Category: Speakers

Posted on

EMBRACE YOUR INNER LEADER

A Blog Post by Elisabeth Bostwick- Author of Take the L.E.A.P.

Countless educators aim to inspire, be the change and exude positivity. I’m grateful for my connection to educators who exhibit this as it’s what encourages others to persevere in the face of adversity. As someone who has always embraced this concept myself, I tend to find it challenging to know how to share my voice on wrongdoings best. Afterall, positive people stick to positive messages, right? However, we cannot stand to glaze over apparent dysfunction or bow in fear to hierarchical models of leadership when we know something is blatantly wrong and ultimately hurting individuals. I believe that we can discuss semi-controversial topics while identifying creative ways to address them. Exuding positivity, as well as demonstrating professionalism is essential to me as an educator. Due to my deep sense of integrity, I’m also driven to be an agent of change, and my integrity makes it nearly impossible to ignore that there’s an enormous elephant in the room that exists for many educators.

Blogging and being connected as an educator has provided an avenue for us all to share our voice. Too many opt to talk behind closed doors while keeping their heads down instead of stepping out and addressing the elephant. Together we can creatively seek solutions to move forward or ways to change the course of our ship when we realize the time has come.

For countless years I have identified numerous avenues to reach all kids and foster curiosity, creativity, critical thinking and joy in learning. I believe in this wholeheartedly, and my commitment is unwavering. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have the support of many administrators, teammates, colleagues, and my professional learning network. These individuals have carried me through difficult times without necessarily realizing that they have. We’ve celebrated highlights and encouraged one another more times than I can count.

To be transparent, I’ve also experienced my fair share of mistrust. As someone who always seeks to give the benefit of the doubt and aspires to see the good in every situation, truth be told, some individuals allow their ego or personal agendas to dictate the course our ship sails. Egos and personal agendas cause the ride to feel rough and unsettling. In turn, it leaves others scrambling to figure out how to guide the ship best. Historically, I’m a ‘sail adjuster.’ When the wind blows in an unexpected direction or hits without warning, I merely adapt and move on, without missing a beat to provide students with the best learning opportunities. If by chance the wind batters the sail causing rips and tears, I not only adjust but make necessary repairs to remain on course. I’ve repaired my sail more times than I can count, and each time it seems to become stronger and more vibrant than before. After all, each gust is an opportunity to learn that encourages growth.

Situations exist where educators have exhausted every option to continue moving forward even in the most challenging situations. If the damaging effects of the wind grow so strong that the sail is irreparable, it may be time to either navigate a different course by joining another crew or even sailing on your own. Whether you’re adjusting, repairing, or replacing your sail, I hope you employ strategies that act as flint to ignite passion and exuberance to sail further than you ever have before.

Anyone of us can step up and lead to cultivate a healthy culture. Perhaps we don’t have complete control over every decision we’d like, but that’s not to say that we lack impact. Leadership is a title that can be held by anyone who has influence. Being a leader is not solely meant for those with an administration degree. Jimmy Casas, author of Culturize, writes,

“You don’t have to have a leadership title to be a leader. You just have to lead. When you have a disposition about you that others immediately recognize and sometimes want to emulate, you are a leader. When you draw people in and make them want to be around you, you are a leader. Maybe you have a unique skill set that people quickly notice and appreciate, or maybe it’s your words or tendency to notice the best in others that inspires the people around you to want to be better.”

While some individuals seek to foster leadership skills to develop capacity in others, I tend to think that there are instances where some people are threatened by those who demonstrate leadership without the ranks of title or degree. In some cases, it appears more comfortable to hold individuals at arm’s length to silence their efforts and even attempt to belittle through comments spewn to foster a sense of insecurity. Fortunately, we own our emotions, and while mistrust may develop, how we choose to feel is ultimately up to us. Some may think it’s crazy, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to stand staring in the eyes of the elephant in the room while the wind tears at my sail. Both have taught me countless lessons that serve as real-life experience. From these experiences, I’ve developed more profound empathy and compassion for others. While there are numerous leadership books out there such as Culturize, Lead Like a Pirate, and Start Right Now that provide phenomenal tips and in-depth strategies, here are just a handful of the leadership tips I’ve learned firsthand.

Embrace your inner leader by:

  • Committing to relationships first, next, and always
  • Nurturing a culture of yes
  • Adding-value to those you work alongside by frequently recognizing their efforts
  • Seeking ways to give back in an effort to show appreciation for the contributions made by individuals
  • Celebrating! Celebrate accomplishments, persevering through failures, risk-taking, awards or recognitions as a school and district to demonstrate appreciation
  • Spending time in classrooms with learners (as an administrator) serving alongside teachers when possible
  • Employing the use of Pineapple Charts so that teachers can visit and learn from colleagues
  • Tearing down fortress walls to allow for open conversations between teachers, administrators and the Board of Education
  • Trusting that individuals have the best intentions, this fosters deeper levels of trust
  • Empowering teacher voice… Scratch that… Developing shared OWNERSHIP amongst all stakeholders
  • Being transparent and authentic by walking the talk
  • Simply apologizing for wrongdoings even if unintentional

I know this list could continue and I’m happy to add on over time. In closing, it’s vital that we ALL embrace our inner leader. Every person is facing some kind of battle; you may be the difference maker that rekindles passion within an individual who has lost their why, or eases the feeling of pressure when the going gets tough. With teacher shortages in addition to fewer students enrolling in teacher preparatory programs, collectively we need to cultivate a school culture that retains quality teachers. As leaders, let’s respectfully address elephants and create sustainable change. Together we can collaboratively navigate the waters to support one another along the journey.

If you want to learn more about embracing your inner leader and how to Take the L.E.A.P., check out Elisabeth’s book on Amazon!

Posted on

Training vs Learning

A blog post by Katie Martin

I recently shared this graphic on Twitter, which resonated with many of you and I wanted to share an excerpt from my book, Learner-Centered Innovation, where this graphic came from.

A school leader shared with me that, although she felt her school offered ample professional development, she was frustrated that they hadn’t seen a dramatic shift in the classrooms. She had hoped to see an increase in students solving authentic problems and using applications for deeper learning experiences. Instead, students used technology to upload and share information or to complete assignments that looked very similar to the work they had done without technology. In response, I asked the leader to describe a typical professional learning day. She told me that, in every after-school meeting, she showed teachers how to use different apps; in fact, she constantly shared tips on new apps and tools she came across. What puzzled her is that the teachers seemed encouraged in the meetings and even shared their own ideas.

As we dug deeper into why the training wasn’t translating into the classroom experience, she realized that her teachers were doing exactly what she had modeled for them: they were using new tools to do the same activities and teach the same content they always had. Although they liked learning about new tools, they hadn’t been modeled or used in a way that connected them to student applications for different or deeper learning.

I always cringe when I hear the word training used to describe educator professional development. Training happens to or is thrust upon people. Learning, on the other hand, is a process of developing knowledge through authentic and relevant experiences. If professional learning is ever going to be effective in bringing about change for students, it must shift away from something done to educators toward a process of creating a culture of continuous learning cycles and problem solving. There is a time to learn new skills or specific programs, but professional learning can’t end with information; content is only the beginning. The following table depicts common experiences that differentiate training from learning.

Shifting the Focus from Teaching to Learning

In education, we have a lot of systems that run smoothly because we have been doing them for years. The problem is that when we work with the same people, doing the same things, ineffective practices are rarely challenged or changed. Traditions and habits don’t inspire new ways of thinking for educators or for students. Here is an example, and I apologize to any English teachers reading this, but I have been in too many conversations about whether The Outsiders is an eighth-or ninth-grade book and have mitigated arguments between seventh-grade teachers about whether or not to teach Farewell to Manzanar. And if you know English teachers, these conversations can become heated. This same scenario plays out in many contexts, whether it is the play that is done every year or the unit that has to be taught in the fall because it has always been that way. One of many problems with these arguments is they are about territory and preserving the status quo, not kids, what they are learning, and why. If the comfort and preferences of adults become the priority rather than what’s best for learners, students miss out on powerful learning opportunities connected to their goals, questions, and interests.

As a result of doing what had always been done, when I was the literacy coach for our school, we noticed that many students were going through their day without the opportunity or expectation to read. Many students were performing below grade level on standardized tests and struggled to read the textbooks and assigned novels. Attempting to support students, teachers had resorted to creating PowerPoint presentations to summarize and convey key facts; books were read aloud, and teachers played recordings of novels so everyone could follow along at the same pace while short passages and multiple-choice worksheets were widely used to assess comprehension. We came to the realization that, if our students never read on their own or made meaningful decisions for themselves in school, they were going to struggle with these things out of school. While we grappled with this very real issue, our professional learning consisted of disparate events that offered no help. The English language arts department wanted to do better for our students, but I also knew that if they knew a better way, they would have been doing it already. We needed to learn new strategies to improve, and we had to shift the culture to focus on our desired student outcomes and align how we were designing and facilitating the learning experiences.

To achieve our goal of increasing reading practice and ultimately literacy, our English department had to shift our meeting structures from examining what we wanted and what we were teaching to reviewing student work to find out what they were learning. We wrote a proposal to our principal to purchase a copy of the book 7 Strategies for Teaching Reading for each teacher in our department and requested stipends for the teachers to meet regularly after school for eight weeks. The total cost of our request was less than $ 1,000 ($ 100 per teacher and $ 20 for each book). We read the book and came together after school to engage in collaborative conversation that allowed teachers to experience the new strategies in their own reading and learning. We then planned ways to support students in their diverse classes. Each week, we independently read about a new strategy, rotated modeling lessons for our colleagues, and collaborated on a plan to put the new ideas into practice. One distinction here is that we did not create a plan for one specific lesson; we thought about how to integrate the new strategy across various lessons and develop multiple iterations of the strategy to inform our practice. To ensure we were working to close the knowing-doing gap, we partnered up each week to observe each other and learn from the variety of methods we were each putting into practice. At the beginning of our weekly meetings, we shared what we were learning. The open reflection not only allowed us to create a culture of transparency in our team but also pushed us to try out new ideas and build off one another’s successes and challenges.

We shifted our conversations from what content and page number we were teaching that week to what we were learning and how we could impact student outcomes. This also meant that we had to bring evidence of learning from all students connected to our desired outcomes. We had to move beyond the spreadsheets and percentages to actually understand what was happening in our classrooms. We spent our time digging deep into our problems of practice, looking at student work, and interrogating our practices to ensure we were truly meeting the needs of the learners.

While our English department worked together to create better learning experiences for our students, reading about and discussing new ideas was critical for our growth. As we explored these new approaches and ideas, we began to rethink the traditional teaching of a class novel. We created more opportunities for choice and designed opportunities for students to grapple with text to make sense of it. We moved from designing learning experiences based on the content and page number we were teaching that week to how to design learning experiences that empowered our students and helped them develop the skills to become better readers, writers, and speakers. By being willing to make changes in the way reading and literacy had always been taught, we improved outcomes for our students.

Learner-Centered Innovation

Learner-centered innovation is not just about creating something new but doing something that yields better outcomes because of what we have created. With that in mind, we asked questions like, “How do we know that our idea is working?” and “What is the impact on desired student outcomes?” When we focus our efforts on what we want to accomplish, not simply the metrics or data from an isolated test or standards but on the type of student we want to create, we might find that our meetings and our learning experiences become more impactful.I would love to hear about examples of what you are doing to create job-embedded cycles of professional learning and the impact it is having!

To learn more about making the shift from training to learning, check out Katie Martin’s book Learner-Centered Innovation.

Posted on

4 Shifts To Move From Teacher-Centered To Learner-Centered

A Post by Katie Martin, Author of Learner-Centered Innovation



I have been fortunate to visit classrooms around the country over the last 5-6 years in a variety of different capacities (check out what I saw last year). Through these visits, and in conversations with many educators, students and parents, I have seen tremendous shifts in our education system.  This paradigm shift from teacher-centered to learner-centered is changing how we see learners and their critical role in their own learning now and throughout their lives. Education Reimagined highlights that in this paradigm “Learners are seen and known as wondrous, curious individuals with vast capabilities and limitless potential.” 

Here are 4 shifts that I have increasingly seen in many schools as they move to learner-centered.

Shift 1: From Standardization to Personalization

To be clear, when I say personalization it is not about programs and technology, which can often be conflated.  Although technology can and does enable personalized pathways, the power of this shift is when the learner has the agency to make choices and learn in ways that meet their needs, not simply clicking through a program. This shift for me comes down to how we see learners and get to know and value them as individuals rather than a cohort of kids moving through school.

Experiences that change how kids learn in schools today rarely come straight from a textbook or program. They come from teachers who know their learners and design experiences to meet their needs based on the desired learning objectives. In spite of our understanding that no two people are the same, many systems have prioritized (and even demanded) overly structured lessons for every student to meet the same objective at the same time in the year, regardless of the individual’s unique strengths, interests, or questions.  As we better understand the learning theory and celebrate the diverse talents and passions that individuals bring to the classroom, I am encouraged to see many systems move away from strictly following the textbooks and one size fits all approach to teaching and learning.  I continue to see more educators and systems designed to empower learners to understand their unique strengths, ask more questions, and pursue their goals to chart their personal paths.

Shift 2: From Compliance to Learner Agency

Learner agency is about moving students from passively responding to acting with purpose to reach a desired goal or outcome. When students have an authentic purpose and audience beyond their teacher to share what they are learning, they are more motivated to learn and often go above and beyond.  I am excited to see more schools moving toward structures that empower learners to share and drive their learning process through portfolios and student-led conferences. Opportunities for learners to share their work beyond the teacher in student-led exhibitions can be powerful to ensure students have an authentic audience and are doing work that has value.  

We can teach necessary skills while creating experiences that allow learners to take ownership of the process. Learners have access to an abundance of resources and experts that enable us all to learn in ways that extend beyond the expertise of one teacher or classroom. By tapping into those resources, we can create more experiences that can allow students to apply their newly learned skill in ways that are meaningful and relevant to them and others.

Katie-Martin-LCI-Quote-1

Shift 3:  From Product to Learning Process

Grading is a battle for many teachers and students but this process steeped in tradition and often fails to communicate what a learner knows and can do.  I love this reflection from A 7th grader who shared his experience in a blog post, Dear Report Cards, You Suck, that exemplifies a major challenge with assessment procedures and reporting of what students know and can do. He says he realized that he is actually a B student, not a D student because of how he got to show what he knew and how his work was assessed.

The only reason you can easily read this is because of my best friend, spell check. My spelling difficulties make my handwriting hard to read. In the past, I’ve done most of my writing in a textbook without revisions. So, of course, I was going to get a D.

Having access to technology has changed my world. Being able to type my work and click on a red line to fix a wrong word has suddenly made my work correct. Feedback is another extremely helpful tool. When I was stuck or when I’m just finished, I used feedback to fix the things that were wrong or to add things that I may not have thought of. Feedback is an awesome tool!

When we only focus on the end result, we fail to communicate to learners the importance of sharing ideas early, getting feedback, and revising things to improve.  If we don’t honor the learning process, we communicate that we either get it or we don’t. And as a result, we are negatively impacting learner’s confidence, creativity, and investment in their own learning and growth. Increasingly, there is a focus on failure in the learning process and it is certainly part of it, but the bigger picture to me is acknowledging that success isn’t black and white. Learning is a process and it takes time, effort, and growth to achieve success, even when we don’t see it.

Shift 4: From Delivering Content to Authentic Application

We all have a finite amount of resources and are accountable to meet specific objectives within a given period. Foundational knowledge and skills need to be developed, but we also need to balance these foundational skills we want all students to attain while allowing for authentic application of those skills and content. I recently shared this example of @msnunenkamp ‘s 5th grade class  where instead of completing a packet and filling in worksheets, they did research to better understand the impact that humans are having on the environment and created a Public Service Announcement (check it out here) to help others understand and so something to improve the environment.  

In a strictly standards-based paradigm, our learning goals are primarily the standards or subsets of standards. While this is a good start, many employers, vision statements, and basic common sense allude to developing productive and empowered citizens instead of mastering isolated content and standards. We need to prioritize learning experiences that not only develop knowledge but also attend to the skills, interactions, and mindsets we know are critical for students to develop to be successful in our evolving world.

These shifts give me hope as I see so many educators focused on what’s best for learners. Creating the conditions that allow educators to be nimble and create learning experiences that reflect the context and the resources to best meet the needs of all learners is the greatest shift of all. 

Posted on

Kara Knollmeyer

Biography

Kara Knollmeyer is a wife, daughter, sister, and administrator in St. Louis, Missouri.  Kara is an award-winning educational leader who has been recognized for her contributions to the educational field. In 2017, Kara received the Midwest Spotlight Educator (METC) Award and in 2013 received the Missouri Outstanding Beginning Teacher Award (Missouri Association of Colleges for Teacher Education).

Kara has had the honor of being apart of incredible opportunities throughout her journey in elementary and secondary education. Kara has an abundant amount of experiences as a teacher, Language Arts Team Leader, New Teacher District Facilitator, Language Arts and Social Studies Curriculum Writer and Mentor Teacher. Currently, Kara serves as a Middle School Assistant Principal.

Kara believes everyone has unique gifts that only they can share with the world. Therefore, her mission is to unleash the talent of ourselves and others so we ALL can become who we were born to be, inside and outside of the school setting. She believes that through lifting and building up the people within our school communities, we can ignite a culture of purpose so we can see the strengths of all learners, adult and children alike!

Kara is also a passionate blogger and speaker in the educational sphere. You can connect with Kara on her blog, karaknollmeyer.com and through Twitter on @karaknollmeyer and #UnleashTalent.

Areas of Expertise

  • Unleashing the Talents Within You, Colleagues, and Students!
  • Building a Positive and Collaborative School Culture
  • Inspiring Staff, Teacher, and Student Leadership
  • Effective Language Arts Instruction
  • Developing Meaningful Professional Development
  • Purposeful Technology Tools for Learners
  • Social Media for Staff, Students, and School Communities

Keynotes and Workshops

  • Unleash Talent for You, Staff Members, Teachers, and Students!

Talent is underrated. In our school systems, we see our students as talented, but often do not reflect those same thoughts when it comes to ourselves as adults. We often fail to recognize that we as staff members and teachers are the foundation of our school; Our talents, strengths, and passions are valuable and precious, just like our students. Just as we teach and reach the whole student, we need to teach and reach the whole adult. Therefore, we need to start finding, noticing, appreciating, embracing, and supporting the talents that our ADULT learners have. Not only will this radically change the school system by boosting teacher retention and happiness, but it will positively shift the way we interact and teach alongside students. No matter what your role is in education, we each have talents waiting to be awakened.

This keynote is based on Kara’s book, Unleash Talent: Bringing out the Best in Yourself and the Learners you Serve. Based on what you or your group needs, this keynote/session can be centered on how to bring out the talent in all parties, or it can focus on a singular group: Yourself, Staff, Teachers, or Students!


  • Discover Your T3’s (Passions, Personality Traits, and Skills)
    Dive into a guided session filled with learning, journaling, and deep self-reflection. Take a closer look to become one with your passions, personality traits and skills by honing in on T3 you already have, while noticing new T3’s you may have never noticed before. In addition, before leaving the session, you will be guided through ways that you can personally use your T3’s to live a more fulfilled life at school and at home!
  • Teaming Up for T3’s
    Every single person in our school system has T3’s that they are either untapped or could be taken to another level. How we approach our colleagues and acknowledge their unique strengths and abilities will form a direct correlation to true teaming, collaboration and unity. During this session, you will be guided with your teams to determine your own T3’s, and to learn about the specific talents of your team members. You will also be guided through team and reflection hands-on exercises to discover how we can lift one another up while gifting our school with the gifts we have to offer one another and our students!
  • Showcase Student TalentsOnce we understand our own T3’s, how do we help our students bring our their own talents in their lives and in the school setting? Learn how to guide students into discovering their own T3’s, while exploring and diving into practical and innovative ways to integrate the talents of your students into the school day to help make school a more purposeful place for each student who walks in our buildings.School culture is not one more thing to add it to your day- It is the essential piece that must be woven into everything we do, no matter what our roles are. As staff members and leaders, we each have to take personal accountability for the energy we bring to the spaces we occupy: Hallways, classrooms, and every inch of our building. Our values and actions have to match up in order for our culture to flourish. Whether we realize it or not, we each are currently setting either a positive or negative tone in our building- And our people are taking notice. Within this session, you will learn the top habits of positive educators, how to use your talents to make school a better place for you and those around you, and to learn many practical ideas to embed into your classroom and school. As you leave this session, you will be inspired to cultivate a positive school culture now, while leaving a meaningful trademark for years to follow. 
    • Developing Engaging and Meaningful Teacher Professional Development

    With teacher workloads heightening by the year, every minute of teacher professional development (PD) should be valued in gold! Learn how to: Purposefully build and organize a meaningful PD vision for your school (and how to adjust along the way), properly gain insight from staff members and stakeholders, and how to empower teachers and staff to lead based on their talents so together we can make progress on your school vision, mission, and purpose.This session can be differentiated based on the specific PD needs of your building.

     

    • Engage Students, Staff, and Your School Community with Social Media

    Are you wondering how you can use social media in your school or classroom? Would you like to take digital learning and sharing to the next level? Receive an in-depth look at how to use social media in the classroom and school safely to engage students, families, and staff members in ways that will transcend learning! By gaining a focus and following simple strategies and ideas, you can get students and families even more excited about school, build endless connections with the world around you, and boost student learning and performance in more ways than you could ever fathom! This session can be differentiated to focus on different social media platforms and can be catered to staff members, families, students, and/or school leaders.

    Paperwork and medial tasks can drown any administrator if they are not careful. It is crucial, that through our hectic and important days, that we build ourselves for efficiency. Within this session, you will see ways to get the biggest bang for your buck, while gaining more of your sanity and happiness back! You will see and receive practical ideas, tools, and a multitude of resources I have created that have helped me, as a current administrator, spend more time on building relationships and making a difference, while spending less time on paperwork!

    • Cultivating a Positive School Culture for Today, Tomorrow, and Years to Come

    School culture is not one more thing to add it to your day- It is the essential piece that must be woven into everything we do, no matter what our roles are. As staff members and leaders, we each have to take personal accountability for the energy we bring to the spaces we occupy: Hallways, classrooms, and every inch of our building. Our values and actions have to match up in order for our culture to flourish. Whether we realize it or not, we each are currently setting either a positive or negative tone in our building- And our people are taking notice. Within this session, you will learn the top habits of positive educators, how to use your talents to make school a better place for you and those around you, and to learn many practical ideas to embed into your classroom and school. As you leave this session, you will be inspired to cultivate a positive school culture now, while leaving a meaningful trademark for years to follow.

    • Developing Engaging and Meaningful Teacher Professional Development

    With teacher workloads heightening by the year, every minute of teacher professional development (PD) should be valued in gold! Learn how to: Purposefully build and organize a meaningful PD vision for your school (and how to adjust along the way), properly gain insight from staff members and stakeholders, and how to empower teachers and staff to lead based on their talents so together we can make progress on your school vision, mission, and purpose.

    This session can be differentiated based on the specific PD needs of your building.

    • Engage Students, Staff, and Your School Community with Social Media

    Are you wondering how you can use social media in your school or classroom? Would you like to take digital learning and sharing to the next level? Receive an in-depth look at how to use social media in the classroom and school safely to engage students, families, and staff members in ways that will transcend learning! By gaining a focus and following simple strategies and ideas, you can get students and families even more excited about school, build endless connections with the world around you, and boost student learning and performance in more ways than you could ever fathom!

    This session can be differentiated to focus on different social media platforms and can be catered to staff members, families, students, and/or school leaders.

    • Tips and Tools for Administrator Efficiency: How to Get the Biggest Bang for Your Buck so you Can Spend Less Time on Paperwork and More Time Making a Difference

    Paperwork and medial tasks can drown any administrator if they are not careful. It is crucial, that through our hectic and important days, that we build ourselves for efficiency. Within this session, you will see ways to get the biggest bang for your buck, while gaining more of your sanity and happiness back! You will see and receive practical ideas, tools, and a multitude of resources I have created that have helped me, as a current administrator, spend more time on building relationships and making a difference, while spending less time on paperwork!

     

  • How Do I Even Blog?
    Blogging is a transformative way to reflect on your own learning, while connecting with the world around you. Learn my process for blogging: How I capture what inspires me, plan and make the time for blogging, and what tools and resources I use along the way. By the end of this session, you will be able to walk away and have a strong sense of how to blog professionally and personally, while being able to transfer these skills and ideas for students as well.Book Kara Knollmeyer

Posted on

George Couros

 

Biography

George Couros is a leading educator in the area of innovative leadership, teaching, and learning. He has worked with all levels of school–from K-12 as a teacher and technology facilitator, school and district administrator, and is the author of the book “The Innovator’s Mindset; Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity”. He is one of education’s most sought after speakers, and speaks on the topic of innovative student learning and engagement and has worked with schools and organizations around the globe. George is also the creator of connectedprincipals.com, an initiative that brings educators and leaders together from around the world to create powerful learning opportunities for students.

Although George is a leader in the area of innovation, his focus is always the development of leadership and people and what is best for learners. His belief that, meaningful change happens when you first connect to people’s hearts, is modelled in his writing and speaking. His keynotes are known for making you laugh, cry, and think, and will inspire you to become a better educator.  You can connect with George on his blog, “The Principal of Change” or follow him on Twitter (@gcouros).

Keynotes and Workshops

Create, Innovate, and Voice  


Description: In this talk, George will highlight some of the trends that are happening in education and the world and how we create a learning environment that is engaging for students.  By giving them the ability to create meaningful learning, be innovative, and empower them with a voice, we will see students succeeding long after their time in school.

5 Questions You Should Ask Your Leader 


Description:  The role of school or district administrator has changed dramatically and instead of people serving the leader, it is more important that it is the other way around.  In this talk/workshop, I discuss five key questions that we need to be able to answer as leaders and the innovative ways that we need to look at our role as administrators.

The Networked Leader/Educator 


Description:  The role of school/district administrator is essential to what happens in the classroom, yet we often are unaware of some of the amazing opportunities that social media is not only providing our students and teachers, but ourselves as well.  As school administrators, we need to be the “Learning Leader” for our organization and social media gives us the opportunity to connect, openly learn, and humanize our organization.  When we learn together first, only then can we effectively lead our schools to continuous improvement.

Leading Innovative Change 

Description: Although schools are moving forward, change is always something that many struggle with.  Focusing on an innovator’s mindset and our “why”, this workshop is meant for leaders to help others within their organization not only accept change, but embrace it, to create better powerful learning opportunities for our learners.  It is not focused on the “how to” of technology, but is more focused on the conversations that will help staff move forward in a way that they will be excited yet feel supported in their journey.

Learning By Design 

Description: We know that the role of school has change, but it is important for people to understand why it needs to change.  Once that can be established, then we are more likely to embrace this change, and move forward with the learning of ourselves, and more importantly help our students move forward as well. In this talk, George will discuss the “why” of change, and then using the ISTE Nets, give examples on “how” we can make this happen.

The Myths of Technology and Learning  


Description: This keynote helps to address some of the “myths” or pushback that many organizations go through in moving technology forward in their organizations.  With many powerful and personal stories of how technology can improve learning and relationships, this has been a great opportunity to help those reluctant move forward in their thinking and adopt a growth mindset.

What to look for in Today’s Classroom 


Description:  The focus of the classroom has, for the better, shifted from a focus on the teacher to a focus on the learner.  In this talk, I will share several elements of what we should be looking for in today’s classroom, knowing that focusing on only a few at a time, can start the move towards a transformational learning environment.

Your Digital Footprint 


Description: We all have a digital footprint, as do our schools and organizations.    “Googling” ourselves makes this apparent whether we have had any say in it or not.  As individuals and as organizations, what can we do to actually shape this footprint?  With open sharing of our learning, a digital footprint can easily be developed for either an individual, school or organization.  This is not about branding as much as it is about modelling for our students that we are learners along with them.

Involving Parents in the Process of Learning

Description: Parent involvement in the learning process of schools is the number one factor for student success.  As schools look forward towards using social media to improve learning in their schools, many parents are fearful of what this means.  Social media provides an opportunity for parents to have meaningful engagement in the learning of their child.  This can greatly change the conversations not only at school, but also at home with the child.  This talk provides peace of mind to parents while also engaging them in considering the unique opportunity they have to participate in their child’s learning.

From Digital Citizenship to Digital Leadership

Description: We often tell our students that what they do online can affect their future, but do we share or teach them how their online presence can also provide them opportunities that we never had as kids?  There are many great examples of people and students doing things to not only improve their own opportunities, but to improve the lives of those in their school, communities, and around the world.  Kids have an opportunity to make a difference and we need to focus on giving them both the opportunities and tools to make a difference in their world through the effective use of technology and social media.

Workshops

When working with groups, I encourage discussing the “why” through a keynote then following up with hands-on workshops.  This pushes learning forward, having participants leave with ready to use tools and educators ready to implement their new learning immediately.  Examples of workshops on specific ideas and tools that I provide are:

  • What is innovation in education and how do we move forward?
  • Twitter for administrators/educators/parents
  • Blogs as a portfolio
  • Google Apps in the Classroom
  • Web 2.0 Tools for learning/communication
  • Creating a Digital Footprint for our Students
  • Digital Literacy
  • Digital Identity
  • Creating Blended Learning Environment

Book George Couros