Education

The Role of Educational Administrators in Online Learning

Online learning is becoming an increasingly viable way for students to meet their learning needs. In some cases, studying online is more cost-effective for learners. A good online program pays close attention to the administrative aspects of delivering information and assessing student needs. An educational administrator plays a large role in ensuring that students are learning and the teaching system is truly effective.

Delivering a User-Friendly Platform

The role of students is to learn and teachers are tasked with teaching. Educational administrators in online learning environments have as their roles the responsibility of ensuring that all learning obstacles are eliminated. Choosing a user-friendly platform is an important role of educational administrators. A quality administrator will become familiar with a variety of online learning tools and choose the ones that ensure ease of use and clarity of communication.

Evaluating Programs and Processes

An educational administrator who is overseeing an online learning program must regularly evaluate the educational program and the effectiveness of the process for teachers and students. Are the students learning and excelling in the program? If not, are there programmatic or process changes that can be made to make sure they can get the most out of the learning environment? It may be that the program or mode of delivery is too stale or dull, leaving students bored and uninspired. A quality administrator can do his part to introduce new components into the program to increase learner enthusiasm.

Facilitating Communication Between Students and Teachers

Another role of an educational administrator in online learning is to make sure that sufficient communication is taking place between teachers and students. An administrator sometimes needs to step in to resolve any complaints or disagreements between students and teachers. In some cases, administrators also step in to clarify the roles and responsibilities of both teachers and students. In the event of online platform malfunctions, administrators are generally responsible for resolving matters.

Filed Under: Administration, Education Tagged With: Education, Learning, Student

Classroom Management Strategies for New Teachers

Managing a classroom can be one of the most difficult challenges for new teachers. This aspect of teaching requires a great deal of practice. It’s possible for a teacher to be highly competent in his subject matter and creative in his teaching style, but not terribly skilled in managing a classroom. To effectively teach students, a teacher must first have everyone’s attention.

Doing Away with the Desire to be Liked

One of the more common challenges for new teachers is the desire to be liked by students. It’s a natural human need that is difficult to meet in educational settings. Not every student in the classroom will like the teacher. Some students have their own issues and hang-ups; they may resent authority or have emotional issues that interfere with having healthy human relationships. These types of issues can be problematic for a new teacher who is eager to please. New teachers should go into learning environments with the mission to keep the order, deliver information and draw out students’ capabilities. Whether a teacher ends up being popular with his students should not be a concern.

Establishing the Rules from Day One

The first day of school is difficult for any brand new teacher. There are only so many things that a teacher can prepare for in advance. Issues will come up that have never been encountered. Decisions will have to be made in each and every moment. One way to eliminate classroom disorder is to clarify the rules and express them on day one. Behavioral expectations in the classroom should be explained verbally and posted in writing. For example, small children should know where to line up for lunch and where to place their belongings as soon as they enter the class. Explaining these expectations at the outset will eliminate the need to voice the instructions repeatedly or to reprimand students.

Filed Under: Administration, Teachers Tagged With: Classroom, Education, Teacher

My How Schools Have Changed

School systems have changed dramatically over the passed 15 years. The school landscape in many communities is similar to a detention center instead of a learning institution. School violence is increasing and many school systems struggle with the challenge of providing a safe environment while providing an environment that is conducive to learning. This challenge has significantly changed the landscape of many public schools.

Administrative responsibilities of schools have become complex and costly. School administrators have become burdened with dealing with violent youths that most are ill equipped to handle. Educators are trained to teach and many are finding they lack the knowledge and skill required to address violent behavior. Unfortunately, this has led to significant changes in the school system.

Many schools have instituted security programs that are likened to a detention center. Schools across the country have added metal detectors, locker searches, security guards and some have hired drug-sniffing canines. Many schools lock down the school during lunch periods to circumvent children from leaving the campus. Numerous schools have added closed-circuit televisions and student identification cards. Schools that struggle with a diminishing budget have asked parents to volunteer to monitor school hallways, playgrounds and lunchrooms.

While schools and communities struggle to find viable and effective solutions, many schools look like a place where children are punished and serving time instead of obtaining an education. As the violence increases, additional strict measures will be put in place. Attending school today is vastly different than it was just 15 years ago.

It is difficult to imagine how the school landscape will change in the next 15 years. Many schools have failed to maintain proper education levels and now must contend with providing proper security and safety. Finding the balance of providing safety and a good education is a difficult challenge.

Filed Under: School Violence, Students Tagged With: Education, School district, State school, United States

The Changing Role of School Boards and School Administrators

School boards and school administrators were once only responsible for providing sound educational curriculum, school nutrition and student activities. The school environment has changed dramatically as violence among youths is skyrocketing. School administrators now have to contend with developing methods to provide a safe school environment. This challenge has changed the role of school administrators significantly. Many educators and administrators have had to obtain additional education to handle the violence in schools and violent youths. Many schools have chosen to involve law enforcement officials to help establish and implement new school programs to gain control over school violence.

Instituting and managing programs to circumvent school violence are complex and time consuming. Many schools struggle to provide an education with dwindling school funds. The cost of security and safety programs has caused many school administrators to sacrifice school activities in favor of safety. Administrators are challenged with finding the balance between protecting children from bullies while also finding ways to help the offender. Many schools have instituted a policy of immediate expulsion for any child that commits a violent act in school. This has led to an additional controversy school officials are forced to address.

If a child is expelled from school, where will the child receive and education? School administrators must contend with complex issues involving school violence and this takes its toll on the entire education system. Violence among children continues to escalate and this has left many schools to struggle on minimum budgets to find cost effective solutions.

School administrators have a daunting and difficult role that has grown in complexity. Schools have turned to parents and the community for support and solutions to develop measures to end school violence. Maintaining educational standards and providing a safe school system will continue to be a challenge for schools across the country. The role of school administrators will continue to change as they struggle to tackle this growing problem.

Filed Under: Administration, School Violence, Students Tagged With: Board of education, Education, Violence

School Violence

The reasons behind school violence are plentiful, but most can be narrowed down to a foundation of feeling disrespected by teachers, peers, and school officials. Fights over gang territory, for example, can often be traced to one gang disrespecting another gang’s perceived territory. Disagreements between students can stem from a disrespect of property, ideas, or beliefs. Even the Columbine massacre can be traced to the boys’ perceptions that students and teachers did not respect them as individuals. Therefore, if disrespect is the core reason for many violent actions, it is important to teach students how to respect one another. Teaching Respect Respect may feel like a difficult concept to teach, but the basics can reach children as young as two years old. Most children of this age are taught to respect each other’s property, show respect to elders, and to avoid physically harming each other. Given the basics were learned at an early age, it is easy to re-instill ideas of respect in older children: Remind them of the golden rule. If basics were not addressed in the formative years, it may be more difficult to teach children to show respect. The basic idea that respecting another human means that you acknowledge their ability to be hurt or upset can be more difficult to convey to children at a later age. However, children may respond to the idea that you might not agree with a person but can accept that a person has feelings, even if they think differently. Leading by Example The other important way to teach respect is to show respect. As teachers, it is important to respect every student, teacher, and administrator who may cross your path. By showing respect, a teacher leads students to repect others through example. Even though respect is a difficult concept for may students to grasp, respect is the key to decreasing school violence. Teaching young children about respect makes the concept easier, but older children can also learn.

Filed Under: School Violence, Students Tagged With: Education, School violence, Student, Teacher, Violence

Principal Duties

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When most of the adults today were in grade school, it was a different world. Grade school teachers could discipline the students as they saw fit. This included a smack in the head, a ruler across the knuckles, and most of us are not sure what happened when someone was sent to the principal. Corporal punishment is no longer allowed in schools. As with anything, it very easily got out of hand and sometimes punishments bordered on abuse. The role of administration was to reinforce what the teachers did or said. There were very few student rights and for the most part we kept our mouths shut. Lucky for students today, this is no longer the case. There are now very specific guidelines on the disciplinary actions taken towards students.

Obviously, the role of the school administrators has changed dramatically. Not only are they responsible for the actions of the students, they are also directly responsible for the actions of their teachers. The screening process for teachers today is much more rigorous, and the administration has a huge job. What is the right thing to do? What are the right questions to ask? What do I do if there is an incident? These are all questions school principals ask themselves on a daily basis.

Now there is principalconnections.org. This site can answer the tough questions. It is very easy to navigate to different places for professional answers to their questions. In these days where school violence has gotten out of control, principals and administrators have a daunting responsibility to students and parents, as well as their teachers. Help is here, the research has been done, the law is noted. Every principal has a responsibility to protect the students, and at the same time, to trust in his or her faculty and protect their rights as well. They are striving every day for a safe and educational experience for everyone in the school.

Filed Under: Administration Tagged With: Education, Educators, Elementary school, Head teacher, K through 12, Middle school, Student, Teacher

The Wide Range of School Administration Topics

School administrators confront a number of different responsibilities in their jobs. Few careers present such a wide range of challenges. An administrator must be a surrogate parent, a support team member, an executive, a statistician, a disciplinarian and an educator all at the same time!

School administration topics start at the front door. Administrators often become the public “face” of their schools. They generally handle media contact and community outreach efforts. When parents have complaints, questions or issues, they talk to administrators.

Most administrators also provide administrative support and related assistance to their schools’ educators. When teachers need a helping hand, an interpretation of policy or almost anything else, their first stop is usually at an administrator’s office!

These days, one of the most important school administration topics involves the collection and delivery of legally required data to students all over the globe. Laws like the so-called “No Child Left Behind Act” have created a substantial documentation burden because schools and administrators are responsible for a great deal of the paperwork for hundreds of thousands of children each year. Administrators have additional documentation burdens, too. If you hate paperwork, you should probably avoid a career in school administration as you will be facing lots of it!

School administrators rarely have predictable days. The wide range of job responsibilities and the always unpredictable character of schools make it hard to know what one’s day will bring. School administration is a challenging profession. The nature of that challenge is one reason why administrators do tend to make more money than rank and file teachers.

Anyone interested in a career in school administration will probably want to have experience as an educator. He or she will also need an appropriate educational background. School administrators generally have advanced degrees. An informative website like onlineeducation.com can provide you with a clearer idea of what’s required to earn a masters or doctoral degree in Education.

Filed Under: Administration, Students Tagged With: Administration, Education, No Child Left Behind Act

Violence Cannot Be Tolerated

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School violence used to imply that Johnny hit Joey on the playground. Slapping fights were regular occurrences at schools throughout the country, and the occasional black eye was not unheard of. The principal would pull the kids apart and give each one of them a detention or a punishment of cleaning the blackboards at the end of the day, or no recess for a week. Mom was rarely called, and usually only when a student talked back to a teacher or the principal.

Fast forward 30 years and school violence has become a major epidemic in our country. Students in elementary schools are bringing weapons to school, using school supplies as weapons, or just beating each other until ambulances have to be called. Weekly, sometimes daily we are hearing of violence erupting in our schools on the news. Angry children are taking out that anger on other students. Bullying is at an all time high and is not about to disappear. The so-called Latch Key Kids have no supervision after school, so it is nothing for them to hang around and start something on school grounds. Gangs are recruiting members as young as fifth grade, and teaching them the violence necessary in order to be “part of the family.”

The principals and administrators of our schools have a very important job. Keeping our schools safe for our children has become a full time job. The administration of the school is ultimately responsible for making sure that violence stays out of our school. At principalconnections.org our principals and administrators can get much needed help on the issue of school violence. Principals can get a clear view on exactly what the law is, and what the responsibility of the administration is. They can learn what discipline they are allowed to enforce and what to do when that does not work. We all know today’s administration can use all the help they can get.

Filed Under: School Violence Tagged With: Education, Elementary school, Head teacher, School, School violence, Student, Violence, Violence and Abuse

A Principal Role

: Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The principal in a school plays a very important part in our child’s education. Just as important as reading and writing is in school, so is maintaining order and keeping the place our children go to learn a safe and happy learning environment. To that end, the role of our administrators has changed drastically over the years. Gone are the days of corporal punishment, which I think we all would agree is not a terrible thing. No longer can the principal literally take discipline into their own hands, using switches or paddles as they see fit. However, in recent years there has been an epidemic of violence in our schools, and the responsibilities of our administrative staff has never been so important.

The principals and administrators in a school now have an even more difficult path to follow. The disciplinary acts that can be carried out have changed so much that it is difficult for our administrative staff to know exactly what they can do in a certain situation, and how to effect the best possible outcome. It is all black and white, there must be proof of a violent act. If the student with the black eye won’t say who gave it to them, what is the principal to do? To help principals and administrators in this regard there is principalconnections.org. This is a “go-to” site for school principals and administration. It can effectively tell a principal what the roles of administration are, their main responsibilities, how disciplinary acts have changes in the education system and the best way to go about handing a particular situation.

We all know that bullying and school violence are not going to change anytime soon. It is an age old problem, and one that is not going anywhere. However, with effective administration, principals who care and really want to provide a safe, violence free environment for our youth, there is help.

Filed Under: Administration Tagged With: Administration, Corporal punishment, Education, Head teacher, K through 12, School violence, Violence, Violence and Abuse

Class For Prinicpals

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Teachers use the computer all day long. Some even teach how to use the computer all day long. Computers and the Internet have become an integral part of the learning experience. The role of the teacher is well defined and every teacher knows exactly what is expected of them. That line becomes quite blurred in the department of discipline. What is the teacher’s role in the discipline? When is it necessary to take the next step? When does administration get involved? When the principal has to get involved, what exactly should they do?

Discipline in the school has changed drastically over the years, especially in the education system. Teachers and administration are not free to enforce the rules any way they please. There are proper channels to be followed. Everything has to be documented and offenses have to warrant the course of action. School violence is at a high these days, so the protection of the students is of the highest priority. The main responsibilities of the principals differ from infraction to infraction. All principals are striving for a safe environment and the best learning environment for our children.

Principals and administration can find help at principalconnections.org. Principals have to walk a fine line, making sure not to violate student rights, however using the proper discipline for the incident. At principalconnections.org school administrators can find ways to keep their schools safer, from classroom monitoring, to the proper way to enforce the discipline to keep the walls of their school safe for everyone. Here they can define the roles of administration, their main responsibilities and how disciplinary acts have changed in the education system. There are CD-ROM programs as well as on site advice and tips on the ways to go about making sure violence in their school is kept to a minimum and safety is the most important word of the day.

Filed Under: Students, Teachers Tagged With: Board of education, Education, Educators, Head teacher, K through 12, Puerto Rico, School district, Teacher