One of the pitfalls I might face as a first year principal is that I may not have all the stakeholder buy-in I would initially like. Many teachers in my building have been there longer than I have and I tend to do activities that these teachers feel are non-traditional and they're not comfortable with. Service learning is one of these activities. I am a firm believer in motivating students through service learning, but not many teachers share my passion.

This course gave me a refresh of what I learned during my effective leadership course. Building trusting relationships and stakeholder buy-in, as well as collaborating in an professional learning community are paramount to a successful and positive school climate.

Making sure that teachers know they are leaders and have something important to offer the school is vital in effective collaboration. In addition, I am a proponent of forming community partnerships for the betterment of our students and their neighborhoods.