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Olayinka Alege School Management System Offers Useful Features For Small Schools

There are many similarities between large and small schools when it comes to staff and students. Both sizes of schools have their wide range of students to educate, and they both have a diverse group of parents to communicate with. Hopefully both sizes of schools also have dedicated teachers and administrators that love their jobs and do their best to meet the needs of all their stakeholders. Implementing an online school management system is something that can help any school keep track of student data, take attendance, input grades and send out report cards, and keep track of other vital information and statistics.

Many of the management systems that are available are not tailored for the smaller schools. They are rich with features that many larger schools want because they have technology staff members that are in charge of the program. With smaller schools, it is mainly the teachers and administrators that are involved with implementing the school management system, so they want something simple and easy to use. There are some programs on the market that can be customized to meet the needs of these smaller schools. Smaller schools need systems that are fast to implement and easy to use. Schools that do not have big budgets will also appreciate school administration systems that provide the essential features to run a school with a sensible cost.

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One of the best features that a school management system could offer to a smaller school is the online grade book feature. This allows teachers to input grades directly into the computer. The computer will then calculate final grades and let teachers know which students are missing assignments. It also gives teachers a chance to analyze various assignments to look for trends in how students performed. Most online grade books will also give parents access to see the grades that their children are earning throughout the school year. This opens up a great line of communication between home and school.

Another great feature is having student information in the student management system. This would include things like special needs, test scores, contact information and grades and scores from previous years. In the past, if teachers wanted to access that information, they had to dig out the folder for the student and dig through stacks of paper. With the online version, they can quickly look up data on their new students. This helps teachers prepare much more effectively to meet the needs of their students.

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Olayinka Alege School Administrators - Differentiate Learning For Students and Teachers

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Olayinka Alege School Administrators - Differentiate Learning For Students and Teachers - Tripoto

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Olayinka Alege School Administrators - Differentiate Learning For Students and Teachers

The differentiation of instruction is necessary for the success of all students. Districts provide countless professional development workshops on the topic. Schools across the country discuss best practices to meet the diverse needs of their student population. Teacher evaluations include feedback regarding the use of differentiated strategies to reach students with diverse learning styles and abilities.

Time and time again, research has shown that when you differentiate the learning process, you reach more students. There is no argument about this issue. A teacher's job is to assess individual student needs and apply appropriate instructional strategies. All students do not learn the same way.

Adults learn in different ways

Adults benefit from different learning approaches. Teachers do not grasp concepts in one way or at the same rate. Why do many administrators insist on delivering, sharing, and providing new information in one format?

Administrators have forgotten about the principles of adult learning. Teachers may not learn the exact way a child learns but the learning process must be as varied as it is for students. All learners, regardless of age, do not learn in a uniform way. Plain and simple: it is time for administrators to "practice what they preach" and "model what they teach."

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When collaborating with teachers, administrators should apply the same differentiation principles and diverse strategies that are applied to students. Principals need to develop strategies that will address the individual learning needs of their teachers.

Support individual teacher growth

Use the following strategies to meet the unique needs of teachers at your school.

Individual Learning Plan - In addition to the district evaluation process, ask teachers to create individual growth plans. Stress that the plan is not part of the evaluation process. The level of trust at your site will determine how the plan is shared. If the school is large, the process may occur in departments. Whatever the forum, give staff the opportunity to determine areas of improvement and the support needed to achieve their goals.

Personalization - Find ways to link school goals and objectives to personal goals and objectives. Establish relationships between work and individual interests. Share personal stories as they relate to education. Discover common interests and find ways to connect individual life to school culture.

Strengths - All people work best when their strengths play a role in a new learning process. Do you know the strengths of your teachers? Create a list and jot down at least two areas of strength for each teacher. Think about ways to capitalize on these strengths and create work teams that will complement the strengths of others.

Preview, Review, and Summarize - Everyone does not process information the same way. When new information and materials are presented in various venues, the message will reach more individuals. Present information to teachers in different formats. Interpret and share relevant information as early as possible and give individuals the opportunity to absorb the content. Summarize large projects and "chunk" the information into manageable units of work.

Scaffolding - Link and connect pieces of work. Do not take for granted that everyone sees or understands the connection between different stages of work. Share what different products mean to each other. When a task is completed, visually and verbally explain how the outcome relates to the next objective.

Intervention - If a teacher requires special attention, find ways to provide assistance. The support may include class visits, outside resources, etc. If you personally cannot commit to the responsibility, assign an administrator or a mentor to help. A teacher in need of assistance should not be denied the opportunity to improve their skills.

Extended Support - Always be an accessible manager. Post office hours and times you are available to meet and the guidelines of your open door policy.

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Olayinka Alege | Towards a Better School Administration - Tripoto

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Olayinka Alege | What Does Empowerment Really Mean to School Administrators?

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Olayinka Alege | What Does Empowerment Really Mean to School Administrators?

Empowerment, at least from a teacher's aspect allows for a teacher to be fearless in the growth and refining process of achieving the goals of the shared vision of the school. This writer believes empowerment and buzzword are both relative terms. For instance, during the civil rights movement African Americans were empowered through central leadership (Malcolm X, M.L. King Jr.) to stand up for certain unalienable rights. What if there were some African Americans that did not think those rights mattered, or what about the white majority that was causing these oppressions, were either of those two empowered? Just say no, was a term coined in the 1980's when crack cocaine was becoming more prevalent. This buzz phrase was easier said than done. We don't hear just say no anymore, however, the message lives on. We hear, that's not cool, crack kills, this is your brain on crack, never-the-less the message remains constant.

Having said all of that, this writer takes the stance that to those who:

o Allow staff to have continuous, meaningful input in the decision making process.

o Purpose to give staff authentic ownership.

o Help staff make connections from the big vision to their own individual daily tasks. Empowerment is not a buzzword it is a strategy. To those who play the appearance game empowerment is a buzzword. Unfortunately, their success as a leader is probably a buzzword as well.

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Managers often involve other people in various ways in making decisions, but leaders go beyond that. Leaders are able to create and communicate a vision that inspires followers. This sentence sums up the moral and ethical considerations any leader will face. A soft theory X type leader will not be comfortable creating a vision that is shared and definitely will not see the need to do the work to motivate people to believe in its principles. Instead she/he will use guile and Machiavellian subterfuge in their styles to get people to think they have their best interest in mind.

The soft X leader probably doesn't even think he/she is compromising any ethics or morals as their initial premise is not built upon trust or acceptance. They are more directive and authoritative in nature, thus their thoughts and decisions would be more corralled and final. It is possible the soft X actually thinks a good deed is being done by listening to make people think they matter at all.

Newton Miller II has spent 40 years in urban settings and understands that the culture of the community drives the culture and climate in its schools. One must consider that research states schools with high-poverty and high-minority enrollments are taught by a disproportionate number of under qualified teachers, which adversely affects learning outcomes. It has been this writer's observation that teachers in these districts spend less time developing reasoning skills and are more apt to rely on worksheets as the primary pedagogical approach. Students who have internalized a pervasive sense of helplessness and hopelessness and who also see no connection between their education and economic mobility remain disengaged in school and mark time until they are eligible to drop out.

Olayinka‌ ‌(Yinka)‌ ‌Alege‌ ‌has‌ ‌strong‌ ‌leadership,‌ ‌is‌ ‌decisive‌ ‌and‌ ‌results-oriented,‌ ‌as‌ ‌well ‌‌as‌ ‌family-oriented‌ ‌at‌ ‌work‌ ‌and‌ ‌at‌ ‌home,‌ ‌with‌ ‌a‌ ‌proven‌ ‌track‌ ‌record‌ ‌of‌ ‌improving‌ ‌student‌ ‌learning.‌ ‌In‌ ‌his‌ ‌thesis,‌ ‌I‌discussed‌ ‌the‌ ‌approach‌ ‌of‌ ‌“principal‌ ‌coaching”‌ ‌as‌ ‌a‌ ‌replacement‌ ‌for‌ ‌“principal‌ ‌supervision”.‌ ‌ School‌ ‌violence‌ ‌is‌ ‌something‌ ‌that‌ ‌we‌ ‌all‌ ‌might‌ ‌have‌ ‌seen‌ ‌in‌ ‌our‌ ‌childhood,‌ ‌but‌ ‌nobody‌ ‌had‌ ‌the‌ ‌guts‌ ‌to‌ talk‌ ‌about‌ ‌it.‌ ‌Some‌ ‌school‌ ‌staff‌...

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Olayinka Alege | School Administrators - Differentiate Learning For Students and Teachers