Redefining Smart

The kids who grow up thinking that they are smart are oftentimes the ones whose talents and gifts are rewarded by schools and teachers. By rewarded I mean that they are most capable of navigating effectively through the school system and demonstrating mastery of content in the way that it is presented to and then asked of them. In contrast, “weaker” students are often hampered by a lack of confluence between their abilities and the instruction that they receive, as well as what they are allowed to do in order to demonstrate their abilities and knowledge.

Naphtali HoffJune 2, 2015 Comments

Linking Education Silos

I recently delivered a talk at an advancement conference on the topic of identifying and communicating a school’s unique qualities and mission. During the presentation, an issue emerged that sits at the forefront of the minds of many of the professionals who were in attendance.

Naphtali HoffMay 27, 2015Comment

Why Johnny Can’t (or Won’t) Behave

We’ve all met Johnny. He’s the kid who simply won’t behave in class. He can’t seem to sit still and pay attention. He doesn’t want to follow our rules or conform to our expectations. He won’t keep his hands to himself and respect others’ things. It almost seems like he comes to school each day with a willful intent to disrupt and make our lives miserable.

Naphtali HoffMay 27, 2015classroom management, teaching, education, instructionComment

Blazing your own path to success

Did you ever look around in amazement at people around you who have achieved extraordinary things, yet don’t appear to be all that extraordinary?

These are people who have greatly succeeded in business, in politics, in the arts, in sports, or in some other space, but in many respects seem pretty much on par with you (or even inferior) in terms of core abilities and talents. How is it, you wonder, that they “made it” in such a robust manner while you continue to middle along in relative obscurity, earning a pedestrian income and feeling somewhat unfulfilled?

Naphtali HoffMay 13, 2015leadership, success, fulfillment Comment

Keeping your classroom moving

Of the three primary learning modalities — visual, auditory, and kinesthetic — kinesthetic learning is the least frequently utilized in most elementary and secondary classrooms, by a wide margin. Students tend to get most of their information by listening to a teacher speak to them or by seeing and reading it in print or digital form. Learning that involves some form of meaningful movement comes in a distant third.

Naphtali HoffApril 24, 2015 Comment

Quell the fear factor

A handful of community leaders approached me about halfway through my first year as school leader. Some teachers — particularly the tenured vets — were concerned with certain aspects of my leadership style and were starting to vent to board members and other people of influence. After hearing these people out, I asked them what most people in a similar situation would want to know. “Why aren’t they coming to me with this?” I was told that they were afraid of losing their jobs.

Naphtali HoffApril 15, 2015 Comments

Leadership Lessons from the Ice

While hockey may not garner the same attention as the other sports, I believe that when it comes to leadership it has the most to offer, at least symbolically. The following is a partial list of leadership qualities that I have gleaned from observing how the game is played.

1. Balance and skill – Unlike games that are played on sure, foot-friendly surfaces, hockey is played on an unforgiving sheet of ice. A wrong move or a loss of balance can easily result in a hard, embarrassing fall or crash into the boards. Moreover, in order to succeed in the NHL, players must be able to skate well (backwards as well as forwards) at fast speeds while also handling a small puck with a long stick. No other sport consistently demands that level of skill and coordination from all of its players. Leaders, too, need to exercise great care and skill in their oft-perilous positions. The hazards can be real, and a misstep can easily result in a hard fall. They must maintain their balance, build speed and hit their goals as they avoid the oncoming rush. And they often must do so with equipment (or personnel) that may not be best served to push the objective reliably in the right direction.

Naphtali HoffMarch 19, 2015leadership, hockey, team, teamwork, leaders Comments

Put Retention in the Plan

We’ve all had this experience, probably tens of times if not more.

We spend weeks teaching our students important information: new vocabulary words; the primary battles of the Civil War; the differences between animal cells and plant cells, etc. The class takes a test and performs well. Two days later, we ask a related question that requires our students to remember and / or integrate learning from the recent past. Instead of watching multiple hands excitedly shoot up we observe silence and a collective state of confusion.

How did that happen? They knew it all so well just the other day!

I believe that much of the answer lies with our emphasis and our planning.

Naphtali HoffMarch 16, 2015 Comment

Unleashing the Introverted Leader

The reality is that introversion has little to do with our levels of social comfort or verbosity. Rather, it reflects on our energy source. Extroverts are people who gain their energy from others. They walk into a room and feel energized, feeding off of the collective energy as they navigate through the crowd. They seek other’s company and feel somehow incomplete if they are left in isolation for too long.

Introverts, in contrast, gain their energy from quiet, private time. They love to think and reflect privately, with the door closed, and enter into public settings out of necessity rather than preference. While many introverts can be described as quiet, introverts are more than capable of speaking and engaging as circumstances dictate. It’s more about their preferences and inclinations rather than their disposition or capacity.

leadershipNaphtali HoffMarch 11, 2015leadership, introverts, social, skills, energy Comments

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