All posts in Professional Development

High school students face significant challenges with social media use during instructional time, a concern shared by educators, including teachers, paraeducators, and administrators. With social media access unblocked or lenient smartphone policies, we are losing precious minutes meant for learning. Even when a smartphone or device is out of sight, the cognitive hook of a digital distraction can lure a student away from the lesson, and it can take 23 minutes to recover. In short, we must protect instructional time. Protecting instructional time requires clear boundaries with students, which may include implementing or adopting new policies on 1:1 programs, device filtering, and hard stops on device use at night (among other ideas). This could also include guidelines for communicating with parents, especially when parents encourage their children to use social media to connect. Read more…

Sometimes, when we unpack a concern and offer solutions, we lose the forest for the trees. It’s easy to get caught up in details, and I’m guilty of this. Too much context can obscure an issue’s seemingly obvious conclusion or solution. For leaders and problem-solvers, the key is to present clear, concise recommendations upfront. If the minutiae become overwhelming, simplicity is often the best path forward.

A guiding principle I often return to is: Don’t check your passions at the door. However, not everyone shares the same passion for a particular issue. Many may lack the interest or bandwidth to dive deep into identifying problems and designing solutions. Read more…