“I read professional books like movie critics watch films: with a critical lens and respect for my time,” writes veteran principal Matt Renwick. “If I am going to dedicate hours to a text that is supposed to help me improve as an educational leader, it needs to deliver.”
As society experiences increasing complexity, educators and education struggle to keep up. Principal Matt Renwick takes a look at AI/ChatGPT challenges and shares a process school leaders can use to support teachers’ use of new technology. Don’t miss the template he includes.
What works when school leaders need to tackle complex challenges? Principal and author Matt Renwick suggests letting go of trying to control outcomes and operating with certainty on “fixing” problems. Pursuing 20 sharply focused questions helped his school gain momentum.
Any educator who leads in schools will find principal Matt Renwick’s Leading like a C.O.A.C.H. grounded in real boots-on-the-ground work and loaded with opportunities to reflect on and improve leadership practices. Instructional Walks are key, writes school leader Rita Platt.
When his two middle schoolers wondered about a tree house, principal Matt Renwick’s bright idea was to engage them in an at-home Genius Hour project. His three take-aways from the experience can help us understand the teacher’s role in creative learning and risk-taking.
Articles / Speaking and Listening Skills
by MiddleWeb · Published 05/31/2020 · Last modified 06/01/2020
The experience of students and teachers doing whole class and small group work online underscores the need to emphasize speaking and listening skills now and for the future, writes principal Matt Renwick. He shares his school’s low-key, standards-friendly teaching ideas.
In Digital Portfolios in the Classroom, personal anecdotes, discussions of technological tools, and interviews with educators who use a portfolio system provide a multifaceted picture of the benefits and possibilities of this student-centered approach to assessment.
In High-Payoff Strategies, Jody Spiro promises a toolkit of strategies and templates for school leaders to facilitate change. Principal Matt Renwick says Spiro tackles too many agendas in the brief book but thinks readers can pull out some useful ideas, including a culture scan.
Digital student portfolios have tremendous potential, writes author and principal Matt Renwick, from organizing passion projects to promoting student-led assessment. They can be the main method for students to document their own learning and demonstrate what they can do.
Emphasizing content-rich curriculum, traditional literacy activities, and soundly structured lessons, Mike Schmoker’s “Leading with Focus” provides a guide for teacher leaders, principals, and others that can improve student achievement, says principal Matt Renwick.
