Kristal L. Pollard

Mannsdale Elementary School
Madison, Mississippi
kpollard@madison-schools.com

Best Practices

1) Engage with Professional Learning Network: My growth as a leader has involved connecting with other leaders all over the country through online platforms. Many of the connections I have made with principals. instructional coaches. and superintendents has evolved because of my participation in Twitter chats, virtual PD for school leaders, and online webinars. My regular participation in live Twitter Virtual AP Academy presented by Principal Baruti Kafele has also helped me for connections. Last summer, a colleague in Texas and I started a weekly Twitter chat called the Read to Lead Book Club. A group of about 15 administrators would read leadership books during the summer and had Twitter chats about the books to engage and collaborate in deeper discussion and reflection.

2) Read Books About Leadership (both inside and outside the field of educational leadership): I have always enjoyed reading. My role as assistant principal has combined my passions for reading and for leadership for the past 5 years. I am always looking for new books in leadership to read to stay up to date with best practices for distinguished leaders and well-known authors in the field. I have read many of Todd Whitaker’s books including Shifting the Monkey and What Great Principals Do Differently. I read John Maxwell’s How Successful People Lead and The Wild Card by Hope and Wade King. My recent reading includes Principal Baruti Kafele’s Is My School Better BECAUSE I Lead It? and The Aspiring Principal 50: Critical Questions for New and Future School Leaders. I will continue to seek new book recommendations as continue as assistant principal and pursue the principalship.