Juggling the Job

Hiring teachers and other staff members may be the most important job a principal has and right now many of you are hopeful you made the right decisions over the summer. If you have done as much hiring as I have, you probably have made at least a few hires that did not work out as planned, but hopefully you also have a great track record of hiring well. As school starts this year, what are things you are looking for in your staff, especially those new to your building, that let's you know they are off to a good start? Have you told them what you expect?

Great principals take hiring seriously but they also work hard to identify strengths and weaknesses once they are on the job. The sooner, the better. This will allow you and your campus to get off to a great start this year. Supporting and building the capacity of your staff can pay huge future dividends.

I hope you will consider your new teachers through the perspective of Juggling the Job:

• Instructional Leader - What do you expect from your new teachers during the first few days of school?
• Servant Leader - Can you take a novice teacher into an “experts" classroom this week just to observe a master at work?
  
• Learning Leader - Find a book (one you already own) and share it with a new teacher and possibly give them two things you remember about it and how it helped you.
• Communicator (Storyteller) - Consider your own first year of teaching. What is a humorous story you would consider sharing with your staff?
• Celebrator & Reflector - As your new staff members complete their first few days of school, how might you celebrate or recognize them?

This is a great book for novice teachers and also those mentoring or supervising them. The authors create a user friendly format that provides practical ideas to implement in the classroom as well as helping to provide guidance on managing the rollercoaster that is the school year.

One of the things that I like best about this book is that it chunks the learning into four sections: Section 1 - The Anticipation and First Interaction (July, August, September); Section 2 - When the Going Get Tough (October, November, December); Section 3 - The Tough Get Going (January, February, March); and Section 4 - Are We There Yet? (April, May, June). This servers to walk new teachers through a full first year without being overwhelmed by trying to do everything all at once. The reflective activities in the book are great for a teacher to use by themselves, working with a mentor, or as part of an induction program.

I have published two books, Inside the Principal's Office (2021) and Juggling the Job (2025). Both were written for school leaders, aspiring administrators, and those who supervise them. You can purchase either one of them by clicking the appropriate link below. Thank you for your support.

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