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This book displays 37 “Friday Focus” memos, each of which provides insight into a specific aspect of teaching and learning for all to reflect on throughout the year. Friday Focus memos address the principal’s responsibility to shape the school culture, provide intellectual stimulation, and communicate effectively. The memos are organized around the school year and provide educators with a wide variety of insights into how to improve our schools. They are typically between 500–1,000 words in length and can be sent out via e-mail to each staff member – not only to the teachers but also secretaries, custodians, and cafeteria workers. A vehicle for school improvement, the Friday Focus memos provide a step-by-step plan for staff members and principals to work together as change agents for school improvement.
Learn how you can work more effectively with your staff to improve your school. In this unique book, Jeffrey Zoul and Spiri Diamantis Howard reveal how a powerful tool, "Friday Focus" emails or newsletters, can help school principals communicate more proactively and consistently with their teachers while improving instruction and morale. The chapters cover 37 "Friday Focus" memos, which are organized around the school year and which cover topics such as student behavior, teacher observations, parent-teacher conferences, and more. This updated second edition offers suggestions for additional areas including artificial intelligence and equity, hope, microlearning, universal design for learning, engaging the families of ELLs, online relationship building, and gamification. Whether you're a new or veteran school leader, these inspiring messages will help you work alongside your staff as change agents for school improvement.
Use Friday Focus memos to motivate and engage your staff every week, and help create a school culture focused on the growth of students and teachers. Easy to understand and implement, Friday Focus memos offer an effective and efficient way to improve student learning, staff development, and school culture from within. Written by educational consultant and former principal of two award-winning schools, Jeffrey Zoul, these memos focus on topics such as active learning, high expectations, gratitude, test preparation, and more. Zoul provides 37 teaching and learning memos, one for each week of the school year, for principals and other administrators to reproduce and circulate among their staff. Zoul prefaces each memo with stories from his experiences as a teacher, coach, and assistant principal in the K-12 levels. You can also write your own memos, with guidance on possible topics and teacher takeaways.
This second edition of a teacher favorite features a fresh, easy-to-use layout including color coding by grade level, more support for student engagement in academics, greater emphasis on the effective use of teacher language, and a dedicated chapter on the all-important first day of school.
This book provides the busiest leaders with an accessible set of tools that can immediately be deployed to positively impact their school. Authors Ronald Williamson and Barbara R. Blackburn explore the COMPASS model—Culture; Ownership and Shared Vision; Managing Data; Professional Development; Advocacy; Shared Accountability; and Structures to Sustain Success—as an overall framework for school improvement. Chapters include in-depth discussions of easy-to-implement, useful strategies for improvement and address the most common concerns facing today’s school leaders. Supplemented with templates, charts, and other adaptable tools for ongoing, practical use, 7 Strategies for Improving Your School is your key guide to school improvement.
This book takes a practical look at how standards in education can be raised. It cuts through jargon and shows how ideas and intentions can be translated into effective action that will help a school.
Responsive Classroom practices have helped thousands of special area teachers for more than 30 years. Here you'll find practical suggestions, charts, planners, and examples from experienced special area teachers who use Responsive Classroom practices every day. You'll learn how to: Open and close each period in calm, orderly waysSet students up for success by modeling and practicing skills and routinesUse positive teacher languageEngage students more deeplyRefocus and recharge students with quick, fun, movement breaksRespond to misbehavior to get students back to learning
