Top 5 From My First Year

     I started my blog with a post on being a first year assistant principal.  Now that I have completed a year in administration, I thought I would reflect on the top five things I (re)learned.

1.      Teachers are amazing.  
• I knew this, but I saw it in a more broad spectrum this past year.  Teachers are an amazing group of hard-working adults who battle daily to increase student learning and achievement in order to give them opportunities to better their lives.
2.      Who you work with matters!
• I have the honor of working with the best admin team and group of teachers around.  If I didn't work with such outstanding people, it would be rough to get through some days. 
3.      Working in public education is exhilarating!
•  There is little in life more rewarding than working in public education.  What you do daily makes a difference in children's lives.  
4.      PLCs are a great way to ensure all students are learning at the same high levels.
•  Figuring out how to have productive PLCs can feel like you're making lasagna blindfolded.  Nonetheless, once your PLC is making -
• Common Formative Assessments
• Looking at the data from those CFAs
• Using the data to:
• identify and share best teaching strategies
• reteach standards not learned by most
• identify the few students for remediation who didn't master a standard most did
•  identify those students who mastered standards most didn't for enrichment  

• - student knowledge acquisition will increase, and all teachers will improve in their pedagogy which will only make your site a better place to work and this collaboration will increase the climate in your building.  

       5.       Staying positive and encouraging is essential.

• Whether I'm talking with teachers or students, it is important to motivate them in an uplifting manner.  Too often we can get down on ourselves, and everyone needs to know they are doing a great job, they can do a great job, or I believe they can make better choices to start doing great (for those students who are in my office due to discipline issues.)

As I start my second year, I plan to be intentional by being authentic with people, communicating as much as possible, and choosing daily to have an excellent attitude as I deal with others.

Here's to another fantastic year in education for all!  Let's knock it out of the park!