1. Technology
1.1. Purpose
1.1.1. Any place, any time learning.
1.1.2. To be used for learning experiences, not because it might be trendy.
1.1.3. To create greater learning experiences for students.
1.1.4. To make our jobs more efficient so our time can be spent on student needs.
1.1.5. To better prepare students for 21st century needs and careers.
1.2. Staffing
1.2.1. Do not get technology that you don't have staffing to maintain.
1.2.2. Get the right people in the right positions to keep the technology up and running.
1.3. Training
1.3.1. One training is never enough. Offer yearly training on everything you have so teachers are prepared to use it to meet student needs.
1.3.2. Make sure you have people trained well enough to lead more trainings.
1.3.2.1. Teacher leaders will naturally come to the forefront in technology.
1.3.3. You can't expect technology to get used appropriately if people don't know what's expected of them.
1.4. Goals
1.4.1. Any time any place education
1.4.2. Aid to teaching. Not replacing teachers.
1.4.3. Create 21st century students ready for the complicated world of online jobs and global reach.
1.5. Resources
1.5.1. BYOT
1.5.2. Online instant communication
1.5.3. Cloud Computing
1.5.4. Wikis
1.5.5. Grants and funding to keep technology up and running.
2. Parental and Community Involvement
2.1. Necessity
2.1.1. Parental and community support are keys to the success of not only individual students but school in general.
2.2. Accountability
2.2.1. When you involve parents in many avenues of their child's education they become just as accountable as the school for the amount of success that student reaches.
2.3. Communication
2.3.1. Listening
2.3.1.1. Parents want to know their concerns have been heard
2.3.2. Transparency
2.3.2.1. Parents and the community should know exactly what's going on in their schools.
2.3.3. Reaction
2.3.3.1. As an administrator, my reaction to parent concerns and communication is the key to forming successful relationships with families for generations.
2.3.4. Goals
2.3.4.1. The goal in communicating with parents is that all parties walk away with a better understanding of how to help students become successful learners.
2.4. Local Businesses & Organizations
2.4.1. Should be involved with community schools and utilized as resources to help students learn
2.4.2. The community has just as much at stake in the success of our students.
2.5. Public Relations
2.5.1. Need to market our schools to our community not only to keep and attract students, but to form relationships and bonds with the community that must support the schools, pay taxes, and vote on school board members.
2.5.2. All types of media can be used
2.5.3. Community events should tie the schools and the people of the community together, no matter what age and place in life.
2.6. In the Building
2.6.1. I believe parents should be in the building contributing to meaningful tasks that involve students and learning experiences.
2.6.2. Community members, businesses, and organizations should be welcomed into our buildings to help educate our students through meaningful partnerships.
2.7. Off Campus
2.7.1. Everyone in the community should know the administrators, teachers, staff and students of the school.
2.7.1.1. Events that get us out into the community as professionals are beneficial. Relationships are crucial.
2.7.2. Students should be able to visit local businesses and organizations for learning and real life experiences.
3. Professionalism
3.1. Expectations and Standards
3.1.1. Be rolemodels for the community.
3.1.2. Set high standards and people will strive to meet them.
3.1.3. Clearly state expectations.
3.1.4. Live the standards and expectations you set for others.
3.2. Staff Culture
3.2.1. Positive staff culture in the building will help the culture of the school.
3.2.2. Students will want to be in a place where the staff wants to teach and enjoy being.
3.2.3. Create ways to form relationships with staff .
3.2.3.1. In school
3.2.3.2. Outside of school
3.2.3.3. Let the staff create ways to bond and participate.
3.2.4. Share experiences so staff members never feel alone in their job.
3.3. Training
3.3.1. Don't assume people know how to be professional.
3.3.2. Explicitly train staff to behave the way you expect.
3.3.3. Be the training in how you work, socialize and interact with staff.
3.4. Communication
3.4.1. Always be positive.
3.4.2. Be nice until you can't be nice anymore.
3.4.3. Don't let people walk all over you. Kindness is not about being naive.
3.4.4. Communicate in ways that people will respect and will reciprocate.
3.5. Mutual Respect
3.5.1. Treat people the way you would want to be treated in their position.
4. Personal Beliefs
4.1. Manners Matter
4.1.1. I firmly believe in treating people the way I want to be treated.
4.1.2. I believe in a civilized society.
4.1.3. I believe students should be taught manners, even in secondary education. It's a life skill.
4.2. Mutual Respect
4.2.1. I can not expect respect from someone I have not shown it to first.
4.2.2. Be nice until you can't be nice anymore.
4.2.3. Respect is how you build dream teams in schools. When everyone feels respected and appreciated, they want to be there.
4.3. Ethics and Values
4.3.1. I hold my own values and ethical choices dear and will impart those to any population I work with.
4.3.2. I accept other's values as well and try to understand their point of view.
4.3.3. I know the difference between right and wrong. There are no gray areas.
4.4. Life Experience
4.4.1. I have had many experiences that have prepared me for life as an administrator. I would happily discuss those at any time and find that many of my life experiences help me gain better relationships with students and parents in general.
4.4.2. I also know that I do not know everything and that there is much to learn in this life. I am a lifelong learner who constantly seeks to know more, be better, and create a better world in which to live.
5. Evaluation
5.1. Visibility
5.1.1. Be available to staff
5.1.2. Be in classrooms other than during observations
5.1.2.1. Staff feel comfortable when they are used to seeing you in their classrooms all the time.
5.1.3. Out of the office, in the halls and classrooms
5.2. Support
5.2.1. Being supportive of teacher place in their career is important.
5.2.1.1. New teachers have different development needs than experienced and middle of the road staff.
5.2.2. Understand where a teacher is in their career before judging their teaching.
5.2.3. Be able to get answers and make suggestions at any time for any teacher who needs your support.
5.2.4. Always give a second chance to do better.
5.2.4.1. Let people know you are on their side and you want them to be successful.
5.3. Fairness
5.3.1. Understand that all teachers do not teach the same way.
5.3.2. Don't compare teachers.
5.3.3. Give plenty of notice and support prior to evaluations, surprises are not fair.
5.3.4. Clearly understand the evaluation process so you can help teachers do well and learn to be better.
5.4. Consistency
5.4.1. Use the same rubric and criteria for all teachers so long as it corresponds with the job they perform.
5.4.2. Keep personal opinion out of the evaluation process.
5.4.3. Use the same format for evaluating all teachers.
5.5. Positivity
5.5.1. Always state the positives of an evaluation first and keep meetings positive as much as possible.
5.5.2. Be positive in your criticism, it is not about how bad something was, but how it could be better.
5.5.2.1. Be ready with positive examples and suggestions to motivate better performance.
5.5.3. Show support, especially for newer teachers and those obviously struggling, they need to know you want them to be successful.
5.6. Documentation
5.6.1. Document the good.
5.6.2. Document the bad and do it well.
5.6.3. Keep immaculate files.
6. 21st Century Classroom
6.1. Global Education
6.1.1. Realtime connections around the world
6.1.2. What happens affects everyone around the world
6.1.3. Teaching for the future
6.1.3.1. Problems that haven't happened yet
6.1.3.2. Job training for jobs that don't even exist yet
6.1.3.3. Being prepared to use technology that hasn't been invented yet
6.2. Technology Needs
6.2.1. Not more technology, better technology
6.2.2. Being equipped to compete
6.2.3. Having the capacity and training to keep technology working
6.2.4. Any place, any time learning available
6.3. Staff
6.3.1. Understand the future students face
6.4. Science and Math
6.4.1. Students are prepared for the future that will be dependent on both of these as well as all other subjects
6.5. Ethics and Responsibility
6.5.1. Global responsibility
6.5.2. Online Ethics
6.5.3. Democracy
6.5.3.1. Focus on helping others
7. Leadership
7.1. Guiding Question
7.1.1. What is best for students?
7.1.1.1. Am I doing what is best for my students every day in every situation?
7.2. Strengths
7.2.1. Context
7.2.1.1. Understanding where we've been and how that helps situate where we want to go.
7.2.1.1.1. We repeat the mistakes we don't learn from the first time.
7.2.1.2. Good at listening because I want to understand where people are coming from in their ideas.
7.2.2. Harmony
7.2.2.1. Seeking consensus. I seek areas of agreement over conflict. Work well with teams and in helping others get along.
7.2.2.1.1. Good at dealing with people in general.
7.2.3. Achiever
7.2.3.1. I have a great deal of stamina and enthusiasm. I like to work hard toward a goal and feel the need to be busy and productive always.
7.2.3.1.1. People call it a divine restlessness. When one goal is attained I need another to stay balanced.
7.2.4. Restorative
7.2.4.1. Adept at dealing with problems. Good at figuring out what is wrong and how to solve it. I seek to have harmony rather than havoc.
7.2.4.1.1. Wanting all to be right in the world.
7.2.5. Input
7.2.5.1. I have a craving to know more. I'm constantly learning.
7.2.5.1.1. Enjoy collecting and archiving information for future use.
7.2.5.1.2. Good at organizing anything.
7.3. Leadership Style
7.3.1. Listen to others.
7.3.2. Find the leaders on my team and acknowledge what they do well.
7.3.2.1. Develop leaders so I'm not trying to do everything myself.
7.3.3. Longterm planning. I don't believe in putting bandaids on problems. I prefer finding the root of a problem and establishing a way to solve it for good.
7.3.4. Accessible.
7.3.5. Acknowledge other points of view.
7.3.5.1. Happy to explain decisions when people have questions.
7.3.5.2. Thinking out loud so people understand my thought process as well.
7.3.6. High energy.
7.3.6.1. I can't expect others to do work I wouldn't do myself.
7.3.7. Create measurable and attainable goals for myself and others.
7.3.8. Allocate time wisely to reach as many areas in a day as possible.
7.3.9. Extremely flexible and adaptable.
7.3.9.1. One day is never like the next, and anything can change in a second.
8. Curriculum
8.1. High Expectations
8.1.1. Students will rise to meet expectations if they understand them and are acknowledged for striving to meet them.
8.1.2. Teachers will strive to meet clear and well stated expectations.
8.2. Mapping
8.2.1. Get the right experts in subject and grade levels in positions to map what they do to be successful.
8.2.2. Agreement in mapping between grade levels and courses that are connected.
8.2.3. All courses should be mapped so that teachers can easily move between positions and understand the expectations and goals of all.
8.2.4. Should be revisited as needed. This map is not set in stone and should constantly be reviewed for needs.
8.3. Alignment
8.3.1. All curriculum should align with whatever alignment system is expected. SAS, Common Core, etc.
8.4. Across All Subjects and Levels
8.4.1. Teachers should know what the level before them has taught and what the next advancement would be. This helps them plan what they need to cover and not overlap other courses.
8.4.2. Teachers should get time and resources to meet with the staff who feed them students and who gain those students next. It's imperative to instructional consistency.
8.5. Teacher Leaders
8.5.1. Find the teachers who excel at writing curriculum and give them the time and compensation to do it well. Not every teacher or administrator is good at it.
8.5.1.1. Develop teacher leaders constantly.
8.6. Continuous Learning
8.6.1. Staff professional development should always consist of learning in their own subject area and in instructional methods appropriate for their courses.
9. Discipline
9.1. Purpose
9.1.1. Safe schools. To maintain order.
9.2. Defined High Expectations
9.2.1. Students and parents must clearly understand what behaviors are expected in and out of school.
9.3. Modeling
9.3.1. Staff is accountable for modeling good behavior for students. We can not assume they know how to behave before reaching us at any level.
9.4. Proactive
9.4.1. Sense things coming before they happen.
9.4.1.1. The best lifeguard is one who never has to get in the water.
9.4.2. Plan for what could happen.
9.4.3. Mediate situations before they become serious.
9.5. Consistency
9.5.1. You can not treat students differently from one case to another. Consistency is equal to fairness.
9.5.2. Do not say you're going to do something if you can not do it or are going to change your mind later.
9.5.3. Have hierarchies of consequences that are clear, stated, and reinforced.
9.5.4. Know the legal ramifications of what you say and do.
9.6. Parental Involvement
9.6.1. Parents need to be accountable for student behavior at school.
9.6.1.1. Parents should be involved in all discipline.
9.6.2. Staff and parents need to be on the same page with students.
9.6.3. Communication is key.
9.7. Consequences with Meaning
9.7.1. Punishment for the sake of punishing is not successful.
9.7.2. Consequences must have real meaning in the life of students and parents.
9.7.3. Consequences should not hinder a student's education unless the placement is unsafe or disruptive to other students trying to learn.
10. Purpose of Education
10.1. Ethical and Productive Citizens
10.1.1. We want to graduate students who are prepared to contribute to the society in which they live in whatever positive manner possible for them.
10.2. Student Defined Success Paths
10.2.1. Students should have a voice in their education so that they motivate themselves intrinsically to succeed.
10.2.2. They should understand all their options so that they make better choices down a path of success appropriate for them.
10.3. Curriculum for Life.
10.3.1. Life is changing. What we grew up learning is not necessarily what all students need to know now and in the future. It is our responsibility to see what the future will need in leaders and to prepare students through real life experiences for what is to come.
10.4. Prepared to seek information, not necessarily know it.
10.4.1. The online world has changed what students need to KNOW v. what tools they need to FIND information.