Ten Ways to Not Make Mistakes as a School Principal

• Always try to find a happy medium when working with staff and families regarding complex problems.

• Announce all of your classroom visits and observations. That way teachers will have a heads up when you are coming and will be better prepared for instruction.

• In your newsletters to families, avoid writing about topics beyond appopriate clothing for the seasons, upcoming school events, and generic forms of praise.

• Don't ever veer from the student handbook regarding attendance and student discipline, regardless of the circumstances or context.

• Allow faculty issues to fester until it comes to head, and then swoop in to solve it for them.

• Avoid the staff lounge for fear of catching unpleasant remarks about you or your performance as a principal.

• Make no moves forward right away with an initiative to allow all staff members to feel more comfortable with the possibility of change.

• Attend every teacher/team meeting and take copious notes. This will ensure that there are no surprises and conversations run smoothly.

• Expect that teachers stick closely to the prescribed programs and collect weekly lesson plans. This way, the curriculum will be delivered with fidelity.

• Have an open door policy so you can drop everything you are doing when someone stops in and asks if you've got a minute.

(This post is satirical, of course. Avoidance and black-and-white thinking may be less demanding cognitively, but the results are often worse than if we had acted. We were hired to be leaders and learners. So - lead and learn!)