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.