Brian M. Stack's School Leadership Blog

Fall marks the start of a new school year in schools across the country. For returning teachers it is often a time to start with a clean slate and a new outlook on the year ahead .   For those who are new to the profession or new to their school or classroom assignment, it is a time to make some decisions about how they will organize their instruction and structure their classroom environment for the upcoming year. For all, it is a time to try something new, whether it is a teaching strategy or an educational tool, with the goal of increased student learning. Each year, Edutopia updates its Resources Toolkit for New Teachers . The kit is a compilation of blogs, videos, and other resources that provide tips and advice on classroom management, working with parents, lesson planning, and learning environments developed not just for teachers starting out but also for those who are looking to try something new. Some of the highlights of the toolkit that I found to be useful...

As a high school principal who has worked for the past six years through a transition from traditional to competency education, I am often asked how our school district has supported teachers both in the past through the transition process and also currently as we sustain our competency education model. Our teacher support system has many layers, each designed to support teachers at different points along our journey. Professional Learning Communities Perhaps the single biggest investment our school district made prior to implementing competency education was to establish the Professional Learning Community (PLC) model in each of our schools. I keep this quote from PLC architect Rick DuFour on my desk to remind me what role PLCs play in our school’s teacher support system: “A team is a group of people working interdependently to achieve a common goal for which members are mutually accountable.” PLC teams, when implemented correctly, focus their work around four essentia...

Recently in an elementary classroom in southern California, teacher and educational consultant Sarah Weaver was working with a group of students to use marshmallows and spaghetti to build the tallest, freestanding structure possible. In her blog , she writes about this activity as a great way to promote communication, teamwork, and creativity while allowing students to get to know each other and develop an understanding of appropriate group work behavior. Weaver uses this lesson to help her readers understand how this inquiry-based activity is a great example of STEAM programming.  Art teachers in schools across the country have been singing the praises for the movement to include Arts and the Humanities into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programming, thus putting the “A” in STEAM education. Arts integration specialist and Education Closet founder Susan Riley defines STEAM as “an educational approach to learning that uses Science, Technology...