A Quick Note to Listeners: Before this week’s interview, Jen Schwanke and Will Parker take some time to answer a listener question. This week’s question is: How do we balance the expectations and challenges of system-wide leadership vs. site-specific leadership? Listen in to hear their response! Meet Kate Anderson Foley, Ph.D. Kate Anderson Foley, …

Welcome back to another episode of Monday Matters! This week, Will Parker and Jen Schwanke take some time to have a conversation about the use of AI in public schools. They talk about how AI has blown up and the ways that it is impacting education. One concern about AI that is often cited is that teachers are very concerned about cheating through u…

Meet Darrin Peppard: Dr. Darrin Peppard is a dynamic keynote speaker, leadership expert, and consultant with a passion for transforming organizational culture and developing the next generation of leaders. A former award-winning principal, Darrin draws from nearly 30 years of experience in education to inspire leaders to embrace clarity, purpose, a…

In this week’s episode of Monday Matters, Will Parker and Jen Schwanke take some time to highlight the extraordinary skills of school leaders. Using the image of a Swiss Army Knife, Will and Jen tie that image to the image of the job description of a school principal. The job of a principal often requires school leaders to navigate a multitude of s…

A Quick Note to Listeners: Before this week’s episode, Will and Jen take some time to answer a listener question. This week’s question is: How do I face a team of teachers who resist collaborating and like to “admire the problems” more than look for solutions? Listen in to hear their response! Meet Tyler Comeau: Today, we have a truly inspiring gue…

In this week’s episode of Monday Matters, Will Parker and Jen Schwanke discuss the challenges that school leaders face as they navigate both the mundane and complex aspects of their job. They offer advice on how to lead through the ordinary and fight boredom in the job of a school leader by reconnecting to one’s purpose and finding joy in the day t…

A Quick Note to Listeners: Before this week’s interview, Will Parker and Jen Schwanke take some time to answer a listener question. This week’s question is: Do I HAVE to appease parents? How can I shut down a cycle of unproductive conversation? (I’m referring to the most unreasonable situations) Listen in to hear their response! Meet Dr. Brandi Kel…

Welcome back to another episode of Monday Matters! This week, Jen Schwanke and I are talking about a post Jen wrote for her newsletter about staff meetings. Running a staff meeting can be a daunting task! We hope that this episode will provide principals with ideas to run staff meetings in a way that makes sure all staff members are engaged. Listen…

A Note to Listeners: Before this week’s interview, Will Parker and Jen Schwanke take some time to answer a listener question. This week’s question is: What tips do you have for someone transitioning to a support role without specifically defined responsibilities? Listen in to hear their response! Meet Tim Villegas: Tim Villegas is the Director of C…

This week on Monday Matters, Will Parker and Jen Schwanke discuss the article below written by Will about left brain and right brain leadership. Listen in to hear their conversation! Left Brain and Right Brain Leadership, by William D. Parker There’s an old ad from Mercedes-Benz that shows an illustration of the human brain divided left and right. …

Meet Crystal Williams: Crystal Williams is a dedicated instructional leader with 20 years of experience, currently serving as a District Literacy Coach in Houston, Texas. Originally from Albuquerque, NM, she holds a BA in Psychology and MA in Elementary Education. Now in her sixth year as an instructional coach, Crystal is passionate about equity, …

This week on Monday Matters, Jen Schwanke and Will Parker discuss a post written by Will. Check out the post below and listen in to hear their thoughts on it! Random Moments, Major Outcomes by Will Parker I recently listened to an insightful episode of Hidden Brain that really provoked my thinking. In the interview, […] The post MONDAY MATTERS with…

A Quick Note to Listeners: Before this week’s episode, Will and Jen take some time to answer the following listener question: Is achievement only dependent on the perfect leader happening along at the perfect time? Listen in to hear their response! Meet Tony Frontier: Tony Frontier, PhD, is an award-winning educator, author, and consultant who […] …

This week on Monday Matters, Jen Schwanke and I discuss happiness among educators. We cover an article by Elizabeth Dampf, The Cost of Happiness, and Jen talks about some articles she has written about joy in educators. School leaders face a lot of stress on the job. We spend a lot of time pouring into […] The post MONDAY MATTERS with Jen Schwanke …

A quick note to listeners: Before this week’s interview, Jen Schwanke and Will Parker take a few minutes to discuss the following question: What is missing that keeps every school from moving forward at high levels all the time? Listen in to hear their response! Meet Danny Bauer: Daniel Bauer is the founder of Better […] The post PMP467: Being a Ru…

Welcome back to another episode of Monday Matters! This week, join Will Parker and Jen Schwanke for the final discussion about Jen’s new book, Trusted: Trust Pillars, Trust Killers, and the Secret to Successful Schools. Chapter 7 is about self-trust for principals. The work of a principal is inherently very self critical. When a principal […] The p…

LaDonna Chancellor is the Executive Director of Teaching and Learning for Bartlesville Public Schools in Oklahoma. With over 25 years in education, she began as a special education teacher, later serving as assistant principal and principal at Central Middle School and Bartlesville High School. As a high school principal, she led major transitions,…

This week on Monday Matters, Jen Schwanke and Will Parker are talking about building trust with students. Their conversation is a follow-up to last week’s episode, where they talk about what kills trust with students. If you haven’t already listened to that episode, go back and give it a listen! Building trust with students is the […] The post MOND…

Derek is the principal of Alleghany High School in Covington, Virginia, where he led the merger of two rival schools into a unified school community. Instead of allowing division to define the transition, he focused on building culture first, ensuring students, staff, and the community had a voice in shaping a new identity under a […] The post PMP4…

Happy Monday Principal Matters listeners! This week, Will Parker and Jen Schwanke are discussing a topic from Jen Schwanke’s new book, Trusted: Trust Pillars, Trust Killers, and the Secret to Successful Schools. Today’s conversation is part one of a two part conversation about building trust with students. Building trust with students is an essenti…

Welcome back to another episode of Principal Matters Podcast! This week’s episode is a little different than our regularly scheduled content. A few months ago, Will Parker joined Dr. Jen Schwanke’s class on human capital management at Ohio State University to answer their questions about school leadership. This class is made up of students who […] …

This week on Monday Matters, Will Parker and Jen Schwanke talk more about a concept from Jen’s new book, Trusted: Trust Pillars, Trust Killers, and the Secret to Successful Schools. The topic of conversation this week is building trust with parents. Jen shares several components that are key to schools building a trusting relationship with […] The …

A quick note to listeners: Before this week’s interview, Jen Schwanke and Will Parker take a few minutes to discuss the following question: What feedback do you have for an AP who feels like they are carrying all the weight of the Principal? Listen in to hear their response! Leaning into Leadership with Darrin Peppard: […] The post PMP463: Leaning …

Welcome back to another episode of Monday Matters! This week, Will Parker and Jen Schwanke are talking about building trust with teachers. Competency, openness, and honesty are three key building blocks to building trust with teachers. Teachers feeling that their principal is competent is key to having a trusting relationship between teachers and p…

A quick note to listeners: Before this week’s interview, Jen Schwanke and Will Parker take a few minutes to share some feedback that Will has recently received after a PD session with teachers and staff. Listen in to hear their conversation! Meet Kim Marshall and Jenn David-Lang: Kim Marshall is a veteran educator and writer […] The post PMP462: Su…