Principal Matters: The School Leader's Podcast with William D. Parker

This week Jen Schwanke and Will Parker continue conversations about ways school leaders can prepare for the school year – especially those who may be early career education leaders. Relying on strategies from her book You’re the Principal! Now What?: Strategies and Solutions for New School Leaders, Jen shares how to tackle the most common yet most daunting challenges of the principalship. Will shares ideas from his book, Principal Matters: The Motivation, Action, Courage and Teamwork Needed for School Leaders. In this week’s discussion, Will and Jen share ideas on… Taking on leadership roles in a deliberate manner to establish a sense of reassurance among school staff and students. Ushering in change through collaboration, input, and time, and making students the center of decisions when making changes in schools. Studying people, procedures and policies to bring about a better understanding of how a school operates.  Communicating expectations and documenting that communication at the beginning of the school year to eliminate confusion among staff, students, and parents. Accepting that discipline has to happen and finding ways to prepare for discipline in order to avoid burnout. Getting the expertise of other leaders, especially as a new principal. Now it’s your turn: Listen in for even more takeaways. What would you add to the list of ways that education leaders can prepare for the coming school year? What advice would you give a new principal going into their first year as a school leader? If you are eager to learn more ways to prepare for the coming school year, consider reaching out to join a Mastermind from Will or Jen for some one-on-one coaching! The post PMP305: You’re the Principal, Now What? Revisited Part 2 appeared first on Principal Matters.

What priorities must you keep in mind as you start a new school year? In this week’s episode, Will Parker and Jen Schwanke draw on years of experience to provide ideas and takeaways – especially with new principals in mind. Relying on lessons from her book You’re the Principal! Now What?: Strategies and Solutions for New School Leaders, Jen shares how to tackle the most common yet most daunting challenges of the principalship. Will shares ideas from his book, Principal Matters: The Motivation, Action, Courage and Teamwork Needed for School Leaders. Jen’s book includes several areas, including: Establishing productive professional relationshipsBuilding and maintaining a positive school cultureResolving conflict among staff and parentsProviding effective instructional leadershipSupporting students’ social-emotional needsConducting staff evaluations and delivering feedbackKeeping up with district, state, and federal mandatesManaging the facility and the budgetProviding focused and effective professional developmentPrioritizing responsibilitiesLearning from student and schoolwide dataPlanning for growth and changeWorking through behavior and discipline issuesHiring high-quality teachers and supporting new onesLeading effective meetingsMaintaining balance Will reminds principals of the many hats you wear, including: CoachManagerCounselorAccountabilityServant LeaderCheerleaderTeam PlayerIndividual Now It’s Your Turn Listen-in for even more takeaways. What ideas would you add to the ‘first things’ list of a new principal? What other hats would you add to the principal list? Marketer/Branding Specialist, Security Expert… The post PMP304: You’re the Principal, Now What? Revisited Part 1 appeared first on Principal Matters.

This week Jen Schwanke gives a sneak-peek into her newest book, The Teacher’s Principal: How School Leaders Can Support and Motivate Their Teachers, coming out this summer. Jen explains: Why she wrote the bookThe importance of purpose, priorities, patternsNegatives and positives and responsesExternal threats to teacher motivators We also discuss why one-size does not fit-all in working with teachers, and how the ‘trusting’ principal must develop meaningful relationships and master contextual literacy. Listen-in for more takeaways, and order your copy of Jen’s new book today! Now it’s your turn What ideas would you propose as ways for school leaders to support and motivate their teachers? Let us know your ideas or questions by emailing me at will@williamdparker.com. The post PMP303: Intro to The Teacher’s Principal: How School Leaders Can Support and Motivate Their Teachers appeared first on Principal Matters.

In this episode, Jen Schwanke and I discuss ways that principals can reflect over summer break. We begin with the questions: What makes you anxious? Is your anxiety about the coming school year because of lack of knowledge? If so, breaks are important times to dig deeper into some of the areas you may not have time to develop when students are present. In Jen’s book, The Principal Reboot: 8 Ways to Revitalize Your School Leadership, she explores a long list of areas where principals can refocus areas for ongoing growth.  This week we discuss areas such as: Special Education UpdatesTechnology IntegrationUpdates to policies and handbooksMeals with teams to explore ideasReconfiguring leadership teamsReconnecting with parentsBudgeting  We also remind leaders to take time for yourself over the summer!  Now It’s Your Turn What ideas would you add to this list for principals to consider over break! Let us know your ideas or questions by emailing me at will@williamdparker.com. The post PMP302: Ideas for Principal Reboot Over Break appeared first on Principal Matters.

Jen Schwanke, ASCD author and veteran educator, joins me in this episode to answer listener questions. Question #1 “How do you or would you mediate negative relationships between staff members in your building and the county/district office personnel to ensure it does not negatively impact the students/programs/initiatives in your school building?” Jen’s response: When a storm devastated the family farm, Jen’s dad said, “You know, we can’t control the wind.” We cannot control what we cannot control. We will always have negative people in our building, and principals face this challenge all the time.  How do we respond to the front of negative people in our buildings?  1. Remember what you can control.  2. Remember what matters.  The place where those two circles cross is where we must focus our attention. Also, principals must focus purpose, priority and patterns of our teachers. (Listen-in for more…) Question #2 “I just have a question: Where do I even start as a principal I feel as if there is so much I don’t even know so many technical terms and nuances? Any advice would be wonderful.”  Will’s response: I reached back to this principal with a phone call, and this leader relayed to me some more context. He was assigned to a new leadership position at semester and was really struggling with feeling disconnected from teachers and unable to find his footing in the new position. Part of his struggle also came when listening to the show and hearing leaders with such focus and determination. He asked how to develop these traits and skills in his own leadership experience? Listen-in for our full responses to these questions… Now It’s Your Turn What suggestions you would add to these questions? What questions do you have? Email them to will@williamdparker.com. We would be glad to feature your question in a future episode. The post PMP301: How to Respond to Negativity with Jen Schwanke appeared first on Principal Matters.

In December 2015, Principal Matters: The School Leader’s Podcast began from my home on my laptop with a borrowed microphone during a Christmas Break when I had time to research how to start a podcast. Six years later, we have reached the milestone of 300 episodes with more than 750,000 downloads to date.  In this special episode, Dr. Jeff Springer, education consultant and 2013 Texas Secondary Principal of the Year, joins me to walk down memory lane together.  We discuss lessons learned from some of Jeff’s favorite PMP episodes. Plus, I fill-in-the gaps on stories behind the making of the show and the many guests who have shared over the years. A special thank you to Principal Matters friends who send audio-messages to be included in this episode, including: Eddie Trygar, Assistant Principal, North Chatham Elementary, Chapel Hill, North CarolinaPaden Morris, Tyler Consolidated High School, Sistersville, West VirginiaYolonda Dawson, Arlington Classics Academy, Arlington, TexasKyle Novak, Visions In Education Charter School, Sacramento, CaliforniaJen Schwanke, author, Deputy Superintendent, Dublin City Schools, Dublin, Ohio and co-host of Principal Matters who sent in a special message for listeners. You can see a complete archive of the show here: https://williamdparker.com/podcast-2/ Here is a short summary of some of the memories and lessons Dr. Springer and I explored in PMP300: 2015 Episodes Highlights Jeff starts by highlighting takeaways from Episode 1: What are the steps you’re taking to make sure your school has its most successful school-year yet? https://williamdparker.com/2015/12/23/principal-matters-the-school-leaders-podcast-episode-1/ 3 C’s for a Successful School Year: Communication, Conversations, and Culture Lessons Learned…1. Some students have lots of supports before they ever step into school.2. Billy’s teacher made it easy for him to feel secure and oriented.3. Jenny’s experience makes it difficult to have resources necessary to start successfully.4. The lack of follow-through of a teacher to follow best practices makes Jenny’s experience even more difficult. The more prepared we are to rally around common themes, the more opportunities our students have to be successful. Communication means creating a new consistent, friendly, helpful environment where students thrive. Conversations happen when educators steal ideas from one another and then act on them.Culture happens when an entire school is united around common expectations.*Adam Saenz research shows students need to know an adult is in control and to know they’re loved.  Conclusion: Mixing together the 3 C’s provides the perfect ingredients for a successful school year!  Next, Jeff remembers lessons from Episode 2, including Diana Nyad’s incredible story of courage. Ingredients for leadership: courage & teamwork. Strong leaders achieve goals when they understand their goals, count the cost, run the race with endurance, and surround themselves with great teammates. https://williamdparker.com/2015/12/30/pmp02-one-day-in-the-life-of-a-principal/ This episode includes and hour-by-hour, incident-by-incident summary of what a typical day may look like for a school principal, and the constant change and challenge that competes for the most important goals you need to be accomplishing. The motivations that can keep you going:  1. Creating a place of security, purpose, meaning and mission.  2. Redeeming, repairing, rescuing or rebuilding what is broken or in need of improvement. 2016 Episode Highlights Jeff highlights Episode 35: Are You Growing? 5 Questions To Ask Yourself https://williamdparker.com/2016/09/07/are-you-growing-5-questions-to-ask-yourself-2/ 1. To whom do you read or listen to most? 2. To whom do you entrust most of your time? 3. Who has your best interest in mind? 4. Whom are you serving? 5. To whom are you accountable? Next, we remember Episode 46: 5 Tips For Responding To Resistance https://williamdparker.com/2016/12/14/pmp-046-5-tips-for-responding-to-resistance/ 1. You are not alone. 2. Remember others on your team who can help carry the load. 3. Be patient with yourself. Experience is a great teacher. 4. Choose to find joy rather than becoming resentful. 5. Look for and celebrate the small successes. 2017 Episode Highlights Including PMP048 through PMP095, this time period begin the series on Messaging Matters, which later became its own book. Plus, great guests like Marlena Gross Taylor, Jethro Jones, Justin Baeder, Andrew McPeak, and Jon Harper. Here’s one with Marlena Gross Taylor on PMP:090 Why You Should Brand Your School https://williamdparker.com/2017/11/15/pmp090-why-you-should-brand-your-school-with-marlena-gross-taylor/ 2018 Episode Highlights In episodes PMP096-PMP137, we remember content from the Messaging Matters series. This was also the start of content for Pause. Breathe. Flourish. with PMP115: ‘How is the air you breathe?’ https://williamdparker.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3b9291b4f590f5a05b9e5cd8a&id=1c7e4dfe56&e=3805b603cd Another great episode that stands out is PMP109: The Power of One Caring Adult with Josh Shipp https://williamdparker.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3b9291b4f590f5a05b9e5cd8a&id=a555aff901&e=3805b603cd 2019 Episode Highlights Episodes PMP138-PMP178  included guests like John Wink, Kim Marshall, Jenn David Lang, Dave Sandowich, William Stubbs, Phyllis Faggell, Jesse Haynes, and Garth Larson. The first show with Jen Schwanke, began with PMP140, and Jen soon became the most frequent guest and contributor to the podcast. Our first show together was PMP:140 Strategies and Solutions for New School Leaders – Interview with Jen Schwanke, https://williamdparker.com/2019/01/24/pmp140-strategies-and-solutions-for-new-school-leaders-interview-with-jen-schwanke/ Other noteworthy moment in 2019 included::  Episode 158: Why Telling Your Own Story Matters https://williamdparker.com/2019/07/18/pmp158-why-telling-your-own-story-matters/ Episode 177: Cha Cha’s For Making Learning Stick With LeAnn Nickelsen https://williamdparker.com/2019/12/18/pmp177-cha-chas-for-making-learning-stick-with-leann-nickelsen/ 2020 Episode Highlights This series included PMP225-PMP179. We brought in Dr. Jeff Springer on his research over P.L.A.Y., for PMP203: Cultivating PLAY in Leadership https://williamdparker.com/2020/07/23/pmp203-cultivating-play-in-leadership-with-jeff-springer/ This year also brought an ongoing episodes with Jen Schwanke. As the pandemic began, we also opened a Mastermind for Principals. In PMP204: We Are All Pioneers And Tweeners This School Year!, https://williamdparker.com/2020/07/30/pmp204-we-are-all-pioneers-and-tweeners-this-school-year/ we learned what to expect in a hard climb. Hard climbs require courage and determination.They require planning for the knowns and expecting quick decisions when you face unknowns.The climb is easier with strong teamwork and encouragement from one another. Hard climbs with teams require selfless moments and looking out for others. We also highlighted Episode 222: A Fighter Pilot’s Lessons For Leaders, with Brad Ruttman from December 2020. https://williamdparker.com/2020/12/02/pmp222-a-fighter-pilots-lessons-for-leaders/ 2021 Episode Highlights Finally, we reminiscence about episodes PMP227-PMP275. The Pandemic series during this time  included leaders such as Andrew O’Farrell, Samantha Bartrom, Anne-Marie Maw, Loredana Borello, Toirldelbhack O’ Lionaird, Brittany Harris, Paul Wendler, Jessica Wee plus many others. Again, the archive for all shows, can be found here: https://williamdparker.com/podcast-2/ Let’s Wrap This Up As Dr. Springer and I wrapped up this episode, we took time to also say thank you to you – the listeners and many others who have influenced the lessons we have learned together the past six years. Thank you for doing what matters and for your ongoing and learning we experience together! You can connect with Dr. Springer and his resources at PlaymoreToday.org The post PMP300: Celebrating a Milestone & Lessons Learned with Dr. Jeff Springer appeared first on Principal Matters.

Daniel (DJ) Klein is an Assistant Principal at Ocean Springs High School, in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. For longtime Principal Matters listeners, you may recognize the name DJ Klein from two previous episodes: First, on June 4, 2020, DJ joined me when for PMP197 when we recorded an episode discussing ideas to keep in mind as he was moving into his first administrative role as Assistant Principal.  Then on July 14, 2021, DJ and I recorded PMP253 where he shared lessons from his first year as a school administrator. This week DJ Klein is back to share lessons from his 2nd year in school administration. He was also kind enough to provide detailed notes and summaries to accompany this podcast episode. I will share them below: “My Second Year in Administration – Reflections, Lessons Learned, and Takeaways to Implement Into My Own Journey to a Future Principalship” from DJ Klein: 1. Develop Two to Three Personal Yearly Goals and Work Streams This lesson echoes the points of forming goals in your previous conversation with Daniel Bauer in episode 297. At the beginning of each year, reflect on areas in your leadership in which you would like to grow. Form work streams with others that can help you achieve these personal goals. Inspect your progression monthly or at the end of the first semester. 2. Evaluate Each Situation in its Entirety They say there are three sides to a story: mine, yours, and the truth. During my previous role, a large amount of my day was dedicated to navigating a 6A (the largest school classification at the time) athletic program through the COVID-19 pandemic. Obviously, problems did arise while I wore that hat, however the challenges that I was confronted with during this school year differed in many ways. Educational leaders have many different challenges we see every day and, due to the nature of the work that we do, it is very easy to allow the false urgency we experience to influence a decision that we are about to make. Do not get me wrong, there are some cases – especially regarding student safety – where a quick decision has to be made at the moment. However, for everything else, it is critical that we get all of the information – the full story and all of the facts-before we can reach a thorough understanding of the matter at hand and make the best decision for whoever may be involved. 3. Form a Relationship with A Mentor Principal and be Deliberate in Serving as a Mentor Yourself When I was a first year teacher and football coach, I had an amazing mentor teacher named Shannon McKay who went above and beyond to see that I was successful in teaching a state tested subject. That first year came with many hard-learned lessons, however it was only through her dedication to set up a fail-proof support system for me that I was able to turn into the successful teacher I became. She had over 27 years of experience (I was only 23!) to pass down to me, and I was all ears. In administration, we sometimes are tasked with assigning mentor teachers to either first year teachers or teachers who are new to our school. The irony is that many administrators do not have their own mentor (a veteran principal who does not work in the same building) to go to when they are seeking guidance on a difficult topic. Whether you are 30 or 50 years old, if you are getting into administration for the first time, be intentional about seeking out that mentor principal who can serve in that capacity. On the flip side, be intentional about serving as a mentor yourself. It may be in serving a teacher who aspires to go into administration, a teacher who wants to grow into a leadership role in the school, or even a student who expresses to you that they want to be a teacher after college. As assistant principals who will one day go into a lead role, we can continue to build up the next great assistant principal and teacher leaders. The process never truly stops, but we must be intentional on it.  4. Form School-Level Committees to Include a Variety Of Stakeholders that All Have a Common Goal: Ensuring Our Students Get The Most Out of Their Educational Experience I have to give my head principal, Braxton Stowe, a shout out for this idea that I will implement during my first year as a lead principal one day. No matter the grade levels in your building, as leaders we all want to ensure that our school is meeting the diverse needs of all of our students. At Ocean Springs High School, we have many committees that meet monthly or quarterly with the lead principal and members of the administrative team. For example, we have a Student Advisory Council, Parent Advisory Council, a Guiding Coalition Council (made up of parents, students, teachers, and administrators), and a Teacher Advisory Council. Through the feedback from all of these stakeholders, we have made many positive changes in our school that, at the end of the day, benefit all of our students. As the quote goes, “it takes a village to raise a child.” It is best include everyone you can in the process! 5. Commit To Reflective Practices Weekly As human beings, we generally learn through two primary methods: through our own experience, or through somebody else’s experience. Throughout this school year (and the previous), I utilize the Notes App on my Iphone to write down events, interactions, decisions, and other materials for my own reflection. Although many of us strictly focus on the negative experiences to reflect upon (in the hopes of not repeating said experience), it is equally important to reflect on the positive experiences as well. Although no two days are the same in this role, there will be deja-vu moments that we can draw back on these experiences and confidently move forward in the present time knowing that we are going in the right direction.   6. Maintain a “Later List” as You Progress Throughout the Year Kudos to the book, The Together Leader: Get Organized for Your Success – and Sanity! by Maia Heyck-Merlin – https://www.thetogethergroup.com/books/the-together-leader A great book and website that offers a wide variety of organizational tools, strategies, templates, and ideas to help stay on top of your daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly responsibilities. Maia Heyck-Merlin offers excellent professional development workshops for both principal teams and teachers.  7. Embrace Your Role as a Lead Learner Oklahoma Pastor Craig Groechel hosts a great leadership podcast and states constantly that “when the leader gets better, everyone gets better.” Promoting a positive culture of growth, goal setting, accountability, and rewards between teachers and students is an everyday mission for school leaders. However, we must also see ourselves as lead leaders who work collaboratively with our teachers in our daily walk to help our students reach their full potential. In Viviane Robinson’s book Student Centered Leadership (2011), she identifies 5 domains that hold significant effect on student achievement:  Establishing goals and expectations Resourcing strategically Ensuring quality teaching Leading teacher learning and development Ensuring an orderly and safe environment The most significant of these domains, as determined by Robinson, is leading teacher learning (being proactively involved with teachers).  The principal who only covers areas such as establishing a vision, acquiring resources for teachers, working to help individual teachers, and other similar activities does not necessarily learn what is specifically needed to stimulate ongoing organizational improvement. The principal has to also make teacher learning and make their own learning a priority. For the domain of teacher learning and development, Robinson found two critical factors:   1) The ability of the principal to make progress a collective endeavor  and 2) Skills for leading professional learning. Both of these factors require the principal to be present as a learner. 8. Know How to Leverage Data and be Familiar With How it Impacts Your School’s State Accountability Rating One of the learning curves that I had this year was learning how the high school accountability system works. Although it may vary from state to state, I would be intentional about learning each parameter that goes into your school’s rating and familiarize yourself with the data that is behind it. When going over this data, you can discover patterns and areas for growth to not only improve your school holistically, but also for individual students as well.  9.Be Visible Outside of School (especially if you are a Middle School and High School administrator) As administrators, we wear several hats. In Mississippi and other states, athletic events and most after school events require a member of the school’s administrative team to be present to ensure the event runs smoothly and safely. With a school of almost 1900 students and growing (the incoming freshman and sophomore classes are both 500 strong) in a small coastal town of roughly 18,000 people, it is safe to say that there is always something going on. During our weekly admin meetings, we make an effort to go to other events involving our students to show them that we are there to support them. Throughout the year, we have an amazing theater department that puts on several great shows that I have brought my own family to. To see the theater students showcase their talents and run into them in the hallway or while on morning duty and talk about their performance is truly rewarding. In addition, our arts department conducts an open gallery twice a year at a local restaurant for the public to observe. We also have an arts signing day, JROTC signing day, athletic signing day, and various celebrations throughout the year. It does take time, but when you plug in to our student’s lives outside of the everyday bell to bell schedule, you form relationships that you normally would not and see just how gifted and special your students really are.  10. The Second Key: Being a District and System Player In Michel Fullan’s book The Principal: Three Keys to Maximizing Impact, the author emphasizes that educational leaders can see great potential for schools to grow when they pair up with other-like schools (whether it be a feeder  in order to compare practices. Partnering with other principals, visiting other school sites, and coordinating professional development opportunities such as vertical alignment meetings with teachers can reap great benefits in the long run. On top of the book study that I mentioned earlier, we also have a variety of committees made up of administrators from all of our schools and central office. I have the pleasure of serving on our policy committee with our Director of HR, Communications Director, a school testing coordinator, five assistant principals and lead principal from various grade levels that meet monthly. I have learned a great deal about the process of implementing new policies along with revising current ones and how it impacts our district on a macro and micro level. In addition, I had the opportunity this year to shadow two amazing assistant principals, Adelle Register and Nikeland Cooper, at our Upper Elementary and Middle School and discover how their departments operate. Through these experiences, I came away with several ideas, take-aways, and a better understanding of what our students experience before they get to the high school level.  Let’s Wrap It Up In summary, keep these ten lessons in mind in your school leadership: Develop Two to Three Personal Yearly Goals and Work StreamsEvaluate Each Situation in its Entirety Form a Relationship with A Mentor Principal and be Deliberate in Serving as a Mentor Yourself Form School-Level Committees to Include a Variety Of Stakeholders that All Have a Common Goal: Ensuring Our Students Get The Most Out of Their Educational Experience  Commit To Reflective Practices Weekly: Maintain a “Later List” as You Progress Throughout the YearEmbrace Your Role as a Lead Learner Know How to Leverage Data and be Familiar With How it Impacts Your School’s State Accountability Rating Be Visible Outside of School (especially Middle School and High School administrators)The Second Key: Being a District and System Player  Stay Connected A big thank you DJ Klein for sharing these lessons. Want to stay in touch with DJ Klein? You can reach him by email DKlein412@gmail.com or via Instgram @DKlein412. The post PMP299: 10 Lessons from a 2nd Year in School Admin with DJ Klein appeared first on Principal Matters.

In this week’s episode, I am joined again by my friend Daniel Bauer, education leader, podcaster and author of the book Mastermind: Unlocking Talent Within Every School Leader. We explore how he applies his 5 “sticky” core values and how these can help leaders achieve goals and outcomes. Danny has built an incredibly successful organization supporting education leaders, and he generously shared the thoughts behind the values that drive his work. They include: Turning ProPurple CowRipple EffectForest from TreesSponge that Scales Listen in as Danny explains how leaders must: Show up to your best, no matter how you feel.Create something extraordinary so that others are compelled to share it.Take action that creates impact for days, months and years ahead.Keep perspective so that yours actions have meaning 5 decades from now.Invest, learn and teach so that what you do grows in value and influence. I know you’ll find many other takeaways from this talk with Daniel Bauer. If you’d like to connect with him and his resources, you can find him at https://www.betterleadersbetterschools.com. Calling for your feedback… By the way, if you’d like to share some of your favorite memories or lessons from the Principal Matters podcasts, I will be doing a special edition for PMP300 and would love to hear from you. Open your phone and find your voice memo. Record a 60 second audio including your name, what school you serve and what lesson, story or episode that spoke to you – or any other way Principal Matters podcast has been meaningful to you. Email it to will@williamdparker.com. Or if you prefer to write rather than speak, email me your thoughts at will@williamdparker.com. I look forward to hearing from you and thank you again for doing what matters! The post PMP298: 5 Sticky Core Values for Leaders with Daniel Bauer appeared first on Principal Matters.

A couple of weeks ago, I was on a call with my friend Daniel Bauer, education leader, podcaster and author of the book Mastermind: Unlocking Talent Within Every School Leader. He had included me in an email sharing about his favorite recording of all times: The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbBHR_CD56M I had taken to time to find it and listen and ended up writing down several notes and questions.  Danny was generous enough to schedule a call with me so that we could talk about my questions, and we decided a few minutes into the conversation to record it as I had a feeling it would be full of great takeaways. I was not disappointed, and I believe you’ll find Danny’s feedback helpful for your leadership as we discuss ideas including: Setting goals and reviewing themNot responding to what you fearGiving more of yourself than ever beforeThe realities of how good things usually come from doing hard thingsHow “head winds and tail winds” in our lives influence our movement and generosity If you’d like to connect with Danny and his resources, you can find him at https://www.betterleadersbetterschools.com. Send Me Your Best Takeaways By the way, if you’d like to share some of your favorite memories or lessons from the Principal Matters podcasts, I will be doing a special edition for PMP300 and would love to hear from you. Open your phone and find your voice memo. Record a 60 second audio including your name, what school you serve and what lesson, story or episode that spoke to you – or any other way Principal Matters podcast has been meaningful to you. Email it to will@williamdparker.com. Or if you prefer to write rather than speak, email me your thoughts at will@williamdparker.com. I look forward to hearing from you! The post PMP297: Applying the Strangest Secret with Daniel Bauer appeared first on Principal Matters.

I enjoy the sounds of morning. Yesterday, as I sat on my back porch sipping coffee, I could hear the patt-pattering of a woodpecker in the Cottonwood tree. Three squirrels were scampering along the back fence, chasing each other with furtive jumps from fence to tree limbs. A cardinal sang out his morning song with sharp trills. My neighbor’s magnolia tree was bearing large white pedals across glassy green leaves. Spring is here, and I am reminded of new mercies we receive every morning. Those small comforts feel good at the end of a difficult month. I attended two funerals in the past week – both for friends who lost family members who were very young. As I’ve watched community members gathering together to comfort one another and remember the precious lives of friends they have lost, I am reminded of my own humanity. At one of the funerals I attended, a family member reminded everyone to take the word ‘later’ out of their vocabulary. It was a good reminder. Who is that person you’ve been meaning to call? What is that place you’ve always wanted to visit? What is a goal you’ve delayed pursuing? Just do it. Don’t wait it later. Of course, I have also heard the news from Uvalde, Texas. One of my friends, Dr. Jeff Springer, who has been a guest on this podcast several times, talked to me over the weekend. Jeff had the privilege of providing professional development to teachers and administrators in Uvalde this past school year. Like so many others close to the situation, his grief carries with it so many good memories of the good people there. Last week one of my former students called on the day of the shootings. We’ve known each other since 1993, my very first year of teaching. She keeps in touch and listens to my podcast. She wanted to know if I have ever talked about school shootings on my show. The next morning, my oldest daughter, a recent college graduate called me at work. She was in tears. “They were just babies,” she kept saying over and over again. The next day I was on a Zoom call with education leaders from across the country when a veteran leader from Iowa explained how he had sat in his living room the night before and wept at the losses at Robb Elementary School. I’m guessing many of you listening to me talk right now have done the same. Maybe you’ve wept over last week’s tragedies. My guess is you’ve wept over many other difficult moments in your years serving schools.  On Friday, The National Association of Secondary Principals shared a post from the Principal Recovery Network https://www.nassp.org/community/principal-recovery-network/. This group was formed in 2019 for principals who have survived school shootings. 22 principals representing 15 states from this group. They also wrote an open letter to Congress that was published in the Washington Post over the weekend. It simply read: “We are members of a club that no one wants to join. Yet, our membership keeps growing. “We are the Principal Recovery Network, a group of school leaders who have lived through shootings at each of our schools. We constantly relive one of the worst days of our lives because we have taken it upon ourselves to reach out to principals who have experienced a shooting at their schools and help them navigate a path we all unfortunately have been down. “The tragedy at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, was the 27th school shooting this year and one of hundreds since the massacre at Columbine High School 23 years ago. These horrific acts have compelled us to speak out. They compel us to act. “To every elected leader at every level of government, you have a duty to do everything it takes to prevent our kids and educators from being murdered in school. Time and time again, we have come to you to prevent future shootings. If you don’t act now, this will happen again. “We beg you: Do something. Do anything. This is a bipartisan issue. Protect our students. Protect our educators. Protect our schools. Violence extends well beyond our campuses. We ask you to act and to do the right thing — protect our communities.” Out of respect for each of their experiences, I want to read the names of the principals in this network: Michael Bennett, former Assistant Principal, Columbia High School, East Greenbush, NY Elizabeth Brown, Principal, Forest High School, Ocala, FL Frank DeAngelis, former Principal, Columbine High School, Littleton, CO Lauren Ford, former Principal, Procter R. Hug High School, Reno, NV Andy Fetchik, former Principal, Chardon High School, Chardon, OH Denise Fredericks, Principal, Townville Elementary School, Townville, SC Kathleen Gombos, Principal, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, CT Patricia Greer, former Principal, Marshall County High School, Benton, KY Warman Hall, former Principal, Aztec High School, Aztec, NM Jake Heibel, Principal, Great Mills High School, Great Mills, MD Matthew Hicks, former Assistant Principal, Noblesville West Middle School, Noblesville, IN Greg Johnson, Principal, West Liberty-Salem High School, West Liberty, OH Michelle Kefford, Principal, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, FL Andy McGill, Assistant Principal, West Liberty-Salem High School, West Liberty, OH Kevin Lein, former Principal, Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg, SD Jeff Meisenheimer, Principal, Lee’s Summit North High School, Lee’s Summit, MO George Roberts, former Principal, Perry Hall High School, Baltimore, MD Ryan Rollinger, Principal, Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg, SD Michael Sedlak, former Assistant Principal, Chardon High School, Chardon, OH Ty Thompson, former Principal, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, FL Stacey Ting, Principal, Sparks Middle School, Sparks, NV Thank you to each of them for their bravery in representing their school communities. And for your representation of school leaders in general. You can see their post on NASSP’s website, and there is a link where you can send it to your own elected officials: https://www.nassp.org/actnow/ When I talk to my former students, my own children, and my education colleagues, we seem to have the same conversations after tragedies like this. We grieve the state of any human who can be driven to such heinous crime. We question why schools are so often the target of such violence in the U.S. We question and wonder why an 18 year-old can so easily purchase an assault-style weapon and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.  I also have a daughter studying abroad in Wales. Her time there has given me pause as we compare U.S. policy to policies in the U.K. where she now lives. I did a little research this past week on U.K. schools. In case you are not aware, the last mass school shooting in the U.K. was in 1996 in Dunblane, Scotland. That event prompted stricter gun control laws, and the U.K. has experienced zero school shootings since then. Yes, I fact-checked the research. Zero school shootings since 1996. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-1996-dunblane-massacre-pushed-uk-enact-stricter-gun-laws-180977221/ The last mass shooting in the U.K. was in Cumbria in 2010, but it was not in a school. I spend a lot of time talking to school principals. It is my full-time work. I consistently observe something amazing about you. No matter their political affiliation, no matter the size of their school, no matter whether they are urban, suburban or rural, they share this in common: you care about students. You believe in common sense solutions for caring for their school communities. You are the ones most responsible for ensuring school safety. You are also the ones picking up the pieces after a school tragedy. I am grateful I was never forced to join a Principal Recovery Network – a group none of the members ever wanted to belong. But I’m proud of these men and women, and I am proud of my colleagues in schools in the U.S. and across the world who show up everyday to keep caring.  With that in mind, I can only share ideas from the times I have helped my own school communities manage grief. I have lost students to illnesses, to suicide, to car accidents, and to murder. Each tragedy created a different journey and response.  I have written and shared about ways school leaders can manage grief in previous posts. You can find a summary of those on my website, including these 8 suggestions: 1. Communicate, communicate, communicate. 2. Be present and visible. 3. Maintain as much stability and routine as possible. 4. Allow creative and spontaneous responses. 5. Ask for help from outside the school. 6. Enjoy and appreciate your students. 7. Be prepared for media contact. 8. Allow yourself time to grieve. You can see the original post from the Principal Matters website here: 8 Ways to Help Your School Manage Grief The Principal Recovery Network has several resources on its website educators can use as well and I’ll post a link here: https://www.nassp.org/actnow/ Let’s Wrap This Up When I was boy, my oldest brother, Harvey, found a guitar that had been gifted to another family member who had never used it. He tuned it without knowing how and taught himself make-shift chords. One day a friend of his heard Harvey playing and taught him how to correctly tune it, and he learned chording all over again. Later my brother taught me to play, and music has been one of the most important constants in my life. Even in junior high, I remember thinking if I had to lose a limb, I’d prefer not walking to the loss of my hands because of how much I enjoy playing piano and guitar. In 2010, Harvey died of a heart attack. He was only 46-years old. It was sudden, unexpected and as tragic as you can imagine. The morning after his death, I was sitting at the old piano in my parents’ living room. I tried to pick out a melody but the sound of the notes reminded me of all the music Harvey and I had played together: the long nights of jamming with friends, sitting around with family for sing-alongs, listening to one another share songs we had written.  It was the moment when I cried the most bitterly that he was gone – not because I didn’t believe I’d never see him again in eternity – but because the world still seemed so much lonelier and less spectacular in his absence. I wish I had some words of wisdom to share in the midst of these recent days of loss. Instead, I just want to remind you that you are appreciated.  Your sacrifices to serve others, the late night games, the endless meetings, the morning bus duties, the cafeteria duties, the playground duties, the countless times you have locked and unlocked doors, the patient and sometimes impatient waiting for the last parent to pick up the waiting kid. Thank you for being there on the good days. And thank you for being there on the hard ones.  For those of you starting summer break, I hope you discover small joys in the mundane things of life: the sip of coffee from a favorite mug, the surprise of a new sprouting leaf, the thrill of a whippoorwill’s song, the rush of wind in the trees. Whatever kind of day you’re waking up to, may you find new mercies every morning.  Send Me Your Thoughts As I wrap up this week’s post, I want to ask for your feedback. Principal Matters Podcast is only 4 episodes away from 300 shows. If you’ve benefited from any of the podcast episodes, would you send me a favorite memory? Use the voice-memo on your phone, record one minute stating your name, the school you serve, and something you’ve enjoyed learning from the podcast. Email it to will@williamdparker.com and I’d be glad to share your voices on the 300th episode. Until next time, thank you for doing what matters! The post PMP296: The Post I Didn’t Want To Write appeared first on Principal Matters.