What Google Looks for in its Employees

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-to-get-a-job-at-google.html?_r=4

Good overlap between the key competencies and what Google looks for when it's employing someone:

'take somebody who has high cognitive ability, is innately curious, willing to learn and has emergent leadership skills'

'For every job, though, the No. 1 thing we look for is general cognitive ability, and it’s not I.Q. It’s learning ability. It’s the ability to process on the fly. It’s the ability to pull together disparate bits of information.'

'The second is leadership — in particular emergent leadership as opposed to traditional leadership. Traditional leadership is, were you president of the chess club? Were you vice president of sales? How quickly did you get there? We don’t care. What we care about is, when faced with a problem and you’re a member of a team, do you, at the appropriate time, step in and lead. And just as critically, do you step back and stop leading, do you let someone else? Because what’s critical to be an effective leader in this environment is you have to be willing to relinquish power.'

Some good stuff here for seniors and even middles when we talk to kids about what employers really want.... 

Collaborative Teaching

http://theeducatorsroom.com/2013/01/5-ways-to-boost-communication-in-a-co-teaching-classroom/


The main points:

• Co-teaching is a partnership that will not grow, develop or thrive without successful communication
• Need to suspend judgment and really take in what co teaching partne is saying before making assumptions or dismissing
• Clarify and confirm what you think is begin said- don't make assumptions
• Ask questions
• Look for common ground
• Remember change is stressful

I've gone back and re-read this article a few times since posting it in the school forums.

Even though Jono and I had done lots of talking and planning together and have a common ground and a trust and a good degree of communication, the fact that we hadn't really taught together before and that I was teaching by myself in the classroom or the first five weeks, has meant that some degree of negotiation and lots of talking has been needed to move forward as a team. I think we've probably moved quite fast given the planning and level of communication we have but it hasn't al been easy and its definitely been stressful t times. But like I said in my blogpost back in February two heads is definitely better than one and the kids are now experiencing much more enhanced leanrign experiences because of that.

Doing What Comes Naturally

The Link


Why is it automatically assumed that students have to be controlled? Why does this idea have such a strong grip on how we view education? The answer is pretty basic: fear of losing control. I call this the primal fear of most teachers. Teachers have nightmares of people especially their principals leveling this criticism: They don’t have control of their classes. To most teachers, this is tantamount to saying that they are incompetent and irresponsible. Social media and technology represent something teachers can’t control so no wonder it is such a threat to them and everything they have been taught about education.

Are we Wringing the Creativity Out of Kids?

Are We Wringing the Creativity Out of Kids?

Ask this question of a group of second-graders, and about 95 percent of them will answer “Yes.” Three years later, when the kids are in fifth grade, that proportion will drop to 50 percent—and by the time they’re seniors in high school, it’s down to 5 percent.

This is so scary because it rings so true.

Suggests these interventions:

“We have to expand our notion of what productivity means,” said Lehrer. “Right now we are grooming our kids to think in a very particular way, which assumes that the right way to be thinking is to be attentive, to stare straight ahead—which is why we diagnose 20 percent of kids in many classrooms as having attention deficit disorders,

Teach children how to have “grit,” the perseverance and determination that’s required to create something new.

important to give kids a menu of possibilities pretty early on, a menu of things they might fall in love with—maybe it’s painting, maybe it’s drawing, maybe it’s writing, maybe it’s computer science—just a bunch of passions that they could discover

‘OK, so you’ve found something you love, the goal you want to strive for. Now you have to work hard. Now you have to put in your thousands of hours of practice. Now you have to be willing to persevere through failure and frustrations.’”

Learning muscles being used in the Middle Years- particualrly imagination and stickability ring very true to this. 

Meetings and Discussions

http://www.inc.com/the-build-network/the-only-2-things-you-should-be-discussing-in-meetings.html

Reason I stopped most meetings years ago and only do a very quick briefing once a week.

Posted this in the team leaders forum- maybe should post it to the whole staff?

Important to differentiate between meetings and professional learning sessions though where I think sharing is an integral part of learning.

Its why I try to call our staf professional learning sessions rather than meetings. Its not a meeting its a learning time. Although some staff still persist in using the term staff meeting.

I would like to review what is happening in leadership meetings. They tend to be too much sharing and not enough decisions making and requesting. Although some of the leadership team have identified that they reallly appreciate that 15 minute touch base time.

A Great Team Fights Well

As with marriage, many make the incorrect assumption that the best teams are conflict free.  They often equate conflictwith dysfunction.

http://ronalvesteffer.com/a-great-team-like-a-great-marriage-fights-well/

Conflict in teams is beneficial when it:

1. Helps to break down perceived barriers of politeness that prevent open communication and the exchange of great ideas.  
2. Gets to the heart of the issue.  
3. Crowd-sources the best ideas and filters out the weakest.
4. Causes individuals to defend their position so that they’re sure they’re standing on solid footing.

Initially, even healthy conflict is uncomfortable.  And it can be particularly unnerving in the workplace unless a safe environment is created.  

As is often the case, the key to fighting well is fair and effective communication.  Team leaders must clearly articulate that conflict is an expected, natural and necessary part of group interaction.  And they must reinforce that expectation (including the “why” behind it) often.  

After being given the necessary permission, it doesn’t take long before team members are comfortable expressing their opinions, challenging assumptions and building on each others ideas.  They become energized, they feel closer as a team (conflict has a way of strengthening relationships), and they begin to produce exceptional results.

The true challenge for a leader is to shift the paradigm that says all conflict is bad and make others feel safe to debate and challenge one another freely.

Just as in marriage, when conflict is perceived as a dysfunction, it results in hurt feelings, resentment, anger, division, name calling and ultimately each person feels like they’re spinning their wheels and not going much of anywhere.  

Fighting well means contributing to the conversation through open and honest communication with grace and care.  It also means receiving others contributions with respect and grace.  And the most critical element is that we focus on the issue and not the person.  When conflict becomes personal, everyone loses.

Remember, none of us are as strong as all of us.

What Keeps Students Motivated?

What Keeps Students Motivated?

Integrated projects

Interest based and relevant

Make it hands-on

Knowing teachers care

Learning from failure

“Treat students like adults. If the students feel like they’re worth it they’ll act more like adults.”