Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

Hey IT... your users are experts on how you have your systems configured... believe them... even if you don’t like what they are saying.

Having a PhD in k-12 education puts one at odds with the leadership trends. Despite their insistence they are data-driven, they don’t appreciate having to defend data and decisions which is what one is trained to do as a doctoral student.

“... we are unable to receive truth from anyone else but must create it ourselves.” -Marcel Proust This is the single most important lesson everyone in #teacher education should learn. #highered #highschool #edchat #teachertwitter #TeachingOnline #education

Yeah... I’ve worked in IT... I know when you are “blowing smoke.”

Don’t confuse “lucky” with “smart.”

One of my high school teachers used to throw away all of high teaching materials every 3 years. I didn’t realize then what a terrific model he was.

Is your syllabus full of busy work? It doesn’t matter who or what you you teach, your students will understand the nature of the work and react appropriately.

So much data details the characteristics of red herrings.

Online. Face-to-face. Hybrid. None of this matters. Students interacting with a rich curriculum and their peers and teachers (who act like mentors) are the essential features of effective classrooms.

OK. It is official. “Data” has no meaning. Leaders use it when they have seriously researched (valid/ reliable/ evaluated) data, glanced at invalid text results, read some of the research, or must deflect. It is used so inconsistently, I no longer trust those who use it.

Looking back at my career in education, I realize most of the school improvement initiatives that were foisted on us were based on someone’s misguided and privileged and profitable babble.

I’m convince email is ineffective. Too many messages to sort through, even when using the tools to help cull.

“Online teaching does not lend itself to lecture....” I cannot think of a more obvious phrase to begin a sentence.

Progressive education values adaptability over rote mastery. Dewey teaches us to see uncertainty not as a threat, but as a stimulus for growth.

The history of science is marked by trial and error, reformulation, and rediscovery. This process affirms science as a dynamic, self-correcting human enterprise. I'm not sure the "do your own research" have such a history in their practice.

Data can guide—but it cannot lead. Wisdom, empathy, and historical insight are not reducible to spreadsheets.

Data doesn’t speak—it must be framed. Every chart implies a worldview, and every KPI reflects organizational values.

If you are still relying on a protocol after all this time, you probably don’t understand what it was supposed introduce into your teaching.

Why is it that some leaders are so reluctant to accept root causes when analyzing disasters?

Knowledge gained through science is provisional, not permanent. This humility—embedded in its methodology—is a tribute to our capacity for revision and reflection.