Dwight Carter is a widely respected administrator who is highly experienced as a leader in curriculum innovation at the secondary level. In fact, he was invited to speak on this topic at the national level by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) and was honored with a Digital Principal Award from NASSP. He has also served as an assistant high school principal, a middle school principal and a classroom teacher. He is currently serving as the Principal at New Albany High School. Dwight was inducted into the Jostens Renaissance Educator Hall of Fame in July, 2010; and he was nominated for a Bammy Award in 2013 and 2014 by the Academy of Education of Arts and Sciences. He is passionate about creating the best possible learning environment for all stakeholders to be successful.

 

Dwight enjoys being a husband and father to a young daughter, and his pastimes include reading and listening to audio books, he loves inspiring his students, and he’s a twin, and in college he was an All-American in track, where his specialty was hurdling. (2:00)

Inspired by several teachers, Dwight knew early on that he wanted to be a teacher, and several of the admins he worked for encouraged him to become an administrator himself (6:20)

How to stay focused on doing the best job you can while not worrying  (14:08)

Being the first black head principal of a middle school in his district, and then the first black head principal of a high school, presented special challenges for Dwight (17:10)

The huge difference having patience will make, and it comes with experience (22:52)

Balancing work and life is extremely difficult; here are some tips from Dwight (26:05)

How having a young child has made Dwight a more understanding school leader (28:57)

Dwight shares three of the best moments from his career in school administration, including hosting Vice President Biden as his school (33:31)

Live in the gray, and avoid making things black and white all the time (39:03)

Create as many opportunities as possible for students to have a voice (40:29)

Always put yourself in your teachers’ shoes, and focus on the why more than the how and the what (41:53)

The book that Dwight thinks is so important he re-reads it every year, and the book on classroom and school design Dwight recently co-authored (45:05)

If Dwight had a time machine, here’s the advice he would go back and give his younger self when he was just starting out in administration (47:17)

 

Books mentioned in this episode

What Great Principals Do Differently: Eighteen Things That Matter Most by Todd Whitaker

What Connected Educators Do Differently by Todd Whitaker, Jeffrey Zoul, and Jimmy Casas

Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times by Eric C. Sheninger

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t by Simon Sinek

What’s in Your Space?: 5 Steps for Better School and Classroom Design by Dwight L. Carter, Gary L. Sebach, and Mark White

 

Connect with Dwight Carter

@Dwight_Carter

Mr. Carter’s Office