William D. Parker is the executive director of Oklahoma’s Association of Secondary Principals and Oklahoma’s Middle Level Educator Association. He is the former principal of Skiatook High School in Oklahoma.
This entry is the sixth in a blog series called Pandemic Response and Educational Practices (PREP), which aims to highlight and further the important work educators are doing amid the worldwide COVID-19 crisis.
Based on Messaging Matters.
One recent morning, I was running a three-mile track around my neighborhood. As I passed the houses and occasional drivers, I felt a sudden kinship to my neighbors that I’m not sure I’ve felt before. Read more
Five years ago, after I was named Oklahoma’s Assistant Principal of the Year, I had been asked to present at graduate classes or workshops. I realized I had a learned a lot of valuable lessons to share from my years as a school administrator. I began to ask myself how I could find more opportunities to train, teach, or share with aspiring school leaders. Read more
A few nights ago, I was sitting on the couch with my wife, Missy, when our four children slowly made their way into the living room. Our lives are so busy with three teenage girls and an eleven-year-old boy that we rarely find time to all just “be together” these days. Emily, our oldest, came and sat on the floor so she could get “mommy scratches” while she played on her iPhone. Mattie, our second oldest, was across the room. She had placed her laptop on the piano bench with a video of dancers from the musical Beauty and the Beast, and she danced along, practicing moves. Read more
William D. Parker
