Principles of Principals

Today is World Teachers' Day .  Here's a chance to thank a teacher, professor, coach or mentor who made a difference in your life. When I say difference I mean that maybe because of, or maybe in spite of, a teacher - you turned out okay.  Better than okay.  Indelible. Charles K. Martin, Chuck to his friends, Mr. & Coach to me and many others.  Here's to you.  When Bobby Donlin smacked me on the top of my head with a stack of science books because I stole Rebecca from him, you bounced us...hard...together and asked us if we wanted to fight. When my Dad died and I wanted to quit football, you made me run, hit, and tackle harder than I thought  was possible.  You saved my life.  I was seething with anger, and with you, I had a safe place. When you got sick with leukemia, you had us write letters to Congress about the effects of Agent Orange, you told us the horrors of an college kid serving as an artillery officer in Vietnam, and we understood.  You asked us to act

Last night I was fortunate enough to participate in a podcast hosted by TeacherCast .  The air tingled with rich dialogue about technology, wikis, apps, 1:1 computing and social media in the classroom.  I was in the free space with educational leaders like Shira Leibowitz , Ron McAllister and Brett Clark . I'm not kidding you...when we got off the air, it was electric.  Twitter was blowing up and it didn't stop until...wait it hasn't stopped!  We are still making connections. One of those connections made is with Eric Clark .  First thing this morning he's hitting me up for connections with great educators. That got me thinking...I mean I could go traditional and list all my educator network, which I did, and then I immediately thought about ALL my Twitter friends who've taught me...by actions, what they say, how they say it and by caring for me...my mind was racing. I thought of Miki Markovich , who will write the great American novel, takes care of her

A Vision of Students Today

I submit the following in hopes that my colleagues will respond in kind and seek to save our schools in similar fashion. How to Save the Traditional University, From the Inside Out By Clayton Christensen and Henry Eyring A survey of media reports on higher education might easily lead those of us working in the field to wonder: When did students and their parents start seeing college as a gantlet rather than as an exciting pathway to opportunity? When did policy makers stop seeing higher education as a valuable public investment? When did tenure become a guarantee only of a declining real wage? When did I start playing for a losing team? We believe that the answer to these questions is "never," or at least "not yet." Traditional colleges and universities continue to play an invaluable role in our society, all the more so as the world changes. Three of their functions are, for now, irreplaceable. One is the discovery of knowledge. Though the proportion of ba

In a school of homeless, refugee and at-risk children - it's a big deal when the nurse calls in to tell you she's stuck on the freeway and is going to have her car towed.  Fortunately, we can call in a temp agency and they fill those shoes quite aptly. I always like to make the guest staff/crew/teachers feel welcome.  Its no fun being a sub .  So I welcome them and check in. So I'm chatting with our guest nurse and I get a feel that she's had a rough past year with her high school aged daughter.  Turns out the daughter's been bullied so severely that the high school staff had to escort her to her mother's car day after day!  Nothing improved so Mom chose to transfer her to another school without her district's assistance. I'm crushed by this.  And, you should know that it's unethical for the district to ignore this child's cries for help. Recently I wrote an article for Dr. Hunnicutt, Legal Counsel for Arizona School Administrators high

Amid the harsh realities of Federal and local budget cuts, is your school surviving or thriving? Survival can be a brutal contest of resources that bring harsh casualties.  In the current conditions, those casualties can include programs, teachers, community and ultimately your students. Thriving denotes the ability to take what resources exist and nourish the situation to the point of growth.  The same groups that suffer while surviving, see the bounties of thriving. Here are 4.5 indicators of a thriving school and district: Sustainable community partnerships - programs that provide training and development past a 3 year window will have an impact that will outlast leadership changes. Visible community volunteer base - parent coordinators, homeless liaisons and school leaders host parents on a consistent basis.  Those meetings result in greater parent volunteer base or increased tax-credit donations. Web presence - not just a site.  I'm talking about Twitter, FaceBook

What do great principals do with their resources on those first days with staff?  The days before the children appear in great masses, eager to learn? As a teacher, I wanted to get into my classroom, set up, organize, dial in everything so that it was perfect. Class lists, supply guidelines, new attendance policies, contacting parents, cleaning, moving, sorting, training on new technology, distributing curriculum, re-connecting with my colleagues...these were all things on my mind as an educator. Making that transition from teacher to administrator can be challenging.  Here are 6.5 principles that will help; Any time you get your staff together, talk about relevant instructional strategies - which means that you should know enough about student performance, parent feedback and district guidelines to cover highly relevant strategies that can be immediately applied. Planning & preparation pay off proportionatley - practice on your mentor, read your notes out loud, and know

Do What You Say You Will Do. If you can't do it, ask for help. If you decide not to ask for help, don't say you will do what you are tempted to say you will do. It's not worth it. Years ago when I was cleaning carpet, I got in the door of a major residential realty house.  They gave me a shot and asked me to remove a red kool-aid stain.  I told them I could and would do it. I didn't check on the origin or nature of the stain.  I just said I would before I knew any more information. I drove to the house and discovered, through several attempts, that not only was the stain staying put - I was out of my league and wrecked the carpet. Alternative path...I should've told them I would check out the stain and report back with a plan of action.  That was something I could've easily done.  Responsible.  Efficient.  Honest.  Sustainable.  Reputable. Instead, I never heard from said realtors again.  DWYSYWD.