So you want to be a principal??

Teacher, Leader, Manager, Learner

Principal, Student, Mom and Grandma…

Comments and Questions

• http://todaysmeet.com/SCSU

• Sign in and have at it!

Ideas…

Qualifications….

• “Position Opening: School Principal, Anytown School District.

• Qualifications: Wisdom of a sage, vision of a CEO, intellect of a scholar, leadership of a point guard, compassion of a counselor, moral strength of a nun, courage of a firefighter, craft knowledge of a surgeon, political savvy of a senator, toughness of a soldier, listening skills of a blind man, humility of a saint, collaborative skills of an entrepreneur, certitude of a civil rights activist, charisma of a stage performer, and patience of Job. Salary lower than you might expect. Credentials required.”

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• Copland, (2001, p. 528)

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BIG PICTURE

• Relationships…everyone and I mean everyone!

• Trust…..everyone is valued

• Culture ..analyze it, build it, work on it

• Personalized care and follow through…be there!

• Articulated vision and goals with defined bench marks

• Risk taker…. Always modeling…Always learning

• Supporter…. This can be tough!

What research says:

• Research has found the principal’s role has continued to move from an organizational manager to an instructional leader (Blase & Blase, 2004; ERS, 1999). Principals need the time and resources to focus on instruction as their primary responsibility (Walker, 2009). Principals who emphasize improving the school learning environment and intentionally spend time focuses on improvement of instruction are found to have schools with growing student achievement results. (O’Donnell and White, 2005). Highly public accountability measures and scarce resources have added work-load as well as stress to the principal position (Markley, 2008, Portin, 2003). The pervasive non-linear aspects of the principalship add to the complexity of the job (Fullan, 1997).

Reality:

• 220 Principals responding to survey question “On average, how many hours per week do you spend working with teachers on improving instruction?”

• 31 % spend 2 hours or less

• 49% spend 2-5 hours

• 20% spend 6 hours or more

And..

• “On average, how many hours per week do you spend working on parental conflicts or concerns?”

• 22% spend 2 hours or less

• 43% spend 2-5 hours

• 35% spend 6 hours or more

Risk Taking

• Technology

• Schedule

• Student centered culture

Learning/Modeling

• Keep current…lots of reading

• Model what you expect from teachers/kids

• Write…practice, concise, accurate

• Speak…any chance you have

• Lead…don’t wait to be asked, be proactive

• Journal, blog, share, respond, get connected!!

Awesome sites

• http://www.knewton.com/flipped-classroom/

• http://georgecouros.ca/blog/

• http://www.21stcenturyfluency.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=2189

• http://www.fluency21.com//blogpost.cfm?blogID=2193

• http://www.connectedprincipals.com/

• http://coalcrackerclassroom.wordpress.com/