Brandy Tackett, MA.ed., M.Ed.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
Nelson Mandela
Leadership
Suggested Reads ...
Jon Saphier
"High Expectations Teaching"
Elizabeth City, Richard Elmore, Sarah Fiarman, Lee Teitel
"Instructional Rounds in Education"
Kathryn Boudett
"Harvard- DataWise"
Karin Chenoweth
"It's Being Done"
Karin Chenoweth
"Getting It Done"
Paul Tough
"How Children Succeed"
Leonard Burrello & John Mann
"Positive Manifesto"
Kenneth Strike
"Ethical Leadership In Schools"
Robert Marzano
"School Leadership That Works"
Leonard Burello, Lauren Hoffman, Lynn Murray
"School Leaders Building Capacity From Within"
Raymond Terrell, Randall Lindsay
"Culturally Proficient Leadership
Thomas Sergiovanni
"Rethinking Leadership: A Collection of Articles"
This is my leadership journey. Before we know it, our day one fades into day 14,000 and we forget where we began, the rocky road, or the experiences that shaped us as leaders. This site is meant to capture my journey and therefor, I am transparent about the mistakes and blunders along the way. I enjoy collaboration with my peers so feel free to interact with me. In fact, most of these blogs start with the early years where I was in my leadership infancy. There are major gaps in my posts, updates, and blogs ... well, that's just life for you. I am happy to expose the mistakes I made, not only because they could potentially help others in their journey, but also because I believe that our journey, without mistakes, prevents us from growing into the capable leaders we can become. I embrace obstacles and recognize that each one is an opportunity for self evaluation and growth.
I believe that working with children is the greatest gift that we are given. When the world leaves you with questions or the "good" seems to be lost, you always have children to turn to to restore your faith in love, the world, and the future. Children show us the best the world has to offer.
I have been so blessed to work alongside the most incredible, selfless, dedicated, intelligent individuals in the world. Teachers leave it "all on the field" for children every single day. Being an educator is not a job or a career, rather, it becomes who we "are." The fabric of our DNA is defined by our ability to teach and in the gift we are given to work with children every day.
My teachers and staff hear me relentlessly say " I work for children." This is the most honest thing I can tell you about myself. Growing up, I was in 13 schools in 12 years and it DID require the proverbial "village" to raise me. The influence that I had came from strangers, friends, community members, church members, and extended family. I did not grow up conventionally, and I am better for it, though I didn't always believe this. The blessings of my obstacles have provided me an opportunity to influence today's youth and tomorrow's leaders in a very different way. It has given me the gift of appreciation and of dedication to all children. I didn't connect with a teacher. I didn't have a guidance counselor speak to me about me abut my post-secondary options. I worked full time my senior year and graduating was a means to an end, or so I thought. It was divine intervention that pushed me from deep within to go back to school and find my calling which turned me full circle to becoming an educator who had a pretty strongly held belief about WHO was qualified to stand in front of children.
Instructional Suggested Reads
Lucy Calkins
"The Art of Teaching Reading"
Ellin Keene
"To Understand"
Ellin Keene and Susan Zimmerman
"Mosaic of Thought"
Robert Marzano, Debra Pickering and Jane Pollock
"Classroom Instruction that Works"
Jennifer Serravallo and Gravity Goldberg
"Conferring with Readers"
Ellin Keene (collaborator)
"Comprehension Going Forward"
Robert Marzano
"The Highly Engaged Classroom"
Timothy Rasinski
"The Fluent Reader"
Stephanie Harvey & Harvey Daniels
"Comprehension and Collaboration: Inquiry Circles"