One Day in the Life of a Principal
Sometimes people ask me what a “typical day” looks like for me. Instead of creating a list of my responsibilities, perhaps an example of one day from last semester may serve as a better illustration:
Principal Matters
with William D. Parker and Friends
Year 2013
Read MoreOne Day in the Life of a Principal
Merry Christmas!
As you enjoy the time off from your normal day-to-day routines, I hope you take time to reflect on the priorities in your life that are most meaningful. For my family and many others, Christmas is a celebration of God’s…
7 Hats Principals Must Be Prepared To Wear
Recently, I was asked to speak to a group of teachers who are interested in becoming school principals. My task was to summarize some of the principal’s roles and responsibilities. If you are a principal, I am sure you could…
Interview with Doug Stafford
The following is a Q & A between Doug Stafford and me. Doug Stafford is principal of Emerson Middle School in Enid, Oklahoma. He was named 2013 Oklahoma Middle School Principal of the Year. My goal in posting interviews with…
8 Ways to Help Your School Manage Grief
This topic may be a little too recent to discuss with some perspective, but we recently lost a senior student in a car accident. She was one of our dream students: cheerleader, great student, fun-loving, and loved by all. You…
Interview with Mark Mambretti
The following is a Q & A between Mark Mambretti and me. Mark Mambretti is principal of East Aurora Middle School, located just outside of Buffalo, New York; a 5-8 school of 600 students and 100 faculty This year, he…
4 Lessons in Teamwork from my Son’s Hospital Stay
A couple of weeks ago, I posted about my son’s battle and recovery from an infectious disease known as Kawasaki. I am happy to report he is back in school and is happy and energetic. He has made a great…
Interview with Carol Dweck
The following is a Q & A between Carol Dweck and me. Carol is a Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. For many years, she has been doing research on how…
A Time To Be Thankful
This week I am posting something personal. At the time of this writing, we are on our way home after our eight-year-old son, Jack, was hospitalized for a week-long stay with an infectious disease called Kawasaki. Thankfully, he was treated…
Interview with Daniel Wong
The following is a Q & A between Daniel Wong and me. Daniel Wong is the author of The Happy Student: 5 Steps to Academic Fulfillment and Success. He works with students, educators and parents in the areas of coaching,…
5 Simple Lessons From a 10-year-old
Tobias, a 10 year-old Oklahoma boy, wrote a letter to a local TV station because he had a dream for his 11 year old brother who has Cerebral Palsy. He asked if they could spread the word that he wanted…
Interview with James Johnston
The following is a Q & A between James Johnston and me. James Johnston is the Principal of Alice Ott Middle School and the 2013 Oregon Middle School Principal of the Year. My goal in posting interviews with successful leaders…
A Lesson From A Cross-Walk Guard
This year, my two youngest children started walking to and from school. On the first day, they were excited to tell us about their favorite crossing guard: Mr. Charlie, a grandfatherly man who stops each child to introduce himself. He…
10 Ways to Communicate About Your School
Recently, on a Twitter feed, I saw the quote: Communication is 100% of what a principal does. Although this may seem like an exaggeration, I believe it is true of almost all educators, especially school leaders. This past weekend, I…
Interview with Sandra Clement
The following is a Q & A between Sandra Clement and me. Dr. Sandra Clement is the 2013 Texas Middle School Principal of the Year. I am thrilled she agreed to share her insights on school leadership with us. My…
Planting, Growing, and Flourishing
I heard a great interview with motivational speaker/author Jon Gordon recently where he was asked: What should you do if you find yourself unmotivated to face a day’s work? He responded by saying: You should plant yourself right where you…
Interview with James Holifield
The following is a Q & A exchange between James Holifield and me. James “Jim” Holifield is the principal at New Prairie Middle School in New Carlisle, Indiana. As the Indiana Middle School Principal of the Year, he represented his…
Using “KRA’s” To Increase Effectiveness
Whether for you are leading a team of individuals, or you are a team member who wants to more effective, it is important for everyone to know his or her role. Sometimes our greatest loss of time happens when we…
7 ‘First Days Of School’ Questions
One of my favorite books to recommend to new teachers is Harry Wong’s First Days of School. In it, he outlines the essentials for establishing, organizing, and implementing good routines and procedures for students. I call it “teaching with both…
Part 2: Lessons From The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
Last week, I posted Part 1 of Lessons in Leadership from Edmund Morris’s The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. I shared four lessons from this exhaustive biography: 1. Never underestimate the power of early education. 2. Never underestimate the influence of…
Part 1: Lessons From The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
This summer a couple of long road trips afforded me the opportunity to listen to and finish the unabridged audio version of Edmund Morris’s, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. This biography of “Teddy” chronicles his life from birth to the…
4 Ways to Learn From Other People’s Expertise
A few months ago I was planning to attend a principal’s meeting near the state capital. Since I was going alone, I asked a principal friend from a neighboring district if we could ride together. Little did I know how…
Why Vacation Is Important
Some summers, my family and I enjoy vacation right here at home. But this summer we had the privilege to go west. Regardless of whether someone is an educator or not, or whether your vacation time is long or short,…
10 Lessons on Leadership from Seabiscuit
I recently finished listening to the unabridged audio-version of Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit. A biography about a famous racehorse, the story also centers on the lives of three men whom Seabiscuit involves in a network of drama, suspense, defeat, and triumph.…
5 Ways To Maintain Sanity During Stressful Times
This past spring, as I transitioned from assistant principal to principal, I began to wonder if I had made the right decision. As the school year closed, and my former principal departed, I found myself wrapping up many of my…
And Then I Met A Teacher
He met a teacher, and it changed everything. Jim Wengo was fresh out of high school when he started working at the local butcher shop. But his high school agriculture teacher, John Krivokapish, had other plans for him. When he…
Interview with Jeet Banerjee
The following is a Q & A between Jeet Banerjee and me. Some people have the gifts, talents, drive, and open doors to accomplish more in a few short years than others do in a lifetime. Jeet Banerjee is an…
8 Ways to Discipline with Dignity
School discipline is often a hotly debated topic of discussion. If viewed simply as punishment, it is often ineffective in changing behavior. But if viewed as a way to measure, check, and coach, the results are often more positive. Toward…
Thoughts On My Father
We just celebrated Father’s Day this weekend. In honor of all fathers, I want to take a moment to reflect on my dad. My father has always been the strongest man in my life. At 6 feet, 2 inches, he…
10 Tips On Interviewing For An Education Position
We just finished filling a tenth teaching position at my school for next year. As hard as it is to work through the hiring process, nothing is more important to the success of school than finding quality educators. Although I…
Interview with Daniel Kerr
The following is a Q & A exchange between Daniel Kerr and me. A few years ago, my school offered a Chinese language class through a cooperative effort between the University of Oklahoma and a Chinese education agency. Through that…
Interview with Ruby Payne
The following is a Q & A between Ruby Payne and me. Ruby Payne is the best-selling author of A Framework for Understanding Poverty. Her book and other resources have significantly affected the way teachers reach at-risk students. Her work…
That’s What We Do In Oklahoma
I grew up in Tennessee, but I’ve lived in Oklahoma for more than twenty years now. I will never grow used to tornadoes. Spring time here means clearing out your storm shelter or your best hidey-holes. That’s what we do…
Spring Time Memories
Yesterday morning I woke up thinking about my grandparents. Grandaddy was a farmer and Grandma a teacher. They lived a simple life far away from big cities or congested traffic. Gravel roads, open fields, and grazing cattle was the environment…
7 Ways to Show Appreciation for Teachers
A friend once told me, “One good deed is worth more than a thousand good intentions.” Sometimes I am guilty of good intentions without good actions. But when it comes to appreciating others, my good intentions won’t ever let others…
Interview with John Dumas
The following is a Q & A exchange between John Lee Dumas and me. A few months ago, I changed my morning commute routine from listening to daily news on the radio to listening to podcasts instead. Most of the…
Interview with Tim Elmore
The following is a Q & A exchange between Dr. Tim Elmore and me. I had the privilege of connecting with Tim when a mutual friend introduced us after seeing I had recommended his book, Generation iY, and I am…
Tips for Dealing with Difficult People
If you are like me, you want school leadership to be about inspiring or encouraging others to reach shared goals. So often, motivational leadership also requires managing complicated situations or people. Over the years, I have begun to learn practical…
Interview with Jon Gordon
The following is a Q & A exchange between Jon Gordon and me. The first time I heard Jon Gordon speak was at a principal’s conference in Oklahoma City. A year later, he came and addressed our school district’s opening…
Interview with Mona Smith
The following is a Q & A exchange between Mona Smith and me. Mona Smith is the 2013 Oklahoma Assistant Principal of the Year. When I first met her, I was struck by her insight into school improvement and her…
Interview with Mark Scharenbroich
The following is a Q & A exchange between Mark Scharenbroich and me. Mark Scharenbroich is a fabulous resource of ideas for educators, leaders, and anyone interested in personal growth. I first heard Mark speak when he was a keynote…
3 Tips for Making Each Day Count
Recently I heard a great interview with Robert D. Smith, author of 20,000 Days and Counting. He explained the epiphany he had at 55 years of age when he calculated his years and realized he had lived 20,000 days. In…
Motivation by Wonder and Purpose
A good friend and fellow principal, Lydia Wilson, from Bixby Central Elementary, wrote me recently after reading my last blog post. Her response is a good reminder of the deep satisfaction that comes when we have the right motives for…
Staying Focused During Difficult Times
The other day, I had someone tell me, “I would never want your job.” On the one hand, that may be true. Sometimes the negatives can be overwhelming. When it comes to the part of my job involving student discipline,…
4 Caution Lights On Your Leadership Journey
Zig Ziglar’s “wheel of life” is often referred to by leadership coaches, like Chris Locurto, because it represents a good visual of the competing interests in each of our lives. The thought goes, when the areas of life are held…
Purpose Motivated Leadership
Recently, I was listening to an EntreLeadership Podcast interview of Lisa Earle McLeod discussing her book Selling With Noble Purpose. The premise of the conversation was that in corporations, the sales reps who make up the top 2% of highest…
Tips on Better Managing Requests
My first year as a school administrator, I was convinced I would not repeat some of the frustrating habits of my former leaders. Specifically, I wanted to be a leader who consistently followed through on requests from teachers. What I…
Welcome to Principal Matters
Thanks for taking time to visit Principal Matters, where you can find resources, insights, and inspiration for school leadership! William D. Parker Bio Will is currently the principal of Skiatook High School, near Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A. He grew up a…