(Originally posted on The Principal’s Perspective.) By Dr. Latoya Dixon I saw this poem this week and it immediately gripped my heart. I got one of those choking feelings, when you feel there is something stuck in your throat but you know there is not. It’s been floating around Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram this past […]
Why I Want To Be Invisible – Walter Kozl
(Originally posted on Servant Principal.) By Walter A. Kozlowski Principals should be visible. This seems to be an agreed upon ideal, to which I also subscribe. However, there are two things I know about being visible as a school leader. First, I will never be able to be as visible as I want to […]
Top Ten Things to Not Forget as a Princi...
(Originally posted on Love the Learning.) By Jessica Hanson Embarking on a new journey to become the principal of an elementary campus has already had it’s highs and lows and I haven’t even started the school year yet. I have already been faced with tough decisions that required me to “Move people’s cheese” and “Dip […]
Lessons from Outside of Schools – David
(Originally posted on Hallway Access.) By David Hochheiser Do you know what these are? I didn’t until a stranger tossed the red one to me, and my seven-year old lit up with a “That’s the kind I usually use.” The joy in his face and the fun we had after will forever be a perfect […]
On Becoming a School Leader – Steven Web
(Originally posted on ASCD EDge) By Steven Weber School leadership has changed over the past twenty years. The role of a building principal is similar to the combined roles of a chef, architect, tightrope walker, public speaker, supervisor, investment broker, and pilot. As a chef, the school leader stirs the right ingredients and takes risks, […]
If It’s A Contest, I’d Rather Play Offen
(Originally posted on Eknost’s Blog.) By Dr. Eric D. Knost I have been an educator my entire adult life. I have lived and breathed education as I worked with kids in one capacity or another through multiple decades. Just like anything else, when you live something long enough, it becomes part of you. It becomes […]
The Speed of Innovation – David Steward
(Originally posted on One Administrator’s View.) By David Steward Recently, I was fortunate to engage in a chat on Twitter that accompanied a local district beginning to discuss innovation and change for their kids. The chat was extremely interesting (check out #ImagineSPS to see the discussion) and got me reflecting on change, innovation, and specifically […]
Top 10 for New Principals – Julie Trepa
(Originally posted at Leadership that Matters) By Julie Trepa I remember my first day on the job as an administrator. I had just been hired as an associate principal for a middle school of approximately 1,200 students; it was July 1, and I couldn’t wait to get my feet wet. I walked into my office […]
Redefining Time – Prioritize for Effecti
(Originally posted on Habits of Reflective School Leadership.) By Dan Fowler As school leaders, we constantly find ourselves trying to work more efficiently by multi-tasking the many responsibilities that consume the time in our day. We conduct classroom walk-throughs, manage discipline, respond to email, police the lunchroom, and the list of “to dos” goes on. […]
Teacher Voice: The Secret Ingredient in ...
(Originally posted on Lead Learning with John Wink) By John Wink As a singer who loved music so much that I majored in it, I have never had a problem making my voice heard. It takes very little muse for me to share my gift with others. All I need is a tune in my […]
The Principalship: What’s Most Important
(Originally posted on On Principal.) By John Falino I wrote a post over a year ago on the Principalship and the most important aspects of the position. As I move further along into my fourth year, the position continues to be multi-faceted, fast moving, and ever-changing. Simply put, no one day is ever the same. […]
5 Ways to Make a Change Happen Faster –
(Originally posted on Eduleadership.) By Justin Baeder When change happens too fast, it overwhelms people and diminishes their confidence that they’ll be successful. Skills take time to develop, and no one wants to be judged too quickly on a skill they are still developing. But some people think they should have three or four years to […]
Successful Leadership is Shared – Dan Fo
(Originally posted on Habits of Reflective School Leadership.) By Dan Fowler Over the past 2 weeks, our school leadership team has been fortunate enough to work alongside our teachers, both at the district level and school-based level, in developing their curriculum through the “Backward Design” process (A process created and perfected by Jay McTighe and the late Grant […]
Principals do Sleep Sometimes – Jessica
(Originally posted on Love the Learning.) By Jessica Hanson One of my awesome first grade teachers shared this with me and I couldn’t help but chuckle at the first grade humor within the story. But, after closely reading the story I thought, “Wow, this first grader may be on to something.” Principals can command kids. […]
5 Tips to Help Teacher Morale – David El
(Originally posted on A Principal’s Life.) By David Ellena In this day and age of “education reform”, it seems that teachers and public education are under attack from all sides. The media and politicians continually erode the public confidence in the very people who we watch dedicate themselves on a daily basis to our students. […]