In many companies, people are promoted into leadership positions because they were top-notch performers in their previous role. Being an individual performer, however, is very different from being a leader and requires a different skill set that all too often has not been deliberately cultivated. Similarly, in the startup world, many people become founders because…
The Ultimate Guide to Personal Productivity
Some people are naturals at personal productivity, others have to learn it. I’m definitely the latter. My first year teaching, I was so awful at managing my time that I would go days in a row without sleeping more than five hours a night. One day, it got so bad that I fell asleep at…
My Personal Mission Statement
Dear Readers, I read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People the summer before my first year and second year teaching. Central to this book’s argument is that as people, we should lead principle centered lives, not outcomes centered lives, because principles are foundational to who we are and should be used to guide all other…
Where to Work in Education
There are many jobs to choose from within education, and a deep need for excellent people in all types of roles and at all types of organizations. I work in education entrepreneurship because it matches my work style, which centers around putting order to chaos, ideating, and creating. You could have very different preferences. This…
An Entrepreneurship Update
Dave McClure, founding partner at 500 Startups, says that the perfect formula for a startup is hacker + hustler + designer. I’ve been trying to figure out which one I want to be for the past two months. I tried being a hacker, mostly through learning how to program in Python via Learn Python the…
So how do I be an entrepreneur and, you know, eat?
If you want to know the answer to this as well, forward to all you entrepreneur friends. I’ll publish results when we have 50 responses. 100 responses is even better. For more resources on figuring out where you are in terms of your financing: 1. Track your monthly expenditures using http://www.mint.com to figure out your…
On My Road to Being a Serial Entrepreneur
I have decided that I am going to be a serial entrepreneur. I’ve certainly dabbled in it, having founded the KIPP Houston Summer Internship Program (now KIPP Houston Urban Education Experience) and having tested basically every educational technology tool out there, but now I’m getting serious, now I’m preparing to start my own business and…
3 Education Blogs You’ll Want to Read
1. Teach for Us is a site where Teach for America teachers and alum post their thoughts on education. It has a fun mix of posts from current Teach for America teachers who are posting about their day to day lives, Teach for America alum who document their (inevitable) change in attitudes and beliefs about…
The Ultimate iPhone App for Teachers: Dash4Teachers Makes Contacting Parents Easy and Enjoyable
Teachers, listen up. If you could download only one iPhone app, ever again, make it this one. Dash4Teachers is available in the App Store for $4.99. It is literally the most indispensable iPhone app that I’ve used as a teacher, and I love it so much that I’m going to spend a whole post convincing…
What’s It Like To Try To Build a Startup in 54 Hours?
Most importantly, I’m thankful for the people I met over the weekend, many of whom I hope will stay good friends and mentors for years to come. A special heartfelt thanks to the Tiedot team, without whom none of this would have been possible. Yogesh, Sim, Mike, Max, Gershon, Jamie (and Nihal), you guys ROCK….
Deborah Chang 