Tony Sinanis

Tony Sinanis is currently in his sixth year as the Lead Learner of Cantiague Elementary School in Jericho, New York. Cantiague was named a 2012 National Blue Ribbon School and Tony received the 2013 Bammy Award for Elementary School Principal of the Year. Tony was also recently nominated for the New York State Elementary School Principal of the Year Award. Tony taught at the elementary level for 8 years and he started his career as a 5th Grade Teacher in the New York City Public School. Tony graduated from New York University with a degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education and then went on to receive his Master’s Degree in Educational Technology and an Advanced Certificate in Educational Leadership and Technology from the New York Institute of Technology. Tony is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania where he is studying the relationship between active participation on Twitter and the professional development of principals. Tony is active on Twitter (@TonySinanis) and serves as the founder and co-moderator of #NYedchat and co-moderator of #PTChat. Finally, Tony co-hosts the BrandED podcast with Dr. Sanfelippo.

Expertise

Educational Technology
Mentoring
Literacy
Instruction

Workshops

Principal Professional Development: The expectation of being an effective transformational instructional leader, along with the need to seek out current and relevant professional development opportunities, have led us in a new direction: to social media and the thousands of other educators using that platform to connect, share, learn and grow. Since information on educators using social media for learning and professional development is limited because it is relatively unchartered territory, we will be offering a guide about what systems need to be put in place to begin supporting the professional development of principals using social media platforms.
- Utilize RSS feeds through multiple sources
- Develop Twitter Lists for easy content knowledge
- Develop a plan for learning that eliminates the "add on" mentality of learning.
- Grow your network of learners in your building to promote continuous learning
Branding Your School: The idea of branding our schools and telling our story is something we must embrace as a priority! By using social media, blogs, and other tools, participants will discover how to “flatten the walls” of their schools for the purposes of telling their story and strengthening their home/school connection.
- Process to develop a space (class, school, district) identity
- Implementation of 2 key tools to help tell the story of your school
- Community engagement through the use of hashtags to crowd source the great things happening in the district
- Develop a process to ensure the same message is being developed and pushed to stakeholders

Books

Principal Professional Development

Leading Learning in the Digital Age

By: Joseph M. Sanfelippo and Tony Sinanis

The Power of Branding

Telling Your School's Story

By: Tony Sinanis and Joseph M. Sanfelippo