Educational Leadership with Principal JL
Principal JL is an educational leader who explores various topics facing educational leaders today! The Mission of this podcast is to inform and inspire other Educational Leaders on how to be their best for their Schools by honing their skills and talents so they may impact their teachers, staff members, students, parents/guardians, and community members positively for their School District! Come with a Growth Mindset as we journey through Educational Leadership!
Educational Leadership with Principal JL
Episode 14: From the Classroom to Princfluencer: The Principal Mo Story!
Can social media actually transform the way school principals connect with their communities? Join us as we uncover the remarkable journey of Principal Mo, a trailblazer in educational leadership, who is redefining what it means to be a school principal in the digital age. With prestigious accolades like the 2020 Heart of Schools Award and the Maryland Association of Elementary Schools Connected School Leader Award under her belt, Principal Mo shares her incredible path from teacher to award-winning leader, and how she uses platforms like TikTok to engage and inspire. Her innovative approach offers a fresh perspective on integrating technology and social media to build vibrant and inclusive school communities.
We explore the exciting intersection of technology and education through Principal Mo's visionary use of AI to enhance decision-making and reduce administrative burdens. Imagine a world where school leaders focus more on people than paperwork! Principal Mo reveals how AI tools like ChatGPT and Canva's AI features can transform everyday educational tasks, freeing up time for creativity and personal interaction. We also discuss how her unique hobbies, including DJing and sneaker collecting, contribute to her dynamic leadership style, bringing a sense of balance and energy to her role.
Principal Mo’s story is one of unconventional thinking and bold leadership. We delve into her philosophy of challenging traditional educational practices and embracing risk to foster a more dynamic learning environment. By leveraging the strengths of her staff and taking cues from students, she creates a culture of innovation and inclusion. Principal Mo's journey is not just about leading schools; it's about revolutionizing them. Tune in to discover how you, too, can break away from conventional methods and join a movement of educational leaders dedicated to making a real difference.
Like Deion Sanders, Principal Mo "Ain't Hard to Find"! Follow her on Tik Tok, Instagram, X, Threads, Linked In, and Blue Sky. Simply Search, @principal_mo or Principal_Mo. Principal Mo's New Website!
Let's Get Social and Connect by following Principal JL by clicking on these Links: Facebook, Tik Tok, Instagram, Threads, X, and Substack
Email: the.principal.jl@gmail.com
Hey there, educational leaders, I am so excited to bring you guys this episode, this episode. I got to sit down with an award-winning educator, a nationally certified principal mentor and a bona fide trailblazer in the world of educational leadership. She has over 15 years of experience. She's done it from you, you know teaching, special education, school administration. She's done it at all these different levels and she's had a lot of innovation and heart. That's second to none. Yes, I'm talking about the famous Principal Mo today on our podcast. So excited, she's also racked up some serious hardware. She was named the 2020 Heart of Schools Award Honoree and earning the Maryland Association of Elementary Schools Connected School Leader Award for her cutting-edge leadership.
Principal JL:Let's not forget, principal Mo is the mastermind behind transformative initiatives like accelerated learning, gifted and talented programming, arts integration and STEM education. You know, if it's making waves in education, you bet Principal Mo is at the forefront of it all. But this is where things get really exciting. Throughout our episode, we talked about a lot of her educational leadership kind of how she sees educational leadership, but she also talks about bringing in artificial intelligence into school leadership, how she can use AI to empower educators, to harness cutting edge tech to streamline operations and to make smarter decisions. So she gives a lot of great insights about that today in this episode. And let's not forget Principal Mo is an outstanding leader and she's committed to equality and inclusion. She believes that all students can learn and achieve and she spends her career building supportive, inspiring school communities that reflect that. Did I mention that she's a TikTok sensation? Yeah, that's right. She connects with educators and parents and students in a whole new level, being creative with humor. Insights on the social media world that's right.
Principal JL:We have the one and only Principal Mo here on the Educational Leadership Podcast, so sit back. I hope you guys really enjoy the conversation as much as I did. All right, everybody, this is Principal JL Today. I'm really excited to have Principal Mo in the building today. We're actually on a restream here that we're recording, and so welcome Principal Mo to the podcast. Thank you for having me. All right, principal Mo, we're going to get things rocking here. Why education? Why step into this wonderful, beautiful, messy world of education and what?
Principal Mo:inspires you to become a teacher. Well, it wasn't so messy when I joined and you know, in yesteryear it wasn't such a bad place to be. But when I got my start in education I've actually been working with children as long as I've been working so it was a natural progression for me to go from a camp counselor to working at church and Sunday schools and things of that nature, to progress naturally in the teaching. I remember going to my college orientation and trying to figure out well actually open house and trying to figure out what well actually open house and trying to figure out what my major would be. Initially I wanted to possibly go into psychology, but then I saw how long I was going to have to go to school and I knew I still wanted to work with children. So I chose to pursue a teaching degree at Temple University and I came out duly certified with a bachelor's in special education and elementary education.
Principal JL:Awesome, awesome. So you started as a teacher. How long were you a teacher?
Principal Mo:I was a teacher for four years in Philadelphia and then I moved to Maryland and I was a teacher for two years there.
Principal JL:Awesome, your next step was going from teacher to becoming an assistant principal. What kind of led up to that? What kind of go? Hmm, I want to go from the classroom into what people like to call the dark side of administration and get into becoming an assistant principal. What kind of led into that for you?
Principal Mo:I think it was like an unintended step, because what initially occurred was that I pursued my master's degree when I was teaching in Philadelphia and initially I was only getting the master's degree for a pay bump right, you know to go on the scale a bit. And when I pursued my master's degree for a pay bump right you know to go on the scale a bit. And when I pursued my master's degree, initially I was only going for curriculum and instruction and special education supervisor, because at the time I was a special education teacher. The advisor advised me to pursue educational leadership because it was only, I think, like six more credits to get the degree and to get an additional endorsement in administration, although I had no desire to move in that direction.
Principal Mo:When I moved to Maryland, I actually got a pink slip in the state of Pennsylvania and from Philadelphia because they were downsizing the teaching force because it was a tumultuous time in terms of having more educators than needed to land. There are a lot of colleges, especially in the Philadelphia area, so it was an oversaturation of teachers, so that resulted in layoffs. So I ended up in Maryland my special education department chair. She actually encouraged me to have the district looking to my endorsements and see if I was eligible to actually become an administrator, because she felt that I would be good for the position. She felt that, given my knowledge with special education and elementary education, that I would be a good administrator.
Principal Mo:Initially I told her I thought that that wasn't a good idea and that I didn't think that that's what I really wanted to do. I really always wanted to be a teacher. I always wanted to be in the classroom. That was where my heart was. That little nudge led me to being a special ed department chair for about a good three months and then being thrown into an assistant principal position. It's been a unique journey, but it's the one that I would be on and it was definitely one that has been rewarding.
Principal JL:Awesome, Awesome. So it's kind of one of those things you weren't looking for, but it found. You is kind of how that worked out. How long were you an assistant principal from that time? Oh yeah, were you an assistant principal from that time?
Principal Mo:Oh yeah, I was an assistant principal for four years at a middle high school, so I went from elementary and middle to middle, then to middle high school, which was fun.
Principal JL:It was an interesting experience. So you got to see everything K-12, basically, from teaching the assistant principal. So you got a really good grasp of the different levels and kind of what you see and kind of how you lead in those different capacities. So that's really interesting. So you're an assistant principal. You've done it for about four years. What kind of go. I want to take that next step to becoming a building lead.
Principal Mo:You know what was the story behind taking that next step in your educational journey. Well, jl, one thing that you will notice is an ongoing trend and theme in my story and my journey to the principalship is that I didn't want to be a principal either. So once again, it was another nudge. I was an assistant principal. I was in my second year as an AP my original assistant superintendent. He approached me. He said I think, you know, there's going to be some principal ships coming up and I think you're really ready for it. At the time I was pregnant with twins oh boy and yeah. And so I was like no, I don't think this is a great idea. I'm one that's all about balance. And so I was like you know, I'm due in June and you want me to start a new principal shit. I'm going to be coming fresh off maternity leave and going into a personal position. I just don't think that that's a wise move for myself and my family, you know. So I said you know I'll continue to learn, I'll continue to grow and then, if the opportunity presents itself, then you know I'll pursue it. But I did go through the principal pool, like you know the performance at Tassin Center and all of that and I passed.
Principal Mo:But then I got into a program called Promising Principals here in Maryland. It was a program, a principal preparation program for assistant principals and expiring school leaders. My mentor at the time and my coach during the program, she said hey, I know a little school that I think you might be interested in leading. Do you want? Are you interested? And so, leading, do you want, are you interested? And so I said you know, it doesn't hurt to explore and take a look. It was in a different district than the one I was currently in. So you know, I visited the school. I talked to some of the people because I wanted to just really see what it's like. Once I did that, I took one step in the building that I am in today and I said this feels like home and it feels like where I should be.
Principal Mo:Then I started to see how things could look in the building, how things could improve, how we could expand, and once I started having that vision for a building that I didn't even leave yet, I knew I needed to be there and that's how I ended up as a principal. I've been a principal at my school now for eight years and this school is pre-K through eight, so I have been a building leader in pre-K through 12. So that type of insight that's really helpful in terms of knowing what's next for students. So knowing what's next for my middle schoolers who are going to high school and even beyond, in making sure they have, you know, the necessary preparation and understanding of what's required for them to go into high school, and then also talking to them about what college could potentially look like, I think sometimes people don't really realize that in, you know, in middle school is the real preparation for life, although it's a really squirrely time for kids.
Principal Mo:But you know when you go to high school and what you do in high school dictates what you do after high school. So you know those decisions kind of have to be made early and I don't think a lot of people realize that. And I always try to, like you know, drill it into my parents and my families and my students that you know this is an important time in your life and you really need to learn and take advantage of that.
Principal JL:Yeah, you bet I remember I was a 7-12 principal one time and I really focused on that middle age, that 7th, 8th grade age, because I knew if I got where I needed them to go, I knew they would be successful in high school. If I got where I needed them to go, I knew they would be successful in the high school. You know, that's really awesome that you are taking the time to make sure that those kids are ready to take those next steps. So, because when you get in the high school, everything starts to count even more. So you got to get them ready, get them rocking for that.
Principal JL:You know, going from teacher, going from assistant principal, Now you're a building leader. You've been now, you've been doing it for eight years. But within that time you went from leading a building, which you still do, to becoming a TikTok sensation, a Prince fluencer. What kind of like led you to that? Like, what, what? What was the encouragement to be like? You know what I'm going to hit record, I'm going to do these videos and you know what. What led you up to that?
Principal Mo:Honestly, what led up to that was when I started my TikTok account. I started my TikTok account with the intention of reaching my students. I knew that they were on TikTok, I knew it was a new application, that they were on TikTok. I knew it was a new application and I'm the type of person I'll try. I will try a new. I will try a new you know app or a new social media site, just to see what it's like and to see if I like it. So I, you know, I just hopped on the bandwagon and initially I made public service announcements or PSAs, for my students about, like, doing their work, logging on to virtual learning, you know, just all these things and infusing my level of humor into it. I eventually grew this like huge following that I didn't even expect to get, but it turned out that I had a community of people who were in the same boat as me.
Principal Mo:I was very vulnerable about what it was like being a building leader during the pandemic and the significant changes that we experienced, how it impacted education. You know how I dealt with humor and you know and how you know, even like you know, the mental health side of things. And then, after amassing somewhat of a following and just making you know content that I thought that people would want to see. Then there will be, like brands and different people reaching out to me and then I was like wait a minute. I said I thought only teachers could be, like you know, influencers. And so now I'm like a print influencer.
Principal Mo:You know I try to influence. You know, as a leader, you're always trying to influence people. But now it's a little more intentional in terms of, like you know, getting people to learn about different things, whether it's, you know, learning about hiring. Like you know, I did a series about how you need to Interview, tips on how to get into the assistant principal position. You know any aspiring leaders. So doing those videos and just helping other people in my TikTok community and in my social media community has been truly a rewarding experience, knowing that I'm helping someone else.
Principal Mo:So I have to know what has been the funniest or the most surprising reaction you got from students, other teachers, parents when you kind of got into this TikTok adventure uh, so for students, it was one day I'm in the cafeteria as I do, I'm, you know, in the cafeteria just doing one studio, and then one kid yells out principal worth, you're tiktok famous. You know that. Right, and I was like what? Because one thing that I sometimes don't pay attention to is that, even though I'm making these videos and like people viewing them, people have to realize people are viewing them, so people are seeing what I'm doing. And then even some of my parents, my parents, were telling other parents about my TikTok account and they follow me. If I would go live, sometimes the parents would ask me questions.
Principal Mo:It was just a really unique and authentic way to really connect with my community, my school community, my parents. They love my account apparently. So you know, I get a lot of positive feedback. They like it when I incorporate the students. I just started a social, a solid social media team where we make regular content for the school and they, they really embrace it. So it's really nice to be in that type of community where it's embraced, because I know that's not the case everywhere. So, but that's been, it's been a really unique experience and it's a lane that a lot of people aren't in and it's also rewarding to be kind of at the forefront of something and to be able to help other people and kind of lift as I climb.
Principal JL:So what would you tell somebody like maybe a principal that's in our position, you know the utilization of social media Because you know we hear from, like our district office, like well, you got to be careful with that. Yeah, you know you don't want to go too far, you know what I mean. So what kind of advice would you give somebody that's a principal in our position that's thinking about you know what I think? Maybe getting into social media and utilizing that to leverage to connect with my families, with my students? What advice would you give them?
Principal Mo:So the first thing is that you have to figure out what your personal brand is going to be. My personal brand is I say I'm nicheless most of the time, but there are certain rules that I follow. The first thing is that I don't post anything that's negative. There is no profanity and even in the songs that I use there's no profanity. I don't use profanity. Make certain that everything that I do online is palatable for the youngest child in my building. That makes sense, oh yeah. The second rule that I have is that if I do make a video, I don't want to press post immediately and it gives me any type of pause for concern. I don't post it.
Principal Mo:So just making sure that, like you know, if every time you make a video, you always think about your audience, how is your audience going to receive this? How are they going to interact with it? How are they going to react with it? And even from the youngest child in your building to you know your parents and things like that, because once again, they see social media. You know that content does get pushed out to them and somebody will see it. You just have to be mindful of what it is that you're posting. Oh no, it's also a good thing to have a little fun, but you always just want to make sure that you're adhering to your district guidelines and things like that. But that's how I've built my personal brand. The internet is that you know most of my content. Even if it's humorous, it's not offensive, because a lot of times jokes can be offensive to specific groups of people. You know no discriminatory jokes, you know, just just those things are just making sure that things are done in good taste is really important.
Principal Mo:Also, being careful about, like you know, having students in your you know, in your content and in your videos. You know, making sure that you have parental consent. Like you know, I have a social media team and like they're in the videos. But the parents know they're well informed, they consent to it. The school consent forms are not your consent forms. Like, you need to make sure that you're talking to your families about that.
Principal Mo:Those are all very important things, just making sure your T's are crossed and your I's are dotted in that specific realm. But, you know, also showcasing that you're having fun, your day-to-day life as a principal, as a leader, your thoughts and ideas, just making sure that they align with, once again, your district guidelines and things like that, making sure that they align with, once again, your district guidelines and things like that. So, I think, just making sure that your personal brand, if you are going to go into this realm where you are posting as a principal, there's still a level of, there's still that morality clause. Whether it's spoken or unspoken, that's there and you need to abide by it, and I think that that's really important. And if you're showcasing yourself in your personal life, just making sure that that's copacetic and okay and, once again, palatable for your wide audience that you either have or will amass after you know, creating enough content.
Principal JL:Really good advice. I really appreciate your insight on that, someone that has actually kind of been through the ropes and done all those things. You know, sometimes with social media there's some negative aspects and sometimes you may have some negative comments. Kind of tell us about how you handle when you have those negative things. I know you have a lot of positive things, but there are those negative things that do happen on social media. How do you, how do you handle those those type of situations?
Principal Mo:One thing that I have done is, you know, sometimes you just have to ignore those comments. A lot of times I just respond Thanks for the engagement Because at the end of the day, whether you receive a positive comment or a negative one, it counts for engagement on your posts. Yeah, so I just say thanks for the engagement because either way, you supported me. That's one of my go-to responses. If it's something that's disrespectful in nature, I will address it, because I think that when people talk to each other on the internet, there's no way that you would say that to someone's face, and I think that it's really important to let somebody know that you have boundaries about how people speak to you and how people interact with you. So I'll kind of let them know that I didn't like what they said.
Principal Mo:And you know, at the end of the day, you don't have to interact with my content. You don't have to say anything to me, you know. Like you know, just feel free to block me if that is, you know, if I'm bothering you that much. So you know, I've let people know that I don't think there's anything wrong with establishing boundaries and then sticking to those boundaries and enforcing them. I think it's a fine line when you start to jab back, and that's not what you should do. You should just let people know that these are your boundaries. Like you know, I tell people all the time I'm all for discourse, but not disrespect, you bet. And so we can have differing opinions. We can engage in discourse without being disrespectful to one another. You know, and I always say I'm happy to talk with you, I'm happy to you know, converse, but you know, if it gets to a point where it's disrespectful, then we have to discontinue the conversation.
Principal JL:But you know, if it gets to a point where it's disrespectful, then we have to discontinue the conversation. All right, well, we're going to go ahead and pivot a little bit. Being a principal, being on TikTok is fun and everything. But let's talk about managing the stress of the job. You have a hard day. You're triage, we triage all the time. Right, we have the copiers breaking down. We have, you know, if you have an assistant principal, we have an assistant principal going. Hey, we have this situation. We need to kind of come together on this. You have a teacher reaching out. You have all these things coming at you. At the end of the day, what do you do to kind of manage the stress of the job? You know what are some. Do you have, like, some fun things? You like to do some ways to kind of decompress and kind of uh, you know, get yourself back. You know to yourself. So you're, you know, not letting the stress go home with you. How do you manage those things?
Principal Mo:uh well, there's some things that I do, but like in terms of just like managing the stress from day to day, if I reflect, like on my car ride home and stuff like that, sometimes, if it's a bad day like there's like my car ride is pretty quiet, thinking about what happened in me, thinking about what happened I acknowledge what happened, but I try not to like wallow in it. Also, what I ask myself is what do I need to do to make sure that I never have this type of day again? Like you know what was preventable, what was in my locus of control, what was I able to do to? What am I able to do to move forward and not have this type of day again? Like, do I need to re-examine systems? Do I need to re-examine, you know, responses to certain situations? That's one of the things that I do do, a few outlets that I have. I do know how to DJ. I learned how to DJ in the pandemic, so that is a creative outlet for me. I like to do a lot of creative things.
Principal JL:So you have like a turntable yes, like a turntable, and everything.
Principal Mo:Yes, I have all my equipment. I used to DJ on TikTok every now and again too. Oh, wow, um, yeah, and like the parents as soon as um, yeah, so I like. So that's one thing that I really enjoy. It's a good outlet for me because I really do love and enjoy music. So that's one thing that I do. Um, another thing I do I I think most educators do this they talk to their spouses and then, like you know, god bless my husband, god bless the spouse of educators, because I know they get an earful almost every day about different things that happen in our daily lives.
Principal Mo:And so and he's learned not to always offer up a solution, like sometimes he knows that I've already got the solution I just that it's really easy to allow the negative things in your daily work to kind of cloud your brain and to consume most of your thoughts, when you should really be thinking about, like, the small positives and the small ones that you had, you know, and just always trying to push through with that positivity. Because, at the end of the day, if you allow those negative thoughts and you allow that negativity to really cloud your mind and you know your thoughts, they feed off your energy. You know you set the tone as the school leader in your building. It's the type of energy that's in your building and the type of energy that people receive. So it's really important to always try to really rise above and combat that negativity, because at the end of the day, you don't want to become the source of toxicity.
Principal JL:Yeah, awesome. That's a great insight there on how to manage some stress and kind of get yourself not to think of you know we're gonna have negative things, but to kind of get yourself to where you know what this happened. We're gonna move on. We're make a negative into a positive. Learn from it, move, learn and grow, um, as you go through this. So that's some great insight there. And so, principal though, what do you like to do, fuck?
Principal Mo:Oh well, I think I told you one. Yeah, yeah, djing. I am a collector of many different things, thanks to being neurodivergent. I collect sneakers and I have a huge collection of sneakers that I have collected over the years and now it's getting to the point where it's like, okay, I need to stop, because what's happening is the shoes that I have now they're being re-released, so that's how I know like I need to like and getting on getting shoes. I've been collecting shoes for a good bit um, for over, I want to say like around 15 years. I've been collecting shoes. That's been a long-term hobby of mine. I recently got into perfumes and fragrances.
Principal Mo:Uh, I, like you know, spending time with my friends and we talk about like all kinds of things. One of my hobbies is actually social media. I really do enjoy it. I enjoy talking to people, I enjoy building community in different capacities and I just enjoy. I just enjoy different communities. Like I have a lot of different communities, especially around the hobbies that I engage in. I enjoy event planning, oddly enough. So, like the logistical pieces of my job lend me really well for an event planner yeah, you bet yeah and hosting like different events about different things. So those are the things that I'm like into, and I do some crafting here and there too, you know, and I like to watch movies and TV shows. I'm a I'm a really big action person, like action films and suspense.
Principal JL:What's your favorite? What's your favorite action movie?
Principal Mo:Right now I would say the Equalizer series or even the Taken series. Those are really really good, like a one-man show. Take it what, take it later, you bet.
Principal JL:I really enjoy those. I will find you. Yes, we'll see you, those are good ones. Those are good ones for sure. Let's kind of turn the page to the future of leadership, the future of educational leadership. Where do you find technology, especially with the AI, really kind of exploding now? Where do you see that for educational leaders and how do you think that's going to impact what we do?
Principal Mo:I hope it alleviates what the kind of the busy work that we do is leaders, because that's what I've been using it for mostly. You know, composing letters, helping provide teachers with feedback or developing coaching questions, being a thought partner around a problem, analyzing data Like these are all great ways to use AI to kind of save time. So then, that way and I always say, you know, focus on the people and not the paperwork, because at the end of the day, you know, our main priority should be the people in our building. But that's what, that's what I hope it does. I know, like you know, I think it was like in the UK there was like a like an AI quote principle unquote which I know that scared a lot of people, but I thought it was pretty cool and I thought that was like you know, maybe we could have this type of technology that could actually help us. But I think people don't understand about AI is that AI is artificial. Intelligence needs a human to function. It needs somebody to ask it what to do and to prompt it and to provide queries. It can't function, essentially, without a prompt. Whenever you ask it, it'll do, but it won't do anything without you. But I think that the people who embrace it now will be far better off than those who are scared of it. Now, what I liken it to?
Principal Mo:And I think you and I have both lived through this era in the initial new information age, when we transitioned from having commercial like, having like to do research in books and libraries, and then internet, yeah, I remember, yeah, so you know, librarians were freaking out because, as jesus and altavista was around, and so I think that's what's happening with type, like technology it was, it was this big boom and it was a huge change in a shift, whereas now, like you know, the internet has not replaced a librarian and that's what librarians thought was going to happen to them and their jobs is that it was going to replace them.
Principal Mo:It's like no, actually the librarian teaches people how to use the internet, yeah, and, and they teach you how to reset research using the internet, and you know they teach all these other classes using the internet. I think that if we use it as a, you know, if we see it as using a tool and not something that's going to eliminate positions or eliminate jobs, I know that's like the biggest thing that they see. There is no way like artificial intelligence is intelligent as it could be, couldn't even do this job.
Principal JL:Yeah, no, they're not being replaced, they're not being replaced at all.
Principal Mo:I think that that's what that's what a future really is. It's like if you could just have like an AI assistant just even just to go through your emails and like automatically reply, like you know, to accept certain calendar invites, to see if somebody can reschedule, to just schedule out some things that you know you need to happen. You know, like those are very minor things that we spend a lot of time on you need to happen. You know, like those are very minor things that we spend a lot of time on, we're prioritizing which emails to read first. You know, like that, just those things you know based on the immediate need, or you know things that are due sooner than others. I think that AI could be a really great tool for that. It is a great tool. I think that it, like I said, the sooner that people embrace it, the better off the thing will be.
Principal JL:Awesome, Awesome. What's your? Do you have some favorite AI platforms that you like to use the most?
Principal Mo:So, yes, I do so, I actually use. I've been using ChatGPT since it was in beta testing. That's been since 20, what 2022? Yeah, so I've been using it for a good bit and had been working with it, and then, when it transitioned to paid, I paid for it. So I was like this is a really helpful tool. I've used the AI features, and the AI features in Canva have been really helpful. Some other cool tools that are out there are Notebook LM, and I think that's really great for principals.
Principal Mo:That platform helps you consume large amounts of information in a palatable way. Like some ways is that you could just ask it a question and it'll find the text that'll answer your question. Find the text that'll answer your question. So say, for example, like you know, I don't know if your teachers are unionized, but we have a contract. It's hundreds and hundreds of pages and then before you had to do control F planning time, and then find all the different excerpts about planning time. Whereas with notebook LN, I can go in how much planning time is required for this type of teacher and it'll extract all the information, and it took a second, whereas before it took about 10 to 15 minutes. So it's cutting your time down significantly.
Principal Mo:It can also take lengthy documents and turn it into a podcast and it'll have like two people like you and I telling us about, like, the content of the document, which is also really cool. So if, like you have a long commute, you could listen to that Like instead of, like you know, taking the extra time to read it. That's another one. I could talk about AI all day. You can be here for two hours, yeah, and every day I learn about a different tool and how to use it. But, like chat, chat GPT is a big one. Notebook LM has been really helpful in just like helping my daily work. Something that I like to do for fun is I like to use Dolly, and that is a I using a Africa to generate pictures and words, and Sora S O R A, which is a application where you could generate videos from words okay oh, wow, two, two really cool apps.
Principal Mo:Yeah. So, and what I like to do is I like I call it ai stacking. Sometimes I will do a prompt and chat gpt and then take that answer from that prompt and like put it in, maybe tesora, to like kind of beef up my vocabulary and imagery around something that I want to see. So then that way the video is better depicted in the way that I envision it. So it's like there's a lot of fun things that you could do, like even in Sora you can make videos, like you can make clips, for example, that you can even use like on your school social media.
Principal Mo:It's, the possibilities are absolutely endless in terms of using ai to help alleviate the more time-consuming pieces of your job, and not just with the principal shit in school leadership, but also with, I mean, teachers. They're the ones that really got it good first, because they were able to get all of these tools specifically geared towards them. You know, I'm a little jealous because magic school ai is another good one. No, especially for differentiating materials. Oh, my god, I'm so jealous.
Principal Mo:As a special educator, I went yeah, this was available when I was, you know, when I was teaching special education, like leveling texts and differentiating different pieces of content. It's just the possibilities have really been writing IEP goals and progress monitoring for those goals. I can't even tell you how many times like I was like at home sitting in the evening watching like Scandal on a Thursday and like writing IEPs and IEP goals. Yeah, so you know there are a lot of great tools out there for educators to use, to kind of just, you know, help them get around the like, the administrative pieces of our job so that we can reach kids and our stakeholders.
Principal JL:But I think you're hitting on something there. This is a tool. This is something that we should embrace and use so we can get those remedial things, those nuanced things that we have to do, but so we could spend more time with our staff leading our building, having those human connections. One of the things that I try to do is try not to be in my office too much. Now there's time I need to be in there and do what I need to do, but I have actually this year I've kind of embraced AI even more and I've used it to cut down on some of that remedial, repetitive stuff that you know what. It takes me time, but if I can use AI to free up time so I can actually solve these others have solutions to the other issues that I'm dealing with I will be able to spend more time on things that matter than on little minute remedial things that you have to do on the day in and day out.
Principal JL:I have found the impact, and so it's really awesome just to see all the different things you can do and the things that you kind of talked about there, because you've listed some things I don't even know about yet, and so I'm hoping people.
Principal JL:When they hear this, you know they can have some other options out there, because even when I was at my state principals conference just about a month ago, we were talking about how do you use AI as principals and what do people do it for, what are they using it for? And so I got a lot more insight on that. And then I know, following you and watching you on TikTok, you're kind of starting to get into that AI realm and talking about how you can use it to make your job easier so you can focus on the things that are most important, which are the people you're leading, and I agree with you on that right there, a hundred percent is use it as a tool so you can help lead your people, you know, to help your building be successful. So I really love that insight that you and do some just kind of some rapid fire questions.
Principal JL:My first question is going to be best leadership advice you've ever received but then somebody quoted it is that I think it's a Steve Jobs quote. Is that as a leader?
Principal Mo:you're not. You're not selling ice cream and you can't make everybody happy. Do the right thing. You know, no matter what somebody is not, there's going to be somebody that's not going to be happy with it, but you have to be happy with the fact that you did the right thing. Yeah, you did right. My kids.
Principal JL:Yeah, I totally agree with that. You got to keep the kids and your staff and your teachers in the forefront of those decisions and making sure you know, hey, it may not be popular but it's the right decision, and you took the time to really think through that um decisions before making it. And I think people forget that. You know we're not up here just making all these rash decisions. We're actually putting some thought into it because we have all these different variables we have to think through before we make these decisions and, like you said, no one's ever going to be happy, a hundred percent of the time, for sure, when you make those decisions, especially the tough ones. Do you have a favorite book that you that you've read?
Principal Mo:Well, recently, believe it or not. The alchemistist is one that I've read that I've enjoyed recently. Revolutionary Principle by Principal Ra is another one that I've read recently that I've enjoyed. And yeah, I think those are two that I've read recently that I enjoy.
Principal JL:So in one word describe your leadership style unconventional, unconventional.
Principal Mo:okay, let's dig into that a little bit I, just I, I think I, I do a lot of things differently and I don't want to say it's a way that's misunderstood, but I, I've learned that from my, my new ap, he, he, just he's always, like you know, like I would have never thought of something that way, I would have never thought to do that this way. I think that, you know, I try to really leverage the strengths of my staff and my people. I rarely make any type of like top heavy decisions. I always try to get that input. You know, I'm always talking to students and getting input from them about what they want to see and what they want to do. Always talking to students and getting input from them about what they want to see and what they want to do.
Principal Mo:But, I think, just thinking outside the box and color, or, like I always have to say, coloring outside the lines, just, you know, breaking rules and knowing that, ok, I broke a rule, but I'll just ask for forgiveness later, but we had to see how this works first, like you know, like we've always been doing it this way, what if we do it that way? Oh, we can't do it that way, okay, well, let's just try it and see what happens. So, just being just just taking those risks, I think, and not being concerned with so much backlash, I feel like sometimes people, especially in our roles, like we're concerned with backlash from different groups of people and stuff like that and how things can turn out, but I'm like, well, you know, if we never try, we never know. Yeah exactly. And then also getting my staff comfortable enough with doing that, like usually I'll be like, hey, guys, I have an idea and they're like, oh lord, but they usually are like this is a good idea, or or they, they add on to it. They're like, yeah, and we can do this and we could do that.
Principal Mo:I think that, you know, just just having that, that, that mindset of like you know, let's just try something new, let's take a risk, let's do something different and see where we can go with it, I think that's just what makes my leadership style conventional Awesome.
Principal JL:Well, yeah, I really kind of. I kind of I agree with those things, because the way education is set up, it's been set up the way it's been forever and if we don't think about how we can solve these same issues in new ways, we're just going to beat our heads against the wall because we're going to be doing the same things over and over again. And if you can find a way and find a solution that may be unconventional, you know what it doesn't hurt anything because you're solving the issue. You're solving it, you're finding a solution, but yet you are helping the kids and the teachers in the process and it's working. And if you find something that works, why not do it instead of, you know, have insanity on your brain when it comes to some of those things. Because, yeah, I love that answer when it comes to your leadership style and being unconventional with that Principal Mo, it's been awesome having you on the podcast today.
Principal JL:I appreciate your time you know, and it's been great to just to get you know, kind of hear your insights and the things that you bring to the table. As an educational leader, I really enjoyed our time and getting to learn about learn from you, because that's just part of this podcast is learning from other educational leaders, and I definitely took some things away from this podcast and this episode as well, and so I appreciate your time for coming on and put it up with my questions.
Principal Mo:No, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. This so much for having me. I really appreciate it. This appreciate you for inviting me. This has been a really good conversation and I think they're necessary conversations to have so that other leaders, aspiring leaders, can hear what was happening on the ground.
Principal JL:I hope you guys enjoyed this episode of the Educational Leadership Podcast. This interview was a lot of fun. I really want to thank Principal Mo for taking the time to come on this podcast. I also want to encourage you guys to give Principal Mo a follow, just like Deion Sanders said. I ain't hard to find, neither is Principal Mo. You can find her on these platforms as Principal Mo Pretty easy. You can find her on Instagram X, tiktok, linkedin, blue Sky and Threads. So I really encourage you guys to give her a follow because she's going to give you guys great insights and it would be awesome to build this community of educational leaders even more than we already have up to this point. I hope you guys really enjoyed today's episode and I would really like to hear your feedback. All you have to do is hit that fan mail button and just give me a shout out. I would love to hear from you and see what your thoughts were about the episode. Until next time, always be 1% better.
