tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post877659531752657232..comments2023-10-23T08:04:31.684-05:00Comments on ALA Principal Practices: 2016-2017 is underway! Share your experiences, tools, resources here!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04705006563540968499noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-14303184379660801982018-05-03T16:03:06.205-05:002018-05-03T16:03:06.205-05:00One of the resources that I have been using on lea...One of the resources that I have been using on leadership for about 3 years now is a leadership podcast. I have attached the link: https://www.life.church/leadershippodcast/<br /><br />While it is put out by a church, the content is not religious. It really does focus on leadership. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-77322999027783183872017-06-06T00:53:04.385-05:002017-06-06T00:53:04.385-05:00One of the major accomplishments for Greenland Mid...One of the major accomplishments for Greenland Middle School this past school year was with our BLT. They really developed and came together as a team…as leaders of the staff, through shared leadership as they developed a focus; Worked as a team; Created and carried out agendas and facilitated professional learning. GMS made gains in working towards building a positive culture and in the area of professionalism. We developed and implemented Shared Core Beliefs; Began work on developing a Vision and Mission; Developed a Data Wall that was useful in our staff looking at current reality.<br />Our last Staff Meeting of the year was a celebration meeting as a positive way to end the school year in a different way. While enjoying snacks and punch, the BLT encouraged any staff who wanted to, to share any fun summer plans that they had such as trips, going to school to work on an advanced degree, adding an area of certification, etc. Secondly, we had a time for Staff Recognition of another Staff Member. During this time the staff was encouraged to think of another fellow staff person who they would like to recognize (anonymously if they wished) by describing what they appreciated about them and why/ how they inspired them during this past school year. Finally, we had a time for Staff Recognition of a Student. Here, the staff came prepared to recognize and brag on at least one student that they had taught this year. Areas acknowledged were...Academics, social, behavior, generally most improved, etc. This time of reflection was a SUPER GREAT way to end the school year as it really brought us closer together as a staff.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-85376005150968474952017-06-05T12:00:04.135-05:002017-06-05T12:00:04.135-05:00This has been a great year at our campus. I thoug...This has been a great year at our campus. I thought with it being my second year as principal that things would be much easier, and in some ways they were. However, I also learned that when you implement new ideas and try to affect change, that some ways are way more effective than others. I have learned that celebrating my staff and students is an integral part of building a positive culture, and will continue to use this as I plan for next year. One of our areas to celebrate has been the alignment work we've done with instruction and crafting a walkthrough form that captures the data we really want to see. Working through that process has been valuable for the Leadership Team and has shown us our areas of strength and growth. I'm looking forward to beginning next year with a new focus on building positive culture and relationships with staff and students.<br />Julie Workmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-48054699173594638122017-06-05T09:28:11.373-05:002017-06-05T09:28:11.373-05:00This was a good but very trying year. The staff c...This was a good but very trying year. The staff came together mixing in the new and the old. New district policies and procedures kept us both on our toes. We did complete a clear mission/vision using input from all stakeholders. Since all of our new district procedures are now in place we will start the new school year with a laser focus on effective instructional practices and individual student learning. Great relationships were built with all team members so we are ready to push forward.Gary Becknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-27224662238465504342017-06-04T22:02:57.131-05:002017-06-04T22:02:57.131-05:00This was my first year as K-12 Principal. I can sa...This was my first year as K-12 Principal. I can say it was definitely different than being K-6 only in previous years. I had great ideas, but it was hard to get it all done. So, luckily there is continuous improvement. It may take time, but we will get there. Something that I am looking forward to implementing next year is some of the "Leader in Me" concepts by Stephen Covey. I have a lot of ideas, but know that I need to start simple. I am thinking I will start at the elem. level first, as my leadership team is already "onboard" with the idea. They love it! At the highschool level, I am thinking that the staff will focus on the 7 Habits through advisory periods. I would like an input you have on this. Have you tried it? What are your successes/concerns about it? I know it will take time, and need to be adapted to the culture of my school buildings. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-45995539174748862842017-06-04T21:52:39.414-05:002017-06-04T21:52:39.414-05:00Thanks for sharing those resources! I am looking f...Thanks for sharing those resources! I am looking forward to have something to listen to as I attend all games too:)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-6310120646417788092017-06-04T16:54:12.487-05:002017-06-04T16:54:12.487-05:00A good time was had by all!!! We ended the year wi...A good time was had by all!!! We ended the year with a Beach Party PD! We had beach foods, door prizes, and even a photo booth. This was a time to reflect on our hard work and what had worked well based on data and what we needed to improve. Our fabulous consultant from Generation Ready helped us get focused for next year and reminded us of the importance of reciprocal reading in all subject areas. This was a great way to reflect on a great year and plan for another great one!Lori Smith NLRSDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05214552089359090727noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-22618082213428772572017-06-02T09:00:58.470-05:002017-06-02T09:00:58.470-05:00As I am reflecting on my first year as a principal...As I am reflecting on my first year as a principal, I have had to be honest with myself to ensure student achievement on my campus. I have learned a lot of what to do and not to do. The best staff meetings I had were centered around activities to strengthen teaching and creating our mission and vision. It was refreshing to revisit our core beliefs of education and identify our vision as a team. I borrowed the idea from someone in my group to use pictures of their children. I had them bring a pic of their child/children with them as we created our core beliefs. Each teacher wrote 3 down on an index card, and then we took these cards and used them in an All-On-The-Wall activity. We weeded out cards and used the Fist of Five to agree or disagree. This took us several staff meetings, but was so rewarding. We also ended our year activities with mission and vision. Cassie Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14355985446906552894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-14462426260297637562017-05-31T14:34:04.977-05:002017-05-31T14:34:04.977-05:00We ended the year in a very positive way. The sta...We ended the year in a very positive way. The staff did a video that we showed at the end of the year assembly. The superintendent also showed it at the staff convocation. It was a time for everyone to be silly and have fun.<br />The video has over 14,000 views on Facebook, so there is no hiding our silliness. Shawn Bullardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-44879162296714225852017-05-30T14:23:34.538-05:002017-05-30T14:23:34.538-05:00We did several different activities to end our sch...We did several different activities to end our school year. We test at the end of April/first week of May. At that time of the year, teachers are tired. I began to change things up to end the year by throwing "Margarita Friday" in the teachers' lounge We made virgin margaritas, chip and dips and festive decorations, and the teachers loved it. To say goodbye to some retiring and to celebrate a great year, we had an after school party where we revealed our secret sister for the year, had finger foods, and just enjoyed each other's company. Finally during the last week of school, we played bingo. The kids loved it as much as the teachers, cheering their teacher on as we periodically called out numbers from the office over the intercom system. We involved all faculty and staff and provided prizes for everyone. I was told we have to do that more often next year. These simple activities received great feedback and appreciation and helped to strengthen relationships and build culture in my building. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11900057097173115111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-61787249362414564632017-05-30T14:09:04.536-05:002017-05-30T14:09:04.536-05:00We had a very different end of year at Cedar Park ...We had a very different end of year at Cedar Park Elementary/Trumann Elementary School. We were ending the year by moving into our new school building. Imagine moving approximately 50 learning spaces from one building down the road to another building. It was interesting and fun. The community, staff, parents, and students all pitched in to help. The moving isn't completely over, but the largest share of moving is over. We did take time at the end of the year to celebrate successes and to Launch our Energy Bus initiative for the 2017-2018 school year. This was a time of high energy, a setting of expectations, and team building. We said goodbye to some staff members who were leaving, said goodbye to a building that had been a part of the community for over 50 years, and welcomed the change. This was such a positive way to conclude the year and set the goals for the next year. We are now anxiously waiting for our assessment results to determine our growth after our work with close reading over the second semester. Our teachers had put in a lot of work in this effort. <br /><br />We are also preparing for a large amount of work related to standards, pacing, common formative assessments, and RTI. The teachers have been asking for this work. I am excited about it. I believe that it is going to bring about a big change for our school and raise the level for our students!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-70393184619396625552017-05-22T16:47:43.985-05:002017-05-22T16:47:43.985-05:00For our end of the year event, we took time to hav...For our end of the year event, we took time to have fun and to celebrate our successes. All of my staff have worked so hard and have endured a lot of change this year. I feel that we have been working so hard, in fact, that we have not taken the time to realize and celebrate our accomplishments. Oftentimes, when we are looking at student data, the struggling students grab our attention and their performance tends to drive our instruction; interventions for sure. Therefore, most of the time, we are looking primarily at what we are not doing well or what we need to change in our instruction to meet the needs of every student. While that is worthwhile, we need to also take time to focus on what we are doing well. Unfortunately, I have not made this happen throughout the year as much as I should have. As this year rocked on, I realized that our teachers really needed some time just to get together and have fun - to build relationships and strengthen culture. Therefore, we had a "Luau" party, complete with a Maui Murder Mystery game, scavenger hunt, and a Rock-Paper-Scissors Tournament. We took time to look at our data and celebrate our accomplishments for the year and talked about what changes are coming for next year. We ate, played, laughed, and cried. It was a great evening and a great way to wrap up our year. I have had so much positive feedback from my staff and they are already wanting to plan a beginning of the year kickoff celebration. We talk to teachers about making the learning fun for their students. Why not do the same for them?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14537490901297099924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-29755654655071185332017-05-08T11:17:09.988-05:002017-05-08T11:17:09.988-05:00Bradley thank you for the link. Excellent resource...Bradley thank you for the link. Excellent resource!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-9226761514593388582017-04-19T10:05:15.525-05:002017-04-19T10:05:15.525-05:00If there is an extra few minutes in your day, chec...If there is an extra few minutes in your day, check out Georgetown University's Institute for Transformational Leadership blog here : https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/itl-leadership/<br />It's a quick read that helps both as I manage the work of school and the growth of self.<br />As we move through the spring semester, testing and concerts and conferences often pull me away from home and family. Learning and growing in the pursuit of "blend" as opposed to "balance" is a focus of my personal path and a huge takeway from our time together this year. My own PLC and PLN continue to push and faciltate much of that work.Bradley Webbernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-23752316316735316592017-03-31T14:34:53.365-05:002017-03-31T14:34:53.365-05:00Pam,
I appreciate your thoughts. I've been thi...Pam,<br />I appreciate your thoughts. I've been thinking a lot about our PD for next year. Recently, we heard Mattos in Little Rock. If he can't transform our beliefs on teaching and learning, then who will? I love this model - the upside down triangle. It is very effective when helping our teachers rethink how we need to meet student needs. I can't stop going back to this book in conjunction with future PD...<br />https://www.amazon.com/Annual-Growth-Students-Lynn-Fielding/dp/0966687523<br />If we don't go back to the "root" cause, our little ones will forever be behind. Thanks for sharing your thoughts everyone!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-15839953032706730062017-03-26T21:44:25.395-05:002017-03-26T21:44:25.395-05:00One of the many changes at PAE has been the focus ...One of the many changes at PAE has been the focus on performance strand 4: Teaching and Learning. In particular, our focus has been on skill 4.2, observe teaching and learning practice and provide actionable feedback for professional learning. We focused on this strand according to the results of the SAI survey. My lowest score was learning design. Therefore, I used this information to make a Smart Goal to initiate change for learning design. Upon reflection of the results, I created a survey and asked teachers their learning interests. According to the survey, 73% of our teachers preferred teacher led professional development and they were interested in learning more strategies for technology integration. Based on this information, I put several systems in place to provide learning opportunities for our teachers: Tic Tac Toe Challenge, The Pineapple Chart, and teacher led professional development sessions on integrating technology. This semester we also implemented learning walks. Rocci Malone from the ADE shared this information during a leadership quest professional development at our cooperative. We used the learning walks to wrap up our professional growth plans. Our school wide professional growth plans were based on phonological awareness and phonics. We tied these two ideas together by having teachers observing teachers within their grade level, one grade level below, and one grade level above using teaching strategies shared during PLC first semester. Then teachers were able to share during PLC and grade level meetings. This has been a positive change for our staff and it has also created opportunities for our teachers to collaborate, share, and trust one another. Pam Deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-62783928706888473962017-03-24T09:56:40.848-05:002017-03-24T09:56:40.848-05:00I have been doing some research on the most effect...I have been doing some research on the most effective grading practices in Middle School. Marzano continues to be the 'man' with his thoughts on no zeros, grades based on mastery/learning only, not behavior, using a point system, grading homework or not, and much more. There is plenty of research out there. I have found that districts all across America are going standards-based k-12. I did fine where many districts do a combination of both. resource: "Effective Grading Practices" Educational Leadership, 65:5, 85-87Dawn Peeplesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-12320229281252691842017-03-06T21:27:12.899-06:002017-03-06T21:27:12.899-06:00The staff learning that you have planned at your s...The staff learning that you have planned at your school sounds like you have an enjoyable school to work at. The labeling of your meetings supports pre-planning for your staff, I bet they appreciate that.John Kellyhttps://www.facebook.com/eastpoinsettcounty/?ref=bookmarksnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-59345927118529995182017-03-06T21:23:37.185-06:002017-03-06T21:23:37.185-06:00With basketball season over I wanted to share the ...With basketball season over I wanted to share the podcasts that I listened to in all my travels this season. Principal Center Radio out of lovely Heber Springs, AR has a plethora of resources for educational leaders. I recently listed to Tom Hoerr, author of The Formative Five..., Baruti Kafele, author of The Teacher 50..., Paul Mielke, author of Making Teachers Better, Not Bitter..., and Dr. Peter Dewitt, author of Collaborative Leadership... The podcast delivery makes over the road travel professional growth sessions. When not tuned in to Principal Center Radio I listen to #EdChat Radio which offers a different format for presenters, but is a good balance with the other podcast. Recently I heard Chris Lehmann, co-founder of Educon speak of their take on education conferences, an episode about change in education and the typical resistance faced, and a discussion on teachers being change agents. What I like about #edChat is that the people tweeting are on this podcast speaking. Often the Twitterverse moves to quickly for me combining that with connectivity lag it is easy to get lost in the Twitterdom, but this podcast takes the Twitter experts and delivers them in real talk that you can follow at your own pace.<br /><br />Well, on to baseball and softball season...see you on the mountain soon!John Kellyhttps://www.facebook.com/eastpoinsettcounty/?ref=bookmarksnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-70515748412788621232017-01-23T12:43:35.934-06:002017-01-23T12:43:35.934-06:00We continue to stress the need to model as adults ...We continue to stress the need to model as adults what we expect for adults. One of the ways that task has played out is differentiated learning for staff across the building using a couple of different methods. The first is through Wednesday Workshops which were staff volunteers who offered PD to their peers based on individual expertise and a vocalized need from the staff. The next is through collaboration with other secondary schools, creating menus of professional development that are subject area, role, or growth-area specific. The next was through voluntary lunch groups where we brought in outside folks to discuss targeted interventions/ programs. We have potluck lunches and any teacher who wants to come learn about the program can attend/ intervention/ strategy can attend. And finally, we began labeling our faculty meeting either as a Coordination meeting (for information distribution) or a Collaboration meeting (for collaborative learning.) These changes have helped us reframe how we talk about adult learning for a new school year.Bradley Webbernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-54682971699324675482016-12-13T21:44:18.502-06:002016-12-13T21:44:18.502-06:00I've been trying to spend more time researchin...I've been trying to spend more time researching and learning about PLCs. The book Leverage: Using PLCs to Promote Lasting Improvement in Schools 1st Edition by Thomas W. Many (Author) and Susan K. Sparks-Many (Author) is a great resource for capturing how to make the most impact with all of the "things" that constantly demand our attention. Have you read it yet? If so, what practices have you felt had the most significant impact on your leadership?Stephanie Davisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-65148342359977484612016-12-05T22:37:39.683-06:002016-12-05T22:37:39.683-06:00We took a school culture survey created by ADE and...We took a school culture survey created by ADE and discovered that although we think that we are good at working together and we generally like coming to work everyday, we don't like or trust each all that much. So, I have dedicated every opportunity available to having the team work together for a common goal, to build their relationship. For instance, they must sit together in many school-wide PLCs and solve games like the "Jump All But One" peg game from Cracker Barrel or come up with the most words from words like collaborate, reflect, and teamwork (I got this idea from a presenter at our District Leadership Team Institute. I love these kinds of games personally, but never thought about using them with teachers. They loved it). The school's leadership team has created a plan to bring us all together outside of work more often, as well. In a couple of weeks, we'll be "forcing" ;-0) faculty and staff to have fun together at a holiday gathering. We'll use some of the team-building activities we learn from the ALA Team Institute. On a more serious note, one of the activities they enjoyed most was the uninterrupted work time they had to collaborate during one of the PD days. We'll take this survey again soon. I hope to see more positive result.Mary Haydennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-23156358716476198322016-12-05T20:26:35.204-06:002016-12-05T20:26:35.204-06:00This school year has been a big challenge with our...This school year has been a big challenge with our school culture. We have several teachers that are negative and play the role of culture killers. I am trying to promote positive behavior and recognize good instruction on a weekly basis. When I do my daily walk-throughs I have been note-talking effective classroom management and best practices used in daily instruction. I read a web-based article on shaping school culture by celebrating positive aspects of your school culture. I tried a tool called, "Name it, Claim it, and Explain it" from the article. During Professional Development I praised a classroom activity I observed informally and describe the interaction between students and their teacher. I asked the teacher to please stand and name what activity you did, Claim it, and explain why and what you were doing. I then allow other teachers to ask questions or give feedback. This activity was engaging and uplifting to both the teacher being recognized and the rest of the staff. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-83608902670483763212016-12-05T19:52:27.886-06:002016-12-05T19:52:27.886-06:00A great tool I have learned about and used is call...A great tool I have learned about and used is called Repertoire. This tool is one I discovered from the 21 Day Challenge for classroom visits I began, as proposed by Justin Baeder at The Principal Institute. I wanted a manageable and meaningful way to visit more classrooms and offer meaningful feedback to teachers. This is part of my professional learning goal. This tool is electronic and uses "snippets" of text that can be recognized and reused as part of short classroom visits. I also uploaded all of our teachers into the online program and the Repertoire program let's me know who is "up next" so that I observe all teachers. I have already been in many more classrooms than in the past and been able to provide feedback to teachers that provides information about what students and teachers were doing while I observed. Information about the 21 Day Instructional Leadership Challenge (free) http://www.instructionalleadershipchallenge.com/join/ and the Repertoire program https://www.principalcenter.com/repertoire/ are worth exploring. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07167276138537343574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6277833345166534362.post-14024336258644425442016-12-05T00:15:26.832-06:002016-12-05T00:15:26.832-06:00Good Evening, my school year is off to an amazing ...Good Evening, my school year is off to an amazing start. One of the best tools that I have started using this year is Parent, Student, Teacher Newsletter. The tool was shared at Master Principal and one of the best things going. If you are not currently doing a newsletter please consider adding this little item to your Christmas list. I have also found that you can embed parent and student surveys into the newsletter. Your parent and student emails can be pulled from Eschool or Cognos. https://www.smore.com/38b6z<br /><br />The program shows the number of visits and views. <br /><br />Manila Middle Schoolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01362692729696958711noreply@blogger.com