We must reverse being sent to The Principal's Office as a negative event and make the Principal's Office a Celebration Office. I love to celebrate. We must celebrate kids. We don't celebrate kids enough.
I'm pretty sure the video below is fictional, but sadly this is probably a scene that really happens in schools each day.
Something else happens all the time, especially recently since I'm the new Principal in my school. I'll meet a parent and their child, then.....
"Don't get sent to Mr. Welcome's office!"
"You don't want to know what his office looks like."
"Make sure the Principal never calls me!"
It breaks my heart. This is the image of Educational Leaders (Principal's) across our country, or it probably means this is what parents remember from their educational experience as a child.
These past few weeks I've been working with a student on their appropriate language for school. They have made amazing growth and will come by once and sometimes twice a day to my office to celebrate! When I see them it's all high-fives, congratulations, we call their mom to report the awesome news - and it all happens in my office. We're celebrating their growth in my office!
Principal's need to take their offices back! Make your office a celebration office.
Do.....
- We podcast our school radio show in my office!
- Teachers send kids to my office to read with me, make sure you take a photo and share with their parents!
- When a parent is in the office I always grab the younger sibling to come visit my office, we must change the culture even when they aren't quite in school yet.
- Give your 5th graders an iPad and have them take photos around campus. Then sit and Tweet with them, teaches them digital citizenship and builds positive relationships in your office.
- Bring kids to your office and then call their parents on speaker phone to celebrate a classroom win! Parents love this and so do the kids!
Don't....
- Spend too much time in your office during the day, be on campus and get in the game with your students!
- Make your initial discipline contact with students in your office. Do that outside of their classroom, or in a whisper voice at their desk. Only bring kids to your office when you really have to, make it a last resort.
- Bring kids to your office to 'talk' until you've exhausted many other discipline avenues. Work really hard to make your office a safe place where kids celebrate their awesomeness!
We need to be doing things like this in the Principal's office, way to lead from the front Todd!
This poster hangs in my office!
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