Parents and schools (teachers, administrators, staff, etc.) are members of the same team – partners – striving together for the same goal. The goal, I hope and trust, is to collaboratively guide and support our children/student-learners as they grow, develop, learn, fail, rise after failure, succeed, question, figure out life (as we do, too),...
Social media is a dominant topic in our society right now because of the large numbers of people and organizations using it to connect with people all around the world. The more that I have read books such as “Open Leadership“, the more I am seeing the alignment of using the Internet to connect...
There comes a time in the life of every leader when we have to take a hard, honest look in the mirror and ask a fundamental question: “If I weren’t me, would I want to follow the example I set?” You know you better than anybody else in your classroom, school, or your home....
When you issue an open invitation and gather together a large group of self-nominated passionate stakeholders from a broad cross-section across a system or organization and ask them to vision your shared ideal future, anything can happen. Truly, Anything. I discovered how powerful an experience this can be last spring when I chaired the...
Public schooling has been under attack recently. The view of the public school teacher has been negatively portrayed in the media lately. Don’t get me wrong, I am pro reform in public schools, but I am pro informed reform! As a principal and teacher I see the daily work and care my teachers pour...
I have always enjoyed reading and now devote a lot of my reading time to educational blogs and books that expose me to various ideas and opportunities to improve education. At some times, I feel like this can present some problems as we incorporate these ideas in our school without an awareness of why...
Tonight I feel like a proud parent. While I don’t have children (my dogs rarely go out of their way to make me proud), I can only imagine that this is what it feels like when your kids dazzle, shine, and achieve great things right before your eyes. Our district approved the use of...
A few years ago I sat in my office with a Grade 3 student who was having difficulty calming down after a particularly explosive episode led him to be removed from the classroom. He and I were fairly regular companions and we had a deal. While he cooled off, which tended to take some...
To be effective we need to continue to work to be: •Professionals who care about students first, student growth second, and our subject matter with the time we have left. •Professionals that are willing to take risks, willing to admit we do not have all the answers and never lose the yearning to keep...
If you are a principal, when was the last time you phoned a parent of a student… just because? If you are a teacher, when have you called a parent to tell him/her the wonderful qualities within his/her child? If you are a parent, how often are you at the receiving end of a...
Occassionally, a gift drops in a Principal’s lap. Last spring I received a call from a parent who had been checking out local playgrounds and with no maliciousness whatsoever, he stated that his family felt that the Harold Martin School playground was lacking and it was time for an upgrade. It is typical, although...
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. Carl Jung I am aware that I have been given the privilege of being involved in a great cause, the care and education of children. When I have told others what I do professionally...
That’s S.W.I.G. – no, not a gulp or a programming language – This is the Student Welcome and Induction Group. Well, it will be someday after the plan is refined, honed, and actually implemented. A Draft Plan for Welcoming New Students During the School Year I’ve been giving thought recently to one of the problems that many struggling schools face:...
Recently, I was preparing for an interview at a school with relatively high rate of low income families (75%). Since my administrative experience is with middle class and wealthy communities, I asked my PLN for some info. Two administrators came to the rescue: Mike Roberts whose answers are in blue and Doug Green whose...
image from psplogo2.png We are excited to announce that our October Elluminate Session this Sunday from 5:30-6:30 p.m. (EST) will focus on the importance of parent engagement in our school improvement efforts. The Connected Principals believe strongly that the only way we can have meaningful change is to have parents engaged in this work....
This was originally posted in my blog on July 1, 2010. Gerry, my mentor during my first year as an administrator, would often say, “Squirrels have squirrels” shortly after certain parents left the school. Most of know this phrase better as, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” I don’t know why Gerry...
I originally posted this to my blog, http://principalspov.blogspot.com, on August 6th. I often hear other principals mention that they struggle with getting parents more involved in the school. A couple of weeks ago, I was asked how I might tackle this. After much thought and research and a meal or two, I have boiled...
I posted this last school year. Bullying is an issue that robs students of dignity and the right to an education in an environment that is safe and nurturing. I am convinced that the only way we can deal with this ever important issue is to continually talk about it with students and our school communites. ...
“It’s what’s best for kids.” Have you heard an administrator use this phrase to justify decisions? Did you think, “Cliche.” Or, “Easy for her to say.” Or, “How convenient, no one can argue with the merits of We do what’s best for kids.” Well, it’s true! Who can argue with it? No right-minded educator, that’s...
I firmly believe that “It takes a community to raise a child” and so without cooperation and communication between a school and their parent community, ‘we’ cannot fully support our children and their learning. That said, I often wonder about how we can more meaningfully engage parents in a way that they want to...
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