The Innovative Principal

It seems these days that politics are everywhere.  Whether it is professional athletics or school districts, politics have taken a strong hold.  Someone recently made a comment to me about the school principal being much like the NBA coach this season. How true that is!

The school principal’s first concern is for the students and teachers in her building.  The NBA coach’s first concern is for his players on the court.  There is bickering and disagreements between stakeholders in the higher ranks of both organizations, but the principal and coach have to keep their focus on the tasks that are within their control.  Around this country teacher unions and district level officials and school boards are at odds with each other.  The school principal is often in the middle of this situation trying to keep the teachers focused on their job of taking care of the students while being bombarded with “stuff” from the district level that is a result of the tense environment.

Public opinion recently assumes that there are horrible teachers in our schools and that the schools are failing.  We must have higher standards for teachers, they say!  We must be able to get rid of bad teachers, they say!  We must assess our students more so that we have the data to prove that our schools are failing and our teachers are lousy, they say!  Teachers, teachers, teachers.  Does anyone stop to think that the person in charge of hiring the teachers, mentoring the teachers and coaching the bad teachers out of the profession is perhaps the person we should be focusing on?  Why are we picking on the teachers?

Granted, I only have a slim perspective as I only work for one school district in this great big nation, but I have never had a difficult time coaching a teacher out of the profession when it was needed.  I pride myself in knowing instruction and being able to recognize good instruction vs. bad.  I can coach a teacher and provide them with the specific next steps he/she needs to take to move from good to great.  Unfortunately, I’m not sure that all principals can or have done the same.  There is very little staff development for principals, very few conferences for principals, very inconsistent evaluations of principals.

Unlike the NBA where the coach will get fired quickly if he’s not winning enough games, ineffective principals seem to be able to stick around, even when they are the ones with no unions and no contracts.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting that districts should go out and fire all of their principals.  What I am suggesting is that school districts around the country need to focus on their principals.  Ask them what they need.  Spend time in the schools evaluating their effectiveness.  Colorado, I believe, is on the right track with the LEAD principal standards.  I only hope that the implementation of these standards gets the attention and follow through that it needs to make a difference.

What’s happening in YOUR states?

Using the iPad is not just about making your work easier, it is about making your work better.  This year I am using my iPad with Note Taker HD and Dropbox to provide my teachers with specific and timely feedback related to our school mission and goals.  Never before have I been able use one device to document  specific instructional strategies, observe the amount of student engagement and provide graphic and picture representations of what I see to the teacher before I even leave her classroom.  Classroom observations have never been so easy, or so fun.

Check out my new infographic highlighting my favorite Apps that I use in my role as principal.

ipad infographic

Written-Pages-2011-11-13-16-42-41This is the document that I am using for teacher observations and I have highlighted the areas that refer to digital literacy.

Have you heard it? Instructional leader.  Instructional leader.  Make sure you’re an instructional leader.  AHHH!  There is so much talk in the principal world about being an instructional leader, but I don’t want to be an instructional leader!  I want to be a transformational leader!

Being an instructional leader means that you understand instruction and how to improve instruction.  If you are an instructional leader you spend a good portion of your week in the classrooms and planning professional development that will help guide your teachers to their next step.  This also means that you are able to delegate other managerial tasks to other individuals and spend most of your time proactive rather than reactive.  Instructional leadership was a concept that began in the early 1980′s.  Yes, I said 1980′s!  It astounds me that there are still principals that are struggling with this concept.  Of course, I have days that I am reactive and of course there are weeks that I am not in classrooms like I hope to be, but overall I feel that I have a very good understanding of the instructional strengths and next steps of the teachers at my school.

In order to thrive in the 21st century, I must be a transformational leader!  A transformational leader understands instruction.  But that is not all.  A transformational leader is one that causes valuable and positive change and turns followers into leaders.  I don’t want to be the principal who leads a building with great teachers.  I want to be the principal who leads the building who has great leaders!  Teachers who have leadership goals have motivation and a spark for learning that is contagious to their students.  It is that contagious spark that creates a learning environment where students are excited to pursue their own goals.

Many district level leaders are still urging their principals to organize their priorities so that they can be instructional leaders.  In 2011, if a principal is not AT LEAST an instructional leader, they should be looking for another profession.  Our students deserve more!  I say raise the bar.  Be a TRANSFORMATIONAL leader!

Share with me how YOU have been a TRANSFORMATIONAL leader!