Educational Leadership - September 2011

I’m also initiating four Breakfast with Tom sessions during the year for our parents. There’s no agenda for a Breakfast with Tom. I’ll provide the pastries and ask parents to bring their questions and comments. The conversation will go wherever they steer it. The low-key nature of these meetings will mean that parents won’t have to wait until an issue is significant to raise it with me. (I’ve held these breakfasts for our staff on inservice mornings, and the interactions are always productive.)

Each week, I send an e-letter to all families. Of course, the e-letters elicit e-mails. To work against that tide, on a monthly basis I’m going to remind parents that I’m always available to meet if they have questions or concerns. My hope is that these face-to-face meetings

My keystrokes often substitute for my presence.
That’s not good! My resolution is to get away from
the screen and to make the human connection.

will cut down on the need for extended e-mail conversations.

I’m employing small tricks to reduce the e-mail flow, such as putting succinct messages followed by EOM (End of Message) in the e-mail subject line only, rather than typing a message in the body of the e-mail. This saves me time typing and the reader time reading. I also resolve to not respond to every e-mail and to discourage others from hitting reply to all when it’s not necessary.

Most of all, my resolution is to get
away from the screen and to make the
human connection. I’m going to walk a
floor of the school each day, stopping in
classrooms and chatting. I’ll work to be
more than just a screen name.

Enhancing Teacher Effectiveness = Improving Student Learning

The 2011 ASCD Conference on Teaching and Learning

October 28–30, 2011 * LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

Virtually every study that has examined the role of the classroom teacher in the process of educating students has come to the same conclusion: An effective teacher enhances student learning more than any other aspect of schooling that can be controlled by the school.

REGISTER TODAY

Whether you’re responsible for a single classroom, a school, or an entire
system, come to this conference and choose from over 90 sessions on
Visit the ASCD Online Store
at shop.ascd.org and click
on Conferences.

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