About Mary Jean Howell
With a distinguished career of thirty eight years as a librarian, classroom teacher, principal and central office administrator-Mary J. Howell has had a wide range of educational experiences.
She has been an administrator in an affluent school with a strong organized parent volunteer program, operating in many capacities daily. Also, an administrator in a school setting that housed over ten special education classes with an age range of-Pre-k to grade 6.
In her last principal’s position, it became clear that regardless of the socioeconomic status, parental involvement, focus on testing, and student’s achievement- parent’s in any economic environment want the very best education for their children. The desire to be loved and treated with respect and dignity was of the utmost importance to students and parents.
She spent the last thirteen years working in Human Resources where she recruited, hired, mentored, and provided orientation for new and tenured teachers, teacher assistants, substitute teachers, educational/ leadership managers, and superintendents.
During her interaction with teachers and administrators, Mary discovered and was somewhat perplexed by the lack of teacher preparation. She felt compelled to tackle her first book, “Tips for Teachers-What You Didn’t Learn in College About the Classroom”. As she worked with teachers and administrators, she noticed many of the inconsistencies and issues they struggled with in their various job placements.
As she served as an administrator in school, she developed a school design for strengthening the academic day. She has conducted workshops for central office administrators, teachers, intern teachers, and superintendents in areas of administrative leadership styles, teacher mentoring and development, policy and procedures, diversity training, documentation, recruitment and skillfulness in teacher selection, substitute teachers workshops, teacher assistance and special education professionals, and classroom management and student achievement. Mary has also taught special education classes to assist teachers in taking the Oklahoma State Competence Examinations in the area of special education. She was trained in ETS Pathwise Training that focused on beginning teacher induction, teacher observation and feedback, and school leadership.
Mary currently teaches at Tulsa Community College in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She serves as a consultant and trainer to school districts in the development of professional development programs.