More Than a Building Manager!

I recently read “Mission Possible: Teaching Through Technology”, published in the National Association of Elementary School Principals. The heading Tech-Savvy Principal caught my eye – after all, that seems to be our goal! The article is worth reading, but I found another article that really captured my interest:

“Principals as Classroom Leaders” is excellent advice for those that desire to be more than a building manager! Carolyn Bunting offers realistic strategies for principals that seek to be on the front lines with their teachers. I can visualize the positive effects of the strategies she offers - book studies, areas of specialization, case studies, problem of the week, and talk sessions. I can only imagine what it would be like to work in that type of environment. She stated it best when she said, “Wanted are principals who are able to identify closely with the work of teachers and who are able to encourage and support them as they strive to improve their teaching”.

This article made me think about the principals I have worked under and the qualities that I most appreciated. One image keeps coming to mind……I stopped by school on a summer vacation day to find my principal up on a ladder painting a classroom (alongside the custodians). She was wearing a suit and heels underneath an oversized, paint-splattered t-shirt. When asked, she said that the kindergarten classroom needed painting and she had a few hours before her meeting at the board of education. She was a principal that was a part of whatever took place in the school. That is why it did not surprise me when she took a small SRA reading group herself – just like every other certified staff member in the school! Phone calls, parents, visitors, and problems had to wait during those 45 minutes every day because she was teaching.

What images come to your mind? What qualities do you admire, appreciate, and respect in a principal?

We Are in the Most Amazing Profession!

For all those in need of encouragement, renewed strength, sense of pride in what we do, not to mention a good cry…

You must take the time to watch PBS’s Point Of View documentary, The Principal Story. It is the story of two principals and their daily struggles to improve their schools over the course of a year. It is definitely worth 55 minutes of your time. I missed it last Tuesday but I am very thankful I found it online. There are also many other valuable links on the Principal Story site. I especially liked the Top Ten Advice to Principals Starting Their First Year by Kerry Purcell (one of the featured principals in the documentary). Watch, be blessed, and let me know what you think!

The site also contains a quote from Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education: “We have no good schools without good principals.” What do you think? When all is said and done, does the success or lack of success begin and end with the principal?

I Can't Believe This Is Really Happening!

I am astounded! Check out the article, "The Rubber Room: The Battle Over New York City's Worst Teachers" published in The New Yorker recently.

Perhaps you already know about Bloomberg's Rubber Room. I was shocked last week to hear about the 12 "reassignment" locations in New York City for ineffective teachers. No windows, no electrical outlets, no internet connections, no duties, no student - just tenure and a paycheck! What do you think about this?

Does North Carolina need "relocation centers"? If not, what should we do with teachers that have tenure, yet are ineffective in the classroom? Will the new N. C. Teacher Evaluation process help? The article refers to education as a "system that rarely calls anyone incompetent". Do you agree?