A Conversation About K-12 Schools
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…
Principal Matters
with William D. Parker and Friends
Principal Matters Podcast
Innovative, Imaginative and Realistic ideas for school leaders.
3 End-of-the-School-Year Reminders
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…
Interview with Mitchell Curry
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…
7 Tips For Dealing With Challenging Students
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…
Interview with Annette Breaux
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…
5 Spring Break Reminders
When my eight-year-old son Jack and I went camping this past weekend, we enjoyed crisp mornings, yummy food, good hikes, warm fires, and great company. But as we finished supper Saturday night, we felt the first raindrops. Jack sidled up…
Interview With Justin Baeder
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…
And All That Without A Gun
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.…
The Common Core Debate
Lately, a lot of controversy has arisen over the implementation of Common Core standards in public schools. A recent op-ed by George Will, and a resolution by the Oklahoma Republican Party calling for the end of Common Core demonstrate what…