Sitting with Van Gogh: Thoughts on Arts and Learning

Sitting with Van Gogh: Thoughts on Arts and Learning

Lately, Vincent van Gogh has been consuming my waking and sleeping hours. Over the holidays I saw an art exhibition, Becoming Van Gogh at the Denver Art Museum. My sister in law purchased the tickets and invited me to see the show with her the Saturday before...

More on Leadership and the Common Core

This is the third in a series of blogs about school leadership and the Common Core Standards.  The first blog explored the idea of implementing yet another reform and how school leaders can foster a sense of enthusiasm and openness.  The second blog focused on the...

Leadership and the Common Core: English Language Arts

School leaders face a significant challenge in implementing new reforms, which seem to come with increasing frequency.  While the Common Core Standards hold promise for shaping a deeper, more thoughtful curriculum for students in English Language Arts (and...

Mentoring: A Personal Perspective – 10 Things I’ve Learned

I am a first generation college graduate that grew up in severe city poverty.  I wasn’t one of these children that didn’t know they were poor; I knew at a very young age.  I was aware of labels that people shared to describe me from the time I was five.  My mother...

Impact of the Common Core

Everywhere you turn there is information about the Common Core. Educational reformers are pinning their hopes on this new curriculum framework, that by focusing on depth instead of breadth, and by articulating a set of rigorous standards for student learning,...