How essential is a principal to the educational enterprise of a school today? Unbelievably essential! The Effective Educator era reinforces the principal as the person responsible for leading a successful school. Not only is the principal the chief leader of … Continue reading
The Unbelievably Essential Principal
All Star Teachers: You Know Who They Are
Someone always stands at the pinnacle. You name the endeavor and a ranking will exist somewhere and someone is at the top of that ranking. Call it human nature to always seek out the best or at least what we … Continue reading
Coach Up Front Instead of Fixing Problems Afterward
To get in front of teaching and learning problems, enroll every teacher in an instructional coaching program and attach a coach to every first-year teacher. The investment in “up front coaching” is a fraction of the cost of remediating ineffective … Continue reading
Public Ed Is Focused on the Wrong End Game
Public education is focused on the wrong end game. For too long the leaders responsible for public education have focused on the graduated student in an adult-world context. For the purpose of daily and school-year instruction this traditional end game … Continue reading
Educator Effectiveness: What’s the Bottom Line? Is There an “Or Else?”
What is required often is determined by the bottom line. The bottom line sets the minimum expectancy that a person sets for their behavior or efforts in order to sustain a status. Said differently, the bottom line also is the … Continue reading
Writing Instruction Without the Fretting
When the classroom assignment is to write, the teacher needs to listen and watch. Listen to the comments and mutterings of most children. “I don’t know what to write.” “I can’t think of anything.” “I hate to write.” Listen to … Continue reading
Your Pre-K Vocab Predicts Your School and Adult Vocab – Learn More Words Earlier
How many words did you know when you were three years old? If you knew that the strength of your adult vocabulary would be predicated on your three year old vocabulary would you have looked at words differently then? Will … Continue reading
Teacher Coaches – The New Player No One Knows
In the land of teachers, what is a professional coach for teacher effectiveness? When a new position is created in an established game, no one knows the rules for the player in that position. It would be like introducing a … Continue reading
Professional Coaches for Educators: Critical Observation, Focused Criticism and Objective Reflection
We all know folks who are born with innate talents. Yay for them. The rest of us need all the help we can get. Professional coaching has become a very accepted and productive strategy for improving professional skills. Today, given … Continue reading
Prepare to Win the End Game, Assign the Right Homework to Elementary School Children
If you assign homework to children in elementary school, make certain that you assign the right work for the right reasons. If you do so, their homework may have nothing to do with their daily assignments in grades K – … Continue reading