Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

“Care about what others think and you will forever be their prisoner.” Some wisdom that appeared in my feed today.

Innumeracy is still a thing that should concern us.

Critical thinking—the ability to judge the quality of information and your understanding of it—is an essential skill.

#Teachers who claim, “it’s my job to teach and the students’ job to learn” misunderstand their role. The boundaries implicit in their statement prevents the relationships necessary for #teaching and #learning in #schools.

I understand we don’t want high paid leaders wasting time walking from car to office when returning in mid-day to full parking lots, but the reserved parking signs send a message about whose time is valued.

Recognizing your current solutions don’t work, are inefficient, or are boring is the beginning of creative thinking.

Recognizing your current knowledge is insufficient to understand/ solve a problem is the beginning of critical thinking.

I once thanked a principal for recognizing I was not supporting his efforts to dismantle our middle school and return it to a junior high school model. #leadership #education

Just read a post that referred to hundreds of billions of dollars spent. I saw the number written out in the tweet and thought, “that’s a lot of zeros.”

If the ideas is so long it must be an acronym, get a new title. Your message will be lost. Very few ideas can be expressed with acronyms.

My “late work” policy: In by the due date, you will have time to resubmit after my feedback. In after the due date, no penalty for being “late,” but there *may* not be time for revisions.

“Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts.” -Richard Feynman

“If I do this, then that will happen” is often wrong.

Those who believe they can predict the future should stop to read a little about unintended consequences.

When you are a good and strong #leader, we see the benefit of supporting and following you. When your organization has significant turn over, you should get the message.

Much current political discourse seems to resemble children yelling “am not”. “Are too.”

There can be no standards for “showing good judgement,” but surely our students need to learn it.

I left my second professional job because of the toxicity. More than 30 years later, I had opportunity to work in the school more that 30 years later. One teacher was there when I was, and the second longest serving teacher at the school had taken my position. The culture was equally toxic. That, my friends, is how culture works. It lasts generations.

“No, that will cause drama.” When the decision is made for that reason, you must wonder about the culture of the organization.

Just because the tool is available, doesn’t mean alternatives are not better.