The bedrock of a great school is shared leadership. All stakeholders must have a seat at the decision-making table. This ensures that the vision and direction of the school is decided upon collectively and in the best interest of all parties. Teachers are key players in the process and need to be encouraged to stepContinueContinue reading “5 Ways to Foster Teacher Leadership”
Tag Archives: Leadership
5 Reasons to End Grade Retention
“Give them the gift of time”. “They just aren’t ready”. “They’ll do so much better with me again next year”. Sound familiar? Students have been being held back a grade for decades in the attempt to reteach them skills that they did not master during the current year. The American Educational Research Association puts gradeContinueContinue reading “5 Reasons to End Grade Retention”
5 Ways Principals Can Build Trust
One of the most important books that I have read in my career is The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. In his book, Lencioni outlines the elements needed to build strong, cohesive teams. Here is a link to the book: Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Trust is the foundation in which productive teams areContinueContinue reading “5 Ways Principals Can Build Trust”
5 Educational Concepts We Need To Eliminate In 2018
It has been a year since I published the article, “5 Educational Concepts We Need to Eliminate in 2017”. It has been read and shared over 40,000 times since its publication. The feedback received from this article has given me much to write about over the past year, with many other articles from The Principal’sContinueContinue reading “5 Educational Concepts We Need To Eliminate In 2018”
5 Ways Education is Like Game of Thrones
Winter is coming! With the return of Game of Thrones to the airwaves, I was inspired to write an article based on this tremendous series. As I prepared for the new season, I thought about the history of the series and began to draw some parallels to the world of education, specifically working in theContinueContinue reading “5 Ways Education is Like Game of Thrones”
5 Ways Leadership is Like Building a Sandcastle
Being a leader is not easy. Leaders must be steadfast during the storm and be able to remain standing through thick and thin. I was lucky enough to spend some time this summer on a beach building sandcastles with my children. As we built our castle, I was reflected upon my own work as anContinueContinue reading “5 Ways Leadership is Like Building a Sandcastle”
5 Pieces of Data Your Leadership Team Should Be Analyzing
Leadership teams spend hours and hours each school year looking at assessment data. Data will help teachers and administrators target individual students and standards for intervention. However, assessment data is only part of the picture. There is a wide variety of data out there that needs to be analyzed in order to truly transform schoolsContinueContinue reading “5 Pieces of Data Your Leadership Team Should Be Analyzing”
5 Ways To Smartly Purchase Educational Technology
Edtech is a multi-billion dollar business. Edtech purchases have increased 5 times over the past five years. However, are these purchases actually doing students any good where it counts? Are they actually benefitting students in the classroom? As a technology in schools advocate, I urge all educators to carefully research and purchase devices and programsContinueContinue reading “5 Ways To Smartly Purchase Educational Technology”
Five Ways To Ensure Your Next IEP Meeting Runs Smoothly
IEP meetings are some of the most important facets of an educator’s job. Ensuring that appropriate placement and services are being provided for some our most at-risk students should always be a top priority. It is vital that these meetings are productive, collaborative, and student focused. Sadly, too often these meetings get derailed by emotions,ContinueContinue reading “Five Ways To Ensure Your Next IEP Meeting Runs Smoothly”
5 Ways to Make Classroom Walk-Throughs More Powerful
Conducting classroom walk-throughs (CWTs) is not a new concept. Educators have been walking through classrooms, gauging instructional practices for years. Unfortunately, CWTs are often conducted due to mandates from downtown and not from the internal desire to improve educational practices. Administrators go through the motions of walking through without the school getting the benefits ofContinueContinue reading “5 Ways to Make Classroom Walk-Throughs More Powerful”
THE PRINCIPAL'S DESK 