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

Learning How to Say No and Set Boundaries with Parents

toolbox
How to increase your “NO!” toolbox! No other time in my 23 years of education has it been harder to say “no” to people. We want to be pleasers and support our all stakeholders as much as possible, but sometimes there’s a limit to what we can do. What I have found interesting is that…
Read more

“What Advice Would You Give Your First-Year Self?”

meditating in the woods
A recent response to a post in the Facebook group, Principal’s Principles, by Andrea Cosens, an elementary principal at Normandy Elementary in Littleton, Colorado, was profound. She states, “Hold on tight to your core values, they are about to be cross-checked for references.” I was able to connect with Andrea and learn more about her…
Read more

Strategies for Keeping Toxic Positivity Out of School Culture

Group of kids in school hallway
Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling I see all these pictures and videos of educators working tirelessly to create a positive school culture. Leaders working so hard to make school happy, joyous, and positive. We can all agree that optimism and positive thinking definitely have their place when it comes time to work through challenging situations. But a…
Read more

Recent Comments by Jon Konen

No comments by Jon Konen yet.