PMP:041 What Makes a Productive Team?
: Play in new window | DownloadWhen I was boy, my dad bought a long, green Pontiac station wagon. Long before the creation of the mini-van, it was the car of choice for a large family. We spent countless of…
Principal Matters
with William D. Parker and Friends
Category Leadership
Read MorePMP:041 What Makes a Productive Team?
PMP:040 How Do You Positively Respond to Apathy?
: Play in new window | DownloadLast week when I was hosting a webinar for school leaders, an overwhelming number of responses were made about the challenges of overcoming apathy. How does a leader initiate positive changes when others resist,…
Brunch & Learn Webinars
As a practicing principal, I need to be practicing. And as much as I enjoy writing, speaking or presenting about school leadership, my primary responsibility as a school leader is serving my school. So this past summer, I was thrilled when…
Becoming Better: How You Influence Growth
: Play in new window | DownloadLast weekend I traveled with my son, Jack, and his Cub Scout pack to a joint campout with an older Boy Scout troop. It was a perfect October weekend: 70’s with sun and breeze;…
PMP:037 Are You Growing? Learning to Celebrate the Small Wins
: Play in new window | DownloadLast week I left school early so that I could watch our cross-country teams run at a local race. It was one of those days where the sun and clouds kept alternating in the…
PMP:036 Four Suggestions on Providing Meaningful Feedback from Observations and Evaluations
: Play in new window | DownloadI 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…
PMP:035 Are You Growing? 5 Questions to Ask Yourself
: Play in new window | DownloadI remember when my daughter began taking clarinet lessons from a private tutor in junior high. When I picked her up from her first session, she said, “I have been playing for three years,…
PMP:034 Six Ways to Avoid Making Wrong Calls
: Play in new window | DownloadI 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…
PMP:033 What Motivates Your Learning? A Better Alternative…
: Play in new window | DownloadWhen I was a junior high student, I remember feeling pretty clueless about what to expect in high school. Sometimes my teachers would tell me to expect to be treated like a number. At…
Twitter Chat: Questions for 8/18 #atplc
I’m so excited to host my first Solution Tree #atplc Chat via Twitter on Thursday 8/18 at 9 pm EST/ 8 pm CST. Topic: Avoiding Education Malpractice: Let’s Talk About Our Strategies! Here are six questions for the chat:
PMP:032 Olympic Lessons in Collaboration for Educators
: Play in new window | DownloadLast Saturday my children were watching the Olympics throughout the day. I was walking through the living room when I glanced up at the screen and saw men’s cycling. After six and half hours…
PMP:031 Creating a Sense of Ownership for Students
: Play in new window | DownloadToday’s episode is in response to a listener question, “How can we create a sense of ownership for students into today’s education system?” Although answering this question could be very long, let me ask…
Newsletter Samples for Improving Your Communication
Yesterday, a principal who heard me speak at the USA Conference in Wichita, Kansas, emailed me. She asked asked if I had samples of some the newsletters I share with my parents, students, or teachers. As you’re starting out another…
One Caring Adult Can Make a Difference
Earlier this school year, I had a long conversation with a student who had been abandoned. He was fourteen years old. His biological mother was not in his life. A guardian had adopted him, but when she had difficulty with…
PMP:029 How Can I Have a Bigger Leadership Role as an Assistant?
: Play in new window | DownloadToday’s podcast episode is the first in a series responding to listener and reader questions. One assistant principal wrote me to ask, “How can I have a bigger leadership role as an assistant?” This…
Are We Committing Educational Malpractice?
One day I was visiting my family medical doctor, when a nurse asked me to follow her to another room. She asked if I would unbutton my shirt so that she connect me to some small leads and do an…
Caught in the Middle: Policy, Principals and Practice
Jack is a middle school student who is found in possession of something dangerous at school. His assistant principal guides his parents and Jack through disciplinary actions based on school policy, which may include temporary or long-term removal from the…
PMP: Encore 02 Courage, Teamwork, and Purpose
: Play in new window | DownloadThis week is another encore episode of Principal Matters Podcast. You can link here see the original post accompanying this episode and all the show notes. Thanks for everything you do in serving schools…
PMP: Encore 01 Three C’s For a Great School Year
: Play in new window | DownloadThe weeks of summer are a good time to revisit some original Principal Matters content. This week is an encore episode of the very first episode of Principal Matters Podcast. Listen in for reminders…
Confronting the Brutal Facts
When I was a teenager, I was splitting logs for our woodpile when I couldn’t find the familiar wedge I normally used. Looking around I spotted an old axe head and decided it would have to do. Placing it into…
Cultivating a Culture of Growth
When I was a boy, one day my dad walked me to the back pasture of our farm. At the end of long rows of corn, he had set aside an area that he had tilled and planted with potato…
Ruby Payne: Interview Revisited
This week my friends at the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administrators are hosting a pre-conference with Ruby Payne before their annual summer events. Ruby’s teaching on understanding a framework for poverty was instrumental in opening my eyes to the…
5 Steps for Closing-Out School (And Preparing for Your Next Launch)
When non-education friends ask me about my summer, I often use the cruise ship analogy. In essence, we’ve just unloaded all the passengers, so we’ll spend the next two months stocking up, rehiring where needed, and preparing for the next…
PMP:024 Lessons from my Son’s Hospital Stay
: Play in new window | DownloadWhen bad things happen, it is sometimes hard to see the good in our difficulties. A couple of years ago, I posted about my son’s battle and recovery from an infectious disease known as…
5 Steps for using YouTube in Hiring
Spring time is not only busy as we finish out the school year, but also it is often a busy time for hiring new teachers or staff. Even with the pending cuts in state funding, we were excited to be…
PMP:023 Five Simple Ways to Support Others
: Play in new window | DownloadIn episode 23, I share a story from a local 10-year old boy who inspired others by his willingness to “be the legs” of his little brother in a 5K run. Listen in for…
PMP:022 Lessons in Leadership from a Cross-Walk Guard
: Play in new window | DownloadIn Episode 22, I share lessons in leadership I learned from a school crosswalk guard. I also tell a story of how a simple phrase can powerfully influence students, how attitude encourages others, and…
What Do You Do With All the Mandates?
When Education Week did a survey a few years ago, principals were asked about the biggest frustrations of their jobs. At the top of the list was the response: “Mandates without Money.” If you’ve been in education for a few…
Making the Courageous Choice
One day when I was a young teacher, I was shopping at a local grocery when I saw a very large man talking to a teenage girl down the aisle from where I was standing. I couldn’t hear what he…
PMP:019 Key Responsibility Areas for Your School Team
: Play in new window | DownloadWhen I transitioned from teaching to school admin, I was surprised at the many moving parts outside the classroom that keep schools running smoothly. Even with all the ways I prepared, it still took…
Countdown End-of-School Year
My school is quickly approaching graduation. As we head into the last five weeks of school, I’m reminded that not all educators consider our North American summer the end of their school year. In Sydney, for instance, schools just ended…
PMP:018 First Days of School Questions that Work All Year Long
: Play in new window | DownloadMy school is preparing for the last days of school, but Episode 18 of the PMPodcast shares ideas from Harry Wong’s First Days of School–ideas that work all year long. Communication about the basics…
Dear Educators, We Still Need You!
The other day I was presenting to a small group of teachers and assistant principals on the many hats school leaders wear. As I was closing, I asked them to look at me. Everyone fixed his or her eyes on…
PMP:017 Leadership Lessons from the Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
: Play in new window | DownloadStudying other leaders can help give us insights and lessons that influence our own. From another great historic read, Episode 17 looks at the life of the legendary Theodore Roosevelt, taken from Edmund Morris’s…
10 Steps to Host Your Own Edcamp
This is a guest post by Missy Bush. Missy is Director of Curriculum & Federal Programs at Skiatook Public Schools, a veteran teacher, school leader, and strong believer in collaboration. An active presenter, trainer, and professional development consultant, she is…
PMP016: Learning from the Expertise of Others
: Play in new window | DownloadDo you ever think about areas in work or life where you wish you had more insight? In episode 16, we talk about learning to lean on the expertise of others. Here are four…
5 Tips for Advocacy with Students
Advocacy is one of those principal responsibilities that can be both encouraging and discouraging at the same time. On the one hand, principals resist advocacy because we want to focus on events in school. On the other hand, when you…
PMP:015 Lessons in Leadership from a Champion Racehorse Team
: Play in new window | DownloadIn episode 15, I share leadership lessons from a championship team. In this case, the team is three men and horse found in Laura Hillenbrand’s classic biography, Seabiscuit. The lessons from this amazing book…
Flooded Creeks and Life Lessons
When I was a kid, sometimes I would wake up early, pack a small shoulder satchel with a snack, water bottle, and pocketknife, and head off into the woods for the day. One of my favorite hiking places was the…
PMP:014 Five Tips for Maintaining Sanity During Stressful Times
: Play in new window | DownloadDo you ever feel overwhelmed by your to-do’s? Sometimes you hit seasons where your work can be more stressful than at others. As I’ve hit these seasons at different points in my leadership, I’ve…
Something a Little Personal
This week is Spring Break. Unseasonably warm days have pushed green into tree boughs, and Bradford pears have blossomed white. Asparagus shoots are sprouting in our raised beds, and fescue already needs a first mowing. It really seems like winter’s…
Remembering Apollo 13: Overcoming the Insurmountable
The Apollo 13 mission is one of my favorite stories of endurance. On April 11, 1970 when Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise set off for their mission to the moon at speeds equivalent to 20,000 mph, they had…
PMP:012 Disciplining with Dignity
: Play in new window | DownloadIf you view school discipline simply as punishment, you’ll be limited in your effectiveness. If you view it as a way to measure and redirect student behavior, then you may experience more meaningful results.…
Celebrating Collaboration and the Ability to Fly
Last week I flew to the NASSP annual conference in Orlando with connecting flights in Dallas. As I boarded my flight home, my mind was filled with new ideas about school, and I began comparing the process of flying to…
PMP:011 Tips for Showing Appreciation for Teachers
: Play in new window | DownloadBecause one good deed is worth more than a thousand good intentions, you can never overestimate the power of showing others they are appreciated. In episode 11, learn seven simple ways to show appreciation…
Triggering the Brain with Wonder
The other day I was talking to our high school choir teacher, when she told me about a fascinating brain study involving music. MIT neuroscientists have discovered that music triggers an auditory cortex of the brain that doesn’t appear to…
PMP:010 Tips for Dealing with Difficult People
: Play in new window | DownloadIn episode 10 of Principal Matters Podcast, we dive into some of the practical ways to make school leadership more effective. Dealing with difficult people is often one of the hardest and most frequent…
In Praise of American Educators: Review 3
In Chapter 4 of In Praise of American Educators: And How They Can Become Even Better, DuFour outlines strategies that actually work for high-performing countries. He then explains why those strategies make more sense than the false assumptions embraced by…
PMP:09 Better Managing Requests
: Play in new window | DownloadIn episode 9 of Principal Matters Podcast, we jump into the “nuts and bolts” of school leadership by talking about how to manage requests. School leaders can easily be overwhelmed with the number of…
A Complaint Free World: 5 Ways to Respond
One of the strengths I appreciate in my team members is their ability to voice concerns or raise red flags when something important is affecting our students. I am so thankful for helpful feedback. Of course, there is a big…
PMP:08 Making Each Day Count
: Play in new window | DownloadIn episode 8 of Principal Matters Podcast, I continue a conversation on the importance of understanding your motivations for why you lead. Based on an original blog post, 3 Tips for Making Each Day…
In Praise of American Educators: Review 2
Talk to almost any politician about education, and you will often hear suggestions for improvement that include words like accountability, portability or choice. Very few suggest adequately funding schools or implementing measures that can really produce results. In Chapter 3…