Enduring achievement gains require not only applying content and concepts worth knowing, but also ensuring that learning is occurring in a healthy, thriving culture as well
Is the principal visible in classrooms and noticing and commenting on teachers' and students' strengths?
Joy in learning is essential to a healthy and productive school culture; fear and joy cannot coexist.
And—not to be minimized—are teachers and students enjoying instruction and learning?
People who are anxious with worry, concerned for their safety, or treated disrespectfully do not take risks or work well with others, nor do they perform their best work.
Successful principals and other education leaders deliberately model and take trust-building steps with and for their school communities every day.
They listen without judgment, are open to divergent viewpoints, communicate clearly and respectfully, and are humble in their actions and demeanor.
They celebrate teachers' strengths before evaluating them. They give feedback that is useful and actionable.
A caring, well-organized, and well-managed environment helps promote a sense of well-being and optimism
Research has clearly shown that teachers become more effective, efficient, and joyful when they have time to plan, observe, problem-solve, coach, and learn together.
Successful principals foster a collaborative atmosphere by creating time for classroom teachers and specialists to
The most effective principals and education leaders also take their own professional learning seriously and become highly knowledgeable so they can ably guide and coach teachers.
Whatever support you ask from a parent needs to be something that is within her sphere of influence.
Always convey a growth mindset. All behaviors can change given the right conditions. If you want to see changes and have concerns about a student, be prepared to offer specific, actionable solutions
If this is the first time you're sitting down with parents, it's a great opportunity to hear their perspective on their child's school experience so far, on what their child likes to do outside of school, on the questions and concerns they have about their child, and so on.
Develop a key of symbols that you can use in the margins instead of writing in sentences or bullets.
Carol Jago reminds us that it's the students job to correct their errors. In fact, it would be even more powerful for them to identify the errors in the first place using hints provided by you
allow a student to choose the section or numbers they feel best represent their comprehension
This will require students to translate as well, which embeds the lesson even further.
Sometimes, assignments will take a huge leap in quality when students think someone other than their own teacher is seeing them.
Keep the final grade of an assignment as a carrot dangling until the feedback is read, attempted, and proven. Make them solve some of the problems in the assignment based on your feedback, and trade their solutions for access to their score.
You conference; they write.
Stagger due dates for your classes.
Ask them what worked and what didn't. Model your own comfort at criticism and they will work harder at their own.