Management

A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by **ensuring management of the organization, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.** Although I have not yet had the opportunity to manage an entire school staff as a building administrator, I have amassed 19 seasons as a coach of various school sports. The management of an athletic team, in many important ways, is similar to running a school building.
 * __ STANDARD 3: MANAGEMENT __**
 * __**Coaching: A Microcosm of School Management**__

As a head coach, I must make numerous managerial decisions as to how I want my team/program to function. Ultimately, I am responsible for all aspects of the program, and I have to accept responsibility for all the athletes and assistant coaches that I manage. The fundamental belief in high-quality standards, expectation, and performances, as well as the necessity to involve stakeholders (parents, athletic director, players) in the processes is paramount.

Like a school staff, a team of players is made up of numerous individuals with diverse talents, specialties, and perhaps goals (getting a scholarship v. playing just for the fun of it). It is essential for a coach (just like a school administrator) to make sure that he employs the following:
 * effective problem-framing and problem-solving skills
 * effective conflict resolution skills
 * effective group-process and consensus-building skills
 * effective communication skills

Furthermore, as the head of a program, I must
 * use technology to manage, such as email to communicate with parents and GoogleDocs to organize concession stand workers, etc.
 * make sure that my athletes practice and compete in a safe and clean school environment.
 * hire assistant coaches who share the vision of the program.
 * manage our program's fiscal resources responsibly, efficiently, and effectively.
 * manage our resources and practice time effectively so that we can experience the biggest possible gains from our efforts.
 * manage schedules to make sure that conflicts are avoided within the facilities.

With all of the similarities between running an athletic program and running a staff/school, I am confident that I will be able to pull from my experience as a coach to make me a better school administrator. || ||