Habits of Highly Ineffective Principals - Mission Statements.

The mission statement needs revising. Set up a committee to rewrite it. The next four faculty meetings should be spent on choosing the most appropriate verbiage to reflect the school and community's core principal academic principles and values while maintaining the highest standards of obfuscation and repetition of seemingly obvious truths.

Did we mention this already?

Yes. But we need higher standards so that our students can achieve more and the Principal will continue in his job. Therefore, we need a new mission statement.

Habits of Highly Ineffective Principals - Changing Grades

A truly HIP dude knows that teachers can't grade their students properly. This means, of course, that you must wait until they've submitted grades and have gone home for the summer before you change them.

When a parent complains, then you must spring into action and become the good-guy hero of the moment. Change the "F" to a "D" so the little snowflake can pass on to the next grade.

You are not to think about how the little snowflake will accomplish the harder work. That is beyond your ken. Besides, it's the teacher's fault for not being Effective enough.

You will not notice the irony.

Circle and area

Just the image


Google Earth - with Ruler


Google Maps - with scale


The discussion on dy/dan involved being helpful when posing the problem but not TOO helpful and asking for some other stat but in a better way. I think I'll use this one tomorrow, asking for the amount of fertilizer to fertilize this green.

Thanks Dan.

Soda Pop Man

Enthusiasm.

Guy Fawkes

Gotta love the British sense of humor.

Habits of Highly Ineffective Principals - Chain of Command

To be true HIP warrior, a principal must always refuse to answer any request or question. Do not answer "Yes" or "No" but always remind the querant that you will be meeting with the Superintendent later this week and you will bring the topic up at that time.

Since you forgot when the time comes, you will of course make a mental note to bring it up the next time you meet ... four weeks from now. Making a decision could turn out badly.

"The Buck stops there."

Education 3.0 and Trying to sound Intelligent.

I'm not sure how to interpret this ... I mean, it's not software. eSchool News would like me to know that there's a next level of educational amazingness and superlitude:

"eSN Special Report: Education 3.0 -- How some schools are taking 21st-century teaching and learning to the next level"

Does this mean we've successfully passed through Education 2.0, Education 2.1, Education 2.1011, Education 2.SP1, and Education2.SP2?

I think I'll wait for the next release before implementing any changes and upgrading my software.

Habits of Highly Ineffective Principals - Speak in Tongues

Use double-speak and the Educational Bullshit Generator. Always use (and capitalize) Care, Dare, 21st Century Skills, Paradigm, Whole Child Education, Schools for the Digital Age, and other terms that mean nothing but sound intellectual to parents and media.

If your listeners can't understand it, they'll nod and agree -- no one will want to look stupid pointing out the Emperor's Clothes.

Habits of Highly Ineffective Principals - Hide

Do not get to know your students. If you know their names, they will talk to you and you can't have that. Create a fortress for yourself and keep everyone at bay. The constant flood of email gives you a perfect excuse.

Bonus points for forgetting the names you unfortunately did learn. Double bonus if you forget the valedictorian and student council president from last year.

Oblivious teenagers??

I was struck by the ad copy in PETA's news article announcing Hannah Teter's 'Save the Seals' Ad:

U.S. snowboarder Hannah Teter comes from a close-knit family of shredders who spend a great deal of their time doing what they love in the snow and ice. So when the Olympic gold medalist learned about the seal slaughter that takes place every year on Canada's ice floes, she posed for PETA's "Save the Seals" ad series to help spread the word.

"So when the Olympic medalist learned about ..."

Really?

She just learned about it? In 2009?

Habits of Highly Ineffective Principals - Debate

Always use the "Nightline Tactic." Whenever someone has a good idea or makes a good point, always call on someone who will disagree with it. Set up committees this way to nullify their effectiveness.

Nightline used to have someone from both sides of every debate, regardless of how stupid one side was. The effect was to take an argument that was 99-1 and make it into a 50-50 argument. What should be obvious is suddenly questionable as people start to think "well, maybe that would work." It was quite ludicrous at times. Equal time, hence equal weight, was given to the reasoned and thoughtful columnist as to the paranoid schizophrenic nutjob.

A corollary is to "always listen to both sides of an argument" since "no one has all the answers." If someone says "Let's focus on practicing basic skills," make sure someone says "We can't drill and kill. We need to teach Critical Thinking."

Habits of Highly Ineffective Principals - committee

Form committees for everything.

Include new teachers fresh out of Silly School (Teacher College) to counter any experience on the committee. When choosing from the experienced teachers, choose two who disagree with each other so they will cancel each other out.

Always Chair the committee and stay out of the discussion, ostensibly so that you can "take the measure of the school," or something.

Nod whenever the Newbie speaks so the Newbie's ideas will sound intelligent. This will encourage him to speak and make him dependent on you.

When you take the minutes, use your word-smithing skills to change the tone of the meeting to reflect what you wanted the meeting to decide. Adjourn the meeting after the Silliest idea comes up, saying, "That's good. Let's all think on this and we'll re-convene next month." Do not allow decisions to be made unless the committee compromises on the silly idea.

Always meet after school so that the cynical and experienced teachers have something else to do and can't make it. Who will make it? The Newbie who wants to prove herself and is eager to agree with you and be non-confrontational. Who can't make it? The older teachers who have kids and a life (and teaching experience and after-school tutoring commitments). That's too bad, here are the minutes.

Vick and Nike

ESPN:

Michael Vick is back with Nike more than two years after the company severed ties over the quarterback’s involvement in a dogfighting ring. The managing director of the agency that represents Vick announced the deal yesterday. Michael Principe of BEST referred questions to Vick’s agent, Joel Segal, who said: “Mike has a longstanding great relationship with Nike and he looks forward to continue in that relationship.”

Money talks.