Read
Latest Blog Posts
Five Fabulous Social Justice Quotes
I’ve been an educator since 2001. Teaching with social justice was always at the heart of my classroom. I taught about child labor to my sixth grade students. In high school we dismantled systemic racism and explored feminist critical theory. Now I help school...
Reopening School
On April 10, I challenged leaders to make the return to school something special. This is a moment you won’t get back and one you can create so that it leaves a lasting positive impression for all stakeholders of your community. If you took my advice back then, you’ve...
Using Empathy to Build Something Great
A few weeks ago, I wrote this post on how to attract great teachers. After you read today's post, click back to what I just linked because you'll want to download or screenshot an amazing tool called the empathy map. My assertion was that using a tool like this will...
A secret tip for school leaders: Why agreements are better than expectations
How do you motivate and influence the people in your school? Expectations are shared by a leader to her staff -- Here is what I expect you to do (by this date) ... And this is what a quality job looks like ... Agreements are co-created with stakeholders to...
Jeanne Wolz: How to Best Prepare new Teachers
Jeanne is a former middle school teacher, department chair, and school leader and the founder of the New Teacher Masterminds - a transformational virtual PLC network that connects and empowers new teachers across the country. Her mission is to provide new teachers...
We were ready
2020 has been one heck of a year. Before the protests there was a pandemic. In fact, there still is a pandemic. But if you go back to February 2020 in your mind's eye, when COVID-19 cases were starting to exponentially increase outside of China, education was...
My approach to writing books
Last Friday I talked about the importance of how you do things in regards to decision making. So here is my approach to writing a book. I'm currently working on a project which will turn into a book on the mastermind. This is a very important project; I'd love to...
Decision making and effective communication
Have you ever wondered how a leader arrived at a decision? "What the hell was she thinking?" You might have said. Your people say that about you, if you don't communicate effectively. You don't need to justify every decision you make, but it makes sense for the...
Adapt or die
Evolution isn't just for biologists. It is a useful mental model for Ruckus Makers to make sense of life and leadership. The idea is quite simple: adapt or die. “Organisms in nature have survived and thrived for billions of years because they have one powerful trait...
