How to be interesting?

A guy called Russell Davies has been writing some good stuff about how we can actuallu be interesting people. You can check out the full article here

There are 10 simple steps that help you and me to become more rounded people. Though I especially like

4. Every week, read a magazine you’ve never read before

Interesting people are interested in all sorts of things. That means they explore all kinds of worlds, they go places they wouldn’t expect to like and work out what’s good and interesting there. An easy way to do this is with magazines. Specialist magazines let you explore the solar system of human activities from your armchair. Try it, it’s fantastic

Periodic Table of Visual methods

Came across this amazing site tonight - it lists many of the different visualisation methods that are used to present information - only this is in a slighly different format and classification.

Click here to check out the site in full

20070103-BBC Newsnight-Migration Watch - report

This is a brilliant short film that looks at whether migration is worth it into the UK.

Geography, how much do you care?

This video will make you think . . . . its about time that people took the subject of Geography a bit more seriously, dont you think?

The new Headteacher is . . . . .

. . . NOT a teacher! Disturbing reports on the BBC News site over the weekend with reports that perhaps education is to go the way of the health service. Instead of the more experienced teachers in our schools to run things, we are going to be getting some help from the private, management sector. What joy! Number crunchers and business-brained boffins coming into schools to tell us how to manage. And, lets note the marvellous success of what they have done in the health service. What a model of leadership that has been! Costs up. Morale down. Doctors and nurses needed to be imported from the developing world to make sure that there is enough staff. Yes, what we need right now in education is professional managers taking over the reigns in schools. After all, these schools are a drain on resources and society and it is about time that they started turning a profit. The Government can be a load of muppets sometimes.

Quick mail BEFORE email? (by missle)

I was fascinated this week by a story in Bill Bryson's most recent book about how in 1959 the US trialled a new postal delivery system - the guided missle. The History of the US Postal Service describes it like this,

On June 8, 1959, in a move a postal official heralded as "of historic significance to the peoples of the entire world," the Navy submarine U.S.S. Barbero fired a guided missile carrying 3,000 letters at the Naval Auxiliary Air Station in Mayport, Florida. "Before man reaches the moon," the official was quoted as saying, "mail will be delivered within hours from New York to California, to Britain, to India or Australia by guided missiles."

Yes, you did read that right. Somebody actually thought that we could use missles to deliver our post. Now I am not the most technically minded but the idea of my mail whizzing over my head before it lands at the local post office in a cloud of smoke is an interesting image. For one thing, I am pretty glad I don't live next door - things might get a little interesting. Also, how would the price of stamps increase? 3,000 letters 'posted' using a 20 million dollar piece of technology - thats $6,666 per letter. And to think that someone else thought of a way to deliver these same pieces of mail free, instantly and right into our homes.

Now, if you did not like the person you were mailing - I suppose this brings a whole new meaning to how you can use 'hate mail'!

Leadership is . . . .

Over the last year I have been considering various aspects of school leadership. My final thoughts on this are needed to be sorted and presented in a short 2 minute presentation about what I have learnt about leadership. I thought - 10 minutes would sort this out easy. Oh, how wrong I was!

In 2006, I have started to read business books for the first time and have found remarkable similarities between the qualities and issues in leading and developing a business as in leading, developing and improving a school.

I met Andy Hargreaves at a conference in Boston during the summer and in his most recent book he promotes the idea not just of strategic (planned) leadership but also sustainable leadership - a leadership that prevents burnout or innovation fatigue as I like to call it.

I suppose I have always seen myself as a manager first and leader second. But, the more I think about things, I realsie that I am moving towards being a leader first and a manager second. I have always been proud of my organisational skills - but what use are these if I dont have an innovative way for these to go.

So I continue to think and pnder this question - what is leadership? or more interestingly 'What does good leadership look like?' I hope I am getting closer to an answer! Is motivation enough? Is energy enough? Is creativity enough? Is valuing the indivdual enough? Is creating incentives enough? Amswers on a postcard to me at . . . . . .