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

What Teaching Was Like During the Pandemic: Three Teachers on 2020-21

hiker standing on a suspension footbridge with arms outstretched below snow-capped mountains
Teaching during the pandemic meant improvising with almost no notice. Three teachers describe last-minute policy changes, classes taught to muted black squares, and public goodwill that evaporated by fall. They also found gains worth keeping: flexible scheduling helped some students, and masking cut the sick days teachers had long accepted. [xyz_feat_school] Teaching was one of…
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Top 10 Pieces of Advice for Graduating Seniors: A Speech

Graduating seniors in blue caps and gowns toss their caps at an outdoor commencement in a mountain valley
The 10 pieces of advice for graduating seniors in this commencement speech are: own your actions, show compassion, take risks, make connections, be alone sometimes, be reflective, make strong friendships, love your family, make your own decisions, and be thankful. The full speech and the countdown template behind it follow. [xyz_feat_school] Giving a graduation speech…
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Moving to a New State as a Teacher: 8 Questions to Ask First

a group of hands making a heart shape with the sky in the background.
Moving to a new state as a teacher comes down to eight honest questions: distance from family, your real reason for going, lifestyle fit, what you're trading for the paycheck, what you know about the school, retirement and license reciprocity, real cost of living, and what your gut says. Answer those before you sign a…
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11 Strategies Teachers Can Use to Deal With Difficult Adults

Teacher sitting on her desk in a faculty room full of other teachers
Dealing with difficult people as a teacher, whether it's a colleague, a parent, or an administrator, comes down to a few repeatable moves: stay out of the argument, limit your exposure, redirect the conversation, and name the behavior honestly. None of these require the other person to change. They only require you to control what…
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Teacher Self-Care: 5 Strategies to Recoup and Avoid Burnout

Teacher rubbing his eyes at a classroom desk, glasses in hand, chalkboard of math and science diagrams behind him
Teacher self-care means protecting your own time, energy, and relationships with the same seriousness you protect a student's IEP meeting. It isn't a spa day. RAND's 2026 survey found 55% of K-12 teachers report frequent job-related stress against 34% of comparable working adults, so the depletion is real and it compounds. [xyz_feat_school] Picture a classroom…
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Is Remote Learning Here to Stay in Public Schools?

student wearing headphones taking notes during a video call with a teacher
Is remote learning here to stay in public education? Yes, though as an option rather than the default. Virtual public school enrollment has held steady or grown in states like Georgia, Texas, and Michigan through the mid-2020s. Many districts continue to offer some form of remote learning years after the pandemic emergency that started it.…
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Dealing With Difficult Students: 9 Reasons to Give “That” Kid Attention

Elementary student sitting alone on school steps with his head down on his knees
Dealing with difficult students starts with reading the behavior instead of removing the child. Persistent behavior can have many contributing factors, so look for patterns and individual needs rather than assuming a cause. Building the relationship, modeling missing skills, and sharing the load with colleagues keeps that student in class. [xyz_feat_school] You know that one…
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8 Reasons Why Blogging Can Support Your Growth as an Educator

person in a sun hat writing in a notebook beneath a pine tree overlooking hills at sunset
The benefits of blogging for teachers show up in three places: your own writing gets better, your reflection gets sharper, and your students see an adult who revises instead of quitting. You don't need a platform or an audience to start. A paragraph a day, three times a week, is enough. [xyz_feat_school] "You don't start…
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Teaching in Montana: 10 Reasons to Move and What Licensure Takes

Sunset over a turquoise alpine lake ringed by snow-patched mountains in Glacier National Park, Montana
Teaching in Montana means small districts, long distances, and a licensure process you apply for directly. The Office of Public Instruction doesn't automatically transfer another state's license, but it does evaluate your out-of-state credentials toward Montana licensure. Pay runs below national medians, and projected employment is flat through 2034. [xyz_feat_school] Why not promote my state?…
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Unfunded Mandates in Education: The Zugzwang Zigzag

Chess board mid-game with the words Zugzwang Zigzag overlaid above it and a fire burning behind
An unfunded mandate in education is a law or regulation requiring schools to provide a program or service without the money to pay for it. Special education is the most-cited case of an underfunded federal mandate. IDEA set a maximum federal contribution of 40% of the national average per-pupil spending, and the actual share is…
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