ABSTRACT

Learn how you can work more effectively with your staff to improve your school. In this unique book, Jeffrey Zoul and Spiri Diamantis Howard reveal how a powerful tool, “Friday Focus” emails or newsletters, can help school principals communicate more proactively and consistently with their teachers while improving instruction and morale.

The chapters cover 37 “Friday Focus” memos, which are organized around the school year and which cover topics such as student behavior, teacher observations, parent-teacher conferences, and more. This updated second edition offers suggestions for additional areas including artificial intelligence and equity, hope, microlearning, universal design for learning, engaging the families of ELLs, online relationship building, and gamification.

Whether you’re a new or veteran school leader, these inspiring messages will help you work alongside your staff as change agents for school improvement.

part 1|35 pages

The First Quarter

chapter 1|4 pages

Opening Day

chapter 2|3 pages

What Makes a Good Teacher?

chapter 3|4 pages

Effort-Based Ability

chapter 4|4 pages

The Dreaded Homework Dilemma

chapter 5|3 pages

The Impact of a Teacher

chapter 6|4 pages

Effective Listening

chapter 7|4 pages

Bullying Prevention

chapter 8|4 pages

Hope Is the New Grit

chapter 9|3 pages

Questions, Questions, Questions

part 2|47 pages

The Second Quarter

chapter 10|5 pages

Parent-Teacher Conferences

chapter 11|4 pages

Student-Led Conferences

chapter 12|5 pages

Teacher Observations

chapter 14|4 pages

Teaching

Art or Science?

chapter 15|3 pages

Giving Thanks

chapter 16|5 pages

In the Middle

chapter 17|5 pages

Microlearning

Why Small is the New Big

chapter 18|4 pages

The Big Rocks

chapter 19|3 pages

God Bless Us, Every One!

part 3|48 pages

The Third Quarter

chapter 20|5 pages

Managing the Classroom

chapter 21|4 pages

Strategies for English Language Learners

chapter 22|4 pages

Working with Students with Special Needs

chapter 23|5 pages

More Classroom Management

chapter 24|3 pages

Responding to Learners

chapter 25|5 pages

Striving for Great

chapter 26|5 pages

Universal Design for Learning

chapter 27|5 pages

Differentiation

Inconvenient but Inescapable

chapter 28|5 pages

Test Time

chapter 29|5 pages

Gamification

part 4|40 pages

The Fourth Quarter

chapter 30|6 pages

Professional Learning Communities

chapter 31|2 pages

Choosing Positive

chapter 32|4 pages

Extraordinary Teachers

chapter 33|4 pages

Making the Connection

chapter 34|6 pages

Dissolving the Screen

Online Relationship Building

chapter 35|4 pages

Teaching People, Not Content

chapter 36|6 pages

Artificial Intelligence and Equity

chapter 37|4 pages

A Culture of Success

chapter |2 pages

Overtime!