In addition to my "day job" as a literacy coach at Miller Park Elementary in Omaha, NE, I serve in several teacher leadership roles that have provided me great opportunities to bridge the world of practice and policy. I have attempted to succinctly organize some of the bigger ideas I am working on.

I loved teaching and never saw myself in any other role. However, as life evolved, and mentors guided me, it led me to paths I had never imagined. I had unique and wonderful opportunities that were extremely entrepreneurial as education leadership positions go. And all too rare.

When I was in the classroom, I yearned to have a colleague who knew my curriculum and could counsel me in literacy practices and effective and efficient technology integration. A peer who understood adolescent development and would problem solve by my side. One who could talk through the intricacies and complications of guiding students through analytical research. A collaborator and innovator to help push me deeper into my own practice. I was looking for somebody who had superpowers, and she was nowhere to be found.

We have all heard Common Core bashing. Statements like the Common Core will "undermine student individuality, teacher autonomy, and mark a dangerous takeover of local control." Unlike many of the Core-bashing voices, I am a classroom teacher with actual experience teaching with Common Core, and I beg to differ.

As a teenager, I was in a band. Well...technically, I was in the band. Anyone who has survived high school can tell you that there is a huge difference. Guys in a band get gigs, friends, and dates. Guys in the band--they get punched.

In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell describes the archetypical protagonist who feels compelled to embark on a quest. Over the course of the journey, there are many challenges, as well as support, assistance, and successes. Ultimately, after enduring and overcoming a supreme ordeal, the hero undergoes a form of resurrection because of the life-changing power of the experience. It is a universal formula for transformative stories across cultures and generations.

We need more teacher leaders in our schools. To be clear, one does not need to be an administrator, a team leader, or even a department chair to be a leader. Leadership is not a position, but rather action. This can be done by anyone regardless of title or position within a school building.

Hidy all! It's been a lively January at RHSU. I unveiled the 2014 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings (appreciate the enthusiastic interest in this little pet project) and have gotten into a heated discussion with some good friends about how to respond to Secretary Duncan's continuing, cavalier urge to treat the Common Core push as just one more element of his copious agenda. Meanwhile, I'm deep into writing my new book, The Cage-Busting Teacher, and am taking the next few weeks to work on it. The upshot: you get a break from me, and we've got a terrific lineup of ...

Those who follow New York City schools have been witnessing a time-honored ritual -- pro-testing school reformers have mightily overreached, inviting pushback that's now poised to dismantle much of their useful handiwork. Mayor de Blasio has said that he and his new chancellor, Carmen Fariña, will "do everything in our power to reduce focus on high-stakes testing." At the press conference where he introduced Fariña, de Blasio said, "[Testing] has taken us down the wrong road and, within limits of state and federal law, we will do all we can to roll back that focus." This strident stance is misguided ...

Last night, in the State of the Union, President Obama played it pretty safe when it came to education. He was for more college affordability, higher expectations and performance for K-12, and more pre-K. Not much that anyone is going to object to. Even his oblique reference to "more challenging curriculums" was pretty darn discreet, so much so that I was a little surprised to see analysis so immediately flag it as a veiled reference to the Common Core.