with William D. Parker and Friends
Last Friday our basketball teams played at home. Unfortunately, we lost both varsity games. But the night was not a loss. At half time, our athletic directors introduced a team of student athletes who had returned with medals from their…
A friend who is also a reader asked me the other day to explain to him what I meant by being motivated by wonder. “Motivation by purpose, I understand,” he said. “But motivation by ‘wonder’? Can you tell me…
Education news is a buzz with talk of the federal government taking up the issue of reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The issue will continue to be a hot one over the months to come, so here…
Our high school choir students gave us a beautiful Christmas present this past week when they performed the musical It’s A Wonderful Life. I’ve loved the movie version since I was kid, and seeing the story put to music as…
Last weekend, our high school football team came home with a silver instead of gold trophy from their state championship contest. Their experience reminded me of this quote: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points…
Our high school football team is headed for the state championship game this coming weekend. (You can see their championship game promo here.) Two years ago when these senior players were sophomores, their team won no games. It was a…
Last Friday night, our school hosted a second-round football playoff game. Just days before, the opposing team’s community of Guthrie, Oklahoma had suffered a devastating fire at an apartment complex that destroyed the homes of several students and resulted in…
The European Space Agency’s historical comet landing of the space craft Rosetta last week has my head spinning. First of all, imagine organizing a team of scientists and space engineers who design and launch a space craft with the goal…
Last weekend I attended the memorial service for a former student. His family members and friends took turns sharing how he had touched their lives with his kindness, curiosity, and creativity. It was an outside gathering, and the cold November…
When I was a boy, I loved to lay on the front porch at night. With no streetlights or neighbors, our house was enveloped in darkness, surrounded by swampy creeks and woods, accompanied by the sound of crickets and the…
Almost two years ago, I began posting weekly to share ideas for school leaders. That choice opened a lot of opportunities for me to collaborate with great educators, connect with people all over the world, and interview some fascinating leaders.…
Last week I had the opportunity to share with a graduate class of educators studying school leadership. We talked for about an hour about essential roles of school leaders, and then I fielded questions from class members for another half hour. At one point, a…
I remember my first year of teaching when I walked into a boy’s bathroom that was reeking of smoke. A couple of boys were standing at the urinals when one of them dropped a lit cigarette at his feet. I…
School or work environments are like home environments–it doesn’t take long to figure out if you are in a happy, productive place or not. Last week I was in Oklahoma City for a meeting with OASSP, the Oklahoma Association of…
The other day I was going through my books when I came across a copy of Jim Collins Good To Great. It had been a couple of years since I had read it, but as I flipped the pages, I…
Recently, my junior high daughter began taking clarinet lessons from a private tutor. When I picked her up from her first session, she said, “I have been playing for three years, but I learned today that I wasn’t putting the…
I have a lot of friends who are good golfers. I am not one of them. But I recognize a good golfer when I see one. He or she is usually the one who gets the ball in the hole…
We just welcomed our teachers and students back to school. It was hard work to prepare for all the moving parts that make up master schedules, professional development, and schedule pick-ups. But there is also great satisfaction in having everyone…
Last year I was attending a high school track meet when our school’s 4 x 400-meter-relay team faced a rival team with a runner known as one of the fastest boys in the state. Our four-man-team actually held the lead…
I once knew a teaching couple who told me a funny story. They lived right across the street from a man who never seemed to go to work. During their breaks from school, the neighbor always seemed to be home;…
I remember a story a good friend told me about her first year as an assistant principal. She worked with a teacher who frequently referred the same boy to the office for misbehavior. Although the boy (I’ll call him Billy)…
I am not a basketball coach, and I don’t pretend to be one on TV either. Over the years, however, I have watched a lot of games, and sometimes I’ll still shoot baskets with my kids until my legs give…
The other day my elbow was aching. I have a scar there from when I broke it falling from a horse almost twenty years ago. When it aches, I can usually be certain the weather will turn stormy. And it…
I was listening to a fascinating show by Pat Flynn, blogger and podcaster who was interviewing Bryan Kelly from What The Speak on the neuroscience behind great presentations. As I thought about the research Kelly had done on what makes…
This has been a busy summer of hiring new teammates and preparing for the school year to come. In one of our recent interviews, I was asked to give some feedback on some of the responsiblity areas in our office…
Another hat a principal must sometimes wear is that of the advocate. I am currently visiting Washington D.C. on the part of the National Association of Secondary Principals as the state coordinator for Oklahoma. But really I am here for…
Sometimes I look back at my days in school, and I am amazed that I ended up becoming a teacher and principal. During eighth grade, my Language Arts teacher, Ms. Owen, told me she wanted to make a deal with…
This week I have spent a lot of time with to-do lists as well as pulling together with my team members to coordinate important end-of-school-year activities. If you are leading a school, organization, or a team, you know the challenges…
: Play in new window | DownloadJust a few days ago, we celebrated graduation. The next day we wrapped up with professional development and teacher check-out. When I arrived home that night, I felt both exhausted and exhilarated. It was…
The following is an interview between Rachel Skerritt and me. Rachel is the Principal of Eastern Senior High School, a D.C. Public School. She was also the Principal Ambassador Fellow for the U.S. Department of Education. My goal in posting…
This is a guest post by Justin Baeder, Director of The Principal Center. He writes about productivity for school leaders at Eduleadership.org. We all want to improve student learning in our schools. We want to achieve better results, create better…
A couple of years ago, I had the privilege to participate in a ten day tour of four cities in China. On one leg of the trip, I sat by a woman who was fluent in English and on her…
Last Saturday I drove my daughter to the local lake dam spillway to meet her teammates for a weekend track workout. After twenty minutes of warm-up running on the grassy path to the spillway and back, they lined up for…
Earlier this year, I had the privilege of hearing Mitchell Curry and his school leadership team present a workshop on how their school became recognized by the National Association of Secondary Principals as a “Breakthrough School”. Mitchell Curry is Principal…
A few years ago, I was talking to a teacher about a student she had volunteered to mentor. The young lady had had a difficult past, and the teacher had confided in me that some of their meetings had been…
This past February, I had the pleasure of hearing Annette Breaux present at the NASSP Ignite Conference. She is by far one of the most engaging, entertaining, and practical education speakers I have heard. She is also an avid writer…
The following is a Q & A between Justin Baeder and me. A few months ago, I was introduced to Justin first via a Twitter exchange. Soon afterwards, I discovered his free 21-Day Instructional Leadership Challenge. Although I was not…
I was talking to an assistant principal friend from a neighboring district who was telling me some funny stories from her middle school experience. She said her own mom and dad like to ask her to tell stories from school.…
Two weeks ago I attended the NASSP Ignite Conference in Dallas, Texas. On my flight home, the pilot informed us that we would encounter heavy fog at the Tulsa airport. As we began descending, we were shrouded in it. I…
We recently mourned the heartbreaking death of a second student this school year. She was murdered in an evening domestic dispute that resulted in a double-homocide. Her great-grandmother was also a victim. The day after her death, we had counselors…
The other day, I sat in a conversation with a student and a DHS worker who had come to take her into custody. She was no longer able to stay at her host home and would be moving back to…
One of my favorite college education professors would often start class with a provoking question. As we would grapple with how to answer and/or support our positions, he would stand there with his large hands lifted in the air, his…
Recently, I was inspired by the story of Diana Nyad, who made it a personal goal to swim from Cuba to Florida and did so at the age of 64. Her 100-mile feat came with many unsuccessful previous attempts, the…
The following is a Q & A between Steven Parker and me. Steven Parker is the principal of Cedar Lee Middle School in Bealton, Virginia. He was also named the 2013 Virginia Middle School Principal of the Year. My goal…
I know. I know. Not another post on new year resolutions, right? Talking about goals can be both discouraging and irritating at times. Speaking from my own experience this past year, however, I must say that setting goals was one…
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:
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…