About: Jon Konen

Jon Konen is a high school principal and freelance writer in Columbia Falls, Montana. He has been a superintendent and has taught most all grade levels K-6, and has been an instructional coach. In addition, he has been an elementary and middle principal. As a 5th grade teacher, in 2010 he won the Presidential Award for Elementary Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST). As a principal, his school won the 2012 Blue Ribbon Award. In 2018, he won the National Distinguished Principal Award (NDP). In 2019 he won the National No Kid Hungry Breakfast Hero Award. He is the author of three guides published on teacher.org: An Educator's Guide to Combat Bullying & Bully Prevention; Teacher Evaluation: A Transition Guide to Exemplary Performance; and You are the Wild Card: Infusing Fun Back into Curriculum. He has authored a children's picture book that was released January 2019 titled Benjamin’s Visit to Principal Reads Office…again! (available at www.archwaypublishing.com)

Recent Posts by Jon Konen

4 Arguments for Technology Infusion in Schools

You ever been in argument with someone about education, and what we should be or should not being doing? It’s not hard to argue against someone who believes students should be technology free in schools. We see technology in almost all jobs and every aspect of our lives. Recently, on the second day of school…
Read more

5 Trends in Professional Development We Must Think About

We know that professional development of a teaching staff is the number one strategy to increase student achievement. In fact, I believe in it so much that I devote over 1/3 of my budget on professional development. Looking at the ways in which teachers like to receive the professional development is vital.  Connecting more and…
Read more

212 Degrees of Customer Service in Education

Dr. Bill Daggett preaches, “Culture trumps strategy!” How do we get our whole school to focus on culture? Let’s take the school’s temperature…If 100 degree is warm, than 212 degrees is boiling! Customer service in education may not seem foreign to many educators, but this is what we do every day…we welcome students, parents, community…
Read more

5 Strategies to Teach Children Patience That My Dad Taught Me

Can you teach patience? I think you can! Having an amazing dad that is the epitome of patience has taught me a lot. Staff members wonder why I don’t get rattled when a kid yells, screams, or even tries to throw stuff at me when they are frustrated. It goes back to fishing on Otter…
Read more

Not 400:1, But 400 1:1s – 21 Tips to Form Strong Kid Relationships

Ratios can be valuable pieces of data, if used correctly. Math gets in our way sometimes of seeing what truly is meaningful in education. We track assessment data, individual education plans, and even formative data on how students respond in science classes.  The data we can’t track are the intangibles, like the relationships we have…
Read more

Sleep vs. ADHD: 21 Questions to Ask

As a teacher or parent have you ever sat and watched a kid buzz around like a bubble bee and wonder where that kid gets all his energy? I think about all the renewable resources our state of Montana is trying to tap: wind, solar, water, and more. How can we hook up a turbine…
Read more

The Power of Buddy Classrooms: 19 Ideas

Back to the main Bully Prevention Guide. PU#113 – Use Buddy Classes Read to me, draw with me…let's create something together! Creating a community of learners in a school can be done in many ways by students and staff. One way to quickly build relationships between students and staff is to create Buddy Classrooms. These are…
Read more

The “Double Scoop” – Student Emotions

It's at this time of year we see behaviors in students that we may not have seen since the first days of school in the fall. We wonder what has changed in the student's life to warrant these behaviors.  We have to keep the big picture in the forefront. Many times as educators we are the…
Read more

Can a Kindness Campaign Truly Change Your School?

Back to the main Bully Prevention Guide. PU#151 – Kindness Campaign After trying many things to lessen discipline referrals in our school, we had to step out and think “inside the box.” What do you focus on, the discipline of a few naughty students or the kindness of the majority of students? That question alone changed…
Read more

Recent Comments by Jon Konen

No comments by Jon Konen yet.