Giant #7: Pat Wolfe

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:   In the early 90s, a former giant (Art Costa) introduced me to Pat Wolfe.  Giants know other giants. Pat was learning and sharing information on […]

READ MORE

Giant #6: Michael Ayers

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 have learned over time you never know where or when the next learning opportunity will come from.  Returning to South High School in Minneapolis as principal […]

READ MORE

Giant #5: Angeles Arrien

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, Healer, and Visionary. Suzanne Bailey, a presenter at NSDC annual conferences introduced me to Angeles Arrien’s work in the 80s. I, along with my learning […]

READ MORE

Giant #4 – Skip Olsen

“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 buddy and my partner in developing our Learning Omnivores website. He was the person doing technology and was a great storyteller and co-presenter at several […]

READ MORE

Giant #3 Shirley Hord

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 was using her work, with Gene Hall, as a principal and as a staff developer.  I taught Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) for years in classes […]

READ MORE

Shoulders of Giants

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 I am still and will continue to be in education is Art Costa.  I am grateful for his guidance and support which continues to this […]

READ MORE

Marney My Mentor

“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 in, and will continue to be in education is Marney Wamsley.  Why this happened, I do not know.  I am grateful that it did. Here […]

READ MORE

Disrupting the Teacher Opportunity Gap

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 teaching expertise, because the expertise of individual teachers is the most powerful variable we have – by far — for improving student results. So what […]

READ MORE

Stan Slap Presents

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. Contact Bill Sommers at sommersb4@gmail.com for questions. Cost:  $95.00 payable to William Sommers.  CEUs or BOSA renewal units for attending Register by Wednesday, February 7th.  […]

READ MORE

Responding to Resistance

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 early March.  You can’t control what happens to you many times.  You can learn effective response strategies to neutralize and/or change the outcomes.Bill Sommers PD-2 […]

READ MORE