Jeanne Spiller is director of professional development for Kildeer Countryside District 96 in Illinois. Her work focuses on implementation of the Common Core State Standards.
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Based on Leading with Intention
It is that time of the year again. School is in session (or soon will be), and the journey begins.
Educators are preparing for the school year, which includes thinking about professional learning and what is needed in order to improve so that all students master grade-level expectations—or higher. Read more
Based on Leading With Intention
We both love concerts and attend them often. We recently compared notes about summer concerts we attended, and it was interesting how different our experiences were. One concert was well organized with many entrances open, plenty of places to buy food and drinks, and a highly visible staff that was attentive and ready to assist. Overall, the event felt safe, controlled, clean, and organized. In another city, a similar event felt very different. There were limited entrances open, with long lines to get inside the venue and even longer lines to get food and drink. Event staff were difficult to locate, and it generally felt chaotic.
As we compared our experiences, it was easy for us to make the connection to schools. When organization is not of the utmost concern in schools, a situation similar to the chaotic concert experience can ensue. How can school leaders engage in practices that increase a sense of order? Read more
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Tailoring instruction for students with special needs is often the most challenging instructional demand for collaborative teams to navigate. Teachers want their students to feel successful, yet sometimes they make decisions that are actually detrimental to students, such as lowering text-complexity expectations, or overly-modifying an assignment, task, or assessment to the point that the intended rigor is virtually nonexistent. The majority of students with special needs are capable of much more than that. Read more
Jeanne Spiller
