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Growing up in a competitive society it’s difficult to wrap your mind around losing. As a former All American Athlete at the University of Michigan, failure was something that got you blasted by your friends and teammates. In the athletic arena failing teaches you that you have to try harder, work out longer, change your techniques to compensate for weaknesses and rely on your teammates and coaches to put you in the best possible position to win.

In business failure can be even more cut throat and means you could lose your job. In education, the stakes are even higher and failure could mean destroying a child’s life. Under these circumstances it’s hard to risk failure and try new things. However as a Principal you are in a leadership position in order to make decisions in which failure is a real possibility. Below are three reasons you should want to fail and fail quickly.

Demonstrates Courage
Trying innovative programs and ideas can galvanize your staff. If your building is filled with stale ideas from the past and cynicism about the future, the courage to try something new can help break you out of the malaise. During this coronavirus opportunity and the drastic changes it is forcing we can put new ideas into place.

Shows a Growth Mindset
Schools are not too big to fail. And with the massive budget cuts to education this will be truer than ever. As the Principal trying new things, failing at them and then learning from them is an essential part of leadership. We need to institute changes, collect and reflect on the data and change course accordingly. Right now is the time to shine and demonstrate the power of being a continual learner.

Models Vulnerability
Being vulnerable is an exercise in courage, especially when you're exposing yourself to criticism. Your staff will, in turn, be comfortable telling their truths and be open to asking for help. Mutual vulnerability creates a culture of community. According to Brene Brown, who was quoted in Harvard Business Review,
Vulnerability here does not mean being weak or submissive. To the contrary, it implies the courage to be yourself. It means replacing “professional distance and cool” with uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.
Failing at something and being truthful about it is an example of vulnerability. It will give your staff and students the courage to try new things, fail and try again.

Being a great principal means you will often be in a position to fail. Failure demonstrates courage, shows that growth mindset and models vulnerability. Embrace that fact and embrace failure as an opportunity to create your future.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, episodes replayed weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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As principals we protect our students, and staff, budgets and everything else, but rarely do we protect our time with the same vigilance. As building leader time is always in short supply because we give it away. Being efficient with our tasks creates the opportunity for us to have more time to focus on our goals that move that actually have a chance of moving our schools forward. Summer, when we MAY have more time :-), is the perfect opportunity to reflect on the best way to protect it and spend it. These 5 ways to save time are strategies we can add to our toolbox.

Skip the nonessentials
What do you absolutely need to do in order to be highly effective and efficient? Those are the priorities that you focus on first. Everything else can either be eliminated or delegated.

Keep focused on your mission
Keeping focused on your mission will help you make decisions about what you bring into your school. This will save time as you only allow programs that support your plan. Often times we get caught up in something that is cool or fun for the kids and it doesn’t support our overall goals. Stay focused on the mission until it is complete.

Implement multiple strategies
When it comes to time management come at it from multiple angels. Use technology to help save time, find others who complement your weaknesses so that important tasks can get done more quickly. Save your bandwidth for things only you can do. Stacking time saving strategies will compound the effects and provide you the hours for which you’ve been looking.

Make time for yourself
Making time for yourself actually increases your productivity. It gives you the mental capacity to do deep thinking. You actually will accomplish less if you try to pack more busy work in. Your brain like a muscle needs to rejuvenate so it can come back refreshed.

Time for a principal is precious. Often times it is wasted putting out other people’s fires. By managing our personal time consistently we can find more time to focus on quality work.

What are ways that you save time? Share your strategies in the comment section below.

If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection, please follow me and click share so your friends and colleagues can benefit as well.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, episodes replayed weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

theprincipalentrepreneur #leadership #principal #secondaryprincipals #nassp #massp #maesp #edchat #educhat #edadmin #sharedleadership #howtobeagreatprincipal #jonathanroyce #principallife

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Summer time is the season for principals to craft a new version of the student handbook. This is a time honored tradition as eagerly anticipated as the annual trip to the dentist. The student handbook seems to be updated and revised every year as new state laws and new societal situations impact our schools. Like the Iphone a new one is needed each year or it will no longer be compatible with new situations.

Perhaps this year a section will need to be added about transgender students or about procedures in case of a school shooting. Regardless of what is added, as principals it’s something that needs to be done regularly. These five tips will help yours be awesome, or at least as awesome as a student handbook can be. :-D

Write from one student/parent perspective
Imagine and pick one parent as your avatar. This would be your typical parent that you want to inform of your most relevant school policies. By focusing on a single archetypical parent your writing will be more focused. If we try to write for every type of parent we could find ourselves with an overdone, unwieldy piece of writing.

Short and Sweet
By short I mean concise and focused. You still want all your policies in there but cutting and editing it down to the most essential components is necessary. A good idea if you want to expand on certain issues or give scenarios is to provide a link or QR code for more information. With the ever shorter attention spans this is a great way to have a hard copy of the essentials as well as a way to get more information out there as needed.

Research other handbooks
Don’t reinvent the wheel! There are many examples of handbooks that you can check out online. Facebook is also a great source if you’re a part of a principal's group. Every group that I am a part of is very supportive.

Attention to Detail
Being short and sweet does not mean leave that important information out. Make sure things like the school address and phone number are correct. Even your own number. I accidently put my cell phone number in a version and only noticed after the first copy was printed.

I’s and T’s
This falls easily in the realm of attention to detail. Usually we’re doing this thing on our own during the summer. If you can, have someone give it a good once over. Put it aside for a day and come back to with fresh eyes. Review it in reverse. These are great ways to avoid the trap of glazed eyed rereading. Also, double check to make sure what you have aligns with your board policies and can be backed up if you get push back from that one parent.

These 5 simple steps; having a single avatar, keeping it concise, using exemplars, attention to detail and making sure to dot your i’s and cross your t’s can support you in writing an awesome student handbook.

What is your writing process for a student handbook? Share your tips in the comment section below.

If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection, please follow me and click share so your friends and colleagues can benefit as well.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, episodes replayed weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

theprincipalentrepreneur #leadership #principal #secondaryprincipals #nassp #massp #maesp #edchat #educhat #edadmin #sharedleadership #howtobeagreatprincipal #jonathanroyce #principallife

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5 characteristics of a great school and 5 simple ways to promote them to increase student enrollment

It’s summertime and a lot of us are reading, reflecting, looking for new books to read, reviewing handbooks, trying to come up with themes for the new school year and in general not relaxing at all :-D.

Part of my reflection is thinking about what makes a great school and how to promote that greatness to increase student enrollment. This is also the time when parents from other schools may begin to look for new schools as their children move from one grade to the next. This is a great opportunity for us to begin planting the seeds of change in their minds.

One of the difficult aspects of our public school system, however, is that it’s hard to differentiate one school from the other. As schools of choice, charter schools and perhaps an impending voucher system for every state proliferate, standing out becomes more difficult.

These days districts with money are using radio spots, billboards, and the back of city buses to promote their schools. There are lower cost and far easier ways to get the word out about our schools. Identify your 5 characteristics of greatness and use these three strategies to promote them. Use these easy to implement strategies to stand out in a crowded educational field. Help your school stay top of mind when families begin thinking of the best place for their child.

Distinctiveness
This isn’t easy for a public school because we have to be everything for everybody. This makes it hard to be unique. One of the advantages that private and charter schools have is their ability to define their own niche. A private school can be religion based and focused solely on a particular faith. Charter schools can have a specific theme or cater to specific ethnicities. As a public school finding your focus is essential to increasing school enrollment. This has traditionally been done through an emphasis on things like athletics or band. In today’s technological age, what are ways you can stand out from the crowd? Answering this question will help you be unique.

Remember, regardless of whether you’re a newly established principal or a veteran you are an expert at what you do. You know exactly what the students need to do to be successful and you’re able to deliver it. The families in your community need you and your school’s particular expertise. Once you identify your unique school culture the next step is spreading the word.

So how do you deliver this information? The easiest way to do so is to use social media. Presumably your school already has a Facebook account. If it doesn’t, start one. According to Facebook stats, Facebook has the largest number of users between 25 and 35. That is a prime age for beginning families. Leverage your demographic data and use a social media platform to meet your families where they are. Use pictures and the smiling faces of your staff and students from the previous year to show how welcoming and safe your school is.

While, as public schools we have to accommodate everyone, we can still specialize in certain areas. Using social media will help spread your unique characteristics.

Dependability
Another way to stand out is to be dependable. Depending on the change in leadership, every few years schools lurch from one new directive to the next. This fosters uncertainty and parents aren’t sure from year to year what their child is going to get. Being consistent in your offerings helps parents know what they’re going to see when they come in for their second and third child. With that expected way of doing things the parents and the staff can confidently state what is happening year to year and promote your school. No one likes instability. Being unstable will creates anxiety among your stakeholders and make choosing another option more likely. Be dependable and not only will families stand by you they’ll sell your school for you.

The most dependable assets at a school are also the greatest asset. The staff. Often we forget that they can do more than just teach. They have hundreds of contacts in their own email and social media accounts. Use them to help spread the word of how dependable and stable your school is. Once a month pass something onto them that they can share with those with whom they have influence. It could be as simple as a picture of them working with their students. Add a brief caption about how great the students are and send it to their friends and families asking them to share it with their friends. As the end of the year approaches have the teachers spread the word that they’ll be back and and are excited to see the new crop of kids. If this becomes a consistent practice you'll be surprised how far the word spreads.

Passion
Passion for your work is the secret ingredient and leads to sustained excellence. If you think of the great Principals they demonstrate enthusiasm on a daily basis. This enthusiasm helps principals promote their school because they're the first ones at the door in the morning greeting families, students, and staff as they come in.

An enthusiasm for the work can also lend itself to the creation of content. If you’re excited about the things you do particularly well, spread the word. Your school might have small learning communities or have a great curriculum. Write a blog post or an article highlighting the researched based reasons these unique qualities positively impact your students’ growth.

These families that you greet every day, you have them on an email list. In marketing this is one of the most valuable commodities because it give you direct access to those families. Use that list to share your content. Ask them to forward the email to families who might be interested in seeing the good things your school is doing.

Collaboration.
Collaboration is something that we all know intuitively is something we should do consistently, but sometimes we get so caught up trying to get something done that we forget. Gathering the advice and listening to the point of view of those on our staff is important in building a strong culture and helps lead to successes. Treating your entire staff as integral parts of a whole, creates the opportunity for more wins.

Families might not be able to see that collaboration first hand but they will see the impact of it. Staff will be happier and more involved and this will spill over into how the students are treated.

A great way to share the those successes that come through collaboration is through Twitter. Twitter is a great way to give a distilled version of events. Where on Facebook there’s the opportunity to expand on updates, Twitter forces you to be concise. A great way to connect to parents is through a school twitter account. Keep parents in the loop so they can feel a part of the community as well. I’ve also seen schools tweet out school events like band concerts and athletic contacts. In addition, because you have limited time you can simply grab headlines from your Facebook posts and tweet those out including a link back to your Facebook page

Growth Mindset
Schools with a growth mindset are always learning. They don’t rest on past accomplishments and continually look for ways to improve. Just like people with a growth mindset aren’t afraid of failure, schools with a growth mindset aren’t afraid to try new things and look for ways to innovate. Just like collaboration spills over from staff to students so does the growth mindset. Students with the growth mindset tend to have more grit and are more likely to find long term success. This grit is easily seen in the intense looks and focused concentration students have when working on new tasks.

Sharing these pictures is a great way to let parents know how hard their child is working. Using a school Instagram account to capture these moments and share with families is another way to promote your school’s culture. Instagram is visual based and is most often only comprised of simple pictures with captions like “hard at work”. For busy principals with a visual style it only takes a minute to say a thousand words.

Successful Principals and by extension schools promote themselves with their one of a kind offering, dependability, enthusiasm, collaboration and growth mindset. Using social media tools like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, leveraging your staff, and sharing your enthusiasm for education through content creation are quick easy ways to spread the positive word. These simple strategies can help you maintain and increase your student enrollment.

What are other tactics you use to stand out and what are ways that you connect and spread the word to your families? Share your thoughts in the comment section below

If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection, please follow me and click share so your friends and colleagues can benefit as well.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, episodes replayed weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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If you’ve spent any time on Facebook you can’t help but to have at least caught a glimpse of kids skateboarding, BMX riding, or doing playground gymnastics and falling painfully onto sensitive body parts.

Well this is the principal’s version. My personal highlight reel of areas in which I need to improve. The school year is often composed of many fires each day which we race around and extinguish. Sometimes we’re moving so fast that embers remain and ignite the very next day so we repeat the same race. Before we know it a Quarter, Semester and then 3/4ths of the year are gone. The goals we put in place for ourselves, no matter how SMART, are not fully reached.

Below are my top fails of the 17-18 school year. These are areas that I will improve on in the 18-19 school year.

Consistently Reach Out to Parents
Connect consistently with community partners
Complete evaluations in a timely manner
Support struggling teachers consistently
Increase student attendance to 80%
Immediately address staff member/s who are out of line
Spend more time with wife/family
Spend more time with close friends
Consistently appreciate my wife’s support
Learn more, more consistently.

As you read these you’ll notice that there is almost an even split between school stuff and school’s impact on my personal time. I’m wondering if I do a better job of managing school related items this will free up time to be with my family.

As I look at my list there are items here that can be delegated and streamlined with my excellent staff and perhaps even my students. I’m thinking 1, 2, and 5.
Consistently Reach Out to Parents
Connect consistently with community partners
Increase student attendance to 80%
This will free me up to do 3 and 4.
Complete evaluations in a timely manner
Support struggling teachers consistently

Number 6, failure to address a staff member who was out of line is a priority. It is something I need to work on because I get really uncomfortable calling people out in the moment. I consistently do it the day after and come at it sideways by asking questions about the incident. I don’t know if this is the best way to handle those types of situations and is something I will continue to think about.

To spend more time with wife and family I should schedule that time just as I schedule time for school meetings and appointments. I can probably do the same thing with close friends. As for consistently appreciating my wife’s support that’s going to take the most work. I do do it, but not as much as she’d like.

Number 10 can also probably be handled like I hope to handle family and friends. I can set aside time for personal growth and independent learning. The more I learn, especially about leadership the better both my role as principal, husband, father and friend will be.

These were my top 10 failures of 17-18. My goal is to eradicate them in 18-19. Just like those kids in the Facebook videos, I’ll dust myself off, put on some ice packs and try again. It’s not the falling that counts, it’s the getting up.

In what areas do you seek to improve? Share your growth areas in the comment section below as well as possible strategies. That way we can continue to learn from each other. I know you’ll have some ideas that I haven’t even thought of.

If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection, please follow me and click share so your friends and colleagues can benefit as well.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website. If you’re interested in principal swag that speaks to our #principallife you can take a look here.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, episodes replayed weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

theprincipalentrepreneur #leadership #principal #secondaryprincipals #nassp #massp #maesp #edchat #educhat #edadmin #sharedleadership #howtobeagreatprincipal #jonathanroyce #principallife

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7/2/2018 Interview with former teacher, current principal, leadership coach, author: and creator of the Principalnerd, Ms. Katrina Riley

This week’s blog is a summary of my conversation with Ms. Katrina Riley. Ms. Riley has 20 years of experience in education. She’s been a teacher, is a leadership coach, and principal. She’s seen education and how education systems works from a number of different states including Florida, Louisiana and Maryland. She earned her bachelor's in English from Florida State University, her Masters in Ed leadership from Nova Southeastern University and completed the New Leaders for New Schools Principal Residency program in New Orleans.
Not only has she brought her skills and passion to various states she also has worked in public, charter and non profit educational settings at both the school and district level. In other words she has seen education from every angle and brings those insights to her newest passion the Principalnerd. You can get even more in depth by going to her website www.principalnerd.com.
Not only do we talk about how the principalnerd supports educational leaders we delve into her educational journey.
She describes how a poor leader inspired her to the principalship. The importance of mentorship and how her own mentor influenced and guided her development. We also talk about her toughest challenge AND the process she used to overcome it.
In this conversation you’ll learn how each of her experiences lead to the creation of the Principalnerd.

Some of my top takeaways from her educational journey included:
Three lessons she learned
Hire quality teachers to begin with. (which isn’t as easy as you think in an urban school district and she describes how she works through that challenge as well)
Reflect and gut check yourself to make sure you’re making the right decisions.
Find the right pace to make the decision, neither to fast or too slow.

Three things she looks sees in great teachers
great relationship builders
strong forward thinkers
Data driven instruction

Three things she looks for in hiring a new teacher.
demonstrated learners
flexible mindset
excitement and enthusiasm

As her passion for coaching developed so too did the idea of the Principalnerd. She describes her untraditional path to ed leadership and how that created empathy for those, like her, who are looking for training. She also touches on how the needs of newer administrators around her and their frequently asked questions helped guide her development and creation of tools that would support them.
A couple of the tools she mentioned that support new leaders included, 1st and 2nd interview support and once you get the job, support for the first 90 days.
As mentioned before you can find all this information at www.principalnerd.com, and for the most up to date tools you can go to www.principalnerd.com/hey.
Two books that she recommended as we wrapped up our conversation were What Great Leaders do Differently:18 things that matter most by Todd Whitaker and Driven by Data: A practical guide to improve instruction by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo.

Share your thoughts on the interview with Ms. Katrina Riley in the comment section below. If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection, please follow me and click share so your friends and colleagues can benefit as well.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website. If you’re interested in principal swag that speaks to our #principallife you can take a look here.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, episodes replayed weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

theprincipalentrepreneur #leadership #principal #secondaryprincipals #nassp #massp #maesp #edchat #educhat #edadmin #sharedleadership #howtobeagreatprincipal #jonathanroyce #principallife

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This past school year was my second in the role of principal. During this time I have asked for help in creating a schedule, asked for advice on repairing a professional relationship with a colleague, looked for support on planning for the upcoming school year as well as sought council on how to support a staff member and friend who didn’t get a leadership role in my building. As I reflect there is one thing that has been driven home during these first two years as school principal; collaboration is key.

Collaboration has made me easily ten times better than I would be if I was trying to figure things out on my own. At times I have been unable to sleep as problems and solutions chase each other in my mind like a crazed dog chasing its tail. Each time I collaborate with a mentor, a colleague and/or in a Facebook group the decision making processes smooths and ideas that I couldn’t have thought of on my own are revealed. All the successes that have occurred within the school this year are based on collaboration. Below are two simple ways I bookended the school year using collaboration as a tool to 10x my leadership.

Beginning of the Year
Collaboration is a team concept and obviously begins even before the official start of school. It’s something that we all know intuitively but sometimes we get so caught up trying to get something done that we forget. Gathering the advice and listening to the point of view of those on your staff is important in building a strong culture and helps lead to successes. Treating your entire staff as integral parts of a whole, not only highlights your integrity as a leader but also creates the opportunity for more wins. Each of these first two years I’ve brought the staff together early to plan out the first day and the first two weeks. This has brought energy, enthusiasm and accountability as each person understands their role and sees their input implemented

End of year
Not only does collaboration bring accountability it is also useful as a strategic evaluative tool. Collaborating is a great way to eliminate, diffuse, or at least mitigate anxiety over things like the evaluation. Instead of just dropping our evaluative conclusions on staff, like a ton of wordy bricks, we need to work with them and let them self-evaluate using the district tool. In addition have them create an online portfolio where they can upload evidence of their success. Balance that with your walk through and formal observation data. Make sure to leave opinions out and stick to observed evidence.

Once both of you have worked separately to “rate” the year or a specific lesson come together and discuss your findings. I’ve found that this type of collaborative process eliminates a lot of push back and helps give the teacher/staff member a sense of control over the process. Working together will build a partnership where both parties are striving towards the same goal.

Collaboration leverages multiple perspectives and will 10x your leadership. It is also one of the many tools principals and education leaders need when driving a school towards success. What are some other tools that are necessary for a strong building leader. Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection, please follow me and click share so your friends and colleagues can benefit as well.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website. If you’re interested in principal swag that speaks to our #principallife you can take a look here.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, episodes replayed weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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Learning never stops. Finding time to do it on consistent basis is one of the challenges we face as principles. That’s why I listen to books. Depending on the platform from which I’ve downloaded the material I can listen up to 3X normal speed. It takes some getting used to but I started gradually at 1.5, then to 2X and 2.5X as my brain adapted to the quickness. When I need to take notes I either pause or rewind until I can jot down the information. Below are the 10 best books I consumed this past school year. Each one influenced how I thought about leadership and education. This list of 10 are a combination of both digital and audio books. I’ve included a short summary from Amazon for convenience.

The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle
A New York Times bestselling author explores cutting-edge brain science to learn where talent comes from, how it grows-and how we can make ourselves smarter.
Multipliers by Liz Wiseman|with Greg McKeown
A thought-provoking, accessible, and essential exploration of why some leaders (“Diminishers”) drain capability and intelligence from their teams, while others (“Multipliers”) amplify it to produce better results.
Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss
A former international hostage negotiator for the FBI offers a new field-tested approach to high-stakes negotiations - whether in the boardroom or at home.
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell
[John C. Maxwell] has combined insights learned from his thirty-plus years of leadership successes and mistakes with observations from the worlds of business, politics, sports, religion, and military conflict.
Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
Ray Dalio, one of the world's most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he's developed, refined, and used over the past 40 years to create unique results in both life and business - and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals.
Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim S Grover
Fore more than two decades, legendary trainer Tim Grover has taken the greats—Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, and dozens more—and made them greater. Now, for the first time ever, he reveals what it takes to get those results, showing you how to be relentless and achieve whatever you desire.
The Leading Brain by Hans W. hagemann, Friederike Fabritius
A cutting-edge guide to applying the latest research in brain science to leadership - to sharpen performance, encourage innovation, and enhance job satisfaction.
Linchpin: Are You Indispensable by Seth Godin
There used to be two teams in every workplace: management and labor. Now there's a third team, the linchpins. These people invent, lead (regardless of title), connect others, make things happen, and create order out of chaos. They figure out what to do when there's no rule book. They delight and challenge their customers and peers. They love their work, pour their best selves into it, and turn each day into a kind of art.
Start with Why: How Great Leaders: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
Start with Why shows that the leaders who've had the greatest influence in the world all think, act, and communicate the same way - and it's the opposite of what everyone else does.
The 12 Week Year: Get More Done In 12 Weeks Than Others Do In 12 Months by Brian P Moran, Michael Lennington
The 12 Week Year creates focus and clarity on what matters most and a sense of urgency to do it now. In the end more of the important stuff gets done and the impact on results is profound.
What are your top leadership books? Share some from your library in the comment section below. If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection, please follow me and click share so your friends and colleagues can benefit as well.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, episodes replayed weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

theprincipalentrepreneur #leadership #principal #secondaryprincipals #nassp #massp #maesp #edchat #educhat #edadmin #sharedleadership #howtobeagreatprincipal #jonathanroyce #principallife

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You’ve probably got at least one staff member cheating on you and it’s probably your fault. It’s that time of year when administrative teams are getting together and looking to shake things up. If we’ve done our job at least one staff member isn’t comfortable and is looking to find a better match.

Sometimes a staff member may be cheating on us with one of our administrative colleagues. For whatever reason we just might not mesh and they find satisfaction and belonging in the building of another. These 5 behaviors are dead giveaways that your staff member is actively searching or already being courted by another.

They never have time to meet
You may have been trying the last three weeks to meet with your staff member and they continue to blow you off. They always have an excuse why they can’t make it down to your office. Or when you stop by their room, they’ve always got a doctor’s appointment. Most staff members that are sticking by you know it’s in their best interest to meet and don’t mind having conversations with you. Those that are on the way out. Don’t care if they’re burning bridges. If you notice this avoidance behavior chances are they’re looking to get out.

Misty Eyes and Far away looks
As teachers begin to contemplate leaving they may begin to display some of this type of behavior. You might catch them looking fondly at a kid they were furious with just a few days or weeks earlier. You might see them shake their heads and smile and say things like “That’s just Blankty Blank.” instead of correcting the behavior. As our staff members decide to leave, behaviors that once got on their nerves no longer do because they know there is an end in sight for them.

Brilliant Students
Another sign of teachers getting ready to leave may be a sudden uptick in classroom grades. Teachers may begin to take less time grading the papers that are being turned in as they prepare for another assignment. Perhaps there is less focus on the correct usage of a comma, capital city or congruence of a triangle. Or another indicator could be a sudden adherence to grades being turned in on time and the grade book updated. These changes in behavior could be signs that your staff has found another prospect.

They avoid making commitments
As the year comes to the end we start planning for the following school year. This is the time we tap staff with leadership potential to take on larger roles. Staff that plans on leaving are non committal about future plans. When you ask them if they’d like to lead they might respond with, “Oh that’s interesting, let me get back to you on that.” Staff who expect to be with you make commitments to the future. If a teacher puts off future commitments, they might not plan on having one with you.
Mopey Colleagues
More than likely your entire staff will know before you do that one of their members has found another. You may hear more expressions of black humor or innuendo as you’re walking through the halls. There may be awkward silence as you walk into a room where three or four teachers are gathered. You may also notice hugs and the giving away of valuables like staplers, rulers or lined paper. Or suddenly, teachers who never got along are now cordial as they realize they won't be seeing each other anymore. If you notice this type of behavior a staff member may be leaving.

As principals we are often the last to know that one of our valued staff members is leaving. It’s not even us, it’s them. The other district just might have more to offer. However, if you see misty eyes, an increase in grades, depressed staff members, have limited face to face time, and or a lack of commitment, be prepared to swipe right and find someone that you really connect with.

What are other ways staff members behave when they’re cheating on you? Share an observation in the comment section below. If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection, please follow me and click share so your friends and colleagues can benefit as well.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, episodes replayed weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

theprincipalentrepreneur #leadership #principal #secondaryprincipals #nassp #massp #maesp #edchat #educhat #edadmin #sharedleadership #howtobeagreatprincipal #jonathanroyce #principallife

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If I had an emoji for how I’m feeling right now at the end of the school year, it’s some combo of the puke face, the head exploding and crying laughing. You wouldn’t think that it’s time already to start planning for the following school year, but it is. That’s how fast the time goes when you’re grinding and living the #principallife.

It’s time to simultaneously think of ourselves and how our school will look next year. The two are inextricably (that’s my big word for the day :-D lol) intertwined.. We need to think of ourselves because our schools are a reflection of our beliefs and vision.

Complete the paperwork.
If you’re like me, you’ve probably already started working on your school improvement plan (SIP) and looking at ways to enhance what you’ve already done this school year. While the SIP is a great place to start and really identify your needs, for me, it also leaves a bit to be desired when it comes to connecting viscerally with what I should be doing for next year. That’s because the SIP is a poor translation of what I feel a school should be. The SIP are the pieces that are put in place that try to encapsulate the feeling. Regardless, the SIP is just one of the things that needs to be completed.

Meet with the Superintendent
This should be an additional meeting outside of your year end review. The scheduled meeting doesn’t need to be longer than about ½ hour. The twist here is this meeting isn’t necessarily about you. Ask the superintendent what her/his goals and visions are for the district and your school in particular. As you listen think of ways your own ideas fall in line with that larger vision. In doing so if you have an “ask” you can frame it in a way that supports the district’s overall direction. This is also the perfect time to ask what she believes it takes for a school like yours to be successful. By eliciting a response to this question you can tailor your goals to fall in line with hers. By doing this you can create a bond where your success is tied to hers.

Goal Setting
Speaking of goals, your School Improvement Plan for the following year has goals written into it. Take those goals and rewrite them in common everyday language that actually means something to you. The following is an example of SIP goal setting language:

“All students will apply various reading strategies to comprehend, analyze, interpret, and evaluate text.”

We aren’t in a classroom teaching the reading strategies so our impact comes from ensuring that teachers are instructing students in the various strategies. A goal for us based off the SIP goal could be something like this:

“I’ll monitor ELA teacher’s lesson plans weekly with a focus on identifying reading strategies being taught.”

This goal is measurable and it impacts the overall SIP goal. A goal written like this is something that you’ll remember.

Student Meetings
This is an important foundational piece for the upcoming school year. Set up a schedule where you can meet with a cross section of students that will return. Talk with them about their experience. Find out from them the things that worked and those that didn’t. Take notes and find the common thread. If you have planning time where your staff is preparing for the following year give students opportunities to give their input. Give them ownership. The more students that buy in the smoother the first few weeks of school will go.

Staff Meeting
Yes, another one. This one is specifically planned to create buy-in for the following year. During my meeting I created the following categories:
What did we do well
What needs a tweak
One thing +/-
One thing +/- was one thing you absolutely thought we should keep or one thing you think we should absolutely get rid of.

Staff took stickies, filled them out and placed them under individual categories of need a tweak and One Thing +/-. . Once they were done we did a gallery walk. It’s purpose was to put a check mark next to just one of the items of each category. Once that part was done I cleared out the sticky notes that had no checks and then grouped the remaining stickies into thematic groups. Those groups are what we will work on as we continue to move into next year.

This particular staff meeting is important because it gives everyone a chance to have a voice. The selection of the most important ideas on the stickies creates an “idea meritocracy” (a term I first heard in Ray Dalio’s book Principles) where the best ideas get the team’s collective attention.

The end is coming and it’s already time to turn our gaze towards the future. These five tips will help us set up for success in 2018-19.

That’s it for now. Share your practices in the comment section below. If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection please follow me and click share so your friends and colleagues can benefit as well.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, episodes replayed weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

theprincipalentrepreneur #leadership #principal #secondaryprincipals #nassp #massp #maesp #edchat #educhat #edadmin #sharedleadership #howtobeagreatprincipal #jonathanroyce #principallife

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It’s the end of the year and school right now feels like complete anarchy. There’s so much to do. Not only are we finishing up the year, we’re also starting to think about next year. Last year was my first year alone and I felt utterly overwhelmed. One of my colleagues helped out with an end of the year check out list for staff, so I’m paying it forward and passing it along.

I hope it’s helpful.

_____________ 1. All keys have been returned to the building secretary in a labeled envelope.

_____________ 2. All retention lists and appropriate documentation/letters have been submitted to the building secretary.

____________ 3. All classrooms under your direction have been put in good order. Storage rooms have been cleaned, teachers’ desk drawers cleaned, bookshelves arranged neatly.

___________ 4. All bulletin board material has been removed from walls (bulletin board paper)

___________ 5. All reading and math books and materials have been counted, labeled and neatly arranged in your classroom.

_____________ 6. All supplementary materials (Title I materials) have been labeled and returned to Title I teachers.

____________ 7. Final report cards have been completed and sent with students on designated date.

____________ 8.. Mailboxes have been cleaned out – They are EMPTY!!!

____________ 9. All library books, media materials and borrowed articles returned and properly shelved.

____________ 10. Schedule a time for a walk through your classroom with the building administrator.

There were a few more on the list but these were my top 10.

As I was finishing out the year I vaguely remembered having a check out list in my role as AP, but I didn’t have the mental capacity at the time to think of all the things that needed to be done. If you’re new I hope this gives you a good place to start!

That’s it for now. Share some of the items on your end of year check out list in the comment section below. If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection please follow me and click share so your friends and colleagues can benefit as well.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, episodes replayed weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

theprincipalentrepreneur #leadership #principal #secondaryprincipals #nassp #massp #maesp #edchat #educhat #edadmin #sharedleadership #howtobeagreatprincipal #jonathanroyce #principallife

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Welcome to episode 107 of the Principal Entrepreneur where we support educational leaders with strategies and suggestions that answer the question. How do I become a great principal.

I also interview Principals and school and educational leaders just like me and you and discuss their areas of expertise and how they overcome the challenges within schools.

In today’s episode we’re discussing 5 Definitive Facts of the Principalship

The idea for this particular blog came to me as I was reflecting, going over old blogs, and reading Facebook posts. I noticed some themes that kept on repeating themselves. I’ll cover just a handful of them in this episode of the podcast. As principals, at some point, we will experience these five events. Sometimes we’ll experience them all in the same day!

Before we dive in, Special thanks to Sue Kster, Mitch Pascal, Michael Angelo and Catherine Bartlett for sharing their poignant and hilarious anecdotes. All of these contributers are from Stephanie McConnell’s Facebook group Principal Principles. If you haven’t joined that group yet. Please do. It’s awesome.

I hope you enjoy this combination of new thoughts, older reflections, and our colleagues stories.
You will F*I let the team down. Not intentionally, but all the same I disappointed them. There are some things that are traditional rites of passage in education that are important to the masses but really don’t matter much to me. Prom is one of those things. Because of this I let it slip from my calendar and scheduled another activity on the same day. I wouldn’t have known that I let people down if I didn’t have a colleague who called me out. He sent me a text letting me know I should have been there. I sent the following text back. “I agree. Appreciate the accountability. I apologize to you. It won’t happen again.” There was no reply back so I called back and let him know I wasn’t being sarcastic and that I was serious. It’s alright to make mistakes as long as you learn from them. Not only that, there are at least two wins you can take away from a losing situation and make it a learning one.

You first have to acknowledge that you messed up. Reflect on what may have caused the problem in the first place and own it. At your next staff meeting admit that you’ve noticed some changes and let your staff talk. Listen to their concerns. You might find out that something that you thought was innocuous was actually a major problem that went against an unwritten norm that you didn’t know about. In that case take responsibility and let them know that their hurt feelings was not the intent of the decision that you made.

Learn from your mistakes and only make them once. This is simple advice that’s not easy to follow. In the case of scheduling another event the same night as prom, that mistake is easy to correct. However, most of us make mistakes because of the habits we have. We make decisions based on the well worn neural pathways that we’ve built and that have helped us in the past. Those same perceptions may be causing us issues in a new situation. Learn new skills and new ways of working with people and through situations. In some cases it may help to have a mentor with a bird’s eye view. She could help you uncover your blind spots. In this case I was lucky enough to have somebody care enough about me to call me out.

Your staff won't always appreciate you
This short anecdote is from Sue Kster and it perfectly encapsulates the hard work we do, the emotional toll it takes and how some staff just don’t “get it”.

“I know it’s May and May can be rough, but last night, after having the toughest day ever, I wrote my letter to retire. Not sure when I will use it, but it’s there. I really believe with my whole heart that I work very hard to support kids and teachers. However, it seems it is not enough to some. I know you should let it go, but it is very hard. I have one teacher who does very little, but expects a whole lot from others with never a show of appreciation. I need to do my post conference with her next week. How do you handle telling a teacher that her demands from others should actually come from herself?

Sometimes members of our staff are not self aware enough. Those are the times we have to have those tough conversations. The staff member might not always appreciate it, but the rest of your team will. They’ll see you’re not afraid to hold people accountable. This gives them a sense of safety, knowing that you’ll follow through.
Parents will cuss you out and/or complain on social media
One of our colleagues Mitch Pascal recently had the following experience which he posted in the Principal Principle’s fb group: “We talk here about dealing with angry parents, always focus on listening, their perspective etc. I have a kid who lies to his parents and they believe everything as is. Kid got in a fist fight today after teasing another, called father who started yelling at me on the phone, wouldn't let me get a word in, saying his son is abused here everyday. I think the point comes when trying to be calm and listen doesn't work for me. Parents and kid take no accountability for actions. I can't sit and take it from them when they're flat out wrong and verbally abusive.”

What do we do? One of the unwritten rules of education is that the parent is always right. No principal wants to hear from board members that they didn’t treat a parent well. However, always supporting parents will ruin our ability to lead effectively.

Did they really just ask me that?!!
If a parent believes that they are always right, regardless of rudeness, they can and often will ask for just about anything. They will demand that Sally be moved from one room to the next or that a teacher change a grade or extend a deadline. It also means that these oppressive parents are getting better treatment and more attention than their easy going polite counterparts. That just isn’t right. Unfortunately these parents aren’t shy about complaining on social media. When that happens it’s time for us to diffuse the situation, even when we know they’re being unreasonable.

OMG did they just post that?!!
Parents will talk crap about the school and the teachers. Those are often easier to deal with because it’s not necessarily a direct assault on us. There will be occasion, however, when parents will insult us and call into question the decisions we’ve made. Maybe we’ve cancelled a school dance or end of the year ceremony where all kids are affected because of the choices of a small group. In the heat of the moment when you first see the post you might feel an almost irresistible urge to defend yourself. . . . wait. If you do make the choice to address the issue, it’s a good idea to wait until the next day and then respond directly, over the phone, to that person.

Diffuse the situation as best you can and if it’s a personal attack wait until the following day to address the situation and have a trusted colleague review your message. These two strategies can help you make it through a school year relatively unscathed by social media.
You will be sleep deprived
A couple funny anecdotes from FB to prove the point.
Michael Angelo “Tired is talking on your phone and driving 40 minutes home, pat your pockets and realize that you do not know where your phone is so you get back in your truck to drive back to the office and half way back you discover that you are on the phone that you are looking for. So pissed I say I’ll call you back mom so she won’t hear me swear loudly.”

Catherine Bartlett “Tired is ... I actually asked my secretary after school if I had been at work in the morning! (In my defense, I was there, left for a meeting, came back... any principal would get confused about that in May!)”

Both these hilariously true moments put an exclamation point on how tiring this job is. You will always be running, so take time to rejuvenate and follow these tips to survive!

Healthy Snacks. . . when you can!
Have healthy snacks available. As your body wears done it will crave the deliciousness of fat, sugar and salt. Somehow I always find myself doing walkthroughs in the room with the candy jar. Avoid that trap! Make it easier to get the healthier stuff. You can get a good sweet with strawberries and bananas and a good crunch with carrots. While nut as fun as chips and cookies you’ll feel better eating healthier as you give your body what it actually needs.

Principal Eating
I’m no trainer or health nutritionist but I know that after a day of eating to excess my brain and taste buds have had enough. It’s much easier to eat healthy after a day of chocolate and salty snacks. It’s much easier to eat right and be disciplined an entire week of school if I eat what I want on the weekends.

Being the principal of a school is a mental and physical marathon. I don’t know if it’s completely possible to avoid a principal hangover, but it is probable that you can limit it (except maybe in May). Stay hydrated throughout the week, keep healthy snacks easily available and don’t beat yourself up if you have one day where you just eat whatever. (or gasp! take a day off!!)
Students will make your day
The students are easily the brightest spot of this job. In some capacity they are always inspiring. For those who don’t know, I serve at an Alternative High School. My students deal with a tremendous amount of hardship, heartache, family, peer and even community drama. They are children of trauma. Despite this they continue to come to school (mostly and often late :-) ) to put their best foot forward. It amazes me when I see them overcome their personal situations as they work to get an education.

The students are where I find joy. Just last week the counselor was counting how many were going to graduate. Twenty six out of fifty one will walk across the stage. I know that seems like a low number, but it’s an increase of 8 from last year! Small wins matter and we must make sure to celebrate them.

There are at least 5 definitive facts of the principalship, you’ll F*
What are other facts that new principals coming into the game should prepare for? Share your truths in the comment section below.

Total aside: I think this post might be the foundation of an upcoming book with a similar title, maybe jump up to 15 facts. . . (if you’re an author and you noticed that the formatting changes, that’s why.) If so, I hope you don’t mind me reaching out to you for your anecdotes!

That’s it for now. If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection please follow me and share with your friends.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, episodes replayed weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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What to do when what you do is never ever enough

As principals we know that giving of ourselves is the first order of business, especially as it pertains to leading by example. We do our best to re energize our staff by giving the gift of time and eliminating staff meetings, or showing our appreciation in a dozen of small ways from posted notes to candy bars. Ironically during teacher appreciation week when we make a concerted effort to show we care, perhaps bringing in their favorite lunch, we don’t even get a thank you.

Regardless, as leaders we recognize that by serving our staff they in turn will hopefully better serve the students. Under ideal circumstances this would be the case. Unfortunately, sometimes the adults in the building are an even greater problem for us then the kids. They’ll be the first ones to demand we hold students to account, but turn around and not do something as simple as taking attendance . . . every hour. And then they’ll get upset with us for calling them out on it. These 3 indicators are clues what we do for our staff will never ever be enough, and we need to to recharge.

“Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.” Confucius
Most times this job brings us joy. Exhaustive joy, but joy. If you’re alone hiding in the bathroom and you find yourself smiling less, that could be a simple indicator that you’re giving more than your fair share. We know that our energy fuels a building so we dig deep even when we’re exhausted so we can fill our staff up with positive energy. This often works, but when we’re alone our body reminds us that we’re not feeling it. Pay attention to your own physicality and find your peace. If you’re not smiling when you're alone your staff could be “doin’ too much”. That doesn’t mean we’ll stop doin’ but it does mean we need to find a way to re energize!

“The only thing she felt was numb. And Tired” Nenia Campbell
You would think this wouldn’t be the case during teacher appreciation week but it’s sad to say, sometimes our staff can be emotional leeches. It’s our job to deal with their issues, the students issues and the parents issues as well. Being the head of a school is like being in a relationship. Sometimes it’s emotionally exhausting. Ideally, there are aspects of the job that can reflect positive energy back into you. For me, it’s often the students. Seeing them learn something in a class when I walk by or when they give you an unexpected, “what’s up!?” can be the brightest part of a tough day. A lot of elementary principals I know go into the young fives to get their energy boost. If you’re constantly emotionally exhausted it could be an indicator that your staff is taking advantage of you and you need to scale back a bit.

“A truly special teacher is very wise, and sees tomorrow in every child’s eyes.” Author Unknown
You’ve spent the year doing your best, setting up and getting ready for each and every day. You’ve decorated the staff lounge, made baskets and prepared holiday treats. You’ve shown your appreciation in any number of small ways, from gift cards to personally subbing in a classroom. You get the perfunctory, obligatory thank you but it seems as if they’ve taken your Herculean and Jobe like efforts for granted. Maybe someone even complained because you didn’t have vegetarian pizza or the students were hyped up when you left the room from subbing. As servant leaders we don’t necessarily do what we do for recognition but a heartfelt thank you goes a long way. When you have one of these days find a community of peers with whom to share your burden. We get it!

Being a principal can literally impact thousands of lives. What we do matters. Unfortunately, sometimes we get beat down by the adults we’re working with. If you find yourself without a smile, emotionally exhausted and feeling unappreciated remember what you do is more than enough! Take a breath, scale back and share your story with your peers. We know what a grind the principal life is.

What’s your story? Share your feelings in the comment section below.

If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection please follow me and share with your friends.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, episodes replayed weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

theprincipalentrepreneur #leadership #principal #secondaryprincipals #nassp #massp #maesp #edchat #educhat #edadmin #sharedleadership #howtobeagreatprincipal #jonathanroyce #principallife

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In today’s episode we’re discussing Why Culture and Inclusivity Really Matter as Students look to the summer

ABC news reported a couple day of days ago, on May 5th, that “ President Trump railed against the nation’s immigration laws and suggested Saturday that a government shutdown may be necessary to secure his long-promised border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.”

As Principals what are we supposed to do when we hear that type of rhetoric, especially those of us who work in diverse settings? We are trained to be inclusive. In order to be great leaders we must believe that every child deserves a chance to be treated equitably regardless of background. When the president puts policies in place to be exclusionary either by erecting a wall or discriminating through immigration policies how are the children of these excluded groups going feel knowing they’ll soon no longer have the safety of our schools? How do you ensure that every child feels safe when they know they’ll be leaving in just a few short months? These three reminders will help your children feel secure in your school while they prepare for the world outside.

Safe Space
This is the technique with which most of us started the school year. At the beginning of the school year we had the power to disperse money for posters, books, speakers and classroom materials that highlight our community's’ diversity. During the year we have used these funds, and with the help of our staff decorated our buildings with images from around the globe. Now at the end of the year as we plan closing ceremonies we can ask students, families, and community members who their cultural heroes are and find ways to display them during that time. This helps reaffirm our commitment to the larger community and creates a positive vibe for the following year.

Personal Vulnerability
Just like the interactive software program Rosetta Stone, we want to be interactive with our students who come from different linguistic backgrounds. Something as simple as “good morning” in a student's’ home language will bring a smile to their face and help them feel safe. This small gesture is especially powerful as we make mistakes in pronunciation and cadence. This vulnerability gives them a chance to be leaders and show their strength as they help us improve. As our staff and students see us model this behavior they will follow our lead. This act of personal kindness and cultural sensitivity will help break down superficial barriers that often separate us.

Techno Teacher
This is a simple tip that must be used judiciously. Apps and technology like Google Translator don’t always address context. When we send newsletters and other communication out to families about upcoming summer programs, using Google Translator is an easy way get information to all our families. If we’re lucky enough to have someone in our district for each language that is spoken, having them review the newsletter is always a good idea. I’ve found that even if there are mistakes the families appreciate us reaching out to them and making that attempt. It shows that we respect them and their culture.

Creating community is the job of the Principal. Using these tips to help keep our schools together, as the anxiety of a summer without us begins to set in, is a way to combat the fear that some of our students feel as national policies change.

What are some ways you help your students and families feel welcome throughout the year, especially here at the end? Use the comment section below to share your thoughts.

If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection please follow me and share with your friends.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs, as voted by readers, by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website. (Full disclosure this can sometimes be sporadic as time is an issue :-))

If you’re an auditory learner you can download episodes of the podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, episodes are replayed weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

That is it for this epidsode of the principal entrepreneur

theprincipalentrepreneur #leadership #principal #secondaryprincipals #nassp #massp #maesp #edchat #educhat #edadmin #sharedleadership #howtobeagreatprincipal #jonathanroyce

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The Principal Entrepreneur: 3 Habits to combat the principal’s first few weeks hangover

The first week has simultaneously felt like forever and gone by in a flash. Your body feels like it has been hit by a Mack Truck. You’ve got a to do list the length of a census scroll and all the vitamins in the world haven’t done the job to keep you energized. You’re a principal and only others in the role understand the phrase “principal tired”. The combination of mental gymnastics and physical movement in the first week is second to none. These 3 habits are a good reminder of what can help combat that first week principal’s hangover.

Hydration
I’m sure you’ve heard it before, so I’ll just reiterate it. Hydrate. Hydrate before you eat and drink more as you make your way down the hall for the one thousandth time. Keeping hydrated helps your mental function, keeps those headaches at bay and has numerous other health benefits. It’s also one of the easiest things to forget as we’re running throughout the week. For a more in depth look at how water impacts your health, check out this easy reading from Fitday.

Snack
Have healthy snacks available. As your body wears done it will crave the deliciousness of fat, sugar and salt. Somehow I always find myself doing walkthroughs in the room with the candy jar. Avoid that trap! Make it easier to get the healthier stuff. You can get a good sweet with strawberries and bananas and a good crunch with carrots. While nut as fun as chips and cookies you’ll feel better eating healthier as you give your body what it actually needs.

Balance is key
This is my favorite. Take your one day and splurge! Eat all the mac and cheese, greens, ham or turkey you body can hold, and then eat some more. Pile up your plate with pie and tasty treats. I’m no trainer or health nutritionist but I know that after a day of eating to excess my brain and tastebuds have had enough. It’s much easier to eat healthier after a day like that than to try and be disciplined an entire first week of school.

The first week of school is a mental and physical marathon. I don’t know if it’s completly possible to avoid that first week principal hangover, but it is probable that you can limit it. Stay hydrated throughout the week, keep healthy snacks easily available and don’t beat yourself up if you have one day where you just eat whatever. Sometimes eating your favorite tasty treat is better for your mental health.

What strategies do you use to keep your sanity and your energy up that first week of school?
Leave your helpful suggestions in the comment section below.
If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection please follow me and share with your friends.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, new episodes weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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3 things veteran principals know when dealing with a parent’s online rant.

One of the unwritten rules of education is that the parent is always right. No principal wants to hear from board members that they didn’t treat a parent well. However, always supporting parents will ruin your ability to lead effectively. Veteran principals know that when dealing with parents who are going on a social media rant there are at least three things they have to remember.

Communicate and Diffuse
If a parent believes that they are always right, regardless of rudeness, they can and often will ask for just about anything. They will demand that Sally be moved from one room to the next or that a teacher change a grade or extend a deadline. It also means that these oppressive parents are getting better treatment and more attention than their easy going polite counterparts. That just isn’t right. Unfortunately these parents aren’t shy about complaining on social media. When that happens it’s time for us to diffuse the situation, even when we know they’re being unreasonable.

A good first step is to bite the bullet and make the call to the parent. Let them know another concerned parent forwarded the message to you so you would be able to address it. Once you’ve heard them, ask if they’d mind taking down the post.

Supporting Staff is Key
In conflicts between aggressive parents and teachers it’s okay to consistently side with your teachers. They have to put up with and be great in the face of parents’ complaints, societal judgements and unrealistic expectations on a daily basis. Treating staff like quality members of the team provides them with the value that they’ve earned and deserve. It shows you have their back. If you don’t support them in the face of an overwhelming parent, smaller things will cause huge resentment and inhibit your ability to lead. Of course there are ineffective teachers who don’t communicate well or appropriately with parents, but in a conflict, that is not the time to coach those behaviors. In fact this could actually leads to worse parent teacher communication.

In the event that a conflict like this get recounted online in an unfavorable manner sometimes a good choice is to just ignore it. Veteran principals often have a good sense when this would be the wiser course of action. If you’re new, run the scenario by a colleague and get their perspective.

Every Night has its Dawn
Parents will talk crap about the school and the teachers. Those are often easier to deal with because it’s not necessarily a direct assault on us. There will be occasion, however, when parents will insult us and call into question the decisions we’ve made. Maybe we’ve cancelled a school dance or end of the year ceremony where all kids are affected because of the choices of a small group. If you make the choice that you need to further explain your choice and the reasons for it a good idea is to wait until the next morning.

If you’re like me by the end of the day you’re often physically and emotionally drained. This is not the best time to send out an email responding to a parent’s attack. The tone in an email response cannot be easily interpreted and is often read with the recipient's emotional lens. Wait until the following morning and write your response. Again if you have a trusted staff member have them preview it before you send it out.

Veteran principals know of at least three strategies to use when dealing with parents that are online, ranting about school. They know they must communicate and diffuse the situation as best they can, support the staff member who may be caught up in an awkward situation and possibly just ignore the online chatter and finally, if it’s a personal attack wait until the following day to address the situation and have a trusted colleague review your message. These three strategies can help make it through a school year relatively unscathed by social media vitriol. their staff first knowing that this builds a culture of caring that spills over into students and their families.

What are your strategies for dealing with a parent’s online mayhem? Share your strategies in the comment section below.

If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection please follow me and share with your friends.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, new episodes weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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In this episode we’re talking with Mrs. Donita Townsel. We discover the events that triggered her desire to teach, dig into the advice she has for principals and learn the lessons that sparked the inspiration for her book.

Mrs. Townsel has been an educator for 31 years. She spent about ½ that time as a middle and high school level science teacher and the other has as a lead counselor. In that role she worked hand and hand with the principal positively impacting school culture and academic achievement. Along with Dr. Selina Thedford she is the co-author of " The Ultimate Survival Toolkit for High School Students and their Parents" a step by step guide to navigate the college and career application process. We’ll get into some of the great advice and strategies in her book, but before we do so we get into her educational journey.

Summary Educational Journey
After graduated from Atlanta public schools. Donita attended Telladega College in Alabama with the intention of going into medical school. Realizing she’d done a little too much partying to pass the Med Cat she decided instead to join a lab. While living in Miami and looking for jobs in that field she discovered that there was a teacher shortage in the Sciences. Taking a look at her own skills she realized that there wasn’t enough interaction with people working in a lab. So, she decided to give teaching a shot on a provisional teaching certificate.

Tweetable quotes
I was determined to become a great teacher despite the mentoring I got.
I wouldn’t have survived if I didn’t have the thirst to become a great teacher.
Something in my personality made students confide in me.
Our (counselors) time is precious just like the principal’s
Counselors are the heart of the building.
Involve others and empower them in the organization.

Words of wisdom
Go to other content area teachers and shadow them to see what they’re doing and what you can bring back to your own classroom.

The mindset [of students] can impact whether or not the student is retained or drops out of college.

You create buy-in when you include counselors in the leadership team.

Jesus had a team he couldn’t do it all himself. He had the disciples.

Educational Challenge
Getting principals to see and understand the role of the counselor
Principals often give disciplinary duties to counselors which blur the lines and makes it difficult for students to trust them.

Solution
When it comes to discipline, find someone else to fulfill that role. Perhaps have someone switch duties.
Create systems that can smooth out work loads.

About Her Book
The inspiration for book " The Ultimate Survival Toolkit for High School Students and their Parents" a step by step guide to navigate the college and career application process, came from the many parent nights where the same questions were asked repeatedly. She and her coauthor Dr. Selina Thedford realized there was a pain point and they could address it. They are currently building a curriculum around the lessons they learned and plan to have that out as well in the near future.

Ideal audience includes juniors and seniors and their families as well as other counselors and schools looking for a handy guide for their students.

Most impactful sections of the book: Mindset and Communication sections

Advice for Principals
Counselors and Principals need to be a team.
Find space for counselors to create a curriculum of college and career readiness and socio emotional content.
Include counselors in the leadership team.

Book Recommendations
Jesus CEO by Laurie Beth Jones
21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership by John Maxwell

Contact Information
www.ultimatetoolkit.net.
Email: bntwhitlock@gmail.com

If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection please follow me and share with your friends.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, new episodes weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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08/16/2017 The Principal Entrepreneur: 3 Tips For Leading With Integrity When The President Doesn’t

In a time when civil liberties and raw racial fault lines are the current topics of conversation and not black and white historical images on Youtube leaders must speak. There is a struggle to reconcile the leader of our United States words, with the reality some of us live on a consistent basis.

With the recent racist and violent acts in Charlottesville and President Trump saying,
"I think there is blame on both sides," and that within the group of those with Swastikas and yelling out anti-Semitic slogans there were some "bad people .... but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides." As principals we are left to parse words and determine how to lead our schools with vulnerability and integrity when the person in the highest public office of our land does not. The following are three ways to demonstrate leadership when the president does not.

Action are more important then Words
Do the little things. You’ve heard it before, but this is one of the best ways to show integrity and self discipline Doing the jobs that you expect others to do is an example of integrity. Show them that you aren’t afraid to get in the trenches with them. If you’re school holds ISS (in school suspension, take a turn sitting in their with the students. Join your staff in performing the jobs you know they dread. Leading by example, demonstrating through your actions that you mean what you say is a great way to show your integrity.

We is greater than Me
This is a team concept and those with high integrity demonstrate this value. Gathering the advice and listening to the point of view of those on your staff is important in building a strong culture. Hiring those who can support you and compensate for your weakness is key. Being able to ask for help and not pretending to have all the answers is an offshoot of this concept. Not only must you create a team you actually have to listen to them. Treating your entire staff as integral parts of a whole following their insights when necessary highlights your vulnerability and integrity as a leader.

Be comfortable with discomfort
This is often about honesty. Telling the truth tactfully lets your staff know where you stand. They don’t have to worry that you’re hiding something from them. Often making the decision to confront someone is more difficult than having the actual conversation. You must embrace the discomfort. When a teacher is disrespectful to the student and then the student responds in kind. Intervening in a respectful way is the right thing to do. Asking your staff what they could have done better isn’t easy. It’s your job to do it anyway. Integrity means having the courage to be uncomfortable.

In an age of hyperbole, increasing racial tensions, and alternate facts and hard line stances demonstrating vulnerability and integrity is one of the most important characteristics of a principal. Leading by example through your actions, showing that the team is greater than the individual and embracing discomfort are all components of integrity.

What are other ways you can demonstrate these characteristic. Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

If you’ve gotten this far and found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection and you’d like to help me out please share with your friends!

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and Podomatic, new episodes weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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Hi there everybody welcome to the Principal Entrepreneur I’m Your Host and author of the book How to be a great principal Jonathan Royce.

Welcome to the 100th episode of the Principal Entrepreneur where we support educational leaders with strategies and suggestions that answer the question. How do I become a great principal.

I also interview Principals and school and educational leaders just like me and you and discuss their areas of expertise and how they overcome the challenges within schools.

Before we get into today's episode I’d just like to thank you listeners from all over the world joining me on the podcast. For those who don’t get the stats, we have listeners from not only the US but also Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Canada, Venezuela, Democratic Republic of the congo, Brazil, India, Australia, Egypt, Mexico, Cameroon, South Africa, Nigeria, Philippines and Bosnia. If you’d like to join me on the show from any of these countries and talk about your educational experience we’d all love to hear about what education is like for you. Just email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Once again thank you for listening and please share with your friends and colleagues.

Now for Today’s episode we’re discussing:3 Things Principals sensitive to Charlottesville think about

After the Charlottesville incident where racist white nationalist battled counterportersters and three deaths occurred President Trump gave a statement, “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides,". Was this a strong enough statement? When domestic terrorism raises it’s ugly snout in the form of alt right racism, in such a visible, 1960’s manner, there is a process many school leaders go through as we try to process the event and the media and political circus that follows.

Should we address the event
The answer isn’t as easy as you would think. The reason for this is because every school is different. Is there a strong culture of courageous conversations in which people feel safe touching the live wire of emotion that speaking about race based topics can ignite? Often times the answer is no. This can be especially true if you’re a new principal and you haven’t yet learned your staff. Even if you’re a veteran leader your school culture might not lend itself to these types of intense conversations. Wondering if we should even address the issue is often the first step in the reflective process.

Composition of staff
Is having a conversation around this worth the potential disruption between staff? Does my staff have strong enough relationships with each other where a difference in perspective will not negatively impact the day to day operation of my school? These are at least two of the questions that I ask myself as I take in the current visible reality in our America.

Student and Staff interaction
If you bring the conversation to the students, does all your staff have the capacity to lead the conversation and diffuse tensions as necessary? Often times there are one or two staff members that are able to constructively have the conversation and work through the emotions that inevitably rise. Typically these are classrooms where teachers have strong relationships and high expectations with their students. These types of teachers aren’t as numerous as we would hope. The reason more than the one or two highly competent staff is necessary is because the other staff members will need to work with the same students that just got hyped up in the previous class. This is the third question that must be pondered when deciding if a discussion about overt racism should be endorsed.

These are all questions a building leader must process before making a decision; should the event even be addressed, is the staff composed of the “right” mix to have the conversation amongst themselves and finally is their a strong enough relationship between most of the staff and students. Often times you may be able to answer one or two of the questions positively. Knowing this is an opportunity for authentic learning are those great enough odds to take the risk. For me, the answer is almost always yes.

What is your process for working through these types of intense situations? Share your strategies in the comment section below.

If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection please share with your friends.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. You can also get a monthly email that delivers the most valuable blogs as voted by readers by joining the Principals’ Prep Minute. You can register right on the website.

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, new episodes weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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In this episode we talk with Dr. Tommy Watson. Dr. Watson is a former elementary principal, acclaimed author, and speaker. He is also the owner and driving force behind his company TA Watson, Speaking, Coaching and Consulting. We discuss his book A Face of Courage and his area of expertise; the systematic motivation of students. Before we do, however, we get into his educational journey and the struggles and successes he’s navigated to get where he is today.

Summary of his educational journey.
Dr. Tommy Watson grew up in Denver, Colorado with parents who who drug addicts, shoplifters and were in and out of the criminal justice system. As a result he and his siblings were placed in and out of foster homes. He was forced to bounce around to five different elementary schools in his first six years of school. As a result there were huge gaps in his education. He spent all of his 8th grade year living out of a motel after getting kicked out of his house in front of all of his friends.

It was in 8th grade however when a pivotal encounter with a coach inspired he and his inner city friends to play football. Just like a movie, Tommy found himself traveling across three city bus transfers to get to a private suburban mostly white school. This presented its own challenges both with the suburban students and his friends from the neighborhood.

To learn more about his journey and the Nun who challenged him and helped him succeed . . . listen to the entire episode :-)

Tweetable Quotes
I discovered the power of education and the difference it made in my journey
Education is a game changer
No one [teachers] killed my dreams. They simply had a philosophy that life would teach [me]
It’s not about hammering kids! It’s about teaching kids
I had no control over my life, so I came to school and tried to control that.

Words of Wisdom
I want to inspire young people to maximise education, utilize i [education] t and give back in the same way.

I had a coach, who for the first time, really believed in me, pushed me, motivated me. Who constantly spoke life into me. And talked to me about the possibilities beyond my neighborhood.

Often times we kill the dreams of our young people by telling them that their chances of making it to the NFL are slim. Not realizing that there’s never been an NFL player who didn’t first go to college

The kids who need love the most are often the kids who ask for it in the most undesirable ways.

We as educators, have to dig deep and have to learn to suspend judgment and allow a young person to do what it is that they enjoy doing.

Challenges
Walking into school with high poverty and low morale
Low principal during district cuts, lost job along with third of staff was brought back to building after district had assigned another principal who had brought his own staff. Had to rebuild again.

A Snippet of What he learned
Begin to change the culture “first class staff, serving first class students”
Move away from punitive discipline

Advice for Principals
Continually speak life into your staff
Place heavy emphasis on instruction and instructional strategies and classroom management.
Get community volunteers involved
Switch mindset from getting parents involved to getting caring adults involved.
Create PLC’s and create common language throughout building
Heavy emphasis on reading
Focus on building relationships with staff, student, parents and community.
Model the change you want to be, spend time in the community.

About his book A Face of Courage
An autobiography of his journey used to inspire educators about what their students could be going through. It can be used as a tool to create empathy in educators working with students from high poverty areas.

Secrets to Motivate Students Workshop Teaser
Step one - find students value of valence (find out what this means on the podcast) or by contacting Dr. Tommy Watson. You can learn the entire system for motivating students.

Recommended Books
The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader by John Maxwell
Leading Change by John Kotter.

Contact Information
Dr. Tommy Watson
www.tawatson.com
Phone number 704.944.3555

If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection please our one ask is to follow the show and give a rating and review. This helps other educators find the show and helps give credibility to the work which makes it easier to get more great educational leaders on the show.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, new episodes weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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How many of us have heard of data driven decisions or data driven instruction? Everybody right? If you’ve been in education longer than two minutes you’ve been hit over the head with the concept and the language so much that it’s now just part of our educational existence.
In the next 3-4 minutes it takes to read this. I’m going to reveal the single greatest strategy that will leverage those decisions and that instruction and provide the greatest impact on your students.

I’m adopted my biological mother delivered me when she was 16 years old. I was born with physical deformaties. Imagine a bullfrog when it ribbits and the membrane around its throat expands. I had a blister like that on the tip of my tongue when I was born and needed surgery to remove it. I was also born with extra digits on each hand those were removed as well. And so to look at me you wouldn’t know that these pieces of me were removed. What you can’t see is that I was also born with dyslexia and adhd and that as a child I had a speech impediment. As a result I really struggled to read up through and to the end of elementary school. I was even put in a special ed class for a short time in 6,th grade. All of this created a lot of self doubt and insecurity things you can’t see.

Why am I telling you this? Because there was one circumstance that profoundly changed the trajectory of my life. I got the chicken pox. Why is that important? It’s important because I was too sick to play. I couldn’t leave the house. It was during that one to two week period that my life changed. My mother sat and read to me. She read the adventures of Zorro to me from a Walt Disney book of collected stories. I can still see that book in my mind's eye it was a couple inches thick with a yellow binding. Those stories transported me to other worlds. It wasn’t just the stories though it was her spending time with me. It was love. It was in those weeks that I became a reader. That was the beginning for me. If it hadn’t been for that love I wouldn’t be an educator today. Love enabled me to raise my test scores in that specific area.

Love is the strategy that can provide the greatest impact on your data driven decisions and data driven instruction.

So what does that look like in your classrooms and in your schools? For me and my personality and my high school grade level. It’s greeting the kids when they come in. Smiling at them dapping them up. Being genuinely happy to see them when they come back from missing a day or three. And telling them that I need them there. But also having empathy or sympathy if they can’t make it everyday. What that reveals to them is the respect I have for them as people.

For me, the two greatest indicators of love that I can give students as an educator are trust and respect. So that means that I need to allow them to make decisions and have choice. I need to respect them enough to hold them accountable and also have high expectations. I also need to spend as much time with them as I can in my role as principal.

So what’s the data say about this love strategy? I can tell you that we had less discipline issues in our building. I can tell you we had no fights on our campus.

I had a student who I had to remove from our traditional day program and had to place her in our Virtual Academy which is our after school online program. This student was upset that she was removed, but eventually got her head right and buckled down to work. She showed that she was ready to be a student and earned her way back to the day program. Once there she continued to perform well and make the honor roll. She is now one of the senior leaders and is in charge of a bunch of different activities. I showed her love by holding her accountable, continuing to connect with her even after her poor choices and trust her to lead her classmates.

There is a lot of invisible aspects of our students that we can’t see. We can’t see their brain chemistry, we can’t see what they go home to on a daily basis. All we see is their actions and it’s up to us to interpret them in the most loving light that we can. Showing the students that we love them despite and sometimes because of their actions can change their lives and change their data. Love is the single most important strategy to use when leveraging data.

What are your thoughts on strategies that can be used to leverage data?

If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection please share with your friends.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, new episodes weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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As the excitement builds to the first day of school and I brainstorm ways to being the school year with the new and veteran staff, traces of anxiety sink their tentacles into my stomach. I sleep fitfully waking up in the middle of the night thinking of ways to set the tone. In my first year I made many mistakes presenting at staff meetings. This year I want to do better. The following are three common mistakes principals make at their first staff meeting.

Death by bullet point
As educators we know that the human brain can only take in so much information. As a teacher we prided ourselves on chunking the information and scaffolding so all students could access the material. Somehow as a principal I forgot that and almost wanted to “show off” how much I knew by putting it all in a powerpoint. This is an easy mistake to make because there’s so much to cover. This year I’ll only present the material needed for the first week of school. This will limit the Powerpoint to just a few slides and the most important material wont get lost with stuff that isn’t happening until Thanksgiving!

No clear priorities
This goes hand in hand with too many bullet points. When there was a wealth of information my staff didn’t know what was important and what they could dismiss until a later date. I was unclear in my priorities and I didn’t make it a point to highlight or show in any way what I wanted accomplished within the first few weeks. This year at the first staff meeting I will make sure I only have three or four main points that can be ranked in importance. Not having a clear picture of what’s most important is one of the mistakes principals make at their first staff meeting.

One person show
Doing everything yourself at that first staff meeting, for me, is the hardest one to avoid. You’ve spent the whole summer working on the upcoming year and now it’s time for your vision to become a reality. At my first meeting I wanted to get input from the staff so I was facilitating and writing staff answers down. This added an easy 10-15 minutes to the meeting. I’ve got horrible writing so not only did it take longer, staff was also struggling to read what I had written. Thankfully, a veteran teacher volunteered to be the scribe in the afternoon session and I was wise enough to let her. Although you’ve spent the whole summer planning trying to run the show on your own is another common mistake principals make at that first staff meeting.

This year I hope to avoid these common pitfalls: too many bullet points, lack of clear priorities, and running the meeting by myself. What are some other common mistakes principals make at the first staff meeting? Please share your experience in the comment section below.

If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection please share with your friends.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, new episodes weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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In this episode we chat with Dr. Mary Hughes-Tutass. Dr. Tutass has been in the educational arena for a couple of decades, she is a lecturer and expert in neuro linguistics for educators and is the founder of TeacherTMI: Ten Minutes of Information, where they specialize in bringing 10 minutes of information that matches the school calendar when and where teachers need it. We chat with her about the creation and inspiration for her company, discuss her educational journey as well as the struggles and success she’s had on her way.

Dr. Tutass grew up in a baby boomer neighborhood where the expectation was if you knew something you shared it otherwise you didn’t have anyone to play with. As she grew up in the educational era with a focus on cooperative learning she found herself leading groups and being a tutor to her peers. One thing naturally lead to another and in high school she had a P.E. class that focused on leadership. It was after that experience that she realized that education could be a profession for her.

She made her transition from college to P.E. teacher and during those 15 years she taught every grade before deciding to become a principal. The catalyst for that transition was a rapidly shrinking pool of talent in the principal ranks and noticing that those who remained weren’t as good as they could be. She decided to stop complaining and do something about it. Again her recommended books were

Tweetable Quotes
People are retiring faster and faster . .. better be ready to lead.
[As a principal] being scrutinized constantly is tough.
[As a principal]There is no planned day.
The choreography changes constantly, so do the players.
You need to focus on what to do instead of what not to do.
Students acting out in class are not always a personal insult to you.
No one comes into to this profession wanting to do poorly.
Teachers love to give, all the way until they feel taken.
Always listen to the ones that are quiet. It’s the loud ones you’ll hear repeatedly.

Words of Wisdom
I figure I better be properly trained rather than step in with no knowledge no empathy no experience.

You can go ahead and plan. You should plan. But don’t expect it [the day] to be planned.

Take smaller leadership roles first.

The words of positivity, the deeds of positivity are actions and words all moving you forward towards that goal.

The “why?” whine in itself is an accusation better to substitute it with “The reason”

When you say for what reason you’re making an assumption that there is a rationale and thinking behind what they’re doing and saying.

In talking about students acting out towards their teachers “If you can go one step further and unhook the blame and shame you feel all the time, you can move on knowing you are providing the service [to them].

Sometimes when kids name call it’s them showing their appreciation to you for keeping them on track.

Challenges as Principal
Always being public.
Always knowing had to be true to self and still represent education
Keeping public eye appropriately focused
Mentoring large number of teachers

Solutions
Focused a lot on exactly what she would say and what she was going to do.
Continually reflecting on practice
Asked herself:
Is this in alignment with who I want to be
Where I want to go
Why am I in this role in the first place
Teacher TMI is a scalable way to mentor large number of teachers and get them the content that they need

Advice for Principals
You want to create pictures and images in their [the students’ minds] that move them closer to a goal.
Ask any teacher for a list that would show their individual support for a student, use that list and treat the teacher in that manner.
Assume teachers have something good to contribute. Assume they have skills. Watch out for the things they don’t have skills for and scaffold.
Treat your teachers as you would have them treat their students.

Recommended Books
They call me coach by John Wooden
The four agreements Don Miguel Luis

Contact Information for Dr. Mary Hughes Tutass
TeacherTMI.com
teachertmi@usa.com

If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection please share with your friends. If you’d like to do me a solid please follow me on podomatic and leave a comment and review. This helps other educators find the show as well.

If you’d like the top stories of the month without having to search through facebook or hope you catch it in your feed you can subscribe to the principal prep minute a short email with the five most popular blogs and podcasts as selected by readers and listeners. That is on the welcome page of the website on the right hand side, right past the fold.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, new episodes weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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8/02/2017 The Principal Entrepreneur: 3 useless items every principal has on or in their desk

I’m back at work looking at my desk and going through the drawers as I prepare for next school year. As I’m digging through the random items, I see a bunch of stuff that I’ve never even touched since I started 2016 as a first year principal. The following are the three items that are completely useless and only fulfill the purpose of completing in my mind what a principal’s desk “should” look like.

Clear Tape Dispenser.
Seriously? I haven’t taped anything in the entire 18 months I’ve been on the job. The best thing that this tape dispenser has been used for is as a weight holding doing a six inch stack of paper. That and for any number of students that have come in and asked if they could use some for a project.

Ruler
Speaking of useless, I don’t even know why I have a ruler. I don’t need to know the dimensions of my laptop or need to use the ruler to convert distances on a map like we did in the 80’s. As a matter of fact I think I have a rubberbanded bunch of rulers. I’m sure as heck not going to use them to teach a lesson in the many being stronger than the one . . . Well, actually that would probably be a good use for them. For now tho, they’re just taking up space. But for some reason I’ve still got them in my drawer.

Magnetized Paperclip Holder
We’re in the digital age. I can’t remember the last time I needed to paperclip something to hold them together. That might also be because I’m a staple person. But really, there’s no reason for it. I don’t have enough things to paperclip that I need a special holder to contain 300 of them. Most items I get are in a digital folder. The paperclip holder with the clear bottom and the black top is useless.

What else do you have on or in your desk that is actually completely useless? Share your observations in the comment section below.

If you found this entertaining, educational or cause for reflection please share with your friends.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, new episodes weekly. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an edleader please email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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Overworked principals is probably a redundant statement. Whether we’re at a holiday recital until 9 as an elementary principal or a Friday night football game until 11:00pm as high school one, most of us would agree that we work a lot. Even if we discounted those nights many of work in the towns in which we live and have to fill that role of school leader in the grocery store or at the local pub. That being said how can we find more time in our day so that when we finally do get home we can focus on our family life? These three things that overworked principals do can be pared down and even replaced.

Think everything is essential
An overworked principal is often a new one. As such we think that everything that comes to us must be completed now. I often got caught in that trap. The latest or the most recent problem that came to my attention is the one I tried to solve. This left things undone and sometimes forgotten until I was asked about it again.

To avoid this scenario it may help to think about your day as a book you’re studying for specific information. When you’re skimming through a book you skip the information that you don’t need. You must be disciplined enough to do the same with your daily events. What do you absolutely need to do in order to be highly effective? Those are the priorities that you focus on first. Everything else can either be eliminated or delegated. Learn to say no, or I’ll get back to you. This will give you valuable time to think and have a proper response.

Lack of Focus
A principal who is swamped with busy work usually lacks focus. He hasn’t internalized his school’s goals and brings to projects into the school that might not align with the stated goal. Last year as a new principal if something seemed cool I would want to bring it to my team and implement it. I was lucky in that when needed I was reminded that we didn’t have time to do everything I wanted and still get our stated goals accomplished.

To continue the book metaphor from above when you’re reading you focus on a particular theme. Keeping focused on your mission will help you make decisions about what you bring into your school. This will save time as you only allow programs that support your plan. If you want to decrease your odds of being overwhelmed stay focused on the mission until it is complete.

Failure to use leverage
A principal who is overwhelmed often thinks that she or he must do everything and forgets to leverage the strengths of the staff, students and even technology. From my own experience one of the pools of talent that I dismissed at the beginning of the year was that of the students. Many things fell through the cracks because of this, including getting our seniors’ pictures into the yearbook. This year I’m holding a meeting prior to school’s start and giving them an opportunity to sign up for jobs that will help create buy-in and get things accomplished.

To finish up the book metaphor, “skimming” isn’t the only way to save time. The same applies to time management. Use technology to help save time, find others who complement your weaknesses so that important tasks can get done more quickly. Save your bandwidth for things only you can do. An overwhelmed principal fails to leverage the skill sets and the technology around him.

Time for a principal is precious, an overworked principal thinks everything is essential and gets buried in busy work, lacks focus on specific goals and gets distracted by every cool proposal that comes across her desk, and fails to leverage the strengths of those around him . What are other ways overworked principals squander their time? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the www.howtobeagreatprincpal.com and order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, on itunes and podomatic, new episodes weekly. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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In this episode we’re talking with Elementary Principal Mr. Jonathon Wennstrom. Mr. Wennstrom has been in the educational arena as a principal for 15 years. He is an educational blogger and is a part of a committed group of educational leaders who believe that blogging is part of the reflection process. We’ll chat with him about the genesis for the blog in a bit but before we do so let’s get into his origin story

Summary of Educational Journey
Like many in the field Jonathon was inspired by many great teachers and coaches which made him want to inspire others. In particular a 5th grade teacher, Mr. Reed, took a young Jonathon into his home while Jonathon’s family dealt with the severe illness of his father.

Wennstrom also discusses the internal challenges of misaligning one’s passion for educating children and that of increased social status. He also get’s into the struggles of transferring one skill set to another setting and taking them for granted.

He goes on to describe his introduction to blogging how he was inspired to begin it and how he joined a group of like minded principals. He discusses the themes of the blogs and how it is used to improve his professional practice.

In addition Jonathon wants to break that misconception that educators don’t have anything important to say. He sees fantastic things happening everyday. People like hearing ideas.

Tweetable quotes
“Relationships aren’t transferrable.” Jonathon Wennstrom
“What we do is pretty special.” Jonathon Wennstrom
“We’re changing lives and that’s pretty important.” Jonathon Wennstrom
“If you’re working in education you have a pretty special calling.” Jonathon Wennstrom
“People [educators] want to support and encourage each other.” Jonathon Wennstrom
“Everybody has something we can learn from.” Jonathon Wennstrom
“Don’t be afraid to say the words I don’t know.” Jonathon Wennstrom
“I want to grow the leaders in my school.” Jonathon Wennstrom
“Leadership is a skill, a set of skills that people can learn.” Jonathon Wennstrom

Words of Wisdom
Once relationships are in place then you can start working together as a team.

It’s important that before you step through those doors on day one, before the teachers return, that we have an opportunity for people to get together socially to just talk and get to know one another.

We need to build each other up and tell our stories of the great things that are happening.

There’s a pressure to feel as if you have all the answers, and that you have to fix every problem. It’s ok to say I don’t know, or I’m going to get back with you, or let me think on that.

Good principals will grow the leadership. If staff is feeling safe in that school environment and empowered, then that helps everyone.

Advice for Principals
Step one Always build relationships
Find out about your team find out
Sequence to follow:
Send out email
Share your philosophy on education
Give list of question including
What are your points of pride
What traditions do you want to continue
What are your proudest achievements
What are your fears
What are your hopes
Take time to meet them
Make sure to have some social time before school starts.
Don’t be afraid to say the words I don’t know.
Lean on the experience around you.

Recommended Books
Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess
Mindset:The New Psychology of Success By Carol Dweck
The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros

If you found this entertaining, educational, or cause for reflection please share with your friends.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at theprincipalentrepreneur.com and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest, email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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I was recently reading The Savvy Principal: What Streetwise Principals Know by Jody Capelutti for a book club of which I’m a part. He has a chapter in his book that describes the qualities of a good boss. This chapter had a bigger impact this time reading it because, as many of us are this time of year, I’ve been scanning the job opportunities in the surrounding area. As the jobs open up, thinking about the “right fit” is important. This particular post was inspired by Dr. Capelutti’s observations and my current state of mind.

Balances hands off with appropriate feedback.
If you’re hired into a position, naturally you’d believe that you’re qualified for the job. I’ve heard horror stories of principals being micro managed by their superintendent. He or she would question the principal’s decisions and suggest, in of their peers, a different way to get it done. Once you’re hired you should have the freedom to implement the changes you think are necessary. The superintendent should be monitoring your progress based off previous conversations and goals and providing appropriate check ins and feedback as you move towards success. A good superintending knows how to strike that balance between hands off and holding you accountable with appropriate feedback.

Respects personal time and understands importance of health
Being a principal requires you to be “on” all the time. When you do get a chance to take a breath you don’t need a text from your boss asking a question that could wait til you’re back on the “clock”. A good boss has her own life and is also taking the necessary time to relax and recharge and understands that you need that time too. Being healthy both mentally and physically means you’ll be there for your students, staff and the larger community. Getting that personal time to take care of yourself is another key indicator of a good superintendent.

Supports you and your building with personnel and resources
With budgets as they are, we know providing 360% support can be problematic. A good superintendent is transparent and is able to provide the rationale when he is unable to provide the necessary resources. However, they should also do their best to provide the latitude for you to hire, develop and implement the staff and programs that will move the school forward. While physical resources might not always be available, emotional and professional support are often just as needed. Seeing that the superintendent backs your initiatives gives you credibility with your community. A good superintendent supports you any way she can.

Being able to tell whether or not a superintendent is or will be a good boss is something we have to deal with. A boss who is able to balance a hands off approach with the appropriate timely feedback, respects your personal time and your health and supports you in whatever way she can is one worth working for. What are other key attributes of a good superintendent? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

If you found this entertaining, educational, or cause for reflection please share with your friends.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at theprincipalentrepreneur.com and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest, email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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The Walking Dead is one of my favorite shows. I like the interaction of the characters and how, when they’re at their best, they’re working together to overcome insurmountable odds. As school staff we too have to band together to resist the onslaught of disregard that is often brought against our profession. As the leader of a school building 3 indicators demonstrate that we’re ready to prevail and persevere even if a zombie apocalypse is on its way. (If you haven’t seen The Walking Dead and plan to, there are spoilers below.)

Optimism
The relatively freshly widowed Maggie is a symbol of optimism and her unborn child epitomizes that hope. A principal must also be relentlessly optimistic and exude hope for her students’ futures. This hopefulness is often indicated by the welcoming smile that parents see when they drop their child off. You can see it when the principal is walking down the hall smiling at students and staff and knowing them by name. This optimism is also heard in the language they use. The community never hears the principal speaking poorly about his school or his district. Optimism is one of the major indicators that a school could survive a zombie apocalypse.

Collaboration
When you’re in survival mode collaboration is key. Rick is constantly looking for mutually beneficial relationships in order to keep his group safe. An example of this is the amount of effort he put forth to create a positive relationship with the kingdom. As a principal working together creates the strongest culture. Identify those key influencers on your staff and encourage their input. Use your student governing body to bring in student voice. It’s their future we’re fighting for. Rick has an end goal, destroying Negan he doesn’t really care how it happens. We too must have a goal that we would like to accomplish. Having all stakeholders come up with the means to get there is the key to success. No principal is an island, collaboration is another indicator that the zombie apocalypse is survivable.

Hard Truths
In the Walking Dead series the characters must continually confront hard truths. Often it’s the death of a member of the group. As principals our hard truths will occur in the form of tough conversations. These are usually uncomfortable exchanges. However, they do provide an opportunity for growth. Just like in the show we get stronger and better at our job when we survive these conversations. We can be optimistic and collaborative but that doesn’t mean we are oblivious to reality. Poor performance, ugly data, and our own mistakes are all things we can’t ignore. Facing hard truths and working to overcome them is one more example of a school ready to face a zombie apocalypse.

The zombie apocalypse is a metaphor for what we face as principals and educators. Optimism, collaboration and facing the truth of tough situations are key indicators that our schools will survive and grow. What are other signs of strong schools. Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

If you found this entertaining, educational, or cause for reflection please share with your friends.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at theprincipalentrepreneur.com and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest, email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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In this episode we’re talking with Kim Hansel. Ms. Hansel has been in the educational arena for 18 years. She is a national educational speaker and trainer, and an assistant principal. We’ll chat with her about her areas expertise in differentiated instruction and using engaging methodology and teaching with the brain in mind. in a bit but before we do so we’ll get into her educational journey.

Summary of Educational Journey
From cloning mice and research to tutoring and youtube tutorials to alternative ed math teacher to assistant principal and national coach and trainer Kim Hansel’s educational Journey has had numerous challenges and successes. She left the research looking to share her passion for mathematics with students at an alternative high school and found she loved teaching. From there she got her masters in education and has been in the educational field ever since. While a teacher she also became an educational consultant. She performed so well in that role that a principal at a school she was consulting for asked her to come on board as an assistant principal.

Challenges
Giving professional development as instructional leader and then doesn’t get incorporated into the classroom

Providing additional support [to instructional staff] when you’re doing a bazillion different things.

Solution
Modeling good instruction, teaching a lesson, tends to be the best way to get that information incorporated into the classroom.

Use screencasting when don’t have an opportunity to go into a classroom to demonstrate how to incorporate different technologies into class.

Advice for New Principals
When providing pd it’s important to be able to have someone model what you’re looking for in the classroom.

It’s great to have coaches around to say here’s what we’re looking for to incorporate into the classroom and to have them sit in on the pd so they know what’s going on. Then send them into the classroom to help support those teachers with implementation.

Coaching is a great option for overworked principals and assistant principals to help with instructional leadership.

Tweetable Quotes
“Differentiation is important for reaching all students.” Kim Hansel
“Differentiate by modes of reception, visual auditory verbal kinesthetic.” Kim Hansel

Words of Wisdom
You can give all this great professional development and all this information, strategies and great ideas but it doesn’t always get incorporated into the classroom that where you have to provide additional support.

The more modes of reception you can cover the more likely you are to get information retained by the student.

I’m talking to you and your listening, that’s not the way to get material into a student’s brain. It’s important that we’re trying different things in the classroom.

About her Coaching and Trainings
Kim provides real examples of how she incorporates differentiated instruction and the impact it has on student learning. You can visit her website here to learn more.

Books she recommends
Basic Principles Of Curriculum And Instruction by Ralph Tyler
Teaching With The Brain In Mind by Eric Jensen

Contact Information
http://kimhanselspeaks.com
kimhanselspeaks@gmail.com

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies which also has quick and easily digestible pointers. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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I’ve been on a work vacation. During the work part I attended one of the break out sessions and the topic was implementing school renewal initiatives with integrity. This got me thinking of all the different initiatives that get started within a school system. Every time there is a new leader something new is happening. With the amount of turnover in central office leadership, at the principal and even at the teacher level is it any wonder that everyone is cynical when it comes to new programs. These 3 signs are indicators that your brand new shiney plan will fail and are based off the presentation at the Achievement Centered Leadership conference.

Unfocused Target
You may have heard the saying if you’re trying to sell to everybody you’re not going to sell to anybody. The idea is you have to know exactly who your target audience is or your product will get lost among all the other products. The same idea applies here. You have to know specifically the portion of your student body that you are looking to impact with a new initiative. An example of this for our school is a mentor/internship program that we are rolling out for our seniors. We did a survey of parents and students asking what would be most beneficial in helping them learn future career goals. A mentor was the overwhelming common answer. The segment of the population you’re targeting and the new plan must be chosen based on the data that you’ve collected. If you don’t have a focused target your plan will fail

No Metric for Measurement
If you don’t have a way to measure success how will you know you’ve achieved it? Not only must you have a way to measure the outcomes of your plan you have to make sure that you are consistently monitoring progress. If we continue with the example above of the mentor program. We have to know what success looks like. One indicator of success could be the student's new depth of knowledge about the job they are exploring with their mentor. A consistent means of monitoring would be a weekly writing assignment where they journal what they’ve learned that week. At the end of the program a career fair in which they share what they’ve learned could be the final measure. Without a metric of measurement and knowing what success looks like any new initiative will fail.

Poor Personnel
Picking the wrong people is probably the biggest mistake that can be made. Knowing your staff and which ones will be able to carry out the task and buy in to the initiative are key components to any type of success. You might have a “favorite” staff member whom you typically tap to lead. Depending on what the initiative is this person may not be the right one for the job. In this case, it’s our job to select and grow another leader who is better suited. Not only does this ensure a greater chance for success but it creates that buy in. To complete the example scenario, I have a SLC (small learning community) leader that is usually the one who heads up school objectives. In this case the counselor and a member of the district from outside the school is helping to organize and run the program. This frees up the SLC leader to focus on other things, empowers the counselor, and creates a relationship with another member of the school community. Picking the wrong person to head a new initiative is a sure fire way for a new plan to fail.

Having an unfocused target, no means for measuring success, and picking the wrong personnel are 3 signs that your new initiative will fail. What are some other indicators you’ve come across that are warning signs? Please share your observations in the comment section below. If you’ve found the article helpful, entertaining, or cause for reflection please share with your colleagues.

Make sure to check back in on saturday for the latest interview. Last week we chatted with Dr. Sharon Porter who helps assistant principals prepare themselves to lead. This week we get to talk to Kim Hansel she is a
National Educational Speaker and Trainer & Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction at Youth Connection Leadership Acadamy

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or pre order my newest book for free How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies which also has quick and easily digestible pointers. I’ve already hit my goal of 10 pre orders before publication but I’m keeping it free until it goes live on Amazon in the next few days. So put in your pre order soon if you’re interested. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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All right I’ve been on vacation this past week so I missed out on dropping this on Tuesdays. However, I’m getting back on track and
In Today’s episode we’re discussing: 10 Things only Principals at a Sanctuary School constantly focus on

Just last weekend I went out to eat with my wife and our five kids. It was a local coney island that my wife and I often frequent because we know exactly what we’re going to get and the surprisingly high quality of the food. We brought the kids this time because it was her birthday. The number of us eating is important because what I’m going to say next isn’t based on a small sample size. The food wasn’t as good as it typically is. When we asked the server where the regular chef was she informed us that he had been picked up by ICE (immigration and customs enforcement). This got me thinking of our chefs family and especially his children. This man has been working in the restaurant for at least the last 15 years. Which means his children have established friendships and relationships within our school system. The following are 10 things only principals that are attempting to create sanctuary schools must focus on in a scary political environment for our students.

Promote a safe and orderly school environment for all students.
Have a robust ELL program.
Send out newsletters in more than one language.
Have a graduation ceremony that includes an interpreter.
Consistently celebrates multiple cultures throughout the school year.
The staff works towards cultural proficiency.
Minority students come to school at the same rate as the general student body.
Immigration and Customs officials treat your school as a “sensitive location”.
Multiple staff members speak some of the languages of your student body.
Students’ families bring food in to share with you and members of your staff.

While most schools may touch on these 10 components from time to time principals that are creating a sanctuary school must focus on these. What are other ways schools can demonstrate a commitment to all children? Share your views in the comment section below.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the howtobeagreatprincpal.com and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies which also has quick and easily digestible pointers. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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In Today’s episode we talked with National presenter, podcast host, Educational Leadership Coach, CEO of PerfectTime SHP and Author Dr. Sharon Porter, Dr. Porter is the author or co author of at least 1/2 dozen books. We discuss her newest one, Next in line to lead: The Voice Of The Assistant Principal. We get into the inspiration for that book a bit later in the conversation but before we do so. We get into her educational journey.

Summary of Dr. Porter’s Educational Journey:
She had an amazing fourth grade teacher and decided to become a teacher because of that fourth grade teacher. That teacher instilled love of teaching and the love of education. While Dr. Porter was a teacher she observed individuals around her and listened to the bios of individual and presenters that would come to the school.

What intrigued her was that they held so many positions. As she contemplated moving from assistant principal to principal she wanted to be able to have as many different positions under her belt as she could so she could have a more global perspective.

As an assistant principal she wasn’t sure she could do the job. Once she held two different central office jobs however one in which she was a regional instructional specialist her mind changed. It was this job where she assisted principals and the superintendent with principal issues, that she realized she could do the job of principal.

Her biggest challenge in the role of principal was dealing with the politics of the position. It really depended on where she was and what was going on in the community. If it was an incorporated town, if it had a mayor or town council. In her school district it really varied. So the struggle for her, especially as a new principal, was trying to make sure all the stakeholders were involved. She overcame the challenge of the politics by really focusing in on her communication skills and being transparent. She also made sure to include all stakeholders.

Advice for new principals:
Make sure you extend yourself and learn all that you can. All that learning isn’t going to come from your building. Be the aggressor and extend yourself to other mentors, other coaches, and other places. Build the relationship with stakeholders and the community it enables you to go so much further.

Her Plan for including the stakeholders include:
A monthly chat with the principal
An executive meeting with PTA
Extend invitations
Plan exactly what rolling out for each particular group
Have consistent structure

Tweetable Quotes:
Make sure all the players are involved. Dr. Sharon Porter
Don’t do anything in isolation include those stakeholders. Dr. Sharon Porter
You want to be inclusive and make sure all stakeholders are at the table. Dr. Sharon Porter
We are the leader of the school but not the only investor in the school. Dr. Sharon Porter
The children, the students, our scholars are our first priority. Dr. Sharon Porter
All decisions made in the best interest of our scholars Dr. Sharon Porter
Relationships are key. Dr. Sharon Porter
There is nothing that is going to prepare you ( for the principalship) until you get there. Dr. Sharon Porter

Words of Wisdom:
If you’re a high school principal you definitely want to have that student voice as part of decisions because they really bring to the table an insight that maybe you don’t have.

As a school leader you must build and maintain positive relationships.

It does not matter how many programs you have, in a school district or outside a school district. [when it comes to preparing assistant principals] What matters is that day to day mentoring and coaching that’s provided by that principal.

There is nothing that is going to prepare you ( for the principalship) until you get there.

When the principal sits down and really takes the time to be a mentor to be a coach that’s where you see the progress in the assistant principal.

Advice for Introverted Principals:
Make sure to plan and be detailed
Take energy breaks
Have alone time to recharge

About her book:
The inspiration for her book Next in line to lead: The Voice Of The Assistant Principal originated with her dissertation. She was looking to answer the question of how assistant principals, across the country, were being prepared to lead. Within the book are phenomenal stories of assistant principals and the journeys they’ve been on to take the next leadership step.

Her greatest take away from the stories she collected was the importance of the principal in preparing the assistant principal for the job.

Books she recommends:
The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
Leverage Leadership: A Practical Guide To Building Exceptional Schools by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo
Good to Great By James Collins

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When we think about how to become a great principal we often talk about the best practices. We discuss the power of shared leadership, strong school culture, safety, and efficient processes and procedures. But we also need to evaluate ourselves and make sure we’re not doing some of the worst practices out there. Some of these practices are built into our personalities and hard to avoid. These three worst practices should be avoided and rooted out at all costs.

Destroying Leadership Potential
Acting as if, and even worse believing, you’re the only one with the answer and the smartest person in the room is one of the worst practices a principal can have. Humans are wired to notice the negative aspects of life. Only providing negative feedback and blaming others when things don't work are two easy ways to destroy any type of self sufficiency in your building. Thinking you’re the only one that can solve the problems others are making adds to this poor practice. Additionally, taking the credit publicly when something is fixed will definitely get you the side eye and could lead to a full scale mutiny.

Neglecting Personal wellness
With the long hours and inconsistent eating schedule finding time to take care of yourself often falls by the wayside. Being at your worst mentally and physically will ensure your decisions will often be less than ideal. Having low energy will make you short tempered and you will have a hard time connecting with you staff. This will ensure that your building is a place in which your staff is worried, stressed and afraid to make mistakes. In an environment like that, discipline problems are bound to be higher than you would like.

Don’t do what you say
This can be a hard practice to avoid especially if your upper administration are poor communicators. Sometimes your can say one thing then everything changes without notice and you have to go back on your word. This is a key component in destroying your building culture. You can say, “all hands on deck” then stay in your office and let others try to handle the emergencies. Being above the fray will absolutely cause a lack of respect. You can also say you have an open door policy, then make it clear by being on your phone or on your computer that you’re not interested in hearing what your staff has to say.

These 3 worst practices, destroying leadership potential, neglecting your health, and not keeping your word can ruin your building. What other practice of poor leaders do you avoid? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more
For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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I recently lost three of my staff members to a better looking, higher status, and more lucrative district. I have to admit that the only way I found out, wasn’t because they were displaying any outward tells, but because they were exposed. These were excellent members of the staff, hard working, creative, team oriented and dedicated to the students. Once one left however, some of the others followed suit. The following are three ways to tell if your staff is leaving you for a better district.

Misty Eyes and Far away looks
As teachers begin to contemplate leaving they may begin to display some of this type of behavior. You might catch them looking fondly at a kid they were furious with just a few days or weeks earlier. You might see them shake their heads and smile and say things like “That’s just Blankty Blank.” instead of correcting the behavior. As staff decides to leave behaviors that once got on their nerves no longer does because they know there is an end in sight for them.

Brilliant Students
Another sign of teachers getting ready to leave may be a sudden uptick in classroom grades. Teachers may begin to take less time grading the papers that are being turned in as they prepare for another assignment. Perhaps there is less focus on the correct usage of a comma, capital city or congruence of a triangle. Or another indicator could be a sudden adherence to grades being turned in on time and the grade book updated. These changes in behavior could be signs that your staff has found another prospect.

Mopey Colleagues
More than likely your entire staff will know before you do that one of their members has found another. You may hear more expressions of black humor or innuendo as you’re walking through the halls. There may be awkward silence as you walk into a room where three or four teachers are gathered. You may also notice hugs and the giving away of valuables like staplers, rulers or lined paper. Or suddenly, teachers who never got along are now cordial as they realize they won't be seeing each other anymore. If you notice this type of behavior a staff member may be leaving.

As principals we are often the last to know that one of our valued staff members is leaving. It’s not even us, it’s them. The other district just might have more to offer. However, if you see misty eyes, an increase in grades and depressed staff members be prepared to find another.

What are some other ways you can tell if a staff member is leaving? Share your insights in the comment section below. If you found this post entertaining and/or informative please share.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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In this episode we’re talking with Professor, national presenter, former principal and Author, Dr. Capelluti, Dr. Capelluti is the author of literally dozens and dozens of scholarly articles and of the book we're going to talk about today, The Savvy Principal: What Streetwise Principals Know.

From dreams of professional baseball and a school counselor's inventory report which suggested he join the clergy or be a mortician to a principal, speaker, author and professor in this episode we go on the educational journey of Dr. Jody Capelluti. We touch on that journey as well his book The Savvy Principal: What Streetwise Principals Know. In this conversation he provides valuable advice on what it takes to be a good principal.

Three of the main pieces of advice were:
Establish credibility
Everyone matters
Engage in Collaborative Decision Making
Find a district that matches your values

He also gives some insight into rapidly changing a school which included make sure you have a good rationale for the changes you’re making and have the data to support that rationale. Not only does he talk about strategies for changing school outcomes but he also gives some ideas for using staff differently so you get the best out of them.

As we get into a discussion about his book he provides some does and don’t on the whys and how of getting it published. As well as a numerous tips to think about as you organize and structure your school.

Tweetable Quotes:
“In a school nobody is more important than anybody else. We just have different jobs.” Dr. Jody Capelluti

“New principals have to overcome the confidence factor.” Dr. Jody Capelluti

“Your best employees want a say in significant decisions.” Dr. Jody Capelluti

“A principal has to filter out what’s real and what isn’t real what’s enforceable and what isn’t enforceable.” Dr. Jody Capelluti

“If you work together there’s a lot more bright people than just one person and a smart principal realizes that.” Dr. Jody Capelluti

“Don’t work for a superintendent who is way out of shape or has no out of school activities. If they’re not going to take care of themselves they’re not going to take care of you.” Dr. Jody Capelluti

“Communities are going to get what they want. They’re not going to change based on what you want.” Dr. Jody Capelluti

“The lack of definition in school policies (with regards to communicating with student families) is killing the balance between work and family.” Dr. Jody Capelutti

“If you’re at home doing emails on Sunday then something’s wrong” Dr. Jody Capelluti

Words of Wisdom for New(ish) Principals
Pick the right position.
Have the skills to stay at it
Principals are the key for teachers, students and schools to be successful

Thanks for taking the time to read or listen. Please share your feedback in the comment section below. For the latest updates click on the follow button up above.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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With the school year ended and most buildings empty of students, as principals we finally get a chance to take a breath. Once we do that a few times we know we gotta get back to work. When we reflect on our student count and think of ways to increase it marketing is the name of the game. In an era of increasing competition we know we have to stand out to capture the attention of families who have greater choice. How can we market our schools so that the values we stand for are represented? These three strategies can help support your enrollment goals.

Unique
This isn’t easy for a public school because we have to be everything for everybody. This makes it hard to stand out and be distinctive. One of the advantages that private and charter schools have is their ability to define their own niche. A private school can be religion based and focused solely on a particular faith or bring in a specific kind of athlete. Charter schools can have a specific theme or cater to specific ethnicities. As a public school finding your focus is essential to increasing school enrollment. This has traditionally been done through an emphasis on things like athletics or band. In today’s technological age, what are ways you can stand out from the crowd? Answering this question will help you be unique.

Remember, regardless of whether you’re a newly established principal or a veteran you are an expert at what you do. Your own particular values as the building leader can also help guide this search for uniqueness. You know exactly what the students need to do to be successful and you’re able to deliver it. The families in your community need you and your school’s particular expertise. Once you identify your one of a kind culture the next step is spreading the word.

So how do you deliver this information? The easiest way to do so is to use social media. Presumably your school already has a Facebook account. If it doesn’t, start one. According to Facebook stats, Facebook has the largest number of users between 25 and 35. That is a prime age for beginning families. Leverage your demographic data and use a social media platform to meet your families where they are.

While, as public schools we have to accommodate everyone, we can still specialize in certain areas. Using social media will help spread your unique characteristics and your school values. Even though school may be out for you reposting older content and reminding your families of your school’s unique qualities is a great strategy

Dependability
Another way to stand out is to be dependable. With every change in leadership schools lurch from one new directive to the next. This fosters uncertainty and parents aren’t sure from year to year what their child is going to get. Being uniform in what you offer to families and the community helps parents know what they’re going to see when they come in for their second and third child. With that consistent way of doing things the parents and the staff can confidently state what is happening year to year and promote your school. No one likes instability. Being unstable causes anxiety among your stakeholders and make choosing another option more likely. Be dependable and not only will families stand by you they’ll sell your school for you.

The most dependable assets at a school are also the greatest asset. The staff. Often we forget that they can do more than just teach. They have hundreds of contacts in their own email and social media accounts. Use them to help spread the word of how dependable and stable your school is. Once a month pass something onto them that they can share with those with whom they have influence. It could be as simple as a picture of them working with their students. Add a brief caption about how great the students are and send it to their friends and families asking them to share it with their friends. As the end of the year approaches have the teachers spread the word that they’ll be back and and are excited to see the new crop of kids. If this becomes a consistent practice you'll be surprised how far the word spreads. As the summer weeks role by remind your families of your dependability and how well you’ve cared for their child.

Fanatic
Being a fanatic about your passion is the secret ingredient to success and leads to sustained excellence. If you think of great Principals they demonstrate enthusiasm on a daily basis. This excitement helps principals promote their school because they're the first ones at the door in the morning greeting families, students, and staff as they come in.

A fanatical focus for the work can also lend itself to the creation of content. (this doesn’t mean overwork yourself :-) ) If you’re excited about the things you do particularly well, spread the word. Your school might have small learning communities or have a great curriculum. Write a blog post or an article highlighting the researched based reasons these unique qualities positively impact your students’ growth.

These families that you greet every day, you have them on an email list. In marketing this is one of the most valuable commodities because it give you direct access to those families. Use that list to share your content. Ask them to forward the email to families who might be interested in seeing the good things your school is doing. During the summer parents may be more likely to open these emails as they don’t want to miss any upcoming school events. Share your passion for your school and their children.

Successful Principals and by extension schools promote themselves with their “one of a kind” offering, dependability and fanatic focus on their passion for education. Using social media, leveraging your staff, and sharing your enthusiasm for education through content creation are easy ways to spread the positive word. These simple strategies can help you maintain and increase your student enrollment over the summer.
What are other strategies you use to stand out and what are ways that you connect and spread the word to your families? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the /www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com and/or pre order a free copy of my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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7/3/2017 The Principal Entrepreneur: The education revolution is here

The revolution is here. Education as previously envisioned is no longer viable. Public schools are over 200 years old They have been around so long and the thinking so entrenched that there is a belief that no one can do it better. Like The Big Three car companies of Detroit, MI were, public schools are stuck in an industrial age mentality. Schools are still run by the ringing of a bell, just like they signaled a shift change in old car factories. That mentality doesn’t work anymore, change is here.

As students age from early elementary to middle school or junior high age through high school respect is no longer automatically given to teachers and adults in authoritative positions. Why should it? The internet can provide the rote answer to any question faster and with seemingly more authority than a teacher. As traditional dispensers of knowledge we are obsolete.
Teachers, like the factory workers of the past are no longer in high demand, and as the demand lessens so does credibility, respect, and authority. Those of us in education have heard the false maxim, “those who can’t teach”. Is that becoming more real as each day passes? I don’t think so. But to those outside the daily grind it may appear to be the new reality. Why would anyone in their right mind want to teach. I’ve heard more educators than I can count discourage their child from becoming a teacher. Low pay, helicopter parents or their opposite seemingly disengaged parents, disrespectful students, and no status; who in their right mind would want to step into that?

As we chose to pick up the stylus and step into this field we know what we face and bravely stand in front of kids who have picked up society's disdain for our profession because we believe. We believe we can make a difference in the lives of our children. We believe we can show them how to behave appropriately in the very society that disregards us. We believe we are on the front lines of this education revolution.

To advance that line we must get off the pedestal and guide instead of lecture. We must demonstrate how to think and discern the fake from the real, how to balance our reality with that of another. We must provide multiple lenses from which to view an issue. We must show empathy by being open to the other. The world grows smaller as our ability to communicate globally expands. As educators we must let go of control and let the students show us what they want and let that be the entry point into a lesson. If we do these things they will learn how to think and in thinking change their world.

The education revolution is here. Do you still stand, do you still believe? Share your thoughts about the state of education in the comment section below.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more
For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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In Today’s episode we’re talking with Principal, Amazon Best Selling Author, and Founder of Elite Aspirations Educational Programs Mrs. Tiffany Stallings. Mrs. Stallings is the author of the children’s book GiGi and Mimi: Mommy Works Too Much and The Bounce Back Mindset: How to Bounce Back when Life has Screwed You. We dive into the inspiration for her books a bit later in the conversation but before we do so we get into her origin story.

She talks about her who inspired her to become an educator. How she crashed and burned out trying to juggle a career, a business and a family. Lessons she learned from that experience and what she's doing differently this time around.

We also get into how she successfully started two schools in two years, how her life experiences influenced her two books and the advice she has for other ambitious school leaders.

Three pieces of advice that stand out are:

Make time to take care of yourself. Have goals beyond school and career.

New principals do not ever forget your time as a classroom teacher.

Don’t forget the reason why you became an educator.

Two books that inspired her professionally are:
Handbook for teachers of African American Children
The Principal 50
both by Principal Kafele

To find out more about Ms. Tiffany Stallings you can find her on all the social media platforms @ ohtiffanywrites .

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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I was recently reading the biography Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson. Issacson relates the story of Jobs’ feelings for one of his teachers. Jobs describes how that teacher saved him by stimulating his mind and making him feel unique and special. This made me think of all the great teachers that I’ve encountered and how, like parents, they make each student feel uniquely loved. As principals it’s our task to do the same thing for our teachers especially if we’re looking to do new and innovative things in our schools. If we’re to be innovative like Jobs, within our own field of education, we must prepare our staff for it.

Love = Trust
Without trust there can not be love. As the principal you gotta be the first one to take that step. Take a chance and be vulnerable. Ask for help in an area of weakness. You don’t have to know everything. Setting up and organizing community get togethers with the families of our students is not something that I’m good at. At the beginning of the year I made sure to ask for help from the staff members that I knew enjoyed and were good at that kind of thing. By doing so I provided them the opportunity to be experts as well as creating the groundwork for them to ask for help when they needed it.

Love = Collaboration
As the Principal you already know that collaboration is key. Identify those key influencers on your staff and encourage their input. Include as many stakeholders as you can including and especially the students. Use your student governing body to help guide policy. Get those students on board. Provide an end goal that you would like and have them come up with the means to get there. Having stakeholder participation and leadership t will help other staff and students buy in. Collaboration is also another way that you show trust.

Love = Transparency
Being upfront and clear about your expectations helps staff feel safe, one of the keys to feeling loved. When you’re doing things like going over the evaluation tool and breaking down the rubrics it lets the staff know what you’re looking for. Make sure students and staff know where their boundaries are. Jody Capelluti, author of The Savvy Principal says, “If you allow it you approve of it.” Being transparent in what you allow makes it clear what you approve of. Transparency is also part of a trusting relationship.

Trust, collaboration and transparency are demonstrations of love. Love is the ingredient that makes innovation possible. What are other factors that are needed to support innovation? Share your thoughts in the comment sections below.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at theprincipalentrepreneur.com and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest, email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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The Principal Entrepreneur: Simple Social Media Marketing Tools for Broke Behind Schools

In the moments of spare time I have I spend it reading and thinking about ways to get the positive things my school is doing and how to connect with parents and families. At the high school level significant and consistent parent involvement/engagement, in the traditional sense, is a struggle. At least at my school. Often times when we try to make calls there is no answer or the phone no longer works. We believe that every parent wants what’s best for their child but often times life gets in the way. And they aren’t able to demonstrate this commitment in ways that we as educators can observe. In the face of this challenge we have newish tools that we can use to connect with families and market the great things we’re doing for and with their child. These social media marketing strategies are a simple free method to communicate with our families.

Talking/communicating with parents consistently is key. According to Statista, a website that tracks a multitude of statistics, Facebook had 1.79 billion active users as of the third quarter of 2016. Facebook should be the foundation of your social media strategy if you want to get your school, and the cool things being done, in front of parents .

Focusing on parents is the largest lever at our disposal when it comes to promoting our school and its culture. In Gary Keller’s book The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, he talks about focusing on a single aspect that will create a domino effect and how over time one small task can create the biggest change. Using Facebook as a conduit to your parents is the one thing you can do from a marketing standpoint that can impact your student count. It could help you retain and acquire more students.

Facebook is an option to have a slightly longer format of communicating your school’s events and post images of what your school is doing. Of course be sure to have permission from parents to have their child’s picture taken. This can be done at the beginning of the year when students signup for school.

Another social media tool you can use is Twitter. Twitter is a great way to give a distilled version of events. Where on Facebook there’s the opportunity to expand on updates, Twitter forces you to be concise. A great way to connect to parents in the Midwest is to have them follow you during the winter months. Let parents know that you’ll be announcing snow days via Twitter. I’ve also seen schools tweet out school events like band concerts and athletic contacts. In addition, because you have limited time you can simply grab headlines from your Facebook posts and tweet those out including a link back to your Facebook page.

Janelle McLaughlin, an educational expert in social media practice, recently said, that twitter is a great place for principals to start in social media. The reason for this suggestion was because of how little time it takes. She suggests setting up a separate account just for school and tweet from that account.

Posting that twitter account and tweeting out your classroom visits with the hashtag of your school is a great way for parents to find you and communicate with you.

Youtube can also be a great resource for parents. Behind Google Youtube is the most often searched for information. Often times parents have trouble accessing a certain section of a school’s website or they have difficulty logging into a particular app that the school district uses to display their child’s grades. By having “how to” tutorial videos on your webpage you can address some of those concerns. Youtube is also a great way highlight student work and their projects. Using your school’s name and the event are easy keywords for parents to search when they’re looking for you.

By integrating these three free social media tools you can increase the reach that your school has in the community and let them know what you’re up to.. The more often parents see you the more comfortable they’ll be entrusting their children to you.

If you’re a broke behind school what are some other methods you use to reach out and connect with families? What social media tools do you use to promote your school? What apps have you found that are helpful? Leave your suggestions in the comment section.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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I recently read a blog by education consultant Janelle McLaughlin titled How to Build a More Powerful Classroom by Letting Go. It talked about student centered classrooms and how effective they are. One of the quotes that stood out to me was when she wrote, “These are the kids that leave that class filled with the power of using their own minds and directing their own learning.” It got me thinking about how this related to discipline, accountability and the new legislation that’s passed in Michigan which is referred to as 1310D. Empowered students are less likely in need of discipline and the following three student driven and collaborative tier 1 interventions can help mitigate and eliminate the need for punitive consequences. The following is an adaptation from a student advocacy form received at a pd. If you’d like a copy please contact me here and click on intervention in the drop down menu.

Student Centered
The idea behind the student centered intervention is that the student must learn to understand herself. He must figure out the triggers for his behavior. They must also decide how staff can assist them they can so they can regulate their reactions. Or they must discover what they can do to help themselves.

Classroom Centered
These interventions begin in a well structured classroom environment. It includes the typically things great classrooms have as a foundation such as high quality and differentiated instruction, built in supports and classroom routines. It also includes things like academic circles, call and response, centers and project/placed based learning.

Community Centered
This focus here is still on the student but the focus in on the student becoming part of the larger community outside of the school. In this intervention you provide leadership opportunities so they have an opportunity to solve school issues as well as community problems. They must work with others to make decisions that have real implications and consequences. In addition putting them in a position to lead discussions and talk about their strengths and areas of expertise gives them self-efficacy.

These three student and community centered tier 1 interventions are preemptive strategies that can help mitigate problems behavior. What are other ways you can help prevent problem behaviors on the front end? Share strategies in the comment section below.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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I was recently at a pd where we were getting information from the district lawyers that we needed to add to our student handbooks. With the new legislature coming down for next school year changes have to be made. The old language has the district and schools having more leeway to suspend students over 10 days. However, with the latest research showing the link between suspensions and jail that is no longer the case. The new default position is that students shouldn’t be suspended longer than 10 days and if you do so, you have to prove that is is necessary. The following mandated questions must be addressed if you wish to suspend a student for longer than 10 days.

1. Students’ age
   Age may be a mitigating factor if a student is 6th grade or under. Parents, guardians and student advocates could easily argue that a student is too young to understand the long term results of their actions.

2. Disciplinary History
   Was this a one time thing where the student got caught up in the wrong crowd or is there consistent discipline issues of the same type of behavior?

3. Disability
   Does the student have a disability. This doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be consequences for actions but are those actions a by product of the disability?

4. Seriousness of behavior
   Does the behavior warrant a suspension longer than 10 days or was someone’s feelings just hurt?

5. Did pose safety risk
   This is similar to seriousness of behavior. In this case they seemed to be speaking about physical safety and not emotional safety.

6. Restorative Practice
   Restorative practice focuses is on repairing the harm to victims and the school community caused by the misconduct of a student. That being said was any type of restorative practice used or could it be used instead of or in conjunction with suspension?

7. Lesser intervention address behavior
   This could tie into restorative practice but could also include something like community service. The purpose of the intervention would be to address the behavior and get the student back in school in less than 10 days.

These 7 factors are required by the new Michigan Legislation 1310d. Principals must consider these factors before suspending a child for longer than 10 days. Remember the default position is that a suspension is not justified and must be proven.

*If you’d like to have a form of the checklist shared with you so you can make a copy click here.

Will these seven factors disrupt your discipline procedures? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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We’re talking with Educational Consultant Mrs. Janelle McLaughlin. She has fifteen years of experience in the trenches and has experience as a curriculum director. She’s taken those skills and now does consulting work and professional development with districts across the nation. Her expertise among other things, are Technology Integration and Social Media Practice. We’ll get some tips in her areas of expertise but before we did we got into her origin story and how she caught the education bug.

As a brief summary of a few of her important points she mentioned the importance of relationships and noted that :

You have to meet them (in this case teachers and administrators) where they are and take them one step further.

Mutual trust is key to any type of growth or change.

If it’s something important for staff, it’s something important for you. In this case she was referencing the need to be with the staff when new initiatives are being rolled out.

A couple key pieces of advice with regards to social media included if we as administrator want to stay relevant to the kids we're impacting then we got to live in their world. She suggested using twitter. It is one of the easiest ways to get your story out and doesn't take up much time.

Two books she mentioned that had a profound impact on her are The other Wes Moore: One Name Two Fates by Wes Mooreand and Digital Leadership by Eric Sheninger. You can find the links below.
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If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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We’ll have at least 50% turnover of our core teaching staff when this school year ends. This is the battle that the entire educational field is fighting right now. Studies have shown that turnover impacts student achievement as the new teacher finds their footing and begins to navigate the culture and expectations. Knowing that turnover will happen the following three steps are what I took to mitigate the damage.

The search
Finding the right fit that complements your team is the first step. Make sure that you take inventory of your current staff and find a person that not only fits culturally but also complements the personality of the rest of the team. This does not mean that the new employee should be like the others. Ideally she should bring something new to the table. When researching a potential candidate I not only went over their resume but checked websites, social media and other aspects of their online presence. In this way I was able to see if they were consistent across platforms.

The interview
Once we found a potential candidate we brought the person in for the interview. Prior to that we had our set of questions which was reviewed by multiple staff members. That way redundancies were removed and the most relevant questions remained. Not only were traditional questions present but a unique visual portion was added as well. When it was time for the interview I made sure there was a representative from each part of our school staff so people with multiple viewpoints could give their input. Students were also included. Once the interview ended we discussed our impressions.

The follow up
When we identified a candidate who seemed like the right fit it was time for next steps. We had the person come in and give a lesson to a random group of students. A lesson plan was submitted and gone over and then presented. After the lesson a staff member with the highest proficiency in that subject, the candidate and myself debriefed the lesson. The staff member asked probing questions about sequencing and choices. The candidate was able to explain his choices and his reasoning and we were able to get a better idea of his thinking.

These three steps; the search, the interview with unique questions, and the follow up helped us find a teacher who should be a good fit for our school. What are some other methods you use to find the right employee fit? Share your process in the comment section below.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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Shared leadership from a traditional authoritative leadership perspective can look like a hippy commune. Looking in it would be difficult to pinpoint exactly what the leader is doing. Staff members would be taking the lead in multiple areas and even instructing the titular leader with the “best” way to do things.

To be a principal with a shared leadership philosophy you have to, like Dr. Marcus Jackson principal and educational leader says, “put down the ego soup and take a bite of humble pie.” As the principal of the school you have to find the strengths of your staff and put them in the best position to be successful. You don’t have to control everything.

These 3 strategies will help answer the question, how do I become a great principal with a shared leadership philosophy?

Build Trust by asking for assistance
As the new Principal, one of the first things I did was to ask for help. I was looking to create a schedule that accommodated the needs of the staff while still providing building level support for students. By asking for help in making a daily schedule I was able develop trust by clearly showing that I was taking their needs into consideration. Asking for help demonstrates vulnerability and makes it clear that you don’t believe that you have all the answers.

Create community through inclusion
Rarely is the truth simple and everyone’s truth is different. However, a meeting in which multiple perspectives are raised, and received knowing kind intent, is one worth having. These are the meetings we leave feeling purposeful and connected. Meetings of this kind are rare. They’re often unexpected and hard to come by but these are the meetings in which the entire staff grows because everyone has an opportunity to contribute.

Be sincerely grateful
Not surprisingly, the idea of appreciation is a theme that runs through the shared leadership philosophy. Giving the gift of gratitude demonstrates the honor you feel for having a staff member performing and leading well. A simple handwritten card is a great gift and can uplift the sagging spirits of a teacher. Be simple and concrete in your thank you note so it’s not an empty platitude. Plan to read the note in front of staff and/or students. Public acknowledgement is key in demonstrating the respect you have for the work they’re doing.

As the principal of the building you have to decide what your core beliefs are and how you want to lead. Depending on the situation you often have to wear multiple leadership “hats”. Building trust, creating community through inclusion, and being sincerely grateful will help create a shared leadership foundation from which you can build other leadership attributes.
What are other shared leadership strategies that you find effective. Share your experience in the comment section below.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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In Today’s episode we’re talking with Elementary Principal, School Turn Around expert and CEO of C and C educational consulting Mr. Shawn Hurt. Before we get into his area of expertise we dive into his origin story.

A quick summary of some of his main points include:

The schools that are doing well across the united states, even the world are using data to drive instruction.

We have to have high expectations for our students. A lot of times we feel like we have to lower our expectations because they(the students) come from environments that aren’t conducive to learning. That’s something that you should never do.

Kids are kids. We’re gonna deal with our mindset how we view these kids, how we look at these kids and how we’re gonna deliver instruction everyday.

The three pieces of advice he has for beginning principals include:
Find a mentor.
Make sure that you know understand and live by data.
Surround yourself with superstar experts in their field.

Finally:
Two authors that he highly recommends include Principal Kefala and Dr. Anthony Mohammad

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group. That is it for this episode. Thanks for listening to the Principal Entrepreneur.

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6/7/2017 The Principal Entrepreneur: 1 skill to get the best ideas from a meeting

The principal as facilitator is often an under appreciated skill. I was recently at a meeting where the superintendent did a good job of facilitating and NOT leading the meeting. We were discussing a criteria for student awards and while he did have an agenda and points of view he made sure to step back and guide so his ideas didn’t dominate the discussion.

For a leader switching to the role of facilitator and listener isn’t always easy. Those in the room will continually look to you for affirmation. Remaining neutral both in language and in facial expression is necessary. You don’t want to unconsciously nod with comments you agree with thus shutting down others points of view.

Another example that demonstrates this concept occurred while I was an assistant principal. The principal in my former building was a great facilitator and I learned a lot from watching him work in leadership meetings. Like the superintendent, he not only set the agenda but asked questions so that he could get the best ideas from the others around the table.

One of the programs we were looking at implementing was an after school academy. The principal set his vision of what this would look like. He then presented this idea to the leadership team and fostered conversation about what the program could be. The other participants added their ideas and at the end he was able to summarize their main points and present a coherent plan.

This plan had many of the aspects that the others advocated for and he was able to create by being a great facilitator.

Facilitating is a necessary skill if you want to be an effective principal. When you go into the meeting you do want to have an agenda so you’ll stay on topic. You also want to have a list of questions to help guide the conversation. Finally you want to have some method for summarizing and finalizing the points of the meeting so at the end there is a sense of accomplishment.

What are some other skills that a good facilitator should have? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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As we begin to wind up our school year and look to the next we know change is coming. As principals one of our main objectives is to influence positive change within our schools. Reflecting on the past year, this may seem impossible, especially when trying to change behaviors around homework, attendance and basic soft skills. In reading through the book Influencer The Power To Change Anything.I came upon three techniques that might help change student and staff thoughts and behaviors around these school struggles. These three tips are all from chapter four of the the book.

Game time
One of the issues teachers regularly complain about is that students rarely do homework. I’ve heard both sides of the debate and am pretty sure that regardless of where you land the fact that it can, at a minimum, impact a student's’ grade is not. In thinking about a way to encourage the completion of homework this particular point “Make it a game”, in chapter four came to mind. I asked myself how can I make homework a game so students want to do it instead of dread doing it? The answer I came up with to create a huge dry erase board with all the students’ name on it and place it in our community room. When they complete a homework assignment they can place a marker of some kind on the board. Once they complete a certain number of assignments they can make it to the next level. Once they reach the next level they get a prize. Once a week when we meet we can pass out prizes and recognize those students who have moved to the next level. By making homework a game I’m hoping to positively influence my students’ academic outcomes.

I am whoever I say I am
This idea was one of the other suggestions the authors of Influencer have for those looking to create change. This idea only works if you and your staff find time to really get to know your students and understand who they think they are. Most of my students have brothers and sisters and feel intensely loyal to their siblings. The question becomes how to attach this new behavior (doing homework consistently) to their sense of loyalty. In thinking of ways to do this I came up with the idea of students having to take a selfie with a family member once they’ve completed their homework and then, upon showing that picture to a staff member, they get the opportunity to win a bonus prize for their entire family. The prize could be as simple as delivering a pizza to the family’s residence and acknowledging the student in front of their family.

The power of choice
This was the last strategy in the chapter and there is a quote that I found especially impactful. The authors say, “You must replace judgement with empathy, and lectures with questions. If you do so, you gain influence. The instant you stop trying to impose your agenda on others, you eliminate the fight for control.” So how does this relate to students and homework? Perhaps you give students a choice of what kind of homework they do. By giving them this control you could increase the likelihood of them completing the task and reinforcing what they’ve learned. Students like staff need to feel as if they have some autonomy, giving them choice gives them what they need to help them change their behaviors.

Changing students lives is why we’ve become principals. The book Influencer The Power To Change Anything provides some suggestions to do just that. What are some of the books that you’ve read that have great insight into changing behaviors? Leave your suggestions in the comment section below.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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In Today’s episode we’re talking with High School Principal, Mr. Craig DeYoung. Mr. DeYoung is the principal of a high school in Dexter, New Mexico and as such wears a multitude of hats. He is a jack of all trades and master of some! His area of expertise involves building positive relationships with all stakeholders.

We talk about his journey from high school and college athlete to teacher, coach and Principal. We touch on the challenges of being a single administrator in a school and how he manages his time. He also gives some great pointers on building relationships with all stakeholders and the strategies his school uses to bridge cultural gaps.

I hope you enjoy this episode.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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If you are a highly effective principal your staff will respect you, if you’re lucky most of them will even like you. There are a couple of ways beyond the obvious of being nice that will positively influence your staff’s disposition towards you. In saying that there is something important that you should remember, some staff might not have an active dislike towards you but they may not completely trust you. According to an article at bloomberg.com entitled: Americans Can't Stand Their Bosses, and Bosses Admit They're Phoning it in half of the American workforce has quit their job to get away from a bad boss. Most likely, if you’re reading this you’re not a bad boss, however, the following three steps are easy everyday ways to build personal connections and lower that percentage. In doing so you can avoid and limit staff turnover and cultural instability in your school.

Coca Cola had it right
People inherently like the sound of their own name. It’s important that you use it when addressing staff who may not be on the same page as you. Calling them by name in staff meetings and providing them opportunities to express opinions in areas of alignment is a good way to soften overall tensions. Just like Coca Cola added personal names to their soda bottles and saw an increase in sales and positive brand recognition, you’ll find an increase in positivity interactions with your staff.

Work life integration
The life of an educator is often overwhelming and time consuming. Treating them as if education is their life and expecting them to treat it as such is a recipe for resistance. Learn something about their life outside of the four walls of the classroom. Once you do so bring that up in conversation or send them an email with a link that they may find interesting. If you’re able, and you have the resources and multiple staff members interested in similar areas provide team building opportunities that support those interests. Addressing all parts of the person is a great way to build credibility and rapport.

Knowing is half the battle
At this point in the school year you probably know a whole bunch about your staff. More than likely you actually have some things in common. Maybe you’re fans of Netflix’s Original Sense8, or ABC’s Elementary. One of the ways people connect is by belonging to the same “tribe”. Being fans of the same team or interested in the same television show gives you something to bond over. It will also increase your likeability as people with similar backgrounds tend to get along.

Your staff respects your knowledge about systems and protocols. They admire the way you handle parent interactions and student misbehavior. If you're lucky they like you too. However, there is always going to be a small percentage of staff members that don’t. Shrinking this percentage by addressing these staff members by name, treating them like they have a life and bonding over similarities are three strategies that will help build positive relationships.

Share your ideas for improving staff relationships in the comment section below.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out the other blogs and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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As an urban school one of the difficult aspects of leading is preventing summer slide and competing with the resources and activities available to our more affluent colleagues’ schools. As schools of choice, charter schools and perhaps an impending voucher system for every state proliferate standing out and competing becomes more difficult. Helping to prevent summer slide is one way we can help our students stay even with their neighbors. These three etools can help you stay connected with your families and give them the power to compete.

Facebook
My guess is your school already has a Facebook account. If it doesn’t start one. According to Facebook stats, Facebook has the largest number of users between 25 and 35. That is a prime age for beginning families. Use FB Live to remind families to read to their kids. Have your students “friend” your school page so you can consistently deliver messages and challenges to them. Use the comment section to provide links to articles students may find interesting and have them leave their own comment. If you’re really brave and you’re at a high school engage in discussions around social justice and community politics.
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Principal Blog
What is it that you do particularly well. It might be playing ball or chess or maybe you like playing the drums or gardening. Whatever it is write a blog post or an article highlighting your hidden talents. Basically you want to give your students something to read. You have an email list. In marketing this is one of the most valuable commodities because it give you direct access to your families. Use that list to share your content. Parents often don’t know what to get their kids to read. It’s probably no surprise to you how interested your students would be in you as a person.

YouTube Channel
With a Youtube channel you are once again providing an opportunity for students and families to engage with and learn from you. Create one or two minute video shorts where you’re discussing something as simple as current events. Use the opportunity to ask questions. If you’re an elementary principal you could use this time to read to your students. Again use that valuable email and phone list and let your parents know where you are on social media. If they don’t have time to read to their children maybe you do. The best part about this is you can create a little storytime video library for your students.

With the power of etools you have the ability to impact student learning during the summer. Using these etools in a systematic way will expose your students to new learning opportunities that they may not otherwise have access to. Not only that, for those parents that are working two and three jobs you’re taking something off of their plate and giving them what they need.

What are some other ways to support educational leaders prevent summer slide in economically challenged schools? Share your tips in the comment section below.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my other blogs at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. To join the podcast as a guest email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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In this episode I get a chance to talk with elementary Principal, Motivational speaker, Author, and CEO of Jackson Consulting Dr. Marcus Jackson. Dr. Jackson is the author of children’s book Because My Teacher Said I can. We dive into the inspiration for that particular book a few minutes into the conversation. But before we do so we tackle is origin story and learn how a negative teacher powerfully impacted his decision to get into education.

Dr. Jackson also describes his challenges as a principal and how he overcame them. In addition gets into the key resources he used that helped his team go from a two star school to a five star school and the book that helped inspire the transition of the high school he lead out of priority status.

Three keys to success that he gave include:

I do not have the me, my, I virus We’ve always had a culture of we us ours.

Drop your ego soup and take a bite of humble pie.

Even when you’re chastising it should be in the form of glow and grow.​

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In this episode we have a conversation with superintendent Dr. Benjamin Edmondson. You'll learn the advice he has for new principals, what parents need to do help schools and the hypocrisy within the educational system.

We also talk about his journey to the principalship and the reasons for choosing that path despite internal conflict. We also dig into the political challenges he faced and overcame and his vision for the Ypsilanti Community School District.

Thanks for taking the time to listen. Check out more blogs
@ theprincipalentrepreneur.com and if you’re listening on Itunes or Podomatic please take a minute and subscribe and if you have two minutes give a ratings and review or share with a college. If you’d like to apply for the $500 dollar Revive and Renew Grant for k12 principals you can check that out at the principalentreprene.com as well.

If you’re interested in joining the show as a guest to talk about the great things your school is doing or your educational passion email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com

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Part of figuring out how to be a great principal is balancing the demands of the job with your family. This is something that, admittedly, I’m still working on. The reason I’m bringing this particular topic up is my wife recently asked me why I never invite her to anything. My answer, “Why would I do that?” didn’t go over very well. Especially when I followed up with, “I wouldn’t want to go to your functions”. Needless to say I immediately invited her to the next school function. :-) The following 3 tips may keep you out of the dog house and off the couch.

Shut if off
You know this might be the hardest tip to follow. With the laptops and tablets that some districts are giving to administrators (as well as our cell phones) the upper administration, our staff, and students have constant access to us. In fact this has become a norm. However, it’s okay to shut it down once you leave the office. I’ve found that staff, students, and even upper administration are okay waiting until the next business day to get a reply. I have yet to get a repercussion for not responding to an email or text message after 6pm. Once you’ve shut it off make sure you’re fully engaged with your family.

Schedule it
One of the tips that helped me was actually scheduling time to be involved with my wife and children. One night of the week is date night. Sunday and Monday are typically family dinner nights as neither my wife nor I work. Tuesday and Thursday I try to make sure I’m spending some time with the kids while mom is at work. Friday is a free for all where everybody is kind of fending for themselves. I’ve found that when I do stick to the schedule everything else falls into place and I’m actually more productive at work because I know nothing will be going home.

Show’em off
This is the latest tip I’ve added and it ties into the anecdote I mentioned in the opening paragraph. I didn’t realize that my wife was feeling excluded because I have no need to attend her functions. I was basing my choices on my own perspective and personality instead of focusing on her. And essentially this is what I needed to change. Not only does including her in after school activities help her be part of other aspects of my life I’m also hopeful it demonstrates the high regard with which I hold her.

One of the aspects of being a great principal is figuring out how to intertwine all aspects of your life. Turning off electronic communication after a set time, scheduling family time and showing off your significant other are great ways to connect and reconnect with what’s important.

What are some other strategies you use to make sure your family continues to feel like a priority? Please share your ideas in the comment section below.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my other blogs and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group. To be a guest on The Principal Entrepreneur podcast email me at jonathanroyce@theprincipalentrepreneur.com.

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In this podcast episode of the principal entrepreneur we get the honor of talking with nationally recognized keynote speaker and author Dr. Craig Boykin. His keynote GED to Phd is an inspirational talk focusing on his journey from drop out to doctorate. And more importantly the strategies educators can use to overcome and reach at risk youth. Dr. Boykin is the author of My Life Your Inspiration, College Success 2.0, and Right Motives Wrong Methods: Teaching with Poverty in Mind.

In this short 25 minute conversation Dr. Boykin touches on his rough child hood and his journey from drop out to doctorate. During the conversation he also offers advice to educators on working with "at risk youth" and the inspiration for his book Right Motives Wrong Methods that has even more strategies than we had time to get into.

He also suggests a couple of books that had a strong impact on him; anything by Principal Kafele and Lead Like Jesus by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges

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I land on the introverted side of the Myers Briggs personality test. I find large gatherings of people and the social interaction needed in those moments exhausting. Especially if the event is purely a social function. I do much better if there is a purpose that I set out to achieve in large group settings. Which means that as the principal at dances, graduation, or other after school activities where I know that I’m going to be interacting with the community, I must mentally prepare myself to be welcoming, friendly, and engaging.

I was worried about this when I first started as a principal but have come to realize that being introverted, while not as exciting as some of my more extroverted colleagues, doesn’t hinder my impact as a leader. The following three characteristics of introverted leadership have helped me support my staff and students in an authentic way.

Introverts are great Receptors
Just like a receptor organ that responds to outside stimuli an introverted leader is more likely to accept and respond well to outside input. When working with a great staff an introverted leader is able to listen and take the expertise of that staff with an open mind. According to an article from the Harvard Business Review titled The Hidden Advantage of Quiet Bosses “groups with proactive followers performed better under an introverted leader”. I have a great staff and they consistently have good ideas that help move the school forward. Because I don’t feel the need to be front and center they have the space necessary to grow.

Authenticity leads to greatness
As I researched this topic I came across an article titled Are you an Introvert? You can still be a great leader. One of the strengths that struck a chord with me was the idea that introverts like to authentically connect with people in small group or one on one situations. This is absolutely true for me and is why I really like being the leader of an alternative high school. While there are certainly stressors, I truly enjoy the close connections I can make with staff and students.

Still waters run deep
The third way introverts leverage their natural tendencies is when we do eventually speak up. I’ve found that when I finally do have something to say everybody stops and listens and then seems to take a second to process what I’ve said. Whereas those who speak more often, sometimes their ideas or viewpoints are dismissed because they are always chiming in. According to an Entrepreneur.com article 6 Truths on why introverts make great leaders, “[I}ntroverts leverage their power of presence: they “own” the moment by speaking calmly and deliberately, which translates to a positive perception.”. When introverts speak people listen.

Introverts while not as flashy as extroverts can still be and are great principals. They are receptive to others’ ideas, authentic in their relationships and have the power to leverage conversations that matter. What are other strengths or introverted principals? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

If you’re a principal make sure you check out the new grant/scholarship available that honors the hard work you put in on a daily basis. K12 principals click here to learn more

If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast at The Principal Entrepreneur podcast, new episodes weekly. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals, please join our private FB group.

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I recently made $500.00 revive and renew grant available for K12 principals. I know how important it is to make sure we take care of ourselves. One of the common themes we deal with as principals is the never ending work, be it meetings, corresponding through emails or simply staying late to get the day to day paperwork done that accumulates because we’re out in the halls, at lunch, and in the classrooms.

The reason why this grant is available is because it provides a couple of benefits. One of those is, I can help a colleague get the relaxation they deserve. Taking time off actually increases productivity. It gives your brain time to relax and make connections you can’t see when you’re continually grinding. According to Scientific American, a wandering mind unsticks us in time so that we can learn from the past and plan for the future. This is important for us as we finish up our school year and begin planning for the next.

The other benefit is part of the stipulation for applying for the grant is the agreement to be interviewed on my podcast. On the podcast I’ll get the opportunity to discuss that particular principals’ innovative leadership, their area of expertise or their area of passion and share it with the larger educational community. By leveraging this grant I get the opportunity to learn from the best in the business and spread the word about the great things other leaders are doing.

Taking a break is essential to being an effective school leader. Often times we feel guilty for taking that time even if we know logically that we should. Our gut and self-identity is tied up in what we do. Finding time to uncouple ourselves from our work can relieve stress, lower blood pressure and actually increase our productivity when we come back.

Killing yourself with the daily grind of work reduces your capacity to be an effective school leader. Give yourself a break. The work will be there when you get back.

How do you find time for yourself in a busy school year? Share your best tips in the comment section below.

If you’re interested in learning more about the $500.00 revive and renew grant for k12 principals click here.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my other blogs at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and/or pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you’re an auditory learner you can download my podcast The Principal Entrepreneur, new episodes weekly. Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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I recently interviewed elementary principal Craig McCalla on my podcast. His educational philosophy is rooted in inclusion. One of the things he said that really stuck, it was really the passion with which he said it, was all kids means all kids! As Principals we are trained to be inclusive. In order to be great we must believe that every child deserves a chance to be treated equitably regardless of background. However are legal policies in place to be exclusionary either by erecting a wall or discriminating through immigration policies how are the children of these excluded groups going to be welcomed in our schools? How do we ensure that every child feels safe when the world around them isn’t? For me the idea of a sanctuary school is one where all children feel welcome and safe. These three secrets of inclusion are really best practices

Money Matters
This is where most of us can start. We have the power to allot money to posters, books, guest speakers and classroom materials that highlight our community's’ diversity. Using these funds and our staff we can decorate our buildings with images from around the globe. Asking students, families, and community members who their cultural heroes are and then finding ways to display them creates a learning experience for everyone. Even if you’re in a homogenous community, finding books from multiple cultural, socioeconomic and if you’re really daring, sexual identity perspectives and having them in your school and classroom libraries is essential.

Secret Software
Just like the interactive software program Rosetta Stone, you want to be interactive with your students who come from different linguistic backgrounds. Something as simple as “good morning” in a student's’ home language will bring a smile to their face and help them feel safe. Especially if you’re like me and mess up the pronunciation. This small gesture lets the students know that they are welcome in your school and that you have the courage to try to meet them where they arel. As your staff and students see you model this behavior they will follow your lead. This act of personal kindness and cultural sensitivity will help break down superficial barriers.

Apps connect communities
This is a simple tip that must be used judiciously. An app like Google Translator doesn’t always address context. When you send newsletters and other communication out to families, using Google Translator is an easy way to translate your information to all families. If you’re lucky enough to have someone in your district for each language that is spoken having them review the newsletter is always a good idea. I’ve found that even if there are mistakes the families appreciate you reaching out to them and making that attempt. It shows that you respect them and their culture. A school practice of spreading your message in multiple language will help bring your community closer.

Creating a safe school community is the first thing a Principal establishes. Using these tips to help bring your school together is a way to combat the fear that some of our students feel as national policies change.

What are some ways you help your students and families feel welcome? Check out the corresponding blog at theprincipalentrepreneur.com

Below you'll find a list to see if you're a sanctuary school.

You know you’re a sanctuary school when you promote a safe and orderly school environment for all students.
You know you’re a sanctuary school when you have a robust ELL program.
You know you’re a sanctuary school when you send out newsletters in more than one language.
You know you’re a sanctuary school when your graduation includes an interpreter.
You know you're a sanctuary school when your school consistently celebrates multiple cultures throughout the school year.
You know you’re a sanctuary school when your staff works towards cultural proficiency.
You know you’re a sanctuary school when minority students come to school at the same rate as the general student body.
You know you’re a sanctuary school if Immigration and Customs officials treat your school as a “sensitive location”.
You know you’re a sanctuary school when multiple staff members speak some of the languages of your student body.
Finally:​ You know you’re a sanctuary school if your students’ families bring food in to share with members of your staff.

What are other ways your school demonstrates its commitment to all children? Share your views in the comment section of the corresponding blog.

For more short articles and tips that support educational leaders check out my blog at the http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/ and pre order my newest book How To Be A Great Principal: 36 Shared Leadership Success Strategies. If you're interested in applying for the $500.00 Revive and Renew K12 Principals' Grant you can check that out at theprincipalentrepreneur.com Finally, I’m part of a community of supportive principals please join our private FB group.

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With Betsy Devos as Secretary of Education the momentum behind charters and voucher systems continues to increase. However the momentum behind these options was already building and her selection merely highlights the trend towards schools of choice. According to a document from the National Alliance for Charter Schools, charter schools have grown six fold in the last 15 years. Which means there are close to 7000 charters educating about 2.9 million students.

The reason this is important is because it illustrates the reality of the current educational landscape. That being said, how can public schools embrace the reality and ride the wave of change instead of being swept away like Blockbuster was by Netflix.

One of the main things public schools can do maintain the status quo is simple but not easy. Talking with all you parents consistently is key. Focusing on parents/guardians and families will give you the biggest bang for your buck. Focusing on this single aspect will create a ripple effect over time. Calling parents is the one thing you can do from a communication standpoint than can impact your student count. It will help you retain and acquire more students.

This kind of mindset, where we’re battling against other schools for students, is easy to fall into. Which leads to the question: how can we have an abundant mindset? Are there ways that traditional public schools can partner with charters. What can public schools learn well performing from charters? I have no concrete answers, but it is a question worth asking.

Just like in teaching good questions elicit thoughtful answers. What are some other questions or comments surrounding this topic? Share your ideas in the comment section below.

For more articles check out my website theprincipalentrepreneur.com. If you’re an auditory learner check out more of my podcast right here on podomatic and iTunes and subscribe to The Principal Entrepreneur.

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In this podcast episode we were blessed to have one of the nations most respected and inspiring educational leaders Principal Kafele (pronounced Kafaylay).

These are just some of the highlights of his career. He is one of the most sought after educational speakers in America as evidenced by his 1000 plus keynotes. He’s the thought leader and originator behind the concept of the attitude gap which describes the difference between those with the will to achieve excellence and those who don’t. He is the author of eight books including his national best-sellers, Closing the Attitude Gap, Motivating Black Males to Achieve in School and in Life and The Principal 50. He also dropped his newest book, The Teacher 50 just last year.

In the short time we had we delved into his origin story and how he became an educator and principal. we talked about his greatest challenge as principal and what he learned from it. We also discussed the themes in his best selling book , The Principal 50 and the advice he would give to aspiring and practicing principals.

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The Big Three Car Companies, (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) have been around since the early 1900’s, just a bit more than 100 years. Blockbuster video started in the 1980’s about thirty years ago, and Blackberry phones came out in the early 2000’s about fifeteen years ago. At one point it was unfathomable that these three titans would fall. Now however, Blockbuster is gone, Blackberry is regulated to the recycling heap and an afterthought in the phone industry, and The Big Three car companies have been disrupted by the economy, challenges from across the ocean and new technology. They continue fighting to regain their global dominance but it is not an easy battle

The reason the above examples are important is because traditional public schools are in a similar position to those companies. Public schools are over 200 years old and just like these three former leaders of their respective business sectors, are facing a new challenger in the form of charter schools. And just like The Big Three, Blockbuster, and Blackberry they’re losing.

Public schools have been around so long that and the thinking so entrenched that there is a belief that no one can do it better. Like The Big Three, public schools are stuck in an industrial age mentality. Schools are still run by the ringing of a bell, just like they signaled a shift change in old car factories. That mentality doesn’t work anymore, change is here.

Like Toyota, charters came in and started running lean schools. They eagerly embraced new ideas like data driven decision making and were able to create schools based on particular community niches. Public schools like The Big Three continues to lurch into the new century struggling to play catch up.

Those with public school blinders on are refusing to see the education revolution. Like Netflix, Charters are the early adopters of a new social reality. They are not perfect but they are attempting to cater to their constituents needs. They have to in order to survive.

New thought processes are at play and the customers preference and ease of access to whatever they want is now the norm. Schools “on demand” in the form of school choice continues to disrupt public schools.

In the past public schools were the only game in town and so were able to treat families poorly or with complete disregard. This is no longer the case. The consumer is gaining more control and public schools like Blockbuster need to adapt or die.

Blackberry failed to see Apple as a threat. Public schools thought charters were cute when they first started. According to a pamphlet put out by the National Alliance for Charter Schools, charter schools have grown six fold in the last 15 years. That was before Betsy Devos, became Secretary of Education. The market is continuing to go in that direction and the speed of that change continues to grow.

Charter schools are not going anywhere. Public schools need to adapt and quickly. Old thinking needs to change or just like The Big Three, Blockbuster, and Blackberry public schools will eventually fall and there will be no bail out.

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In this episode I talk with our very first Middle School Principal; Sean Fisher. Mr. Fisher is the first African American Male Principal in Dearborn Michigan's Public Schools. He is a former sergeant in the US Army (honorably discharged) and has expertise in creating a restorative culture which reduces suspensions, expulsions and achievement disparities.

We discuss his path into education, what he learned on that journey and how it influences his vision. We also talk about his biggest struggles, what he's most proud of and the advice he would give to first year principals.

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In this episode I talk to Elementary Principal Craig McCalla.
Craig is in his 11th year as Principal in the small town Dexter Michigan. He was Michigan’s Region Two Principal of the year in 2012. He started out as a Special Ed teacher of Emotional Impaired students, then eventually made his way from assistant principal to principal of his own building.

In this episode we talk about his path to the principalship, what he’s learned and what tips he has to share on including transgender students in his school. The entire transcript of the interview will be added shortly.

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We’re three quarters of the way done with the school year. It’s mandated high stakes testing time. Staff is feeling overwhelmed, fatigued and unsupported. As a result student referrals are up, we’re getting more and more students sent through the disciplinary process, and there are more snide comments and side looks then at anytime of the year. These 3 strategies will help ease the burnout and keep staff engaged.

Planned Support
Take a look at your school calendar. Ask yourself what events will create more stress for teachers. Anything that is outside the regular school day norm are good events for you to stop in and show your face and smile. Your presence at these types of unstructured, non routine events will help ease tensions. The adults will feel supported as you work your way through the student body making commentary and redirecting behaviors before they escalate. Being strategic about these supportive visits will ensure that you’re not overtaxed yourself.

Surprise Community Building
Find a time in the final quarter to do a couple of community building activities. Scrap one of your staff meetings and bring in ice cream and sundae fixings. Discuss the wins of the school year and all the great things that have been accomplished so far. Provide an opportunity for staff members to give kudos to each other for their hard work. I recently made breakfast for the staff before a professional development and the time shared eating was just as beneficial. This type of community building will help energize and reduce the fatigue of staff.

Lead the disengagement
Demonstrate through your own actions that you believe they should have time for themselves. Don’t send or answer emails over the weekend. The work will be there when they get back. Staff won't believe you when you tell them not to take their work home all the time if that’s what you’re doing. Have conversations with them and let them know that you don’t expect that work to be done over the weekend. There will still be staff that works over the weekend, but if they know it’s not expected that alone will help them feel less overwhelmed.

Staff is overwhelmed, fatigued and burnt out. Planning a support strategy over the final weeks, creating opportunities for the staff to get together and share success and leading the disengagement from work will help keep your staff engaged.

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There is always going to be a percentage of staff that doesn’t like you. There might not be an active dislike but they may not completely trust you. According to an article at bloomberg.com entitled: Americans Can't Stand Their Bosses, and Bosses Admit They're Phoning it in half of the American workforce has quit their job to get away from a bad boss. The following three steps are easy tips to build connections and lower that percentage. In doing so you can avoid staff turnover and cultural instability in your school.

What’s in a name
People inherently like the sound of their own name. It’s important that you use it when addressing staff who may not be on the same page as you. Calling them by name in staff meetings and providing them opportunities to express opinions in areas of alignment is a good way to soften overall tensions.

They actually have a life
The life of an educator is often overwhelming and time consuming. Treating them as if education is their life and expecting them to treat it as such is a recipe for resistance. Learn something about their life outside of the four walls of the classroom. Once you do so bring that up in conversation or send them an email with a link that they may find interesting. Addressing all parts of the person is a great way to build credibility and rapport.

You may have more in common than you think
This idea goes back to them having a life. Once you learn more about them you may find that you actually have things in common. One of the ways people connect is by belonging to the same “tribe”. Being fans of the same team or interested in the same television show gives you something to bond over.

There is always going to be a small percentage of staff members that don’t like you. Shrinking this percentage by addressing these staff members by name, treating them like they have a life and bonding over similarities are three strategies that will help. Use the comment section below to share some tips from your experience.

For more tips and strategies check out my blog or podcasts at http://www.theprincipalentrepreneur.com/. If you’re looking for a group of supportive principals join our private FB group. We’re currently engaged in The Principals’ 20 Day Classroom Challenge!

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I’ve recently been reading The New York Times Bestseller: Influencer The Power To Change Anything. It proposes that by reading it you’ll learn to:

Identify a handful of high-leverage behaviors that lead to rapid and profound change.
Apply strategies for changing both thoughts and actions.
Marshall six sources of influence to make change inevitable.

As principals one of our main objectives is to influence positive change within our schools. This may seem impossible, especially when trying to change behaviors around homework, attendance and basic soft skills. In reading through the book I came upon three techniques that might help change student and staff thoughts and behaviors around these school struggles. These three tips are all from chapter four of the the book.

Make It A Game
One of the issues teachers regularly bemoan is that students rarely do homework. While the benefits of homework for high school students is subject to debate, the fact that it can, at a minimum, impact a student's’ grade in my school is not. In thinking about a way to encourage the completion of homework this particular point “Make it a game”, in chapter four came to mind. I asked myself how can I make homework a game so students want to do it instead of dread doing it? The answer I came up with to create a huge dry erase board with all the students’ name on it and place it in our community room. When they complete a homework assignment they can place a marker of some kind on the board. Once they complete a certain number of assignments they can make it to the next level. Once they reach the next level they get a prize. Once a week when we meet we can pass out prizes and recognize those students who have moved to the next level. By making homework a game I’m hoping to positively influence my students’ academic outcomes.

Connect to a Person’s Sense of Self
This idea was one of the other suggestions the authors of Influencer have for those looking to create change. This idea only works if you and your staff find time to really get to know your students and understand who they think they are. Most of my students have brothers and sisters and feel intensely loyal. The question becomes how to attach this new behavior (doing homework consistently) to their sense of loyalty. In thinking of ways to do this I came up with the idea of students having to take a selfie with a family member and then, upon showing that picture to a staff member, they get the opportunity to win a bonus prize for their entire family. The prize could be as simple as delivering a pizza to the family’s residence and acknowledging the student in front of their family.

Win Hearts by Honoring Choice
This was the last strategy in the chapter and there is a quote that I found especially impactful. The authors say, “You must replace judgement with empathy, and lectures with questions. If you do so, you gain influence. The instant you stop trying to impose your agenda on others, you eliminate the fight for control.” So how does this relate to students and homework? Perhaps you give students a choice of what kind of homework they do. By giving them this control you could increase the likelihood of them completing the task and reinforcing what they’ve learned. Students like staff need to feel as if they have some autonomy, giving them choice gives them what they need to help them change their behaviors.

Changing students lives is why we’ve become principals. The book Influencer The Power To Change Anything provides some suggestions to do just that. What are some of the books that you’ve read that have great insight into changing behaviors? Leave your suggestions in the comment section below.

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With at least half the 2016-2017 school year over, now is a great time to start marketing your school. A lot of times we wait until right before school starts to begin talking our schools up. By then it’s almost too late. At this point of the school year you’ve had assemblies, there are student products up and around the school as well as many other examples of student success. This is also the time when parents may begin to fill dissatisfied with their current school of choice and there is an opportunity for you to begin planting the seeds of change in their minds. These 3 tips are easy to implement immediately and will help your school stay top of mind and begin the process of recruiting and keeping students.

You’re The Best
Regardless of whether you’re a newly established principal or a veteran you are an expert at what you do. You know exactly what the students need to do to be successful and you’re able to deliver it. The families need you and your school’s expertise. So how do you deliver this information. The easiest way to do so is to use social media. Presumably your school already has a Facebook account. If it doesn’t start one. According to Facebook stats, Facebook has the largest number of users between 25 and 35. That is a prime age for beginning families. Leverage your demographic data and use a social media platform to meet your families where they are.

Create Content
Your school does something particularly well. It might have small learning communities or have a great curriculum. Write a blog post or an article highlighting the researched based reasons these unique qualities positively impact your students’ growth. You have an email list. In marketing this is one of the most valuable commodities because it give you direct access to your families. Use that list to share your content. Ask them to forward the email to families who might be interested in seeing the good things your school is doing.

Your Greatest Untapped Assets
Your staff is your greatest asset. Often we forget that they can do more than just teach. They have hundreds of contacts in their own email and social media accounts. Use them to help spread the greatness of your school. Once a month pass something onto them that they can share with those with whom they have influence. It could be as simple as a picture of them working with their students. Add a brief caption about how great they are and send it to them asking them to share it with their friends. You’ve got’em, ask them to help spread the word.

Now is the perfect time to begin spreading the positive impact your school is having on students’ lives. Leveraging social media, creating content and sending to your families to share and tapping into your teachers social circles are great free ways to promote your school. What are other free or low cost ways you share your school’s successes? Share in the comment section below

If you’re looking for a group of supportive principals join the private FB group. We’re currently engaged in our second Principals’ 20 Day Classroom Challenge!

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Recently I lost a building leader to another district. She was the lead teacher and was in charge of the small learning community. With her gone a new leader will need to rise up and accept new responsibilities. In looking for ways to support the new leader I found these 3 tips to help her make the transition.

Pass the Baton
Meet with the new leader and make sure that you show them how this new position is aligned with their values. Make sure that you don’t just give the person the new position and leave expecting them to figure things out. If possible, allow the outgoing staff member and the new leader time to share information. Provide a substitute for them both and give the two time to prep and pass on information. This will help ease the transition.

Good works
One of the main ideas that you need to communicate is that good is good enough. A lot of teachers work to perfection and the idea of things not being exactly right can cause undue stress. Make sure to support the idea that everything is not going to be done the exact same way as they were before. That’s ok. Allow the new leader time to grow and don’t lose patience.

Let it Go
Once the baton has been passed and you’ve assured them that good is good, step back. Give them room to grow into the position. Don’t crush them with your presence. Trust that they’ll do what is necessary. Check in on them and offer your support but don’t micromanage. Often times they might ask for your advice. Resist the urge. Instead ask open ended questions and support their ideas. As they become more confident in their new role they will stop asking for reassurance and then just check in.
Passing the baton, assuring the new leader that good is good, and then letting go and taking a step back will help the new school leader grow into their new role. What other advice would you give to a new teacher leader? Leave your suggestions in the comment section below.

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This blog post is dedicated to Lakesha Barton a great high school Science Teacher, building leader, student advocate, colleague and friend. Enjoy your new job!

As a principal, one of the road bumps of having a great employee is that their skills are transferable. And in many instances they can and will leave and get a much deserved larger salary. We are sad to see them go knowing that their contributions impacted the entire building. This is a time when we are filled with anxiety because we know there will be gaps that must be filled. These three keys will help smooth the transition of that loss.

They’ll be missed
Make sure that to them know how much we appreciate what they’ve done. While we might be put in a short term bind, they have the opportunity to grow. Wish them the best of luck. It’s important that we treat them well, as this sets the tone for the entire building. We also want to keep that relationship healthy because, if we're lucky, that staff member may want to return at a later date. In addition, if other positions open up they could be a reliable contact that we can tap to send talent our way.

Say Good Bye
We want to provide time and space for both a formal and informal goodbye. Staff and students will need closure. Having a ritual send off is a good way for your community to turn the page. Make sure to let your parents know in the weekly newsletter that the teacher is leaving and allow them the opportunity to say their goodbyes as well. Finally, we also should do a formal exit interview. This is a great time to learn about our own weaknesses, find out ways to support current staff and get valuable information on ways to improve the building.

Ask Staff
We’re going to need everyone to step up and take on extra tasks while the transition to a new hire takes place. As educators it’s our instinct to be helpful. As the Principal it’s okay for us to say, “Hey this really sucks. She did so much around here I’m not sure how we’re going to cover everything she did. Let’s come up with a plan over the next week, so we don’t miss anything.” This is the time to let our team know we’ll need their assistance.

At some point every Principal will those a valuable staff member. They'll leave for any number of reasons; spouse getting a job out of state, higher salary elsewhere, and just life circumstances. None of those reasons have anything to do with us or how we run our school. Making sure we turn this negative into a positive is why we get paid the medium sized bucks.

How do you mitigate the loss of a great teacher? Leave your suggestions in the comment section below.

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Like all schools I have a number of students with IEPs. One of the observations I’ve made in my school is a lack of a true partnership between the General Ed teacher and the Teacher Consultant. There is a healthy respect between the two, but I don’t see the integration of the two practices on a consistent basis.

I recently sat down with the Special Ed Director and asked her what advice she would give to Principals and General Ed Teachers. She gave the following three suggestions

Accommodations Across The Board
One of the things that she’s noticed as she moves around the district is the siloing of accommodations. Often these seem to be saved for high stakes testing, both at the district and at the state level. She advised me to make sure that these accommodations are in place in every instance.

Collaboration Is Key
General Ed Teachers, Teacher Consultants and Para Educators all should have some input when it comes to behavior intervention plans. TC’s may have the expertise but often times it’s the Gen ed teacher and the Para who have the most contact with the child. As principal we need to make sure everyone’s voice is heard.

Broaden The Focus
Gen Ed Teachers and the TC will often focus on implementing and adhering to the goals and objectives of specific students. However, that shouldn’t be the end of their contributions. Ideally the Gen Ed teaches the TC and Paras should be working hand in hand to build lesson plans that are scaffolded to meet the needs of all students. The Gen Ed teacher is not alone and all students will benefit from the expertise of both educators.

Making sure accommodations are implemented across the board, providing time for Gen Ed and Special Ed teachers to collaborate and ensuring both broaden their focus to include all children will strengthen the learning environment.

The suggestions by the Special Ed Director were helpful. What are some other tips you have for integrating special ed and Gen Ed teachers? Leave your comments below!

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One of the many stressful events that can impact your day as a school principal is working with students who have been sent to your office. They are usually angry and/or upset and full of anxiety when they come to you. These 3 subliminal methods will help calm them down, so you can have a productive conversation.

Sight
The first method begins before there are even any kids in the building. It starts in the summer when it’s just you and the district’s work crew. Ask them to paint your office in soft grays, beiges, or blues. According to The Huffington Posts, The Best Paint Colors To De-stress A Room, “these colors can help slow the heartbeat, lower blood pressure and create a relaxing atmosphere.” Once school starts any student sent to you will start to calm down without even realizing it.

Sound
The second strategy is to have calming music playing just loud enough to register. The Website: Sound ADD ADHD Treatment recommends music with a slow beat, “slower than the heart's natural beat.” It goes on to mention two types of music, nature and or classical. Playing this music just below the conscious level will help sooth you students.

Smell
Having a lightly scented office is the final piece of the three pronged approach to relaxing students sent to your office. Most of us have heard of the soothing properties of lavender. However, as a male you might not want that scent in your office. If that’s the case try sandalwood. According to Mental Health Daily, Aromatherapy: 9 Best Essential Oils For Anxiety And Stress sandalwood has a sweet, woodsy, outdoor type scent [which] can be very beneficial [in] reducing anxiety. Employing either one of these two scents will help create that stress free environment you’re looking for when working with students.

When students are sent to the office they are often anxious. This is generally the case regardless of what happened prior to them being there. These three subliminal strategies will help induce a calm state, so when dealing with the child you can have the best possible outcome. A final suggestion: if the child is sent for a disciplinary reason leaving for 3-5 minutes and allowing the child space in that calming environment before the discussion may increase the desired effect.

What techniques do you use to help calm a child down? Share your tips in the comment section below.

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Part of our job as principals is doing classroom evaluations and providing the appropriate feedback after walkthroughs and formal observations. In essence we are truth tellers we hold up a mirror of their practice, helping them to improve. With the amount of time we spend in the classroom, in meetings and dealing with discipline and managerial issues finding time to work on our own practice and seeking the truth about it is often put on the back burner. At the end of a school year we may provide anonymous surveys for the staff to fill out so we can get a snapshot of what they think about our performance, but those usually only happen once a year. These three tips will help you get truthful and helpful feedback on a regular basis.
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Be Specific
When asking your staff for their observations focus on a specific domain in which you want to improve. Asking, “how can I improve staff meetings?” is more likely to get an answer with which you can work then asking a more general question like “How am I doin'?”. In addition giving them multiple ways to provide you that feedback either immediately, through email or a suggestion box will help get the answers you need to grow. Finally schedule regular times on your calendar to illicit this specific feedback. This will help you get the course corrections you need in a timely manner.

Provide Context
Using the example above about improving staff meetings; provide the reason why you’re eliciting the feedback. Tell them that you’ve noticed that the staff meetings are not as effective as you’d like them to be. People respect those who are willing to name the things that aren’t working well. In addition to them providing you ways to improve, you are also creating a means to get greater buy in once the problem is solved.

Be Grateful
Once you’ve gotten the specific feedback you might find that your ego is a bit bruised. Resist the urge to defend your process or explain the reasons why you’ve done something a particular way. Control your body language and make sure to say thank you. You don’t want to scare your staff and have them think that you’re just going through the motions. Keeping your posture and your facial expression open and pleasant as well being appreciative of the feedback will ensure that you continue to hear what you need to.
These three strategies: being specific, providing context and being grateful will help you continuously improve your performance as a principal. A bonus tip which will almost guarantee further helpful critiques is to take action and follow through.
In what ways do you get formal or informal feedback on your job performance? Share your advice in the comment section below. For more tips and helpful articles check out my blog and podcasts at theprincipalentrepreneur.com.

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As a principal we often have to deal with the mental health crises of our students. Sometimes they hit painfully close to home. Suicide is something that impacted my family when my sister killed herself at 16. To this day, 20 years later, that event impacts me and my family. I wasn’t prepared for the emotional turmoil that ensued when a student of mine returned from an attempt. In talking to that student upon his/her return the tone I was projecting was one of anger. I quickly realized I needed to shut my mouth and let the counselor take the lead. After a brief reentry meeting we talked to the staff and went over some crisis management steps so we were all on the same page. These 3 protocols are good to review when dealing with a student who has made an attempt on her/his life.

It’s serious
Take the threat seriously and do not leave the child alone. Often we question ourselves whether or not the student is serious about their comment. Sometimes the student making the remarks is one who constantly seeks attention in any number of different ways. This could lead to second guessing because you don’t want to disrupt your day or feed into the child’s attention seeking. Regardless of your personal discomfort you must follow up.

Provide immediate support
Find a private space and talk with the student reassuring him/her that you care about them. This can be emotionally taxing. The student can be in extreme emotional pain and as a principal you aren’t necessarily trained to handle a child in this type of crisis. That’s why it’s important to make sure that you have your school counselor or social worker available and taking the lead.

Two is not only better but necessary
Make sure that there are at least two adults with the student whenever possible. It might be necessary to physically restrain a student or to be a witness. Having two staff members with the student is ideal if a witness is needed for any reason. Two adults ensuring the student is safe until they can be handed them off to professionals or parents will also keep the staff safe.

Supporting students in crisis is one of the most fulfilling roles of the principal. It is also one of the most emotionally draining. Having protocols in place and reviewing them with your staff, prior to a student’s return, helps relieve staff anxiety and get everyone on the same page.

What are other protocols your school implements in this type of crisis? Leave your suggestions in the comment section below.

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A headline by the New York Times reads: Trump to Order Mexican Border Wall and Curtail Immigration. As Principals we are trained to be inclusive. In order to be great we must believe that every child deserves a chance to be treated equitably regardless of background. When the president puts policies in place to be exclusionary either by erecting a wall or discriminating through immigration policies how are the children of these excluded groups going to be welcomed in our schools? How do you ensure that every child feels safe when the world around them isn’t? These three tips will help welcome children into your school who look and sound different.

Old School Classic
This is the technique with which most of us start. We have the power to allot money to posters, books, speakers and classroom materials that highlight our community's’ diversity. Using these funds and our staff we can decorate our buildings with images from around the globe. Asking students, families, and community members who their cultural heroes are and then finding ways to display them creates a learning experience for everyone. Even if you’re in a homogenous community, finding books from multiple cultural, socioeconomic and if you’re really daring, sexual identity perspectives and having them in your school and classroom libraries is essential.

Rosetta Stone Style
Just like the interactive software program Rosetta Stone, you want to be interactive with your students who come from different linguistic backgrounds. Something as simple as “good morning” in a student's’ home language will bring a smile to their face and help them feel safe. This small gesture lets them know that they are welcome in your school. As your staff and students see you model this behavior they will follow your lead. This act of personal kindness and cultural sensitivity will help break down superficial barriers.

Google Translator Technique
This is a simple tip that must be used judiciously. Google Translator doesn’t always address context. When you send newsletters and other communication out to families using Google Translator is an easy way get your information to all families. If you’re lucky enough to have someone in your district for each language that is spoken having them review the newsletter is always a good idea. I’ve found that even if there are mistakes the families appreciate you reaching out to them and making that attempt. It shows that you respect them and their culture. A school practice of spreading your message in multiple language will help bring your community closer.

Creating community is the job of the Principal. Using these tips to help bring your school together is a way to combat the fear that some of our students feel as national policies change. What are some ways you help your students and families feel welcome? Use the comment section below to share your thoughts.

​If you’re looking for a group of supportive principals join the private FB group. We’re currently engaged in The Principals’ 20 Day Classroom Challenge!

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“Alternative Facts are not facts. They are untruths.” Political commentator Chuck Todd uttered this quote in disbelief when addressing Kellyanne Conway, white house advisor. They were discussing the comment made by press secretary that the inauguration had the most attendees ever. As principals, it’s even more important than ever that we display integrity when those in the highest positions of authority do not. These three tips for demonstrating integrity will help your staff and students understand and appreciate what leadership should look like.

Action > Words
Do the little things. You’ve heard it before, but this is one of the best ways to show integrity. Doing the jobs that you expect others to do is an example of integrity. Show them that you aren’t afraid to get in the trenches with them. If you’re school holds ISS, take a turn sitting in their with the students. Join your staff in performing the jobs you know they dread. Leading by example, demonstrating through your actions that you mean what you say is a great way to show your integrity.

We > Me
This is a team concept and those with high integrity demonstrate this value. Gathering the advice and listening to the point of view of those on your staff is important in building a strong culture. Being able to ask for help and not pretending to have all the answers is an offshoot of this concept. It shows you do not have a false sense of superiority and are willing to listen. Treating your entire staff as integral parts of a whole highlights your integrity as a leader.

Discomfort > Comfort
This is often about honesty. Telling the truth tactfully lets your staff know where you stand. They don’t have to worry that you’re hiding something from them. Often making the decision to confront someone is more difficult than having the actual conversation. You must embrace the discomfort. When a teacher is disrespectful to the student and then the student responds in kind. Asking your staff what they could have done better isn’t easy. It’s your job to do it anyway. Integrity means having the courage to be uncomfortable.
In the current age of hyperbole and alternate facts demonstrating integrity is one of the most important characteristics of a principal. Leading by example through your actions, showing that the team is greater than the individual and embracing discomfort are all components of integrity.

​What are other ways you can demonstrate this characteristic. Share your thoughts in the comment section below. If you’re looking for a group of supportive principals join the private FB group. We’re currently engaged in The Principals’ 20 Day Classroom Challenge!

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One of the difficult aspects of promoting a districts public school system is that it’s hard to differentiate one from the other. As schools of choice, charter schools and perhaps an impending voucher system for every state proliferate, standing out becomes more difficult. These days districts are using radio spots and billboards to promote their schools. Use these three strategies to stand out in a crowded educational field.

One of a Kind
This isn’t easy for a public school because we have to be everything for everybody. This makes it hard to be distinctive. One of the advantages that private and charter schools have is their ability to define their own niche. A private school can be religion based and focused solely on a particular faith. Charter schools can have a specific theme or cater to specific ethnicities. As a public school finding your focus is essential to increasing school enrollment. This has traditionally been done through a focus on things like athletics or band. In today’s technological age what are ways you can stand out from the crowd? Answering this question will help you be unique.

Dependable
Another way to stand out is to be dependable. Often times, every few years, schools lurch from one new fad to the next. In doing so they create uncertainty and parents aren’t sure from year to year what their child is going to get. Being consistent in your offerings helps parents know what they’re going to see when they come in for their second and third child. With that expected way of doing things the parents and the staff can confidently state what is happening year to year and promote your school. No one likes instability. Being unstable will creates anxiety among your stakeholders and make choosing another option more likely. Be dependable and not only will families stand by you they’ll sell your school for your.

Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm for your work is the secret ingredient and leads to sustained excellence. If you think of the great Principals they demonstrate that passion on a daily basis. They’re greeting students and staff as they come in and walk the halls with purpose. Charles Dodd NASSP Principal of the year displays this type of positive energy. When the President of the NASSP described Dodd she said, “His passion for personalizing the school and meeting the needs of each student. . .marks his leadership throughout his tenure at Lesher”. Enthusiasm for your school transfers to every person you come into contact with and will help with positive recommendations for your school.

Successful Principals and by extension schools promote themselves with their one of a kind offering, dependability and enthusiasm. These three strategies can help you maintain and increase your student enrollment. What are other tactics do you use to stand out. Share them in the comment section below.

If you’re looking for a group of supportive principals join the private FB group. We’re currently engaged in The Principals’ 20 Day Classroom Challenge!

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We spend too much time in meetings. We lead school improvement, staff and sometimes even a version of the PTO meetings. If we’re not leading a meeting we’re attending one. Sometimes we’re our own worst enemy and our meetings tend to be longer because we haven’t had time to properly plan. These three tips will help speed up the meetings that you’re responsible for facilitating.

One Goal
For each specific meeting have one main goal that you would like to accomplish for that particular session. Walking into a meeting without a clear vision of the outcome you would like will lead to discussions with no ending in sight. You can easily get off task with any number of issues that are seen as important. In order to limit the time of the meeting have a clearly stated goal on your agenda. In doing so, you have one lense that can filter out the extraneous conversations.

Take 5
When you have planned meetings, on your calendar, include an extra five minutes in that time block. Use that five minutes to prep for your meeting. This extra five minutes alone will cut down on the time you spend in your meeting. You can use that time to choose your goal, gather your materials and get your thoughts together. Too often we’re running from one meeting to the next and a lot of time is wasted trying to get everything situated. If these are set meetings you also wanted to make sure that the team you are meeting with is also ready to go when they come in the room. Everyone being prepared will help ensure that the meetings do not run over.

Routine
This comes back to your time in the classroom. Each meeting you have should have it’s own process. Everyone should know what to expect. These norms should be set in the first meeting. If you are working with data your should have a routine that you consistently use to dig into that information. You don’t want to spend time each meeting figuring out the how. Having a set routine will help eliminate wasted time.

Each of these three tips will help speed up your meetings or at least help keep them on track. What methods do you use to save time? Share your advice in the comment section below.

If you’re looking for a group of supportive principals join the private FB group. We’re currently engaged in The Principals’ 20 Day Classroom Challenge!

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I was at an all day professional development session put on by MI Excel, a Michigan system of support for priority and focus schools. The pd was around the use of data and how a focus on it can create positive change in 18-24 months.

Just to set the stage, I am not a math person. I failed or skated by with D minuses consistently in high school, was able to completely avoid it while obtaining my Bachelors, and only had to take one basic math class to get my Masters. So walking into an all day pd around data was a stress inducing situation.

The system that was presented was called the Collaborative Learning Cycle. These three steps, taken verbatim from the training, have very little to do with math and are an easy way to fearlessly look at data.
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Step 1 Activate and Engage.
In this step you get a blank sheet of data that mirrors in form the data you’ll be looking at in step two. Then you fill in the blank sheet based on your prediction of what the data will look like. Once everyone has filled in the data sheet with their own guesses you write predictive statements that explain the reason for your guesses. This is essentially a data icebreaker. It’s used to get everyone’s thoughts on paper. Once a time limit has been set and reached and group members have written their statements, you come together and write everyone’s responses on chart paper and post it. The symbolic move of removing it from the table and placing it up provides a means for everyone to get past their biases. I liked this part for two reasons, no hard math was involved because I was making up the numbers and I was able to see different points of views.

Step 2 Explore and Discover
This is when you get the actual data set. It wasn’t as difficult to look at this data because I had already seen the format in step one and played around with it using my own numbers. I was able to compare and contrast and see how close I was to the actual data points. We were asked to silently identify interesting trends or differences and then write narrative statements. This was done within a short time limit and then once again we went around the table and shared our narrative statements writing them on chart paper. Then as a group we identified statements that were similar and decided which ones we wanted to focus on for step three. This was posted on the wall alongside our other chart. I enjoyed this part more than I thought I would because I was able to look at the data and write a story around the numbers.

Step 3 Organize and Integrate
In the previous step we wrote narrative statements explaining in a factual way what we observed in the data. In this step the purpose is to write the story around the data. MIExcel calls these causal theories. This is where we take that narrative statement and discuss why the data looks like it does. One thing that was reiterated was the need to focus on the narrative statements that are in your locus of control. Once you’ve written and discussed these theories you create action plans around them. You focus on both quick wins, that can be implemented the next day, and longer term goals. I liked this part because it provided immediate concrete steps for us to do the following day.

This easy 3 step process took away my anxiety around working with data. By activating and engaging with the data through predictive statements, exploring and working with the actual data sets, and then organizing and integrating ways to impact the data, I was able to walk away from the training feeling as if I could bring the Collaborative Learning Cycle back to my staff. For an admitted mathaphobe this particular pd was a win.

How do you deal with data with your staff. What system do you use that you find helpful? Share in the comment section below.

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Having to restrain a student is a horrible, emotionally-exhausting, and often physically dangerous thing to have to do. We’ve all seen social media posts or heard news stories surrounding students being restrained and the consequences that have befallen staff and administration when it has been done improperly. Or even perceived to be done improperly. Unfortunately, I’ve been involved on a couple of occasions when the safety of the student and staff had been compromised. In the ensuing documentation of the incidents, I’ve reflected and wondered what I could do to avoid such situations. These 3 rules are a good reminder on when physically restraining a student should be used as a last resort.

The following three rules are taken verbatim from the Restraint and Seclusion: Resource Document.

Imminent Danger
Physical restraint or seclusion should not be used except in situations where the child’s behavior poses imminent danger of serious physical harm to self or others and other interventions are ineffective and should be discontinued as soon as imminent danger of serious physical harm to self or others has dissipated.
In one situation a student was in a highly agitated, visibly upset, emotional state. He was walking around the building looking for a particular student to fight. In this instance he was restrained and then confined to a particular portion of the building. As soon as he calmed down we were able to bring him down to the office where we waited for his father.

Witnesses Needed
Every instance in which restraint or seclusion is used should be carefully and continuously and visually monitored to ensure the appropriateness of its use and safety of the child, other children, teachers, and other personnel.
In the previous example I was the one visually monitoring the events as they happened. I was able to speak on the situation to the father and able to recount the events in the necessary and mandatory paperwork that followed. If you have video cameras in your building it is also a good idea to review these as well to make sure your recollection of events are not colored by your emotions. Mark the date and times that the incident occurred so if called upon to submit evidence you are able to locate the data quickly.

Document Document Document
Each incident involving the use of restraint or seclusion should be documented in writing and provide for the collection of specific data that would enable teachers, staff, and other personnel to understand and implement the preceding principles
Making sure an incident report is filled out by all witnesses. Not just the primary individuals involved is a great idea. In this way, if called upon, there is a well rounded and complete picture of the incident. In obtaining multiple points of view there is less opportunity for bias and that transparency is necessary to continue to have the necessary trust with that child’s parent.

Keeping your community safe is the primary goal of all principals. In rare instances restraining a child is necessary. Keeping these three common sense rules in mind, you or students and staff are in imminent danger, make sure you have a witness, and document the incident, will help keep you out of legal trouble.

What are ways that you’ve built a culture in your building where restraining a student hasn’t been necessary? For a complete list of other policies recommended by the Restraint and Seclusion:Resource Document click on any of the previous links.

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I recently read an article by Seanna Adcox of Associated Press. She reports that a South Carolina agency suggested that schools be graded publicly with an A-F scale. There has been an educational outcry against such a rating system. As a new Principal at an Alternative Ed High School, where test scores are low, my school would most likely fall into an F range. Regardless of that, there are three reasons grading schools should be graded on an A-F scale.

Reminder
Getting an F as a school administrator is a reminder of how our struggling students feel when they are not successful. There are always circumstances outside our students’ control that impact their education. Likewise in receiving a failing grade we are forced to reflect on the difficulty that some of our students face.

Community Accountability
If a school receives an F, the local media will run the story. Local businesses and families will have to make a decision if this is acceptable. More community resources would be funneled into the school system as people come together, as it would be in their best business interests to support the schools.

Readability
With the way people are able to twist language or use different words to soften the impact of failure an A-F scale makes it easy to see where you stand. Everybody knows what an A means. Everybody knows what an F means. There is no hiding behind political language. If a traditional grading scale is how we rate our children we should have the courage to rate ourselves in the same manner.

No system is perfect. A scale that rates our schools A-F at least reminds us what it feels like to be students, impacts community accountability and is easy for everybody to read. Perhaps if we don’t like using such a scale to judge ourselves we shouldn’t use such a scale to judge our students.

To read the article by Seanna Adcox and see why many oppose this rating scale click here. What do you think of the rating system? Leave your comments below.

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One of the most important things a principal does as an instructional leader is conduct observations. I have done what I thought were numerous observations. I’ve gone into classrooms, watched the teachers as they talked to students, jotted some things down and noted when students completed tasks. I’d spend anywhere from five to ten minutes in a class and leave feeling quite accomplished. In researching for this blog post I came upon some FAQs at Michigan.gov and found out that what I thought was good is actually not. For a legally qualifying observation in the state of Michigan you must do at least three things.

Check out the lesson plans
While I would scheduled these observations in my calendar. I had not been as formal as to look at the teacher’s lesson plans. This is simple for me to do because we use planbookedu. This is an easy-to-use tool that we purchased through office funds. Once the teachers register they can share it with me. All I needed to do was click on the link before I left my office, check out their plans and then go observe their class. Without checking and considering teachers’ lesson plans your visit to a classroom is just a visit not an observation.

State Content Standard
Once you’ve checked out the lesson plan you gotta focus in on that content standard. When you’re in the room you need to check and see if they are addressing that standard. Is it incorporated into their “Do Now” or is it the “Essential Question” of the unit. Maybe it’s written in student friendly language as a learning target. Regardless of where it is you need to find it during that observation. Just stopping in and watching the teacher as she/he works with students doesn’t cut it.

Student Engagement
The third component that must be considered is student engagement. Do the students know what they’re trying to learn? If you ask them what they’re doing can they point to the essential question or the learning target? Are they sitting there with heads down and eyes glazed or are they actively participating. According to Dr. Michael Schmoker three of the ways to monitor student engagement are to observe whether or not they are alert and tracking with their eyes, taking notes, or reacting to what the teacher or the classmates are saying. Student engagement is the third essential piece of an observation.

Just walking into a classroom and talking to a few students, watching the teacher present to the group and then walking out does not constitute an observation. You must, at the very least, look at lesson plans, know what content standard is being addressed and take note of student engagement.

What do you consider an observation? What are your State’s Minimum Requirements for an Observation? Be as specific as you can and leave a link to your state’s requirements in the comments section below.

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I was recently in a Principals’ meeting and the Superintendent described the school atmosphere of some of the district's school buildings as stale. He went on to say that the methods we were using were not benefiting our children and if we wanted to create change in outcomes we needed to be innovative. He challenged us to try new ways to do things. In order to institute change school leaders must be prepared to battle the naysayers. Try these tips to relieve staff stress around innovation.
Tell a story
This comes down to having a vision of what could be. This is the time to weave in hard facts about what has been and how those outcomes aren’t as good as they should be. The data doesn’t lie, but it can be misinterpreted. Use multiple data points to help show the need for change and to support your narrative.

Slow Drip
A constant flow of communication surrounding the change is necessary. At every opportunity speak about the change and why it’s necessary. Use staff meetings, community newsletters and your social media outreach to prepare your community. Don’t rush into it and provide some time for stakeholders to wrap their minds around it. Communication and time are essential components of preparing for change.

Collaboration
As the Principal you already know that collaboration is key. Identify those key influencers on your staff and encourage their input. Use your student governing body to help spread the word and get those students on board. Give an end goal that you would like and have them come up with the means to get there. Having them participate and lead the way will help the other staff and students buy in. The more people involved the less effort you will have to put forth and the greater your chance of success.
Innovation is necessary to change the status quo. What methods do you use to usher in change? Share what you’ve learned in the comment section below. Join us in The Principal Entrepreneur fb group for The Principals' 20 day classroom challenge, sponsored by quickcashmi.com.

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One of the unwritten rules of education is that the parent is always right. No principal wants to hear from board members that they didn’t treat a parent well. However, always supporting parents will ruin your ability to lead effectively.

Gives rude parents all the power
If a parent believes that they are always right, ​
regardless of rudeness, they can and often will ask for just about anything. They will demand that Sally be moved from one room to the next or that a teacher change a grade or extend a deadline.

It also means that these oppressive parents are getting better treatment and more attention than their easy going polite counterparts. That just isn’t right.

It will make your entire staff angry
In conflicts between aggressive parents and teachers it’s okay to consistently side with your teachers. They have to put up with and be great in the face of parents’ complaints, societal judgements and unrealistic expectations on a daily basis.

Treating staff like quality members of the team provides them with the value that they’ve earned and deserve. It shows you have their back. If you don’t support them in the face of an overwhelming parent, smaller things will cause huge resentment and inhibit your ability to lead.

Of course there are ineffective teachers who don’t communicate well or appropriately with parents, but in a conflict, that is not the time to coach those behaviors.

Actually leads to worse parent teacher communication
When you put teachers first they will feel secure reaching out to parents knowing if a situation becomes uncomfortable you are there for them. By showing you value them they will be happier and more energetic.

On the other hand if they are resentful or feel unsupported they are more likely to be short with parents. This can perpetuate a cycle of poor communication not only with troublesome parents but with all parents. The best you can get is fake politeness and your learning community can sense that.

Dynamic principals put their staff first knowing that this builds a culture of caring that spills over into students and their families. The parent isn’t always right.

What are your strategies for dealing with a parent that is just plain wrong? Leave you tips in the comment section.

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You want everybody, teachers, students, community and board members, to walk into your building and feel the great energy that you’ve worked so hard to establish. If you want your school culture to be positive, guard against these three destroyers of staff morale.

​Vertical management
We’ve all been on staff that has been top-down and complained about the “leadership” not caring about or even knowing about our situation.
Being overly authoritarian and not collecting or listening to your staffs’ input leads to grudging compliance at best and active resistance at worse. The more collaboration between staff and you, will help keep motivation high.

Meeting Overkill
I’ve been to any number of professional development and staff meetings that I thought were a massive time suck. During those occasions I was on my phone tuning out or answering emails. A great way to demonstrate that you value your staff is to value their time. That way they can take that mental break or do something else that will be more impactful to their classroom outcomes.

Cancerous Staff Members
On a large staff there are usually one or two cynical staff members that can infect new teachers with their negativity. These are the teachers that complain about the new initiatives you're implementing and they actively work to shut down innovation. Find ways to bring them into the fold or figure out a way to coach them up or out. Put processes and procedures in place to minimize their damage until you can do so. Limiting their influence will have a huge impact on the morale and motivation of the entire staff.

When you identify any of these serial motivation killers in the profile of your building culture do everything in your power to reduce and eliminate them.

​What are other motivation killers in your building? How do you mitigate them? Share in the comments’ section.

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With the holidays fast approaching finding a gift for staff can be stressful. Trying to figure out what a teacher wants, what gift might send the wrong message and how much is the appropriate amount to spend takes up valuable time. If you’re part of a staff gift exchange the challenge can be even greater. You want the gift to be personal and professional. The solution is easy, gift cards.
Finding a gift card has never been easier. They’re everywhere from your local corner store and gas station to a kiosk in the mall. Getting them for your staff is simple. But who wants to pay full price? Funds around the holiday season are tighter than ever and unless you’re really, really lucky and your PTO is doing something for you, that money isn’t coming out of your budget. It’s coming out of your pocket. The cool thing about gift cards is that you can get them at a discount if you buy them online.

There are local Michigan gift card exchange sites like quickcashmi.com where you can get cards up to 32% off face value. In addition there are national exchange sites like Raise.com and cardpool.com with any number of gift cards to choose from.

As always, planning is important if you want things to run smoothly and on time. Scheduling a time to buy these gift cards now so they have time to arrive is important. Showing your staff that you care for them and that you know them by purchasing a gift card that fits them is a great way to demonstrate your appreciation for all they do.

What are your tips for gifts for your staff during the holidays? Share them in the comments.

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It was 5:30 am and I was on the treadmill getting my workout in before school. Sweat was dripping in my eyes as my bad knees complained about the pounding I was giving them. Luckily I had on SportsCenter to distract me. I was about halfway through my time when one of those Fantasy Football commercials came on urging the viewer to create a league. It looked simple enough, and I knew a lot of my friends were participants. I decided to check it out.
According to ESPN if I wanted to be a commissioner I would be able to tweak almost every detail imaginable in a never ending quest to create the greatest league of all-time! As a fantasy football commissioner all that power would be fantastic.

As I reflected on the role of principal vs the role of commissioner I realized that the two roles required entirely different mindsets. As a principal believing you have that kind of unlimited power and behaving as if you do is a recipe for disaster.

The commissioner in fantasy football is based off of the outdated autocratic model of leadership. Criticisms of this leadership style mentioned in an article by N Nayab and edited by: Jean Scheid include:
Lack of involvement from the employee in the decision making process leads to employees not assuming ownership of their work, contributing to low morale, lack of commitment, and manifesting in high turnover, absenteeism, and work stoppage.
The leader reserving the right to make all decisions leads to subordinates becoming heavily dependent on the leader. The team thereby becomes useless in running operations if they lose contact with their leader, and absence of the leader leads to total collapse and shutdown of operations.
The one sided communication flow in an autocratic leadership style restricts the creative and leadership skills of the employees and prevents their development. This harms the organization as well, for the employees remain incapable of assuming greater responsibilities, or to perform anything outside the routine.
An autocratic leader may be successful in the short term and is often romanticized in Hollywood, but once he or she leaves, there is an inevitable collapse of what he or she has built.

A Dynamic Principal finds ways to empower the staff through servant leadership and is as democratic as possible. This gives the staff ownership which helps create high morale and strong commitment. An ancillary benefit of this is not as many teachers call off.

With everyone buying-in and sharing in the decisions, when the principal has to leave for the inevitable meeting, is again unavailable, or eventually finds a different job, teachers are able to pick up the slack, make decisions, and even support a new principal. Under this leadership style teachers are much more flexible and feel safer because they have been part of the solutions.

Servant leadership creates a culture where an interchange of ideas and open communication is the norm. In this type of environment teachers feel supported and are placed into roles where they become teacher leaders. A principal who has created and fostered this type of environment knows his staff and their strengths and is able to find opportunities for them to succeed.

While being a commissioner in a fantasy league is a great way to hangout with your friends and compete for bragging rights it's a horrible way to run a school.

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Stepping into a new building as the leader one of the first things I had to do was build trust. The staff has gone through three different leaders in the three short years the program had been running. Gaining their trust helps to create a safe and orderly environment for learning. Something that ripples through our school culture and helps support our students both academically and socially. ​
Ask for Help:
As the new Principal one of the first things I did was ask for help. I was looking to create a schedule that accommodated the needs of the staff while still providing building level support for students. By asking for help in making a daily schedule, I was able develop trust by clearly showing that I was taking their needs into consideration. Asking for help demonstrates vulnerability and makes it clear that you don’t believe that you have all the answers.

Offer Help:
Simply asking “how can I help” shows empathy. It demonstrates that you understand the stress and the time constraints that your teachers are under. I have a special education teacher who is swamped with getting ready for her IEP’s and student follow up. The previous week I asked if there was anything I could do to help support her. At that time she said that she had everything under control. The next week while I was walking down the hall to do a pre observation she asked for some assistance in putting her lesson plans online. By offering to help and then following through I showed I was reliable and true to my word.

Give Thanks:
Offering a staff member sincere acknowledgement of what they’ve contributed shows them that you see the hard work that they’re putting in and that you aren’t taking it for granted. We have a teacher in a leadership position who consistently pulls staff together. She hosts staff get togethers, facilitates small learning communities and provides support in numerous other areas both big and small. Publicly giving thanks for her efforts at our staff meeting creates a culture of openness, support and trust.

What are your quick tips for building a culture of trust? Share below.

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sAs a Dynamic Principal you don’t have to be Darth Vader and force students to do what you like. There are three simple psychological techniques that can help change students’ behavior and your interactions with them.

Go to Dagaboh
Change the environment when meeting with a student. According to Psychology Today, [priming] refers to activating particular representations in memory just before carrying out an action or a task. For example, most students associate the principal’s office with discipline and their defenses and anxiety go up. They’ve been primed to expect negative consequences. This shuts down higher brain functions.
To combat this, instead of meeting in your office meet in the media center or talk while taking a stroll through the building or outside. You will find that students will be more inclined to have a conversation instead of inventing stories and excuses.

Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy . ..
Another simple technique is in language modification. Everybody want to feel like they belong, students in particular want to fit in. By simply changing a word from a verb to a noun you can influence students.

Say you would like students to have more grit. Instead of saying, “It is important for you to continue to work hard.” You would say, “It’s important for you to continue to be a hard worker.” Using the noun worker implies they are part of a larger group of students who are also workers. This provides the social inclusion that students need helping to create change.

These are not the druids you are looking for . . .
The third technique is a modification of the tried and true ‘decoy’ used in sales. This is when the sales person offers three different options. One of the options only purpose is to make the more expensive offer look like a better deal.

This technique could be used when it comes to the point where you have to administer a consequence. You would provide options: two lunch detentions, a lunch detention and a saturday detention, or a day in in school suspension. The in school suspension would be your decoy. Most kids would not choose a day in in school suspension. (we all know some kids who would though :-) That leaves you two options with the two lunch detentions obviously looking like a better deal then having to come in on a Saturday. Most students will make the choice of the two lunch detention.

By using the decoy technique you’ve given the student choice and can still administer the consequence for the negative behavior.
Dynamic Principals do not surrender to the dark side of the force and compel student behavior through force. Like Yoda we teach and guide sometimes without the students even knowing. How do you create change in student behavior? Leave your Jedi training tip below. ​

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Visibility
Students, staff and parents need to see the principal. Being visible provides the school community with a sense of safety and predictability. Every morning try to greet students as they enter the building, wave to parents as they drop their kids off and stop into teacher’s classrooms to say good morning. Being visible not only gives a sense of stability to your community, it also provides the opportunity to asses the students and staff and get a feel for the emotional temperature of the building.
Sensitivity
Being sensitive to the emotional temperature of your building is a great way to head off any impending blowups. It can also provide valuable information on students who need extra support. A quick email out to your staff can alert them that a student could use some space or a counselor needs to be contacted. Greeting each student or walking through a classroom and reading their body language, facial expression, and tone of voice and being sensitive to their nonverbal cues is an attribute of a dynamic principal.

Positivity
Changing negativity with positive intent is the role of the principal. To paraphrase University of Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh, “attack each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.” As the principal of the building your energy, positivity and love for students can influence the emotional temperature of your building. It can impact staff’s response to students, students responses to each other and staff and both of their responses to you. Being enthusiastic, and loving the staff and students is what dynamic principals do everyday.

These three essentials: visibility, sensitivity and positivity are three aspects of the principalship that help create a great school culture. What are your three daily essentials?