This is a novel by Will James, an artist and writer of the American West in the early 1900’s. The story tells of the life of Smoky, a horse born in the wild and captured by a cowboy named Clint who trained him to be an outstanding cow horse. Smoky was then stolen by a horse thief, and over the years was mistreated and abused. But Clint never stopped looking for his special horse.

Foster Trust, Accountability and Engagement in Your TeamsCreating strong, cohesive teams is an art, and How Teams Work: A Playbook for Distributing Leadership is the essential guide for school leaders looking to master this craft. This interactive playbook doesn′t just advise but actively equips leaders with the tools they need to foster trust, accountability, and engagement in their teams.School leaders today face a critical mandate: to empower, e...

Sharpen your instructional leadership skills and guide your school toward equity and excellence for all.Just think about how great schools could be if every instructional leader exercised their influence to create change—maximizing the efforts of others and mobilizing those efforts to work toward a shared goal.How Leadership Works: A Playbook for Instructional Leaders walks educators through the processes of clarifying, articulatin...

Passion, vision, relatability—can we ever quantify the facets of successful leadership? Is there sufficient "there-there" behind these feel-good words to transform a school into a culture of learning and bold hope? Yes, and yes! Inspired by John Hattie’s impressive research, Fisher, Frey, Lassiter, and Smith bring their trademark clarity to turn aspiration into energized action.For each of the five components that all effective leaders possess—trustworthiness, competence, ...

Optimize your career development by focusing on what your job requires and what your colleagues needDoing the right job the right way is critical to your professional success. Influence and Impact: Discover and Excel at What Your Organization Needs From You The Most provides an easy-to-follow, common-sense approach to building influence at any level of an organization. Accomplished leadership and executive coaches Bill Berman and George Bradt offer a fresh...

The teamwork troubleshooter we all need! Turn your team into a cohesive unit.“This timely book provides readers with a new way of thinking about work and survival strategies for those who find themselves on bad teams. Readers who are looking for a playbook that can help them to understand and develop soft skills needed for teamwork will be eager to have a copy nearby.”—BooklistWhy do some team members not get along? What is the best way to get new teams and ...

Get the most out of your PLCs and teacher teams!All teams face hurdles. What distinguishes the skillful team leader from a less effective one is his or her approach in overcoming them. Whether you are a team leader or a trainer of team leaders, this book is an essential resource for you.Elisa MacDonald offers a skillful approach to team leadership rooted in values, mindset, intelligence, and skill. Readers will learn from reality-based examples ill...

The time of exclusive top-down leadership is over! Only teachers can transform education from inside the classroom, and this book defines best practices of collaborative teacher leadership. Specific techniques, supporting research, expert insight, and real classroom stories illustrate how to work together for student learning, create a guaranteed and viable curriculum, and use data to inform instruction.

Focus on the right thingsAn education leader’s job can seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Research shows that by spending time on just a few high-payoff strategies, leaders can bring about the meaningful change their schools and districts need.High-Payoff Strategies helps administrators lead successful change initiatives by focusing on the three top priorities identified by research and practitioners alike: fostering a ...

Making Mentoring Work is a practical guide for school leaders interested in beginning or enhancing their mentoring programs for new teachers. Readers can use the mentoring program rubric to pre-assess their program and then choose the chapters that correspond to areas of growth. Each chapter provides background research as well as practical steps and tools to make mentoring work in a school environment. At the end of each section, readers will find discussion guides that support program le...

Are you a K–8 principal ready to implement the PLC at Work™ process? Two experienced practitioners show you how to explore the critical components needed to lay the foundation of a PLC, including how to develop a structure that supports collaborative teams, how to focus on effective monitoring strategies, how to reflect on your communication effectiveness, and more.

Building Online Learning Communities: Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom, 2nd EditionBuilding Online Learning Communities further explores the development of virtual classroom environments that foster a sense of community and empower students to take charge of their learning to successfully achieve learning outcomes. This is the second edition of the groundbreaking book by Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt and has been completely updated an...