I still remember the shock on March 13, 2020, when we sent students home to complete the year online. Looking back, these last 16 months have been beyond stormy—just one wave after another as we battled to support teachers, support our school community, support our students, and somehow find something that supported ourselves. Throughout this challenging time, […]
Category: Communication
Four Ways to Anchor Yourself as a Leader
Marketing Your School
When I was in elementary school, my father was a troubleshooter for his company. If there was an issue in a plant in another state, off he would go, and we knew that we would soon be moving to follow. As soon as my parents knew which city we would be relocating to, my mother […]
Sharing Your Highlight Reel: Ways to Share Your School’s Story—and Your Own
Have you ever found yourself scrolling through Twitter and getting the feeling that you aren’t doing enough? Do you ask yourself how others find time to do what they do? Having an online professional learning network (PLN) is extremely important and beneficial; however, if I am being honest, I have found myself comparing where I […]
‘Flatten the Walls’: Communicating During the Pandemic
When we shut our doors in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my inbox almost became unmanageable with the flood of questions from parents. Being the senior class assistant principal, you can only imagine the number of questions about graduation. We quickly developed a blog as a means of sending out information about graduation and […]
Communication and Planning in the Time of School Closure
In March of 2020, schools all over the country were physically closed. However, teaching and learning continued. In Saluda County Schools (SCS), we made clear and consistent communication one of our top priorities. Here are four things we believe we did well that may help other school leaders communicate and plan for what may be […]
Together, We Can: Six Steps to Prepare to Lead This Fall
Brian McCann found guidance for leading during the upcoming school year in, of all places, a young adult novel he picked up in his school library. “It began with this preface that says nothing goes back to exactly how it was—which was what I was trying to do,” McCann, a 2018 Digital Principal of the […]
Four Steps to Shift Perceptions of Feedback
In education, we value communication and feedback. We know that growth occurs when we take action on feedback we get. Even so, no one likes unsolicited advice. When discussing what supporting teachers does not look like during a Twitter chat, the comment “unsolicited advice is about the worst support one can offer” led to a […]
The Power of Positivity—and Postcards
Over each of my last five years as a high school principal, we have set three schoolwide goals. Ranging from advancing college and career readiness to increasing attendance, our goals have been simple, student-centered, and focused on getting staff buy-in. Two years ago, we specifically set a goal to improve our community relationships with stakeholders […]
Daily Announcements During Times of Uncertainty
When this global pandemic began, I asked myself three basic questions: 1) What can I do to lead our community during this time of uncertainty? 2) What does our community need? and 3) How can I have a positive impact on our students, staff, and community during this difficult time? At Millard South High School, […]
Purposeful Technology Use During the Pandemic
Can hear me now? How about now? Did my stream cut out? Or, more embarrassingly, did I forget to unmute myself? Today’s educators have taken on a task no other industry has accomplished. We completely changed our methods, our platforms, and our engagement from in-person to online in record time.