TL;DR:

• October is National Principals Month!
• Consider ways you can show appreciation to your principal this month.

Did you know that October is National Principals Month? Whether or not you’ve been in or are currently in this role, many people aren’t aware that October is the month to celebrate your school’s lead learner, head honcho, and person in charge.

Show Your Appreciation

There is actually a website dedicated to all things National Principals Month. There, you will find ways to celebrate your principal. If you are the principal, you can include your assistant principal(s) in the celebration. Through this site, you can send your principal an e-card, plan a celebration, and participate in a social media contest with other schools.

Think of all the things your principal had to endure last year (and still this year) with the contact tracing, pivoting on a dime, and making sure staff were comfortable when they returned to in-person learning. Click To Tweet

Shout Out the School’s Leadership

Think of all the things your principal had to endure last year (and still this year) with the contact tracing, pivoting on a dime, and making sure staff were comfortable when they returned to in-person learning, just to name a few.

When was the last time you gave your principal a shout-out? We often think of ways to appreciate the staff. But do we also think about the person who is in charge of the building and so much more?

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Where You Can Get Swag/Appreciation Ideas

Several swag vendors such as Positive Promotions offer gift ideas to show your appreciation. Just as administrators and administrative assistants focus on teachers in May, think about how you can show your appreciation to the principal (and assistants, as well!). Perhaps grade-level teams and/or departments can come up with which principal they will shower with gifts during the month of October. Erin Weber on Pinterest also has several principal appreciation ideas.

Starting a New Tradition

Whether or not you spend the whole month of October showing your principal appreciation, or decide to condense it into a week or two, we can all agree that we need to recognize your school leaders for all they do. If your school hasn’t yet celebrated National Principals Month, hopefully this blog post will prompt you to start this year!

Feel free to tag me @danagoodier with photos of how your school is showing your principal appreciation this year! Include #TeachBetter #TBBlogger in your post!

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About Dana Goodier

Dr. Dana Goodier has 20 years of experience in education. She has taught World Languages and English and worked as a middle school administrator. She completed her doctorate degree (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership early 2020. For her dissertation, she researched reasons parents were opting their students out of high-stakes testing at middle schools and how that affected the district accreditation rating. She often speaks at conferences, providing educators with techniques to minimize off-task behavior and to increase time on task. She is the host of the “Out of the Trenches” podcast, which features educators who share their stories of resiliency. Follow her on Twitter @danagoodier and visit her website at: www.danagoodier.com