5 inspirational leaders

As I continue my journey as a first year administrator, I continually find myself on the lookout for both great tweeps and great leadership blogs. Here are a few that I would like to share with you:

Jeff Delp (@azjd) - K-12 Principal: Jeff has been on fire lately when it comes to his blogging. The thing that most impresses me with Jeff's writing is that he is constantly writing about the real issues we are facing in education. He does not just write about the bigger philosophical approaches to education, but rather the real world scenarios we are facing in schools. Here are a few of my favorite most recent posts by Jeff: Chasing homework, Re-engaging the disengaged: 5 strategies, and Challenge your assumptions.

Chris Wejr (@mrwejr) - Elementary Principal: Chris has been a major player in the "what motivates students" debate. Also, he has pushed the envelope when it comes to rewards and extrinsic motivators in schools. Lately, Chris has been bouncing around with this blog posts, but he has definitely been a huge influence on me and many others. In particular, I have really enjoyed these latest posts by Chris: One day events don't solve everyday problems, They need teaching...not punishment, and Parent communication: TO vs. WITH.

Dan Rockwell (@leadershipfreak) - Leadership Guru: Dan writes a new post on leadership on an almost daily basis. Though his posts aren't specific to education, he does an excellent job of making his posts relevant across many professions. I also find a lot of relevancy to what he says when dealing with colleagues and even our students. Dan's posts are 300 words or less, and his blog most definitely deserves to be in your RSS feed as a daily dose of inspirational leadership. Here are a few of my favorite posts of late: Great leaders are great haters, The leadership secret, and Polite meetings are a waste of time.

Aaron Biebert (@biebert) - Leadership Guru: Aaron like Dan does not write specifically for educators, but I find a lot of his posts to be quite inspirational and motivating nonetheless. I have been following Aaron for the shortest amount of time when comparing these 5 leaders, but I am constantly impressed and encouraged by his words. Here are 3 posts that have really got me interested in reading more of what Aaron has to write: The magic of user friendly leadership, 6 reasons why "conflicted" is good for your life and organization, and Leadership: Here there be dragons.

Krissy Venosdale (@KTVee) - 3-6 Gifted Teacher: Though Krissy might not blog or tweet directly about "leadership" trends or perspectives, she is without doubt a leader in her own right. Krissy provides a constant stream of great ideas and even better perspectives that both inspire and motivate me. If you are looking for a boost of inspiration or energy, then you need to look no further than Krissy. Here are 3 great posts Krissy has written of late: Letting go of rules, Where are you going?, and Making mountains into molehills.

Check out a blog post I did back in May about 5 other educational leadership superstars: Educational superstars