the power of positive principaling building a culture of success and a climate of collaboration...

The Power of Positive Principaling

Building a Culture of Success and a Climate of Collaboration

Allan R. Bonilla, Ed.D

What do we mean when we talk about culture and climate?

• Is there evidence of happy students and teachers?

• Is it obvious that learning is happening?• Is the building attractive and well maintained?

Culture and Climate is the Foundation

• There can be no real success without creating a positive school environment. Test scores will not increase, attendance will not improve, and discipline problems will not decrease.

Liberty City High School Gets $1 Million Investment( Miami Herald, 7/7/11)

• Purpose: expand rigorous courses, build a new lab, improve graduation rates, and create a college-going culture.

• Increase the number of dual enrollment courses at the college level.

• Introduce service learning projects.• Institute a financial literacy program.• Build an aquaponics lab to raise fish for fertilizer in

gardening.

WHAT GOOGLE LEARNED…

• Bosses have a much greater impact on people’s performance and how they feel about a job than anything else.

• What employees valued most were even-keeled bosses who made time for one-on-one meetings, who helped people puzzle through problems by asking questions, not dictating answers, and who took an interest in employees’ lives and careers.

( Marshall Memo May 2, 2011 from NYTimes)

RELATIONSHIPS

• Administration & Faculty• Teacher & Teacher• Teacher & Student• Student & Student• School & Parent

CYPHER IN THE SNOW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw8_ZZviedI

StorylineAsking to leave a school bus, Cliff, a young teenager, collapses and dies in the snow near the roadside. His math teacher is asked to notify the parents and then write a short obituary. This task is difficult, for although he was Cliff's favorite teacher and had the most interaction of any at the school, he barely knew him. In unraveling the mystery of the untimely death, he finds that Cliff was shy, lonely, and ostracized, being slowly reduced to nothing, a zero (cipher). He vows to not let this happen to others. Written by Brian Greenhalgh

GOETHE

• THINGS WHICH MATTER MOST MUST NEVER BE AT THE MERCY OF THINGS THAT MATTER LEAST.

What my school was like….

• High failure/retention rate• High teacher turn-over• Poor discipline• Neglected building• Terrible reputation in community

The Turn-Around

• Visibility• Delegation• Celebration• Collaboration

LET’S THINK….

• HOW VISIBLE ARE YOU?• WHAT ARE YOUR CELEBRATIONS?• TO WHOM DO YOU DELEGATE?• WHAT IS IN PLACE FOR COLLABORATION?

VISIBILITY

• AM & PM• Between classes• Cafeteria• Events

DELEGATION

• Discipline• Attendance• Parents• Curriculum• Special Education• Master Schedule• Technology• Maintanance

CELEBRATION

• TV Announcements• Honor Roll• Attendance Competition• Report Card Pick-Up• Birthdays• Life Events

WE DID IT !!!

COLLABORATION

• School Based Management/Shared Decision Making

• Committees: Personnel, Budget, Curriculum, Social

• Departments• Teams

BEN FRANKLIN

• TELL ME AND I FORGET• TEACH ME AND I REMEMBER• INVOLVE ME AND I LEARN

Set The Tone/Walk The Talk

• It all starts here…

and leads to here..

Allan R. Bonilla,Ed.Dwww.school-principal.com

abonilla1@yahoo.com512-992-1663

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