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

7 Reasons You Have the Best Community for Education

What makes some communities better than others for education? Much like creating the perfect pizza with cheese, meat, and vegetables, successful communities have the right mix of ingredients. One person may be able to correctly put these ingredients together, but a team can do it more effectively and efficiently. These teams must include school employees,…
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The Top 3 Ways to Ward off Energy Vampires

“I want to suck your blood!” said an Energy Vampire. Jon Gordon’s book, The Energy Bus, is absolutely fantastic…in fact, I have wanted to read it for years, but hadn’t hit the shopping cart button on Amazon until this summer. He defines 10 rules to fuel your life, work, and team with positive energy. One…
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Why Public Education? … This Independence Day We Take A Look at How Public Schools Strengthen Society by Strengthening Individuals

*Posted with permission. Here is a math equation we can stand behind… Compassionate Community Support + Strong Public Education = Solid Foundation to our Society Our forefathers created a feeling of nationalism by bringing people together from diverse backgrounds, religions, and areas of the world. The idea of freedom was prevalent among the young budding…
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7 Strategies to Combat Community Opposition to Public Schools

It is not a secret that our public schools are under more scrutiny and they are held to higher levels of accountability than ever before. I would like to believe public educators are not afraid of accountability. We believe in setting standards and expectations for all students and all staff members. What is most difficult…
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A Principal’s 12,000 Steps

DISCLAIMER: This article has no intent to brag about what we do as principals. The purpose is to illustrate to the public, what most principals do on a daily basis. The job has changed and continues to evolve! The concept of a principal from years past, sitting at their desk all day, is wildly inaccurate!…
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10 Reasons to Have a Passion Partner

2 passion partners shaking hands
Do you have that drive or passion in education where you are always pushing the proverbial “envelope?” Some educators are a lucky to not only have this passion to try new things, but they have found a partner that shares the same passion on educating youth. Those partners may be rare and hard to find,…
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