Group items tagged

Risky, but not too risky:  Principals have to be willing to try new things and have a mindset to keep trying until improvement is the end resu

Manage by walking around: Principals that consistently walk around know the students, can better identify areas where teachers can improve, and set the tone for practices to be emulated throughout the building.

Address problems:  Strong principals will do the hard, dissatisfying work associated with addressing and removing ineffective staff.  This requires addressing problems head on with a positive attitude. When hiring new staff, principals need to go to great efforts to hire educators that align best with the vision of the school

Cares about students and staff: 

Instructional leadership: building a vision, establishing a shared leadership model, leading a learning community, using data, and monitoring curriculum & instruction.  The most effective teachers seamlessly use multiple instructional strategies during a lesson and good principals can identify them

School climate: creating a positive culture, establishing high expectations, adhering to a practice of respect

Human resource administration:  hiring quality teachers & other staff, inducting & supporting current staff, providing meaningful opportunities for growth, retaining quality staff, and effectively evaluating teacher performanc

Organization management: safety, daily operations, facilities maintenance, and securing & using resources to increase student achievement

Communication and community relations: effective communicator with all stakeholder groups

Professionalism: ethical standards, serves as a role model, models life-long learning

If you do not screw up, you are not trying hard enough

Learning must be open and transparent.

Clearly state your vision and beliefs, then repeat.

A bunch of great teachers does not always make a great school; bring everything together. There are so many great teachers out there, and many of them are in the same school, but that does not make the school great; it only means that there are pockets of excellence.  As with any team, if you are not able to bring the talent together towards a common goal, there is less chance of organizational success (Miami Heat anyone?).  Autonomy is essential to successful teacher practice, but so is purpose.  It is so important that educational leaders bring their staff together to create an environment where school teachers flourish.

Passion is everything.

It is all(ways) about relationships.

Condition #2: Structures for collaboration

Teachers need to be interested in and willing to work together; their doors need to be wide open,

Condition #3: The principal’s view of coaching.

a coach needs a close partnership with the principal. He must see you as someone to collaborate with; he must also have a fairly clear vision of what a coach does.

You want to get an overall sense of what the principal knows and understands about coaching and how he intends to utilize you. It’s critical to remember that coaching can’t be mandated -- so listen for any indicators that this might be the plan. You also want to get a sense of how the principal plans on bringing you into the role -- are teachers aware that a coach might come on board? How do they feel about that? Are they participating in the selection process? Does the principal anticipate pushback to coaching? How will he negotiate that? If you’re considering taking a coaching job at a site, be sure to have a number of in-depth conversations with the principal. You need to feel that you can work closely and well with that leader.

Perhaps the most critical condition for coaching to work is that an organization sees itself as a place where everyone is a learner.

Condition #4: Professional development for coaches.

Are there other coaches in the school or in the district? Are there networks or professional learning communities of coaches that you can hook into