Comments on: “SMaC” the Iowa Department of Education http://educationelements.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/smac-the-iowa-department-of-education/ A Place for Tempered Radicals Mon, 29 Apr 2013 01:20:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Gary Nesteby http://educationelements.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/smac-the-iowa-department-of-education/#comment-448 Mon, 10 Sep 2012 14:09:15 +0000 http://educationelements.wordpress.com/?p=615#comment-448 Jason, you have selected two mentors worthy of connecting with.
I question a couple of your principle statements; realizing that we are all different and follow different beliefs as well.

8. Always treat people with respect and dignity – whether they deserve it or not

I believe that the last part of principle number eight could be dropped as it rings of negativity and subjective feelings.

10. Think politically – know which coalitions will stand with (and against) you.

It is difficult to get politics out of our minds, and our decision making, when politics is what dictates our work. This statement could state that the most important aspect of our work is the needs of our students not the political environment that endorses coalitions with misaligned purposes.

7. Use an informed team to make tough and complicated decisions.

This principle relies on the informed teams as opposed to using data to make decisions. This is one of the characteristics that keeps us in the status quo situation and does not allow us to creatively develop or redesign a system that will work. It is the system that needs to change and the inability to vision a new system is what keeps us involved with just trying to improve the old one

Thank you for your leadership and studies.

]]> By: Rosie Hussey http://educationelements.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/smac-the-iowa-department-of-education/#comment-447 Mon, 10 Sep 2012 03:41:36 +0000 http://educationelements.wordpress.com/?p=615#comment-447 Thanks Jason, for the info. I am amazed at how much reading you get done.

Rosie

]]> By: Art Sathoff http://educationelements.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/smac-the-iowa-department-of-education/#comment-446 Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:32:50 +0000 http://educationelements.wordpress.com/?p=615#comment-446 Thanks for this update. Collins provides some excellent mindset guidance for education, and I am enjoying putting Elmore’s work into practice with Instructional Rounds. I appreciate knowing what scholarship is forming and informing DE practice.

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