Tagged: Heart of the School

Need a Good Read? Browse Rita’s 2020 List!

Copious fiction and nonfiction reading can make most teachers better teachers, writes principal and former reading specialist and librarian Rita Platt, by modeling the joy and power of reading in our own lives. Rita shares two dozen multi-genre favorites she read this year.

Quick Surveys Can Help Us Teach and Lead

Using homemade surveys can help you become a better teacher and leader. They can boost our understanding of student, parent and staff perspectives on issues that impact teaching and learning. Principal and NBCT Rita Platt shares ways she uses them – with tips and resources.

When the Principal Gets COVID-19

When Principal Rita Platt tested positive for COVID-19 and isolated at home, her staff put pandemic plans into action while she concentrated on self-care. Writing from Wisconsin, Rita shares her coping strategies and praises her staff’s response to going all-virtual again.

Calling Kids’ Folks to Share Good News

Positive phone calls and texts to students’ families are powerful, writes principal and NBCT Rita Platt. Parents and caregivers enjoy hearing good things and will be more responsive when you get in touch with less happy news. Rita includes several starter scripts and scheduling ideas.

Personal Connections. Essential Standards.

In a school year when frustration, fatigue and uncertainty make teaching and learning an unprecedented challenge, principal Rita Platt is leading her staff to focus on two top priorities: (1) limit instruction to essential standards, and (2) build personal connections with EVERY student.

Survey: What Kids Said about Remote Learning

Responding to a survey by Rita Platt, middle graders reveal what worked and what didn’t for them during their spring of virtual learning: more freedom and free time warred with tech glitches, months without friends, and less time with teachers. Rita shares some things we might do better.