After nearly a 35 year career in education, I retired as the Superintendent of Schools in January 2020. While in the role as superintendent, I sat on two national committees, ERDI and C21 and also was an adjunct professor for Gonzaga University. I now work as a leadership consultant supporting the work of school boards, system and school leaders.
Author's posts
Dec 04
Teachers aren’t miracle workers but they can sure make a difference!!!
One of the advantages of consulting for Nelson on a part time basis, is that I am able to access the wide array of professional learning that is offered. Most recently, I’ve been involved in the webinar series Relationships First: Rethinking the Post-Pandemic Classroom that is led by Dr. David Tranter. I’m currently in the …
Oct 12
Choosing your municipal candidates
We just came through a federal election here in Canada and a fairly useless and expensive endeavour to boot! Most people would have voted along party lines and that would likely be similar in provincial elections too! Obviously there are exceptions, but in general, the person is far less important than the political party. However, …
Jun 05
Being a superhero!
Last week, I completed a follow up presentation to a school staff, that I’ve worked with this past year. In my first presentation, the staff was introduced to Miss Patty in the video The Calling. It is a video from a father who expresses his gratitude for his little girl receiving the gift of learning …
Jun 01
Another Residential School Tragedy
Like any with a heart, the discovery of 215 children in an unmarked gravesite at the Kamloops Residential School hit me hard. I was born in that city and although I didn’t grow up there, I spent almost every summer visiting my grandparents. I knew there was a residential school there and I even attended …
May 02
Maybe we should talk about curriculum!!!
I’ve sat on this blog post for weeks now, but figured it was probably time to get my viewpoint out on curriculum. I would never consider myself an expert, but I’ve been well involved over the years in working with Alberta Education, as part of numerous teams overseeing the development and/or implementation of new curriculum. …
Apr 11
High School Programming Now and into the Future
Last week, I had the pleasure of moderating a C21 Canada webinar entitled, “The A, B, Cs of High School Programming.” The webinar featured five Superintendents/Directors from across Canada. The two main questions that framed the discussion were: What pandemic opportunities have occurred in high school/secondary program models that encourage a deeper look at pedagogy? …
Apr 05
Leadership and the rules of the game
A couple of weeks ago, veteran NHL referee Tim Peel was caught on a live microphone wanting to call a penalty on a team. He was subsequently released as the NHL believed strongly that the integrity of the game was at stake. There has been a lot of discussion on his punishment and whether it …
Mar 21
The future of professional development
I was most interested following my social media feeds during virtual Teachers’ Conventions this year. The pandemic has certainly changed the way that professional development has been offered. There will be an end to the pandemic but with that end, what will become of professional development as we know it? I remember one of the …
Feb 18
Schedule the important
A number of years ago I was introduced to a daily blog entitled “Leadership Freak.” The author, Dan Rockwell’s tag line is, “Empowering leaders 300 words at a time.” I’ve shared the link to many of my colleagues, as well as to former students of graduate classes who I taught. When time is tight, which …