Describes stand-up comic Jim Pelley's knack for making educators see a light side to serious problems. Principals should always be aware of the power of humor to take the edge off potentially depressing situations. Advice is provided for lightening up, including creating a humor first-aid kit, posting staff baby pictures and cartoons, and…

Two experienced elementary principals leading challenging suburban schools believe principals' greatest responsibility is helping others. To survive, principals should maintain a sense of humor, grow thicker skin, regard parents as potential allies, team with staff and respect their individual talents, hire the best teachers, and act in students'…

During a (hypothetical) phone interview with a university researcher, an elementary principal reminisced about a lifetime of reading groups with unmemorable names, medium-paced math problems, patchworked social studies/science lessons, and totally "average" IQ and batting scores. The researcher hung up at the mention of bell-curved assembly lines…