Your First Year As Principal

As you sit at your desk behind the door ominously marked Principal s Office, you are suddenly struck with a feeling of terror; what have you gotten yourself into? Being a principal is a difficult job filled with great responsibility and stress. Before you panic, you should know that most principals survive the first year. However, Your First Year as a Principal will help make the first year easier, providing you with all the information you did not learn in school. With the help of this extensively researched book, first-year principals will learn how to step out from behind the previous principal s shadow, how to make changes without changing too much too soon, and how to deal with teachers, parents, and students. You will also learn how to handle the stresses of the job, how to find a mentor, and how to plan for public relations. You will learn about the common mistakes first-year principals make and how to avoid them. You will learn about all of the duties that fall on your shoulders and how to handle that responsibility. You will also learn how to build strong relationships with teachers and staff, how to pick your battles, how to handle bullying in your school, how to boost staff morale, how to discipline students, and how to deal with conflicts. Ultimately, you will clearly understand what comes with being a principal. You will be able to clarify and define your roles, expectations, and responsibilities. Novice and veteran principals alike, who have all previously been in your position, offer their advice and tips on surviving your first year and excelling beyond. Also included are from-the-headlines blurbs to help you handle recent education policy changes. Whether you are the principal of a small, large, public, private, charter, urban, rural, or suburban school, Your First Year as a Principal will be an indispensable companion. With the help of this book, not only will you survive, you will also enthusiastically look forward to your sophomore year. Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company president s garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed.

This guide to the 21 leadership responsibilities that influence student achievement will help school leaders focus on changes that really make a difference.

You're an Assistant Principal. Whatever your status—the sole AP in your school, one of two or more APs in your school, a career AP, an AP aspiring to the principalship—yours is one of the most misunderstood and underutilized positions in education. Positioned between teachers and the principal, you are an instructional leader. However, you are not the leader of the school. Therefore, you must carefully navigate your way to ensure that you thrive in your role without "stepping on the toes" of your principal. In The Assistant Principal 50, award-winning, four-time principal Baruti Kafele presents reflective questions that encompass the breadth and depth of the assistant principalship—from finding your leadership "lane" to thriving and being an asset to your principal. Kafele infuses the book (which also includes guidance and insights for principals and aspiring assistant principals) from beginning to end with personal anecdotes and accounts of both failures and successes from his years as an assistant principal. He arms you with tools and insights that will drive you to view the assistant principalship as critical to the climate and culture of your school as well as to student achievement. You, assistant principal, play a critical role in your school's success. The questions that Kafele asks you to consider will aid you as you hone your leadership skills toward becoming an effective leader in your school.

A principal's job is astonishingly complex, and its competing demands can be overwhelming, especially in the first few years. In this book, Jen Schwanke, a principal herself, provides a mentor's guidance to steer new principals through the period of adjustment and set the foundation for a long and rewarding career. The topics you wish your graduate program had covered are covered here—directly, practically, and without the jargon. Drawing on her own experience, Schwanke provides strategies for tackling the most common yet most daunting challenges of the principalship, including Establishing productive professional relationships Building and maintaining a positive school culture Resolving conflict among staff and parents Providing effective instructional leadership Supporting students' social-emotional needs Conducting staff evaluations and delivering feedback Keeping up with district, state, and federal mandates Managing the facility and the budget Providing focused and effective professional development Prioritizing responsibilities Learning from student and schoolwide data Planning for growth and change Working through behavior and discipline issues Hiring high-quality teachers and supporting new ones Leading effective meetings Maintaining balance The standalone chapters provide easy access to the solutions you need for the situations you face. Along with real-life scenarios and critical tips for success, you'll find helpful models of what to do, what to say, and how to say it. This book is a source for ideas any time you encounter a problem and think, "Now what?" It's the beginning of an ongoing conversation about the wonderful and rewarding work of being a principal.

Learn all the essentials for making your first year of teaching a success! In this exciting new book, internationally renowned educator Todd Whitaker teams up with his daughters--Madeline, an elementary teacher, and Katherine, a secondary teacher--to share advice and inspiration. They offer step-by-step guidance to thriving in your new role and overcoming the challenges that many new teachers face. Topics include: Learning classroom management skills such as building relationships and maintaining high expectations and consistency Setting up your classroom and establishing procedures and rules Planning effective lessons and making your instructional time an engaging experience Managing your own emotions in the classroom and dealing effectively with misbehavior Working with peers, administrators, and parents to build support and foster collaboration The book is filled with specific examples and vignettes from elementary, middle, and high school classes, so you’ll gain helpful strategies no matter what grade level and subject area you teach. You’ll also find out how to make tweaks or hit the "reset" button when something isn’t going as planned. Things may not always go perfectly your first year, but the practical advice in this book will help you stay motivated on the path to success! Bonus: As you read the book, get even more out of it by discussing it with others. Free study guides for practicing teachers and student teachers are available as eResource downloads from our website (www.routledge.com/products/9781138126152).

Cycling from practice to theory and back again, this concise book provides the skinny on motion leadership, or how to “move” individuals, institutions, and whole systems forward.

In The First Year as Principal, principals share their own stories so that those considering a career in school leadership, those who are already principals, those who care about our schools, and those who make educational policy can better understand what true school leadership requires. These essays offer rich descriptions and insightful analyses of one year in the past and provide important lessons for the future. The book begins with a journal entry by Johanna VanderMolen, who gives us a peek into the daily life of a first-year elementary school principal. It ends with a pair of stories written by Joseph and Mark Segar, father and son, each of whom followed his own path to the principal's office. The essays in between share the experiences of many others. All together, they tell a broad story that has something to say to every school leader and to all who care about schools.