Administrators: We Gotta Walk the Walk & Talk the Talk!

As I sat in my office in June and at the lake in July, I spent many hours reviewing and reflecting on my first year as a high school principal. I went back over my staff meeting agendas and presentations, took a look at the modes and means of communication I used with staff, tallied up the amount of paper I put in staff mailboxes, looked back over the type of feedback I was giving during walk-throughs; and I realized I was talking a great game!  I was asking teachers to be 21st Century Teachers that use technology in their classes daily, to present and teach to multiple learning styles, to attempt to use a web 2.0 program in one of their classes each week, to provide constructive and meaningful feedback on student work, and to attempt to go more paperless in our 1 to 1 initiative. 

When I looked in the mirror I wasn't reflecting and modeling what I wanted teachers to do with students in my own interactions and meetings with staff.  We weren't conducting business as a staff, the way I envisioned the classroom would operate.  I realize it was my first year and I had all I could to keep my head above water as I learned about what being a principal was all about (not just in theory).  I was a first year principal in a new state and trying to learn about the dynamics of a new district.  Unfortunately, that isn't a good excuse.  I was comfortable!  I knew how to use Power Point to present at staff meetings.  I knew that I could send out weekly bulletins by creating them in Word and saving as a PDF.  I knew that having a nice big organized binder full of 500 pages of all information the teachers would need for the school year would show I was organized and knew what teachers would need for the school year to run smoothly.

As a principal I would consider myself in the upper echelon of tech savvy administrators, I should be at 28 right folks!  I was on Twitter, I had a Google Calendar, I could get e-mail to come up on any device with WiFi, I usually had a little cartoon or You Tube video to start or end my meetings.   I didn't have a blog, I didn't have a my own website, I didn't use multiple web 2.0 tools in my interaction and work with teachers, I didn't use programs like Animoto, Sliderocket, Prezi, or Powtoon to present to teachers.

 

I have got to be about it!  I turned that old three ring teacher information binder that we give teachers at the beginning of the year into a password protected electronic LiveBinder on our server.  I have created my first staff meeting presentation using Sliderocket.  I am working on my 1st day student presentation this week using Powtoon.  I have obviously started a weekly blog.  I went to two workshops and read a lot about providing more constructive feedback to teachers.  

I want to challenge all administrators to practice what you preach.  As my introductory cartoon illustrates we can make a difference, we have to be the leaders, we have to show teachers that it works in our staff meetings and can work great in the classroom as well.  We must show that we are willing to think outside the box and try new things; and that they can too.  We need to show that some things might not work well the first time, we may have issues, the technology may not work the way we expect; but we don't give up and revert to the way we have always done it and may be most comfortable.

What can you do before the start of the school year starts for your staff that would reflect what you want teachers to do with their students?  

 

Successes and Learning Experiences not Successes and Failures

Cartoon shown during Murray Banks keynote at NCSA Administrator Days

This cartoon shown during NCSA Administrator Days in Kearney this past week made me  remember when I interviewed for the Laurel-Concord/ Coleridge High School Principal job last spring at 27 years old.  I was sitting in the school's board room with three other potential candidates; all much older, two with prior administrative experience.  One seemed to know everybody in the school already, and I later found out that he was originally from Laurel.  I felt really good  about my interview, but on the way home I had already called my mom and told her to chalk it up as another learning experience because of the experience level and the hometown connection that the other applicants had.  To my surprise I was called the next day and offered my first administrative job.

I know that first year I strived to make everything go perfectly and I spent every waking minute of the year focused on my job, but many things that we tried as a district and I tried as an educational leader were chalked up as learning experiences.  The hardest thing for a perfectionist to do is to understand that not everything is going to go as planned and be an absolute hit.  Murray did a great job of reminding me that we should all have way more learning experiences tallied up than successes; and a great administrator is one who can take those learning experiences and turn them into successes.

I have spent a lot of time this summer looking at those learning experiences and trying to find ways to turn those into successes.  I am excited to bring my students and staff back for year two; and prepared to show them some new things we are going to try and some changes we will make to a few of those learning experiences from last year.  I am sure they won't all be successes, but hoping some of the decisions and plans developed will impact learning and teacher effectiveness in my district.

I like that the cartoon has called things that don't work out learning experiences and not failures.  Failures are things that you totally give up on and never workout.  Hopefully all initiatives and  changes being made in our schools are based off of the vision, mission, and goals of the district.  We should continue to adapt and take the learning experiences and tweak them so that we are continually striving to meet our vision, mission, and goals.