While working in Kansas City, I met Ben Carman, the Director of Special Education Fellow at the Ewing Marion Kauffman School. After a couple of hours of working with him, I could tell that he was indeed someone who shared my passion and commitment to...
What do you do when your principal comes to you and says, “We’re in need of a full-time teacher for 2nd grade yesterday?” If you are Brian Duggan of Congress Heights, in Washington DC, your response is simple. I’ll do it! Brian began developing his skills...
Katharine Bonasera, the principal at Allenbrook Elementary School is a No-Nonsense Nurturer® that holds her school community to high expectations and believes that all students “CAN AND WILL”. In a world where we have amazing, top performing educators and principals, Katharine rates among the elite. Why...
In the world of education, there are amazing teachers and leaders transforming classrooms and schools every day. On the other hand, there are just as many, if not more, failing at the very same mission, and often times working just as hard! It’s not luck,...
During my tenure as a special education teacher and district coach, I thought I’d seen almost everything. I was an instructional manager supporting the special education reform in New York City public schools for 1.1 million students. I then supervised the implementation of a coaching...
When I am brainstorming ideas about how to support educators or youth… one of the questions that is simple, sometimes infuriating, but always important is “For what?” While simple, this question always takes me back to purpose and objective. Why am I doing this? Will it...
Effective educators profoundly understand that “nurturing” scholars means demonstrating “care.” Many teachers may misunderstand “care” as unconditional praise, downshifting expectations for scholars...
Positive Narration is the act of focusing on what students are doing correctly and openly saying those things aloud to help motivate students and provide a more positive classroom culture. Don’t underestimate the role of positive narration and its range of influence on establishing, developing, and...
It’s not the students. It’s us. The evidence from CT3's work suggests that educators formulate their cultural responsiveness through connections with the people, places and experiences that reciprocate value. If we do not value the output we are getting from students and our coaches do not push...
Recently we have seen discussions about our work emerge online and via social media. What began as singular accounting of our work from one former teacher has evolved into a broader discussion about how best to support teachers. Or, at least, I hope it evolves...