Steady and Strong

People Skills for Principals

By (author) Russ Thompson

Publication date:

16 November 2010

Length of book:

164 pages

Publisher

R&L Education

Dimensions:

241x162mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781607099758

In Steady and Strong: People Skills for Principals, Russ Thompson describes his experiences as the successful principal of three urban high schools. The challenges he faced ranged from gang activity and racial conflicts, to low expectations and ineffective teaching. Most of these challenges involved people issues. No matter what went wrong, he had to find a way to overcome obstacles and keep moving forward. Thompson takes you behind the scenes to learn from his mistakes and examine the strategies he used to solve problems and make improvements. He also provides important tools that will help you to achieve success and create a school where every student learns at high levels every day.

Part 1 Acknowledgements
Chapter 2 Introduction
Part 3 Part One: Discipline
Chapter 4 Are You Going to Quit Too?
Chapter 5 Class Time Was Like Lunch Time
Chapter 6 It Was the Best He Had Seen
Chapter 7 Saturday School
Chapter 8 The First Award of His Entire Life
Chapter 9 After School
Chapter 10 It Was Almost a Real Emergency
Chapter 11 Riot
Part 12 Part Two: Leadership
Chapter 13 Always Watching You
Chapter 14 Priorities
Chapter 15 Also Listen to the Quiet Voices
Chapter 16 We Are Not as Bad As...
Chapter 17 Making People Happy Is Not Your Job
Chapter 18 I Went Over to My Shelf
Chapter 19 Pick Up the Phone
Chapter 20 A Leader Who Got Things Done
Chapter 21 The Learning in Classrooms
Chapter 22 The Real Problem
Chapter 23 I Had Firmly Believed
Chapter 24 It Is People Who Solve Problems
Chapter 25 The Right Kind of Faculty Meeting
Chapter 26 Focus on the Solutions
Chapter 27 Now We Are a Good School
Part 28 Part Three: Management
Chapter 29 So Wrong
Chapter 30 The Foundation of Your Entire School
Chapter 31 You Have to Go Out and Look for Problems
Chapter 32 Tragedy
Chapter 33 Another Tragedy
Chapter 34 Exhaustion
Chapter 35 The Best Way to Spend Your Time
Chapter 36 It Is Not a Perfect World
Chapter 37 Almost a Disaster
Chapter 38 Delegation
Chapter 39 Delegation Gone Bad
Chapter 40 Deadlines
Chapter 41 Ask Questions
Chapter 42 It Was His First Day
Chapter 43 The Real Answer
Chapter 44 What to Fix First
Chapter 45 Will It Help Students Learn Better?
Chapter 46 What Do I Do Now?
Chapter 47 Phone Calls
Chapter 48 The Entire Contract
Chapter 49 A Sacrifice You Must Make
Part 50 Part Four: People
Chapter 51 In the Middle of Kids
Chapter 52 A Positive Learning Environment
Chapter 53 It Was Distorted and Very Negative
Chapter 54 A Mistake I Could Not Fix
Chapter 55 You Must Also Be Persuasive
Chapter 56 Take Time with People
Chapter 57 Saved by a Tape Recorder
Chapter 58 It's Who Listens that Counts
Chapter 59 It Happened Behind My Back
Chapter 60 He Lied to Me and I Believed Him
Chapter 61 I Was Highly Upset
Chapter 62 Gossip
Chapter 63 Don't Say It
Chapter 64 Delay Makes It Worse
Chapter 65 Talk to the Person in Person
Chapter 66 Target Practice
Chapter 67 Ask for Advice
Chapter 68 A Very Big Difference
Chapter 69 Remember the Positives
Chapter 70 Steady and Strong
Part 71 Index
Part 72 About the Author

I enjoyed every part of this book. It has good suggestions for principals on effective leadership. I wish I could have read it before I became a principal.