When I Become A Principal File

Originally published in TEPSA's Instructional Leadership Journal.
Bell, S. (2013). “When I become a principal file.” Instructional Leader 26(1), 1-2.

File Folders, a photo by Cody Alice Creates on Flickr.

Leading change is a challenging task that involves methodical planning and constant reflection. This is an article that I wrote that was published in the Instructional Leadership Journal, which is a publication of TEPSA. This article gives advice to any campus leader involved in a change effort. I give practical advice, based on my personal reflections from the first year of my principalship. I am currently in my 3rd year as a building principal.

 The conditions for change must be created before any change initiative can begin. It is critical that an organization evaluates what it is doing and determines if it is working before new initiatives are implemented. An experienced gardener will agree that it is important to prune the weeds before planting new flowers (Reeves, 2009). Great advice, right? This is sound advice and I must be reminded of these words daily.  As a new campus principal, I learned very quickly that changing one system, regardless of the significance, could send an organization into mass hysteria.  For some, change is a word that is synonymous with loss. Change represents risk, loss and fear, which are factors that often prevent change from being implemented (Reeves, 2009). Beginning a change process before identifying and communicating what will not change, is sure to cause anxiety.

It Began With A File

After my first year as an assistant principal, I knew that I had chosen the correct career path. I began recording thoughts and collecting articles that would help me make a successful, smooth transition to the principalship. I thought I had all of the answers and I felt that as assistant principal, I had the role of the principal all figured out. With my “When I Become a Principal File” in tow, I embarked on my first journey of the principalship.  Professionally, I live by the mantra, “when you learn better, you do better.” Every learning leader that learns something new wants to immediately put it into action. I was so excited when I entered my first year as a principal. I finally had the opportunity to lead and put into action all of the ideas that I had tucked away in my “When I Become a Principal File.”  I learned very quickly that it was going to take time to implement my wonderful ideas, and that there was a possibility that some of those ideas would have to remain in the file.  In fact, after the first week of attempting to put my mark on the campus that I inherited, I remembered a piece of wisdom that was shared with me that I placed in that file. I was advised that it would take three to five years before I would begin to see my mark on the campus. All of the members of my new staff did not share my same zeal for change, and I learned quickly that it was wiser for me to go slow in order to move fast. 

Rearrange The File

After I regrouped and realized that I was going to have to rearrange the thoughts in my file, I began to observe and ask questions. From my questioning, I gained a great deal of knowledge of where the campus had been and what the people within the organization valued.  From this simple task, I learned that inquiry should be a practice that is used continuously on a campus that values continuous improvement in students and teachers. Questions should drive the course of the organization and questions should continue to be asked to gain new knowledge.    

Circle of Concern Versus Circle of Influence

 Another tidbit that I gleaned from “the file” was the notion of the circle of concern versus the circle of influence. If leaders spent time dissecting the most pressing issues facing their schools that was within their control, they would probably discover that the most rigorous problems faced in education have simple solutions. I realized that I needed to focus on the areas that I could directly impact, which were human resources, time, collaboration and professional learning (Reeves, 2009). Coming to this realization helped me to focus my efforts and energies appropriately, and were the first steps in helping me develop a vision for my campus. Because the above-mentioned key factors have the greatest influence on student achievement, I began to look and analyze the previous human resources decisions that were made prior to my tenure in relation to campus data. That information, coupled with the information I gathered from classroom observations and walkthroughs, gave me valuable insight into the staffing decisions that needed to be made for the upcoming school year.  I also gathered data from the staff to determine professional learning needs, as well as, organized the master schedule to allocate time within the school day to provide job-embedded professional learning opportunities, with a focus on building shared-knowledge among the professionals within the building. Organizations do not change without changing the people involved in the organizations.  Leaders should have clarity and focus if they plan to implement change successfully.  Members of effective organizations see a relationship between their growth as a professional and student achievement (Reeves, 2009).  

Make the Plan then Work the Plan          

Education is a goal-oriented profession.  Implementing change requires unrelenting focus on a clearly-defined goal (Reeves, 2009). Although there have been a number of research-based strategies identified to improve organizations, access to endless student data that guides change efforts, and a plethora of successful schools to model, there is still a significant implementation gap. Often times change efforts began as an erratic process in response to an unsuccessful event or circumstance. Change is usually reactive and the reasons for change are often not explored at a deep enough level to truly make a significant difference.  Another nugget of knowledge that I tucked away in “the file” is that the focus of the principal, and a true tenet of continuous improvement, is the importance of sustaining change. Members of the field of education are notorious for jumping on the bandwagon and trying the latest fad. Leaders focused on continuous improvement must make well-informed changes.  Sustaining change involves celebrating the short-term victories while continuing to create a culture of commitment that will exist long after the leader that implemented the change process has departed (Reeves, 2009). 

I am in my second year as principal, and there are some expectations that are new for my staff. They are still learning about me as I am learning about them. It is normal for an organization to push back when change is being implemented, and in some situations, the force of that push may determine if the change efforts will continue.  In my experience, I have learned that being persistent and consistent along with aligning all decisions to the vision of the organization is so critical in continuous improvement. I have to remember that persistence is the key and change is not an event but a continuous process. When I can answer every question or request by tying it back to the shared vision, it moves me out of the way as the sole decision maker. Changing mindset is a significant task and persistence is critical in order to see change fully implemented. As a leader, I must remember that if I stay the course and keep my eye on the vision, then I will ultimately gain the prize.

Reference

Reeves, D. B. (2009). Lead change in your school: how to conquer myths, build commitment and get   results. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Hungry Hippo Learning

I have been on an intense learning journey for the past 2 weeks.  I attended #iste13 and I was inspired and ignited by several key presenters. (@gcouros, @s_bearden, @kleinerin, @web20classroom, @kylepace, @adambellow , @MsLaidler, @MsMagiera) Through my tweets and my following of #iste13, I was also connected with educators from all over the world. This connection has led me to the discovery of twitter chats that I can now participate in thanks to @cybraryman1. If you are looking to connect with educators that are on fire about learning, there are a wealth of chats to keep you busy for more time that the day allows.  My world of learning has been opened up and I LOVE IT! 

While I gained a great deal of excitement about the new learning opportunities that I was about to experience, and the sessions gave me the fuel that I needed to begin creating and curating my content, I still needed that last push to SHARE. According to Google, the search engine that knows all, to share means:

Noun A part of a larger amount that is divided among a number of people, or to which a number of people contribute.

Verb Have a portion of (something) with another or others: "he shared the pie with her".

Googled on 7/13-Search words: What does share mean?

The last push that I needed to get me to take the plunge and share the thoughts swirling around in my head was a blog post by @Shelley_LaCroix entitled "Something to Say." You see, I don't know Shelley personally, but the content that she created and shared was the push that I needed to start blogging. (Thanks, Shelley!) Anyone that knows me knows that I certainly have plenty to say. After reading Shelley's blog post, it was at that point that I stopped what I was doing, picked a template for my blog, figured out how to add the Twitter widget and began my first blog post. 

In the middle of writing this post, my kids wanted me to play a game with them.  So I stopped my post and gave them the attention they were seeking. They insisted that we play Hungry Hippo. After several rounds of playing by the "rules," my kiddos wanted to have some fun and put all of the balls in the center. They just wanted to have a free for all to see which hippos could get the most balls. As you can expect, they began working feverishly to get their hippo to eat the most balls, and their approach was erratic as they moved with haste. I, on the other hand, was more methodical in my approach. I knew there was a great deal to digest and that I did not want to ingest more balls than my hippo could swallow. When the mouth of the hippo gets too full, the balls just come right out and are eaten by another hungry hippo. 

This reminded me of all the learning that has filled my brain from #iste13 and #tcrwp. With the wealth of information that was shared, it can become overwhelming when determining how to implement new ideas.  I just reviewed all of the copious notes that I took at #iste13 and #tcrwp and decided what I was going to digest this school year. There is so much out there that I have decided that the best way to sift through it all is "a little at a time." Thanks to @teachkate and @ichrislehman for that reminder at the close of #tcrwp. 

I am grateful for the people that I have been connected with through Twitter. If you have not found your PLN on Twitter, you are cheating yourself of a wealth of knowledge, support, and growth. I know that I am on my way to becoming even better than I was before I got this fire burning in my belly. Starting a blog is like yelling to the world I am committed! I am committed to learning, growing, sharing and changing our wonderful profession by joining forces with other like minded people.  I believe that the restructuring of our system is a grassroots effort that will happen one schoolhouse at a time.  The only way that I can lead my schoolhouse is by being connected with others and sharing when I have "something to say."