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Toolbox
The Toolbox contains a collection of articles with practical advice for school and classroom management.
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Job Performance Part 1: How to Be Your Own Best Friend
You can be a team player and shape your own professional future at the same time.
How? Take stock of what you’ve accomplished, add what you want to do, and develop a work plan that will keep you focused.
Check out these sample goals and activities in four major areas of your job as principal:
Organization/Preparation
Goal: To ensure management of building organization, operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.
Activities
- Consistently interpret and apply Board Policy and the Negotiated Agreement in all relevant situations.
- Communicate and apply all provisions of the student and faculty handbooks. Revise provisions on a yearly basis.
- Appropriate and supervise expenditure of allocated resources with staff input, within established parameters for high student performance.
- D. Work with district technology staff to develop a flexible schedule optimal for the middle school and to assist the guidance counselor in data entry for student schedules.
Curriculum and Instruction
Goal: To continuously improve curriculum delivery so that students achieve at their highest individual capabilities on classroom and standardized performance measures.
Activities
- Apply district and building instructional goals to staff evaluations.
- Utilize inservice, staff meetings, and summer workshops to develop and sustain staff expertise in assessment, differentiated instruction, higher-order thinking, and Proficiency competencies.
- Disseminate, discuss, and use student performance data on standardized assessments and simulations to monitor curriculum delivery, plan whole-class instruction, and provide individual intervention.
- Support and sustain staff efforts with materials and continuous supervision of instruction and intervention via data collection and analysis, lesson plans, and classroom observations.
Communication
Goal: To effectively communicate and promote shared commitment to a high level of student learning, staff professional growth, and parental involvement.
Activities
- Post daily announcements and parent information updates on school website.
- Compile and disseminate monthly school newsletter to all school families, district administrators, and community stakeholders.
- Conduct scheduled and informal two-way communication meetings with staff, students, and parents to solicit input on school needs, concerns, and goals (Parent Advisory, PTO, and Building Advisory Committees).
Leadership
Goal: To develop and sustain a team of professional educators whose every decision supports high achievement in a middle school where students and staff share the goal of learning and teaching at our fullest capabilities
Activities
- Monitor and support the transition partnership between Grade 6 students and teachers and Grade 5 at the elementary schools.
- Monitor and support higher expectations for student learning in mathematics through the new curriculum and instructional materials.
- Work with building and district Technology Committees, Educational Technologists, and PTO to acquire and use technology tools for all students at point of instruction.
- Serve on School-to-Work grant team to develop activities and partnerships that raise student achievement by connecting schoolwork to authentic learning projects and community mentors.
Part 2 provides sample goals and activities in these categories:
Professional Growth and Development
School/Community Relations
Staff Relations
Student Relations
