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Dream Big

What are you dreaming about for your students?

I believe the enemy of creativity is the traditional definition of insanity. Insanity seems like a strong word. Here is what I mean. We’ve probably all heard at some point the adage on the definition of insanity: We do things the same way and we get the same results. Inspired by Albert Einstein. Have you heard that one? Well, I want to challenge you to dream again. To not only dream but to dream really BIG.

What is your vision for your students?

No, I don’t mean pulling that old, passed down strategic plan off the shelf, the one that has collected dust and makes you sneeze when you touch it. No, I’m talking bigger. Like where do you want to be in 5 years? What do you want to make national headlines? That’s the kind of dreaming I’m talking about. Because if you can dream it, you CAN do it. No great thing ever started without a dream.

In the words of Walt Disney, “it’s kind of fun to do the impossible”. So what are we labeling impossible in our lives? Even in our personal lives. It’s time to dream again and to dream BIG for kids. Where will your dreams take you? Once you have that dream in place the NCESD can help you get there. It starts with a strategic plan, and then systems and processes to make a difference with your team.

So from now on, when you hear “school improvement plan” I want you to interchange those words with Vision Board for the future. A catalyst to get there is using evidenced based tools to align the action steps to get to your dreams. The District Capacity Assessment is a great tool to use for any innovation. No matter what tool you use, keep dreaming and remember, small wins build up to big momentum.

In 2022, North Central ESD’s past MTSS Specialist, Stephanie Andler, shared her knowledge on all things Multi-Tiered System of Supports and how regional school districts can implement the strategies in this blog series.