My Big Year: Lessons Learned from a First Year Middle School Principal
A ‘Big Year” is a competition among bird watchers to see who can identify the most birds in a particular region within a year. The birders utilize patience and fortitude. They understand when to observe birds from a afar or up close. They know when to move to another location or make changes. My first year as a principal felt much like a birder seeking to find a balance between watching, changing, and just being still. First year principals can be subject to scrutiny and criticism. It is no secret that being the principal may leave room for all to see your flaws as a leader. I didn’t always get it right, but I worked hard to have a successful year. As I reflected on my first full year as a principal, I decided to look back at my tweets that I posted to encourage myself, and to remind me of my experiences. Here are 8 of my most encouraging tweets to myself this year:
- “Be your school’s cheerleader!”
It is important for administrators to tell their own story. We live in an era where social media can be used to tell a narrative of our schools that can be distorted or misleading . Why not use social media to tell our own story? How will the world know what we are doing if we don’t tell them? We all have great points of pride in our schools. Why not share our points of pride from our perspective? Sharing your school’s narrative could foster new relationships with the community.
Social media is free advertisement for our schools. Send out a daily tweet, make a weekly video, or join your community’s social media forum to discuss how your school is tackling major issues. Plant seeds that you are in partnership with parents and the community to help educate your students. You and your teachers are not in this alone.
- “Learn how to inspire educators to keep their spark of enthusiasm.”
Inspiring anyone to do anything can be a difficult task. Over the past seven years I have served as a teacher coach. I have worked very hard on answering the question,”How do I inspire educators without having the authority to evaluate them?” I have learned that it is simply about creating relationships and supporting your teachers. As a new principal I knew that I needed to spend time really trying to develop meaningful relationships and supporting my teachers. I wanted to encourage the teachers. I didn’t want them to be afraid. I spent time checking on the new teachers to make sure that they were succeeding. I encouraged the veteran teachers to take more leadership roles. As a result, the group became a tightly knit community. The new teachers felt secure with asking for help and the veterans were all too eager to offer help.
- “Encourage your students.”
When I became a principal I knew that I wanted to always encourage my students. Even when a student is struggling, encouraging them on small achievements can make a difference. Each week I sent a “Principal’s Message” to my students. The messages would include a reminder about key events, a leadership principle, and an encouraging statement. My final line would generally be a phrase that one of former principals would say at the end of everyday over the intercom, “If no one has told you today that you are the best, you are simply the best.” The students would love to see my messages. They would respond with words of encouragement for me as well. No matter how busy I got, I was never too busy to encourage my students.
- “Tough conversations are never easy. Find what’s right, confront the issue, set goals, offer support.”
What is your weakness? I would have to answer that tough conversations are my kryptonite. I do not like having difficult conversations. I wanted my teachers to seek help if they were struggling. I wanted them to understand that I was available to help them. I never wanted my teachers to attempt to hide areas in which they needed to grow.
When I had the difficult conversations I used a version of the sandwich method. I started on a positive note, presented the problematic issue, and ended with a plan to solve the issue. No one wants to come into a meeting with the principal and be attacked.
Tough conversations were generally frustrating to me, because I offered support once I identify an issue. I would assign the teacher to a coach, request that they receive help from a department chair, or utilize my help. I never wanted the the teacher to feel unsupported. It doesn’t take much to give a teacher an opportunity to seek help. I sent quick notes to let the teacher know that I was aware of the issue, and offered my help. This allowed me to create a spirit of trust and cooperation. I also followed up with the teacher after a period of time to see how they were progressing once a plan was implemented.
- “If it doesn’t make sense why do it? Removing foolishness from education is a daily battle.”
I was hired close to the beginning of the school year. There were many systems that were already in place when I arrived. However, some of those systems, policies, and cultures just didn’t make sense. They didn’t make sense to me, the teachers, or the other administrators. Sometimes systems are really just traditions. When they were initially implemented they may have made sense. However, with the change of personnel, new policies, and budget constraints they may not make sense anymore.
This year I did make changes to policies and systems that were out of step with the direction of the school. However, I needed to include a core team of teachers to thoroughly look at the issue before any changes were made. I was new to the school, and I needed to make sure that the changes were not going to be detrimental to the students or the staff. If it doesn’t make sense change it. The goal should always be to provide the best education for students.
- “Real leaders have a plan, and when they don’t … they get one quickly. Can’t foresee everything, but always have a backup.”
You have to make decisions. You have to have a plan. There is no way around it. I knew that if I didn’t have a clear plan that chaos would definitely ensue. I never knew that I would have to make so many difficult decisions in such short periods of time. There were so many things that I simply did not know as a new administrator. However, I was being asked to make major decisions. Making decisions in isolation would have just been unintelligent on my part. I created teams to tackle issues. 98% of my staff were returning teachers. They knew that a change in one area would affect some other area. I relied heavily on the knowledge of my teachers. Don’t be afraid to include the teachers in the decision making process. However, the worst thing that an administrator could do is to delay making decisions because they are indecisive. Find an answer.
- “Leaders don't need to operate under a cloak- and -dagger model. Be transparent.”
It is important for leaders to be honest and to build relationships on trust. This year has taught me that I don’t have to know all of the answers. It taught me that I can be transparent without losing the respect that my staff has for me.
If I had to describe myself in terms of poker, my poker face is non-existent. It was important for my teachers to not have to guess what was on my mind. When I didn’t like something, I said so. When something pleased me, I said so. When I felt like we were on track, I congratulated them. For me it all goes back to trust. I needed my teachers to trust that I was going to always be fair, honest, and transparent at all times.
This year has been an amazing year of growth for me. I want to encourage the aspiring leaders, new leaders, and veteran leaders to tell your story, collaborate, be transparent, and have a plan this year. From the outside looking in, some may think that what we do is easy. They may never know that you don’t sleep at times, you work too late some days, or that your stress level is too high. Some days no one will say,”Thank you.” However, remember that you lead to make a change in this world. If no one has told you today that you are the best, you are simply the best!
