6 Easy Ways for a School Administrator to Get Out of the Office

Before I was a school administrator I cavalierly wrote and spoke about how easy it ought to be to get out of the office and onto the floor, and chalked it up as nothing more than time management and possession of mobile technology.

I'm now privy to a bit more reality; a lot more goes into getting out of the office (for non-walkthrough/evaluative purposes) than wanting or even needing to get out of the office.

It's hard. Earlier this year I was 99% of the way out of the door to go out on the floor, and the phone rang; I never made it out.

I love being out on the floor; it's by far my favorite part of the job. I always learn something new; I always find opportunities to connect more with students and staff.

But it doesn't happen by chance.

I've learned that calendars get filled quickly; finding the time to be on the floor and enjoy the school culture I'm trying to build is almost impossible sometimes, but there are quick little practices that get me out multiple times a day to interact with staff and students.

1.Hand Deliver
Instead of emailing documents as attachments that I know will be printed anyway, I'll print them myself and hand deliver. It always leads to 5 minute conversation, and the whatever the document is means that much more. A little bit of efficiency is an insignificant price to pay for the value of getting out on the floor.


2.Follow Up
After a staff meeting, a student assembly, class meeting, etc. I always make a point to get out and engage folks in quick follow up conversations about the content. Any excuse to get people talking and listening is good.

I'll oftentimes follow up an email to a teacher with a pop in during their prep. It usually takes less than 5 minutes and both strengthens the impact of the email and gives me an excuse to intentionally get out of the office and onto the floor for even the briefest of time in between appointments.

3.Collaborate Publicly
If I'm planning something or creating something with another teacher or administrator, and it's not of a confidential or unsavory nature, then why not do it in the media center or school common area?

Some things are private and need to remain private, but a lot of things aren't. Thoughtfully determine whether the meeting needs to be behind closed doors.

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4.Go to Them
Whenever I have the choice between my office or their classroom I choose their classroom.

When appropriate, I'll go to where a student is to deliver news or have a conversation rather than call them to my office.

If someone needs to speak to me I'd rather try to go see them than do it over the phone if the timing is right.

5.Say Yes
Anytime a teacher or student asks me far enough in advance to be a guest judge, moderator, speaker, etc. I say yes. It's great to be able to walk in to a classroom or common area and not see folks tense up or lose their place for a second.

Create for yourself multiple follow up opportunities with the students and teacher; take and share photos with the class afterwards. You'll have potential conversation starters for months.

6. Schedule It
You'll never have the time to get out if you aren't purposeful with it.

I've found great results by simply scheduling 30-60 minutes of "floor time" right in my online calendar. The office staff doesn't schedule appointments because it's already blocked off, and once it pops up on my phone I stop what I'm doing and get out. Sometimes it's coupled with walkthroughs or other little errands or chores, and sometimes it's just leading and learning by walking around. It's always empowering though.

Getting out is refreshing; it reminds me of the why. It's not as easy as I thought it was going to be, but priorities are rarely convenient.

#leadership #mobility #education

6 Tips For New School Leaders After 2 Months #savmp

It's been a busy two months! Packed yet awesome, my first 40 school days in a new school in a new position have been loaded with challenges that have humbled and/or empowered me and my ability to satisfy and juggle short term needs while moving forward with numerous long term visions and mandates.

The position is hard. Moving into full time school leadership is demanding; with the new job comes constant high stakes tests of my communication, organization, and time management skills. Scrutinizing my own practices constantly has become essential in developing necessary systems in place to manage my affairs well.

With that in mind I've identified 6 habits I've adopted that I have found works with the dual tasks of establishing oneself at a new school, and fulfilling everything that comes with school leadership.

1. Call People Back - whether it's good, bad, or ugly I get back to everyone the day they contact me. I figure that if I am slow to get back to people I risk sending the message that I'm disorganized, unresponsive, or worse, in over my head. Whether its colleagues, parents, or students I get back to the folks who ask to speak to me promptly; It makes for better professional relationships, and for stronger professional brand. People may not be satisfied with the message they receive, but they will appreciate that it was delivered in a timely manner.

2. Schedule Action Items - it's easy to forget to do things; even the simplest of tasks sometimes get lost during "one of those days." I schedule all my action items in the calendar on my phone / email; from walkthroughs to sending emails to checking the daily attendance I schedule it in my calendar. I'm juggling a lot of important initiatives, and nothing can fall through the cracks. It ensures that priorities and action items are addressed at the right times, and that I’m never in a position where I have to say I forgot or overlooked something that I needed to tackle.

3. Save Everything - it’s easy to lose things. If I walk from the office to the cafeteria and back, then it’s safe to say that I’m coming back with some kind of note or sticky or something the equivalent thereof from a colleague or student about something or someone that I need to address. I scan all of my hand written notes, stickies, rogue pieces of paper, etc. into digital folders as soon as I receive it. Just today (October 8,) I utilized a handwritten note from September 9 that I took down during a side conversation with a student as part of an investigation. Had I left that handwritten note on my desk in a pile I reckon it would have been lost or misplaced weeks ago; by scanning and filing digitally I’m better able to utilize the conversations and dealings I have on a daily basis to execute my job more effectively at a time convenient to me.

4. Organize Constantly - every day ends with personal organization. I take all my emails and put them in folders after I’ve addressed them; as mentioned above I scan all my handwritten notes into email and then shred the paper to keep my workstation clean and efficient. I schedule my action items for the next day. No matter how badly I want to head home or how drained I feel at the end of the day I take care of myself and organize for tomorrow. I may have 10 things going on, but at least I know where everything is!

5. Have a Running Priority List - “To Do” lists don’t cut it; I have a “Priorities” list constantly going as new ideas, action items, and needs arise. There have been things on that priorities list since late August, because something always comes up that takes priority; I've learned quickly to accept that the work will never be finished, and that the most strategic and situationally important items are the ones that need to be met on a given day. Figuring out how to identify priority items is an ongoing focus of mine;certainly one of those intangible skills people rarely talk about in leaders is correctly identifying the right time to address initiatives.

6. Go 1 on 1 - it's hard to be new in a big group and expect to lead; the best way to quickly establish yourself as a professional and a leader in the group is by purposefully engaging colleagues, students, and community members in one on one conversations. I try to schedule appointments, stop by classrooms, seek students out who were in a class walked through, or go to after school events; getting out of the group and into smaller settings was key in the first month or two. It's easier to make a big group impact when you've established your brand with individuals stakeholders.

Two months in and things are moving in the right direction, but we gotta just keep it going through the rest of the fall into winter. I need to keep identifying what works, what needs to be done, and when's the best timing for it; most importantly I need to make sure I remember it's more about the people I work with than any set of tasks assigned to me.

3 Steps to More Support

Monday’s visions don’t become Friday’s realities without the help of those around us; the status quo is built with good ideas that are never seen through because nobody else buys in, helps make it happen, and/or takes the necessary actions.

I've seen 3 steps any leader of any organization can take to better insure their envisioned outcome. If you cannot or will not do any of the 3, then the likelihood it’s going to happen diminishes rapidly.

1. Start with WHY - make it clear that the work and effort required will produce necessary and beneficial change by explaining WHY it’s happening. If you can’t, then go back to the drawing board before asking others to help you make it happen.

2. Roll up your sleeves - make it clear that you’re not above doing any task necessary to make the vision a reality; people always respond better when they’re working with you instead of for you.

3. Acknowledge & thank - start working on your next initiative by saying thank you for the work just done. A little praise and appreciation goes a long way.

Simple yet profound; these three easy steps are often overlooked at the expense of what’s trying to be done.

Lesson #3: Show Them

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I’ve been reflecting a lot on my first year in school leadership; the third lesson from this year is SHOW THEM.

I’ve received a lot of validation this year for the theory that modeling the outcomes and initiatives you wish to see gets the best results; from a school leadership position this practice can generate the organic growth and development we want students and staff alike to demonstrate.

1. I made a bunch of tutorial and promotional screencasts this year, and some teachers throughout the year began sharing ones they made after seeing mine. I didn’t have to pontificate about the merits of making videos; people saw what I was doing, realized the value, and took the initiative to pursue it. Awesome.

2. We had a staff workshop on UBD that didn’t go very well, but for the rest of the year I planned and published my meeting agendas using a UBD template with all of our district indicators. As we close up school this week and I prepare to move on to another district there are still teachers approaching me about UBD and writing goals for next year regarding curriculum design. A little modeling went a long way.

3. Like many districts we’re integrating Common Core standards into our curriculum, and we’re also implementing the use of school-wide rubrics to assess school learning expectations. I used my part-time status in the classroom to create a hoist of CCSS / common rubric aligned activities, and my part-time status as an administrator to promote and share them with everybody. More and more throughout the year I saw teachers using and improving the templates I created for their purposes; I saw less and less anxiety and fear surrounding both initiatives as more and more people saw easy and effective ways to integrate them. Creating resources and showing how to use them gets results.

The bottom line is the degree to which you’re visible affects people’s perception of you. More so than being physically visible in halls, classes, etc, there are ways beyond that for school leaders to be a visible part of the initiatives and desired direction of the school. If it’s clear that it’s important enough to you to model, then it becomes more important to everyone. Show them how it can be done.

Lesson #2 - Everything Is An Opportunity to Build or Burn a Bridge

I’ve been reflecting a lot on my first year in school leadership; the second lesson from this year is EVERYTHING IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD OR BURN A BRIDGE.

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Too often we forget that people need to be listened to. It was two months ago that an irate parent was telling me she was putting me on the front page of the newspaper for being terrible at what I do, and it was two hours ago that the same parent was telling me she was thankful for how much help I offered her son throughout the school year. My conduct and professionalism throughout the prior hostile exchange built a bridge; had I focused my attention during that meeting on retorting or debating the parent rather than listening to what the concerns really were I probably would have burned the bridge. Had my behavior and response to the hostility been reciprocal I doubt the second exchange would have happened as it did. Even hostility can move us toward where we’re trying to go. Everything is an opportunity to build a bridge.

Too often we act solely in the short-term; we just want issues to go away. A student was being referred to the office by the same teacher for same type of behavior and poor academics over and over and over again, and I was growing tired of it. So badly I wanted to suspend the student and reprimand the teacher for not managing the classroom well, but what would the long-term impact of that be? So instead I wedged in another appointment in the day, got the teacher coverage for a face to face group meeting, and got everybody together for as long as it took. In the short-term it created a hectic day, and meant that I was spending another hour on an ongoing issue; in the long-term it set the student up for 3 consecutive months of success in a required class following the conference and established for the teacher a network of allies in me and the parents. Everything is an opportunity to build a bridge.

Too often we get too busy to realize how busy others are and how hard the people around us are working. Teachers are doing awesome things in classrooms that can easily go unnoticed if we let them; making time to visit shows appreciation for what they’re doing; appreciation empowers others. Replying to emails matters. Being on time and keeping meetings within the scripted time frame matters. Only have meetings that you’re prepared to hold matters. Everything is an opportunity to build a bridge.

Lesson #1 - Give Them Something to Make

As it comes to a close this week, I’ve been reflecting a lot on my first year in school leadership; the first lesson from this year is groups and committees need something to produce.

Our Principal’s Advisory Council, a group of 8-10 students grades 9-12, designed two meaningful programs this year that should have a long-lasting positive impact. The school’s participation in Project Purple in January and the crafting of a Class of the Month program for this September are both the handiwork of the PAC; their efforts were efficient and high-quality.

Monthly meetings were productive and outcome oriented; we never had one of those awkward sessions where someone was on a rant or nobody has anything to do or talk about. We always had something that needed our attention and cooperation, and we needed all of the limited amount of time we had together.

It was always the committees and meetings where all we did was talk about problems that I dreaded the most. It’s the groups that create solutions and products that people want to be a part again next year; that’s what benefits school communities. When leading committees in the future I ought to apply the lessons learned from leading the PAC this past year.

Embracing Insecurity in the First 2 Weeks

My new position as Dean of Students/Teacher has drastically changed both my responsibilities and what my day looks like. The juggling act that is my new professional existence is physically, mentally, and emotionally packed, but it's allowing me to do exactly what I've wanted to do for two years; while having the chance to build a school-wide culture of achievement at the administrative level, I also have the unique chance to continue to find ways to enhance student learning at the classroom level.

But, it's hard. I've never been as professionally self-conscious as I've been over these first two weeks in my new role. There are two reoccurring situations and thoughts I have been experiencing constantly since school started that challenge my confidence in my abilities to perform, but rather than allow my own insecurity to interfere with my capacity to lead, I've embraced it as a motivator and used it as a reminder of the steps I know I have to take to succeed and impact the school positively. This self-doubt could overcome me, but I choose to spend my time and energy reflecting on the remedy rather than the problem. Do I have it all figured out? No. But, I figure the concerns and paranoia I've experienced two weeks in can't be unique, and maybe what I do to overcome them will help someone in a situation similar to mine.

It's the end of day where I didn't sit down or eat lunch, and  my "to do" list I made at 6:30 this morning has nothing checked off...

I try not to dwell on the outstanding tasks on my list and spend more time on the professional relationships I need to build in my new position; the paperwork and things I need to "get done" can be finished anytime, but the students and staff are only in school for a fixed block of time each day. If I fancy myself as a leader of people, then that's where my priorities must lie. I focus on being a resource to as many people in the building that I can, and I figure the rest will take care of itself. I've been capitalizing on many apps and digital tools to improve my efficiency and organization with administrative tasks, but that can be saved for a different post.

I was a full-time teacher here; I know there are staff members who talk about administration all the time. Surely they are talking about me and my decisions...

People are inevitably going to talk about what I do and how I perform in my new role, and instead of being a slave to my own insecurity, I use it to make sure I'm always in an optimal position to make the right decision and be in the right place at the right time. I use that self-consciousness to pull myself away from the office and walk the halls to interact with students and staff.  I listen to people, because I figure that if I let them know that I'm listening then maybe they won't need to find another audience in less constructive environments. If I'm going to be a topic of conversation then I might as well make sure people are talking about me for the right reasons. I welcome anybody talking about my work ethic, positive energy, or my genuine commitment to the learning that happens every day in and out of our schoolhouse. And, if they're not sold on me yet, I still have 38 weeks to get it done!

The bottom line is that my biggest takeaway from these first two weeks is that all I can do to alleviate my own insecurity is to lead by example, and model the elements of a culture of achievement I wish to see. Everything else is currently out of my hands.

Taking On the Middle

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While watching Sunday morning’s GOP presidential debate, a discussion was framed around rhetoric often not leading to a change in practice of any relevance.  Not exclusive to Washington, it seems that long term changes to practice and policy in any organization is the most elusive accomplishment for leaders throughout history. Despite passionate words and a grand vision from well intentioned individuals on the onset of any campaign or job, something in the middle of those two points always stifles, and eventually kills, the initiative.

Over the holiday vacation my wife and I made the executive decision to take down our infant’s swing that he took all of his naps in.  While he was not too big for it yet, we estimated that he only had a few more weeks in it anyway.  Factoring in the inevitable lack of sleep that a decision like this would produce, we figured that pulling the trigger early and sacrificing rest over vacation was preferable to doing it while we were both getting up for work in the morning.  While I thought I was mentally prepared for the possible backlash for removing the swing, after three days of what seemed to be non stop screaming, I was ready to put the swing back together and simply find a bigger one in a few weeks.  But, just as I was ready to give up on what I knew needed to be done and simply adapt to the status quo, he finally slept in his crib!  Fighting through temporary pain and inconvenience, and staying focused on long term gains produced the results we wished to see.  What started off extremely shaky, and led to great frustration, has created permanent positive change.

While a small scale example compared to the presidency or leading a school, there are obvious lessons to take from my ordeal.  Crafting a vision and creating an end result are the easy parts to cultivating change.  It’s the middle of the process, the period that often gets the least attention in the planning phase, that is both the most difficult and important of the journey.  Leaders must have the will to push forward despite what might be spirited resistance.  You must be able stay committed to the long term goal while managing the short term situations as they arise and always bringing the conversation back to the end results.  Trust your judgment, keep your eye on the prize, focus on your priorities, and see your vision come to fruition.  It certainly won’t be easy, but nothing worth accomplishing is.  

Reflections & Highlights

The following are snapshots taken from various parts of my culminating Capstone project for my Educational Leadership program. I thought I would share some interesting observations and commentary:


On Communication:

In a high stakes environment such as educational leadership, one does not have the luxury of being able to afford a mixed or unclear message going out to any stakeholder.  Whether it’s sharing student successes with community, introducing a new initiative or technique to the staff, or developing a novice or struggling teacher,  the Principal's ability to effectively and efficiently communicate through a variety of mediums will go a long way in determining the impact the message has.  Whether its an email, newsletter, blog, written report, meeting, conference, presentation, speech, interview, class, etc, the modern administrator must be comfortable and effective communicating a consistent and well articulated message under all circumstances.

On Supervision and Evaluation:

It is not a coincidence that the best coaches always have the best players, and school principals must actively and intently prioritize what goes into building and nurturing a highly effective and highly motivated team.  Beyond hiring new talent, the leadership team must be diligent in their promotion of and attention to the needs and growth of veteran staff.  Creating a culture of perpetual improvement and an endless quest toward perfection will keep older staff feeling young and younger staff feeling empowered. The principal has the ability to model and stimulate this kind of professional learning environment.

On Innovation & Risk Taking:

There has never been a better time to learn than right now, and we have never had access to so many ground breaking tools as we do today.  As the next big thing become old and outdated within a matter months, it’s extremely important for school leaders to remain on the cutting edge of new trends and theories.  A school leader who vigilantly remains in the know about these new trends will be able to differentiate between the latest fad and the next great educational practice.  A school leader who themselves are actively trying new methods and professionally growing will create an environment where students and teachers do the same.  A school leader who is able to honestly and openly reflect on what works and what does not will empower his learning community to evaluate their own work.  Simply telling folks that risk taking is promoted does not send the same message as showcasing and discussing the risks you are currently taking.  

Vision & Mission

Part of the profressional standards for school administrators is to articulate vision and mission. I turned this in for an assignment earlier this year, and thought I would up the ante with a wider audience...

1. A clear and commonly accepted vision/mission will drive school culture. I recently heard victory defined as the accomplishment of a specific task. Too often, I find there is an inability to define what we as educators are trying to accomplish. If we as a school community can create a universally accepted vision of the school, we can work together to achieve it. If we go into each day as fifty individuals somewhat working toward an ambiguous goal, achievement becomes blurry. I firmly believe that strong interpersonal leadership at the administrative level can harness the energy and organization needed to bring all stakeholders together to create this common mission.

2. Curriculum and instruction must be perpetually improved and updated. As our clientele evolves, so to must our approach to teaching and working with them. School cannot be the place associated with outdated technology and expectations. A student should not think of school as the the only other place besides Grandma's that still has and uses VCR's. We must work tirelessly to find cost effective and logistically efficient ways to modernize our delivery of education. If we don't, then we will render ourselves irrelevant in our own students' lives. Today's student has influences coming at them 24/7 from a variety of sources. Schools need to plug themselves into this network to compete with all the forces that exist. We're not going to get there by sticking to nostalgic notions of the way "things ought/used to be done."

3. Leadership is about building relationships with all stakeholders. Leaders who don't build those interpersonal relationships probably aren't leading anyone. Like coaches, we need to get to know our players as people if we expect them to grow under our watch. By reaching out to students, parents, residents, and other staff members to build these relationships, we will achieve a level of collegiality and collaboration that will foster the results we are looking for. If we don't have the partnerships, results will stagnate.

4. Education and self-improvement are life-long endeavors. Complacency produces mediocrity. We as educators should always be working on something new. Whether its reading a new book, mastering a new technology for implementation in the classroom, or sprucing up a unit that has never been one of our stronger ones, the pursuit of constant growth will always keep us fresh and current. And by living the life long learner mission, we will model the behaviors and traits we hope to bequeath our students.

If the entire school community remains in constant pursuit of an agreed upon vision by employing cutting edge methods and techniques delivered by a connected staff universally engaged in self improvement, student learning will skyrocket. With the right leadership, this can happen.

Effective Leaders...

The last chapter of DuFour and Marzano's Leaders of Learning provides several distinct differentiations between effective and mediocre leadership at the school level and beyond. As I read, I found myself highlighting, underlining, and making notes several times per page. These 10 notes stand out to me as key points to consider for any leader at any position:

Effective leaders know the first step in leadership is convincing someone to follow. (193)

Effective leaders know they alone are not the solution. (197)

Effective leaders are busy doing what mediocre leaders are talking about. (198)

Effective leaders accept the responsibility for solving the existing problems and the possible blame for those problems going unresolved. (199)

Effective leaders know they do not have the luxury of letting personal motives and ideologoies stand in the way of the collective desires and visions of the school. (201)

Effective leaders build a staff filled with other leaders. (204)

Effective leaders aren’t afraid to share and even move out of the spotlight. (204)

Effective leaders aim to build a team that won’t need a central leader to improve and succeed. (207)

Effective leaders know that it’s not about them. (207)

Effective leaders do what others merely intend. (208)

I look forward to discussing these points and others during our #edfocus discussion of the second half of the book on Wednesday at 9:30p (eastern time)

Utilizing Social Media

Why aren’t districts vigorously promoting active use of online resources for Professional Development? Although school ended over a week ago my learning and pd has not slowed. Thanks to my social media and networking feeds I found ways to realize visions for next year, and received valuable feedback on a class presentation. Thanks to my Twitter feed I was acquainted with mrthread.com for student chats, set up a customized edmodo site for my AP class, and favorited articles on research tips for students in the fall.
I had fantastic discussion with educators from around the country on topics ranging from cross curricular instruction to using data to create professional development plans that led to better performance in my graduate class. I’m excited this week to start a book club via Twitter and look forward to sharing my thoughts. In the first two weeks of vacation I’ve had more PD than in all other summers combined, and it hasn’t cost me or my district a penny. No room in the budget for PD? No problem…

Classical Innovation

Reblogged from my Tumblr, "Leading to Learn."

Traditional focus doesn't have to be boring or archaic. In reading Mike Schmoker's, Focus, I cannot help but to come to the conclusion that he is not calling for a rejection of modern technology and its integration in our schools, but rather the commitment to use of these technologies to foster the necessary characteristics of good teaching and good citizenry that have stood for over 2,000 years.  The fact that the mediums are more flashy doesn't change the fact that people with superior reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills are far more equipped to be successful and active citizens than those without.  While much has been made of Focus equating to a shunning of much of the modern technology that exists in classrooms, I do not think it has to be one or the other.  Our most effective use of 21st century technology happens when its used to strengthen our instruction of the four pillars of language mastery that Schmoker insists we must focus on. For reading skills, we can use Livebinder, Diigo, Dropbox, Colornote, etc to enhance and organize the bookmarking and notetaking process for students.  We can use Google Docs, Blogging, MrThread, and other online chat forums to allow students to articulate themselves exclusively in writing during class with immediate feedback from peers and the instructor.  We have Flip cameras and Voice Thread to allow students to self assess their own speaking and presenting skills, and Skype presents incredible opportunities for students to academically and professionally interact with other students in sister classes.  Teachers can use textthemob and Twitter to enhance that critical interaction between student and teacher good classes have had since the days of Socrates.  Focusing on literacy the way Schmoker suggests does not mean abandoning the integration of technology in the classroom. It means using it in the best possible way to achieve our objectives.

Aspiring Educational Leader Reading List

Reposted from my Tumblr blog...

I have found these books particularly helpful in my preparation to shift my role as an educator from classroom teacher to administrator.  Myself an aspiring secondary instructional leader who has yet to serve in the role, these works make me feel ready to thrive in that new position when the time comes. I recommend these reads to any teacher thinking of moving into any kind of leadership position within the school community, and offer a brief note on each.

Harvey Alvy & Pam Robbins, Learning From Lincoln, 2010-As an inexperienced president, Lincoln relied on two things: His values/judgment & the team around him. New leaders in any position can benefit from the lesson from Lincoln.

Alan M. Blankstein, Failure is Not an Option, 2004- If Bank of America is too big to fail, why aren't schools? Why is that not our mentality?

ed. Heidi Hayes Jacobs, Curriculum 21, 2010- Great collection of essays on where education is heading. I particularly liked, "A Classroom as Wide as the World."

Thomas Hoerr, The Art of School Leadership, 2005- Examines types of leadership styles, and is filled with teacher anecdotes about what they look for in a leader.

Robert Marzano, Timothy Waters, & Brian McNulty, School Leadership that Works, 2005- Great stuff as always from Marzano. The title says it all.

William J. Reese, America’s Public Schools, 2005- Provides a general history of pubic schools in the United States from the early republic to No Child Left Behind. I found the chapter about LBJ's Great Society very interesting, which spawned a different research project specifically about the ed reforms of the 1960s.

Jon Saphier, How to Make Supervision & Evaluation Really Work, 1993- A real useful and growth centered way to learn about teacher evaluations and supervision. Even if I do not become an administrator this upcoming year, the material in this book made me a better classroom teacher as well. It allowed me to see my own teaching from the perspective of an evaluator.

Mike Schmoker, Focus, 2011- Even with all of the new technologies and fads out there, the four pillars of language remain the ability to read, write, speak, and listen effectively. Schmoker reminds us that as leaders its important to avoid jumping on every new trend until we first identify how it will improve literacy.

Marilyn Tallerico, Supporting & Sustaining Teachers’ Professional Development, 2005- Great stuff on adult learning theory in here. Transitioning from classroom to administration also means a shift in who we are primarily working with. Adults are different than children, obviously, which means a need for a different way of working.

Tony Wagner, The Global Achievement Gap, 2008- Discusses similar issues as Curriculum 21, but still a great and very quick read.

Anne Wescott Dodd & Jean L. Konzal, How Communities Build Stronger Schools, 2002-Community relations are paramount to the success of practically all public enterprises, and schools are certainly no exception. Many anecdotes provide clear lessons in both good and bad PR from various schools in this book.

Todd Whitaker, Leading School Change, 2010- Whitaker is a fantastic resource for all educators, and I recommend any of his books.  He offers practical solutions to some of the most basic interpersonal problems that occur in schools and plague leadership posts. I enjoyed this book thoroughly.

Todd Whitaker, What Great Principals Do Differently, 2003- The title says it all. See above.