Fair, standards-referenced grading systems that communicate what a student knows and can do are often difficult to design. Developing grading systems that are fair and consistent across an entire school district can seem like an impossible task. However, it is a task that is necessary and worthwhile.

My school district began looking at grading reform in 2010 but was unable to gain any traction on making changes across the entire system. However, in 2017, the board of education adopted the district’s first policy on grading. Known as Policy 415: Grading and Reporting, the board mandated grades to have “consistent meaning through the school system and be based on grade-level standards.” This vague but powerful policy required the curriculum and instruction department, school administrators, and teachers across the district to develop a guiding document. In order to create a guiding document, a well-thought-out process was required. Our process consisted of six steps:

1. Forming a committee
2. Building knowledge through credible resources
3. Developing the guiding document
4. Sharing the work of the committee and guiding document
5. Implementing the new practices systemwide
6. Evaluating and revising the guiding document.

Here’s what we learned about the process:

The first step, forming a committee, was crucial to the success of creating standards-based practices. The curriculum and instruction department invited all sixth- through 12th-grade teachers in the district to apply. Teachers who were interested in taking on the yearlong work were selected based on established criteria for creating a committee, which represented all content areas and subgroups in the district. The committee was led by the executive director for curriculum and instruction and co-led by district instructional coaches. In total, the committee consisted of 31 voting members.

After setting norms for its work, the committee began increasing its knowledge around standards-based grading. To accomplish this second step, the committee read books and peer-reviewed journals, participated in webinars and video conferences with experts in the field, and conducted interviews with teachers and administrators of districts who have implemented standards-based grading practices. In addition, the committee itself was called upon to share valid experiences with standards-based grading practices.

The largest portion of the committee’s yearlong work was the development of the guiding document. After expanding its knowledge and understanding of standards-based grading, the committee began writing the document that outlined the grading practices and guidelines. This document clarified the role of professional learning communities in student achievement, defined the differences between practice and assessment, and established four grading practices. Our common practices across the district are that grades will be standards-referenced, behaviors will be communicated separately from standards-referenced grades, teachers will use consistent grade calculations, and students will have multiple opportunities to demonstrate proficiency on assessment. The guiding document identified what each practice looked like, what it didn’t look like, what PLCs could do with it, and the benefits of the practice.

After the guiding document was developed, it was then time to share the committee’s work and the guiding document with teachers, administrators, and the community. Through a series of meetings and staff professional development, the guiding document was not only shared, but also broken down into the specific grading practices. Teachers had the opportunity to ask questions and share with other teachers specific examples of what they do in their classrooms for each of the practices. This helped to ease the minds of teachers who were unsure and hesitant about the new guiding document.

All of the work up to this point was completed in one school year, with a couple of summer sessions. Now it was time to implement the grading guidelines to meet board policy systemwide.  This endeavor was a yearlong effort, which required weekly checks by PLCs to determine the effectiveness and implementation success of the grading policy. Administrators met with teachers at their sites regularly, and the curriculum and instruction department conducted monthly check-ins along with a year-end survey.

The final step was to evaluate the implementation at the end of the year and really look at the data to determine what worked and what didn’t. The original grading committee took information from gradebooks and feedback from teachers and administrators and began to make necessary revisions to the guiding document. Some adjustments were made to address the challenges schools faced while implementing the four practices in the guiding document. Throughout the entire process, the document was shared with stakeholders as a living document that would be revised as necessary. This was incredibly important in maintaining teacher support for the document.

Fair and equitable grading practices are necessary to inform students of what they have actually learned and can do.  Through standards-based grading practices, students are provided with feedback, see their growth, and experience success. 

Ryan Kettler is currently serving as vice principal at Rio Rancho High School in Rio Rancho, NM.  He is in his 11th year as an administrator and is New Mexico’s 2019 Assistant Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter at @R_Kettler.

How do you lead and model creativity? That’s a question many school leaders ask themselves. Many of us can get our arms around collaboration, communication, and critical thinking, but why is it that creativity is one area where we frequently struggle and sputter? I think it’s because we fear creativity—it doesn’t fall into a nice box that is neatly packaged with structure and details. You see, creativity is often messy, frequently busting the seams of our comfort zones and almost always requiring us to stretch and grow.

We have a responsibility to grow creatively as school leaders. The workplace doesn’t need students who are good test takers and who can think when all of the details are laid out and structured nicely for them. Just the opposite—the workplace is looking for people who can think creatively in a fluid, complex, and ever-changing world.

Check out these four questions every school leader should be asking their teachers to nurture creativity in learning:

How/what are students creating, publishing, designing, etc.?

Be willing to have the courageous conversations with faculty and staff about the need to break out of the traditional test-taking learning environment which focuses on teaching students how to answer a multiple-choice quiz. Instead, ask teachers, “What are you having students create, design, publish, perform?” By doing this, we take the onus of learning off of the teacher and place it on the student. To do this, we must challenge the status quo and be willing to have courageous conversations with faculty to change their pedagogy to model and promote creativity.

Who are students creating for?

Most likely, when you and I were students in school, we created work for the teacher, and only the teacher, to view. Now, we need to have students creating work for the world to see. Why can’t students be creating blogs for their community to read, podcasts for the world to learn from, and videos to challenge and inspire others to action. Ask your teachers, who are students creating their work for? You, classmates, or the world?

Why are students creating? 

Are students simply creating and designing for a grade in your class? Or are they creating to solve today’s real-world problems? When students create from a platform of generating real life change and improvement, they are more empowered to learn and lead. For example, students in my school worked to create a rain garden to collect the runoff from the parking lots. They did this to improve our environment and to beautify the school. But most importantly, their work changed our school for the better and empowered them to make a difference in their community. Now they are looking for other projects to work on and improve.

What are they learning from creating? 

Simply creating without taking time to reflect on the learning and growth falls short of closing the learning loop. It’s important for students to reflect on their learning and examine what they did well, what can be improved, and what would they change if they did this project again. This type of reflection strengthens the learning process and provides students with a true life example of a workflow project that is regularly practiced in the workplace. A collaborative reflection on the project allows for collective thoughts on how to improve and grow.

Finally, start small and build big. Leading creativity is energizing and empowering. When we have the courage to ask these four questions, we open up the learning culture to become more creative and empowering for students.

Bill Ziegler, EdD, is the principal of Pottsgrove High School in Pottstown, PA. He was a 2015 NASSP Digital Principal of the Year and the 2016 Pennsylvania Principal of the Year. Bill is the host of “Lead the Way, A Podcast for School Leaders,” which works to encourage, equip, and empower school leaders. He is also the co-author of Future Focused Leaders: Relate, Innovate, and Invigorate for Real Educational Change. See more of his thoughts on creativity at https://youtu.be/zs1BqDQOtLk, follow him on Twitter (@drbillziegler), visit his website at www.chaselearning.org.

As school leaders, we often feel pulled in many different directions and it can be difficult to navigate where we should be leading from. We must be careful to stay grounded and lead from the right place—otherwise, as a line from my favorite musical goes, we could easily be like a ship blown from its mooring, adrift with plenty of work to do but no stability.

So where should we lead from? I suggest we lead from several places: from the heart, from the mind, and from a place of stability.

Leading From the Heart

Leading from the heart is all about leading from a place of care and compassion—not only for our students, but also for the adults in our buildings and systems that we lead. For the most part, I believe we all entered education because we intended to do what’s best for kids on the daily—I mean, I hope that’s why you entered education. However, sometimes we get so caught up in doing what is best for kids that we can forget the humanity of the adults we are leading and how our kid-based decisions might affect them and the work they do each day.

I am not suggesting that we change kids being our true north during the decision-making process, but I am stating that our approach when making and sharing decisions and working with the adults is important to the climate and culture of our building. Leading from the heart means providing the adults we work with a clear picture of the “why” behind the decision and an understanding of the work that needs to be done along with a clear expectation of what the end product should be. As Brené Brown says in Dare to Lead, “Clear is kind.”

Leading From the Mind

Leading from the mind entails keeping our mind clear and able to function at high levels, which includes self-care. This means taking time away from work to recharge our internal battery. To different people, this means different things. Personally, I believe Rachel Hollis is right when she stated the importance of hydration as part of her “Five to Thrive.” That’s right—I am suggesting you drink lots of water, which will mean lots of bathroom breaks, but the importance of staying hydrated is a scientifically proven fact. Secondly, leading from the mind includes an insatiable desire to learn and improve yourself as a leader. Our world is changing so rapidly, as are the issues and challenges facing our students and “staffulty” (that’s the word I use to describe faculty and staff—we are always just one big happy staffulty). We must stay current and relevant, filling our mind with new things and keeping our mind open to the possibility that our own previous beliefs may be flawed.

Leading From a Place of Stability

Leading from a place of stability means standing firm, with heart, around our decision making. However, we want stability that is similar to the stability that our spinal cord provides for our body—the stability to move many miles daily, all the while being flexible enough not to snap when we step into a pothole. Our leadership should assume this same model. Lead from a place where your students and staff feel comfortable to move forward, following you—all the while knowing that when problems arise, your dexterity and flexibility will allow everyone to move past the issue by making a minor in-the-moment adjustment while staying on course. That is true stability, staying focused on the goal and having the strength of mind and body to make minor adjustments along the way.

Note that nowhere is this blog did I mention the word ego, because in leadership there is no space for it. When your ego is permitted to guide your leadership, you will be definitely be blown from your moorings and things will go awry. Don’t allow your ego to enter the room because the people we lead need leaders with clear hearts, minds, and stability—and because, in the words of educator and author Adam Welcome, “kids deserve it.”

We have been called to lead with our hearts, minds, and stability. Now get out there and change the world for the better for our kids and those we lead!

Annette Wallace is the chief operating and academic officer of Worcester County Public Schools.  She is the former principal of Pocomoke High School, a high-poverty school on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Annette is the 2017 Principal of the Year for the Maryland Association of Secondary School Principals and the 2018 Maryland Society of Education Technology Outstanding Leader of the Year. Follow her on Twitter at @Aewallace8.

When I was child, I always wanted to juggle like the showstoppers in the circus and on television. I mastered juggling two balls (not that impressive, I know) but when the third ball entered the mix, I couldn’t control it, and I looked like a clown in the worst sense of the word. As school leaders, we have to juggle all the time. We have our professional and personal roles, and sometimes we sacrifice one for the other, and that’s when everything starts crashing down.

It is important that we look at the three “P” roles in our lives—principal, parent, and partner—and make sure we do everything we can to ensure each gets the time and attention that it needs and deserves. I have learned over the past few years that this is easier said than done.

Last year, a mentor of mine said something that rocked me to the core. He looked me in the eyes and said, “Remember Roger, you are not married to your job.” After hearing those words, shame began to build up as I started to really think about the time I commit to work compared to the time with my wife. I would spend all day at work and when I came home, work was all I would think about. I would sit there and think of all I had to do, look at my calendar, and check emails while I sat on the couch, three feet away from my wife while failing to check on her. Around the same time, more shame filled my heart when my seven-year-old daughter looked at me and said, “Daddy, am I important [as your job] too?” I was guilty of spending more time raising my professional status than raising my children.

After truly evaluating myself, I knew something had to change with the way I was balancing my roles. This was difficult at first because I didn’t want to be less of a leader to my building and was afraid of what would happen if I decreased the time I spent on that role.  Surprisingly, making these changes made me a better leader because I had more joy and peace from my relationships and positive interactions with my family.

Below are a few changes that I made to bring balance to the two most important “P” roles in my life—parent and partner. Change is hard, but your family is worth it. At the end of the day, it is your family sitting around the dinner table and snuggling with you on the couch, not your job. Put these two roles first, and success in your other roles is sure to follow.

Listen

When you come home for work, stop and give all of your attention to your family. Let your partner and your children tell you all about their days. Show them that what they are saying is the most important thing. Trust me, there will be stories about what happened on the playground and on the drive home from work that you can do without hearing, but by listening you are letting your family know you care about every part of their lives and that you honor their feelings.

Log Off

When you get home, hug your family and “hang up” your phone. Take your phone to the charger or get a little box that electronics go in for a specific time period. I actually took a small square Amazon box and wrote “No Phones 4:00–7:00 p.m.,” and that is where we place our electronics when we get home. Nothing says you are important like a cell phone in a box.

Individual Date Nights

You need to make time for your partner and children. Make sure at a minimum you take your spouse on a date twice a month. This is a great way to really connect and grow as you talk without interrupting children. Along with taking your partner on a date, plan individual dates with your children as well. Take your daughter to the movies, your son to the park. Make time for each member of your family so they know they are your top priority. 

Get Away

Over the summer and at least once during the school year, take your family on a getaway. It doesn’t have to be expensive; just getting away from it all lets you focus on the things that matter most—your family. 

Do Chores Together

On the weekends, clean together. Let your partner know that you value them by grabbing a toilet bowl brush and a vacuum and clean the house together while you make your relationship sparkle and shine.

Are you giving your partner and parent roles the attention that they need? What are some things in your professional role that are keeping you from your personal roles? Which of those things can you stop juggling and have someone else juggle? Which of the above examples can you start implementing in your life today?

Roger Gurganus is an assistant principal at Brownstown Middle School, a grade 6–7 building in Brownstown, MI. He has a passion for children and education and strives to ensure that every student is connected and feels part of the positive communities he creates. Follow his educational and leadership journey on Twitter (@RogerGurganusII), Instagram (@RogerGurganusII), YouTube (@BMSWARRIORS67), and his blog (https://raiseyouranchor.blogspot.com).

As I reflect on the years that I have been at Whaley School, we are graduating more students each year, we are offering more elective classes that tie into what students want to do after graduation, and our teachers are working hard to create amazing lessons in and out of the classroom—all things which help build resiliency in our students.

Among the ways we teach resiliency:

A Positive Belief in Our Students’ Abilities

When staff talk to our students, they are helping build positive self-esteem within them. We process student behavior on a daily basis—reminding students of their strengths while discussing their successful reentry back into class is key to encouraging strong confidence and resilience for the future.

Helping to Build a Strong, Caring Network Around Our Students

By doing this, our students feel safe in times of crisis. Students are able to confide in us so, we are better able to help them each day.

Teaching That Change Is Inevitable

In order for resilience to occur, students must learn to be flexible. While routine is best for our students, we realize that routines may be interrupted, and we teach adaptability so students are better able to manage their emotions in times of crisis.

Finding Your Passion

Teachers try many different things in their own classrooms that they are passionate about in order to offer experiences students may continue with in the future. We also ask students to create something within their own passions—to teach us!

Staying Positive and Optimistic

Sometimes this is difficult, but if we keep the positive at the forefront, this only helps students. Teaching students that staying positive in negative or dark situations is important for resilience and the future. This doesn’t mean that we want to ignore the problem, but we want to find positive solutions. We understand that there are setbacks, but that doesn’t mean that students will stay in the ‘setback’ place. In this way, we teach students the ability to combat their challenges.

Team Building

Team-building activities are required at our school. Teachers work together for one purpose, the success of our students. In order to do this successfully, teachers need to build meaningful relationships with one another.

Offering Choices

Our teachers have the ability to add their own passions to their classrooms to present to students. Whether this is in their core classroom teaching through their content or teaching an elective class, teachers have the ability to make these choices at the beginning of each year.

Staying Positive

Each week positive notes, quotes, or sayings are sent out to staff through the Monday Memo—via email or put into their mailbox. I sometimes even deliver them to all staff personally!

Flexibility

Giving staff the ability to be flexible in their scheduling, student groupings, and more helps them feel like they are a part of the planning—which they are.

Celebrating Staff

We celebrate staff birthdays, awards, family events, new scores on tests, activities in the classroom—everything good!​

We can always stay positive and share our smiles with someone else. This is what we can and should do every day. Our students need to see, hear, and learn resilience. They deserve it.

Robyn Harris is principal of Whaley School in Anchorage, AK. She is the 2018 Alaska Principal of the Year. Follow her on Twitter (@WhaleySchool), Facebook (Whaley School), and her blog (whaleyschool.weebly.com).

Chief Ivan Blunka School is a preK­–12 school located in the Alaska bush community of New Stuyahok. In New Stuyahok, hunting, fishing, and subsisting off the land aren’t hobbies but a necessity for survival due to the lack of traditional economic opportunities. Our community is only accessible by air or boat, and even then only when the weather cooperates. Everything we need to run our school, from toilet paper to textbooks, is flown in via single-engine aircraft.

The biggest challenge our students face is gaining exposure to all of the college and career choices that are available to them. Our students do not encounter the casual exposure to these opportunities that students in more urban settings experience. I feel that a major part of my responsibilities as assistant principal is to provide my students in every grade with every possible opportunity to see what options are out there and provide them with equal access to an amazing future of their choice.

I never want students to feel like they are missing out on something because of where they are from.

Chief Ivan Blunka School in New Stuyahok, AK. Photo Credit: Emily Hendricks

One opportunity students in rural Alaska miss out on is college visits. We use technology to host virtual college and postsecondary training program visits for our juniors and seniors each year. We have had admissions counselors and former students video chat to show our students their campuses, talk about what kinds of programs they offer, the application process, financial aid, and what recreation opportunities are available. The most beneficial part of these virtual visits is the opportunity for students to ask questions.

In rural Alaska, student travel opportunities are extremely expensive. It often takes creative funding, excessive fundraising, and being an expert travel agent to make travel opportunities possible for our students. But all of that work is so worth it. Students who travel learn how to interact with people who are different from themselves, learn how to navigate in unfamiliar places, and experience opportunities they never knew existed. Last year, I was fortunate enough to chaperone my student council officers on a trip to Washington, D.C., for the National Close Up program. The trip across the country was a huge investment in time and money, but it was worth every penny spent and every minute in airports for one moment, my proudest moment as an Alaskan educator.

During our last day in Washington, we visited the National Museum of the American Indian. There was a small section of the museum dedicated to the Yup’ik culture. My students were so proud to see their culture represented in a national museum. As we excitedly talked about the familiar pictures and artifacts, some of the other museum guests overheard that our group was from Alaska and struck up conversations with the students. These students, who were once so shy that they would have never considered holding a conversation with a stranger, proudly shared that they were Alaska Natives and that they were Yup’ik. These three students answered every question they were asked with pride and confidence, and I have never been prouder!

Chief Ivan Blunka School students at the Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. Photo credit: Meghan Redmond

We rely on the connections we have made in our community, across Alaska, and as far flung as Minnesota and Hawaii and beyond. When we can’t take students out of the village, we bring opportunities to our students. We have had a graphic designer and videographer from Minnesota teach classes to our students when she traveled to our village to work on a documentary project, and she even had students assist her. While on a senior trip in Hawaii, a connection with a tour guide led a student to a new guitar and love of music. We have had visiting artists, experts who suture skin, and doctors teach lessons and share their careers with our students. We have made positive connections with our legislators in the state government to provide our students with amazing learning opportunities. And last but not least, we have had local community members and former students visit classes to talk about their jobs or the postsecondary opportunities they have pursued.

Chief Ivan Blunka School students in front of cabin. Photo credit: Justin Gumlickpuk

Finally, it’s important to instill a sense of pride in our students about the culture and community they come from. They may be experiencing an opportunity gap from someone else’s point of view, but they have so many opportunities to experience things no one else outside of rural Alaska will ever experience. Our students have lives full of rich, meaningful experiences, with a close connection to their own culture most people can only dream of. For every opportunity they may “miss out on” by living in rural Alaska, they are provided with so much more in return.

Opportunity gaps exist for students beyond rural Alaska. I challenge my fellow leaders in education to find innovative ways to close the gaps for your students, no matter where they live or what their background is, while at the same time instilling a sense of pride in the culture and community they come from.

Meghan Redmond is the assistant principal at Chief Ivan Blunka School, a preK–12 school in New Stuyahok, AK. New Stuyahok is off the road system and only accessible by air or boat. Meghan has worked in rural Alaska for 10 years and is the 2019 NASSP National Assistant Principal of the Year. Follow her on Twitter (@alaska22redmond) and the Chief Ivan Blunka School on Facebook at the “CIBS Eagles Fan Page.”

As education continues to change, so does the way we teach and how our students learn. Instead of the teachers being the holder of all information, our students now have the resources to drive their own learning. Personalizing learning for students allows students greater opportunities to control their learning and search for what suits them, and my Virtual Tour event focuses on what personalized learning looks like at Mason High School.

As we make these changes in learning, we need to make sure we are purposefully following specific steps so our staff and students are successful. Here are six steps leaders must take in order to successfully shift to personalized learning.

1. Gotta Believe It to See It 

If you are going to personalize learning in your district, it needs to be embedded in your beliefs and mindset. Do your research and make sure it is the right fit for your students and staff. Collect data and feedback from all of your stakeholders on their thoughts on personalized learning. Contact the experts in personalized learning to help you create a plan on how you will provide professional development. At Mason City Schools, we have worked with Alison Zmuda throughout the last few years to work with administrators and staff so we could introduce personalized learning in a thoughtful, organized manner. The key behind making personalized learning successful in your district is making sure it is a part of everyone’s vision.

2. Be Methodical in Your Approach

While change is hard work, it also requires patience. To be successful, you need to spend a lot of time planning your approach to integrating personalized learning. This process can’t be rushed. Collect data, solicit feedback, and have purposeful meetings to create your plan. At Mason, we had selected cohorts of teachers from different grade levels and content levels lead the learning throughout the district. These staff members received professional development before the school year began and were prepared for the new year. Planning is essential for every administrative team to complete in order to set the teachers up for success during the year.

3. You Win With People

The famous quote by former Ohio State University football coach Woody Hayes still stands the test of time. You need to have the right people in place in order for personalized learning to be successful. Having the proper support in place provides resources to your students and staff to ensure progress. It’s important to place people in support positions who are passionate about personalized learning. They will do the necessary homework to generate ideas, find answers for staff, and coach students and staff to successfully implement personalized learning. Providing help with consistent check-ins will help ensure a successful transition.

4. Build It and They Will Come

It is important to create the time and place for staff to get help and grow in their knowledge and delivery of personalized learning. Take a look at your bell schedule and different spaces in your buildings where you may be able to make some changes. Create time in your schedules where staff can collaborate and learn from each other. Get creative with different spaces and see if you can make a space where your cohort can gather and gain inspiration.

5. Celebrate Small Victories

   Photo by Bobby Dodd

Share and recognize successful personalized learning experiences. It is important for staff members and students to see what success looks like. Take time during staff meetings and in your weekly staff communications to share the great things going on with personalized learning. Let students share their experiences too. Have discussions and studies on changing practices such as homework, assessments, and grades, and encourage teachers to make changes.

6. Get Feedback From Your Stakeholders

Collect data from staff, students, and parents on how personalization is going. Feedback is essential to making improvements. Share the feedback with your stakeholders. Let them know what is going well and where there are opportunities for growth. Transparency in the process of change allows others to stay aware of what is taking place and what the district plans to do with the feedback.

As we make shifts in education, it is important to follow the steps discussed above to provide a solid foundation for change. It’s our job as leaders to help our staff and students adapt to the changes by providing guidance and support.

This blog is part of NASSP’s Virtual Tour Series. Be sure to tune in to Facebook on November 13 at 9:05 a.m. (ET) to participate in the live tour. Jamie Richardson will also be leading the #PrinLeaderChat on Twitter on November 17 at 9:00 p.m. (ET).

Bobby Dodd is the principal at Mason High School in Mason, OH. He was a 2016 NASSP Digital Principal Award winner. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @bobby__dodd.

Each year in November, we take time as a middle level school to emphasize the importance of gratitude. While we are an international school, we build off the American holiday of Thanksgiving as a foundation for celebrating recognition and thanks. Abundant research connects gratitude with a sense of purpose and happiness, and focusing on gratitude is an important way to help meet students’ social-emotional needs.

Our work with gratitude gets folded into our advisory program, but it also permeates into other classes and includes active involvement by our teachers. The premise of our work with students is based on the message presented in a 12-minute Ted Talk by author Shawn Achor: “The Happiness Advantage: Linking Positive Brains to Performance”. In this talk, Achor challenges viewers to engage in a 21-day “rewire” to support changing the way our brain looks at the world, with gratitude as a key part of his ultimate goal of happiness. As he says, “…it’s not necessarily the reality that shapes us, but the lens through which your brain views the world that shapes your reality.”

Achor’s 21-day rewire consists of the following activities to create lasting positive change:

• Three expressions of gratitude each day
• Journaling about a positive experience from the last 24 hours
• Exercise
• Meditation
• Random/conscious acts of kindness

Here’s how we have supported our school’s 21-day rewire for gratitude for the month of November in past years. We scaffolded our work from the individual/self (privately writing things we are grateful for in our life), to expanding gratitude to share with someone else (a letter of thanks to someone we care about), to spreading appreciation in our community (placing notes on a gratitude tree).

International School of Kenya Middle School students hang leaves with their gratitudes on the Gratitude Tree. Photo credit: Alexa P. Schmid

In week one, we introduced gratitude journals to students and continued this daily practice for 21 days. We kicked off with an assembly for all middle level students, which included a student-friendly video linking gratitude and happiness. In week two, we continued daily gratitudes and expanded the work to include students writing a letter of gratitude to someone they care about. In week three, we continued daily gratitudes in the journals, and then students wrote a message of thanks related to our community on paper leaves, which were hung on a Gratitude Tree in our common space. Throughout the month, teachers shared videos, read passages from books, and generated conversations to actively share these gratitudes.

Over the course of the month, we also shared articles with faculty to deepen how we practice and model gratitude for our students. Two great articles that share the research of how being grateful leads to deeper happiness are “Choose to Be Grateful. It Will Make You Happier” and “The Neuroscience of Gratitude.” Here is a link to additional resources to support gratitude work, including several articles, videos, and images that capture the essence of gratitude.

A high-quality education is about so much more than rigorous academics. It is also about developing character and teaching students the skills and dispositions to successfully engage in a changing world. With anxiety and depression on the rise, it is essential for schools to consider the needs of the whole child. Focusing on gratitude is one way to accomplish this goal.

Education is about so much more than just teaching a rigorous academic curriculum. Supporting a culture of gratitude will also support a culture of love, happiness, and purpose. When we engage in gratitude work, we support a community that can meet its potential and maximize the learning that is possible at school.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.”

—Brother David Steindl-Rast

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”

—John F. Kennedy

Alexa P. Schmid is the middle level principal at the International School of Kenya and the 2019 U.S. Department of State Office of Overseas Schools Principal of the Year. She is currently working on her doctorate in education from Plymouth State University, where she is studying cultural competency leadership in international schools. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia, and has worked in international schools in Egypt, India, and Kenya.

As building administrators, we observe staff and work with them to define clear goals for professional development, but how much time do we take to complete our own professional development plans? As building leaders, it can be easy to think of professional development plans as just another piece of check-the-box compliance. But I urge you to take the steps to create a proactive and engaging professional development plan that will be rewarding for you and your staff and students in turn.

In coming up with my professional development plan this year, I’ve employed a few strategies that may be helpful to you.

Make it SMART (or SMARTIES)

We’ve all heard the mantra about SMART goals—Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Relevant, and Timely.   While those are great, I challenge you to sweeten it up a notch and make your professional development plan not just SMART, but SMARTIES!

S – Specific

M – Measurable

A – Aligned

R – Relevant

T – Timely

I – Internet as needed

E— Exciting

S – Share the Success!

• Specific: Make sure you are zeroing in on a goal and not just a buzzword. How do you know you are getting to the specifics? A goal to “use more technology” is not as specific as a goal centered around developing and creating staff professional development using digital platforms such as Canvas or Google Classroom.
• Measurable: Make sure your goal is quantitative and not qualitative. I’m not knocking the qualitative—sometimes 99 percent of the admin work feels along those lines. But to keep you from losing or graying the hairs you still have left, creating a goal that can be measured will help you feel some small wins—especially coming off those rough weeks (you know, the ones that feature a full moon).
• Aligned: If you are reading through your professional development plan and nothing about it can be found in your school’s improvement plan or your district’s mission and focus, I’d challenge you to keep writing or have another swing at it. As leaders, you need to model for all your stakeholders that you are in the game and part of the team. Your professional development plan can’t come from left field—it should be aligned.
• Relevant: What do relevant goals look like? If it’s my professional development plan, it’s relevant to me! Well yes, but it needs to serve overall goals aligned with school and district mission. Yes, your personal professional goals are at stake, but they do need to speak to the themes of your current career.
• Timely: Don’t I have all year to finish? The time monster can be a monster! In reaching out to my professional learning network (PLN), I was advised to make shorter-term goals—perhaps in 90-day chunks. That one piece of advice freed up my mind and allowed me to see some larger goals in smaller, less elephant-like bites.
• Internet as a resource: Professional development plans were not invented yesterday and are not exclusive to education. Use the internet as a source and resource. If you have a favorite Twitter chat or Facebook educational group, tap into that expertise to get feedback on that potential goal. At worst, no one responds; at best, your PLN will blow your socks off with how to take your professional development plan to the next level.
• Excitement: Even though it’s your personal development goals and plan; it can be helpful to share them with some peers and encourage some excitement for your goals.
• Success: It’s worth celebrating, so as you achieve steps in your professional development plan and work toward your goals, shout out and share your success. A lot of our work is as humble servants, but we need to take some self-care, and in doing so celebrate the successes as you work on this year’s goals.

This blog post is actually pushing me towards one of my goals—developing professional learning resources for staff and others using various mediums that promote digital learning and support student learning. Now, is that the smartest of SMARTIES goals? Probably not, but I’m sharing in hopes for your feedback—take the time below to share a goal or a comment that can help me or others grow in pursuit of their professional development plan. And think about it—if you are creating a professional development plan that is vibrant and a living document, what do you think that model will do for the staff that work with you?

Kathy Walker has spent the last seven years of her 18-year career in education as an assistant principal. She is the 2019 North Carolina Assistant Principal of the Year and the creator and host of the podcast for aspiring and current assistant principals, The Year of APing Dangerously. Follow her on Twitter at @kathywalkeriss.

Each year as a secondary principal brings about new challenges, experiences, and opportunities, and this year in particular is very personal for me. My eldest daughter is a senior, and as cliched as it sounds, time has flown by. Just yesterday, my little girl was a month old as I took my first teaching job. Today, she is a senior walking the hallways on a countdown to graduation. It’s personal because while I need to be a principal for the 335 students at Milford High School, I also want to be a dad and enjoy all of the experiences that come with having a senior.

With the demands of principalship, I believe our own children often take a back seat at times to the needs of other students and their families. From early morning meetings, community groups, conferences and daily responsibilities to late-night activities, there are days where the only time we see our own kids is walking out the door in the morning and kissing them goodnight when they are already sleeping. You learn to take advantage of the moments that you do have together.

Nothing beats getting to be in the same building each and every day and live the experience of high school with your own kids. It may be a short hello as they come in the building in the morning, a “Hey dad, can I have a few dollars for a snack?” between classes, or a conversation during lunch with her and her friends as they wait for the bell to ring, but I treasure these moments. I know it won’t be long,

and she will be off to college and into the world we have tried to prepare her for over the past 18 years. I cherish each of these moments as much as I can.

Educators often talk about the need for positive and encouraging relationships with our students and staff, yet when it comes to the most important relationships of all, our families, we sometimes neglect to put the same effort into them as we spend on our jobs. We can’t forget to take care of ourselves and those that matter the most to us.

So when it comes to making it personal, please do! If you are fortunate enough to get to be in the same building as your own kids, nieces, nephews, or family friends, enjoy those small moments that matter the most. Find a system that works for you and your family, because before you know it your kids will be grown-ups and writing stories of their own.

How can you maximize and prioritize your time with your own families? What family traditions or customs do you value? Do you set aside time each week or month that is strictly meant for connecting and bonding with your family? It’s personal.

Brandon Mowinkel is the principal at Milford Jr/Sr High School in Milford, NE, where he has spent his entire career, having previously served as the industrial technology teacher and an assistant principal. He is the 2017 Nebraska High School Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter (@bmowinkel).

The best advice I ever received about working as a school administrator came from a great friend and colleague in Idaho’s Treasure Valley. My friend had attended a retirement reception for a gentleman that had been in education for over 40 years, 30 of which as a building administrator. My friend asked him, “How were you able to keep this fire and passion day in and day out in a job that can be so negative and draining?” The answer changed how I thought about my role and what faces me every day at school. The outgoing administrator said, “Discover what gives you energy in your work and do it every day. Be intentional about what you do.”

That’s not getting any easier. Jamie Vollmer, author of the highly acclaimed book Schools Cannot Do it Alone, came up with a list of governmental and societal responsibilities that for one reason or another have become part of the to-do list for school administrators. Since the late 1980s, Vollmer estimates that at least 51 new school initiatives have been added to that list, and the trend is not slowing down.  Using Vollmer’s data, by the time this new rising generation of school leaders reaches retirement age, approximately 30 more items will be added to the principal job’s description, with the assumption that not a single minute will be added to a school calendar that is over six decades old. Beyond this growing list of responsibilities, national statistics cite a risk of higher burnout and growing rates of depression among school principals. With this in mind, we must ask whether this new generation of administrators will even make it to retirement.

How do we keep our passion and energy and reduce the risk of burnout, while handling the ever-increasing pile of responsibilities and state and federal mandates? I think the retired educator from the Treasure Valley found the two things that can lead to successful and long-lasting careers in school administration. First, find what gives you energy at your job and do it often. Second, be intentional about your work.

For example, if being in classrooms gives you energy, intentionally put it in your weekly work schedule. If finding ways to recognize students for good behavior, grades, or attendance gives you energy, make it a must-have in your monthly list of things to get done. If just being around kids in any capacity is what excites you to come to school every morning, make it an untouchable and sacred part of every day. Accept invitations from your teachers or just invite yourself to participate in mock job interviews in speech classes, judge history projects, be part of reading day, or be present when students present their business ideas to the simulated Shark Tank investors. Whatever gives you that fire and reminds you why you got into education, you must do it!

We have a tough job as administrators, and it is only getting more stressful and more demanding. We have to be more purposeful about what we do each day and specifically add things that will give us the desire and ability to be the administrators we need to be for our students and teachers. As the veteran school leader said, “Discover what gives you energy in your work and do it every day. Be intentional about what you do.”

Andrew Wray is currently the vice principal at Burley High School (BHS) in Burley, ID, and has been in that position for five years. He was recently named the 2019 Idaho Assistant Principal of the Year. Prior to joining the administration at BHS, he was a junior high school social studies teacher for seven years. In addition to working at his current job, he is also an online principal for Idaho Digital Learning Academy and the Director of the Idaho Association of Student Councils. 

November is the month we most associate with gratitude. Giving thanks, spending time with families, and giving to others coupled with the natural opportunity to associate with a gratitude practice—it is woven into our personal and professional culture. It’s the time of year we hear the question “What are you thankful for?” more than ever. We ask it, and we share with one another our appreciation for their time, love, actions, and more.

November is the perfect time to integrate an ongoing gratitude practice at your school. Research shows us that a regular gratitude practice correlates with positive emotional function and a reduction in emotional dysfunction, as well as positive relationship building. These are three qualities that can significantly increase overall well-being and happiness for us all and promote an environment where academic success can thrive. Gratitude has far more power to impact our students’ lives than we have ever realized.

Modeling and providing the opportunity to create a gratitude practice is a first step to adding a new tool to your school’s toolkit that supports student happiness and mental health resilience. Here are three ways we use technology to model and build our gratitude practice at Sarah Pyle Academy (SPA):

Happiness Challenge

Students and staff participate in challenges throughout the year to build their gratitude practice. Using a Google Slide template for 10, 20, or more days, students and staff identify one thing they are grateful for, an act of kindness they participated in, and something they are looking forward to in the next 24 hours. I post my own challenge on my principal site (modeling the practice is critical to success), and students share their completed journals with their advisor or the teacher they feel most connected to and receive an incentive.

Gratitude Journals

There are many apps and websites which students can use for a digital gratitude journal. At SPA, we developed a Google form and embedded a link in our schoolwide calendar (accessible to students, parents, and staff). The link connects to a short Google form that asks specific reflection questions involving gratitude and aligned specifically to our school. The questions change based on the time of the year, community input, and events and activities (homecoming, standardized tests, etc.). They also are responsive to any schoolwide issues or concerns we may be dealing with at the time. We find this practice is an awesome opportunity for us to focus on what is “right in our SPA world” and develop that positive perspective that is often hard to do when life gets difficult.

#ThrowShine Campaign

Photo by Kristina MacBury

This year, Laura Malmstrom, our school counselor, brought the “Throw Shine, Not Shade” initiative back from the American School Counselors Association conference. Through the initiative, we publicly shout out each other for our impact in making our community better. Right now, we use a public bulletin board, but we are developing a game on FlipGrid, a free social learning platform that allows members of your school community to respond to prompts or create videos. We are aspiring to have a #ThrowShine FlipGrid mixtape.

Supporting our students’ mental health and overall well-being is a need that has intensified. The more we know, the more we recognize the imperative in providing the resources, training and opportunities in being responsive to the emotional, social, and mental health of our entire school community as the best way to build the most successful, healthy, and happy academic program.

How can we integrate a gratitude practice into our district, school, and classrooms to achieve the positive impacts, and where can technology be used to maximize the access and integrity of our efforts?

Kristina MacBury is principal at Sarah Pyle Academy in Wilmington, DE. She is an author, speaker, leadership coach, and advocate for school happiness agency. She is a 2018 NASSP Digital Principal of the Year and in 2017 was named a Top 30 Technologist, Transformer, and Trailblazer by the Center for Digital Education. Follow her on Twitter at @MacBuryKristina and visit her blog at http://educate4hope.com/blog.

The administrative team in my district recently engaged in a ritual that we have performed for as long as I have been here. We renewed our certification in CPR and basic first aid. It takes about two hours, and the training is usually provided by a few of our staff members.

Our instructors were two of our district’s best health and PE teachers. Their expertise was apparent, they were warm and inviting, they showed us several high-quality videos illustrating the symptoms of cardiac arrest and the procedures for emergency care, and they encouraged risk-taking and engendered confidence in the participants.

Practice is an essential part of this training, because if you find yourself in a situation requiring CPR, you must have done it before, even if you’ve never performed it on an actual person. We practiced on first-aid dummies—pardon the expression, but the plastic mannequin-like apparatuses are literally “dummies,”. You can blow into the dummy’s mouth and, as long as you are holding its nose in proper form, the chest will rise as it would in real mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Chest compressions also mimic how it feels to administer actual CPR. Each administrator practiced the entire routine at least three times. After finishing, we took a quiz. If we passed, we received a card certifying us as cardiac lifesavers by the American Red Cross. I’m pleased to report that every administrator passed the quiz and successfully recertified.

One might conclude that this entire exercise was a matter of compliance, something you just have to do periodically to check off a box and meet a legal requirement for training. But I have found that it’s not sufficient to sit back and comply. You’re required to recertify once every two years, and sure enough, every two years the methods to move blood throughout the body via chest compressions and provide a small amount of oxygen through mouth-to-mouth seem to change. When I first learned, it was one breath and 15 chest compressions. Then it was changed to chest compressions first, then breaths. Later, it changed again to 30 chest compressions and two breaths.

I shouldn’t be surprised that the procedure is in constant flux—we’re talking about life and death here, and we’ve got our best people working on it.

This workshop included several elements of effective instruction: the “feeling-tone” of the classroom setting; the expertise of the instructors; the relationships developed in the workshop; and the use of media, modeling, cooperative grouping, and independent practice. Given the subject matter, you might ask, “Why was any of this necessary? You were learning to save lives!” You would think that we could have mastered these techniques even with horrible teachers, a lousy environment, and without videos or opportunities to practice on dummies. But this isn’t true. If none of these factors were in place, we likely would not have successfully recertified.

Photo credit: Donald Gately

Put simply, if a group of dedicated, experienced school administrators don’t automatically engage when the content is a matter of life or death, how much do you think your 12-year-old learners are going to engage with a discussion of Shays’ Rebellion or a poem by Emily Dickinson? Regardless of how essential we deem the content we are teaching, kids won’t engage unless we focus on the essentials of learning.

All great teachers have singular passions for their disciplines. As a teacher of English language arts, I know that I did. No one needs to convince us of the importance and relevance of our content. But that’s not enough. Even though we teach our content as though the lives of our kids depend upon it, they won’t learn unless we purposefully employ techniques to ensure they are engaged.

What are you passionate about in your content area?   How do you ensure that your students engage?

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 at @donald_gately and visit his blog.

With the Lumberjacks as our mascot, the pride of R.A. Long High School dates back to 1927. Ninety-two years later, we have lifted the minds and spirits of our lumber town’s community with a true 97 percent graduation rate, with many students the first high school graduates in their family and the first to go on to college. We built that momentum, with little in the way of additional resources, through a coordinated series of programs and activities we call the Jack Way.  Here’s how:

Jack Camp

Jack Camp is our freshman orientation, where incoming freshman spend two days going through a variety of activities to get them comfortable with anything and everything R.A. Long, including:

• Learning how to appropriately participate in spirit assemblies, including response cheers taught by cheerleaders.
• Meeting coaches and signing up for athletics. All coaches and captains are present to speak with students and get students signed up for various sports.
• Meeting club advisers and participants. Advisers and club participants are there to speak with students.
• Twelve rotations, including:
  • Interactive notebook training.
  • C-Note training.
  • How to graduate.
  • Team building.
  • Grit training.
  • Introduction to clubs.
  • Amazing Race 1: Students get their schedule and have to run around and find the fastest route between classes, as well as open their lockers.
  • Amazing Race 2: Students sign into the nurse, the main office, schedule appointments with their counselor, and sign up for sports and other activities.
  • How-to: Students learn how to write an email to a teacher and how to navigate inter- and intrapersonal relationships.
  • Student panel: Graduates come back to answer questions.
  • 1:1 Devices: An overview of the responsibilities and care of 1:1 devices.

Jacks’ First Eight Days

I plan the first eight days of school for teachers to ensure that the schoolwide expectations are taught in a consistent manner. This also gives counselors time to change schedules without students missing information. During the first eight days, students participate in:

• Safety training and drills.
• Strategy training, including C-Notes, academic language, code switching, points of confusion, etc.
• Common assessments created by PLCs to use for student growth goals.
• Team-building activities. Our goal is to have all students know the names of all of their classmates by the end of September.
• Review of the student handbook and #JackCode (our nonnegotiables).

Jacks’ House

Jacks’ House is our new student center. All newly enrolled students receive:

• Safety training
• Strategy training
• Help setting up interactive notebooks for their classes
• Opportunities to sign up for clubs and sports and meet coaches and advisors
• A tour of the school
• Review of each class syllabus
• Preassessments for each class
• Introductions to other students that speak their native language (if applicable)
• Connections to other new students through weekly lunches.

Jacks’ Academy

Jacks’ Academy is an intervention center where students can:

• Have a quiet place to work, make up tests, etc. (initiated by the teacher)
• Receive academic intervention (initiated by the teacher, counselors, coaches, or administrators)
• Receive behavior intervention (initiated by teacher or administrators)

Jack Time

Every Friday for 45 minutes, we schedule grade-level advisories called Jack Time. During this time, students participate in:

• Targeted academic intervention (For our special education department, students with individualized education plans who have D’s and F’s meet with paraprofessionals to get individual tutoring.)
• Assemblies, all of which are scheduled during this time in order to hold our classroom time sacred
• High School and Beyond plans, including activities from resume writing to SAT prep to Adulting 101
• Access to teachers for additional help or retake tests, etc.

#RALearn

#RALearn is more than our hashtag. It’s the way we do business in all classrooms at R.A. Long.  As an AVID Schoolwide Site of Distinction, our common expectations build on the AVID model and include:

• Interactive notebooks. All classrooms use interactive notebooks, and some are even preprinted.
• Point of Confusion. Posters hang in all classrooms to alleviate “I don’t know” responses from students by walking them through what they do know and helping them identify the point at which they are stuck.
• 10-24-7. Reviewing material and notes after 10 minutes, 24 hours, and 7 days.
• Learning targets, rationales, and success criteria posted daily.
• WICOR (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading). These AVID strategies include posters in every classroom, monthly WICOR sheets posted outside every classroom, quarterly peer observations, and monthly WICOR professional development.

R.A. Long University

Every junior goes through this college preparation program in their English and social studies classes. Activities include:

• Completing the Common College Application
• Completing scholarship applications
• Writing college entrance essays
• Completing the FAFSA form and financial planning

Reinforcing a College-Bound Culture

Every ounce of our focus involves assuring that students have every door open in front of them when they are handed a R.A. Long diploma. To do this, we:

• Ensure all juniors complete R.A. Long University.
• Put up posters in the hallway featuring students accepted to college. The posters have the student’s picture and read, “From the hallways of R.A. Long to ___________” with a picture of the college’s logo. We also put up posters for students that enlist in the military and trade schools. Students also receive T-shirts that read “College Accepted.”
• Teachers have college corners in each of their classrooms which describe their college journey to teaching, along with pennants and college logos.
• Ensure that every senior completes their FAFSA form.
• Senior social studies teachers offer Adulting 101, including demonstrating how to tie a tie, iron a shirt, and complete other life activities.

Across all these programs and activities, we stress consistent expectations with support and reinforcement—“gentle pressure, relentlessly applied.” On Wednesday, every staff member rocks t-shirts that say, “Your Culture is What You Allow,” knowing that staff and students will rise to the expectations we set.

The Jack Way can be done with little to no additional resources. What are you doing to create a culture of success, perseverance, and risk-taking for all of your students?

Lacey Griffiths is in her eighth year as a high school assistant principal overseeing special education, English, social studies, AVID, safety, and all things students at R.A. Long High School in Longview, WA. She spent 12 years at the middle level and loves working with students with the greatest need of advocates so that she can believe in them until they believe in themselves. She is the 2019 Washington State Assistant Principal of the Year. Follow her on Twitter at @LaceyGriffiths8.

There we were, crouched down on the side of a mountain, mesmerized by the view of a bull elk through the trees. My husband and I were about two feet apart, neither of us moving and both of us holding our breath in fear of alerting the majestic beast to our presence. And then, as only a married couple could, we started to argue.

“That’s a big bull,” I whispered. “It’s okay,” my husband replied, shrugging.

“It’s looking right at us,” I said. “No, it’s not,” he replied. “Its head is down, and he’s eating grass.”

“No, he’s looking right at me,” I asserted.

After several seconds of squabbling, which seemed like an eternity in the moment, my husband moved a few inches in my direction. “There are two bulls!” he quietly yelled. Although we were only two feet apart, it turns out that the short distance between us, and the thick underbrush in front of us, provided exceedingly different views. And we were both right! One was very large—a six-point bull elk, looking directly at us—while the other had less grandeur, and his head was down eating grass. Imagine that—neither of us were wrong, we just literally had different views.

As educators, we find ourselves in similar predicaments daily in schools when we are in conversations with students, parents, or colleagues. As administrators working together with teachers and support staff, we sometimes see very different paths towards the same goal, given our varied perspectives. As professionals working alongside parents, we are all genuinely invested in the safety and happiness of students, and yet we possess different outlooks on how to achieve it based on where we’re standing.

Why does it increasingly seem like we live in times when those who pride themselves on being accepting, open-minded, and tolerant are often the most judgmental and quick to condemn other points of view, unable to cohabitate in the same space? How can we teach kids to be confident and stand up for their beliefs while, at the same time, actually tolerating those of others? I mean really tolerating other beliefs, values, and points of view, and being able to sit across from someone on the other end of the political spectrum and value their existence.

Stephen Covey insists we seek first to understand rather than to be understood. Though many proclaim this as a tenet, how many people truly follow it? And how do we teach this to students?

Now, I am far from perfect, but at least with some maturity and 15 years of marriage, I have enough experience to be acutely aware of my faults and recognize when I’m truly listening and when I am not. Here are some things I’ve learned over the years, both in and outside of school, that have helped me become more accepting and tolerant:

• Talk less. Listen more. And provide opportunities for students to practice. Truly listen. Kids are consumed by social media and technology, often further segregating themselves from those with different views and removing the human element from dialogue. But only by listening, without judgment and without an agenda in mind, can they genuinely seek to understand another person’s point of view.

  Ironically, one can strengthen their own perspective by understanding those of others. How often do we model this as adults and teach students that listening is the most significant skill needed in effective communication? We prioritize reading and writing, we emphasize problem solving and critical thinking, but do we teach how to be empathetic, effective listeners and facilitate adequate opportunities for students to practice? Conversational intelligence is becoming a lost art. It’s up to us to revitalize it.

• Teach tolerance of opposing beliefs. Embrace constructive conflict. It’s not enough to teach students to stand up for what they believe in and encourage them to be civically active. It’s also imperative that students learn to exist in spaces where other views are not only allowed, but encouraged. According to Google, the definition of tolerance is “the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.”

  Too often we hear of students feeling “unsafe” or “threatened” because someone has expressed a view that doesn’t align with theirs. Having a different point of view doesn’t constitute a safety concern, and we need to be comfortable with being uncomfortable in order to grow as humans. Orchestrate opportunities for students to argue a point of view in which they don’t believe and encourage them to seek first to understand rather than to prove their opposing opinion.

• Empower and collaborate with others, especially those with whom you disagree. Instead of surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals, seek opportunities for collaboration with individuals who think differently, and encourage students to do the same. Facilitate such opportunities in the school setting and partner with groups holding different values and perspectives in hopes of finding common ground. We learn far more from those experiences than from listening to someone who already shares the same beliefs. We can disagree emphatically and still be respectful, kind to one another, and exist in the same space.

If you’re in education, you find value in all people and see their potential. Let’s get back to our roots and treat others and their beliefs with that same respect. If we can teach students these values, we can empower them to intently listen, accept differences in the same space, and collaborate for a stronger, more tolerant tomorrow. It doesn’t take much to see the value of perspective. It only takes a walk in the woods.

Katie Laslovich is currently an assistant principal at Bozeman High School in Bozeman, MT, and was named the 2019 Montana Assistant Principal of the Year by the Montana Association of Secondary School Principals. She previously taught high school mathematics for 11 years while coaching multiple sports and has served as a high school dean of students for three years and as an assistant principal for four years. Follow her on Twitter (@LaslovichKatie).

At the Young Women’s Leadership School of Astoria, we have made innovation a part of our model. As a grade 6–12 all-girls public school in New York City, we pride ourselves on leading the way for the next generation of leaders with real-world learning, in real time, with real experts. For two weeks, our regular courses stop, and we “Intensify.” My virtual tour provides a look at our “Intensives,” which strive to integrate 21st-century skills in a 1:1 tech environment that offers students multiple ways to display mastery.

Intensifying: An Overview

Ranging from fitness challenges and photography to set design and robotics, each Intensive course bolsters skills that help students in all subjects and content areas, so it’s not a “break” from work—it’s just work that looks different. Students collaborate and work deeply for two weeks, culminating in a public expo at the end of the Intensive. Intensives are just that—an intense dive into a passion area, a chance to try something you may never have experienced or to go deeper into something you love, or perhaps an opportunity to help discover something new to love.

Play With Time

Imagine attending 45-minute meetings about disparate topics, eight in a row. How could anyone deeply process, communicate, and create in such an environment? We asked ourselves how we could rethink time and space in our school to provide students with a chance to dive into one particular project that spans many skills. In our Intensives, they spend 50 hours—close to the amount of time of a regular year’s course—immersed in their work in this one area.

Consider ways your school schedule can “play” with time. We dedicate ten full days, five hours a day, working with the same group of students on one project that culminates in a public exposition. Start small and consider a once-per-week “genius hour” or a double-period block to intensify in just one grade band. If there is a start of school week or “after exam” week where students need a lift of engagement, this might be the place to start!Mix Them Up!

As a grade 6–12 secondary school, one of the great benefits of Intensives is mixing students by grade level and allowing the learning, skills, and passion to shine through. Rather than a focus on age or grade band, students are able to share their knowledge, expertise, and lens to strengthen the work and final product.

In any case, when was the last time you saw a team at Google organized by age? Teams in all sectors of business are arranged by employees of all ages and levels with a common purpose and shared goal, just like our Intensives!

Skill, You Say?

Students are assessed on skills—not grades—across assignments, providing them multiple opportunities to work on the same skill in a variety of ways. Skills are transferable across content areas in the real world, and, therefore, fit seamlessly into our Intensives.

One Really, Seriously, Creative and Dedicated Village

Our team is at the heart and strings of making Intensives a part of the culture of our school. Because of Intensives, our students have been authentically challenged and exposed to potential careers. Concurrently, our teachers have transitioned to be more project-minded and student-centered, fostering authentic learning each day. Teachers dig into their creative Mary Poppins-style bags and pull out all the things, “I wish I could do, if I just had a little more time”

Show Me the Intensity!

Take a deeper look at this Intensive on Food Sustainability Intensive. And here’s how a sample Intensive course for podcasting is described:

Everyone is listening to podcasts these days! A podcast is an audio file or story that you stream or download and listen to on your computer or phone. There is a podcast about almost anything you can imagine: pop culture, sports, food, fashion, technology, politics, etc. In this intensive, you will plan, produce, publish, and promote your own podcast. You will also visit a recording studio and talk with several producers and podcasters to ask about their process and receive feedback on your own creation!

To identify topics, brainstorm with your teachers and staff during your next professional development meeting. Here is one possible prompt: What if you had a lot of time, very few restrictions, and could share a passion with students—what would you want to do?

This blog is part of NASSP’s Virtual Tour Series. Be sure to visit NASSP’s Facebook on December 11 at 10:00 a.m. (ET) to participate in the live tour. Allison Persad will also be leading the #PrinLeaderChat on Twitter on December 15 at 9:00 p.m. (ET).

Dr. Allison Persad is the principal and lead learner at The Young Women’s Leadership School in Astoria, NY, and one of the 2019 NASSP Digital Principals of the Year. Follow her on Twitter (@apersad).

For most of us, thinking about the fall and winter months conjures up happy memories—hayrides, big family dinners, and presents galore. However, the holiday season can be difficult for our students affected by trauma.

Often students affected by trauma do not have fond memories of these times.  Whether they recall arguing among family members, tragedy within their home, or no celebration at all, the fall and winter seasons for our students can bring about depression, aggression, increased tension, stress, and more.

The celebration-filled months of October, November, and December include activities both in and out of the school setting.  In order to create a sense of calm in our students affected by trauma, several strategies can be used to avoid negative situations.

Watch the Signs

Signs of trauma include:

• Isolation
• Escalating behaviors
• Risky behaviors
• Change in appearance
• Change in personality
• Difficulty sleeping

Follow Your Routine

Keep a routine at school. If Friday always entails a spelling test, keep it up each Friday. In general, students do well if they know their routine is not going to change and they are able to anticipate what is happening next. Therefore, keeping a regular routine each day is important to avoid triggers and disregulated behaviors. If routines need to be changed, your best practice is to pre-teach the events coming up so that there is still some semblance of regularity.

Avoid Sensory Overload

Students affected by trauma are often sensitive to many events that include noise, overcrowded areas, or excessive bright lights. These sensory inputs can easily trigger students with trauma, pushing them to the edge and creating behavior issues. Educators should avoid changes in lighting in their rooms and in the school, along with reducing the noise levels and limiting large group events to avoid maladaptive behavior.

Stay Positive

Students experiencing the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) often have low self-esteem and regularly look at themselves as the root cause of those bad things happening in their lives.  This time of year can trigger negative memories for students with ACEs through specific sounds or smells. Educators need to be aware of very subtle nuances that can trigger larger negative events.

Some great ways to respond to students experiencing trauma would be:

• Listen (allow students to talk to a trusted adult)
• Teach coping skills (take five, take a walk, exercise, etc.)
• Be mindful of school celebrations (pre-teach changes)

Psychological First Aid

As educators, we are all capable of offering “psychological first aid.”

• We can listen by identifying a trusting adult for students in crisis.
• We can protect students by ensuring safety throughout the school day.
• We can connect by listening to students and help to restore the wrong.
• We can model by using verbal and non-verbal cues with students so that they feel valued and understood.
• We can teach by creating small goals for students to reach in learning how to cope with ACEs around the holiday season.

As we approach the holidays this year, remember to keep strong routines and pre-teach instances that fall out of the ordinary routine. Avoid sensory overload and create calming areas in our classrooms. Lastly, stay positive and encourage the positive in your students.

Robyn Harris is principal of Whaley School in Anchorage, AK. She is the 2018 Alaska Principal of the Year. Follow her on Twitter (@WhaleySchool), Facebook (Whaley School), and her blog (whaleyschool.weebly.com).

Many articles have been written about the importance of building relationships with students in the classroom, but what about us? How do we, as administrators, build relationships with students when we do not have them in class every day? It can be a little more challenging, but with some creativity, we can forge positive relationships just by having fun!

Start the Day Right

At my middle school, the kids are either dropped off at the front of the school by their parents or at the back of the school by bus. The principal greets students as they get off the bus, and I greet students coming in the front. A quick “Good Morning!” and a few fist bumps or high fives is a great way to start everyone’s day. Having quick conversations with the students before they start their day helps build connections and usually results in some pretty funny stories or one-liners from students. How many times have you shared a student story with a colleague that results in a good belly laugh and possibly a “you can’t make this stuff up!”

When the students enter the building, it is time for open gym. Every morning a different grade level is welcome to use the gym before school starts. We bring out the basketballs, and students shoot around, have a pick-up game, or just hang out in the gym. It is a great way to start the day with a little exercise and some fun.

Involve Students in Routines

Throughout the day, we try to incorporate opportunities for students to be involved in the daily routine of the main office. Students volunteer to take turns reading the morning announcements. We also offer students the chance to be office helpers for a term, coming down to the office once a week to answer the phones, run errands, change the sign in front of the school, and do various other jobs. During lunchtime, students have the opportunity to use the microphone to dismiss students. All of these examples are quick, easy ways to get kids involved and to get to know them.

Make Connections During Advisory

Finally, we started a student advisory last year. I realize that this is not a new concept, but I encourage anyone not currently doing it to make it happen! Advisories provide an opportunity to play games, enjoy food, work on a project, and speak with students on a personal level. An advisory is only as good as the staff running it, and we are lucky to have an amazing staff in my building. We try to provide staff with a list of ideas so they do not feel like they need another prep period to make it happen, but they are free to spend the time as they choose. Because staff keep the same students in their advisory all three years, we really get to know those students on a deeper level.

Have Fun

Our days are busy and sometimes chaotic. But we all got into our profession because we love working with kids (if you didn’t, you shouldn’t be working in schools—but that is a different blog post). Take the time to leave your office—put it on your schedule if you have to—and give yourselves as many opportunities as you can to get to know students on a personal level. Have fun with them. We have many students come back to visit and say they miss our school, but we all know that isn’t quite true. They miss the people they had fun with!

Kevin Battle is beginning his 10th year as the assistant principal of the Kennedy Middle School in Woburn, MA, and is the 2019 Massachusetts Assistant Principal of the Year. He is the proud husband of Elyce and father of two amazing girls, Jaidyn and Racquel. Follow his school on Twitter at @KMSWoburn.

Thirty years into my public education career, I am still in awe every day of the power of what we do. In 1848, Horace Mann claimed, “Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance wheel of the social machinery.” At a personal level, education can be a game changer, and principals are leading that charge. We level playing fields, remove barriers, and create hope.

I have the privilege to lead in the state of Washington, where our state constitution declares, “It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders.” I have witnessed the power of formalized schooling firsthand. I know how schools can take a child out of poverty and move him into new heights. I know how positive and encouraging educators can build self-esteem, share new opportunities, and instill a love of learning in a young mind that will create endless opportunities. I know how a young boy, shown the light through helpful teachers, administrators, coaches, and other caring adults can leave behind anger, a quick fuse, and loads of poor choices to grow up to be just like those who made a positive difference in his life.

Education Was My Great Equalizer

To me, formal education is mostly about hope. I believe this because I am the boy mentioned above. I did not come from a family with the resources that others had. I did not have the bloodline that encouraged dinner conversations about changing the world or going to college. My dyslexic father dropped out of high school. My adverse childhood experiences were many. I now find strength, inspiration, and direction in coming from a place that provided many challenges. I was just like the 30 million students who now get free or reduced-price lunch due to a lower household income. I understand the trials of students who do not have typical resources, role models, or often have “life” on their mind when they arrive at school.

Time = Difference Making

As an adult who worked his way out of such circumstances, I am proud of the grit and determination that my formative years built within me. However, I know that growth and stability came to be because of many caring adults who chose to see me as a child with potential. None more so than Mr. Warren, my eighth-grade U.S. history teacher at Baker Junior High in Tacoma, WA.

Eighth grade, in a 7–9 middle level system, can be an interesting time for many kids, but Mr. Warren chose to take a raw and challenging boy and spend the needed time to get me on the right path. He spent quality time with me after class, greeted me in the hallways, popped into a conversation with friends just to say hello, asked me how I was doing, called me by name, pre-taught, re-taught, built up my confidence through well-timed questions, called home, held me accountable, and even came to my sporting events. For educators, such actions take some time and effort—but not much, really—and I am a witness to the fact that those efforts can change lives.

Our Calling and Duty

We know America’s early settlers had visions of building the greatest country ever using public education as part of the plan. It was the Puritans who established the first public school in 1635, over two hundred years before Horace Mann’s famous equalizer decree. If done right and done well, schools should give every child, regardless of race, ethnicity, language spoken, socioeconomic status, etc., the tools to shape and fulfill their dreams.

I get the opportunity, multiple times a day, to be someone’s Mr. Warren. I get to do it on a personal level, but I also am in the unique position as a principal to create systems that has everyone on my staff empowered, motivated, and focused to do just the same.

Create management systems that allow you to spend time with your students so that you can get to know them better while also allowing them to get to know you. Regularly encourage, guide, and praise students for good choices and make relationship building a priority. For those who need it, talk about life beyond high school and share options and resources.

Dr. Guy Kovacs is currently serving as the principal of Kalles Junior High in Puyallup, WA. He is in his 30th year as an administrator and is Washington State’s Mid-Level Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter (@KovacsGuy).

To better support our students during their critical transition year for ninth grade, I developed a character education class that incorporates a mentoring program. The class was developed to assist academically at-risk freshmen intellectually, socially, and emotionally during their transition into high school.

Our freshman seminar course was developed after assembling a committee of administrators, teachers, and a parent who researched successful research-based and data-driven mentor/transition programs. Now, during the seventh year of this program, a select group of students are learning critical study skills, organizational skills, and character traits that are vital for academic success.

Mentors and Mentees

As part of encouraging student participation in the clubs and activities offered at Cumberland Regional High School, senior mentors are a key part of the freshman seminar and serve as strong role models for the freshmen in this course. There are three different sections of the course, serving a total of 60 to 65 identified freshmen students. Groups consisting of three to four freshmen are assigned to a senior mentor who provides academic and social support on a daily basis.

The freshmen seminar committee established a rigorous identification process to select senior mentors who display honesty, integrity, and leadership. Each summer, these mentors are involved in a three-day training session conducted by Jamie MacEwen, a classroom teacher, and Matt Lawrence, director of Colt Connection (our school-based services). This training completes the mentor certification process and is capped with a day of team-building activities at Camp Edge.

Introducing Students to High School

Replacing bad habits with good choices, paradigm shifts, and living principle-centered lives are just a few of the topics addressed in the freshmen seminar program to prepare incoming freshmen for high school. In September, the classrooms focus on multiple team-building exercises, trust activities, and organizational strategies to help the freshmen navigate their courses. Students also create a “Bill of Rights” to help govern their actions and to use as a moral compass as the course progresses.

To support participating freshmen, senior mentors have multiple responsibilities in and outside of the classroom. The mentors hold weekly conferences with their freshmen, check their grades weekly, and help them with their lockers and notebooks to make sure they are staying organized. Senior mentors help students stay on task and motivated, especially during major projects. For example, one of the most rewarding experiences is the Red Ribbon Week project, during which students research the effects of drugs and alcohol and create five- to eight-minute PowerPoint presentations. The students learn a lot about the negative consequences of drugs and alcohol, but they also learn about teamwork and public speaking.

Role Models

The students also participate in a project called “Role Model Day,” during which they identify someone who is or was involved in their lives on a daily basis. For the purposes of this assignment, students are asked to choose someone close to them (family, friend, teacher, coach, etc.) instead of someone famous that they admire. Following a five-paragraph letter format, students write about the reason why they chose this person as their role model and their appreciation for this person’s efforts. They also provide examples of this person’s generosity, commitment, and positive character. They end the letter by telling the person how they plan to live up to their example. The students also create an art project to give as a gift to their role model along with the letter.

Goal Setting

Participating students also engage in a career goals project where they research potential future careers based on their personal interests, then produce a PowerPoint and present their career goals to the class. But goal setting also is more immediate. Throughout the semester, the students plan weekly goals, practice the importance of living proactive lives, and learn about responsibility. They also have written mission statements, performed skits about dealing with peer pressure, and created action plans for the second part of the semester. Students are continuously reminded to work on becoming more efficient and use multiple tools to help them become more reflective individuals as they continue onward through this process of growth, learning, and maturity.

Terence Johnson is an assistant principal at Cumberland Regional High School in Bridgeton, NJ. He is the 2019 New Jersey State Assistant Principal of the Year.