In her shoes
Somehow, I got suckered into agreeing to be "assistant principal for the day." My AP was out for 3 days, so she chose 3 of us to fill in for her. I spent some time wondering if I was chosen b/c I am vocally cynical about her job, but I'm honestly not (at least not this year). I think she's great. Anyhoo ... my day was Thursday.
I have to admit, I've always wanted a job that required a walkie talkie. It was highly enteretaining - I basically had a play-by-play of all the action on campus that day. The down side is that I was always reachable & was pulled in a jillion directions all day long. I spent most of the day chasing down kids & making sure they actually made it to class. And, instead of constantly asking kids things like "Please be quiet," "I need your attention," "Come on, let's focus - we can do this," I was yelling out "Let's move it! Get to class!"
It was curious, too, the way my own students reacted to me. At first I thought they assumed it was all a joke. I later figured out that they thought it was kind of cool . . . somehow, the walkie talkie was a symbol of power. They really did respond to me differently.
For example, I had to call a kid down to the office who happened to be my student. My job: to remind him of the deputy's warning, and tell him that if he continued to threaten a particular student, Deputy M would find him & prosecute. Normally, if I ask this kid to change his behavior in my class, I get a mouthful of lip and blatant disrespect. However, once he sat in "the principal's office" behind the shiny desk (my walkie prominently displayed on top), he was strangely speechless. He nodded his head whenever I spoke, and agreed not to harrass the student anymore. Amazing.
I think the worst part of the day was hearing "We need an administrator in Room B1." I couldn't figure out why this sounded familiar, and then it dawned on me - B1 is my classroom. The sub was at his wit's end with my 4th hour class, apparently. I threw the door open & gave them my best "I'm disappointed in you / this is entirely inappropriate / your behavior will have consequences" speech. I even stayed for the beginning of 5th hour and threatened them with their lives if they chose to misbehave.
I was absolutely astonished this morning when I read the sub's note for 5th hour: "Thank you for the talk. This class was great and should get a reward." I have never had a sub leave a note like that for a class. I almost cried I was so proud of them. I love the maternal moments that teaching can sometimes bring. And yes, I brought those babies breakfast this morning for being so wonderful (which probably really means they did 10% of their work & didn't throw things at the sub).
It was a decent day. I've never doubted that administrators work hard, especially at my school. It did give me a new appreciation for their job, though. While I get weary from the daily face-to-face interactions with 100+ students, admins are on the move all day long and can't really plan their day. I think that would drive me crazy - having to be completely flexible every moment of the day, always ready to drop what I'm doing & speed away to the latest emergency.
At any rate, I'm considering getting a walkie talkie ... even if I just pretend to radio someone once in a while, it's such a powerful tool. Who knew?!
I have to admit, I've always wanted a job that required a walkie talkie. It was highly enteretaining - I basically had a play-by-play of all the action on campus that day. The down side is that I was always reachable & was pulled in a jillion directions all day long. I spent most of the day chasing down kids & making sure they actually made it to class. And, instead of constantly asking kids things like "Please be quiet," "I need your attention," "Come on, let's focus - we can do this," I was yelling out "Let's move it! Get to class!"
It was curious, too, the way my own students reacted to me. At first I thought they assumed it was all a joke. I later figured out that they thought it was kind of cool . . . somehow, the walkie talkie was a symbol of power. They really did respond to me differently.
For example, I had to call a kid down to the office who happened to be my student. My job: to remind him of the deputy's warning, and tell him that if he continued to threaten a particular student, Deputy M would find him & prosecute. Normally, if I ask this kid to change his behavior in my class, I get a mouthful of lip and blatant disrespect. However, once he sat in "the principal's office" behind the shiny desk (my walkie prominently displayed on top), he was strangely speechless. He nodded his head whenever I spoke, and agreed not to harrass the student anymore. Amazing.
I think the worst part of the day was hearing "We need an administrator in Room B1." I couldn't figure out why this sounded familiar, and then it dawned on me - B1 is my classroom. The sub was at his wit's end with my 4th hour class, apparently. I threw the door open & gave them my best "I'm disappointed in you / this is entirely inappropriate / your behavior will have consequences" speech. I even stayed for the beginning of 5th hour and threatened them with their lives if they chose to misbehave.
I was absolutely astonished this morning when I read the sub's note for 5th hour: "Thank you for the talk. This class was great and should get a reward." I have never had a sub leave a note like that for a class. I almost cried I was so proud of them. I love the maternal moments that teaching can sometimes bring. And yes, I brought those babies breakfast this morning for being so wonderful (which probably really means they did 10% of their work & didn't throw things at the sub).
It was a decent day. I've never doubted that administrators work hard, especially at my school. It did give me a new appreciation for their job, though. While I get weary from the daily face-to-face interactions with 100+ students, admins are on the move all day long and can't really plan their day. I think that would drive me crazy - having to be completely flexible every moment of the day, always ready to drop what I'm doing & speed away to the latest emergency.
At any rate, I'm considering getting a walkie talkie ... even if I just pretend to radio someone once in a while, it's such a powerful tool. Who knew?!
posted by Kat at
6:13 PM
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