A Principal's Reflections

APRIL 24, 2022

For starters, it represented my first major publication that veered away from a leadership focus. ConnectEDD Publishing was the perfect partner for this project as Jimmy Casas and Jeff Zoul have immense experience in the realm of school culture.

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A Principal's Reflections

DECEMBER 27, 2015

With advanced digital tools under their belts, students grow to develop their own learning tasks—such as pod­casting, blogging, or digitally storytelling—that stretch their creativity, originality, design, or adaptation. Pedagogy first, technology second when appropriate.

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A Principal's Reflections

JULY 9, 2014

Image credit: [link] Almost ten years ago, I was presented with an opportunity to begin my educational leadership career at NMHS. Each and every one of them has played a huge role in transforming the learning culture at NMHS. Thank goodness my wife made me apply for this job.) Then there is my administrative team at the high school.

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A Principal's Reflections

AUGUST 26, 2018

It was this shift that got me thinking about how tools could be used to amplify the fantastic work of my teachers, administrators, and students to showcase efficacy in improving school culture. The digital world allows all educators to become the storyteller-in-chief, something that I first discussed in detail in Digital Leadership years ago.

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A Principal's Reflections

JULY 17, 2022

Decisions must always be made, and sometimes delegation and consensus—both powerful elements in building a positive culture—are not suitable courses of action. When it comes to leadership, the person making the final decision is often second-guessed if there is a lack of communication or things don’t go as planned.

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A Principal's Reflections

MARCH 15, 2010

Let me just come out and say it, I need more administrators (Principals and Superintendents) to blog. Recently I began blogging on my experiences as a Principal at New Milford High School with the hopes that my ideas and success stories could help other administrators in some fashion. Dear Principal/Superintendent: Good morning!

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A Principal's Reflections

OCTOBER 19, 2014

It is uncommon to leave PD sessions with applicable ideas and strategies that we can implement immediately to positively change school culture. I experienced firsthand the value of these learning activities, as sustainable change and cultural transformation took hold at my school.

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A Principal's Reflections

MAY 10, 2015

Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to have an article published in the digital version of ASCD's Educational Leadership. Digital leadership calls for a multifaceted approach using both traditional and new age strategies to ensure that the right message is reaching stakeholders in a timely fashion.

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A Principal's Reflections

NOVEMBER 17, 2010

21st Century Leadership Shift Happens (must see video for any educator unfamiliar with the tends and impacts associated with technology and social media. Sustainable change relies on understanding people, culture, and processes. Google Reader : Constantly check educational news sites and blogs for new content (updates daily).

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A Principal's Reflections

SEPTEMBER 4, 2014

It made me feel very awkward, as my success has only come to fruition as a result of their willingness to embrace change and transform our school culture. In the past I have blogged about how amazing Sarah Almeda is, but what she did touched my heart like nothing before. I do not say this lightly. Her video is below.

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A Principal's Reflections

NOVEMBER 4, 2018

A great deal has changed since I began writing this blog back in 2009. Additionally, my views on education regarding teaching, learning, and leadership were beginning to evolve in ways that would eventually help my school experience innovative success while also pushing my professional practice into a whole new dimension.

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A Principal's Reflections

DECEMBER 28, 2014

The best part of this new world were the endless possibilities to improving professional practice and school culture. Here are some professional highlights from 2014: Digital Leadership was published by Corwin on January 14, 2014. This was my first solo effort at authoring a book. CBS Channel 2 NYC visited NMHS again on May 16, 2014.

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A Principal's Reflections

AUGUST 6, 2010

Let me begin by saying that I was absolutely honored that various members of my Professional Learning Network (PLN) and the greater educational community reached out to me to address administrators looking to embrace social media, plan an educational technology conference at my school, and discuss leadership in the digital age.

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A Principal's Reflections

DECEMBER 29, 2019

Well, another year of writing has passed, and it was a big one as 2019 marked ten years since I began my blogging journey. Well, after begrudgingly agreeing to pen some guest posts for him, I built up my confidence and launched my blog in March of 2019. Blogging has certainly changed over the past ten years.

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A Principal's Reflections

JUNE 13, 2013

In collaboration with my staff and the support of District leadership, my efforts have laid the foundation for an innovative teaching and learning culture that focuses on preparing all students for success. Change educational leadership educational technology Innovation Opinion' That and being digitally resilient.

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A Principal's Reflections

NOVEMBER 3, 2019

There are many opinions as to what constitutes effective leadership , something that I have written about extensively over the years. Comments like this that either place blame or undermine previous administrators bring to light leadership insecurities. Needless to say, this is not healthy for school culture.

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A Principal's Reflections

MARCH 23, 2012

All one has to do is read this blog to experience what I am talking about. As practitioners, we possess the power to share daily successes and failures to spur dramatic shifts in a school’s culture. 21st Century Leadership Change Opinion' This is raw, uncut, and most importantly, real.

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A Principal's Reflections

MARCH 10, 2013

As we navigated the hallways and classrooms, I was able to experience firsthand the school culture that is fostered at New Milford High School. Steve is also currently leading Educational Technology instruction as an Adjunct Professor at Pace University and is obtaining a degree in School District Leadership.

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A Principal's Reflections

OCTOBER 27, 2013

The following post appeared on the blog of Robert Dillon. The maintenance crew trusted building leadership. The second piece of New Milford that sits below the surface, beyond the television coverage, blog posts, awards, and energy of its dynamic principal, is the diversity at New Milford. The students trusted the teachers.

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A Principal's Reflections

APRIL 28, 2011

Nor do they care to engage me in a discussion as to why I spend valuable time with Twitter or my blog. by Lyn Hilt Is Blogging Really Worth It? by Justin Tarte Blog on, Principal, but Relationships Come First: Lessons from RISD''s Maeda by Jonathan Martin Let’s face it, we can all agree that we could use more time in the day.

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A Principal's Reflections

MARCH 27, 2014

The following post was written by Bill Brennan and originally appeared on Peter DeWitt''s Finding Common Ground blog found at Education Week. Under Eric''s stewardship, there are organizational conditions to support a culture of emergent leadership and at the heart of this is a significant level of autonomy.

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A Principal's Reflections

DECEMBER 17, 2011

I often talk about change whether it be through this blog or during presentations to various education groups. It is hard work to change cultures, systems, and perceptions that have been firmly entrenched for a long time. Change Leadership Students Stakeholders' A fantastic lesson in my eyes!

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Digital Promise

AUGUST 11, 2021

Establishing a strong culture of coaching, however, requires structures to be in place in a school or district such as designated time for coaching, and ongoing professional development for coaches and administrators. Popular micro-credentials included: Visionary Leadership for Technology. Creating Digital Citizens.

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A Principal's Reflections

MARCH 19, 2014

After my dear friend Ken Royal gave me a nudge, over four years ago I began to share my thoughts through blogging. I have not shied away from sharing my opinions on educational technology, leadership, politics, policy, and reform. We can change this now Commissioner Hespe.

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A Principal's Reflections

JANUARY 6, 2019

I was honored to have been interviewed for Educational Leadership, ASCD's flagship magazine, on the power of Twitter as part of a Personal Learning Network (PLN). Once I made an initial connection to supporting and enhancing professional practice I later learned how social media tools could be used to improve other areas of leadership.

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A Principal's Reflections

AUGUST 11, 2019

I remember like it was yesterday when I began blogging back in 2009. The result has been the creation of a vlog (video blog) in the form of a YouTube Channel, which you can access HERE. Trust when I say that it’s a struggle these days to either come up with new ideas or to add a unique angle to what has already been written.

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A Principal's Reflections

NOVEMBER 27, 2016

Focus on elements that align to a thriving school culture such as innovative learning, student achievement, staff accomplishments, college/career readiness, partnerships, unique traditions, and extra-curricular activities. The result can be greater levels of motivation and appreciation, which helps to develop a positive school culture.

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Dangerously Irrelevant

OCTOBER 13, 2015

Two years ago I had the incredible opportunity to work with the entire leadership team of District 59 in Arlington Heights, Illinois for SEVEN days. They labeled it their ‘21st Century Leadership Academy.’ No great answer to this is apparent other than a cultural reframing, one that is already underway.

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A Principal's Reflections

DECEMBER 22, 2010

We have also seen a movement to extending learning outside of the traditional day through the use of blogs and Google Sites, something that I hope more teachers will experiment with in 2011. Arts & Letters, and Global Leadership. Embracing the role of technology in education and successfully integrating it into daily instruction.

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A Principal's Reflections

SEPTEMBER 10, 2017

Their success as a disruptive innovator lies in the company culture that has been cultivated. Image credit: www.n3xtcon.com/blog/what-do-we-learn-from-the-story-of-airbnb I encourage you to read the entire short piece. This type of involvement also leads to the creation of a better school culture beyond the classroom.

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A Principal's Reflections

MAY 28, 2010

Late Thursday afternoon I looked at my Blackberry and saw an email from Filip Piasevloi, the student who wrote the amazing guest post entitled " A Student''s Perspective on Leadership ". Attached to his email was a document that contained his well thought out responses to comments on his blog post (see below).

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A Principal's Reflections

JUNE 22, 2010

Last month I unveiled the first ever guest post on my blog written by one of my students. One of my most rewarding experiences was my involvement in the Peer Leadership Program. Through this program, I was able to develop and utilize my leadership skills. It is my honor to introduce Diane Montecuollo, a senior at NMHS.

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Edthena

MARCH 11, 2022

Positive school culture is key to thriving teachers and students. But school leaders have so much on their plates and it can be tricky to know how to support something as broad as the culture of a school. The founding principal of Stonefields School in Auckland, New Zealand, has prioritized cultivating a positive school culture.

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Education Elements

JANUARY 18, 2017

Need better leadership? Over the past six months I’ve explored hundreds of news stories, white papers, and blog posts focused on why and how leaders might foster a culture of innovation. Recently it seems that innovation is a buzzword on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Need happier employees? Need bigger profits?

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A Principal's Reflections

AUGUST 6, 2017

While each separate initiative is established to improve school culture, the more tasks that are added to the proverbial plate increase the likelihood that they all will not be sustained over time. Tony Sinanis , a newly appointed superintendent and great friend, tackled this topic on his blog.

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A Principal's Reflections

MARCH 13, 2016

By committing to systematic integration of the model, we transformed the culture, the conversation, as well as the results in our district. A Common Language = A Connected Culture An additional benefit of deep integration of the Framework into common language was the elevated levels of effectiveness of the PLTs (Professional Learning Teams).

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Digital Promise

OCTOBER 15, 2020

Leadership must be local. It requires listening to community, acknowledging harm, and making changes—across partnerships, leadership, culture, funding, and programming. Read our blog series on EdClusters’ COVID-19 responses here.). Stewarding an inclusive network requires time, money, and human capital.

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