Being a Successful Principal : Riding the Wave of Change Without Drowning

by David R. Schumaker

• ISBN13: 9780803967694
• ISBN10: 0803967691
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-10-25
• Publisher: Corwin Pr

Summary

This collection of insights, anecdotes, gifts, and guidance on shared leadership in schools is written by principals for principals.

Table of Contents

Preface	viii
Why We Wrote This Book	viii
Audience and Purpose	ix
Acknowledgments	xiii
About the Authors	xv
Communication---the Foundational Skill	1	(22)
Gathering Information While Building Good Perceptions	7	(3)
Communicating With the Central Office	10	(1)
Communicating With the Community Outside the School	11	(4)
Where Do Ideas Come From---Bottom Up or Top Down?	15	(3)
Faculty Meeting---Business	18	(2)
Student and Teacher Handbooks	20	(1)
Making Executive Decisions	21	(2)
Trusting Yourself, Trusting Others	23	(17)
Goodwill Bank	24	(2)
Treating Adult Professionals As Adult Professionals	26	(1)
Making People Part of the Process	27	(5)
Relationships---Students, Parents, Neighborhood, Business Partnerships, Media	32	(4)
Having Fun Together	36	(4)
Learning to Change (and Liking It)	40	(14)
Staff Development	46	(5)
Coaching	51	(1)
Managing Change	51	(3)
Classrooms Are Not the Only Places to Learn	54	(15)
Examining Your School---What Is Really Going On?	54	(1)
Unique Programs Within and Without the District	55	(3)
Schools Within a School---Integrated Instruction, Cores, and Academies	58	(6)
Attending to Multiple Intelligences	64	(2)
Home Schooling	66	(1)
Art in the Community	67	(1)
Career Day	67	(1)
Mini-Courses Involving Community Members as Teachers	67	(2)
Tsunami---Riding the Wave of Change Without Drowning	69	(24)
Essential Questions for Change---First, Why? Second, What?	70	(5)
Getting Started With Change	75	(2)
Change Models, Mental Maps	77	(1)
Transition---Honoring the Feeling of Loss Without Losing All Your Teddy Bears	78	(3)
Trailblazers, Pioneers, Settlers, Stay-at-Homes, and Saboteurs	81	(3)
Losing and Replacing Key Staff Members	84	(2)
Dealing With the Death of a Student	86	(3)
Death of a Key Staff Member	89	(2)
Scarcity and Prioritizing	91	(2)
Mediating Conflict	93	(15)
Cognitive Coaching©---Planning and Reflecting	94	(3)
Introducing Cognitive Coaching© in the School	97	(6)
Trust and Your Partner	103	(1)
Mental Models and Mind-Set	104	(2)
Time to Coach	106	(1)
Working With Parents	107	(1)
Standing Your Ground (Even in Quicksand)	108	(17)
How and When to Say No	109	(3)
Reprimanding a Poor Employee	112	(3)
Misuse of Theory X	115	(3)
Dealing With Difficult People	118	(4)
Managing Group Dynamics	122	(3)
Assessing Students, Staff, and Schools	125	(13)
Assessment Versus Grading	126	(3)
Authentic Assessment	129	(1)
Technology and Assessment	129	(2)
Portfolios	131	(2)
Teacher Evaluation	133	(2)
Whole School Assessment	135	(3)
Get a Life!	138	(15)
The 1-Hour Sabbatical	138	(1)
Journaling	139	(1)
Reflective Practice and Journals	140	(1)
Developing a Personal Support System	141	(3)
Clarifying Your Own Personal and Educational Values and Belief System	144	(4)
Keeping Your Personal Identification---the Difference Between You and Your Position	148	(2)
What Roles Do You Play?	150	(1)
Personal Work Questionnaire---How Are You Developing Your Resources?	151	(1)
Self-Renewal	152	(1)
The Principal's Toolbox: Anecdotes and Hints for Survival in a Cruel, Cruel World	153	(16)
Substitute Teachers	154	(1)
Video Cameras---the Extra Supervisor on Campus	155	(1)
Discipline	156	(1)
Daytimer	157	(1)
3-by-5-Inch Cards	158	(1)
Stand-Up Desk	159	(1)
Stand-Up Meeting	159	(1)
Emergency Drill	160	(1)
The Custodian	161	(1)
Evaluating the Principal	162	(1)
Conducting Meetings	163	(1)
Strange Things Can Happen	164	(2)
Concluding Thoughts	166	(3)
Resource: Some Must-Read Books for Administrators: An Annotated List	169	(4)
References and Further Reading	173	(4)
Index	177