e2L Blog

How to Size the Ask: Bringing a School Improvement Request to This Semester's Budget Conversation

engage2learn — Tue, 03 Nov 2026 17:54:32 GMT

Most budget requests for a struggling school fail the same way. They arrive too big to approve or too vague to act on. A superintendent knows something has to change at that school, and a finance director needs to know what, how much, and why now.

The School Everyone Is Worried About: Where to Start Before Next Semester

engage2learn — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 13:51:01 GMT

Every district has one. It might be an elementary, middle, or high school, and everyone knows which one. The principal is working hard, the district has tried several things, and the superintendent is still not seeing the improvement they need to see.

One Login, Not Five: Rethinking How Districts Track Coaching and Growth

engage2learn — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:11:35 GMT

Ask a principal how much of their week goes to pulling together reports, coaching logs from one tool, PD sign-in sheets from another, a curriculum tracker from a third, and most will tell you it is more than they would like to admit. None of that time goes toward the actual work of coaching a teacher or walking a classroom. It goes toward stitching together a picture that should already exist.

Why Job-Embedded Coaching Works (and Workshops Don’t)

engage2learn — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 13:20:24 GMT

When a professional development day gets announced, ask any teacher what comes to mind and you will likely hear a knowing sigh. That reaction is earned.

Why District Strategic Plans Stall Before They Start Working

engage2learn — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 21:40:31 GMT

Ask ten people in a district office to name their strategic plan’s top three priorities, and you will often get ten different answers, or a long pause instead of an answer at all.

Making Teacher Observations Meaningful (Not Menacing)

Kammi Green — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:38:41 GMT

I recently read an article with a heartbreaking title: “It Took Me 20 Years To See the Point of Teacher Observations.”

Preventing AI Slop in the Classroom

Jill Galloway — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 14:00:00 GMT

Why districts need guardrails—not bans—when teachers use AI

District leaders find themselves in a familiar position: the reality in classrooms is moving faster than policy, training, and systems can keep up. That is especially true with the use of AI as a teaching aid.

Roundtable: Cultivating Belief in Student Capacity

engage2learn — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 14:12:56 GMT

Future-Ready Middle Schools Roundtable | Session 02:

Yes, They Can! Cultivating Belief in Student Capacity

December 10, 2025 | 10:30-11:30pm CST

Effective school leaders know low-expectations stagnate student potential. The good news: students also rise to the expectations placed on them. So, if we want them to achieve more, we must raise expectations—and our belief in their capacity—to match that higher bar.

In Session 2 of the Future-Ready Middle Schools Roundtable, leaders will create an action plan to help teachers move from “my students can’t do that” to “yes, they can—here’s how.” This collaborative working session focuses on building a culture of high expectations where challenging, grade-level work is paired with classroom systems and protocols that signal belief and support student success.

In e2L-facilitated small groups, you’ll surface common “can’t yet” narratives and turn them into clear “can—if” actions—the language, routines, and scaffolds that reinforce belief in students. We’ll also identify classroom and campus systems that quietly reinforce low expectations (e.g., over-scaffolding, step-by-step micromanagement, limited time for independent work) and replace them with trust-building routines that grow autonomy with accountability.

You’ll leave with:

A 30-Day Raising-Expectations Action Plan with clear owners, timelines, and simple success signals.
A “Yes, They Can” conversation guide for coaching and PLCs to reframe limiting beliefs into asset-based action.
A concise look-fors & checkpoints sheet that aligns walkthroughs, feedback, and student voice around high expectations.

IMPORTANT: This is a virtual working session—come ready to dig in with other leaders frustrated by the yo-yo effect of siloed curriculum and PD solutions. No sit-and-get, here. Just collaboration, ideation, and action with other like-minded leaders.

Quick FAQ:

I missed Session 1. Is that okay?
Yes. Each Future-Ready Middle Schools Roundtable stands alone—you do not need to attend previous sessions to join the next one.

Is this session recorded?
No. Because the roundtable is personal and highly collaborative, we do not record it. Please plan to attend live.

Who should attend this session?
Middle school leaders at the district and campus levels, including directors of school leadership, principals, assistant principals, and instructional coaches.

I don’t work in a K–12 public school. Can I attend?
Not at this time. To keep the conversation highly relevant for middle school leaders, participation is limited to current K–12 public school district staff.

Facilitator:

Jill has a background in Computer Science and nearly 20 years of experience in instructional technology, product design, and EdTech leadership. She leads the product strategy, innovation, and design for GroweLab—e2L’s implementation and support platform. A daily AI user, Jill plays a key role in using this technology to streamline workflows, support educators, and improve student outcomes.

Registration for this event is closed.

Roundtable: Designing Learning AI Can't Replace

engage2learn — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 14:41:37 GMT

Future-Ready MS Roundtable Series

In response to the growing need for strategic action to improve outcomes this school year, e2L is launching a series of collaborative working sessions with district and campus leaders focused on middle school improvement.

Each session spotlights one high-leverage topic area—from student agency and feedback cycles to authentic student-teachers relationships and adult belief systems—to allow leaders to collaborate, share ideas, and leave with a ready-to-implement action plan of small but high-impact changes in their schools.

These are virtual working sessions—come ready to dig in with other leaders frustrated by the yo-yo effect of siloed curriculum and PD solutions. No sit-and-get, here. Just collaboration, ideation, and action with other like-minded leaders.

Session 01:

Designing Learning AI Can’t Replace

November 19, 2025 | 12:30-1:30pm CST

Join e2L and job-alike leaders to build immediate, practical changes that better prepare learners for the AI-powered future—starting in the next 30 days.

AI is reshaping work faster than schools can rewrite textbooks, which means the edge our students need is profoundly human—ownership of learning, authentic problem-solving, and employability skills that AI can’t replicate. In e2L-facilitated, small groups, you’ll swap proven moves, pressure-test ideas, and co-build a plan you can start in the next 30 days.

What you’ll leave with:

A ready-to-use 30-Day Quick-Wins Action Plan you create with peers (two classroom routines + one leader move), with owners, timelines, and simple success signals.
A scaffolded classroom look-fors rubric that clarifies the progression toward true student agency and engagement—useful for teachers, coaches, and walkthroughs.
Trusted connections with leaders facing the same challenges, so the collaboration continues after the session.

Facilitator:

Registration Closed

In the Age of AI, Middle Schoolers Need Agency

Jill Galloway — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 19:01:04 GMT

AI is Already Here. Can We Really Wait?

AI has already changed the global workforce. Entire industries are being reshaped, and the skills employers value most are shifting in real time. The question isn’t whether schools must adapt, but whether we can afford to wait.