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

Zac Bauermaster currently serves as principal at Kissel Hill Elementary School, located in the Warwick School District in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Zac has the tremendous opportunity to lead teachers, support staff, families, and most importantly, the next generation daily. His greatest joy in education is seeing adults leverage their God-given talents and abilities through inspiring kids to find and use their gifts.  Before becoming a principal, Zac served public education in various K-12 roles such as assistant principal, administrator of online learning, teacher, and coach. Zac received his undergraduate degree from Millersville University in secondary education and completed his Master’s Degree in Educational Technology from Pennsylvania State University. Zac returned to Penn State, where he earned his Principal Certification. Most recently, Zac earned his Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Superintendent Letter of Eligibility from Drexel University. He is a lifelong learner, always looking to learn and grow. His family jokes that he went to school in Kindergarten and hasn’t ever stopped. Zac continues to grow his leadership influence and share encouragement and positivity through various social media platforms, magazine publications, and speaking events. Most importantly, Zac is a husband to his wife Carly, and father to three young kids, Olivia, Eliot, and Isaac. Zac is a firm believer in leading his family first. The family resides in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He is the author of the new book, Leading with a Humble Heart: A 40-Day Devotional for Leaders. Zac explains how scripture has been a foundation for his leadership and the lessons it provides for in service to others. He calls the book ‘Leading with Humble Heart’, and explains how the message of humble leadership different from the ways leaders are often perceived or expected to behave in positions of influence. He explains how the life of Jesus is one of humble confidence. He has some advice for education leaders who receive harsh, sometimes threatening behavior from community members who claim their criticism is based on biblical principles. The format of the book is designed for daily meditation and reflection. Zac illustrates how this helped him manage his own anxiety and depression with a favorite example from the book of what readers may expect. He explores how leaders must navigate the important role of serving others with authenticity without crossing legal and social boundaries that exist when serving communities of diverse backgrounds, including religious and non-religous beliefs. Finally, Zac shares encouragement he would you offer educators beginning another school year knowing they will be facing ongoing opportunities and challenges serving their communities. Zac talks about the difference between confirmation bias and impressive empathy as well as the wisdom of knowing when to just listen. We also discussed a new survey from NASSP. August 2022, NASSP shared a new survey of 1,000 principals who reported the following: Three-quarters of school leaders (73%) and students (74%) report they needed help with their mental or emotional health last year.The majority of school leaders (70%) and students (51%) report they have personally been threatened or attacked, physically or verbally during the past year.One out of two school leaders claim their stress level is so high they are considering a career change or retirement. Check out his new book! Below is an overview of Leading with a Humble Heart: A 40-Day Devotional for Leaders “Leading with a Humble Heart is driven by scripture and authentic leadership stories and experiences from the author, with practical points of reflection and application. The devotional book includes various leadership topics from a Biblical lens centered around humility and confidence. Each day consists of a title, scripture verse, additional reading, a personal leadership story, and a biblical leadership example. This devotional book is for leaders from any walk of life looking to learn, grow, and improve themselves and those they lead. Whether you are a business owner, pastor, teacher, mother, father, coach, male or female, this devotional book is for you.” Connect with Zac: Twitter – @ZBauermaster Instagram – @ZBauermaster The post PMP308: Leading with a Humble Heart with Zac Bauermaster appeared first on Principal Matters.

Anya Kamenetz has covered education for many years including for NPR, where she co-created the podcast Life Kit: Parenting. She speaks, writes, and thinks about learning and the future. Her newest book is The Stolen Year: How Covid Changed Children’s Lives, And Where We Go Now. She has been a senior staff writer for Fast Company magazine, contributed to the New York Times, Washington Post, New York Magazine, and has won multiple awards for her reporting on education, technology, and innovation. She is the author of four other books: Generation Debt, DIY U, The Test, and The Art of Screen Time. Kamenetz grew up in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana, in a family of writers and mystics, and graduated from Yale University. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters.  In her newest book, The Stolen Year: How Covid Changed Children’s Lives, And Where We Go Now, she reveals how the public school system was decimated by the pandemic, and how years of short-sighted political decisions have failed to put our children first. When schools closed, children went hungry. Mothers and other caregivers were forced from the workforce. Some children were physically unsafe and unhealthy, and many more suffered emotionally. Our peer nations quickly prioritized schools and childcare centers for reopening as soon as May 2020; here they stayed shut for months longer, and social support to families was spotty.  Her new book explores just why this happened and where we go from here. In this episode, Anya Kamenetz, discusses the following: Why U.S. public school students suffered so dramatically during pandemic shutdowns compared to schools in other nations. In what ways some school districts are still leaving students behind. The need for “a generation-long process of redressing harms done to children”, and why the paradigm we need to reach for is post-traumatic growth, not moving backward. The disparities between affluent and poorer communities and how these were exacerbated during the pandemic.  How public funding for early-childhood or pre-school in the U.S. compares to other developed nations. Other disparities influencing the ways we priortize education for children, ie. toxic individualism, lack of support for mothers, etc.What shifts we should hope to see in the years ahead to address this in public policy and civic practice. Stay Connected You can find out more about Anya Kamenetz and her new book at her website: http://www.anyakamenetz.net/ Now it’s your turn Listen in for more takeaways. What are some other ways that we could address the harm done to students as a result of the pandemic? How do we move forward in a way that is beneficial to students? The post PMP307: The Stolen Year with Anya Kamenetz appeared first on Principal Matters.

This week, Will interviews Principal Sapna Hopkins. Listen to the entire show for her inspiring personal story and journey in education. Plus, learn ways she is engaging her new school community that can motivate any school leader with ideas for connecting your story with your core values and school mission. Sapna Hopkins is the principal of Tilden Middle School in Rockville, Maryland. She is originally from India.  After graduating with a Master’s Degree in Physics, she began teaching at a secondary school in India.  About 22 years ago, she emigrated to the United States of America and stayed home to raise her two sons. She resumed teaching with Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) in Maryland as a high school math teacher.  After 3 years, Sapna joined the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) system as a high school teacher where she served for twelve years in various roles, from a math teacher to math resource teacher to assistant school administrator (ASA).  Since then, she has been an assistant principal for four years and a principal intern before becoming a principal at Tilden Middle School in MCPS. She belongs to a family of three generations of teachers; her mother was a fine arts and language teacher in India and here son is a math teacher at a middle school in MCPS. Q & A with Sapna Hopkins 1. How has your background and journey influenced your education philosophy and practice? You cannot equip students with all the technical knowledge they will need, but you can give them the problem solving skills necessary to accomplish anything. 2. What lessons have you learned from your journey in education that may be helpful for those new to education leadership? Adaptability: It is my responsibility to take initiative, not forgetting about my identity and roots, but knowing my current environment and where I can add value. Everything else is outside of your control. 3. What hurdles or challenges have you overcome in your education journey that provide you perspective for the road ahead in school leadership? I have had to learn to shift my mindset – recognizing I must earn the respect of students through building relationships. I have also stayed committed to growing in digital leadership and seeking challenges that will help me grow. 4. How has Principal Matters influenced or supported you personally and in your service as a school leader? No one else has your story. When I learned to leverage the power of my story through my work with Principal Matters coaching, I began to be able to build the bridge with others where they could entrust me with more responsibility. 5. What are you most excited about as you start a new school year? What are some practices you are employing to engage your teachers, students and community? With a diverse school community and a district committed to reaching every student, I feel it is important that I build trust, take school outside the building and ensure well-being, excellence and first-class customer service to my school community. This means I will lead from my core values, be data-driven in accountability and results, and build on digital leadership through celebrating student learning in newsletters, social media and our school website. Now It’s Your Turn You can find out more about Tilden Middle School on our website, or reach out to me by email: Sapna_Hopkins@mcpsmd.org or via Twitter @PrincipalTilden. Interested in connecting with Will for executive coaching? Email him at will@williamdparker.com. The post PMP306: Courageous Leadership with Sapna Hopkins appeared first on Principal Matters.

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.