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

I know a lot of schools have creative ways to celebrate the positive behaviors they want students showing on a daily basis. This school year, our student council and their sponsor, Ms. Franklin, launched plans to award a Class Cup to the grade of students who show the most participation in good deeds and school […]

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Last week I left school early so that I could watch our cross-country teams run at a local race. It was one of those days where the sun and clouds kept alternating in the sky. My oldest daughter, Emily ran in the first race. When it ended, clouds moved in and a heavy shower began […]

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I have a lot of friends who are good golfers. I am not one of them.But I recognize a good golfer when I see one. He or she is usually the one who gets the ball in the hole with the fewest strokes. One observation I’ve made about great golfers, however, is that most of […]

The post PMP:036 Four Suggestions on Providing Meaningful Feedback from Observations and Evaluations appeared first on Principal Matters.

I remember when my daughter began taking clarinet lessons from a private tutor in junior high. When I picked her up from her first session, she said, “I have been playing for three years, but I learned today that I wasn’t putting the mouth piece in far enough. That one tip has helped me hit […]

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I once knew a teaching couple who told me a funny story. They lived right across the street from a man who never seemed to go to work. During their breaks from school, the neighbor always seemed to be home; they would usually see him in cut-offs, working in his yard. They began to suspect […]

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When I was a junior high student, I remember feeling pretty clueless about what to expect in high school. Sometimes my teachers would tell me to expect to be treated like a number. At other times, they would warn us that if we were unprepared, we could expect a dismal future. Over the years, I’ve […]

The post PMP:033 What Motivates Your Learning? A Better Alternative… appeared first on Principal Matters.

Last Saturday my children were watching the Olympics throughout the day. I was walking through the living room when I glanced up at the screen and saw men’s cycling. After six and half hours of racing, the final five kilometers lay ahead, and Poland’s Rafal Majka appeared a certain winner as he was leading the […]

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Today’s episode is in response to a listener question, “How can we create a sense of ownership for students into today’s education system?” Although answering this question could be very long, let me ask three questions connected to mindsets I believe are important for any school: 1. As a school leader, how have you envisioned […]

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In PMP Episode 30, I continue responding to listener and reader questions. This week’s question was: What’s one of the biggest leadership challenges you face right now? One principal wrote back, “How can I respond to negativity among teachers about their students, colleagues or the community?” The answer to that question comes in three parts. […]

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Today’s podcast episode is the first in a series responding to listener and reader questions. One assistant principal wrote me to ask, “How can I have a bigger leadership role as an assistant?” This week I wanted to share the response with Principal Matters listeners. If you have other questions you’d like responses to about […]

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