Hold My Chalk

The Campus Leaders Academy provided a wealth of information as always.  There are always more great sessions than one person can realistically attend, but one must choose.  Here is a brief summary of what I gained from the sessions I attended. Opening Keynote-Dr. Gibson Dr. Gibson shared several things about performance excellence and what that looks like in your organization.  To illustrate his point he provided two quote from Edward Deming that really drive it home. "Everyone doing his/her best is not the answer." "Your top 3 employees are probably killing your system." The first quote could be interpreted a few different ways.  The way I see it, you don't want everyone doing their best, instead you want everyone getting better.  Your best isn't good enough if you best is the same it was ten years ago. The second quote is a bit of a challenge to the organizational structure.  Instead of all the work being done by a few select people, it needs to be spread...

As the first day is wrapping up (and before I forget) I wanted to get a few things down. Today was a successful day.  As stated in a previous post, the opening keynote by Dr. Rios offered some great things to think about when working with our students.  There were several other sessions that well worth the crowd.  Every session I attend, I try to walk away with one or two ideas I can use or pass along immediately.  Much more than that and I will never accomplish any of them because there are just too many ideas, especially at an event of this scale.  Here are a few that I want to share from today. The Magic of Google Addons I have used Google Addons before, but there were a few that were introduced that I haven't used before. Flubaroo-This one I have used, but what stands out to me is the comparison to the new features in Google Forms.  If you are giving an assessment that requires more than just multiple choice responses, you need to use Flubaroo.  Yo...

The Google Academy opened with a keynote presentation by Dr. Roland Rios.  Dr. Rios had some initial technical difficulty which is unusual for this venue.  While those were being worked out he entertained the audience with the sequence of events leading up to his choice to deliver the keynote.  Dr. Rios delivered a great presentation and left the audience with several great takeaways. How well do you reach your highly mobile students? Every district has students that fit into this category.  They may not necessarily be in and out of your district, but they may be moving within your district.  The answer to this question will give you a great picture of how you are meeting all other students needs. Focus on the  Who .  Remember the student above all.  They are the reason you are there.  Remember this: "We exist to serve the child!"  If that is not your mantra, all your efforts will be in vain. Focus on the  What.  What is impor...