C4T #3 Summary

Pricipal Bernia's blog, The Principal's Principles

"A Middle School Principal, striving to make the world a better place, one day at a time."

John Bernia is extremely engaged in his school and regularly participates in school wide projects and events. I know this because of his blog posts which all have an important topic.
The first post I came across was his most recent one titled, "Attendance Matters." In this post he gives the reader three questions concerning the teacher's relationship to and influence on the students' attendance, and of course, the effects on their work. We may think that a child attending school is a pretty simple matter, but if/when it does get out of control it can have vast negative effects on their academic success. Teachers definitely play a role in whether their student's attend school. I believe along with Bernia that they also have the duty to intervene and help the students when they notice a problem with their attendance. Showing up to class is "literally the first step toward success."
Another post I found to comment on is titled, "Compliance or Creativity?" Take a minute to consider these two things: a culture run by mandates, strict rules and timelines, a clear chain of command with authority, and everyone saying, "mine;" or a culture with flexible mandates, rules and timelines, collaborative leadership, trust, and people saying, "ours." Which type of culture would you like to see in your (future) school? I think this question is what Bernia wants his readers to ask themselves because leadership will affect the school's culture and environment for the students and teachers. Principal Bernia is a very insightful man and I think we could all learn a lot from his posts.