Anthony Colannino

Anthony Colannino, Senior Fellow at ICLE has dedicated himself to creating equitable, exciting and personal learning spaces for students and teachers alike. As a principal and teacher his growth-minded approach to learning has set the stage for individual and collective achievement. Students from his first years teaching in Boston have gone on to become a successful doctor, lawyer and ballet dancer. As a school leader he has inspired lasting change that has brought schools and the greater community together, developed meaningful pathways for educator growth and closed opportunity gaps through intentional culture creation.

Anthony works with school systems across the country from the rural poverty of eastern Washington to the suburban affluence of metro Boston delivering a message of hope and optimism along with practical teacher tools and leadership moves that act on the belief that all children can learn. He has effectively worked with educators in some of the large urban districts of Philadelphia, Bronx, Cincinnati and Compton. At home with educators in all kinds of schools, Anthony brings both his infectious joy for learning and seriousness of the task of educating the next generation at all his events.

Anthony’s writing can been seen at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Shaped, online education blog. He is currently writing, Contagious Leader, on his experiences inspiring children and adults over the last 20 years.

The Power of Relationships

How many of you know the name of every child in your building and details about their life?

How about the adults? It’s amazing the culture leaders can create when they ask a few simple questions, provide many opportunities to listen, and show they truly want to know those under their care—both the students and staff. Not only are there endless possibilities when a constellation of adults comes together through a common mission, but it’s more fun working with and leading people you know. Just like kids, adults need safety, as well as the means to be motivated to learn and the support to try. In this keynote, Anthony will share the characteristics leaders must instill and cultivate to strengthen relationships, create and sustain a positive culture that values resilience, build empathy, and increase student success.

Learning Mindset for All Stakeholders

Mindset can ignite learning. Often this is how we come to decisions for our vocation and on-going curiosity. But, growth mindset is only one piece of several components of learning mindset. In this keynote, Anthony will share practices that can be implemented to have all students learn that I can, I belong, and I seek are essential to impact their own outcomes.

Navigating Culture Shift

A strong school culture is key to student achievement, but changing or improving it can be nebulous. While a positive culture is easy to identify, it’s also challenging to create and shape. This shift won’t succeed if it falls solely to the leader or even a group of leaders; it is the responsibility of all stakeholders to create a culture through conscious actions and reactions, meaningful traditions, and high expectations for all—students, staff, and families—through agreed-upon goals, strong communication, and collaborative actions. In this keynote, Anthony will share how to successfully navigate school transformation and reveal best practices for pulling school communities together to build a positive, student-centered culture.

Contagious Educator

In this interactive session discover how being a contagious educator is a good thing!

Meaningful growth occurs in our schools, when teachers and leaders alike provide effective inspiration that leads to a cumulative impact in learning. If teachers teach approximately 1,000 hours a school year and leadership engages in 10 hours or less of professional development or discussions on how to improve, somehow leaders must impart mission, vision and values through any and all interactions to inspire a sense of urgency, growth and support. The same can be said of students, who do most of their living outside the classroom. Teachers must become a trusted foothold for their students reaching beyond their current level of understanding and in need of risk-taking that drives learning. Cultural elements of growth, techniques to inspire, the language of learning and a sense of joy in making the impossible, possible are symptoms worth spreading across classrooms, schools and districts.

Expanding Your Comfort Zone

Fear of failure and appearing dumb is a power fix-minded trigger that curtails learning and growth. Mistake tolerant and skill-based learning through guided practice allows children and adults to face their fears and create environments in which meaningful learning occurs. In this session, participants will reflect on their past and current mindsets and how each effected an outcome. Through self-realization, educators will gain a greater sense of empathy and understanding for their staff and students and how to create learning cultures where fear is constricted through the expansion of comfort – a place where the hard work of a rigorous and relevant curriculum becomes the norm.