The Master Teacher Blog

Cleanse the Teacher’s Lounge of Negativity

By NorthStar Staff June 22, 2017 June 22, 2017 0

Sadly, we have all learned over time that negativity is contagious. Teachers justify their negative lounge talk as venting or releasing stress. However, psychologically, this negative talk has an impact on others and actually raises the stress levels of the …

10 Tips to Working Happy

By Suzette Lovely, Ed.D. June 21, 2017 June 21, 2017 0

To achieve happiness in our position, we need to look no further than ourselves. Happiness is an inside job. It starts with our perspective. Happy school leaders create their own experiences and outcomes. They realize if they wait for things …

Strategic Plans: 10 Steps Toward Success

By NorthStar Staff June 21, 2017 June 20, 2017 0

As the primary school change agent, the principal can take significant steps to help assure that strategic plans are successful. Use these 10 simple steps to move your success forward:

Mid-Year Freshmen Are Still Freshmen!

By NorthStar Staff June 21, 2017 June 21, 2017 0

High school freshmen will view their first year of high school as either a stumbling block or a stepping stone. When the school year began, they needed orientation to get out of the starting blocks. By mid-year, they may be …

Five Practices of Resilient Principals

By Suzette Lovely, Ed.D. June 21, 2017 June 21, 2017 0

As one of the most resilient leaders of the 20th century, Winston Churchill taught the world how to suffer through defeats without turning bitter. Ironically, Churchill was regularly admonished by his teachers and parents for a lack of effort and …

Downtime for Principals?

By NorthStar Staff June 20, 2017 June 20, 2017 0

Downtime for Principals? It is the beginning of summer and schools are quiet. Some principals enjoy spending time away from work; a chance to be with family and friends. The school year is officially over, but for effective school leaders, …

Improve Teacher’s Performances in Basic Ways

By Tweed W. Ross June 20, 2017 June 20, 2017 0

Improve Teachers’ Performances in Basic Ways I was once struck by an activity my basketball coach undertook before every practice. In the locker room, he checked to make sure his players took time to properly and carefully put on their …

Five Ways to Retain Teachers You Can’t Afford to Lose

By Jeffrey J. Smith, Ed. D. June 14, 2017 June 13, 2017 0

Irreplaceable teachers are defined as the top 20 percent who produce five to six months of additional learning with students. A report by The New Teacher Project (TNTP), “The Irreplaceables,” studies four districts encompassing 90,000 teachers, 2,100 schools, and 1.4 …

What makes a good school team?

By Robert L. DeBruyn June 12, 2017 June 12, 2017 0

We talk a lot about teams and teamwork in schools.

We have team leaders and team teaching and how the entire school staff works as a team. We recognize and proclaim that what we may note be able to do alone as individual teachers, we can do superbly when joined with colleagues functioning as a team.

Indeed, creating a team and making teamwork the dominant mode of operation are the keys to making us all more effective – and the keys to creating a better school.

The question is: What makes a good school team?

Culture: The Social Footprint of Our School

By Jeffrey J. Smith, Ed. D. June 8, 2017 June 8, 2017 0

Culture: The Social Footprint of Our School
By Jeffrey Smith

We all strive for a strong, healthy culture, but what does this really mean? Schools tend to develop personalities that are shaped and shared by the entire community. As people respond to the conditions of their environment, behaviors become patterned and evolve into norms. These are deeply embedded beliefs and unwritten rules that permeate day-to-day operations. The strongest of these norms become rituals, traditions, and rules that describe the collective psychological attitudes, experiences, and beliefs of your school.

Culture can be described as the shared assumptions guiding interpretation, and action for appropriate behavior in all circumstances. Culture is holistic having been determined by history. It is socially constructed, and slow to change.