Leadership | School of Thought

Recalibrate Your School’s Opening During #1st3days

Posted by NASSP on August 8, 2018

Guest post by Brian McCann

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

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

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

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

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Prove It: Ensuring Efficacy in Digital Learning, Part Two

Posted by NASSP on July 25, 2018

Guest post by Eric Sheninger

In my last post, we explored the importance of demonstrating efficacy to build support for, and ensure the success of, your school’s digital transformation. The Rigor/Relevance Framework offers a strong overall framework to reinforce pedagogical foundations while also moving practice from isolated pockets of excellence to systemic elements that are scaled throughout the learning culture. With that context in place, the next challenge is putting in place the right structures and supports to ensure success.

Below are five key areas (essential questions, research, practicality, evidence/accountability, reflection) that can put your classroom, school, district, or organization on a path to digital efficacy. (more…)

Meet the 2019 Principal of the Year Finalists

Posted by NASSP on July 23, 2018

NASSP is excited to announce the 2019 NASSP National Principal of the Year finalists. The selected principals hail from South Carolina, Illinois, and Montana and exemplify how truly important the role of the school leader is to school and student success.

Our extraordinary finalists are: (more…)

Flipped Staff Meetings: Great Advice to Give and Follow

Posted by NASSP on July 17, 2018

Guest post by Paul Hermes

“You should try to make your classroom more student-centered and interactive. Don’t talk at your students so much.”
“Do you think you could integrate the concepts of the flipped classroom to optimize student learning time?”
“How much input do you give your students in choosing what, where, and how they learn?”

As a school administrator, have you ever said something like this to a teacher? My guess would be yes, you have. And if that is true, let me ask you why then do you, as a school leader, not practice what you preach when it comes to your own staff meetings and professional learning? Look at the questions above and replace “student” with “teacher.” If your evaluator asked you these same questions, would they apply to you as the teacher of your teachers? Does the idiom “do as I say, not as I do” fit? (more…)

Prove It: Ensuring Efficacy in Digital Learning, Part One

Posted by NASSP on July 11, 2018

Guest post by Eric Sheninger

I’ll never forget the day I presented my digital transformation plan to our superintendent at the time. I had spent days preparing and rehearsing all of my points, explaining the rationale for each new tool and making a strong budget case to secure the necessary resources. At the end of my presentation, the superintendent asked me point blank, “Can you prove it? What evidence do you have to demonstrate that all of this works?” These were fair questions that I had not fully anticipated. But at that moment in time, they provided the grounding that my school and I really needed. (more…)

How Can We Best Engage Families?

Posted by NASSP on July 10, 2018

Guest post by Brad Currie

Transforming the way in which we engage families in our classrooms, schools, and districts is paramount if educators are going to exhaust all options to promote the success of students. A multi-faceted approach must be implemented. Families live busy lives and have unique circumstances pertaining to their availability on a given day. Educators must never discount the opportunities that technology provides to a parent or guardian on an internet enabled device. Grades, learning experiences, event information, feedback, praise, constructive criticism, highlights, and a plethora of other insights can be transmitted to families from educators through a variety of technological methods. (more…)

7 Strategies to Enhance School Safety

Posted by NASSP on June 27, 2018

Guest post by Bill Ziegler

Without a doubt, the most pressing issue in schools today is safety. It seems like a week can’t go by without hearing about a school shooting or someone talking about school safety fears. The Washington Post recently reported a startling statistic that indicated more students have died in school shootings in 2018 than U.S. military members killed during deployment this year. Hardly a day goes by in school when I’m not thinking, “What would I do if shots went off here?” How can principals take action to protect our school community? Here are seven strategies to help keep your school safer. (more…)

Good Leadership Starts With Strong Recruiting

Posted by NASSP on June 26, 2018

Guest post by Cameron Soester

Principals and assistant principals have a host of responsibilities. We deal with school safety, the learning environment, staffing needs, student discipline, and even lunch duty. In the midst of everything, there is one vital piece that I believe is often overlooked: recruiting the next wave of school leadership. We have a responsibility that extends beyond our own buildings, and that responsibility is to make sure that our entire educational system has strong leaders in the pipeline. How do we make this happen? We need to turn our attention to recruiting and developing individuals to take on leadership roles so that our work to improve schools and student learning continues long after we leave our positions. (more…)

The Poor Man’s Guide to Family Engagement in Our Schools

Posted by NASSP on June 21, 2018

Guest post by Patrick Arguelles

Doing more with less

Virtually every school district in the nation is dealing with budget reductions. For most school leaders, there is little unjustified spending to cut, no easy targets, no low-hanging fruit. At the Early College Academy and Career Enrichment Center in Albuquerque, NM, we have examined our vision and mission and aligned budget expenditures to them. Challenged with sustaining the core function of our school—college and career readiness—yet also making budget reductions that could affect the educational experience necessary for student success, we stepped outside the box to scrutinize our options. Initial conversations were filled with lots of “less”—less materials and supplies, less technology, less PD, less electives, even less pay. What could we have more of that would not cost us any money? (more…)

Everyone Has a Story

Posted by NASSP on June 14, 2018

Guest post by Brandon Mowinkel

The role of a principal is complex, tiring, and stressful, to say the least. Balancing the needs of your staff, students, school, and community can wear on you, especially as the school year winds down. Tensions seem to run high as patience wanes.

It is vital for principals to keep the focus where it needs to be—on the students. The demands of the job can pull us in various directions and our need to keep students at the forefront of what we do becomes muddled in the minutia of school life. Every principal must find a way to remember his “why” and continuously keep the focus on students and their learning. In my practice, I use three constant reminders to keep me focused on what matters most. (more…)