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

Expand Your Tool Box: 5 Behavioral Strategies to Try Out Next Year

Some of us have new tool boxes with just a few of the latest tools, some of us have large tool boxes that include everything we’ve collected over the years, but in either case, we should all be expanding our tool boxes with both new and old tools with proven results for different situations. This…
Read more

4 Strategies to Reframe Student and Parent Comments to the Positive

Have you ever wanted to change the words that someone says? As an educator, reframing words is a conversational skill that can be very tricky, but very effective in the success of a student. Many times we using reframing to change negative self-talk or unhealthy perceptions of others. The best educators can do this without…
Read more

Leadership: 7 Unintentional Lessons I Learned from Failure

Failure is often misinterpreted. We shy away from failure, especially if we are perfectionists. When in reality, it can be the greatest learning experience and an opportunity for personal growth. Recently I applied for a superintendent position in my school district. The district is the second largest in Montana with roughly 10,500 students in 22…
Read more

15 Memes That Make Me Laugh, Cry, and Try!

Memes can be powerful reminders about the current state of education. It will interesting to compare them ten or twenty years from now. What we focus on now, may or may not be what we focus on then. As educators they can have a impact on what we do daily, or they can simply make…
Read more

The Toilet Paper Caper: Why We Should Celebrate our Janitors

31 cameras later and I refuse to use them to solve the Toilet Paper Caper! We have cameras in just about every location on our school campus. We have solved many problems by reviewing the tape. We have a camera in the hallway outside of our main bathroom. The camera does not point into the…
Read more

11 Ways Football is Your Classroom

If you love football and you love teaching like me, I tend to find similarities at every turn. This article is meant to encourage discussion during any football or educator gathering. This article is not meant to make you a football expert, or an armchair quarterback, but it can be used to make comparisons from…
Read more

8 Things to Think About As You Start the School Year

As you start school this year, do you feel you are more efficient than last year? What makes us feel better after we get more years under our belt? Starting my second decade of education…I can’t believe it. Many of you have been around longer than then that, but most of you are in years…
Read more

Recent Comments by Jon Konen

No comments by Jon Konen yet.