Advice for my first Principal Posting
Advice for my first Principal Posting
Hi everyone, I have recently accepted my first principal posting. I have had lots of other admin experience, however, this will be my first time as a principal. For those of you who have been principals before what advice would you give to a first timer? What are some things you wish you had known before hand? Thank you
- Make a schedule that works and allows ample instructional time both for students and the teacher.
-Be approachable to students and staff.
- Evaluate your teachers consistently using a set of predetermined criteria.
- Don't just rely on feedback from department heads.
- Make sure the staff meetings are meaningful and use them as opportunities to discuss and listen, not just for reading the calendar of upcoming events.
- And most of all appreciate and celebrate success of your students, teachers, and staff.
-Be approachable to students and staff.
- Evaluate your teachers consistently using a set of predetermined criteria.
- Don't just rely on feedback from department heads.
- Make sure the staff meetings are meaningful and use them as opportunities to discuss and listen, not just for reading the calendar of upcoming events.
- And most of all appreciate and celebrate success of your students, teachers, and staff.
- be confident in your abilities, that is, don't play the "rookie" card
- walk through the school visiting rooms before school to make contact with teachers
- articulate your vision/philosophy early on to the faculty
- build/foster a sense of collaboration
- if you haven't had Critical Friends training, get some!
- try to keep a smile on your face, walk slowly, and be positive whenever possible
- walk through the school visiting rooms before school to make contact with teachers
- articulate your vision/philosophy early on to the faculty
- build/foster a sense of collaboration
- if you haven't had Critical Friends training, get some!
- try to keep a smile on your face, walk slowly, and be positive whenever possible
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Vernacular
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interteach
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Cheery Littlebottom
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Good luck! Here is my two pence worth from my personal experience:
1. Be visible and walk slowly........nothing stirs people up like principals bolting through the corridors looking pissed off!
2. Talk to everyone, Make time for it.
3. Spend extra time with new teachers. Discovering potential problems early on saves all sorts of time and angst.
4. Not always...but sometimes consider the option of taking minimal or no action, at least for a short time. Trying to leap in straight away to save the world is not always effective.
5. Within the bounds of confidentiality, communicate as fully and effectively with your staff as much as you can.
6. Before you make every decision, think "what will most benefit the students. "
7. Don't make promises you can't keep.
Best of British luck.
1. Be visible and walk slowly........nothing stirs people up like principals bolting through the corridors looking pissed off!
2. Talk to everyone, Make time for it.
3. Spend extra time with new teachers. Discovering potential problems early on saves all sorts of time and angst.
4. Not always...but sometimes consider the option of taking minimal or no action, at least for a short time. Trying to leap in straight away to save the world is not always effective.
5. Within the bounds of confidentiality, communicate as fully and effectively with your staff as much as you can.
6. Before you make every decision, think "what will most benefit the students. "
7. Don't make promises you can't keep.
Best of British luck.
Have a plan. Don't wait for something to come up, and then handle. If you go that route, you'll spend your entire tenure handling things as they come up. In a school, things will always come up.
Be the principal who is looking into the future, who has a considered opinion about what really matters, and who is implementing a plan to get the school to a better place.
If you're new to the school, maybe that plan includes spending some months listening, observing, learning. Maybe it means you're inheriting a vision mandated by the board or an existing strategic plan. Either way, look to the future.
Be the principal who is looking into the future, who has a considered opinion about what really matters, and who is implementing a plan to get the school to a better place.
If you're new to the school, maybe that plan includes spending some months listening, observing, learning. Maybe it means you're inheriting a vision mandated by the board or an existing strategic plan. Either way, look to the future.
1. Go to the pay side of this site. Read the reviews. Don't read for would I want to go to that school or work for that person, but rather what is the situation at hand? How would I deal with this situation? There are some themes that develop that should be avoidable.
2. Remember the moment you are in. Is the moment the same for the the other person you are working with? Interrupting a teacher for a simple non time sensitive question, will not win you points.
3. Know how the cultures you are working with interact. Think through whether the issue might be cultural as well as behavioral.
FINALLY: LISTEN - THINK - SPEAK/ACT. What that person is saying to you is important to them. Saying, "I want to consider that" and then truly getting back to them is acting. Answer that email, but not till you've thought about it.
2. Remember the moment you are in. Is the moment the same for the the other person you are working with? Interrupting a teacher for a simple non time sensitive question, will not win you points.
3. Know how the cultures you are working with interact. Think through whether the issue might be cultural as well as behavioral.
FINALLY: LISTEN - THINK - SPEAK/ACT. What that person is saying to you is important to them. Saying, "I want to consider that" and then truly getting back to them is acting. Answer that email, but not till you've thought about it.