Blog Main
From Classrooms to Careers: How CAD Academy Transformed Instruction Through Industry Collaboration
By Donn Kirkwood, Senior Leadership Coach
At Alabama’s Career Academies of Decatur, a simple but profound question set a powerful transformation in motion:
“What if every academic lesson felt like a step toward a real career?”
Life-Altering Lessons for Educators From the 2025 Making Schools Work Conference Keynote Address
The 2025 Making Schools Work Conference was held in New Orleans from July 15-18. Over the next year, we will be giving you insights and lessons learned from many of the sessions we attended at the conference. In this first post, we look at the motivational lessons we learned at Antonio Neve’s keynote address.
Project-ing Your Teaching: 10 Steps to Beginning a Project-Based Learning Unit in Your Class
Have you been wanting to try project-based learning in your classroom but have no idea where to start? This 10-step guide will tell you what you need to know to create your first PBL unit!
AI for Late-Adopters, Luddites and Curmudgeons
AI won’t take your job as a
teacher. That was the first piece of good news in a session on AI
tools for educators at the 2025 SREB Making Schools Work
Conference in July.
Artificial intelligence tools can’t replace the one-on-one human connection between student and teacher, said John Boyd, a Nationally Board-Certified educator in South Carolina who serves on his district’s AI policy committee.
How to Create Strong Teacher Induction
Effective induction programs are a key part of keeping great teachers. This post explores ways to create a strong induction program.
Why Teacher Induction Is the Missing Link in Ed Prep
And How CarolinaTIP Is Getting It Right
Teacher induction is an important part of school leadership, but it can be difficult to know how best to run your induction program. In this post, we look at how CarolinaTIP’s induction program is doing things so well.
Teacher Induction Essentials
For Every School Leader
Keeping the teachers you have is more cost-effective than hiring new teachers each year. That is just one reason that teacher induction is so important. In this post, we talk about teacher induction essentials that every school leader should be using.
AI in Education Series Part 6: How to Pick an AI Tool for Your School
This is the final post in our series exploring the four pillars from Guidance for the Use of AI in the K12 Classroom. This time, we discuss the checklist that goes along with this report and examine ways that you can pick AI tools for your school.
AI in Education Series Part 5: Developing Ethical and Proficient AI Users
This is the fifth post in our series exploring the four pillars from Guidance for the Use of AI in the K12 Classroom. This time, we discuss ways that teachers can help students become ethical and efficient AU users of the future..
Believe : What Jason Adair (and Ted Lasso) Taught Us About Coaching
In the last post from our 2025 Coaching for Change Conference series, we look at lessons from Ted Lasso on what it means to be a good coach…whether that is instructional or sports.
AI in Education Series Part 4: How Teachers Can Use AI to Support Personalized Learning—Without Overcomplicating It
This is the fourth post in our series exploring the four pillars from Guidance for the Use of AI in the K12 Classroom. In this one, we talk about ways that AI can be useful in creating personalized learning plans for students.
Blowing the Whistle on Coaching: Maximizing Impact in Education
In the second-to-last post from our 2025 Coaching for Change Conference series, we look at why “blowing the whistle” every once in a while can be really good for an instructional coach to try.
AI in Education Series Part 3: How AI Can Lighten the Load for Teachers—Without Taking Over
This is the third post in our series exploring the four pillars from Guidance for the Use of AI in the K12 Classroom. In this post, we discuss ways that AI can be used to help teachers streamline their administrative and planning tasks.
Differentiated Coaching, Real Results: 7 Lessons for School Leaders That David Seale Taught Us About Supporting Every Teacher
In this post from our 2025 Coaching for Change Conference series, we look at lessons for school leaders in why creating differentiated coaching support for your team makes a huge difference in teacher retention and school culture.
AI in Education Series Part 2: How to Design Cognitively Demanding Tasks—With a Little Help From AI
This is the second post in our series exploring the four pillars from Guidance for the Use of AI in the K12 Classroom. In this post, we talk about how to create cognitively demanding tasks that get students thinking, with a little help from AI.
What Stuck With Coaches: Top Takeaways From Day 1 of the 2025 Coaching for Change Conference
In the latest post in our 2025 Coaching for Change Conference series, we look at what attendees took away from Day 1 of the coaching conference.
AI in Education: Procurement, Professional Development and Postsecondary Progress — May Commission Meeting Recap
The SREB Commission on AI in Education met virtually in May. In this post, we look at what went on in this full commission meeting.
A Practical Guide for Educators: How to Start Using AI in Your Classroom Today
In this first post in our five-part series on our new report, Guidance for the Use of AI in the K12 Classroom. We talk about what the report is, who it is for, and how you can get started using it today, no matter your current AI comfort level.
Vulnerability Is Not a Weakness: 5 Reasons Good Leaders (and Instructional Coaches) Aren’t Afraid of Being Vulnerable
In the third post in our Coaching for Change Conference insights blog series, we look at insights provided by Terri Seay Bryant on why being vulnerable is a great school leadership and instructional coaching trait.
Scooby-Dooby-Do You Know How to Maximize Your Coaching Support? 5 Mystery-Filled Tips From Kanisa Williams on How to IMPACT Your Teachers
In the second post in our Coaching for Change Conference insights blog series, Kanisa Williams from DeKalb County Schools in Georgia uses Scooby Doo to show you how instructional coaches can make a huge impact in their schools.