A Principal Referee, A Principal Connector, & A Principal Fingerprint

George Couros and Allyson Apsey What Makes A Great PRINCIPAL The Five Pillars of Effective School Leadership 

Lately, I have noticed that when I attend school leadership conferences, what sticks to my thinking the most are the stories shared by the featured speakers. Their narratives often make you nod readily in agreement, laugh with total understanding, and catch your breath when you know there is an underlying message you need to hear.

When I read George Couros and Allyson Apsey’s new book, What Makes a Great Principal: The Five Pillars of Effective School Leadership—Stories from the Field, I had a similar experience. The impact an effective and compassionate school principal can have on students and staff is immense. The key is wisely focusing on what we choose to do and how we move forward to make a difference to our students, staff, and community. 

Couros connected his story to basketball and the responsibilities of a school principal. “In any sport, you know a referee is great when you don’t notice them. They not only lead but also manage the game, and everything goes in a direction where the focus is on the game, not the official. It doesn't mean there isn’t adversity, but the best officials know how to deal with it in a way where the focus should be: on the players and the game. 

Unfortunately, if you are a bad referee, everyone notices—like everyone. The same is true for principals. The worst ones stick out, and the best ones never get credit for the impact they have on the little and big things in our school. They often take criticism from others and hand out the praise when they might be the most deserving.”

I am not sure I will ever watch a basketball game again without paying attention to the referee. I see the wisdom and the humbleness of being that kind of school principal…taking the heat, and giving away the glory. Stories stick with us because they pull out the emotions and tug at the cognitive brain. Here are a few of my favorite stories from pillars of What Makes a Great Principal.

Dr. Marcus Belin reminded the reader of the power of building relationships with those we serve. Belin traded traditional dress shoes for something much more comfortable. “Those Jordan sneakers I sported on countless days became instant conversation starters, bridging the gap and revealing my sincere interest in the students' success…I wanted my staff to understand it’s okay to enjoy their work to see education as a joyful journey, not a joyless task.” I was reminded we have an opportunity to model joy in our work as principals. 

Apsey reminded me of the importance of reaching out to like colleagues for support and the opportunity to learn from them. “I am going to age myself here, but I became a principal before Facebook and Twitter even existed. It was more challenging back in those pre-social media times to get connected to inspiring principals around the country. In those first years of the principalship, I distinctly remember being faced with challenges and then heading to my office to rack my brain for ideas. I was so mad at myself when I could not come up with brilliant solutions on my own.”  We do not have to be an isolated principal. We can create more significant positive momentum toward growth and change as principals if we do it together.

I finally got to meet the principal, Liz Garden in Washington, D.C. this spring. She was incredibly genuine and kind. The message found in her story did not disappoint. Early in her career, when being interviewed for a vice principal position, she was given a tricky question on how she would manage three different reading programs. She gave an unapologetic response. “I am not able to make that model work.” Her response was honest, brave, and focused on how to move forward differently. Her story reminded me we can draw courage to find our truths from other principals leading the way.

Being a principal is not a game, but I sometimes feel like a referee, and now I know what type of ‘principal referee’ I will strive to be. I don’t wear sneakers, but my heels will produce a familiar step as I head toward classrooms more often. I will bravely respond if I am ever asked to prioritize programs over people. And when I do finally leave the school community I love, the fingerprints won’t be visible to the eye, but found in the heart of instructional practices of teachers I had the honor of knowing and serving.

me

ASCD Educational Leadership: December 2023/2024 Literacy Across the Disciplines

A principal’s inbox holds many tasks, responsibilities, and sometimes unexpected surprises! This month’s Educational Leadership Magazine continued to be cycled to the bottom of the to-dos, but I tossed it into the take-home bundle for the holiday break. In a quiet moment, I immersed myself in this month’s episode that focused on my favorite topic, literacy.

I continued to read, starting in the back, visiting familiar featured authors first, navigating to the managing editors' comments next, and then dividing deep into the featured articles. Writers and researchers provided new insights and considerations for leaders pursuing evidence-informed literacy systems that enrich teaching and learning. Whew! This issue will be a treasured favorite.

Many artificial intelligence platforms will systematically summarize these author’s viewpoints and findings. Still, AI will never be able to replicate the way a hopeful leader feels when given new perspectives and informed teaching and learning research-based practices. Here are three articles that just moved me to think deeper while learning to do and be better.

When I read Natalie Wexler’s article, Developing Knowledgeable Readers, I was reminded, “It is important to begin knowledge and vocabulary early —in kindergarten, if possible. The longer you wait, the larger the gaps in knowledge are likely to grow. One such gap is between ‘good’ and ‘poor’ readers. Young readers who have both good decoding skills and more sophisticated knowledge and vocabulary will, in the widely used leveled reading system, be allowed to read more complex text. Their knowledge not only helps them understand that text, it also helps them retain new information and vocabulary from it. Knowledge, as Marilyn Jager Adams (2015) had said, is like mental Velcro; it sticks best to other related knowledge.” Yes! Knowledge is power…starting in kindergarten!

In Teaching Word Consciousness, an interview with Zaretta Hammond she was asked, what could schools be doing to address the problems of the growing gaps in reading achievement specifically for our older students? She shared, “This doesn’t mean they have to repeat 2nd grade phonics, but we do have to start to question, What are the small but high-leverage skills, the discrete skills, that these students need that would allow them to start to practice even as they build their skills in understanding? 

Her response? “I think word study is key here… It’s a way we can teach phonemic elements without it feeling ike we’re back in kindergarten, you know? Because word study is not just vocabulary development. That’s the ultimate goal of it. But word study is made up of word play, word consciousness, and word knowledge—these things help students become curious about language and how language works. 

This is where as a building leader I get excited. Yes, kindergarten literacy instruction is more than phonemic awareness and phonics. Let’s not forget building background knowledge and enhancing vocabulary understanding. And for students who have not yet acquired the foundational literacy skill as an intermediate student, let’s not slip back in replicating primary literacy instruction, but begin again with word play, word consciousness, and word knowledge! Not planned out sporadically but systematically in teams of inquiry in our skills and practice! This is visible learning in action!

And speaking of action, confession, I love a noisy classroom. When I walk into a classroom where silence is the norm, I wonder and I worry. Maybe I should reframe that. When I walk into a classroom and students are talking in pairs or triads and they have a piece of text in their hands, and the question is relevant and meaningful to them as a human, their word usage, their expressions, their absence of awareness of anything but their conversation, fills my principal bucket. 

The third article in this month’s issue of EL Magazine titled, Talk is Literacy by Leslie Duhaylonsod, Shireen Al-Adeimi, and Abby Reisman reminded me of an important justic component in these student conversations. “When classroom discussions across the disciplines are rich and student-centered, we are one step closer to equity.” And, “Students who participate in class discussions have improved written arguments and improved text comprehension.” Not just in literacy instruction, but across all disciplines. Imagine what that feels like to a language learner. “Talks has the potential to make content, understand, and language more accessible to students.”

My top three picks were just a sample of the brilliance of reigniting ones principal leadership responsibilities in literacy. Other notable articles I will revisit include, How to Coach When You’re the Boss by Elena Aguilar, Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey’s thoughts on Transforming Literacy Tasks to Deepen Learning, and The Power of Digital Storytelling by Michael Hernandez. The challenge for me is to continue to go slow to go fast. So not implementing new thinking to fast with staff, but slow and steady through ongoing collaboration with teacher leaders!