Guest post by Donald F. Gately, principal, Jericho Middle School, Jericho, NY

I recently prepared introductory remarks for our end-of-the-year concert. Using the same  “concert introductions” document that I’ve used since I became a principal, I cut and pasted the elements that need to be repeated every year: Turn off your cell phone, don’t yell out your kid’s name, stay until the end of the concert, thanks to our dignitaries for attending.

Despite the canned reminders, I always craft different remarks as part of my introductions. At this event, I referenced a study done by the renowned neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks about the positive effects that learning to play a musical instrument has on the brain. My mentor taught me that any time you address a large gathering of people in your role as principal, it is an opportunity to reinforce the vision and mission of the school.

As school leaders, we have to find ways to grow professionally and improve our leadership practices. While it would have been easy for me to recycle my old introductory remarks, I would have been missing out on an opportunity to grow.

Because of the chaotic dynamism of being a principal, there’s a tendency for some people to cling to consistency. If it went well last year, let’s just do it the same way again this year: “Here comes parent teacher conferences, meet-the-teacher night, graduation, or a concert again—let’s trot out the same plan from last year.” I call this attitude, “Good enough is good enough,” and it’s not okay.

Good enough is simply not good enough. Despite how long we may have been doing our jobs, complacency will not help us improve. With the new year approaching, like many people, I have sought the one word that will represent my intention to grow. I am committed to looking at every single thing I do with the purpose of improving and getting better. To do this, I am focusing on an important factor, which is my one-word resolution for the coming year: feedback. We cannot grow unless we hold up the mirror to our personal and professional practice. Ways to do this include:

Crucial Conversations

It’s easy for people to tell you when you’ve done a good job; I love giving people good news, being a “bucket filler.” But to have a growth mindset means inviting constructive feedback that will help us improve. I’m going to push those conversations to make sure that I invite the kind of advice that will help make me and the school better.

#ObserveMe Flyer

I have a flyer on my door inspired by the #ObserveMe movement. On it is a QR code that you can scan that will bring you to a Google form to give me feedback. Many of the teachers have their own versions of this flyer on their classroom doors. You can find it here. Using this tool, I invite everyone with whom I interact to give me feedback.

Surveys

Students, staff, and parents should have opportunities to offer feedback after essential meetings, workshops, and school events. Google forms make this easier than ever. Survey hack: Place flyers with a QR code link to the survey on the exit doors of the school; if it’s a workshop in the auditorium, place the flyers on the doors in the back. Participants will scan the QR code with their phones and complete the survey on their way to their cars.

What’s your one word for this coming school year? How are you trying to improve?

Donald Gately, Ed.D., serves as the principal of Jericho Middle School in Jericho, NY. He was the 2016 New York Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @donald_gatelyand visit his blog In the Middle of Learning.

Guest post by Abbey Duggins

During an informal conversation with a veteran teacher who was grappling with a problem of practice in her language arts class, I asked her why she didn’t take her problem to her learning community for support. She responded, “We don’t have time. We pretty much know what we need to do from here on out is help the new teachers understand the standards. The sixth-grade team has been very, Help, we’re clueless. Tell us what to do.”

This conversation brought to light an issue that many schools experience: Our most proficient teachers shoulder the daunting responsibility of supporting their less experienced colleagues and oftentimes receive little support themselves. When teachers take on the role of mentor, it is typically in addition to their full teaching load, which can come at the expense of their own professional development. How can we create a system of support for our newest colleagues so that the responsibility seems less like a burden to one, and more like a shared, sustainable structure through which all can grow?

At Saulda County Schools, we have developed a comprehensive support system for our beginning teachers. Here are four lessons we have learned in this process:

Take a team approach to welcome new teachers

The first days of the first year of teaching are daunting, and mentors cannot drive the welcome wagon alone! Our district office team presents new teachers a welcome packet with aletter, school supplies, and professional texts during a luncheon. We enact a strategic plan to pair mentors with first-year teachers and make introductions prior to the start of school. The mentees then have at least a couple go-to people for big questions like school norms, as well as small aspects, like having someone to sit with at first faculty meeting.

Establish an on-going support structure

To maintain support throughout the school year, our district office administrative team facilitates monthly face-to-face meetings for new teachers. Mentors and other teacher leaders are called on to offer support that aligns with individual strengths or areas of interest. Some examples include:

• Mock parent-teacher conferences with mentors playing the role of parents
• Best practice sharing from school-level teacher of the year winners
• Panel discussions about important topics from content-area experts, such as special education teachers or guidance counselors

Between face-to-face meetings, mentors and school-level administrative staff offer tailored support, such as arranging coverage so mentees can conduct peer observations or scheduling teacher leaders to model instructional strategies. This differentiated support shows our newest colleagues that educators at every level are invested in their success. In addition, they receive support from district office staff virtually through a Google Classroom that houses timely articles, resources, and surveys.

Collect and Use Feedback

It is important to frequently check-in with new teachers and then use that feedback to change support structures and content. During a mid-year mentor check-in survey, consider asking teachers to respond anonymously to these two prompts:

1. I love that my mentor…
2. I wish that my mentor…

When we posed these prompts, we got rich responses, such as:

I love that my mentor…

• gives me the space to figure things out but is there when I need her. She doesn’t hover and I appreciate that.
• checks in with me daily and has made an effort to get to know me outside of the classroom and school.

I wish that my mentor would…

• continue helping me with advice and guidance as she implements certain strategies.
• schedule a time I could observe other teachers in some content areas that I feel I could still improve on.

Sharing this feedback with mentors is an effective way for them to reflect about their performance and learn more effective ways to support their mentees.

Provide inspiration

Teaching is tough, and first year teachers need motivation to make it through the year. We participate in the 25 Wonderfuls project, inspired by Rebecca Leigh’s the 50 Wonderfuls Project, which asks supportive friends and mentors of the beginning teachers to share 25 Wonderful things about them. In January, we organize an Induction Teacher Celebration where we play Networking BINGO and listen to TED-style talks from attendees. The celebration concludes with a video of students expressing their appreciation for their first-year teacher, which was filmed secretly with the help of their mentors.

Developing a comprehensive system of support for new teachers can be daunting. It is critical to walk the fine line between empowering teacher leaders and overburdening them. A system-wide plan to support new teachers, in which educators at every level are invested, can result in productive ways for all involved to both support colleagues and grow professionally themselves.How does your district support new teachers?

Abbey Duggins, PhD, was recently named Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Saluda County Schools, where she has worked for the last 15 years as an English teacher, literacy coach, and assistant principal. She is the 2017 South Carolina Assistant Principal of the Year. Follow her on Twitter @asduggins.

Guest post by Brian McCann

It’s taken me nearly 15 years to get the opening of school “right.”

And in all of the summer planning I did for more than a decade: the refreshing of the building, the supplies ordering, the school’s master schedule, I forgot the most important stakeholder of all: the children.

It wasn’t until I was engaged in a summer Twitter chat a few summer’s back that Craig Vroom, an Ohio middle school principal, introduced me to the #1st3days.

The philosophy of #1st3days has a laser focus on relationship-building and brands from the opening bell that people are the heart of this high school.

Starts with the Opening Moments of School

Freshmen arrive at Joseph Case High School before any of their peers on the first day and are immediately welcomed by all faculty in the auditorium who flank the aisles clapping and cheering as the eager students enter. Immediately, freshmen are placed in their advisories: small learning communities that will meet regularly with the same teacher over the four-year journey. They are introduced how to read a rotating schedule, given a personalized tour of the building, and shown how to access their locker.

Mid-morning, students return for their first formal class meeting to review some highlights from the student handbook, then begin an abbreviated Day 1 schedule as the rest of the school joins us for a 10 a.m. start.

Momentum Continues Each Period

Teachers are asked to spend the first three days of school building relationships with their students. We provide tons of information on different ice breakers: some allow the teacher to get more info on children; others let the students know a little more about the teacher on a personal level.

There are three important guidelines for the faculty:

1. Desks CANNOT be in rows.
2. Avoid the LIST OF RULES.
3. No direct instruction should occur

Why these three guidelines? Seating must reflect relationship-building rather than a “you versus me” mentality that rows of desks convey. Some teachers may even change up seating period by period depending on the student cohort. Rules and regulations have negative connotations. How would you like to begin a four-year adventure by learning NO…NO…and NO? Finally, teachers have the rest of the year to make sure that students are moving along their curriculum map. The #1st3days might sneak in some learning through relationship-building activities, but it’s long way from notes, lecture and hours of homework on Day 1.

We even do a “field trip” on Day 1 with all students. Teachers bring classes outside during the extended lunch period to show them alternate routes off the main campus in the event of an evacuation. Why wait until an emergency or a drill to disclose these important egress options?

Digital Twist

Parents, families and the community also are part of the #1st3days. So many of the stakeholders in our building share out this experience on social media, particularly Twitter. Because of our common school hashtag #casepride, we provide families with a glimpse of their child’s initial experience of the school year. Our school takes pictures — LOTS of pictures — of students and teachers. I like to welcome freshmen with a personalized sign on the first day of school as they get off the bus and promote our #1st3days initiative digitally.

The Big Finish

We repeat the #1st3days philosophy on Days 2 and 3 and end our first week with a school-wide pep rally celebrating all the activities that our school offers. We encourage everyone to wear maroon and gold. We cheer on all student activities from current sports teams and our performing arts groups to the Automotive Club and our Chess and Games Club. We showcase students who are part of each activity and bring them to center-court. Students learn when and where each activity next meets. We even give a shout-out to the adult supervisor and point of contact.Week #1 ends on a high note for all!

Think about personalizing and recalibrating your #1st3days of school. When students know their teachers care on Day 1, it makes the remaining 179 days even more valuable, more meaningful, and more awesome.

Brian McCann is principal of Joseph Case High School in Swansea, MA. He is a 2018 NASSP Digital Principal of the Year.

Guest post by Nathan Boyd, director, African American Student and Parent Services for South Bend Community School Corporation

Whether it’s Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, or the app du jour, our kids are digitally connected to one another in more ways than I can count. Despite their virtual connectedness, kids seem to be more isolated and alone these days. Their sense of belonging and esteem is lacking, which has detrimental effects on their personal and academic success. How can school leaders help students connect to one another in the real world?

Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone—a book about “social capital”—defines the term as the “connections among individuals—social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them.” Simply put, social capital has great value. Our social networks improve our lives and make us more productive by creating a nurturing support system that provides greater access to resources and motivation to succeed.

In my time as an administrator, I’ve learned the importance of developing social capital in students. Students with high social capital are typically high achieving and very capable. They belong to teams and extracurriculars that improve their overall well-being. When they encounter a challenge, they consult their tribe and get ideas, resources, and motivation to help them succeed. Students with low social capital are considered by some as lower achieving. They can be mistaken for those who keep to themselves and show more signs that resemble depression. When they encounter a challenge, they are afraid to ask for help, exert less effort, and give up more quickly than their classmates who have stronger social capital.

Schools are a great place to teach students how to forge and maintain beneficial personal relationships. How can schools develop social capital in students? Here are a few strategies that South Bend Community School Corporation uses:

1. Cultivate trust.Trust increases children’s willingness to seek out others for support. Focus on ways to help our children build trust with both adults and peers. Be open and honest with students. If you had a difficult time when you were a teenager, open up to students and let them see the real you. Be reliable and fair. Do what you say you are going to do, and treat kids in the same way. And, show students you trust them. For example, give them time for independent learning in the classroom, and trust them to use it wisely.
2. Capitalize on unstructured relationship-building moments. Frequently, schools offer many relationship-building opportunities during structured school activities. While these are important, don’t forget about unstructured times such as lunch, before and after school, and in the hallways. Some of the best opportunities to build relationships are these unstructured moments when students are more at ease and more likely to talk without the pressure of the classroom environment. As a school leader, greet students in the lobby in the morning. Walk the hallways during class changes. Eat your lunch with a group of students in the cafeteria. Encourage your teachers to hang out in the hallways between classes and socialize with students.
3. Engage students in extracurricular opportunities. Sports and activities are some of the easiest ways to help students build social capital.These shared experiences provide a common bond for students to get to know one another as well as offer regular meeting times to connect. But students sometimes need a little push to get involved. Students with low social capital may not even know how to try out for a team or when a club or activity meets. Be sure your school communicates these opportunities to students in systematic and repeated ways so that they know how to get involved.
4. Encourage students to support one another in person. Nothing makes kids feel better than when a family member, friend, or mentor shows up to support them at a sporting event, performance, or another activity. In-person support not only makes students feel good, it also promotes social growth. Sometimes, all kids need is an invitation to get them to attend. Know what is happening at your school and invite students to these events. When you see them in attendance, be sure to thank them for coming, and ask them to come again.
5. Show students that social media can be a positive resource to connect people.While the digital world can sometimes thwart the development of social capital, it also has the potential to connect others in a positive way. When used properly, relationships can be developed in the digital world. For some of our shyer students, the digital world helps them communicate their thoughts and feelings that they may not be able to express in person. So, model responsible digital citizenship. Give shout-outs to people and their successes on social media. Promote teams and activities that might be of interest. Extend invitations for students to connect in person.

Building social capital has positive consequences in the lives of our students and school communities. It is increasingly imperative that we concentrate on relationship-building in our urban school environments. The efforts schools make to form and strengthen relationships will help all students, regardless of race or social emotional status, flourish throughout their academic careers and beyond.

How do you build social capital within your school?

Nathan Boyd is the director of African American Student and Parent Services for South Bend Community School Corporation. As a former school administrator of 13 years, he prides himself on being a champion for children. He is the 2012 ISCA Principal of the Year, the 2012 National Blue Ribbon of School Excellence Recipient, and the NASSP 2017 Indiana Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @Principal_Boyd.

One of the ways I like to provide meaningful feedback to teachers is by observing the “unobservables” outside of the classroom. A classroom observation is just a glimmer of the real work that teachers do behind the scenes to prepare for each daily lesson. In order to obtain valuable insights into how a teacher approaches lesson planning, evaluates student performance, and collaborates with colleagues, I routinely conduct observations during professional learning team (PLT) meetings. In this environment, I am able to truly understand how a teacher plans a lesson, supports the achievement goals necessary for each student, and contributes to the school’s overall success.

During these PLT meetings, I gain insight and provide feedback for teachers on the following benchmarks that may otherwise be unobservable:

• Plans lessons that incorporate critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Evaluates and documents student performance based on multiple measures to set learning goals
• Determines the students’ current skill levels and uses that information to plan instruction
• Initiates collaboration with colleagues to better understand and respond to student learning needs

PLT meetings highlight the concepts students are struggling with and the instructional strategies the PLT will use to help students learn. After being in the PLT, I conduct a classroom observation to see the lessons that were discussed. Consequently, my understanding of the lesson is deeper, and the feedback and observations I make are much more meaningful.

When I observe a PLT lesson, the student struggles or misconceptions identified in the preceding PLT meeting may or may not materialize. But through my “unobservables” method, I can provide valuable feedback on the instructional strategies used, lesson sequence, and student discussions that occurred that may alleviate some of these student difficulties when they do occur. I share this information with the teacher after my observation, arming him or her with insights about what worked and why for their next PLT planning session.

Teachers want and deserve a cycle of observation feedback like this. They appreciate that I know what they do to plan, and I know the challenges they are facing in supporting student learning. The conversations we have are part of true action research—what are our next steps in the learning process for our students? What do our students require so that they not only understand the concepts, but master them?

Observing PLT meetings followed by classroom observations helps me guide the success measures of the school. The feedback I provide acts as a catalyst to the teaching-learning cycle, and the teachers are able to accelerate student growth and deepen student understanding. For example, the ninth-grade math PLT has celebrated over 50 percent growth over the past two years. They have used the observation feedback to hone their planning, allowing them to get rid of unnecessary review for students and focus on what was really effective. The ninth-grade team is now able to cover the concepts needed with deep student understanding. They have direct, specific results that show that their assessment, planning, and delivery are working—the true goal of any teacher.

Feedback is effective if it contributes to the growth of your teachers and the growth of student achievement. What is your observation cycle for giving effective feedback to teachers, and how does it help them grow?

Suzanne Acheson is an assistant principal at Hinkley High School in Aurora, CO and has served in this role for six years. She has conducted training sessions for all of the PLT leaders in her building and believes that the PLT model helps teachers grow and improve professionally. She was the 2017 NASSP Colorado Assistant Principal of the Year.

Each year I invite our teachers at Montour High School to participate in the Shadow a Student Challenge. For one week, a group of teachers spends time following students around the building, attending their classes, and joining them in lunch, activities, and more. Afterward, the teachers and I get together and talk about their shadowing experiences. It was during one of these afternoon conversations that changed the direction of our school community for the better.

The teachers shared their perspectives and talked about how students had no time in their day to reflect upon their learning and were not engaged in relevant explorations of concepts. Furthermore, the students did not receive much-needed academic support. The teachers saw countless lost opportunities to enrich student learning and were concerned that students had no means of accessing social and emotional outlets. We left that afternoon knowing we had to do something different.

As we continued to reflect, we kept coming back to:

• How can we make our students’ day more meaningful?
• How do we find time for them to reflect?
• How can we provide our students with choice in what they are going to learn, and how they are going to learn it?
• How can we empower them to make decisions about their learning?

Through our dialogue and months of collaborative planning, we arrived at a dedicated block of time each day for personalized learning that we called Spartan Personalized Learning Time (PLT). During this time, teachers offer innovative and creative programming, tutoring, and enrichment, and students choose the daily activities that meet their needs or interests.

Since 2016, we have moved to empower our students to make choices about how their learning will look and feel each day during PLT. Without being prompted by a bell tone, students leave their fourth-period classrooms and head off to the 40 minutes of their day that belongs to them.

Students may spend some of that time focusing on academics, while other students are engaged in an extracurricular activity or project-based learning exploration. It’s up to them how they spend this time.

If you were to walk around the building during PLT time, you’d find students in the chorus room practicing songs, in the library reading books, or in the greenhouse getting their hands dirty.  Some students might choose to explore the cyberworld in the Virtual Immersion Lab, hone their on-air skills in the Spartan Express Radio Studio, or invent a new gadget in the IDEA CREATebrary. Students might decide to use their PLT time as a wellness outlet to address their social/emotional needs by engaging in “Me to We” or yoga. Whether it’s the classroom, courtyard, gymnasium, or stage, you would see students authentically engaged in work with their teachers and peers.

So far, the Spartan PLT initiative has been a resounding success. Teachers appreciate the time to work alongside students without the pressures of grading and curriculum mandates. It gives them opportunities to build positive relationships with students. Students love engaging in experiences that they choose to do without having to worry about homework and assessments. Many have discovered new passions and have improved their outlook on school.

As we look ahead to the upcoming school year, we are preparing for Spartan PLT 2.0. Each day, students will schedule their PLTs and lunch period during a 99-minute window that will include nongraded mini-courses that are developed collaboratively by teachers and students.

I recently had the privilege to talk about Spartan PLT during the Personalized Learning Leadership Conference—Moving from Theory to Action in Pittsburgh. I sat on a panel that focused on student voice and choice that was specific to personalizing learning for students. As I shared our journey with those in attendance, I could not help but reflect on where we have been and where we are going.

There is much work ahead, but the efforts of our school community have laid the foundation for what we hope will be more engaging and innovative learning experiences for our students. We hope that Spartan PLT is a step toward instilling in our students that their learning and the success that follows must become theirs. To find out more about Spartan PLT, watch this video or contact me at pricet@montourschools.com.

Preparing our students for their post-secondary endeavors must go beyond engaging them in traditional learning experiences via traditional teaching practices. How can we find ways to empower students to take ownership of their learning through voice and choice?

Todd Price has served as the principal of Montour High School, a suburban school district west of Pittsburgh, PA for eleven years. In 2017, Todd was named the Pennsylvania High School Principal of the Year by the Pennsylvania Principals Association and a candidate for the 2018 Principal of the Year, as sponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Follow him on Twitter @hilltopspartan.

As a child of the 1980s, I cheered on Ferris Bueller as he played hooky to hang out with his pals on his day off and rooted for John Bender as he snuck out of detention with the Breakfast Club. In both of these films, the school administrator served as the villain. Both Dean Edward Rooney and Assistant Principal Richard Vernon had the same goal: Take down the problem student and make his life miserable.

While I have to admit that these preposterous characterizations are often hilarious, they perpetuate a damaging stereotype that school administrators are ruthless disciplinarians who are out of touch with students. When I first became an associate principal, I found myself fighting against this stereotype. My office was a negative place where students only came to receive discipline. How could I redefine my role as an administrator and forge a new approach with students?

I realized that I had to change the perception of what a trip to the principal’s office meant for students. Instead of dreading the visit, students now come to my office to engage in school and with me in a positive way. Here are four strategies I used to disarm the administrator stereotype and use my office as a way to help students:

1. Offer a Safe Place for Students

Students are constantly in search of acceptance and comfort, so why not find it in the most unlikely of places: the principal’s office. Let your office be a sanctuary to vent, expel negativity, and reset. When I see a student struggling, I invite him or her to my office. Sometimes that student wants to talk about what is going on, and sometimes that student just wants a quiet place to get away from the school drama.

2. Allow Kids to Work

Instead of your office being a place where you have to react to bad student behavior, make it a place for students to share their ideas and abilities by letting them work from your office. I allow our school’s iCARE team to work from my office throughout the week. They plan events, make calls, create flyers, and more. This arrangement allows me ample opportunity to build relationships with students while advising them on their student initiatives.

3. Invite Students to Eat Lunch

I’ve learned that the more I can connect with students, the better. Lunchtime is a great way to develop relationships and connect with kids on a personal level. In addition to our highly motivated, high-end achievers, I also invite our disenfranchised and marginalized students to lunch. I listen to them talk about school, learn about their unique talents, and offer ways for them to get involved. I see my office as a place to bring students together and help them learn and grow, not as a place of punishment. In these interactions, I place a large emphasis on listening, since children rarely have a real chance to talk with an adult who will listen without interruption and give unsolicited advice.

4. Celebrate Students

Show students that they are the heart of the school by displaying their work in your office. I have pictures of students from their performances and sporting events lining the walls. I showcase artwork, classroom projects, and school activities. When students visit, they love to look at these artifacts; they serve as great conversation starters. Students feel proud to see their work on display.

Perhaps Ferris Bueller and John Bender could have survived the late 20th-century school blues with a touch of empathy and injection of self-worth from their school leader. As administrators, we must reshape our roles and find positive ways to work with students.

How have you worked to change school leader stereotypes? How do you make your office a positive place where students like to go?

Thomas Kachadurian is an associate principal at South Colonie Central High School in Albany, NY. He was the 2017 New York Assistant Principal of the Year.

You would be hard-pressed to talk to a teacher, secretary, or school administrator who would say we are not experiencing some disruptive times in education.

Since 2008, public perception of educators, in general, has been less than favorable. Expectations have increased exponentially, but funding education initiatives has not grown at the same pace. We face one disruption after another, yet we continue to find ways to meet the needs of our students, engage parents, respond to community desires, and do what is best for all stakeholders.

We recently co-authored a book titled, Leading Schools in Disruptive Times: How to Survive Hyper Change. As the political and social climate in our nation has changed, the release of this book could not have come at a better time.

We explore seven disruptions educators are facing today; we define what we mean by disruption, disruptive event, and hyper-change.

Understanding these working definitions give greater depth to each disruption, described as:

• Disruption—Any invention or societal shift that gradually changes how schools operate
• Disruptive Event—An incident based on a disruption that suddenly changes how schools operate
• Hyper-Change—Changes that, stacked on top of changes in new areas, might not have existed a decade ago

With that in mind, we describe seven disruptions school leaders face today:

1. The emphasis on student safety, including the fear of school shootings, the laser-like focus on social/emotional development, and efforts to combat high stress levels in today’s students and families.
2. Accelerating technology advances that change how students learn and how schools operate, including the influx of smartphones, wearable technology, and the impact of social media.
3. A system of reform efforts such as A Nation at Risk, No Child Left Behind, Common Core State Standards, and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that has resulted in complex school accountability ratings that drive instruction, learning, hiring practices, and budgeting.
4. The generational challenges that occur when baby boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, and millennials work together in the teaching force, and the demands of Generation Z that are leading to new types of teaching methods and spaces.
5. The explosion of knowledge and getting students global ready, including the challenge of teaching global skills in a rigid, test-driven curriculum and attempting to answer the question, “What does it mean to be educated in the 21st century?”
6. Dealing with increasingly complex diversity issues, including racial tension, ethnic differences, political polarization, and LGBTQ issues.
7. The growing demand for transparency by parents who want access to school information, including 24-hour access to student grades; their demand for prompt responses from educators to their questions and requests; and their constant examination of the school’s curriculum, clubs, and overall grades.

This may seem overwhelming, and it is. However, we introduce a framework that school leaderscan use when confronted with a disruption: the CAT Framework: Cope, Adjust, Transform. We share stories from 21stcentury school leaders and educators who have faced one or more of these disruptions, highlight what they learned, and emphasize what they would do differently in the future. Through their stories, the reader can reflect on their daily work using the guided questions and CAT Framework activities at the end of each chapter.

In such a time as this, “It’s often the administrator’s voice that must resonate. In dark times, it must be a ray of light that others may follow. Now more than ever, administrators must be visible and plugged in with their students and staff.”

Dwight Carter is an author, speaker, and effectiveness coach. He was the principal of New Albany High School in New Albany, OH, which is regularly ranked among the top 100 high schools in the nation. In 2013 he was named a national Digital Principal of the Year by NASSP and is an inductee in the Renaissance National Hall of Fame. Follow him on Twitter @Dwight_Carter and visit his blog, Mr. Carter’s Office.

Mark White is an author, speaker, and consultant. He was the director of education and outreach at Mindset Digital and academic principal in the International Department of the Beijing National Day School in China. Earlier in his career, he served as superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, department head, and teacher. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWhite55.

Be sure to check out Dwight Carter and Mark White’s books, Leading Schools in Disruptive Timesand What’s in Your Space.

When I first arrived, Lake Shore Middle School (LSMS) was on the verge of a state takeover. With an F grade for two straight years on the state report card, LSMS was plagued with a host of problems including discipline issues, an unclear academic focus, a discouraged staff, and students who had embraced a failing attitude. Where was I to begin, and how was I going to turn this school around?

Knowing how to establish a positive school culture can be tough, and the pathway is not always clear. How do administrators prioritize the needs of their school’s culture, especially when so many issues need to be addressed?

I knew that the key to turning this school around was to make a dramatic cultural shift. From my past experience with leading two other middle schools and a high school, I devised an approach to usher in these necessary changes, which I called “Know It, Feel It, Live It.” Here’s how it worked:

Know It

My first order of business was to know where the culture currently stood. While the data about low test scores, academic performance, discipline rates, and poor attendance told me a story about normalized failure, I needed to discover the roots of these problems.

I started off the school year with fireside chats. Every employee had an opportunity to share his or her top concerns for our school. Good or bad, I needed to know. Creating a positive school culture depended on my ability to give team members a chance to share without the fear of reprisal. More importantly, I wanted to accurately identify the needs of the team. We didn’t have time to chase after false negatives. As Yogi Berra said, “Before you build a better mousetrap, it helps to know if there are any mice out there.”

In addition, I spoke directly with the community and listened to their ideas about the school. Parents, community members, and students shared their concerns about the academic programming, instructional practices, extracurriculars, and more. Their perspectives gave me additional knowledge about the current state of affairs, which helped me develop ways to turn this school around.

Feel It

I don’t believe in failure. I believe that everyone has an opportunity to succeed if they put their minds to it. What I needed to do was to get the school community to believe in themselves again and feel hopeful about the future.

To cultivate this attitude, it was easiest to start with students. At the beginning of each school day, students recited this pledge I created:

As I work toward achieving excellence, I will count on my community to be patient, be supportive, and to hold me accountable. I realize that my success depends on me. To that end, my ability to learn, behave well, and respect authority is reflected in the investment I make in myself. My hard work and positive attitude tell me one thing: I am a winner! Failure is not an option.

Reciting this pledge daily invoked a new spirit of accomplishment for students and convinced them that success was possible. Additionally, hearing our students recite the pledge served as a reminder to my team that we were on a mission that required our undivided attention.

To revitalize our team of teachers, I worked with them in the spirit of servant leadership and avoided forcing change upon them through top-down initiatives. The teachers needed encouragement, training, and support. We worked together to establish common expectations for the team and committed to them. This collaboration encouraged buy-in and instilled optimism in our teachers once again. Team members came to work earlier and stayed longer, not because it was required, but because they identified with the work, with the team, and with the culture. This team wanted to win.

Live It

Creating a positive school culture is a work in practice. You, as the school leader, must be the example of what a positive culture looks like. Opportunities to live my positive school culture was, and is, my perpetual goal. I started each day by greeting students and staff by name in the lobby. I spent time “thanking my way” around the building. I made myself accessible to students and parents through home visits, church attendance, and Saturday morning basketball games. This wasn’t just about being friendly or showing gratitude. Each of these instances was an opportunity to develop relationships and to take our school culture’s temperature.

The school community also rose to this challenge and found ways to embrace positive culture.Teachers started to spend more time both inside and outside of their classrooms building important relationships with students. They treated students holistically and with esteem, and as a result, students began to view their teachers as mentors who could help them achieve in the classroom. Students lived this positive culture, too, and started showing more respect for one another.

One Year Later

I am proud to report that in just one year, LSMS went from a failing school to the most improved school in Palm Beach County. Our state report card rose to a C, suspensions were cut in half, and parents who had previously removed their kids from the school had enrolled again.

Change can and does occur quickly when principals lead the way. What are your experiences with bringing positive change and building school culture?

Anthony Lockhart, EdD, is the former principal of Lake Shore Middle School in Belle Glade, FL. Currently, he is the director of School Transformation and Federal/State Programs for the School District of Palm Beach County. Dr. Lockhart was the 2017 Florida Principal of the Year.

New Beginnings

Once upon a time, I had the greatest summer job ever: working at Seven Ranges Scout Reservation in east central Ohio. We were a bunch of teenagers and 20-somethings who got to exercise almost total creative control for the camp and its programming. Before the campers or full staff arrived on the reservation, leadership would sit down in front of a whiteboard and simply list all the needs, wants, and dreams for the year—and then go make it happen.

It was always Ranger Bob (everyone needs a Ranger Bob, right?) who reminded me to be more strategic and pace myself: “Ned, remember that you have to get almost everything done before camp starts, because once it does, it always takes over.” Bob was right; it’s hard to build the airplane while you’re flying it, but the energy of a new camping season (or a new school year) is palpable.

As we launch another school year, how can we harness that undeniable burst of energy to create goals we actually stand a chance of meeting, not ones that get lost once school “takes over?”

 One Bite at a Time

I might want to create a teacher-student mentoring program, peer mediation protocols, a positive behavior intervention and supports (PBIS) initiative, and a meaningful professional development series for co-teachers—all in the three days before school starts—but I’ll be much more effective if I focus on one goal at a time and take the time to do them right. The old joke about how to eat an elephant applies: one bite at a time.

 Think Short- and Long-Term

Several years ago, I added a long-term planner to my school year preparation process, and it made a huge difference. I have always been a modified Seven Habits planner, but I have often found it difficult to remain focused on “Quadrant II”—important, but not necessarily urgent— items in the assistant principalship. Maintaining a separate long-term planner helped me budget time in advance for those items throughout the course of the year. Long-term projects and other Quadrant II items are now the first things that get put into my short-term weekly/daily planner.

An extremely organized superintendent in my previous district was a big believer in Gantt charts, which can be created on pencil and paper, in a spreadsheet program, or through the use of dedicated planning software. For him, it was an effective way to realistically plan major initiatives and ensure that goals were manageable throughout. It also provided defined checkpoints with which to celebrate the team’s progress.

 Plan Backward to Move Forward

Backward design is frequently underutilized in school leadership. As in the popular classroom instructional framework Understanding by Design (UbD), planning backward from a desired objective or end point can help bring laser focus to goals set at the outset of a new school year.

For example, I worked with a brilliant principal who was tasked with re-evaluating our continuum of services in special education. Instead of starting that conversation with goal-setting, we started by telling stories about individual students and white boarding where those students fit conceptually in an ideal continuum of services. We thus found an organic way to see where we needed to be and where the current gaps were. We could then work backward to specific goals to realize our end state by the conclusion of the school year.

All In

In 2003, a relatively small group of dedicated staff members conjured a low-ropes Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience course at Seven Ranges out of thin air. We did it with sketched-out designs, donated telephone poles and wood chips, a lot of digging in the middle of the night by the light of pickup trucks and utility vehicles, and a shared, deep, abiding love of the mission.

We did it because we harnessed the energy of a new beginning, developed a singular focus, and dedicated all resources toward realistic goals.

What one project will you take on this year that will have the single greatest impact for students in your school/district?

Ned W. Lauver is an assistant principal at Westlake High School, approximately 15 miles west of Cleveland, OH. In the words of William Butler Yeats, Ned believes that “Education is not filling a pail but the lighting of a fire.” He is the 2018 Ohio Assistant Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @NedLauver and visit his website http://www.nedlauver.com/.

The students at Graham High School in St. Paris, OH, participate in our Career Gears program. As I shared in a previous post, Career Gears aims to create relevant experiences that help students identify career interests and build professional skills and relationships for the future.

Our focus has been on advancing students towards enrollment, enlistment, or employment while attempting to build an understanding of the choices they make. Each year, we hold a ceremony for the graduating class called Signing Day, where we invite the entire high school, families of the graduating class, and partners to celebrate each student’s commitment to enrollment, enlistment, or employment.   

Although our entire school community is excited about Signing Day, our staff noticed an unintended consequence: Students were having great anxiety about making the “right choice” for their future. Instead of being proud of their decision, students worried that they didn’t make the “right” choice, and that if they make the “wrong” one, their postsecondary lives would be ruined.

How do you empower students to feel comfortable and confident in the choices they make? How do we build a growth mindset and encourage students to attempt and fail forward?

One way we have tried to address this issue is by expanding the Career Gears model into earlier grades, with variations for students at every level that use experiences in community service, job shadowing, and internships.

This year alone we have placed high schoolers with our Chamber of Commerce, Board of Education, YMCA, United Way, and numerous other internal and external opportunities. We have eighth-grade students who performed Ted-style talks in front of their peers and fifth-grade students working through Google Certifications. We have increased learning opportunities by expanding the number of languages we offer, adding computer science programs, and incorporating a military program using Cadet Core to develop an ROTC program in the building.

Our hope is that these offerings will help students get comfortable with making choices at an earlier age and, hopefully, help them realize that there are many different options and pathways. Our goal is to provide students with opportunities and help them find their life mission. At the very least, we want to assist them in discovering what they don’t want to do.

How does your school help students understand that making choices is a life skill? 

Ryan Rismiller is the principal of Graham High School in St. Paris, OH. He was the 2017 Ohio Assistant Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @ryanrismiller.

If your staff didn’t have to attend your next in-service training, would they?

If the training covers the 54-slide overview of ESSA changes or a new literacy initiative, I’m sure we can all guess the answer. There’s never a shortage of initiatives, mandates, or policy changes to review—I used to be the guy who had all my ducks in a row, with my all-important PowerPoints and handouts ready for in-service day. In retrospect, I know my teachers would rather have been somewhere else than “listening” to me give them information that I could have relayed at another time and in another way.

How can school leaders change our approach to in-service training days to create meaningful opportunities that build culture and foster creative teaching?

A few years ago, I decided to try a new approach: I wanted to create in-service trainings that didn’t feel like in-service trainings. It’s been a learning process, but our in-services are now packed with teachers talking and doing, smiling and learning! My mission has been to encourage innovative teaching and to highlight my teachers’ strengths and passions, all of which has helped to create an enthusiastic, supportive environment that restored the joy in our teaching. We use our time to discover engaging strategies that focus on important skill-building for our students. These activities also provide just enough fun to make us forget we are working!

Sharing ideas is important in education, and I am privileged to work with creative people who have gladly shared ideas and helped me to be better. The challenge is knowing your goal and then developing activities to fit your needs. The following are examples of in-service training ideas I use to model and solidify our focus of building thinkers and doers at our school:

• Clue: A Mystery at LaCreole: A two-hour who-done-it mixed with digital tools and 21st century skills. Staff are placed in content area teams and charged with completing tasks using problem-solving, creativity, and collaboration, similar to those we would want our kids doing. This activity provides opportunities to incorporate digital learning tools, stretch comfort zones, and allow staff to work together.

• Chopped: Making Learning/Thinking Visible: A mash-up of examining the Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition (SAMR) model and utilizing tools to make thinking and learning visible. Using the Google Infused Classroom, we invited author Holly Clark via Hangouts to give an introduction to tools that help students demonstrate their learning in diverse and creative ways. Then we had “Chopped”-inspired challenges where teachers spiced up lessons using one of these new tools.

• Amazing Race: Twitter Scavenger Hunt: Twitter is a learning tool that many educators use to connect with and learn from people of like interests. With Twitter, sharing is always on! To help our teachers learn how to use Twitter, we built a scavenger hunt competition modeled after the “Amazing Race.” Staff teams participated in a variety of challenges around our town, which they had to document via Twitter using hashtags, videos, and more.

• Energize With d.school Stoke Deck: Bring some energy to your staff development opportunities with “stokes,” or quick and easy energy boosters that I borrowed from the Stanford d.school. If this isn’t your game, then find someone on your staff who can lead it! I have found that even the most motivated staff will need a boost of energy from time to time. These activities are fun even for those of us who don’t like that sort of thing.

As building principal, I work to create learning experiences for our staff that not only help us improve our practice, but also help us rediscover joy in teaching. Finding opportunities to do both helps to build a positive, energetic school culture. It’s more fun for me, for teachers, and for our students!

We all have an opportunity to start the year off with enthusiasm and set our sights on new ideas and innovative teaching. How might we reimagine our next in-service opportunity?

Jamie Richardson is the principal of LaCreole Middle School in Dallas, OR. He is one of the 2017 Digital Principals of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @JamieR42.

As we get ready to welcome students back to school, it seems like there is never enough time to get everything done. When I’m running around nonstop, sometimes it helps to have a quick checklist to help guide me through the day. Here are some of the key things I always try to remember as I strive to be the best principal I can be:

1. Great principals recognize the value of every person in the building, and they praise their staff members as often as possible.
2. Great principals support their teachers at every turn—whether they are facing challenges with students, parents, or colleagues. They trust their teachers, have their backs, and always try to give them the benefit of the doubt.
3. Great principals don’t spend much time in their offices. They are in the halls, in the classroom, at the bus stop, at the carpool, in the lunchroom, or wherever the action is. They engagewith those around them.
4. Great principals do not try to do it alone. They involve others in the decision-making process whenever possible.
5. Great principals pay attention to student achievement, and they spend a lot of time in classrooms. They promote strategic instruction and meaningful assessments. And, they ensure that data from those assessments inform teachers’ practice as they work to meet the academic needs of their students.
6. Great principals intentionally foster a culture of collaboration in their school. They recognize that their teachers are stronger when they work together, so they create the conditions in the building that facilitate this process.
7. Great principals are never content with the status quo. They have high expectations for themselves and everyone around them, articulating a bold visionfor their school and inspiring others to strive for more.
8. Great principals understand the importance of staff morale and are intentional about creating good working conditions for their faculty.
9. Great principals bring positive energy to work every day. They realize that positivity is a nonnegotiable quality when creating a school culture where students enjoy learning and adults enjoy working.
10. Great principals always make it about the kids. They work to build relationships with their students, and they ensure that the best interest of students drives every decision in the school.

As you get ready for a new school year, make it a habit to check this list at least once a day and ask yourself, “Which of these 10 tips will I make a priority today?”

Danny Steele serves as the principal of Thompson Sixth Grade Center in Alabaster, AL, where his passion is building a school culture that values connections with kids, fosters collaboration among teachers, and focuses on raising student achievement. In 2005 Steele was recognized as Alabama’s Assistant Principal of the Year, and in 2016 he was named Alabama’s Secondary Principal of the Year. He is currently writing a book with Todd Whitaker. Follow him on Twitter @SteeleThoughts and check out his blog Steele Thoughts.

When I was awarded the honor of being named the Assistant Principal of the Year in the state of Illinois, my local newspaper did a story on me. When they asked my principal about what made me a worthy recipient of this award, he responded, “[Tim] has a great ability to make connections with people, to relate to people.” His words caused me to reflect.  Making connections with others always seemed natural to me, and I never really gave it much thought.  But then the teacher in me kicked in and I started to wonder, can people learn to be better at making connections? How would we teach it?

How You Speak Is Just as Important as What You Say

As I thought about these questions, I remembered a study that once indicated that the vast majority of the “takeaway” of any delivered message is based on physical appearance and vocal characteristics of the speaker. I realized that the messages I delivered at school, particularly in faculty and departmental meetings, were often borne out of my great care for what I was going to say with little attention to howI would say it. Could it be that we school leaders could do better to give equal weight to the whatand how we say what we say?

A Little Praise Goes a Long Way

I also began to think more critically about how praise is—or isn’t—offered within professional relationships. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 64 percent of Americanswho leave their jobs say they do so because they don’t feel appreciated. And, Gallup reports that 70 percentof Americans say they receive no praise or recognition at work.

Thinking back to my time in the classroom, I felt I had usually sufficiently praised my students. But, I began to fear, are the teachers, paraprofessionals, coaches, and custodians under my care living in a praise vacuum? The vast majority, I decided, would say they were.

I began to look more sympathetically at my underpraised colleagues, and I began to be much more intentionally active in my attempts to offer praise and make meaningful connections. Largely influenced by Gary Chapman and Paul White’s The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace: Empowering Organizations by Encouraging People, here’s what I took into consideration:

• Appreciation must be individualized. How many times had I stood before 100 teachers offering bland praise when, in fact, my appreciation should have been targeted to a few? Did those few even know I had noticed their outstanding work or unique contributions?
• Appreciation must be delivered personally.Say what you will about the powers of technology to connect us, but I tell you this: In this tech-savvy age, the power of a hand-written note of appreciation is worth more than its value in megabytes.
• Appreciation must be viewed as valuable.I know that my counseling colleague down the hall who enjoys car races probably won’t appreciate a season ticket to the symphony. As a giver, I need to ask myself, “What will resonate with her/him?”

Show Compassion

Going deeper from appreciation to compassion, I rely heavily on Roger Schwarz’s Smart Leader Smarter Teamsand regularly seek to avoid the following myths:

• People must earn your compassion.Wrong! Compassion ought to enter the conversation before the actual conversation ever begins.
• People will think I agree with them.Wrong again! There are compassionate ways to say the truth—even the hard truth—while leaving everyone’s dignity intact.
• People won’t be held accountable.Triple wrong! I have found that the more effective I am in evincing compassion and sharing appreciation, the more accountable to me others become.

Connectors in Chief

As administrators, we are constantly being watched and scrutinized; we set the example. So, this school year, let’s challenge ourselves to become “Connectors in Chief.” Let’s deliver our messages in a way that will make our school community pay attention. Let’s show our school community we appreciate them by intentionally offering them individualized, personal, and valuable praise. And finally, let’s give our school community the compassion that they truly deserve.

What other ways can school leaders improve their ability to connect with others?

Tim Chipman is a National Board-certified educator currently serving as an elementary principal in Jacksonville, IL. Tim credits his alma mater Illinois College for giving him the tools and the desire to approach life both critically and compassionately. He is the 2018 Illinois Assistant Principal of the Year.

It was the Fourth of July, and I was doing what I love to do in summertime: using my barbeque smoker to make pulled pork sliders for dinner. I woke up at 4:15 a.m. to get it started so that it would be ready in time; after all, you’ve got to get up early in the morning if you’re going to make great food (I went back to sleep for a couple of hours once I got it going).

At some point in the afternoon, my stepson asked me, “Don, how’d you learn how to cook?” I thought about it, and I replied that it’s really something I’ve been teaching myself for the past 10 years. I cook whenever I have time, and it brings me great joy.

“But how’d you do it?” he asked again.

I’d never really thought to explain it, but I guess the answer is that I read many cookbooks, watch food television, read articles in magazines and newspapers, talk about food with anybody who will discuss it with me, and then I jump in there and try to cook things. Often I cook by myself, but I also love to prepare a meal together with my wife.

The best part of cooking is that when you make mistakes, you get to eat your failures. When you’re learning to cook, at the end of the process—no matter what—you are eating. Eating! What’s better than that?

This got me thinking about education and school. Like school, cooking is about something that is fundamental to the human condition. We cook so we can eat. We go to school so we can learn.

When I cook, nobody gives me a grade. If I make a mistake, I can either eat it or throw it away and start over again. When I make a meal, I can always make it again, better than the last time. I’m never forced to cook in the kitchen with my head down by myself, not talking to anyone. Usually when I cook, it is with my wife, and we talk, listen to music, maybe even enjoy a glass of wine. I love the feedback I get about my cooking, good or bad: “Don, I like your coleslaw with vinegar more than mayonnaise,” “Don, this is too spicy, this needs more salt,” or “This is so good, where do I get the recipe?”

The thing I love most about cooking is the infinite nature of food. I will never stop learning because the universe of food and cooking is seemingly endless. There is so much food to enjoy andso many ways to prepare it, and it connects you to other people and other cultures in a way that is singularly rewarding.

I do not wish to mislead: I am NOT an awesome cook. In fact, I’m far from it. If I wereforced to give myself a percentage grade (notice the emphasis on forced—I am strenuously opposed to grading practices that use “averages”), I would grade myself an 83 percent (whatever that means). But I always experience success when I cook, I never give up, I always learn something new, and I always love it!

Somewhere along the way, instead of being about learning, school often becomes a matter of success or failure. Kids are led through a highly prescribed path, often engaging with content in isolation instead of collaborating with others. The system cultivates an avoidance of failure, because failure equals bad grades, which equals angry parents, which equals negative life prospects; at least, that’s what kids are led to believe.

I don’t have the solution to this dilemma, but the similarities and differences between cooking and school has me thinking:

In schools, how can we create conditions in which kids are NOT afraid to fail? How can we make everything we do in school as joyful, as exploratory, and as fulfilling as cooking and eating? It’s our responsibility as educators to make it that way!

This spaghetti with clam sauce dish happened to be a success.

Donald Gately, EdD, serves as the principal of Jericho Middle School in Jericho, NY. He was the 2016 New York Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @donald_gatelyand visit his blog In the Middle of Learning.

After 18 years of being an assistant principal in various schools, I still love my job. But whether you are a new administrator or a seasoned veteran, it is always a challenge to stay current in the ever-changing educational landscape. How do you master the varied roles you are expected to fulfill?  Here are four ways that I have honed my leadership skills in my time as a school administrator:

Never Stop Learning

First and foremost, it is critical to be a learning leader and for your school community to see your continuing education. Current technology provides readily accessible knowledge, making it convenient to acquire expertise. Some of the ways you can continue your professional learning include:

• Prepare and teach a targeted lesson to demonstrate a specific teaching technique.
• Partner with teachers and coach them in the use of a new instructional practice in their classroom.
• Add to your professional library by aiming to read one book each month.
• Participate in professional development—virtual or live—with other administrators. Twitter is a great way to accomplish this!
• Develop your experience and expertise working with various tech tools that make the job more efficient. Knowledge of spreadsheet and document merge functions can make short work of huge data analysis projects and data distribution. Learning those skills is as easy as clicking on the “help” tab within the program to access step-by-step instructions. I make regular use of Excel, FileMaker Pro, Google Sheets, and Document Studio to create data reports, charts, and graphs for individual and group student data.
• Research and create professional learning opportunities for your teachers. Create the professional development in a learning management system, then deliver it in person.
• Prepare professional development using a presentation platform: NearPod, Kahoot, HaikuDeck, Spark, or Quizlet.

Know the Lion in the Room

Second, anticipate and prepare for the most likely challenges you will face. I call this the “lion in the room.” What are those things that roar loudly and demand your attention? How do you tame that lion? The lion may be a student, a parent, a systems problem, a piece of technology—whatever it is, take the time to investigate how you can help tame the roar and teach, model, and practice communication, kindness, and compassion.

Develop Communication Skills

The third way I have fine-tuned my leadership is by improving my communication. I’ve developed my skills through practice and role playing. I’ve used cue cards and talking points to make my meetings with teachers and parents more efficient. Improving these skills is helpful in all your dealings as an administrator and is especially useful in emotionally charged situations when it can be a challenge to remain neutral.

Practice Mediation

Being an administrator means you are a diplomat. Your job is to be tactful and skillful in managing situations and dealing with all types of people at your school. Parents, teachers, and students alike come to you for advice, problem-solving, and decisions. Sometimes it’s easy to help, but other times the path is not clear.

To improve my diplomacy, I’ve followed a four-step approach:

• Ask questions.
• Summarize another’s position with a statement of understanding.
• Create a plan to solve the problem together.

For instance, a parent came to me when his son was involved in an altercation initiated by another student. I listened to each side of the story and asked clarifying questions. Next, I articulated not only an understanding of the event but also a determination of how both sides felt. After this, I provided options to resolve the situation and asked both parties to choose and commit to the plan. The agreement was meaningful and allowed for continued discourse while the relationship between the students was mended. Utilizing these skills of mediation will allow for peaceful resolutions to most situations.

These four techniques have helped me stay at the top of my game as a leader, administrator, teacher, and problem-solver.

As school leaders, it is easy to get overwhelmed. Your best defense is to be organized and prepared. Work smart and look for ways to be efficient while maintaining your compassion. When the lion roars, don’t take it personally, and use your tools to tame the beast. What professional practices help fine-tune your school leadership skills?

Sandy LeCheminant is assistant principal at Albion Middle School in Sandy, UT. She serves as the middle school assistant principal representative on the Utah Association of Secondary School Principals Executive Board. Sandy is the 2018 Utah Assistant Principal of the Year and a career assistant principal by choice.

No one can deny the fact that we are seeing some pretty exciting changes in teaching, learning, and leadership. Advances in research, brain science, and technology are opening up new and better pathways to reach learners like never before. This excitement, in some cases, effects real change and has supporting evidence of improvement. In other cases, money is being dumped on the latest tool, program, idea, or professional development without ensuring that instructional design is up to par in the first place. Pedagogy trumps technology. It also goes without saying that a solid pedagogical foundation should be in place prior to implementing any innovative idea.

Let’s start by looking at practice from a general lens. To transform learning, we must also transform teaching. When looking at the chart to the right, where does your practice or that of your teachers lie? What immediate changes can be made today to improve learning for your students tomorrow?

Now let’s turn our focus to some more specific elements of instruction. It is important to take a critical lens to our work to ensure efficacy if the goal is to improve learning. With that being said, it is incumbent upon all of us to make sure that the current shifts to instructional design are resulting in better student outcomes. This is why a Return on Instruction (ROI) as described in Learning Transformed is so important both with and without technology:

“When integrating technology and innovative ideas there needs to be a Return on Instruction (ROI) that results in evidence of improved student learning outcomes.”

The key to future-proofing education is to get kids to think. If it is easy, then it probably isn’t learning. Challenging learners through complex problem-solving and activities that involve critical thinking is extremely important, but they also must be afforded opportunities to apply their learning in relevant ways. This does not have to be an arduous process that takes up a great deal of time. Below are five areas to look at when implementing any digital tool or innovative idea to determine whether or not improvements to pedagogy are changing. Each area is followed by a question or two as a means to help self-assess where you are and if improvements can be made:

• Level of questioning: Are students being asked questions at the higher levels of knowledge taxonomy? Do students have the opportunity to develop and then answer their own higher-order questions?
• Authentic and/or interdisciplinary context: Is there a connection to help students see why this learning is important and how it can be used outside of school?
• Rigorous performance tasks: Are students afforded an opportunity to actively apply what they have learned and create a product to demonstrate conceptual mastery aligned to standards?
• Innovative assessment: Is assessment changing to provide critical information about what students do or don’t know? Are alternative forms of assessment being implemented, such as portfolios, to illustrate growth over time?
• Improved feedback: Is feedback timely, aligned to standards, specific, and does it provide details on advancement towards a learning goal?

Improving outcomes relies on aligning instruction to solid research, ensuring that pedagogical shifts are occurring, holding ourselves (and others) accountable for growth, and showcasing evidence of improvement. By taking a critical lens to our practice, we can determine where we are—and more importantly—where we actually want and need to be for our learners.

Eric is a senior fellow and thought leader on digital leadership with the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE). Prior to this he was the award-winning principal at New Milford High School. He was a 2012 Digital Principal of the Year and has authored six books, including the best-seller Digital Leadership. Follow him on Twitter @E_Sheningeror visit ericsheninger.com.

I always love the first few of days of each year when the anticipation for school is palpable. The students are eager to get their schedules, see their friends, and make their Friday night game plans. While their excitement for school makes me remember my teenage dreams, it’s the staff who really inspires me. Restored from the summer, the staff is even more eager than the students to get their classrooms organized, collaborate with colleagues on lesson plans, and fulfill the promise of the new school year.

But this early-year excitement can fade quickly, and the demands of school and the daily routines start to wear everyone down.

How can we work to keep positive energy strong throughout the entire school year? How do you keep your staff motivated to come to work every day, and how do you make them feel appreciated throughout the school year? Here are three things that have helped our school sustain positive energy on our campus all year long.

1. Connect With Staff Off Campus Before School Starts

When staff members are at school, the stresses of work creep in. To help staff escape the workload, take them away from campus to help them connect to one another without the pressures of lesson planning, grading, and emails. You might consider an off-campus retreat before the school year begins. It’s a great way to spend time interacting and getting to know one another as people. It doesn’t have to be at a costly retreat center, either; one of the schools that I worked for hosted the retreat at a local church that donated their facility.

2. Set a Mission for Your School Year

When staff can get behind the same mission, it helps maintain focus and energy throughout the year. During the staff retreat, we challenged them to think of one word that would describe what they wanted to accomplish during the school year. We compiled everyone’s response in a “wordle” and had it printed on the banner, which the teachers signed and hung inside the entry way of the school. The banner was a visual reminder each day of what we all were working towards. In addition, we based our theme for the year on this banner and committed to “1Word.1Goal.1Team.”

3. Recognize Teacher Success

Once you’ve set the tone for the school year, positive reinforcement and recognition can help affirm and motivate staff. This can be done in a variety of ways, from random acts of kindness to significant public recognitions. Here are a few examples of recognition we have used:

• Weekly shout-outs in the staff newsletter.
• Food! It seems simple, but it goes a long way. We find ways to feed staff and help them look forward to potentially stressful events through things like a cookout before the first home football game, dinner before parent-teacher night, ice cream for the end of testing, and breakfast on the last teacher work day.
• Senior legacy awards, where teachers are nominated by senior students to receive an award for the impact they had in their lives. Teachers are recognized at all buildings in a corporation-wide event. Teachers are called onstage by their building, and students make a brief statement about why that particular teacher left an impact on them.
• Top 20, in which the 20 top-performing students are invited with their parents and their two favorite teachers (one from middle level/elementary and one from high school) to a banquet. The students read a speech that acknowledges the role their teachers and parents had in their academic success.

Education is the most important profession. Our teachers work tirelessly to provide a quality educational experience for our students; let’s begin the school year making sure our staff knows how much we appreciate them, and then commit to demonstrating it every single day.

 How does your school motivate staff throughout the year?

Jenn Perkins in the assistant principal of Center Grove High School in Greenwood, IN. She is the 2018 Indiana Assistant Principal of the Year. Follow her on Twitter @JennPerkins2.

When it comes to school leadership, what really matters? Years of experience? Advanced degrees? Principal placement? While each of these indicators can play a role in a school leader’s impact on student achievement, they don’t tell the whole story of why a principal can succeed.

When I tell my story of principalship, I begin by telling about my classroom experiences. Like many of us, I loved being a teacher and never thought that I would leave the classroom. But a lot of other teachers and my peers encouraged me to become a principal. I always responded with “no,” because I liked to teach and loved to coach, but more people continued to ask me. After filling in for an assistant principal during her maternity leave, I never returned to the classroom. Instead, I found a passion for school leadership, and I love that I am able to make an impact on an entire school community.

Here are the lessons I have learned in my time as a school leader:

Always be a student and teacher at heart

I believe that learning is the greatest gift and opportunity we have. Education has been the foundation of all of my success, and I want nothing more than for every student in my care to build their dreams on this same foundation. To show students and staff my dedication to learning, I strive to be a model of that learning.

Incorporate reflection into your daily routine

One of the most important practices that has helped me grow is reflection. Reflecting on my actions with researched best practice as a guide has developed my ability to make future decisions, as I have learned from my mistakes. As the leader, you will have to address a wide range of issues and challenges and make many difficult decisions. Being reflective will help you grow as a leader and will help you make those tough choices. Whether it is dealing with limited budgets, implementing state mandates, changing school policies, and more, regular reflection helps me be a confident decision-maker.

Be patient

One of the biggest lessons I have learned is patience. When you work with over 3000 students, 300 staff members, and nine schools, problems and frustrations are bound to arise. School leaders need to be patient with people, as everyone grows and moves at their own pace. Your job is to provide them the structure and support so that they can grow. Having a system to identify and grow strengths through professional development is essential to success.

Collaborate for success

From staff, students, parents, community members, and business leaders, I work to collaborate with all stakeholders throughout the school improvement process. As a result, four school improvement teams drive the major decisions and actions of the school. When our district transitioned to a college and career approach, our success was built on a foundation of collaboration. We worked through the numerous challenges that a massive transition requires by meeting regularly as PLCs; gathering input from students, staff and the community; asking questions; and developing ways of working together that helped to bring our vision to life.

Connect with students

Students are the heart and soul of the school, so as the principal, I make sure that I regularly connect with them. One way that I make myself available to students is through a webisode series called “Real Talk with Welch.” I film a short video about a lesson I want to share with students. I’ve talked about everything from studying with purpose, the college application process, social awareness and emotional quotient, and the importance of giving. I share these videos during announcements and make them available online. Students like the videos and talk to me about them when they see me in the halls. Click here to view one of these webisodes.

While my story has been exciting so far, I look forward to writing more chapters. My hope is that I will be able to continue to hone my leadership practices and make more of an impact on the lives of students and our school community.

What’s your school leader story? What factors have made you an effective principal?

Tommy T. Welch, PhD, is a nationally recognized school leader and speaker. He is the principal of Meadowcreek High School, a large urban school in the Atlanta metro area. He is the 2017 Georgia Principal of the Year and a finalist for the National Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @PrincipalWelch.

“Rejection doesn’t mean you aren’t good enough; it means the other person failed to notice what you have to offer.” —Mark Amend

How do you handle “no”?

You’re getting ready for dismissal. You have just survived yet another final interview for a principalship. You feel you have highlighted some of the qualities a principal should have and your plan to help the students and teachers move forward at the school. You have a clear vision, and you clearly outlined how to continue the mission already in place. When the phone call comes, you get a lump in your throat and chills. Once again, you hear not only that they have chosen another candidate who was a “better fit,” but you are being moved to another school.

Often when we read books by John Hattie, Todd Whitaker, Peter Senge, and other experts in leadership, they talk about teacher and student motivation, culture and climate, and other key topics designed to create the optimal environment for learning. Unfortunately, few authors address how to handle disappointment—or failure. As instructional leaders, we often go to bat and strike out. The expectation is that we take a moment (in most cases, a very brief moment), dust ourselves off, and step back up to the plate. In fact, leaders are considered “weak” if they let events like being overlooked for a position affect them.

Being Human

“Reject rejection! If someone says no, just say NEXT.”—Jack Canfield

Easier said than done.

As difficult as it is to admit, I struggled. I interviewed many times in the past, met with district leadership for feedback, read many books, listened to talks on how to improve relationships and leadership. While I learned a lot, I never felt any better about my situation. I couldn’t understand why, if I was loved by so many teachers, students, parents, and community members, I wasn’t successful in what seemed to be an everlasting quest toward a principalship.

The result was a continual feeling of moving backwards. I found myself falling into habits I had in my early years as both an assistant principal and a teacher. I got defensive and insecure. No matter who I spoke to, the advice given always seemed to fall on deaf ears. I continued to do my job well, but I felt less effective than ever before in my 20-plus year career. Teachers within my new community didn’t see the leader that many others had followed in the past.

Turning a Corner

“How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.” —Dr. Wayne Dyer

It was a Monday morning, and I was driving to work. It was the first time in more than 20 years that I wanted to quit. I was overcome by anger, frustration, and disappointment. It didn’t matter what I had accomplished. All I could see was despair. I walked into work and shut my door. I surfaced only to walk to my mailbox and got one of the most important pieces of mail in my life.

It was from a former student at a former school who had struggled with health issues but never allowed them to get in her way. She was graduating from high school and wanted to share this accomplishment with me. I had spent the better part of a year allowing my feelings to lead. I asked myself, “Why am I here?” and in the blink of an eye, it was evident.

Appreciating the “No’s”

“Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.” —Abraham Lincoln

The largest takeaway from these experiences was to not lose focus on my true mission. The disappointment of falling short of your goal multiple times can cause you to lose focus, but  I realized I had to choose to learn from it.  I reflected on each of the “no’s” I had heard over the years, and with each one came either an inspirational moment or a time where I was reminded why I became an educator. The most recent moment came when I had my meal paid for anonymously with a note that read, “You are not alone.”

Rejection in your eyes may actually be direction in reality.  I assure you there is peace in  rejection.  You have to decide that you want to find it.

What do you do to grow from a “no”? How will it propel you to better each day?

Eric Basilo, EdD, is an assistant principal at Sanford Middle School in Sanford, FL. He is the 2018 Florida Assistant Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @drbrm54.