Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

We need contrarian voices... I fill that role often. But can you please pick a vision/ direction/ theory and be consistent?

“All thinking about the natural world must be informed by theory, whether or not we articulate our preferred structure of explanation to ourselves.” -Stephen Jay Gould

If you are not questioning your assumptions, you are not doing it right.

Things that make “data driven” people look at you with a blank stare... “That’s not what valid means.” You can substitute reliable and get the same result.

If your planning model has a single pathway from start to finish, it doesn’t reflect reality.

Seriously... if your online classroom is a long list of "stuff" that you and students must scroll through... stop... ask your edtech folks how to collapse stuff.

Don't be the person who uses colors to differentiate "allow" and "deny" email domains.

Add color commentators to meetings? Hmmm... this might actually not be a bad idea... someone to ask questions, summarize, etc. as the main presenter carries on.

“Theories act as straightjackets to channel observations toward their support and to forestall potentially refuting data....” -Stephen Jay Gould

What is interesting to me is how often we don’t see our theories and the limits they impose.

“Commerce will swallow museums if educators try to copy the norms of business for immediate financial reward.” -Stephen Jay Gould This seems to apply to schools as well.

Possible does not mean common.

What to be sure something won’t happen? Plan for it.

A single anecdote or case isn’t proof of anything other than nature is variable.

I used to work for a leader who allowed “5 minutes to complain” before expecting folks to get behind the initiative. I thought it was a great idea, until I realized they dismissed anything said during that time.

Yes, I am that person who carries the microphone for the crowd in meetings and purposely avoids that one person who always dominates the discussion.

If your agendas constantly have items you cannot get to, you need to either get a better filter, learn to manage dialogue, or learn to delegate those issues to subcommittees.

“Let our minds play with ideas; let our senses gather information; and let the rich interaction proceed as it must....” -Stephen Jay Gould

One of the reasons I find it so hard to use libraries is I have the habit of writing in my books.

“Echo chambers” exist in schools as they decide the best pedagogy.

"Wrong" and "the best explanation given what we knew" are not the same.