Blog Watch

A Principal's Reflections

David Snyder

What does a great administrator blog look like? One candidate is A Principal's Reflections, the blog of Eric Sheninger, principal at New Milford High School in Bergen County, N.J. His blog was chosen as "Best School Administrator Blog" in the 2011 Edublog Awards. Sheninger was also an ASCD 2011 Conference Scholar.

One aspect of Sheninger's blog that quickly stands out is its scope and broad worldview. Although some blogs may seem insular, he makes a point of regularly linking to stories involving other schools and inviting discussion on how the issues raised relate to the local community. One recent post shared a letter by a friend's daughter, who is in the New York City school system, regarding the effect of increased standardized testing on students. He isn't shy about his opinion on the subject—"Is this the direction that educational reform should be headed in? As a parent of two young children my response is a resounding NO!"—and engages with many commenters on how the issue affects their schools.

Another post concerns the growing practice of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) learning, through a guest post by a district technology director who had observed BYOD in New Milford. He shares, "I was most impressed at Eric's reflection that he was once part of the problem, banning devices from his school rather than embracing the use of the technology. That has changed and Eric trusts his students to interact responsibly with media and communication tools."

A Principal's Reflections is a worthy read for all educators—whether or not you work in New Milford—and it's clear from even a brief perusal of the blog why it's award-winning. Sheninger clearly has his finger on the pulse of educational innovations and uses his blog not simply to note them, but to show them in practice.

David Snyder is a reference librarian in ASCD's Information Resource Center.

ASCD Express, Vol. 7, No. 15. Copyright 2012 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Visit www.ascd.org/ascdexpress.