Nationally known and renowned speaker, educator, and author Char Forsten shared practical ways to help students internalize, understand, and apply math concepts.
Counsel and Comfort for the New Principal
By Vanessa St. Gerard
It can be very intimidating for new principals in their first few years in the principalship. But with the advice speaker John Blaydes offered during his session, Surviving Those First Years! A Workshop for Beginning Principals, new principals were armed with guidance in acquiring the wisdom, knowledge, and experiences of veteran principals, and avoiding the pitfalls, mistakes, and conflicts new principals often make.
Blaydes explained the three R's that beginning principals must master as leaders: renewal, reflection, and resiliency. Regarding renewal, "No one wants to follow a stressed, burned-out leader," Blaydes said. Thus, it is important for you to make time for yourself to restore or regain physical and mental vigor.
Also, find someone who you can commiserate and celebrate with. Blaydes suggested finding a "job-alike" colleague—someone who is your equal (i.e., principal to principal or assistant principal to assistant principal)—who will be a great listener. That way, you have a peer who can directly relate with the ups and downs you encounter.
"We are deluged with all kinds of crises and problems throughout the day and if we allow that to get us down," Blaydes said, "you're not going to make it." Therefore, resiliency is key in surviving the principalship, especially as a beginning principal.
In addition, Blaydes described different activities that new principals can do in order to establish trust and rapport with their faculty. One example is having a "grand conversation" with each of your teachers. This entails an hour-long conversation simply to get to know them. Principals tend to only talk "business" with their staff, Blaydes explained, so carving out time at the beginning of the year, or even before the school year begins, gives you time to learn about your teachers on a personal level. "The main idea is to share a little about your background and you learn about them," Blaydes said. "It is one of the best investments of your time."
Blaydes emphasized that work should not take over your life. Working more hours, he said, is not the answer to accomplishing everything that you believe needs to get done. It only will cause added stress and lead to burnout, as well as what Blaydes called the four D's:
"You have an obligation to your family and to yourself to have a life," he said. "Being a principal should not be the top priority in your life. ... Put your family and yourself first."
Speaking the Language of Math
By Kaylen Tucker
Nationally known and renowned speaker, educator, and author Char Forsten shared practical ways to help students internalize, understand, and apply math concepts.
Forsten's teaching models are derived from 18 years as a teaching principal and are easy to use. With the goal of helping students value math, communicate mathematically, and become confident in solving math problems, Forsten offered the following tips:
Forsten's presentation left those in attendance with strategies to help students retain what they learn rather than cram for a test.
| Forsten's book, Math Intervention Strategies You Can Count On: Tools and Activities to Build Math Appreciation, Understanding, and Skills (Grades 2-6), is available in the National Principals Resource Center Bookstore at the convention. |
Steve Gilliland Says "Enjoy the Ride"
By Kaylen Tucker
Between the gut-wrenching laughter and truth-filled, aha moments, principals received important motivational lessons from Distinguished Lecturer Steve Gilliland. Gilliland's message, "It's not how you start or finish; the true joy of life is in the trip," was riddled with impersonations, jokes, and revelations imparted by Margaret, his first secretary who gave him countless life lessons that he has shared with his many audiences.
Gilliland makes the case that passion, purpose, and people-skills are the three features that will increase leadership effectiveness. Using the example of the famed In-N-Out Burger in California, where Gilliland is regularly impressed with the ardent customer service, he argues that principals must leverage their passion, which is an educator's greatest asset. "Principals must love what they do and why they do it, and why you love it is most important," he said.
Gilliland also said that because you lead with the essence of who you are as a person, passion is proportionate to purpose. He urged the audience to reconsider their thinking about their purpose as educational leaders.
Last in Gilliland's leadership trifecta is people-skills. Gilliland's message about influencing people focused mostly on the principal-teacher relationship. Principals must use their leadership to influence others, just as they have been influenced by powerful mentors. What better way for principals to change the thinking about their own work than by reflecting on how they influence the working and learning environment for others in their own schools.
| Steve Gilliland's book, Enjoy the Ride, is available in the National Principals Resource Center Bookstore at the convention and online. |
Pundits Offer Insider's View on Politics and the 2008 Presidential Campaign
By Raven Padgett
Morgan Seiferth, a fifth grader from Rose Park Magnet School, told the crowd at the Second General Session that she normally doesn't work on Sundays, but she couldn't turn down a request from her principal to introduce political power couple James Carville and Mary Matalin.
After the laughter died down, Carville and Matalin took the stage and, in between light bantering, offered insights into the 2008 presidential campaign. Both discussed the historical nature and the increased voter turnout in this year's primary.
Matalin said that she was not speaking to NAESP members as a partisan, but rather as a parent of two elementary school-aged daughters. Calling education the "gateway to success," she applauded principals for the work they do. Matalin implored attendees to contact their local policymakers because principals have their fingers on the pulse of education.
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LEAD the Charge Inspired to take political action? It's easy with the Leading Educators' Advocacy Dashboard (LEAD). Lead allows you to contact your legislators, stay current with legislative actions, and more. Register on LEAD and start taking an interest in how politics influences your schools. |
Carville, a former teacher, agreed that principals need to invite politicians into their schools. He recalled the names of his own teachers, from the first through fifth grade, and said that the fact that he could still rattle off their names years later demonstrated the tremendous impact that educators have.
"It's important as educators that you remember how important the work that you do is," said Carville. "We are a little envious that you get to shape so many young lives everyday."
After Carville and Matalin spoke, they answered a few questions from NAESP members, including ones about the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, the legacy of President George W. Bush, and the impact of technology on this year's presidential campaign.
Before Carville and Matalin spoke, John Flores, the executive dean of Nova Southeastern University, presented two principals with NSU scholarships—Judy McCollum, principal of Katherine Lee Bates Elementary in Colorado and Bonnie Tryon, principal of William H. Golding Elementary in New York.
| James Carville's book Had Enough and Mary Matalin's book, Letters to My Daughters, can be purchased at the National Principals Resource Center or online. |
Be a LEADer for Your Profession
By Abbie Evans
Assistant Director of Government Relations
Do you have concerns or questions about the federal education conversation? Make your voice heard by joining the political process with NAESP's Leading Educators' Advocacy Dashboard (LEAD).
Principals are experts on the teaching and learning in their buildings and can easily identify the challenges and successes their schools have faced. For these reasons and many more, principals make excellent professional resources for legislators and their staffs. With only a few minutes of time per year, principals can make federal legislators aware of what on-the-ground educators truly think and need. NAESP is encouraging principals to become advocates for their profession by using LEAD, an online grassroots advocacy tool available to principals at www.NAESP.org.
NAESP's Leading Educators' Advocacy Dashboard (LEAD) provides principals with the means to:
During NAESP's convention, principals are invited to attend a 30-minute LEAD demonstration and training on Monday, April 7 at 1:30 in Jackson E of the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center (schedule it). During the training, principals will be able to access LEAD, find information on elected officials, ask questions, and even send an e-mail to their federal legislators.
Be a LEADer for your profession!
| Principals can purchase Annette Breaux's book, Seven Simple Secrets: What the BEST Teachers Know and Do! at the National Principals Resource Center Bookstore or online. |
Diverse Learning at Convention
By Kaylen Tucker
This year's convention is featuring special sessions to meet the needs of principals serving diverse learning communities. The first of these sessions was a stimulating discussion from a knowledgeable panel at the Diversity Forum.
Moderated by former Nashville mayor William Paxton Purcell III, he introduced a notable panel that included Carol Brunson Day, president of the National Black Child Development Institute; Bernadette Nevarez, West Mesa cluster leader for the Albuquerque (NM) Public School District; and Linda Agustin Simunek, professor at the Fischler School of Education and Human Services, Nova Southeastern University. He also generously received convention attendees to Nashville, conveying the enormous significance of serving diverse learning communities from a mayor's perspective.
Brunson Day, whose experience is in early childhood development, started the panel's discussion by stating that the achievement gap can be solved at the leadership level and to do so principals need to create culturally competent schools. By creating opportunities for school personnel to understand the role of cultural competency in learning, including distinguishing between the content and process of culture and learning how to systematically address bias, principals can lead the way in assuring that each child thrives in a culturally competent environment.
Nevarez offered her school-based experiences with leading a school population that is 85 percent Latino and receives free or reduced-price lunch. Speaking about the tremendous needs of this student population, she reasoned that the most important quality is starting with the core belief that every student can learn. Additionally, teachers need English language learner training. What is equally crucial but less quantifiable is the ability to accept student differences and understand parents' varied experiences with school.
Agustin Simunek echoed Nevarez's claim that cultural competency requires acceptance of student differences and adds that educators must take a holistic account of their student backgrounds. For example, the Asian population is rapidly increasing, but many educators do not realize that many students arrive as refugees from Southeast Asia.
These issues and others will be further addressed at the other Diversity Program events: the Minority Networking Session on Sunday at 9:00 a.m., the First Annual Diversity Reception on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. (schedule it), and the Cultural Competencies Administrator Workshop on Monday at 12:30 p.m. (schedule it).
Daniel Pink on Using the Whole Mind
By Kaylen Tucker
Barely able to look over the podium, Nashville first grader Lauren Surles wowed the crowd by delivering a powerful introduction for innovation expert and keynote speaker Daniel Pink. The focus of Pink's address was to explain how changes in the economy have affected the work force and the implications of such changes on K-8 education. Pink acknowledged that the purpose of education is not to create and deliver future employees, but to help children like Lauren develop their full potential. Even still, Pink made the powerful argument that educators must align education with the future economy and not with their past.
Pink's keynote address was based on the arguments made in his latest book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, which charts the rise of right-brain thinking in modern economies and explains the six abilities individuals and organizations must master in an outsourced and automated world. Pink reasons that although the linear, left-sphere skills that defined the past are still necessary, innovative, right-sphere skills will be essential to future success.
Using the example of the popular iPod, Pink explained that the American economy is based on providing consumers with products they do not yet know they need, which requires a right-brained approach to thinking. Paradoxically, the economy is moving toward novelty, nuance, and customization while education is moving toward routine and standardization, said Pink. Schools must equip students with the ability to perform skills that are hard to automate or outsource. Schools must teach students to design, empathize, and play and create narratives, assess the big picture, and establish meaning. In other words, schools must teach students to value and use their whole mind.
Also at the Opening General Session, NAESP awarded John Forsyth, former president of the Education Research Service (ERS) with the Distinguished Service Award. NAESP President Mary Kay Sommers remarked on how deserving Forsyth was of this award given his 30 years of service at ERS.
| A Whole New Mind is for sale in the NPRC Bookstore in the exhibit hall and online. |
Stressed? That's a Laugh!
By Jocelyn McCabe
What if laughter really is the best medicine?
For Dr. Jack Singer, a clinical psychologist specializing in stress management, it's a prescription he's more than happy to write for today's stressed-out, over-scheduled school administrators. A crowd of about 600 convention-goers gathered early Saturday morning to hear Singer offer his humorous, practical tips on how to deal with life's challenges in a positive way. And he practices what he preaches.
While warming up the audience, Singer engaged participants in a fun "human treasure hunt" where attendees sought out colleagues who had similar birth months or were willing to share an embarrassing story. Singer shared his own tale involving a pair of maxed—out double-knit red pants, to be fair to the two principals kind enough to share theirs. Even the prizes for audience participation—rubber chicken keychains, clown noses and paddle balls—reflect Singer's belief in the notion that stress can be managed through humor.
"If you keep laughing—every time you laugh—you zap your immune system with powerful negatively charged ions that enhance your health," said Singer. "Laughter is critically important. It enhances the immune system."
To release those ions regularly, Singer recommends a daily trifecta of positive thinking, learned optimism, and regular doses of fun and laughter to ward off stress and 3 a.m. insomnia sessions. Before closing out his session, Singer encouraged attendees to find ways to put more fun into their personal and professional lives. This could range from creating your own "humor survival kit" to hosting a "positive party funded by negative people"—with monies paid by fines from people caught being negative around the office.
But the best source of laughter, Singer advised, may be found in your own classrooms. Children, according to Singer, laugh up to 300 times a day. Adults? Only 17 times a day. His advice: "You need to let that little child in you out—you need to laugh."
Drive Your Staff Happy With Recognition, Celebrations
By Jocelyn McCabe
Diane Hodges never met a Monday she didn't like.
A former secondary and elementary school principal, Hodges is now channeling her passion for school culture and education into helping administrators build positive staff morale-and Mondays are just one of her many opportunities to do so.
Drawing on humorous images, Internet videos, cartoons, and parodies, Hodges used her presentation time Saturday to inspire attendees with ideas for staff meetings, recognitions, and just plain fun around the office.
"We do these things for the kids, why not for the students?" she asked.
A creative and energetic presenter, Hodges shared brief, practical, and sincere ways to infuse humor and recognition activities into meetings and other events on the school calendar. Some of her inspired ideas include:
Recognition does not have to be fancy and expensive, either. Hodges offered dozens of ways administrators could provide group or individual kudos without a lot of resources. Opportunities to reward—for good attendance, for birthdays—are all around, she said. And throwing a packet of M&Ms in a big project for your administrative assistant with a note saying "thanks for working so hard, you're halfway there" takes no time and shows your appreciation for their time and effort.
Hodges will be doing additional sessions here in Nashville on Sunday and Monday (schedule it), or visit her Web site at www.dianehodges.com to review her work or suggest a celebration idea of your own.
| Diane Hodges' books Grin and Share It, Laugh Lines for Educators, Looking Forward to Monday Morning, and Looking Forward to MORE Monday Mornings are available at the NPRC Bookstore in the Exhibit Hall or online. |
The National Elementary Honor Society™ Launches
By Raven Padgett
NAESP's executive director Gail Connelly announced the launch of the National Elementary Honor Society (NEHS) at the Opening General Session. Connelly was joined onstage for the announcement of this new program by Gerald Tirozzi, the executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). Connelly and Tirozzi presented the first NEHS charter to Shepardson Elementary School, where NAESP President Mary Kay Sommers is principal.
"Whole child development is imperative for our schools to be successful," said Connelly. "The National Elementary Honor Society is a great way for schools to focus on this development and to recognize our young students for their accomplishments in leadership and service. We are excited about providing schools with the opportunity to participate in such a prestigious program and to help develop our nation's future leaders."
NASSP administers the National Honor Society™ (NHS) and the National Junior Honor Society™ (NJHS) and the NEHS was created to help schools give students in grades 4-6 national recognition for their accomplishments.
"The National Honor Society and the National Junior Honor Society have done a tremendous job of giving outstanding students the recognition they deserve for excellence in some of the most important aspects of their lives," said Tirozzi. "We are confident that the National Elementary Honor Society will enrich the education and the educational experience of younger students as well."
The NEHS booth, located in the Exhibit Hall, has materials available for schools to begin implementing an NEHS program. For more information on NEHS, visit www.nehs.org where you will find a list of Frequently Asked Questions with answers for school administrators, students, parents, and the general public.
The Ethical Principal
By Vanessa St. Gerard
When confronted with an ethical dilemma, how do you determine what is the best decision? This question is what presenters Gretchen Donndelinger, Mary Anne Weegar, and Shirley Willadsen discussed during their session, The Ethical Principal, on Saturday morning.
The purpose of ethics is to help people make better decisions, the speakers explained. Ethics can be defined as the norms, attitudes, and beliefs that are reflected in the way people treat each other and the manner in which people are able to adapt to the environment. "The higher morals you have ... the more difficult it will be to make a decision," Donndelinger said. Conversely, if you don't care about the matter or the consequences, the easier the decision is to make.
Session attendees learned the four basic dilemmas that people face:
Each dilemma presents a right-versus-right situation, which is why it is so difficult to come up with the best solution. Deciding which is "more right" is what individuals grapple with.
The process of solving ethical predicaments, the speakers explained, begins first with identifying which of the four dilemma types you are facing. Next, identify one of the following solution principles:
The presenters suggested that principals perform these ethical practices: openly talk about values, make the decision process transparent, discuss dilemmas as a team, and spread good examples. To ensure an ethical culture in your school, you should:
By offering these tips throughout their 90-minute presentation, the speakers provided principals with a solid primer on how to make the best decision when confronted with the various ethical problems that arise in the education setting.
Curriculum Design Crash Course
By Jim Warnock
A foundation in curriculum design in three hours might seem impossible, but that is what presenter Michael Chirichello set out to provide principals at his Three-Hour Workshop, Curriculum Design: Learning for the Next Generation, on Saturday afternoon.
Participants in this workshop learned that results from curriculum work will be greatly compromised unless the learning community clarifies the underlying beliefs and values to provide a strong platform that serves to direct the development and delivery of the curriculum. Chirichello began the session by leading participants to look at common assumptions often made about education. A number of assumptions were listed by participants, including arbitrary divisions of disciplines, letter grades, moving students to the same level of achievement at the same time, and textbook-driven curriculum.
Chirichello utilized a three-question device to model the process that should be used with teachers in developing a curriculum platform, or set of beliefs and values, that guide and influence the curriculum throughout the process.
To find out more about Michael Chirichello, visit www.leadershipmatters.us.
| You can purchase Michael Chirichello's book, Learning to Lead, at the National Principals Resource Center bookstore or online. |
All teachers should take a lie detector test to answer this question: "Do you love children more than anything?" Those teachers getting a positive response from the detector may well be the best teachers of all. Those with negative responses may want to consider a different line of work, says author Annette Breaux during her Sunday morning session.