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"The Managing Complex Change model puts language to that which makes some schools successful while others struggle. The model looks at five components necessary to create a desired environment. These include vision, skills, incentives, resources, action plan. If any one piece is missing the model indicates results schools will experience including change, confusion, anxiety, gradual change, frustration, and a false start. When thinking of successful schools such as Science Leadership Academy, The MET, The Island School, The iSchool, you will find they have all those components in place. On the other hand, when I hear teachers lamenting about their school failures, the model brings clarity to the fact that one or more of these components are missing. Below is the chart that lays this out. Following the chart, I'll take a look at what each missing component might look like in a school environment. As you read, consider which, if any are components, are missing at your school. save image Lack of Vision = Confusion When I hear exasperated teachers spinning their wheels, working so hard to get ready for all the various mandates and requirements, but never feeling a sense of accomplishment, it is clear there is not a tangible school vision that has been communicated. In some cases this is because what is being imposed does or can not reconcile with what the school wanted for their vision. Skill Deficit = Anxiety My heart goes out to those with a skill deficit. They are required to implement a curriculum they are not trained in using or being evaluated via measures with which they are not familiar. Or…they are put into a position they were not trained for or prepared to embrace. Social media provides a great medium for helping these teachers get up to speed, but when the outreach occurs, the anxiety is abundantly clear. Lack of Incentives = Gradual Change It is not unusual for innovative educators to feel like and be perceived as misfits. Islands onto their own

"Infographic Of The Day: 13 Rules For Realizing Your Creative Vision"

Explore the website of any school, and you will undoubtedly find a page dedicated to their Mission and Vision. Here you will find carefully crafted statements of purpose couched in the vocabulary of educational excellence and reflecting the pinnacle of human possibility. A blend of educational philosophy and marketing speak designed to promote student achievement and enrolments. The question is, to what degree does the lived experience of the typical student align with the stated purposes? Does the product do what it says on the tin?

"I was fortunate enough last weekend to receive an invitation to the Sydney Catholic Schools Early Years Conference. I was interested because the conference was centred around creating a clear and coherent vision around Early Years pedagogy. I was also intrigued to see how the iPad fitted in with this vision. "

"When you look at the very best work happening in iPad classrooms, you'll see students creating media, showcasing their understanding, collaborating with peers, and communicating with broad audiences. The pockets of excellence are ever-present and inspiring. On the whole, however, tablets are most often used to reproduce existing practices-to distribute resources and enable students to take notes. Past generations of school leaders might have been forgiven for permitting these patterns of technology adoption, but today we have the benefit of history to look back on. We know that without a change in our technology integration strategies, there's no reason to expect that a new device will magically create new teaching practices in schools. To make the most of the investment in tablet computers, school leaders need to do three things. First, they need to work with their communities to articulate a clear vision for how new technology will improve instruction. Second, they need to help educators imagine how new technologies can support those visions. Finally, they need to support teachers and students on a developmental journey that will take them from using tablets for consumption to using them for curation, creation, and connection."

"From Papert's book The Children's Machine: "LOGO was fueled from the beginning by a Robin Hood vision of stealing programming from the technologically privileged (what I would in those early days in the 1960s have called the military-industrial complex) and giving it to children." Who are the "technologically privileged" these days? And are "learn to code" efforts part of a social justice vision, a Robin Hood-like act of stealing programming from them? Or rather, which computer science education efforts have equity and agency at their core, and which might be more about conscripting cheap and compliant labor for today's version of that complex?"

A Professional Learning Community (PLC) is defined as a school in which the professionals (administrators and teachers) continuously seek and share learning to increase their effectiveness for students, and act on what they learn (Hord, 1997). Hord adds that schools organized as PLCs are characterized by five dimensions: shared and supportive leadership, shared values and vision, collective learning and application of learning, supportive conditions, and shared personal practice. Hord asserts that by nurturing and developing each of these five dimensions, a school staff can evolve into a learning community.

A Must read for MiY/SY Teachers Mr. Alan's Top Tips To Teach Teens 1. Teach Teens to Bounce Back 2. Teach Teens to Craft a Vision 3. Teach Teens to Tend to Their 'Tude 4. Teach Teaching Teens to Be Tenacious 5. Teach Teens that Educations Pays 6. Teach Teens to Go Where Their Inner Fire Burns 7. Teach Teens to Take Ownership 8. Teach Teens to Seek Excellence

ruMAD? enables students to lead change within their communities and to become active citizens. It is values-focused, student led and at the very core starts from student identified values and visions

"A 9-year-old girl with sight problems has swapped out magnifying glasses and other clunky equipment for an iPad."

"Within Parkland School Division, our mission is stated as the following: Our purpose is to prepare, engage and inspire our students to be their best in a quickly changing global community. As there was a lot of work to create this mission with our stakeholders and community , I looked deeply at the work that I do as the Division Principal of Innovative Teaching and Learning and how we could help make this mission come to life. As there are often overarching vision, mission, and value statements, it is essential that we look at these areas and break them down into more achievable "chunks". It is important we define "why" we do the work, but it is also important to bring these statements to life as well."

"Code.org is a non-profit foundation dedicated to growing computer programming education. Founded by two brothers, Hadi Partovi and Ali Partovi, their vision is that every student in every school has the opportunity to learn how to code. Code.org want computer science and computer programming to be part of the core curriculum in education, alongside other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses, such as biology, physics, chemistry and algebra."

"In less than a decade, Oregon State University went from not offering formal tech support to its faculty to having the director of its faculty tech training program, Jon Dorbolo, named one of this year's top 50 innovators in education. That's because in 2003, Dorbolo and his colleague Mark Dinsmore had a vision for how to turn their scattershot efforts at individual faculty tech support into something more scalable."

"Clear, concise communication is powerful. With a little clarity, we can eliminate those long, roundabout email exchanges that keep projects in perpetual limbo. That's what Skitch is for, and today we're bringing this vision to your PDF workflow to help you give the fastest, friendliest and most direct feedback ever. Not only that, but we've also added an innovative summary that ensures your recipients are able to act upon your feedback immediately. Let's dive into the new PDF features, as well as some exciting new tools."

"Last week I mentioned augmented reality during a presentation and I could tell from the looks on some people's faces that augmented reality was a new thing to them. That's not uncommon. Sometimes when people hear "augmented reality" their minds drift to some vision of a science fiction world. The truth is augmented reality isn't science fiction, it's technology that is readily available now. To learn more about it, watch the short video below (if you're reading this in RSS click here for the video)."