What are you looking forward to in this course?

I am hoping to add to my toolbox as I plan on becoming a principal one day.
When we were asked today to write about who has been a catalyst in our teaching, I wrote about three principals. These three principals have been great examples of leadership in its many forms. They mentored, cared, shared, and empowered me. I really admired each of them. One day, I want to make a difference, like they did, for my colleagues, students and school. I'm hoping that a course like this, along with the others I will take, will help me develop into that kind of person and principal.
As for Instructional Leadership: we all will pick and choose parts of the definition that are important and relevant to us. It seems that in all the texts, resources and definitions, that an emphasis on curriculum, pro-d and improved student achievement are mentioned. There are some big shoes to fill and lots to learn, but if I knew it all, then why would I need this course?? :) I think taking these courses keeps me grounded and makes me realize that I always will have so much to learn!

Mr. Poling's blog

Another terrific find. I received a comment from Mr. Steve Poling, a principal in Arizona who found my blog. He added to Dr. Jan's list of tips for new principals. His ideas are equally valuable. We all should be fortunate enough to have principals or become principals like Mr. Poling. Again, I colour-coded the tips I believe in or already practise.
Look at Mr. Poling's blog here.

Here are his additions to Dr. Jan's list:

21. Believe in your innermost being that you have an unlimited capacity to be a positive force in your school. A positive attitude is contagious and it starts with you.
22. Take ownership of the school because it is a reflection of you. Take pride in your work. Ask yourself, "Would I sent my child here? Are parents happy to send their children here?".
23. Dress for Success: always look your best. You are a model for the rest of the staff. It will also help you build credibility with the parents and families.
24. Assume the best from your staff. They will live up to your expectations.
25. Show genuine care and concern about your staff. Their family and themselves are the most important things in the world just like it is with you and your family.
26. Make sure the house is in order: staff want, need, and deserve a school that runs smoothly with orders being placed on time, leave requests being processed same day, and broken things being fixed promptly. It is about systems thinking (see Peter Senge's 'Schools That Learn'). The maintenance man, secretary, and front desk clerk are essential high performing staff for a well running school.
27. In your first back-to-school staff meeting, create a Code of Honor together. It is your agreed upon operating principles and guidelines of how you will treat each other. Print it out on nice paper with some graphics and pass them out for staff to post in their work areas. (There are many protocols out there for the activity of creating a Code of Honor. Email me if you need help.)
28. Towards the end of your first year together, after you and the staff have had the chance to build relationship and work together, revisit the school's mission and vision statements. They are an important foundation to who you are as a school and what is important to you.
29. Don't pretend to be perfect, and don't pretend to have all the answers. Do act competent and knowledgeable about educating kids and running a school. Apologize to a person if you were wrong; apologize to the staff if you violated the Code of Honor. You are a model on how to accept responsibility and admit when you are wrong.
30. Work with parents and teachers on solutions that will help kids. Have few hills that you are willing to die on. (Save them for the most important issues.) For instance, don't have a policy that you refuse move a student to a new classroom during the year. Some principals act like that is the last hill to die on for fear that other unhappy parents will hear and come demanding new classrooms. They won't and sometimes a move is the best thing for the child and the teacher.
31. "Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart."
32. Focus on your school data. What does it tell you about the teaching and learning taking place in your school? Engage staff in discussion about the data and how students are or are not learning what they need to learn.

Dr. Jan's Blog

I came across an interesting blog of a principal in Oklahoma City. I really liked her tips for new principals and thought I'd share them. She has some really good advice. I colour-coded my favourites. Her entire blog can be found here.

Twenty Tips to New Principals...
1. Beware the teacher who approaches you first, accepts you first… they are liable to not be all they seem.
2. Don’t think the teachers want you as their friend. They want you to handle business. When someone isn’t doing their job, they want you to compel that person to do their job; they don’t need any new friends, they need someone to make sure the school runs well.
3. Sit down with the teacher leaders (let the teachers select them) immediately and design a school-wide discipline plan that everyone agrees to adhere to. Agree on who will handle what and what will be the penalty for a range of behavior infractions. Don’t know where to start? Check this out for one school’s solution.
4. Don’t change anything the first year. Concentrate on developing relationships. Know who is who and what is what. Teachers really resent change, so the change better be warranted and accepted.
5. Meet with your teacher leadership team regularly. Tell them that they represent the rest of the school and that they must converse with other members of the faculty to see what the concerns are in the school. Insist that no one can come with a problem unless they also have a solution; you may not go with the solution, but at least it causes everyone to be thinking and not leaving all the problem solving to you.
6. Meet with your faculty regularly. Often, new principals don’t have routine meetings because they know how much they hated faculty meetings when they were a teacher. Don’t ever forget… you can’t develop a positive climate and culture without making sure everyone is there and participating. Make the meetings short, let everyone know what is going to be discussed (in advance), and respect people’s time.
7. Make sure that teachers understand the rules of engagement with parents. If a parent comes to the principal angry about a teacher’s action, you will always ask if the parent has spoken to the teacher first. If not, then you personally deliver the message to the teacher to contact the parent. You advise the parent that if the problem is not resolved after talking to the teacher to contact you; so you can resolve it. Ninety-nine percent of the time, you will never hear from the parent again.
8. You will never be as well loved as you hope. You must decide what your bottom line as a principal is… it should be to educate all the children in a nurturing environment that respects the rights of the teachers to teach and the students to learn. Anything else is in your way.
9. Consider instructional leadership to be the most important thing you do. In school terms, that means that you have a safe learning environment where kids behave and teachers are productive.
10. Do not subject your teachers to professional development. Make certain that you involve teachers in their own training and that anything presented to them is worth their time and effort.
11. Respect teachers. Respect teachers. Respect teachers. Accept respect in return and accept/give nothing less.
12. Keep current with your professional organizations. Nothing is worse than a has-been… except maybe… a might-have-been.
13. Don’t go drinking with your teachers. Students want teachers they can respect; and teachers want administrators that they can respect.
14. Accept that you are imperfect; accept that others are imperfect. Forgive.
15. Never mistake supporting teachers with the concept of unconditional support. If someone is wrong, find a way to help them save face; but never ever “cover” for inappropriate or unprofessional conduct.
16. If a teacher cannot or will not improve, make sure they understand that you cannot accept incompetence and give them a chance to gracefully exit. Some teachers need a fresh start, others need a different location; but once you warn a teacher, you must follow through. Incompetence must never be accepted by you. Teachers resent having to cover for incompetent teachers (even if they like them).
17. Be positive. No one likes a gritcher, moaner and complainer (even if they deserve to be that way); you set the tone for the school just the same as a teacher sets the tone for the classroom. 18. Do not be a workaholic and do not let your teachers be workaholics. Insist that everyone work unbridled during their work hours and then go home to a balanced life. Encourage balance and healthy lifestyles.
19. Write notes of appreciation on a daily basis. Thank folks who do a good job.
20. Accept that technology is here and that you must be a leader in it.

Yet another view of the elephant!

(retrieved from Teacher Leaders Network website: www.teacherleaders.org)

Roland Barth discusses "the elephant in the room" in the March 2006 issue of Educational Leadership. He looks at the various ways educators compete with and isolate themselves from one another. Barth says relationships among educators within a school can range from being vigorously healthy to dangerously competitive. If school and teacher leaders can work together to strengthen those relationships, "you improve professional practice." Barth sorts relationships into four categories — parallel play, adversarial relationships, congenial relationships, and collegial relationships — then discusses each and gives a strategy that can help schools "to promote a culture of collegiality." Do you have elephants hiding in your school?

The entire article can be found on the Teacher Leaders Network website. Click here and then on the article titled "The Elephant in the Room".