are the bedrock of successful schools. […]

These notes are a blend of Daniel Pink’s presentation and some of Bill’s comments. Daniel Pink’s new book, The Power of  Regrets came out February […]

By: Dr Cindy Zurchin, Positive Consulting, LLC The New Year brings thoughts of resolutions and ways to improve our lifestyles and create healthy habits.  Many […]

Frederick Herzberg in 1959 studied intrinsic motivators and hygiene factors that inhibit performance in engineers.  For many years educators and businesses have been evaluated on […]

I listen to the news and read the papers.  I keep hearing assertions such as, “I am guilty of no wrong-doing.” Or, “I did nothing […]

INSIGHTS & INFLUENCE WORKSHOP Dan Heath Dec 13-14, 2021 Raleigh, NC What Bill thought were Highlights   “If a system never learns it never improves.” […]

LADDERING: FIND SOMEONE WHO HAS SOLVED YOUR PROBLEM Excerpt from Decisive (2013) by Chip Heath and Dan Heath Kevin Dunbar set out to understand how […]

 Although last year became known as “the year like no other,” this year seems to be even more challenging! Navigating the daily ups and downs […]

Calling All Administrators and Leaders! It is time to come together to learn more about being a leader within your school and district. Learning Omnivores’ […]

The more talent a school has, the more students will learn. Creating Talent Density, a new book by Bill Sommers, includes 25 strategies to assess […]

Bill Somers will present “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” on July 20, 2021, at Region 13’s Instructional Coaching Conference. Bill’s presentation will […]

Most of you know that Skip Olsen was my best buddy and partner in our Learning Ominvore get togethers. He was the man behind the […]

Here is the link to understand the basic requirements to work with Bill.  Leaders must be able to: Possess the courage to look at situations, […]

As I reflect on losing Elijah Cummings and now John Lewis, I am sad that leadership and voice may be diminished.  I am grateful for […]

Teachers Matter Magazine published my article on Dogs and Cats.  It is a metaphor I heard Michael Grinder use in the 90s.  Kids are not […]

I keep hearing from friends who are parents, friends who are teachers, and people who are bored. I am on the board of directors for […]

Mugged by 360o Feedback Frank Wagner, PhD Have you ever been assailed by a gang on the street?  Feedback from all sides, in the form […]

The Power of the Badge A DEA officer stops at a ranch in Montana, and talks with an old rancher. He tells the rancher, ‘I […]

Since Shirley’s passing last month I have done a lot of reflecting on her influence on my professional life.  Long before I ever met Shirley, […]

This story is adapted from a 2nd helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul Andy Drake was a nice young man whose classmates liked but […]

The Sense of Wonder They say all things are wondrous to a child. I say the sense of wonder grows with age. The child accepts […]

To stress the power of inquiry, we often tell the story of Isidor Rabi, winner of the Nobel Prize for physics. After winning this prize, […]

The Learning Professional | www.learningforward.org December 2018 | Vol. 39 No. 6 Let’s get specific about how leaders can build trust WHAT I’VE LEARNED – […]

We all want great learning, great schools, and great success in the future. For the past several years the narrow focus has been on test […]

We have been around a long time, both over 40 years in education, and worked in many parts of the country. One of us, mostly […]

Great teachers are emotionally intelligent and connect with their students and colleagues, they have the understanding that positive relationships are the bedrock of successful schools. […]

University Business, June 2018 Twitter Facebook Share Why are metaphors useful? Language is central to our humanity, and the language we use defines how we see ourselves, others […]

A couple of months ago, our Learning Omnivores group, spent time with Stan Slap, the author of Bury My Heart at Conference Room B.  After […]

Metamorphosis Teaching Learning Communities Can We Talk? Lucy West & Yitzchak Francus Changing the day-to-day culture of schools from one in which adults work solo […]

ReImagining Learning: It Won’t be Easy!  “Perhaps for the first time in history, human-kind has the capacity to create far more information than anyone can […]

By Bill Sommers Skip Olsen   In the song by the Mama and Papas, there is line, “All the leaves are brown…”  In working, leading, […]

Emotional Anorexia By William Sommers “Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast” Peter Drucker   I ask you a question, “What are we waiting for?”  Working in […]

Supervising Principals: How Central Office Administrators Can Improve Teaching and Learning in the Classroom — The Missing Link for Scaling Up School Improvement Jon Saphier […]

As Pete Seeger sang years ago, “when will we ever learn?”  Yes, that dates me and gives me over 40 years of perspective in education.  […]

When I got home, as is my wont, I eagerly reached for the newspapers that had piled up on the steps. I wanted to find […]

 “The more things change the more they stay the same” — Bon Jovi Been thinkin’ a lot lately about education and schools and learning. That’s […]

The five myths of NYC education reform by Winifred Radigan While education reform has been on the front burner of political platforms and public opinion […]

“There I said it again,” is a song lyric that some of us mature (ok old) people know. That lyric resonated with me as I […]

It seems to me that our growth as a profession in education  has been “delayed”, stunted, if you will. We’ve spent the last 10 years […]

by Giselle O. Martin-Kniep Feedback affect us and helps us learn. While some of the feedback we receive stems from within us through our engagement […]

            Everyone can use appropriate doses of feedback.No feedback is debilitating. It keeps educators from being able to determine whether or not they are on […]

FEEDBACK SPIRALS By Art Costa and Bena Kallick, Co-Founders, Institute for Habits of Mind, Westport, CT We want students to value feedback a they become […]