Principal Matters: The School Leader's Podcast with William D. Parker

Several 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 white with drifts of 3-4 feet deep, roads were impassable, and schools were closed. With days of wintery weather, I finally had the excuse I needed to sit and read. That Christmas I had received a copy of Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. As I took breaks from shoveling sidewalks and building snow fortresses with my children, I was riveted by the story of a man whose life story was inspiring. And Laura Hillenbrand’s seven years of research and writing produced a book I couldn’t put down. Unbroken has since been made into a movie. And recently, I discovered the audio-version published as an abridged version for adolescents. This past week, as my 13-year old son and I were heading out on a long road trip over fall break to visit family in Tennessee, we listened to the entire story together. The narrative was just as inspiring and moving the second time. As I thought about the lessons throughout the story, I wanted to share a few takeaways that may apply to your leadership and life: 5 Lessons from a Life of Resilience 1. The suffering of others keeps your own experiences in perspective. Louis (Louie) Zamperini’s story is multi-faceted. He was a troubled kid whose ability to run track in high school saved him. In 1936, that same passion propelled him at age 19 to Olympic fame. His dedication to running also provided him with a college scholarship. With the beginning of World War II and the cancelation of the 1940 Olympics, he was motivated to volunteer where he served as an officer and a B-27 bombardier in the Pacific islands. After surviving unbelievable combat conditions, the story turns to tragedy when Louie’s plane is downed on rescue mission. He survives in a rubber raft in the open ocean for 47 days where he suffers starvation, mental anguish, and loss of comrades. Just when you think his suffering as reached its climax, he is captured by the enemy. And the next 18 months of imprisonment, deprivation and beatings only increase his agony. His story of deep suffering brings startling perspective. No matter what kind of challenges you are facing, you may be able to see that from another perspective, your daily struggles may be trivial in comparison. It doesn’t mean your struggles are not important, but it does help to remember that sometimes we stress about temporary or trivial matters in light of the true struggles others may be experiencing. 2. Human dignity is one of your most valuable possessions As strong as Louie was in his suffering, the most brutal price he paid was the threat to his own personal dignity. Although he maintained an inner defiance and commitment to live, he was treated inhumanely by his captors. Frequent beatings, lack of adequate food, and forced slavery brought about incredible mental anguish. His suffering was helped by the quiet, supportive, and often defiant ways he and other prisoners were able to help one another, and he understood that starvation and physical suffering were often more bearable in comparison to the humiliation he suffered. Louie had also been bullied as a boy. In the process, he had learned to defend himself and fight back. But mistreatment in captivity meant he could not fight back without facing death. The indignities he experienced at the hands of one prisoner guard in particular hau...

This time of year, I’m on the road a lot visiting schools across my state. As I drive across Oklahoma, trees and fields have been brushed with the red and orange hues of fall. Rivers are swollen with much needed rains. And you can feel the first hints of winter’s chill in the strong prairie winds. The change in weather also brings along a change in expectations too. Teachers and students are talking about fall break, Thanksgiving, and even Christmas. Just as our physical environment influences our feelings and attitudes, our school cultures also affect they way we feel about school. And as I visit with school leaders, I am hearing a lot of conversations about the importance of their school culture. Building strong school culture is a tall order but one that more and more school leaders realize is the foundation for building a community of learning. This past year, I was invited to participate in a committee of school leaders who are researching best-practices for encouraging strong school culture. During that process, we have discussed a lot of research that confirms why school culture matters. Heather Shaffery, a researcher from the K20 Center at the University of Oklahoma sits with me on this committee. Although the final report has yet to be published, I wanted to share a conversation we had as we looked closely at takeaways from the research. Specifically, we discussed research from The National School Climate Center (NSCC), which includes multiple case-studies for schools on ensuring positive quality climate and school culture. (See NSCC’s 5-phases for school culture). Heather’s Bio Heather Shaffery is a researcher at the K20 Center at the University of Oklahoma. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Science from Arizona University and a Master’s degree in Science from the University of Pittsburg. Heather was a teacher of middle school science in Oklahoma. Now she conducts research and runs professional development for science teachers. She is also a doctoral student at the University of Oklahoma. The following is an outline of highlights from our talk. Or listen-in to the podcast version for the full-conversation: School Culture & School Leaders What are takeaways for school leaders in understanding how they influence culture? * Research confirms the importance of the leader in a building. If you want strong culture, you need strong school leaders. * Strong school leaders have the the ability to encourage and share leadership. They do not operate in isolation or without input. * Strong school leaders understand the importance of meaningful listening and valuing the ideas of others. School Culture & Teachers What are takeaways for teachers? * Most teachers know what constitutes good culture. But the challenge is an inability or resistance to implementing or practicing what’s best. * When schools practice shared listening with collaboration for leadership decisions, teachers feel empowered toward stronger instructional practice. * When teachers do not feel like their feedback is valued, they will be less inclined toward risk-taking and innovative instruction. School Culture & Students What are the implications for students? * Involving students in shared leadership, not just on leadership teams, but in classrooms, increases student learning and achievement. * Teachers must explore these questions with students: What do they want to learn? What do they care about? How do you leverage their interests and input in their own learning? School Culture School-wide

How 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 see teachers and students embracing its innovative uses. In a recent webinar conversation, Ms. Taylor explains how her school has embedded technology into learning, and how parents and community members are engaged with the lessons, activities, and products students are creating and sharing. Janalyn Taylor is Oklahoma’s 2018 National Distinguished Principal. She holds B.S. and M.Ed. degrees from Southwestern Oklahoma State University. She has spent the last 11 years of her 36-year career as principal of Nance Elementary School, a rural school serving a diverse population of pre-K through first grade students. With 83% of students participating in the free- and reduced-price meals program and 29% classified as English Language Learners, Taylor’s leadership is driven by a fierce commitment to equity and her ability to rally teachers and staff to ensure her vision is realized. She will be recognized at the 2018 National Distinguished Principals Program Oct. 11 – 12, 2018 in Washington, D.C., To see her entire biography, visit the National Association of Elementary School Principal website list of National Distinguished Principals. In our webinar conversation, she shares lessons for principals who want to integrate technologies for student-learning in every classroom. You can watch the webinar here, or listen to the podcast version of the presentation. Takeaways for Integrating Technology * Technology must be recognized as a district priority. From the top-down, use in learning must be encouraged. For Nance, this meant introducing iPads 1:1 across the entire school. * Using funding from the OETT Grant, teachers and leaders were trained through the K20 Center at the University of Oklahoma on best practices with follow-up onsite and ongoing professional development. * The school first introduced small groups by developing a model classroom so teachers could pilot and practice before implementation. * By using a Continuous Strategic Improvement Plan, integration became part of the district and school’s core values. * Administrators must stay ahead of or right with your teachers as they learn technology. School leaders must model, model, and model use of technology in learning. * As teachers adapt new practices, it is important they adapt a growth mindset and maintain positive attitudes. * Seesaw is one successful application Nance Elementary has used to virtually share student examples of learning with parents and community members. One father said he loves getting alerts while working showing photos and videos of his son’s assignments via Seesaw. * As teachers train with other teachers, ongoing professional development is shared among colleagues. * Janalyn’s teachers use the SAMR Model to guide technology use: S = Substitution or replacing current technology with a new one A = Augmentation or functionally improving tasks by using technology M = Modification or redesigning tasks by the technology that is used R = Redefinition or a task that cannot be done without the use of technology (See more about the SAMR model at schoology.com.) Let’s Wrap This Up Since Nance Elementary introduced Seesaw for sharing student work online, over 53,172 items have been shared with more than 42,108 parent views.

When 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 those shells would in turn be sold to Japanese markets. Apparently, the pearly-white cuts from those shells are unique implants for growing cultured pearls in oysters. One day I was climbing across the bottom of an area that was ten to twelve feet deep. The only sounds I could hear were the hissing breaths from my regulator. As I found shells, I placed them in a net-bag I had clipped to one side of my weight belt. Because of low visibility, we didn’t swim with tanks on our backs. Instead my compressor, tank, and filtered line all connected to my boat. I was connected to a 50-foot air hose taped together with a 50-foot line of rope, and my regulator line was connected by a clip-on-hook to my weight belt at one end and attached to the boat and compressor at the other end. As I worked along an even stretch of clay and mud, I swept the surface with my hands while pulling the boat along with me. Suddenly, I came up to a trotline. This was a problem. Above me somewhere, long fishing cords were stretched, weighted, and floating horizontally while in front of my face were the vertical lines interspersed with hanging hooks and bait. I didn’t like cutting these, so I tried maneuvering around this one instead. But a few minutes later, I felt a pressure pulling on my line. I tried to turn around to pull back at my hose in case it was caught on a root or stump, but I couldn’t move it any further than a few inches. As I strained at the line, I finally saw where a few hooks from the trotline had snagged it. For some reason I decided it would better to unhook my regulator so I could hold the line in front of me and take out the hooks by hand. This seemed like a reasonable option, so I reached for the clip and flicked it open. Wrong decision. In a flash, my regulator line jerked forward, and I was left biting my regulator’s rubber mouth piece as hard as I could while the line shook with amazing force. At the same moment, I also realized I couldn’t move forward toward my line because something was tethered to my back. Somehow I had been hooked in the back and my regulator was pulled away from me at the same time. If this is hard to imagine, picture standing in a room with two doors. You are standing with your back stapled to one door while your only source of oxygen is a mouthpiece connected to a hose and tank on the other side of the room by the second door. Someone opens that door, picks up your oxygen tank and is walking away. Only your teeth in that regulator mouthpiece will keep you breathing. Twelve feet under water, in a cloud of mud and clay, I was being pulled from two directions at the same time. With my free hand, I reached for my knife I kept sheathed around my leg and began cutting at any of the tangled trotline I could find. Soon I was free again. I reattached my line to my belt, breathed deeply again and followed the air-hose line back to my boat. 3 Lessons From A Close Call Just in case you’re wondering, I didn’t make lake diving my life-time career. I still made dives for year afterwards, but I realize now how lucky I am to be telling that story. My point is this: If I had not been prepared ahead of time for what do when under pressure, I could have easily never made it to the surface alive. How does this apply to your own school leadership? You may not face life-and-death situations on a daily basis, but you face amazing pressures all the time. Whether that involves managing student safety, resolving conflicts, directing personnel policies, or prioritizing budgets — you lead under pressure (sometimes handling many scenarios at the same time). I remember one day visiting with an elected official in my office.

Educators 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 the same level of anxiety as psychiatric patients did in the 1950’s. Some of this anxiety is the result of increased expectations placed on students. Sometimes it is their unstable environmental conditions. At other times, it may result from unfiltered content they view via social media. As a result, today’s students need schools that provide places of stability and belonging. A first response to the growing number of students with anxiety is awareness. When you have a mindset of anticipating students face emotional stress, you can commit to building relationships of trust so that they feel safe in school. A second response is just as important: practicing social-emotional learning strategies that work well for all students. Interview with Tamara Fyke Tamara Fyke is an expert in social-emotional learning. She is an educator and creative entrepreneur with a passion for kids, families, and urban communities. As the creator, author, and brand manager for Love In A Big World, she equips educators with a social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum that is both research-based and practical. She also provides the supporting resources necessary to empower students to be socially competent, emotionally healthy problem-solvers who discover and maintain a sense of purpose and make a positive difference in the world. Tamara is also the editor of Building People: Social & Emotional Learning for Kids, Schools & Communities, a book that brings 12 wide-ranging perspectives on SEL to educators, parents, and leaders. In our conversation, Tamara shares some great takeaways for educators wanting to reach students and move them from risk to resiliency. Here are a few golden nuggets from our talk: Three Essential Needs 1. Students need caring and nurturing environments. When adults understand and relate to students, students find a place to belong. Principals should encourage environments with entrances and surroundings that are welcoming and inviting. Teachers and staff are dedicated to showing up with smiles on their faces, and students know teachers enjoy being with them. 2. Students need high expectations. First, teachers must share a common language that points to good behavior expectations like kindness, honesty, and courtesy. Students need examples of what that behavior looks like inside and outside of class. In addition, students must understand the expectations to learn, to succeed, and to work hard academically. 3. Students need meaningful engagement. This happens in places that encourage methods like flipped model classrooms, hands-on lessons, and active participation from students for real-life learning. Resiliency, Prevention & Intervention These methods become practice that leads toward resiliency. As Tamara explains, prevention is different from intervention. Intervention is important when we see students who are triggered. Just as importantly, we can put measures in place to reduce those triggers: the key is building healthy relationships with students. Tamara’s research and practice confirm that one caring adult in the life of a student can make all the difference. Especially in middle school, students need to be “anchored” through advisory periods, homerooms, or teachers whom they trust. Finally, Tamara shares about the observations she has made of principals and teach...

One of my favorite college education professors would often start class with a provoking question. As we would grapple with how to answer or support our positions, he would stand there with his large hands lifted in the air, his voice booming, “Disequilibrium is the beginning of education!” It took me a while to figure out that he was teaching us by example. He was trying to help a room full of future teachers see that the greatest learning opportunities in life first start with challenges that “shake” our normal way of thinking about problem solving. Only by challenging us to think would we ever really learn. And it is often the challenges or resistance you face that help you gain strength for the tasks ahead. Embracing Healthy Tension With that in mind, how has resistance helped you grow as a leader, as a teacher, or in life? How have some of your most difficult moments birthed other great opportunities? Years ago when I felt I was prepared to move from assistant principal into a principal position, I was frustrated that I could not find any openings that were good fits for me. As I wrestled with my own frustrations at my inability to promote, I decided to take some positive steps. I began reading a book called 48 Days To the Work You Love by Dan Miller. Through the practical steps required in the reading, I was forced to re-think my values, goals, and talents. Eventually, the process reassured me that I was in the right profession but needed to keep growing in the knowledge of my own field. At the same time, however, even with my renewed sense of purpose, I experienced the pain of rejection as I applied for openings, interviewed for them and was told no. But that time also birthed some of the most creative ideas I had had in years about my purpose and practices as a school leader–even giving me the idea for blogging and podcasting. Most importantly, I became intimately aware of my own motives and reasons for wanting to be a school leader. Eventually, the right door opened for what I am doing today. I wouldn’t want to go through the difficulties again, but without them, I wouldn’t be leading with the focus I developed through those challenges. Resistance is not always counterproductive. It is often the necessary tension to push us in the right direction. What resistance are you facing today? As you persist, here are five ideas to keep in mind: 1. You are not alone. If you believe you are facing each day dependent on you own abilities and strength, you would be so limited in your possibilities. As a person of faith, I don’t believe we face resistance alone. In fact, that assurance provides immeasurable peace during difficult times. (Here is a great Bible reminder.) I also believe we’re not alone because we have communities of other educators who can surround us with meaningful feedback. 2. Remember others on your team who can help carry the load. Don’t forget to look around at the people on your team who care about reaching the same goals. You are not Superman; so tuck in your cape, and ask for help. School leadership is never effective unless it is shared. And when you’re facing resistance, it is so much easier when you face it with others. So reach out to those right around you. Don’t be afraid to ask for help in facing resistance. 3. Be patient with yourself. Experience is a great teacher. Any time you are improving a process, you learn most through trial and error. Be patient. Keep doing what works, and be honest about what doesn’t. One helpful tip I’ve heard in staying patient as a leader is to beta-test ideas you want implemented in your school. Testing ideas gives you room for trial and error.

Recently, 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 been a small bit of American history, so I think if there’s something on my tombstone, it’ll be ‘He served his country,’ and hopefully you add one word, ‘honorably.’” (Source: Dailycaller.com) How do you judge endings? In his book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, Daniel Pink explains research by behavior scientists that study how people evaluate the moral behavior of others. In this study, researchers created two versions of a man named Jim. In the first version, Jim is a successful CEO who for decades is kind to his employees, generous with his time and money, and lives a full life of service to others. However, in the last five years of his life, he becomes greedy, vindictive, and a moral failure. The second version of Jim is also a CEO, but for decades he lives of life of self-interest, takes advantage of his employees, and he is stingy and ungenerous. But in the last five years of his life, this Jim turns a corner, becomes a man of generosity, kindness and benevolence. Which man lived the better life? In the research, participants overwhelming chose the second Jim. Why? Because people instinctively believe that the ending is what counts. Daniel Pink calls this “end coding.” Sometimes we have a tendency to overestimate the importance of endings in the ways we think (Pink, 154-155). I have to admit when I read the accounts, I was confronted with my own mindset about life endings. I am disappointed when a person whom I admire has a failure of trust – especially when it happens at the end of his or life. But I have never paused to ask myself why the ending to me is as (or more) important than the whole. Do Our Experiences Change Us? Part of the reason, I believe, is that people associate a person’s character based on how they are formed by experience, adversity or success. Michelle Obama once said, “Being president doesn’t change who you are, it reveals who you are” (Source: Npr.org). Mrs. Obama’s quote is a good reminder that circumstances often reveal who we are. But with all due respect, I would still argue that experiences can also change you. For example, I remember the first time as a school administrator when I managed a situation involving criminal activity on a school campus. I was a young administrator with little experience in investigating or interrogation. Sure, I had spent more than a decade in the classroom, but it was different managing school-wide policy while confronting street-smart kids–some of whom also had parents who enjoyed calling in powerful attorneys. In the classroom, I had dealt with isolated crisis situations. But in the office, I had new perspective on day-to-day situations that brought me face-to-face with some of the worst cases of human behavior in the school– sometimes involving student misdeeds and at other times when students were victims of their own parents or guardians. As a result, I found myself changing. Whereas, I once thought of myself as a naturally trusting person, I began to form a wariness and distrust of others. When I had once thought it easy to explain the rules,

When 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 moment and pause to consider the following: What are you seeing? Look up, down, around, and behind you. Are you seeing the glare of sunlight from a nearby window? Or maybe it’s the stained surface of a tabletop. Could it be a yellow painted wall holding a framed photo? What are hearing? Stop and simply listen. Maybe you hear the buzz of a heating or air system from nearby vents. Or do you recognize the distant hum of passing traffic? What do you smell? Are you surrounded by the scent of brewed coffee or mix of aromas coming from a busy kitchen? Or maybe you smell the mustiness of old books. What are you touching? Your body is full of nerves. Can you feel the fabric of the shirt you’re wearing resting on your shoulders? Or how about the press of your shoes against your toes? Are you holding the smooth ridges of a pen in hand? What are you tasting? Maybe it’s the sweetness of gum or the caramel flavorings of your favorite soda? Or it could be the aftertaste of your most recent snack. What are sensing emotionally? Are you anxious, excited, worried? Do you have a sense of confidence or angst for the day ahead? Or maybe you’re tired from a short night of sleep, or hungry for your next meal? It is easy to step into your day with a list of to-do’s and fail to see what is right around you or even what is happening inside your own brain. Sometimes it takes real effort to pause and reflect on your surroundings. But being mindful is important, not just in writing, but in leadership. Defining Leadership Leadership is an interesting and popular word. It is used in a lot of inspirational quotes, as titles for books, in website descriptions, and conference themes. But leadership is much more than a word. Leadership is influence. It means helping others to achieve more. It is taking someone from one location to another, or motivating another to do what she otherwise would not accomplish on her own. There is something else about leadership I’d like you to think about. Leadership is about those whom you are leading. Whether you are leading students, teachers, co-workers, employees or team members, each person you lead is a future leader. Someday, your influence, motivation, presence or input will no longer be immediately present. When that happens, the question will be: How have you invested in recognizing the leadership potential in those whom you lead so that they can in turn lead in their own areas of influence? Being a Person of Influence Think about the people who have been the most meaningful leaders in your life. Maybe it is a parent, a coach, a teacher or another school leader. I bet it is safe to say that he or she paid attention to details you did not see. Maybe that leader had the ability to look at life or scenarios from a perspective that helped you reimagine, redesign, or reprioritize your outcomes. Influential leaders see or hear what others may be missing. That’s why even professionals at the top of their game, like Howard Schultz, the former CEO of Starbucks, or the NBA star Kevin Durant, hire others to personally consult or train them. Whether you are leading children or adults, you are an influencer. And the ability to see what others are missing is an important quality in strong leadership. 6 Ways to Invest in Future Leaders How can you take an active role in maximizing the leadership growth in those whom you’re leading...

This 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 highway there. We hiked down the trail and rented a kayak. When we pushed away from shore, I was immediately struck by the clarity of the water. Gray mountains covered in tall pines and shrubs formed a semi-circle around the cove. As you look across the water, the blue skies shine across the clear, spring-fed surface with a silvery-blue hue. My wife, Missy, was sitting up front, her bare legs and feet extended straight out on the front of the boat as she soaked in the sunlight. We rowed ahead until we approached the round boulders of a small island where we stopped for photos and selfies. This was a happy moment, and we were doing what we loved most – being outdoors together… When I was a junior in college, I had a Christmas party to attend at the end of my fall semester, and bringing a date was a requirement for attending the party. At the time, I wasn’t dating anyone. But I asked myself what I realize now was one the most important questions in my life: “Who would be ‘the perfect girl’ to ask on this date?” I started making a mental list: It should be girl who was pretty and smart. I wanted her to care about her spiritual life and be dedicated to a strong personal vision. It was a tall order. On top of it all, I could only offer a fun, non-romantic evening with no expectations of a second date. My first memory of Missy had been after my freshman year in college. We had attended some summer trainings together, but I didn’t really know her. Over the next couple of years, I would see her at various gathers. She was fun-loving and other girls looked at her as a leader. During my junior year, Missy’s younger brother came to live in on my floor. I remember a photo he kept of her on his desk. One day I stopped to look at it. Wow, I thought. She’s pretty. I started paying more attention. Six weeks before the Christmas party, Missy and I were working together at a campus event. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to be the first to ask her. So, after working up my courage, I decided to go for it. What could I lose? “Hey,” I said as I walked up to the table where she sat. She looked up and smiled. “I have a question I want to ask about your…calendar,” I started. “Okay?” she glanced at me curiously, and pulled out a planner from her bag. I thought hard of what say next. “I was wondering what you might be doing on December 6? I mean, I know that’s a long time from now, but I wanted to see if you had anything scheduled then?” “Well,” she paused then thumbed through the pages and stopped. “Actually…I don’t have anything planned on that day.” “Cool,” I said, “Could I…pencil something in for you?” She smiled and handed it to me. I took a pencil from the table and wrote: –Men’s RA Christmas Party, 6PM – Will Parker And then I handed it back. She looked at the page for a moment and then back at me. “Could you go?” I asked. It was the longest moment of my life, and suddenly, I realized how much I wanted her to say yes. “OK,” she said. “I don’t have anything else going on then. So, I’d be glad to go.” It wasn’t the smoothest approach for asking out the perfect girl. But as I walked away, I reminded myself that this was just going to be one date… One year ago, Missy and I stood on the banks of the Illinois River in Eastern Oklahoma. Our four kids were skipping rocks on the water, and we were watching as the sun set orange above towering trees on the opposite bank. I sat down on a nearby picnic table, and everyone gathered around. “I have an announcement to make,” I said.

The 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. Even though he was naturally fast, he learned to increase his speed through a strong practice his coach required: wearing a parachute during practice. I was thinking about what it would feel like to run in a parachute. The weight and pull against your shoulders and legs would be almost unbearable. But imagine how fast you would run once the resistance was removed! Sometimes I think managing finances is like wearing a parachute. If you are running with a lot of financial stress, for instance, you may feel the pull and weight of trying to move ahead with life. If you’ve found a level of financial security, however, you may see money as a parachute that is helping you land safely when needed. For most people, money seems to act both ways. When my wife and I first finished college, we began married life with a lot of college loan debt. I realize now that I’m older that we were not alone. Just recently, the Federal Reserve announced that outstanding student debt for U.S. residents has now topped $1.5 trillion. Thankfully, early in our marriage, we discovered some great resources from authors like Ron Blue from ManageYourMoney.com and Dave Ramsey and his Financial Peace resources. With a lot of discipline and planning, we were able to pay down debt, save for emergencies, and make a down payment for our first home. Through the years, however, we’ve still had demands on our money that have required us to refocus or relearn some of those same lessons. Money seems to be an area of life most people deal with very privately. You may find it uncomfortable to talk about your own finances. However, your willingness (or resistance) to talk about money will influence the way you think and live. So how does your personal money management influence your leadership? Obviously, when you are responsible for school budgets or managing accounts for others, you must practice strong accountability and responsibility. But in this conversation, I want to focus on how your personal finances — your mindset about managing your resources – influences your leadership. 4 ways your attitude and practice with money matters: 1. Your money management allows you freedom (or lack of freedom) in your career choices. Early in my early education career, I was talking to a friend about how I was struggling with the leadership and support at my school and was unsure what to do next. I no longer felt like I thrive in the work environment there. My friend patiently listened to my struggles and then he said, “Will, we don’t live in communist China. If there’s a better opportunity for you out there, go for it.” That simple statement was a wake-up call for me to remember that I had a choice. But during that discussion, I also realized I had the freedom to look at options because of how my wife and I were managing our finances. By living within in our means and saving for future expenses, we had the freedom and perspective to look at options without fear. Some people worry about their employers knowing they are considering other options for fear they may lose their jobs. Thankfully, I’ve not worked in environments like that. But even if I did, I still believe that a healthy practice in money management allows for a more peaceful perspective when making important career choices. For example, the other day I was listening to a story of a man who lives in an economically depressed area of his city. He gave up a job making $9 an hour in order to work for ...

When 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 by trucks or tractors. And the ruts in the sandy, red dirt would fill with rain and create long stretches of rust-colored puddles. I was barefoot and seven years old. My brothers and sister were with me. “Watch this,” I said. And I ran and jumped. My feet landed in the thick mud and streaks of red clay splattered across my legs and shorts. They laughed. And soon, one by one, each of them tried it too. “I think you could paint with this mud,” my sister said. “Oh, yeah? I bet it would look good painted on you!” And the mud battle began. Fists full of Tennessee red clay were thrown and splattered. And we chased one another until my oldest brother said, “You know, in ancient times, people would bathe in mud as a way to treat their skin.” He slowly began smearing it on his arms, his neck, his face, his legs. We followed suit. And before long, we were covered from head to toes in the red earth. How Play Encourages Innovation I was thinking back to this moment after reading the first two chapters of Tony Wagner’s Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World. Wagner makes a persuasive argument that without creativity, people lack the ideas, initiative, and motivation for extraordinary achievements. In the book, he looks at the lives of some the most successful people in industry, science, or the arts — people who seem to possess qualities that motivate them to do extraordinary things for rewards greater than pay or recognition. These are people who are motivated by the wonder and joy of learning. In all the attributes Wagner identifies among these most creative and innovative minds, one trait stands out among them: play. Play Influences Student Learning Play isn’t just good for our mental health. It also provides contexts that encourage creativity, teamwork, and a sense of accomplishment. And it’s not just something that motivates small children. People of all ages find motivation by engaging in play. Take this description of the long-standing tradition of pranks at MIT that Tony Wagner explains: ”Joost Bonsen, who is an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and currently serves as a lecturer in the world-famous MIT Media Lab, talked about the importance of the famous tradition of pranks at the university.   ‘Being innovative is central to being human.’ Bonsen told me. ‘We’re curious and playful animals, until it’s pounded out of us. Look at the tradition of pranks here at MIT. What did it take to put a police car on a dome that was fifteen stories high [one of most famous MIT student pranks], with a locked trapdoor being the only access? It was an incredible engineering feat. To pull that off was a systems problem, and it took tremendous leadership and teamwork.   ‘Pranks reinforce the cultural ethos of creative joy.’ Joost added. ‘Getting something done in a short period of time with no budget, and challenging circumstances. It’s glorious and epic. They didn’t ask for permission. Not even forgiveness.’   [Wagner concludes:] These students were playing — just doing something for the fun of it. Play, then, is part of our human nature and an intrinsic motivation” (Creating Innovators). Why are we not playing more? You would think that play is something all children enjoy, but in a world that prizes protection and safety, many of our kids are missing out on the freedom and sp...

How 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 left elbow aches. I have a scar there from when I broke it falling from a horse almost twenty years ago. When it starts hurting, I can usually be certain the weather will turn stormy. My aching elbow reminds me of another story. When I was a boy, I often helped on my Granddad’s family farm. His brother was my Uncle Jimmy. One day Uncle Jimmy and I were driving in his pick-up truck. The windows were down, and I was hanging my arm out of it and playing in the breeze as we rumbled down the gravel roadway. As we passed a nearby pond, the cattle were gathering around for watering, and two calves were prancing about the field, butting heads and chasing one another. Uncle Jimmy pulled the truck to a stop and nodded that direction. “See those calves?” he asked. “Yes sir.” “There’s a storm coming.” “What do you mean?” I asked. The skies were blue, the weather warm. (This was long before the days of GPS or Smart-phones.) “Whenever you see calves acting like that, you can be sure there’s bad weather on the way.” I didn’t argue or ask anymore questions. He put the truck back in drive, and we went onto the next job in quiet thought. The next morning I woke up to the crash of lightening and the rumble of a thunderstorm. Uncle Jimmy had spent all his life on the farm, and it should have been no surprise that he could predict the weather by watching the behavior of his cattle. Predicting School Climate Sometimes I like to remind myself that the ups and downs of a school climate are often predictable. Obviously, plenty of unpredictables happen too, but there are “seasons” we face each year that shouldn’t take us by surprise. One of the those seasons is summer hiring. Another is the start of school. As you approach the start of school, you can expect that teachers, students, and parents will want answers to the following questions: * What is my schedule? * What can I expect each day? * What are the ground-rules in school-wide and in my classes? It seems so simple in concept, but sometimes we forget to keep an eye out for the cues of what is coming next. For instance, from the principal’s office, start of school means tasks like: * Updating/printing faculty handbooks and duty rosters * Communicating with teachers dates of new teacher training and professional development * Updating websites and media outlets with dates for schedule pick-up, freshman orientation, and start of school And as we approach day one, the anticipation, nervous energy, dread, and excitement all mix together for the rush we call beginning the school year. Helpful Start-of-School Questions Whatever season you are preparing to face, don’t forget to take time to study your landscape. One way to be prepare is by relying on those who have been down the road ahead of you. For teachers, I like to recommend, Harry Wong’s First Days Of School for a great reminder on the processes, procedures, and ground-rules students need and expect day one of school. In it, he outlines the essentials for establishing, organizing, and implementing good routines and procedures for students. I call it “teaching with both sides of your brain” or “teaching with one hand while managing with the other.” Harry Wong likes to remind teachers of seven things students will want to know on the first day of school: * Am I in the right room? * Where am I supposed to sit? * Who is the teacher as a person? * Will the teacher treat me as a human being?

A 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 of memories. At the time, she was staring out the window into the landscape of clouds below while we flew to a conference together in Chicago. As I watched her, I recalled moments from her birth and growing up years. And I thought about how hard is to explain the kind of love you have for your children. I’m a father of four, and with each one, I have had such deep emotions that words fail to describe the feelings. When I held Emily in my arms for the first time, I remember the overwhelming affection I felt, and I thought, “I have no idea what I’m doing!” But I also thought, “I had no idea how deep a father’s love can be.” Thinking about a father’s love also helps me think about my spiritual growth. Your beliefs guide your thinking and life decisions. The bedrock of my beliefs about spirituality are communicated from my background and experience as a Christian –the belief in a Heavenly Father who cares deeply for His children. Although your experience and beliefs about God may differ from my own, I’d like you to consider some reasons why your spiritual growth matters: 4 Reasons Your Faith Matters 1. Faith provides a bedrock of assurance. We live in a world of uncertainty, and our students experience increased anxiety and stress because of the environments (both globally and locally) presenting risks and dangers we may not have faced at their ages. At the same time, human experience has always included risk. In every aspect of your life, you have to accept that there are some situations and experiences that are beyond your control. But when you are faced with more difficult scenarios – like counseling an abused child or struggling through the death of a loved one – no amount of self-talk replaces the kind of assurance that faith provides. Walking by faith does not mean pretending. Instead, it means placing your trust in something or someone that promises hope –a belief that our circumstances are ultimately under God’s control. This does not mean that I expect my students or teachers to share my faith. Instead, I can step into each day (whether the day is one of inspiration or crisis) knowing that I can step forward with courage and assurance. 2. Faith provides a measure of perspective. I think it is important to ask yourself the question of who are you ultimately trusting for the outcomes you hope to see in your work or life? Your ability to self-reflect and rely on others will provide you with growth and improved outcomes, but many of your outcomes have nothing to do with you. My grandfather was a farmer. I would ride the tractor with him as he planted corn or soybeans, and I noticed how hard he worked to till the soil, select good grain, apply fertilizer and plant in early spring and summer. But there were a number of elements he could not control. First, he planted outdoors, not in a greenhouse. So, he was unable to control the weather. Sunlight and water were not in his control. But most importantly, he had no power over the seeds. Yes, those seeds were helped by being surrounded with the right conditions, but sprouting and growth was never guaranteed. In the classroom or schoolhouse, you can place your students in the best conditions possible for personal or academic growth. But you also have to trust in the elements beyond your control. Frankly, some of you reading this have encountered others in your work or life whom seemed beyond help at times. As I’ve met with individuals who appeared to be in conditions beyond my reach, I’ve had to learn to trust in what I cannot see. Not every situation turns out exactly as you plan, but when you trust God for the ultimate outcome, you are practicing the same wisdom as a good farmer. 3.

I’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 I was on a long road trip when I was pondering some questions a listener had emailed my way. After stopping to gas up my car, I decided to plug my mic into my laptop and hit record. The result is this 30-minute episode of issues that have been on mind. No notes or accompanying blog post. Just straight talk. Here’s an outline of this week’s podcast episode: 3 Discussions for School Leaders 1. Optimizing Classroom Visits How are you able to optimize time in classrooms, both formally and informally? I share answers to these questions that a listener and principal from North Carolina emailed my way this week. 2. Discernment and Your Learning What does Donald Trump and your own education growth have in common? I share some candid thoughts on how you should guard remain vigilant in your thinking in light of times when opinions often trump truth. 3. Shout-outs and Why Your Messaging Matters Finally, I share some shout-outs to friends with whom I’ve connected with this summer and provide quick reminders on why your position as a school leader means your messaging matters now more than ever. Here’s wishing you a great summer, and thanks for doing what matters! ~ Will Sign-Up For Free Updates and Ebook When you enter your email address below, you will automatically receive my newest posts and a free Ebook, 8 Hats: Essential Roles for School Leaders. Let’s keep learning together! #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ Subscribe for free weekly updates and receive free e-book! * indicates required Email Address * First Name Last Name (function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true); Principal Matters–The Book! School leaders are very busy, so each of the twenty-four chapters is designed as a quick-read and followed with take-action questions for follow-up or reflection. If you want practical ideas on understanding your purpose, managing school teams, dealing with challenges, and leading with courage, action, motivation, and teamwork, go HERE to pick up a copy for you or your team. Messaging Matters Harness the power of messaging to create a culture of acknowledgment, respect, and celebration. Written specially for leaders, this title is divided into three parts, helping readers to maximize their role as chief communicators with students, teachers, and parents and community. Each chapter includes suggestions for using digital tools to enhance messaging and ends with reflection questions and practical next steps.

When I was in college, I had my first experience in mountain climbing. I was traveling in Guatemala for a summer missions outreach when one morning, we woke up before dawn and rode a bus to the base of an active volcano. About twenty of us had decided to begin our climb in the dark so that we could summit the mountain at sunrise. The night before, our team leader had talked to us about the climb. He explained how difficult the terrain would be as well as the altitude changes. He encouraged us to find team members whom we could stay with on the hike. He cautioned us that climbing was just as much emotional as it was physical, and that we must be committed to finishing as the last 100 meters of the climb would be the hardest. This past week, I was talking to my wife about friendships. She had just been reading the book, Friendships Don’t Just Happen!: The Guide to Creating a Meaningful Circle of Girl Friends by Shantel Nelson. In the book, the author refers to a study released on friendship in 2008 by professors from four universities called the Social Support and the Perception of Geographical Slant in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Participants in their studies were asked to estimate the incline of a hill in front of them. Over and over again, those who were accompanied by a friend (or even thought of a friend) estimated the hill to be less steep than participants we were alone. The researchers concluded that: “This research demonstrates that an interpersonal phenomenon, social support, can influence visual perception.” (You can find the report and abstract here.) It may seem common sense that the support or presence of a friend encourages or positively motivates us. But this study suggests that the presence of a friend actually changes your physical and emotional perceptions. Why Your Friendships Matter One of the biggest challenges I find in education leaders is the tendency we have to work in isolation. We may be surrounded by students or teachers all day, but it doesn’t mean that we have the interpersonal support or presence of other adults to help us navigate difficult moments. This is one reason why I believe so many school leaders struggle or burn out. The need for relationships, however, is one reason highly performing schools encourage professional learning communities – teams of educators who meet regularly and work interdependently to find shared solutions for student learning. You cannot do your best simply through self-reliance. I know I struggled with this in my early years of school administration: In my first year as an assistant principal, I would carry around a yellow note pad as I walked my school. When teachers or students stopped to talk, I would jot down any concerns or questions they had. Then I would spend time after school each day following up on any of these issues that needed to be addressed. In my mind, I was being the kind of principal I had always dreamed of having as a teacher: the person who could be available any time to find solutions, answer questions, or put out situational fires. What I didn’t realize was the misperception I had about leadership. I thought leadership meant being a kind of “super-man” who could single handedly manage the most difficult situations of a school so that teachers could teach and students could learn. Although I was responsible for the outcomes of the biggest challenges in my schools, I was missing out on an important truth: our biggest challenges in our schools are best solved together, not alone. Over the years, I began to realize that when I finally reached out to my colleagues and friends for feedback and support, I found better solutions.