Have a Good Life

In this episode, I am priveleged to interview Doug Hallenbeck. Doug was recently named the Assistant Principal of the year from the Utah Association of Secondary School Principals. Doug has worked under four really great principals and he shares some great insight about how to be an amazing assistant principal.

I wanted to interview Doug because he has a great story. He is a thoughtful, caring, and transformative leader. He has been a guiding force in our district since its inception. We are very fortunate to work with him.

In this first part of the interview, Doug discusses:

• How he got to where he is.
• How he manages working under someone who has a different leadership style and may make different decisions than he.
• The mentors that have helped him become a better leader.
• Why he turned down a principalship and stayed as an assistant.
• Advice for new principals from his perspective as an Assistant Principal.

You'll really enjoy this interview with Doug. He is amazing.

Let's make sure to give him a few hundred more followers on Twitter. He is @Hallen100.

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In this second part of the interview with Jeff Paul, we will learn about:

• How he handles the stress of being a principal
• How you can be a transformative principal
• Why you should follow the people below on Twitter
• The special thing in his office

Jeff says these are the twitter accounts to follow:

@williamparker, @KleinErin, @@principalspage (MichaelSmithSupt), @ToddWhitaker, @educationweek, @NMHS_Principal (Eric Sheninger), @drjolly (Darin Jolly), @principalJ, @andygreene.

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Jethro is joined by Jeff Paul (@okprincipal), principal of Smith Elementary, where he had the unique opportunity to take over for a principal who had been there for the previous 25 years! 

In this part of the two-part interview, Jeff talks about the challenges and positives associated with his unique situation. He also talks about the evaluation system his district recently started. 

I hope you enjoy this. Please tweet, post on facebook, or email to share it with your principal friends. 

Also, if you have someone that you think is a transformative principal, please let me know who they are by emailing me at jethro.jones@gmail.com. Or you can hit me up on twitter @jethrojones. 

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I listened to the podcast Staff Loungin’ where the Rockstar Principals were guests. They were discussing the “accountability movement” in education. The host of the podcast mentioned that Arne Duncan and Michelle Rhee scared him (and that the accountability movement was also scary) and then Jon and Nick both said that they appreciate it.

This is just my opinion, but it seems that teachers dislike the accountability movement because they know that their kids are learning every day, so it seems asinine to have so much pressure to prove their learning on high-stakes tests. It seems that administrators and those higher up like the accountability movement better because they don’t know that kids are learning every day, because they don’t see it as much. I know for me, I like accountability and data because I can see from a bird’s eye view what is going on and why. That is important to me. As you get higher up, I can certainly see why and how the accountability movement is so vital.

What do you think? Am I off base here? Or does the distance from the classroom encourage the accountability requirements?

Have a Good Life.

Sandra is a great principal at Sandy Elementary. She has received numerous awards in her 7 years as an administrator:

• Community Leader of the Year 
• Rookie of the Year 
• Distinguished Principal of the Year 
• CITES Recognition 
• National Board Certified Teacher

And, she is pretty much always being praised and recognized by her peers. I am fortunate to be able to work with her.

Here is Sandy’s web site and Twitter.

Big Goals: Wants to make people feel like they are at home-that her school is a family. Wants to be with the children as much as possible. Wants to provide a holistic education, especially to her disadvantaged students.

It is interesting to hear that she strives to really know her students, but is ok with not knowing every student’s name. I find this fascinating. In the last episode, Dr. Villar was very focused on knowing every student’s name. I don’t know that either way is the best method, but I do believe that their intent is the same. They both want their students to know that they are cared for and feel safe. That is what matters.

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