by RB Fast | Oct 14, 2018 | Leadership Growth, Nonprofits, Teacher Mentorship
Are you feeling a bit busy right now? There’s a lot to do, the weather is changing, the weeks are fast but the days are slow. In my 18 years of working in schools and nonprofits, whenever I see signs of burnout, I recommend a staff retreat. What are you seeing and...
by RB Fast | May 2, 2018 | Leadership Growth, Teacher Mentorship
There are many ways to engage in teacher appreciation: lattes, catered lunches, spa days. These are all effective and, speaking as a former teacher, VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. However, there’s something more you can do. It won’t cost you anything, but it could...
by RB Fast | Apr 4, 2018 | Leadership Growth, Teacher Mentorship
I am dripping with bias. So are you. From affinity bias to confirmation bias, we are all prone to filtering our decisions through the lens of our personal biases. It is normal…and it is not okay in a hiring process. In the United States, hiring bias is...
by RB Fast | Oct 18, 2017 | Leadership Growth, Strategy & Planning, Teacher Mentorship
When I was a young teacher at a small school, teacher inservice days were my favorite. We always took an extra-long lunch and went to the all you can eat Indian food buffet nearby. The building was jubilant on those days. We were a scrappy, young school and we rolled...
by RB Fast | Sep 27, 2017 | Leadership Growth, Teacher Mentorship
When I was a lead teacher MANY years ago, I had an interaction with an assistant teacher that disturbed me. We worked at a school with several hundred students and many classrooms, it was fairly big. He needed something I didn’t have the authority to grant him, so I...
by RB Fast | Sep 20, 2017 | Leadership Growth, Teacher Mentorship
How do you communicate with your teachers and colleagues? It probably depends on the size of your school and the nature of what you are communicating. When it comes to informing or reminding staff of day-to-day operations, most leaders rely on a weekly staff update....