QUICK TIPS SEPTEMBER | Set a Tone
The first days and weeks of school set the tone for the remainder of the year. Students’ first experiences powerfully communicate what your school represents. What is posted on the walls, what experiences they engage in the classroom, and the opportunity they are provided to explore and discover all that makes your school great matters. What you say, what you do and what you promote reflects your identity values and beliefs. Students…
QUICK TIPS JANUARY | Head into the Second Half Ready for Success
People are either thermometers or thermostats. They will merely reflect the climate around them (thermometers), or they will set it (thermostat). Building leaders need to be thermostats for their building; not only taking the temperature of their stakeholders, but establishing the temperature and influencing the culture. Our challenge in January is to be a thermostat that has a positive influence on the building culture and people who work and learn within it.…
LegalEase December 2023 | Teacher Placement, Prohibited Subjects and Evaluations – A Legislative Update
The Michigan Legislature adjourned its 2023 session on November 14, 2023, and it marked the busiest legislative session for public education in at least a decade. These major legislative changes will take effect in 2024 – some as early as February 13. TEACHER PLACEMENTStaffing for the 2024-2025 school year will be markedly different than prior years. There are two legislative changes: Section 1248 of the Revised School Code was revised dramatically, and…
Litigation With Implications for School Administrator Retirement
It's imperative that Michigan Association of Secondary Schools Principals members become aware of a recent Michigan Court of Appeals ruling that has the potential to impact the MPSERS pension benefits of building level leaders. The goal of this communication is to: Provide you with an overview of how this litigation began and the course of action it has taken through the court system Make you aware of the current status and why…
Who is Your Champion?
Think back. Think back to your days in school. Not present day, where you are leading your building, greeting your students at the door, facilitating instructional growth, etc. But rather when you were the one seated in the desk, you were the one taking notes/quizzes/exams & there was a teacher in front of you. Of all of the educators you had the pleasure of learning from, K-12, which one sticks out? Which…
Breaking the Vape Chain: A Journey from Personal Quitting to Schoolwide Prevention
By Justin Hauser, Principal, L’anse Creuse East Middle School In April 2020, amidst the onset of the pandemic, I made a life-altering decision to quit smoking and vaping, a habit I had maintained for 20 years. Despite being a smoker, I concealed my habit with cologne during my commutes, lunch breaks, and even while advising middle school students to stay away from tobacco. Upon quitting, I committed to repurposing my past vice…
The Heartbeat of High School: Finding Our Collective Purpose
Finding Purpose: The Key to Student MotivationIn the bustling hallways of our high schools, amidst the cacophony of locker doors slamming and the chatter of students, there lies a silent question: “What is our purpose?” As educators, we often grapple with this existential query, not just for ourselves but for our students. The answer, as I've come to realize, is the cornerstone of motivation and the driving force behind every successful educational…
Three Generations of Ojibwe Women Helped Make the Path to the Principalship for Kate VanHouten
Growing up as Majiikwewis (an eldest daughter) on the Bay Mills Indian Community in the Upper Peninsula, Lake Fenton High School Principal Kate VanHouten was in only the second generation of indigenous people to attend a Brimley area public school off of the reservation. They did not offer Ojibwe culture classes or language classes there. “Most of my education for my culture came from my mother and my community, my tribe,” she…
Don’t Forget About Your Child Find Requirements
With the school year well underway, principals must continue to be cognizant of their special education and Section 504 obligations to students. Although many of these requirements are handled by special education staff or your school’s Section 504 Coordinator, all administrators must remember the school’s child find obligations. As the school year progresses, principals already have a lot on their plate. It is imperative, however, that you – and all staff –…
Defining What’s Next for the Principalship
(listen to this article; recorded with AI-generated AudioRead) I enjoy making up my own words. Not like my mother enjoys making up lyrics to songs when she doesn't know the words – although I admittedly do enjoy doing that on occasion too, and not like Lewis Carroll with his “portmanteaus” (words smashed together to make new words, like “smog” for example), but making up my own words to describe things. Defining the…