It's been a while

Things have been busy:

This has almost become a recess blog at this point, so why not post the list of kid-friendly rules we came up with? I think they work, are framed positively and cover everything in a few, memorable rules. Who knew rules like this could take so much time?

I also finally got approval to paint lines on the playground--even though it is part of the architecture. My husband is an architect and he thinks it's a good idea...isn't that enough? Besides, what architect designs a playground without space for games for kids?


Playground Rules

1. Follow adult directions.
2. Stay within the boundaries.
3. Be safe and use only a one-hand light touch.
4. “Stop, Walk, and Talk” if you see or experience bullying or other unsafe behavior.


Specific Rules for the Structure:
1. Use the parts of the structure for what they were designed for.
2. Always walk in the structure area.
3. The number of students on the structure may be limited by an adult.
4. Stay inside the structure boundaries.


Specific Rules for Snow:
1. You must wear boots if your feet are in the snow.
2. You must wear snow pants if your legs are touching the snow.
3. Snow must stay on the ground. You may build with snow if it stays on the ground.
4. Sledding is allowed only when an adult is leading the activity.

Learning from Mistakes

Things I've learned:

1) For new teachers especially, I have learned to look at progress report grades and comments before they go out. There is an art to making comments that are negative. New teachers sometimes need help with this. I've been looking at progress reports student by student in grades 6-8. That's a lot of students, but I wish I would have done it sooner. It gives me a good sense of where kids are, and it is telling to see how students are doing with their different teachers.

2) Neutral, neutral, neutral. Even a witty comment can be taken the wrong way and twisted out of proportion when something is sent to a large audience. This week I sent out my "daily news" to staff with a short piece about paying PTO dues after listening to some valid frustrations from the PTO. By the time the story made it back to me at the end of the day, it was explained to me by a parent that she was concerned because "A PTO parent sent a letter to all teachers that was really rude and inappropriate, and made all of the teachers very upset..." I was confused. Turned out it was my little line in the daily news. I had to resend a letter to staff clarifying: the note was from me, it was a reminder to pay dues, etc. etc. etc. So political.

3)Kid by kid. That's where the action happens. Success happens one kid at a time. So, it is essential to look for those who need immediate intervention, those who need recognition, and those who need some leadership opportunities...and all of those in between. This means that much of my day should be spent talking to the most urgent cases one on one and ensuring that teachers have time and space to do the same. I guess this makes a small school a must in my book.

4) Teacher by teacher. It is essential to be in classrooms as often as possible. I felt like I was being pretty good about that until I sat down and made a list of teachers and how often I had been in to each classroom. There were a number of rooms that needed more visits. I found that I was spending more time with the new teachers, which makes sense, but also found that I wasn't spending enough time in the rooms of veteran teachers. For purposes of coaching, recognition, and just an accurate picture of what's really going on in the school.

5) Listening. This is what I've learned the most about. Many many people just want to be heard, and that's all they need. I am, typically, someone who likes to fix things--many times immediately. I've gotten better (not great, but better) about knowing when I need to fix something and when I just need to let someone vent. For example, I've let the staff parking drama go...I hear out the complaints but own the fact that making the situation any better is #1) out of my realm of control #2) not a problem for many people #3) not a priority when it comes to student achievement. But, listening and understanding the frustrations on a weekly basis or so, is something I can do.

Stuff I've been working on....

Parking--still an issue. But maybe this will help. Today I made cute little parking passes, laminated them and delivered them. Good times. For a while I put off the parking issue because it clearly isn't the most pressing academic need--but when staff bug me about it a few times a day, it does start to impact academics. It was time to act.

Here's the letter to the staff:

Hi Staff,

I get multiple expressions of concern about parking each week--this is our attempt to respond. We are interested in everyone having a place to park; we are also aware of the fact that we are a school within a neighborhood, and that parking is scarce. In an attempt to alleviate some of the parking strains, we have created some very simple parking passes. They will be delivered to your mailbox and should be used starting next week.

If staff are assigned a spot on the front circle, they have a "parking pass" which says "front circle."
All staff will be given a pass for the Hedge Road parking lot in the back. Please put the pass on the dashboard somewhere. The pass for H Road only helps us know that you are a staff member, but does not guarantee that there will actually be a spot. Creating more parking spots is clearly an issue on another level.

While we have no way of enforcing the parking with parking tickets, we will leave notes on cars to remind people that they must park elsewhere. Over time, this should have an effect. Please help interns, substitutes and student teachers with recommendations for street parking.

Police are strict about ticketing (as many of you know), especially for parking in handicapped spots, or when blocking sidewalks. However, they have relaxed the two hour limit for two hour spots. If you have a specific concern about a ticket, you have the right to contest the ticket and may come to speak to Tim or me about the circumstances if a letter of support is in order.

No doubt, this policy will alleviate some problems and likely create new and different concerns. Please come to me with those.

Thanks, and as always, your feedback is welcome.

A day--no, really, a DAY.

Well, it's 3:10--

Make that 3:15--I just gave a mini-tutorial on iPhoto for someone who walked in with a laptop.

Well, so it is. There are days that will bring me close to tears. Sometimes it's just a lot. Nothing in and of itself was so bad, but all compiled into 8 hours and 15 minutes (so far--) it feels like anyone would be about spent. Not that teaching doesn't do the same on some days, but this is definitely a different sort of overwhelmed than I felt in the classroom on crazy days. Those who are thinking about administrative stuff--this would be an important post to read.

Despite its simple style, I'm just going to list the day's events without a whole lot of commentary. I would say, right now, that will just be therapeutic so I can finish out the day and get the rest of my work done. Just to clarify--this is still the job for me, and in an odd way, I love being this crazy and busy...maybe that's why it's the job for me.

7:00 Arrival.

7:00 Meet with a special ed person who is dropping off some resumes for some very hard to fill positions in our special ed program. Worry about the special ed program because everyone in there is sick today, on top of the hiring dilemma.

7:10 Talk to a student who came in WAY to early this morning

7:15 Look through resumes and decide who to call for today's visits.

7:20 Write and email "Daily News" with the day's announcements

7:30 Go say hello to kids who are eating breakfast in the cafeteria

7:40 Welcome kids at the front door (who are SOAKING wet. It was pouring this morning)

7:45 Open up theatre and turn on lights so kids can wait inside for classes to start

7:55 Monitor hallways as kids go to class

8:00 Take a potential interview candidate to see the special ed program

8:15 Find out that one of the teachers from the special ed classroom has fallen down the stairs, hurt her wrist and must immediately go get xrays

8:20 Bring the candidate downstairs and do a quick interview

8:40 Visit the ELL open house and say hello to parents

9:00 Meet with police officers. Today is our lockdown drill!!!

9:15 Lockdown drill begins. I walk through silent hallways with shades drawn, doors locked and lights off. Creepy. And, I get to speak into the police walky talky in my office.

9:30 Lockdown drill ends, we meet with the officers again

9:40 I walk another job candidate up to look at the classroom

9:50 Conduct a short follow up interview with candidate (and she's great...hooray!)

10:15 Follow up with one more candidate (who has been waiting patiently for 20 minutes) and drop him off to observe a classroom

10:20 Drop into a behavior plan meeting already in progress and stay for 20 minutes before continuing the conversation with the candidate back in the office.

10:40 Meet with candidate in office, while another waits.

I like to be on time, and I like to honor other peoples' time. I finally leave the meeting--sometimes there are two places to be at once.

11:00 Meet with another candidate and then meet with principal to talk about all candidates for a few minutes

11:20 Bring in another candidate.

11:30 It begins pouring outside after having been sunny for over an hour. Crap. Rainy Day recess needs to be sorted out. Head out to do that while principal completes interview.

11:40 Monitor lunch and rainy day recess for 4 different lunch periods. When it becomes sunny, I'm ready to send kids outside, but the principal thinks there is too much water on the concrete on the field. On one hand, kids might get muddy, on the other--I have to entertain the wild group inside. Kids are super grumpy when they're inside, but look outside to see sun. I have to admit, that makes me a little grumpy too.

1:30 Finally finish indoor recess.

1:30 Meeting with PTO parents to discuss the recess thing. For those who are reading the blog, you'll know I've been working on this project. Well, I have the money, we have hired someone and we start this week! Hooray! PTO is excited and wants to take "before" data so we can compare results after implementing the program.

I agree to be a "goalie" at Pumpkinfest, dodging soccer balls to raise money for 2 hours.

2:00 Dismissal--head out to the traffic circle to play traffic cop. "Please stay in your car, this is a fire lane." "Please stay in your car, this is a fire lane." "Hi! Please. Stay in your car? This is a fire lane."

2:20 Meet with the townwide jazzband director who I've found practice space for at our school. I check to see if he's ok with his space and he asks kids to give me a round of applause for finding them a space. I had no idea it was such a big deal! Sometimes it's the little things. I take a bow.

2:25 Head back outside to the traffic circle to wait with kids who are getting on the bus. Say hello and goodbye to many many parents and kids and have lots of mini-conversations: there aren't enough bike racks, my child was hit with a lunch bag at lunch today, thanks for you hard work, so and so gives too much homework, what is your discipline policy, why can't I park here? etc. etc. etc.

(upon rereading this days later, I realize how incredibly grumpy this post is! Jeez!)

2:45 Come back in and answer 15 emails. Most are quick. Make final phone calls for final interviews tomorrow. I think we may have found the people for the job.

3:00 Dig through the pile that my mailbox has become. Cook and eat my lunch.

4:00 Finish blog after a conversation about providing resources for our more advanced students.

Eat a Jolly Rancher. MMM. Watermelon.

Organization

I'm learning how to keep organized when there are so many different things going on. Many of the things that are happening around the school are small, or don't involve me directly, but I need to know about them so I can help answer questions about them later. Often people catch me in the hallway to tell me about something and I need a way to remember to deal with it later.

I started working with the ical program, which is nice because it is all synced up between my laptop, school computer and iphone. I also used the google task list which I could also easily access from my computer and phone. But, I have realized over the last two weeks that nothing beats a paper calendar which can be taken everywhere (and I DO take it everywhere), where I can jot things down and cross them out instantly.

Moleskine makes the most amazing calendar that I've used in the past and has proven to be the very best possible organizational tool for me. See it here.

It's nice and big so I can list things day by day on the left. But it also has one page of lines on the right that serve as my running list. It has been working quite well for me. I have always been a list person, but the lists the last two weeks have been especially satisfying. Lots of things to cross off! I know, I'm a nerd.

You can see images of the completed last two weeks. I am, clearly, a very messy person when it comes to writing things down--but things get done. Most things, at least...

I like this job.

Typically I find a way to justify most things I do and find ways to like them. I don't remember having a job I didn't like. (Even as a magazine subscription telemarketer...) But--I really like this job. I think I may have written something similar in an earlier post, but I'm realizing how much my own skill set matches the skill set needed to enjoy (and, hopefully find success) as a school leader. Here's a top 5 list of reasons I like this job.

5) Problem solving. I've always enjoyed finding ways to weigh the factors and create unique solutions. I think this comes from my days of building go-karts, forts and games using random items like step stools and roller skates. Mom, I may have stepped on some nails, injured my brothers, and stolen household items--but it's all paying off now.

4) Talking to kids. I LOVE how often I get to have one on one conversations with kids. As a teacher, that happens often in a teaching setting, but it can be hard to have time to talk to the kids you want to talk to most about how they're doing--i.e, the ones who are having the most trouble. Now, they come to me and even wait for me in my office!

3) Making things happen that I always wished for as a teacher. I'm not doing it all, but I'm working to help create: Schedules that make sense, quick answers to simple questions, lots of thank yous, methods for feedback, follow ups with teachers about specific kids, quick response to tough situations in classrooms, welcoming proposals from teachers, parents and kids and actually looking at them

2) Setting my own schedule. I like setting up my meetings and being able to move around the building to see what's going on. Teaching is great, but the schedule is very set for you. I like change and choice--I do something different every day.

1) Having the big picture, and seeing behind the scenes. It was always hard as a teacher to try and think about ways to solve problems when the big picture wasn't always available. Now I can see it. It's fabulous. Perhaps it's juvenile, but when the fire truck pulls up. I always know why it's there. And today--I even watched as the fire chief pulled the fire alarm to begin the drill. That was a first. The fire drill went quite well, by the way.

Long days that fly by

On days like today, I feel like I've lived three days. At the same time, the days are flying. I'm hoping that both can serve as a decent excuse for not adding any posts for almost a whole week.

I often tell people I'm an assistant principal, and they say, "So, what, exactly, does an assistant principal do?" It's a valid question. Now that the days have settled into more of a routine, it's easier to answer that question. Most of the opening items have been settled: the schedule, the safety procedures, the various staffing issues that arise... Here is a sampling of the normal day to day issues. Following that, I've listed some of the things for which I've had to consider my personal philosophy. Many times as a school leader, there are just some things that come down to judgment calls, and my own personal beliefs as a school leader can be the final say.

So, a rundown of the major categories of things that filled my time in the last week:
-Meeting with school counselors to run through lists of kids for which there are major concerns and creating follow up steps for each child
-Saying hello at every open house. At this school, each grade level has their own open house. I wish they'd do them all in one night--going to each is exhausting!
-Sorting out parking issues for teachers who come from other schools mid-day and need parking. I'm now supposed to be setting cones in their spots every morning. As I type I remember that I forgot to do that today. Crap.
-Deal with schedule issues, which means lots of meeting--the art teacher's schedule is too full on Fridays, the third grade needs more staffing for their small group math lessons, etc. etc. etc.
-Meet with members of the diversity committee to help them get up and running
-Make an appearance at the Special Ed parents breakfast to realize that no parents showed up--make a plan with special ed staff to find new recruitment methods
-Cover many lunch and recess duties to help ensure that both are running smoothly
-Deal with building usage issues--everyone wants to use the building after hours. Everyone. It's a blessing and a curse to have a newish (1994) building
-Our secretary is out for a wedding for a few days. We miss her!!!! We take on lots more paperwork.
-Attend a few IEPs meetings
-Meet with the math specialist from the district to talk about the new math curriculum--the math team isn't happy with it, so we wanted her take on their frustrations
-Sort out policies for after school activities. Should students be able to be in the after school musical if they are having a behavior issue during school? Everyone has an opinion.
-Prepare new maps, lists, etc. for fire drill and evacuation to the local church (the plan in case of a bomb threat or other emergency). The drill is tomorrow.
-Meetings with kids, teachers and parents about various behavior issues that must be dealt with
-Meeting about a student whose bike was stolen; follow up with police
-Finding the student who took the bike and determining consequences
-Interviewing new staff for the positions we still have in our special education classroom...
-Lots of scheduling of meetings and talking to people to solve little problems here and there
-Meeting with parents about their ideas and what they'd like to see happen in the school
-Meeting with a teacher about creating a plan for a student who is having trouble behaving.

For those of you who ask what we do all day...there it is! And those who are wondering if the job is for them, I hope that's helpful.

A few things for which I've had to consider my philosophy:

-Out of school suspension, especially for kids who like to miss school or are already behind

-Allowing participation in extracurricular activities despite poor grades, understanding that the extracurricular might be a struggling student's main area of strength and motivation

-Inclusion for special education students

-Sending kids to the office when they are in trouble

-Homework

...that's all for now. Too tired to proofread. Thanks for reading!