Personal Reflections
- I attended a PDC meeting, which is for administrators only. The meeting was very informative and I learned so much during my time of networking. I had the opportunity to speak with superintendents and they were not as intimidating in a smaller setting. One of the most interesting topics during our meeting was about policy and procedure. The principals were given a directive to stop giving gift cards and/or items that reflected a monetary value. The majority of the principals were extremely upset about this news and voiced their concerns and frustrations. The next topic was presented by the district’s attorney and he spoke on making sure that the members on the campus were following the law. He told the audience, If you do not know, just do not do it. I was told by my principal that this meeting was actually fun and a lot “lighter” than the past meetings. I walked away with more respect for campus administrators. They are just the “middle” man and sometimes the news that they have to bring back does not necessarily mean that they agree, nor support. In fact, most of the relayed messages they do not agree on, but are forced to provide their staff with the updates. You never know what is going on behind the scenes, until you are allowed to be apart of the audience. As a future administrator my goal is to have one of the team leads to attend a PDC meeting.
- This week I took control over my situation and balanced my schedules. I did not feel overwhelmed by the problems that people brought, learning my new role, and my family life. I learned so much and was asked to attend a meeting with my principal next week. I truly saw growth in myself and started a journal for self reflection. I was able to monitor teachers during their observations by the principal. It was quite entertaining to watch the teachers who were pretending to be energetic and active with their students. One little boy asked his teacher why was she acting weird. I could not laugh but it was clear that she did not interact with the students as much as she was during the observation. Currently, I still have no desire to be a principal but I have a desire to learn a new role.
- This week was a new experience and tiresome. I was asked to be the principal for the entire day and I am still exhausted. For starters, comfortable shoes are a MUST ! I started my day off walking through the entire campus praying for the students, staff, and the overall protection of the building and the day. I did the morning assignments and asked the secretary to allow me fifteen minutes to walk into each classroom to show my face. After I arrived back in the office my day became very interesting and super busy. I had to deal with behaviors ALL day, cover lunch duty, facilitate a 504 meeting (thank God I have a sped background), and a confrontation between two teachers (same one I had conflicts with) who are not seeing eye to eye. One employee requested to take a half day due to her mother being sick but did not want to use her personal time. I informed her that she could leave but it was district policy to take a 1/2 day, regardless if she wanted to leave an hour before the school day was over. I could see that she was shocked that I referred her to policy, which left her with two choices: stay or take a personal day. Amazing how sticking with the policy and law reduces an argument. It removes your personal feelings and refers the employee to following the rules, just as we would expect for our students to do so. Overall, I enjoyed the experience and needed a foot rub. I pray that your week is going well and I appreciate your advice.