ESHA News
 Leading Off Dear ESHA Friends, We concluded our biggest event of the year - our Annual Retreat - a few weeks ago. Mary Beth Noel, our very part-time venue evaluator par excellence, helped us find a terrific location for the gathering, and we are very grateful to her for her fine work. The following evaluation is gratifying and a call to all who weren't able to join us! "What a fantastic first ESHA conference! As a new head, I felt welcomed and immediately part of a larger collegial group that will undoubtedly provide the support needed as I traverse many new head challenges in the months to come. My husband and I enjoyed meeting many ESHA members, and I am currently reflecting on the many ideas I hope to implement which came from the seminars and discussions this past weekend. I appreciate the thoughtful planning that went into such a productive conference." "As a new head, I would love to take part in the phone call groups. Would you please add me to a flight roster?" We received many other positive evaluations, some of which are included with the photos below. So if you didn't make it to Florida in October, plan to join us in NASHVILLE next October 19-22. And let me know if you'd like to join a phone call group! Best, Chris From ESHA President Elinor Scully Dear ESHA Colleagues, The 2018 ESHA Conference, "Lead with a Story," held in Palm Beach in mid-October by all accounts was an enormous success. Pete Upham of TABS gave a terrific presentation on the core elements of developing meaningful strategy for schools in our marketplace. Charlie Jones of Brand Intersection Group joined us for a second time and offered a multi layered approach to thinking about our individual paths to successful leadership. In addition, Tim Good and his team from Good Design reminded us of the power of unique storytelling each of our schools. Some us who arrived early had the opportunity to hear about the benefits of executive coaching from Katherine Stuart and the Education Group. These speakers motivated and inspired us to think deeply about our work as school leaders. And, as always, being with colleagues and friends throughout the weekend was nourishing both professionally and personally. I know I came home enormously grateful for the time ESHA affords me to recharge and reconnect with esteemed colleagues (and in a beautiful location to boot!). I'm wishing everyone a restful and restorative Thanksgiving. Warmly, Elinor Heads Up! ESHA Flights: Ongoing Conversations with other ESHA Heads ESHA member Abigail Wiebenson, former Head of Lowell School in Washington, DC, and currently a leadership coach, runs one of our connecting flights and summarizes what the calls entail: The monthly Flights are an intentional way of giving ESHA members an opportunity to air ideas and consider situations in a safe, knowledgeable and collegial environment. These calls affirm and strengthen leadership as participants gain insight, awareness and validation from exchanging experiences with their colleagues about successes and dilemmas. Meeting monthly, if possible, has the added benefit of developing enduring professional and personal relationships over the course of a school year. During the hour phone discussions, flight leaders listen carefully and guide the conversation, enabling ideas to be exchanged in ways that produce insights, affirmations and “takeaways” for the participants. ESHA Is Delighted to Welcome Its New Members
ESHA in Florida: The Breakers Retreat Attendee comments: "The best professional development I do".... "Connecting with peers".... "The ESHA way is best!".... "Love the collegiality and warmth of the ESHA group".... "Time well spent." .... "An amazing experience that allowed me to connect with peers".... "Fabulous people and conversations".... "A top of the line experience".... "Such good people and takeaways" .... "My favorite conference."  An ongoing question  Figuring things out
 Matthew Gould with Sharon and Scott Laird  Carolyn Crandall and arvind grover
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 Leading Off Dear ESHA Friends, I hope that this late September post finds you all well and enjoying the relatively new school year. As our President, Elinor Scully, notes in her message, our Annual Retreat is around the corner. Many of you will be attending, but many will not be. I'm posting the schedule for the retreat below, certainly for the benefit of those who will be in Florida, but particularly for those who aren't able to join us. For those who haven't been to our conference in a while, or ever, this gives you some idea of what we'll be doing. I highly encourage all of you who won't have the opportunity to join us next month to seriously consider doing so next fall. Not only are our gatherings terrific opportunities for our Heads to learn, collaborate, and have fun, they are major professional development opportunities. Sometimes I worry that Heads give ample chances to faculty and staff to grow in their jobs by getting out to seminars, conferences, and courses but pull back when it comes to themselves. Don't do it! Make a resolution to be at the ESHA Retreat in 2019. Best, Chris From ESHA President Elinor Scully
some quieter reflection. To me, this retreat seems perfectly timed in the school year and I always return to Langley refreshed and recharged. ESHA offers me a unique way to enrich my professional network of colleagues. Please let us know how we can support your leadership, we are always striving to add value as an association. Best wishes as you begin a new year! Warmly, Elinor Heads Up!  Click on the program for a printable version. Click here for an interesting piece from The Economist, "Copying Allowed: What other countries should learn from Singapore's schools."  Dane's Education Blog iGen Generation - Born 1995-2012 Posted: 16 Aug 2018 05:12 AM PDT If you, or your child, or your student was born anytime between 1995 and 2012 you/she/he is of the iGen generation— you know, the generation after the Millennials. You will want to read Dr. Jean M. Twenge's book iGen. Filled with charts, statistics, and facts, her book, will amaze you at how iGens have moved beyond the technology and social media we think the Millennials own. Here is a link to the many Appendices that supplement the book, and along with the book, here is where you will get a quick sample of what the author has compiled to help readers understand the iGen generation. Ironically, when you view this link, the first graph you will see is Figure 1.A. "8th and 10th graders' print media use." Hang on to your seat when you view this graph. Coincidentally, NYTimes columnist Frank Bruni quoted Twenge in his Sunday Review column last Sunday, [She said] "Having to sit for more than a half hour or an hour doing one thing — that's gone by the wayside, and that concerns me as an educator and as a parent." Here is one more link to her TEDx Talk. In her closing comment she states, "Let your phone be a tool you use, not a tool that uses you." Thanks again to ESHA member Dane Peters for his fine work.
 Leading Off Dear ESHA Friends, I hope that for you, the song rings true: "Summertime, and the living is easy!" This July post is a brief one, just a chance to make sure that you're getting away for the break you deserve and to remind you of the wonderful professional development event coming up in October at our Annual Retreat. I've often observed that Heads are generous in giving faculty and staff opportunities for growth outside of their schools yet can be stingy when providing themselves such enrichment. So check out the information on our Palm Beach gathering below and join us in October! Cheers! Chris  From ESHA President Elinor Scully Dear ESHA Colleagues, As Chris noted above, it's really just time for a quick hello. I hope you are all enjoying a restful summer break and getting energized for the coming year. Should you have time, I highly recommend for your reading pleasure Wait, What? And Life's Other Essential Questions, a slim volume by James E. Ryan, former Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the new President of the University of Virginia. Enjoy July and August! Warmly, Elinor ESHA Is Delighted to |
 Amy Patzlaff, Clairbourn School, CA |  Hart Roper, The Oak Hill School, TN |
PLAN NOW for your own professional development by registering below for our October Retreat!
Leading Off
Dear ESHA Friends,
May is nearly done, so congratulations are due for almost completing your leadership year for 2017-2018! In my discussions with you, both face to face and on our connecting calls, I remain deeply impressed with the common sense, creativity, and energy with which you approach your always demanding jobs. Keep it up! Go, ESHA Heads!
To the degree possible, enjoy the hoopla and intensity of the end of the school year, and then totally enjoy the well deserved time off that you have merited this summer. And before you check out, register below for our October Retreat in Palm Beach!
Cheers!
Chris
,From ESHA President Elinor Scully
Dear ESHA Colleagues,
We are in the home stretch and I'm sure all of you are counting down, in one way or another, to the end of the school year. I also hope that as you anticipate summer you have carved out some time to rest and recharge. I'm including two links to things I've read recently that are compelling and speak to our work as leaders of preschool through grade eight institutions.
1. The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives, by William Stixrud and Ned Johnson.
2. The 10 Skills You Need to Thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Have a wonderful summer! I look forward to seeing all of you at The Breakers in Palm Beach for our annual retreat in the fall.
Warmly,
Elinor
Dear ESHA Colleagues,
We are in the home stretch and I'm sure all of you are counting down, in one way or another, to the end of the school year. I also hope that as you anticipate summer you have carved out some time to rest and recharge. I'm including two links to things I've read recently that are compelling and speak to our work as leaders of preschool through grade eight institutions.
1. The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives, by William Stixrud and Ned Johnson.
2. The 10 Skills You Need to Thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Have a wonderful summer! I look forward to seeing all of you at The Breakers in Palm Beach for our annual retreat in the fall.
Warmly,
Elinor
Heads Up!
Food for thought from The Marshall Memo...
Which Managerial Coaching Style Works Best?
This Harvard Business Review article reports that most managers aspire to check in frequently with their people to see how things are going and develop talent. “Indeed,” say the authors, “the desire for frequent discussions about development is one reason many companies are moving away from annual performance reviews: A yearly conversation isn’t enough.” But surveys reveal that managers spend only about 9 percent of their time with subordinates; they’re just too busy. Given that stark reality, the key question is how leaders can have the biggest impact in that small window of opportunity.
A study by Gartner Executive Programs identified four distinct employee-coaching profiles and analyzed which was most effective:
• Teacher-managers give advice, feedback, and direction based on their own knowledge and past experience in the field.
• Always-on managers provide continuous coaching, give feedback across a wide range of skills, and stay on top of how employees are developing. This is often seen as the ideal style of management.
• Connector managers link employees to others on the team when they themselves can’t give the most helpful feedback. They spend more time assessing the skills, needs, and interests of their employees, and realize that they often aren’t the best person to do the coaching.
• Cheerleader managers are available and supportive and deliver positive feedback, but mostly put employees in charge of their own development.
The Gartner research team came to several conclusions. First, the amount of coaching time was less important than depth and quality – and quality depended on coaching style. Second, the hyper-vigilant Always-on coaching style was the least effective; in fact, these managers were doing more harm than good. Why?
- Their continual stream of feedback could be overwhelming and kept employees from developing independently.
- They spent less time assessing employees’ skill needs and tended to coach in areas that weren’t relevant to real needs.
- They were so focused on coaching that they often failed to recognize the limits of their own expertise; they were winging it or giving misguided advice.
Third, the researchers found the Connectors were by far the most effective. In fact, employees who worked with these leaders were three times as likely to be high performers as those under the other three styles.
What’s going on here? Consider a professional tennis player’s coach who tries to do it all. Nobody knows everything, which is why a really good coach will identify expertise, monitor progress, and outsource certain areas – perhaps strength training, nutrition, serves, lobs, and backhands.
Becoming a Connector is a mind shift for many leaders, especially the humility involved in admitting gaps in knowledge and deferring to others. “Historically,” says Jaime Roca of Gartner, “being a manager is about being directive and telling people what to do. Being a Connector is more about asking the right questions, providing tailored feedback, and helping employees make a connection to a colleague who can help them.” Being a connector also takes some of the pressure off managers to be all things to everyone. They basically delegate some of the coaching to other members of their team, encouraging people to coach one another, and constantly assessing and pointing out skills that exist within the organization that can benefit everyone.
“Managers Can’t Be Great Coaches All By Themselves” in Harvard Business Review, May-June 2018 (Vol. 96, #3, p. 22), https://hbr.org/2018/05/managers-cant-be-great-coaches-all-by-themselves
And here's yet interesting another post from Dane's Blog by ESHA member Dane Peters...
Food for thought from The Marshall Memo...
Which Managerial Coaching Style Works Best?
This Harvard Business Review article reports that most managers aspire to check in frequently with their people to see how things are going and develop talent. “Indeed,” say the authors, “the desire for frequent discussions about development is one reason many companies are moving away from annual performance reviews: A yearly conversation isn’t enough.” But surveys reveal that managers spend only about 9 percent of their time with subordinates; they’re just too busy. Given that stark reality, the key question is how leaders can have the biggest impact in that small window of opportunity.
A study by Gartner Executive Programs identified four distinct employee-coaching profiles and analyzed which was most effective:
• Teacher-managers give advice, feedback, and direction based on their own knowledge and past experience in the field.
• Always-on managers provide continuous coaching, give feedback across a wide range of skills, and stay on top of how employees are developing. This is often seen as the ideal style of management.
• Connector managers link employees to others on the team when they themselves can’t give the most helpful feedback. They spend more time assessing the skills, needs, and interests of their employees, and realize that they often aren’t the best person to do the coaching.
• Cheerleader managers are available and supportive and deliver positive feedback, but mostly put employees in charge of their own development.
The Gartner research team came to several conclusions. First, the amount of coaching time was less important than depth and quality – and quality depended on coaching style. Second, the hyper-vigilant Always-on coaching style was the least effective; in fact, these managers were doing more harm than good. Why?
- Their continual stream of feedback could be overwhelming and kept employees from developing independently.
- They spent less time assessing employees’ skill needs and tended to coach in areas that weren’t relevant to real needs.
- They were so focused on coaching that they often failed to recognize the limits of their own expertise; they were winging it or giving misguided advice.
Third, the researchers found the Connectors were by far the most effective. In fact, employees who worked with these leaders were three times as likely to be high performers as those under the other three styles.
What’s going on here? Consider a professional tennis player’s coach who tries to do it all. Nobody knows everything, which is why a really good coach will identify expertise, monitor progress, and outsource certain areas – perhaps strength training, nutrition, serves, lobs, and backhands.
Becoming a Connector is a mind shift for many leaders, especially the humility involved in admitting gaps in knowledge and deferring to others. “Historically,” says Jaime Roca of Gartner, “being a manager is about being directive and telling people what to do. Being a Connector is more about asking the right questions, providing tailored feedback, and helping employees make a connection to a colleague who can help them.” Being a connector also takes some of the pressure off managers to be all things to everyone. They basically delegate some of the coaching to other members of their team, encouraging people to coach one another, and constantly assessing and pointing out skills that exist within the organization that can benefit everyone.
“Managers Can’t Be Great Coaches All By Themselves” in Harvard Business Review, May-June 2018 (Vol. 96, #3, p. 22), https://hbr.org/2018/05/managers-cant-be-great-coaches-all-by-themselves
And here's yet interesting another post from Dane's Blog by ESHA member Dane Peters...
Before you take off for your summer break, plan now for your own professional development by registering below for our October Retreat!
Click the image to register for ESHA's Retreat
Leading Off
Dear ESHA Friends,
Our Annual Dinner in Atlanta gave many of us an opportunity to gather for a terrific evening at The Children's School, hosted by ESHA board member Nishant Mehta and his wife Neeti. Nishant gave timely remarks about the importance of our schools' important efforts to sustain the childhoods of our students for as long as possible, particularly in light of Parkland and other school tragedies. Abigail Wiebenson, a "connecting flight"conference call leader, spoke about the value of the discussion groups and encouraged all Heads to consider participating, and attendees got a preview of the October Annual Retreat in Florida. The Annual Dinner, the Connecting Flight calls, and the Annual Retreat: take advantage of all three!
Best,
Chris
Dear ESHA Friends,
Our Annual Dinner in Atlanta gave many of us an opportunity to gather for a terrific evening at The Children's School, hosted by ESHA board member Nishant Mehta and his wife Neeti. Nishant gave timely remarks about the importance of our schools' important efforts to sustain the childhoods of our students for as long as possible, particularly in light of Parkland and other school tragedies. Abigail Wiebenson, a "connecting flight"conference call leader, spoke about the value of the discussion groups and encouraged all Heads to consider participating, and attendees got a preview of the October Annual Retreat in Florida. The Annual Dinner, the Connecting Flight calls, and the Annual Retreat: take advantage of all three!
Best,
Chris
From ESHA President Elinor Scully
Dear ESHA Colleagues,
By now I hope many of you have had (or are getting to enjoy) a much-deserved spring vacation and that the bulk of winter weather has passed for those in the areas that have seen so much snow and cold weather. ESHA held its annual dinner at The Children's School in Atlanta earlier this month during the NAIS conference. Heartfelt thanks go to our gracious host Nishant Mehta and his dynamic team for treating us to a lovely meal and a wonderful evening of fellowship. ESHA gives us that special network of trusted colleagues with whom we can share the joys and the challenges of our work. The annual dinner was no exception.
As we round out the year, I hope many of you will continue to participate in your Mentoring Flight calls, another example the benefits of being a part of ESHA.
Wishing everyone a happy spring!
Elinor
Dear ESHA Colleagues,
By now I hope many of you have had (or are getting to enjoy) a much-deserved spring vacation and that the bulk of winter weather has passed for those in the areas that have seen so much snow and cold weather. ESHA held its annual dinner at The Children's School in Atlanta earlier this month during the NAIS conference. Heartfelt thanks go to our gracious host Nishant Mehta and his dynamic team for treating us to a lovely meal and a wonderful evening of fellowship. ESHA gives us that special network of trusted colleagues with whom we can share the joys and the challenges of our work. The annual dinner was no exception.
As we round out the year, I hope many of you will continue to participate in your Mentoring Flight calls, another example the benefits of being a part of ESHA.
Wishing everyone a happy spring!
Elinor
Heads Up!
Save the date for the 2018 ESHA Annual Conference!
Below please find another fine posting from member Dane Peters. By the way, if you have not read Atul Gawande's book, Being Mortal, put it on your list of musts!
Leadership Through Coaching
Posted: 24 Feb 2018 07:57 AM PST
From TED:
“How do we improve in the face of complexity? Atul Gawande has studied this question with a surgeon's precision. He shares what he's found to be the key: having a good coach to provide a more accurate picture of our reality, to instill positive habits of thinking, and to break our actions down and then help us build them back up again. 'It's not how good you are now; it's how good you're going to be that really matters,' Gawande says.”
Nishant Mehta wrote the following letter to The Children's School community last month and spoke of his concern for our students' childhoods at our Annual Dinner on March 7.
Written on February 17, 2018
Dear TCS Families:
I can’t stop thinking about the shooting one week ago in Parkland, FL. I don’t know why that is; something feels different now. Maybe I can’t put it out of my mind because I’m not supposed to; because it’d be wrong to ignore, again, why these tragedies continue. Schools are the strongest and the most vulnerable places of any neighborhood; where families bring their most precious parts of themselves, their children, and their dreams and aspirations and hand them over into the trusting hands of strangers who quickly become an extension of the family.
I’m wondering, and worrying, right now about all of you: what are you telling - or not telling - your children about what happened in Parkland? Are they asking about whether it can occur at our school? Why someone, anyone, would want to harm anyone who looks like them or their friends? I wonder and I worry about each of you.
Shortly after I started at TCS in spring 2013, Neeti asked me whether I had accepted the reality of what it means to be a head of school. I said yes. I felt responsible for the livelihoods and the lives of several hundred children and adults and, directly or indirectly, their immediate and extended families. We don’t have children of our own, but I come to work every day knowing and accepting the responsibility of keeping your children, and those that surround your children, safe and secure as if they are our own.
I left my own immediate family when I was 16 and came several thousand miles away to a small boarding school in Asheville, NC. While my parents supported me and loved me, they couldn’t really “parent” me from so far away. When I graduated from college, I joined schools as a teacher and then administrator because being in schools helped me compensate for the void I felt in my life of a family and my parents. Until the age of 16, I had a normal and wonderful childhood. But, my childhood ended when I came over to the United States, and I had to grow up, sometimes against what - looking back now - I’d have wished for myself. To steal from Christopher Robin in the movie, "Goodbye, Christopher Robin," my childhood was wonderful, but growing up was hard to do. The childhood of so many children in Parkland and schools across the country has ended. Growing up now will be hard to do.
A few months ago, I read an article that the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, obsesses over the customer experience and has made that the cornerstone of Amazon’s culture. I wondered then what I obsess over as head of The Children’s School. What would I say to anyone who asked me that question? My answer didn’t take long. I obsess over childhood, to ensure that every child’s joy, creativity, and passion for life; their can-do, will-do attitude; their sense of invincibility; their wonder and curiosity; and their limitless imagination that builds castles in the air and reaches for the stars are at the center of everything they do or experience, to embed it all so deep into their consciousness that it becomes inseparable no matter what the world tells them or inflicts on them. I obsess over that kind of a childhood; and I see it happen at TCS every day.
Adults who have been adults for too long naively call all of the above a child’s innocence, implying that our children don’t know better. Reflecting on the events of one week ago, it seems to me that it’s we - the adults - who don’t know better. Let’s build those castles in the air and reach for the stars like our children do. They show us every day that they have power. Why, then, do we act so powerless? Others may call it naive, but perhaps that’s how we will protect our children and their childhood. Growing up should never be so hard to do.
For all children,
Nishant N. Mehta
Head of School
ESHA's Annual Dinner
March 7, 2018
The Children's School, Atlanta
March 7, 2018
The Children's School, Atlanta
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ESHA Is Delighted to Welcome New Member Dave Skeen, Jr. from Harding Academy in Nashville, TN
Leading Off
Dear ESHA Friends,
I look forward to seeing many of you in Atlanta at our Annual Dinner in March – hosted at The Children’s School by Nishant Mehta - and am happy to report that our planning committee is already assembling the program for our October retreat in Florida. In addition, many of our “mentoring and connecting flight” conference calls are providing ongoing support and stimulation for those of our Heads who participate, as Elinor notes in her message.
These three activities – the dinner, the retreat, and the calls – provide regular opportunities for you to engage in friendly conversations with your peers while addressing concerns about issues such as leadership styles, branding and marketing, and the cost of and enrollment in our schools.
Hopefully you will participate in all of these activities and fully enjoy the offerings that ESHA presents. Check out what Muddy and Liza Waters have to say about ESHA below.
Happy New Year!
Best,
Chris Abell
From ESHA President Elinor Scully
Dear ESHA Colleagues,
I recently held a Mentoring Flight Call with a group of ESHA heads. This is the second year for this particular flight and though we are continuing to get to know one another, we are developing a nice sense of partnership and rhythm in these calls. A few members have dropped off and we have added a few more. What struck me most, however, was how in just one hour I gained so much from the conversation. I left with several excellent ideas I could use in dealing with a strategic issue I was facing at my school. I garnered wisdom and practical advice, but moreover a sense that I wasn't alone in facing these challenges. In our days as heads of school, we have precious little time to truly reflect and gain advice. My Mentoring Flight offers this to me on a regular basis. It is a wonderful gift and if you haven't had a chance to explore this feature of your ESHA membership, please give it a try.
I also hope to see many of you at the annual dinner in Atlanta!
Best, Elinor
I recently held a Mentoring Flight Call with a group of ESHA heads. This is the second year for this particular flight and though we are continuing to get to know one another, we are developing a nice sense of partnership and rhythm in these calls. A few members have dropped off and we have added a few more. What struck me most, however, was how in just one hour I gained so much from the conversation. I left with several excellent ideas I could use in dealing with a strategic issue I was facing at my school. I garnered wisdom and practical advice, but moreover a sense that I wasn't alone in facing these challenges. In our days as heads of school, we have precious little time to truly reflect and gain advice. My Mentoring Flight offers this to me on a regular basis. It is a wonderful gift and if you haven't had a chance to explore this feature of your ESHA membership, please give it a try.
I also hope to see many of you at the annual dinner in Atlanta!
Best, Elinor
Heads Up!
Register for the Annual Dinner
ESHA'S Annual Dinner will be hosted by Nishant Mehta at The Children's School in Atlanta on Wednesday, March 7, 2018, when NAIS has its annual conference. Details and registration here.
Eating Glass and Liking It: How to Fail like Elon Musk
Carla Silver, Executive Director, Leadership+Design
Carla Silver, Executive Director, Leadership+Design
Seasons Greetings, Friends,
As we head into the last days of 2017, our gift to you is the December Monthly Recharge, hopefully providing you with some provocative reading over the break. This month we are talking about "Risk over Safety," inspired by the fourth chapter in Whiplash: How to Survive Our Faster Future by Joi Ito and Jeffrey Howe. If we are really going to evolve education for an era of rapid acceleration and global uncertainty, we are going to have to accept risk and even failure as a natural part of the process. Writing about risk also gives me the perfect excuse to wax on about my favorite risk-taker of modern times: Elon Musk.
It's true. I have a fascination with the Silicon Valley mega-entrepreneur, founder of PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX and Solar City. You know that dinner party question: "What three people, living or dead would you invite to dinner?" The Dalai Lama, Van Jones, Desmond Tutu, Sheryl Sandberg, Barack Obama, Lin Manuel Miranda, Oprah - they rotate in and out of the top spots - but Elon Musk is always on the list. Always. I see Elon Musk as a relentless optimist, a creator, a visionary, and above all else, an unparalleled risk taker. Not only does Musk have intrepid and sometimes seemingly unfeasible ideas, but he has a bias to action, zero use for safety, and an incredible tolerance for personal pain and suffering. Like an athlete who can tolerate high levels of physical discomfort, Musk has built up a resistance to ambiguity, loss, rejection and failure - because let's face it, real risk involves plenty of that as well. As Elon Musk says, "Being an entrepreneur is like eating glass and staring into the abyss of death."
I sometimes wonder what education would be like if we had Elon Musk leading schools. Would they all be solar powered? Would all classes be virtual? Would students launch themselves in rockets and colonize Mars? One thing is certain, there would be a lot more risk-taking and, I believe, something new (and better) would emerge. For Musk, "different" is not enough; "better" is essential, and pushing not just one company but a whole industry to better is the ultimate goal. But there would also be failures - big and small - and that is the cost of innovation. He has been known to say, "If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough."
I hear the arguments against high risk, drastic change in schools. Usually these excuses are variations on the statement: "We are not creating widgets, bur rather educating children. You can't take risks with children." As far as I know, no children have been harmed in the lengthening of the school year or moving to more project-based instruction or getting rid of AP courses. Frankly, most of the arguments I hear feel grounded in adult needs, not student needs. We don't have an Elon Musk equivalent in education - not even Sal Khan (Khan Academy) or Ben Nelson (Minerva Schools) - at least not yet - but that is no excuse for our inability to think boldly, dig in, and allow us to emerge with something not just different but better.
What might allow educators and school leaders to get out of our own risk-averse ways? Maybe there are a few design principles we could draw upon to help us take a leap.
Principle One: Be Student-Centered in your Risk-Taking.
Ground your risks in what you believe (and know) is right for the students you serve. Start asking the big questions and have the hard conversations about the future and not the past. What is most important for students to know? What is most important for them to be able to do? How do we want them to treat each other? How do we want them to feel about learning? How do they find purpose and meaning in their work and lives? How are they whole? What in your school is no longer serving students? What in your school is currently an obstacle to providing students with what they need? When you think this way, you are taking risks ON BEHALF of children not WITH children.
Principle Two: Engage in Mission/Values-Centered Risk.
Our hesitancy to take risks often comes at a much greater risk - not achieving our mission and values or accomplishing key elements of our strategic plan. It comes at the risk of becoming a color-less, bland version of what we could be. If you want to be vibrant and bold, align your risks with your values and your mission as a school. If you are a school with a mission "to prepare students for life" and yet you hold onto 45-60 minute class blocks silo-ed by discipline with content generally delivered as lectures or teacher-led class discussion, you might be inhibiting your mission, not living it. If you say you value student wellness and health, and yet you let college admission statistics and practices drive your curriculum, schedule, and assessment regardless of student stress levels, you might not be living your values. Take risks that support and enhance your mission and values and bring you closer to your strategic vision.
Principle Three: Articulate the WHY - again and again and again.
Rarely is radical and bold change tolerated without a true understanding of why it is necessary and what the outcome will be. First you need to get clear on the why. Your job as a school leader is then to communicate the why, to develop a vision of what "better" looks like, and to clarify how you will know and measure your progress. Be prepared to tell the same story over and over again. Use clear, specific language. Use visual representations of your idea that make the goal understood. It might feel like you have said the same message 100 times - you probably haven't - and you are bored of saying it. But that might just be the beginning. Studies have shown that people won't buy your idea (or product) until they have heard about it at least 6, but more often 20, times.
And what if things fail? And they will. Scream, shake your fists at the sky, and channel your inner Elon Musk. According to his recent Rolling Stone Interview, Elon Musk suggest calling upon the Musk Family Rules: "Number One: "Don't panic." And whatever you do, don't back down and regress to safety. "Safety third," says Musk in the interview. "There's not even a Rule Number Two. But even though there's nothing in second place, safety is not getting promoted to number two."
The following articles by Jeremy Goldstein (Episcopal High School, Eric Chandler (Kent Denver School) and Annie Makela (Hillbrook School) illustrate schools taking risks - but grounding them in what is best for students, in mission, values and strategic thinking, and articulating the WHY. May these articles inspire both bold thinking and action in the year ahead.
Warmly,
Carla Silver
As we head into the last days of 2017, our gift to you is the December Monthly Recharge, hopefully providing you with some provocative reading over the break. This month we are talking about "Risk over Safety," inspired by the fourth chapter in Whiplash: How to Survive Our Faster Future by Joi Ito and Jeffrey Howe. If we are really going to evolve education for an era of rapid acceleration and global uncertainty, we are going to have to accept risk and even failure as a natural part of the process. Writing about risk also gives me the perfect excuse to wax on about my favorite risk-taker of modern times: Elon Musk.
It's true. I have a fascination with the Silicon Valley mega-entrepreneur, founder of PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX and Solar City. You know that dinner party question: "What three people, living or dead would you invite to dinner?" The Dalai Lama, Van Jones, Desmond Tutu, Sheryl Sandberg, Barack Obama, Lin Manuel Miranda, Oprah - they rotate in and out of the top spots - but Elon Musk is always on the list. Always. I see Elon Musk as a relentless optimist, a creator, a visionary, and above all else, an unparalleled risk taker. Not only does Musk have intrepid and sometimes seemingly unfeasible ideas, but he has a bias to action, zero use for safety, and an incredible tolerance for personal pain and suffering. Like an athlete who can tolerate high levels of physical discomfort, Musk has built up a resistance to ambiguity, loss, rejection and failure - because let's face it, real risk involves plenty of that as well. As Elon Musk says, "Being an entrepreneur is like eating glass and staring into the abyss of death."
I sometimes wonder what education would be like if we had Elon Musk leading schools. Would they all be solar powered? Would all classes be virtual? Would students launch themselves in rockets and colonize Mars? One thing is certain, there would be a lot more risk-taking and, I believe, something new (and better) would emerge. For Musk, "different" is not enough; "better" is essential, and pushing not just one company but a whole industry to better is the ultimate goal. But there would also be failures - big and small - and that is the cost of innovation. He has been known to say, "If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough."
I hear the arguments against high risk, drastic change in schools. Usually these excuses are variations on the statement: "We are not creating widgets, bur rather educating children. You can't take risks with children." As far as I know, no children have been harmed in the lengthening of the school year or moving to more project-based instruction or getting rid of AP courses. Frankly, most of the arguments I hear feel grounded in adult needs, not student needs. We don't have an Elon Musk equivalent in education - not even Sal Khan (Khan Academy) or Ben Nelson (Minerva Schools) - at least not yet - but that is no excuse for our inability to think boldly, dig in, and allow us to emerge with something not just different but better.
What might allow educators and school leaders to get out of our own risk-averse ways? Maybe there are a few design principles we could draw upon to help us take a leap.
Principle One: Be Student-Centered in your Risk-Taking.
Ground your risks in what you believe (and know) is right for the students you serve. Start asking the big questions and have the hard conversations about the future and not the past. What is most important for students to know? What is most important for them to be able to do? How do we want them to treat each other? How do we want them to feel about learning? How do they find purpose and meaning in their work and lives? How are they whole? What in your school is no longer serving students? What in your school is currently an obstacle to providing students with what they need? When you think this way, you are taking risks ON BEHALF of children not WITH children.
Principle Two: Engage in Mission/Values-Centered Risk.
Our hesitancy to take risks often comes at a much greater risk - not achieving our mission and values or accomplishing key elements of our strategic plan. It comes at the risk of becoming a color-less, bland version of what we could be. If you want to be vibrant and bold, align your risks with your values and your mission as a school. If you are a school with a mission "to prepare students for life" and yet you hold onto 45-60 minute class blocks silo-ed by discipline with content generally delivered as lectures or teacher-led class discussion, you might be inhibiting your mission, not living it. If you say you value student wellness and health, and yet you let college admission statistics and practices drive your curriculum, schedule, and assessment regardless of student stress levels, you might not be living your values. Take risks that support and enhance your mission and values and bring you closer to your strategic vision.
Principle Three: Articulate the WHY - again and again and again.
Rarely is radical and bold change tolerated without a true understanding of why it is necessary and what the outcome will be. First you need to get clear on the why. Your job as a school leader is then to communicate the why, to develop a vision of what "better" looks like, and to clarify how you will know and measure your progress. Be prepared to tell the same story over and over again. Use clear, specific language. Use visual representations of your idea that make the goal understood. It might feel like you have said the same message 100 times - you probably haven't - and you are bored of saying it. But that might just be the beginning. Studies have shown that people won't buy your idea (or product) until they have heard about it at least 6, but more often 20, times.
And what if things fail? And they will. Scream, shake your fists at the sky, and channel your inner Elon Musk. According to his recent Rolling Stone Interview, Elon Musk suggest calling upon the Musk Family Rules: "Number One: "Don't panic." And whatever you do, don't back down and regress to safety. "Safety third," says Musk in the interview. "There's not even a Rule Number Two. But even though there's nothing in second place, safety is not getting promoted to number two."
The following articles by Jeremy Goldstein (Episcopal High School, Eric Chandler (Kent Denver School) and Annie Makela (Hillbrook School) illustrate schools taking risks - but grounding them in what is best for students, in mission, values and strategic thinking, and articulating the WHY. May these articles inspire both bold thinking and action in the year ahead.
Warmly,
Carla Silver
Heads Up!
ESHA's Executive Committee members, who act as our Board, were elected at our Annual Meeting in October in Woodstock. Here they are!
ESHA's Executive Committee members, who act as our Board, were elected at our Annual Meeting in October in Woodstock. Here they are!
 Elinor Scully, President The Langley School, VA |  Veronica Codrington-Cazeau, Vice President Evergreen School, WA |  Nishant Mehta, Treasurer The Children's School, GA |
 Stuart Johnson St. Bernard's School, NY |  Cynthia Gibbs-Wilborn Hanahau'oli School, HI |  Elizabeth Hofreuter-Landini Wheeling Country Day School, WV |
 Burns Jones Cathedral School for Boys, CA |  Jody Soja Indian Mountain School, CT  Muddy Waters, Past President The Pike School, MA |  Mark Silver Hillbrook School, CA |
Leading Off
Dear ESHA Friends,
Comments from our October Boulder Retreat:
“Overall, another great year. I love the retreat format and the big picture presentations. I am leaving feeling renewed.”
“Warm, friendly, collegial. Genuine and authentic dialogue. A really worthwhile time. Made some wonderful new friends.”
“I am very glad I made it to my first ESHA retreat! Restorative, inspirational, and energizing!”
“The highlight of my year as far as a great balance between rest, fellowship, and inspiration.”
“Would never miss it!”
“All IN on ESHA! Best conference of the year.”
“Well done! It was a great retreat. I truly value this time to reconnect and share with old friends and new colleagues.”
Enough said. Make sure to join us at The Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, October 13-16, 2018.
Cheers!
Chris
Dear ESHA Friends,
Comments from our October Boulder Retreat:
“Overall, another great year. I love the retreat format and the big picture presentations. I am leaving feeling renewed.”
“Warm, friendly, collegial. Genuine and authentic dialogue. A really worthwhile time. Made some wonderful new friends.”
“I am very glad I made it to my first ESHA retreat! Restorative, inspirational, and energizing!”
“The highlight of my year as far as a great balance between rest, fellowship, and inspiration.”
“Would never miss it!”
“All IN on ESHA! Best conference of the year.”
“Well done! It was a great retreat. I truly value this time to reconnect and share with old friends and new colleagues.”
Enough said. Make sure to join us at The Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, October 13-16, 2018.
Cheers!
Chris
From ESHA President Elinor Scully
Dear ESHA Colleagues,
As Chris shared, our annual retreat in Boulder, CO, this year was fantastic and a wonderful opportunity to connect with other ESHA heads. Our theme, From Head Teacher to CEO, allowed for some wonderful conversations about leadership. Recently, I read a New York Times article that made me think about our work as “CEOs” in elementary schools. In his article, “How to Be a CEO from a Decade’s Worth of Them,” Adam Bryant summarizes the qualities of senior leaders from his years of experience interviewing CEOs for his column, “The Corner Office.” Bryant says that successful CEOs share some common qualities: a habit of “applied curiosity,” a love of challenge and working outside of their comfort zone, and a commitment and focus on doing their jobs well rather than ambitiously climbing the professional ladder.
Over the course of the three days we were in Boulder, I heard many of my peers discussing these very issues. It was comforting and affirming to be in the company of the leaders who are struggling with issues similar to those I face and to be surrounded by leaders who are committed to finding creative and “out of the box” solutions to the challenges of school leadership.
ESHA is a place where I get fed and nourished intellectually and personally. My inner CEO finds a great deal of professional support and stimulation in our organization’s activities and in this network of exceptional leaders. I’m thrilled to be assuming the role of president and I encourage you to get involved.
Best,
Elinor
Dear ESHA Colleagues,
As Chris shared, our annual retreat in Boulder, CO, this year was fantastic and a wonderful opportunity to connect with other ESHA heads. Our theme, From Head Teacher to CEO, allowed for some wonderful conversations about leadership. Recently, I read a New York Times article that made me think about our work as “CEOs” in elementary schools. In his article, “How to Be a CEO from a Decade’s Worth of Them,” Adam Bryant summarizes the qualities of senior leaders from his years of experience interviewing CEOs for his column, “The Corner Office.” Bryant says that successful CEOs share some common qualities: a habit of “applied curiosity,” a love of challenge and working outside of their comfort zone, and a commitment and focus on doing their jobs well rather than ambitiously climbing the professional ladder.
Over the course of the three days we were in Boulder, I heard many of my peers discussing these very issues. It was comforting and affirming to be in the company of the leaders who are struggling with issues similar to those I face and to be surrounded by leaders who are committed to finding creative and “out of the box” solutions to the challenges of school leadership.
ESHA is a place where I get fed and nourished intellectually and personally. My inner CEO finds a great deal of professional support and stimulation in our organization’s activities and in this network of exceptional leaders. I’m thrilled to be assuming the role of president and I encourage you to get involved.
Best,
Elinor
Heads Up!
ESHA'S Annual Dinner will be hosted by Nishant Mehta at The Children's School in Atlanta on Wednesday, March 7, 2018, when NAIS has its annual conference. Details and registration will be available in December.
ESHA salutes and thanks the following members for their generous support as sustaining members (who kindly opted to add additional funds to their annual dues). Please consider joining them next year when your membership invoice arrives!
Arvi Balseiro, The Cushman School (FL)
Tim Burns, The Forsyth School (MO)
Laura Caron, Brookwood School (MA)
Ronnie Codrington-Cazeau, Yhe Evergreen School (WA)
Robert Cooke, Community School (MO)
Nicole DuFauchard, Advent School (MA)
Angi Evans, Harbor Day School (CA)
Matthew Gould, Norwood School (MD)
Arvind Grover, The Meadowbrook School (MA)
Joan Buchanan Hill, Lamplighter School (TX)
Stuart Johnson, St. Bernard’s School (NY)
Scott Laird, St. Mary’s Episcopal Day School (FL)
Billy McMurtrie, Mater Dei School (MD)
Nishant Mehta, The Children’s School (GA)
Neil Mufson, The Country School (MD)
David O’Halloran, St. David’s School (NY)
Greg O’Melia, The Buckley School (NY)
Joe Powers, The Woods Academy (MD)
Mark Silver, Hillbrook School (CA)
David Stettler, The Fessenden School (MA)
David Trower, The Allen-Stevenson School (NY)
Clair Ward, Shore Country Day School (MA)
Jerry Ward, The Fenn School (MA)
Muddy Waters, The Pike School (MA)
MANY THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!
ESHA'S Annual Dinner will be hosted by Nishant Mehta at The Children's School in Atlanta on Wednesday, March 7, 2018, when NAIS has its annual conference. Details and registration will be available in December.
ESHA salutes and thanks the following members for their generous support as sustaining members (who kindly opted to add additional funds to their annual dues). Please consider joining them next year when your membership invoice arrives!
Arvi Balseiro, The Cushman School (FL)
Tim Burns, The Forsyth School (MO)
Laura Caron, Brookwood School (MA)
Ronnie Codrington-Cazeau, Yhe Evergreen School (WA)
Robert Cooke, Community School (MO)
Nicole DuFauchard, Advent School (MA)
Angi Evans, Harbor Day School (CA)
Matthew Gould, Norwood School (MD)
Arvind Grover, The Meadowbrook School (MA)
Joan Buchanan Hill, Lamplighter School (TX)
Stuart Johnson, St. Bernard’s School (NY)
Scott Laird, St. Mary’s Episcopal Day School (FL)
Billy McMurtrie, Mater Dei School (MD)
Nishant Mehta, The Children’s School (GA)
Neil Mufson, The Country School (MD)
David O’Halloran, St. David’s School (NY)
Greg O’Melia, The Buckley School (NY)
Joe Powers, The Woods Academy (MD)
Mark Silver, Hillbrook School (CA)
David Stettler, The Fessenden School (MA)
David Trower, The Allen-Stevenson School (NY)
Clair Ward, Shore Country Day School (MA)
Jerry Ward, The Fenn School (MA)
Muddy Waters, The Pike School (MA)
MANY THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!
Once again, ESHA member Dane Peters has interesting suggestions!
Dane's Education Blog
Top Books To Read
Posted: 28 Oct 2017 01:36 PM PDT
"I stumbled upon this fascinating article "Top Experts Always Recommend These 4 Books." Author Eric Barker's Time magazine article is excellent. Even though it was written in June of 2015, I think you will appreciate what the author has presented, and I am sure you will compare what he has listed with what you have read and which books sit on your bookshelf."
Books Experts Recommend – By Topic: Leadership Gautam Mukunda, professor at Harvard Business School and author of Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter recommends:
Dane's Education Blog
Top Books To Read
Posted: 28 Oct 2017 01:36 PM PDT
"I stumbled upon this fascinating article "Top Experts Always Recommend These 4 Books." Author Eric Barker's Time magazine article is excellent. Even though it was written in June of 2015, I think you will appreciate what the author has presented, and I am sure you will compare what he has listed with what you have read and which books sit on your bookshelf."
Books Experts Recommend – By Topic: Leadership Gautam Mukunda, professor at Harvard Business School and author of Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter recommends:
- Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow
- Victor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
- Clayton Christensen, How Will You Measure Your Life?
- Nassim Taleb, Fooled by Randomness
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
- Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals
- Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney, Willpower
Also, Kim Marshall's "Marshall Memo" included this sobering post from The Wall Street Journal.
What Smartphones Are Doing to Our Minds
“The smartphone is unique in the annals of personal technology,” says Nicholas Carr in this Wall Street Journal article. “We keep the gadget within reach more or less around the clock, and we use it in countless ways, consulting its apps and checking its messages and heeding its alerts scores of times a day.” What makes the smartphone so captivating? “Imagine combining a mailbox, a newspaper, a TV, a radio, a photo album, a public library, and a boisterous party attended by everyone you know, and then compressing them all into a single small, radiant object. That is what a smartphone represents to us. No wonder we can’t take our minds off it.”
But smartphones can also foster anxiety and undermine performance. “[E]ven hearing one ring or vibrate, produces a welter of distractions that makes it harder to concentrate on a difficult problem or job,” says Carr. “The division of attention impedes reasoning and performance.” One study found that when a person isn’t able to answer a ring or vibration, blood pressure spikes, the pulse quickens, and problem-solving skills decline. Researchers have found negative effects in five areas:
• Test performance – In a 2015 experiment at the University of California/San Diego, 520 undergraduates took tests of fluid intelligence and available cognitive capacity. Subjects were divided into three groups:
- The first placed their cell phones in front of them on the desk.
- The second stowed their phones in pockets or handbags.
- The third left their phones in another room.
Students whose phones were in view got the lowest scores; those whose phones were in another room did best; and students whose phones were in their pockets or handbags scored in the middle. Interviewed afterward, almost all students said they hadn’t been distracted by or even thought about their phones while taking the tests – but that obviously wasn’t true for two-thirds of them. A similar study found that students with phones in sight made more errors on a test.
• College lectures – A study at the University of Arkansas found that students who brought cell phones with them to classes and exams scored a full letter grade lower (whether or not they checked their phones during classes) than those who left phones back in their dorms. Another study came up with similar results, and revealed that the more heavily students relied on their phones in their everyday lives, the greater the cognitive penalty when they tackled mentally challenging tasks. A researcher said the areas most affected were learning, logical reasoning, abstract thought, problem solving, and creativity.
“The evidence that our phones can get inside our heads so forcefully is unsettling,” says Carr, “Smartphones have become so entangled with our existence that, even when we’re not peering or pawing at them, they tug at our attention, diverting precious cognitive resources. Just suppressing the desire to check our phone, which we do routinely and subconsciously throughout the day, can debilitate our thinking…”
• Personal connection – A study at the University of Essex in the U.K. asked 142 participants to have private one-on-one chats for ten minutes. Half of the subjects had a phone in the room, half did not. Subjects were then given an assessment measuring affinity, trust, and empathy. “The mere presence of mobile phones,” said the researchers, “inhibited the development of interpersonal closeness and trust” and diminished “the extent to which individuals felt empathy and understanding for their partners.” The effect was most striking when a personally meaningful topic was discussed.
• Memory – Studies have found that ready access to information via Google and other search engines, plus how easy it is to jot ideas into our devices, leads us to make less of an effort to remember information because we can always look it up. But the fact that we are storing less information in long-term memory is a problem. In an 1892 lecture, William James said that “the art of remembering is the art of thinking.” Carr agrees: “Only by encoding information in our biological memory can we weave the rich intellectual associations that form the essence of personal knowledge and give rise to critical and conceptual thinking. No matter how much information swirls around us, the less well-stocked our memory, the less we have to think with.”
• Gullibility – In a 2013 Scientific American article, Daniel Wegner and Adrian Ward said we may be suffering from delusions of intelligence, confident that we know stuff because we can access it so quickly. When we can quickly find information, we feel as though we ourselves generated the information. “The advent of the ‘information age’ seems to have created a generation of people who feel they know more than ever before,” said Wegner and Ward, even though “they may know ever less about the world around them.” This may be why so many Americans believe lies and half-truths spread through social media by foreign agents and other bad actors. “If your phone has sapped your powers of discernment,” said Ward, “you’ll believe anything it tells you.”
“When we constrict our capacity for reasoning and recall or transfer those skills to a gadget,” concludes Ward, “we sacrifice our ability to turn information into knowledge. We get the data but lose the meaning. Upgrading our gadgets won’t solve the problem. We need to give our minds more room to think. And that means putting some distance between ourselves and our phones.”
“How Smartphones Hijack Our Minds” by Nicholas Carr in The Wall Street Journal, October 6, 2017
What Smartphones Are Doing to Our Minds
“The smartphone is unique in the annals of personal technology,” says Nicholas Carr in this Wall Street Journal article. “We keep the gadget within reach more or less around the clock, and we use it in countless ways, consulting its apps and checking its messages and heeding its alerts scores of times a day.” What makes the smartphone so captivating? “Imagine combining a mailbox, a newspaper, a TV, a radio, a photo album, a public library, and a boisterous party attended by everyone you know, and then compressing them all into a single small, radiant object. That is what a smartphone represents to us. No wonder we can’t take our minds off it.”
But smartphones can also foster anxiety and undermine performance. “[E]ven hearing one ring or vibrate, produces a welter of distractions that makes it harder to concentrate on a difficult problem or job,” says Carr. “The division of attention impedes reasoning and performance.” One study found that when a person isn’t able to answer a ring or vibration, blood pressure spikes, the pulse quickens, and problem-solving skills decline. Researchers have found negative effects in five areas:
• Test performance – In a 2015 experiment at the University of California/San Diego, 520 undergraduates took tests of fluid intelligence and available cognitive capacity. Subjects were divided into three groups:
- The first placed their cell phones in front of them on the desk.
- The second stowed their phones in pockets or handbags.
- The third left their phones in another room.
Students whose phones were in view got the lowest scores; those whose phones were in another room did best; and students whose phones were in their pockets or handbags scored in the middle. Interviewed afterward, almost all students said they hadn’t been distracted by or even thought about their phones while taking the tests – but that obviously wasn’t true for two-thirds of them. A similar study found that students with phones in sight made more errors on a test.
• College lectures – A study at the University of Arkansas found that students who brought cell phones with them to classes and exams scored a full letter grade lower (whether or not they checked their phones during classes) than those who left phones back in their dorms. Another study came up with similar results, and revealed that the more heavily students relied on their phones in their everyday lives, the greater the cognitive penalty when they tackled mentally challenging tasks. A researcher said the areas most affected were learning, logical reasoning, abstract thought, problem solving, and creativity.
“The evidence that our phones can get inside our heads so forcefully is unsettling,” says Carr, “Smartphones have become so entangled with our existence that, even when we’re not peering or pawing at them, they tug at our attention, diverting precious cognitive resources. Just suppressing the desire to check our phone, which we do routinely and subconsciously throughout the day, can debilitate our thinking…”
• Personal connection – A study at the University of Essex in the U.K. asked 142 participants to have private one-on-one chats for ten minutes. Half of the subjects had a phone in the room, half did not. Subjects were then given an assessment measuring affinity, trust, and empathy. “The mere presence of mobile phones,” said the researchers, “inhibited the development of interpersonal closeness and trust” and diminished “the extent to which individuals felt empathy and understanding for their partners.” The effect was most striking when a personally meaningful topic was discussed.
• Memory – Studies have found that ready access to information via Google and other search engines, plus how easy it is to jot ideas into our devices, leads us to make less of an effort to remember information because we can always look it up. But the fact that we are storing less information in long-term memory is a problem. In an 1892 lecture, William James said that “the art of remembering is the art of thinking.” Carr agrees: “Only by encoding information in our biological memory can we weave the rich intellectual associations that form the essence of personal knowledge and give rise to critical and conceptual thinking. No matter how much information swirls around us, the less well-stocked our memory, the less we have to think with.”
• Gullibility – In a 2013 Scientific American article, Daniel Wegner and Adrian Ward said we may be suffering from delusions of intelligence, confident that we know stuff because we can access it so quickly. When we can quickly find information, we feel as though we ourselves generated the information. “The advent of the ‘information age’ seems to have created a generation of people who feel they know more than ever before,” said Wegner and Ward, even though “they may know ever less about the world around them.” This may be why so many Americans believe lies and half-truths spread through social media by foreign agents and other bad actors. “If your phone has sapped your powers of discernment,” said Ward, “you’ll believe anything it tells you.”
“When we constrict our capacity for reasoning and recall or transfer those skills to a gadget,” concludes Ward, “we sacrifice our ability to turn information into knowledge. We get the data but lose the meaning. Upgrading our gadgets won’t solve the problem. We need to give our minds more room to think. And that means putting some distance between ourselves and our phones.”
“How Smartphones Hijack Our Minds” by Nicholas Carr in The Wall Street Journal, October 6, 2017
ESHA Is Delighted to Welcome Its New Members
 Rose Helm, John Thomas Dye School, CA |  Ben Ketchum, Riverside Presbyterian School, FL |  Lorri Hamilton Durbin, The Town School for Boys, CA |
October Boulder Retreat
Boulder covered it all! Among other things, Donna Orem talked about the change in our independent school market and what millennial parents want for their children. Tim Fish challenged us to make our schools as innovative as possible. Andy Watson touched on leadership skills. Attendees met for dinners at Walnut Brewery and the Rembrandt Yards Art Gallery, not to mention the terrific St. Julien Hotel, site of the retreat. And on October 9th, it snowed! Most of all, members had a chance to connect with new friends and old and to address issues of interest both in discussion groups and in their leisure time.
Leading Off
Dear ESHA Friends,
Some of you have already been back in session for a week or two while some are starting up this week. Regardless, your school is - as it is every year - different than it ever has been or will ever be with new students, new faculty, new parents, new board members. So you're probably reverting to your primary roles as Head teachers while also attending to your equally important but sometimes overwhelming role as managers of the school's business. It's always a lot! I certainly wish you the greatest success in the 2017-18 year and encourage you to remember that you, like your staffs, need occasional time away from school, some professional development, and a reasonable plan to regularly give yourselves a break. These are proven tasks that result in better leadership over the long haul.
If you can, start this work now and consider attending ESHA's retreat in October (see below at the end). Be with your true peers, enjoy the company of our wise and upbeat members, learn from the stimulating presenters, and take in the inspiring surroundings. You're sure to get a nice boost and good energy for the job back home.
Cheers!
Chris
From ESHA President Muddy Waters
Dear ESHA Colleagues,
As I write this, the hallways are readied for our community to regather, but they are still a week away from beginning to return. I have always loved summer, but when we get to the middle of August, I am excited to start the new school year and look forward to another year of growth and possibilities.
Just as summer flies by, so has my time as President of ESHA. I want to thank the Board and the Executive Committee for all of their wisdom and hard work. Also, it has been an honor to work with Chris Abell whose energy and passion for this work has made our organization even stronger. For me, the good news is that I plan to continue to be an active ESHA member and look forward to more exciting annual gatherings and conversations with my mentoring flight. Have a wonderful opening to the school year and see you in Boulder.
Best,
Muddy
Heads Up!
From ESHA member Dane Peter's "Dane's Blog," here is a quick review of the traits of inspirational leaders.
Dan Rockwell's "Leadership Freak" addresses ways to deal with mediocrity.
We are all aware of this alarming and frustrating trend, and Judy Twenge reports on it in detail in her article in The Atlantic, "The Impact of Smartphones and Social Media on Young Teens."
ESHA Is Delighted to Welcome Its New Members
 Arvind Grover The Meadowbrook School, MA |  Tamara Schurdak The Chestnut Hill School, MA |  Brenda Boon Oak Hill School, TN |
2017 ESHA Retreat
"Head Teacher to CEO"
October 7-10, 2017
St. Julien Hotel & Spa
Boulder, Colorado
Registration for ESHA’s 2017 Annual Retreat, to be held this fall at the St. Julien Hotel & Spa in Boulder, Colorado, is now open. The event will take place from October 7th to October 10th (Saturday to Tuesday). Saturday’s pre-conference workshops and dinner are optional as the official proceedings begin Sunday afternoon (October 8th).
Highlights
Donna Orem, President of NAIS, will deliver the keynote speech on Sunday afternoon, October 8th. Tim Fish, NAIS’s Chief Innovation Officer, speaks Monday morning, and Andy Watson of Albuquerque Academy talks about practical leadership on Tuesday. On Saturday, October 7th. Peter Philip of Carney Sandoe leads pre-conference discussions for new (or newish) Heads as well as Heads considering next steps. Plus breakout sessions on topics of interest and great dining venues!
Before registering for the retreat, be sure to make a lodging reservation for the evenings you desire as follows:
Contact the St. Julien in-house Reservations Team at sjreservations@stjulien.com or through the hotel line 720-406-9696.
You may also reserve online by using this exclusive Elementary School Heads Association Annual Retreat Web Link.
The link is valid until 30 days out from the event, but it is not accessible on mobile devices.
When registering for the retreat, please note that there is a $100 discount for active members who reserve prior to September 15th. In addition, ESHA offers a discount to all first-time retreat attendees as well as to associate and retired/honorary members.
REGISTER NOW!
"Head Teacher to CEO"
October 7-10, 2017
St. Julien Hotel & Spa
Boulder, Colorado
Registration for ESHA’s 2017 Annual Retreat, to be held this fall at the St. Julien Hotel & Spa in Boulder, Colorado, is now open. The event will take place from October 7th to October 10th (Saturday to Tuesday). Saturday’s pre-conference workshops and dinner are optional as the official proceedings begin Sunday afternoon (October 8th).
Highlights
Donna Orem, President of NAIS, will deliver the keynote speech on Sunday afternoon, October 8th. Tim Fish, NAIS’s Chief Innovation Officer, speaks Monday morning, and Andy Watson of Albuquerque Academy talks about practical leadership on Tuesday. On Saturday, October 7th. Peter Philip of Carney Sandoe leads pre-conference discussions for new (or newish) Heads as well as Heads considering next steps. Plus breakout sessions on topics of interest and great dining venues!
Before registering for the retreat, be sure to make a lodging reservation for the evenings you desire as follows:
Contact the St. Julien in-house Reservations Team at sjreservations@stjulien.com or through the hotel line 720-406-9696.
You may also reserve online by using this exclusive Elementary School Heads Association Annual Retreat Web Link.
The link is valid until 30 days out from the event, but it is not accessible on mobile devices.
When registering for the retreat, please note that there is a $100 discount for active members who reserve prior to September 15th. In addition, ESHA offers a discount to all first-time retreat attendees as well as to associate and retired/honorary members.
REGISTER NOW!
Leading Off
Dear ESHA Friends,
This is just a quick mid-summer "hello" and a wish that your summers are going well and that you are getting a good break.
I'll suggest two things that would only briefly interrupt your relaxation time:
1) If you haven't yet done so, make sure to register below for our October Retreat in Boulder, Colorado.
2) Take a look at the short articles below as both a primer for the retreat and a different way of looking at the future enrollment.
Cheers!
Chris
Dear ESHA Friends,
This is just a quick mid-summer "hello" and a wish that your summers are going well and that you are getting a good break.
I'll suggest two things that would only briefly interrupt your relaxation time:
1) If you haven't yet done so, make sure to register below for our October Retreat in Boulder, Colorado.
2) Take a look at the short articles below as both a primer for the retreat and a different way of looking at the future enrollment.
Cheers!
Chris
From ESHA President Muddy Waters
Dear ESHA Colleagues,
As I write this, I am on the deck looking out at Long Lake in Naples, Maine. We have all of our kids and grandkids here, and it is the best. I hope that all of you are making some time to rest and recharge and get away from the hectic pace of the school year. I really believe it is important to do that so we can be our best selves with the reserves required to do the job well. Happy summer, and I look forward to seeing you in Boulder.
Best,
Muddy
Dear ESHA Colleagues,
As I write this, I am on the deck looking out at Long Lake in Naples, Maine. We have all of our kids and grandkids here, and it is the best. I hope that all of you are making some time to rest and recharge and get away from the hectic pace of the school year. I really believe it is important to do that so we can be our best selves with the reserves required to do the job well. Happy summer, and I look forward to seeing you in Boulder.
Best,
Muddy
Heads Up!
ESHA member Aaron Cooper of The Elisabeth Morrow School wrote the piece linked below for the summer edition of Independent School. If you haven't read it yet, take a look!
https://www.nais.org/magazine/independent-school/summer-2017/market-shift/
Also, check out the article from the September, 2016, issue of the Harvard Business Review on "Knowing Your Customers." You might read the first four or five pages to get the thesis and then the last three on Southern New Hampshire University's experience.
https://hbr.org/2016/09/know-your-customers-jobs-to-be-done
Finally, note that The Jane Group, a crisis management and communication firm, offers scaled pricing for ESHA schools based upon the size of the school.
Jane Hulbert, who spoke to us at our Savannah gathering in 2015, can be contacted through the janegroup.biz.
ESHA member Aaron Cooper of The Elisabeth Morrow School wrote the piece linked below for the summer edition of Independent School. If you haven't read it yet, take a look!
https://www.nais.org/magazine/independent-school/summer-2017/market-shift/
Also, check out the article from the September, 2016, issue of the Harvard Business Review on "Knowing Your Customers." You might read the first four or five pages to get the thesis and then the last three on Southern New Hampshire University's experience.
https://hbr.org/2016/09/know-your-customers-jobs-to-be-done
Finally, note that The Jane Group, a crisis management and communication firm, offers scaled pricing for ESHA schools based upon the size of the school.
Jane Hulbert, who spoke to us at our Savannah gathering in 2015, can be contacted through the janegroup.biz.
|
 Matthew Hoeniger, Rumsey Hall School, CT |  Ben Kennedy, Friends Academy, MA |
2017 ESHA Retreat
"Head Teacher to CEO"
October 7-10, 2017
St. Julien Hotel & Spa
Boulder, Colorado
Registration for ESHA’s 2017 Annual Retreat, to be held this fall at the St. Julien Hotel & Spa in Boulder, Colorado, is now open. The event will take place from October 7th to October 10th (Saturday to Tuesday). Saturday’s pre-conference workshops and dinner are optional as the official proceedings begin Sunday afternoon (October 8th).
Highlights
Donna Orem, President of NAIS, will deliver the keynote speech on Sunday afternoon, October 8th. Tim Fish, NAIS’s Chief Innovation Officer, speaks Monday morning, and Andy Watson of Albuquerque Academy talks about practical leadership on Tuesday. On Saturday, October 7th. Peter Philip of Carney Sandoe leads pre-conference discussions for new (or newish) Heads as well as Heads considering next steps. Plus breakout sessions on topics of interest and great dining venues!
Before registering for the retreat, be sure to make a lodging reservation for the evenings you desire as follows:
Contact the St. Julien in-house Reservations Team at sjreservations@stjulien.com or through the hotel line 720-406-9696.
You may also reserve online by using this exclusive Elementary School Heads Association Annual Retreat Web Link.
The link is valid until 30 days out from the event, but it is not accessible on mobile devices.
When registering for the retreat, please note that there is a $100 discount for active members who reserve prior to September 15th. In addition, ESHA offers a discount to all first-time retreat attendees as well as to associate and retired/honorary members.
Donna Orem, President of NAIS, will deliver the keynote speech on Sunday afternoon, October 8th. Tim Fish, NAIS’s Chief Innovation Officer, speaks Monday morning, and Andy Watson of Albuquerque Academy talks about practical leadership on Tuesday. On Saturday, October 7th. Peter Philip of Carney Sandoe leads pre-conference discussions for new (or newish) Heads as well as Heads considering next steps. Plus breakout sessions on topics of interest and great dining venues!
Before registering for the retreat, be sure to make a lodging reservation for the evenings you desire as follows:
Contact the St. Julien in-house Reservations Team at sjreservations@stjulien.com or through the hotel line 720-406-9696.
You may also reserve online by using this exclusive Elementary School Heads Association Annual Retreat Web Link.
The link is valid until 30 days out from the event, but it is not accessible on mobile devices.
When registering for the retreat, please note that there is a $100 discount for active members who reserve prior to September 15th. In addition, ESHA offers a discount to all first-time retreat attendees as well as to associate and retired/honorary members.
Leading Off
Dear ESHA Friends,
Several items come to mind as we move into spring.
First, on a somber note, please keep Jerry Ward, Head of The Fenn School, in your thoughts. Sadly, he lost his dear wife Lorraine on March 9. Lorraine was a true friend and inspiration to many of us, and members of ESHA’s Executive Committee – on which Jerry recently served - certainly mourn her passing and extend our condolences to Jerry. Jerry can be contacted c/o The Fenn School at 516 Monument Street, Concord, MA 01742.
Second, as happens every year, several veteran ESHA members are retiring. Steve Barker of Friends Academy (MA) (we were at NAIS Institute for New Heads of 1984 together!) and Larry Griffin of Shore Country Day (MA) have both supported and served ESHA consistently over the years. Palmer Bell at Riverside Presbyterian (FL) has likewise been a long-time booster. And there are others whom I’m no doubt forgetting, so please remind me! Most of all, Steve Hinds of The Meadowbrook School (MA), President of ESHA in 2002-2003 and a long-time board member, has doggedly, enthusiastically, and cheerfully promoted and guided ESHA through thick and thin. Thank you, Steve, for your terrific service to our organization, and thanks to Palmer, Larry, and Steve Barker as well. Your devotion to ESHA has had a major and beneficial impact.
Third, we had a terrific annual dinner on March 1 at the Calvert School in Baltimore, thanks to our host Andrew Holmgren and his staff. Nearly 60 Heads, spouses, partners, and guests – including the dynamic duo of Rob Evans and Michael Thompson – attended the event and were treated to a delicious meal and an outstanding tour of the school. I was so caught up in the evening that I forgot to fulfill my role as ESHA photographer and thus sadly have no photos to share with you. They were ALL beautiful people, however.
Fourth, I’m including below an “article” – really a series of questions and answers – that tells the stories of a dozen Heads who were in the 1984 class of what I like to call the “New Heads’ Boot Camp” that NAIS runs. The stories were compiled a while ago, in 2012, and may or may not be of interest to you. As a participant, I certainly enjoyed reading them and learned a lot. It’s a hefty compilation, but the reflections are certainly manageable in small doses.
Cheers,
Chris
From ESHA President Muddy Waters
Dear ESHA Colleagues,
As I write this, we are getting over a foot of snow! There goes the welcome to spring letter I had planned. It was great seeing those who could make it to the wonderful dinner we had at The Calvert School. For me ESHA has been all about relationships, and our annual retreat and annual dinner are times to share the joys and challenges of our unique jobs. I do wish you a wonderful spring and conclusion to another school year. Where does the time go? Thanks for all you do to support ESHA!
Muddy
Dear ESHA Colleagues,
As I write this, we are getting over a foot of snow! There goes the welcome to spring letter I had planned. It was great seeing those who could make it to the wonderful dinner we had at The Calvert School. For me ESHA has been all about relationships, and our annual retreat and annual dinner are times to share the joys and challenges of our unique jobs. I do wish you a wonderful spring and conclusion to another school year. Where does the time go? Thanks for all you do to support ESHA!
Muddy
Heads Up!
As mentioned above, here is the report on the New Heads of 1984.
ESHA Is Delighted to Welcome Our New Member
Marie Leary The Sage School, MA
2017 Annual Retreat
Boulder. Colorado
October 7-10
"HEAD TEACHER TO CEO"
Donna Orem, President of NAIS, will deliver the keynote speech on leadership at the October Retreat.
Boulder. Colorado
October 7-10
"HEAD TEACHER TO CEO"
Donna Orem, President of NAIS, will deliver the keynote speech on leadership at the October Retreat.
© Elementary School Heads Association