Traditions, Transitions, & Transformation
Traditions – Transitions – Transformation By William Sommers & Brandon Mergard “If you don’t like change, you’ll like irrelevance even less” General Eric Shinseki Many of the processes still in place today are grounded in past philosophies. Frederick Taylor – Scientific Management, Theory X – Command and Control, and a […]
Birthday Celebration
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. With the current uncertainty in schools and communities we think it is equally, if not more important, to make sure teachers, custodians, food service, bus […]
Summer Surge
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 learning, educational leaders have their own opportunity for transformation. Instead of viewing summer as recovery time, what if we approached it as a “Summer Surge” […]
Summer Surge
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 the “summers surge.” https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7354980645355298816/ Many times we focus on the summer slide for students and our colleagues who are educators. Applying some of the work […]
Born on Another Planet
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, and robotics. I remember switching to technology when computers came into the school system. It helped do scheduling and manage attendance records. Writing and editing […]
Thinking with a Tomorrow Mind
While reading ‘Tomorrowmind’ by Kellerman & Seligman, we started thinking about how this relates to the Habits of Mind. Assuming all past thinking processes will suffice for future problems is probably not a good bet. The faster technology, globalization, and time restraints increase, the pressure to perform increases. Five psychological […]
Synthesize, Simplify, & Strike
“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 Fifth Discipline So, HOW do we learn faster, deeper, and more creative? HOW do we create cultures for learning? We are competing with technology […]
Driving in a Blizzard
(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. By morning 7” of snow on the ground, winds of 30+ mph, and roads covered. Blizzard conditions. (fortunately I lived in MN for 40 years […]
Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers
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 the book, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, in the late 90s. As a brain researcher, he researched the effects of negative stress. For the record […]
Bullies and Bystanders or Bravery-Redux
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 increase the pressure by not supporting the person being bullied. Of course, the person being bullied and the bystanders must decide whether it is physically […]