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 46: Listen First, Lead with Heart: Principal Shannon Seale’s Journey from Classroom to School Leader
What if the strongest leadership move is to listen first, decide second, and never micromanage? That’s the tought line of our conversation with Principal Shannon Seale, who went from high school social studies to leading a pre-K–2 campus, without losing her sense of humor, her humility, or her focus on what matters most.
We explore the origin of Shannon’s calling to teach, how watching weak leadership shaped her convictions, and why avoiding conflict silently breaks cultures. She shares the two lenses that guide every decision, safety and instruction, and the practical systems that keep her promises real: time-blocked walkthroughs, alarms, and a calendar that catches everything from meetings to lunch detentions. We dig into the jump from high school to elementary, the new ways she learned to speak with first-time school parents, and how she balances autonomy with support so teachers feel trusted and students get consistent, high-quality instruction.
Shannon also opens up about building a leadership team that tells her when an idea is bad, treating school like a team sport where every role matters, and using TikTok and Instagram to learn from educators nationwide while humanizing the principalship. We talk narrative control, positive storytelling, and the simple truth that if you don’t tell your school’s story, someone else will. Finally, she looks ahead to deepening her impact in curriculum and instruction, with doctoral study on the horizon, while staying rooted in the campus work she “completely loves, even when it’s hard.”
If this conversation gave you a useful nudge, follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a quick review. Tell us: what’s one leadership habit you’ll change this week?
Connect with Shannon Seale and check out her Tik Tok Lives:
email: shanny.seale@gmail.com
Tik Tok: @mrs.seales
Instagram: @mrs.seales
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Fun story everybody. The first time I came across today's guest is Shannon Seale. It wasn't through a conference or a leadership network. It was through the TikTok. Oh yes, TikTok. We have been friends on TikTok for a while, and then I stumbled across one of her posts where she was pondering which college football team was gonna dictate her mood for the next four months. And I just started rolling with laughter. From there I started following her live TikToks, and I quickly realized this is someone that brings authenticity, energy, and real talk to the work of educational leaders everywhere. So I reached out to her and I said, I've gotta have you on the show. And here we are. Now a little bit about Shannon. She's starting her 21st year in education, a journey that spans from teaching high school social studies and graded AP exams to becoming the principal of Odom Elementary School. She's got a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Baylor University and a Masters of Education from Sam Houston State. She loves music, ministry, and making a difference in her community. You're gonna love her perspective on leadership. Now let's get to the conversation with Shannon Seal. Welcome back, everybody, for another episode of the Educational Leadership Podcast. Hope you guys are having a great day out there. I am so excited today to bring in Shannon Seale. I've been watching her on TikTok. And so, you know, I'm bringing her on the show. I'd like to learn more about her and kind of what got her into the leadership role. So, Shannon, welcome to the show.
Shannon Seale:Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Principal JL:All right, Shannon. I'm gonna go ahead and start you off with the same question I ask everybody else on this show. What inspires you to become an educator?
Shannon Seale:So I always kind of wanted to be a teacher when I was growing up. And I always laughed that that might have been partially because I'm kind of bossy and like to tell people what to do. But I as a kid growing up, I always asked my teachers if I could have like the extra worksheets that they had left over. And when my friends would come over, I'm surprised I had any friends because I always made them play school with me. And my mom was a teacher, she's a dental hygienist, and then she went into teaching dental hygiene. And so that was always just kind of, you know, something that was in the forefront of my mind. When I went to Baylor, I did my bachelor's degree in political science, and that was not the route I thought I was going to take teaching, but my original plan didn't really pan out. And not to say that this was just like a backup plan, but I think it's what I was supposed to do all along. I think that's why the original plan didn't work out. But I knew I wanted to teach high school and government. I had a horrible experience with my high school government teacher, and I knew it was so important. And when I was in college and with all these crazy things happening in the world, and kind of at the same time that I was taking these political science classes for the first time, and I was like, this could be really interesting and it's very important. So it inspired me to do that particularly. And I love kids, I love working with teenagers. I worked at a youth camp for several years, and my husband and I were in youth ministry at our church for the last 15. So we just love helping kids.
Principal JL:Awesome. It sounds like that's kind of like a natural fit, right? So all the past experiences and kind of led into that. And, you know, I didn't grow up with educators in my family, but my kids have, and I have one that is in education now. So it's kind of neat to see, you know, how being in education inspired the next generation as well. So awesome. Now you're in high school, you're teaching uh social studies. What are some experiences you have as a teacher that helped you with the leadership role? What are some leadership roles as a teacher that help you kind of formulate, you know, the leadership that you have today?
Shannon Seale:My a lot of the leadership kind of experience that I have didn't necessarily come as a teacher, but I had several other kind of experiences that were put me in leadership positions. I was our, what do you call it, our department chair at the last high school where I taught. And I did have opportunity at the high school before that to do some curriculum writing. So I was able to kind of get into some of those things. But a lot of the experiences I had there, I think really helped kind of shape what I do and who I am as a leader. I I think one of the biggest things I learned was the importance of diversity. And mostly when we talk about that, we think about racial, but I mean diversity of opinion and perspective and thought and experience and all of that, and how much of that plays into the decisions that you make and the counsel that you get and all the things that you do. I feel like I've seen a lot of bad leaders, and that kind of inspired me to do things differently, you know, take some of the experiences that I've had and try to do better, be better.
Principal JL:So yeah, would you say, like watching those leaders that you've kind of watched that you would say, yeah, may not be the best example. Uh, what are some things that you learn from to say, hey, maybe not do that?
Shannon Seale:One of the things is avoiding conflict. So you can't avoid conflicts. And I love that analogy that, you know, if you keep sleeping things under the rug, eventually someone will trip over it. So you have to, you can't avoid conflict. And especially in our job, there's you have to, you know, confront teachers sometimes and you know, parents, and there's so many different angles of things that are, you know, going to come out. You can't just ignore the problems. So that's been a big thing. And another one is you don't want your people to hear from you just whenever it's bad. You know, you have to make good connections too. And you know, I don't ever want my teachers to say, like, oh, she's here. What is she? You know, I must, I must have done something wrong. You know, I want them to think, you know, oh, she's coming in to say hi and tell me good morning and, you know, um, see how things are going. So mostly, you know, only making contact when it's bad and avoiding conflict. Those are two big things that I saw that I wanted to make sure I did differently.
Principal JL:Yeah, that's awesome. I know I had a a couple of experiences, not to say that my principals at the time were terrible people. They're great people, but there was my first experience as a teacher. The only time I really heard from my principal was there was a problem and they wanted to come talk to me about it. So I really enjoy that you want to connect with people, not just, hey, I got to do the hard stuff, but I want to connect with you in the good times and the good things as well. And I think that's really important uh for our staff and our teachers to see us in those different elements, not just when we have to do the hard stuff and have the tough conversations, but to have the the great conversations and the joy of the job. So I really appreciate you sharing that with us today.
Shannon Seale:So the other, you know, sorry, the other thing that I just thought of something else. The other thing that has really kind of been a huge thing is micromanaging. I despise being micromanaged. So I always tell my teachers, like, look, this is the end picture of what we want and you know how you decide best to get there as long as it's legal and moral and not going to end this up on Facebook. And, you know, as long as I can defend what you're doing, then let's try it, you know. But at the same time, you know, some teachers need a lot more and want a lot more hand holding. So trying to kind of find that balance between, you know, who needs what and who who wants you to lead them a certain way. But I I try with everything I can to not be a micromanager. This is the in picture, and you help me decide how we're gonna get there by doing what you know how to do.
Principal JL:Yeah, I I love that just because, you know, as educational leaders, we, you know, we have a lot of different teachers at a lot of different levels. Like we have some master teachers, some teachers that are at the beginning, but at the same time, you don't want to hold their hand. You want to give them some, you know, I would say not leeway, but just, you know, some ownership in their classroom and how they do things. And so I think it's really important to give them that ability to, you know, try new things and not be afraid to do the do the things that you're asking them to do, but yet know that you're there to support them when they are struggling. So I really enjoy that you do that. I think a lot of uh great principals have that trait to where they talk to their staff about hey, this is the picture, this is where we want to go, decide how to get there because there's a lot of different avenues, but as long as you do things a certain way, we'll be in good shape. So I really appreciate you sharing that with us today. So, Shannon, you've been teaching for a while, you went out teaching the high school kids, and now you're in administration. Kind of what what inspired you to become an administrator? Can you kind of take us in to that first position as a leader in education?
Shannon Seale:So the first opportunity I had was at our high school in our district for the to be the interim assistant principal. The the principal at the time had become had gotten his superintendent certification and was hired uh at a local district to be the superintendent. And so the print the vice principal assistant principal there became the principal. And then I wasn't that wasn't even on my radar. I was actually our district curriculum specialist at the time. And so I'm working in curriculum. I've gotten my certification, but I'm, you know, helping supporting teachers all over the district in different grade levels and working in all different kinds of capacities. And our superintendent calls me in and it didn't even hit me until about 30 minutes before what she was going to tell me to, you know, she wanted me to do. And so I was the interim assistant principal there for about three months. And then the opportunity opened up to become the assistant principal at our elementary campus. And I was a little terrified because I always taught seniors, and it's it's a pre-K to second campus, but it's been probably the neatest thing I think I've ever done. Last year we had a meeting at the end of the year, kind of reflecting on the first full year as principal. And she said, What's a big takeaway? And I and I I keep saying that it's the hardest thing I've ever just completely loved to do. So, and you know, what inspired me to make the move as a teacher, I I had great relationships and great systems and things that I had with my classes, and it was such a small group, you know, and I realized what a bigger influence and I could have as an administrator and not just help students, but help the systems that were in place and that needed to be improved. There's a lot of there's a lot of problems in education, and you know, it all I always tell our campus that we're the most important one in the district. So um it all trickles up from here. So if we don't get it right, no pressure, but yeah, they're gonna be on the trajectory bad trajectory for the rest of their lives.
Principal JL:So no, I I really appreciate that insight. You know, you're going from like a high school level experience into the elementary side as an assistant principal, but then you're now also a building principal today. So can you kind of take us to the differences? Like, hey, I was at the high school level, I did this three-month assistant principal inter interim position. Then I got the assistant principal at the elementary. What is well, how was the biggest challenge that you had to go from a high school into an elementary? Because, you know, I'm not gonna, I'm I'm not an elementary person. I stay secondary. I I'm a little not saying I couldn't do it, but I just know it's a different world down there in the elementary. How was that, you know, transition from the high school down into the elementary for you?
Shannon Seale:It's been a huge learning curve. One of the biggest things that I've had to learn is how to talk to people differently. And this has been a big part of my, you know, professional growth and all that, but dealing with parents who in in a lot of times are have have kids in school for the first time, you know. So they're just learning on how to be parents with school-age kids. And we have kids that are coming into pre-K and kindergarten that are just learning how to be students for the first time. Whereas, you know, at a high school, you have kids that have been in school for many years. And so the transition on especially how to address and approach and deal with issues and talk to students and parents has been one of the biggest lessons that I've learned. And but it's important because I'm having those same conversations with teachers now. So I feel like that was a good lesson for me to learn because now I'm passing it on to some other people. So, but it's very different. The kids are very different, and of course, but they still need, you know, to some degree the same thing. They need consistency, they need someone who loves them and that is firm, that believes in them, but also has grace, but also is makes sure they know that there's consequences to their actions and all the things that's all you know bubbled in there together. So a lot of it's the same. They need the same things, it just looks a little bit different.
Principal JL:Yeah, it does. I know it's just going from bigger kids to smaller kids, really. And and uh for me, and I have a daughter that's a fifth grade teacher in the Kansas City area, and yeah, I mean, we've we we've talked through some things, some situations, some scenarios, and some things can apply from a secondary and down in the elementary, but it is a little bit different world. I look at the elementary teachers of kind of like the jack of all traits and the master of none. Uh, so where we're kind of got content specialists up in the secondary area as well. So, with that, you know, you've been a principal there for the last few years. What are some important things you've learned in the leadership role that maybe, you know, you weren't quite like, wow, I didn't really realize that that was something I would, you know, need to do or know, or you know, maybe you weren't prepared for that part. What are some things like or some stories you have that can attest to those things?
Shannon Seale:Well, I think I don't know that anything can fully prepare you. I one of the assistant principal at our high school had asked me, like, how like did you feel prepared? And you know, how long would you have liked to have been an assistant principal before you became principal? Ideally, because I think I had like eight months. And I said, I don't I don't know that anything can really fully prepare you because there are so many things that I didn't even know were things until I switched desks, you know, switched offices. And so I one of the biggest things I think that's important is or that I learned is that I have to be teachable and that I have to listen to other people. And I feel like that was an advantage coming from high school to to elementary, is because I I tell them all the time, I'm like, I've never taught second grade reading and you have for 15 years. So here's the issue that we need to address. What is your opinion on how we can best, you know, tackle this problem? And getting all those different perspectives has been very important. I think another thing that has been like culture shock is just the amount of time that everything takes. And there's so many different things. There's so many different things. You will never ever have time to do everything. And so finding out what the most important things are, what the priorities are, and focusing your time, your limited scarce time on those, you know, major priorities is something that I think was kind of the biggest learning.
Principal JL:All right. So you kind of talk about a lot of different things you weren't like, it's more like, you know, hey, there's you're talking about prioritize. You have this over here, this over here. How do you have like a systematic way to prioritize things? Or like for me, I do lists, I put things on a Google Calendar so I don't forget. I'll print off emails and I will put them in a certain location on my desk. So and I'll go down the stack of emails to make sure I hit them all because I know that if I don't do that, I'm gonna lose it and I'm not gonna get to it. So, do you have any strategies or ways you kind of kind of figure out what's important based off of the priority and what's you need to get to? How do you how do you do that?
Shannon Seale:Well, one of the things I keep in mind is something my mentor told me the end of last year. She retired and I cried buckets of tears. But before she left, she told me, just remember your two number one priorities are safety and instruction. And so I tried to do everything through those lenses is think of, you know, the safety is the priority, and then making sure that they have good quality instruction and they they leave here knowing how to read and do basic math. You know, they're, you know, then then when they go into third grade that they're ready for their star test, you know, and they're ready to be um accomplish things as they move on. So I make a lot of lists. I have I have diagnosed myself with ADHD this past year. I always I got always suspected, but then as all the different things came in, I was like, I really, I really think I have ADHD like very badly. So I do everything in Google and Outlook calendar. So the teachers give me a hard time and then you know it's Sunday afternoon and they get all the calendar invites for the week, you know. It's like I'm just I put everything on the calendar. If we have a meeting, it goes on the calendar. If a kid has lunch detention, it goes on the calendar. If I have a meeting, it goes on the calendar. Every single thing. And I set a lot of alarms just to make sure that I don't because it's easy to get caught up in all the other things. And I, you know, by the time I oh, I was gonna get into this classroom and you know, observe this teacher and she wanted some feedback on her classroom management. So I intended to do that in her morning block, but then I got tied up with these emails and things I'm doing. So just I set a lot of alarms, I set outlook calendar, I make a lot of lists, and I always, if anything comes my way, I try to remember those two top priorities in terms of what my job is. And then I try to delegate some things too. I've got an awesome assistant principal. I only have her there though, two and a half days a week. I share her with another campus. And so, but whenever she's there, a lot of the discipline things, you know, she is able to do. And I am able to focus more on those things that, you know, that I really need to be doing. So I don't know if that's a great answer, but that's kind of how I keep it straight in my mind. I'm still learning, I'm still trying to figure out all the systems.
Principal JL:Oh, I think you you hit on some great things there, utilizing some technology there to kind of keep your days squared up. I know for me, I have to put down my meetings and the different things that pop up. And one thing that I've done differently this year is I'll block time for my walkthroughs. And that's something that I always struggled with getting to because I always get derailed with something. So what I did is I just started going, and we're in a block schedule at the high school where I'm at. So I will go, okay, this is the block that I'm going to dedicate towards walkthroughs. And so I'll have my little cards with my teachers and their schedules on it. And so I'll pick three for the day, and that'll, you know, I'll do it during that time, and then I'll write up their little walkthrough, and then I'm done. Like, and I try to do that about three times a week out of the five days. I try to get three of those, you know, dedicated times into the classroom. And and so far I've I've hit everybody's up to this point, and and it's worked out well. And so I really appreciate you sharing kind of those different ways and how you keep yourself organized, because I think that's important. You know, we're people if you're not staying organized, you know, things will slip their and things will slip for the cracks even if you are organized. So it's just just the way it happens. And you know, as you know, being an educational leader, you'll have all the plans in the world. But then at the same time, when something hits that you have to take care of like right away, you gotta attend to it. And so, you know, I know for me, just this past few weeks, I feel like I've had some fire hose moments, you know, like I have my plan, but it doesn't quite work out the way I want it to as well. So, with you being a you know, building principal for the last few years, you've been an assistant principal as well. What advice would you give people that are aspiring to become an assistant principal or principal? What advice would you give them before they take that leap?
Shannon Seale:Um, the time management is definitely a huge thing. Figure out what the priorities are, but then also, like I mentioned before, be teachable and be humble. Realize that you don't have all the answers. And there are people, there are teachers there that could probably do your job better than you could, or at least they know more about, you know, the level and the things that they're teaching than than than you might. And so always listen to the people that you have around you, seek advice from people that you probably aren't going to agree with, that you know you may not agree with, because they can give you a really good perspective. And just always so there's one of the ladies that is our in the district person that she's on our campus, like her office is on our campus, and she actually used to be the principal at the elementary school there. And so when I have like I I kind of have tend to have these big crazy ideas sometimes. And so I'll usually go and I'm like, What do you think? And sometimes she's like, I like it. And one time she was like, That's a bad idea. And I was like, Okay, so tell me why. And she told me she's like, I'm sorry. I'm like, don't apologize. That's why I asked you. It's a bad idea, it's a bad idea, you know. So it's like, you you have the experience that I don't. So if it's a bad idea, you know why. Just being willing to do that. I know a lot of people are, you know, I'm in charge now and I'm, you know, very proud. And I think that humility part and knowing that you don't have all the answers and you couldn't do it without all the people that are helping you and just figuring out what the priority is because all the pieces are important. Like I was spending one weekend, I was working on something, I think it was grandparents' day, and my husband's like, he spent a lot of time working on that. And I said, I know, but it's important too, because you know, when we're at school, like I gotta make sure that the you know that these things are taken care of. But you know, things like grandparents coming in and being happy with us is also important, you know, it's all important. And so just being able to prioritize and but really listening, being teachable, being coachable, being able to take criticism, even from your teachers sometimes. So I've had them come in and say, Hey, can I can I ask you about something or can I tell you something? And I'm like, sure. And you know, this, you know, this is this literally be better if we did it this way, or I think if you did it this way. And sometimes there's a reason why it's done a certain way, and we have that conversation and we work it out. And then sometimes I'm like, you know, I didn't know that. That's a great point. Thank you. I can I can make that change. So just being willing to kind of roll with it.
Principal JL:I don't know how else to say it. Yeah, no, you know what. Yeah, no, I really love everything you say there. I love the being teachable and coachable. I talk about that all the time with my staff, is to be coachable or to be someone that's willing to learn, not just from me, but from other people. I know for me with staff, you know, we have a school improvement team and we really kind of, you know, and I'm open to suggestions, I'm open to their ideas, I'm open to things that I may not think of, but you talk about leveraging the talents of your staff. And I think that's super important for people to remember because you can't do this job alone. You got to have people to work together. And I kind of look at it as a team effort, is kind of the way I approach it uh being a coach in football for 17 years and wrestling and track and doing all those things before I even got into being a principal. I just look at that team aspect. How are we doing the things we need to go? What is your role? How do you how do you uh fit into the overall just function of the school and how your part affects everybody else and things like that? So for me, it's that's kind of where I'm I really love that you talked about those things and leveraging um the talents around you, and you're willing to listen and to to to take on the their ideas or their suggestions. And I'll have teachers do the same thing, like, hey, Mr. Lennon, have you thought of it this way or that way? And you know, I'm like, that's good, it's good conversation. You gotta be able to have those dialogues. And the thing is, is you're all there for the same thing as A to get better, right? But B to help your kids learn, grow, and go. And so I really appreciate that as well.
Shannon Seale:I've got a really good leadership team. We have a a grade level leader from each of the four grade levels, and then our SPED teacher and our dyslexia therapist and a counselor, assistant principal. And so we meet about once a month and we go through all the things. And there are several times when I'm like, I have an idea, and they're like, oh no. Sometimes it's crazy. I'm like, it's kind of crazy. What do y'all think? And but I don't ever have a giant idea that's gonna completely, you know, do things differently that I don't run through them first. And I tell them in the very beginning, I said, I will always get your input and feedback. I said, I I it may come a time though, whenever I have to make a decision that we didn't agree with, and and you know, y'all have to be okay with that too, and trust me, and you know, know that there's some things that sometimes I know that that everyone doesn't know. But I love the team thing too, and I always try to use that as an analogy because I uh high school basketball, you know, my senior year, we made it to the state championship game and we had a great team. And I was about a four or five minute a game player where I gave the stars their kind of break. That was me. So I was the cheerleader on the side, and I was a really good practice player. And I remember though, my dad had a conversation with one of my teammates' dads, and he told and he she his daughter was one of the stars, and she was a couple of years younger than me. And he said, you know, Katie said that she would rather play in the game against some of these opponents than in practice because Shannon kind of gives her a hard time. And I wasn't like bullying her, but I made it my goal to make her better, you know. If I can't, if I'm not gonna play as much as she is, then my goal was to toughen her up because she was a great jump shot, but she was also kind of wimpy underneath, you know, in the paint. So I was like, we're gonna, we're gonna toughen you up, girl. And so, and that's what I took on as my role. And so just everyone knowing the job that they have. And if I always emphasize every single person here is important, you know, if if you're not here, there's a piece missing and there's something that will, you know, that doesn't get done or won't get done as efficiently or won't get done correctly. And not to say you can't take your time that you have and that you need, but everyone's job is important no matter what it is, whether it's a five-minute game player who pushes around the star on the, you know, in practice to toughen her up, or if you're the star that's gonna make 30 points a game.
Principal JL:So I think that's great. I know you kind of hit on some things there is just hey, you if you know your role, you're gonna do that role the best of your ability because you help the overall, you know, goal of the team or the goal of the organization. In our case, it's building, you know, our schools up to make them the best they can be. Always like to say, you know, our goal is to be the best high school in the state of Nebraska. That's our goal. And not just Nebraska, but the but the nation as well. And so that's the mindset that that I have my staff, but I also love how you talk about, you know, everybody's got a role, but it in the in a school, there's a lot of things that make the school run. It's not just the teachers doing their part. It's you know, we have administrative assistants, we have, like you said, assistant principals, we have custodial staff, we have, oh my goodness, you know, tech staff, we have, you know, our paraprofessionals, you know, all our different things have to work together. And, you know, there's yeah, I always look at my job is to manage people. Uh, you know, it's like I'm managing people and making sure that the systems that are in place are running correctly and running smoothly so we can be efficient and effective as an overall school for the betterment of our of our kids and our community. And that's the overall, you know, mindset that we have. And do you have a similar mindset there at your school?
Shannon Seale:Yes, for sure. And I tell people too, I said, you know, again, if you if you're sick, you know, I'm not trying to shame you into not coming to work when you're sick, you know, or taking care of your family things. I said, but just keep this in mind, you know, we you can walk with crutches, right? But you're not gonna walk as well as you can with a full, healthy, you know, body of everybody with all the pieces working like it's supposed to. You know, you can we can walk on our hands, but that's not what our hands were meant to do. So we can function sometimes with you know different, you know, if the if someone has to be out, we can function. It just doesn't function as well as we all do when we're all here doing our part. And that's the point I was trying to make.
Principal JL:So I love it. I love it. I know I tell my staff is you know, yeah, there's times where you gotta, you know, you're sick or whatever, and just know that we have people that are gonna step in and do the best they can. And we do a lot of cross coveraging, and that's not the most popular thing because we're low on subs. But yeah, it's just so we do the best we can, but at the same time, when everybody's there, everybody's working together, that's that's where the map. Magic happens and and that's that's that's what I love watching is the magic happen um for our school. Now one of the ways I I kind of ran into to you, Shannon, was TikTok. You know, I'm I've been on TikTok for a little while now, and you know, we've kind of you know follow each other and I've been watching some of your live TikTok feeds, something that I haven't really gotten into much yet. Maybe I'll try it. I don't know. But what inspires you to just you know hit the record button, go live and share your experiences with others?
Shannon Seale:I've been on TikTok for a while. I think I got an account like in 2020, and I was just kind of mostly an observer. I did some things with my dog. Mostly I joined in 2020 during the pandemic. Um, my dad had passed away in 2020, and then we went right into the COVID lockdown and all that. So I kind of got on TikTok as a way to just to laugh at something, you know, and have something to laugh at. But this summer is really when I started to kind of see how people use it to connect with other people. But then also, I mean, let's be honest, a big part of that was, you know, to make some money. But I spend a lot of money on people. Like I feel like I'm very generous, you know. And so if I could just have another way to, you know, help, you know, fund that generosity. I like to do stuff for, you know, the staff, I like to, you know, order stuff for them and buy stuff for them. And so it's not all selfish. I do have a bad shoe habit, but part of it was monetization. The other part of it was just the connections and uh learning from people. I love to learn from different people. I love to get ideas. So I've been able to connect with a lot of teachers and um I'll ask them, like, hey, what do you think about this? Or how do what's the best way to go about this? And so that I can find other ways to help support my teachers in ways that I may not be familiar with. So it's a it's a great for all of that. I've met some awesome people and I was telling my husband, I was like, Well, my TikTok friend, and he had like your TikTok friend. I was like, Yeah, I have friends on TikTok.
Principal JL:So I think that's great. I think that's great that you're able to utilize the platform to aid, you know, kind of like your own special or kind of like your own professional development to where you're learning from other people. And I know for me, doing the podcast, this is kind of like my professional development. I'm meeting a lot of different people from all over the nation, as well as of course the great state of Nebraska as well. And I'm just learning lots of different things that people are doing, but also I get affirmation on the things that we are doing and going, you know what, we're doing some of the things that these schools that are considered like blue ribbon schools are doing. And so I really enjoy just learning from other people. And then the mo the main purpose of this podcast is to share educational leadership stories and about their journey, and and hopefully this will help somebody that is listening to this podcast because they can relate to some of the the your journey as you go through your journey in education. So I really appreciate that.
Shannon Seale:Well, I kind of had another thought as I was as this kind of evolved, you know, what I'm doing with it is, you know, kind of humanizing the position a little bit, you know, because we get a bad rap, I know, and from all sides, you know, whether it's politicians or whether it's parents or whether it's whatever, you know, it's like we're always the villain, it seems like. And so it's like, hey, we're just normal people and we love kids and these are funny things that happen. And and so trying to, you know, kind of do that too is something that it's the the purpose of it's kind of evolved, but that's something I try to do now.
Principal JL:Yeah, I love that as well because people don't realize, yeah, we may be in these positions and we may be, you know, the face of this the school building, but we are people, we have feelings, we you know, we have good days and we have bad days, but at the same time, you know, we're just doing the best we can and helping kids and helping our staff do the best they can. And, you know, there's no, in my opinion, you know, like you said, you know, people will hear all the negatives. And one of the things that we're doing was we're trying to push out as much positive content, all the great things we're doing within the school. So when we have those like little negative stories come out, people can see all the positive stuff that line up with that maybe one negative thing. So we can go, you know what? You know, this one negative thing isn't what we're about. But if you look at all these other things as well, so we're we're kind of you know sharing our narrative, we're sharing our story, we're making sure that people know who what we're about. So they see those negative things. It's just a blip in the radar and then we're off and running. So, do you guys do some similar things at your school, like just putting out positive messaging and showing all the great things?
Shannon Seale:Yes, we're one of the things that we do is the high school clubs and uh sports teams will come over several mornings during the month and help get kids out of the car. And so we always make a little video compilation of that and take pictures, and we'll we'll post their picture and say, Thank you, you know, FFA for our FFA officers they were there yesterday for helping our our littlest owls, you know, this week. And because our school is very small, like we have a small district. I think there's a little almost almost 800 kids in the whole district. That's four campuses, so pre-K to 12. So we there, you know, there's a lot of families that span all the campuses. And so there's a lot of just trying to put out, yeah, all the great things that that we are doing. We also manage our own social media, so that's hard. He knows all the other things, but I do see the value in in doing that and the positive messaging. I read, I forget what it was called, so this wasn't an original thought, but I read someone, it was talking about school using social media for your school. And he said, if you don't tell your story, someone else will. And so I thought that was really genius and trying to, you know, fill that positive side. So whenever you have the negative, you know, it's not quite so bad. It doesn't drain the bank entirely.
Principal JL:So yeah, you bet. There's there's quite a few educators that I know that have that have said that same statement where you want to control your narrative, put out the positive things. Yeah, I could think of Joe San Filippo as one of them. He's the one that that I kind of think of right away because I read his book, Hack and Leadership. And when I was a young principal, well, you're young, but younger, I guess, at this time. You know, my cup first few years into the principalship, just trying to learn and grow from that. So I really appreciate that insight. Now, you've been in this profession for a while. What are some things that excite you for the future of your of your position here?
Shannon Seale:Looking ahead, there's a couple of things. When I originally got my master's degree and went in to get my certification, a master's degree is actually a curriculum. It's not an educational leadership, and that's something that I feel like I'm really passionate about. And I'm just, you know, what the kids are learning and you know, how it's being taught at curriculum and instruction. And so I did two years as a curriculum specialist before I went into administration. And a lot of the jobs that I saw that I was interested in, even at like the district level, wanted you to have that campus level administrator experience. And so I was never really sure how much I would enjoy it or not. It was one of those things that was kind of like, oh, I don't know if I want to do that or not. But I've I've loved it. So it's kind of muddied my vision in terms of what I want to do in the future because originally I was like, well, I'm gonna, you know, do the couple of years that I need to and then move on, but I don't I don't I'm not ready to move on. I don't want to yet. There's things I still want to do here on my campus and in general. So I don't, I'd love to get my doctorate. I'd love to do it in curriculum instruction. There's two programs I'm looking at. One is at Texas AM and the other is at the University of Alabama. And so I would love to do that. And then eventually, I don't know when. I I'm not gonna be able to retire for like another 20 or 25 years. So I've got time, eventually move into like maybe district curriculum. So that's kind of what I hope um to be doing in this future.
Principal JL:Awesome, awesome. I really like that. I really forward to just following your path and your journey through watching you on TikTok and all those things as well. And you know, encourage you to go get that doctor because that will definitely help you down the road as well when it comes to just you know trying to reach your next step and and your goals for aspirations personally and uh professionally as well. Shannon, we've been talking a lot today and we're starting to wind down here. If listeners here want to know more about you or connect with you, how can they do that?
Shannon Seale:So I'm on I started an Instagram that goes with the TikTok. So both of those are at Mrs.seal. So that's pretty simple. And then they could always email me. It's shani.seal at gmail.com. So those are probably the easiest ways on the social media or just by email. Those are probably the easiest ways to get a hold of me.
Principal JL:Awesome. And I'm gonna go ahead and put that down in the show notes to make it real easy for people to get in touch with you so they can learn more about the things that you are doing. Uh, really appreciate your time today. But before we go, we I troll you a little bit about college football.
Shannon Seale:I know what you're about to say.
Principal JL:I troll you a little bit just because I like it's just fun. I think what inspired me to start trolling you really was when you put out the TikTok about what team, I believe it's what team's gonna set my mood for the weekend or what college team is gonna is going to uh make me happier sad. Set my mood for the next thing. So that that that's where I'm like, well, she might like college football, so I'm gonna see what's up with that. So I troll you a little bit. So if people don't know or haven't followed you much, you know, you are a big college football fan from what I've learned from trolling you. So what is your favorite team? And do you have a favorite college football member?
Shannon Seale:Um, the Baylor Bears are definitely my team. I went to Baylor and I was a pseudo-net Baylor during what was arguably the worst four years in Baylor football history, and there have been many, but it was it was pretty bad when I was there. But I've always been a big fan. And I I gotta I gotta go back just a tiny bit and give a shout out to my dad. He did pass away five years ago, but he's the one that got me interested in football. We used to have one television and he loved watching football, and so it was either watch football with him or do nothing on Saturday. So I asked him all the questions and he taught me all about it. And so we would, I remember actually, this just kind of came to mind. I have several favorite memories, but we were playing because Nebraska used to be in the Big 12. When I was in college, Nebraska was a Big 12 team. And we were playing Nebraska for I don't remember if it was like a parents' weekend or what, but my parents were there and it started pouring rain. And my mom got up to run out, like to like go take shelter. And me and dad are just standing there, like, what are you doing? You're like, it's raining. It's like, well, yeah, or just it's just water. Like, where are you going? Sit down, woman. And so we we they eventually had to do like a lightning delay or whatever. But that was funny, just playing a team and standing out in the rain with my dad because we we lost horribly, just Nebraska always beat us really badly. But in 2004, after I graduated, I went to the Texas AM Baylor game in Waco. And we haven't we hadn't beaten Texas AM in 20 years or something ridiculous. And we won in double overtime. They went for two-point conversion, and I was like, Y'all are crazy, and they got it, and it was insane. And let's see what else. And then probably in 21 won the Big 12 championship, and then went to the sugar bowl. My mom and I went to the sugar bowl. This is hilarious. My husband is an Alabama fan, which makes him by default a little annoying in that in that way. But he does not like going to games, he would rather sit and watch from the recliner. He's like, Why would I go to the stadium when I could sit in the recliner and watch? And I was like, But I want to be a part of the the craziness and I want to help yell on third down and I want to storm the field. I've never stormed the field, but you know, I want to be a part of all of that. And so he actually we went to Alabama for Christmas. We always go and visit his family. And then on the way home, he dropped me off in New Orleans and I met my mom there and he kept driving and I went to the sugar bowl. So we always laughed about how he dropped me off in New Orleans for the sugar bowl and kept driving. So it's a little backwards in that way. But we won that game and it was amazing. So every year, me and my mom go to a game now, and we always try to pick one of the home games. And if there's a bowl game in Texas, usually we'll go. So I have a lot of great memories, but still mad at Coach Rhule a little bit, but that's okay.
Principal JL:All right, we'll we'll take him for now.
Shannon Seale:Yeah, he's good guys.
Principal JL:Yeah, we really enjoy having him, to be honest with you. When he got hired, I was like, what are we doing? You know, I had no clue. I didn't, I didn't really. I mean, I researched him like, okay, yeah, okay, maybe Temple, Baylor. Apparently he wasn't very good in the NFL. So what's gonna be different here? And I'll be what the more I learned about him, the more he's interacted with our fan base because he's somebody that's actually gone out and really just got to know Nebraska as a state. That means a lot, a lot of people. And I think, you know, he for what we can tell, he really likes it here. He's does the podcast now. And you know, you know, Nebraska, we have resources that people don't realize we have. Uh but at the same time, I think this is gonna be a fun year. It's just, you know, we stubbed our stuff our toe a little bit against Michigan. I was at that game, which was a lot of fun. I was the Hail Mary was caught in the end zone that we were sitting in, so that was that was fun to be a part of, but we lost that game up front. We didn't, that was just our our O and D line just couldn't get the push or get the holes opened up like we needed to. And with Riaola getting sacked seven times, but still throwing for 300 yards, pretty impressive. You know, and still having like a 74% completion rate. Yeah, we're not as bad as you'd think we are. It's just we gotta make sure our line play gets better, and then we'll have a shot in these some of these bigger games. So down the road, hopefully they'll it will it will come to fruition to where you know Nebraska's, you know, getting those double digit wins again, like we haven't seen since probably 2012, maybe 2011, something like that. When Bull Palini was our coach, was the last time we've had a double digits win. And we were still in the Big 12 at that time. So hey Shannon, it was great to have you on the show today. I appreciate you. Do you have anything you'd like to say before we go?
Shannon Seale:I can't think of anything else. I think I've kind of blurted out all my thoughts.
Principal JL:So yeah, I appreciate you being on the show. Have a great day.
Shannon Seale:Thank you, bye.
Principal JL:What a fantastic conversation with Principal Shannon Seale. I love hearing about her journey from teaching social studies to leading Odom Elementary. Shannon reminds us that great leadership is built on relationships, reflection, and staying true to who you are. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to follow and subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss any more inspiring episodes from school leaders like this one. Until next time, remember to always be curious and one percent better.
