Leader Voices – Blog – Lead by Learning

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Designing Learning That Matters: Moving Beyond Content to Connection

July 17, 2026 | Janna Gray

As I was going over a slide deck for an upcoming adult learning presentation with my Lead by Learning coach, they asked, “Why did you ask the participants that question? What do you want them to be thinking...

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Leader Voices

Driven by Teachers, Focused on Scholars: Our PLC Journey at Paden Elementary School

July 17, 2026 | Tri Nguyen

At Paden Elementary, home of the Pelicans, our Professional Learning Community (PLC) work is not something done to teachers—it is driven by teacher leaders. This year, our PLC team has taken the lead in...

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Revamping Professional Development with Inquiry & Our Highest-Need Students at the Center

July 17, 2026 | Bianca Lorenz and Courtney McGuire

Where We Began with Assistant Principal Bianca Lorenz It was a new school year, and I was returning as an Assistant Principal and facilitator of our professional development (PD) planning. In the first meeting of the year, I...

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No Two Libraries Are Alike: How Our District Leadership Team Differentiated Adult Learning to Improve Student Independent Reading

July 17, 2026 | Keenan Hale

The 2025/2026 Library Leadership Team (LLT) for Oakland Unified School District first met on a warm August day at Northeastern University Oakland with Lead by Learning, equipped with printouts of district-wide library circulation data, some highlighters, and a...

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Using Inquiry to Rebuild a Library from the Ground Up

July 17, 2026 | Karen Mackey

I started the 2025-26 school year in a new role as the District Librarian for the Jefferson Union High School District. As District Librarian, I would be covering five schools. In this role, the Library Media Technicians are...

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Utilizing High School Students’ Insights to Transform Library Space

July 17, 2026 | Mia Gittlen

Even as the role of the library evolves, it remains a place for patrons to explore and read books. As I transitioned from K-8 to high school librarianship, working diligently to reopen a long-shuttered school library and rebuild...

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Explorations in Critical Thinking in the Face of AI

July 17, 2026 | Shanti Elliott

My job is to widen college and career access for young people who are furthest from opportunity. I came into the AI Together Community of Practice (CoP) with Lead by Learning with the understanding that our students are...

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Can AI Be A Burnout Lifeline for Teachers and Support Student Learning?

July 17, 2026 | James Shapiro

Earlier this year, I shared with a colleague some exemplar assignments from my past students in which they wrote about themselves in the style of Holden Caulfield. She replied that she loved the assignment but feared that these...

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