About this blog...

I have the good fortune to spend lots of time bouncing like A.A. Milne’s Tigger across the country visiting teachers, district leaders, university professors, and lots and lots of children. And while I typically make these visits to help schools address difficult problems or to provide professional development, I always leave being the one who did much of the learning. For years I have been thinking that I need a place to share with folks the astounding things I learn on my travels. This blog has now become that very place. Come in and stay awhile. Feel free to chime in on the various topics I raise. 

Community-building is more than a poster... 

As I write this, I am currently sitting in O’Hare waiting for a plane to take me home to California after spending the day in Louisville, KY. For the past two years I have spent lots of time working with the Jefferson County Public Schools on a ground-breaking initiative they started called “CARE for kids.” This project combines DSC’s Caring School Community™ program with Morning Meetings from the Northeast Foundation for Children to form a powerful tool to transform a school's community.

As I sit here in the airport lounge, I am looking at a poster I lifted from one of the walls in the district office. I know what you are thinking—many schools put up motivational posters. We have all seen and ignored them. Typically they don't mean anything to us. This poster, however, caught my eye. I loved the promise of the words. They are what I hope for my own daughter's schooling. 

What truly amazes me however is that in Jefferson County these words are not just things to ignore. The 57 schools I work with try to bring these words to life every day.  It is powerful work. It is hard work. In coming months I will post lots of what we are learning from these hardworking schools.