Creating the conditions for great teachers to thrive A previous post, What makes a great teacher?, was a popular post. I suppose that’s not surprising; people are intrigued to know what the answer might be. Where teachers are already ‘great teachers’, am I doing enough to reward and motivate them? I’m not going to use this post to describe the full gamut of accountability systems we deploy or the CPD opportunities that we offer. I think it comes down to a few key principles and this is an attempt to capture the essence: Purpose: All organisations are essentially collections of individuals with their own personal values and goals. Challenge: Talented people thrive in a high-demand environment. Autonomy: Fundamentally, if we think we’re doing a decent job (and if we’re not), we like to be left alone. Growth: Great teachers are learners; they want to move forward. Recognition: This is a key motivating factor but we are not talking simply about financial reward. Related Posts: How do I know how good my teachers are? Like this: Like Loading...
184 – Day 151: Travis M., Assistant Principal (Muir Lake) | 184 Days of Learning May 12, 2012 · 2 Comments · Parkland Staff cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by LCSTRAVELBUGGIN Today I participated in the Chick-fil-A Leadercast that featured a wide array of visionary leaders. Great leaders are vulnerable. Travis is the Assistant Principal of Muir Lake School where he loves working with the community. Tags:Alberta Education·leadercast·Leadership·Muir Lake School·Parkland School Division·PSD70
The Captivating Teacher Manifesto I want to be captivating. I want to entrance students with my subject. I want students fascinated to walk into my classroom. I am the teacher of THIS subject. When I see the spark in their eyes, I will fan it with my energy, excitement, and education in the subject until it flames into a bonfire that will never go out. I will drive myself to be interesting and interested in what interests my students. I will never let a filing cabinet of lesson plans determine what is next. I will take the lessons that I know bore students and MAKE THEM BETTER. I will take those lessons that get students EXCITED and figure out what it is about those lessons and DO THAT MORE. I'm not here to ENTERTAIN or BABYSIT, I'm here to EDUCATE, ENGAGE and EXCITE them about learning. I will gamify my classroom and allow them to LEVEL up their learning in ways that give HONEST praise for ACHIEVEMENTS earned and an understanding of FAILURE that it is part of the learning journey, not a dead end.
Inter.Connect.Ed - Edumacational leadership 101 – Modelling As a educational leader I find myself in a variety of contexts and engaging with a variety of personalities. To me this is a post of “obvious” but from a range of experiences in the last few weeks, maybe what is obvious to me, is not obvious too all? How we behave (proactively and reactively) defines how others view and engage with us but also define the culturally acceptable behaviours those around us have for each other. Reactive modelling as mocked in the video is about being self-aware, we all have “moments” it just part of being human. It’s how we treat those around us during the moments and our daily routines that define our team culture. Examples of proactive modelling you should put in your weekly calendar: Examples of reactive negative modelling to specifically avoid: How you behave is what others expect from you, behave like a clown and expect to be treated like a clown.
Highly Effective Principals Raise Student Achievement: Study It's indisputable that great teachers lead to successful students, as the presidential candidates have touted, but what about students' connection to their school principals? A study published in Education Next has found that the effect of highly effective principals on student achievement is equivalent to 2-7 months of additional learning each school year, while ineffective principals negatively impact student achievement by a comparable amount. For their study, the authors used a value-added model similar to the one used to measure teacher quality, but applied the calculation to the entire school. The analysis relied on administrative data compiled as part of the University of Texas at Dallas Texas Schools Project, which in conjunction with the Texas Education Agency has combined different data sources to create matched data sets of students, teachers and principals over many school years. Also on HuffPost:
7 Habits of Highly Effective Tech-leading Principals Leadership | In Print 7 Habits of Highly Effective Tech-leading Principals By Jennifer Demski06/07/12 Patrick Larkin, principal of Burlington High School in Burlington, MA, started a 1-to-1 iPad initiative in the fall of 2012. The conventional wisdom in education is that any school reform--be it curriculum, instruction, assessment, or teacher professionalism--is most likely to take hold in schools that have strong leadership. "The role of the principal is one of facilitation and modeling behavior," remarks Robert Farrace, senior director of communications and development with the National Association of Secondary School Principals. T.H.E. We then spoke with three highly effective technology leaders among the ranks of principals to see how these habits have led to the successful implementation of educational technology in their schools. 1. The Expert's Perspective: Robert Farrace: "Guiding the culture of the school is one of the most important things that a principal has to do.
7 Practices to Prevent Unethical Behavior - K-12 Talent Manager In recent weeks, I have had several conversations with school personnel directors about the importance of building ethical cultures and practices. Leaders in all industries face issues concerning unethical behavior and can learn from each other about how best to tackle these situations. Here are seven practices to help prevent unethical actions in any organization: • Create Policies and Practices: Organizations must research, develop, and document policies and processes around defining, identifying, and reporting ethics violations. These policies should be articulated in the employee handbook and protections should be put in place for those who raise ethical issues. However, having a policy is not enough. What has your organization done to not only ensure that it has strong policies and processes in place to build understanding around ethical expectations, but also to ensure that these policies translate to everyday action among staff and leadership?
20 Blogs That Will Make You A Better School Leader From the corporate workplace to the elementary school classroom, leaders are everywhere. Even born leaders need inspiration and practical tips to help them reach their highest potential. Thankfully, leaders and future leaders today live in a world where advice is readily available on the Internet. In particular, leadership and management blogs can offer the inspiration needed for success. These are our 20 favorite leadership blogs because they aim to inspire, teach, advise, coach and entertain. Tweak Your Biz : Entrepreneurs, corporate managers and business owners contribute to and visit this business leadership site. Leadership for Lawyers : While lawyering is often considered to be a solitary career, today’s lawyers need to be business developers and leaders. N2Growth : Blog author Mike Myatt, a CEO coach, author and speaker has been recognized as one of the world’s top 25 leadership experts. Coaching Tip: The Leadership Blog : John G.
Effective Teams: The Key to Transforming Schools? This fall I've been thinking a lot about what makes a good team in a school context. I'll share some of these thoughts, but I really want to hear your ideas on this subject. I'm going to admit that it's taken me a while to feel convinced by the power of teams. Until recently, I didn't have great experiences in teams. In the last few years, however, my experience in a couple different teams shifted these beliefs. Why Does This Matter? Here's why I think we need to articulate our beliefs and practices about good teams: Strong teams within a school are essential to retaining and sustaining teachers. What Makes a Good Team? Here are my thoughts. A good team knows why it exists. This last point is what I've been contemplating this fall: What does a good team leader do? I currently work with a fantastic team of instructional coaches and we're thinking about this together; I'm so grateful for this team. In my next post, I'll share some of our ideas about the facilitation moves we make.
You're a Principal...Now What? - Finding Common Ground Education needs fewer accountability enforcers and more administrators who can create positive school cultures. Principals sometimes get a bad rap. They don't have a room filled with students and are seen as someone "who left the classroom," wear formal clothing (the suits!), and have to play the mediator between students, staff, parents, and even worse...the central office. Some days they're disliked, other days there revered, and most days they are trying to find their place in the school system. What kind of principal are you? Principals are educators too. Look to Principal Tony Sinanis for some guidance on what he would do if he were the NY State Commissioner. Some staff believe when the principal left the classroom to "go to the dark side" they forgot what students need. We're Moving On Up! Do you talk about these things in public...or just behind closed doors? "The blind spot concerns that part of our seeing that we usually don't see. You know who they are.
Leading Successful and Dynamic Schools