AWSP Blog

If you think principaling was tough before COVID19, what about now? If we kill the will of our principals by not addressing the workload, stress and increasing demands, then our kids and schools will suffer the consequences through a constant turnover of school leaders. LPI's research highlights the obvious, principals are fighting to survive. But their research also recommends some action we can all take to breathe hope into the system for one of our most precious resources - principals and assistant principals.

As I look to the future of our education system, I challenge all the thought leaders, policy makers, and educational leaders to think differently as we redesign our new approach to serving kids. Whether we are still operating under a distance learning model, blended model, or back to some version of brick and mortar, can we prioritize relationships above all else? Can we build everything around creating time for students and adults to find, build, and sustain meaningful relationships that create hope for everyone involved?

In our massive shift to remote learning, and in the spirit of being a continuous learner, I’ve been trying to learn more about online learning. What are effective ways to teach students online? How do we structure communication (including instruction and feedback) to students via computers or phones? And what are some strategies that AWSP can share with principals as they shift to becoming digital principals who are responsible for managing their culture, systems, and learning in their (now) remote buildings.

One unforeseen consequence of a statewide closure has been the massive forced push for all of us to engage in the virtual meeting space. We might have dabbled before in Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, and Microsoft Teams, but now we are all exceeding standard. AWSP is offering weekly Office Hours for members to engage with with the AWSP Executive Team and K-12 principals from all over the state. This is a wide open session of give and take, but more importantly, to hear our members (principals, assistant principals and other school leaders) share challenges, successes, and barriers they are facing as newly assigned digital leaders. It is so incredible to watch these natural and organic conversations take off each week that I find myself thinking, "Why didn't we do this sooner?"

Principaling has always been difficult, but now the role building leaders play in our system has grown exponentially, even though they are not leading a physical building. Principals sit in the middle of policy (state and district) and practice (what happens in the classroom) and are expected to answer to both sides of the sandwich. If being in the middle was a challenge before, what's it feel like to be a digital principal in the sandwich now?