with William D. Parker and Friends
: Play in new window | DownloadCultivating a positive school culture is a lot like tending a garden. When you have tilled the soil, pulled the weeds, and watered your plants, your work is not finished. You will need to…
: Play in new window | DownloadWhen Garth Larson was asked to move from secondary administration to become an elementary principal, he was curious if he could be an effective leader at that level. But his work in early-education combined…
: Play in new window | DownloadIt’s that time of year again for hiring and job searches! Whether you are conducting an interview or being interviewed, I have found some common expectations anyone should have when walking into an education…
: Play in new window | DownloadDr. Douglas Casa began his study of student athletic safety in 1985 when he suffered an exertional heat stroke while running a 10K race. As he explains, “I was fortunate to receive amazing care…
: Play in new window | DownloadI’ll never forget the semester I transitioned from assistant principal to principal. Even though I had been in school administration for nine years at the time, the move to a new position brought back…
: Play in new window | DownloadGreat teams understand the importance of depending on one another. With the many roles of a school leader, one of the biggest challenges is moving from independence to interdependence. In other words, how do…
: Play in new window | DownloadRecently, Education Week shared a post, A Look at How Principals Really Drive School Improvement, with a summary of a study conducted by by the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. Researchers studied…
For those who follow my blog and podcast, I hope you’ve had a wonderful holiday season, and I wanted to offer you best wishes on the New Year. It’s been a blessed year on the home front. In 2018, my…
: Play in new window | DownloadOne day I was walking through one of my high school buildings when I heard the sound of a teacher yelling for help. I sprinted toward the sound, and I found a teacher trying…
: Play in new window | DownloadI’ve been on the road a lot lately. And as I travel, I often think about how to reach my destination while also making the experience a positive one. For me, that means trying…
: Play in new window | DownloadIn a recent conversation with author and generation expert Dr. Tim Elmore, he shared how many students are affected by “FOMO” (Fear of Missing Out). For many young people, this condition is demonstrated by…
: Play in new window | DownloadHow do engage students while also understanding the unique challenges and strengths of Generation Z students? Several years ago, I was introduced to Dr. Tim Elmore through his curriculum and online resources for leadership.…
: Play in new window | DownloadThe European Space Agency’s historical comet landing of the spacecraft Rosetta in 2014 was an amazing feat. Imagine organizing a team of scientists and space engineers who design and launch a spacecraft with the…
: Play in new window | DownloadDuring my second year as a high school assistant principal, I received notice one morning that a number of students were missing items from their lockers. Upon further investigation, we discovered that in one…
: Play in new window | DownloadOn Tuesday, September 25, 2018, I walked into a D.C. high school called School Without Walls, a four-story building interspersed with hallways full of art. I saw hand-built go-carts with bicycle parts lining a…
: Play in new window | DownloadSeveral years ago, Oklahoma received one of the worst blizzards I had ever seen in a state that sometimes has no snow fall during winter. As our community was plunged into a blanket of…
: Play in new window | DownloadHow can schools integrate technology across all classrooms? Janalyn Taylor, Principal of Nance Elementary in Clinton, Oklahoma, believes that school leaders must be willing to model learning and teaching with technology in order to…
: Play in new window | DownloadWhen I was in high school and college, my brothers and I worked part-time diving for mussel shells in the Kentucky Lake area. We would sell them by the pound at local markets, and…
: Play in new window | DownloadEducators are talking a lot about students in trauma. Although you may not always know when students are stressed or facing a crises, research by the American Psychological Association, shows that today’s students have…
: Play in new window | DownloadRecently, the United States mourned the passing of Arizona Senator John McCain. Before his death, Senator McCain was asked by a reporter what words he hoped to see on his tombstone. He replied, “I’ve…
: Play in new window | DownloadWhen I was a Language Arts teacher, I would walk my students through a series of practices on identifying their surroundings and writing down the details. You could try it right now. Take a…
: Play in new window | DownloadThis summer my wife and I enjoyed time away celebrating our twenty fifth wedding anniversary in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. One afternoon we drove to Emerald Bay, a cove nestled a mile below the mountain…
: Play in new window | DownloadThe other day I was talking to a friend of mine who ran track in high school. When he was at his fastest, he could run a mile in 4 minutes and 30 seconds.…
: Play in new window | DownloadWhen I spotted the mud puddle, I thought it would be fun to jump it. The dirt road that ran along the edge of the field by our West Tennessee farmhouse was often traveled…
: Play in new window | DownloadHow are you anticipating the start of a new school year? This week I wanted to share some thoughts from a previous post as reminders for your new school year: Predicting Your School Climate Sometimes my…
: Play in new window | DownloadA few weeks ago, I was on an airplane with my oldest daughter, Emily, who just finished her first year of college and is enjoying summer break. Being with her brings back a lot…
: Play in new window | DownloadI’ve been on the road (and in planes) a lot the summer, and I have been thinking about issues and ideas I’ve been wanting to share with Principal Matters readers and listeners. This week…
: Play in new window | DownloadThe other morning, I woke up early in a hotel room in Atlanta, Georgia. For a moment, I couldn’t remember where I was. Then it dawned on me that I was presenting that morning…
: Play in new window | DownloadRecently, Howard Schultz, the owner and CEO of Starbucks announced he will be retiring as CEO of the company. This news comes after several years of stunning success for a company whose stock price…
: Play in new window | DownloadIn 2010, I had the privilege of traveling to China for ten days on an education tour. One morning in Beijing, I headed outside the hotel before breakfast for a quick run. Later as…
: Play in new window | DownloadMy mother-in-law has Alzheimer’s. The condition began about ten years ago when we thought she was simply becoming more forgetful. But as her short-term memory declined, we realized she wasn’t just suffering from old…
: Play in new window | DownloadWhen I drove into the parking lot at East Central High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I was greeted by bright yellow arrows on the parking lot, pointing the direction for incoming and outgoing traffic.…
: Play in new window | DownloadI’m a frequent flyer. The more I fly, the harder I find it is to stay focused when flight attendants are reviewing safety procedures. They could be standing right in front of me with…
: Play in new window | DownloadLast year my student council members came to see me about an idea they had for finishing the year with positivity. These student leaders wanted to end the year was by doing something to…
: Play in new window | DownloadLast week I was walking back to my car from a visit to Oklahoma’s state capitol, when I saw a line of reporters, police, and education supporters stopped in front of me. I just…
: Play in new window | DownloadLast year I sat across my desk from a student whose father had abandoned him and left the state. A family in our community had taken in the young man, and our school had…
: Play in new window | DownloadIn 2016, a Pew Research report showed 62% of adults receive news via social media – a 49% increase from 2012. 70% of people in western countries use social networks like Facebook or Twitter.…
: Play in new window | DownloadOn November 30, 2016, I sat down for a conversation with Oklahoma’s 2016 Teacher of the Year, Shawn Sheehan. That conversation became episode 045 of Principal Matters. In today’s post, I want to replay…
: Play in new window | DownloadIn Tim Elmore’s book Generation IY, he shares data from his 2015 research showing the following trends among youth. • 75 percent post on Facebook • 73 percent shop online • 49 percent Tweet…
: Play in new window | DownloadRecently, Rachel Simmons wrote an article in the Washington Post called Perfectionism among teens is rampant (and we’re not helping). It is a good reminder how this generation of students faces challenges and opportunities different…
: Play in new window | DownloadLast Sunday my family and I were watching the Winter Olympics when the men’s 30km Skiathlon began. As the race started, Norway’s Simen Krueger fell. Snow was flying all around him as two other…
: Play in new window | DownloadWhen I was ten years old, I had an old tape cassette player. It was the kind that had a built-in speaker and looked like a radio the size of small book. You know,…
: Play in new window | DownloadThis Christmas break, I took the family to see the newest Star Wars movie. If you haven’t seen it, please note the forthcoming spoiler alert. In the opening scene, Jedi-in-training, Rey, has journeyed to…
: Play in new window | DownloadWhen I was in high school and college, I spent a lot of time diving for shells in the lakes near my home in West Tennessee. It wasn’t as glamorous as it sounds. Lake…
: Play in new window | DownloadLast month I enjoyed some time away with family in West Tennessee. When I was there, my son Jack and I hiked the backwoods behind my parents’ farm. There is a winding creek that…
: Play in new window | DownloadHappy New Year! As I look at the past year I am grateful for the connections, relationships and opportunities to grow personally and professionally. I wanted to say a special thank you to those…
: Play in new window | DownloadA few years ago, I sat in a gymnasium with bleachers filled with middle schoolers while I watched high school student Jesse Haynes, one of my own Skiatook seniors at the time, share about…
: Play in new window | DownloadJust a few days ago I was presenting to principals in Wichita, Kansas. I was a little nervous because I had been having trouble with my voice from some bronchitis in my lungs. The…
: Play in new window | DownloadOne of my favorite illustrations of the brain is not from a science magazine. It is from a Mercedes Benz advertisement. In it you see a painting of the brain with the left side…
: Play in new window | DownloadRecently, on a trip to Philadelphia, I was sitting in airport gate seating area, which gave me a view of the ground crews prepping planes for departure. Workers were driving baggage trains, pulling fuel…
: Play in new window | DownloadWhen I was in college, I was a resident advisor in the dormitory where I lived. My dorm director, Scott Boss, was a graduate student who not only supervised all the resident advisors in…
: Play in new window | DownloadRecently, my twelve-year-old son, Jack, and I took a long road trip from Oklahoma to West Tennessee to visit my parents. Gran and Grandaddy live in the country–so far out they receive no cell…