A.

Journal Format

Name:

Topic/s: How to Lead and Manage a School

A school principal's job is balanced between being rewarding and challenging. It is a difficult job, and like
any job, there are people who are not able to handle it. There are certain characteristics of a highly
effective principal that some people do not possess. Besides the obvious professional requirements
needed to become a principal, there are several traits that good principals possess allowing them to do
their job successfully. These characteristics manifest themselves in the daily duties of a principal.

A good school leader must possess the following attributes:

1. Leadership

The principal is the instructional leader of the building. A good leader has to take responsibility for the
successes and failures of her school. A good leader puts the needs of others in front of her own. A good
leader is always looking to improve her school and then figures out how to make those improvements
regardless of how difficult it might be. Leadership defines how successful any school is. A school without
a strong leader will likely fail, and a principal who is not a leader will find herself without a job quickly.

2. Adept at Building Relationships With People

If you don't like people you shouldn't be a principal. You have to be able to connect with each person
you deal with on a daily basis. You have to find common ground and earn their trust. There are many
groups of people that principals deal with daily including their superintendent, teachers, support staff,
parents, students, and community members. Every group requires a different approach, and individuals
within a group are unique in their own right.

You never know who is going to walk into your office next. People come in with a variety of emotions
including happiness, sadness, and anger. You have to be able to deal with each of those situations
effectively by connecting with the person and showing him that you care about his unique situation. He
has to believe that you will do whatever you can to make his situation better.

3. Balance Tough Love With Earned Praise

This is especially true with your students and your teachers. You can't be a pushover, meaning that you
let people get away with mediocrity. You have to set expectations high and hold those you are in charge
of to those same standards. This means that there will be times when you have to reprimand people and
likely hurt their feelings. It is a part of the job that isn't pleasant, but it is necessary if you want to run an
effective school.

At the same time, you must offer praise when it is appropriate. Don't forget to tell those teachers who
are doing an extraordinary job that you appreciate them. Remember to recognize students who excel in
the areas of academics, leadership and/or citizenship. An outstanding principal can motivate using a
combination of both of these approaches.

4. Fair and Consistent

Nothing can take away your credibility more quickly than being inconsistent in how you handle similar
situations. While no two cases are exactly the same, you have to think about how you have handled
other similar situations and continue on that same track. Students, in particular, know how you handle
student discipline, and they make comparisons from one case to the next. If you are not fair and
consistent, they will call you out on it.

However, it is understandable that history will influence a principal's decision. For example, if you have a
student who has been in multiple fights and compare her to a student who has only had one fight, then
you are justified in giving the student with multiple fights a longer suspension. Think all your decisions
through, document your reasoning and be prepared when someone questions or disagrees with them.

5. Organized and Prepared

Each day presents a unique set of challenges and being organized and prepared is essential to meeting
those challenges. You deal with so many variables as a principal that lack of organization will lead to
ineffectiveness. No day is predictable. This makes being organized and prepared an essential quality.
Each day you still have to come in with a plan or a to-do list with the understanding that you will
probably only get about one-third of those things done.

You also have to be prepared for just about anything. When you are dealing with that many people,
there are so many unplanned things that can occur. Having policies and procedures in place to deal with
situations is part of the necessary planning and preparation to be effective. Organization and
preparation will help reduce stress when you are dealing with difficult or unique situations.

6. Excellent Listener

You never know when an angry student, a disgruntled parent or an upset teacher is going to walk into
your office. You have to be prepared to deal with those situations, and that starts with being an
exceptional listener. You can disarm most difficult situations simply by showing them that you care
enough to listen to what they want to say. When someone wants to meet with you because they feel
wronged in some way, you need to hear them out.

This doesn't mean that you let them bash another person continuously. You can be firm on not letting
them belittle a teacher or student, but allow them to vent without being disrespectful to another
person. Be willing to go the next step in helping them resolve their issue. Sometimes that might be
mediating between two students who have had a disagreement. Sometimes it might be having a
discussion with a teacher to get his side of a story and then relaying that to the parent. It all begins with
listening.

7. Visionary

Education is ever-evolving. There is always something bigger and better available. If you are not
attempting to improve your school, you are not doing your job. This will always be an ongoing process.
Even if you have been at a school for 15 years, there are still things you can do to improve the overall
quality of your school.

Each individual component is a working part of the larger framework of the school. Each of those
components needs to be oiled every once in a while. You may have to replace a part that is not working.
Occasionally you may even able to upgrade an existing part that was doing its job because something
better was developed. You never want to be stale. Even your best teachers can get better. It is your job
to see that no one gets comfortable and that everyone is working to improve continuously.

3rd Paragraph : Good teachers need to feel supported. They need to believe that when they have an
issue in their classroom, they will get the help they need. According to a survey of the Detroit Federation
of Teachers, a third of the more than 300 teachers who resigned in 1997–98 did so due to lack of
administrative support. This situation has not changed much in the past two decades. This is not to say
that principals should blindly back teachers without using their judgment. Teachers are human beings
who make mistakes, too. Nonetheless, the overall feeling from the principal should be one of belief and
support.

4th Paragraph : Leadership

In this topic assigned to me, I have realized that being a Principal is a great responsibility. Principals
often view leadership and management as two different roles, but the most effective principals know
how to blend the two. Included: Tips for combining leadership and management skills to be a more
effective administrator.

Successful principals learn to seamlessly blend their roles as managers and leaders and understand the
importance of both tasks, according to educators, authors, and consultants Dr. Harvey Alvy and Dr. Pam
Robbins. The pair, co-authors of The New Principal's Fieldbook: Strategies for Success once led a session
on this topic at the convention of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

"Principals are responsible for both leadership and management," said Dr. Alvy, a former principal and
professor in the department of education at Eastern Washington University. "A lot of principals separate
the two roles and do not realize how the roles go hand-in-hand."

Many leaders view management responsibilities at a lower level or lower "rank" because they have little
to do with vision, mission, culture building, and instructional supervision, according to Dr. Alvy. But
management goes hand-in-hand with leadership; many of the culture-building and culture-shaping
aspects of the job are accomplished through combining leadership and management.

How to Lead and Manage

For example, when a principal is "monitoring" student dismissal at 3 p.m., that responsibility should be
viewed as both management and leadership, Dr. Alvy said, because the principal is making sure students
are safe as they are leaving school and taking the opportunity to talk with students, teachers, and bus
drivers about the day and important educational issues -- such as, "Monica, I heard you did great on
your math test yesterday; well done!"
In assessing their skills as managers and leaders, administrators should not separate the two roles, Dr.
Alvy added.

"It is hard to determine [a principal's success in those roles] unless a principal has a clear vision and
mission of his or her job -- one that is focused on instructional leadership," he noted. "We cannot
determine if we are successful unless we have a target or standard to judge our performance. The
leadership vision needs to be about helping students succeed academically and as citizens, and helping
faculty and staff develop as professionals with a common vision and mission about school and student
success. Based on the vision and mission the leader needs to set goals, and assess whether the goals
have been addressed during the year."

According to Dr. Alvy and Dr. Robbins, successful school leaders combine management and leadership
strategies effectively by maximizing quality instructional time, using data, managing their time
effectively, using faculty meetings to leverage professional learning, and reflecting.

"Also consider the emotional needs of the child," Dr. Robbins said. "You need to build heart into the
school plan. Remember heart in the equation of learning."

According to Robbins, one principal noticed a few months before graduation that certain kids were at
risk of not graduating. So the principal ordered graduation robes early and took pictures of the kids in
the robes, put them in frames, and gave them to the kids. "That inspired many of them to complete
school."

I have learned that being a principal, I need to study hard. By studying hard, I mean that I need to
observe successful school heads and how they are able to manage the schools assigned to them and
learn how to deal with different kinds of teachers. I have to be wise in using human and non-human
resources. The talents and skills of the teachers around me should be maximized. I should be able to see
through the teachers and their capabilities and be the one who is always there to support them in any
activity they are inclined. Another is the time and financial resources. I have to learn more not only in
how to deal with human resources but also in how to manage school funds and how to use the other
non human resources so that corruption and financial lack will be avoided. Also, I have to read more
articles on school management on staff development so that I can deal with the staff and their work
flow so that there will be a harmonious relationships between us.