The Modern Principal Podcast

Hiring a teacher is arguably the most important role of the administrator. SO much goes into the hiring process-  from reviewing resumes, to developing the interview team, to the questions to the reference checks! Join us this week as we conquer part one of a three-part series on the view from the other side of the interviewing desk. We tackle the work of resume review, creating the interview team...

Christy and Karen discuss the pros and cons of the long or short of a commute. With both of us having commutes ranging from 90 seconds to over 2 hours, we've seen the benefits and drawbacks of all things driving to work! Join us this episode to share strategies to maximize your commute, ways to think about work happiness over the commute itself, and several different scenarios related to decision-...

This week's pod topic comes from a listener who just wants to know, "What do you do to survive each day and come back the next?" We know it's tough right now, but there are things we can do to overcome! Check out this episode for practical tips on getting through those times that feel like everything is on fire. 

Karen and Christy tackle the ever-popular topic of working mom balance in a much-requested follow-up to our past episode, "The Elusive Unicorn of Work/Life Balance." We tackle the topic from a more holistic perspective this time around and hope that if you take one thing away it's that we are all human and still figuring it out! 

Teachers routinely say one of the main things they are looking for in a principal is communication. But that's a BIG topic, so what exactly does that mean?! Christy and Karen tackle just that on this week's pod episode. We share resources from NSPRA as well as from our own experiences in the job. We go into the different ways principals communicate, and it's not just through what we say. Join us t...

It's hiring season! In this week's pod, we share some of our best resume and interview tips from our live workshops if you're looking to change roles in education. We discuss making your resume shine, nailing the interview, and how to stand out in your current role. 

We've all been there - your boss makes a decision you disagree with. Or maybe you're the boss heading in the wrong direction. This week on the pod, Karen and Christy dive into how to disagree with your boss respectfully and make the change you think needs to happen! 

Are all failures and mistakes created equally? This week on the Modern Principal Podcast, Christy & Karen discuss some important life lessons we've learned in leadership and how those have guided the leaders we are still working to become today. Learn from our missteps in this episode and discover how you can move forward even after a failure!

In this recap episode, Karen & Christy reflect on 2021 and all the grand plans we laid out that may or may not have come to fruition. We discuss the crisis in education now with the stress facing our educators and the toll it is taking on people's mental and physical health. We hope you'll join us for this episode and this year as we drop more pods to guide you on your leadership journey!

This week we continue our focus on leading reading in your school, chatting through the common missteps Karen and Christy have both taken while focusing on implementing a reading initiative. Ever so often, our goal to strengthen one of the five pillars of reading and writing instruction causes the pendulum to swing and weakens another area. Covered in this pod is how to make sure balanced literacy...

In this mini-pod, Karen and Christy walk you through the benefits of Just Right Reader! Check them out for all of your decodeable text, phonics continuum, and building-and-district-level needs! www.justrightreader.com - Tell them The Modern Principal sent you! 

In this four-part series, Karen and Christy will walk you through our instructional leadership mistakes in reading! This episode begins with a story of a classic mistake of putting the resource before the research which causes a disconnect between leaders, staff, and, ultimately, students. Listen in! 

What do you do when someone screenshots and sends you a post on social media that is complaining about your school or staff? What do you do when it feels so personal? This week, on the podcast, we discuss this very scenario. Step one is to be proactive with your social media post. If you aren't telling the story of your school, someone else will! We discuss various systems to help with that, as we...

As a building leader, we often think we need to prioritize our instructional leadership roles above all else. But without a strong organizational systems in place for your school, time will slowly get away from you and you may feel like you are doing nothing right! This week on the pod, Christy and Karen talk through the various ways they manage the day-to-day, more like week-to-week, tasks so tha...

In this episode, Christy & Karen take on a scenario from a building title reading/instructional coach who is assigned a new-to-her building and finding she is putting out fires and subbing in classrooms instead of the job she felt she was hired to do. We work through how to create connectedness to a new team and a new role--even when the work you find yourself doing isn't what you signed up to do!...

You work hard as the administrator and building leader to set the tone for a positive and supportive staff culture. But what about when one or two teachers consistently don't buy in and push back against the work of your team? Join Christy and Karen this week as we tackle two separate topics in this giant topic--first we briefly chat through bringing change to a culture and what it means to set th...

Things pop up every day at work and sometimes you just need the advice of someone else...but who? Where do you turn and how can you be sure who to trust?! This week on the pod, Karen and Christy deep dive different mindsets to take into building collegial relationships with those in your same role! We cover tips to consider when developing trust with colleagues, boundaries to establish, avoiding s...

Year 3 of the pandemic and going strong...wait a minute. Not so fast. We are tired. Teachers are tired and fatigue is setting in. It's a hard place to be at the start of a school year. On the pod this week, Karen and Christy tackle the burnout our teachers and school staff are facing while working harder than ever in a pandemic. We discuss ways to filter the new demands being added to teachers' pl...

Isn't it the worst? You are just starting to find your confidence as a leader or in your skill and then BAM...a failure hits or someone doubts your abilities and it all comes crumbling down in your head. Good thing is, you aren't alone. And that is actually comforting to know! This week on the pod, Karen and Christy take a shot at vulnerability and lay it all out there about how we've struggled wi...

This week, Karen and Christy tackle the monstrous planning that is the back to school preservice professional development for teachers. We deep dive on how to think of the PD time as a production, connecting everyone to the heart of the work we are going to do as well as the intentions we need for the year. We also discuss how to keep the sessions lively while also valuing teachers time! We hope y...

This week on the podcast, Karen and Christy dive into the relationship between principal and building instructional coach and share how to set the role up for success!

On this episode of the pod, Karen and Christy dive into instructional feedback, which can be hard to prioritize with the last-minute fires that seem to pop up all day. However, instructional feedback is one of our #1 priorities as principals, and by using scholar, system, and soul, you can make it happen each day!

In this week's pod, Karen and Christy tackle a scenario from a newly-appointed principal who is stuck between knowing exactly what to do and also being paralyzed with indecision in regards to her first staff email. This episode aims to share the many facets of introducing yourself to a new staff to ensure you're conveying your priorities, professionalism, and the personal side.   

In this pod, principals Karen and Christy tackle one of their most-asked questions: "What do you do in the summer to prepare for the fall?" They'll use their 3-pronged approach of scholar, systems, and soul to talk through preparing committees, 2-way feedback, setting calendars, and more! 

A brand new principal is assigned a building with a highly divided staff. Building climate can be a deterring factor for student and staff achievement and overall joy in the workplace. The culture matters. But how does the new principal come in and address the 'elephant' in the room of the divided staff without further alienating members of the team? This week on the pod, Karen and Christy tackle...