Tag: Principal Leadership

leadership, dream, innovate

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I hope one day to be counted among the doers. I wish the same for you. Not among the thinkers or the sayers or the maybe-one-dayers. Certainly not among the meeting-callers or the know-it-allers or the complainers or the blamers or the things-were-better-back-in-the-dayers. Though each of these quick-to-be-naysayers are not unwise in keeping the trend-setters, go-getters, and all-in-bettors from diving in so quickly as to end up all-wetters or in-over-their-headers. Still, whatever happened to the true-believers and the I’ll-follow-you-anywhere leaders? Why does it seem that we have so many in leadership positions who are don’t-rock-the-boaters or painful-to-watch-self-promoters, and so few honest-to-God-game-changers? Where in the world are the soulful-innovators? Where are the self-less initiators and the let’s-go-for-it-risk-takers? And why do they always seem to get shouted…

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Go ahead. Look deep into the eyes of young children, deep into the recesses of their souls. If you do, you will see goodness and only that. You will see purity and innocence and hope – the fragrance of spring. You will see this even in the eyes of troubled kids, the ones you may not want as your own. Look past their behaviors for a moment and you will see goodness in them as well. I know this because I’ve seen it time and time again – as a parent, teacher, and leader across many, many schools. I know this because I have spent my life encountering people, especially young people. Teachers will tell you if you ask them. For they know best. They…

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Tribute to teachers, landscape

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There has never been a great orator who didn’t first learn to speak, just as there has never been an accomplished musician who didn’t first learn to play an instrument, and there has never been a gifted writer who didn’t first learn her letters. This is a simple way of saying that there is no shortcut to confidence, credibility, and wisdom. I have come to discover through some successes in my career and through many, many mistakes that (no matter our titles) we are not really leading if no one is following us, and that no one will follow us for long if we don’t know what the heck we’re talking about. Even as we preach the values of teacher leadership, most of our teachers…

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Educational Leadership, A tribute to principals

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The best I have I give to my school. That is the reality and nobility of selflessness and sacrifice that forms the measure of every great principal that I know. Though teachers get a lot of credit for the great work that they do (and they should), principals are too often overlooked or mischaracterized as school building managers. Not the principals that I know. The principals that I know and admire are true believers, deep thinkers, innovators, problem-solvers, teachers, motivators, mentors and care-givers to the children, faculty and staffs in their schools. For those who have never been a principal, let’s take a look inside a school to better understand what is happening this morning.   School Principal: The Most Demanding Job in Education 7:28…

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leadership, education

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In an industry of teachers and leaders it comes as no surprise that we are also a community of readers and researchers, constantly in motion and learning from each other. It is one of our best qualities as educators. If a new book comes out, we read it. If new research is released, we discuss it. We are continually reaching for crumbs of information or inspiration that might help us find new and better ways to teach kids. Still, one point of caution is in order as we all run around quoting the same research, authors and each other. We can easily fall into the trap of “group think,” an uninspiring thought process that discourages creativity and individual responsibility. There is a fine line, indeed,…

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high standards; instructional vision

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That ding you just heard was another text or email coming in to a principal who is already overworked and underappreciated as he or she tries to get through the last lunch of the day without having to call an ambulance or calm down an irate parent. It leaves us to wonder how in the world a principal might have the time to set forth an instructional vision and if that vision can somehow, someway mesh with the increasing demands we all feel related to state accountability measures and teacher appraisal. To wrap our arms around these disparate initiatives and bring them together under one unifying vision, a top-notch instructional leader must know the key levers to pull to make it all work. That means…

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school-leadership; instructional leadership

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All great instructional leaders worth their weight have to know what great instruction looks like when they see it. There is simply no way to successfully lead school improvement and turnaround initiatives if you don’t know what you’re looking for when you walk into a classroom. The problem is that we often have different definitions of what those things are and it begs a myriad of questions related to a principal’s role in guiding teacher growth. Instructional coach? Mentor? Evaluator? Visionary? This debate found its way onto the internet the other day and that made for some frustrated school leaders who chimed in on the discussion. For me, the discussion provided some deep thinking about what we mean when we say that our principals should…

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leadership, instructional leadership

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The art and science of teaching is familiar to all school leaders and no one seems to challenge the notion that there are complex subtleties that master teachers possess that less effective teachers do not. We all know that our best teachers apply practical routines and processes (like setting up desks or tables) that any teacher can learn to do with highly nuanced, artistic skills (like how to get all students involved in a discussion) that are nearly impossible to measure and difficult to master. In turn, the art of teaching is the secret ingredient missing in many classrooms and the challenge for researchers and trainers who are charged with creating a framework of best practices that all teachers can employ. The truth is that…

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No matter what you think of President Trump, he taught us something long before he became president. Our name is our brand. As a school teacher and leader for more than 20 years, I have had countless discussions and mentoring sessions with young leaders, each of them searching for some morsel of advice on what they can add to their resumes or drop into an interview that gives them a leg up. Through those conversations and through interviews with hundreds of candidates in my career, I have come to find out that most of us have it all wrong when we think about advancing our careers. Becoming an instructional leader: Building your brand We assume that our first priority is building our resumes through better…

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Great leaders in schools are not unlike the great leaders of industry, small businesses and non-profits. There have been countless studies and books written about the most successful leadership tactics and tendencies, all of which reach similar conclusions about the best practices in leading and managing that we all know and have studied for decades. Similar studies exist that outline the best practices for teachers, the intricacies of great pedagogy that master teachers drop into their lessons in a seamless array of thises and thats that inspire children to grow at impressive rates. Those instructional best practices for teachers have made their way onto countless checklists and frameworks that principals use to monitor teacher growth. Still, here’s the thing. If we already know what makes…

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