Leader Voices - Lead by Learning

Developing a Teacher-Leader: The Importance of Self-Efficacy, Flexibility, and Collaboration

December 8, 2023 | Ramany Kaplan

This past school year brought many changes to my role on campus. As the ELA intervention coordinator at Dublin High School, I took a department-wide approach in addressing student learning needs through tiered supports: identifying strong teaching practices...

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Building the Boat While Trying to Sail It: Rolling Out a New Professional Learning Community Plan

December 8, 2023 | Whitney Dwyer

“I found today’s training truly unhelpful. We as teachers were asked to figure out how to solve equity in schools without any tools, strategies, or best practices. If we knew ways to improve equity, we would be implementing...

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How can a positive school-wide climate decrease the likelihood of problematic behaviors?

September 29, 2023 | Alvin Jumpp

To start the 2022-2023 school year at De Anza High School, in West Contra Costa Unified School District, the unyielding focus was to alleviate two challenges: violence on campus and attendance issues. De Anza defines attendance issues as class cutting,...

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Old Dogs Can Be Taught New Tricks

September 29, 2023 | Kevin Cushing

I began the 22-23 school year late. My first day as a new Assistant Principal at Dublin High School began two weeks after the school year started. I knew that it was going to be a year of...

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Being Vulnerable Helps Us Grow: One Teacher Leader’s Journey with Public Learning

September 13, 2023 | Shartresa Nixon

As a teacher leader, I am always on the lookout for innovative methods and motivation to keep me from becoming antiquated as a leader. During our second year back after teaching remotely on Zoom and still dealing with...

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Striking Balance as Department Chair

September 13, 2023 | Jennifer Hansen

I hate meetings. This is not a secret; I’m always happy to share my feelings on the drain that meetings affect upon me. The torture of sitting and listening after a long day. The four o’clock fog. The...

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Slowing Down to Listen: Centering Student Voice in Leadership

August 14, 2023

As a high school assistant principal, I work to understand student issues I am working on through Dr. Rochelle Gutierrez’s notion of windows and mirrors. Dr. Gutierrez defines a window as students being...

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We Could Learn A Lot From the Littles

March 8, 2023 | Tai Basurto

Several years ago, I was walking down the primary grade hallway and popped my head into a kindergarten classroom. A group of about 5 kindergartners was actively moving around gathering materials while the rest of their classmates were...

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Shifting Professional Culture from Reactive to Adaptive: Integrating Cycles of Inquiry into Full Staff Library PD

January 17, 2023 | Samantha Solomon

After the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school year it was REALLY easy to find yourself and your team in a reactive stance – after all we had spent almost two years having to constantly pivot and respond to new...

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Literacy Over Mastery: Adjusting my Priorities as a Leader

December 8, 2022 | Nathan Nugent

An Uncertain Return Summer readings for professional development always appear exciting at first — there is so much hope and promise for change and innovation in that nascent stage of planning. And throughout our extended year of distance...

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