Yazan: admin | 11 July 2010 | No Comments
Categories: Uncategorized
What is the standard of excellence for schools today? What truly matters? For whom? While the U.S. continues to struggle to gain ground with our standard assessment scores, other countries (such as China and South Korea) are reversing long standing “uniform educational” practices and replacing them with more flexible, individualized approaches. They are seeking to recreate their educational systems to develop more innovators. While educators in the U.S. are reinventing education and “racing to the top,” it may be wise to look more closely at the summit. Which mountain is it that we are climbing and what is the view from the top? What are the goals for our society, for our future?
Consider in the global view of things, that “national is local.” With instaneous communication, global in fact may often be viewed as local. However, turning to the U.S., many are asking how we allowed the situation in the Gulf to happen. What were the factors that led to such a total disregard for environmental precautions. Greed? Arrogance? Many asked the similar questions with the fall of Wall Street, the housing markets, and, dare it be said, if not the demise, the “down rating” of capitalism. Thoughtful educators may well ask how we as leaders in the U.S. have failed. As educators, it seems right to also ask what we would want for tomorrow’s leaders — at local, national, and international levels. How could their leadershp be more effective than ours? What skills and experiences while in school are needed? And who should we look to and work with to create the leadership for tomorrow? Is it global or local? What are the implications for the “race to the top” and for reinventing education?
Yazan: admin | 06 July 2010 | No Comments
Categories: Uncategorized
Another year, another “back to school workshop.” For returning teachers it is often “been there, done that” before. For new teachers, sometimes it is information overload. For both, it is often “get me out of here and back to my classroom — I need to be organizing, doing what really counts.”
Our solution is simple. We share it in hopes that others will use similar strategies and enhance the effectiveness of these important sessions. Sure teachers need to learn about school policies and procedures, they need to hear about the latest plans for school discipline, they need to know what the new principal wants, and they need a chance to meet each other, to dialogue, and to set procedures in place for an effective school year. And if the school is embarking down a path with a new curriculum, new initiatives, or new expectations for teachers, teachers need to know about these.
It is the ‘how” that often presents the problem. The how that delivers messages quickly is often an “information session” — also known as “we tell, you note.” So the Center for Educational Improvement (CEI) and the Consortium to Improve Ohio Schools (CIOS) will work with administrators to plan a session that Wows! teachers, keeps them engaged, and sets the stage for an exciting, progressive, and optimistic school year.
Check under “our services” for complete information on Back to School Workshops offered by CEI and CIOS.
Our intent is to offer premium services to set the stage for a successful school year. To do this, school and district workshops in August and September need to be engaging, informative, and highly interactive. They need to include the most relevant information both for new and returning teachers.
Workshops offered by the Center for Educational Improvement (CEI) and the Consortium to Improve Ohio Schools (CIOS) all contain the following components:
Not only that, we plan with administrators, so that teachers learn about new strategies your school will be implementing in a way that holds true to our “wow!” approach. We encourage administrators to include teachers on their planning teams so that by the time the workshops occur, some teachers not only have already signed onto the new strategies, but also are able to help lead the workshops.
What else? For the topics we believe are most important to include, see “our services.” If you have additional ideas for wowing! teachers, send your comments along to this blog.