The Teacher & The Admin: Making Schools Better For Kids - Softcover

Felicello, Kris; Armida, Gary

Softcover

ISBN 10: 173405140X ISBN 13: 9781734051407

Publisher: EduGladiators LLC, 2019

Synopsis

Today’s kids are simply amazing. They are succeeding despite a myriad of challenges faced every day. Schools are racing to not only meet their needs, but to evolve to give kids what they truly deserve: a more meaningful education. The only way the education system can transform is to work together. Teachers and Administrators must work in a partnership to make lasting changes to a system that has historically been slow to evolve. The Teacher (Gary Armida) and the Admin (Dr. Kris Felicello) not only discuss the importance of this partnership, but give practical advice on how to build trust, work together, and make those important changes. Issues such as parent involvement, giving students a voice, professional development, homework and grading reform, taking instructional risks, and mindfulness can only be improved if teachers and administrators work together. Gary and Kris give the blueprint to make this work and to make schools better for kids.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"The Teacher and the Admin", written by Gary Armida and Kris Felicello, reminds us how we can make schools better for kids when teachers and administration work together. The authors identify specific challenges facing schools today, offer practical strategies from each perspective, and provide insight how teachers and administration can be better for one another. Filled with reflections from educators in the field, this book will be a big hit with all educators!

Jimmy Casas, Educator, Author, Speaker, Leadership Coach

~

The Teacher & The Admin is a book that NEEDED to be written. Felicello & Armida hit on topics that all educators need to hear. Education will not work unless the teacher and the admin understand ones intentions, direction and responsibility. This book makes those three standards oh so clear for all ears. A must read for all education staff members.

Joe "Mr. D" Dombrowski, Elementary Educator, Speaker & Advocate

From the Inside Flap

Typically, when we talk about how to provide students with a "better" education than they are getting in today's schools, the conversation centers around improving academics, raising test scores, more advanced placement courses, and increasingly competitive college acceptances. We don't usually hear educators and school leaders within the system encouraging innovation and instructional risk taking. In their inspiring book, The Teacher and the Admin: Making Schools Better for Kids, Gary Armida (the teacher) and Kris Felicello (the admin), invite us to challenge the status quo when it comes to improving schools for students. Drawing upon their personal and professional experiences as teachers, administrators, parents, and learners, they offer practical suggestions for building better relationships among students and educators, making parents feel more welcome in their children's schools, and giving students more choice and voice in growing their talents and interests. Armida and Felicello's self-reflective and authentic stories reveal how much each genuinely cares about creating and sustaining educational environments where critical thinkers, creative problem solvers, and lifelong learners thrive. Not professing to be experts in education reform, this teacher and this admin, through humility and insight, emphasize the importance of following basic human-centered practices that mindfully build trust, respect, kindness, collaboration, and communication among all the stakeholders in education. In so doing, they give readers hope that if we value students, parents, and colleagues as human beings, and treat them with empathy, kindness and compassion, we will produce members of our society who are prepared to take on the challenges that none of us can yet foresee.

Ellen Feig Gray, Parent Educator and Coach, Founder of Parent with Perspective,

and co-author of Hacking School Culture: Designing Compassionate Classrooms

~

Throw a rock, and it will land on a new education book that promises solutions to our greatest problems in education. There are many self-professed experts out there and quite a few whose research has earned them that distinction. This book is different, and it's different because Kris and Gary are different. I've had the privilege of working and learning and problem solving beside them often in recent years, and their willingness to reflect and practice humility with great intention not only inspired me--it helped everyone move forward. Read this book not for the direction it provides, but for the wisdom you will gain simply by hearing Gary and Kris's stories. They're experienced practitioners whose work has made them increasingly human.

Angela Stockman

Author, Teacher, Professional Learning Service Provider

~

What does it take to make schools a better place for kids? Teacher Gary Armida and Assistant Superintendent Kris Felicello provide key takeaways from their years of experience in education. By uniquely including the voice of the teacher and an administrator plus "Voices From The Field" this book provides deeper insight into the world of education and is a great resource for everyone who is interested in making schools a better place for kids.

-- Denise Murai, Parent & Community Liaison at Hahaione Elementary, Honolulu, HI

HundrED Ambassador,

(link: HundrED.org)

HundrED.org

~

The Teacher And The Admin beautifully tackles multiple ways schools and districts can move forward with all stakeholders working hand-in-hand. The topics, to which any educator could relate, appropriately include: parent involvement, student voice, professional learning, and more. Practical tips and action steps are provided throughout, and the many revealing stories resonate with me on so many levels. Most uniquely, to feature multiple perspectives, each chapter contains a section written by The Teacher and a section written by The Admin. Highly recommended!

Ross Cooper

Elementary Assistant Principal, Chappaqua Central School District

Author of Hacking Project Based Learning

~

Kris and Gary have created a book that shares the variety of views between teachers and administrators to create a truly awesome learning community. The book will surely help all stakeholders gain needed insight and perspective about building better school communities.

Starr Sackstein, author and educational consultant

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Finally!! A collaboration of 'voice' and 'forward looking ideas' from a teacher and an administrator. This book should be required reading for anyone looking to make their school better for kids. Smart, witty, and relatable.

Kleo Girandola-Supervisor Mathematics & Data Driven Instruction at Rockland BOCES

~

Gary and Kris continue to write real, relevant, vulnerable pieces that open up the importance of leading with vulnerability while helping us all to see how the power in working together for students. Their open, honest stories resonate with all educators. This book is an excellent way to share perspective on current topics we are working through in education. From homework, grading, and feedback to valuing the voices of students and staff and more, the real examples and human side of leadership truly comes through. As a coordinator of professional learning the topics in this book will help guide my conversations with teachers and leaders as we learn and grow together this year.

Katie Macfarlene Director of Professional Development Co-founder @edcampFLX @EdCamp_URWarner #CoffeeEDUROC.

~

Thought provoking and eye opening perspectives on the fundamental components of our beloved profession from both a teacher and admin's view! Kris and Gary drives their points home by sharing personal experiences on topics we educators deal with on a daily basis. The lesson the Teacher and the Admin teaches us is that while instructional paradigms are ever changing, one thing remains consistent to always put #kidsfirst!

Elaine Alden, Ed.D.

Instructional Mathematics Coach

Benjamin Franklin ES

~

If you work with children you must read what The Teacher and The Admin have to share. Their stories are real and their advice is practical. The teacher and the admin inspire educators to be better, think differently, and, most importantly, put kids first. Their drive and passion is effortless!

Laura Sweeney

Assistant Principal, Stony Point Elementary School

Edition details

• Publisher: EduGladiators LLC
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 173405140X
• ISBN 13: 9781734051407
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 222