Category Podcast

PMP:145 Promoting a Culture of Trust – Part 2

: Play in new window | DownloadWhen is the last time you heard the following words? “We do what’s best for kids.” Of course, we want school leaders to do what is best for students. But we also want to…

PMP:144 Building and Maintaining Positive School Culture

: 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…

PMP:143 Learning for ALL with Dr. Garth Larson

: 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…

PMP:Encore027 Ten Tips for Interviewing for an Education Opening

: 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…

PMP:142 Preventing Student Athlete Injury or Sudden Death – Interview with Dr. Douglas Casa

: 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…

PMP:140 Strategies and Solutions for New School Leaders – Interview with Jen Schwanke

: 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…

PMP:139 Building Stronger Collaboration – Interview with Diana Lebsack

: 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…

PMP:138 Middle Level Kindness Challenge – Interview with Daniel O’Donnell

: 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…

Principal Matters – Year in Review

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…

PMP:137 Reaching and Teaching Students Exposed to Trauma with Dr. Barbara Sorrels

: 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…

PMP:136 Crucial Conversations for Reaching Targeted Destinations

: 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…

PMP:135 Using FOMO for Positive School Culture with Kim Coody

: 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…

PMP:134 Creating Engaging Cultures with Dr. Tim Elmore

: 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.…

PMP:Encore043 What Can You Accomplish Together?

: 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…

PMP:132 Frameworks for Managing Student Discipline

: 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…

PMP:131 School Without Walls – Interview with Richard Trogisch

: 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…

PMP:130 Five Lessons in Resilience – Reflections from Unbroken

: 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…

PMP:128 Integrating Technology School-wide with Janalyn Taylor

: 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…

PMP:Encore053 How Do You Respond Under Pressure?

: 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…

PMP:127 Why Social Emotional Learning Matters – Interview with Tamara Fyke

: 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…

PMP:125 Leaving A Legacy – What Will Others Say About You?

: 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…

PMP:124 Six Tips for Investing in Future Leaders

: 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…

PMP:123 Rowing Together – Why Your Marriage Matters for Your Leadership

: 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…

PMP:122 Packing Parachutes – Why Your Money Management Matters

: 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.…

PMP:121 The Power of Play – 7 Tips for Education Leaders

: 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…

PMP:Encore06 – Essential Questions for a New School Year (& Predicting the Weather)

: 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…

PMP:120 A Leader’s Spiritual Growth – Four Reasons Your Faith Matters

: 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…

PMP:Bonus03 – Answers to Listener Questions + Thoughts from the Road

: 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…

PMP:118 Growing Leaders Takeaways – Crucial Conversations About Students

: 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…

PMP:116 The Starbucks Story – Three Lessons for School Leaders

: 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…

PMP:115 A Leader’s Influence – How is the Air You Breathe?

: 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…

PMP:114 Reflections on Your Learning: What’s on Your Playlist?

: 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…

PMP:113 Building Positive School Communities – Interview with Principal Mike Crase

: 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.…

PMP:111 Reflections for Education Leaders & Wearing Your Air Mask

: 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…

PMPEncore065: Ending the School Year with Celebration

: 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…

PMP:110 Six Tips for Education Advocacy

: 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…

PMP:109 The Power of One Caring Adult with Josh Shipp

: 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…

PMP:108 Using Technology to Message with Parents, the Community, and Beyond

: 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.…

PMP:Encore045 “Teach Like Me” Interview with Shawn Sheehan

: 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…

PMP:105 Using Technology to Message with Students

: 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…

PMP:104 Messaging with Students — Environment, Celebration, and Communication

: 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…